GDT - Edmonton @ Sabres - March 4, 2019 - 7:00 PM EST - MSG-B; SN (a lot) & others

[North Buffalo]

TT looked lost on the checking line.  CJ Smith would be much better,  Jack finally using his body on the forecheck.. took 50 plus games.... dumb bad puck luck in the 3rd.  Mitts played well imo, so did KO liked his heavy game.  Teamed seemed disjointed on set plays,  Sabres need to be-able to  dump and chase other than Larrson line. 

[Carmel Corn]

I think the vast majority would agree the 1st period was good.  A key problem with this team is how they respond when playing with a lead....terrible.  Last night, they could and should have maintained a "fire at will" killer instinct approach and build on the 3-1 lead.  Instead, they let Edmonton get the next one and it's game on from the Oiler's standpoint.

Yes they outshot them overall, but they did not really compete in the 2nd period.  Coupled with the fact that this team is seriously bad at hitting the net did them in.  What I would really like to see in the post game are players who are MAD and PO'd vs. feeling like victims of bad puck luck.  The heck with the "we lose as a team" blah-blah, how about calling out some fellow players and coaches.....oh wait, better not because you will be a healthy scratch or get traded....hmmm, maybe not such a bad thing afterall!

[Jacque Richard]

8 hours ago, OverPowerYou said:

Well good news is the more we lose the better our draft pick will be. Then we can... never mind that only works for Pittsburgh and Chicago 

And that guarantees nothing. It’s the type of players they draft maybe.

[Eleven]

29 minutes ago, Carmel Corn said:

I think the vast majority would agree the 1st period was good.  A key problem with this team is how they respond when playing with a lead....terrible.  Last night, they could and should have maintained a "fire at will" killer instinct approach and build on the 3-1 lead.  Instead, they let Edmonton get the next one and it's game on from the Oiler's standpoint.

Yes they outshot them overall, but they did not really compete in the 2nd period.  Coupled with the fact that this team is seriously bad at hitting the net did them in.  What I would really like to see in the post game are players who are MAD and PO'd vs. feeling like victims of bad puck luck.  The heck with the "we lose as a team" blah-blah, how about calling out some fellow players and coaches.....oh wait, better not because you will be a healthy scratch or get traded....hmmm, maybe not such a bad thing afterall!

The first period was great.  After that, I watched a movie because I knew that there was no way this team could keep the likes of Kyle Brodziak off of the score sheet.

[7+6=13]

8 hours ago, SwampD said:

I'm not surprised that Jack's two goals came on the power play (where he is forced to play with others) and unassisted. He still doesn't know how to play with others. It's astounding because he is so talented.

No way.

He really does bring this team down.  I mean his lack of effort, his bad temper, lack of leadership, can't play with others and salary.  Boy I wish ROR was still here to lead this team and Jack was the one gone.  

[7+6=13]

5 hours ago, Kruppstahl said:

First, you have no idea what was offered for ROR, so I'm not sure why you pretend that you do.

Second, let's assume you are totally correct, and there was nothing better on offer.  Then it was ridiculous to trade him.

No matter how you slice and dice it, the ROR trade was a colossal failure of management and will likely set this franchise back 2 or 3 years.  You just can't give away a player of ROR's pedigree and get nothing in return and not expect to be crippled.

 

Where can we ever find a player like ROR for 7.5 mil with his offensive prowess?  He's one of the most skilled players in the league and he's a natural leader.  

[Formerly Allan in MD]

1 hour ago, 7+6=13 said:

Where can we ever find a player like ROR for 7.5 mil with his offensive prowess?  He's one of the most skilled players in the league and he's a natural leader.  

We had one.

[Gatorman0519]

10 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

Disagree entirely. We are not a joke. We are the skeletal structure of a future good team, we just need to make a few more additions to what we have and we will turn those 1 goal losses into 1 goal wins. We will know where we are AFTER free agency. 

Skeletal structure?  We have maybe  “4-5 bones”.  Need a lot more bones before we can build the “flesh” of a contender. 

[7+6=13]

1 hour ago, Formerly Allan in MD said:

We had one.

Except he's none of those things. 

[That Aud Smell]

4 hours ago, North Buffalo said:

TT looked lost on the checking line. 

God awful.

[Sabre Dance]

3 hours ago, Eleven said:

The first period was great.  After that, I watched a movie because I knew that there was no way this team could keep the likes of Kyle Brodziak off of the score sheet.

I never even tuned the game in - I watched "Apollo 13" on Netflix.  They had a LOT of bad luck but it still had a happy ending.  ?

[Kruppstahl]

3 hours ago, Gatorman0519 said:

Skeletal structure?  We have maybe  “4-5 bones”.  Need a lot more bones before we can build the “flesh” of a contender. 

You can make an argument that we might only have 2 or 3 bones.

Imagine 2 universes.  In the first, Botterill and Housley remain at least for another year, and they retain the basic player makeup of the team, while adding new prospects in the draft and maybe even getting a FA or two.  They then continue to try and build the team as they have been doing with the "slow and steady" plan.

In the second universe, Botterill and Housley are fired immediately, and a dynamic competent GM is brought in.  He names his own HC with experience and known for being a tough discipline guy but with really solid credentials.  The only 2 pieces that are retained going forward are Eichel and Dahlin.  Everyone else is moved as individual pieces or parts of blockbuster trades.  The rebuild is started for a THIRD time.

Which team (Universe 1 or Universe 2) gets good first?  Which team wins a playoff series first? Which team can genuinely be said to be a "contender" first?

I would argue Universe 2 has a better shot than Universe 1.

 Unfortunately, Universe 1 is the real one we have to deal with.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Tondas]

3 hours ago, Sabre Dance said:

I never even tuned the game in - I watched "Apollo 13" on Netflix.  They had a LOT of bad luck but it still had a happy ending.  ?

Apollo 13 and last night's game.  One disaster averted, and one disaster realized.

[Torpedo Forecheck]

Started watching seriously again this season. Coached, Played etc. at a pretty high level. 

 

Goaltending: Subpar

There are 3 types of goalies from my experience.

1. Guys who can win games for you think Hasek

2. Solid guys that you can win with, they don't let you down with bad goals very often. Won't steal many games,but if the team is good enough you can win.

3. Sieves....all the rest...where do the Sabres fit right now?

One caveat: guys can develop like Ullmark

 

Defense: Still developing and not strong enough in front of net and in DZ.

Dahlin and Risto were really flying in December! Not sure why they have hit a wall. Especially Risto seems to have fallen off.

Bogosian is what he is, a stay at home, physical presence. We could use another one IMO.

Montour has potential- I liked that move. McCabe is OK as a third pair guy.

The others are terrible, Pilut is weak in his zone and gets picked on by big forwards. He has to improve in that area.

 

Forwards: This teams needs a second line center and much more depth in the lineup. We have a couple guys with potential-but they're not there right  now

Eichel is spectacular, Reinhart has moxy, Skinner can score.

ERod has some hop, Mittelstadt will score in this league I like him. He and Tage need to get stronger but have potential, Sheary hustles and skates but is not a big time offensive guy.

The old guys like Sobotka, Okposo, Pominville can leave any time. Nothing here JAG

Larson, Girgenson,  are 4th line PK guys .The rest are meh

 

This team has needs at all three levels now and can't hope for development to solve all it problems. I'm also not sure why some of the players are not developing as they should be- coaching?

[Doohicksie]

1 hour ago, Torpedo Forecheck said:

Reinhart has moxy

I think Reinhart has taken a huge step forward this season.  Yes scoring, but much more than that.  He's just an excellent support player.  He's what he hoped he would be- someone that makes those around him better.  He doesn't play PK but he easily could, and probably will at some point in the future.  Other than that, he truly excels at all phases of the game. 

You used the word moxy, that's a good way to describe it.  He has an edge about him.  You'll never see him get drawn into a stupid penalty but you do see him getting players from other teams off their game.... but it's usually very subtle.  The most obvious example was when the Edmonton goalie tried to play the puck and when he put it down on the ice Sam was right there to try to steal it away which pissed off the goalie.... and Reino just stared him down as if to say, "And what are ya gonna do about it?"

He doesn't have the star credentials of a Skinner or Eichel, but he's right up there with them statistically.  When he first came up he was tossed around like a rag doll, now he's a bit of a fire plug.  And he's always on an even keel, doesn't get too high, doesn't get too low.  It's hard to criticize him because he does his job and does it well.

[PerreaultForever]

15 hours ago, Kruppstahl said:

Goaltending is very average; 1 forward line worth mentioning and 1/3 of that may be gone after this season, and 1 D man worth mentioning who is currently 18. 

Mittelstadt may develop into something worth mentioning and he may not.  Risto is terrible and I think his trade value is suspect. 

That's not a skeletal structure.  That's a dearth of talent.

I've been saying this for several years now; there are not enough pieces here, not close to it, for this to become the team we all hoped and wanted it to be.  We are a long way away from "challenging for Cups".

We need 4 or 5 major pieces IMO to be a truly deep, talented team, like we had in 2006 for example.

 

 

 

 

If you've read any of my other posts you'll see we don't disagree overall. I think 3 pieces not 4 or 5, but that also assumes development from Mitts and other picks. I've said way back we need talent added, not new coaches or GMs, just talent, but THAT IS a skeleton. We didn't even have that before this year. Last year we were just a pile of Pu.  

[PerreaultForever]

7 hours ago, Gatorman0519 said:

Skeletal structure?  We have maybe  “4-5 bones”.  Need a lot more bones before we can build the “flesh” of a contender. 

top line - 2/3 done (assuming Skinner signed obviously). Skinner - Eichel - add 1FA

second line - 2/3 there   1FA - Mittlestadt-Reinhart     (I have faith Mitts will develop quickly and be much better next year, 20 goal scorer)

fourth line - Girgensens-Larsson- (Okposo or?)  solid 4th line G&L are excellent penalty killers as well and its an energy line. Third piece could be better but for a 4th line its ok.

third line is a mess. This needs fixing for sure, but if we add the 2 FAs above you can make 2 for 1 trades or sort this out with a rookie, maybe Olofson, it might come together.

D  Risto, Dahlin, Montour, Bogo..............Scandella, McCabe........it's not perfect but it's not terrible. Think, in one year we went from Scandella on the top pairing to Scandella bottom pairing. It's an improving D and as Dahlin develops will be awesome.

Goaltending, inconsistent and frankly not good enough. That's valid. My hope is on the quick development of the Finnish kid.

That's a skeleton to work with. It's really not that far off.

[SwampD]

8 hours ago, Sabre Dance said:

I never even tuned the game in - I watched "Apollo 13" on Netflix.  They had a LOT of bad luck but it still had a happy ending.  ?

I don’t know which is more unwatchable,  the Sabres or a Ron Howard movie.

[JohninMinn.]

20 minutes ago, SwampD said:

I don’t know which is more unwatchable,  the Sabres or a Ron Howard movie.

 

5 hours ago, Tondas said:

Apollo 13 and last night's game.  One disaster averted, and one disaster realized.

We never went to the moon. There never was a "no goal."

[Sabres Fan in NS]

17 hours ago, JohninMinn. said:

 

We never went to the moon. There never was a "no goal."

Correct.  I have some extra tin foil if you need it.  What size is your head?

Also, 

Welcome!!