mjd1001

Washington wins 5 in a row. 2nd in the conference in point percentage. Not even all easy wins. They beat the Stars. They beat Vegas. They beat Jersey. I can't think they will keep this up for long, but many of us said the same thing and they made the playoffs last year. In the first 2 weeks they are playing even better this year. Jacob Chychrun had a bad time in Ottawa and they wanted to get rid of him. From the little I have read in Washington, people say he is playing great. They are getting balances scoring (in only 6 games, 9 players already have multiple goals. Buffalo had played 8 games and only has 6 with multiple goals). And their goaltending has only been 'average' so far. They are playing a total 'team' game. lets see how long they can keep it up, but they look good so far.

As far as Krebs skill, to me he has average speed (not bad, but not great), average overall skating (again, not bad but not exceptional), a below average slap shot/one timer, average shot accuracy, average size, and above average vision/hockey sense. If he does take well to coaching and has a good work ethic/drive, that helps him become a more useful player. He does seem to be skating really hard out there, being phyical, pushing himself. I wonder how much of that is because he is only getting about 10-12 minutes of ice time and he is fresh? If for some reason he got 16-18 minutes of ice time, would he not be as effective, needing to 'pace' himself a bit more? Its Kinda the same with Clifton on defense. He is hitting everything, He has as many hits Power, Jokiharju, and Byram combined....and twice as many as Dahlin. But he has the least ice time. If Clifton had more ice time, would have have to back off the physical play out of self preservation? A few weeks ago we were talking a bit about Ruff, about having a new coach....and that there would likely be guys who simply play better under a new coach becasue they react well to his style...and other guys who seem to have no reason (other than a new coach) that don't react well and play worse. So, who would the guys be that just really play better under Ruff and who would take a step back. Its early, maybe too early to make a definitive judgement, but right now it looks like Krebs is reacting better than most thought, and Quinn is the one who is having a hard time with something.

Well, if his last name was "Smith" but he was a first overall pick a few years ago, being the same size he is, making the contact that he currently is and playing the exact same way, I think people would still be complaining. But if your point is, just looking at his play and not his height/pedigree/contract....then yeah, he would probably be complained about less. The physical part is something that can be hard to separate from his style simply because he is so tall. People expect him to be more physical. But if you look back over the last 20 years, there are plenty of really good D-men that weren't physical at all: -Duncan Keith, Cam Fowler, Chris Tanev, Roman Josi, Ryan Suter, Nick Leddy, Hampus Lindholm. You know what they all have in common? They really didn't hit anyone (under 2.5 hits per 60, just like Power) Many of them weren't beasts in front of the net clearing guys out. In their own end, they played well positionally, and vacuumed up loose pucks and got them out of the zone. Now Power, He needs to work a bit on his positioning in the D-zone (I STILL think he is better than many say, when he looks bad its often the D covering for the Forwards not picking up guys going to the net), and he goes get spun around in front of the net a bit....but he will get better at those things with positioning. I often say Tage is better without the puck than people give him credit for because of his size. With Tage, its like NLF zone defense. Him simply being there with his size and his reach prevent plays from happening. Power can/does have the same ability. Maybe he won't clear guys out of the front of the net, but he doesn't have to 'chase' as much, he can stay in position and with his reach get to a lot of loose pucks and deflect passes (maybe even prevent them from being made) simply with his size and reach. Some of that can't be taught though, some of it he is going to have to simply learn by 'doing'. He'll learn what he can and cannot do with is size and reach, and as time goes by, likely get better.

I am starting to lean toward him staring to score, and when he does it will come in bunches. Now, I don't mean he's going to put up back to back hat tricks, but I think we'll get a to a point where he has a multi-goal game, or at least score in 2 out of 4 games in a stretch. I mean, EVERYTHING else is there. He is taking the shots, good shots, getting the ice time. It has to turn into something positive eventually.

