TBN: Sabres refusal to salute fans after wins confirmed-Harrington

[Matt Ress]

I could care less tbh, the salute was cool for about a season. It's the same thing with the national anthem and tribute videos, it's just not needed. Our fans have every right to be grumpy but we also need to understand that while we have sucked for over a decade most of this team has been here 3-4 years. It's like being mad at your current spouse for something a one night stand did a decade ago.

What if you've been married for 12 years with no end in sight concerning your loser spouse?

 

[Sabresfansince1980]

Nope. You are totally justified to boo or to stop going all together. You should just understand that your booing isn't going to help, in fact, probably the opposite. That's all I'm saying.

Edit: and likewise, I'd tell the team they are right that the support hasn't been great, but focusing on that and calling fans out in the media is not going to help, in fact, probably the opposite.

Harrington is an ass but the delivery in the article was not unfair, it was down the middle. This must have been from Okposo or a player that is probably looked at as a team leader. Whoever that player is could be 100% right (I don't think so) but even if they were, they just threw a lit gas can into a pile of burning garbage in the middle of the intersection. It's completely awful leadership for that player to not see what this type of statement would do, the aggravation it will cause, for the rest of the organization.

It was tone deaf for the fan base, and now brings even MORE focus onto the failings of the franchise for the front office to have to deal with. Of course, they probably won't "deal" with it at all, just like every other issue lately. Still though, that's not what a front office wants to deal with thanks to a dumb statement from any player, let alone a veteran leader.

 

[Dubi Doo]

This is going to get very ugly I think

Im just dumbfounded at the 180 Ive done toward the coaching staff and players over the year. I was high on optimism with the way the ended the season. But now? This may have surpassed any of the disgust Ive had during the drought. I know there's recency bias in that opinion, but a lot of my disgust before was aimed at the GM and coaches, not as much toward the players.

Krueger and Botts took so much of my wrath. I didn't hate Eichel like many here. I felt a lot of blame was on the shoulders of management for bringing in trash leaders and never giving Eichel a team worthy of a playoff spot. Im not a fan of Eichel with how it all ended, but I had a hard time putting a lot of blame on him for wanting out. He wasn't a good leader,though.

Murray era at least brought us some toughness. Jon Scott realigning Thorton's jaw was beautiful. The team stuck up for each other. Unfortunately, the defense was ass, and leadership wasn't great.

The tank years for Reinhart and Eichel were tough to watch, but I understood the plan and the players gave a ton of effort with Nolan coaching them.

The Ott years at least the team had a spine. But the talent wasnt there anymore, and it became obvious a full tear down was needed, but Regier tried to shift the culture with a retool, at least.

This squad is just so hard to root for. I watched about 30 games, and quit after a 'strong game' would be followed up with a few 'effort's lacking' games. Now this gem drops, and while I never cared for the salute, the team being so petty about it after being trash at home + Dahlin begging the fans to come back because theyre finding their groove only to follow it up with more sucking at home...is just baffling to me. Such an unlikeable group. Im leaning toward a LA/Philly type of core players for core players trade.

The stench of this coaching staff and GM is wreaking off the players now as well, and Im not sure how easy it's going to be to have them buy into a winning attiude.

 

[SundherDome]

What if you've been married for 12 years with no end in sight concerning your loser spouse?

That one is on you. If you truly love em, you'll be there through the good and bad while helping them grow. If that's not the case, then you need to evaluate what is important to you and proceed accordingly. Life is wayyyy to short to be constantly miserable

 

[Matt Ress]

Nope. You are totally justified to boo or to stop going all together. You should just understand that your booing isn't going to help, in fact, probably the opposite. That's all I'm saying.

Edit: and likewise, I'd tell the team they are right that the support hasn't been great, but focusing on that and calling fans out in the media is not going to help, in fact, probably the opposite.

Idk man. Tough to put blame on fans here for being unhappy. We've been pretty patient throughout the last decade+. The players talked for over a year about going hard to get fans excited then regularly came out flat. How long should fans cheer a team that generally looks disinterested at home?

Maybe they should chant TRADE OKIE instead

 

[jd1970]

Obviously the owner has to lay down the law and very publicly.
Remember the Bickering Bills didn't end until Ralph did that.

 

[May Day 10]

Cancelling my seasons on Tuesday. Enough is enough

 

[littletonhockeycoach]

Both pathetic and infuriating.

This franchise was the toast of WNY and Southern Ontario for DECADES. Franchise support persevered through a criminal ownership, temporary NHL operation, legitimate concerns about changing location, losing illigimately in the SCF (1999), 2 NHL player strikes, a scoreboard falling to the ice and fortunately not killing anyone, Larry Quinn, GMTM, Botterill, Krueger, Garden Gloves and many, many blown draft choices.

And the fans remained loyal.

Retired players from the glory years are still publicly admired and revered.
Many remain in the Buffalo area and are part of the community.

The fans were promised great things by the current ownership but have seen all of that disappear over the last 10 years. And have exercised their right to demand changes.

Instead we see a bunch of petulant children (players and management) act like they don't need us, don't need to listen to us and frankly, do what the hell they want to do no matter what the outcomes.

And they expect loyalty in return?

Hell, my dad worked for Ford and my father in law for Bethlehem. Today's players have little awareness or recognition of what a blue collar working man who lived their entire life in this community's outlook on life and sport is.

Screw them.

 

[tsujimoto74]

I can’t wait til Okposo is gone. Dude has clearly lost the plot.

 

[Matt Ress]

That is one you. If you truly love em, you'll be there through the good and bad while helping them grow. If that's not the case, then you need to evaluate what is important to you and proceed accordingly. Life is wayyyy to short to be constantly miserable

I'm happily married with my one year anniversary coming up but you already know I wasn't really talking about personal relationships.

If we're still talking about a metaphorical relationship with the Sabres, we're separated but still check in. Who knows how long that will last. Hell I've been thinking about getting me a side piece, no feels. Never thought I would but here we are.

 

[jc17]

What’s funny is the focus on ‘fixing the culture’ I just made it a bunker mentality that can’t handle criticism and is immune of any expectations, from the GM down. When Adams literally laughed when asked if missing the playoffs by a single point to end an 11 year playoff drought was a missed opportunity it just showed the mentality of the front office wasn’t living in any sort of reality.

The reality is to effect any real change you are going to have to turn over 25-35% of the roster if not more. All the vets have accepted losing as the standard. As has the coaching staff. And the front office was always ok with it. There be voices that say ‘this isn’t ok’ They need to stop trading guys who get pissed off about losing and start moving the guys who are docile about it.

Idk if its better for the roster speculation thread or here, but from a purely culture perspective, I'd be curious on everyone's thoughts of who stays/goes. Below are my rambling thoughts

I think on-ice leadership is a big part of it, if you have the right guys at the top, the other guys who are maybe 50% committed get pulled in, do idk if I need that amount of roster turnover. This could be captaincy or coaching.

On the coaching front, Torts was the one coach I would have been firmly on board with, and he's getting the results in philly because there's a high standard. I think Don would really be well-served to have an assistant that will kick some asses, maybe Peca could have been that guy... The 5v5 results have been fine, but they could be better. I'm fine keeping Don but think there's probably room to improve the staff as a whole. Granted, I cant tell you much about the assistants, so I'm not saying this with a ton of conviction.

On the captaincy side (or rather player side regardless of letter), I dont hate KO, but doesnt seem like what we need right now. I dont think Old man Johnson is it either. Need someone who isn't too far past their prime and can garner the respect of the skilled guys.

To be honest I'm fine with most of the players. VO is well past due to leave, KO will be gone, I dont think Girgs is a culture problem. I'll defend skinner's overall impact at times, but I don't think he sets a good example, but we're stuck with him. I don't think any of the current team is going to push him, because he'll shut down like he did under ralph.

