shrader Posted March 6, 2020 Share Posted March 6, 2020 1 hour ago, K-9 said: Ouch. That says a lot more about mentally weak players than it does their talent level. Every year, post all star break when the games get tighter as teams gear up for the stretch and get into playoff mode, this team crumbles. That’s gonna be a lot harder to fix than just by adding new players. To be fair, they had already crumbled by the point those other teams were gearing up for the stretch. I don't think rubble can crumble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K-9 Posted March 6, 2020 Share Posted March 6, 2020 41 minutes ago, shrader said: To be fair, they had already crumbled by the point those other teams were gearing up for the stretch. I don't think rubble can crumble. Oh, no doubt. It’s just that they do this year after year after year. Ever since Bylsma in fact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsFan4 Posted March 6, 2020 Author Share Posted March 6, 2020 3 hours ago, K-9 said: Ouch. That says a lot more about mentally weak players than it does their talent level. Every year, post all star break when the games get tighter as teams gear up for the stretch and get into playoff mode, this team crumbles. That’s gonna be a lot harder to fix than just by adding new players. It’s crazy how they just seem to continually crumble when there’s even the slightest expectations. It seems to happen year after year after year. I don’t think they’ve finished better than 8th last since before 2012. It’s like the more things change, the more they stay the same. They have to be the least ‘clutch’ team in the NHL. There are some deep rooted problems with this team for sure. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plenzmd1 Posted March 6, 2020 Share Posted March 6, 2020 48 minutes ago, BillsFan4 said: It’s crazy how they just seem to continually crumble when there’s even the slightest expectations. It seems to happen year after year after year. I don’t think they’ve finished better than 8th last since before 2012. It’s like the more things change, the more they stay the same. They have to be the least ‘clutch’ team in the NHL. There are some deep rooted problems with this team for sure. I can remember vividly a couple of things 1) Disco Dans first year..2nd half was at a 95 point pace and man did things look ever so promising. 2) 2nd year, coming out of their bye week i think they were 4 pts back of a spot, with two games in hand, playing the Avalanche and Coyotes on back to nights, at that time the worst 2 teams in the NHL. This is the year the Lanche netted a whole 48pts! And they lose both games, season over, and i think that two day stretch that started this whole tailspin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurker Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 3 hours ago, BillsFan4 said: It’s crazy how they just seem to continually crumble when there’s even the slightest expectations. It seems to happen year after year after year. I don’t think they’ve finished better than 8th last since before 2012. It’s like the more things change, the more they stay the same. They have to be the least ‘clutch’ team in the NHL. There are some deep rooted problems with this team for sure. Not that hard to understand. It's a lack of talent. When other teams start to elevate their games to get ready for the playoffs, the Sabres can't do it. They can press on the gas pedal to the floor, but as as a Yugo, they get passed by better cars... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnC Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 4 hours ago, BillsFan4 said: It’s crazy how they just seem to continually crumble when there’s even the slightest expectations. It seems to happen year after year after year. I don’t think they’ve finished better than 8th last since before 2012. It’s like the more things change, the more they stay the same. They have to be the least ‘clutch’ team in the NHL. There are some deep rooted problems with this team for sure. As Lurker pointed out in his response to you the defining issue is the level of talent simply doesn't match the teams that bypassed us. Compared to most teams not only is this roster less complete but as the season grinds on the lack of depth comes into play. Over the past few years the Sabres lacked a quality defensive corps and enough scoring talent spread around the roster. Our defensive corps has been upgraded to the point that it has some extra talent that could be offered in a deal to better out the roster. I wouldn't be surprised if Risto is traded for a second-line forward. So with that unit there is an upgrade and progress. The secondary scoring issue still is inadequate. As I see it not having a credible second line is a glaring deficiency