tom webster Posted April 19, 2008 Report Posted April 19, 2008 interesting. any further info to support your interpretation? Not saying I disagree, just curious. All I will say is that Chris hinted at the same thing at the end of the Ottawa series when he lamented that he wasn't sure some of the guys knew what it took to win. I know some will ask for link and I'm not sure I can find it.
SDS Posted April 19, 2008 Report Posted April 19, 2008 All I will say is that Chris hinted at the same thing at the end of the Ottawa series when he lamented that he wasn't sure some of the guys knew what it took to win. I know some will ask for link and I'm not sure I can find it. link?
Bmwolf21 Posted April 20, 2008 Report Posted April 20, 2008 I was watching the Avs game at my friends house last night he is a huge avs fan,I noticed Liles was last on theyre team in Ice time for defenseman so I asked him why that was..He said he has a habit of real bad giveaways and def lapses, so unless its a powerplay he isnt out there as much...He's Tony Lydman with a little more glitter. I was thinking about this during tonight's Avs-Wild game, and I realized that I couldn't care less if they bring Liles in and he is a 5/6 guy in even-strength situations as long as he brings the PP numbers. We have too many talented forwards to keep hamstringing our power-play with guys who cannot get shots through from the point and cannot feather passes through traffic. Someone like Liles who can dish the puck, move it quickly and get it to guys in scoring positions? I'll take him and bury him in the d-rotation at even-strength. FWIW, I think I would have much less of a problem with Lydman's play on the year if he wasn't supposedly 1/2 of the top D-pairing and actually put up some decent PP production. My problem is more with the totality of his underwhelming performance this year - damn near nothing on the PP this year (3-0-3) not very consistent in ES or PK situations, yet getting tons of ice time.
Kristian Posted April 20, 2008 Report Posted April 20, 2008 I was thinking about this during tonight's Avs-Wild game, and I realized that I couldn't care less if they bring Liles in and he is a 5/6 guy in even-strength situations as long as he brings the PP numbers. We have too many talented forwards to keep hamstringing our power-play with guys who cannot get shots through from the point and cannot feather passes through traffic. Someone like Liles who can dish the puck, move it quickly and get it to guys in scoring positions? I'll take him and bury him in the d-rotation at even-strength. FWIW, I think I would have much less of a problem with Lydman's play on the year if he wasn't supposedly 1/2 of the top D-pairing and actually put up some decent PP production. My problem is more with the totality of his underwhelming performance this year - damn near nothing on the PP this year (3-0-3) not very consistent in ES or PK situations, yet getting tons of ice time. There were a lot of things wrong with the ice-time given to some players this year. I mean, you would see Kalinin cough up the puck behind his own net and concede a goal to a lone forechecker while having half a the afternoon to dish the puck off the other way. Ruff would completely lose it with him on the bench, yet 35 seconds later he's playing the point on the PP. WTF??! I know we had injuries, I know our D in general was thin, thin, thin, I know our PP was in trouble like nothing else, but there is NOTHING - I repeat, NOTHING - that can justify playing Kalinin on the PP seconds after he assists on an opposition goal. NOTHING! And this is what worries me the most - There is no accountability on this team. The only player to get benched all year was Paille, yet we had so many passengers night in and night out I gave up counting them. Why wasn't Max benched? I know he was injured a lot and thank god for that, but why wasn't he benched 5-6 games into the season to get everyone tuned into the fact that this is a team that doesn't accept passengers and guys who don't stick to the gameplan? Max would've been the perfect guy to sit - He wasn't helping, and he was a top point getter in past seasons. Let the "veterans" know that nobody is safe and the youngsters know that not only they are subject to disciplinary action, but the "stars" are as well. On top of all that, Max is the type of player who usually reacts WELL to getting benched. IMHO, Lindy took far too long to stop feeling sorry for himself, and as bad as the team was, he deserves his share of the blame for not getting them on track faster than he did. He seemed very disinterested in October and November to say the least, then seemed to come around.
Taro T Posted April 20, 2008 Report Posted April 20, 2008 There were a lot of things wrong with the ice-time given to some players this year. I mean, you would see Kalinin cough up the puck behind his own net and concede a goal to a lone forechecker while having half a the afternoon to dish the puck off the other way. Ruff would completely lose it with him on the bench, yet 35 seconds later he's playing the point on the PP. WTF??! I know we had injuries, I know our D in general was thin, thin, thin, I know our PP was in trouble like nothing else, but there is NOTHING - I repeat, NOTHING - that can justify playing Kalinin on the PP seconds after he assists on an opposition goal. NOTHING! And this is what worries me the most - There is no accountability on this team. The only player to get benched all year was Paille, yet we had so many passengers night in and night out I gave up counting them. Why wasn't Max benched? I know he was injured a lot and thank god for that, but why wasn't he benched 5-6 games into the season to get everyone tuned into the fact that this is a team that doesn't accept passengers and guys who don't stick to the gameplan? Max would've been the perfect guy to sit - He wasn't helping, and he was a top point getter in past seasons. Let the "veterans" know that nobody is safe and the youngsters know that not only they are subject to disciplinary action, but the "stars" are as well. On top of all that, Max is the type of player who usually reacts WELL to getting benched. IMHO, Lindy took far too long to stop feeling sorry for himself, and as bad as the team was, he deserves his share of the blame for not getting them on track faster than he did. He seemed very disinterested in October and November to say the least, then seemed to come around. Lindy will sit vets during games but rarely, if ever, will he sit a vet for a game. This is directly a result of his having been benched as captain of the Sabres shortly before being traded to the Blueshirts. He has spoken of that incident several times through the years, and has pretty much said that the day he benches a leader on the team is the day that player is going to be traded. And while Dmitri still makes more than his share of boneheaded plays like any 2nd year player would, he's been a Sabre longer than anyone but Max. Combine his veteran status and the lack of depth on the blueline and you weren't going to see him be a healthy scratch often, if ever. I don't recall the particular situation you described above, but it wouldn't surprise me if Lindy put him out there on the pp to try to get him to forget about the boneheaded play. Kalinin has the tendency to focus far too much on a screwup and let it affect his game for about a week. It's really a shame, because Kalinin has the physical tools to be a very solid D-man in the NHL; he just hasn't had the mentality/confidence to play well consistently for Lindy. Maybe he'll figure it out at the next stop. I doubt it, but maybe he will.
Kristian Posted April 20, 2008 Report Posted April 20, 2008 I don't recall the particular situation you described above, but it wouldn't surprise me if Lindy put him out there on the pp to try to get him to forget about the boneheaded play. Kalinin has the tendency to focus far too much on a screwup and let it affect his game for about a week. It's really a shame, because Kalinin has the physical tools to be a very solid D-man in the NHL; he just hasn't had the mentality/confidence to play well consistently for Lindy. Maybe he'll figure it out at the next stop. I doubt it, but maybe he will. The situation was against the Thrashers in Atlanta. Kalinin tried to bank the puck off the boards while Hossa was coming down on him, but hit him instead. Hossa came around behind the net, and beat Miller on the wraparound. It was the game where Stuart beat Miller on a partial breakaway after skating the length of the ice, walking through Kotalik, Campbell and Spacek.
carpandean Posted April 20, 2008 Report Posted April 20, 2008 And while Dmitri still makes more than his share of boneheaded plays like any 2nd year player would, he's been a Sabre longer than anyone but Max. Combine his veteran status and the lack of depth on the blueline and you weren't going to see him be a healthy scratch often, if ever. Tri was a healthy scratch when the brought up Sekera the second time (March 4 game against the Flyers.) Unfortunately, Tallinder got hurt and Tri had to go back in. A week later, he and Spacek got hurt. If I am not mistaken, Kalinin was cleared to play in the final game of the season, but was a healthy scratch. To me, that was a clear signal that we won't see him next season.
