FrenchConnection44

I still think Cozens should be a C. I think his problems this year have been Granato - the way he’s been used. Cozens is the best face off center on the team (some don’t think that matters, but possession matters for chances, imo). He was our best two way C last year. But last year he was paired mostly with Quinn and Peterka - rookies - and they formed a good line. With much better potential til Quinn got injured. I don’t like the pairings he’s been given this year. It seems Granato just does not know what to do with half (or more) the forwards on the team. I don’t have a problem with Cozens doing some dirty work on the boards. He still scored 31 goals last year and he can set up teammates. He’s not really a sniper. We went from a team with a solid first two lines and potential for a 3rd solid line with young talent waiting in the wings and on their way up to add more scoring … to a team with very little line identity and inconsistent scoring. That’s not the only trouble with this team. But it’s one of them. I just don’t think the staff knows what to do with these players. I don’t dislike Granato. He’s been good for the players. But if play continues this way, he’s going to rightfully take much of the blame.

I thought we played well and tough. I don't know who coaches Carolina's penalty kill but we could learn from that. They were dominant. Felt impossible to get past them on the blue line - they just lined up there and said, "Try and get by." Dahlin on a fantastic individual play. I agree with PerraultForever that we are too passive on the penalty kill. We just accept their possession and sit back in a tight box. Carolina is a great contrast. They are all over the puck. Right on top of every player. Sometimes it didn't look like they were shorthanded. I thought UPL was great. The OT mistake was bad. I think that comes from just a lack of experience in the game. One thing for sure, he won't do it again! But otherwise, he made some great saves and really had no shot on either goal in regulation. The first was clearly off Greenway who deflected it perfectly into the corner. SMH. The second goal was a phenomenal pass and once again, a failure to back check. Still, we need to be tough every game. And more aggressive defensively; esp. on the power play.

Terrible. Took a beating. He has great spirit but if he doesn’t start lifting weights in the off-season and putting on another 15 pounds of strength, he’s gonna be what is the rest of his career. All these guys that are under 23 need to add about 15 pounds of muscle and toughness. I know there are people on here who think that the Sabres are playing tough hockey, and it’s not that they don’t try to play tough, they do try, but they still just are not physical enough. It’s one thing to have guts and lose a fight or take a hit, it’s another to play intimidating hockey, and that doesn’t necessarily mean fights, but sometimes you just got a pound guy. Exert some dominance! More than that, it’s about being strong, skating fast, overpowering the opponent when you’re fighting for the puck, and creating opportunities. Instead, we are sloppy, inconsistent, and just not physically strong enough in my opinion.

Love that meme, lol. The problem for me with Greenway is that as big as he is he doesn’t play physical. He should be out there intimidating other players. Brad Marchand at 5’9 is far more intimidating. Greenway should be a guy you don’t want to be on the ice with (not a fighter or goon. But a rough player).

This was a great 3rd period! UPL was so poised! If he just plays with fundamental soundness (and his legs seem much stronger) his confidence can rally go up and that is a massive factor in good goaltending. Nailed it with our chances! Almost had one more with Peterka.

Tage Thompson!!! That was insane! That reception and shot! Holy cow. Man if he can get going, he’s unstoppable.

Lukko. Keep it going! Power absolutely needs to add 15-20 lbs of muscle. Organization needs to push that. He has the frame to play at 230-235 easy and be strong and powerful - even faster - and his skill set is there as long as he keeps developing that along with the strength training.

So was our offensive output a fluke last year? Good grief. Our offense this year has been so spotty and often poor. Bad skating. Average puck skills. Skinner we know. Solid sniper. And Peterka seems to have life here and there. But the rest are sloppy offensively. Power play is inept!

Good discussion from Baker here on Savoie (also discusses Kulich, Rosen, Kisakov, and Rousek mainly with a few others) with some highlights.

Putting together a complete game with a big W would be a real positive. Gotta bring it.

For me, Benson lacks speed and strength to be a consistent and exceptional competitor. Sending him down may actually benefit him. Humbled. Get stronger. More physical (Get into the 180 range). Build up his legs and do some speed training. In fact that’s the case for several of these players. They need to get stronger, speedier, tougher. They don’t need a goon or fighter or enforcer per se, nor to add more size, but they need to be more hard nosed. A Brad Marchand type. I actually could see Benson being more like that in the future but he’s a lot nicer than Marchand, lol. Still has that pesky, annoying style. Relatively speaking, I think we are a soft team. And often lacking discipline on the ice. And a general physicality. Not the only issues. But some of them.

Agree on NC. Can’t stand North Carolina barbecue. I don’t understand why people like it. Arkansas barbecue, which, BTW, happens to be north of Dallas Fort Worth, is phenomenal. There’s a place called the Dixie pig in Blytheville, AR which offers great pork barbecue. Amazing sauce. Memphis is also amazing. My wife has an uncle from there who used to smoke a Boston Butt for 18 hours. Unbelievable. It was so good. He traveled around the southeast judging various contests. Alabama has really good barbecue as well (and smoked chicken with North Alabama white sauce is otherworldly). Texas does better with beef brisket. The southeast generally better with pork. I never had any in Buffalo when I lived there. But seems like there is a real opportunity for someone from the south, who moved up there, to offer some great BBQ. It really isn’t that difficult. Once you get a good sauce and you know how to smoke meat and are willing to be patient to do it for 12 to 18 hours.