that has crippled us. Until a couple of second-line players are added to complement/support Skinner this team is not going anywhere. Even with a unit that doesn't have enough scoring beyond the first line what has been crushing this team the most this year is the inadequate play of its goaltenders. Yesterday's game against the Penguins certainly illustrated that point. I'm not saying that the Sabres are better than the Penguins because they clearly are not. But when you watched that game the difference wasn't the five on five play as it was giving up those soft goals that can deflate a team that has trouble scoring. If you take an overview of this season and assess the play of our goaltenders and the play of our PK unit are major factors for this disappointing season. Assuming the GM is retained can he fix those units and make this team more competitive? The shame of the goaltending issue is that if we had the cleaned up Lehner of today instead of the troubled Lehner when he was a Sabre this team would be in a better position. If you want to make this roster more mentally tough the solution is to add more talent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardhatharry Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 Checking in and I see the GM still has not been fired yet. Why even have a hockey team if they are never going to succeed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsFan4 Posted March 7, 2020 Author Share Posted March 7, 2020 Probably nothing more than him trying to get away from all the negativity on social media w/r/t the Sabres. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsFan4 Posted March 7, 2020 Author Share Posted March 7, 2020 Details - https://eyesonisles.com/2020/03/04/islanders-johnny-boychuk-injury-update-90-stitches/ Sounds like he was pretry lucky, all things considered. He could have lost an eye. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plenzmd1 Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 3 hours ago, BillsFan4 said: Probably nothing more than him trying to get away from all the negativity on social media w/r/t the Sabres. Saw this last night... man this sucks. Can you just imagine if he begs out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4merper4mer Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 5 hours ago, plenzmd1 said: Saw this last night... man this sucks. Can you just imagine if he begs out? Should we question his inability to see the upward trajectory we're clearly on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plenzmd1 Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 5 minutes ago, 4merper4mer said: Should we question his inability to see the upward trajectory we're clearly on? That “ upward trajectory” now has us tied for 6th from the bottom, with openly tanking Devils. Should be no worries for San Jose and Anaheim to pass the Sabres, the tricky team is the Senators. Think they have a very good shot at pushing the Sabres into a top 3 slot, but they play the other stinky teams out there this week, so should be an interesting fight to get to the 3 slot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4merper4mer Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 (edited) 13 minutes ago, plenzmd1 said: That “ upward trajectory” now has us tied for 6th from the bottom, with openly tanking Devils. Should be no worries for San Jose and Anaheim to pass the Sabres, the tricky team is the Senators. Think they have a very good shot at pushing the Sabres into a top 3 slot, but they play the other stinky teams out there this week, so should be an interesting fight to get to the 3 slot. But do they have a genius GM that is sticking to a plan? But they can't be bottom 3. Kings, Wings, Sharks, Ducks. This year was the 50th. In our 51st Bots has us positioned to tie the longest playoff drought in NHL history and if he chases Eichel out of town, we can set a new standard the following year. Edited March 7, 2020 by 4merper4mer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plenzmd1 Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 1 hour ago, 4merper4mer said: But do they have a genius GM that is sticking to a plan? But they can't be bottom 3. Kings, Wings, Sharks, Ducks. This year was the 50th. In our 51st Bots has us positioned to tie the longest playoff drought in NHL history and if he chases Eichel out of town, we can set a new standard the following year. Ducks and Sharks in striking distance once you look at upcoming schedules and the this Sabres group history of folding Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsFan4 Posted March 7, 2020 Author Share Posted March 7, 2020 1 hour ago, plenzmd1 said: Ducks and Sharks in striking distance once you look at upcoming schedules and the this Sabres group history of folding Yep. Bottom 5 seems very possible. NJ is currently tied with Buffalo. Ducks are only 2 points behind (with 1 more game played), and the sharks are 4 points behind, but they recently won 3 straight games. I don’t see Ottawa (60pts) or LA (58pts) catching buffalo so they’re probably safe from a bottom 3 finish. No way anyone catches Detroit for last. They only have 37 points. They are worse than the 2013 Sabres tank team. Crazy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K-9 Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 10 hours ago, plenzmd1 said: Saw this last night... man this sucks. Can you just imagine if he begs out? I thinks it’s much ado about nothing. Eichel very rarely posted anything on either platform and when he did it was usually about hockey or the Pats***. I can see disgruntled fans posting unsolicited crap to his account though. I’d close my accounts, too, for that reason alone if I used either social media sites. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cripple Creek Posted March 7, 2020 Share Posted March 7, 2020 On 3/6/2020 at 12:00 PM, GG said: Stolen from Sabrespace. Btw, it's now 48 games and 5 regulation wins! Their upward trajectory give me reason for optimism. On 3/6/2020 at 1:41 PM, JohnC said: Attached is a link of Paul Hamilton on WGR. This is a 12 minute link. The last part of the segment Paul H. reports that the GM's strategy to rebuild the team still revolves around the "draft and develop" approach as the centerpiece of the upgrading of the roster. This link is informative as to what the GM's mindset is toward rebuilding the roster. If you only want to listen to a portion of it the 9 min to the end of the segment is the most interesting. https://wgr550.radio.com/media/audio-channel/03-06-paul-hamilton-with-howard-and-jeremy Does Paul offer up his best guess for when the rebuild will be over? 21 hours ago, BillsFan4 said: It’s crazy how they just seem to continually crumble when there’s even the slightest expectations. It seems to happen year after year after year. I don’t think they’ve finished better than 8th last since before 2012. It’s like the more things change, the more they stay the same. They have to be the least ‘clutch’ team in the NHL. There are some deep rooted problems with this team for sure. Their trajectory is upward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lurker Posted March 8, 2020 Share Posted March 8, 2020 Hutton BLOWS! That is all.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plenzmd1 Posted March 8, 2020 Share Posted March 8, 2020 For those still paying attention, Ottawa beats Sharks in OT. Awesome result for the Sabres. Sabres have a great shot to be bottom 3 still! bonus is they will pay a cap penalty next year! That is GMing 4d chess style, and was all in the plan y’all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
May Day 10 Posted March 8, 2020 Share Posted March 8, 2020 (edited) For some of the game, they were within 1 goal of a team that has won a lot of games recently Botterill is going over to niagara awards in the falls to get little trophies made to give them for the effort Edited March 8, 2020 by May Day 10 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cripple Creek Posted March 8, 2020 Share Posted March 8, 2020 Upward? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4merper4mer Posted March 8, 2020 Share Posted March 8, 2020 7 hours ago, plenzmd1 said: For those still paying attention, Ottawa beats Sharks in OT. Awesome result for the Sabres. Sabres have a great shot to be bottom 3 still! bonus is they will pay a cap penalty next year! That is GMing 4d chess style, and was all in the plan y’all! It is like the Baltimore Orioles paying a luxury tax. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helpmenow Posted March 8, 2020 Share Posted March 8, 2020 Eichel will ask to be traded. I wouldn’t blame him. 4 hours ago, Cripple Creek said: Upward? Dan disco is laughing 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GG Posted March 8, 2020 Share Posted March 8, 2020 3 minutes ago, Helpmenow said: Eichel will ask to be traded. I wouldn’t blame him. Dan disco is laughing You think Eichel is having remourse for helping push Dan out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsFan4 Posted March 8, 2020 Author Share Posted March 8, 2020 https://www.nhl.com/standings/2019/league New Jersey just passed the Sabres in he standings. Buffalo is now 6th last. Anaheim is 2 points behind. San Jose is 3 points behind and have won 3 of 4. Ottawa 4 points behind and picking up points regularly. LA is 6 points behind and have won 5 straight. And Buffalo has a tough schedule coming up. 3 games against WSH. 2 more against PHI. 2 against CAR. 1 against Boston. Plus, these