In golf there are swing coaches. Even the best golfers have their swings analyzed by coaches or computers and try to tweak things. We know when QB's break into the league, they have coaches giving them even the most subtle advice about small changes to their throwing motion. Does that happen in the NHL? If Cozens is so hot and cold with his shooting, do they have any way of analyzing his shots, in game or practice, and seeing something, ANYTHING that is so subtle but might make a change he can work on?

I'm normally one of the first to criticize Cozens and stand up for Power...But as well as Power played last game on the scoresheet...over the last 3 games he has been a bit questionable in the defensive zone. Cozens, on the other hand, who is normally a trainwreck away from the puck, has actually looked decent (at least there haven't been any super obvious, painful bad decisions made by him).

Bingo! Look at Cozens this year vs his 30+ goal season from 2 years ago..... Shots: 2.6 per game played 2 years ago. 3.4 shots per game played this year. More total attempts this year High Danger shots: 0.84 per game played 2 years ago. 1.13 per game played this year. Even his zone time, 41.3 vs 43.9 in the offensive zone in favor of this year vs his big year 2 seasons ago. He's getting more shots, he's getting better shots, hes in the offensive zone with puck possession more. No external factor like teammates, D-pairings, etc is likely to help him much as those numbers are all really good already. He needs to shoot better. Thats it. And per my post earlier with how 'streaky' he is, its likely to happen at SOME time....everyone just has to wait for it.

With Thompson, he's really been playing well since February or March of last year. There was an ESPN game they barely lost to Florida at the end of February, he played really well there, scored, had 7 shots and I remember Florida could not get the puck away from him. Since that game (and including this year), its been 30 games and he has 18 goals (nearly a 50 goal per 82 pace). So yeah, I'd pinpoint that one game as to when he turned around his season last year and he is just continuing where he left off.

Here is something else with Quinn.. In the previous 2 seasons, even when coming directly off his injury, Quinn took 54 shots considered 'high danger" (between the circles, 10 feet or less in front of the net) in 102 games. Not a ton, but more than 1 every other game. This year through 7 games, he has not had one shot on goal from that area. Not one. For his career he shoots over 23% from that spot. For his career before this year, he takes 1.81 total shots per game (from all areas). As a scorer/shooter, you'd like him to take more, but he averaged 1.81. This year, he is averaging 0.86. So yeah, Cozens isn't converting, but he is getting chances and taking Shots. The issue with Quinn, so far, is much deeper than it is with Cozens.

Another thought...maybe its simply the zone entries that need to be fixed and then "wait for the luck to happen". Why do I say that? I'm off from work so I decided to look at all the games last night and watch the replays of some of the PP goals scored. I just watched 6 goals (randomly) and 1 of them was a short pass on the stick to someone that made a great shot. The other 5? 2 deflections (the ugly random type), one funny bounce of the boards to a guy that happened to be where the puck came from, and loose puck off the faceoff that was just sitting there that only one guy saw and he picked up it and shot it, and one absolutely awful play by the Canadians that let the Rangers have a 3-on-2 entry with bad coverage. So, it seems to me, in that small sample size, that teams have gotten pretty good at defending when down by one man. You aren't going to really work any magic with the puck when you are on the PP to score more goals. The key is to GET control of the puck in the offensive zone, and the moment you have a chance to take a shot, just take it. You'll get a goal more often because of a funny bounce, a random tip-in, a deflection in front of a screen...those things seem to be a lot more common than just wizardry with the puck by your team. So what do the Sabres need to do? Just get the puck into the zone with possession, put a body in front of the net (not skating back and forth, have someone Stand there and take a beating) and get shots to the net and hope for a bounce. I might look at more replays of other goals, but it seems like 75% of the time, that is really it. Dahlin at full strength, being able to move back and forth at the blueline and dangle guys who try to pressure him....him getting that ability back will help a LOT.

