WGR: The Sabres seem too fragile to be able to achieve their goals

[Buffaloed]

Paul Hamilton comments after the Panthers game.

This is a group that does not respond to coaching whether it’s Phil Housley, Dan Bylsma or Ted Nolan. It just never seems to matter who the coach is. This is a group that sometimes follows the game plan and when they do, they’re successful.
There are players in that room that have played for all three coaches, and it’s high time Jason Botterill find some players with a good hockey IQ. We sit and watch the same players make the same mistakes over and over again.
The Sabres seem too fragile to be able to achieve their goals

He seems to be letting Housley off the hook by blaming the players and by extension the GM.

Click to read more...

 

[jBuds]

This is the scary thing for me. We’ve turned over a large chunk of the roster for this season, and it’s the same shit. What could possibly be next? Burn down the other half? Trade Eichel, Risto and Reinhart?

 

[Kevbeau]

Nolan is a bit of a stretch. There’s only 3 players left that played any significant time under him and two of them (Girgs & Larry) have been fine. Risto is the 3rd.

Reinhart & McCabe played less than 10 games season I believe.

I’m not saying I completely disagree with Hamilton but the team went from no system to failed system to TBD with Housley. I’m not ready to fully lay responsibility on a single party.

 

[Willgamesh]

Some of these teams were also made to tank, kinda a hot take by phams.

 

[Snippit]

No more sports psychology bull shit

Focus on adding talent to the team and results will follow.

 

[Chainshot]

So guys playing high-defensive roles like Gus and Larry are now the problem?

 

[Hasek]

Maybe the issue could be that Buffalo is now a great place to be as a player. I am strictly referring to the city, the arena, facilities, pegula bucks etc. It is a comfortable environment. If I'm a player that is on the 2nd half of my career, I would love to go to Buffalo and sign a secure contract. Do enough to stick around and concentrate on my family. An environment that fosters complaicency. Maybe this is why Girgs/Larsson turned it up this year. They were close to being pushed out and maybe figured out its better to be on a 4th line here than anywhere else. This is why I worry that signing Skinner long term may be a problem, but he seems young enough that he may stay hungry.

 

[Icicle]

Larsson has always done fine when not stapled to players like Nolan. FLG was the only reason that one team was worth a damn. Girgensons has given up on his early day all-star dreams and learned to play simple and rough. Silly to attribute things much further. Occam’s razor and all

 

[Der Jaeger]

So who is he talking about?

Ristolainen
McCabe
Girgensons
Larsson
Bogosian

I think this article might be a shot at Ristolainen, Bogosian, and possibly McCabe.

 

[dotcommunism]

Talking about "the group" under all three coaches is nonsense. There are six players left who played at all under Nolan, and two of them played fewer than ten games for him.

What has fundamentally been the problem under all three coaches, once you get past the fact that the team under Nolan was expressly designed to lose games, is the forward depth has been complete shit. Lately I've been coming around to the idea that this is all a consequence of the full tear-down that the tank was. The tank teams, especially the 2014-15 team, were just completely stripped for parts to ensure a last place finish and that had an effect on the team's depth that lasted longer than anyone, either fans or management, was really prepared for. One can certainly argue the full tear-down was necessary to guarantee the last place finish, and at least get Eichel out of the 2015 draft. That said, we have seen teams, such as the 2015-16 Maple Leafs, "tank" for a year without taking the complete scorched earth approach that the Sabres took, and the difference is stark.

Murray never built up any depth around his big acquisitions that everyone hates (but who have all been rather successful since leaving Buffalo), and neither did Botterill. Unless and until they actually address the team's depth forwards in a meaningful way, it's hard to see anything changing.

 

[Icicle]

Talking about "the group" under all three coaches is nonsense. There are six players left who played at all under Nolan, and two of them played fewer than ten games for him.

What has fundamentally been the problem under all three coaches, once you get past the fact that the team under Nolan was expressly designed to lose games, is the forward depth has been complete ****. Lately I've been coming around to the idea that this is all a consequence of the full tear-down that the tank was. The tank teams, especially the 2014-15 team, were just completely stripped for parts to ensure a last place finish and that had an effect on the team's depth that lasted longer than anyone, either fans or management, was really prepared for. One can certainly argue the full tear-down was necessary to guarantee the last place finish, and at least get Eichel out of the 2015 draft. That said, we have seen teams, such as the 2015-16 Maple Leafs, "tank" for a year without taking the complete scorched earth approach that the Sabres took, and the difference is stark.

Murray never built up any depth around his big acquisitions that everyone hates (but who have all been rather successful since leaving Buffalo), and neither did Botterill. Unless and until they actually address the team's depth forwards in a meaningful way, it's hard to see anything changing.

Murray traded all the picks for a few quality pieces. Instead of being patient and drafting top-5 for a couple drafts instead.

Toronto had a pipeline of guys held back while they sucked, with their first pieces being defenseman who take longer to develop, and then came out running once the final pieces came into place.

Murray is the one who sank us trading away all those 1sts and 2nds for assets that amounted to nothing, and then missing on the few non top2 1sts and 2nds he did have.

 

[Tyler2829]

So who is he talking about?

Ristolainen
McCabe
Girgensons
Larsson
Bogosian

I think this article might be a shot at Ristolainen, Bogosian, and possibly McCabe.

I'm pretty sure he hates Ristolainen, always saying he's "uncoachable", so it's probably at least him.

 

[Icicle]

Looking far too into a hack journalist’s bait.

