GDT Buffalo at Boston 4/29/21 7pm MSG, WGR550?

[KC Scouts]

Granato shine has worn off. Let hope the coach search is getting the requisite attention from the powers that be.

[Zamboni]

  On 4/30/2021 at 2:39 AM, KC Scouts said:

Granato shine has worn off. Let hope the coach search is getting the requisite attention from the powers that be.

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For some ... the shine was never there.  He’s seems like a very nice guy. Decent coach. I just want more.

[KC Scouts]

  On 4/30/2021 at 2:42 AM, Zamboni said:

For some ... the shine was never there.  He’s seems like a very nice guy. Decent coach. I just want more.

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Yeah, the bar was pretty low after Ralphie. A flash of fools gold

[LGR4GM]

Just remember, this is a talent deficiency. 

Also saw the Dahlin Jokiharju clip... yikes. 

[darksabre]

  On 4/30/2021 at 2:39 AM, KC Scouts said:

Granato shine has worn off. Let hope the coach search is getting the requisite attention from the powers that be.

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I'm not so sure. I think they're still playing good hockey, they're just losing. It's a marked difference from Krueger where they just flat out sucked to watch.

[PerreaultForever]

  On 4/30/2021 at 2:29 AM, Andrew Amerk said:

This is just wrong. Who are you rooting for?

Cooke > Avery > Marchand > McSorely 

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This is silly. Marchand is an incredibly talented player. One of the best in the game. If he was a Sabre you'd absolutely love him and his jersey would be a best seller. 

So ya, you hate him cause he's one of them, but he doesn't fit in that list at all. 

[nucci]

  On 4/30/2021 at 2:39 AM, KC Scouts said:

Granato shine has worn off. Let hope the coach search is getting the requisite attention from the powers that be.

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we also need better players.

[steveoath]

  On 4/30/2021 at 9:35 AM, nucci said:

we also need better players.

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That would be nice

[Radar]

  On 4/30/2021 at 2:39 AM, KC Scouts said:

Granato shine has worn off. Let hope the coach search is getting the requisite attention from the powers that be.

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What your seeing is not shine off coaching but players being outplayed by better team. This still even in it's losses is a much better play than before coaching change. 

[Thorner]

  On 4/30/2021 at 3:16 AM, darksabre said:

I'm not so sure. I think they're still playing good hockey, they're just losing. It's a marked difference from Krueger where they just flat out sucked to watch.

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A comment on the ineptitude of Krueger much more so than the aptitude of Granato

.370 points percentage is not good hockey. If we were playing good hockey, we wouldn't be playing at a last place pace since Granato took over

[nfreeman]

I watched the entire game and was entertained throughout.  The Sabres played hard and made quite a few nice plays.  They were beaten by a better team.

One thing I've noticed, which jibes with what I've heard from Granato in interviews, is that the players are trying many more risky plays to keep possession or create chances than they did previously.  The approach has produced many more scoring chances for the Sabres, but also more chances the other way -- e.g. Boston's 1st goal resulted from a turnover in the neutral zone when Dahlin attempted a nifty move, and their 3rd goal came on a similar play when Reino turned it over in the neutral zone and Kreijci dusted both Dahlin and Joki.

It's more enjoyable to watch, and the players seem to enjoy it more, but I'm not sure it can deliver a winning record.

[Thorner]

  On 4/30/2021 at 9:35 AM, nucci said:

we also need better players.

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Definitely. Maybe this will put to rest the "let it ride" nature of some of the current roster projections for next season

[LGR4GM]

  On 4/30/2021 at 1:04 PM, Thorny said:

Definitely. Maybe this will put to rest the "let it ride" nature of some of the current roster projections for next season

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Hopefully it puts to rest the idea of trading Jack Eichel. 

[Drag0nDan]

  On 4/30/2021 at 2:46 AM, LGR4GM said:

Just remember, this is a talent deficiency. 

Also saw the Dahlin Jokiharju clip... yikes. 

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Yeah.. they had a rough little 3rd period.  Reinhart had a brutal turnover that put them in the hole too.  He tried to play it cross ice to the dman even though he could see coyles stick in the lane.  Either play it into the zone or take it to the wall... cant be doing that.

