JohnC

Playing UPL was a reasonable decision given the choices. Ellis was supposed to start but because of his stiffen back couldn't play. (That's what was reported.) So the choice was between playing UPL or playing Lyon on a back-to-back. Criticizing UPL's is understandable. But criticizing him playing has less merit given the circumstances. We have opposite views on Power. I certainly don't consider him to be a defensive stalwart. But that isn't his game and never will be his game. What you and other critics of him are unwilling to yield on is that his style of play is never going to be agreeable to you. I'm confident that he will be one of our emerging and mainstay players for us.

You and I are in accord that we don't believe that UPL will be the answer in net. As I stated in a prior post, KA jumped the gun in his evaluation of him. He made an overvalued projection based on a good season. You are presenting a key question as to whether the organization will continue playing him because they have invested in him? Smartly run organizations wouldn't do so, especially for this mercurial position. Few hockey people would consider the Sabres to be a smart organization. UPL playing last night was due to uncontrollable circumstances. Reports are that Ellis was supposed to get the start but had a stiff back. So the choice was between playing Lyon on consecutive nights or rushing UPL in. In my view, playing UPL last night was a reasonable decision. On WGR a couple of days ago, Bulldog's son who works for WGR and was a goalie pointed out that Ellis has had a better developmental career than UPL leading into their NHL play. As you well know, KA gets invested in players and doubles down on them. When you make bad decisions on such a critical position, you handicap yourself.

Our middling GM placed a bet on UPL, and doubled down on him. He lost and the franchise lost. I’m not anti-UPL or any player. The GM had taken an approach of entitling players roster spots. He used prospect projections as a basis for roster decisions instead of having them compete and earn their spot. That’s how the UPL case has been handled. Bad decisions have bad consequences.

You are absolutely right that in OT when you have an opening on offense, you should go for it. Is it a risk that you are leaving yourself defensive vulnerable? Of course it is. But in a 3 on 3 format the worst strategy you can take is a passive approach.

Frustrated at the final result. On the other hand, being able to get the loser point might be a sign distinguishing this team from prior years when the team would freeze and the momentum would swing to other team snatching a win from us. I thought that the Sabres had the slight edge in play. But as @Taro T pointed out if the Toronto shooters were more accurate hitting the target this would have a been a different game. One big positive was the play of Tage. I liked the play of Timmons. He’s a no frills solid defenseman. Quinn is getting better and playing with more grit and speed. How can someone not like how Benson plays? In a couple of years when he is more physically developed he is going to be a gem. The Toronto player who stood out to me was McCabe. He was the toughest player in the game. The loss was disappointing but getting 3 points in a back to back is a positive.

I don't want to overreact either up or down. However, even recognizing that the improved play is for a short stint, isn't it so much more fun when the team is playing well? The focus of the attention is then directed to the play rather than to the rickety state of the organization. There are a number of reasons for this upgrade in play. In my view, the biggest factor to this better play is the play in net.

You may be mixing up Jarmo with Karmonus who lives in Pittsburgh.

No GM, good or bad, gets everything right or wrong. That’s not how you evaluate a GM, an overseeing position. The fairest way to make an evaluation is assessing the body of work over an extended period of time. Based on that criteria, I’m comfortable in my critical view of him.

I don’t know. I think that Ruff has been the most influential in encouraging the changes in reshaping the roster to being more physical and less finesse oriented. With respect to Jarmo, it is a good thing to have fresh eyes and different voices in the room.

You make an incisive point about KA and how he functions. He’s not much of a visionary as he is reactive. And even recognizing that, he had to be pushed by others to rectify problems that he hasn’t satisfactorily addressed. He’s a checkers player in a chess match. He’s basically a pedestrian tactician in a position that requires a stratisgist.

How much are the hockey tickets in Toronto? If question is too intrusive, I understand.

What's the estimate of Toronto fans in the arena vs Sabre fans?

What’s that going to do? You have two phones. 😇

No it's not. I don't know if the Sabres will get into the playoffs. No one does. But at the minimum, for the sake of the fans, it's important to stay in a realistic playoff race for most of the season. Falling by the wayside before the halfway point will ensure even more fans to fade away.

The Sabres need to mathematically stay in the playoff race by the team they reach mid-season. They simply can't have extended losing streaks that take essentially take us out of the race. What's been encouraging so far at this early stage of the season is that our goaltending has been pretty good. I'm hoping that it will continue. I won't be able to watch this game because it isn't available to me. As a consolation, I won't have to watch a game when Toronto fans take over the building. I just hate that embarrassing spectacle! The best way to contain that scene is to score early and win.

With respect to this particular trade, it was a fair-value trade for the respective clubs. I respectfully disagree on how you are considering this trade by going beyond the specific deal by framing the assessment of it in “tribalism” evaluation terms. I’m not part of any “anti” club. Our GM made a good deal in this case. On the other hand, even with this transaction in the fold I consider KA to be a less than mediocre GM. That’s not an evaluation based on “tribalism”—-it’s an evaluation based on his extended overall record.

I believe it was a good trade for each team. Each team was in a different situation and each team acted in what they perceived to be in their best interest.

Maybe a younger Zucker????

Tage appears to be pressing. As you well know, his goals usually come in spurts. Very often when you try to do too much, you end up doing less.

No. It was part of a package. If either one of the two former Utah players were not part of the trade proposal, I don’t believe that the deal would have been made.

Is Norris expected to come back this season? I'm aware that he has been injured prone but that was a big loss, especially for Tage. It seemed that last night Tage was playing a lot of solo hockey untethered to the line he was on.

I agree with you that to get a full picture on a play it goes beyond the end result. The general point that was made by the analyst is the importance of the attention to detail. And the clip he showed demonstrated that point. It began with an advantageous situation in our zone to losing the puck, resulting in the play going the other way. The too often haphazard play shouldn't be a surprise because for the past number of years the Sabres have been a very young team not sufficiently instilled with how to play a more mature and responsible game. As time goes on the younger players are getting more experience and the roster is being steadily reshaped/augmented with more experienced players. Hopefully, that augurs a better future.

The analysis backed up by the clip was fair. In close games the attention to details is the difference between winning and losing, especially playoff hockey. I thought that Tage’s game was too much a singular game and not enough in sync with his linemates. He seemed to be pressing to score and forcing play instead of letting the game come to him.

When evaluating a trade like this sometimes the stats don’t tell the full story. The added value that Doan adds go beyond the offensive stats. In my view, the Sabres are better and more balanced team with him. And if Kesserling plays up to expectations, this will become a terrific deal for us. And that is not to say that it won’t be a good deal for Utah.

I didn’t watch him play before he came to Buffalo. It seems to me that he was a young developing player with them who is now crossing the threshold to being a regular and established NHL player. What I like about him is that in Buffalo he recognized that he had an opportunity to play, and he has seized that opportunity. Another thing I like about him is that he knows what type of player he is (physical and net presence) and stays true to his game. He’s not a floater but rather a hard charger. He was a terrific addition. I’ve been a harsh critic of KA, but in this case he made a team improving hockey deal.