We traded a 2nd for a guy who "made players afraid to take the ice" but he's been a church mouse out there. Unless we're putting skates back on Ray, I'm not sure we can even do that.
- QuinnFan

I'll preface this with it was not a good trade and Beck is nothing special, but Provorov sure didn't think he was a church mouse last game when Beck ran his ass over, and Provorov had to retaliate and take a penalty after he got the name of the bus that hit him.

It's 100 percent on the GM. Can't blame the owner. Ruff should be GM/coach
- Freddie krug

I can tell you that ruff was outcoached many times behind the Devils bench

Many times the devils looked to be going through motions and not prepared and if things weren't working there would be no adjustments

The moves they've actually made (don't care one bit about the try hard but missed moves) the past 2 seasons indicates a clear organizational direction to me.

And that is trying to be a fringe playoff team while being a bottom level cap spending team.

There seems to be no real desire to do everything they can to compete for the cup.
- kingcong39

Good Post! Sh!tty thing is they don't even look like a fringe Playoff Team, they have failed everywhere.

Bad thing is, who with some of these Contract Extension, are you gonna trade to get you anything that can help you. The Sabres will have to Add some sweetness to get anything that might truly help. It's looking like 5 years of wasted picks, and the longer they don't hit the ice for the Sabres that Sweetness loses it's Value. Adams backed himself into the closet and basically shut the Door.

Bad thing is, who with some of these Contract Extension, are you gonna trade to get you anything that can help you. The Sabres will have to Add some sweetness to get anything that might truly help. It's looking like 5 years of wasted picks, and the longer they don't hit the ice for the Sabres that Sweetness loses it's Value. Adams backed himself into the closet and basically shut the Door.
- Buff36

The moves they've actually made (don't care one bit about the try hard but missed moves) the past 2 seasons indicates a clear organizational direction to me.

And that is trying to be a fringe playoff team while being a bottom level cap spending team.

There seems to be no real desire to do everything they can to compete for the cup.
- kingcong39

- washedup20

😅🤣🤣🤣

https://x.com/MatthewFair...amp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet
Think you would get atleast 1 Bounce your way for a Goal. Just shows how inept they are.

The coaches job is to motivate the players or have them traded. I am sorry, but you do not rehire someone who has already failed here. Get a seasoned, Stanley Cup winning coach and stop this nonsense.
- FireRuff

Our top 2 lines have been the Sabres worst lines / most inconsistent in defensive reliability.

Our bottom 2 lines filled with mostly new guys are playing great and have been the better lines

New guys playing the way ruff wants and old (Sabres players that have been on the roster) continue to play the Ralph Kruger / Granato type hockey.

It’s the players. They won’t or don’t want to change.

100 different coaching changes could happen and the players won’t change.

Tuch has been solid on in the o zone. He is ridiculously lazy / terrible in his own end. Same with tage. Cozens and Quinn fell off and died.

Peterka is the only one that has gotten better

Bad thing is, who with some of these Contract Extension, are you gonna trade to get you anything that can help you. The Sabres will have to Add some sweetness to get anything that might truly help. It's looking like 5 years of wasted picks, and the longer they don't hit the ice for the Sabres that Sweetness loses it's Value. Adams backed himself into the closet and basically shut the Door.
- Buff36

Couple things:

The currently nhl gms have been trending to paying young talent huge raises for long term. What Adams did was nothing new or crazy in the nhl world.

I don’t think anyone could predict the fall / decline of cozens tage and tuch as the big 3.

Tage had 2 seasons of 40 goals. Tuch was great and cozens had a 63 point season as 2C and 30 goals

2 years ago the analytics would’ve checked out.

So I completely get the contracts.


Also you had / have fans still crying about Reinhart getting bridged and how we had to trade them

Reimer looking pretty good right about now. Another piss-poor management job on that one. Could have easily started with 3 goalies

Sean Latulipe asks: Why wasn’t Lindy Ruff given the opportunity to hire his own assistant coaches?

Lance: The general manager picked the coaching staff for Ruff, who could have declined the job if the setup was bothersome or viewed as a hindrance, and the assistants who were retained had term left on their contracts. Ruff went along with the plan because his philosophies aligned with the returning coaches and two of the assistants, Marty Wilford and Mike Bales, helped their position groups achieve promising results last season.

Seth Appert deserved a promotion. It was the obvious move to retain a talented, young coach who has insight into the young forwards on this roster. The issue, however, is that Appert had never run a power play in pro hockey. His assistants in Rochester, Vinny Prospal and Michael Peca, held that responsibility. And, as talented as Appert is as a coach and teacher, it's a different challenge to try to instill confidence in a power play that's struggling. It’s not all on the coaching, though. The young players being used on the man-advantage, including Owen Power, need to make more of an impact.

Sean Latulipe asks: Why wasn’t Lindy Ruff given the opportunity to hire his own assistant coaches?

Lance: The general manager picked the coaching staff for Ruff, who could have declined the job if the setup was bothersome or viewed as a hindrance, and the assistants who were retained had term left on their contracts. Ruff went along with the plan because his philosophies aligned with the returning coaches and two of the assistants, Marty Wilford and Mike Bales, helped their position groups achieve promising results last season.

