JohnC Posted November 25, 2019 Share Posted November 25, 2019 19 minutes ago, thebug said: Eventually you will be right! I hope it will be sooner rather than later. I don't want Plez to continue being distraught and fall into the abyss of despair. The bitter chap needs some positive reinforcement. I'm not sure he will recognize it when it does happen. 2 minutes ago, BillsFan4 said: Nice to hear numerous prospected are playing well. Cozens is currently sitting atop the entire WHL, tied for the scoring lead with 1 less game played than the kid he’s tied with. https://www.quanthockey.com/whl/en/seasons/2019-20-whl-players-stats.html It would be so huge for the Sabres if they really hit on that Cozens pick. In two years he is going to be our second line center. I still believe that Millstadt will eventually be a good player. It's just going to take time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnC Posted November 25, 2019 Share Posted November 25, 2019 This is a five minute recap of the game taken from a NHL site. It has the highlights. https://www.nhl.com/gamecenter/buf-vs-fla/2019/11/24/2019020362#game=2019020362,game_state=final Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsFan4 Posted November 25, 2019 Author Share Posted November 25, 2019 (edited) https://torontosun.com/sports/hockey/reinvigorated-leafs-eager-to-keep-pushing-forward-with-keefe-at-helm#click=https://t.co/VTDUNsL3wC Quote A series of measured tweets on Saturday by former NHL defenceman Mark Fraser defended Commodore, with Fraser saying that based on his conversations and stories related to him “95%” of Babcock’s players “can’t say a good thing about” him. Fraser also tweeted that Babcock “used his power to turn teammates against each other.” One tale was related to us in the past few days that is said to have occurred in the 2016-17 season, during the annual fathers trip. Babcock was alleged to have asked one of the Leafs’ rookies to list the players on the team from hardest-working to those who, in the eyes of the rookie, didn’t have a strong work ethic. The rookie did so, not wanting to upset his coach, but was taken aback when Babcock told the players who had been listed at the bottom Wow. That is so messed up. The rookie was supposedly Mitch Marner. Edited November 25, 2019 by BillsFan4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted November 25, 2019 Share Posted November 25, 2019 4 hours ago, BillsFan4 said: Both the Bills and Sabres looked good for an entire game and won. On the same day. I think I may play the lottery tomorrow... lol. It's me. I thought the games were Monday and Tuesday. LoL... Totally missed tonight! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plenzmd1 Posted November 25, 2019 Share Posted November 25, 2019 6 hours ago, BillsFan4 said: https://torontosun.com/sports/hockey/reinvigorated-leafs-eager-to-keep-pushing-forward-with-keefe-at-helm#click=https://t.co/VTDUNsL3wC Wow. That is so messed up. The rookie was supposedly Mitch Marner. commodore has been killing him on twitter like i have never seen before..be interesting to see where he gets his next shot or just gets his $6m for the next 2 years and heads to cottage country Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4merper4mer Posted November 25, 2019 Share Posted November 25, 2019 9 hours ago, JohnC said: I was only able to see the last two periods in this game. I thought that Ullmark was our #1 star in this game. On this road trip the Sabres have played well against Boston and Florida, two good teams. That's encouraging. Is Vesey ever going to score? He has had good chances. However, I won't criticize him for his effort. He's a consistent high effort player. Good thing Botts went got a high effort guy that never ever scores for the first line. That's the way to build a team over time. 8 hours ago, JohnC said: I hope it will be sooner rather than later. I don't want Plez to continue being distraught and fall into the abyss of despair. The bitter chap needs some positive reinforcement. I'm not sure he will recognize it when it does happen. In two years he is going to be our second line center. I still believe that Millstadt will eventually be a good player. It's just going to take time. Just to clarify is "sooner" < or > the length of time it will take Seattle to contend? If the plan is to take into account that guys like Mittlestadt take forever to develop but eventually do, does that plan recognize that their free agent vesting process has developed as well? If he develops at the snail's pace you project, then when he is good the league will recognize it and his good years will be spent elsewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnC Posted November 25, 2019 Share Posted November 25, 2019 9 hours ago, BillsFan4 said: https://torontosun.com/sports/hockey/reinvigorated-leafs-eager-to-keep-pushing-forward-with-keefe-at-helm#click=https://t.co/VTDUNsL3wC Wow. That is so messed up. The rookie was supposedly Mitch Marner. I have a different take about the Babcock situation. It's not that his old school dictatorial and mind-game approach were malicious as much his old school methods ran its course and weren't as useful to the younger new age players. It appears that he no longer could relate to the players and the players could no longer relate to him. When Babcock was hired he jolted and energized a long-term struggling franchise. His harsher approach rather quickly took effect and brought order and discipline to a collection of individuals. This changing of the voice in the room is not unusual in the coaching ranks. Trotz had a successful run in both Nashville and Washington. In fact with Washington he won the Cup but couldn't come to a contract agreement. The organization wanted to give him a shorter term on his new contract because they realized that his voice on a longer term contract would grow stale with his younger modern era players. Trotz has done a marvelous job with the Islanders. But don't be surprised when in a couple to few years his tightly disciplined style of play and coaching loses its resonance with the players. My basic point is that there is a shelf-life with coaches and even players on teams. When that happens it is time to move on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shrader Posted November 25, 2019 Share Posted November 25, 2019 The stuff with Commodore is so odd because their time spent together is such a small blip on the radar that was his entire career. It's kind of impressive how much venom he's built up during so little time. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsFan4 Posted November 25, 2019 Author Share Posted November 25, 2019 1 hour ago, shrader said: The stuff with Commodore is so odd because their time spent together is such a small blip on the radar that was his entire career. It's kind of impressive how much venom he's built up during so little time. Commodore blames Babcock for ending his career. https://971theticket.radio.com/articles/former-red-wing-mike-commodore-rips-mike-babcock-i-would-kick-bleep-out-guy Quote On the morning of July 1, five minutes into free agency, his phone rings. The Red Wings have an offer: 1 year, $1 million. Commodore is friendly with then-GM Ken Holland. He's always wanted to play for the Wings. It's the perfect scenario, except for one tiny detail: Babcock. So Commodore calls his agent and says, "No fuc*ing way. I'm not going to Detroit." His agent tells him he has 15 minutes to make up his mind for sure. Then Detroit's taking the offer off the table. "I'm like, you gotta be fuc*ing kidding me. 15 minutes, free agency just started. Even if another team kind of likes me they’re not even thinking about calling me for like, two weeks. So I hang up the phone, call Ken Holland and I'm like, 'I would love to play for you. I would love to play in Detroit. I always enjoyed going in, even when we got our asses kicked. I love the city, I think Joe Louis is awesome. You always make the playoffs. I would like to play there. But you what I think about Babcock. We had beers at your golf tournament and I was fuc*ing ripping on him. You know what I think of him. Does he want me on the team or not?'" He really does, Holland says. Commodore asks for Babcock's number. "So I call that piece of sh*t, and now I’ve got like 10 minutes left. He’s like, 'Hey, Commy.' I didn’t say this, but I'm like, don’t call me 'Commy,' you piece of sh*t. We’re not friends. And I’m like, 'Mike, please be honest with me. Do you want me on your hockey team or not? If you don’t, if you're just getting me in here because you want to fu*k me over and end my career, please be honest with me. I just won’t sign. I won’t say anything, no hard feelings. But I know this is my last chance. I need to know wherever I go that I’m going to get an opportunity.'" We need you, Babcock tells him. We need a physical presence. We need a right-handed defenseman to play with Lidstrom. "I’m like, 'Mike, please. I understand this is my last chance. Please be honest with me. I asked him again, 'Do you want me on your team? Am I going to get a decent opportunity? I don’t need to get fuc*ed right away.' He’s like, 'I want you on my team.' I hang up the phone, call my agent and I'm like, 'This guy’s going to fu*k me, for