GDT: The Wiley Coyotes 1pm Puck Drop. Harvest Festival.

[Carmel Corn]

1 hour ago, PerreaultForever said:

Yotes look more like a Ted Nolan style tank team to me. With all the draft picks they have and likely more at this year's deadline they will be able to build an interesting team around Wright if their plan works. Horrible hack hockey team right now. But....

Dahlin played really well. Granato might want to rethink his Jokiharju Dahlin pairing. This was the first game in a long while where I saw signs of Dahlin's potential future greatness. Nice to see.  Thompson's maybe okay at center after all. Overall, while I don't think this effort would win against a good team, it is really nice to see the comradery and team spirit developing. Actual smiles on faces. 

Cozen's inability to finish is starting to worry me a little but we shall see. Some real ineptitude in the OT from both sides but hey, nice shootout goals. Undefeated!

Best takeaway for me, is this team is passing the puck so much better than the last few years and playing with more unity. It's promising. 

 

Regarding the bold above....I dislike the pairing with Joki.  I wish we still had a true stay at home right side Dman to partner with Dahlin.

[JohnC]

Within this link from Sabres.com is an 8 min. postgame interview of Granato. He is a breath of fresh air with his ability to clearly answer the questions being asked. The word obfuscation is not in his vocabulary. What becomes clearly apparent in his interviews is that as a coach at his core he is a talent developer. He's the right coach for this team. 

https://www.nhl.com/sabres/news/buffalo-sabres-arizona-coyotes-recap-highlights-cody-eakin/c-326904964

 

[PickaPecaPickles]

Someone posted up-thread that it looks like the move to C for Thompson is panning out.  Watching today, I was thinking defensively he's kind of like Edmunds at MLB for the Bills in the sense that he's got such a long reach he is able to disrupt more plays coming up the middle than a shorter player would. 

More entertaining hockey today, and it could have easily been another blow out but for AZ's goaltender.

[PromoTheRobot]

 

 

[matter2003]

4 hours ago, JohnC said:

Some quick observations. The Sabres have played 6 periods. The style of gritty play has been consistent in all of the periods. 

Granato moving Thompson to center has worked. A really smart move that gave the gangly player more room to maneuver. 

Eakon has been very solid. He went from a scorned player to a player who has played well. He is an effort player.

Skinner is playing like a committed two way player. 

Bryson is coming on. When a young player plays well the near future looks much more upbeat. 

In two games the Sabres got not only good goaltending but also clutch backstopping. When that happens you can keep up in most games. 

I'm hoping the fans come back because the players are putting in the effort to win back their support. 

This team might deserve the fan support more than any other team over the last decade. They put in the work, are fun to watch and losses won't be for lack of effort.

That being said, I think there might be less losses than people think. I don't think we are making the playoffs or anything but I wouldn't be surprised to see them end up with more points than any of Eichel's teams.

[nfreeman]

3 hours ago, pi2000 said:

They thoroughly outplayed what looked like a disinterested Coyotes team and deserved the win.

That said, I remain skeptical they can maintain this style of play as the season wears on.

What specifically are your reservations?  They aren't giving up a ton of chances against.  If Skinner, VO, TT and Cozens can start finishing their chances -- and they generated quite a few today -- and if the goaltending roof doesn't cave in, which is a huge if, I think they can be competitive most nights -- which is far more than I was expecting 3 days ago.

 

3 hours ago, Kelly the Dog said:

 

Dahlin might be making the leap.  He looks confident and like he knows the offense is going to flow through him this year, as it should, and like he's comfortable with that situation.

 

2 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

Best takeaway for me, is this team is passing the puck so much better than the last few years and playing with more unity. It's promising. 

 

Yes yes yes on the bolded.

I agree that the passes are more on target, but I thought there were a number of plays today where they got too cute and made one too many passes.

 

22 minutes ago, PickaPecaPickles said:

Someone posted up-thread that it looks like the move to C for Thompson is panning out.  Watching today, I was thinking defensively he's kind of like Edmunds at MLB for the Bills in the sense that he's got such a long reach he is able to disrupt more plays coming up the middle than a shorter player would. 

More entertaining hockey today, and it could have easily been another blow out but for AZ's goaltender.

Good stuff here.  Keep it coming.

 

13 minutes ago, matter2003 said:

This team might deserve the fan support more than any other team over the last decade. They put in the work, are fun to watch and losses won't be for lack of effort.

