GDT: Buffalo at Boston Apr. 13, 2021 • 7:00PM ET MSG-B WGR

[Drag0nDan]

Okposo finally plays well.  Put him back with eakin... aaaaand tank

[Doohicksie]

1 minute ago, Drag0nDan said:

Okposo finally plays well.  Put him back with eakin... aaaaand tank

I think it will work the other way around.  Yes Eakin is useless, but I bet Okie gets an assist on a Rieder goal tonight.

[LTS]

It will be interesting how the Sabres players play against Hall.

If they didn't like him you can see them going out of their way to make his life miserable on the ice.  Whereas, if they did, they'll just play it more normal.  I would think anyway.  I know I would do that.

But either way.. it'll be interesting to see what happens.

[sabremike]

49 minutes ago, Thorny said:

Skinner - Reinhart - Olofsson

Asplund - Mittelstadt - Thompson

Ruotsalainen - Cozens - Bjork

Rieder - Eakin - Okposo

 

Line-up looks reasonably fun to look at, in a development sense, in the top 9. Eakin jumps out horrendously on L4. 

 

They reunited the REO Deathwagon Line, YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Broken Ankles]

Ma$$hole Wipes 

p.s. FU T. Hall

Edited April 13, 2021 by Broken Ankles

[inkman]

11 minutes ago, SDS said:

If this discussion on FO% is legitimate, Sam could easily up his numbers tremendously in one off-season. Taking face offs does not require some elite gift. It’s just practice.

It was definitely not legitimate on my part. 

[Thorner]

^^^

3 minutes ago, sabremike said:

They reunited the REO Deathwagon Line, YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

just my guess haha sry 

Edited April 13, 2021 by Thorny

[Mustache of God]

Why is Eakin even playing? Is Sheahan hurt?

[Norcal]

29 minutes ago, SDS said:

This may rate 100 for the fans, but I bet it rates a flat zero for former teammates.

Traded players seem to be amazing the first time they step on the ice with their new teams, before falling into whatever groove they get themselves in.

Yeah, because they are playing with emotion. You just backed into my point. 

[Doohicksie]

4 minutes ago, Mustache of God said:

Why is Eakin even playing? Is Sheahan hurt?

We don't know, that's just Thorny's guess at the lineup.

[Norcal]

2 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

We don't know, that's just Thorny's guess at the lineup.

Reider is out tonight 

[Thorner]

Has Eakin been a healthy scratch once? 

[Huckleberry]

5-0 for the good guys :p

[tom webster]

49 minutes ago, inkman said:

Obviously with Sam’s FO %, he can’t play center in the league. 

In all seriousness, I think it’s his play in the defensive zone that eliminates him except for occasional, on an as needed basis.

[SDS]

23 minutes ago, Norcal said:

Yeah, because they are playing with emotion. You just backed into my point. 

I didn’t know if you were referring to the traded players or both teams in general. I don’t think you’re going to see anything from anybody other than the players hitting the ice. No one’s taking a run at Taylor Hall or fighting him or any of these other fan wishes.

[Sabre fan]

Just now, SDS said:

I didn’t know if you were referring to the traded players or both teams in general. I don’t think you’re going to see anything from anybody other than the players hitting the ice. No one’s taking a run at Taylor Hall or fighting him or any of these other fan wishes.

true enough...we don't have anybody you could take a run at Hall..other then Risto who will if given the chance anyways

[dudacek]

37 minutes ago, Drag0nDan said:

Okposo finally plays well.  Put him back with eakin... aaaaand tank

 

35 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

I think it will work the other way around.  Yes Eakin is useless, but I bet Okie gets an assist on a Rieder goal tonight.

The numbers may not back this up, but my sense is Eakin has been almost adequate without Kyle, and Kyle has been OK (and recently pretty good) without Cody.

Put them together and it is an absolute disaster.

[Mustache of God]

1 minute ago, dudacek said:

 

The numbers may not back this up, but my sense is Eakin has been almost adequate without Kyle, and Kyle has been OK (and recently pretty good) without Cody.

Put them together and it is an absolute disaster.

Okposo has quietly been earning his contract with 13 points in his last 15 games.

[Norcal]

3 minutes ago, SDS said:

I didn’t know if you were referring to the traded players or both teams in general. I don’t think you’re going to see anything from anybody other than the players hitting the ice. No one’s taking a run at Taylor Hall or fighting him or any of these other fan wishes.

I dont think they should beat him up but if Risto gets a chance to deliver a nice legal snot producing check I'm not gonna be mad. 

[SDS]

2 minutes ago, Norcal said:

I dont think they should beat him up but if Risto gets a chance to deliver a nice legal snot producing check I'm not gonna be mad. 

As I said, whatever the fans are feeling I don’t believe for one minute former teammates carry the same sentiment. If he gets hit by a former teammate it’s going to be because it was the right decision at the time and not because they’re mad about something. 

[Norcal]

Just now, SDS said:

As I said, whatever the fans are feeling I don’t believe for one minute former teammates carry the same sentiment. If he gets hit by a former teammate it’s going to be because it was the right place at the time and not because they’re mad about something. 

Ok

[SDS]

6 minutes ago, Sabre fan said:

true enough...we don't have anybody you could take a run at Hall..other then Risto who will if given the chance anyways

Take a run at players? Are we playing parody hockey? The reason why no one‘s going to take a run at Taylor Hall is because we don’t have the “right” players? It’s not because there’s actually nothing to see here and the Sabres and Taylor Hall abided by the spirit of the agreement they both agreed upon?

[KC Scouts]

3 minutes ago, SDS said:

As I said, whatever the fans are feeling I don’t believe for one minute former teammates carry the same sentiment. If he gets hit by a former teammate it’s going to be because it was the right decision at the time and not because they’re mad about something. 

This is right on. You never need an excuse to hit someone, but Its a quick decision not premeditated.  

[dudacek]

1 minute ago, tom webster said:

In all seriousness, I think it’s his play in the defensive zone that eliminates him except for occasional, on an as needed basis.

I find it difficult to discuss defensive play because people tend to have a wide variety of reference frames.

I think the people who define defence as puck pressure, blocking shots, taking the body, and similar positive acts of aggression are rightly down on Sam's defence.

And I think people who define it as covering for teammates, being on the right side of the puck, getting it out of the zone and other positive acts of positioning are rightly high on it.

Sam correctly recognizing a bad pinch, rotating back to be an a position to help break up the resulting rush is a signature move. It's just that he sometimes doesn't make the play when he gets there and you see him a stride behind the guy scoring the goal.

Lack of urgency is his both his gift and his curse.

[Randall Flagg]

8 minutes ago, SDS said:

As I said, whatever the fans are feeling I don’t believe for one minute former teammates carry the same sentiment. If he gets hit by a former teammate it’s going to be because it was the right decision at the time and not because they’re mad about something. 

You think Risto is a pragmatic robot that makes decisions entirely void of emotion in the heat of the game? That it's just a coincidence that, for example, he goes after Ovechkin almost every Caps game? 

I don't think Risto would hit Hall out of anger. Do the odds that he finishes a check and adds a little more focus/effort to it increase if he sees Hall in his sights, due to emotions that aren't just "grrr hall make me mad"? Almost certainly, that kind of stuff happens in sports all of the time, going all the way back to elementary school gym class lol.