JoeSchmoe

Play not to lose. The best recipe for losing there is.

As per the initial stat... He's near the bottom of goals saved above expected. A legit starting goalie in the league has to stop more goals than are expected to go in. UPL hasn't done that this year.

I like Levi being called up to challenge UPL. Sucks about McLeod though who seemed to be figuring something out.

The expected save stat supposedly accounts for the lack of support. You're right that he starts out good then falters later in the games. Maybe he's tired, something the stat doesn't track... But we're 17th out of 32 in shots against. Not great, but not bottom of the league either. Presumably, he shouldn't be any more tired than any other goalie in the league. Edit- I didn't realize I was looking at 5 on 5 shots against. All situations, we're 24 out of 32 in the league for shots against. Maybe he is getting tired. Is it time for us to introduce to the league the "relief goaltender".

Among goalies that have played at least 25 games... Presumably all starting goalies, UPL is 19th out of 25 in goals saved above expected per 60. The team however is 15th in the league in goals for. I feel like he's played better when he's had a legit backup pushing him. This season is lost, but I feel like it needs to be made known that the net is anybody's next year.

Sabres score 1 goal on 0 shots in the 3rd.

That was all Cozens. I wish the team always put the effort in that Cozens did on that shift.

The point on Östlund is that, from pretty much the day he was drafted, there were AT MOST 1 or 2 roster spots available for an undersized skilled forward. AND, we already had guys like him in the system. As soon as Benson fell to us in the 2023 draft, Östlund should have been packaged ASAP for a vet with a proven record of playing a strong 200ft game like a Zucker. This team would be a MUCH different team with another Zucker. I like to think we don't blow all these leads this year with another player like him in the lineup. Maybe we actually win a couple we lost outright too.

He wasn't that highly regarded to use a mid-1st round pick. Our genius GM thought he knew better and wasted the pick.

There's no room on our roster for him. Helenius has easily passed him as have some of the deeper picks that are actually big enough to play a checking role. And banged up or not... his output has been nothing short of awful. He might be worth a case of peanuts at this point.

With his 1st round pedigree, he should have been traded as part of a package for an established player a LONG time ago. In the year or so after he was drafted, it was very clear that we already had too many young forwards... some of whom were either older and more established (Quinn, Peterka, Krebs, Cozens), or simply just better hockey players (Benson, Kulich, Savoie, and now Helenius). Now he's worth next to nothing.

While the flavour can be good at times, the texture of coconut can ruin an otherwise delicious dessert. The same goes for rum. With some coke or in a tropical drink it can be tasty, but why put it in a dessert?!?! Ruined.

Has Ruff ever tried going back to the line combos we started with at the beginning of the season? Even though our "2nd" line sucked, we were most effective overall as a team with that lineup.

The rope-a-dope working strategy is working to perfection. We've got them exactly where we want them.

They're the youngest team in the league making youngest team in the league mistakes. Trading players for pennies on the dollar won't help. If there's a fair value trade to make, do it. Otherwise, acquire more Zuckers via free agency and let the young core mature.

How many players capable of helping us don't have NMCs / NTCs AND are on teams that are looking to trade them.

WTF is Power thinking not staying high in case thompson loses the puck battle?!?!?!

I wasn't paying full attention but did I hear Ray say he's starting to hate this team?

Happy New Year everyone!

Have you watched Helenius? I'm wondering how he's doing off the stat sheet.

On the subject of young talent, what is the boots on the ground analysis of the two prospects below? Noah Östlund: 1G / 0A in 10GP. Turning 21 in March. Konsta Helenius: 6G / 11A in 28GP. He turns 19 in May.

This is the whole season. 5 on 5.

I haven't put out an update in a while. As a correction to what I've said earlier in the year, I said Thompson was our best player. I think the winless streak shows Dahlin might have the edge... We are done without him.