Someone needs to push Power. PHam caught flak for calling him soft, but I dont think he was wrong. Luckily, its not a permanent affliction. Cozens needs to decide whether he wants the "workhorse" thing to be a permanent title or something that shows up every now and then. Same sort of goes with Sammy.

I think losing Mitts at a time like this would be a mistake. He's a guy that actually seemed to have an attitude adjustment and came out on the right end of things.

Additional guys I think you have to hold on to are Tuch, Greenway, Benson, Peterka, and Tage. Peterka and tage dont have a ton of grind in them, but I think they each have a little bit of ego that this team has historically lacked. I think they hate to lose because they have confidence in their abilities. Maybe an honorable mention for Krebs. He hasn't been good but I think he can still be of value. A few offseasons ago some reporter mentioned Dahlin was holding guys accountable. Not sure if it was overstated, if other 'leaders' on the team prevent him from having that role, or if he's just not the Captain sort of guy.

 

[Ace]

When were all these home wins that I was supposed to notice this?

 

[Dubi Doo]

That is one you. If you truly love em, you'll be there through the good and bad while helping them grow. If that's not the case, then you need to evaluate what is important to you and proceed accordingly. Life is wayyyy to short to be constantly miserable

Ehhhh...being mad at the franchise =/= being mad all the time. I've actually had a great weekend/day, but if you read my posts in this thread- you'd think I hate the world, haha.

This is just the only place I can vent about the Sabres because my wife sure as hell doesnt want to here it for 1000th time. We've been together for almost a decade, so she's heard a lot of Sabres rants!

 

[jd1970]

I was also wondering how long the goodwill between the team and Harrington would last. I'm sure this will put him right back in the proverbial crosshairs, as he was when Botterill was around.

I've been getting the feeling Harrington has been setting them up for a post season ripping.

 

[SundherDome]

I'm happily married with my one year anniversary coming up but you already know I wasn't really talking about personal relationships.

If we're still talking about a metaphorical relationship with the Sabres, we're separated but still check in. Who knows how long that will last. Hell I've been thinking about getting me a side piece, no feels. Never thought I would but here we are.

I was still talking about the hypothetical. This team is a hobby for me. I enjoy watching them and I also want to cap em all at the knees. When the hobby becomes a burden or you have real actionable emotions, it's time to walk away. We are also not the only team who goes through this. Look across the border. The Leafs are literally the same as us except they play one more week of games than us.

 

[Ace]

I do have to give Harrington credit. He managed to find the absolute most useless thing to get angry about in a sea of actual problems in need of questioning.

This from a guy who bragged online about never watching Amerks games or knowing anything about the team’s proespects. The man lives in an echo chamber blocking anyone who disagrees with him. I, myself, have been blocked for around a decade for telling him his reply to someone’s trade proposal was the dumbest thing I’d ever seen. That proposal? He wouldn’t trade MYERS and ENROTH for DRAISAITL and RNH.

As with the After the Whistle podcast…I caution people about giving a solitary crap what people with so little understanding of things want you to think about it.

 

[MOGlLNY]

I do have to give Harrington credit. He managed to find the absolute most useless thing to get angry about in a sea of actual problems in need of questioning.

This from a guy who bragged online about never watching Amerks games or knowing anything about the team’s proespects. The man lives in an echo chamber blocking anyone who disagrees with him. I, myself, have been blocked for around a decade for telling him his reply to someone’s trade proposal was the dumbest thing I’d ever seen. That proposal? He wouldn’t trade MYERS and ENROTH for DRAISAITL and RNH.

As with the After the Whistle podcast…I caution people about giving a solitary crap what people with so little understanding of things want you to think about it.

I completely agree top down on Harrington. But this isn’t an opinion piece from him. I think it’s more us reacting to the quote.

If he just did a report on the Sabres not saluting anymore and not having a quote, I doubt it even gets posted. I certainly don’t give a shit if they salute or not.

 

[SundherDome]

Ehhhh...being mad at the franchise =/= being mad all the time. I've actually had a great weekend/day, but if you read my posts in this thread- you'd think I hate the world, haha.

This is just the only place I can vent about the Sabres because my wife sure as hell doesnt want to here it for 1000th time. We've been together for almost a decade, so she's heard a lot of Sabres rants!

Same boat, we can absolutely be critical of the team and this board provides therapeutic benefits, minus any Bernmeister post, to talk about it.

There is a clear movement in this century regarding sports, owners are gunna make money, it's just going to happen, fans voices don't have the power they used to and each front office thinks they have the miracle solution to be a dynasty.

 

[MOGlLNY]

I completely agree top down on Harrington. But this isn’t an opinion piece from him. I think it’s more us reacting to the quote.

If he just did a report on the Sabres not saluting anymore and not having a quote, I doubt it even gets posted. I certainly don’t give a shit if they salute or not.

I also want to say I did not approve of the chants to fire Don.

 

[Ace]

I completely agree top down on Harrington. But this isn’t an opinion piece from him. I think it’s more us reacting to the quote.

If he just did a report on the Sabres not saluting anymore and not having a quote, I doubt it even gets posted. I certainly don’t give a shit if they salute or not.

I get it. But a journalist…and I can’t keep a straight face while even typing the word…running down the mystery of why they didn’t lift sticks the one time in the last month they actually won at home while there are no less than 3 million bigger stories in this shitshow organization is part of the point.

It’s lazy, uninspired, and meant solely to create derision while offering zero in the way of things that actually matter.

 

[Sabresfansince1980]

And they expect loyalty in return?

Hell, my dad worked for Ford and my father in law for Bethlehem. Today's players have little awareness or recognition of what a blue collar working man who lived their entire life in this community's outlook on life and sport is.

Screw them.

I would probably be angrier if I still lived in the area and went to games regularly. Fortunately I've been geographically removed from this aggravation for years. I would be frustrated if a majority of these 21-25 yr old players felt like this (maybe they do) but the quote coming from a 30+ yr old player is just so out-of-touch. These guys have zero farking idea what it means to save money on the average salary of people around WNY, enough to blow it on driving to, parking, tickets, one f-ing beer, etc...just to see some brain-dead and effortless shit show on most nights.

I can't get past the 1st period in my own friggin living room most of the time. I live in a world where having no effort, no accountability, and no attention to detail ends really badly in a wide variety of ways (complaints, lawsuits, injuries...worse). After that, despite the myriad of reasons why I would want to speak publicly about some of the internal BS I see and deal with, I would be unforgivably wrong to air that crap out in a public forum and make even more waves and controversy for my command staff. So what if I'm right, it only makes for a bigger shit storm for everyone else to deal with. That's exactly what (I assume) Okposo did, except he's probably wrong.

The average guy out here just keeping his head above water financially, that would get shit-canned the minute after causing that kind of mess for his employer, has every farking right to boo at a hockey game. I can almost...ALMOST...give slack to a dumb 24 yr old saying that. A 35 yr old...it's just a sign of how removed from reality some of these guys are.

 

[zuikan]

I don't know which assistant coaches or if Granato needs to be replaced but a few do. Losing Peca was a fail also.

 

[old kummelweck]

What a complete mess.

 

[TheBarnIsElectric]

Idk man. Tough to put blame on fans here for being unhappy. We've been pretty patient throughout the last decade+. The players talked for over a year about going hard to get fans excited then regularly came out flat. How long should fans cheer a team that generally looks disinterested at home?

Maybe they should chant TRADE OKIE instead

Not putting blame on the fans. I myself am pissed at the team.

 

[Beerz]

Every time I see someone post this in the thread it throws me into a fit of violent uncontrollable rage because it 100% misses the entire point.

I can't tell you how little I care if the players salute us fans after a win in regular season..sorry..can't get worked up about this