SwampD Posted November 4, 2010 Report Posted November 4, 2010 Is the problem with the Sabres as simple as fixing their Power Play? I contend that with only 2 PP goals in last years playoff series, we probably get to a game 7. With 3 we probably win it. This year, not only is it not helping us, but starting tonight, it is actually hurting us. Whether it means a player (bringing in that mythical PP QB that everyone talks about) or coach (that even more mythical creature that can make the players we already have more productive) I don't know. I just seem to me that by just making the PP better, the team would be a whole lot more competitive. Heck, we might even win a game at home.
carpandean Posted November 4, 2010 Report Posted November 4, 2010 If only we could have figured that out before the Summer! (Poking fun at Darcy, not you.)
Two or less Posted November 4, 2010 Report Posted November 4, 2010 This team has massive flaws. For over three years we've been seeing them and they have been talked about here and now, they are really getting exposed this year and the scores are showing it. They just lack the talent and they lack the motivation. This team needs roster changes but also needs change at the top.
billsrcursed Posted November 4, 2010 Report Posted November 4, 2010 I don't think it's the power play so much as it is the people playing the power play, if that makes sense... :unsure:
Weave Posted November 4, 2010 Report Posted November 4, 2010 The powerplay has been on a slide since Scott Arniel left the coaching staff. Up until this year I didn't support getting rid of Lindy. But this season has got me believing that maybe coaching is really the problem. Or at least the majority of the problem. The special teams are lousy and they used to be among the leagues best. Proven point getters can't get points anymore. And the team, to a man, seems tentative and undecisive, like they are not sure what they are supposed to do. That can't all be on the players, can it?
Realist Posted November 5, 2010 Report Posted November 5, 2010 I think what's actually hurting us more is the Penalty Kill and just plain bad defense. Way too many giveaways in our own end and center ice that they can't recover from.
K-9 Posted November 5, 2010 Report Posted November 5, 2010 Can GEICO really save you 15% on auto insurance? GO SABRES!!!
Wraith Posted November 5, 2010 Report Posted November 5, 2010 Is the problem with the Sabres as simple as fixing their Power Play? Yes, yes, yes! Special teams in general are absolutely killing the Sabres right now. With all the hysterics, very few people have noticed that at even strength the Sabres are actually playing very well despite the general chaos. Some numbers: - The Sabres are 3rd in the NHL (1st in the EC) in ES goals for with 25. The league average is 20.7. - The Sabres are 7th in the NHL (3rd in the EC) in ES goals for/Game with 1.92. The league average is 1.74. - The Sabres are 14th in the NHL (6th in the EC) in ES goals against/Game with 1.60. - The Sabres are 9th in the NHL (3rd in the EC) in ES GF/GA with 1.19. Last year was 1.10. On the other hand, special teams has been horrendous. - The Sabres are 22nd in the NHL in PP% at 13.5%. Last year was 17.6%. - The Sabres are 28th in the NHL in +/- on the PP at +3.(7 Powerplay Goals, 4 Shorthanded Goals) - The Sabres are 29th in the NHL in SHGA at 4. Last year they were tied for 3rd in the NHL (tied for 1st in EC with 3 all year). - The Sabres are 26th in the NHL in PK% at 76.4% (13 PK Goals Against, 0 Shorthanded Goals). Last year the Sabres were 2nd in the NHL (1st in the EC) at 86.6%. So the Sabres have gotten worse on the power play and much worse on the penalty kill but are actually better at even strength than last year. Given how every powerplay seems to suck the life out of this team, it's almost shocking how good they've been at even strength.
Weave Posted November 5, 2010 Report Posted November 5, 2010 There is a team in the league with more shorthanded goals against than Buffalo? :blink: OMG they must suck.
Weave Posted November 5, 2010 Report Posted November 5, 2010 Wraith, that's a good dig up of stats. It really shows how critical special teams play is. And how pathetic even strength scoring is around the league these days. Whoever does the coaching and draws up the plays for special teams, fire that guy.
nobody Posted November 5, 2010 Report Posted November 5, 2010 Whoever does the coaching and draws up the plays for special teams, fire that guy. I mentioned that in who knows which thread - I think the Sabres need to upgrade their assistants before trying to upgrade their head coach.
korab rules Posted November 5, 2010 Report Posted November 5, 2010 Ah, the sacrificial coordinator! A time honored tradition in the NFL, and more than merited here. Is Scott Arniel looking for work?
SwampD Posted November 6, 2010 Author Report Posted November 6, 2010 Last night, in the first PP, a Montreal player breaks his stick, has enough time to go to the bench, get another one, come back into the play, and we still hadn't set up a shot. It is absolutely atrocious, a ###### abomination.
Kristian Posted November 6, 2010 Report Posted November 6, 2010 Last night, in the first PP, a Montreal player breaks his stick, has enough time to go to the bench, get another one, come back into the play, and we still hadn't set up a shot. It is absolutely atrocious, a ###### abomination. Just the fact that he goes to the bench and gets a new one shows you something is wrong. 9 out of 10 times, that player will stay on the ice stickless until there's a whistle or a clearing. Not against Buffalo's so-called PP though.
Weave Posted November 6, 2010 Report Posted November 6, 2010 Ah, the sacrificial coordinator! A time honored tradition in the NFL, and more than merited here. Is Scott Arniel looking for work? He is Columbus' head coach.
carpandean Posted November 6, 2010 Report Posted November 6, 2010 He is Columbus' head coach. So ... yes? ;)
Weave Posted November 6, 2010 Report Posted November 6, 2010 So ... yes? ;) LOL Maybe not quite yet though.
spndnchz Posted November 6, 2010 Report Posted November 6, 2010 Just the fact that he goes to the bench and gets a new one shows you something is wrong. 9 out of 10 times, that player will stay on the ice stickless until there's a whistle or a clearing. Not against Buffalo's so-called PP though. Oh come on. The guy was 10 feet from his bench at the time.
R_Dudley Posted November 6, 2010 Report Posted November 6, 2010 Oh come on. The guy was 10 feet from his bench at the time. Maybe but the point still stands most times when there is actually any fear of risk of another teams ability to score they never even think of getting another stick. Scouting Buffalo I am sure everybody has seen how pathetic they are playing and there is no fear. I also see that it looks everyone now attacks our players with the puck with no fear of being caught out of position because 8 out of 10 times we make a lame pass into someone skates or just dump the puck harmlessly in the corner or along the boards w/o looking.
R_Dudley Posted November 6, 2010 Report Posted November 6, 2010 Oh in answer to the original thread here, Yes I agree it is as simple as the PP. What we are seeing with the ineptitude of the PP is an indictment of what we basically see with this team in the 5 on 5 play. Tentative, bad positioning, poor judgement, lack of execution, marginal skill, no chemistry, poor team play overall. I think if they could fix the 5 on 5 play the PP would follow assuming the PP rewards the players that are doing it 5 on 5 and istead of an excercise to prove they are right about the top 6 players they love.
TheChimp Posted November 6, 2010 Report Posted November 6, 2010 All you preachers of "It's the SYSTEM that's the problem", you have a new convert. I tried as hard as I could to defend it, but the facts are in and it's become clear. Lindy's system is killing these kids. Almost every player who joins this team starts off hot, and as they get acclamated to Lindy's system, they lose their innate abilities and start looking like lost children in a snowstorm out there, and it gets worse, and worse, and worse, every single year, until they are mere shells of themselves. I USED TO make the argument that they must just be stupid or immature to be so "unwilling" to play the way Lindy wants them to. Now I realize, with quite a good deal of surity, that Lindy's system is simply too complicated and convoluted for ANY guy raised on an ice rink to figure out, and the three or four times a season that we actually hear about how they played the system perfectly, well, these times HAVE to be chalked up to a mere fluke. Too many games where we easily see the EFFORT, and the frustration on each and every face, but they still have no success and we, as fans, still see a team that looks completely discombobulated. Lindy's been getting smoke blown up his ass for too long. He's trying to teach Calculus out there to people who simply are not getting it. Maybe in his head, the system works perfectly, but that's the point, he isn't able to transfer what's in his head to his players. Simple. He sucks as a teacher. Therefore, he sucks as a coach. I feel bad for having it taken me so long to figure that out.
korab rules Posted November 18, 2010 Report Posted November 18, 2010 Yes, the powerplay is our downfall right now. Down a goal late in the 3rd and we can't do jack with a power play. WTF? Where did our power play mojo go? Ennis is the only one one who looks like he has a clue what to do. Other teams pressure the puck relentlessly because they know we can't score, and we can't score because they pressure the puck relentlessly!
nobody Posted November 18, 2010 Report Posted November 18, 2010 Yes, the powerplay is our downfall right now. Down a goal late in the 3rd and we can't do jack with a power play. WTF? Where did our power play mojo go? Ennis is the only one one who looks like he has a clue what to do. Other teams pressure the puck relentlessly because they know we can't score, and we can't score because they pressure the puck relentlessly! What do you expect when the second pp unit has Hecht and Grier on it?
korab rules Posted November 18, 2010 Report Posted November 18, 2010 What do you expect when the second pp unit has Hecht and Grier on it? Ruff has decided to play PK guys on the powerplay to at least keep us from giving up shorthanded goals. Brilliant strategy that seems to be working.
X. Benedict Posted November 18, 2010 Report Posted November 18, 2010 What do you expect when the second pp unit has Hecht and Grier on it? grier is the widebody. Grier did get it done on the Leopold goal.
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