GDT: 2/23/20 Winnipeg @ Sabres 3pm ET, MSG & WGR550

[dudacek]

4 minutes ago, Weave said:

They have the exact record as this time last season.  From this point on they only won 4 games to finish.  The mail it in was just aobut to happen in earnest.  Hopefully it doesn't repeat.

The fade didn’t start now last year though.

They were 8/13/2 in January and February last year.

They are 12/8/1 over the same period this year, 7 points better with two games in hand.

[darksabre]

3 minutes ago, Weave said:

They have the exact record as this time last season.  From this point on they only won 4 games to finish.  The mail it in was just aobut to happen in earnest.  Hopefully it doesn't repeat.

The big difference this year though is that they've managed to play much more consistent hockey. This time last year they had yet to win two games in a row since December 11th and 13th, and wouldn't win two in a row until the last two games of the season. It took them 50 games. 

This year they're at least managing to string some wins together. Hopefully they won't collapse down the stretch, but if they do I figure it won't be a total train wreck. 

[Weave]

6 minutes ago, darksabre said:

The big difference this year though is that they've managed to play much more consistent hockey. This time last year they had yet to win two games in a row since December 11th and 13th, and wouldn't win two in a row until the last two games of the season. It took them 50 games. 

This year they're at least managing to string some wins together. Hopefully they won't collapse down the stretch, but if they do I figure it won't be a total train wreck. 

I'm not sure I'd say consistent.  But they are playing well much more frequently.

[dudacek]

March may prove me wrong, but I’ve thought all year the eye test shows this is a better team than last year

[Weave]

4 minutes ago, dudacek said:

March may prove me wrong, but I’ve thought all year the eye test shows this is a better team than last year

If this team's roster is worse after the deadline I expect the effort on the ice will suffer for it.

[dudacek]

2 hours ago, Weave said:

If this team's roster is worse after the deadline I expect the effort on the ice will suffer for it.

Yeah, i worry about that two.

If most of Larry, Z, Vesey and Sheary are gone without reinforcements it will be tough on the room.

I'm betting when JBot laid out his plan for the season, he was thinking contributions from Mittelstadt, Thompson and Asplund that would make a couple of UFAs redundant.

Edited February 24, 2020 by dudacek

[GASabresIUFAN]

Sheary and Frolik could be sent packing and no one would miss them.

[French Collection]

4 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Sheary and Frolik could be sent packing and no one would miss them.

I would add Erod to that list. Jack may get hissy about that but....

[SwampD]

12 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Sheary and Frolik could be sent packing and no one would miss them.

After a slow start, we’re 9-6-1 since we got Frolik. Just sayin.

[WildCard]

14 minutes ago, SwampD said:

After a slow start, we’re 9-6-1 since we got Frolik. Just sayin.

Correlation not causation? Pretty sure he's been hurt or useless that whole time 

[darksabre]

9-7-1 with Frolik in the lineup...

[Formerly Allan in MD]

1 hour ago, dudacek said:

March may prove me wrong, but I’ve thought all year the eye test shows this is a better team than last year

One thing that's enhanced the eye test is not seeing Phil Housley behind the bench.

[nfreeman]

That was an excellent performance by the FNG Johansson.

The same goalie who just made the AHL all-star team. 

Hmmm...

[inkman]

55 minutes ago, darksabre said:

9-7-1 with Frolik in the lineup...

I'm gonna go with correlation not causation for $1000 Alex

[Doohicksie]

The one thing that Frolik might have been doing to help the Sabres is penalty killing.  It does seem that the special teams have improved lately.

But no, I don't want to see Frolik in Blue & Gold next year.

[PerreaultForever]

4 hours ago, darksabre said:

9-7-1 with Frolik in the lineup...

Frolik took Sobodtka's place. Remember, despite all the hate directed at him, we were a team with a winning record with him in the line-up and now with V2 we have a winning record again. It's a part Kreuger needed. 

[Weave]

And Frolic is trusted with end of game ice time.  I think he’s worth more to is than what is on the box score.  I’d hang on to him for the season to keep this team on the right track but look to upgrade over the Summer.

[Wyldnwoody44]

With Hutton in net, do we win this one? 

I go with a solid no. 

 

That save Jo made with his arm coming across the cease was hasek-esque and it didn't get as much love as it should have on the broadcast. 

[Kristian]

24 minutes ago, Wyldnwoody44 said:

With Hutton in net, do we win this one? 

I go with a solid no. 

 

That save Jo made with his arm coming across the cease was hasek-esque and it didn't get as much love as it should have on the broadcast. 

That was a huge stop, lucky or not. Game saver.

[Doohicksie]

31 minutes ago, Wyldnwoody44 said:

That save Jo made with his arm coming across the cease was hasek-esque and it didn't get as much love as it should have on the broadcast. 

I'm not sure RJ and Rayzor had a clear look at what actually happened; seemed like they were rather distracted while broadcasting from the 100 level.  My eyes saw a sure goal; when they said it didn't go in I was gobsmacked.

[Doohicksie]

3 hours ago, Weave said:

And Frolic is trusted with end of game ice time.  I think he’s worth more to is than what is on the box score.  I’d hang on to him for the season to keep this team on the right track but look to upgrade over the Summer.

I tend to agree with you.  He's kind of like Sobotka- the plays he makes are not appreciated or even noticed most games and he has to be deployed correctly to get the greatest benefit out of him.

If you think about it, Krueger's coaching has elevated the team dynamics.  Larry's line was meant to be a shutdown line, but now it's providing scoring.  Frolik is now in the shutdown role (although the Larry line got heavy minutes late as well).  Saying that he doesn't number his lines is starting to make sense to me.

I hope the Sabres continue their push, even if it falls short.  I think next year there could be some major continuity with RFK's system even if there is significant turnover.  I still don't like his demeanor but as I've said repeatedly, what I think of him means diddly-squat if the team believes him.

[Kristian]

3 hours ago, Weave said:

And Frolic is trusted with end of game ice time.  I think he’s worth more to is than what is on the box score.  I’d hang on to him for the season to keep this team on the right track but look to upgrade over the Summer.

I haven’t seen him make half the bad decisions MoJo makes.

[Randall Flagg]

Buffalo penalty kill before acquiring Frolik: 74.7%
Buffalo penalty kill since acquiring Frolik: 75.0%

His presence on the PK, in 40 attempts, has saved the Sabres a net 0.01 goals. Seriously. That would be assuming he plays all of each PK, which he doesn't. So it's really like 40-50% of THAT number. I know there are individual player penalty kill stats, but I can't find them and have to go somewhere, but he's hardly been a PP savior, at least relative to Scandella, the only other difference between those two sets. And he is so slow that his inability to cover gaps, and forced recession into the middle slot, is a regular issue when it comes to allowing teams to sustain pressure.

Frolik otherwise: 17 games played, 1 goal (empty net), 3 points, -3, zone starts almost dead even (48-52 split offense-defense), Sabres take 44% of the shot attempts while he's on the ice, 41% of the scoring chances, 38.9% of the expected goals, and are propped up by an on-ice save percentage of .940, which is the highest of his career outside of one fluke stretch in Chicago. The Sabres shoot 2% while he's on the ice, because he has played a role in like one serious scoring chance since he got here. That shooting percentage includes his empty net goal. 

Frolik is a borderline-tank-level forward and is a real-life manifestation of the single thing the Sabres are the worst in the NHL at, the thing that has been plaguing them for a decade. He is severely allergic to anything resembling a positive play with the puck on a team that is already more or less fine defensively, but cannot do things with the puck that the rest of the league can. I'm beyond sick of Botterill acquiring these types of forwards and being told how useful they are while I watch the dryest team in hockey continue to miss the playoffs and I hope he trades Frolik today, and I'm sure the guy is great and can find a role on a team that needs fewer events happening out on the ice, but that is emphatically not us 

His on-ice impact on our shot suppression is also horrendous, teams blast us in the a$$ whenever Frolic is on the ice compared to when he isn't
 

Edited February 24, 2020 by Randall Flagg

[shrader]

I haven't read the thread so I have no idea if it was mentioned or not.  Eichel looked like he was going to suffocate Johansson with that postgame hug.  Okposo had a similar energy when he got to Johansson.  There's two guys who I will never question their heart.

[Doohicksie]

1 hour ago, Kristian said:

MoJo makes.

Yeah, he likes to drop the puck back to the defense too much, when he has a relatively easy zone exit.  A small number of players still do that; it used to be most of the people, now it's just two or three.