stenbaro Posted April 20, 2008 Report Posted April 20, 2008 My wish list for players to be departed stand in this order 1. Lydman 2. Max 3. Connoly 4.Thibault (sp) HA.. 5.Peters 6. Stafford 7. Miller
Taro T Posted April 20, 2008 Report Posted April 20, 2008 The situation was against the Thrashers in Atlanta. Kalinin tried to bank the puck off the boards while Hossa was coming down on him, but hit him instead. Hossa came around behind the net, and beat Miller on the wraparound. It was the game where Stuart beat Miller on a partial breakaway after skating the length of the ice, walking through Kotalik, Campbell and Spacek. That power play for the Sabres came 5 minutes after the Hossa goal, not 35 seconds later. (Although he was back on the ice about 1 minute after the Hossa goal, prior to the pp.) Tri was a healthy scratch when the brought up Sekera the second time (March 4 game against the Flyers.) Unfortunately, Tallinder got hurt and Tri had to go back in. A week later, he and Spacek got hurt. If I am not mistaken, Kalinin was cleared to play in the final game of the season, but was a healthy scratch. To me, that was a clear signal that we won't see him next season. That doesn't go against my point at all. Back in January, he was viewed as necessary due to circumstances and as such Lindy would have been very hesitant to "embarrass" him. And based on past comments, Lindy views putting a veteran that plays a regular shift into the press box as something the vet will be embarrassed by. By the time the trade deadline had come and gone, he wasn't / isn't going to be a part of the future of this team and Sekera had shown himself to be more consistant than the veteran. Again, Lindy isn't going to "embarrass" a veteran that he expects to be a part of this team.
Kristian Posted April 20, 2008 Report Posted April 20, 2008 With regards to Thibault, I feel certain he could've played a heckuva lot better given a little more confidence from the coaching dept. Granted, he played some stinkers early and put himself in a bad spot, but I'm starting to worry if the coaching department doesn't play a part in our backups playing as poorly as they do? Conklin has been exceptional this year in a backup role for Pittsburgh, why is it so different the situation in Buffalo? I know goalies can turn hot all of the sudden, but I still find it strange that our backups can't even post mediocre numbers while being here. Marty was an exception, but he was more like a second no. 1 than a pure backup. It's not like they're backing up Hasek of 1998-1999, is it? Miller hasn't exactly been a stonewall, so why is there such a huge drop in goaltending quality when our backups are playing? Bob Essensa was the same deal, the three-headed goalie monster (Marty, Miller, Mika) was a travesty, and now Thibault turns from a veteran with some fairly solid and consistent numbers, into someone who appears scared just to step on the ice? Man, I'd love to be a fly on the wall during practice session sometimes, cause there's definitely some weird stuff going on.
Kristian Posted April 20, 2008 Report Posted April 20, 2008 That power play for the Sabres came 5 minutes after the Hossa goal, not 35 seconds later. (Although he was back on the ice about 1 minute after the Hossa goal, prior to the pp.)That doesn't go against my point at all. Back in January, he was viewed as necessary due to circumstances and as such Lindy would have been very hesitant to "embarrass" him. And based on past comments, Lindy views putting a veteran that plays a regular shift into the press box as something the vet will be embarrassed by. By the time the trade deadline had come and gone, he wasn't / isn't going to be a part of the future of this team and Sekera had shown himself to be more consistant than the veteran. Again, Lindy isn't going to "embarrass" a veteran that he expects to be a part of this team. True, I didn't remember the exact timing hence used the 35 seconds to make a point. I should've pointed this out. However my initial point still stands, and after play such as that he shouldn't been allowed anywhere near our PP units. You're probably right with regards to Lindy, which means we can either agree or disagree with this particular approach. Personally I disagree with it. These guys are paid to play the game. If they don't perform, they shouldn't play. Also, I would think it would be more embarassing for a professional hockey player to continuously get schooled on the ice, rather than sit a game or two. That said, pro athletes always want to play, which is why some of them don't know when to retire either.
stenbaro Posted April 21, 2008 Report Posted April 21, 2008 Here is a little playoff hockey from the past for all the haters... :nana:
rbochan Posted April 22, 2008 Report Posted April 22, 2008 Tonights the night .. It's gonna be alright.
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