I thought Larry Quinn was the worst thing to happen to Sabres Hockey. I was wrong.

[elchud]

Dahlins a healthy kid under team control for another 5 or 6 years, I forget which. He and Mitts are pals. With Eichel/Reinhart as it is, maybe the best play is to tell Dahlin that its his team and give him an Eichel contract this offseason.

Mitts, I think, would embrace being the 1C. I'm sure he's positive about his future outlook, and given the past few years, that has to be more meaningful than whether or not the Sabres make the playoffs next year.

Dylan's too young to say anything significant, and he ought to be embarrassed to say anything controversial. Yukon kid and all.

 

[TalkingProuder]

Remember when people said it couldn't get worse?

Time for Terry and Kim Pegula to take ownership of the mess they made. Time for them to answer some questions. And if they don't care about the Sabres now that they own the Bills sell the team to someone who does care.

Buffalo fans deserve that.

 

[Bones Malone]

Anyone want to chip in on a billboard on the 190 that says something to the effect of "Sell The Sabres!" maybe with a little tagline "Terry & Kim, We Know More Than You"

 

[Jeremy2020]

I'm curious for all the people pounding the table for them to sell the team...who are legitimate buyers out there with an interest to keep them in Buffalo?

 

[BloFan4Life]

I'm curious for all the people pounding the table for them to sell the team...who are legitimate buyers out there with an interest to keep them in Buffalo?

No one is interested in an NHL team with the health of league. I think people are going to be disbelief on how much money teams lost in the NHL this season. Also, those new TV contracts are laughable for what other leagues recently got on their TV deals, and the way inflation in going. The league is in a very bad place.

People siding with players paid millions of dollars to perform, and don't perform is honestly baffling to me. Maybe if players like Eichel, Skinner, Reinhart, and Risto performed to what they were expected to on a constant basis, we wouldn't be constantly changing coaches/GMs.

 

[2 others]

They can still get worse. Next season is about the quest for 32nd place. Let's make history again.
Therefore i think it is very important that the Pegula dream team sticks around. I want to see records broken!

 

[SundherDome]

I sorta agree, in a way.

Not saying Eichel's a bad guy or anything, but I've never gotten the sense that he's inspired the Sabres to have a team-wide "that's our dude and we'll run through a ****ing wall for him" type of spirit that Allen's seemingly cultivated with the Bills.

This, when I watched the captains duo they had last summer with he and Josh, there was a stark difference.

I never played with either Soni will never know but there is just something about the absolute lack of leadership with this team.

 

[itwasaforwardpass]

No one is interested in an NHL team with the health of league. I think people are going to be disbelief on how much money teams lost in the NHL this season. Also, those new TV contracts are laughable for what other leagues recently got on their TV deals, and the way inflation in going. The league is in a very bad place.

People siding with players paid millions of dollars to perform, and don't perform is honestly baffling to me. Maybe if players like Eichel, Skinner, Reinhart, and Risto performed to what they were expected to on a constant basis, we wouldn't be constantly changing coaches/GMs.

Ever notice how the high end "underperforming" players suddenly flourish once they jump this train wreck of a franchise?

But yeah it's Eichel, Reinhart, ROR etc fault the owners can't identify a single competent GM or coach in the past decade.

 

[LyNX27]

As a Rangers fan, is there any possibility that Sabres take a long look at Jeff Gorton and JD for their front office?

Outside of Dolan's aneurysm that got them fired, they've proven they can reshape a team's leadership and perform a strong rebuild within a short period of time.

As a hypothetical, do Sabres fans like the sound of that?

 

[SackTastic]

I'm not an insider. Don't have to be. This is a small town.

Wow, it's certainly a major revelation that people in Buffalo are aware that the Pegulas are shitty owners. Thanks for putting yourself out there and telling us!

 

[SackTastic]

They may have gotten lucky with the Bills, but whatever. Without them, they move to Toronto. I am enjoying the best Football in this city in 25 years.

But it has no barring on the Sabres. They have been a disaster for the Sabres. There are plenty of owners who are good with one team and sucks with another (example James Dolan)

That was never going to happen. It was 100% a fabrication trying to swing public opinion against the Bon Jovi group.

The Bills are successful because the Pegulas don't try to interfere in how the team is run. They hired people who know what they're doing, and stay out of the way.

The Sabres are a nuclear waste dump because the Pegulas THINK they know what they are doing, but have no clue how to run a successful hockey franchise, so they make mistake after compounding mistake, and refuse to accept that it's their own decisions that are causing this. Every single 'bad' thing that ha happened to this franchise is someone ELSE'S fault. Just ask them!

 

[SackTastic]

As a Rangers fan, is there any possibility that Sabres take a long look at Jeff Gorton and JD for their front office?

Outside of Dolan's aneurysm that got them fired, they've proven they can reshape a team's leadership and perform a strong rebuild within a short period of time.

As a hypothetical, do Sabres fans like the sound of that?

Unlikely.

Over the last 10 years they have shown a defined pattern of thinking that they are the smartest people in the room when it comes to how to run a hockey team. Anyone who questions that they part ways with.

Even if they make a decision to bring someone in, nobody worth a shit is going to come here without assurances that they have autonomy, which they don't seem interested in giving.

 

[kirby11]

This, when I watched the captains duo they had last summer with he and Josh, there was a stark difference.

I never played with either Soni will never know but there is just something about the absolute lack of leadership with this team.

To me, this was Murray's biggest roster construction failure besides over-gutting the team's depth and building a putrid defense.

The Rochester Core had the co-caps, McKee, Grier, Numminen, Hecht, and Dumont (I'm probably missing others) as solid vet guys who could both provide leadership and stellar/great or at worst good on-ice play.

RoR was the "lead by example" guy, but the other vets Murray initially targeted for leadership (Gionta, Moulson, Gorges) were completely washed, so the kids tuned them out.

He seemed to assume Kane, Lehner, and Bogo would emerge as leaders. Lehner obviously was dealing with his mental health issues, but Kane and Bogo didn't have the maturity to be useful in that role and were more like big kids themselves.

Other than Okposo, whose play ended up falling off a cliff from all the injuries, there weren't ever many vets around who could both walk the walk and talk the talk in terms of being mentors and good players. This team needed some Miller/Pominville caliber of people and players in the room when Sam and Jack came up and they just didn't.

 

[BloFan4Life]

Ever notice how the high end "underperforming" players suddenly flourish once they jump this train wreck of a franchise?

But yeah it's Eichel, Reinhart, ROR etc fault the owners can't identify a single competent GM or coach in the past decade.

Besides ROR (who was also good here and with Colorado, so not even sure if you can act like he became alive with St.Louis), what underperforming players flourish elsewhere?

 

[itwasaforwardpass]

Besides ROR (who was also good here and with Colorado, so not even sure if you can act like he became alive with St.Louis), what underperforming players flourish elsewhere?

Lehner, Hall. Off the top of my head.

The players that leave are even often vocal about how bad things were in Buffalo.

 

[Fezzy126]

Besides ROR (who was also good here and with Colorado, so not even sure if you can act like he became alive with St.Louis), what underperforming players flourish elsewhere?

I can name fewer players that haven't improved elsewhere

 

[BloFan4Life]

Lehner, Hall. Off the top of my head.

The players that leave are even often vocal about how bad things were in Buffalo.

Vegas is regretting the Lehner deal already and Hall used us. His plan all along was for us to pay the salary because Boston couldn't afford him for the entire year.

 

[littletonhockeycoach]

Dahlins a healthy kid under team control for another 5 or 6 years, I forget which. He and Mitts are pals. With Eichel/Reinhart as it is, maybe the best play is to tell Dahlin that its his team and give him an Eichel contract this offseason.

Mitts, I think, would embrace being the 1C. I'm sure he's positive about his future outlook, and given the past few years, that has to be more meaningful than whether or not the Sabres make the playoffs next year.

Dylan's too young to say anything significant, and he ought to be embarrassed to say anything controversial. Yukon kid and all.

One HAS to be impressed at Mitts commitment to making himself a better hockey player over the past season and one half. There's a good story in there. Hope someone writes about it.

 

[littletonhockeycoach]

I can name fewer players that haven't improved elsewhere

McNabb and Carrier look good. Add big Zach Kassian. Tyler Myers has had some very good moments at certain points. Cal Petersen a pretty good developing goaltender.

Search on line and you'll see an image of Cal wearing a Sabres practice sweater.....

 

[slip]

Anyone want to chip in on a billboard on the 190 that says something to the effect of "Sell The Sabres!" maybe with a little tagline "Terry & Kim, We Know More Than You"

I you actually want them to see it, try the I-95.

 

[slip]

You could always toss the Pegulas into the volcano instead.

The Gods demand actual sacrifice, not this human flotsam and jetsam of which you speak.

 

[Sabre the Win]

You could always toss the Pegulas into the volcano instead.

What? Is the sun not taking anymore people?

 

[Jeremy2020]

McNabb and Carrier look good. Add big Zach Kassian. Tyler Myers has had some very good moments at certain points. Cal Petersen a pretty good developing goaltender.

Search on line and you'll see an image of Cal wearing a Sabres practice sweater.....

Not sure about the others, but Myers is pretty widely considered an awful contract and part of why Benning should be fired among media and fans of the Canucks.

 

[CrazyPsycho]

Lehner, Hall. Off the top of my head.

The players that leave are even often vocal about how bad things were in Buffalo.

Lehner sucks again

 

[Chainshot]

Honestly, it was Larry Quinn's original decision to drop the ball on Drury and Briere contracts that led to an almost decade search for a top center that finally ended with Eichel draft.

when you think of it. the drafting, trades, and signings over the next 6 years was the disaster the started it all.

The boom or bust Grigorenko pick.
The Hodgson trade.
The Leino signing.

The Sabres desperation all started from that point on.

So yeah, lets not forget it all started on that day in 2007

Oh, there would have been some bad hockey. Granted, we didn't know that Hodgson would have a debilitating genetic disorder. We do know that the lack of knowledge of hockey operations lead to things like Leino's signing to be the 2nd line center or pushing so hard to play Grigorenko after the last lockout instead of letting him finish his season in the Q. We do know that the Pegulas had a hand in pushing to sign Leino. And they left a long-stagnant Regier to helm the ship rather than assessing his job and making the logical decision to let him go.