Jorcus

A few comments on last nights game. I think the 3 top issues last night were lack of shut down D in the third period, crappy power play again, and not scoring on breakaways. Ok 4-1 lead going into the third. What should you do? If you can do a rewind to the Dallas stars game you would see for most of the period the Sabres got pucks deep used 1 speedy forchecker to tie up the pucks in the corner and try and gain control in the O zone to chew clock Get a shot on goal go to the face off dot and do it again. No more than 2 deep behind the goal and the rest of the team disrupts outlet passes. It bothers me they have not been adjusting their game to the score and I just don't know why that is happening. It might be the line juggle where guys just don't know what the other guy is doing. This has to be fixed. On the power play. Can someone explain to me how the concept of the 2 deep drop off attack is supposed to work? I think the the puck carrier (Dahlin) is supposed to skate into the defending forward and drop the puck back using his position to block that player from going after the new puck carrier. What I see is Dahlin beating that guy to get behind him and then dropping the puck back. This makes the new puck carrier have to beat the guy all over again or worse risks a turnover. Power seems to get the concept a little better and will keep going if he beats the first attacker which is what Dahlin should do. Breakaways, Some bad luck last night by the overall average seems to be very poor. Tuch had a rolling puck, Peterka was out of gas and got caught, NAK had a good try but could not finish. The team has to do better on those.

I would say the 9-4 loss against Columbus last year was worse than this one. This was very bad but there have been many worse considering who they were playing against last night.

Skinner fined https://www.nhl.com/video/skinner-fined-for-embellishment-6365393001112 To be honest it looks like he just took a dive to move the puck but maybe there was more to it.

I would hope so but Georgiev has been better of late. Yes he gave up 3 against the Oilers and 4 against the Stars but before that he held Vegas to 1 goal. The goals against vs the Oilers and Stars were for the most part not on him. Avalanche have been kind of a mess for one reason or another. MacKinnon has not been finishing his chances but still skates like the wind. Makar is still awesome. 2 very tough games coming up for the Sabres.

The opening lineup was very strange last night. Lindy what is Quinn doing on the first line? Sure the first line was slumping but when they are right they are very hard to handle for most teams. I think the recent games have been against teams that are good at containing top lines as well as a few bad breaks in the shots they did take. So why the change last night? You are not making the second line better by making the first line worse. I don't know what the future holds for Quinn but not addressing his position with an alternative has screwed this team for 2 years now. Last year they tried to patch his loss with Benson who I know everybody loves but he does not generate 2nd line production. I know Cozens gets the heat for not producing enough but what they hell can he do with wingers who do not score? When Adams loses his job it will be because they did not find an experienced power winger that you know your going to get 20 plus goals out of to play with Cozens. I think he is getting used to Benson so maybe you can keep him on the second line but something better has to be a long term solution for the right side. If you want to let Kulich grow into a second line roll, well maybe but good luck making the playoffs this year. I don't know what is going on with the bottom 6 but it's less concerning than the line 2 issues.

I agree with all of this when you are looking to make a deal with the Rangers. Krieder is not on verge of being washed up. His salary is manageable for many teams. The rangers are still in playoff position, so they are not going to trade for prospects. A lot of teams would want to put a package together for him if they can. Even if this is not just another Ranger or media troll job I don't see that we are in any position to get him because it's going to be a vet for vet deal to keep the Rangers in the playoffs. We can get legit top 6 forwards for prospects by dealing with teams that are ready to rebuild or ones that need cap space for returning players from IR. We certainly have the ammunition to do those kinds of deals.

The other question is where was anyone else. When I was In high school I worked 3rd shift in an all night dinner. When there was trouble in the front of the house the whole kitchen staff would burst out with sharp utensils in their hands. The offenders were out the door in a hurry.

I don't have an opinion on Jiricek but If I were in Adams shoes I would take Kreider for Kulich. Kreider may end up scoring more goals than Kulich, Benson and Quinn combined. Having him instantly shores up the second line and helps us push for the playoffs. I can't imagine Adams lasting in his job if we miss the playoffs so why would he not do it? Now the reality is Ranger rumors are a dime a dozen. Moving on from the much loved Kreider is going to take a lot more than Kulich. My guess is rangers want a known good player in return without a big contract. They would want Tuch, Peterka or Byram. Moving Tuch or Peterka just creates another hole you have to fill, You might survive by dealing Byram but there must be other options to fill that second line hole not using Byram as a chip.