sure.' "He’s like, 'Well, Detroit is going to make the playoffs, you’re going to get an opportunity. I think you should take him at his word.' And then I’m thinking, 'Well, I get to play with Nick Lidstrom, literally all I would have to do is go D to D all year and that’d be 35, 40 points. I’m back (in free agency), maybe another five year deal, I’m rolling again.' That’s what’s going through my head. So I'm sitting there, I got a couple minutes left, and I’m like, you know what, I'm going to take this guy at his word and sign there." There more to the story if you click the link. He played for Babcock twice. Once in Anaheim and once in Detroit. There was friction in Anaheim too (story in the link). I take what Commodore says with a grain of salt, but it’s an interesting read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnC Posted November 25, 2019 Share Posted November 25, 2019 In a preview to the Tampa game WGR's Paul Hamilton indicates that Dea will be called up from Rochester. Although it is likely that Hutton will be in net it appears that based on the stats Ullmark is moving ahead of Hutton as our #1 goalie. Stamkos may not play in this game, and it is evident that Tampa is getting back on track. https://wgr550.radio.com/articles/news/the-sabres-bring-up-js-dea-from-rochester 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbb Posted November 25, 2019 Share Posted November 25, 2019 This game tonight is giving me Stockholm Syndrome 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T&C Posted November 26, 2019 Share Posted November 26, 2019 Bud of mine is at the game... ten miles away as the crow flies from here... said its like 1/3 Sabres fans. Tied so far... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GG Posted November 26, 2019 Share Posted November 26, 2019 Good thing this team was built from defense out. Best way to protect a late second period lead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zow2 Posted November 26, 2019 Share Posted November 26, 2019 Time to find a real #1 goalie. or start playing Linus 4 out of every 5 games. The Sabres goaltender gets outplayed by the opponents goalie seemingly every single game. It’s the easiest one player position to fix. Fix it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4merper4mer Posted November 26, 2019 Share Posted November 26, 2019 5 minutes ago, zow2 said: Time to find a real #1 goalie. or start playing Linus 4 out of every 5 games. The Sabres goaltender gets outplayed by the opponents goalie seemingly every single game. It’s the easiest one player position to fix. Fix it Both goalies are above average NHL backups. Botts plan is to wait 7 years for the kid with the 84 letter last name develop. That should make us ready to contend for the 8 seed 5 years after that. In the mean time we can watch Eichel's career waste away. If you can convince yourself that pickups like Vesey and Sheary are part of a solution to anything, the goaltender situation is very easy by comparison. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnC Posted November 26, 2019 Share Posted November 26, 2019 (edited) Lance Lysowski's column covering the game indicates that Dahlin suffered a concussion. I doubt that he will be playing in the upcoming games. https://buffalonews.com/2019/11/25/buffalo-sabres-tampa-bay-lightning-rasmus-dahlin-ralph-krueger-jack-eichel-zach-bogosian-nhl-news-2019/ The below link is WGR's Paul Hamilton column on the game. https://wgr550.radio.com/articles/news/the-sabres-implode-in-tampa-bay Edited November 26, 2019 by JohnC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4merper4mer Posted November 26, 2019 Share Posted November 26, 2019 4 minutes ago, JohnC said: Lance Lysowski's column covering the game indicates that Dahlin suffered a concussion. I doubt that he will be playing in the upcoming games. https://buffalonews.com/2019/11/25/buffalo-sabres-tampa-bay-lightning-rasmus-dahlin-ralph-krueger-jack-eichel-zach-bogosian-nhl-news-2019/ Tough break for the kid but it happens. Luckily we have 14 defensemen. If it was Eichel with an injury we might not score a goal until he returned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
May Day 10 Posted November 26, 2019 Share Posted November 26, 2019 Just awful The team all pretends to have not seen what happened and refuses to give an opinion on it like it is politics or something. No emotion, feckless team. There is no bottom GREAT trade of ECHL players earlier in the week though. A+ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4merper4mer Posted November 26, 2019 Share Posted November 26, 2019 5 minutes ago, May Day 10 said: Just awful The team all pretends to have not seen what happened and refuses to give an opinion on it like it is politics or something. No emotion, feckless team. There is no bottom GREAT trade of ECHL players earlier in the week though. A+ Botts is hosting Thanksgiving this year and watching the Bills game. Dealing with his mother in law takes a lot of prep. Cut him some slack. The trend is upwards. Right on pace for a 2025-26 playoff appearance. Luckily we won't have to face Seattle because they are in the west. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nextmanup Posted November 26, 2019 Share Posted November 26, 2019 4 hours ago, May Day 10 said: Just awful The team all pretends to have not seen what happened and refuses to give an opinion on it like it is politics or something. No emotion, feckless team. There is no bottom GREAT trade of ECHL players earlier in the week though. A+ Actually I think we are pretty close to dead rock bottom right now. Not everyone gets this, yet, but the team we have assembled now is going to need to be stripped clean and built again. For the 3rd time. I don't think Botterill will be given the privilege of overseeing the next rebuild. Question is when does he get the boot? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsFan4 Posted November 26, 2019 Author Share Posted November 26, 2019 (edited) Boy, all hell breaking loose for the flames head coach as Calgary comes to town. I guess Bill Peters is still at the hotel. His assistant is running practice at the rink in Buffalo. Seems like about 1/2 a dozen people have come forward against Peters in the last day. This is what started it all - https://www.tsn.ca/akim-aliu-speaks-publicly-on-allegations-against-calgary-flames-head-coach-bill-peters-1.1403974 I wonder if Skinner will have anything to say. I’m sure they’ll ask him about Peters. He played for him for 4 years iirc. Edit - and another... Edited November 26, 2019 by BillsFan4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4merper4mer Posted November 26, 2019 Share Posted November 26, 2019 2 hours ago, Nextmanup said: Actually I think we are pretty close to dead rock bottom right now. Not everyone gets this, yet, but the team we have assembled now is going to need to be stripped clean and built again. For the 3rd time. I don't think Botterill will be given the privilege of overseeing the next rebuild. Question is when does he get the boot? Every minute Botts is here is a wasted minute. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsFan4 Posted November 26, 2019 Author Share Posted November 26, 2019 Looking forward to seeing this! I remember many of the Domi vs. Ray fights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnC Posted November 27, 2019 Share Posted November 27, 2019 (edited) 3 hours ago, BillsFan4 said: Boy, all hell breaking loose for the flames head coach as Calgary comes to town. I guess Bill Peters is still at the hotel. His assistant is running practice at the rink in Buffalo. Seems like about 1/2 a dozen people have come forward against Peters in the last day. This is what started it all - https://www.tsn.ca/akim-aliu-speaks-publicly-on-allegations-against-calgary-flames-head-coach-bill-peters-1.1403974 I wonder if Skinner will have anything to say. I’m sure they’ll ask him about Peters. He played for him for 4 years iirc. Edit - and another... Hockey less so than many other sports was late to adjust to the modern world of diversity in the work place. Just like the SEC and many southern schools lagged behind other conferences to accepting diversity at the schools and sporting fields. There are a lot less of those coaching dinosaurs left in the sport but there is still a remnant that do exist but are quickly dying off. Edited November 27, 2019 by JohnC 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnC Posted November 27, 2019 Share Posted November 27, 2019 WGR's Brayton Wilson reported that Erik Cernak is receiving a two game suspension for the hit on Dahlin. https://wgr550.radio.com/articles/news/nhl-suspends-erik-cernak-two-games-for-hit-on-dahlin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsFan4 Posted November 27, 2019 Author Share Posted November 27, 2019 https://wgr550.radio.com/media/audio-channel/11-26-sportsnets-elliotte-friedman-with-the-instigators Elliotte Friedman on WGR today. Mentions some stuff about buffalo trades around the 8-9 minute mark. Says Scandella’s name is out there. Maybe Miller too. Buffalo looking for the best forward they can get. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnC Posted November 27, 2019 Share Posted November 27, 2019 1 minute ago, BillsFan4 said: https://wgr550.radio.com/media/audio-channel/11-26-sportsnets-elliotte-friedman-with-the-instigators Elliotte Friedman on WGR today. Mentions some stuff about buffalo trades around the 8-9 minute mark. Says Scandella’s name is out there. Maybe Miller too. Buffalo looking for the best forward they can get. I know a lot of the critics here disagree with me but the Sabres in many of their losses are not getting outclassed. In the last three rugged road games the Sabres played mostly even with the opposition (except for specialty units). The biggest deficiency is the inability to convert their chances when they arise. Adding a solid to good shooting forward or two would be a tremendous addition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4merper4mer Posted November 27, 2019 Share Posted November 27, 2019 31 minutes ago, JohnC said: I know a lot of the critics here disagree with me but the Sabres in many of their losses are not getting outclassed. In the last three rugged road games the Sabres played mostly even with the opposition (except for specialty units). The biggest deficiency is the inability to convert their chances when they arise. Adding a solid to good shooting forward or two would be a tremendous addition. 2-8-2 "Not getting outclassed in many losses" is quite the standard. Only outclassed in some of our losses. Other losses happen for other reasons. Dude, we've won 2 of our last 12. Yesterday's lineup had 6 viable NHL players at forward and one was a defenseman. Add back Johansen and you're back to 6. Maybe a couple can be inevitable fringe/role players but overall the roster is inexcusable. I get that dangling Scandella and Miller can't be expected to return much. The time to build a viable roster is not November and it's not 2025. The time has past for Botts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plenzmd1 Posted November 27, 2019 Share Posted November 27, 2019 I know we have said it before , but next 4 days are really critical for the Sabres. Struggling Calgary team with a bunch of folks in the stands who this may be there one Sabre game of the year, back to back against the Leafs. Man, what does TPegs do if they come out of here with less than 2 points? man, what a mess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnC Posted November 27, 2019 Share Posted November 27, 2019 44 minutes ago, plenzmd1 said: I know we have said it before , but next 4 days are really critical for the Sabres. Struggling Calgary team with a bunch of folks in the stands who this may be there one Sabre game of the year, back to back against the Leafs. Man, what does TPegs do if they come out of here with less than 2 points? man, what a mess. We recently lost to Boston and Tampa. Both of them are legitimate cup contending teams. We lost two road games to teams that are from a talent standpoint at the top of the pyramid. So why is it such a disaster to lose to either one of theses games? In fact, I will go so far as to say that I thought we slightly outplayed Boston. Toronto is another team that from a talent standpoint is in the upper tier. They have gone through some internal turmoil that resulted in their curmudgeon coach getting fired. But it shouldn't be surprising that once that source of conflict has been removed that this team stabilizes and plays to its talent level which is better than our hometown team. I agree with you that a loss to Calgary would be devastating and should send some chills through the organization, starting with the owner's box. I have repeatedly told you that the issue that afflicts this franchise is the issue of talent. We are getting better but we are not there yet. Whether you accept the reality or not it takes time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GG Posted November 27, 2019 Share Posted November 27, 2019 6 minutes ago, JohnC said: We recently lost to Boston and Tampa. Both of them are legitimate cup contending teams. We lost two road games to teams that are from a talent standpoint at the top of the pyramid. So why is it such a disaster to lose to either one of theses games? In fact, I will go so far as to say that I thought we slightly outplayed Boston. Toronto is another team that from a talent standpoint is in the upper tier. They have gone through some internal turmoil that resulted in their curmudgeon coach getting fired. But it shouldn't be surprising that once that source of conflict has been removed that this team stabilizes and plays to its talent level which is better than our hometown team. I agree with you that a loss to Calgary would be devastating and should send some chills