We should trade Risto and sign Dougie Hamilton

[Hoss]

1 hour ago, Eleven said:

The team needs a goaltender.  That is not going to be cheap.  The current defense, if healthy, is more than fine in front of a very good goaltender.  

I don’t think this is accurate. I think the defense needs a shakeup (as does every position on the ice if Jack/Samson are indeed leaving) but the improvement doesn’t have to come at a Dougie Hamilton cost.

[SwampD]

32 minutes ago, Hoss said:

I don’t think this is accurate. I think the defense needs a shakeup (as does every position on the ice if Jack/Samson are indeed leaving) but the improvement doesn’t have to come at a Dougie Hamilton cost.

Our problem is, and has been, forward scoring. We may even have set a record.

[Randall Flagg]

17 minutes ago, SwampD said:

Our problem is, and has been, forward scoring. We may even have set a record.

I posted this during the season and it didn't really pick up the steam I thought it would. Before the losing streak even started, the Sabres played 7 straight games, and like 23 consecutive periods or something, in which their only goals came on the power play or on point shots. 

[SwampD]

Just now, Randall Flagg said:

I posted this during the season and it didn't really pick up the steam I thought it would. Before the losing streak even started, the Sabres played 7 straight games, and like 23 consecutive periods or something, in which their only goals came on the power play or on point shots. 

Yep, but let’s trade Risto, cuz he’s the problem. Or even better, let’s get rid of the only two guys on the team to score because we Tanked for them. Brilliant.

[LGR4GM]

10 minutes ago, SwampD said:

Yep, but let’s trade Risto, cuz he’s the problem. Or even better, let’s get rid of the only two guys on the team to score because we Tanked for them. Brilliant.

Ristolainen is 100% part of the problem with this team. 

15 minutes ago, Randall Flagg said:

I posted this during the season and it didn't really pick up the steam I thought it would. Before the losing streak even started, the Sabres played 7 straight games, and like 23 consecutive periods or something, in which their only goals came on the power play or on point shots. 

Yea, Krueger completely shut down transition hockey

[PerreaultForever]

2 hours ago, nfreeman said:

This is where I am too, except for FA goalies, because I think the musical chairs game and the mentality of the players are both different from those of skaters.  

yes I agree. Goalies are a different breed. 

[SwampD]

6 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Ristolainen is 100% part of the problem with this team. 

I believe 100% that you think this is true.

[LGR4GM]

3 minutes ago, SwampD said:

I believe 100% that you think this is true.

What a great conversation, so glad you post here adding your dizzying intellect to our humdrum little board. 

[SwampD]

4 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

What a great conversation, so glad you post here adding your dizzying intellect to our humdrum little board. 

Yes. You adding, for the thousandth time that you hate Risto really elevated the conversation.

Edited June 15, 2021 by SwampD

[Zamboni]

4 minutes ago, SwampD said:

Yes. You adding, for the thousandth time that you hate Risto really elevated the conversation.

I’d rather have that convo than the ignorant “Reinhart sucks because he falls down a lot, doesn’t check, and skates slow” tired rhetoric. Or overly stale no longer funny Tage is a giraffe posts. Yawn … 😂

[LGR4GM]

Tage is a giraffe!?!?

Explains why he's mediocre at hockey

[SwampD]

2 minutes ago, Zamboni said:

I’d rather have that convo than the ignorant “Reinhart sucks because he falls down a lot, doesn’t check, and skates slow” tired rhetoric. Or overly stale no longer funny Tage is a giraffe posts. Yawn … 😂

I hate those giraffe posts. They stopped being funny a while ago. (But I’ll bet they get funny again after a couple more months.)

But LGR is overly dramatic and gets butthurt whenever someone calls him out on it.

Here’s his quote, “Ristolainen is 100% part of the problem with this team.” What does that even mean? Does it mean that there is a 100% chance that if Risto was better, then the Sabres would be better?... I mean, this is most likely true,... how could it not be?

Or does it mean what I think he means that Risto is 100% the problem? As in, get rid of him and the Sabres are good? That is laughable. We just don’t score and have iced AHL level forwards for 8 years.

 

[Hoss]

1 hour ago, SwampD said:

Our problem is, and has been, forward scoring. We may even have set a record.

That is absolutely correct but there is still room for improvement all over the ice.

[Randall Flagg]

3 minutes ago, SwampD said:

I hate those giraffe posts. They stopped being funny a while ago. (But I’ll bet they get funny again after a couple more months.)

But LGR is overly dramatic and gets butthurt whenever someone calls him out on it.

Here’s his quote, “Ristolainen is 100% part of the problem with this team.” What does that even mean? Does it mean that there is a 100% chance that if Risto was better, then the Sabres would be better?... I mean, this is most likely true,... how could it not be?

Or does it mean what I think he means that Risto is 100% the problem? As in, get rid of him and the Sabres are good? That is laughable. We just don’t score and have iced AHL level forwards for 8 years.

 

he's been doing those for years on hfboards. It's definitely hit the point where it's funny again to me

 

[SwampD]

2 minutes ago, Randall Flagg said:

he's been doing those for years on hfboards. It's definitely hit the point where it's funny again to me

 

Comedy by attrition.

[Zamboni]

2 hours ago, SwampD said:

Comedy by attrition.

Or 

 

[SwampD]

2 minutes ago, Zamboni said:

Or 

 

That’s not funny?

[Claude Balls]

Let's get rid of Risto and bring in Hamilton? Sure, let's take a soft team and somehow make it softer. No thanks. 

I was reading a Bruins board and the fans were all complaining that the reason they lost to the Isles was that they were too soft. They say their biggest need is toughness. This coming from Boston fans. Imagine if they tried icing a team like the Sabres?? 

[steveoath]

How do we feel about giraffopusses?

 

[LabattBlue]

9 hours ago, Randall Flagg said:

he's been doing those for years on hfboards. It's definitely hit the point where it's funny again to me

 

The giraffe thing is stupid.  Always has been. 

[PerreaultForever]

On 6/14/2021 at 5:45 PM, Eleven said:

The team needs a goaltender.  That is not going to be cheap.  The current defense, if healthy, is more than fine in front of a very good goaltender.  

Equally however, a decent mid level goalie looks much better behind a great D. 

Who were the stars in the last 2 playoff games? First Pieterangelo (and their entire D really) and tonight Hedman. 

[LGR4GM]

On 6/15/2021 at 6:16 AM, Claude Balls said:

Let's get rid of Risto and bring in Hamilton? Sure, let's take a soft team and somehow make it softer. No thanks. 

I was reading a Bruins board and the fans were all complaining that the reason they lost to the Isles was that they were too soft. They say their biggest need is toughness. This coming from Boston fans. Imagine if they tried icing a team like the Sabres?? 

Imagine thinking that the reason they lost is softness and not a lack of talent (it's a lack of talent for Boston, they are getting old). 

[LGR4GM]

On 6/14/2021 at 11:36 PM, SwampD said:

I hate those giraffe posts. They stopped being funny a while ago. (But I’ll bet they get funny again after a couple more months.)

But LGR is overly dramatic and gets butthurt whenever someone calls him out on it.

Here’s his quote, “Ristolainen is 100% part of the problem with this team.” What does that even mean? Does it mean that there is a 100% chance that if Risto was better, then the Sabres would be better?... I mean, this is most likely true,... how could it not be?

Or does it mean what I think he means that Risto is 100% the problem? As in, get rid of him and the Sabres are good? That is laughable. We just don’t score and have iced AHL level forwards for 8 years.

 

I know reading is hard. The bolded is fun though in that that is the conclusion you came to. 

Ristolainen is 100% part of the problem... that means that Ristolainen as a player in his entirety, is part of the Sabres problem. Risto isn't that good and the fact we have to argue this every summer is hilarious. Jack Eichel, TRADE HIM the ppl cry he isn't a leader. Sam Reinhart, TRADE HIM the ppl cry he isn't tough. Risto, WAIT! He is big and sometimes hits things, we need him. He's a 2nd pairing defender who can only be successful with a better defensive linemate. Coaches will ride him because the eye test shows him hitting things and being mixed up in most plays but if you actually break his game down... Risto is only in the correct position sometimes (I won't use a percentage because you will whine about that percentage and what it means) this leads his defensive partner to have to cover for him when he suddenly just vacates space or makes the wrong read. His first instinct is to rim the puck out or try a long pass to clear the zone. He isn't a great passer, his reads are just ok, and he often rims the puck out with no pressure around him. He will never hit the point totals he did previously because Dahlin has supplanted him on the PP1. The idea of planting him in front of the net on the PP should have died because he lacks the hands necessary for tips. 

Ristolainen is not a good hockey player and he isn't going to get better. The Sabres over-reliance on him has been part of their problem. The player himself is 100% a problem because he has basically said he doesn't want to be here and he has never been properly slotted on the 2nd pairing where he belongs with a partner (McCabe) who can cover for his deficiencies. 

I actually like Risto. I think he's been a good soldier for this team and a good teammate and leader in the locker room but if it is time to move on from Jack Eichel and Sam Reinhart then it is time to move on from Ristolainen. Will the Sabres be good if they move Risto and nothing else, hell no. But Ristolainen is a systematic part of the problem this team has and continues to have. Trade him now and move on. 

[SwampD]

I don’t think 100% means what you think it means.

It’s like saying literally when you don’t mean literally.

[SwampD]

I’d love to see numbers that Risto rims the puck out any more than any other defensemen on any other team. Not saying you are wrong, just curious if the numbers match your I test.

And Risto is still the best on the team at tying up a forward on those 50/50 pucks, where a teammate then gets the puck, a play that happens way more often than him rimming the puck out with no stat.