GDT: Columbus vs Buffalo, 7pm

[Iron Crotch]

I miss RJ. :cry:

[Cereal]

WTF wave there from Enroth...

Loved this

[K-9]

Nolan's coaching.

 

Period one: Everyone head North.

Period two: Everyone head South.

Period three: Everyone head North.

 

That's the system in a nutshell.

 

With the occasionial east to west crossover from the penalty box to the bench.

 

GO SABRES!!!

[...]

 

What he did was great. I think you are referring to the other 2 players on the play because Hartnell was about 6 inches from decapitating Gus. Hartnell made a laughable swipe at the puck as Gus steamed by. Any NHL defenseman leaves him there for dead. How I'm the only one who sees this is beyond me? Take a look at the 36 second mark and tell me I'm wrong.

 

Zemgus Girgensons Goal Against Columbus Blue Jack…:

 

You're seeing what you want to see. If there were a bona fide D man there attempting to make a hit, Z had his head up and would have seen that. He had the time to assess the situation and make the move. Indeed, if we're seeing what we want to see, it looks almost like Z was amazed Hartnell did nothing to stop him and he took advantage of the opportunity. A real D man in Hartnell's position would have made it play out completely different. Are we saying Z has no situational awareness - that he didn't know he only had Hartnell there to help defend? I wouldn't say that at all.

 

 

 

Edited October 10, 2014 by sizzlemeister

[K-9]

Most discouraging is getting outshot 2 to 1 on opening night at home against an injury depleted team. All I ask for is positive signs from the young players, but as I look at the current roster, I wonder who that is right now beyond Risto, Zadorov, Rinehart & Girgensons(and two of them will probably be back in juniors by the end of the month). The rest of team is as likely to be gone as they are to remain by the end of the 15-16 season.

 

As a STH, I see my money being flushed down the toilet right before my eyes.

 

Please tell me we do not end up like Edmonton. :sick:

 

I gotta think that's exactly what the front office and coaching staff needs to see as well. If they can find those players that sell out in spite of knowing they aren't heading for winning season, then they'll know who they have when they ARE competing for the playoffs and beyond. I think the "glue guys" like Gionta, Gorges, Cordy Mac, etc. are here for the next several years. Outside of the young players you mentioned and them, the buzz word is "roster turnover."

 

GO SABRES!!!

 

Just browsed the thread, but my thoughts:

1) I think it's gonna take Reinhart a little while to settle in (2 or 3 games I'd guess), but he definitely showed flashes last night.

2) Our D got caught out of position a couple of times, but it wasn't too bad

3) Zemgus is the man. He has quickly become my favorite player, and reminds me of a Fred Jackson kind of heart and soul work your ass kind of guy.

4) Can someone tell me what Nolan's system actually is?

 

Got that right. I ask myself, is there anyone else on this team that's willing to throw his body in front of shots when down by 10 goals in the 3rd period? I doubt it. Now, if he starts tossing the boom box out of the locker room after losses a la Drury...

 

As for the system, Benedict captured it perfectly in a post up thread.

 

GO SABRES!!!

[Kevbeau]

I miss RJ. :cry:

Yeah, I thought the same thing last night. It's just not the same without "Cleared.....but not out."

[SabresBillsFan]

 

Mantha is on his entry level deal with 3 years left... what does this even mean?

 

In talking about Myers and his contract.

[inkman]

You're seeing what you want to see. If there were a bona fide D man there attempting to make a hit, Z had his head up and would have seen that. He had the time to assess the situation and make the move. Indeed, if we're seeing what we want to see, it looks almost like Z was amazed Hartnell did nothing to stop him and he took advantage of the opportunity. A real D man in Hartnell's position would have made it play out completely different. Are we saying Z has no situational awareness - that he didn't know he only had Hartnell there to help defend? I wouldn't say that at all.

My original point was that Gus (can't get to calling him Z what is Zadorov moniker going be) like to walk through traffic. If its because he has this super situational awareness and can assess what each player on the ice will do in a split second and dance his way through the D because of it, more power to him.

[Eleven]

My original point was that Gus (can't get to calling him Z what is Zadorov moniker going be) like to walk through traffic. If its because he has this super situational awareness and can assess what each player on the ice will do in a split second and dance his way through the D because of it, more power to him.

 

I think he made an amazing, very slight, deke that got him to where he needed to be. Everything about that play, from "forget it, Marcus, I've got this," to the drive to the net, was just greatness.

[K-9]

I think he made an amazing, very slight, deke that got him to where he needed to be. Everything about that play, from "forget it, Marcus, I've got this," to the drive to the net, was just greatness.

 

Love how he "boxed out" the last defender while positioning himself for the shot. That was amazing situational awareness and body control.

 

GO SABRES!!!

[inkman]

 

 

I think he made an amazing, very slight, deke that got him to where he needed to be. Everything about that play, from "forget it, Marcus, I've got this," to the drive to the net, was just greatness.

I may have saw that as well. A defenseman would have gone hank aaron on Gus at that point.

[Kristian]

As others have mentioned, one can say what they will about Ryan Miller, but he would steal 4-5 games a season for you, and keep you in at least 10-12 more.

 

Unless Enroth or Nieuwirth play absolutely lights out this year, I see a bottom-5 team, possibly bottom-3.

[LastPommerFan]

I may have saw that as well. A defenseman would have gone hank aaron on Gus at that point.

 

But it's not the first time he's done this, last year, he did it against an all-star defenseman known for his hitting:

 

http://youtu.be/VjDexuAtpAw

 

Yes, that's Gold Medal winning defenseman Niklas Kronwall getting absolutely undressed. Girgensons is so much more than just a grit and defense centerman. He doesn't have one highlight from the past year, he has several. No one is that "lucky".

