dudacek

Forgive me, but this doesn’t feel sincere. Unless you actually read that as Granato saying it was the 2 losses that have the team moving in the right direction, as opposed to the trend of the team’s play over their 2 games?

Years ago somebody pointed out that a marginal teenage NHLer needed to be sent down before his 10th game or a team would have to sign him to his 2nd contract a year earlier. The hockey community said “hey, you’re right” and it became a huge talking point for all teenage players, to the point that the talkers forgot the key word here was “marginal”. Shorter version: You shouldn’t.

Weird, because to me it's a fair representation of what I saw in the 2 games I watched. My personal take is Don knows his team's personalities very well and believes an evenhanded "deep breath, you got this" is the proper response for a group that has put a ton of pressure on itself and maybe wants things to go right a little too desperately right now. But I'm projecting as much as anyone else on here. Let's see how they respond.

I'm curious how many people respond best in their own lives when a boss loses his ***** on them. Honest question. Personally, I don't. I go through the wall for the guy who has my back. The guys who need repeated ass-kickings to achieve good results are generally the guys i don't want on my team.

As much as I want Krebs to be a centre I like this. Krebs and Cozens have rarely played together as Sabres but Team Canada has had them joined at the hip since they were 15. There is a history of chemistry there. I need Peyton to be tenacious March 2023 Peyton, not revert to turnover-happy hope play February 2022 Peyton.

It’s 2, from what I read Don said. Cozens hasn’t been himself. Cozens and JJ miss Quinn JJ has been pretty good. We need to get them going without messing the other lines Unless Savoie is ready, I read that as Jost slides in for VO, period.

They wanted it too bad and were squeezing the sticks in game 1 and got thoroughly outplayed as a result. They played good enough to win in game 2 and didn’t. That’s the NHL. It happens. Your job is to limit how often. The fan base is allowed to overreact to a 2-game losing streak. The team is not.

Without mentioning either player directly, Granato seemed to be hinting at Jost in for Olofsson on WGR. Skinner Tuch Thompson Dahlin Cozens = 1 point combined in 2 games. That’s not going to continue. Hope we see Levi again.

It’s hockey. It will not - cannot - be anything other than Benny. Stop shouting at the tide 😜

If VO is as bad as everyone says, there is no risk to waiving him: why would Adams care if someone picked up a player who is not good enough to help him? Never mind the fact, at his contract, there are only 4 or 5 teams who could afford pick him up if they wanted him. Not advocating waiving him at this point, just pointing out you can’t have it both ways.

Pretty typical Islanders game. Are they ever not tight? Hard to believe we only got about 50 seconds of PP time, tough to beat that team when they’re allowed to play their game. Not going to put much stock in a game against the Isles PP, but the PK is certainly looking more aggressive and was disrupting plays. Agree with Johnson and Clifton thoughts upthread: the former is delivering exactly what we signed him for, the latter…not so much. Raising my eyebrows at the Levi concern; kid looked poised to me and gave us a chance to win. Dylan Cozens looks 19 again. Really enjoyed the Mitts line, all three of them playing real well. Not going to meet our goals with the first line playing like that. All 3 of them look kinda slow and collectively their chemistry ain’t there.

Finally starting to see our legs

Connor Clifton hasn’t exactly covered himself with glory so far in blue and gold. Nice of the refs to give the Sabres a penalty and the Isles a goal on pretty much the same forecheck. Jordan Greenway continues to be what the Sabres got him for and his line continues to be impress. Signs of life from Tuch and Thompson. Hope we can get some more in the 2nd. We’ll need it.

Yes. Thought I might have had another from the Bowman years: John Tucker, who was a 2nd-rounder who played in his D1 year. But he was another fall birthday. Turned 19 on Sept. 29

Reinhart is one. Girgensons, Selling and Cozens were 19. Ray Shepard was 21 and Derek Plante was 22. Marty was 18, but emergency recall wasn’t on opening night, so he doesn’t count. Turgeon, Benson, Eichel, Dahlin, Reinhart, Barrasso, Housley and maybe Cyr. 3 (or maybe 4)to go.

I thought these were good, but they were both 19

Barrasso and Housley confirmed. Wasnt Andreychuk. He turned 19 on Sept. 29 of his rookie year. Cyr turned 19 on Oct. 31 that year, but I don’t know if he was on the roster opening night or not.

Eichel played his 1st game about 3 weeks before his 19th birthday. And it looks like Mogilny was 20. I’m wondering about some of the other Bowman kids: Cyr, Andreychuk…?

Yep. HockeyDB says Gare and Martin were 20 on opening night and Perreault turned 20 in November of his first year.

With you on Barrasso and Housley, but I think the 1st 3 all pre-date the 18–year-old draft. Eichel and Dahlin.

According to the Buffalo News, Zach Benson is the second youngest skater to ever play a game for the Sabres. The youngest was Pierre Turgeon. There have been 9 other 18-year-olds to suit up in a season opener. The News doesn’t name them. Without looking them up, can we?

Savoie is practicing, but he remains on IR and ineligible to play anywhere. Adams says he is still seeking clarity from the league in terms of when and where Savoie can play and under what conditions.

This is absolutely dangerous framing. Skinner/Thompson/Tuch/Cozens/Dahlin/Power is the core now and for the forseeable future, their contracts show it. All except Power are experienced enough that youth is not an excuse for anything. If they aren't good enough to lead the team into the playoffs this year, why would they be good enough to lead the team into the playoffs next year? The time is now: the players know it, the coaches know it, the management knows it. They've all said it. It's about winning.

Another train of thought, but which of the Levi goals did you think was a softie? 1st and 4th were back-door tap-ins, so no way there, and the 2nd was a power play deflection, so it must have been the 3rd? I'd call that one just a snipe, just under the blocker and inside the post. Levi looked in position and he didn't whiff on it, it just seemed perfectly placed.

For a team whose strength is supposed to be offence, we sure didn’t look very dangerous last night. Tuch, Tage, Skinner and Cozens created very little. Wondering if the team core was feeling the pressure a bit too much. A lot of them seemed to be inside their own heads. The Rangers looked patient, mature and just better at hockey. I ***** hate Laviolette.