Michael Pachla: At least Stewart gets it, plus third period perils

"For posterity's sake, Sabres goalie coach Arturs Irbe was a rookie netminder for the Sharks during that season while Jeff Hackett, uncle of last night's starter in net, Matt Hackett, played 36 games winning only 2 of them for the Sharks that year."

Interesting.

Michael Pachla: At least Stewart gets it, plus third period perils
- Michael Pachla

Good morning.
Is it not time for Nolan and his coaches to move on?
There has been no cohesion on the team, structure is not obvious and press conferences say we have to work harder.
Nolan continuously puts down the players and rarely accepts responsibility himself.
His record shows very little ability to work with individual players and bring out their best.
The young ones are deteriorating in performance and the older ones are probably wondering how they can get out of this mess.
After the last press conference the other day, he also dumped Murray under the bus.
They should fly Nolan home today with a 'thank you and all the best.'

"For posterity's sake, Sabres goalie coach Arturs Irbe was a rookie netminder for the Sharks during that season while Jeff Hackett, uncle of last night's starter in net, Matt Hackett, played 36 games winning only 2 of them for the Sharks that year."
Seems like his future is set
Interesting.
- jochfr

Firing Nolan right now is pointless. No matter how good or bad a job he is doing . You might as well stay the course and get to our ultimate goal.

First he is under contract for 3 years, if you fire him now you still have to pay it. I know most of us play fast and loose with Mr Pegula's money but I think even the accountant here would agree it is a massive waste of resources.

Second, Who are you going to get? Bylsma is hopeless he only won a cup because he had massive amounts of talent on the ice.No real good candidates are available. Better to wait till the end of the season, better to see what shakes out from other teams ( maybe Babcock ). Murray's first choice Luke Richardson already turned Ottawa down as he wants to stay in Binghamton for family reasons as his daughter is in school there. Maybe at the end of the season he might reconsider a move at the end of his daughter's school year.

Third why do you want to change right this minute? Say a new coach comes in and shakes it up? And the team plays respectable hockey while other teams go into tank mode? Do you really want to change coaches to finish 27th and miss out on the grand prize?

Good morning.
Is it not time for Nolan and his coaches to move on?
There has been no cohesion on the team, structure is not obvious and press conferences say we have to work harder.
Nolan continuously puts down the players and rarely accepts responsibility himself.
His record shows very little ability to work with individual players and bring out their best.
The young ones are deteriorating in performance and the older ones are probably wondering how they can get out of this mess.
After the last press conference the other day, he also dumped Murray under the bus.
They should fly Nolan home today with a 'thank you and all the best.'
- strongsupporter

nothing til the end of the season. Hard to say whether they get worse after the deadline, clearly some guys have their bags packed and cant wait to get out. these guys know the deal. doesnt really matter, the team is right on course to get the top shelf talent they need. Whether nolan should actually be the guy to coach when the goal is to win, thats entirely up for debate.

Firing Nolan right now is pointless. No matter how good or bad a job he is doing . You might as well stay the course and get to our ultimate goal.

First he is under contract for 3 years, if you fire him now you still have to pay it. I know most of us play fast and loose with Mr Pegula's money but I think even the accountant here would agree it is a massive waste of resources.

Second, Who are you going to get? Bylsma is hopeless he only won a cup because he had massive amounts of talent on the ice.No real good candidates are available. Better to wait till the end of the season, better to see what shakes out from other teams ( maybe Babcock ). Murray's first choice Luke Richardson already turned Ottawa down as he wants to stay in Binghamton for family reasons as his daughter is in school there. Maybe at the end of the season he might reconsider a move at the end of his daughter's school year.

Third why do you want to change right this minute? Say a new coach comes in and shakes it up? And the team plays respectable hockey while other teams go into tank mode? Do you really want to change coaches to finish 27th and miss out on the grand prize?
- Maximum Signal

Jinx. Buy me a coke.

Firing Nolan right now is pointless. No matter how good or bad a job he is doing . You might as well stay the course and get to our ultimate goal.

First he is under contract for 3 years, if you fire him now you still have to pay it. I know most of us play fast and loose with Mr Pegula's money but I think even the accountant here would agree it is a massive waste of resources.

Second, Who are you going to get? Bylsma is hopeless he only won a cup because he had massive amounts of talent on the ice.No real good candidates are available. Better to wait till the end of the season to see what shakes out from other teams ( maybe Babcock ). Murray's first choice Luke Richardson already turned Ottawa down as he wants to stay in Binghamton for family reasons as his daughter is in school there. Maybe at the end of the season he might reconsider a move at the end of his daughter's school year.

Third why do you want to change right this minute? Say a new coach comes in and shakes it up? And the team plays respectable hockey while other teams go into tank mode? Do you really want to change coaches to finish 27th and miss out on the grand prize?
- Maximum Signal

I am not a believer in all the tank talk.
The team shows no spark.
It has not for a while.
I think young players in particular are hurt in such an environment and Buffalo deserves better.
Nolan's salary is not a big consideration as he will likely not be here next year anyway.
Even playing well, they are unlikely to significantly change their standing if at all.
And the team needs to worry about it's reputation as a destination point for free agents in the future. A well coached team makes games exciting for players and fans.
Give Nolan a First Class ticket home.

I am not a believer in all the tank talk.
The team shows no spark.
It has not for a while.
I think young players in particular are hurt in such an environment and Buffalo deserves better.
Nolan's salary is not a big consideration as he will likely not be here next year anyway.
Even playing well, they are unlikely to significantly change their standing if at all.
And the team needs to worry about it's reputation as a destination point for free agents in the future. A well coached team makes games exciting for players and fans.
Give Nolan a First Class ticket home.
- strongsupporter

The only change I'd make between now and the end of the year is trading Stewart. Staff and Coho show absolutely nothing and that is working wonders for us. If that means that we don't get a 2nd or 3rd for Staff, I'll take it. It is more important to keep this band together to get the prize. Same with Nolan. I don't think he is a good coach and that is just fine for now.

Main issue is the younger players regressing.

Ristolainen, between needing a mental break to now seemingly getting toasted at least once or twice a game I think it's fair to say he hasn't improved from the start of the year. That's a problem. I'm a big fan of his and thought he'd hit a stride after mid season.

It's just too tough for the younger players here. Even Girgensons is starting to look out of place.

They really need to make a move for a top 6 player at the draft. Maybe even a top 4 defensemen if Zadorov isn't ready

Main issue is the younger players regressing.

Ristolainen, between needing a mental break to now seemingly getting toasted at least once or twice a game I think it's fair to say he hasn't improved from the start of the year. That's a problem. I'm a big fan of his and thought he'd hit a stride after mid season.

It's just too tough for the younger players here. Even Girgensons is starting to look out of place.

They really need to make a move for a top 6 player at the draft. Maybe even a top 4 defensemen if Zadorov isn't ready
- sbroads24

Analysis of anything that has transpired this year is pointless. This stain will all be forgotten by the summer.

Main issue is the younger players regressing.

Ristolainen, between needing a mental break to now seemingly getting toasted at least once or twice a game I think it's fair to say he hasn't improved from the start of the year. That's a problem. I'm a big fan of his and thought he'd hit a stride after mid season.

It's just too tough for the younger players here. Even Girgensons is starting to look out of place.

They really need to make a move for a top 6 player at the draft. Maybe even a top 4 defensemen if Zadorov isn't ready
- sbroads24

It raises the question none of the tankers want to talk about. Is having the worst team of all time by a wide margin negatively impacting the growth of our players?

Analysis of anything that has transpired this year is pointless. This stain will all be forgotten by the summer.
- Slump Buster

From a statistical standpoint I agree. From a subjective standpoint it's fair to say that the one positive that was existing for a while is no longer.

It was visible that the younger players were improving, even if it didn't show in the #s. It's not the case now.

I wanted some of them to go into next year with a little momentum

Main issue is the younger players regressing.

Ristolainen, between needing a mental break to now seemingly getting toasted at least once or twice a game I think it's fair to say he hasn't improved from the start of the year. That's a problem. I'm a big fan of his and thought he'd hit a stride after mid season.

It's just too tough for the younger players here. Even Girgensons is starting to look out of place.

They really need to make a move for a top 6 player at the draft. Maybe even a top 4 defensemen if Zadorov isn't ready
- sbroads24

Ristolainen is doing very well IMO even though he has a brain cramp every once in a while. The forwards put our defenceman in such a bad position shift after shift its hard not to look bad on occasion. I don't think he is regressing but he won't look better until we change half the guys up front.

Girgensons is what he is, not sure he has the talent that most on here think he has, he will be a very good player but his production won't get much better than you see currently. Just my opinion.

Ristolainen is doing very well IMO even though he has a brain cramp every once in a while. The forwards put our defenceman in such a bad position shift after shift its hard not to look bad on occasion. I don't think he is regressing but he won't look better until we change half the guys up front.

Girgensons is what he is, not sure he has the talent that most on here think he has, he will be a very good player but his production won't get much better than you see currently. Just my opinion.
- BigStew

I think Risto was doing very well. Now he's being treated as their #6. He's getting very little even strength minutes lately and isn't being trusted to kill penalties. Which is fine, he's 19. But like I said, I expected them to start rough and play well at the end. It's like night and day to how he was playing a few months ago

Good morning.
Is it not time for Nolan and his coaches to move on?
There has been no cohesion on the team, structure is not obvious and press conferences say we have to work harder.
Nolan continuously puts down the players and rarely accepts responsibility himself.
His record shows very little ability to work with individual players and bring out their best.
The young ones are deteriorating in performance and the older ones are probably wondering how they can get out of this mess.
After the last press conference the other day, he also dumped Murray under the bus.
They should fly Nolan home today with a 'thank you and all the best.'
- strongsupporter

ummm...not yet, imo...i'd prefer to see what they do next season...just me

Good morning.
Is it not time for Nolan to move on?.'
- strongsupporter

Nope!
Not his fault.
You know who is at fault more than the coach that everyone just seems to disregard or is immune to criticism?
Your General Manager.
These are some of the fringe washed up NHL players he has brought in.

So you can't have it both ways.
You can't blame the coach for the absolute shlt the GM has given him to work with.
And then on the other hand praise what a wonderful job Murray is doing and has done.
Literally, zero common sense if someone does that.
What that tells me is that the person (poster) simply has an agenda with this coach.

General rule of thumb, if it looks and smells like shlt, it is shlt!
This roster is shlt thanks to your GM.
I'd like to see him begin to take some of the much deserved blame for what we are seeing on a nightly basis.
I mean after all, he is the one building that roster of shlt!

The Nolan "hate" has hit epic proportions with some.
Failure has never been on his resume.
Former and present players love playing for the man.
That carries much more weight and merit with me than any message board poster can provide.
Not taking shots at anyone, just "keeping it real".
And it's a matter of opinion I guess.

And I will continue to support Ted Nolan until I see this hard working man get the opportunity to work with a half way decently talented roster and not a bunch of washed up has beens Murray has put on his dinner plate to digest.
When I see Nolan fail with a talented roster, I will be the first man to step up and say, "it's time".
Not until then.

Nope!
Not his fault.
You know who is at fault more than the coach that everyone just seems to disregard or is immune to criticism?
Your General Manager.
These are some of the fringe washed up NHL players he has brought in.

So you can't have it both ways.
You can't blame the coach for the absolute shlt the GM has given him to work with.
And then on the other hand praise what a wonderful job Murray is doing and has done.
Literally, zero common sense if someone does that.
What that tells me is that the person (poster) simply has an agenda with this coach.

General rule of thumb, if it looks and smells like shlt, it is shlt!
This roster is shlt thanks to your GM.
I'd like to see him begin to take some of the much deserved blame for what we are seeing on a nightly basis.
I mean after all, he is the one building that roster of shlt!

The Nolan "hate" has hit epic proportions with some.
Failure has never been on his resume.
Former and present players love playing for the man.
That carries much more weight and merit with me than any message board poster can provide.
Not taking shots at anyone, just "keeping it real".
And it's a matter of opinion I guess.

And I will continue to support Ted Nolan until I see this hard working man get the opportunity to work with a half way decently talented roster and not a bunch of washed up has beens Murray has put on his dinner plate to digest.
When I see Nolan fail with a talented roster, I will be the first man to step up and say, "it's time".
Not until then.
- BuffaloHardHat

am of the opinion that this roster is sh!t for a reason....and that Nolan might be doing an exceptional job...just me

I think Risto was doing very well. Now he's being treated as their #6. He's getting very little even strength minutes lately and isn't being trusted to kill penalties. Which is fine, he's 19. But like I said, I expected them to start rough and play well at the end. It's like night and day to how he was playing a few months ago
- sbroads24

Everyone has bad stretches, even the great ones, especially on defence. I've watched a few more games lately and I just can't get over how bad our forwards are in recognizing anything around them. Things that are stressed when you are 14 years old are getting ignored by 60% of them. Either coaching is horrible, they are some of the most unintelligent hockey minds I have watched in 30 years or they don't care. My guess, its a bit of all 3.

I think there are at least 6 guys up front that won't be here next year. At least that is my hope.

damn if Stewart keeps this up he will get us a 1st, 2nd

A half way decent coach could get this roster to win at least once is 14 games. Nolan is not very good at all. Which is fine by me. Tank on!

Eichel had 4pts last night but he sucks remember because he does not play in the CHL

damn if Stewart keeps this up he will get us a 1st, 2nd
- gerbe75pts

don't you think he was worth at least a second to begin with?

am of the opinion that this roster is sh!t for a reason....and that Nolan might be doing an exceptional job...just me
- Michael Pachla

I can certainly agree with that Mike.

Eichel had 4pts last night but he sucks remember because he does not play in the CHL
- gerbe75pts

Can't wait till hes on the team!!