Not only do you pay the away state tax when you play the game but also the time you spent in the state. I don't know when it starts and stops but on the Sabres recent trip they had off days where they would be under the California tax. The accountants nightmare. I guy I worked with had a son in theater. He would do a lot of touring company plays that moved from state to state. He went through the same thing at a much lower income.

If you watch Byram's game he is at his best snuffing out plays before they start. While Dahlin is freelancing more in the offensive zone Byram is more often staying at the point and if there is a turnover or shot that misses the net he is one driving back keeping the attacker to the outside while waiting for help. I have seen very little in his over all defensive game to complain about in the last 10 or so contests. If the D is boxed in he will not be the guy to lay down in front of a 90 mph slap shot but if the puck is moving he often tracks it down and if it is on his stick he knows what to do with it. I guess one of 3 things are going to happen either the analytics are going to catch up to his play, He will regress to the analytics or he will end up +30 at the end of the year and the analytics will make some excuse to explain it away.

Trouba is pretty much a no go. He want's to stay in the area, salary is high and just not as effective as he used to be. Kreider would be a bit of a risk because of the 3 years left on the contract vs his age. Still one of the best net front guys out there. Rangers have very little depth so they will need an NHL player coming back, probably 2. He also has a 15 team no trade list to contend with. If the price was right He would be a good addition to this team.

I think he got advice from Bruce Cassidy on how to survive 10 days without a job. I hope St Louis gets in the playoffs and makes a run just to make the Bruins look stupid.

Yes it's the mistakes that hold him back from greatness and further attention. So many unforced errors that just make it so frustrating. This trip alone it was useless cross check, unforced delay of game, and a number of unforced icings. He skates, shoots, and hits as well anyone. At times his passing is great but sometimes it is erratic. It does not seem like any coach can get him to play within himself so that the end result is better. Now it's Lindy's turn. I hope so because if Dahlin is not + 20 at the end of the year we are probably not in the play offs.

One thing I have noticed about his game is he is not going as deep in the O zone as much as he used to. Often he would go behind the opposing goal and get pinned or knocked down taking him way out of position and often setting up odd man rushes. He did get knocked down on the half wall last night and it was one of the few times I noticed that kind of issue this year. The other thing about net front. It's not like the old days where you can whack and crack players anymore. Power got called for a net front cross check a few games ago that seemed pretty light compared to what used to go on. It's more about holding position and having the strength to lean an attacker out of the net front. If that does not work you better have a good stick to redirect passes and shots which seems to be the Sabre way right now.

The question is why does he want out? If it's true is there a legit reason? Is it an Eichel type situation or something else. He is worth a lot and Ottawa is not under any gun to do a deal. With his contract it would take more than an Eichel deal to get it done for any team and even more for a division team.

My response to this would be I don't care what other cities think of this city if what they base it on is a losing hockey team. Having a team in this city is so much more valuable than one that is not here no matter how bad they are. A few things to consider. First is the economic impact of having a team. Sure at times the home rink is not ours but the people coming to town to watch hockey is important for the city and without it, it's long winters without much to look forward to. Hockey fans seem to travel as well as any given night I watch a random game and the visiting crowds can be quite large. They certainly travel here because of the proximity to the golden horseshoe of Canada and they are not all leaf fans. Second is media attention. If the Sabres go away so does all local coverage which decreases interest and conversation in this area. There is now more personal investment in the team unless you just can't let go and follow them to the end of the earth. The bitterness of a team leaving is deep seated. I remember talking to Browns fans when they moved away. They were not going to become Ravens fans. I don't think Terry P. has any intention of ending up hated like Art Modell. Third community engagement, A local team brings many benefits to an area. Local Charity work although sometimes just a player keeping up an image other players have done some amazing things for this area. Add to that the support for children's hockey and development programs that would be half of what they are if the Sabres were not in Buffalo. Last of all is personal contact with players and coaches. This is a small city and many people have had a chance to meet a player once in awhile. Many retired players still live around here. If the interaction was positive then it reinforces a bond to the team. If someone had a crystal ball said the Sabres are moving to Hamilton and will contend for a cup 3 years from now I would go back to be a fan of the Rangers and hope they would bring up 10 Rempe's to crush them and throw them all under the Zamboni.

