Name: It's time for the Buffalo Sabres to make some changes: Vogl
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It's time for the Buffalo Sabres to make some changes: Vogl

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Mar 1, 2021BUFFALO, N.Y. — It’s time for a change. There’s no way around it.fans shouldn’t have to suffer through 37 more games of this.In a decade filled with rock-bottom moments, this weekend was one of the low points. The last-place Sabres failed to score a goal, dropping consecutive 3-0 decisions to Philadelphia to fall to 2-7-1 in the last 10 games.Saturday featured lethargy.Sunday showcased carelessness.Both days highlighted incompetence.“I’m very embarrassed,” defenseman said. “This is not acceptable. This sucks. It’s the worst.”The Sabres are planning to bring fans back to KeyBank Center starting March 20. Assuming they actually sell the 1,970 tickets per game, what are fans coming back to?Nothing much.Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams did his fair share of tinkering during the offseason, most notably bringing in and . But an in-season adjustment is required. Adams needs to decide whether it should be a trade or firing, but he needs to do something.After 19 games, the team is already out of solutions.“I don’t have a cliche answer for you right now,” captain said. “I’m trying to process this all myself, you know? It’s tough.“I mean, if we had answers, I think we would be spitting them out.”Sabres fans: With the team falling to the bottom again, which best sums up your feelings?— John Vogl (@BuffaloVogl)There are so many problems it’s hard to decide where to start.The Sabres walked out of their arena ranked 29th in scoring at 2.2 goals per game. They’ve been blanked four times and scored one goal three times.They were tied for 11th in most goals allowed at 2.95 per game.With a 6-10-3 record and .395 points percentage, they sat 28th in the . Their four regulation wins topped only San Jose’s three.When almost nothing is working, it’s either the roster or coaching. Though the Sabres weren’t expected to be Stanley Cup contenders, they had enough talent to compete for a playoff spot.So, is it coaching?“No, coach isn’t on the ice, we’re on the ice,” Eichel said. “Moving the puck, executing, it just seems like we’re off. It doesn’t seem like we’re on the same page.”Despite coaching in a results-driven league, Ralph Krueger is not concerned about his status.“Absolutely not,” he said. “I’m not wired that way, just so you know. I’m wired to work on solutions and take responsibility, and I do both right now.”If Adams and owners Terry and Kim Pegula decide the problems are with the coach, there are two major impediments to change:QuarantineMoneyA coaching change this season isn’t as simple as calling , Gerard Gallant or . They’d have to quarantine once arriving in Buffalo, a process that would take at least a week and maybe two.Meanwhile, the Sabres have seven games in the next 13 days.The organization could summon Rochester coach Seth Appert on an interim basis, but he has a mere six games of professional experience. The Amerks staff also features first-year assistants Adam Mair and .Sabres brass would have to turn the reins over to a novice or quietly bring the next coach to town and have him quarantine in secret while Krueger was on the bench.Krueger also has one more season on his contract at nearly $4 million per year, according to The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun. The Pegulas have a long history of throwing money away on coaches and GMs, but financial losses are already huge in the pandemic era. Though they might be OK letting Krueger go in the offseason, would they bother now since the playoffs seem out of reach anyway?Krueger remains steadfast in his belief that his game plan works despite a record that indicates otherwise.“The principles of play or the core structure that we’re searching for, we embrace,” Krueger said. “There’s no negotiation that it works in the National Hockey League. We’ve seen it. But if we drift from it and we’re not able to execute it, then we have to question the processes. We have to question the teaching.“We’re that kind of coaching staff. We definitely take responsibility when the results are off and work with the players to find solutions.”Krueger’s image took a hit away from the ice Sunday.When Eichel sat out Thursday’s game with a lower-body injury , Krueger said it showed up during the warmup and “definitely caught us all by surprise. This was a completely new development.”Eichel, who missed Saturday’s game, too, was asked how he got hurt in warmup.“I didn’t,” the captain said. “I hurt myself in New Jersey (on Tuesday).”There’s no best-case scenario in this. Since Krueger said it wasn’t the usual gamesmanship that can accompany players’ health status, either he didn’t know of an injury to his superstar or he misled everyone.“When I mentioned it, the specific region that actually took him out of the game, the first time I’d heard about it was warmup,” Krueger said. “But that he was injured and that he came out of the Jersey game injured was clear to me. But it turns out that there was multiple lower-body injuries and whatever.“The point is that he came out of Jersey hurt. The warmup call and the region that ended up being aggravating, it was his first time back in his skates since that game and it changed the game. Now we’re working on his health and getting him fit again, but I definitely didn’t do gamesmanship there. It was just that we had hoped he was going to play that game.”It’s all a mess. If Krueger gets time to fix the chaos, the Sabres need more from their players.“Right now, we have nothing to lose,” Dahlin said. “We have to work our balls off every game. We have to somehow turn this around, but it all starts with competing.“The team we have in the locker room can do something very special. We have to find a competitiveness in our team. We will keep losing if no one starts competing.”The Sabres usually fall easily. Of their 10 losses, four have been by three or more goals and another four have been by two. They’re 2-9-1 when the opponent scores first.“Do all the gritty stuff, hit someone, a fight,” Dahlin said. “I don’t know.”“When you’re having the type of year that we’re having where production and maybe play hasn’t been where we want it, I think everyone’s confidence takes a hit,” Eichel said. “Everyone in the room is looking for an answer, as well. The guys have stuck together. No one’s turned on each other. It’s a positive mindset.“It’s not working for us.”Eichel has two goals in 17 games. Hall has gone 18 games without a goal. has no goals and one assist in 16 games. has one assist and an empty-net goal. , who was bumped up to the second line Sunday, has one assist in 14 games.The Sabres have 21 even-strength goals in their 19 games. League-leading Washington has 51 in 21.There are reasons for the free fall. The Sabres were ravaged by COVID-19, which halted their season for two weeks and forced them to skate short-handed. They’ve lost starting goalie . They’ve already needed 10 defensemen because of injury. The schedule is compressed.“It’s an unprecedented year,” Eichel said, “but every team’s in the same situation, so we can’t make any excuses.”They can make changes, though. They need to make changes.“The team we have right now,” Dahlin said, “should not be losing like we are.”(Photo: Bill Wippert / NHLI via Getty Images)

Mar 1, 2021BUFFALO, N.Y. — It’s time for a change. There’s no way around it.fans shouldn’t have to suffer through 37 more games of this.In a decade filled with rock-bottom moments, this weekend was one of the low points. The last-place Sabres failed to score a goal, dropping consecutive 3-0 decisions to Philadelphia to fall to 2-7-1 in the last 10 games.Saturday featured lethargy.Sunday showcased carelessness.Both days highlighted incompetence.“I’m very embarrassed,” defenseman said. “This is not acceptable. This sucks. It’s the worst.”The Sabres are planning to bring fans back to KeyBank...

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John Vogl

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It's time for the Buffalo Sabres to make some changes: Vogl

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