K-9

I appreciate the clarification, but we need to confine the discussion to forwards as defensemen and their ice time is a completely different animal and adding them to the forward equation isn't a fair comparison. Yes, the difference between 4th most and 7th most may seem insignificant, but not when you look at all of Sobotka's 5x5 metrics. They are simply terrible. No matter how you slice it, he simply doesn't merit being ahead of anyone when based on his output. He is a very limited role player, whether it's similar to what he did in St. Louis or not. And to average in Housley's use of him in the latter stages of his career vs. the minutes he played as a younger player doesn't mean much because it's not relevant to the situation today, in Buffalo. As you say, Yost's list is populated by much better players than Sobotka. Which kind of makes the entire point. Sobotka shouldn't even be mentioned in the same sentence as most of those players, let alone garner similar 5x5 ice time. I agree totally that we need better depth. But that doesn't mean Housley should shoehorn a limited role player into bigger roles, either. A good case in point is the OT vs. Carolina last week. Sobotka should be glued to the bench in 3 on 3, period. Housley's bullcrap coachspeak about wanting him out there for a D zone draw in the LEFT DOT is the epitome of overthinking a situation. And it backfired. As I've said in various previous posts, Housley is full of it when it comes to holding veteran players accountable. Several of them should have seen the press box at one time or another this year. So, I wonder about his cred in that locker room.

Can play all interior Oline positions and I don’t think he’s our new starting center. Good signing.

Per the bold text, are you saying Travis Yost is a liar or are you including the 5x5 minutes of defensemen as well? Do you dismiss his analytics out of hand or the analyses of other analysts? I get that Housley is undermanned and would (hopefully) use some else if he were around to fill Sobotka’s role, but that’s just it, he is a ROLE player who is getting the 4th most 5x5 minutes of all the forwards (assuming Yost isn’t lying). Role players should not get those minutes when they suck at everything else other than their specific, limited roles.

No chase of the bogeyman required. Housley has been delivering a healthy dose of ineptitude for all to see since he got here so we can just sit back and let it come to us as we watch.

Why am I not surprised? “Veteran role player”, “useful as a penalty killer”, “takes draws in the defensive end”, “fading career.” You described exactly what he is which is exactly why he is the LAST forward on the team to garner the most 5x5 ice time behind the top three. Yep, I gotta wonder how much credibility Housley has left in that room.

Beats being some anonymous extra from Gary’s Olde Towne Tavern.

I’m not advocating for a trade of Skinner. And I believe there is little chance of it happening. Just going through the scenario. But stranger things have happened. The kind of message trading Skinner sends about winning can be looked at in both the short and long term. In the short term, it says JBotts is realistic about this year’s chances and sees a great opportunity to add key pieces. In the long term, it says he is committed to continue to build a perennial winner. Kind of that “stay the course” model you advocate. Given your support for that kind of model, I’m surprised you aren’t more open to that idea. What kind of message about winning does giving Sobotka the forth most ice time send? I suspect everyone in that locker room knows there are several forwards who are better players and have earned more ice time so I wonder how much sense it makes to them.

Does Skinner still have a no movement clause? I think that may complicate potential trades if he does. I was glad he had a no trade clause with Carolina because they would have traded him to the Kings last summer instead of us. I did, which is why I asked the question. EDIT: I think you mean your last response to Plenz? I’m glad they are negotiating with Skinner, but that doesn’t preclude a potential trade of him. More like a Cliff and Norm thing. I’ll leave it up to you to figure out who is wearing the milk bone underwear.

Why do you think the term “rental” is tossed around so much in discussions involved in hockey trades? Teams trade for pending free agent players all the time without assurances from those players that they’ll remain with their new teams. To answer your question as to what team would be willing to trade for Skinner, that would be any team that thinks obtaining a left wing who is also the second leading goal scorer in the league might be the difference in making a serious cup run in the playoffs. I submit that list of teams is not a short one.

I need to see him standing next to Vincent Jackson and Von Miller in a suit.

Hmmm.

Somehow missed this earlier. I would not be opposed to Dahlin spending a game or two in the box. Two big mistakes yesterday directly led to the Jets' first two goals. My only concern with sitting him is he wouldn't be on the ice to make the handful of sublime little plays he makes every game. He drives play and we just don't have enough of those guys to spare. Maybe we are just going to have to live with his mistakes. I'd feel the same way about Scandella if he was worth a damn to our offensive output.

I don’t know about that baseball threat. His rookie deal will be five years long, he’ll be 26 when it expires, and thats old to begin your minor league career in pro baseball. And that’s assuming no erosion in his baseball skills in the interim. While I think he made the wrong decision in the long term, I can’t blame him for taking the guaranteed $25m or so (depending where in the first round he goes) and putting that to work immediately. Not that $5m for playing baseball is anything to sneeze at, but it’s a much longer slog to make the bigger money in MLB compared to the NFL. That said, I think his rookie deal will end up being the only big money he gets to play QB in the NFL.

Agree. We really need that RHD back there. There were several times in the game yesterday when having a LHD on the right was a disadvantage in the offensive zone. It just takes too long for him to get the puck on his forehand to make a better play or to shoot the puck towards the net. The rest of the debate is futile. When Housley has a team of all stars people will finally be able to tell me why he’s a good coach. In the mean time, I’m not confusing effort with results. And Harrington and Hamilton are full of crap, imo. The Sabres have SQUANDERED a prime playoff position and I’m supposed to take solace in how far they’ve fallen because they aren’t mathematically eliminated yet? I’m supposed to be encouraged after this historic fall? Why, because they’ve been pathetic for so long that even though we gave it all back, we are STILL better than last year at this time? Pardon me if I can’t accept that particular brand of loser mentality.

