GDT: Sabres at Washington, Nov. 8, 2021, 7pm, MSG, WGR

[Randall Flagg]

Cozens does a lot of things right. He goes out of his way to be a leader, and backs it up with his effort on the ice. He comes all the way back to play defense, and stays back to be an outlet for his defensemen. He trains hard and has gotten stronger because of it, though he still needs more time to reach real NHL strength. He can and does skate like the wind. 

His puck skills aren't quite up to snuff at this level yet, and part of that might be his processing speed. I believe that these things exist in his (hockey? real?) DNA. 

He has played 53 NHL games over the span of a year and I haven't seen either of those last two things develop an inch. It's time to ask - where is the line that we need to draw, such that if his hands and puck skills haven't started to look more like a top six forward, he needs to go down and play in AHL games to have the time and space to work those skills in a game setting? Because that time and space isn't coming in this league, and you need to succeed at these things in games to be able to reliably develop them in games. After some amount of time, if you aren't careful in development, that skill isn't going to come anymore, and you create another Zemgus Girgensons (a nice player, but) out of a guy that should have been Jeff Carter. 

I firmly believe this line exists and that, while it's still in the distance, it's now visible with the naked eye 

[PerreaultForever]

Same as all games against Washington for the last idk 5, 6 years, longer?   They don't really break a sweat, they don't have to, they own the front of the net and they walk to an easy victory. I think we might be the only team in the league where Washington doesn't even bother hitting anyone cause they don't have to. 

We didn't even have the Risto Ovi battles so not much entertainment value here. Blah boring hockey. 

[Doohicksie]

31 minutes ago, darksabre said:

@SwampD he heard you

 

That much is obvious.  I think this is one of those things though... they chase that and another hole is exposed.  I see moments where I see Granato's system coming together, but there's a very fine line between aggressive forecheck and an odd-man rush the other way.

[Zamboni]

1 minute ago, PromoTheRobot said:

I like they attack the crease. We haven't had players who would go to the dirty areas.

Rinehart was consistently in and around the crease. And getting hammered by the D-men. Skinner also goes in the greasy areas. He’s done that for years. 

[Doohicksie]

2 minutes ago, Randall Flagg said:

His puck skills aren't quite up to snuff at this level yet, and part of that might be his processing speed. I believe that these things exist in his (hockey? real?) DNA. 

I have two words that should be encouraging:  Tage.  Thompson.  All the things we're saying about Dylan we said about Tage.  Yeah, injuries, but right now I think Tage is our best forward.  Would you have thought that was even possible a year ago?

And that's another thing:  I don't want to just use this as an excuse, but injuries are hurting this team.  Casey was emerging as... well maybe not a 1C but a top six C who could at least hang in as a 1C for this year.  Victor Olofsson was displaying a maturity in his game like we haven't seen in a developed prospect in a long time.  I think on the back end Jokiharju isn't missed as much, but his injury still cuts into our depth.  And now Anderson is out.  Toker is giving us decent goaltending but the team isn't producing enough offensively for him.  He's giving the team a chance to win most nights and they're not taking advantage.

To me everything is clearly a little better than last year but it's still not good enough, not with the key injuries the team ha sustained.

And yet I'm hopeful.  Krebs should be a good addition.  Tuch looks to be a fine experienced player, not just a JAG (I hope, anyway).  Quinn and JJ are locked in.  Weissbach and maybe one or two other forwards will be ready.  With what we have in the system right now, we will turn over at least quarter of the team next year, perhaps as much as half.  We will have inexperienced rookies, but no long will we have maxed out placeholder JAGs.  The early streak made we think we were closer than we are.  We're not as good as the hot start but really, we're not as bad as this current slump.

We're only two points out of a playoff spot, three points from catching the Maple Leafs.  Let's see if they can get a win or two and make it interesting.

[Doohicksie]

The fate of a Buffalo fan

[ubkev]

1 hour ago, Claude Balls said:

Great, now the Gerber collisions of the game are from the other team. 

I wasn't paying attention. Was it Cozens getting tossed like a child?

[Randall Flagg]

30 minutes ago, The Ghost of Yuri said:

I have two words that should be encouraging:  Tage.  Thompson.  All the things we're saying about Dylan we said about Tage.  Yeah, injuries, but right now I think Tage is our best forward.  Would you have thought that was even possible a year ago?

And that's another thing:  I don't want to just use this as an excuse, but injuries are hurting this team.  Casey was emerging as... well maybe not a 1C but a top six C who could at least hang in as a 1C for this year.  Victor Olofsson was displaying a maturity in his game like we haven't seen in a developed prospect in a long time.  I think on the back end Jokiharju isn't missed as much, but his injury still cuts into our depth.  And now Anderson is out.  Toker is giving us decent goaltending but the team isn't producing enough offensively for him.  He's giving the team a chance to win most nights and they're not taking advantage.

To me everything is clearly a little better than last year but it's still not good enough, not with the key injuries the team ha sustained.

And yet I'm hopeful.  Krebs should be a good addition.  Tuch looks to be a fine experienced player, not just a JAG (I hope, anyway).  Quinn and JJ are locked in.  Weissbach and maybe one or two other forwards will be ready.  With what we have in the system right now, we will turn over at least quarter of the team next year, perhaps as much as half.  We will have inexperienced rookies, but no long will we have maxed out placeholder JAGs.  The early streak made we think we were closer than we are.  We're not as good as the hot start but really, we're not as bad as this current slump.

We're only two points out of a playoff spot, three points from catching the Maple Leafs.  Let's see if they can get a win or two and make it interesting.

