Doohickie
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Posts posted by Doohickie
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I checked the Directv listings and the Sabres-Caps game is not showing up on CI, VS or NHL Network. Not a good sign. I will tune into MSG (yes, it usually works here in Texas), cross my fingers, and see what comes on. It does say something about the Sabres-Caps game tonight (Upcoming) but that doesn't mean it will be shown; it might be blacked out. Anyway, I'll try 638 and 215 and see if it comes up there.
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That reminded me a little of what we all loved earlier in the year---no matter how, just find a way to win it...
I was thinking the same thing.
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Gawd, what a game to watch. Edge of my seat from the third period to the end.
*breaths a massive sigh of relief*
I'll tell ya what, though, Vanek had a tough night. Just couldn't get the puck to go his way.
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Game day thread from Canucks.com.
Wow. It seems like making onto the first page of a gameday thread is akin to winning the Cup in Vancouver. Even the first post on the second page guy said "first second page post WOOOO HOOOOO"
I'll make no predictions. I'd rather just sit back and let them play.
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uh-oh
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*crosses fingers*
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Do you mean they lost?
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How much time left?
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My take on the Sabres "lack of effort" is this: They have sunken into predictable patterns of passing, and other teams are doing their scouting. They probably all review the tapes of our games with Ottawa. I think eventually we'll crack into a slightly different style and they will shine again. But right now, the other teams have Buffalo out of sync, and when that happens, they get tired out trying to chase down bad passes, etc.
I seem to remember them being more agile early in the season- when teams covered them close, they did more dump and chase; when teams played off a bit they played more of a control game. Now they seem stuck in a control rut and tend to hang onto the puck a little to long at a stretch instead of passing it on.
The other thing is that it seems like they are NEVER catching passes cleanly. I think maybe the other teams are getting into the (predictable) passing lanes and the passes have to either be "saucered" through the air and bounce, or they are off target and need to be chased down, both of which disrupt the flow.
The best player lately seems to be Maxim, and he seems a bit quicker in his reactions with respect to deciding when to carry the puck and when to pass it. It's the fact that he passes it when he should that makes him stand out lately (as opposed to trying for the end-to-end rush too frequently). I can't see today's game, though, so I'm not sure if that's true right now.
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End of the second, then?
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Yes, the MSG feed comes through frequently, maybe about half the time. It always seems NESN is the CI feed when we're playing Boston though.
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Still 2-2? I can't seem to get either feed to work here :angry:
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Random question... Did anyone else notice poor picture quality during the game last night? At times it was almost difficult to watch. The commercials were fine, but the cameras in the arena all seemed a little out of focus.
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Yes, but how can you *know* it's yucky if you haven't tried it?
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So it was a goal, huh? The MSG feed never showed it and CI cut off before the post game show.
I can believe it went in, but what I can't believe is that they didn't spend much time reviewing it.... and the camera angles I saw sure didn't show it going in.
Oh well.
Who were the stars? We had people over for dinner and I shut the game off after the first goal, then caught the third period after they left. From what I saw, Max was the first star, hands down. When he gets that jump goin', he is unstoppable. And he was full of jump tonight.
Sometimes it bothers me that he doesn't always finish (like on the late breakaway). But then I'm reminded of a guy I knew who asked *EVERY* decent-looking woman he met out on a date. Most said no, but enough said yes that he got plenty of action. Max is like that- he creates so many quality scoring chances that even if he misses most of them, he's still scoring a lot of goals (and even when he doesn't, he is tiring out and frustrating the other team, which can be just as important).
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Yeah, I suppose it would take a lot to pry him away.
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Dany Heatley has been the one guy on the Senators that scares the crap out of me, game in, game out. Last night was the culmination of those fears. I can see only one solution to him: Trade for him. I'd give Briere for him, straight up... and maybe even throw in a prospect.
As for the game itself... it was a crushing loss, but I think the Sens were amazingly lucky. It just gets frustrating when they're always amazingly lucky against the Sabres. First goal: Fluke- what are the odds of someone placing the puck like that when batting it out of mid air? Heatley was well covered. Give him credit, he didn't give up on the play, but still.... lucky goal.
And the one off Teppo..... luck. Take those two away and you're looking at a much tighter game.... maybe even a winnable one.
Give props to the Sens- they weathered the early storm, then took it to the Sabres. But they got the help of some breaks last night. Kind of hard to be pissed about that, because the Sabres are usually the beneficiaries of that kind of luck.
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-The Islanders just couldn't get a shot through. I lost count of how many good chances did not get though to the net.
That is the rut the Ilses are in right now- they play well and look scary, but they just aren't getting enough of their shots actually on goal.
Another way to look at it, and this seemed to be true most of the night, is that the Sabres are not uncomfortable with an entire shift in their own zone. Sure they'd like to clear, but they are just as effective pressuring the other team in the Sabres end, allowing them to win some of the battles but never giving the other team enough time to get quality shots on net. You see this at times in virtually every game they play. It seems to me it is not when a team controls the puck in the Sabres zone that the goals come, but rather when the other team is on a rush. And I attribute that to the Sabres penchant for forcing the offensive plays and bringing defensemen into the play- when the puck turns around, the Sabres might scramble back, but it may be a D-man and two forwards covering instead of both D-men.
I don't think this is bad, necessarily, it's just the nature of the team- the D-men press and sometimes carry the puck all the way into the offensive corners; the O-men have to play D a lot. It makes for an exciting game, and it seems to be working so far.
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I knew Kotalik would start scoring again. Never a doubt in my mind. He has a great shot and is a pretty good defensive and physical forward. Everyone talks about him as tradebait, but after losing Grier and DuMont, you would think they'd want to hang onto him.
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That "wide open net" was from a pretty severe angle and was in a terrible shooting position for him; he did well to even get a shot off. The post, well, you know, sometimes that happens. This is all happening incredibly fast. I didn't see the stars, but I thought Max was way up there even before he scored his first. He created a lot of offensive pressure and also made some incredibly timely plays on the backcheck. It's the little things he does when he doesn't have the puck that makes him a great player (better than, say, Samsonov, who has a similar style with the puck but doesn't do as well without it).
The CI broadcast was the Nashville feed. The Nashville crew commented that Max is really good in the O-zone without the puck in that he disappears until the time is right to shoot the puck, comparing him favorably to Brett Hull for having the same ability.
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The most key of the stats I saw at any point during the game was (I believe) early in the third period when an MSG graphic showed the Sabres had 13 giveaways to the Canadiens' four. THIRTEEN giveaways? To FOUR? We're seeing way too many soft passes, long passes and stupid backhand passes. Make sharp, hard passes directly to your teammates' tape. They teach that in pee-wees for cryin' out loud!
Actually, I see that as indicative of a team that's behind and pressing to force a goal.
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Even without a goal, I thought Vaneck was strong tonight. Briere was definitely the first star, followed closely by Miller who made the saves when it mattered.
Third star goes to anyone else, esp. the goal scorers... Hecht, Pommie, Max...
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I thought Max played well, even if he didn't score. He tired out the Habs; that was worth a star in itself.
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We had a bunch of great scoring opportunities we didn't capitalize on. I distinctly remember Hecht firing one wide when he was right on the doorstep.
And didn't Peters clang one off the post late in the game?
GAME DISCUSSION THREAD
in 2010/2011 Season
Posted
Channel 638 works for Center Ice/Directv users. :thumbsup: