GDT: Florida Panthers at Buffalo Sabres, 7pm, 11/10/17

[Randall Flagg]

I don't buy that.

I'm assuming that telling you how badly they get shelled every night won't change your mind? :P

Edited November 11, 2017 by Randall Flagg

[Eleven]

See how much time I didn't waste?  It was a lovely night.  Did some work, took a nap, woke up, looked at the score.  Now I'm putting on a movie.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(You all told me that firing Ruff would fix this.  Yes, I'm bringing it up.  You all were wrong.)

[LTS]

I have watched hockey since 1968 and many good men got fired when it was the players. I like Phil and think he deserves better. The old saying goes that you can not fire the whole team.

I agree. But in this case I don't think it's the whole team. The 90-21-67 line looked good tonight.

 

It's 15 that worries me right now. Him and a few others.

[SwampD]

I'm assuming that telling you how badly they get shelled every night won't change your mind? :P

Is there also a stat that measures how much a player is wiling to get killed blocking that shelling?

[Thorner]

I'm not that worried. He'll have 3 more hot streaks that have us drooling this season alone. He's a 21 year old struggling with the weight of a very bad team on his shoulders, not a key piece being defective in an otherwise well-oiled machine.

Good post.

 

All the same, we should be seeing more from him this year. There will be no middle ground with that contract next year. Being paid as a 10 million dollar player means you are an elite, top notch player. So he'll either be an elite, top of the line guy, or disappointment relative to what he's being paid. Not very much middle ground.

 

He'll need to be excellent. Not good, not very good.

 

3rd year is generally a breakout year and he's been status quo thus far.

 

I'm hoping, and still thinking, that he'll turn it around. But I'm not without concern.

Edited November 11, 2017 by Thorny

[Randall Flagg]

Is there also a stat that measures how much a player is wiling to get killed blocking that shelling?

It's not like they're the worst or anything, but there have been a handful of games that approached the other team having 25 more shots on goal than they did. They're a bad team that rode a 7 game home stand in front of fans celebrating their inaugural season and are now 1-5 since they've had to end that stand.

 

And I honestly don't mean to be all nerdy here. Like, when I've watched them play, they've been a clearly-worse-team getting bounces and ludicrous goaltending.

 

It appears my shot against statistic was misremembered. But dey look bad now, as expected.

Edited November 11, 2017 by Randall Flagg

[That Aud Smell]

Eff it.

[Nitro60]

I agree. But in this case I don't think it's the whole team. The 90-21-67 line looked good tonight.

 

It's 15 that worries me right now. Him and a few others.

Jack is young and emotional.  He is frustrated and is in danger of checking out and coasting the rest of the way.

[Brawndo]

If the coach can not motivate, he gets the hook.

 

If Housley is fired, no coach worth his salt will come near this team.

 

He deserves at least two full seasons to make chicken salad out of this chicken sh!t

[Randall Flagg]

Jack is young and emotional.  He is frustrated and is in danger of checking out and coasting the rest of the way.

Jack is a millennial. Intentionally checking out and coasting for 6 months would require far, far too much concentration. This simply wouldn't be allowed by nature.

I think my favorite thing about Housley so far is ROR's ice time. 

 

Our center should be able to skate in March.

It's almost spooky how perfect tonight was as a metaphor for Terry Pegula's Buffalo Sabres - a quiet, boring home loss on a Friday night to the Florida Panthers. 

[SwampD]

It's not like they're the worst or anything, but there have been a handful of games that approached the other team having 25 more shots on goal than they did. They're a bad team that rode a 7 game home stand in front of fans celebrating their inaugural season and are now 1-5 since they've had to end that stand.

 

And I honestly don't mean to be all nerdy here. Like, when I've watched them play, they've been a clearly-worse-team getting bounces and ludicrous goaltending.

 

It appears my shot against statistic was misremembered. But dey look bad now, as expected.

I get all that. Bounces usually go to the team that hustles, though. And there are still things yet to be measured in hockey (thank the lord) that are real and do have an effect on games and a team. I just have never bought in to believing that LVGK were going to be as bad as everyone said.

[Stoner]

Jack is a millennial. Intentionally checking out and coasting for 6 months would require far, far too much concentration. This simply wouldn't be allowed by nature.

I think my favorite thing about Housley so far is ROR's ice time. 

 

Our center should be able to skate in March.

It's almost spooky how perfect tonight was as a metaphor for Terry Pegula's Buffalo Sabres - a quiet, boring home loss on a Friday night to the Florida Panthers. 

Terry probably liked it. His third-favorite team won. 1. Flyers 2. Pens 3. Panthers

 

BOOM

[CallawaySabres]

The only remaining interest I have with this team is the winter classic Jersey

[hockeyhound]

Definitely pull the goalie. What could go wrong?

 

:thumbsup:  I'd rather see them pull the goalie when they just had a good shift and a little momentum than wait as a last ditch effort and they're spent.

Edited November 11, 2017 by hockeyhound

[Stoner]

I'm still trying to figure out how the Panthers' winning goal went in. Can a puck slice? Any physics majors out there?

 

Also, with a little over two to go, when Phil pulled Lehner before the faceoff, the Panthers had iced the puck. Yet soooooo much time elapsed. I'm not sure if Florida changed and then the refs made them change again or what. Very frustrating.

[Randall Flagg]

I get all that. Bounces usually go to the team that hustles, though. And there are still things yet to be measured in hockey (thank the lord) that are real and do have an effect on games and a team. I just have never bought in to believing that LVGK were going to be as bad as everyone said.

Define bounces? Because ones that lead to goals and saves all converge sharply by the time the season is over  :nana:

 

I picked them to be way bottom, struggling to get 20 wins, and I'm obviously wrong about that. But my spidey sense (I swear, I'm not looking at a single chart) when I watch them tells me they're bottom 10. 

 

I promise, this isn't a snooty chart argument. 

[SwampD]

I'm still trying to figure out how the Panthers' winning goal went in. Can a puck slice? Any physics majors out there?

 

Also, with a little over two to go, when Phil pulled Lehner before the faceoff, the Panthers had iced the puck. Yet soooooo much time elapsed. I'm not sure if Florida changed and then the refs made them change again or what. Very frustrating.

It would have been great if they gave Cap a delay of game penalty for that.

[Randall Flagg]

It would have been great if they gave Cap a delay of game penalty for that.

Didn't it last longer than a regular timeout would have? How can a ref just let that happen and not do anything in result? That would set all sorts of game-managing alarms off in my head if I was trying to fairly officiate a professional sporting event.

[SwampD]

Define bounces? Because ones that lead to goals and saves all converge sharply by the time the season is over  :nana:

 

I picked them to be way bottom, struggling to get 20 wins, and I'm obviously wrong about that. But my spidey sense (I swear, I'm not looking at a single chart) when I watch them tells me they're bottom 10. 

I promise, this isn't a snooty chart argument.

 

Yeah. We've talked about this before and I'm definitely not talking about those, as I'm sure that that is true.

 

I'm talking about those hundreds of plays a game, along the boards, at center ice, at the blue line, where one team just seams to be that couple of inches closer to the puck that allows them to force play. Impossible to put a value to,... except in the Sabres case when you know it is nonexistent.

Didn't it last longer than a regular timeout would have? How can a ref just let that happen and not do anything in result? That would set all sorts of game-managing alarms off in my head if I was trying to fairly officiate a professional sporting event.

You said "fairly".

 

That's funny.

[Huckleberry]

I'm in full tank mode, I might be shitfaced drunk right now

 

I'm stallin' for dahlin.

[Randall Flagg]

Yeah. We've talked about this before and I'm definitely not talking about those, as I'm sure that that is true.

 

I'm talking about those hundreds of plays a game, along the boards, at center ice, at the blue line, where one team just seams to be that couple of inches closer to the puck that allows them to force play. Impossible to put a value to,... except in the Sabres case when you know it is nonexistent.

You said "fairly".

 

That's funny.

Can a team that's otherwise bad ride the wave of that stuff for 65 more games? Because I know what you're talking about and can "feel" it sometimes too but the only teams that seem to "own" it are ones that are good at driving hockey games offensively. 

 

BTW, unrelated, I saw this really interesting tweet the other way where someone described modern hockey by replacing every single instance of the word "offense" with "creating space" and "defense" with "eliminating space". The Sabres haven't done either of those things in at least 6 years now. 

Edited November 11, 2017 by Randall Flagg

[Jacque Richard]

Eichel should have walked from here. Never gonna win here

[Randall Flagg]

I'm in full tank mode, I might be shitfaced drunk right now

 

I'm stallin' for dahlin.

You should watch some youtube videos of that kid. Ignore the dekes and obnoxious stuff like that - watch his footwork at the blue line and how absurdly good he is at creating his own shooting lanes. Instances include, in this video, the marks: 52seconds, 1:27, (not the same but you have to see the play at 1:38, ludicrous slap pass), 1:59, 2:12. 

 

I don't know enough about him defensively however. He scares me a little bit if we were to pick first, defensemen are sorta wildcards. But his skills are nice and he's doing incredible things in a men's league. His season this year and last compares well to Hedman and EK. Swedish fans buzz that he's ahead of either of those guys at this stage in his development. 

[Huckleberry]

You should watch some youtube videos of that kid. Ignore the dekes and obnoxious stuff like that - watch his footwork at the blue line and how absurdly good he is at creating his own shooting lanes. Instances include, in this video, the marks: 52seconds, 1:27, (not the same but you have to see the play at 1:38, ludicrous slap pass), 1:59, 2:12. 

 

I don't know enough about him defensively however. He scares me a little bit if we were to pick first, defensemen are sorta wildcards. But his skills are nice and he's doing incredible things in a men's league. His season this year and last compares well to Hedman and EK. Swedish fans buzz that he's ahead of either of those guys at this stage in his development. 

 

All I think is what I see, Imagine if we had a Karlsonn on our D, with Risto, Scandella and McCabe, and our bottom pair is Guhle - Antipin.

yeah I'm going full tank mode.

Edited November 11, 2017 by Huckleberry

[Randall Flagg]

All I think is what I see, Imagine if we had a Karlsonn on our D, with Risto, Scandella and McCabe, and our bottom pair is Guhle - Antipin.

###### yeah I'm going full tank mode.

Lol, I forgot the video. Here: