Two whole points tonight! All the sweeter was the W after being down 1-4 earlier. Jack likes to show his homies how good he is every time he plays in Boston. Goody for you, Jack. I think the Sabres are not heading off a cliff. But the season is already close to being lost. They'll show plenty of inconsistency as they try to learn how to execute TEH Phil's uptempo scheme. They'll look extra bad at times since the new team style can penalize mistakes. But, they'll get there. It's time to break out the "wait'll next year". And now the chant may prove to be right.
The only thing that seems a bit odd is that Buffalo is the "home" team for the WC at Citifield. (The Rangers get, effectively, a 42nd game in front of their home crowd. The NHL is the Rangers' bitch.) Why, then, are the Sabres wearing roadies? Oh, I like that sweater. Might be gettin me one.
MSG won't allow the Rangers to lose a home game. So they took it from the Sabres. Sabres maybe don't even play in this game if MSG allowed the outdoor game.
Well, it helps promote the 10 year anniversary of the WC to have an original participant in it. Otherwise it's more about the power of the NYR and not about an emasculated Sabres org.
Lehner is heading into the All-Star break in style, frustrating the Oilers and Canucks with back-to-back shutouts. The Sabres struggles have been well-documented this season, but Lehner is still sporting a .912 save percentage and has been the least of the problems.
Rob may have boosted his trade value tremendously with his roadie performance. What I like the most is his post-game chat. If he were a positional player he'd be thought of for a letter on his sweater. BTW, TEH Phil, get over it and give Jack his C. He's earned it, and no one else is truly worthy of consideration over Jack. Everyone in this org. other than Jack* is available in trade. E. Kane is obviously gone and I've come around to thinking the sooner the better. I truly would prefer him in Buffalo for the rest of his career, but that's not in the cards. His trade value could actually drop as we go through Feb. Carolina is getting a lot of attention in Sabres trade rumors. I think the two teams match up very well. I wouldn't be shocked if it became a HUGE trade. (* No GM is gonna trade his first ever draft pick; especially one that wowed at the WJC in his future hometown. Casey Mittlestadt is as good as untouchable.) Sadly, Bob's cautionary words about the Sabres from a year ago have proven prescient. The team needs a rebuild within the rebuild. I hope GM Botterill is as smart as his reputation and prodigious dome suggests. The team does not need a five-year plan. There could be a need for addition-by-subtraction, one or two good old fashion "hockey trades", and time, time for their still-exceptional prospect pool to develop.
In their loss to Florida at home on Thursday, the Buffalo Sabres were robbed of a potential comeback mostly by their inability to hit the net. The Sabres tallied 67 shot attempts to the Panthers' 50, but 16 missed the net and 19 were blocked. One of the few players to buck the trend was defenseman Casey Nelson, who recorded a career-high five shots on goal. "I really like the way Casey's playing," Sabres coach Phil Housley said. "I think he moves the puck really well, he's defending really well, his gaps are really tight. That's why he remains in the lineup. It's always nice to have a right-hand shot as well. "You look at his shots from the point, he finds ways to get pucks through to the net. He's uncanny in that way." Nelson made his season debut against the New York Rangers on Jan. 18, and while others have moved in and out of the lineup on defense, he's been a mainstay ever since. He began this season with 19 games of NHL experience under his belt - seven upon the conclusion of his NCAA career late in 2015-16 and 12 more last season - but said he feels like a new player this time around. He feels his biggest improvement has come in his own end, a jump he made in 37 games with Rochester this season. He led the Amerks with a plus-11 rating. "I feel defensively, like I've been saying, I can be out there against some of the top players and be good against them," Nelson said. "Just shut them down. I think my plus/minus down in Roch has showed that." His greatest sources of confidence are the situations when he's found himself on the ice for matchups with opposing teams' best players and held his own, opportunities he relishes. Nelson has been used primarily on a third-pair role, averaging 14:43 per game. "We play against a few different lines, usually not their top line but sometimes we're out there against them," he said. "You've just got to be confident in what you can do and just shut them down, I guess." If he keeps playing the way he has been, there will be more opportunities to come. __________ _____________________ Gotta love it when you plug somebody in and it actually works out.
The Sabres organization is committed to developing a winning environment. And that has started with Rochester. The Amerks have dramatically improved in the standings. And, for the most part good young players are being kept there. CJ was a NCAA FA signing that now looks great. Under Tim Murray he probably would have made the team out of camp. Brendan Guhle almost certainly would have. It gives reason for optimism that the 18-19 team may look something like the Avs have this year. It's something to grasp ahold of during another lousy season.