I agree. Some are saying talent. But Clifton certainly performed better in Boston with their system. Funny how you get criticism from some simply because they think the problem lies elsewhere. The fact is, it’s a problem and it’s undeniable. If we had better defense, a better defensive system, or greater emphasis on positioning (by defensemen and forwards), we’d do better and I think our goaltending would also improve. We don’t have to become a defensive system itself as some teams are, but still room for much improved coaching

What does this say about Granato? At some point he has to actually coach. Do we even have a system to which the players can actually “commit” to playing? Most of the goals I see it looks like the offense and defense are playing on one of those old hockey games where the defenders are in slots and can’t move side to side. Far too often they just stand there and watch the opponent move, get open, and score.

23 shots doesn’t tell the story of shots that missed the goal. Levi was fantastic, imo, and actually caused several of those wide shots imo because he had closed off the angle. Still problems with not checking guys in front of the net. Both goals were a result of that failure. Krebs gave up on his guy and he scored. GgThen the final goal … We did better on face offs this game. I think we were actually 50%, which is good for us. Much improved over the first two games But Casey needs to stop taking face offs. He has won 5 of 30!!

I think the most central issue is defensive effort a) for the forwards on back checking and b) understanding of how to play defense for certain of our defensive players. Have to pick up players in the offensive zone instead of standing there watching the puck. Look at the Islanders. Even on the Greenway goal they were still fighting to back check. We need that effort. obviously gave up a bad goal when Clifton fell. Just got to be stronger there. But our first line has to start to play tougher and start to score. Tage doesn’t look near as locked in as he did last year. Hopefully he has his head on straight.

How was that not goalie interference by the Islanders on goal 2? Ridiculous. How do the replay people miss that? come on! Totally kicked Levi’s leg in the crease and screened him from moving after the rebound. Also prevented Levi from kicking the puck further away.

Apparently the Sabres themselves got the countdown wrong. They are still waiting for their season to begin.

I get the whole one game thing. So it’s not panic time. But … The same impoverished D is showing up. Poor back checking. Sometimes a complete lack of D awareness. What is Jokiharu doing on that first goal? Are there no defensive coaches on this team? He’s just gliding down the ice on the left side, completely unaware of where the Rangers forwards are, watching the guy with the puck. Just pure, unequivocally bad defense. Maybe we should have traded him?! He looked exactly like last year. 🤷🏼‍♂️ Or hired a specialist defensive assistant. The defense has not improved from last year. I don’t blame Levi. Two goals scored in wide open nets because there was no backside defending. One goal scored on the power play screen, and there was no defenseman checking the guy out of the way. And a fourth goal given up from wide-open shooter dead center in the slot. He might should’ve stopped that, but it’s still something the defense gave away. And teams (at least the Rangers) appear to have figured out our offense, especially the power play. And sometimes it feels like our offensive players get a shot, and they just fire straight at the goalie. Cozens made a great move on the one back hand chance, but then he just flipped it right into the gut of the goalie. What does he expect to happen there? The fact is, last night, one team came ready to play and another didn’t. Either we turn things around in ice awareness and develop some intensity, or Granato is not going to be here in January. I really like the guy and the way he has handled the young players. But they are going to have to step up, and so is he, with some serious intensity. Maybe he needs to bust some chops and let these young guys know this kind of play won’t be tolerated. And teach some better defending. Just normal defensive awareness and it’s a 2-1 game going down the end of the 3rd period. if we are going to be a Cup contending team, we should be winning games like this 5 to 1. A playoff team and we should be getting a tie out of this game. I still love the young talent on the team, and we are still the youngest team in the NHL on average. So not pessimistic. But I think both tactically, and emotionally, this team needs to get a fire lit under them by somebody.

Great discussion here.

So sad. Hard not to love the guy. He was such a gift to hockey as an announcer. His personality was really likable. And he was good at what he does. 🙏 for Barry.

I’m thrilled over this. Any player on any long term contract has to work his butt off to improve for it to be worthwhile. As far as his play, Power clearly proved he is a very good player last year for a 19 year old at the start. But one with tremendous upside. His skill set was clearly on display. He was 6’5+ and 215-218. He eventually (2 yrs) needs to play in the 235ish range. Unless he’s lazy and unethical, he’s going to get there and will be an improved skater with greater strength and balance. When he does fill out physically and with the right coaching he has a chance to become a Victor Hedman type player. Physically dominant on defense with offensive firepower. I think we needed to go this route to lock up our young stars. Can’t wait to see what this team will be two years down the road when these younger prospects are in the league playing mature hockey.

Really need to get this nucleus signed and sealed.

Almost identical thoughts on Clifton re his Bruins stint. The Bruins play a much more disciplined, ‘structured’ as you put it, and physical form of hockey. And Buffalo doesn’t. And one has to wonder if that doesn’t make him struggle to fit. Don’t think they can send Benson down at this point. He will surely get at least 9 games, then see where we are. He’s played his way on the team. Benson’s play makes me even more disappointed in the Savoie injury (to say nothing of Quinn!). Savoie actually looked good and even better - tho different - than Benson this season up until his injury. Not arguing he’d have made the team. But still disappointing we didn’t get to see him against higher NHL level talent. I really like Granato in a lot of ways. He is a players coach. But I’ve been wondering about whether he has any sort of system? Other than, be aggressive on offense and use your talent? Of course, this team is not geared for some sort of grind it out defensive system. But they need to play total hockey, not just go for it offensively. And one wonders whether they will generate the same amount of offense as last year - will teams have figured out how to slightly neutralize some of our talent? Decent breakdown here: