GDT LV Golden Knights vs Sabres at KB Center 3pm on MSG & NHL Network and WGR550am

[WildCard]

Just now, Randall Flagg said:

"drawing conclusions" or making it a theme of GDTs this early on, whatever you call it, it's there so I'm gonna comment on it. 

Sure, and I hope you do. Doesn't mean it's useless 

[Doohicksie]

5 minutes ago, Huckleberry said:

Nylander will get a call in a month or so ?

That's part of the beauty of JBott's building strategy:  There's more where that came from.  He has a team in Rochester that has several players that would have been playing on the Sabres of past years (for instance, compare Antipin/Pilut).  If adjustments need to be made, there is a pool of young players eager to get their shot.  As injuries strike, we won't be fishing around for warm bodies.  If it becomes apparent that a Mittelstadt or Thompson needs a bit more AHL seasoning, there are alternatives.

[Randall Flagg]

5 minutes ago, WildCard said:

Sure, and I hope you do. Doesn't mean it's useless 

For full disclosure, though, I still think we're a 70-75 point team, and that our possession numbers will wind up falling in the bottom 10 of the league, reflecting that. But I have no foundation on which to put that belief on, at least pertaining to what our players have done since the 17-18 season ended

[Randall Flagg]

I seem to recall a time when I was a wee lad, and there was a sense/feeling of an extra advantage when a western team had to travel across the country and play in Buffalo. Long travel and a good team were tough to beat at the same time.

It'd be cool to see/feel that consistently again. I forgot it might be a thing.

[Eleven]

I had to get some work done, but I got to listen to most of the game.

I smiled.

Edited October 9, 2018 by Eleven

[That Aud Smell]

7 hours ago, WildCard said:

They beat a good team yeah but I'm really not that optimistic yet. IMO, we're still getting handly outplayed 

I attended the game. The shot totals are what they are, but it was my distinct impression that the team wasn’t outplayed, let alone handily. I’d be curious to see how the shot totals progressed once the Sabres were up 4-1.

[That Aud Smell]

Fwiw: Knights beat reporter stated in his write up that there were a lot of shots, but “few quality chances” for the Knights. That’s in line with what I saw.

https://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/golden-knights-nhl/costly-lapses-continue-as-golden-knights-fall-to-sabres/

[LTS]

15 hours ago, Iron Crotch said:

Dahlin needs to pay a visit to the team Dermatologist

 

I'd rather listen to pi campaign against Housley than see this every post.

15 hours ago, PromoTheRobot said:

There's a sponsorship opportunity for Clearasil with Dahlin.

For what it's worth, Dahlin looks like he suffers from cystic acne.  Clearasil wouldn't do a damn thing for him. You can read more about it here: https://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/cystic-acne#1

What you'll love about that form of acne is just how damaging it is to the skin.  It's a real treat to have to deal with skin infections that spread and puss up on your face.  Having to have them lanced and drained. The insults and "jokes" that get hurled your way even though there isn't a damn thing you can do about it. I am sure being an world-class hockey player helps reduce the impact but for those in life who aren't, the pain of having that condition and not being able to do anything about it really sucks.

Oh, no, they have a drug.  It's now a generic, but originally was called Accutane.  It's a real treat when you take it. You need blood tests every 6 months, you need to stay out of the sun as much as possible, and if that weren't bad enough there's the link to thoughts of depression and suicide. 

It's a real barrel of joy to deal with when you are 16-18 years old. You should ask someone who went through it... oh wait, no need.  I did and I just told you.

Perhaps you will all reconsider the jokes, perhaps not. But it's my hope that you are more aware of how some things in this world that you don't think much about, can have an impact on people.

Now for the game:

I loved it.  I hated the shell in the 3rd period.  This team isn't built to play defensively and it shows. They need to be in on the forecheck and using their speed. Hopefully that will change as the season goes on but I am sure the staff feel a need to demonstrate wins and so they'll begin to play conservative to try and eek out a game like that rather than continue to play all out and potentially give up those counter-attack goals.

There's evidence (visually) that they are still learning how to play together.  Quite a few times there were two players in the same spot, some missed passes. The puck certainly seems to be bouncing around a lot as well.  Hopefully that settles down. There seemed to be a lot of time in the neutral zone with the puck just bouncing back and forth.

Still.. it's a win.  Lots of positives, but hopefully the trend continues.

[miles]

22 hours ago, Randall Flagg said:

Same. I'll probably be able to watch around 5pm central time

 

unfortunately for me i saw the score before i got to watch. glad they won, but sad i didnt get to see it without knowing the outcome

[...]

9 hours ago, WildCard said:

If it's selective memory it's only because I remember a few posters poking fun at you for it

I think I had poked fun at him over it, which I kind of regret because RF's posts are generally well-measured.  Not unlike you, he tends to be cautious in his evaluations.

On that note, I would like to suggest that while we shouldn't ignore the stats, because they do indeed tell us a story, I think right now the bigger picture is more important to the team.  That is winning, learning how to do it, no matter how sloppy, and learning how to enjoy the feeling and learning how to keep it up.  All of the visceral things.

The coaches and GMJBotts can take a look at the stats to see what is working, figure out how they're working together, and use those to help make adjustments.  I think "help" is an important word, here, because you can't quantify chemistry completely  - as in the stuff that happens off the ice and that is not accounted for in stats collection.  If the Sabres continue to trend this way, I think the importance of non-stats operators becomes self-evident.

 

Edited October 9, 2018 by ...

[SwampD]

That game was fun.

I think there were more 4 to 6 foot passes than all last year. And I think I only saw one pass to no one (Sobotka in the far corner and you could tell he was furious with himself). That's chemistry.

Risto still just flings the puck too often even when he has time.

What is with Sheary not keeping his feet? Even when he is alone sometimes.

Skinner is dangerous and fun to watch.

I was at work and realized that I never noticed Dahlin the whole game. I guess that's a good thing.

I wish Samson would have potted that goal. He just does so many things right that go unnoticed. He needed to get credit for something.

Okposo can still play,… at the beginning of his shifts, but man when he hits that wall, it's a pretty remarkable drop-off and it is coming earlier.

We're kinda small up front, but I found it interesting how they overcame it. Seemed like there was lots of puck support and much closer in. Guys would get pushed off the puck but there would be another one right there.

It's nice to watch a team with good hands. it's been way too long.

[SDS]

7 minutes ago, LTS said:

I'd rather listen to pi campaign against Housley than see this every post.

For what it's worth, Dahlin looks like he suffers from cystic acne.  Clearasil wouldn't do a damn thing for him. You can read more about it here: https://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/cystic-acne#1

What you'll love about that form of acne is just how damaging it is to the skin.  It's a real treat to have to deal with skin infections that spread and puss up on your face.  Having to have them lanced and drained. The insults and "jokes" that get hurled your way even though there isn't a damn thing you can do about it. I am sure being an world-class hockey player helps reduce the impact but for those in life who aren't, the pain of having that condition and not being able to do anything about it really sucks.

Oh, no, they have a drug.  It's now a generic, but originally was called Accutane.  It's a real treat when you take it. You need blood tests every 6 months, you need to stay out of the sun as much as possible, and if that weren't bad enough there's the link to thoughts of depression and suicide. 

It's a real barrel of joy to deal with when you are 16-18 years old. You should ask someone who went through it... oh wait, no need.  I did and I just told you.

Perhaps you will all reconsider the jokes, perhaps not. But it's my hope that you are more aware of how some things in this world that you don't think much about, can have an impact on people.

Yeah. No one laughed the first GDT thread it was posted, so he decided to double down. ?

I took Accutane. My wife took Accutane (twice). My son just took it, but the side effects were too severe and he stopped it 75% of the way through. His skin is getting progressively worse again after being clear. On top of that, I also have psoriasis, an auto-immune disease, that causes red-scaly patches. Thankfully, I only have a touch of it in a few inconspicuous places. I have a choice of slathering steroid cream on it daily and permanently damage my skin or go on strong biologics where I inject myself every two weeks to suppress my immune system. There's always this fear in the back of my mind that my body will turn on itself and I will be covered in head to toe with these patches. Good effing times. Maybe I should just get some Clearasil. Snort! Chuckle!

But what's a few knee slapping jokes between the guys?

[That Aud Smell]

10 minutes ago, SwampD said:

I think there were more 4 to 6 foot passes than all last year. And I think I only saw one pass to no one (Sobotka in the far corner and you could tell he was furious with himself). That's chemistry.

I was at work and realized that I never noticed Dahlin the whole game. I guess that's a good thing.

Dahlin made a couple of rough plays (one almost led to a scoring chance), but then he also made at least a half dozen small simple plays right in front of our section that were ... fairly miraculous. They looked simple. But only because of the incredible level of skill used to execute them. It occurred to me: We haven't had a d-man who does that sort of stuff with confidence in ... well, maybe ever.

Also: Sobotka didn't play.

6 minutes ago, SDS said:

Yeah. No one laughed the first GDT thread it was posted, so he decided to double down. ?

I took Accutane. My wife took Accutane (twice). My son just took it, but the side effects were too severe and he stopped it 75% of the way through. His skin is getting progressively worse again after being clear. On top of that, I also have psoriasis, an auto-immune disease, that causes red-scaly patches. Thankfully, I only have a touch of it in a few inconspicuous places. I have a choice of slathering steroid cream on it daily and permanently damage my skin or go on strong biologics where I inject myself every two weeks to suppress my immune system. There's always this fear in the back of my mind that my body will turn on itself and I will be covered in head to toe with these patches. Good effing times. Maybe I should just get some Clearasil. Snort! Chuckle!

But what's a few knee slapping jokes between the guys?

Sorry for the trouble. I had awful eczema right up until I was done (done?) going through puberty. It was like a switch flipped. From middle elementary through early high school, the eczema on the bottom of my feet was often so bad (and led to so much cracking and bleeding) that I sometimes had difficulty lacing up my cleats or skates, let alone putting pressure on them for a practice or game. Skin problems are awful, and prevalent.

[Hoss]

9 hours ago, Randall Flagg said:

Natural stat trick, which I don't believe does any sort of score-adjusting, has us at 48% Corsi through two games. Not sustainable.

There’s only one team that won the cup last season and that team finished the regular season with a 48.1% corsi number. Five playoff teams were 48.3% or lower last year (Anaheim, Washington, New Jersey, Minnesota, Colorado).

Three of the top six last season missed the playoffs including Carolina at one, Chicago at four and St. Louis at six.

[jsb]

Thoughts on the game:

1. Risto played his best game yesterday, someone mentioned he just flings the pucks out of the zone, if I'm not mistaken they mentioned he completed 93% of his passes thru the 1st 2 periods. He's also averaging just under 26 minutes a game so far. 
2. Reinhart had the highest TOI for forwards yesterday, 2nd the game before. I think he's getting rewarded for his fine play
3. I like Skinner, hustles, forechecks, great hands, I don't know what the Hurricanes coach had against this guy
4. McCabe is playing his best hockey this year a big turnaround from last year
5. A happy locker room afterward, positive thoughts especially Scandella, I think losing ROR and Lehner may have been addition by subtraction
6. It's early but St. Louis has 5 goals for 10 goals against. Could theirs be our best 2019 draft choice
7. Puck bounces going our way so far, I hope it continues, does Hutton's presence have the opposition gripping their sticks a bit too tight compared to last year??

[SwampD]

12 minutes ago, That Aud Smell said:

Also: Sobotka didn't play.

 

Then it was the other guy. (Burglund)?

[Doohicksie]

23 minutes ago, SwampD said:

Okposo can still play,… at the beginning of his shifts, but man when he hits that wall, it's a pretty remarkable drop-off and it is coming earlier.

That would totally explain why some people on the board think he's been doing well while others think he's washed up.  Some people are noticing his early shift work, some keying on what he's doing later in his shifts.

[bunomatic]

  I have plaque psoriasis on the palms of my hands and rosacea on my face. Neither of which I have any control over. Rosacea has been called the curse of the celts because it mostly affects people whose bloodlines go back to the British Isles for some odd reason. I have Irish roots on my mothers side. Both developed later in life ( early 40's ) so I never took the jokes or abuse that a younger person would but it does haunt you. Anyways I think Rasmus deserves a break from those of us who consider ourselves fans. 

[sabills]

I don't know if Skinner is going to score A LOT of goals this year, but he's going to score a handful of doozys, I'm pretty sure of that.

[SDS]

19 minutes ago, bunomatic said:

  I have plaque psoriasis on the palms of my hands and rosacea on my face. Neither of which I have any control over. Rosacea has been called the curse of the celts because it mostly affects people whose bloodlines go back to the British Isles for some odd reason. I have Irish roots on my mothers side. Both developed later in life ( early 40's ) so I never took the jokes or abuse that a younger person would but it does haunt you. Anyways I think Rasmus deserves a break from those of us who consider ourselves fans. 

Ugh. Sorry to hear that.

Rasmus deserves a break because he is human. His freakish hockey skills are the only thing that separates him from any other teenager or person that just wants a physical appearance that doesn't attract negative attention. Jokes based on physical attributes are really bottom of the barrel. 

[Brawndo]

 

[bunomatic]

1 minute ago, Brawndo said:

 

That is an awesome shot of guys battling to get a win.

[shrader]

3 minutes ago, SDS said:

Ugh. Sorry to hear that.

Rasmus deserves a break because he is human. His freakish hockey skills are the only thing that separates him from any other teenager or person that just wants a physical appearance that doesn't attract negative attention. Jokes based on physical attributes are really bottom of the barrel. 

I'm cool with shooting anyone who makes these comments out of a cannon.  All that matters is that I'm still allowed to make one nut jokes anytime Phil Kessel is in town.

[...]

2 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

 

LOVE THIS! ?

[jsb]

7 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

 

Josie, get to work girl!!!!