"The fans despise this team. They hate this team."
- Michael Pachla

I despise Hamilton

Let me finish polishing all the Sabres cups from the last six years.

Detroit and Chicago never tanked. Colorado in the 90s. Tampa, Carolina, New Jersey. Los Angeles, Anaheim
- Michael Pachla

The Lightning don’t win a cup without Victor Hedman.

Would you rather be a Minnesota Wild fan or Montreal Canadians fan ?

They don’t tank, but they won’t win a cup either.

Just year after year of barely making the playoffs or barely missing the playoffs.

Just stuck in no mans land ?

St.Louis is the exception not the rule
- Pegullaville

I will answer this questions with a BIG FRANK YEAH!! I would love to have a team that makes the playoffs every year or damn near every year, because at least I have a franking CHANCE to win the cup.

Meanwhile, The Sabres out out of the conversation by the end of October...

I will answer this questions with a BIG FRANK YEAH!! I would love to have a team that makes the playoffs every year or damn near every year, because at least I have a franking CHANCE to win the cup.

Meanwhile, The Sabres out out of the conversation by the end of October...
- hehateme

Hey, some of those years we were first in the league till November

You keep bringing up the Hawks. They didn't tank.
- Michael Pachla

From 97-98 and 08/09 they made the playoffs once.

They may not have “Tanked” per se but they weren’t very good.

From 58/59 to 96/97 they missed the playoffs once.

From the outside looking in, from all the things I’ve heard (here and other places) about Eichel since the Disco Days, he sounds like a spoiled narcissistic giant pouting douche from bahstin. Might they be a better TEAM without him, despite his great talent for the game?
- Ratsreign

I stated numerous times after Kreuger was fired and Eichel was out that I thought this team looked better without him. People laughed at me. I said I was serious - They might not have been winning right away (hence the continuation of the streak), but I saw an immediate change, the very first game under Granato. I hadn't seen them play that way since the Peca/Barnes days and just before and after the first lockout.

Then they started to pull it together and it's so god damn infuriating that Ralph was the coach at all, because it's so obvious how much he was holding these players back that I would pay money just to be able to female dog slap him in front of his wife.

I know Eichel never wanted to play here, but he knew he was good enough to be top-2 in the draft and he tried to be professional and accept it but then ROR crashed into his favorite Tim Hortons and his butt started throbbing and he has honestly been a rain cloud over this organization pretty much since the end of his second season.

It sucks. I said we should have traded him last summer, got laughed at. I said man with all this smoke, there is surely fire and if he gets hurt or blah-blah... And now we're here.

He should never play another game here after what he said and how he went public with it. The media should be shredding him apart for it - He broke unwritten code, it was actually not cool. I don't care how much you think the organization wronged you - You keep that poop behind closed doors and you deal with it like an actual professional.

Me, me, me, me, me, me... Okay dude, you. We get it.

But news flash - You're not going to get traded and go straight to the finals and win the cup like your LLB - ROR. Unlike you, that douchebag busts ass on the ice, not just in disturbing pre-game rituals and practice.

It's worse than the Bills 4-straight Super Bowl losses, it's worse than No Goal, it's worse than the 17-year drought and it's worse than the President's team Sabres and losing Briere and Drury. Combined.

I want to take a crap on my jersey and light it on fire.

From 97-98 and 08/09 they made the playoffs once.

They may not have “Tanked” per se but they weren’t very good.

From 58/59 to 96/97 they missed the playoffs once.
- dadeadhead

Toews and Kane were top 3 picks.

Did they have luck to obtain those picks ? Possibly.

Don’t win 3 cups without them as the Center pieces though.

Chicago was able to surround their Kane and Toews.

Buffalo tried to surround Eichel and Reinahrt and no combination ever worked.

I stated numerous times after Kreuger was fired and Eichel was out that I thought this team looked better without him. People laughed at me. I said I was serious - They might not have been winning right away (hence the continuation of the streak), but I saw an immediate change, the very first game under Granato. I hadn't seen them play that way since the Peca/Barnes days and just before and after the first lockout.

Then they started to pull it together and it's so god damn infuriating that Ralph was the coach at all, because it's so obvious how much he was holding these players back that I would pay money just to be able to female dog slap him in front of his wife.

I know Eichel never wanted to play here, but he knew he was good enough to be top-2 in the draft and he tried to be professional and accept it but then ROR crashed into his favorite Tim Hortons and his butt started throbbing and he has honestly been a rain cloud over this organization pretty much since the end of his second season.

It sucks. I said we should have traded him last summer, got laughed at. I said man with all this smoke, there is surely fire and if he gets hurt or blah-blah... And now we're here.

He should never play another game here after what he said and how he went public with it. The media should be shredding him apart for it - He broke unwritten code, it was actually not cool. I don't care how much you think the organization wronged you - You keep that poop behind closed doors and you deal with it like an actual professional.

Me, me, me, me, me, me... Okay dude, you. We get it.

But news flash - You're not going to get traded and go straight to the finals and win the cup like your LLB - ROR. Unlike you, that douchebag busts ass on the ice, not just in disturbing pre-game rituals and practice.

It's worse than the Bills 4-straight Super Bowl losses, it's worse than No Goal, it's worse than the 17-year drought and it's worse than the President's team Sabres and losing Briere and Drury. Combined.

I want to take a crap on my jersey and light it on fire.
- BeadyEyedDouche

👏👏👏👏👏

I stated numerous times after Kreuger was fired and Eichel was out that I thought this team looked better without him. People laughed at me. I said I was serious - They might not have been winning right away (hence the continuation of the streak), but I saw an immediate change, the very first game under Granato. I hadn't seen them play that way since the Peca/Barnes days and just before and after the first lockout.

Then they started to pull it together and it's so god damn infuriating that Ralph was the coach at all, because it's so obvious how much he was holding these players back that I would pay money just to be able to female dog slap him in front of his wife.

I know Eichel never wanted to play here, but he knew he was good enough to be top-2 in the draft and he tried to be professional and accept it but then ROR crashed into his favorite Tim Hortons and his butt started throbbing and he has honestly been a rain cloud over this organization pretty much since the end of his second season.

It sucks. I said we should have traded him last summer, got laughed at. I said man with all this smoke, there is surely fire and if he gets hurt or blah-blah... And now we're here.

He should never play another game here after what he said and how he went public with it. The media should be shredding him apart for it - He broke unwritten code, it was actually not cool. I don't care how much you think the organization wronged you - You keep that poop behind closed doors and you deal with it like an actual professional.

Me, me, me, me, me, me... Okay dude, you. We get it.

But news flash - You're not going to get traded and go straight to the finals and win the cup like your LLB - ROR. Unlike you, that douchebag busts ass on the ice, not just in disturbing pre-game rituals and practice.

It's worse than the Bills 4-straight Super Bowl losses, it's worse than No Goal, it's worse than the 17-year drought and it's worse than the President's team Sabres and losing Briere and Drury. Combined.

I want to take a crap on my jersey and light it on fire.
- BeadyEyedDouche

Hire this man.

Toews and Kane were top 3 picks.

Did they have luck to obtain those picks ? Possibly.

Don’t win 3 cups without them as the Center pieces though.

Chicago was able to surround their Kane and Toews.

Buffalo tried to surround Eichel and Reinahrt and no combination ever worked.
- Pegullaville

Don’t forget they took Cam Barker 3rd overall and Jack Skille 7th overall in that same era....

Would you rather be a Minnesota Wild fan or Montreal Canadians fan ?

They don’t tank, but they won’t win a cup either.

Just year after year of barely making the playoffs or barely missing the playoffs.

Just stuck in no mans land ?

St.Louis is the exception not the rule
- Pegullaville

Oh boy I disagree but you will somehow convince me that St. Louis ran and stopped the run that year they won the Stanley Cup.

Either way, The Blues should be the rule moving forward. It doesn't matter what anyone thinks - When Tim Murray acquired ROR, he traded for and signed a premier Center in the league. However, we were rebuilding. When St. Louis acquired him, he was in his prime and they were wallowing in early playoff exits for years; He turned out to be the missing piece.

That's what teams like Minnesota, Dallas, Montreal have failed to do in order to get over the hump - Trade for a premier player and make minor roster changes to start the season and run with it. Don't wussy-foot it until the deadline and shimmy a player in when your payroll allows you to hedge your bets on bringing in an underperforming vet or star at the cost of a late 1st rounder for what should be a deep playoff run.

The Blues are a rule, it's just not being followed. However, if a team like Minnesota could land Eichel, it would be following the, pun not intended, St. Louis blue-print. They are a middling team and haven't been able to get over the hump because they won't make that huge trade, granted I do know they aren't always available... But teams often covet prospects and picks too much and need to better learn a prospects expiration date within their system to off-load their assets better.

