Game Discussion Thread

[Stoner]

that blind pass that roy just threw to the middle was so out of Mite hockey...there was at least 15 seconds left...take a look or otherwise get it on net...to just throw it in to the slot blindly where there was no sabre high is not playing with your heads up

 

Everyone has Roy's middle on the mind. :) I think that was Max.

[Bmwolf21]

- fresh start = same old crap

 

- 1 goal in 7-1/2 periods!

 

- 5-11-1 in the last 17 games...5-11-1 Keep convincing yourself that everything is okay Darcy!

I know there was a change in system, the new NHL died, and we lost some players, but how did we go from the high-scoring team of 06-07 to this?

 

And that last 17 games record - that's approaching Donner/Amerks territory.

 

But hey - at least we're only 0-1. <_<

[carpandean]

In the last three games, here's what we have scored:

5-on-3: 1

5-on-4: 1

5-on-5: 1

 

THAT'S IT!!!

 

 

Edit: I forgot to mention that during that span, we allowed seven 5-on-5 goals! We were good on the PK, though. <_<

[SwampD]

I wonder, if Pommers had never scored that series winner against Ottawa if we'd all feel the same about him. He has disappeared.

[carpandean]

I wonder, if Pommers had never scored that series winner against Ottawa if we'd all feel the same about him. He has disappeared.

61 goals and 87 assists in the two seasons following say that we might.

[Two or less]

I wonder, if Pommers had never scored that series winner against Ottawa if we'd all feel the same about him. He has disappeared.

 

Seriously?

 

The year after "that goal", Pominville scored 34 goals and had 34 assists.

 

Last season, he had 27 goals and 53 assists.

 

Out of those 61 goals, only 4 were PP goals, showing the guy can play 5v5 and play it very well.

 

After the ASG last season, Pominville had more points then ANY player in the NHL other then Ovechkin, Malkin and Roy.

 

And he's an excellent defensively in his own end.

 

The more the Sabres lose, the dumber our fans get. We really are hitting rock bottom. When a team only has 3 legit goal scorers, it's not hard to put shutdown players to mark the star players. Seriously, who's worried about paul gaustad? The Leagues worst 2nd line player.

[SwampD]

61 goals and 87 assists in the two seasons following say that we might.

I am truly floored by those numbers. They are awesome, but I just don't see him as a guy that other teams fear when he is on the ice. At least not this year.

[LabattBlue]

Seriously?

 

The year after "that goal", Pominville scored 34 goals and had 34 assists.

 

Last season, he had 27 goals and 53 assists.

 

Out of those 61 goals, only 4 were PP goals, showing the guy can play 5v5 and play it very well.

 

After the ASG last season, Pominville had more points then ANY player in the NHL other then Ovechkin, Malkin and Roy.

 

And he's an excellent defensively in his own end.

 

The more the Sabres lose, the dumber our fans get. We really are hitting rock bottom. When a team only has 3 legit goal scorers, it's not hard to put shutdown players to mark the star players. Seriously, who's worried about paul gaustad? The Leagues worst 2nd line player.

Pominville is playing with a 4th liner center and a 3rd line winger. What does anyone expect? The Hecht-Pominville magic is no more. Get Pominville with Vanek and Roy and lets see what they have. When the tinman comes back, maybe I'd be okay with Hecht-Connolly-Pominville.

[Two or less]

I am truly floored by those numbers. They are awesome, but I just don't see him as a guy that other teams fear when he is on the ice. At least not this year.

 

Nobody feared him when he scored 6 goals in 8 games? Come on. Pommer is a great player, who's just playing with a 4th liner and a 3rd liner against 2nd line talent.

[Two or less]

Labatt - Great brains think alike. I posted pretty much the same example as you did, without reading your post first. lol weird.

[LabattBlue]

Labatt - Great brains think alike. I posted pretty much the same example as you did, without reading your post first. lol weird.

;)

[Bmwolf21]

Pominville is playing with a 4th liner center and a 3rd line winger. What does anyone expect? The Hecht-Pominville magic is no more. Get Pominville with Vanek and Roy and lets see what they have. When the tinman comes back, maybe I'd be okay with Hecht-Connolly-Pominville.

Seriously. Can we make a couple moves and get our current guys playing in roles they to which they are better suited?

 

Can we get a playmaking center to get the puck to Pominville and/or Vanek?

 

Can we get Hecht back to a third-line checking center/winger with Paille and Gaustad?

 

Can we get someone to play alongside Vanek and Roy on the top line to provide a little more balance?

 

Let's get two solid scoring lines, one checking/shutdown line, and one energy/banging line, and then see what we've got.

 

And can we get someone to provide a little leadership and confidence? This team does not look like a confident club right now.

[SwampD]

Labatt - Great brains think alike. I posted pretty much the same example as you did, without reading your post first. lol weird.

We think rather highly of ourselves don't we. It is a given that Goose is puss, and that a majority of the rest of the team is AHL level. But when they aren't producing, the stars have to step up and take over. Our stars kinda get swallowed up.

[LabattBlue]

We think rather highly of ourselves don't we. It is a given that Goose is puss, and that a majority of the rest of the team is AHL level. But when they aren't producing, the stars have to step up and take over. Our stars kinda get swallowed up.

How can you produce with linemates who are doing NOTHING?

 

:doh:

[carpandean]

I've said several times that not having a second-line center doesn't just hurt Pommer's and Hecht's production, it also hurts the top line's production (much easier to defend against Vanek-Roy-Stafford when the second line is Gaustad-Hecht-Pominville than when it's, say, Hecht-Connolly-Pominville) and the third line that no longer has Gaustad. Centers are the most important forwards. I'd rather have three top-two centers with one playing on the wing, than risk have one with a winger playing center, especially when your #2 is made of glass. Still the biggest mistake in the past two offseasons.

[SwampD]

How can you produce with linemates who are doing NOTHING?

 

:doh:

I completely agree.

[Claude Balls]

Hey Razor, your avatar looks a little too manly. Is that an uncle you are unusually proud of??

Natalie Gulbis. She is the very athletic type.

 

Not my uncle, if it was he would be holding a glass of Scotch on the rocks, or if it were earlier in the day, it would be a Labatt Blue.

[nfreeman]

I know there was a change in system, the new NHL died, and we lost some players, but how did we go from the high-scoring team of 06-07 to this?

It's all between the ears. This is the same scoring pattern we saw last year, when they seized up and couldn't score except when they played Tampa and the other crappy teams. (It's admittedly worse this year, because now we can't score against the Islanders or Florida).

 

 

Separately, I've never heard Lindy criticize Miller this directly:

 

Campbell opened the scoring at 15:42 of the second after coming off the bench to join a Florida rush. He took a pass from Michael Frolik on the wing and beat Miller, who couldn?t get over in time.

 

?You?ve got to get saves there. You?ve got to get some saves,? Sabres coach Lindy Ruff said. ?When we?re pushing hard, you?re going to need a big save. ? I thought it was an easy play for Ryan to read. I thought it was an easy play to get over. If we?re going to gamble and get our defense that involved, that?s the other side of it.?

 

Linkage.

 

 

 

Finally, I'll just repeat what I've been saying for a few weeks now: this team isn't going anywhere this season unless we bring in a tough veteran forward who can score. We'll see the occasional tease-win, but our record will be below .500 for any rolling 15-game period.

[Bmwolf21]

Separately, I've never heard Lindy criticize Miller this directly:

Interesting. Maybe this is the kick in the pants and challenge Ryan needs. He's seemed to play his best in the past when challenged, so let's see what happens.

[Kristian]

Seriously. Can we make a couple moves and get our current guys playing in roles they to which they are better suited? No.

 

Can we get a playmaking center to get the puck to Pominville and/or Vanek? No.

 

Can we get Hecht back to a third-line checking center/winger with Paille and Gaustad? No.

 

Can we get someone to play alongside Vanek and Roy on the top line to provide a little more balance? No.

 

Let's get two solid scoring lines, one checking/shutdown line, and one energy/banging line, and then see what we've got. No.

 

And can we get someone to provide a little leadership and confidence? This team does not look like a confident club right now. No.

 

 

Darcy likes his "team" as it is.

[Kristian]

Interesting. Maybe this is the kick in the pants and challenge Ryan needs. He's seemed to play his best in the past when challenged, so let's see what happens.

 

I'm afraid that all it means is that Ruff pretty much knows for a fact that he's used up every trick at his disposal, and is close to throwing in the towel.

 

If he hasn't already done so.

 

And I absolutely hate this quote from Kotalik :

 

"Their goalie was really good, but we had our chances to put the game away," Kotalik said. "They had two rushes in one minute and there you go, we're down 2-0. I'd rather be the worst team for 59 minutes and end up winning the game."

 

Hey Al, what the #%^$#! gave you the impression you bunch of whiny little girls where the better team for 59 mins? You give up two rushes like that, you can expect to get scored on with that so-called goalie of yours. That means the so-called D needs to be tight as hell, meaning they don't have time to help out the so-called offense in the offensive zone, and pinch all the time.

 

So if YOU guys were taking care of YOUR end of the ice, maybe your D wouldn't have to spend time pinching, and your sub-par goalie wouldn't be called upon to bail you out.

 

He actually thinks they controlled the game. What that tells me, is that they're still in the "score more than the opposition" mindset.

 

"Sure, we give up a few rushes, we just need to put our own chances away".

 

Well, technically he's right, but this year Ruff is preaching defense first and low scoring grind-it-out games.