teams behind buffalo in the standings just don’t have the tanking experience buffalo does. They’re all rookies compared to the Sabres. Nobody finishes off a tank job like the Sabres do... ? A bottom 2-3 finish seems like a realistic possibility. I still can’t bring myself to root for losses. I want them to win. But the top of this draft does look pretty good. Ugh. So depressing to be looking toward the draft once again. Every season I think they are done tanking, and ever6 season I am wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spun Posted March 9, 2020 Share Posted March 9, 2020 Reaching for a positive, Dylan Cozens is 6th in WHL scoring while everyone ahead of him has played more games than him. He will head to the pros next year which I hope includes a start with the Amerks. https://whl.ca/stats/players/270/1/points I miss the olden days when the Sabres made the playoffs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apuszczalowski Posted March 9, 2020 Share Posted March 9, 2020 (edited) 19 hours ago, BillsFan4 said: https://www.nhl.com/standings/2019/league New Jersey just passed the Sabres in he standings. Buffalo is now 6th last. Anaheim is 2 points behind. San Jose is 3 points behind and have won 3 of 4. Ottawa 4 points behind and picking up points regularly. LA is 6 points behind and have won 5 straight. And Buffalo has a tough schedule coming up. 3 games against WSH. 2 more against PHI. 2 against CAR. 1 against Boston. Plus, these teams behind buffalo in the standings just don’t have the tanking experience buffalo does. They’re all rookies compared to the Sabres. Nobody finishes off a tank job like the Sabres do... ? A bottom 2-3 finish seems like a realistic possibility. I still can’t bring myself to root for losses. I want them to win. But the top of this draft does look pretty good. Ugh. So depressing to be looking toward the draft once again. Every season I think they are done tanking, and ever6 season I am wrong. So they were just passed by the team that traded them Simmonds, the veteran who was going to provide them the veteran presence to help get them into meaningful games in March and make the playoffs..... Edited March 9, 2020 by apuszczalowski Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlimShady'sSpaceForce Posted March 9, 2020 Share Posted March 9, 2020 (edited) this is for @ExiledInIllinois and EII only LETS GO CAPS To the rest of you Good luck tonight Edited March 9, 2020 by SlimShady'sGhost Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridgewaycynic2013 Posted March 9, 2020 Share Posted March 9, 2020 On 3/8/2020 at 8:09 AM, May Day 10 said: Botterill is going over to niagara awards in the falls to get little trophies made to give them for the effort If the team doesn’t start to win, Botterill will soon be going over Niagara Falls, put there by the fans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
May Day 10 Posted March 9, 2020 Share Posted March 9, 2020 (edited) Every part of it is amazing to me. The fact that they are very likely to again finish behind either of the Tim Murray/Bylsma seasons, after 3 years of this 3D chess 'cap wizard'. Ottawa, the team who was a laughing stock with all sorts of toxic player issues, and giving up a lottery pick for nothing (people would excuse the Sabres of poor performance for 10 years if they did this), is now only 4 points behind the Sabres and actually look better. Ottawa has 3 first rounders, very possibly all lottery picks.... and 2 of them are likely to be top-5. They have 4 second rounders, 2 thirds, fourth, fifth, and sixth. In 2021, they have a first, 3 seconds, and a 4th through 7th. Sabres? 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, and 2 7ths. 2021, 1st, 2nd, 4th, 6th, 7th Indisputably, Ottawa has a better pool of prospects than Buffalo. They have been rebuilding for 1 year. Great asset management "Botts". Detroit will be next to pick themselves up in record time, while here, we argue whether a rebuild needs to take 5 or 10 years. Edited March 9, 2020 by May Day 10 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsFan4 Posted March 9, 2020 Author Share Posted March 9, 2020 1 hour ago, apuszczalowski said: So they were just passed by the team that traded them Simmonds, the veteran who was going to provide them the veteran presence to help get them into meaningful games in March and make the playoffs..... New Jersey also sold off their best player (Taylor Hall) and another one of their best forwards this season (Blake Coleman). But as I said, they just don’t have the tanking experience Buffalo does. They’re rookies at it. The Sabres on the other hand are like the New England Patriots of tanking. They are grizzled veterans. They know what it takes to close out a tank down the stretch... ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ridgewaycynic2013 Posted March 9, 2020 Share Posted March 9, 2020 33 minutes ago, May Day 10 said: Detroit will be next to pick themselves up in record time, while here, we argue whether a rebuild needs to take 5 or 10 years. We could always go for the ‘Atlanta Option’. Let 2 franchises leave, hope for a third to be awarded to get it right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbb Posted March 9, 2020 Share Posted March 9, 2020 So, what are the draft lottery rules this year? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4merper4mer Posted March 9, 2020 Share Posted March 9, 2020 1 hour ago, May Day 10 said: Every part of it is amazing to me. The fact that they are very likely to again finish behind either of the Tim Murray/Bylsma seasons, after 3 years of this 3D chess 'cap wizard'. Ottawa, the team who was a laughing stock with all sorts of toxic player issues, and giving up a lottery pick for nothing (people would excuse the Sabres of poor performance for 10 years if they did this), is now only 4 points behind the Sabres and actually look better. Ottawa has 3 first rounders, very possibly all lottery picks.... and 2 of them are likely to be top-5. They have 4 second rounders, 2 thirds, fourth, fifth, and sixth. In 2021, they have a first, 3 seconds, and a 4th through 7th. Sabres? 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, and 2 7ths. 2021, 1st, 2nd, 4th, 6th, 7th Indisputably, Ottawa has a better pool of prospects than Buffalo. They have been rebuilding for 1 year. Great asset management "Botts". Detroit will be next to pick themselves up in record time, while here, we argue whether a rebuild needs to take 5 or 10 years. Exacatickly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsFan4 Posted March 9, 2020 Author Share Posted March 9, 2020 5 hours ago, bbb said: So, what are the draft lottery rules this year? This site is great for the draft lottery. It tells you the odds for each team/draft position. http://www.tankathon.com/nhl The odds are: last place team 18.5%, 2nd last 13.5%, then 11.5%, 9.5%, 8.5%, 7.5% (Sabres current odds), 6.5, 6, 5, 3.5, 3, 2.5, 2, 1.5, 1. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jauronimo Posted March 9, 2020 Share Posted March 9, 2020 7 hours ago, May Day 10 said: Every part of it is amazing to me. The fact that they are very likely to again finish behind either of the Tim Murray/Bylsma seasons, after 3 years of this 3D chess 'cap wizard'. Ottawa, the team who was a laughing stock with all sorts of toxic player issues, and giving up a lottery pick for nothing (people would excuse the Sabres of poor performance for 10 years if they did this), is now only 4 points behind the Sabres and actually look better. Ottawa has 3 first rounders, very possibly all lottery picks.... and 2 of them are likely to be top-5. They have 4 second rounders, 2 thirds, fourth, fifth, and sixth. In 2021, they have a first, 3 seconds, and a 4th through 7th. Sabres? 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, and 2 7ths. 2021, 1st, 2nd, 4th, 6th, 7th Indisputably, Ottawa has a better pool of prospects than Buffalo. They have been rebuilding for 1 year. Great asset management "Botts". Detroit will be next to pick themselves up in record time, while here, we argue whether a rebuild needs to take 5 or 10 years. Ten! Anyone who says otherwise simply has no clue about the cap and trajectories and talent! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4merper4mer Posted March 10, 2020 Share Posted March 10, 2020 As bad as they are as a team, Eichel and Dahlin working together on the PP is pretty terrific. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K-9 Posted March 10, 2020 Share Posted March 10, 2020 Welcome back, Linus. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsFan4 Posted March 10, 2020 Author Share Posted March 10, 2020 Really nice to have Ullmark back. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnC Posted March 10, 2020 Share Posted March 10, 2020 The first star in this game belongs to Ullmark. Beyond his stops what made his performance outstanding is that he gave up few juicy rebounds. Ullmark was exceptional in the shootout. In this game he played as if he is a #1 goalie. Is he a #1 goalie? I'm not sure---that still needs to be determined. What is clearly evident is that for the remaining part of the season he is our primary goaltender and Hutton is the backup. I thought that our defensive corps played well in this game. The Kahun pickup is a good pickup. I thought the goalie interference call on Skinner although technically correct was a marginal and bad judgment call. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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