Risto Under Ralph Krueger

[Thorner]

3 hours ago, kas23 said:

the sample size is way too small to draw any conclusions. Are we really going to conclude anything based on a trend of the last 3 games? A good comparator would be to look at other Sabre’s D during this same period. My guess they haven’t been playing well either over the last 3 game stretch. 

Right, that’s why you’ll notice the very first words in my original post was “still early..” 

I was sharing information, not passing judgment, and I framed it that way from the beginning. 

Edited October 19, 2019 by Thorny

[kas23]

15 hours ago, Thorny said:

Right, that’s why you’ll notice the very first words in my original post was “still early..” 

I was sharing information, not passing judgment, and I framed it that way from the beginning. 

I wasn’t passing any judgement on you, more so to the guy who wrote the tweet. It was unfair and lacked any interpretable value. That’s all. 

[bob_sauve28]

"I was actually thinking the other day, he might be the best coach I ever had, for sure, in sport and pro hockey,” Rasmus Ristolainen said Tuesday in Anaheim. “It’s been really good. He knows what we’re going through, how we feel. He’s maintaining the schedule, his practice days really well."

 

https://buffalonews.com/2019/10/19/buffalo-sabres-ralph-krueger-jack-eichel-jeff-skinner-marcus-johansson-nhl-news-2019/

[Zamboni]

Risto on RK ... “I’m being coddled like the boy I am, so he’s the cats pajamas. Gee whiz he understand me and the struggle”.

 

[MattPie]

On 10/18/2019 at 12:58 PM, SwampD said:

In an ideal world, this would be true. The frustrating thing for me is that the numbers don't tell us everything yet, because there are not numbers for every single aspect of the game yet. Then, those who rely so heavily on the numbers often only see what the numbers are telling them, ignoring all the other aspects of the game that there are no numbers for yet.

FTFY. :)

[Hank]

Risto with over 26 minutes tonight. 

[Hank]

Over five minutes more than anyone else at even strength. The other five were pretty balanced within a couple minutes of each other. 

[SwampD]

4 minutes ago, Hank said:

Over five minutes more than anyone else at even strength. The other five were pretty balanced within a couple minutes of each other. 

I’m a fan.

[Drunkard]

Ristolainen definitely seems to be holding his down despite once again being treated like a plow horse by his 4th or 5th coach in a row. The good news is despite getting his power play time cut and whatever time he is getting there being spent on the second unit, he's still holding at his regular 40 point pace so far. Good for him.

[darksabre]

21 minutes ago, Drunkard said:

Ristolainen definitely seems to be holding his down despite once again being treated like a plow horse by his 4th or 5th coach in a row. The good news is despite getting his power play time cut and whatever time he is getting there being spent on the second unit, he's still holding at his regular 40 point pace so far. Good for him.

It's funny. His advanced stats paint a picture that says he's not playing any better than he ever has, and in some ways he's playing worse.

But something is happening team-wise that is limiting the damage he can do. He and McCabe are drawing a ton of D-zone starts which assumes their pairing is starting with the LOG line most often. So maybe it's the LOG line that is making Risto look competent?

[nfreeman]

He also looked pretty happy in the OT celly.

I hope he stays.  It would be really nice for him, Reino, Eichel, McCabe and the other holdovers from the tank era to hang together and right the ship.

[Kruppstahl]

5 hours ago, darksabre said:

It's funny. His advanced stats paint a picture that says he's not playing any better than he ever has, and in some ways he's playing worse.

But something is happening team-wise that is limiting the damage he can do. He and McCabe are drawing a ton of D-zone starts which assumes their pairing is starting with the LOG line most often. So maybe it's the LOG line that is making Risto look competent?

He was doing a good job of trying to lose the game for us late last night.  He still has trouble getting the puck out of our end way too often.  I don't know why Ralph is giving him the ice time he is.