Seth Appert deserved a promotion. It was the obvious move to retain a talented, young coach who has insight into the young forwards on this roster. The issue, however, is that Appert had never run a power play in pro hockey. His assistants in Rochester, Vinny Prospal and Michael Peca, held that responsibility. And, as talented as Appert is as a coach and teacher, it's a different challenge to try to instill confidence in a power play that's struggling. It’s not all on the coaching, though. The young players being used on the man-advantage, including Owen Power, need to make more of an impact.
- Hank Balling

Are Defense had promising results 🤔 and everyone knows they let the wrong Coach go.

Ralf Johnen asks: Is Rasmus Dahlin able to carry this team?

Lance: No, he’s not. Only a few players in this league can carry a team, in my opinion. The Sabres don’t need Dahlin to try, either. He’s at his worst when he’s trying to do too much. They need him to be the best version of himself, though, and we haven’t seen that since training camp began. Keep an eye on Dahlin as he moves further away from the mid-body injury that prevented him from appearing in a preseason game before the trip to Europe. He’s looking more comfortable, but he’s committing too many uncharacteristic mistakes.

Ralf Johnen asks: Is Rasmus Dahlin able to carry this team?

Lance: No, he’s not. Only a few players in this league can carry a team, in my opinion. The Sabres don’t need Dahlin to try, either. He’s at his worst when he’s trying to do too much. They need him to be the best version of himself, though, and we haven’t seen that since training camp began. Keep an eye on Dahlin as he moves further away from the mid-body injury that prevented him from appearing in a preseason game before the trip to Europe. He’s looking more comfortable, but he’s committing too many uncharacteristic mistakes.


- Hank Balling

$23.6m tied up in 3 Dmen playing below expectations. Add in another $3.85m for the 4th who also isn't playing up to their best version of themselves. The defensive awareness is incredibly piss poor.
Not a good look.

UPL and Levi have not solidified the G position. I think they need to get UPL on track by playing him with a heavier workload ... 7 of every 10 going forward as a loose target.

Forwards, L3 looks leagues better than L2...so play them more until they find the right combinations for L2. Maybe go with JJP - Kulich - Cozens for a stint and continue to send a message to Quinn and Cozens by having to compete for that RW spot.

$23.6m tied up in 3 Dmen playing below expectations. Add in another $3.85m for the 4th who also isn't playing up to their best version of themselves. The defensive awareness is incredibly piss poor.
Not a good look.

UPL and Levi have not solidified the G position. I think they need to get UPL on track by playing him with a heavier workload ... 7 of every 10 going forward as a loose target.

Forwards, L3 looks leagues better than L2...so play them more until they find the right combinations for L2. Maybe go with JJP - Kulich - Cozens for a stint and continue to send a message to Quinn and Cozens by having to compete for that RW spot.
- IonSabres

Things you love to hear about your $11m player: "he's at his worst when he's trying to do too much"

Honest Question? Which Defenseman has grown and Developed since Wilford stepped on the Ice as Coach.

Sean Latulipe asks: Why wasn’t Lindy Ruff given the opportunity to hire his own assistant coaches?

Lance: The general manager picked the coaching staff for Ruff, who could have declined the job if the setup was bothersome or viewed as a hindrance, and the assistants who were retained had term left on their contracts. Ruff went along with the plan because his philosophies aligned with the returning coaches and two of the assistants, Marty Wilford and Mike Bales, helped their position groups achieve promising results last season.

Seth Appert deserved a promotion. It was the obvious move to retain a talented, young coach who has insight into the young forwards on this roster. The issue, however, is that Appert had never run a power play in pro hockey. His assistants in Rochester, Vinny Prospal and Michael Peca, held that responsibility. And, as talented as Appert is as a coach and teacher, it's a different challenge to try to instill confidence in a power play that's struggling. It’s not all on the coaching, though. The young players being used on the man-advantage, including Owen Power, need to make more of an impact.
- Hank Balling

The retaining of assistant coaches because they still have contract term is the main thing here IMO. It shows Terry isn't serious. He probably only agreed to firing Donny because Ruff was coming onboard and he viewed it as a promotional gimmick.

Honest Question? Which Defenseman has grown and Developed since Wilford stepped on the Ice as Coach.
- Buff36

None. Dahlin’s game has barely evolved. Imagine him on a real team with real coaching?

If we passed on Dahlin in the draft and the canes took him second overall, he would have been developed into possibly the best D-man in the league. This is the truth

Honest Question? Which Defenseman has grown and Developed since Wilford stepped on the Ice as Coach.
- Buff36

Brandon Montour

Things you love to hear about your $11m player: "he's at his worst when he's trying to do too much"
- Hank Balling

- washedup20

To many Pineapple Pizzas

Brandon Montour
- washedup20

Playing RW doesn't count

Good Post! Sh!tty thing is they don't even look like a fringe Playoff Team, they have failed everywhere.
- Buff36

You, and most of us have said there is only one way to force change in Buffalo. Hit Pegs where it hurts. Stop buying tickets.