RK’s system: What is it and does it work?

[pi2000]

Why does every player who has a nice season or shows promise (skinner, dahlin, etc..) eventually settle into complacent mediocrity?    It's like Buffalo is the place you go to earn a nice hefty contract and then put it in cruise control for the remainder of the deal.   When was the last time they had a guy outplay his contract value?

[GASabresIUFAN]

1 hour ago, pi2000 said:

Why does every player who has a nice season or shows promise (skinner, dahlin, etc..) eventually settle into complacent mediocrity?    It's like Buffalo is the place you go to earn a nice hefty contract and then put it in cruise control for the remainder of the deal.   When was the last time they had a guy outplay his contract value?

I think Dahlin isn’t complacent.  He is trying to do what is asked.  He needs more freedom.  We also don’t how to win.  Hall has never won.  Jack and Sam haven’t in the NHL and we don’t have enough talent to win on talent alone.  Staal is this team’s only real “winner.”  He needs to take over this team and demand effort like Drury did.  RK also needs to change how he coaches offense.  He needs to take the governor off the top 2 lines and create a two man forecheck on the bottom two lines.  Dahlin will excel if allowed to be creative.

[Thorner]

8 hours ago, PASabreFan said:

Interesting take. But I think once the Sabres are good again, a lot of the technical discussions become pointless. I see the point of them right now as some fans with outsized opinions of their own hockey acumen wanting to fix the team. Understandable, I guess, but after 10+ years of it, it's beyond tiresome. I want the Sabres to be good again so that kind of stuff recedes into the background (as many want the Sabres to be good again so they don't have to hear me bitching about Terry — but at least I've given it a rest of late).

Look at Bills talk today. There's chatter about where The Interception fits into team lore. Is anybody really up for "Joe Blow should be the LOLB!"

We've forgotten what it's all about.

You kinda hit the nail on the head with the "after 10 years" bit. 

When you are as bad as we have been for that long....I mean, PA, I realized a long time ago, speaking as someone with a outsized opinion of my own hockey acumen, it's not that there are some people around here who are secret hockey geniuses, it's that the historically poor level of aptitude this franchise has demonstrated, over such a long time, sets the bar so, so low that whether the team actually does know better about anything is murky waters, at best. 

You know Pegula is running the goddman show. That's your thing. How unlikely is it that a few people around here know more about hockey than T-pegs? 

I think everyone is ready for the day the talk can be more like the Bills stuff you rightly pointed out. 

Edited January 18, 2021 by Thorny

[dudacek]

23 hours ago, PASabreFan said:

Interesting take. But I think once the Sabres are good again, a lot of the technical discussions become pointless. I see the point of them right now as some fans with outsized opinions of their own hockey acumen wanting to fix the team. Understandable, I guess, but after 10+ years of it, it's beyond tiresome. I want the Sabres to be good again so that kind of stuff recedes into the background (as many want the Sabres to be good again so they don't have to hear me bitching about Terry — but at least I've given it a rest of late).

Look at Bills talk today. There's chatter about where The Interception fits into team lore. Is anybody really up for "Joe Blow should be the LOLB!"

We've forgotten what it's all about.

I am certainly as guilty as anyone of the tiresome over-analysis, but couldn't agree more.

[inkman]

I need the title of this thread to be “What is Ralph Krueger’s system and why does it suck?”

[SwampD]

45 minutes ago, inkman said:

I need the title of this thread to be “What is Ralph Krueger’s system and why does it suck?”

I thought it looked pretty good last game. We just didn’t score.

[inkman]

14 minutes ago, SwampD said:

I thought it looked pretty good last game. We just didn’t score.

So either the system sucks (because they didn’t score), the players suck (well we kinda know the answer to this) or A ROOKIE GOALIE PLAYING IN HIS FIRST NHL GAME NEARLY BLANKED THE SABRES.  

The punchline is getting old with this team. Maybe we’ll do the opposite of the last two seasons where we suck ass for the first 10 games then skate circles around the league for the last 46. 

[Norcal]

System looked ok tonight 

[spndnchz]

28 minutes ago, Norcal said:

System looked ok tonight 

It did. Tho I don’t think flyers were ready

[JohnC]

The Sabres have played three games and have come away with one win. That's disappointing. But its still too early in the season to come away with such a dire assessment that many are making. In the three games Buffalo has played they played well in two of them. Hockey can be such a fluky game where unintended deflections off a stick or skate can result in a score and a loss. 

The Sabres dominated this game. What does it mean? Not much, especially in this unusual season with a compressed schedule and altered conference. Let's just be a little more patient and see how things develop. 

[dudacek]

Three penalties taken in three games.

That’s one way to improve the penalty kill.

[Curt]

49 minutes ago, spndnchz said:

It did. Tho I don’t think flyers were ready

What’s this about the Flyers not being ready?  Why wouldn’t they be?

[dudacek]

14 minutes ago, Curt said:

What’s this about the Flyers not being ready?  Why wouldn’t they be?

I think people are underestimating the time it is going to take for all teams to get into daily rhythm.

And in this case, the Flyers had won two easy games and were about to play a team they had no reason to take seriously.

They will give us a better effort tomorrow.

Edited January 19, 2021 by dudacek

[triumph_communes]

They’ve has three games 

 

First was total skip by both sides. Still almost won if not for Hutton and Staal

 

Second we dominated play 5v5, got blanked badly on the PP, and didn’t have the bounces. The PP being bad with new players and shortened camp is hard to get fussy about

 

Third game, different team, played just as good as second game but this time rewarded. 
 

Over reactors post too much. It’s still too early to claim anything other than Hutton ducks and Staal has given up on hockey and we lost that trade 

[bob_sauve28]

The defense was really flying up ice last night. Risto was in deep on several forechecks 

[LGR4GM]

3 hours ago, triumph_communes said:

Over reactors post too much. It’s still too early to claim anything other than Hutton ducks and Staal has given up on hockey and we lost that trade 

Probably too soon for that. 

Of course they weren't going to play the entire season like game 1 but in a zero sum season with limited games, Kreuger needed to have them ready and didn't. The good news is they looked better last night. Let's see if they look good tonight and let's see if Krueger stops being an idiot and puts Skinner with Cozens. 

Edited January 19, 2021 by LGR4GM

[GASabresIUFAN]

3 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

Probably too soon for that. 

Of course they weren't going to play the entire season like game 1 but in a zero sum season with limited games, Kreuger needed to have them ready and didn't. The good news is they looked better last night. Let's see if they look good tonight and let's see if Krueger stops being an idiot and puts Skinner with Cozens. 

Doubtful. Skinner is in purgatory and now that Lazar scored RK feels vindicated.

I think we need some patience w Staal; new system, new team, new teammates and a short camp to learn everything.  The only person he’s played with is Skinner, which is another reason it was stupid to demote Skinner to the 4th line, but I digress.  

Please don’t compare Hall.  He knew RK, RK’s principals and he’s playing with Jack. 

Staal’s performance so far does raise an interesting question.  We essentially have 5 new forwards; Hall, Staal, Sheahan, Thompson and Cozens.  In this short season, it will be an interesting to monitor how quickly the new guys adjust to their new team or to life in the NHL for the kids.

 

Edited January 19, 2021 by GASabresIUFAN

[JohnC]

7 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Doubtful. Skinner is in purgatory and now that Lazar scored RK feels vindicated.

I think we need some patience w Staal; new system, new team, new teammates and a short camp to learn everything.  The only person he’s played with is Skinner, which is another reason it was stupid to demote Skinner to the 4th line, but I digress.  

Please don’t compare Hall.  One, he knew RK, RK’s principals and two, he’s playing with Jack. 

Staal’s performance so far does raise an interesting question.  We essentially have 5 new forwards; Hall, Staal, Sheahan, Thompson and Cozens.  In this short season, it will be an interesting to monitor how quickly the new guys adjust to their new team or to life in the NHL for the kids.

 

In last night's game it would be an exaggeration to say that Thompson and/or Cozens stood out. On the other hand it is fair to say that both players played at a level that showed that they belonged. So the hope is that there is plenty of room for growth without subjecting the team to damaging lapses while undergoing the expected uneven growth process. 

[Norcal]

So what is the system? Is there a name for it? 

 

[dudacek]

What do people think about the changes in the power play?

I'm liking the active rotation between slots: Sam sliding up to the half-wall, Jack and Vic switching sides. It's much less predictable.

Also, Hall's power and passing ability are adding options from the bumper that Skinner/Risto etc. didn't offer last year.

Finally, the 2nd unit looks like it has some juice too.

[DarthEbriate]

43 minutes ago, Norcal said:

So what is the system? Is there a name for it?

RK's not a system; he's a man.

[GASabresIUFAN]

2 hours ago, JohnC said:

In last night's game it would be an exaggeration to say that Thompson and/or Cozens stood out. On the other hand it is fair to say that both players played at a level that showed that they belonged. So the hope is that there is plenty of room for growth without subjecting the team to damaging lapses while undergoing the expected uneven growth process. 

Cozens just needs one shot to go in and he'll be off to the races.

[GASabresIUFAN]

38 minutes ago, dudacek said:

What do people think about the changes in the power play?

I'm liking the active rotation between slots: Sam sliding up to the half-wall, Jack and Vic switching sides. It's much less predictable.

Also, Hall's power and passing ability are adding options from the bumper that Skinner/Risto etc. didn't offer last year.

Finally, the 2nd unit looks like it has some juice too.

They also started getting below the D and moving the puck quicker east/west.  Amazing what happens when you force the PKers out of their box with quick puck movement.

[SwampD]

46 minutes ago, dudacek said:

What do people think about the changes in the power play?

I'm liking the active rotation between slots: Sam sliding up to the half-wall, Jack and Vic switching sides. It's much less predictable.

Also, Hall's power and passing ability are adding options from the bumper that Skinner/Risto etc. didn't offer last year.

Finally, the 2nd unit looks like it has some juice too.

I agree with all of this. I does seem to come with a little bit more risk, though. With only the one guy at the blue line, I see us giving up more shorthanded chances.

[JohnC]

1 minute ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Cozens just needs one shot to go in and he'll be off to the races.

I'm really excited about him. I'm hoping he follows the Chicago Kirby Dach model where the more he plays the better he gets and the more responsibility he is given. Their styles of play are certainly different but both youngsters are so much more advanced beyond their peer group. 

I'm also optimistic about Tage. It's not so much that he is shining on the ice as it is that he doesn't look out of place. As he has gained physical maturity its obvious that he is not in over his head. From what I have seen so far I'm more positive that his potential is likely to be realized. The moral of the story is that it takes time to develop.