Pimlach

You sound like some of the parents I encountered coaching youth hockey. This is not youth hockey. You don’t play a player more because his parents flew in to see him. Performance = play starts in competitive youth travel AA and AAA leagues. Savoie knows it. They talked to him. They evaluated him and they saw enough. Did you watch his 3:55? He is not going to help us this year. This is professional hockey. Savoie did get another look at Rochester, this time he did much better, plus he got a game in the bigs. Let the fire burn.

Wine and dine, @PASabreFan. No fast food allowed on dates.

You could see from the 3:55 minutes that Savoie has some talent but is not ready to contribute to a NHL team with a goal of making the playoffs. The good news is he did well in Rochester, he was at a PPG clip for that short duration. Unfortunately, he can’t stay in Rochester this year but he will be there next year to add to the cycle of running prospects through the AHL. Kullich and Rosen are benefitting for it and are ahead of Savoie. We are loading up the prospect pipeline the correct way. Things are slowly but steadily looking for up for the Buffalo Sabres.

Big one tonight. Get over .500. The Pens can be beat. Hop we play our A game and UPL gets a lot of goals in support.

The D is much better at this stage of the season compared to last. They can get even better. Ryan Johnson could be a key. He should go back if he is going to sit as the 7th defenseman. If he continues to play like he has we can rotate him with other players, keeping EJ and others healthy. We have a good problem when Muel gets back.

Mitts and Greenway can handle the heavy game from teams like Minnesota. KO and Girgs played 14+ mins too. Tuch was missed. Cozens was not even near 100 %. Rousek played more than Jost, and he played more than Krebs and Savoie combined. We criticize DG a lot here, this was a game were he managed things well. Thankfully Levi was excellent, we needed 2 in regulation at home and we got it

He may be a solid 4C someday, but so far he is not that, and this year is about playoffs. If you want to get better as the season goes on I think the bottom 6 needs some help. If Quinn can come back and pick up we’re he left off it helps as it pushes a weaker player down. I prefer we add a 4C that can win draws, be solid defensively, and help with the dirty work. Probably a rental but so what. Win now.

I can’t think of any Clifton mistakes since he came back from the suspension. I see him playing the body and being solid defensively. The weird puck deflections off of him for goals against, the trip up for a goal against - those plays are not his total game contribution. EJohnson is a valuable addition. Calling him a “Stabilizer” is spot on! I want Adams to find an EJohnson pick up for the bottom 6. The season is long, the playoff chase is a grind, I think we need similar veteran help at forward.

He won’t bring in just any JAG, or a blocker. It would have to be an Eric Johnson type of player, some tread on the tires, capable of quickly gaining respect and willing to lead/teach. I think we need a center for the 4th line. Not seeing Krebs as ready for it. Jost is more of a 13th man utility player.

We watched him evolve from a talented but unfinished kid that needed conditioning and time in the AHL. Under DG he has become to 2-way, 60+ point center. Why do you hate him? He was mishandled and rushed into the NHL. Now he is a 6’1” and 195 lb beast with great hands (sick mitts). He is an example of the reason you don’t rush Kulich, Rosen, etc.

Lots of complaints about Power and they started in the first week of the season. As if people expect a “sophomore slump”. People are judging him on next years contract. I look at him as a kid with 100+ high minute NHL games before he hits 21. I looked at the fancy stats posted in another thread and it looks like he is playing very good hockey. My eye test says he is playing well. I think he will get only stronger and more confident, and once he processes faster (thinks less) he will be harder to play against. His contract could be a very nice deal in the long term as the cap increases. When you play 24 minutes a game there will be moments that don’t look good. That seems to be what gets remembered.

Spooner, She is probably younger than my daughter, so off limits.

Face-offs have been inconsistent so far. Some nights we do much better, last night we got beat on the dot all night. Puck possession against heavy teams is something that needs to improve. Team defense was good last night, and improving so far this season, lots of metrics to back this up. We won a game because our goalie was excellent. How many times had the opposite been true? Enjoy it.

Adam’s needs to bring in a good veteran forward that can add quality 2 way minutes. Not a JAG. Savoie played 3:55, Krebs 6:05, Jost 10:29, Rousek 13:14. We need help.

We got two points tonight. Thompson had an assist and was +2. He had a terrible day on the dot against Ericsson-Ek The officiating was terribly inconsistent.

Rotating the three would help all of them. Good possibility. Clifton is quietly playing better. Just a workmanlike player, get him consistent and he will be a good player.

If Ryan Johnson starts who sits once Muel gets back?

Heart attack. First Star - Levi. Second Star - Levi Third Star - Levi

We need the draw, possession, break out and ENG.

They let that go on KO. Ok, give us that same call ref.

Them getting a PPG just pisses me off. Terrible calls all night from this crew.

The same two guys. All they have is Ek and Kaprisov