[darksabre]

But it's not the first time he's done this, last year, he did it against an all-star defenseman known for his hitting:

 

http://youtu.be/VjDexuAtpAw

 

Yes, that's Gold Medal winning defenseman Niklas Kronwall getting absolutely undressed. Girgensons is so much more than just a grit and defense centerman. He doesn't have one highlight from the past year, he has several. No one is that "lucky".

 

Thank you. Thank you so much.

[Hoss]

As others have mentioned, one can say what they will about Ryan Miller, but he would steal 4-5 games a season for you, and keep you in at least 10-12 more.

 

Unless Enroth or Nieuwirth play absolutely lights out this year, I see a bottom-5 team, possibly bottom-3.

 

I see this team as bottom five if they play lights out. Bottom two or three if they don't.

[inkman]

But it's not the first time he's done this, last year, he did it against an all-star defenseman known for his hitting:

 

Yes, that's Gold Medal winning defenseman Niklas Kronwall getting absolutely undressed. Girgensons is so much more than just a grit and defense centerman. He doesn't have one highlight from the past year, he has several. No one is that "lucky".

The fanboism is strong in this one. Everyone keeps arguing things I'm not. I'm not saying he doesn't have the skill To pull it off (obviously he's doing it). I'm saying players normally get killed dancing in the areas he does. Maybe he's Patrick Freakin Kane but he's going to get hit doing it. Mark my words.

[Eleven]

The fanboism is strong in this one. Everyone keeps arguing things I'm not. I'm not saying he doesn't have the skill To pull it off (obviously he's doing it). I'm saying players normally get killed dancing in the areas he does. Maybe he's Patrick Freakin Kane but he's going to get hit doing it. Mark my words.

 

I can see that happening once the rest of the league is onto him.

[LastPommerFan]

The fanboism is strong in this one. Everyone keeps arguing things I'm not. I'm not saying he doesn't have the skill To pull it off (obviously he's doing it). I'm saying players normally get killed dancing in the areas he does. Maybe he's Patrick Freakin Kane but he's going to get hit doing it. Mark my words.

 

Oh, absolutely, but A) he's got the build to take a few shots, and B) the results from the past 5 regular season games (he's scored 3 of our last 8 goals, and they've all been awesome) are outstanding. I want to see him keep doing it.

[nfreeman]

12 pages on a GDT for a 3-1 loss to Columbus. Nice work, ladies and gents.

[Kristian]

Oh, absolutely, but A) he's got the build to take a few shots, and B) the results from the past 5 regular season games (he's scored 3 of our last 8 goals, and they've all been awesome) are outstanding. I want to see him keep doing it.

 

Unless someone else starts finding the net on a regular basis, he's gonna have to.

[I am Defecting]

Attendance was listed as 18,215. A sell-out is 19,070. One of the upgrades during the Pegula era, was to increase the capacity to 19,070 (like the founding date) from 18,690.

[MattPie]

Good healthy rant there, imo, FLA. I agree with what Promo said. I'm not going to rant much about the losses, but I'm interested in seeing how much fortitude the pro-tank folks will have this season. It's going to take some real stick-to-it-iveness to stay positive about the losses. It will be interesting to see how Jeremy White on WGR handles the results, given his assumptions.

 

I don't see that anyone has to be positive for the losses. "Eh, one more game until the draft down" is all you need and then move on to the rest of your life. If you want to get fancy, "Myers had a couple nice rushes and wasn't terrible in his own end", "It's nice to see Weber stick up for Samson, even if it was a clean hit", "Good god, Zemgus, keep doing that". See? Not so hard.

 

Every year the goal should be to put the best possible product on the ice. Cups are won with luck, the right blend of players, staying healthy, and usually getting hot in the playoffs.

 

I'll settle for the best product averaged over a decade, thanks. Finishing 30 30 18 14 3 7 6 2 1 5 1 looks a better to me than 20 15 10 19 12 8 18 11 15 7. Even if the tank doesn't bring a cup, I think the numbers will look more like the former (substituting 2..6 for the 1s) than the latter. (And no, I didn't actually average those to see if they fit my point)

 

give up 40 shots, can't get out of your own end and hope your goalie plays great......and can't score....How is this refreshing?

 

It's more nostalgic than refreshing to anyone that was around in the late 90s watching.

[JJFIVEOH]

I was promised that if we fired everyone and had massive roster turnover we would be a good team.

 

I'm pissed. :ph34r:

THANK YOU.

 

People are acting like the roster hasn't seen massive turnover and that everyone magically has developed chemistry.

 

What's the rush?

My goodness; the negativity after one game is pretty crazy. It was the first game, the roster is hugely different from last season, and a lot of those lines haven't played together for long enough to get comfortable with one another. Add in that the Sabres are typically slow starters in Oct/Nov/Dec (with the notable exception of '06), and I'm not at all surprised at the result last night. And I agree with Ink about this team looking like they tried and just weren't good enough... was surprised to hear Nolan so iffy on the team's effort in his post game comments. Unfortunately I won't have a chance to watch again until Tuesday and that's a stupid NBCSN game, grrr.

 

45% want the team to lose for the sake of tanking. 45% are mad because they didn't see a dominant team last night. Those 90% are going to be disappointed this year.

[Kristian]

45% want the team to lose for the sake of tanking. 45% are mad because they didn't see a dominant team last night. Those 90% are going to be disappointed this year.

 

Not sure I agree with that, I think at least half of those 45% are just plain disappointed about being outshot 2-1 by Columbus, on home ice.

 

It's not like they were playing the Hawks in Chicago.

[X. Benedict]

Not sure I agree with that, I think at least half of those 45% are just plain disappointed about being outshot 2-1 by Columbus, on home ice.

 

It's not like they were playing the Hawks in Chicago.

gulp.