Speculation: Is there consequence to losing?

[enthusiast]

Mentioned this in the last gbu and while Chain(?) rightly offered that the youth might get cycled through Rochester, I still have to wonder what the bigger picture stakes are here.

Granato just got extended, so he’s almost certainly locked in regardless of team performance.

Adams seemingly constructed a roster that simultaneously allowed players room to grow while also almost certainly not being competitive, so he probably has leeway for this season too.

Underperforming vets either can’t be moved or won’t be moved for locker room reasons.

Does the Sabres’ record really matter to anyone? Clearly some guys need to play for their contracts or nhl status, but has this losing streak put any meaningful pressure on anyone?

Click to read more...

 

[oldgoalie]

One consequence - I’m not wasting anymore time on this team. My deepest respect for any of you that continue to support this shit show. I’m done.

 

[CaliSabresfan24]

I've went from "I can't wait to watch the game tonight!" to "I don't f**king care anymore" within a span of a month...

Its the same old song and dance.. Start the season out hot and give fans hope to going on a bad losing streaks

 

[RefsIdeas]

Mentioned this in the last gbu and while Chain(?) rightly offered that the youth might get cycled through Rochester, I still have to wonder what the bigger picture stakes are here.

Granato just got extended, so he’s almost certainly locked in regardless of team performance.

Adams seemingly constructed a roster that simultaneously allowed players room to grow while also almost certainly not being competitive, so he probably has leeway for this season too.

Underperforming vets either can’t be moved or won’t be moved for locker room reasons.

Does the Sabres’ record really matter to anyone? Clearly some guys need to play for their contracts or nhl status, but has this losing streak put any meaningful pressure on anyone?

It’s a good point, and it’s a concern I had during the offseason when we didn’t meaningfully try and improve our team with $20m in cap space.

The vets know it’s a developmental year. The kids know it. The only thing that’s really at stake is potential NHL jobs for the kids that don’t end up panning out. So we spend 82 games watching that play out, while nothing else matters on the ice. Nobody’s getting benched, nobody’s losing PP time, nobody’s getting fired. The organizational standard was set far too low.

 

[2 others]

I'm not quitting yet. However i will stop watching once they are out of the playoffs for good. I will not get suckered in like last season.

 

[MarkusKetterer]

I'm not quitting yet. However i will stop watching once they are out of the playoffs for good. I will not get suckered in like last season.

So by the next game?

I’m over watching this team. I’m now back into “player making their Sabres or NHL debut” territory on my interest in watching this team.

 

[ValJamesDuex]

One consequence - I’m not wasting anymore time on this team. My deepest respect for any of you that continue to support this shit show. I’m done.

Can't blame you, life's short

 

[sabresfan129103]

They started to build up some goodwill and hope with their performance at the beginning of the season, but they've totally killed that in the last 2+ weeks. They're response to this is waiver claim on a fringe NHL player 7 games into a losing streak. It's clear the Sabres don't care about what the fans think or what at all.

 

[Gabrielor]

Ask McCabe, Eichel, Reinhart, and Ullmark.

The answer is yes, losing takes a toll. It’s already destroyed the fanbase, and it’ll hurt the next generation of guys too if Pegula doesn’t continue to be inept.

 

[ValJamesDuex]

I want to hear from Adams this week!, and he has to be accountable at the top! I hope he does not hide under the Botterill rock.

If the Pegulas said the team was moving to Hamilton tomorrow I might actually be happy.

 

[K8fool]

I'm not quitting yet. However i will stop watching once they are out of the playoffs for good. I will not get suckered in like last season.

I don't want to let them off the hook.. This streak feels more like a storm than a trend.. can't quite explain it. We'll see how they react..
The bills last two seem odd.. we'll see w them tomorrow.. I don't see either lasting

 

[ValJamesDuex]

I don't want to let them off the hook.. This streak feels more like a storm than a trend.. can't quite explain it. We'll see how they react..
The bills last two seem odd.. we'll see w them tomorrow.. I don't see either lasting

for me this streak is injuries and then a yes man gm not doing anything to prevent it from festering. Add in his off season moves, a Coaching staff that seems lost in a fog with NO answers, and here we are.....F'in AGAIN!

 

[enthusiast]

Ask McCabe, Eichel, Reinhart, and Ullmark.

The answer is yes, losing takes a toll. It’s already destroyed the fanbase, and it’ll hurt the next generation of guys too if Pegula doesn’t continue to be inept.

Definitely agree in terms of the organization culture, but I meant more in terms of brass tacks. Why make a move to right the ship of the record doesn’t change anyone’s job security, etc

 

[OkimLom]

Mentioned this in the last gbu and while Chain(?) rightly offered that the youth might get cycled through Rochester, I still have to wonder what the bigger picture stakes are here.

Granato just got extended, so he’s almost certainly locked in regardless of team performance.

Adams seemingly constructed a roster that simultaneously allowed players room to grow while also almost certainly not being competitive, so he probably has leeway for this season too.

Underperforming vets either can’t be moved or won’t be moved for locker room reasons.

Does the Sabres’ record really matter to anyone? Clearly some guys need to play for their contracts or nhl status, but has this losing streak put any meaningful pressure on anyone?

The wins/losses don't matter, but how they are playing does. It's supposed to be a development year (again), and their weaknesses are becoming more glaring as the games go on, changes in how they handle different teams don't seem to exist, and the initial results in the first 10 games of the season are just confirming the patterns we've seen from the organization every year.

They get excited about the new season, then they fall into old habits, they don't get corrected because our coaching staffs are consistently "learning on the job" for the NHL level, and it snowballs from there, and then add in injuries and it's the same song and dance.

There are fundamental mistakes with this organization. Maybe the organization needs to get a more veteran team, and work their young guys in after they build up a standard. Keeping young players around poorly coached teams ISN'T improving their development. They aren't learning good habits to win when you have guys making lazy turnovers or not deciding to shoot to create a chance, but instead curling at the half wall and getting bodied off the puck, and the result of these poor choices is no consequences.

 

[enthusiast]

The wins/losses don't matter, but how they are playing does. It's supposed to be a development year (again), and their weaknesses are becoming more glaring as the games go on, changes in how they handle different teams don't seem to exist, and the initial results in the first 10 games of the season are just confirming the patterns we've seen from the organization every year.

They get excited about the new season, then they fall into old habits, they don't get corrected because our coaching staffs are consistently "learning on the job" for the NHL level, and it snowballs from there, and then add in injuries and it's the same song and dance.

There are fundamental mistakes with this organization. Maybe the organization needs to get a more veteran team, and work their young guys in after they build up a standard. Keeping young players around poorly coached teams ISN'T improving their development. They aren't learning good habits to win when you have guys making lazy turnovers or not deciding to shoot to create a chance, but instead curling at the half wall and getting bodied off the puck, and the result of these poor choices is no consequences.

Again, I agree completely, but does any of this translate into change?

 

[oldgoalie]

Again, I agree completely, but does any of this translate into change?

Not with this ownership group.

 

[OkimLom]

Again, I agree completely, but does any of this translate into change?

Nobody here can give the only answer from the only people that matter.

 

[Panthaz89]

for me this streak is injuries and then a yes man gm not doing anything to prevent it from festering. Add in his off season moves, a Coaching staff that seems lost in a fog with NO answers, and here we are.....F'in AGAIN!

I can't stand talking about injuries when Pittsburgh made the playoffs just last season with Crosby missing sometime and Malkin missed half the season with Evan flipping Rodriguez taking their time at 1C for a long period ffs he was a 4th liner for us at one point. Boston missing their best D-man for 10+ games this season and still be at the top. This organization continues to ice an underwhelming lineup and guys that have no business playing as high as they should or in situations(Skinner on the PP) that they should never be in like the GM and coach are beyond oblivious to something that is clearly not working. Fitz is so bad I might as well be begging for them to put in Clague which is sad.

 

[Ness]

Problem with trying to bring in veterans is

A) Who the f*** would want to sign in Buffalo as a veteran right now?

and

B) The times they have brought in vets, it’s been players like Gionta, Staal, Gorges, etc who are past their primes or are just looking to be traded to a team of their choosing at the deadline, or it’s a Taylor Hall situation that was just a disaster from day 1.

We absolutely need veterans but I have no idea where these vets would be coming from.

 

[Gabrielor]

Problem with trying to bring in veterans is

A) Who the f*** would want to sign in Buffalo as a veteran right now?

and

B) The times they have brought in vets, it’s been players like Gionta, Staal, Gorges, etc who are past their primes or are just looking to be traded to a team of their choosing at the deadline, or it’s a Taylor Hall situation that was just a disaster from day 1.

We absolutely need veterans but I have no idea where these vets would be coming from.

Trade is the only way.

 

[Husko]

I've been mostly checked out of the Sabres for a few years now, partly because life is too busy and partly because obvious reasons, but my biggest observation right now is it's incredible to me just how low the expectations for the team have become. Coming into the season the general sentiment seemed to be "hopefully they show improvement, though they're obviously not a playoff team yet" and that is just wild to me. Half the teams make the playoffs. Bad teams make the playoffs all the time. Any team that's not on the downward slope of a major rebuild should be capable of contending for the playoffs. And the fact that that's not the expectation is just a sad reflection of how far the team has sunk. Hopefully they turn it around eventually.

 

[TehDoak]

The issue is it’s going to be hard to maintain a good culture if the losing continues, which was really the cornerstone of Adams/Granato tenure. Either that or you are going to get a happy team that is fine with losing, which might be worse.

 

[Ace]

We’ve seen 11 years and counting of the consequences. Empty arenas, absentee owners, no plan on defense, all eggs in one future basket in goal.

Winning not only doesn’t matter to anyone there now…it won’t next year either. They’ll have to luck into winning before anyone cares that it’s happening.

 

[Fjordy]

Ask McCabe, Eichel, Reinhart, and Ullmark.

The answer is yes, losing takes a toll. It’s already destroyed the fanbase, and it’ll hurt the next generation of guys too if Pegula doesn’t continue to be inept.

THIS

This will simply destroy the youth morally, Dahlin and Thompson have been losing and losing like this for more than a season when you don’t fight for anything, you just go with the flow.

Adams plan:

 

[Sabre Dance]

Winning and losing hurts morale. It’s felt throughout the organization. The good/bad thing is it can change the next game.