GDT: 3/31/21 Filthydelphia Flyers vs. Buffalo Sabres. TV 7:30 on NBCSN, radio WGR550.

[Curt]

16 minutes ago, SDS said:

I don’t really know what that means. 🤷🏻

Do a GM thing and acquire a better player.  I’m guessing.

[SDS]

2 minutes ago, Curt said:

Do a GM thing and acquire a better player.  I’m guessing.

😕 That happens how often in the course of an 82 game season? That isn’t even remotely realistic in short stretches of games. 

[Doohicksie]

Just watched the Granato postgame.  So much better to watch that Blowhard Krueger.  With Granato everything is about the team, he said he didn't have to pep talk them for the third, he just handed the game over to the players because "they knew what to do."  Marveled at how hard they worked and how eager they were.

 

 

But yeah, Krueger was supposed to be a master motivator....

Edited April 1, 2021 by Doohickie

[Doohicksie]

1 hour ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

4. Bryson is the future Captain of this team.

There was a time when we weren't sure who the captains were for lack of obvious leaders.  This new crew coming up is the opposite.

[Doohicksie]

1 hour ago, LGR4GM said:

Did Reinhart act as a center?

He's been driving a line for some time now.

1 hour ago, Flashsabre said:

keep Mitts at centre the rest of the season.  Again, he is having hiccups here and there but there is real growth from him each game.

He finally looks like a real NHLer.  It's not just the flashy offensive stuff either.  He's becoming hard to play against.  His board work has improved a lot.

[Doohicksie]

2 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

RK has replaced TM as my most disliked Sabres coach, player or GM of all time after Viktor Kozlov.

Viktor Kozlov?

[GASabresIUFAN]

9 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

He's been driving a line for some time now.

He finally looks like a real NHLer.  It's not just the flashy offensive stuff either.  He's becoming hard to play against.  His board work has improved a lot.

And he back-checks.

[Doohicksie]

Mittsy?  Yes, very responsible 2-way player now.

[sabremike]

11 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

He's been driving a line for some time now.

He finally looks like a real NHLer.  It's not just the flashy offensive stuff either.  He's becoming hard to play against.  His board work has improved a lot.

He is also The Giraffe Whisperer as well!

 

[GASabresIUFAN]

2 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

Viktor Kozlov?

Slava.  

[Doohicksie]

TT is making great strides too, yeah.

SEE WHAT I DID THERE?

[sabremike]

Just now, Doohickie said:

TT is making great strides too, yeah.

SEE WHAT I DID THERE?

[Figster]

I think its next to impossible to get an accurate assessment of the players because of the way the season has gone IMO. Any of them. (not named Hall or Hutton) It seems fairly obvious now coaching may have been one of the biggest problems. Adequate goaltending backing up Ullmark another big problem. All the make up games getting crammed together another big problem. Body language can be misleading when everything is going wrong in front of you. (and behind you) As captain adding insult to injury ( Jack )

Myself personally, I'm not a fan of blowing the team up. We have good players IMO. I am a fan of playing the rest of the season out and judging the players and coaches by how well they finish the season.  I hope Terry Pegula and Sabres management feels the same. McDermott was a complete unknown when it came to HC in the NFL. Who's to say the same thing can't happen with the Sabres. 

On paper the Sabres are a better hockey team . I think they finally showed it tonight.

[Doohicksie]

4 minutes ago, Figster said:

Myself personally, I'm not a fan of blowing the team up. We have good players IMO. I am a fan of playing the rest of the season out and judging the players and coaches by how well they finish the season. 

This is exactly why I wanted RFK out of there.  We need several games to figure what we have, who works with whom, and who needs to go.  For instance, Rieder isn't the biggest game changer but he certainly plays the game right:  Fast, moves his feet, plays with purpose.  We need others like this.

I also like to think a silver lining to Jack's injury is that the team isn't taking cues from him, waiting for him to save things.  They're learning how to win as a bunch of near-nobodies.  Add a point-per-game player to that next year and we might actually be good.

[Figster]

2 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

This is exactly why I wanted RFK out of there.  We need several games to figure what we have, who works with whom, and who needs to go.  For instance, Rieder isn't the biggest game changer but he certainly plays the game right:  Fast, moves his feet, plays with purpose.  We need others like this.

