GDT - ST LOUIS @ BUFFALO 11/19/13 7pm

[kishoph]

It's not that the Sabres didn't try, or played really stupid hockey.

Teddy's right. St. Louis is a better team, and they played that way.

It really was that simple.

 

 

I agree, the Blues are a Cup contending team and the Sabres are not quite, but you can see a difference in there game under Nolan. McCormick had a terrible night, without his mistakes, the last 2 goals don't happen. That happens, some players have bad nights, hopefully Nolan can get them to have them less frequently.

 

Why when Ott was called for hooking, then the Blues scored was the penalty not washed out ? I know the times are the same, but the infraction did happen before the goal. I don't know the ruling on this, but I assumed it should of been washed out.

[North Buffalo]

That was a boring game, good road game for the Blues. They buried their chances, the Sabres did not.

 

My observation, the first line was dominated and disappeared for long stretches. Stafford was his useless wimpy self and Hodgson while skating played like Roy right after coming back from his knee injury.

 

The third line was the most fun and best puck control line of the night, but they couldn't put the puck in the net. Not sure what McCormick was doing on the ice tonight...he sure didn't seem like he belonged.

 

First pick here they come... Nolan has a lot of teaching to do. Though it appears he gets it. Oof.

[sicknfla]

 

 

I think your tune will change once they do trade Miller and Moulson away. Even if they draft Reinhart, who is to say he will make the morning night roster or even make a Sean Monahan impact?

 

I don't think we'll be anywhere near the level you think we will be on next year but i also don't think we'll be bad enough to be part of the Conner McDavid sweepstakes.

 

I also want them to trade Miller and Moulson. Might as well add Ott in there as well. I also have no idea where they will be next year and have no great expectations.

 

My point was I just don't know how they are going to try to get better but yet stay bad at the same time. It can't be one side of the mouth saying we really want to build through the draft and get a McDavid while the other side is saying we are trying to go out and win every night. You can't put a product on the ice that you think will get you top draft picks and then get upset when they don't win.

 

You want to keep loosing? Keep the Leinos and Staffords. You want to try to get better you get rid of them. It is going to be a tough balancing act.

[Marvelo]

Against a team that has a good chance IMO to win the Cup, the Sabres had to bury their chances.

 

In the middle of the game, Myers came flying down the right wing on a shot all alone and then rifled it 10 feet wide. What's wrong with this big kid, leverage? Whatever it is, I don't think it's fixable. On D, they need to fit him up with a big blue diaper bc he's always s***ing the bed.

 

Lame-O had a wide open net on a rebound and somehow missed. He is a curse to our organization.

 

I don't like either of these two players and I hope once we get a GM (hopefully a good one), we get rid of these hangers-on and others like Stafford who aren't willing to give what it takes on a nightly basis. Until then, we spin our wheels, rudderless.

[LGR4GM]

I agree, the Blues are a Cup contending team and the Sabres are not quite, but you can see a difference in there game under Nolan. McCormick had a terrible night, without his mistakes, the last 2 goals don't happen. That happens, some players have bad nights, hopefully Nolan can get them to have them less frequently.

 

Why when Ott was called for hooking, then the Blues scored was the penalty not washed out ? I know the times are the same, but the infraction did happen before the goal. I don't know the ruling on this, but I assumed it should of been washed out.

The Blues were on a PP, Ott's penalty was taken just before they scored on that PP so the 1st PP ended and Ott's penalty and PP then started.

[Huckleberry]

Sad thing is you'll probably still need Leino, stafford and Myers (allthough improved but not enough) to stay above cap floor.

[bcsaberks]

Pysyk and The Hoff were both a -3 in this one. Our 4th line were all -2 (Scott, CodyMac, Tropp).

 

Interesting to me that Nolan gave even ice time to all 6 defensemen. All played ~20 minutes.

Scott, -2 in 5:16 TOI

And on home ice (last change).

No thanks.

