It's only one loss

[PromoTheRobot]

I'm not trying to be a gloomy gus here but when you consider last season I hope Lindy does not let his guys off easy for the Islanders loss. We started out strong last year only to go into a slide 10 games into the season with too many losses to non-playoff caliber teams. We played badly against the Leafs but won. The Islanders embaressed us. Considering last season I would not wait to crack the whip.

 

PTR

[Stoner]

I'm not trying to be a gloomy gus here but when you consider last season I hope Lindy does not let his guys off easy for the Islanders loss. We started out strong last year only to go into a slide 10 games into the season with too many losses to non-playoff caliber teams. We played badly against the Leafs but won. The Islanders embaressed us. Considering last season I would not wait to crack the whip.

 

PTR

 

He should do the opposite of whatever he did last year about this time. I like that the lines and pairings have remained largely intact. Lindy's been said to have a lighter touch this year. I don't want to see him panic.

[matter2003]

I'm not trying to be a gloomy gus here but when you consider last season I hope Lindy does not let his guys off easy for the Islanders loss. We started out strong last year only to go into a slide 10 games into the season with too many losses to non-playoff caliber teams. We played badly against the Leafs but won. The Islanders embaressed us. Considering last season I would not wait to crack the whip.

 

PTR

 

I am not reading too much into it...several players were battling the flu Friday against Toronto and gave it all they had to get the win and they just looked completely out of gas against the Islanders, which is what happens when you don't feel well and are sick...I am sure they will be rearing to go and kick the crap out of the Isles tomorrow...

[...]

He should do the opposite of whatever he did last year about this time. I like that the lines and pairings have remained largely intact. Lindy's been said to have a lighter touch this year. I don't want to see him panic.

 

 

Absolutely agree.

 

And I agree that "it's only one loss" among a string of wins; some solid, some ugly. Let's see how they respond.

[FearTheReaper]

I decided not to watch last nights game. Mainly because it was Halloween,and i had other plans that started around game time. Also because it was against the Isles who are one of the most boring teams in the league. So i didn't get to analyze exactly what went wrong. Considering Goose and Kaleta were out and Miller was in on back to back nights(against a horrible team,for what reason i dont know) a W sounded ascue from the onset.

 

All i know is with the amount of games i see Lindy putting Miller in,(around 70),and the olympics this year,Miller is going to be run into the ground with exhaustion. I dont care what goalie it is,night to night starts are a bad idea,and rarly result in a good performance. Also considering it was the Islanders,it makes even less sense to use Miller. Ruff has no confidence in Lalime,and thats bad enough. But to sit him against one of the worst teams in the conference is idiotic. People can make the case of not wanting to risk losing the 2 points if Patty's in there. And that is true, But burning Miller out by the climax of the season is alot more severe than taking a slightly larger chance of losing with Lalime in.

 

Lalime needs to play on these back to back nights. Otherwise he is going to be even colder when he starts the next time. We have four more weeks with a wednesday,friday,saturday schedule. And i honsetly see Lalime starting in,at the most, 2 of these games. 11/11 vs Edmonton,and 11/18 vs Florida. There is almost no chance he plays against the Flyers or Bruins this weekend. And almost no chance he plays against the Flames and Flyers next weekend.

 

I feel Lalime should play wednesday vs the Isles. There is no reason not to. They are not a good team,and he needs a start. Miller needs a slight rest if hes going to play both games over the weekend. But it likely will not happen.

 

Be prepared for another burnout Miller this weekend when he gets a major workout against Philly here and then flys to Boston to play the following night.

[mikegrier]

I decided not to watch last nights game. Mainly because it was Halloween,and i had other plans that started around game time. Also because it was against the Isles who are one of the most boring teams in the league. So i didn't get to analyze exactly what went wrong. Considering Goose and Kaleta were out and Miller was in on back to back nights(against a horrible team,for what reason i dont know) a W sounded ascue from the onset.

 

All i know is with the amount of games i see Lindy putting Miller in,(around 70),and the olympics this year,Miller is going to be run into the ground with exhaustion. I dont care what goalie it is,night to night starts are a bad idea,and rarly result in a good performance. Also considering it was the Islanders,it makes even less sense to use Miller. Ruff has no confidence in Lalime,and thats bad enough. But to sit him against one of the worst teams in the conference is idiotic. People can make the case of not wanting to risk losing the 2 points if Patty's in there. And that is true, But burning Miller out by the climax of the season is alot more severe than taking a slightly larger chance of losing with Lalime in.

 

Lalime needs to play on these back to back nights. Otherwise he is going to be even colder when he starts the next time. We have four more weeks with a wednesday,friday,saturday schedule. And i honsetly see Lalime starting in,at the most, 2 of these games. 11/11 vs Edmonton,and 11/18 vs Florida. There is almost no chance he plays against the Flyers or Bruins this weekend. And almost no chance he plays against the Flames and Flyers next weekend.

 

I feel Lalime should play wednesday vs the Isles. There is no reason not to. They are not a good team,and he needs a start. Miller needs a slight rest if hes going to play both games over the weekend. But it likely will not happen.

 

Be prepared for another burnout Miller this weekend when he gets a major workout against Philly here and then flys to Boston to play the following night.

Did Ruff ever give a reason for starting Miller both nights? Did anyone hear anything about that?

[shrader]

Absolutely agree.

 

And I agree that "it's only one loss" among a string of wins; some solid, some ugly. Let's see how they respond.

 

String a few more wins together after it and I'm fine.

[That Aud Smell]

All i know is with the amount of games i see Lindy putting Miller in,(around 70),and the olympics this year,Miller is going to be run into the ground with exhaustion.

Did Ruff ever give a reason for starting Miller both nights? Did anyone hear anything about that?

i didn't tune in for the game either -- accompanied the kids on their rounds instead. when i tuned in to hear the post-game show on GR, i wasn't so much stunned by the score as i was by the indication that miller had started.

 

IMO, if this team is going to make the playoffs and have a chance to make any noise, lalime must play a meaningful and successful role. it doesn't look like there's a plan in place to make that happen.

[deluca67]

Did Ruff ever give a reason for starting Miller both nights? Did anyone hear anything about that?

Because he wanted the four points and since they have a very light schedule right now there is no need to put points at risk. My words not Lindy's.

 

When I saw the topic I thought that it was going to refer to the number of poor periods of hockey this team is starting to play. The more I see of this team the more it looks like the teams of the past two years. December is coming fast carrying a heavy schedule. Hopefully this team can find themselves in January sitting in a solid playoff position. For that to happen Miller needs to play at his current level and then some and this team is going to have to stop taking periods off.

[scottnc]

Because he wanted the four points and since they have a very light schedule right now there is no need to put points at risk. My words not Lindy's.

 

When I saw the topic I thought that it was going to refer to the number of poor periods of hockey this team is starting to play. The more I see of this team the more it looks like the teams of the past two years. December is coming fast carrying a heavy schedule. Hopefully this team can find themselves in January sitting in a solid playoff position. For that to happen Miller needs to play at his current level and then some and this team is going to have to stop taking periods off.

 

I have to disagree with this. The one thing I have noticed this year is that we have a tendency to come out flying in the first period. Even Saturday night, we dominated much of the first but just couldn't put the puck in the net for some reason. If we get a couple of goals there it may have turned out differently. I guess what I'm trying to say is I haven't seen the "mail it in for the first two periods and try and turn it up in the 3rd" type efforts that were indicative of the past two seasons.

[nfreeman]

I have to disagree with this. The one thing I have noticed this year is that we have a tendency to come out flying in the first period. Even Saturday night, we dominated much of the first but just couldn't put the puck in the net for some reason. If we get a couple of goals there it may have turned out differently. I guess what I'm trying to say is I haven't seen the "mail it in for the first two periods and try and turn it up in the 3rd" type efforts that were indicative of the past two seasons.

Good call. There were so many games in the last 2 years where they came out flat.

[SHAAAUGHT!!!]

We need to fire Ruff and Darcy right now to save this season! We also need to make trades for Drury, Briere, JPD, and McKee to have a chance this year.