I also like to think a silver lining to Jack's injury is that the team isn't taking cues from him, waiting for him to save things.  They're learning how to win as a bunch of near-nobodies.  Add a point-per-game player to that next year and we might actually be good.

Is there a rule that says your most talented player needs to wear a C? I think not. Perhaps thats part of the problem. 

[Randall Flagg]

One of the games that reminds you we can play with teams and with some skill when we aren't playing timid, unconfident, and second guessing every move. I do believe that if the Covid break didn't happen, and Jack stayed healthy, this team would have been ~25th or so rather than the worst in many years. 

And if we hadn't spent several consecutive seasons allowing insane stretches of losing hockey destroy the good things we had built, maybe it wouldn't have gotten to this point too. I do think that Jason's choice to sit on his hands after building critically flawed rosters created conditions that embedded in the psyche of a lot of these players 

It's easier to lose 14 in a row when you've seen your team go on insane streaks this time of year often 

[Doohicksie]

1 minute ago, Figster said:

Is there a rule that says your most talented player needs to wear a C? I think not. Perhaps thats part of the problem. 

I kind of agree, but once he gets it, giving it to someone else is a thorny issue.  If he relinquishes it he can be labeled a quitter.  If it's taken from him he's a martyr.  I'm not sure it's really that important who wears the C but it can be a PR problem if he gives it up or loses it.

[dudacek]

1 hour ago, SDS said:

I don’t really know what that means. 🤷🏻

I'm not sure what's confusing.

You've got 40 guys under contract, each of them starts the year pegged for a certain role. When it becomes clear a player is sucking in that role, give someone else a shot.

In the context of my original post, if after 20 games, the team's not winning, Taylor Hall isn't producing, and Taylor Hall isn't trying, why keep sending Taylor Hall out as your first-line winger? Give somebody else a shot in that role.

And yes, if too many players are failing, you have a problem, and yes you have to get new ones, and yes, that takes time.

Edited April 1, 2021 by dudacek

[Hoss]

3 hours ago, Claude Balls said:

Last time I heard Pierre praise a rookie defenseman, was him talking about Dougie Hamilton in Boston. He missed on that one, hopefully he's right about Bryson. 

Dougie Hamilton is good.

[Figster]

1 minute ago, Doohickie said:

I kind of agree, but once he gets it, giving it to someone else is a thorny issue.  If he relinquishes it he can be labeled a quitter.  If it's taken from him he's a martyr.  I'm not sure it's really that important who wears the C but it can be a PR problem if he gives it up or loses it.

So you deal with the PR problem and Jacks hurt feelings for the betterment of the team IMO. 5 years of sub par team hockey dictates a change in leadership. Sometimes highly talented players doesn't equate to good leadership for the team.

[Randall Flagg]

I wanna believe in Bryson, baby. Love the way that guy plays. Looks just like those late pick defensemen that come out of nowhere for other teams, and we always wonder "why can't we ever get a prospect that does that" 

[Marvin]

20 minutes ago, Figster said:

Is there a rule that says your most talented player needs to wear a C? I think not. Perhaps thats part of the problem. 

I will never forgive DDB for underming if not destroying the natural leadership that Zemgus and Larry had.  I had hoped there would be a natural evolution from them to ROR to Eichel and Sam.

[Figster]

1 hour ago, SDS said:

I don’t really know what that means. 🤷🏻

Ever hear the expression an honest days work for an honest days pay?

[pi2000]

3 hours ago, Pimlach said:

RK failed the two basics going back to youth hockey.  
 

1.  Game day conditioning was so poor - he should have skated them more 

2. Skills - we saw their passing and basic fundamentals atrophy.  He did not work them in the limited practices.  You play how you practice.   You have to correct mistakes all the time.  

I agree with this.

What's alarming about this is that Adams watches practices, he's around the team, he sees how RK is coaching these guys.... which begs the question, what took so long for KA to pull the trigger on firing Krueger?    

When Granato took over he knew exactly what they needed to do to get better.     The fact that KA didn't recognize this sooner reflects poorly on him.

[Figster]

26 minutes ago, Randall Flagg said:

I wanna believe in Bryson, baby. Love the way that guy plays. Looks just like those late pick defensemen that come out of nowhere for other teams, and we always wonder "why can't we ever get a prospect that does that" 

Awww man, Bryson looked so calm, cool and collected. The kind of play other players can feed off of IMO.

Edited April 1, 2021 by Figster