Thorner

Yea. It’s jumping the shark at this point

Bruins. No Bergeron, no problem. Too much depth.

He posted a list that the Sabres adhered to, to a T?

Bruins coming down with the flu could be disastrous

I think I’m just a proponent of filling in a deep Centre spine as much as possible. Loading up lines leads to a maximization of pointz, for those involved, I think spreading out your C talent leads to mismatches, and wins

I’m sure we’d be fine if Tage played wing. But, being pretty old fashioned, if Tage and Cozens are our 2 best offensive (all around) players next season, as was mentioned as possibly being the case, id much prefer each locking down a centre role in the top 6. I’m still of the belief that a prime luxury of having your most adept all around forwards at C is the allowance for them to elevate their line mates. The wingers are already pretty good - I wouldn’t cut into the value Cozens provides in the middle to load up 1 line, I think the most overall value is achieved through spreading the wealth a bit.

Heaping helping of positive outlook, with a small side of caution re:ability to replicate

I’m still unclear as to whether you think KA will bring in a goalie next year..can you expand on this?

I’m still unclear as to whether you think KA will bring in a goalie next year..can you expand on this?

I honestly don’t see KA bringing in a vet goalie to the tune of anyone suggesting the guy will be a 1A/1B with Levi. Doesn’t seem KA’s MO, I think he’ll want Levi to be thinking the crease is clearly his. I think he brings in a NEW backup, but clearly a backup in projection. The criteria KA will be looking for in this addition is the ability to play a back-up’s load and not a split-starter’s load.

His best ever season, yes?

You’ve suggested more than 1 trade proposal with him headed to the Jets. I remember.

Vibes/atmosphere/culture obviously matter to KA To not throw them a bone and give either the start in a meaningless game, when they haven’t played in a while, really to me doesn’t seem to be the actions of a GM very concerned with keeping their morale up It could be confirmation bias on my part because they’ve been so poor... but then again, they’ve been so poor

It’s all here: (not paywalled) https://theathletic.com/1672268/2021/02/08/inside-3-on-3-ot-strategies-and-stats-for-the-nhls-most-chaotic-game-state/?amp=1 “The way teams approach 3-on-3 in recent seasons has been very different. There’s a lot more strategy now as teams try to establish order. Barry Trotz, whose Islanders teams have thrived in the format, put it succinctly: “In 3-on-3 it’s about possession and decisions and if you don’t have it it’s position and patience.”“ “Ask any player or coach about the keys to 3-on-3 and one of the first aspects they mention is puck possession. Teams that win 3-on-3 games generally have more individual possessions (53 percent), more time with the puck in those possessions (54 percent) and more time spent in the attacking third (57 percent) compared to teams that lost.“ “One of the fundamental differences between overtimes now and that first game between Tampa Bay and Philadelphia is that players aren’t shy about holding on to the puck. Rather than dart up and down the ice, players are weaving through with patience, looking for breakdowns while attempting to wear down the opposition.” - - - Any format the Islanders are/were especially proficient in is abjectly terrible.

The Sabres, in 20th place, are closer in points to 14th place than to 21st.

It’s indisputable. How often do you see teams cycle the puck back outside the blue line willingly in regulation play? Or pass it back to the goalie? There’s more keep away in OT because there is more ice Not sure how your stat applies to the discussion

I understand this but 3 v 3 facilitates the ability of an offensive team to successfully pull off that strategy, greater than 5 v 5 does, obviously indisputably

Butterfly effect, my dude. We can never know. And don’t forget Charlie Conway to Gordon Bombay, when Gordon was lamenting being an inch from scoring when he hit the post: “Sure, but an inch the other way, you miss completely”

I think all games should be worth 3 points. It doesn’t make logical sense to me that some games deal out a greater portion of total standings points. Some games literally mean more than others re: the portion of the standings they are contributing to. To me, that’s a flaw. granted, it’s obviously a known, intentional flaw: keep more squads in the race longer. It’s not changing

A lot of it, for my part, comes down to bias: i truly believe it’s not a very good reflection of the type of play one sees while watching the rest of the normal game, so while rooting for my team, I hate to see points come down to it. It IS* entertaining: when I’m watching other teams plays, even though I still don’t think it’s a good reflection, I don’t really care cause ya, not Buffalo. * the interesting thing though, is that “it’s really fun” has worn off for me over time, as well. As coaches have sunk their teeth into it, more often than not I feel nowadays it becomes a game of keep away, which is boring imo. Of course, my reading of how often these OTs devolve into that kinda contest might also be weighted on by my personal bias; it’s hard to say

Well, they aren’t incentivizing losing in OT: they are incentivizing *not being defeated in regulation* you deserve a point because a team couldn’t defeat you within the true portion of the game

You disregarded my good faith explanation for why I like it. The entire meat of my post. It wasn’t about being “right”, I was trying to explain to you why it had value. I’m not doing this crap anymore. Yes. It’s a shite metric. We good?

I got you I think it’s because 3 v 3 is a sham. It’s what I always say, and the league devaluing it’s role in the tie breaker at least lends a small crumble of merit to my opinion here

What a fun conversation.

Briere and Leino?