That being said, I think there might be less losses than people think. I don't think we are making the playoffs or anything but I wouldn't be surprised to see them end up with more points than any of Eichel's teams.

As I mentioned above, they won't be able to hang with the top 8-10 teams in the NHL, but that still leaves 22-24 teams that they can be competitive with most nights if they play like this and if the goaltending is even just OK.

[Taro T]

6 hours ago, Digger said:

how's the attendance looking this afternoon?  I'm just listening on WGR today.

Officially it was 8,000+ on Thursday and 7,400+ today.  Would guess actual attendance was ~2,600 on Thursday & 3,200 today.  It seemed there were a  few less in the middle the rink but the other sections all seemed slightly more crowded.

If they can win the next 2 crowds should start coming back some.  Canadians being allowed in country next month will help, too, a lot.

6 hours ago, Thorny said:

Arizona could lose 65 games 

Would not be at all surprised if they end up sub-65 easily.

[klos1963]

1 minute ago, Taro T said:

Officially it was 8,000+ on Thursday and 7,400+ today.  Would guess actual attendance was ~2,600 on Thursday & 3,200 today.  It seemed there were a  few less in the middle the rink but the other sections all seemed slightly more crowded.

If they can win the next 2 crowds should start coming back some.  Canadians being allowed in country next month will help, too, a lot.

That's unbelievably awful.  All these years living here in AZ and had to listen to fans around the country saying the Yotes need to move because they only averaged about 14k a game.

[Doohicksie]

13 minutes ago, nfreeman said:

I agree that the passes are more on target,

I would counter this.  The passes aren't so much "on target" as they are being passed assuming players are in motion.  Krueger's system had too much standing around.  Granato's Sabres are passing pucks to open zones and letting teammates skate into the holes in the defense.  This, by the way, was a hallmark of the 1990s dynastic Red Wings.  Always moving, always passing to the open spot, always knowing that a Wing as skating hard to the opening.

[klos1963]

4 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

I would counter this.  The passes aren't so much "on target" as they are being passed assuming players are in motion.  Krueger's system had too much standing around.  Granato's Sabres are passing pucks to open zones and letting teammates skate into the holes in the defense.  This, by the way, was a hallmark of the 1990s dynastic Red Wings.  Always moving, always passing to the open spot, always knowing that a Wing as skating hard to the opening.

Still can't get over how bad of a coach RK was.

[Doohicksie]

16 minutes ago, nfreeman said:

As I mentioned above, they won't be able to hang with the top 8-10 teams in the NHL, but that still leaves 22-24 teams that they can be competitive with most nights if they play like this and if the goaltending is even just OK.

This is true.  For now.  I think the team will evolve and learn the system better and with all the youth they will blossom and develop this season.  I also think there will be an infusion of talent from Rochester (potentially JJ, Weisbach, Laaksonen, Quinn).  They might not become the 1977 Montreal Canadiens, but they could end up better than the 2018 Golden Knights.

[Taro T]

5 hours ago, Norcal said:

First time I saw Keller all game 

He's the guy Miller tripped to save a sure goal in the 2nd.  Wasn't very noticeable other than that.

[Doohicksie]

Just now, klos1963 said:

Still can't get over how bad of a coach RK was.

OMG.  I hoped he would bring some pride to the team but it turned out to just be personal arrogance.  I understand JBot helped bring in Granato as an assistant coach, but I still think the KA had a hand in that, and when he went to the Pegulas in Boca to sell them on firing Krueger, Granato was his choice all along.  I think Granato may have a sub-Stanley-Cup-winning ceiling as a coach, but for this collection of players right now, he's The Man.

He works the players hard and they love him for it because it brings victory.

1 minute ago, Taro T said:

He's the guy Miller tripped to save a sure goal in the 2nd.  Wasn't very noticeable other than that.

Boy, if ever there was a Good Penalty, that was it.

[matter2003]

14 minutes ago, klos1963 said:

That's unbelievably awful.  All these years living here in AZ and had to listen to fans around the country saying the Yotes need to move because they only averaged about 14k a game.

We've been dealing with this for a decade. At this point, they need to start winning and trust me they'll be back...

[Taro T]

2 hours ago, Brawndo said:

In His Post Game Presser, Granato mentioned How impressive Dahlin was playing on the Right Side Today. 
 

Two of the replies to this tweet were about how well Dahlin played RHD in Frolunda. 
 

If He can play this well moving forward, that removes a lot of the pressure on the D Pipeline. 
 

A Power-Dahlin Top Pairing is intriguing. 