through the organization, starting with the owner's box. I have repeatedly told you that the issue that afflicts this franchise is the issue of talent. We are getting better but we are not there yet. Whether you accept the reality or not it takes time. Conveniently ignoring the losses to Wild & Hawks? What's the excuse there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsFan4 Posted November 27, 2019 Author Share Posted November 27, 2019 Bill Peters won’t be behind the Calgary bench tonight. His assistant, Geoff Ward, will be running things. I believe it’ll be his first time ever running an NHL bench/team. I am really hoping to see the Sabres come out and play with intensity. They should be fired up to take advantage of an already struggling team that’s now in further disarray, losing their head coach (for tonight at least) to a developing scandal that’s the talk of the entire hockey world. I want to see some desperation (from our players) to get in the win column. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4merper4mer Posted November 27, 2019 Share Posted November 27, 2019 2 hours ago, GG said: Conveniently ignoring the losses to Wild & Hawks? What's the excuse there? Maybe the g force from our upward trajectory made us dizzy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsFan4 Posted November 27, 2019 Author Share Posted November 27, 2019 https://wgr550.radio.com/articles/news/we-cant-accept-the-results-because-of-how-weve-played Krueger on WGR today. Sounds like Johansson could be back in the lineup tonight. Quote Krueger on the injury status of Marcus Johansson: "We're going to take a look at him today. He stayed back here in Buffalo [during the road trip]. We worked together with him and our rehab team in Buffalo, and it looks like he's progressed positively. We hope that the pregame skate goes well today, so he's still a question mark for tonight, but I would say more on the positive side of seeing him in the lineup." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnC Posted November 27, 2019 Share Posted November 27, 2019 4 hours ago, GG said: Conveniently ignoring the losses to Wild & Hawks? What's the excuse there? The Wild was a bad loss. The Sabres were inexcusably flat while the Wild were the more energetic team. There was no excuse for that. The Hawks were at home and were starting to play well. Losing to them on a back to back game was more understandable. The Sabres have talent deficiencies mostly associated with a lack of dispersed scoring that has plagued this team. Until that issue is addressed this team will not noticeably move up the ranks. As I have often said the determining issue is a lack of talent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnC Posted November 27, 2019 Share Posted November 27, 2019 Krueger was on a WGR six minute segment. https://wgr550.radio.com/media/audio-channel/11-27-sabres-head-coach-ralph-krueger-with-howard-and-jeremy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnC Posted November 27, 2019 Share Posted November 27, 2019 Darren Dreger was on WGR's Instigator show. He talked about the Calgary coaching situation and the Babcock firing. This is a 12 min. segment. https://wgr550.radio.com/media/audio-channel/11-27-tsns-darren-dreger-with-the-instigators 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4merper4mer Posted November 28, 2019 Share Posted November 28, 2019 The time for crying is over. Now it's just all laughing until Botts is gone or Eichel asks out. One of those two things is inevitable. There will be tears of joy or sadness depending on which happens. The inabilty to assemble a team that can handle one of the league's worst, while they are in turmoil, on our home ice demands some accountability. Why are we to believe if he was given 100 years that he could assemble a championship team? He was spotted Eichel and lotteried a no brainer first overall and it's a string of horrible seasons. This is simply not a team on the upswing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billsfanmiami(oh) Posted November 28, 2019 Share Posted November 28, 2019 They suck. Blow it up yet again, Botts needs to go. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsFan4 Posted November 28, 2019 Author Share Posted November 28, 2019 So.... 1 win in the entire month of November with 2 more games to go (both against the leafs in a back to back). That’s just beyond brutal. It’s not even thanksgiving and im pretty much already mentally checked out on this season. Sick of being a Sabres fan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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