It's a good point, I guess you could look at the Jacobs family as another example for Boston. On the negative side you have Montreal owned by the Molson Family. It's not like they don't fund the team or try, it just isn't working right now. The other thing is the corporate owners tend to be in the larger markets where they can co brand with what ever else they are doing. I don't know if there is that much corporate interest in small market teams, but of course everything will sell at a price.

I don't think there are very many sports owners like you describe. Winning sports ownership is part judgement, part experience, and part luck. Golisano was close to what you describe but he kind of lucked into a good team but being bottom line oriented he was not going to support an expensive habit for very long. Turn the question around. If anyone in this group suddenly found themselves to be very rich and bought the team what kind of owner would they be? Would they know who to hire for a GM? A coach? Would they write a blank check with no input on major decisions? The answer to pretty much all of that is no. We would all be crappy owners unless somehow things fell the right way and we found a GM we felt comfortable with coach who was not going to fight with a GM and star 20 year old kids who somehow can stay focused long enough to win games. You want to know what sports ownership is like? Go buy a racehorse. I don't follow that sport as much as I used to but for decades I watched many rich owners make some very bad decisions due to lack of experience or very bad luck. They might have hired the best buyers, trainers and used the best jockeys and still never got to win the biggest races. Once in awhile a lucky owner would come along and stumble into a great horse and not manage to screw things up by telling the trainer when to race him or who should ride him. Having said that a good trainer often gives the owners options and possible outcomes. Most owners want to feel like they have a hand in the game. Why not they are writing the checks, the best owners understand the sports ups and downs. Being unlucky does not make you a bad owner, Being involved to a point does not make you a bad owner, I would rather a fan of the team be an owner than some corporation. At least I would like to think the owner is suffering just as much as I am when things are not going well.

I guess Mike Bundt does not read the Aud club. 🙂 There have been some legit excuses for his plus minus ratio. Half his points have been on the power play and a number of goals against have been defending an empty net. Saying that he has gone pretty cold lately. I think they are going to take him off the PP now that some of the other players are back. I love Byram with Dahlin. They really seem to dominate the play. If Dahlin can only cut down his mistakes. It's like having Batman and Robin, especially in the O zone.

Byram has been the best tape to tape passer coming out of the D Zone. He can pass it out our skate it out fast. Power does not have his speed but passes well and is crafty with the puck on his stick. Dahlin is very good at skating out of the D zone but sometimes his long passes are too reckless. How many icings did he take last night because he was going heavy on a stretch pass that missed the mark? He is much better in the O zone where his quick passes are shorter in length.

Did hear Hamilton state we were the only team to put a claim on Reimer so after 3 days with us he can go down to the Amerks without clearing waivers if that's what they want to do.

Novikov is the more logical replacement for Sammi. He is a big banging D man who was plus 20 as a rookie and is plus 6 this year. The question is he fast enough?

The fact that both teams wanted to make sure they had the loser point played into that. If anything St Louis should have attacked for possession if they wanted to gamble at the end of the game.

I just don't know how much longer they can wait on Quinn. He is the obvious one to get replaced in he top 6 and my guess is any trade target is pointed to replace him. I don't think they are married to the idea of keeping him and being a low priced RFA bundled with a D man like Clifton or Joki just might get you a decent top 6 forward. Peterka has improved on something each off season. The first year he could dig out pucks but when pucks got to him he was not in position or ready to shoot. Last year he fixed that by keeping his stick on the ice and soon as it got to him he would let go. It was not always a good shot but the volume of shots added up and he could catch his own rebounds from time to time. This year he shot is better than it was last year. Many are on target and fooling the goalie. Amazing job by him to work on his game. It seems when he plays well the team does well. I would not say last night was one of his better games overall but he helped when it counted.

No I did not have that problem but every once in awhile I have to back out of the hulu app to fix a sound or freeze up issue. I am using ROKU and my internet is decent most of the time but not always.