They are cooked because they went 2-4 to start this month.

Had they gone 4-2 we’d be singing a much different tune
- Swedish_Jesus

we are cooked because of october and november

and the lack of moves over the summer


if we had 4 more points, we are still 8 out and have to leap over 4 teams and the pens are 1 point behind us with 3 games in hand



I said this 300 times

with the cap space we had, and the team we had

the goal this summer should have been to try to get a top 4 spot

instead they tried to go from t9th to 8th

we are cooked because of october and november

and the lack of moves over the summer


if we had 4 more points, we are still 8 out and have to leap over 4 teams and the pens are 1 point behind us with 3 games in hand



I said this 300 times

with the cap space we had, and the team we had

the goal this summer should have been to try to get a top 4 spot

instead they tried to go from t9th to 8th
- homiedclown

and now they'll talk about moving prospects, sure could have used that help these last 2 years

we are cooked because of october and november

and the lack of moves over the summer


if we had 4 more points, we are still 8 out and have to leap over 4 teams and the pens are 1 point behind us with 3 games in hand



I said this 300 times

with the cap space we had, and the team we had

the goal this summer should have been to try to get a top 4 spot

instead they tried to go from t9th to 8th
- homiedclown

The whole league was in a stalemate though aside from Detroit taking nearly 2 months to facilitate a trade for Debrincant despite the whole world knowing that he’d end up there.

They struck and missed on P.Kane.

The opportunity to make moves quite frankly is now up until March 8th.

Kevyn Adams should be the busiest GM in the league these next few weeks, absolutely no excuse not to be

That's a pace better than the best team in the NHL. While it's not impossible, it's just not realistic for this team over an extended period. They aren't that good.
- Lunaion

I think if we had a decent professional coach, we are a playoff team with this current roster, despite injuries

The whole league was in a stalemate though aside from Detroit taking nearly 2 months to facilitate a trade for Debrincant despite the whole world knowing that he’d end up there.

- Swedish_Jesus

we went after clifton, e.johnson and tokarski as well as bringing back jost, and girgens

if we got 2 ok guys up front, at least 1 better goalie and d man than johnson, it's probably a top 8 spot right now

that's on adams

I think if we had a decent professional coach, we are a playoff team with this current roster, despite injuries
- homiedclown

I agree with this

we went after clifton, e.johnson and tokarski as well as bringing back jost, and girgens

if we got 2 ok guys up front, at least 1 better goalie and d man than johnson, it's probably a top 8 spot right now

that's on adams
- homiedclown

Also agree with this.

Donnie's lineups and game management suck. Pretty sure we agree on that one!
- Lunaion

It's why it was not surprising when Donnie said what he did about analytics.

Also agree with this.
- Swedish_Jesus

I think clifton has been ok the last few weeks, FWIW

It's why it was not surprising when Donnie said what he did about analytics.
- kingcong39

Sabres head coach Don Granato says the difference in this game was his team had the chance to put the Ducks away, and didn’t do it.



was that the 3 minutes we had a 1 goal lead in the 2nd period?

It's why it was not surprising when Donnie said what he did about analytics.
- kingcong39

It’s pretty hard to win in this league when you consistently shoot yourself in the foot.

PP up until two games ago was a joke

Poor lineup construction.

Didn’t shift back to a more high event style that fits the roster until end of December.

Not riding UPL and ending the 3 goalie carousel 10-15 games earlier.

The Sabres biggest enemy is themselves.

Then you add in the injury luck on top of that and you get the nice $hit sandwich we have going here

“My sperm is mother fukn potent, that mother (frank)er is gunna come out with a moustache & bad credit”…

Leon Black 2-18-24

and now they'll talk about moving prospects, sure could have used that help these last 2 years
- Lunaion

How I would describe last season is it took career years from 4 players, 2 of which are veterans and one of which is close to being a veteran player, to miss the playoffs by a point when the point total it took was lower then normal.

The lesson I would've taken was those 4 players need a higher quality of support on the ice so that even if none of them reproduced the career season they just had, the enhanced depth of the roster would've been enough to buoy the team into not just being a playoff team, but a quality playoff team.

Instead, the lesson Sabres management learned is if those players can reproduce the career season they just had, or even better, 1 to 3 of the very young players can improve enough to help the team make the playoffs.

They planned on hoping for the best, instead of expecting the worst.

It's why it was not surprising when Donnie said what he did about analytics.
- kingcong39

That was the final straw for me. I didn't really like him in the first place.

I think if we had a decent professional coach, we are a playoff team with this current roster, despite injuries
- homiedclown

Was supposed to be no excuses this season.

How I would describe last season is it took career years from 4 players, 2 of which are veterans and one of which is close to being a veteran player, to miss the playoffs by a point when the point total it took was lower then normal.

The lesson I would've taken was those 4 players need a higher quality of support on the ice so that even if none of them reproduced the career season they just had, the enhanced depth of the roster would've been enough to buoy the team into not just being a playoff team, but a quality playoff team.

Instead, the lesson Sabres management learned is if those players can reproduce the career season they just had, or even better, 1 to 3 of the very young players can improve enough to help the team make the playoffs.

They planned on hoping for the best, instead of expecting the worst.
- kingcong39

The Sabres have an intermediate-to-long term vision of what they want the roster to look like from a sustainability standpoint.

I have understood that, and have self-admittedly been bullish on the front office due to that.

Getting Tage, Cozens, Dahlin, and Power signed long term coupled with a high end prospect pipeline is all great.

The inability to surround the core and win in the present though is extremely frustrating even though there is a lot of help on the way

It’s pretty hard to win in this league when you consistently shoot yourself in the foot.

PP up until two games ago was a joke

Poor lineup construction.

Didn’t shift back to a more high event style that fits the roster until end of December.

Not riding UPL and ending the 3 goalie carousel 10-15 games earlier.

The Sabres biggest enemy is themselves.

Then you add in the injury luck on top of that and you get the nice $hit sandwich we have going here
- Swedish_Jesus

Looked up the month by month stats earlier:

PP%
Oct 10.7
Nov 18.4
Dec 9.3
Jan 18.2
Feb 18.8

18's are no big deal, but that 9 was a killer. You'd expect one hot month (ignoring how bad it looks in action), but they haven't.

Looked up the month by month stats earlier:

PP%
Oct 10.7
Nov 18.4
Dec 9.3
Jan 18.2
Feb 18.8

18's are no big deal, but that 9 was a killer. You'd expect one hot month (ignoring how bad it looks in action), but they haven't.
- Lunaion

18% would rank 22nd in the league. So at its peak, it’s a below average PP.

That’s not good enough

How I would describe last season is it took career years from 4 players, 2 of which are veterans and one of which is close to being a veteran player, to miss the playoffs by a point when the point total it took was lower then normal.

The lesson I would've taken was those 4 players need a higher quality of support on the ice so that even if none of them reproduced the career season they just had, the enhanced depth of the roster would've been enough to buoy the team into not just being a playoff team, but a quality playoff team.

Instead, the lesson Sabres management learned is if those players can reproduce the career season they just had, or even better, 1 to 3 of the very young players can improve enough to help the team make the playoffs.

They planned on hoping for the best, instead of expecting the worst.
- kingcong39

Wouldn't you love to know what goes on behind closed doors there? Any statistically inclined person knew this, and they have guys who have 100x the information and devote their careers to this. They must know. Do KA/Donnie/Terry just block it out and live on positivity and vibes?

This wasn't a scenario where they had to have depth to deal with injuries, they knew from early in the offseason that they had a problem and ignored it. VO and Jost are pathetic answers for a playoff team.

18% would rank 22nd in the league. So at its peak, it’s a below average PP.

That’s not good enough
- Swedish_Jesus

League average is 20, so 18 is about half a goal less per month. Number of teams in the race under that mark.

“My sperm is mother fukn potent, that mother (frank)er is gunna come out with a moustache & bad credit”…

Leon Black 2-18-24
- homiedclown

I died laughing. Hysterical

Wouldn't you love to know what goes on behind closed doors there? Any statistically inclined person knew this, and they have guys who have 100x the information and devote their careers to this. They must know. Do KA/Donnie/Terry just block it out and live on positivity and vibes?

This wasn't a scenario where they had to have depth to deal with injuries, they knew from early in the offseason that they had a problem and ignored it. VO and Jost are pathetic answers for a playoff team.
- Lunaion

It’s a pretty simple explanation-

The GM is scared. He can’t pull the trigger or make a decision unless he’s forced to or he thinks he’s saving money.

He’s the worst Buffalo sports GM of my lifetime

It’s four years in and the Sabres best players are all Botterill guys.

League average is 20, so 18 is about half a goal less per month. Number of teams in the race under that mark.
- Lunaion

Philly’s is just as bad as us, but they have the #2 ranked PK.

St.Louis is around 18% but since they made the coaching change have been a top 5 unit and that’s why they are back in the race.

Pittsburgh is going to single-handedly miss the playoffs because their PP sucks.

Rest of those in the race teams probably miss

Philly’s is just as bad as us, but they have the #2 ranked PK.

St.Louis is around 18% but since they made the coaching change have been a top 5 unit and that’s why they are back in the race.

Pittsburgh is going to single-handedly miss the playoffs because their PP sucks.

Rest of those in the race teams probably miss
- Swedish_Jesus

Jets

Jets
- Lunaion

Good catch, missed them.

All in all though, pretty tough to make the playoffs without having an above average PP.