 

 

[Drunkard]

11 minutes ago, Kruppstahl said:

He was doing a good job of trying to lose the game for us late last night.  He still has trouble getting the puck out of our end way too often.  I don't know why Ralph is giving him the ice time he is.

Probably because Dahlin and Jokiharju are both getting getting sheltered relative to the rest of the defense and since they are on different pairings that only leaves the McCabe Ristolainen paring to carry the water.

[bunomatic]

3 hours ago, Drunkard said:

Probably because Dahlin and Jokiharju are both getting getting sheltered relative to the rest of the defense and since they are on different pairings that only leaves the McCabe Ristolainen paring to carry the water.

That and experience. Risto has a ton of experience for a youngish guy.

[Brawndo]

 

[dudacek]

37 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

 

He’s going to cry like Schoenfeld if he gets traded now.

[LTS]

2 hours ago, dudacek said:

He’s going to cry like Schoenfeld if he gets traded now.

The Sens called.  ?

[nfreeman]

Interesting article on the Risto-Montour pairing:

https://www.diebytheblade.com/2019/12/11/21010520/buffalo-sabres-have-found-something-in-the-brandon-montour-and-rasmus-ristolainen-pairing

 

 

Quote

 

According to Natural Stat Trick, of pairs to play at least 60 minutes together on the Sabres, they lead the team in the following score and venue adjusted metrics at 5 on 5:

• Shot share (CF%) - 55.92%
• Shot quality (xGF%) - 61.68%
• Goal share (GF%) - 74.11% (second-best)
• High-danger chances (HDCF%) - 66.91%

Moving beyond just the Sabres, they’re near the top of the league in these categories among all pairs to play at least 60 minutes together at 5 on 5. As a pair, they rank 13th in the league in goal share and 12th in the league in shot quality share.

 

 

[pi2000]

I've been hard on Risto, but credit where credit is due.. he's been playing well lately.     

Moving up the team TRpm rankings as well ?

pi2000@sfo-lvswy:~$ estoi_trpm.py BUF
==============================================================
BUF even strength goal differential through 32 games = 15
BUF even strength minutes played through 32 games = 1605.28
TRpm(team relative +/-) is the diff btwn actual+/- and exp+/-
exp+/- is a function of %min played at ES and team ES goal diff
%min is % of ES minutes played
==============================================================
Team  Player                   TRpm    GP    +/-  exp+/-  %min
BUF Marco Scandella            9.76    24    13    3.24   21.6
BUF Jack Eichel                7.88    32    13    5.12   34.1
BUF Jimmy Vesey                6.89    29    10    3.11   20.7
BUF Johan Larsson              4.73    29     8    3.27   21.8
BUF Rasmus Ristolainen         3.53    32     9    5.47   36.4
BUF Rasmus Asplund             2.81    14     4    1.19    7.9
BUF Brandon Montour            2.25    18     5    2.75   18.3
BUF Conor Sheary               1.06    27     4    2.94   19.6
BUF Zach Bogosian              0.52    10     2    1.48    9.9
BUF Henri Jokiharju            0.47    32     5    4.53   30.2
BUF Vladimir Sobotka           0.13    16     2    1.87   12.5
BUF Zemgus Girgensons         -0.03    32     3    3.03   20.2
BUF Jean-Sebastien Dea        -0.05     1     0    0.05    0.4
BUF Tage Thompson             -0.07     1     0    0.07    0.4
BUF Victor Olofsson           -0.37    32     4    4.37   29.1
BUF Kyle Okposo               -1.10    22     1    2.10   14.0
BUF Rasmus Dahlin             -1.41    24     2    3.41   22.7
BUF Curtis Lazar              -2.45     6    -2    0.45    3.0
BUF John Gilmour              -2.59     4    -2    0.59    3.9
BUF Marcus Johansson          -3.35    25     0    3.35   22.4
BUF Evan Rodrigues            -4.49    16    -3    1.49   10.0
BUF Sam Reinhart              -6.93    32    -2    4.93   32.9
BUF Jeff Skinner              -7.17    32    -3    4.17   27.8
BUF Colin Miller              -7.63    25    -4    3.63   24.2
BUF Jake McCabe               -7.77    30    -3    4.77   31.8
BUF Casey Mittelstadt         -8.18    31    -5    3.18   21.2
==============================================================

 

[...]