I will answer this questions with a BIG FRANK YEAH!! I would love to have a team that makes the playoffs every year or damn near every year, because at least I have a franking CHANCE to win the cup.

Meanwhile, The Sabres out out of the conversation by the end of October...
- hehateme

Also I have to point out yet again that making the playoffs in the NHL is different than in the NFL and the other big-4 sports.

NHL teams depend on playoff revenue from the guaranteed 2 home playoff games. The NHL should keep this as a revenue bonus for teams that make the playoffs, but they need to spread the profits out better to make teams more competitive so we don't have teams like Arizona and for past examples, Atlanta, Quebec, Winnipeg, Hartford etc...

I just don't understand the NHL at all most of the time. They run their league in such a bizarre manner.

Our future center right on top

These were guys everyone knew where talented. Borgen, Bryson, and Olo were the only hits in his 3 year tenure, and the jury is still out on them. We've gone back and fourth on Olo, and I do like him. Just don't want to overpay when there are other holes needed to cover. If he comes relatively cheap, line up on the half wall and bomb away. No issue from me. We'll see how Botterill did drafting, a lot of his guys are showing great promise as well. We'll see what happens.
- SDSabre

Good post SD 👍

It's a coin toss for who was worse tmgm vs. Jbotts

I did like the "heavy" game. Bogo, ek9, d lo, foligno approach to his management vs. Soft

Oh boy I disagree but you will somehow convince me that St. Louis ran and stopped the run that year they won the Stanley Cup.

Either way, The Blues should be the rule moving forward. It doesn't matter what anyone thinks - When Tim Murray acquired ROR, he traded for and signed a premier Center in the league. However, we were rebuilding. When St. Louis acquired him, he was in his prime and they were wallowing in early playoff exits for years; He turned out to be the missing piece.

That's what teams like Minnesota, Dallas, Montreal have failed to do in order to get over the hump - Trade for a premier player and make minor roster changes to start the season and run with it. Don't wussy-foot it until the deadline and shimmy a player in when your payroll allows you to hedge your bets on bringing in an underperforming vet or star at the cost of a late 1st rounder for what should be a deep playoff run.

The Blues are a rule, it's just not being followed. However, if a team like Minnesota could land Eichel, it would be following the, pun not intended, St. Louis blue-print. They are a middling team and haven't been able to get over the hump because they won't make that huge trade, granted I do know they aren't always available... But teams often covet prospects and picks too much and need to better learn a prospects expiration date within their system to off-load their assets better.
- BeadyEyedDouche

You answered your own question in your post.

Players hardly become available like ROR and Eichel.

Could a majority of NFL franchises become a SB contender if Aaron Rodgers or Deshaun Watson walked in the door tomorrow ? Absolutely.

Building a middling in roster in the hopes you can pluck a bonafide 1C due to another organizations ineptitude is definitely an exception not a rule. Those players are kept and built around.

If you want those players you need to draft them, and sure you may not necessarily need to draft them top 5 or top 10 (Lightning are a effect example) however you bet your a$$ that the probabilities are higher of drafting that kind of player at the top of the draft.

Nobody is going to be getting Shane Wright or Connor Bedard by making the playoffs and losing in the first round.

The Sabres didn’t suck because they got to draft Eichel, Reinhart, Dahlin, Cozens, Mitts.

The Houston Texans didn’t suck because they had Deshaun Watson, J.J Watt, Deandre Hopkins.

Ownership, Management, Coaching, pissed away both of these franchises.

I stated numerous times after Kreuger was fired and Eichel was out that I thought this team looked better without him. People laughed at me. I said I was serious - They might not have been winning right away (hence the continuation of the streak), but I saw an immediate change, the very first game under Granato. I hadn't seen them play that way since the Peca/Barnes days and just before and after the first lockout.

Then they started to pull it together and it's so god damn infuriating that Ralph was the coach at all, because it's so obvious how much he was holding these players back that I would pay money just to be able to female dog slap him in front of his wife.

I know Eichel never wanted to play here, but he knew he was good enough to be top-2 in the draft and he tried to be professional and accept it but then ROR crashed into his favorite Tim Hortons and his butt started throbbing and he has honestly been a rain cloud over this organization pretty much since the end of his second season.

It sucks. I said we should have traded him last summer, got laughed at. I said man with all this smoke, there is surely fire and if he gets hurt or blah-blah... And now we're here.