 

 

Too soon? :)

[carpandean]

I have to disagree with this. The one thing I have noticed this year is that we have a tendency to come out flying in the first period. Even Saturday night, we dominated much of the first but just couldn't put the puck in the net for some reason. If we get a couple of goals there it may have turned out differently. I guess what I'm trying to say is I haven't seen the "mail it in for the first two periods and try and turn it up in the 3rd" type efforts that were indicative of the past two seasons.

Agreed, with the big exception being the Atlanta game. It was obvious long before Kovie potted his two that they were not ready to go.

 

If there is one carryover behavior that they need to fix it's that instead of stepping up their game when their star goalie is not there to bail them out, they play even worse. They leave Miller out to dry enough, but it seems that they do it even more with Lalime (or any backup) in net. Lalime is not as good as Miller, which is not unusual, but the team needs to try to help him out even more because of this.

[Derrico]

Hahahaha, I just love this message board. I've never seen a board that is so negative and hard on the team. I root for the bills bucaneers in the NFL (ya i know how to pick them haha) and they are winless but have more optimisim than on here. The team is 8-2-1!! I don't give two $%#^'s about last years team, this one is playing much better. The flu is running through the team, it was the third game in four nights and on the road against a boring team with an old half full building. It would be tough for most teams to get up for this game. Let's face it, every team loses games and takes the odd night off. In no way am I finding any reason for concern......yet

[LabattBlue]

The flu is running through the team, it was the third game in four nights and on the road against a boring team with an old half full building. It would be tough for most teams to get up for this game. Let's face it, every team loses games and takes the odd night off. In no way am I finding any reason for concern......yet

- 3 games in 4 nights is the norm for every team throughout the season in the NHL.

- Playing a boring team?

- Paying on the road?

- Playing in an old crappy arena?

- Playing in front of a sparse crowd?

 

When do we get to the reasons why the Sabres got beat 5-0? All I see are a bunch of excuses.

[Stoner]

- 3 games in 4 nights is the norm for every team throughout the season in the NHL.

- Playing a boring team?

- Paying on the road?

- Playing in an old crappy arena?

- Playing in front of a sparse crowd?

 

When do we get to the reasons why the Sabres got beat 5-0? All I see are a bunch of excuses.

 

Seriously.

 

The Islanders have points in almost every game they've played. In fact, they're now only four points back of the Sabres, games in hand notwithstanding. You'd think playing Marty and facing the Tavares kid would have counteracted any tendency to let down. Plus, it was Halloween hockey in an old barn!

[Derrico]

That old barn is scary. Whatever, I don't even need to make up excuses, they didn't win period. But come on, we're 8-2-1, absolutely no need for concern. The flu is legitimate and yes many teams play three games in four nights but hey, they also lose some games too. Pitsburg has two losses as well. Do you think their fans were obsessing over how there is some real reasons for concern after their second loss?

[deluca67]

That old barn is scary. Whatever, I don't even need to make up excuses, they didn't win period. But come on, we're 8-2-1, absolutely no need for concern. The flu is legitimate and yes many teams play three games in four nights but hey, they also lose some games too. Pitsburg has two losses as well. Do you think their fans were obsessing over how there is some real reasons for concern after their second loss?

They might if they didn't have a Stanley Cup video to watch instead.

 

8-2-1 is nice. It would be really nice if that record was achieved against the Pens, Flyers and other playoff teams. The Sabres have done well with the schedule provided to them. I for one am waiting for the tough part of the schedule to see if this team is a real playoff contender.

[RobT66]

They might if they didn't have a Stanley Cup video to watch instead.

 

8-2-1 is nice. It would be really nice if that record was achieved against the Pens, Flyers and other playoff teams. The Sabres have done well with the schedule provided to them. I for one am waiting for the tough part of the schedule to see if this team is a real playoff contender.

 

There are some quality wins in that 8-2-1.. Wings, Devils come to mind... No need for alarm just yet.. November will definitely be a big test and we will know how 'real' this year's Sabres are in the next 4 weeks..

[Calvin]

I think a bigger cause for concern is this -

 

- Last season, we had a total of 18 back-to-back sets, a total of 36 games with 72 points at stake.

 

The breakdown of points taken is as follows: 4pts x 2, 3pts x 3, 2pts x 9, 1pt x 1, 0pts x 3 = 36 points.

 

- This season, we have a total of 18 back-to-back sets again, 72 points at stake again.