[Drag0nDan]

  On 4/30/2021 at 1:01 PM, Thorny said:

A comment on the ineptitude of Krueger much more so than the aptitude of Granato

.370 points percentage is not good hockey. If we were playing good hockey, we wouldn't be playing at a last place pace since Granato took over

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I think its possible to play good hockey and still lose when you have cozens, borgen, bryson, samuelsson, R2 playing a lot of minutes.  That's 5 rookies.  Combine that with younger players like mitts, asplund and thompson.  And JAGs like sheahan, rieder, and caggiula.  They are the least talented team on the ice almost every game.

[bunomatic]

  On 4/30/2021 at 1:22 PM, Drag0nDan said:

I think its possible to play good hockey and still lose when you have cozens, borgen, bryson, samuelsson, R2 playing a lot of minutes.  That's 5 rookies.  Combine that with younger players like mitts, asplund and thompson.  And JAGs like sheahan, rieder, and caggiula.  They are the least talented team on the ice almost every game.

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They are also missing some of our best players to injury. Take the players off the Bruins who are comparably important and its a different story imo. I haven’t seen a coach that has had his team ready to play every game like meatballs has in years. And its an enjoyable style of play. Win or lose these kids are making strides.

[dudacek]

  On 4/30/2021 at 1:03 PM, nfreeman said:

I watched the entire game and was entertained throughout.  The Sabres played hard and made quite a few nice plays.  They were beaten by a better team.

One thing I've noticed, which jibes with what I've heard from Granato in interviews, is that the players are trying many more risky plays to keep possession or create chances than they did previously.  The approach has produced many more scoring chances for the Sabres, but also more chances the other way -- e.g. Boston's 1st goal resulted from a turnover in the neutral zone when Dahlin attempted a nifty move, and their 3rd goal came on a similar play when Reino turned it over in the neutral zone and Kreijci dusted both Dahlin and Joki.

It's more enjoyable to watch, and the players seem to enjoy it more, but I'm not sure it can deliver a winning record.

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I think many Sabres needed to discover they are capable of making risky plays at this level. How do you reach your limits without being able to explore them?

I do agree the risk will have to be dialed back at some point, but what I'm increasingly seeing is that the Sabres don't have enough horses up front to maintain this style. Casey and Sam have combined for 20 goals in the past month. The other 10 forwards have 21.

Jack should make a difference. But Bjork, Skinner, Caggiula, Rieder and Sheahan are JAGs and Thompson, Asplund and R2 might be too.

That's too many.

Edited April 30, 2021 by dudacek

[LGR4GM]

  On 4/30/2021 at 1:59 PM, dudacek said:

I think many Sabres needed to discover they are capable of making risky plays at this level. How do you reach your limits without being able to explore them?

I do agree the risk will have to be dialed back at some point, but what I'm increasingly seeing is that the Sabres don't have enough horses up front to maintain this style. Casey and Sam have combined for 20 goals in the past month. The other 10 forwards have 21.

Jack should make a difference. But Bjork, Skinner, Caggiula, Rieder and Sheahan are JAGs and Thompson, Asplund and R2 might be too.

That's too many.

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Yup. I hope Skinner can somehow be turned into a 40-50pt forward for the sake of that contract but I doubt it at this stage. 

I don't think R2 is a jag. He does a lot of little things right. 

[dudacek]

  On 4/30/2021 at 2:05 PM, LGR4GM said:

I don't think R2 is a jag. He does a lot of little things right. 

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He does, and I like him. It's very early.

[Weave]

  On 4/30/2021 at 1:59 PM, dudacek said:

I think many Sabres needed to discover they are capable of making risky plays at this level. How do you reach your limits without being able to explore them?

I do agree the risk will have to be dialed back at some point, but what I'm increasingly seeing is that the Sabres don't have enough horses up front to maintain this style. Casey and Sam have combined for 20 goals in the past month. The other 10 forwards have 21.

Jack should make a difference. But Bjork, Skinner, Caggiula, Rieder and Sheahan are JAGs and Thompson, Asplund and R2 might be too.

That's too many.

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IMO we’ll need more roster changes than Jack coming back.  I don’t see this team as a Jack away from running with Boston et al.  There should be no standing pat with this forward group.

[nfreeman]

  On 4/30/2021 at 2:05 PM, LGR4GM said:

Yup. I hope Skinner can somehow be turned into a 40-50pt forward for the sake of that contract but I doubt it at this stage. 

I don't think R2 is a jag. He does a lot of little things right. 

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  On 4/30/2021 at 2:08 PM, dudacek said:

He does, and I like him. It's very early.

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I too am quite taken with R2 (heh).  He has multiple skills, good hockey sense and a stout frame.

Skinner is a conundrum.  He seems to be creating chances and usually in the right place but seems to have lost 80% of his finishing ability -- and we're now at 2 (abbreviated and weird) seasons worth of that unfortunate and expensive state of affairs.

The jury's very much out on Bjork and TT.

I'd like to see a no-BS top-6 winger brought in this summer.

[Sabre fan]

  On 4/30/2021 at 1:30 PM, bunomatic said:

They are also missing some of our best players to injury. Take the players off the Bruins who are comparably important and its a different story imo. I haven’t seen a coach that has had his team ready to play every game like meatballs has in years. And its an enjoyable style of play. Win or lose these kids are making strides.

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WELL SAID...totally agree and I also love what someone else mentioned that DG has the team ready every game...use to hate how it seemed the team was not ready to play as we so often heard. A healthy Jack McCabe Linus (or at least two NHL goalies for next season) and clear out that brutal 4th line and get Gergs back and we should see a huge differnce

[Thorner]

  On 4/30/2021 at 2:22 PM, nfreeman said:

 

I too am quite taken with R2 (heh).  He has multiple skills, good hockey sense and a stout frame.

Skinner is a conundrum.  He seems to be creating chances and usually in the right place but seems to have lost 80% of his finishing ability -- and we're now at 2 (abbreviated and weird) seasons worth of that unfortunate and expensive state of affairs.

The jury's very much out on Bjork and TT.

I'd like to see a no-BS top-6 winger brought in this summer.

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And he’s played with Jack negligibly in those 2 seasons. The possibility Jack could ignite him is a factor from his past that keeps him out of a group that @dudacek wants to classify as JAGS. He’s not “just another guy”, he’s a guy that, from the point of view of this moment has a potential “out” from that classification, an out that is definitely worth exploring. 

If we give that a fair shake again and it busts, then fine, he’s JAG

[dudacek]

  On 4/30/2021 at 2:51 PM, Thorny said:

And he’s played with Jack negligibly in those 2 seasons. The possibility Jack could ignite him is a factor from his past that keeps him out of a group that @dudacek wants to classify as JAGS. He’s not “just another guy”, he’s a guy that, from the point of view of this moment has a potential “out” from that classification, an out that is definitely worth exploring. 

If we give that a fair shake again and it busts, then fine, he’s JAG

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He's spent the past month playing on the first line with Sam Reinhart, who is good and recently has been on fire. Jeff has scored 3 goals in 17 games.

I think that if a player can only rise above JAG status if he is nailed to the hip of one of the best players in the world, he's still a JAG.

Here's an interesting frame of reference: Casey Mittelstadt put up 17 goals and 22 assists in his first 114 NHL games and was sent to the minors. Jeff has 24 goals and 17 assists in his past 126 games.

[Thorner]

  On 4/30/2021 at 3:09 PM, dudacek said:

He's spent the past month playing on the first line with Sam Reinhart, who is good and recently has been on fire. Jeff has scored 3 goals in 17 games.

I think that if a player can only rise above JAG status if he is nailed to the hip of one of the best players in the world, he's still a JAG.

Here's an interesting frame of reference: Casey Mittelstadt put up 17 goals and 22 assists in his first 114 NHL games and was sent to the minors. Jeff has 24 goals and 17 assists in his past 126 games.

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But Mittelstadt was getting caved defensively and Skinner is not. This discussion can’t be framed purely from the perspective of points. It leaves out far too much of the equation.  

From all accounts Skinner seemed to mesh *particularly* well with Jack so playing him with Sam doesn’t eliminate that variable for me. 

Jeff is a goal scorer, no? How many assists does Sam have on his line?