13 minutes ago, pi2000 said:

I've been hard on Risto, but credit where credit is due.. he's been playing well lately.     

Moving up the team TRpm rankings as well ?

pi2000@sfo-lvswy:~$ estoi_trpm.py BUF
==============================================================
BUF even strength goal differential through 32 games = 15
BUF even strength minutes played through 32 games = 1605.28
TRpm(team relative +/-) is the diff btwn actual+/- and exp+/-
exp+/- is a function of %min played at ES and team ES goal diff
%min is % of ES minutes played
==============================================================
Team  Player                   TRpm    GP    +/-  exp+/-  %min
BUF Marco Scandella            9.76    24    13    3.24   21.6
BUF Jack Eichel                7.88    32    13    5.12   34.1
BUF Jimmy Vesey                6.89    29    10    3.11   20.7
BUF Johan Larsson              4.73    29     8    3.27   21.8
BUF Rasmus Ristolainen         3.53    32     9    5.47   36.4
BUF Rasmus Asplund             2.81    14     4    1.19    7.9
BUF Brandon Montour            2.25    18     5    2.75   18.3
BUF Conor Sheary               1.06    27     4    2.94   19.6
BUF Zach Bogosian              0.52    10     2    1.48    9.9
BUF Henri Jokiharju            0.47    32     5    4.53   30.2
BUF Vladimir Sobotka           0.13    16     2    1.87   12.5
BUF Zemgus Girgensons         -0.03    32     3    3.03   20.2
BUF Jean-Sebastien Dea        -0.05     1     0    0.05    0.4
BUF Tage Thompson             -0.07     1     0    0.07    0.4
BUF Victor Olofsson           -0.37    32     4    4.37   29.1
BUF Kyle Okposo               -1.10    22     1    2.10   14.0
BUF Rasmus Dahlin             -1.41    24     2    3.41   22.7
BUF Curtis Lazar              -2.45     6    -2    0.45    3.0
BUF John Gilmour              -2.59     4    -2    0.59    3.9
BUF Marcus Johansson          -3.35    25     0    3.35   22.4
BUF Evan Rodrigues            -4.49    16    -3    1.49   10.0
BUF Sam Reinhart              -6.93    32    -2    4.93   32.9
BUF Jeff Skinner              -7.17    32    -3    4.17   27.8
BUF Colin Miller              -7.63    25    -4    3.63   24.2
BUF Jake McCabe               -7.77    30    -3    4.77   31.8
BUF Casey Mittelstadt         -8.18    31    -5    3.18   21.2
==============================================================

 

Now is the time to trade him! NOW!

[Doohicksie]

7 minutes ago, ... said:

Now is the time to trade him! NOW!

As always, it depends on the return.

[dudacek]

The Athletic talked to each of the new NHL coaches this season. Here’s Ralph’s response:

You have been away from the NHL and the North American game for six years. What is going through your head as you shift from something so dramatically different — the English Premier League — back to this?

“It’s quite simple. I am not allowing emotions into my space. From the day I made the decision, I have been extremely focused on taking care of what I need to take care of on that day and I haven’t drifted beyond that.

“The first few months were about developing a revised plan for where the NHL is today, where the speed of the game is and the lowering of the physicality and the increasing of the offense. With my assistant coaches, we developed a plan throughout the summer. I mean, we brainstormed hours and hours and hours. Once the plan was clear, it was about how to implement it. We had lots of contact with the players in the summer, lots of communication before we even came together. Every day, we have so much to work on and improve on so we have stayed on topic. I’ve just been plowing through some hard labor together with the staff and the players and that’s really it.”

How did you familiarize yourself with the NHL game after being away so long?

“I’m a coach that focuses much more on my own team than others. There’s always pre-scouting — and I don’t watch every minute — but our video guys cut them together and they know what I’m looking for. In the end, it’s been a focus mainly on us and it continues that way. We’re making sure we’re getting our principles and concepts in on a regular basis.

“As far as the need-to-know the details, I have that around me. I have that support from my coaching staff. There is so much copy and paste in the league that you try to look for the nuances and I try to look for the personality of a team. Every team has a personality and I have enough time to go team by team, even with the back-to-backs, but it is a learning process.”

Is there an inherent advantage from having worked in Europe and being familiar with so many other hockey-playing cultures?

“We have 10 (European) players. Almost half your team comes from European cultures so understanding them helps a lot: the needs of a Finnish player vs. a Czech vs. an American. They come from completely different backgrounds so it’s important to be cognizant and respectful of that. There are different buttons to push — not that everybody from a country is the same but I do feel that is an advantage I have.

“Having said that, this is such an international game now. Hockey is played very similar all over the world now. There’s no real European and North American game anymore. I think they are all meshed together. You have the different (ice) surface but the great Swedish players have a lot of the same traits as the great Americans and Canadians. Twenty years ago, there was such a different personality coming from each country. Now, everybody has homogenized the game because they have taken the best parts of different cultures.”

You didn’t get much of a chance in Edmonton. Why come back after all those years in Europe before and after the abbreviated Oilers experience?

“More than anything, I was looking at all my different experiences in life and what was the next place where I could use the maximum amount of my toolbox. This was the only role that gave me that feeling. I could have gone into team presidency or there were two groups looking to purchase teams in the Premier League that asked me to lead the purchase. I had three really weird options.

“After the Olympics and the World Cup, there was so much hockey going on inside my brain that I wasn’t able to put into play and I thought if I don’t do it now I might not ever be able to do it. I can use my leadership skills at the same time. Everything in my life seemed applicable to what Buffalo needed. It felt like the right time to come here. I took the job because it checked more boxes than any other one and the personal challenge and the respect I had for the challenge made me want to climb another really steep mountain and this was the steepest of them all. The others were quite a bit flatter and softer.

“I think it’s a renewing experience for my whole family. This is the world I was in for 25 years. We never cared where we were, whether it was in Austria or the Olympics. I just love the day-to-day life as a head coach so to be able to step back into that lifestyle, my whole family has really embraced it. My kids are adults now but this is a journey we are sharing together. It’s definitely refreshing and renewing. The people of Buffalo and this organization from Day 1 have been extremely supportive about this abstract hire.

“I could have had a lot tougher month of August or September. Friends of mine who might have questioned me taking the job because of the perception of me coming from the Premier League in a chairman role to this, but the people of Buffalo were open right from the start and that has helped a lot.”

[Broken Ankles]

3 hours ago, nfreeman said:

Interesting article on the Risto-Montour pairing:

https://www.diebytheblade.com/2019/12/11/21010520/buffalo-sabres-have-found-something-in-the-brandon-montour-and-rasmus-ristolainen-pairing

 

 

 

Statistics meet Narrative.   Narrative, meet Statistics. 

[woods-racer]

4 hours ago, nfreeman said:

Interesting article on the Risto-Montour pairing:

https://www.diebytheblade.com/2019/12/11/21010520/buffalo-sabres-have-found-something-in-the-brandon-montour-and-rasmus-ristolainen-pairing

 

 

 

Rather shocked by the offensive zone start % and that they are being *sheltered*.

Montour playing on his off wing for the first time in his pro career has much to do about how Kruger is deploying them,  I'm sure. Kudos to Kruger and both of them for working on this and making it work well.

Edited December 11, 2019 by woods-racer

[bob_sauve28]

Real nice article today in Buffalo News about Risto. He seems to have improved in every statistical category there is. Working with a figure skating coach in the off season, too.