 

So far we're off to a pretty inauspicious start with 4 points in two back-to-back sets - same pace as last year.

 

We've noticed a more determined approach to the team among many other things, but if we don't address this back-to-back game issue immediately, we'll be on the outside looking in again come summer.

[bottlecap]

I'm not trying to be a gloomy gus here but when you consider last season I hope Lindy does not let his guys off easy for the Islanders loss. We started out strong last year only to go into a slide 10 games into the season with too many losses to non-playoff caliber teams. We played badly against the Leafs but won. The Islanders embaressed us. Considering last season I would not wait to crack the whip.

 

PTR

 

It's hard to get too excited at this point. The regular season is so long and is such a grind that after awhile, it becomes apparent that most teams are too banged up to practice and many games players are going through the motions. You have to win against the bad teams consistently enough to pile up the points to get in the playoffs. That's a given. The real season starts once you get in the playoffs. That's when the players start to try. The bottom line is you have to beat the most highly skilled and/or the hottest in the playoffs. The regular season is way too long and you're going to have clunkers. Some teams have many clunkers and that's what makes Center Ice so hard to watch.

[nfreeman]

I think a bigger cause for concern is this -

 

- Last season, we had a total of 18 back-to-back sets, a total of 36 games with 72 points at stake.

 

The breakdown of points taken is as follows: 4pts x 2, 3pts x 3, 2pts x 9, 1pt x 1, 0pts x 3 = 36 points.

 

- This season, we have a total of 18 back-to-back sets again, 72 points at stake again.

 

So far we're off to a pretty inauspicious start with 4 points in two back-to-back sets - same pace as last year.

 

We've noticed a more determined approach to the team among many other things, but if we don't address this back-to-back game issue immediately, we'll be on the outside looking in again come summer.

 

good post.

[SwampD]

I think a bigger cause for concern is this -

 

- Last season, we had a total of 18 back-to-back sets, a total of 36 games with 72 points at stake.

 

The breakdown of points taken is as follows: 4pts x 2, 3pts x 3, 2pts x 9, 1pt x 1, 0pts x 3 = 36 points.

 

- This season, we have a total of 18 back-to-back sets again, 72 points at stake again.

 

So far we're off to a pretty inauspicious start with 4 points in two back-to-back sets - same pace as last year.

 

We've noticed a more determined approach to the team among many other things, but if we don't address this back-to-back game issue immediately, we'll be on the outside looking in again come summer.

good post.

It's a good post but I think like any stats, you can always find the ones you need to make your point. If you go back and look at, say, every time they played on Weds and Fri, and see what their record was, since they were around a .500 team chances are they only got half the points on those days as well. I guess what I'm saying is that they weren't that great last year on ANY night or in any situation, not just on back to backs.

[nfreeman]

It's a good post but I think like any stats, you can always find the ones you need to make your point. If you go back and look at, say, every time they played on Weds and Fri, and see what their record was, since they were around a .500 team chances are they only got half the points on those days as well. I guess what I'm saying is that they weren't that great last year on ANY night or in any situation, not just on back to backs.

I can't disagree with this. It's just that they really seemed weak last year on back-to-backs, which seemed very consistent with the mental-midget quality they exuded. If they really are mentally tougher this year, I'd like to seem them show it with some quality performances in back-to-backs -- especially since they have a lot of them this year. No more excuses.

[korab rules]

It's a good post but I think like any stats, you can always find the ones you need to make your point. If you go back and look at, say, every time they played on Weds and Fri, and see what their record was, since they were around a .500 team chances are they only got half the points on those days as well. I guess what I'm saying is that they weren't that great last year on ANY night or in any situation, not just on back to backs.

 

Were they .500 in back to backs because they were a .500 team, as you posit, or were they .500 because they only played .500 in back to back games? Your premise is wrong from the get go, because the Sabres weren't a .500 team last year. Their actual record was 41-32-9. This means they were substantially better than .500 when NOT playing back to back games.

 

I agree with the original poster. I thought his post was very insightful. If the Sabres are to get back in to the post season, they need to earn more than 50% of the available points in these back to back games, or be absolutely outstanding in every game that isn't back to back. So far, they aren't off to a very good start.