I don't think Tage's hands have gotten better, he pulled off insane dekes his rookie year, he's just learned a lot more about how to play the game since then. I'm worried that Cozens won't be able to stickhandle and make quick puck plays well if he never gets a chance to succeed at them in games. I don't think that was Tage's problem 

[K-9]

Tage is much stronger both on his skates and in his upper body than he was previously. 

[thewookie1]

22 minutes ago, Randall Flagg said:

I don't think Tage's hands have gotten better, he pulled off insane dekes his rookie year, he's just learned a lot more about how to play the game since then. I'm worried that Cozens won't be able to stickhandle and make quick puck plays well if he never gets a chance to succeed at them in games. I don't think that was Tage's problem 

Tage's problem was he'd lose the puck in-between his legs or deke too often until he gave it away. Plus he was weak on his stick which made him a very large puff ball with the puck. He's calmed his innate desire to undress every player around him and no longer looks slow when given some space to work with. Plus he's finally using his reach in all situations instead of merely using it to stretch pucks further out from his body.

[Norcal]

 

[PerreaultForever]

2 hours ago, Zamboni said:

Rinehart was consistently in and around the crease. And getting hammered by the D-men. Skinner also goes in the greasy areas. He’s done that for years. 

"in and around" but never deep in tight when it mattered. Old argument not worth getting back into, he's gone, but we have not been in front of the net like Washington always is for years. Still aren't, but slightly better this year. 

Cozens still needs to get stronger to play his style effectively at this level. He also needs better linemates. Still think he should be in Rochester this year. 

[Zamboni]

15 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

"in and around" but never deep in tight when it mattered. Old argument not worth getting back into, he's gone, but we have not been in front of the net like Washington always is for years. Still aren't, but slightly better this year. 

Cozens still needs to get stronger to play his style effectively at this level. He also needs better linemates. Still think he should be in Rochester this year. 

You’re right, talking to you about Reinhart in any shape way or form is like talking to a wall. Not worth getting into. But you couldn’t help replying to my post to say something about him. 😂

 

[PerreaultForever]

16 minutes ago, Zamboni said:

You’re right, talking to you about Reinhart in any shape way or form is like talking to a wall. Not worth getting into. But you couldn’t help replying to my post to say something about him. 😂

 

Can't let that false image of him go unchecked. Just can't. 

I will probably bring it back up every time Devon Levi gets a shutout for us 🙂

 

[Zamboni]

1 minute ago, PerreaultForever said:

Can't let that false image of him go unchecked. Just can't. 

I will probably bring it back up every time Devon Levi gets a shutout for us 🙂

 

 

Unchecked? Bwhahahaha. 😂

Reinhart says thanks for the rent free space in your head by the way. 

 

 

 

 

 

[PerreaultForever]

2 minutes ago, Zamboni said:

 

Unchecked? Bwhahahaha. 😂

Reinhart says thanks for the rent free space in your head by the way. 

 

 

 

 

 

lol, only when I see him mentioned here.

But I am encouraged you first spelled his name wrong (Rinehart). This is promising. He is destined to be forgotten. 

[Zamboni]

6 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

lol, only when I see him mentioned here.

But I am encouraged you first spelled his name wrong (Rinehart). This is promising. He is destined to be forgotten. 

Damn autocorrect of course. But you knew that. He will forever trigger you, So that’s delicious to see. Highly entertaining. Don’t ever change.

[PerreaultForever]

Just for you @Zamboni

Before:

and after:

 

[Zamboni]

That was useless…. 

[MODO Hockey]

This team wins a couple of games and some people go bananas, people seam to never learn. Why is this ? 

 

 

 

 

[Hoss]

1 hour ago, MODO Hockey said:

This team wins a couple of games and some people go bananas, people seam to never learn. Why is this ? 

Like 72.9% of being a sports fan is getting piss drunk on hope and misdirection.

[Radar]

3 hours ago, MODO Hockey said:

This team wins a couple of games and some people go bananas, people seam to never learn. Why is this ? 

 

 

 

 

Don't think too many of us went bananas. Actually this is what most expected. Young prospects learning to play at this level. Hopefully they develop in time but this year don't expect much in the way of winning against most teams.

Edited November 9, 2021 by Radar

[MODO Hockey]

9 minutes ago, Radar said:

Don't think too many of us went bananas. Actually this is what most expected. Young prospects learning to play at this level. Hopefully they develop in time but this year don't expect much in the way of winning against most teams.

Yea that's why i said some. 

Seen this over and over and it never seam to change, its like people trying to defend their own hope i guess? 
Reality is so different, i can tell 100% this team aint reaching playoffs this year either, but yet some still believed that just a couple of games ago, Donny is "probably" the best coach we've had and the story continues.. 

This team isnt playing playoff in atleast 2-3 years maybe and i guess that is a "truth" that is to hard to handle for some when hope is so strong.

[Radar]

1 minute ago, MODO Hockey said:

Yea that's why i said some. 

Seen this over and over and it never seam to change, its like people trying to defend their own hope i guess? 
Reality is so different, i can tell 100% this team aint reaching playoffs this year either, but yet some still believed that just a couple of games ago, Donny is "probably" the best coach we've had and the story continues.. 

This team isnt playing playoff in atleast 2-3 years maybe and i guess that is a "truth" that is to hard to handle for some when hope is so strong.

I agree with your timeline for playoffs. I have hopes that next year will be at least where we can compete against the better teams and win a share of them. This year is about development only.

 

[Cityo'Rasmii]

We were owned, period

TT looking better and stronger

Tokar did his part and deserves better D support

Dahlin still had his miscues

Go Sabres