dudacek

The worst thing about this game was that Florida continues to have no respect for us whatsoever and we gave them no reason to change.

Hasn't been a team that has made the Sabres look worse than Florida has over the past year or two. I'm looking at this one as a test, regardless of what the standings say.

To me, a 5 is a 1-way guy you can’t play in certain situations - has good qualities, but also situations where he’s overmatched: Jason Woolley, springs to mind. I think Joki is more well-rounded than that.

To me, the difference between Jokiharju and the next guy on the depth chart is huge. He can play in all situations, with any teammate and against any competition. No, he won’t shine, but he will usually hold his own and he won’t be overmatched in the way we’ve seen Bryson and Clague and Lyubushkin at times. He’s the definition of a competent #4 and continues to be unappreciated.

I think the best thing that can happen is UPL continues winning games and cements himself as a legit #1.

Not sure the exact date when Tyson Casey Victor became a thing, but since Christmas they rank 1-2-3 on the team in puck possession, each with a shot attempt percentage of between 58 and 59 % Considering how Casey and Victor were getting crucified for what they were doing previously on that metric, that’s remarkable.

The 3rd was a tough deflection, but the 2nd goal was iffy and the first was a stinker. But he sure came to play at crunch time in the 3rd. He’s a big body and did a great job and closing off the bottom of the net in all that fury down low. We’re starting to see that this will be a team that will consistently outscore their problems so getting the timely big save might be the right fit. Kid is on a 7-1 run with a .916 save percentage.

Little premature to worry too much about the Rochester D. Clague, Davies, Priskie and Pilut were all signed this summer to fill out the team depth. If none of them re-sign there will always be more of their type looking for work. In terms of developmental Sabres though, they are thin beyond Johnson. Nikita Novikov is a very interesting player and his Russian contract is up. If he wasn’t Russian, I’d say he’s here for sure. But he’s Russian. The only other candidate is Swedish 7th-rounder Albert Lyckasen, who is a big-time longshot.

Back to backs. Recent patterns would point to UPL getting the more important match against the Islanders, and Andy getting the easier opponent, Chicago. But maybe Comrie gets the Hawks instead? Im leaning towards Comrie’s starts being very spotty until something breaks with the status quo.

Probably just an excuse to get together and watch some football. 😁 So, short-term it’s going to be: If Anderson or Comrie starts, UPL goes to the minors on paper. If UPL starts, 1 of Krebs, Peterka, Quinn goes to the minors on paper, at least 1 of Asplund or Vinnie draws in. UPL will continue to get a majority of the starts. Basically that will continue until the trade deadline unless UPL loses the crease, a forward gets hurt, or they decide it’s not working and somebody gets moved. Nope. They are at 23 right now with UPL in “Roch”.

Is it a distraction? To the players, I mean — I know it is to us. I think the goalies will be fine. UPL is getting a chance to keep proving himself, Andy keeps playing once a week and being a sage, Comrie knows he's going to have to earn his spot back and is used to infrequent starts. I think the issue is more with the forwards: will the other players think the team is hurt by Asplund and Vinnie in the lineup instead of Krebs, Quinn or JJ? Will any of the the kids think they are being unfairly punished due to a roster technicality? Donnie seemed to indicate that the gymnastics can work as long as they are not getting in the way of wins.

Hasn't been confirmed, but if he's "legally" an Amerk today, then he's not eligible to play. I'm assuming JJ and Jack are in for Peyton and Zemgus. Given the recent success of the Jost line, I suspect they will rejoin Cozens, and Asplund will end up centring Vinnie and Kyle

Escaping mention is the fact that the organization's 25th-best player is good enough to be worthy of a waiver claim. Not sure that would have been true of our 20th-best last year. Have we assembled more depth than we give the team credit for?

Never said you did. Several certainly have.

Not sure how the past few games have affected this, but lesS than a week ago he was on a run of 6 points in his past 12 games, while leading the team in Corsi and only being on for 2 goals against.

All this, plus it supports the message the team wants sent: you aren’t being sent down, you are still part of the team and you are still going to play. We are just having to deal with what we think will be a temporary roster crunch due to unexpected good health.

I think it’s kinda funny when Eli Tolvanen (10 points this year, 57 in his career) is someone to covet and Casey Mittelstadt (24 points this year, 104 in his career) is a bust. They were drafted in the same year. Other than Beniers, Seattle does not have single player on their entire roster under 23. Tolvanen (23), Geekie (24), and Fleury (25) are the only ones under 26. They have an enviable amount of veteran depth on their roster, but they lack first-line talent, and I have never seen a team without first-line talent challenge for the Cup.

When Tage beat Chicago with the busted-stick bounce off the boards was he credited with a missed shot, a shot on goal, or both? Under that criteria, if a clearing attempt went in the net before a real shot was taken, shouldn't scoreboard say 1 goal, zero shots?

Ryan Johnson is a defensively sound puckmoving defenceman with average size and elite feet who projects as a good 4/5. He would be far more foolish than Erik Portillo to go to free agency. Sure there's burning off a year of ELC advantage. And there's also plenty of evidence that the Sabres are the type of team that not only gives young players a fair chance, they actually do a good job of developing them. They've treated him well and they play a style that suits his game. But unlike Portillo — who would be battling with 2 other "goalies of the future", at best would start next season in a 50/50 battle for the crease in Rochester, and could just as easily be in the ECHL — Johnson would have a 50/50 chance of walking right into the #5 spot on the Sabres blueline this spring and may never have to play a period in the AHL. Think about it. There's a pretty good chance he's as good or better than Bryson and Clague right now. Maybe he has other "life"priorities, but from a "hockey" perspective, I'm not sure a better situation exists for him in terms of a path to NHL success.

So the centre is only partially responsible, but gets all the blame or all the credit?

The issue is he can’t be Tage or Cozens and he’s not nearly as talented as Krebs, Mitts or even Jost. He might have an Asplund ceiling, but I doubt it. He’s also just 6 months younger than Thompson, 3 months younger than Asplund and almost exactly the same age as Jost. Maybe he gets look if 2 of the above get traded, but he’s also got Kulich, Östlund and Savoie coming up behind him. It’s not that he isn’t worthy of respect, there’s just not much of a window there.

Too bad. Liked his character and what he brought to the overall team package. Not going to miss him much on ice, but definitely wishing him the best.

This is a great roll you are on @PASabreFan, in line with the tracking of zone entries and exits. Much more useful to me and indicative of a player's individual utility than things like shot attempts and high-danger chances which can strongly influenced by linemates, opposition situations and tactics. I wonder how much these things are tracked by individual teams as part of their proprietary analytics.

My eyes tell me otherwise. Tanev is an agitator. Dahlin took a number and made him pay when the opportunity presented itself, without taking himself out of the play or taking a penalty. You know, textbook tough but disciplined hockey, like coaches have preached since the first freeze and exactly what a segment of this board cries for at the slightest opportunity? The Sabres didn’t lose that game because the Kraken are tougher, or better. They lost it because the Kraken converted their chances and the Sabres didn’t.

I hope we see a Cozens Mitts VO. Dylan might be the driver the other two are missing.