Damn.

In crass commercial terms, no clairvoyance is necessary to predict that "The Last Jedi" will be a huge hit, blunting any criticism. Yet if "The Empire Strikes Back" stands as the defining chapter in the "Star Wars" saga, as second movies go, "Last Jedi" ranks closer to the "Attack of the Clones" end of the gene pool.

he is not making calls on jack, only receiving
- homiedclown

Just to see what valuable assets teams are willing to part with, then counter with a Kane, Reinhart combo.

I feel the same with the bolts
- homiedclown

I am a Blues season ticket holder but it's was more fun to be a disgruntled Sabres fan. Besides, I would have nothing to talk to my brother about if we were not Sabres fans

If the Sabres weren't good in '05-06, I would probably still be a leafs fan.

But yeah, trading Eichel would finally do it for me. I wouldn't trust them to ever make a smart move again. 7+ more years of looking for a #1 center again, hopefully in the return you would unload Bogo or Okposo, and the draft picks will become Vanek and Tallinder-calliber players and we're the 2010 Sabres gunning for that wild card spot. No thanks
- jcragcrumple

I'm going to pretend I didn't read that first line.

But yeah, trading a couple of Risto, Eichel and RoR would leave a sour taste for me as well. I think we have some talented players and some coming up in the wings. If Botts thinks it's scorched earth time, I'd argue he wasn't the man for the job.

To all the jump shippers:

Would you still be here if you weren't a glutton for punishment? Stay the course.

"I think we'll be good"........."soon".
- RhinoFan

I would never jump ship. I'm on er till she goes down. If we moved the team I would jump ship. Over 35 years invested as a fan. We've been through worse. I am sick of all these fair weather bandwagon fans here in St. Louis though

I'm going to pretend I didn't read that first line.

But yeah, trading a couple of Risto, Eichel and RoR would leave a sour taste for me as well. I think we have some talented players and some coming up in the wings. If Botts thinks it's scorched earth time, I'd argue he wasn't the man for the job.
- RhinoFan

Yeah, i grew up loving the Leafs for some reason, but then switched to the Sabres post-lockout ('04-'05)

My dad (life-long sabres fan) took me to a Leafs/Sabres game in TO in '99 when i was a kid. I was still a leafs fan at that time and when the Sabres scored, he jumped up to celebrate, realized the place was all Leafs fans and went "damn! I thought he (cujo) had it"

oh lord here we go
- jcragcrumple

Hahaha... Told Ya!

yotes in 82

I would never jump ship. I'm on er till she goes down. If we moved the team I would jump ship. Over 35 years invested as a fan. We've been through worse. I am sick of all these fair weather bandwagon fans here in St. Louis though
- lulags

Life-long Sabre fan living in B.C. (used to live in southern Ontario, near Buffalo). Anyway, I keep telling my wife and kids that one-day the Sabres will be good and how sweet it will be then! I just hope this happens before my 60th b-day (presently 52).

Regarding bandwagon fans in any sport or city, they can all poop off.

Life-long Sabre fan living in B.C. (used to live in southern Ontario, near Buffalo). Anyway, I keep telling my wife and kids that one-day the Sabres will be good and how sweet it will be then! I just hope this happens before my 60th b-day (presently 52).

Regarding bandwagon fans in any sport or city, they can all poop off.
- SabreWest

They dry up in St. Louis when the Blues are bad. Rink is empty. Then when they are winning, poof! Everyone is a fan. This is a baseball town, always will be.

I grew up in Nova Scotia. Everyone was either a Leafs fan or Canadiens fan, including my dad. Die hard Habs fan. My oldest brother was a huge Sabres fan. Loved the French connection, idolized Perreault. It was contagious. I've been a fan since age 7.

he was not much older than us
- homiedclown

I’m 48

They dry up in St. Louis when the Blues are bad. Rink is empty. Then when they are winning, poof! Everyone is a fan. This is a baseball town, always will be.