He should never play another game here after what he said and how he went public with it. The media should be shredding him apart for it - He broke unwritten code, it was actually not cool. I don't care how much you think the organization wronged you - You keep that poop behind closed doors and you deal with it like an actual professional.

Me, me, me, me, me, me... Okay dude, you. We get it.

But news flash - You're not going to get traded and go straight to the finals and win the cup like your LLB - ROR. Unlike you, that douchebag busts ass on the ice, not just in disturbing pre-game rituals and practice.

It's worse than the Bills 4-straight Super Bowl losses, it's worse than No Goal, it's worse than the 17-year drought and it's worse than the President's team Sabres and losing Briere and Drury. Combined.

I want to take a crap on my jersey and light it on fire.
- BeadyEyedDouche

Beady tell the rest of them to SUCK IT..

Great Post....

Yeah right he was already famous for hammering Sellane and sending him flipping thru the air, look it up. All time cheap shot but I love Peca and it’s hilarious to watch Sellane seriously do almost a full 360 through the air.
- BeadyEyedDouche

Peca played in 37 career nhl games when the trade was made.

So yeah, he was new to the nhl when we traded for him.

Like cozens new....

I think Eichel is trying to dictate where he gets traded to, before his NTC kicks in.

I think the surgery is half him threatening to basically not be healthy if they want to move him to Ottawa or something

Me thinks he will rehab and be fine if they tell him they are working out a deal with LA or NY
- sbroads24

Absolutely agree with you. Eichel is maneuvering for a trade of his choice.

Also, why would you want your "new " team to have less assets to play with. Especially young nhl guys.

Wow wright Played through a fractured foot and strep throat at the u-18’s

Guy is a beast

https://www.sportsnet.ca/650/halford-brough-morning/paul-hamilton-buffalo-sabres-exhausted-permutations-nothing-works/

bump...a must listen

"Here
- Michael Pachla[the fans] blame the Pegulas. It's strange because the Pegulas own both teams, so they love the Pegulas when we're talking about the Buffalo Bills and they despise the Pegulas when we talk about the Buffalo Sabres. And I mean despise. I have never in my years in Buffalo covering both teams seen a team and a franchise hated as much as the Buffalo Sabres."

paul didn't hold back

2014 - 2nd overall
2015 - 2nd
2016 - 8th
2017 - 8th
2018 - 1st
2019 - 7th
2020 - 8th

jfc...how many times must we go through this?...high draft picks and pure talent is has not been the answer...nothing has worked in buffalo, like pham said, while also stating that uncle terry, jack, sam, gus, mccabe, okposo (and risto) have all been here while they they've added the talent and nothing has worked
- Michael Pachla

Yawn. It’s like saying we shouldn’t of drafted Josh Allen because EJ Manuel didn’t work out.

The first tank didn’t work because of incompetent GMs not the actual tanking. You draft Leon over Sam and Sergachev over Nylander. Don’t sign molson and Okposo and you are a powerhouse in league right now.

This point that it doesn’t work is tiresome. It absolutely can. And doing it now while our prospects are better than before (after trading Eichel and Sam) and the next two years with potential star players in the draft is franchise altering

Yawn. It’s like saying we shouldn’t of drafted Josh Allen because EJ Manuel didn’t work out.

The first tank didn’t work because of incompetent GMs not the actual tanking. You draft Leon over Sam and Sergachev over Nylander. Don’t sign molson and Okposo and you are a powerhouse in league right now.

This point that it doesn’t work is tiresome. It absolutely can. And doing it now while our prospects are better than before (after trading Eichel and Sam) and the next two years with potential star players in the draft is franchise altering
- Fattony1187

Hindsight is easy...

GMTM doesn't draft Russians... but he probably should have..

Yawn. It’s like saying we shouldn’t of drafted Josh Allen because EJ Manuel didn’t work out.

The first tank didn’t work because of incompetent GMs not the actual tanking. You draft Leon over Sam
- Fattony1187

pretty much every mock draft had skunk over leon


this is like saying the jet's would not have sucked forever if they only took dan marino over ken obrien

The Lightning don’t win a cup without Victor Hedman.
- Pegullaville

They didn't finish last.

From 97-98 and 08/09 they made the playoffs once.

They may not have “Tanked” per se but they weren’t very good.

From 58/59 to 96/97 they missed the playoffs once.
- dadeadhead

There's a difference between an organizational directive to lose at all costs and just sucking.

And they never finished in last place to my knowledge