mjd1001

Tuch is someone that is a little puzzling to me. His first year and a half with the Sabres, he had 10 PP goals and 28 assists. Since then (almost the same number of games), he has 2 PP goals an 15 assists. A dramatic drop-off in production, much more than the PP overall. He has about 25% less PP ice time over the more recent time period...but all stats being even that should equate to a drop of 2 goals (to 8), not a drop of 8 goals (to 2). And when you watch him, he doesn't look awful out there, but he for sure isn't as noticable as he once was. He is almost as effective 5 on 5, he looks pretty good on the PK, but for some reason he went from an above average PP guy to looking out of place on it. So again, the entire PP is worse the last 2 years compared to the 2 years before, but to me Tuch just looks so much more out of place than he did in the past.

Maybe the Sacramento Kings for most of the last 20 years? Although as bad as they have been, they haven't really squandered that many first or 2nd overall picks.

They have been broken since Thanksgiving. On the even of he last game before Thanksgiving I think they were in a playoff spot. 11-9-1. Over .500. Positive goal differential. Playoff spot. Won 3 in a row and 4 out of 5 coming off of a western road trip. Things were really looking up around here. Since then 7-17-4 (basically 7-21). A 52 point pace. I'm trying to think back, did something happen right at the start of that losing streak that broke this team....as Thorner said...even taking out the streak they haven't been good. It just seems like such an inflection point to be random.

I do think he can be acceptable at wing. Take him off the PP and PK, give him 2nd or 3rd line wing minutes, make sure you put him with a Center who is good at carrying the puck into the zone. By doing all those things, you don't put Cozens in any situation he's not good at. You aren't going to get a player this is worth $7m per year, but you might get a winger who scores, on average 20-25 goals and doesn't hurt you away from the puck as much as he does at Center. You are getting a $5m player, but paying for a $7m one...but at least he won't be hurting you. There is someone in this organization that will not allow that move to happen. Someone here wants him at Center, on PP and PK, and on the ice at the end of games. Is it every coach he's ever had? Is it Adams? Is it Pegula? I don't know. All I am convince of now is that the move to wing and off the PP is not happening in this organization. The best thing for him, and the Sabres, is to move him and let him have that opportunity someplace else.

The Sabres need physicality, but they also need an all around center who can log top minutes, can score as well as set up guys, makes his linemates better and is pretty darn good defensively. Oh yeah, he's not a bruiser but he does have a touch of physicality to him. I know it was only one game, but against the leafs on HNIC earlier in January, he skated hard, he didn't shy away from checks, and he even tried to block a couple shots. He makes this team better. If he isn't physical enough, I wouldn't blame that on him, that is a different roster piece that needs to be added.

Something else to consider.... Remember the Colorado game where they collapsed? The first one? If I remember correctly, Ruff called a time out when things were starting to unravel, I could swear the camera was on the sabres bench and you could see Ruff telling the team to "Calm down". I think if you could read his lips he said something like "Calm down" or something very similar. When things started to unravel, the players played differently. They made bad decisions that they didn't earlier in the game. Its almost as if something got in their head and their hearts started beating faster and they got nervous on the ice. The only thing a coach can do there is call time out, try to calm them down, tell them to focus on what they were taught/coached/know how to play hockey. At that moment in time, if things keep going bad, thats on the players, not on Ruff or Appert. A few shifts by lines full of guys like Zucker (or some other 28-32 year old 2nd line vets) may have helped. Guys who have beein in that situation before, guys that know their role on the team and are good enough to play hockey, but are not going to try to do 'too much' other than the fundamentals. If anything, I don't put that on the coach...I put that on roster constructoin for not having enough guys like that the coaches can put out there. Adams, couldn't you find anyone like that to put on this roster? Terry, wouldn't you allow Adams to spend $5+ million dollars to bring in guys like that? Is it both of you?

Yep, agree. This franchise does not need more draft picks or prospects, they NEED players. But what is Cozens value? We think he was possibly on the way to Detroit (strong rumor) but Detroit is the one that nixed that (Strong rumor). Also, several of the 'insiders' on 590 out of Toronto have been asked over the season about the Maple Leafs need for a 2nd or 3rd line center and when Cozens is brought up, those 'insiders' I have heard all say Toronto has no interest in Cozens at all. When you listen to the hockey show every day, once in a while you will hear Toronto really REALLY wants a middle-6 center but Cozens no where near something they want. I personally have only heard rumors of 2 teams considering Cozens in a deal this year. In both of those cases, the other teams said "we changed our mind, no way" or just "no way". Maybe the rest of the league is seeing what many of us see. Maybe the scouting guys or analytics guys around the league see that he is a net negative player...that the slight extra offense he brings over a journyman/veteran center is more than negated by his defensive mistakes and how his linemates get worse when he is out there? Mabye the would rather have that 'journeyman' guy than Cozens, and that isn't even taking into consideration his contract. At this point, he might have virtually zero value on the open market to most teams, especially considering what kind of hockey player you are getting and then figuring those teams need to fit in $7m per year for many more years...and most teams around the league are at or near the cap already.

Now you are just trying to get me going....

I don't go with the coaching issue. I have heard 'coaching' issue on both sides of things. I think its a bit more on players that just don't handle pressure situations well. Not quite enough vets on the roster who have been through things. A team does great at the beginning of games but not at the end....its a 'coaching' issue as the coaching staff cannot adjust to game conditions. A team does poorly at the beginning but better at the end....its a 'coaching' issue as the coaching staff doesn't have the team ready. That point has been argued on both sides, depending on how someone wants to crticize the coaching.

A few game winning goals in the next month can change the numbers drastically...that is for sure. He's 2nd in total ice time for any forward this year behind Tuch.....and over his career with the Sabres he's 2nd in ice time only behind Thompson. He's also not logging huge minutes with the Sabres up by 5 or down by 5. So I would surmise....when game winning goals are scored (tie games)....His ice time mirrors his overall ice time....again, 2nd most among any forward for his entire career with this franchise. He's had as many chances for GWG as anyone other than Thompson. But, Cozens, for the last 2.5 years now, has pretty much been on the '2nd' line, and he gets almost every offensive opportunity as the first line (minuse about 1-1.5 minutes per game). He is almost always out there in close games (up one, down one) and tie games at the end of the games. Pluse he is a fixture on the PP....If not the first unit....he is on the 2nd unit, but he is out there on every single powerplay. I'd say he gets 95% of the 'opportunities' that Tage and Tuch did....and in close games/tie games actually had more ice time than VO. So again, sometimes the numbers can be a bit out of wach due to sampel size, but his numbers are SO out there that there has to be something to it.

No, hes that bad. The only explanation I can come up with is....he's Adams 'favorite' or Pegula's 'boy'....or someone just refuses to admit the contract is a mistake so there are orders to keep playing him. Being stubborn at the highest levels of this franchise.

I guess my thinking is.. I don't think he's thinking too much. I think he was a bad all-around hockey player before this year as well as every year of his career and that hasn't changed. He scored 31 goals one year... He still wasn't a well-rounded player. He still played poorly defensively. The difference was for one single year of his career, His shooting percentage, for whatever reason, was above his career average.He's reverted to what he is. And that is a 10% shooter, not a 15% shooter. The number of shots he takes, the location of the shots he takes, how often he distributes the puck to his teammates, the defensive mistakes that he makes, it's all the same as it's ever been. When you look back at his 31 goal year, he still made terrible defensive plays. Then. He still was a non-factor on the power play. He still didn't score any game-winning goals, he wasn't a difference maker. He just has NEVER thought the game well, he's always been in that negative player for his line mates, even in his 31 goal season. We still see a game after game that he actually looks directly at the puck and he has no sense of what's going on around him. He has taken out one of his teammates now in three of the past five games that I've seen. Just because he doesn't even look where he's skating and He runs over them.

So 15 points and 18 games... Honestly not really all that different of a pace that they were doing before he went there. If anything... He told the team that nothing is going to change... And he was right... Nothing changed... In terms of the results as well as who's in the room.

Interesting that Buffalo is the 2nd best team at scoring in the first period. They have 52 first period goals, only Washington has more. They also have scored the first goal of the game more than anyone except for Columbus, 30 times. On the other hand, no team in the league has allowed more goals in the 2nd and 3rd combined than Buffalo. Sabres Goal differential: 1st period: +17, 2nd period -16 , 3rd period -19

I'm on his side. I think this starts at the top and that is with Pegula. I think everything runs though him, and reading between a lot of lines Pegula has more input into this mess than many other owners. Again, I'm not defending Adams, but to me its more on Pegula than anyone.

I have no idea why but after they missed the EN, I had a feeling the Sabres were giong to tie it up. Silly.

Kulich is playing better now than earlier in the year and the reason why is something I don't usually attribute much too...confidence. His few games in the past or earlier this year, he was out there but wasn't so quick to shoot, he was deferring to line-mates more, wasn't as aggressive. Now it looks like he 'feels' like he belongs more. He is quicker to take a good shot. Hopefully that translates to his game continuing to improve.

And in that time Winnipeg only had 1 single top 5 pick (Leine), not 2 #1's and 2 #2's like the Sabres. And yeah, they have a great goalie, but they aren't doing it just on their goaltending. They are the #1 scoring team in the league right now.

Ok, after watching the replay of that last Edmonton Goal.... I do not think it was on Power and Samuelsson at all, they were where they should be. The reason that goal was scored as Reimer having hims arm and stick pinned against the near post and not being able to get over. He gets over, that isn't a goal. Cozens pinned the Edmonton player into Reimer, maybe he should have realized he was impeding his own goalie (he didn't hit him, he held him there against Reimer). So dumb/un-aware play there by Cozens that helped contribute to a goal against......But other than that, he has played pretty well positionally from what I can tell.

I think Cozens is actually having a pretty good game. Well, good for him at least. Outside of taking out Samuelsson early in the game, hes coming back on defense but staying (mostly) in the center of the ice, and he is going to the net in the offensive zone.

I don't know how much I want to blame the Defense there. There are times you want to take the body, times you want to play the position. They were in correct position with their sticks free, and that goal probably wouldn't have been scored had Reimer had his stick free. Just kinda back luck Cozens ties up his guy against Reimer and he can't use his stick.

I know the stats that the Oilers and Draisaitl actually do pretty well in games where McDavid is out historically, but so far this game Draisaitl doesn't look all that dangerous to me.

I remember Kulich had a really rough game against Winnipeg in early December. Looked lost out there, and I think Lindy even benched him for a while during that game. Since then, he has 7 goals in his last 18 games.

So Benson takes a few cross checks after the whistle, one close to the head, and no one else comes in to help. Tuch, Cozens, and Kulich out there, and only after 5 or more seconds do they slowly glide in.

Just checked current stats now. Goals allowed 6v5 (you have the 6th man on the ice). Colorado leads with 16. Buffalo and Chicago tied for 2nd with 15. For comparison...they only allowed 10 ALL last season.