[waldo]

The Preds just shut out the Red Wings in Detroit. Nice. ....oh, wrong thread. :)

 

As for the Sabres game, St. Louis is really good. That said, I can't wait to see what happens once we get a new GM in place. We're the worst team in the league... the only way to go is up!

 

Do not worry Potato. This team makes the playoffs in just two more seasons! lol

[Sabre Dance]

Sorry if I am beating the same drum, but it has looked to me for a number of years that the Sabres are a step or two slower than any of their opponents and they seem to be very easy to move off the puck. In other words, the Sabres look out of shape. They've had the same strength and conditioning coach for quite a while now - perhaps it is time to bring in someone else and see if they can't get the players a little stronger and in a little better condition.

As for the game last night, defensive breakdowns and lack of scoring sunk the ship. The Sabres didn't look awful most of the time. You can see the beginnings of a different game philosphy under Nolan, and it is definitely for the better. The players seem to be enjoying themselves more on the ice, and there is a lot more chatter on the bench. I think playing under Darcy and Ron was like staying overnight at your spinster auntie's house. They were afraid to do anything for fear it would be wrong. Now they can just go out on the ice and play. It is so much more fun to watch...

[Gramps]

Sorry if I am beating the same drum, but it has looked to me for a number of years that the Sabres are a step or two slower than any of their opponents and they seem to be very easy to move off the puck. In other words, the Sabres look out of shape. They've had the same strength and conditioning coach for quite a while now - perhaps it is time to bring in someone else and see if they can't get the players a little stronger and in a little better condition.

As for the game last night, defensive breakdowns and lack of scoring sunk the ship. The Sabres didn't look awful most of the time. You can see the beginnings of a different game philosphy under Nolan, and it is definitely for the better. The players seem to be enjoying themselves more on the ice, and there is a lot more chatter on the bench. I think playing under Darcy and Ron was like staying overnight at your spinster auntie's house. They were afraid to do anything for fear it would be wrong. Now they can just go out on the ice and play. It is so much more fun to watch...

 

I'm not convinced the problem is conditioning ... it's more a lack of talent. Backes, Steen & Oshie are all better than any of our top 3 forwards/centers and Pietrangelo, Bouwmeester & Shattenkirk are all more talented than any of our defensemen. We're not playing with a full deck here ...

[IKnowPhysics]

Not sure why folks are surprised. Sure, the Sabres competed harder than most previous nights this season. That's positive. But expectations of victory? The coaching change will bring about a change of culture and work ethic, but be damned sure that if you trade away your best players and then change coaches, you're still in tank mode.

[millbank]

clearly process going to take time which will be difficult for a fan base who has been patient for a great deal of time now. Nolan if given opportunity and if he has learned from past on working better with management , will change the culture that has been desired for some time now, they will become a much harder working team and players sought after, will be ones who contribute to a over all team toughness. With new regime Pat , Ted and General manger to come, guys are going to come and go, it possible the process need not be so long. imo

[Iron Crotch]

Pysyk and The Hoff were both a -3 in this one. Our 4th line were all -2 (Scott, CodyMac, Tropp).

 

Interesting to me that Nolan gave even ice time to all 6 defensemen. All played ~20 minutes.

 

In the Buffalo News this AM:

"… It was a tough night for Buffalo defensemen Christian Ehrhoff and Mark Pysyk (both minus-3) and the fourth line of McCormick, John Scott and Corey Tropp (all minus-2)."

 

:D

 

http://www.buffalone...k-goal-20131120

 

Sorry if I am beating the same drum, but it has looked to me for a number of years that the Sabres are a step or two slower than any of their opponents and they seem to be very easy to move off the puck. In other words, the Sabres look out of shape. They've had the same strength and conditioning coach for quite a while now - perhaps it is time to bring in someone else and see if they can't get the players a little stronger and in a little better condition.

 

I think this falls into the general category of "what was Darcy trying to build?" To me you're either a big, physical, hard to play against team or you are a team built on speed (or perhaps some combination). If you recall, our cup contenting teams tended to be really fast up front. IMHO, Darcy has filled this team with relatively slow forwards. Ennis can fly, but many of our "top" forwards like Moulson, CoHo, etc. don't have great wheels. It could be conditioning, but I think we're maybe just not that fast overall.

 

Foligno and gus will make a great 3rd line someday, but they need someone with skill and would have loved to see grigorenko play with them.

A line of Foligno Gus and Flynn is a hard working and checking line with no creativity.

 

When I look at our lineup, to me we are desperate for a scoring RW. Stafford has to play on the top line now because we just don't have a (natural) RW who can consistently hit the score sheet. I think if Armia shows well in Rochester, he should be up with the big club later in the year. Stafford could then be pushed down to maybe the third line. Flynn is a guy who to me doesn't add much to the lineup. He doesn't score, doesn't hit much. An okay player, but we can do better.

[kishoph]

The Blues were on a PP, Ott's penalty was taken just before they scored on that PP so the 1st PP ended and Ott's penalty and PP then started.

 

Thanks, I forgot about the Ennis penalty, it had to be down to a couple of seconds.

 

Sorry if I am beating the same drum, but it has looked to me for a number of years that the Sabres are a step or two slower than any of their opponents and they seem to be very easy to move off the puck. In other words, the Sabres look out of shape. They've had the same strength and conditioning coach for quite a while now - perhaps it is time to bring in someone else and see if they can't get the players a little stronger and in a little better condition.

As for the game last night, defensive breakdowns and lack of scoring sunk the ship. The Sabres didn't look awful most of the time. You can see the beginnings of a different game philosphy under Nolan, and it is definitely for the better. The players seem to be enjoying themselves more on the ice, and there is a lot more chatter on the bench. I think playing under Darcy and Ron was like staying overnight at your spinster auntie's house. They were afraid to do anything for fear it would be wrong. Now they can just go out on the ice and play. It is so much more fun to watch...

 

I think Nolan did say something about the shape they were in (I have the worst memory), but they also never seemed to try hard and after giving 75% for so long it's hard to start giving 100% on a constant basis. I think we'll see the occasional laziness surface once in a while, but I'm pretty sure (I hope) that Nolan will point it out to them quickly. As for the bolded part, I agree totally.

[dudacek]

Last night is what we should be expecting from the Sabres for the rest of the season:

a good effort, but not quite enough size, speed or skill to win more than they lose.

 

Next year will be more of the same; we may even be worse because there is more selling to be done

 

I didn't think last night was a bad hockey game, except on the scoreboard.

But if you rely on the final score for your fun, be prepared for more bad nights.

 

The rebuild continues; it's just in different hands.

[Sabres Fan in NS]

I didn't see the game, nor the highlights. Do not have time to read the 5 pages of this thread.

 

So, did the Sabres play well for the first 10 seconds, or was there some effort and a much better team just showed that they are, indeed, much better than the Sabres?

[kishoph]

I didn't see the game, nor the highlights. Do not have time to read the 5 pages of this thread.

 

So, did the Sabres play well for the first 10 seconds, or was there some effort and a much better team just showed that they are, indeed, much better than the Sabres?

 

 

I say the latter.

[Derrico]

I didn't see the game, nor the highlights. Do not have time to read the 5 pages of this thread.

 

So, did the Sabres play well for the first 10 seconds, or was there some effort and a much better team just showed that they are, indeed, much better than the Sabres?

 

A little of both. Sabres effort seemed good again by a number of players and less so by others (Hodgson jumps to mind). Problem is we're just not very good.

[26CornerBlitz]

I didn't see the game, nor the highlights. Do not have time to read the 5 pages of this thread.

 

So, did the Sabres play well for the first 10 seconds, or was there some effort and a much better team just showed that they are, indeed, much better than the Sabres?

 

It's not the 1st time someone's enjoyment was over in 10 seconds. Anticlimactic after that with the Blues showing they are the far superior team.

[LTS]

I started in section 309. Before the game we found out friends were in a Suite and had some extra tickets.

 

I could complain, but it was comfortable. :)

 

Looking forward to being there next week for the Habs game.