Dahlin played arguably his best game as a Sabre and had a fair amount of shifts at RD?  You don't say.  😉

Was REALLY impressed w/ Dahlin's play on odd man rushes today.  He broke 1 up clean and slowed one down (on the PP IIRC) to allow 2 teammates to get back & steal the puck.  The offensive stuff like keeping the puck in the zone when 90% of guys would've missed it & the sick dangles he's flashed before.  But his play in his own zone & transitioning back into his own zone were the best on the team today.

The other very pleasant surprise on D is Bryson has been GOOD in his own end and on the PK.  Flat out did NOT expect that.

As for Power - Dahlin, those 2 on the same D is really intriguing.  Once Power acclimated those 2 could be a pair like Keith & Seabrook, OR they could be used like Anaheim used Neidermayer & Pronger.  Give them their own pairings & then "wondertwin activate" for the final 2 minutes of the game.  Intriguing indeed.

[Taro T]

40 minutes ago, klos1963 said:

That's unbelievably awful.  All these years living here in AZ and had to listen to fans around the country saying the Yotes need to move because they only averaged about 14k a game.

Don't forget, unlike in AZ where 1/2 the fanbase simply won't make the trek to the otherside of Phoenix; 1/2+ of the fanbase can't legally attend games.  The US is closed to Canadians until early next month.

If Canadians could attend, probably would've had a sellout opening night & would've had at least 8,000 in attendance, likely more like 10k with an announced attendance of over 16k today.

Edited October 17, 2021 by Taro T

[klos1963]

12 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Don't forget, unlike in AZ where 1/2 the fanbase simply won't make the trek to the otherside of Phoenix; 1/2+ of the fanbase can't legally attend games.  The US is closed to Canadians until early next month.

If Canadians could attend, probably would've had a sellout opening night & would've had at least 8,000 in attendance, likely more like 10k with an announced attendance of over 16k today.

It's not half the fanbase. We have about 85% capacity. How many fans would drive from Rochester to Buffalo for a hockey game during the week? That's basically driving to the 'other side' of Phoenix.

Counting an awful lot on a different country to support the team. 8-10K isn't anything to be happy with either. Remember the self proclaimed 'greatest fans in the world'.

I don't blame the fans for not showing up, but no matter what excuses you have, it's pathetic.

Edited October 17, 2021 by klos1963

[Digger]

14 minutes ago, klos1963 said:

It's not half the fanbase. We have about 85% capacity. How many fans would drive from Rochester to Buffalo for a hockey game during the week? That's basically driving to the 'other side' of Phoenix.

Counting an awful lot on a different country to support the team. 8-10K isn't anything to be happy with either. Remember the self proclaimed 'greatest fans in the world'.

I don't blame the fans for not showing up, but no matter what excuses you have, it's pathetic.

Agreed.  One point about Canadians are the number that come across the border to Buffalo for a Montreal or Toronto or ?? game (so not just Sabres fans but hockey fans that want to see a NHL game at a reasonable price compared to Toronto).  If the border had been open I'm sure the Montreal game would have had quite a few more in attendance.

If the boys keep playing the same way I'm sure attendance will go up to something a bit more respectable.  

[Taro T]

Fun game to be at, again.  Noticing a trend here.

Felt they missed Mittelstadt today.  Cozens got set up clean in front a few times (good on him for being in the right spot) but is still gripping the stick waaaaaay too tight.  Expect at least 1 & likely 2 of those chances get buried otherwise.  And who knows how much an early goal would've messed with the kid goalie's head.  

Loved that Granato let Thompson & Ruotsalainen get the 1st 2 SO shots.  They both should've scored during regulation and Granato allowed them both the opportunity to make up for the earlier misses.  Olofsson got robbed in OT & got the opportunity to rectify that as well.

The score says this was a close game, but except for about 5 minutes in the 2nd after Olofsson's penalty, the Yotes never sustained any real pressure.  The Sabres had at least 3 shifts of simply hemming the Yotes in for over a minute.  And had a ton more scoring chances.

That said, the last 5 minutes of regulation were nerve wracking.  The Sabres owned the game and deserved 2 points, but the Yotes had opportunities to steal 2 points there.  Last year, the Sabres would've found a way to blow this.  This team refused to do so.  

Loved the time keeper giving the Sabres extra rest at the end of the game after the icing.  Stuff like that always seems to happen in other buildings.  Was probably a legit accident, but will take any gamesmanship we can get.