I'd like to see where the issues are statistically. Its kinda hard for me to find stats about how many shots as a team they are taking on the PP, are those 'quality chances', how those compare to what they have done in the past and compare to league averages. The only thing I could find is their 'zone time'. When on the PP, they get the puck out of their zone quickly (low zone time compared to league average). But they don't control it in the opposing zone as much as most teams. They seem to spend a LOT of time in the Neutral zone with the puck on the PP. (league average is 14% of time on the PP in the neutral zone, Sabres are just over 16% in the neutral zone...it may not seem like much but that puts them near the top of the league with the puck being between the blue lines of all PPs.)

I think that is it actually. It'll work eventually, but it will be at a seemingly random moment.

I am rapidly coming around to this point....and I think I'm feeling slightly better about Cozens because of it. I see no flaws in his offensive game except putting the actual puck in the net...he is skating, going to the tough areas....doing everything positive he has done before. So..its not some crazy thing missing in his game. its shooting. For the last week or so....I have been just upset at how bad he is shooting. I think I, we, may just have to accept that he is going to go on runs when the team 'needs' him, where he will not score a goal for a couple weeks. Then there will be times he scores 3-5 a month (or more). Many of us are spending a lot of time trying to figure out what is wrong with his game? what is different? What is the shooting percentage we can expect from him. Here is what I am coming to think now: Nothing is wrong with his game (that can be fixed). Nothing is different..hes playing the same way he did last year and the year before. What shooting percentage can we expect from him? 10% is a good OVERALL number, but he might have another SEASON at 15%, and a season at 8%, a Month at 18%, and the next at 2% THAT is who Cozens is. I don't think who his wingers are change his production. I think his production is close to 100% him, and that is going to be wildly fluctuating month to month. I think HE might be able to help out certain wingers (if he stays at center) but no winger on this team will change how well or poorly he shoots. Personally, I think that is who he is. When I accept him as a 30 goal scorer some years, a 15 goal scorer others...I accept some month he will take 40 shots and score on none of them, others he will score 4 goals on 25 shots...I'll be much more accepting of his play and it won't bother me as much watching him game to game.

McLeod is fast. He might be in the top 5 fastest guys in the NHL. Last year he was measured at skating 23.82mph during a game. For comparison, in all the games, ice time, and Minutes McDavid played, he topped out at 22.72mph. Last year Eichel's best was 23.51. So yeah, with the pads on skating in the game....McLeod is fast. But, his hands I think are under-rated. Now, he doesn't have a hard shot. I don't think he is going to be putting one-timers in the net from the faceoff circle on the PP, and he's not beating many goalies with a slap shot from 30 feet out. But we have seen, he is very dangerous right in front of the net. More than many players we think are 'better'. So the question is, can he keep putting himself in positon to be coming in on the goalie at speed and get off shots there? If he can get 50+ shots off like that over the course of a season, he may very well end up being a 20-25 goal scorer.

I think likely best case scenario is he competes as a bottom 6 center, and/or is the 13th forward who ends up playing 60+ games a year for he because he fills in for injuries or is the 'first guy in' when someone needs rest or to be benched. I think there is a slight chance he could develop into something more (a #2/#3 center) but to be a quality player at that level, the chances are there but at this point very small.

May God help with how you communicate, as well with how easily you get triggered.

