GDT: 1/15/21 7pm ET Washington @ Buffalo - FREE GAME ON NHL.com

[Gatorman0519]

Ralph making excuses it was a red hot goaltender... I don’t think he was that good... he didn’t face quality shots 

[Thorner]

 

 

Edited January 16, 2021 by Thorny

[dudacek]

3 minutes ago, Beer said:

Lines need to reflect line chemistry.  

For sure, but my point is make some decisions based on who is making things happen.

Skinner and Rieder should be rewarded for pushing the play with more ice time.

[Claude Balls]

1 minute ago, Gatorman0519 said:

Ralph making excuses it was a red hot goaltender... I don’t think he was that good... he didn’t face quality shots 

I laughed when he said that. It was his first game as a pro, how has he been red hot? He also said he played the game of his life. So apparently it's all downhill for that poor guy for the rest of his career according to RK. 

[Thorner]

3 minutes ago, dudacek said:

For sure, but my point is make some decisions based on who is making things happen.

Skinner and Rieder should be rewarded for pushing the play with more ice time.

So do we need to demote Eichel for playing not up to snuff? Doesn't the message have to work both ways? If not, it's hypocritical. And if it's hypocritical, it doesn't work. 

Skinner shouldn't be in a spot where he needs to earn back his ice time. Back asswards. 

Play your best players. I watch 82 games to watch my best players play, not some old dude non-coach and spout motivational bs. 

(no tonal anger in this post is directed at you)

 

Edited January 16, 2021 by Thorny

[Scottysabres]

4 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

 

Makes me love Skinner even more. A true professional imo.

[Thorner]

8 minutes ago, SwampD said:

I'll predict we're in the playoff mix by the end.

No way.

There were glimmers of hope tonight.

Hall hits the pipe (as did I.)

We saw the system more tonight and I thought it looked pretty good. They were just half a beat off on every play. That chemistry will improve.

Dahlin and Jack are troublesome, but it kinda reminds me of what October games used to look like in the 70s and 80s.

one goal,… gah!

Cheers. 

[Thorner]

5 minutes ago, Scottysabres said:

Makes me love Skinner even more. A true professional imo.

Damn you can tell there's some real friction there, too 

[PerreaultForever]

Well, in the end the power play let us down, just like so many times last year. Lots of talent on that PP and with all the opportunities they should have buried them but they didn't, again.

Reinhart was a lot better tonight. and he is better with Eichel (as is everyone). Maybe I expect too much but to me Eichel looks uninspired. Just not taking command like I thought he might (like say McDavid did in his second game of their set) with the talent he begged for on his wing. I truly hope he's not already dreaming about playing in Boston..........but something's not quite right. maybe he's still feeling his upper body whatever.

Skinner played really well offensively, and he even passed the puck which he doesn't like to do, but he has nobody with skill with him and it amounted to one against all every time and thus no result. This has to be fixed.

Staal is a piece of crap. idk if he simply doesn't want to be here and is just playing out his contract or if he's totally lost it, but he is total rubbish so far.

I do not understand what Kreuger sees in Sheahan. Does this mean ALL of our younger players are write offs? Surely somebody among them is better than this?

I really hate the Dahlin-Montour pairing. Two good skaters with an offensive mindset but lacking defensive skills is a bad way to play D. Dahlin needs to be paired with a D first player. Maybe one we don't have. 

Ullmark was Ullmark. Not great, not horrible, just meh. and that won't be good enough.

We will not make the playoffs unless we make some changes quickly (if possible).

 

[Thorner]

 

 

[sabremike]

14 minutes ago, Gatorman0519 said:

Ralph making excuses it was a red hot goaltender... I don’t think he was that good... he didn’t face quality shots 

We all bag on Risto but at least he called ***** on that and said "We made it easy for him". Make him the coach because at least unlike Ralph he isn't satisfied with moral victories.

[PerreaultForever]

17 minutes ago, Gatorman0519 said:

Ralph making excuses it was a red hot goaltender... I don’t think he was that good... he didn’t face quality shots 

That is a rubbish coach comment. We had one really good period of possession but very few quality shots and almost no rebounds. It was an easy night for any decent goalie. 

[CallawaySabres]

Once rgeir regular season ends, they have to blow this whole thing up and start from scratch.

Eichel will demand a trade which will happen, they trade Hall at deadline and build around Dahlin, Cousins and Quinn. Everyone else has to go

[Marvin]

That was far better than last night.  But they have more rust on them than my car.  Also, for much of the game, the lines reminded me of mistaking an ozone molecule for an oxygen molecule: bad chemistry.