 

Well, I guess we now know for sure that at least Al hasn't gotten that message, and by the looks of it, neither has anyone else.

 

Oh, and somebody play Lalime for a few games in a row, Miller's worse than Biron ever was these days.

[DonInBuffalo]

Pominville is playing with a 4th liner center and a 3rd line winger. What does anyone expect? The Hecht-Pominville magic is no more. Get Pominville with Vanek and Roy and lets see what they have. When the tinman comes back, maybe I'd be okay with Hecht-Connolly-Pominville.

Sometimes I seriously wonder if Lindy has some sort of obsession about "developing" players who happen to be similar to his skill set when he was a player, and/or players who are "good in the locker room".

 

Peters belongs in the WWF or cage fighting or whatever they call it these days. He has no business being on an NHL roster.

 

No matter who his line mates are, or how much playing time he gets on top lines or the PP, Gaustad will never be anything more than a 4th line C who is also a good penalty killer. Unfortunately, he happened to shovel one into the net on the PP a few games ago, so apparently "it's just a matter of time" before he develops into a consistent scoring machine. :rolleyes:

 

Mair has no business being anything other than a marginal 4th line player or healthy scratch. Yet, he was out there in a recent game when the Sabres had pulled the goalie trying to tie up the game. WTF?

 

It's stupid to even have Max on the ice unless he's on one of the top two (i.e. "scoring") lines. If he isn't playing well enough to play there, he should be sitting, period.

 

Stafford has been invisible all season. What is he doing on the top line? Right now, with the china-doll on IR, the Sabres top 7 offensive players are (in no particular order) Vanek, Roy, Pomms, Max, McArthur, Mancuri, Kotalik. 6 of those players should comprise the top 2 lines, with the 7th put on the checking line, along with Hecht and Paille. Goose centers the 4th line, along with Kaleta (when healthy) leaving Mair and Stafford competing for ice time. Is this so hard for a veteran NHL coach to figure out?

 

One of the things I find most frustrating about Lindy is his stubbornness about sticking with particular line combinations. He'll use a particular lineup to start a game, and then switch in the middle of the game to combinations that work better, but almost always will start the next game with the exact same combinations that failed the game before.

[Kristian]

Sometimes I seriously wonder if Lindy has some sort of obsession about "developing" players who happen to be similar to his skill set when he was a player, and/or players who are "good in the locker room".

 

Peters belongs in the WWF or cage fighting or whatever they call it these days. He has no business being on an NHL roster.

 

No matter who his line mates are, or how much playing time he gets on top lines or the PP, Gaustad will never be anything more than a 4th line C who is also a good penalty killer. Unfortunately, he happened to shovel one into the net on the PP a few games ago, so apparently "it's just a matter of time" before he develops into a consistent scoring machine. :rolleyes:

 

Mair has no business being anything other than a marginal 4th line player or healthy scratch. Yet, he was out there in a recent game when the Sabres had pulled the goalie trying to tie up the game. WTF?

 

It's stupid to even have Max on the ice unless he's on one of the top two (i.e. "scoring") lines. If he isn't playing well enough to play there, he should be sitting, period.

 

Stafford has been invisible all season. What is he doing on the top line? Right now, with the china-doll on IR, the Sabres top 7 offensive players are (in no particular order) Vanek, Roy, Pomms, Max, McArthur, Mancuri, Kotalik. 6 of those players should comprise the top 2 lines, with the 7th put on the checking line, along with Hecht and Paille. Goose centers the 4th line, along with Kaleta (when healthy) leaving Mair and Stafford competing for ice time. Is this so hard for a veteran NHL coach to figure out?

 

One of the things I find most frustrating about Lindy is his stubbornness about sticking with particular line combinations. He'll use a particular lineup to start a game, and then switch in the middle of the game to combinations that work better, but almost always will start the next game with the exact same combinations that failed the game before.

 

And when he has a line that clicks, he'll blow up that line the first night they're blanked.

[LabattBlue]

It's all between the ears. This is the same scoring pattern we saw last year, when they seized up and couldn't score except when they played Tampa and the other crappy teams. (It's admittedly worse this year, because now we can't score against the Islanders or Florida).

Separately, I've never heard Lindy criticize Miller this directly:

Linkage.

Finally, I'll just repeat what I've been saying for a few weeks now: this team isn't going anywhere this season unless we bring in a tough veteran forward who can score. We'll see the occasional tease-win, but our record will be below .500 for any rolling 15-game period.

Like I said in an earlier post, that was a complete overreaction by Miller and by the time the puck was shot, he was flat on his ass.

[Buffalo Fan]

Natalie Gulbis. She is the very athletic type.

 

Not my uncle, if it was he would be holding a glass of Scotch on the rocks, or if it were earlier in the day, it would be a Labatt Blue.

 

 

Natalie's got to get off the heavy bag and start working the speed bag. How does she swing a golf club??