 

[HaNotsri]

Try winning against the great teams in the Atlantic with Pominville on the first line, Sobotka in a prominent role, Scandella falling apart, Risto being bad Risto, no depth at C...
On paper we should be among the worst teams in the league and after the winning streak we are. You can say that the team is fragile, "lack instincts" or whatever but to win games you need talent, quality, a gameplan and the culture of good habits is not enough.
I'm not fond of Housley or anything but being fragile isn't really the main problem. Yes, I'd like our players to try to break into the area in front of the net more often. I'd like them to stay focused when things gets heated. But the thing is, maybe it's the other team stepping up and living up to their potential rather than us not answering? Effort will only take you so far.

 

[Gabrielor]

All of current top guys have their issues:

Reinhart - quiet, controlled, rarely shows emotion. Murray brought this up in his draft interview
Eichel - pouts when things don't go his way. Which is a problem for your team leader
Risto - likes to play unstructured hockey. Leads to some exciting goals, and way way more goals against

The answer isn't trading them, however. Pretty much every player in the league has their issues. Crosby and Malkin had known issues prior to 2008, but they still won.

It's about finding a coach who can get the most out of them. Housley isn't doing that.

 

[OkimLom]

I don’t ever remember people tuning Nolan out. I remember him having tank level rosters that were a pain in the butt to play against because of their effort, but of course they lost a lot...

Maybe we should hire better coaches that don’t let the players own the room and walk over them. Instead of hiring coaches like a freaking fan, hire a coach like a business man

 

[Member 308457]

I wonder if some of our players are tanking, playing intentionally bad, to force a trade. It's possible. Each player has their own reaction when they're unhappy. If you saw Alexander Mogilny's final months as a Sabre, when he had umpteen breakaways and missed them all, you'll know what I mean. The maddening thing is our guys get traded and do better elsewhere.

 

[Reddawg]

Maybe we should hire better coaches that don’t let the players own the room and walk over them. Instead of hiring coaches like a freaking fan, hire a coach like a business man

I remember that being tried and it turned out that Babcock was just using us to run the price up on Toronto. There’s lots of coaches out there with NHL experience but who among them do we really want taking over?

 

[Beerz]

Instead of the complete tear down we should of had Garrett Sparks as our goaltender.

The problem is both GMs and all the coaches have some love affair with "grizzled vets" who no longer have the ability to play the game.

 

[Vito_81]

This is the scary thing for me. We’ve turned over a large chunk of the roster for this season, and it’s the same ****. What could possibly be next? Burn down the other half? Trade Eichel, Risto and Reinhart?

The problem for me is that the likes of Mitts, Thompson, Pominville and Okposo were relied on to provide consistant offense this season.

The issue is the lack of skill right now. The players with top 6 skill like Mitts are too young and un-prepared to produce in the NHL right now. The others, like Okposo are too washed up while guys like ERod and Sobotka are playing too high up the lineup.


Jack Skinner Reinhart. Thats all that we have as capable, ready now top 6 NHL talent

Everyone else is a 3rd or 4th line forward in the league.

 

[Jim Bob]

So guys playing high-defensive roles like Gus and Larry are now the problem?

Yeah, why aren't the guys who are tasked with shutting down the other team scoring more?!?!?!?!

 

[Jim Bob]

The problem for me is that the likes of Mitts, Thompson, Pominville and Okposo were relied on to provide consistant offense this season.

The issue is the lack of skill right now. The players with top 6 skill like Mitts are too young and un-prepared to produce in the NHL right now. The others, like Okposo are too washed up while guys like ERod and Sobotka are playing too high up the lineup.

Jack Skinner Reinhart. Thats all that we have as capable, ready now top 6 NHL talent

Everyone else is a 3rd or 4th line forward in the league.

That was the problem last season.

The Skinner trade helped address the issue.

The Sheary deal hasn't moved the needle.

The ROR trade hurt in this area.

 

[Der Jaeger]

I'm pretty sure he hates Ristolainen, always saying he's "uncoachable", so it's probably at least him.

I don't really like Ristolainen either. I don't like using shortened names in written form, like "Risto." And typing Ristolainen every time is a pain in the butt. Hoping they trade Ristolainen to Anaheim for Josh Manson. So much easier to type....

 

[TehDoak]

Consider the source here.

Hamilton simply is a bad beat reporter. Period. He's a mix of hot takes, playing favorites (remember the Buffalo media crying when McGinn got moved), and fake "insider" knowledge. He never has any insight that any 1st time blogger with a press pass couldn't determine.

The Buffalo media loved Bylsma. f***ing loved him. Not sure why. Pretty much if a player or coach is nice to the Buffalo sports media and shares some jokes with them, they get a free pass from the TBN/WGR crew for life.

Now that Buffalo replaced him with a first time coach, and shocker, we are still having problems, they are simply saying "It isn't the coach! See, we could have kept Bylsma, i was right when i complained about it before, see!!"

 

[Havok89]

This is the scary thing for me. We’ve turned over a large chunk of the roster for this season, and it’s the same ****. What could possibly be next? Burn down the other half? Trade Eichel, Risto and Reinhart?

These guys have done their job all season. Eichel is a PPG+ and Reinhart is having a career year, and has shown he can produce without Jack.

The biggest issue is Mittelstadt being forced into a huge role that he hasn’t been ready for. Tage Thompson should have been developing in Rochester all season, his very presence contradicts everything Botterill says about their development plans for their young players.

Scandella has been horrific all season, and no amount of poor play will see him in the press box, there’s absolutely no accountability for the vets on this team.

Sobotka is a fourth liner at best, and another player whose immune from the press box no matter how poor he plays. Internal competition does not exist here.