[Thorner]

2 minutes ago, CallawaySabres said:

Once rgeir regular season ends, they have to blow this whole thing up and start from scratch.

Eichel will demand a trade which will happen, they trade Hall at deadline and build around Dahlin, Cousins and Quinn. Everyone else has to go

Eichel won't ask out until after the season after this one. That's when his NTC kicks in and he can have a bunch of say in where he goes. 

If not we could ship him somewhere like Winnipeg and he doesn't wanna go to Winnipeg I don't think. 

So the Sabres have this season and next to fix it. 

Edited January 16, 2021 by Thorny

[dudacek]

11 minutes ago, Thorny said:

So do we need to demote Eichel for playing not up to snuff? Doesn't the message have to work both ways? If not, it's hypocritical. And if it's hypocritical, it doesn't work. 

Skinner shouldn't be in a spot where he needs to earn back his ice time. Back asswards. 

Play your best players. I watch 82 games to watch my best players play, not some old dude non-coach and spout motivational bs. 

(no tonal anger in this post is directed at you)

 

 I think people put way too much emphasis on demotions and promotions. It’s not a pecking order, it’s a team

You put together a lineup based on what you think works. If it doesn’t work, you change it. You build your changes around what is working.

Skinner is playing well, play him more

 

[Thorner]

1 minute ago, dudacek said:

 I think people put way too much emphasis on demotions and promotions. It’s not a pecking order, it’s a team

You put together a lineup based on what you think works. If it doesn’t work, you change it. You build your changes around what is working.

Skinner is playing well, play him more

 

This is a bit of a dodge. 

If the basis for Skinner getting more time is good play, necessarily Eichel should get less because of the opposite. Do we want that?

If Ralph had Skinner on L4 because he thought it was going to WORK......I think we have a bigger issue. 

Occam's Razor, ppl. How does Skinner look to you?

He and Ralph have beef. Ralph doesn't like him. That's what's happening. 

[dudacek]

11 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

Well, in the end the power play let us down, just like so many times last year. Lots of talent on that PP and with all the opportunities they should have buried them but they didn't, again.

Reinhart was a lot better tonight. and he is better with Eichel (as is everyone). Maybe I expect too much but to me Eichel looks uninspired. Just not taking command like I thought he might (like say McDavid did in his second game of their set) with the talent he begged for on his wing. I truly hope he's not already dreaming about playing in Boston..........but something's not quite right. maybe he's still feeling his upper body whatever.

 

I think it needs to be acknowledged that Eichel is better with Reinhart.

[Thorner]

Just now, dudacek said:

I think it needs to be acknowledged that Eichel is better with Reinhart.

To infinity. 

[Zamboni]

4 minutes ago, dudacek said:

I think it needs to be acknowledged that Eichel is better with Reinhart.

The regulars will continue to deny it. There’s nothing you can prove, show, or say that will alter their minds. It’s a lost cause. It’s been for years.

[klos1963]

38 minutes ago, Taro T said:

To those of you that wanted Hall-Eichel-Reinhart rather than Olofsson there, good call.

Thompson played well along the boards yesterday, today he didn't even do that well.  How long until Skinner or Cozens gets that wing w/ Staal?  Could be by the 2nd game in Filly.  Would give it to Skinner, but that move further down for Tage has to happen soon.

Really don't want to pull Cozens up to the 2nd line for Olofsson until at least February, but that move could happen soon as well.

That Eakin line looked good again tonight.

Sheahan shouldn't be further up the lineup than he is, but he deserves to keep the 12th F slot.  Will be interesting to see what happens when Okposo is healthy.  Would bump Lazar or Tage, personally.  Expecting Sheahan to be the odd man out though.

Skinner is definitely earning more ice time.  He's even backchecking in his own zone some.

Wtf is wrong w/ Dahlin?  Even when he was gassed at the end of his rookie year he wasn't as bad as tonight.

McCabe-Ristolainen was a great pairing tonight.  Miller-Jokiharju was good except for 1 horribly tragic 5 second segment where Miller lost an edge.

Ullmark is soooooooo much better than Hutton.  (No Schlitz, Sherlock.)  Can Linus survive 49 games this year? (Give Hutton, Tokarski, or Johansson 4 games against the Devils & 2 vs the Rags.  Drag Linus' corpse out for those late May games or hope a backup is available at the deadline.)

Is there not a single coach in the entire organization that can teach a zone entry on the PP?

When facing a rookie getting his 1st start, PLEASE make sure you aren't just throwing g fluff at him early.  The guy was waiting to give up 5 in the 1st and by the time they started to take good shots that horseshoe was firmly up VV's bippy.