Was this Dahlin's coming out party?  Arizona is a very bad team, but Ras really made them look worse than they are at both ends.  Hope he plays like this Tuesday & even more importantly on Friday.  If he can, oooooh baby.

Hated seeing Eakin in the lineup but he was OK on Thursday and downright good today.  Don't know who will sit when Mitts is healthy, but if he keeps this up, it won't be him.

Okposo had another great game and should've had an assist on the PK.  He was a beast again on the next PK forcing 3 Yotes to take 5+ seconds to get the puck out of the corner.  The only down moment of his game was his full ice breakaway in OT that was completely overtaken by the AZ blue line.  Would've liked to see him somehow get a shot off there.

Was there ever a duller OT in NHL history?  That was brutal.

Loved Bryson's work on the PK.  Kid is really growing.  Hope he keeps it up.

Hinostroza is blazing fast.  Too bad his hands are 2 bricks.  He could've been really special with even average hands.  Love the effort though.

The refs (especially L'Ecuyer) were awful.  Can't recall a game where the ref was more out of position & what was up with the near minute long delays between shootout shots?

The Toker continued his Tim Thomas impersonation.  Don't know how long he & Anderson can continue to defy the odds, but enjoying it while it lasts.

All 4 lines generated chances & Miller seems rejuvenated too.

Do it to the 'Nucks now. 

Edited October 17, 2021 by Taro T

[Taro T]

21 minutes ago, klos1963 said:

It's not half the fanbase. We have about 85% capacity. How many fans would drive from Rochester to Buffalo for a hockey game during the week? That's basically driving to the 'other side' of Phoenix.

Counting an awful lot on a different country to support the team. 8-10K isn't anything to be happy with either. Remember the self proclaimed 'greatest fans in the world'.

I don't blame the fans for not showing up, but no matter what excuses you have, it's pathetic.

To the 1st bolded, don't know but know personally 2 that did. 😉

To the 2nd bolded, why wouldn't we count on Canadian fans to be a large part of the audience minus the border closing?  The rink is ~5 miles from the Peace Brigde.  Fort Erie is LITERALLY across the river.  There are MANY Canadians that live closer to the barn than many people in Erie County and ~1MM that live closer to it than yours truly lives.

And, it is pathetic but there are caveats to that.  1/2 of the STH base were allowed to defer their tickets to the following season with no penalties nor repercussions (because they can't come to the games even if they wanted to do so), that in itself cuts 6-8k out of the attendance base.  And come early November there is a natural goosing of the attendance on the way when Canadians can buy single game & partial season tix.

And personally am still shocked how dumb the Yotes (& Swamp Cats management too) were in building/moving into barns that are so inaccessible to significant fractions of their fanbase.  But don't see how you can say 1/2 your fanbase doesn't refuse to show up to games when you state that 1/2 of them live a Ra-cha-cha to Buffalo commute away from Glendale and you then state people won't want to make that commute.

[thewookie1]

1 hour ago, Taro T said:

He's the guy Miller tripped to save a sure goal in the 2nd.  Wasn't very noticeable other than that.

Yup, Miller took a great penalty and Dahlin made the save

[Stoner]

I'll have more to say tomorrow. But today was such a delight from the time I took that suddenly cold walk down Washington. A cop let some of us cross to the arena and I thanked him. "Enjoy the game. It's just great to see the fans again," he said. That set a nice tone and put things in perspective.

Who are these Sabres? They're the little boy caught on the video board tossing a piece of popcorn in the air and catching it in his mouth. Then, seeing himself on camera, he did it again!

I'm on a second date and already in love. Bryson. Cagguila. Okposo. Dahlin? Maybe the old saying applies... you had to be there.

An old song kept popping into my head.

 

[kas23]

5 hours ago, pi2000 said:

They thoroughly outplayed what looked like a disinterested Coyotes team and deserved the win.

That said, I remain skeptical they can maintain this style of play as the season wears on.

The Yotes goalie sure didn’t look disinterested to me. He played lights out and very well could’ve stole this game for them. Let’s give credit where credit’s due. 

[Stoner]

The affection for this team is already remarkable. There were chances to boo, but none came. (Except for the refs and the Yotes' SO shooters.) It felt like a crowd of supportive family members at a squirt game. The tiniest smart play brought cheers. You could feel the team feeding of it, especially in the third. The game presentation staff would be smart to let fans be the star.

[Stoner]

One more, for SDS. No way does Jack fit into any of this. Sorry to his fans... it has nothing to do with his talent.