GDT: 11/8/2019 2pm ET Tampa at Buffalo Sabres in ModoLand, NBCSN and WGR550

[Nitro60]

48 minutes ago, Formerly Allan in MD said:

Amen!  This team needs someone like Tom Wilson.  Perhaps too many Scandinavians/finesse players.,

Management loves to draft those players

[Thorner]

2 minutes ago, Nitro60 said:

Vesey and Johansson are cheap moves.  Made no plays for real scoring talent..  Face it.  This team has to build through the draft.  That is all on management.

I still think trade is/was an avenue, to supplement a group that has definitely been built through the draft, in most part. 

1 minute ago, dudacek said:

Yes.

And when they do, and the opponent does the same, they are going to win most of their games against the bottom half-dozen teams of the league, and lose against the top half-dozen teams and hope to split against the rest.

Isn’t it kinda what we expected?

Depends, are we talking .500? Then no, I expected a fair bit more.

Or are we talking ~90 points when factoring in loser points? That seems about right.

[Derrico]

2 minutes ago, Nitro60 said:

Vesey and Johansson are cheap moves.  Made no plays for real scoring talent..  Face it.  This team has to build through the draft.  That is all on management.

Build through the draft?  We’ve had top 10 picks for 5000000 straight years and they’re still *****.  Where’s asplund?  Where’s these other non top 2 overall picks?  I like olofsson as much as anyone but he’s looking like a one trick pony and ain’t much in the way of home grown talent.

[Tondas]

You know, the longer I think about it, I'm getting more and more pissed that there was NO response from anyone to the Kucherov hit on Sobotka.  Jump in, get your ass kicked (or not), but jump in IMMEDIATELY.  At this point, I think RFK needs to set up a drill with a mannequin in a Sabres jersey that gets drilled, and have every single player dive in to take a shot at it.  You play like you practice, no????

[Thorner]

3 minutes ago, Tondas said:

You know, the longer I think about it, I'm getting more and more pissed that there was NO responsIe from anyone to the Kucherov hit on Sobotka.  Jump in, get your ass kicked (or not), but jump in IMMEDIATELY.  At this point, I think RFK needs to set up a drill with a mannequin in a Sabres jersey that gets drilled, and have every single player dive in to take a shot at it.  You play like you practice, no????

It's the exact same way with the Leafs and I hear their fans complain about it all the time. Some teams just aren't built that way, so we should probably stop expecting it. I'm not saying what the right/wrong strategy is when it comes to team building, simply that it's not really the same way it used to be, where guys are expected to get violent and if they don't it's a mark against their manhood. They won't be being coached that way, anymore. Aside from some outlier teams. 

Edited November 8, 2019 by Thorny

[Randall Flagg]

20 minutes ago, Thorny said:

Setting an unfair standard, for whom? If we as fans can recognize the caveats of the schedule, surely we can expect the team to. That the schedule presented us a good chance for wins early on, to get our feet under us, doesn't really need to fit into the "unfair" category. 

Roller coaster, true, but we can still see things as they've been thus far, in totality - we can beat bad teams, but not good ones. 

Just the fans as a whole. My dad is still referencing those games for what these guys can be, but they simply won't play as well as that consistently unless they're playing teams who played as poorly in those games as Pitt/NJ did, over and over.

[Brawndo]

54 minutes ago, Torpedo Forecheck said:

What should the pairings be ?

26-62

10-33

24/58-55

I would sit McCabe 

[Randall Flagg]

9 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Yes.

And when they do, and the opponent does the same, they are going to win most of their games against the bottom half-dozen teams of the league, and lose against the top half-dozen teams and hope to split against the rest.

Isn’t it kinda what we expected?

Yes indeedy

[Tondas]

2 minutes ago, Thorny said:

It's the exact same way with the Leafs and I hear their fans complain about it all the time. Some teams just aren't built that way, so we should probably stop expecting it. I'm not saying what the right/wrong strategy is when it comes to team building, simply that it's not really the same way it used to be, where guys are expected to get violent and if they don't it's a mark against their manhood. They won't be being coached that way, anymore. Aside from some outlier teams. 

It may not be a mark against their manhood in Toronto, but it remains to be that way in Buffalo (thankfully).

[Randall Flagg]

10 minutes ago, Thorny said:

I still think trade is/was an avenue, to supplement a group that has definitely been built through the draft, in most part. 