Wish they didn't have Filly up next.  This game probably doesn't beat them either.  But it would beat any of the other 5 teams.  Hopefully that next game is improved over tonight as much as tonight's game was over last night.

1.  I watch him and think, not that fast, not much of a shot, weak defensively.... ,

[dudacek]

3 minutes ago, Thorny said:

This is a bit of a dodge. 

If the basis for Skinner getting more time is good play, necessarily Eichel should get less because of the opposite. Do we want that?

If Ralph had Skinner on L4 because he thought it was going to WORK......I think we have a bigger issue. 

Occam's Razor, ppl. How does Skinner look to you?

He and Ralph have beef. Ralph doesn't like him. That's what's happening. 

I think you’re having a different discussion than I am.

My point is if Ralph doesn’t play Skinner more after the first two games he’s a bad coach.

Yours (as best as I can tell) is that because Ralph didn’t play Skinner more in the first two games he’s a bad coach.

The two positions aren’t at odds with each other.

[Thorner]

People should remember that Dahlin is ridiculously young. He's 20. For a D man on what's been a bad team, with new systems every year, while you are trying to adjust to living in a new country..what he did at 18 was frankly ridiculous, worthy of a generational d-man label, at that age. Since then, it's not been that way. 

I don't want to point out he's 20, be patient, which I know gets super tiring, because I'm trying to say this is "aaaaallll part of the plaaaan" and Dahlin is going to be Hedman. No, maybe it doesn't happen. 

But I do promise you he's going to be a really good hockey player. He will be, I promise. He's so young. If you can't live with the fact he may not be as billed, my sympathies, and I get that. But he's going to be a real key piece. Just maybe not the best D-man in the world. 

 

...Then again, in his third year, Hedman had 23 points and was a -9. So what do I know. 

5 minutes ago, dudacek said:

I think you’re having a different discussion than I am.

My point is if Ralph doesn’t play Skinner more after the first two games he’s a bad coach.

Yours (as best as I can tell) is that because Ralph didn’t play Skinner more in the first two games he’s a bad coach.

The two positions aren’t at odds with each other.

I think he believes in an earning your ice time philosophy he can't unhypocritically put into practice, up to and including to the detriment of his team. 

I'm not saying he's a bad coach. If he can learn to adjust his ways to fit a winning system, he can stay. 

Edited January 16, 2021 by Thorny

[Scottysabres]

2 minutes ago, Thorny said:

People should remember that Dahlin is ridiculously young. He's 20. For a D man on what's been a bad team, with new systems every year, while you are trying to adjust to living in a new country..what he did at 18 was frankly ridiculous, worthy of a generational d-man label, at that age. Since then, it's not been that way. 

I don't want to point out he's 20, be patient, which I know gets super tiring, because I'm trying to say this is "aaaaallll part of the plaaaan" and Dahlin is going to be Hedman. No, maybe it doesn't happen. 

But I do promise you he's going to be a really good hockey player. He will be, I promise. He's so young. If you can't live with the fact he may not be as billed, my sympathies, and I get that. But he's going to be a real key piece. Just maybe not the best D-man in the world. 

Then again, in his third year, Hedman had 23 points and was a -9. So what do I know. 

I think he believes in an earning your ice time philosophy he can't unhypocritically put into practice, up to and including to the detriment of his team. 

I'm not saying he's a bad coach. If he can learn to adjust his ways to fit a winning system, he can stay. 

I'm not worried about Dahlin, like you said, he's 20. But to give him 20+ minutes a game while he's playing like this, NOT GOOD COACHING?

Sorry, just had to twist the knife while it's in.........

[GASabresIUFAN]

3 hours ago, dudacek said:

I think you’re having a different discussion than I am.

My point is if Ralph doesn’t play Skinner more after the first two games he’s a bad coach.

Yours (as best as I can tell) is that because Ralph didn’t play Skinner more in the first two games he’s a bad coach.

The two positions aren’t at odds with each other.

We are finding out that he might not be a great coach.

That said, he actually dumped the Staal Reinhart pair pretty quickly to get Hall and Eichel going.  Skinner skated 14:30.  That's not enough.  To be effective he needs 16+ minutes and better frigin linemates.  The sad thing is he hasn't been rewarded for his good play and that is unforgivable.  If you want a guy to play 200 feet and he does, he needs to be rewarded.  Yes he got some L1 shifts when Hall went out, but his crappy line remained intact when Hall returned.  Enough

He also needs to acknowledge that at least one of Lazar and Sheahan need to be replaced by someone else to add offense.  

Edited January 16, 2021 by GASabresIUFAN