I want so much to laugh at this, but the sad thing is, I think you're probably closer to the reality than not. Interesting theory about not wanting to make the playoffs. I wonder if Housley and Co. have assured the players that it's really not an essential goal this year because, you know, first we have to play meaningful games in February. Nothing prepares a young player better than being off the hook to compete for a playoff spot. Wouldn't want them to have that added pressure as they stay the course and develop. Never mind that this psychological "pass" has infected many of the players on this team for years now. "Don't worry boys. Just go out there and compete, play hard, show the fans you're in games and don't worry about the playoffs this year. You're young and need to develop good, fundamental habits like how to lose while competing hard." I say that in jest, but when look at the Girgensens, Ristos, Larssons, et al whose entire careers have been part of teams where nothing his expected because of the "stay the course until we're better" lowered expectations that were placed on them. I think we may need to purge a huge chunk of this team the more I think of that aspect of their "development" since they got here.

Don't misunderstand me here. I fully respect your position and appreciate the effort put forth in supporting it. But nothing Housley did in Nashville as an assistant, nothing he did as a coach in the US system or in high school, nor anything he did is a player has shown him to be a quality NHL head coach. Nothing will show him to be a quality NHL head coach until he, as an NHL head coach, proves it. I'm still waiting for someone, anyone, to tell me why he's a good head coach. I need more than he's got them playing hard and competing with teams. MOST teams in the NHL play hard on a night to night basis. Playing hard is the bear minimum so he gets no credit for that from me. They played hard for Nolan and Bylsma, too. It's about results, period. So far, he's led us to the first 31st place finish in league history by coaching the same team to 16 points less than his predecessor and to being the fourth worst team this year outside of a glorious 10 game win streak. A good coach should be able to win two consecutive games since October by accident for crissakes (again, 10 game win streak excepted). Personnel decisions, in game adjustments, goalie rotation ( he may have finally gotten a clue there, hopefully), line combinations , etc., all point to nothing special. And worst of all, he seems to have a very selective process for holding players accountable for their performances. It's ludicrous that Scandella, Okposo, and Sobotka, for example haven't had to sit out a game for their poor play while others have. There is NO excuse for CJ Smith to be shown the press box the last couple games when he's played well and provided speed and tenacity on the ice. So, if anyone wishes to convince why Housley is the answer at head coach, I'm all ears. But I need more than anecdotal evidence to sway me.

Something, something played hard. Something, something, we competed. Something, something gotta learn how to hold leads. But the effort is there! We can insert any sorry cliche of an excuse about to be offered up in defense of this team. Too many fans confuse effort with results. And the results were that we still couldn't win two games in a row since October, the fluky streak excluded. Fringe playoff team my ass. ^This. He's not right and hasn't been for a while now. But still, that was a lazy play. Granted it was at the end of a long shift of being totally dominated in their own zone, but the captain has to sell out there.

Well, there is that Panther connection. Seriously, I haven’t seen too much of him, but he’s looked good on the few occasions I watched him play. Is he any good? I see he made 2nd team All Pro in 2017. That’s no small feat. Can definitely see him being targeted if the medicals are good.

Dislocates his knee cap and tears his MCL and then plays in the opener some six or seven weeks later? Sold. That’s all I need to know about this guy’s football character.

Then my question is, what the hell happened to Housley between Nashville and Buffalo? Because his defensive genius isn’t manifesting very much here. It’s great that the Preds defenders praise him. But I think it’s nothing much more than players hyping their coach. They were already a talented group. Jossi and Subban, especially. Housley gets no credit from me until he proves himself here. None.

On another note, I hope nobody is under the delusion that we played a great game today. We won one period of hockey, which is great and sometimes all it takes, but a win for a struggling team can be seductive so I’m under no illusions that this was some grand display of hockey today. They beat a team they should have beaten but other than that one period, they weren’t the better team for most of the game (metrics bear this out) except for special teams which was the difference. That is not a sustainable winning formula. We needed to play .632 hockey the rest of the way going into today for a decent shot at the playoffs. Today was a start. Nothing more. Sweep the last three games of this home stand and we have a chance to make waves if other teams start to struggle. But we need to play much better.

I give Housley little credit for the success of Nashville’s defense. They have three potential HOF players back there. And Trotz likes his defensemen to drive play as well. But it all depends on the defensemen available, anyway.

Housley was given credit for coaching the Dmen in Nashville, but that’s a crock given the HOF talent they have on their blue line and the system implemented by Barry Trotz before he left for the Caps. And just look at what Trotz has done with the Islanders’ defense this year as further proof.

We will need to play at a .483 clip the rest of the way in order to finish at 87 points and realize the 25 point improvement over last year you predict. Outside of a fluky win streak, this team hasn’t come remotely close to that in the season and a half under Housley so I wish you luck. Especially given how we’ve trended after the streak ended. We can forget the playoffs as that would require playing at a .637 pace from here on out to finish at the 96 points I predict will be needed. I know the playoffs aren’t a goal for you this year, but I thought I’d point that out anyway. Is Housley a good coach and why?

I have a dismissive attitude towards Housley because since he’s arrived, I’ve seen NOTHING to suggest he’s got what it takes to succeed as a head coach. From use of personnel to in game management decisions and everything in between, nothing says he’s up to the task. He is simply not the right head coach at this time for this group. He will get the rest of the year to complete his audition, which will have included a last place finish 16 points worse than the previous coach and being at the helm of the second team in history to not make the playoffs after having a 10 game winning streak. A steak that, fair or not, changed the expectations for this team. Expectations Housley has no clue how to manage.