I grew up in Nova Scotia. Everyone was either a Leafs fan or Canadiens fan, including my dad. Die hard Habs fan. My oldest brother was a huge Sabres fan. Loved the French connection, idolized Perreault. It was contagious. I've been a fan since age 7.
- lulags

The Sabres can be bad, but i need them to have a plan and a sense of purpose. I assume Pegula was sold on the tank plan. If Botterill somehow believed and then convinved Pegula that trading the fruits of those torturous years is now in the best interests of the Sabres, i would know that Pegula has no beliefs of his own, and simply goes along with what he's told.

I personally don't believe Botterill would trade Eichel after signing him anyway, but to trade him for any reason is pure folly imo, and would not only doom the Sabres to worse play for the next 5 years, it would also cement that the owner is completely clueless and without any direction.

I can't and won't watch them do that

When you look back, 2010 AND 2011 drafts were a 100% bust for us
2011 1 16 Joel Armia Assat (Finland) NHL Entry 129 18 22 40 -6 40
2011 3 77 Daniel Catenacci Sault Ste. Marie (OHL) NHL Entry 11 0 0 0 -2 0
2011 4 107 Colin Jacobs Seattle (WHL) NHL Entry
2011 5 137 Alex Lepkowski Barrie (OHL) NHL Entry
2011 6 167 Nathan Lieuwen Kootenay (WHL) NHL Entry 7 0 0 0 0 7 1 4 0 .906 2.98
2011 7 197 Brad Navin Waupaca (High-WI) NHL Entry
Year Rd. Overall Player Amateur Team Lg Draft GP G A PTS +/- PIM GP W L T/O SV% GAA
2010 1 23 Mark Pysyk Edmonton (WHL) NHL Entry 237 12 36 48 -26 70
2010 3 68 Jerome Gauthier-Leduc Rouyn-Noranda (QMJHL) NHL Entry
2010 3 75 Kevin Sundher Chilliwack (WHL) NHL Entry
2010 3 83 Matt MacKenzie Calgary (WHL) NHL Entry
2010 4 98 Steven Shipley Owen Sound (OHL) NHL Entry
2010 5 143 Gregg Sutch Mississauga (OHL) NHL Entry
2010 6 173 Cedrick Henley Val D'Or (QMJHL) NHL Entry
2010 7 203 Christian Isackson St. Thomas (High-MN) NHL Entry
2010 7 208 Riley Boychuk Portland (WHL) NHL Entry

Yeah, i grew up loving the Leafs for some reason, but then switched to the Sabres post-lockout ('04-'05)

My dad (life-long sabres fan) took me to a Leafs/Sabres game in TO in '99 when i was a kid. I was still a leafs fan at that time and when the Sabres scored, he jumped up to celebrate, realized the place was all Leafs fans and went "damn! I thought he (cujo) had it"
- jcragcrumple

Hahaha that's funny. Good cover up. Cujo was the man. Sundin wasn't a half bad watch either. At least you switched over when we were good...proves it's possible and all that.

Yeah, i grew up loving the Leafs for some reason, but then switched to the Sabres post-lockout ('04-'05)

My dad (life-long sabres fan) took me to a Leafs/Sabres game in TO in '99 when i was a kid. I was still a leafs fan at that time and when the Sabres scored, he jumped up to celebrate, realized the place was all Leafs fans and went "damn! I thought he (cujo) had it"
- jcragcrumple

Im in the exact same boat. Living in Southern Ontario my whole family are Leafs fans. I became a Sabres fan post lockout also, losing to Carolina in the ECF really stung. Really tough being a Sabres fan right now being constantly hounded by everyone and anyone living in the heart of Leaf land

When you look back, 2010 AND 2011 drafts were a 100% bust for us
2011 1 16 Joel Armia Assat (Finland) NHL Entry 129 18 22 40 -6 40
2011 3 77 Daniel Catenacci Sault Ste. Marie (OHL) NHL Entry 11 0 0 0 -2 0
2011 4 107 Colin Jacobs Seattle (WHL) NHL Entry
2011 5 137 Alex Lepkowski Barrie (OHL) NHL Entry
2011 6 167 Nathan Lieuwen Kootenay (WHL) NHL Entry 7 0 0 0 0 7 1 4 0 .906 2.98
2011 7 197 Brad Navin Waupaca (High-WI) NHL Entry
Year Rd. Overall Player Amateur Team Lg Draft GP G A PTS +/- PIM GP W L T/O SV% GAA
2010 1 23 Mark Pysyk Edmonton (WHL) NHL Entry 237 12 36 48 -26 70
2010 3 68 Jerome Gauthier-Leduc Rouyn-Noranda (QMJHL) NHL Entry
2010 3 75 Kevin Sundher Chilliwack (WHL) NHL Entry
2010 3 83 Matt MacKenzie Calgary (WHL) NHL Entry
2010 4 98 Steven Shipley Owen Sound (OHL) NHL Entry
2010 5 143 Gregg Sutch Mississauga (OHL) NHL Entry
2010 6 173 Cedrick Henley Val D'Or (QMJHL) NHL Entry
2010 7 203 Christian Isackson St. Thomas (High-MN) NHL Entry
2010 7 208 Riley Boychuk Portland (WHL) NHL Entry
- lulags

2010 first round was a slam dunk, HUGE grab at 23!

When you look back, 2010 AND 2011 drafts were a 100% bust for us

- lulags

And it takes time to fill the holes that two drafts like that create. We've been better since 2013 and this will help. The 2014 draft was tough with Samson at 2 and only Lemieux to follow, but outside of that we're looking much better than 2006-11. I always figure you have to hit on your 1st rounder, but you want another starting player or two throughout the remainder of the draft:

2013: Risto, Zads, Compher, Bailey, Peterson
2014: Reinhart, Lemieux
2015: Eichel, Guhle, Borgen
2016: Nylander, Asplund, Pu
2017: Mittelstadt, Davidsson, Ukko

Too early to tell on Davidsson and UPL, but if we can continue a trend of getting 1-2 extra NHL players from rounds 2-7, we'll get back on track.

only teams I heard were yotes, canes and a few others
- homiedclown

What are you hoping happens?

And it takes time to fill the holes that two drafts like that create. We've been better since 2013 and this will help. The 2014 draft was tough with Samson at 2 and only Lemieux to follow, but outside of that we're looking much better than 2006-11. I always figure you have to hit on your 1st rounder, but you want another starting player or two throughout the remainder of the draft:

2013: Risto, Zads, Compher, Bailey, Peterson
2014: Reinhart, Lemieux
2015: Eichel, Guhle, Borgen
2016: Nylander, Asplund, Pu
2017: Mittelstadt, Davidsson, Ukko

Too early to tell on Davidsson and UPL, but if we can continue a trend of getting 1-2 extra NHL players from rounds 2-7, we'll get back on track.
- RhinoFan

Where's the track going?

Where's the track going?
- washedup20

To the playoffs

I am a Blues season ticket holder but it's was more fun to be a disgruntled Sabres fan. Besides, I would have nothing to talk to my brother about if we were not Sabres fans
- lulags

Overrated

Its gotta be tough to do so on this terrible defense. I would hope that Housley could help him with this but it almost seems like hes not really getting the love that he needs.
- MCGUIZZY

Not speaking English hurts too.

Hahaha that's funny. Good cover up. Cujo was the man. Sundin wasn't a half bad watch either. At least you switched over when we were good...proves it's possible and all that.
- RhinoFan

It was a great time as a kid. The trainers at a leaf game also gave me the blade off Sundin's stick that he had broken during the game. That thing was like a lucky talisman for me.

My sister and I also had this book that gave the addresses where you could mail letters to teams, so I sent cards and letters to all my favorite players. For some reason in '90s (it may still be this way) the players said they weren't allowed to sign cards, but they would send letters and pictures. The day I got a hand written letter and an 8" x 10" signed glossy from Felix "the cat" Potvin was one of the greatest days of my childhood.

The Leafs are still my second favorite team, although obviously not when we play them. It's hard to explain that to people when you live in Buffalo

Overrated
- jochfr

I have a brother.

His name is John.

He lives in Maine.

He is a good guy (don't ask me about his wife).

To the playoffs
- RhinoFan

https://youtu.be/bbYan4RbKQ0