Nagging wins in 'quotes', single quotes, not double quotes. So, use context, the way I wrote that and with context around it, it was a characterization of me not saying others are LITERALLY saying it, but its the characterization of an exact word to describe how the person I am referring to would view them. Ruff needs to go. yep, you are wrong saying I am wrong. Again there, context. its the opposite of what is listed above. I didn't "quote" anyone saying those exact words, I am saying the negative posts about him, there are a LOT of them, instead of me looking them up and quoting them individually I am putting those thoughts into one single thought of my own I am posting. If you don't understand the 3rd thing I said, that is on you, not on me. it is apparent you don't understand a large part of my post, so yeah, I'll just let that one slide. I get it, you get triggered by things. As another post above about a cousin I have, he's the same way. Sometimes a person can say things in general that have truth to them and others THINK it is about them and they take offense and attack back. Its OK, it happens. lol See, here is the OVERALL thing. There are some of us that are positive MOST of the time. You know what happens when we post positive things? we get attacked by the people who are negative. I don't mean disagreed with, I mean gone after, I mean posts directed at us with a lot of emotional ***** in there so the person responding to us really REALLY lets us know what they think of our posts. But for some of us, this is entertainment. We want to see the team win, but if they don't, we don't need to see people get fired. My original post, the one that set you off apparently, is a post saying that some of us think the negative people "get tiring", just like you said my post stating that was tiring, or something like that. To me the most interesting thing is...how some people react, how some seemingly get triggered when post is made and someone needs to react in such a harsh, negative way. Oh yeah, and sometimes my posts may have grammar mistakes, spelling mistakes, even some words may not come out exactly the way I intend but I would expect most members (most do) to use context to figure out what I am saying, as I do with other posts I read. You know why? sometimes I post on my phone, and things like talk to text, autocorrect, they don't always work well. So, if you want to take apart my posts 'word for word', go head, there will be mistakes there on occasion. My original post, the one that triggered you, I was speaking in general thruths that apparently a lot of other pepole "got" when they responded to me in a positive way or agreed with my posts.

A saying is that a lot of goal scorers are 'streaky'. Maybe he just is even 'streakier' than most. It doesn't make sense to me in a logical way why that would be true, but hopefully its something like that: -The first part of the 21-22 season, (Oct - Jan) he had 11 goals on 76 shots (14.5% shooting over almost 4 months) -The last 2nd half of 21-22 , (Feb, Mar, and April of 2022) he had 2 goals on 84 shots (2.4% shooting over 3 months) -The entire season of 22-23, he shot 14.7% (Entire season) -October of last season, 23-24, he had 3 goals on 19 shots (15.7% shooting over the first month of the season) -In November and December of last year he had 3 goals on 76 shots (3.9% shooting over 2 months) -The remainder of last year he shot 19% in January, 7.3% in Feb-Mar, 18.8% in April. -This year so far he is shooting 0% (no goals on 27 shots) in October. Again, scorers are streaky, but when you look at the above numbers, COZENS is really REALLY streaky. When you look at someone like Tage for example, he never really had even a 2 months period under 10%. With Cozens for his entire career, the shots and quality of shots are somewhat consistent but his accuracy is way, WAY streaky. Hopefully he starts scoring, but maybe Cozens is just a player that is 'about' a 20 goal scorer on average, but there will be some years he only gets 10, some years he gets 30. Some months he will put in 6 or 7 in a month, other months he will have nothing. Just way more extreme ups and downs than most other players. I have been saying on here a lot recently...just get Cozens to 10% shooting and stay there for the season. It very well might be that he just isn't that type of player, He might have high peaks and low valleys of shooting. We can only hope if/when this team makes the playoffs, his 'shooting' is at a peak, not a valley at that moment.

A lot of what you are saying is just not true. -I have seen alot of posts in the GDT's when the Sabres are down where people are negative about Ruff...he doesn't have it anymore..it was a bad hire (not the hiring process was bad, but it was a bad hire, etc. So yeah, you are wrong there. -The team needing to be broken down/rebuilt? You are wrong again. Look back through the gameday threads, just as above, they get down by a goal or two and there certainly ARE people calling for that in posts. -You say that is not outlandish to say the team shouldn't be run differently? I never said it is outlandish. All I said is it is an example to support the point that some of us where making and guess what, IT DOES. It may not be outlandish, but it still supports the main point. -You don't get context at all. I never said last night was a 'nagging win'. My point is to the people I am describing, when they want change, and YES, there are people that want change at all costs, 'wins' get in the way of that. Context, I am using the word 'nagging' to refer to them being in the way of what some people want. And again, read through all the GDT's, anytime they are losing there are posts, after posts, after posts supporting this, no matter how much you may want to ignroe them, they are there. So BS LOL, your post is laughable. Its not "nonesense" it happens. Maybe you took offense to the post because it hits home too hard with you? By your response it sure seems like it. I guess when people DO call out something you disagree with, it must sure get so old. Too bad, as I said, look through the posts, look through the gameday threads, ITS THERE.