Depends, are we talking .500? Then no, I expected a fair bit more.

Or are we talking ~90 points when factoring in loser points? That seems about right.

I had them in the 79-84 point range and adjusting for opponent I think they've played more or less to that level, at least in terms of how often they carry the play against which teams 

[Tondas]

3 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

26-62

10-33

24/58-55

I would sit McCabe 

Sitting McCabe?  Then we go from soft as butter to melted butter.

[PerreaultForever]

1 minute ago, Tondas said:

You know, the longer I think about it, I'm getting more and more pissed that there was NO response from anyone to the Kucherov hit on Sobotka.  Jump in, get your ass kicked (or not), but jump in IMMEDIATELY.  

and who is that going to be on this team? nobody. maybe Bogo if he was there and healthy but nobody else. Eichel could get laid out flat in a game and maybe there'd be a little pushing and wrestling but nobody would do a damn thing.

The effort was there and if we finish the plays early maybe it's a different game but just like last year when we play fast we get zone time and possession but do not finish well. Tampa buried their early opportunities and that's all they needed to do. 

I was disappointed our Swedes did not play better. Would have thought they'd all play their best games of the year but alas no. 

Montour looked pretty good, so I guess we trade a D man.........but will it matter?

So good effort most of the game but no result. If we lose both, while giving effort, I am afraid it might break this team and they will feel snakebit again and guys who want out of town will want it again and Krueger's house of cards will crumble. It'll take great motivation/coaching to get this team to bounce back if the funk comes back (with all it's quitting losing habits).

Disappointing. 

(did you all notice how a lot of seats seemed empty after the first intermission? not sure if they had seat fillers for the opening or the Swedish people got bored early, but it wasn't exactly a resounding success even if the league pretends it was)

[PromoTheRobot]

Just caught up on DVR. I guess having a roster full of Swedes doesn't earn you that many fans in Stockholm. Kind of a weird crowd atmosphere there too.

[Tondas]

8 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

and who is that going to be on this team? nobody. maybe Bogo if he was there and healthy but nobody else. Eichel could get laid out flat in a game and maybe there'd be a little pushing and wrestling but nobody would do a damn thing.

The effort was there and if we finish the plays early maybe it's a different game but just like last year when we play fast we get zone time and possession but do not finish well. Tampa buried their early opportunities and that's all they needed to do. 

I was disappointed our Swedes did not play better. Would have thought they'd all play their best games of the year but alas no. 

Montour looked pretty good, so I guess we trade a D man.........but will it matter?

So good effort most of the game but no result. If we lose both, while giving effort, I am afraid it might break this team and they will feel snakebit again and guys who want out of town will want it again and Krueger's house of cards will crumble. It'll take great motivation/coaching to get this team to bounce back if the funk comes back (with all it's quitting losing habits).

Disappointing. 

(did you all notice how a lot of seats seemed empty after the first intermission? not sure if they had seat fillers for the opening or the Swedish people got bored early, but it wasn't exactly a resounding success even if the league pretends it was)

I think we're agreeing here but what would it have done for the morale of the team if Mitts dove at Kutcherov and wrestled for a while.  I'm not saying, throw off the helmets, skate to center ice and throw down.  I'm saying do SOMETHING besides writing a scathing letter to Kutcherov's agent after that game expressing your displeasure with his client.

Edited November 8, 2019 by Tondas

[triumph_communes]

Kucherov deserves a suspension before tomorrow for that dirty play

 

Sabres are back to their dump and not chase, pass halfway up the boards and never get the puck back perimeter play again. And it’s suffocating. What happened to early season?  In the offensive zone they’ve laid an egg. 
 

They are getting outplayed physically in the d zone, but that didn’t cause too bad of a problem today. It was the lack of offense that’s killing them and their confidence. Can’t do that with all our small guys. 

Edited November 8, 2019 by triumph_communes

[sabremike]

10 minutes ago, Randall Flagg said:

I had them in the 79-84 point range and adjusting for opponent I think they've played more or less to that level, at least in terms of how often they carry the play against which teams 

If you are spot on with that projection then at 81 points there was a 5 point improvement from last year. By last year's standings that would be the 8th worst record in the league. If that happens certain people in this organization are going to have a LOT to answer for. 

[miles]

i dont even know how to feel about that game. they looked like they didnt have any major time in the offensive zone, but they didnt seem like they had a lot of time in the defensive zone either. 

ullmark did ok i suppose. he still gives up a ton of rebounds and in this game it cost the team the 3rd goal. 

in the last minute of play, they didnt drive the net a ton and seemed to just pass it around waiting for something to open up, but it didnt. 

 

i also feel the like the lightning play pretty dirty. like scumbags, i was waiting for retaliation for sobotka, but it never came

[Eleven]

4 hours ago, Mustache of God said:

Is there pregame radio for this game? WGR is boring me to death with Bills v Browns analysis.

That was so annoying.

25 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Just caught up on DVR. I guess having a roster full of Swedes doesn't earn you that many fans in Stockholm. Kind of a weird crowd atmosphere there too.

There was an atmosphere?  Come on, everyone who traveled!  Make some noise already!

[Randall Flagg]

I think they could do some things to get more out of the roster, now that winning and scoring a lot have each faded away and taken with them the justification for leaving things the same because of winning and scoring.

That was just the 4th time this season in 16 games that our top line has outscored their opposition at even strength. Before today they were pacing for being a -27 on the season, meaning the other three lines would basically have to outscore their opponents by ten goals each over the season just for the team to break even in goal differential, which would result in another playoff-less season - never mind the fact that it's very likely none of those lines will outscore their opposition by 10 goals at even strength, much less all three. We need our top line carrying more of a load offensively (today was a nice start) but I don't think it can happen long term with the current setup. 

And I think Olofsson will look a lot less like a specialist when taken off of the line that gets the defensive assignments meant for Eichel. He very obviously can't handle them. Teensy sample size, but for a period he played with Sheary and Mitts and they were dangerous in their few shifts. It makes sense that he would look better playing against the scraps. Meanwhile, we know that Jack and Jeff can outscore their opponents handily at ES, while Sam and Jack simply never have no matter when you begin or end the sample size with them together. I'd move to something like 

Skinner - Eichel - ???
Vesey? meh - Johansson - Reinhart
Olofsson - Mitts - Sheary
Zemgus - Larry - Kyle

The team really does need that move that Dreger keeps hinting at, and we've been begging for since April (or last January in some cases) 

Tampa is much better at keeping their feet under them and keeping the puck under control in high traffic, physical situations. In fact, I think it's the single thing that we are worst at, and I think that plays a big role in our historical offensive woes. It's why I counter claims of hands and talent on this roster - both are useless if they can't be relied on in game situations, and too many of our guys, even and especially the "skilled" ones, can't make plays in tight to simply hang onto the puck, much less do something with it after that.

36 minutes ago, sabremike said:

If you are spot on with that projection then at 81 points there was a 5 point improvement from last year. By last year's standings that would be the 8th worst record in the league. If that happens certain people in this organization are going to have a LOT to answer for. 

I think it would be poetic, triumphantly climbing back to the 8th draft slot we fired guys for, taking 3 years to do it

 

Edited November 8, 2019 by Randall Flagg

[Pimlach]

1 hour ago, Wyldnwoody44 said:

I will say, it was great seeing all the peeps here in Stockholm, but the in game experience was almost terrible compared to what I was expecting in Europe..... A home game for the Sabres.... Ha... No. Every stoppage was a Let's go Bolts chant or message or Bolts highlights.... It was 2/3 Tampa and the game itself sucked. 

I will not ever travel for another overseas Sabres game, that's how bad they were. 

Seeing modo, LTS and the gang, and Norway made this trip wonderful... The Sabres and in game experience tried to ruin it 

I caught the 3rd period and it sounded like a lot of Sabres fans were there so if only 1/3 they sure made a lot of noise, even if the team provided little to cheer for. 

[Brawndo]

38 minutes ago, Tondas said:

Sitting McCabe?  Then we go from soft as butter to melted butter.

They actually might keep the puck out of their net and increase their chances of scoring, but  hits are stats too I guess.

[Randall Flagg]

I like McCabe, I think having him and Risto on the same pairing isn't a great thing for either of them. 

You can spread the "grit" out a bit and give each guy a passing partner

[rakish]

14 minutes ago, Randall Flagg said:

Skinner - Eichel - ???
 

Okposo

[Randall Flagg]

1 minute ago, rakish said:

Okposo

No thank u 

[rakish]

Just now, Randall Flagg said:

No thank u 

Pomminvile???