GDT - Sabres at Blues - December 27, 2018 - 8:00 PM

[Pimlach]

8 hours ago, Broken Ankles said:

I’m fairly confident that your attendance had nothing to do with result, but 0-16 might require a ban on you seeing your beloved.  And $450 for three seats in St. Louis when they struggling surprises me.  I agree we need a call up.  Elie to Roch should happen by Saturday.  Give the writers for the News and the fans something to talk about.  I think CJ, Oloffsson and Nylander are destined for a spot sooner or later.  Give one or two a shot and see if they click. 

Ha ha, no way am I carrying the load on 0-16.  I’ve seen Gil, Housley, Andreychuck, Ramsey, Turgeon, Hasek, LaFontaine, Mogilny, Miller, Briere, Drury, Vanek, and the tank era teams. Besides a few ties and an OTL last year it’s almost always a lackluster road game that is played here.  One year I stayed home to finish my basement remodel only to hear LaFontaine and Mogilny light them up on the radio for a rare win. 

I lived in Buffalo when we narrowly beat the Blues and the legendary Eddie Stanowski in a 3 game playoff series.   

This year my wife bought the tickets in the prime 100 level ($130 x 3),  add handling fees ($30), and parking ($20) and there you go.   

Most of my tickets were free giveaways from my work, but with my track record the desire to keep going there died last night.  

I told my wife I’m done paying for this game.  I enjoy it more on TV anyway  

 

For the next game I would like to see Oloffsson in place of Ellie May.  

 

 

 

[Marions Piazza]

53 minutes ago, jsb said:

1. No team has ever gone 82-0
2. I hate when the Sabres lose but
3. Some of you guys are insufferable on this site after a loss
4. Have a Snickers bar when you get like this

 

 

losing close games to good teams is one thing, but getting absolutely shwhacked by 'bad' teams like the Blues, Flyers, Panthers lately, doesn't sit well with those fans (myself included) who believe the Sabres are better than that.

[Pimlach]

2 hours ago, PASabreFan said:

There's a whiff of "we're big shots, just put your stick on the ice" with this team. You see how they play when really challenged. Then there's Florida, St. Louis, (insert name of another lowlight they lost to)...

I saw this yesterday.  There we too many times they did not even have their stick on the ice, even in the offensive zone.  Lots of posing yesterday.  They did not hit either.  

 

Very kittle traffic in front front of the net. The harmless perimeter passing on the PP was got to stop. Need a body in front. 

 

 Reinhart was invisible, so was Mitts.  Even Risto was quiet.  I want the evil Risto back and playing with McCabe.   Put Pilot on 3D with Beaulieu.  

[SwampD]

4 minutes ago, Marions Piazza said:

losing close games to good teams is one thing, but getting absolutely shwhacked by 'bad' teams like the Blues, Flyers, Panthers lately, doesn't sit well with those fans (myself included) who believe the Sabres are better than that.

I think all three of those defenses are similar. I feel like we have trouble against bigger, more physical Ds (haven't checked to see if they are bigger, but they sure play bigger). It's why I think we'll struggle against the Bruins on Sat (and in the playoffs). I think we're just a bit too small up front.

[darksabre]

8 minutes ago, SwampD said:

I think all three of those defenses are similar. I feel like we have trouble against bigger, more physical Ds (haven't checked to see if they are bigger, but they sure play bigger). It's why I think we'll struggle against the Bruins on Sat (and in the playoffs). I think we're just a bit too small up front.

I honestly felt like it was the Blues forwards that were smothering us. When we could get past the forwards we were getting their D turned around. But we struggled to get around their forwards. Our breakouts and neutral zone passes were off the mark constantly because of the pressure.

[SwampD]

38 minutes ago, darksabre said:

I honestly felt like it was the Blues forwards that were smothering us. When we could get past the forwards we were getting their D turned around. But we struggled to get around their forwards. Our breakouts and neutral zone passes were off the mark constantly because of the pressure.

Interesting. What that tells me is that we are both right, and that they just sucked in all phases of the game last night.

[darksabre]

Just now, SwampD said:

Interesting. What that tells me is that we are both right, and that they just sucked in all phases of the game last night.

I think that's fair ? I wasn't impressed by most of the team's play in all areas of the ice. I thought Hutton got hung out to dry and honestly the score would have been even worse if he hadn't made a number of (un-appreciated by this forum) big saves.

The first line showed up, which I appreciated. But they had a heck of a time trying to generate chances even then.

[Pimlach]

1 hour ago, SwampD said:

I think all three of those defenses are similar. I feel like we have trouble against bigger, more physical Ds (haven't checked to see if they are bigger, but they sure play bigger). It's why I think we'll struggle against the Bruins on Sat (and in the playoffs). I think we're just a bit too small up front.

The Blues defense has been bad this year.  Until yesterday maybe.  Very slow and error prone.  We needed to skate and work harder.  

 Take away Parayko and there is nothing there   Pieterangelo is out.  

 

 

[inkman]

1 hour ago, Marions Piazza said:

losing close games to good teams is one thing, but getting absolutely shwhacked by 'bad' teams like the Blues, Flyers, Panthers lately, doesn't sit well with those fans (myself included) who believe the Sabres are better than that.

Good teams lose to bad teams every night in the NHL 

[inkman]

12 hours ago, darksabre said:

 

How is asking the players who can't score why they aren't scoring gonna work?  I guess he can't call out his boss for not bringing in better players.  Seems like a strange response. 

[SwampD]

2 minutes ago, inkman said:

How is asking the players who can't score why they aren't scoring gonna work?  I guess he can't call out his boss for not bringing in better players.  Seems like a strange response. 

Maybe he feels that calling them out is the push they need.

Still weird, though.

[Brawndo]

3 hours ago, Pimlach said:

Ha ha, no way am I carrying the load on 0-16.  I’ve seen Gil, Housley, Andreychuck, Ramsey, Turgeon, Hasek, LaFontaine, Mogilny, Miller, Briere, Drury, Vanek, and the tank era teams. Besides a few ties and an OTL last year it’s almost always a lackluster road game that is played here.  One year I stayed home to finish my basement remodel only to hear LaFontaine and Mogilny light them up on the radio for a rare win. 

I lived in Buffalo when we narrowly beat the Blues and the legendary Eddie Stanowski in a 3 game playoff series.   

This year my wife bought the tickets in the prime 100 level ($130 x 3),  add handling fees ($30), and parking ($20) and there you go.   

Most of my tickets were free giveaways from my work, but with my track record the desire to keep going there died last night.  

I told my wife I’m done paying for this game.  I enjoy it more on TV anyway  

 

For the next game I would like to see Oloffsson in place of Ellie May.  

 

 

 

Olofsson is not ready for a callup yet.

3 hours ago, Marions Piazza said:

losing close games to good teams is one thing, but getting absolutely shwhacked by 'bad' teams like the Blues, Flyers, Panthers lately, doesn't sit well with those fans (myself included) who believe the Sabres are better than that.

The pattern was they played very well in the first period against those teams and crapped the bed the final two periods. 

[Pimlach]

1 hour ago, Brawndo said:

Olofsson is not ready for a callup yet.

Are any forwards ready for a look?  CJ Smith? Nylander?  

[Brawndo]

10 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Are any forwards ready for a look?  CJ Smith? Nylander?  

Both are ready, CJ Smith would be The First One that should be called up though. 

[7+6=13]

11 hours ago, Marions Piazza said:

is it time to admit that the Sabres are a painfully average team that had a miracle 10 game winning streak?

I really wish posts like this could stop.  It brings down the overall average hockey IQ of our fanbase.  

There's nothing painful about what this team has provided us this year.  If you're an educated hockey fan - this is pretty easily seen. 

[nfreeman]

1 hour ago, 7+6=13 said:

I really wish posts like this could stop.  It brings down the overall average hockey IQ of our fanbase.  

There's nothing painful about what this team has provided us this year.  If you're an educated hockey fan - this is pretty easily seen. 

This is pretty obnoxious.  

[7+6=13]

On 12/28/2018 at 9:07 PM, nfreeman said:

This is pretty obnoxious.  

When necessary 

Edited December 31, 2018 by 7+6=13

[Marions Piazza]

On 12/28/2018 at 7:23 PM, 7+6=13 said:

I really wish posts like this could stop.  It brings down the overall average hockey IQ of our fanbase.  

There's nothing painful about what this team has provided us this year.  If you're an educated hockey fan - this is pretty easily seen. 

"brings down the average hockey IQ of our fanbase"  and the award for overdramatic response goes to you!!! yes, the 10 game winning streak was fun, and being an educated fan as i am, you see the facts, weren't 7 of those wins in OT or shootout? you don't win that many games with only a dominant first line and almost zero secondary scoring without some puck luck. As December pretty much showed us, slow down Eichel-Skinner-Reinhart and this team is average. they were .500 before the win streak and under .500 after the streak. 

We are two points ahead of the 1st non playoff team, who just beat us and has 2 games in hand. We still haven't figured out how to get reliable secondary scoring, Eichel-Skinner-Reinhart have slowed down because teams can focus solely on them. Thinking we are better than average at this point is silly. 

"There's nothing painful about what this team has provided us this year" you're are right, they are much better this year than have been in a while, but, going from the worst team in the league to average is pretty good. and that's where we are now, an average team that had a 'lucky' 10 game winning streak

[MakeSabresGrr8Again]

1 hour ago, Marions Piazza said:

"brings down the average hockey IQ of our fanbase"  and the award for overdramatic response goes to you!!! yes, the 10 game winning streak was fun, and being an educated fan as i am, you see the facts, weren't 7 of those wins in OT or shootout? you don't win that many games with only a dominant first line and almost zero secondary scoring without some puck luck. As December pretty much showed us, slow down Eichel-Skinner-Reinhart and this team is average. they were .500 before the win streak and under .500 after the streak. 

We are two points ahead of the 1st non playoff team, who just beat us and has 2 games in hand. We still haven't figured out how to get reliable secondary scoring, Eichel-Skinner-Reinhart have slowed down because teams can focus solely on them. Thinking we are better than average at this point is silly. 

"There's nothing painful about what this team has provided us this year" you're are right, they are much better this year than have been in a while, but, going from the worst team in the league to average is pretty good. and that's where we are now, an average team that had a 'lucky' 10 game winning streak

While I don't agree that it's a "hockey IQ" issue, as most here are intelligent, I do believe what was intended by the poster is a "perspective issue".

What is a "bad" team? An "average" team? An "elite" team?

Let's drop Tampa from this discussion due to them having an "elite" season and way out in front of everyone else. That leaves...everyone else from 2nd place TO to last place Sens.

20 points from top to bottom, therefore the "average" would  be Dallas at 17th place with 44pts. The range would be 5pts on either side of that....Columbus at 49pts to EDM at 22nd place with 39pts. FLA is in the "average" range while Phil/StL are 4 and 5pts below. Sabres are near the top of the "average" range. I know that some teams are "expected" to be better than others on any given night, but on any given night any team can win, it's parody in the league.

Which brings me to another point in Buffalo sports history....it has almost always been the "curse" of our teams to play to the opponents level rather than our own level. You can say we should've beat FLA, Philly, and STL, but I could contend we shouldn't have beaten Tampa, SJS, WPG, CGY.

Every team has players whom could hurt you at any time if you're not on your game. Therein lies our problem.

Don't take this as a personal "attack" on you, I'm just trying to bring things into perspective. 

Edited January 2, 2019 by MakeSabresGrr8Again

[7+6=13]

6 hours ago, Marions Piazza said:

"brings down the average hockey IQ of our fanbase"  and the award for overdramatic response goes to you!!! yes, the 10 game winning streak was fun, and being an educated fan as i am, you see the facts, weren't 7 of those wins in OT or shootout? you don't win that many games with only a dominant first line and almost zero secondary scoring without some puck luck. As December pretty much showed us, slow down Eichel-Skinner-Reinhart and this team is average. they were .500 before the win streak and under .500 after the streak. 

We are two points ahead of the 1st non playoff team, who just beat us and has 2 games in hand. We still haven't figured out how to get reliable secondary scoring, Eichel-Skinner-Reinhart have slowed down because teams can focus solely on them. Thinking we are better than average at this point is silly. 

"There's nothing painful about what this team has provided us this year" you're are right, they are much better this year than have been in a while, but, going from the worst team in the league to average is pretty good. and that's where we are now, an average team that had a 'lucky' 10 game winning streak

Why would you ask if it's time to admit they're painfully average - then say I'm right that they haven't provided anything painful to us?

Those are your words.  

Going from awful to average is an amazing feat.  They won games they shouldn't have at times, went on a streak and also played like one of the best teams at times.  

There's nothing to admit unless you're an uneducated fan that thought more of the record than you should've.  

It was fun - a little bit of reality is setting in but it's to be expected.  We're an unfinished product that shot out of a cannon for a time. 

[Marions Piazza]

21 hours ago, 7+6=13 said:

Why would you ask if it's time to admit they're painfully average - then say I'm right that they haven't provided anything painful to us?

Those are your words.  

Going from awful to average is an amazing feat.  They won games they shouldn't have at times, went on a streak and also played like one of the best teams at times.  

There's nothing to admit unless you're an uneducated fan that thought more of the record than you should've.  

It was fun - a little bit of reality is setting in but it's to be expected.  We're an unfinished product that shot out of a cannon for a time. 

I said painfully average because that's how it felt before and after the win streak. Christ, you want dissect every word in every post go right ahead since you have the time. I could have said "woefully average" "terribly average", pick any negative word to describe average and it would apply to the use of being annoyed with being an average team after the win streak.

You're calling everyone here that was excited about the win streak an "uneducated fan" because they thought the record at the time was a sign of good things, well I am so sorry that they don't offer higher education classes on how to develop your own opinion about the sports teams we love. I must have missed out on the graduate level courses regarding the Sabres that you seem to have aced. I suppose I will wallow in my "painfully average" education with regards to hockey