I'm not going to totally disagree with you, but I'll disagree with the above a bit. I can't see how different linemates will solve his scoring issues. He IS getting a ton of shots (most on the team). If you look at where he is getting shots from, they are from prime scoring areas. He is getting them from the slot often and he has time. He's just missing. Maybe his overall game (more assists) would improve with different linemates, but his shooting/scoring? He has the most shots on the team and arguably the BEST scoring chances on the team (if not the best, close to the best). Other linemates aren't going to make that even better, at least not by much. His accuracy shooting was always a bit of an issue with him, but it has just vanished. Totally.

I have a cousin who is a really good friend who is/was like that. I don't think he is on this forum, so I can say this without him knowing about it....For years, when we were little kids everything was negative: "The Bills will NEVER be a top team" "Kelly is OK but hes no where close to Elway/Marino". "The Sabres got LaFontaine and Mogilny but they aren't going to last here" IT was non stop, all the time. And the teams he DID like was whoever was good. He liked the Cowboys when they were on the superbowl run. The Yankees became his favorite team in the late 90's and early 2000's. He was a USC football fan in the days of Leinhart/Bush, but then in the last decade all of a sudden he "always liked Alabama". But when it came to Buffalo sports...he always 'bet the under' always was negative. I think what you are saying, its kinda like the way my cousin is. The good thing is, after all these years he is less and less like that. Now when he watches the Bills and Sabes, its less about 'mentally protecting himself from they losing' and more about just having fun watching the game, win or lose.

There are some people that...how can I say this....I do not want to say root for losses, but they aren't all that happy with wins because the team isn't doing it the way THEY want it to be done. Some people have made up their mind that Kevin Adams is awful and needs to be gone and so does Ruff...and if they win, that won't happen. Same goes with players like Tage (not a top center, its a mirage), Dahlin (WAY overrated), Power (needs to be traded now). Either the team turns into a cup contender right now for those fan,s or it needs to be broken down. Again, I do not want to say some fans, some board members even, are openly rooting for this team to lose. But we have seen where sometimes we get a narrative in our own head that we want the team run differently, and these 'nagging wins' are causing the changes we want to be made to not be made soon enough. If there are people like that, you'll see....they won't say much during a win, but even after a winning streak the team will have that first bad game and they'll be back here to say "everything is awful" "**** is a bum" and "I told you so"

The team has been so fun to watch since they have been scoring goals...now i'm kinda bummed out we have to wait 4 more days until the next game. They didn't really 'miss' Benson...maybe another game off to try to get whatever his injury is truly to 100%?

Lots of games tonight, lots of surprises so far: Buffalo over Dallas....Bruins getting shut out by the Preds...Sens being outshot 23 to 10 but being up 4-0....Lightning with 8 more goals...Panthers blown out 5-1 to Minnesota....Columbus wiping the floor with Toronto 6-2 with almost 40 shots... How about Washington winning 4 of their first 5 games. I have no idea how they do it with that roster. At least you can't say the NHL is too predictable in the early season.

Quinn with a total of 6 shots on net through 7 games played for him. Something has got to be wrong with him that we don't know about, injury? Hes not even getting shots off or in position to do so. Cozens. no goals on 27 shots (leads the team). I'm guessing this isn't a stat that can be easily looked up, but I wonder what the record is for most shots to start a season without a goal for someone who is in your top 3 highest paid Fowards? Krebs. He now has a goal, he is the best faceoff guy on the team this season, looks like he's playing with a high motor and no major positioning mistakes to cost them recently. Still only 10 minutes of ice time. Has he earned a little more than that going forward?