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) A lack of player leadership and accountability were among the criticisms which led to the Buffalo Sabres cleaning house in April. Very little has changed 10 months into the Sabres' new regime of general manager Jason Botterill and coach Phil Housley in overseeing a team that ranks last in the Eastern Conference and 30th overall. Housley acknowledged Monday that he might have underestimated how daunting a task he faced in addressing leadership concerns and changing the culture of a team now in jeopardy of extending its franchise-worst playoff drought to seven seasons. ''When you only have 14 wins, there's a lot of areas that need to be addressed. One of those is culture, and we've got to continue to find a way to change it,'' said Housley, who took over after Dan Bylsma was fired following just two seasons. ''We all have to change. And that's something I'm continuing to learn throughout the season.'' Several players shared similar concerns. ''It's hard when you get kind of stuck in this environment and it becomes not acceptable to lose, but it becomes the norm,'' assistant captain Kyle Okposo told The Associated Press. ''And that's something that has to change. And we've got to change it.'' https://www.si.com/nhl/2018/02/05/s...m&utm_medium=social&xid=socialflow_twitter_si
More often than not, a team with a horrible record is better than what the standings reflect. Look at last season's Avs. The Sabres are a lot better than a team that's going to end up somewhere around 60 points. Being better than that means dick; a team has to earn it. Earning points in the NHL means each player committing himself to 60 minutes of hockey every game. The coach is there to instill a system & focus, but ultimately it comes down to the players. The three fer Western Canada roadie was encouraging; especially because they decimated 2 of 3 teams. It points to a team capable of more than what they're doing. Big changes can be expected between now and September. Eichel is an anchor (in the good sense). Ristolainen is probably going to be there. Casey Mittlestadt will not be traded. Every other player is up for grabs. They need to shake the lethargy and bad habits out of this organization. (Yes, IMO, TEH Phil deserves a pass for now. Everyone I think actually underestimated * the amount of work that would be required to turn this roster around. GM Bot and HC Housley will be given - I expect - at least until Dec. 2018 to start displaying actual progress.) Few stated how hard this would be, but * HockeyBob deserves credit for calling this.
There's no way I saw this coming, who could've seen such a drop from 35 wins to a projected 20-25 wins by the end of the season. At the beginning of the season on paper, they didn't look that bad, I would've predicted an upswing and hovering outside of a playoff spot. Nobody expected to see the floor cave with a healthy lineup, good goalie, all D intact and one more year of the maturing rookies. The sabres seem to only have one good offensive line, there's a lack of depth in other departments as far as checking roles, pk and leadership. If hockeybob predicted this fall, then he must walk on ditchwater.
Bob knows hockey. It's not so much that be predicted this would happen, but he outlined a cautionary tale for how it could happen. He was right. Another year of suckitude is the bad news. I look at a FO that does not appear frazzled or outwitted. Darcy Regier was exemplary guiding the Sabres through the perilous Regis era (b/k) and the ensuing penurious Galisano ownership. When the Pegulas bought the team he was like a kid in a candy store - at first. Buying (Boyes) at the deadline. The Sabres buying! And the massively ill-conceived buying spree in the summer. He was then given slaps about the head and told to sell. Darcy did not know how to execute that edict and took it to an absolute extreme. He literally sold every asset worth a call to another GM. (Hint to aspiring GM's, a rebuild does not mean the same thing as blowing the team into oblivion first.) Enter laconic Tim Murray who earned his credentials in Ottawa (second hint, do not buy the Sens model for building a franchise). He took a massive amount of future assets and converted them into some good young talent. But, he did not appear to have a coherent plan, and had an apparent disregard for defense. His laconic style made for some fun sound bites, ("the Sabres select Jack Eichel" That's it for the most important draft selection since 1970.) But it wore in fans and infuriated players and coaches. It also passed off Terry Pegula. Jason Botterill toiled for 10 years in Pittsburgh. That's a team that can show others how to succeed in the NHL. His first acts were to address D. They have not all worked out (Beaulieu looks every bit the former first round bust. But, he seemed worth a 3rd at the time.) He hired a HC that has a modern coaching philosophy and one that can & will communicate with the GM. Housley has not gotten through to his team Yet. But it is very clear that they're an obtuse group. Everyone other than Jack is available. But that's a far different thing than saying everyone will be moved. Bots is not going - he does not need to - blow this team up. It needs a shake up to remove a few bad influences and to kick the rest of the players in the ass. There's reason for confidence looking forward. Sabres fans have learned some hard lessons over the past seven years. It'll be fun to demonstrate to the rest of the league why we're often thought of as being one of the most passionate fan bases in sports.
I still like Tim Murray, I thought that he started a nice rebuild. Obviously made some bad decisions but he started off well. Risto to Boston!!!!!!
In today's nhl, you can't just hope to build a team on superstars and first rounders, you can't pay them all. The job of the gm now is to recognize bottom six players that have maximum impact, the leo komorovs of the nhl. You have to have your pk specialists, you have to have your steady players on the bottom six that get you those 15 goals a year guaranteed. You have to find value for your money, the worst thing you could do is pay over $5M for a player that can score 20 goals but not do much of anything else. You need locker room personalities, leaders at practice, leaders for the rookies, winners, winning attitude, good guys, a lot of over-achievers, underpaid, players that will go to war, loyalty to the team, no off-ice issues, no egos, players that promote unity, community leaders, good role models. Yes, there's more than just going up to the podium and drafting a first rounder, or being the highest bidder for a free agent on july.1st.
