GDT 11/22/21 - Columbus Blue Jackets @ Buffalo Sabres 7:00 MSG

[Thorner]

4 minutes ago, Kristian said:

Goaltending has been awful the past three games, that really overexposes some of this teams shortcomings.

At least we’re scoring goals.

I get that - but goaltending is also a portion of the roster, last I checked. There are posters saying it’s “really hard” to find good goaltending so we can’t fault Adams, and also some saying we are just waiting 3/4 years for Levi.

If either of those avenues represent necessary components in improving from a sub .500 team, im not altogether reassured. Neither seem particularly appealing. If it’s so hard to get goaltending, how can I be confident it’s coming? If it’s so hard we need to develop our own, we are waiting multiple years for a “maybe”. 

And it’s not like GT is the only area of need. 

[Weave]

I’m repeating myself in multiple threads now, but I believe it is inevitable that the goaltending situation breaks this teams spirit, and when that happens the development of this roster will suffer.

I think it is absolutely critical to the development of this roster that a capable goaltender is acquired.

[nucci]

9 minutes ago, Weave said:

I’m repeating myself in multiple threads now, but I believe it is inevitable that the goaltending situation breaks this teams spirit, and when that happens the development of this roster will suffer.

I think it is absolutely critical to the development of this roster that a capable goaltender is acquired.

Not sure how they don't see this. They play hard, score goals and crappy goaltending loses it...that's frustrating to these guys and will have a negative effect on them

[inkman]

10 hours ago, Gatorman0519 said:

The only thing to look forward to this year is Tuch and Mitts coming into the lineup in a couple of months. Maybe we will see some of the youngsters come up in March. 

I enjoy watching Cozens coming into his own, Tage turning into something we never expected, Olofsson becoming a complete player, and hopefully some progress from Dahlin.  If you came into this season, with this roster sans Jack and Sam, expecting anything more than what we are seeing, your expectations were far too high.  They are playing a watchable brand of hockey.  They have been missing their #1 Center, #1 wing, #2 defenseman and #1 goalie for most of the season.  

[nucci]

4 minutes ago, inkman said:

I enjoy watching Cozens coming into his own, Tage turning into something we never expected, Olofsson becoming a complete player, and hopefully some progress from Dahlin.  If you came into this season, with this roster sans Jack and Sam, expecting anything more than what we are seeing, your expectations were far too high.  They are playing a watchable brand of hockey.  They have been missing their #1 Center, #1 wing, #2 defenseman and #1 goalie for most of the season.  

My expectations were low but they are playing better than I thought they would. Average goaltending would have a few more wins and maybe a little more excitement to the team

[PromoTheRobot]

18 minutes ago, nucci said:

My expectations were low but they are playing better than I thought they would. Average goaltending would have a few more wins and maybe a little more excitement to the team

Don't diminish the role of the defense. Teams have been bottling us up in our end more and more. We can't seem to break out of our end and they results in extended possessions that wear our guys down and end up as a goal. It's a death spiral.

[Thorner]

30 minutes ago, nucci said:

My expectations were low but they are playing better than I thought they would. Average goaltending would have a few more wins and maybe a little more excitement to the team

The franchise has done a masterful job resetting public expectations. Not finding enjoyment in losing 9 games out of 11 is an outlier opinion. They expectation is literally "try". As if the teams of the past did not. My opinion is that everyone's mileage mage vary on that. 

The organization telling me to not care if the crest wins isn't going to make me not care that the crest isn't winning.

I've fallen for that before. Not doing it again. 

[nucci]

14 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Don't diminish the role of the defense. Teams have been bottling us up in our end more and more. We can't seem to break out of our end and they results in extended possessions that wear our guys down and end up as a goal. It's a death spiral.

I'm not but goaltending is the bigger problem

[Thorner]

Also, the connotation of "number 1 c" isn't casey Mittelstadt. Relative to the rest of the Cs on the roster he's pretty close. And that's not because the rest are pushing 1C. Same goes for Jokiharju and #2. Counting Anderson as a 1 as if it was logical to expect he wouldn't burn out/get injured at his age is absurd. 

I forgot that all the teams we've been playing have been totally healthy. 

Tuch is fair game. 

Edited November 23, 2021 by Thorny

[Stoner]

Old Man PA swings his hand around and smacks Thorny across the head while keeping his one good eye on the road, but not before taking out the triplets, who go down like dominoes. "THIS IS MY ONE WEEK OFF THIS YEAR AND YOU'RE NOT GOING TO RUIN IT! THIS IS THE TRIP! YOU'RE GOING TO ENJOY IT! SHUT UP!"

Edited November 23, 2021 by PASabreFan
tense

[inkman]

4 minutes ago, Thorny said:

Also, the connotation of "number 1 c" isn't casey Mittelstadt. Relative to the rest of the Cs on the roster he's pretty close. And that's not because the rest are pushing 1C. Same goes for Jokiharju and #2. Counting Anderson as a 1 as if it was logical to expect he wouldn't burn out/get injured at his age is absurd. 

I forgot that all the teams we've been playing have been totally healthy. 

Tuch is fair game. 

The roster is full of JAGs.  There were never going to win a majority of their games this season.  I think false expectations were placed on this team after their 5-1-1 start or whatever it was. 

[Thorner]

1 minute ago, inkman said:

The roster is full of JAGs.  There were never going to win a majority of their games this season.  I think false expectations were placed on this team after their 5-1-1 start or whatever it was. 

Probably. I guess? That wasn't me though. I enjoyed the wins and I think the losses suck. Nothing has really changed for me. I wasn't one who ever bought into the "entertaining losses" thing, there's no flip flop here

[Thorner]

18 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

Old Man PA swings his hand around and smacks Thorny across the head while keeping his one good eye on the road, but not before taking out the triplets, who go down like dominoes. "THIS IS MY ONE WEEK OFF THIS YEAR AND YOU'RE NOT GOING TO RUIN IT! THIS IS THE TRIP! YOU'RE GOING TO ENJOY IT! SHUT UP!"

I almost missed this gem. Please tag next time

[inkman]

13 minutes ago, Thorny said:

Probably. I guess? That wasn't me though. I enjoyed the wins and I think the losses suck. Nothing has really changed for me. I wasn't one who ever bought into the "entertaining losses" thing, there's no flip flop here

Life is short.  We all just mammals on this floating rock spinning around a star.  I choose happiness.  I have to because if I sit and think too long, I realize what a terrible life I’ve lived and ***** person I’ve become. 

[Thorner]

1 minute ago, inkman said:

Life is short.  We all just mammals on this floating rock spinning around a star.  I choose happiness.  I have to because if I sit and think too long, I realize what a terrible life I’ve lived and ***** person I’ve become. 

That's what I want! Winning is happiness. I don't need Stanley. 

Also the mere fact you question the type of person you are proves you aren't a ***** person. Shouldn't say stuff like that. 

[Thwomp!]

14 minutes ago, Thorny said:

Probably. I guess? That wasn't me though. I enjoyed the wins and I think the losses suck. Nothing has really changed for me. I wasn't one who ever bought into the "entertaining losses" thing, there's no flip flop here

Terry's got us to the point where we're happy with fun losses.  I don't equate fun with losing, sorry Terr-Bear.  I'll find something more enjoyable to call fun.

[JohnC]

10 hours ago, dudacek said:

Another very entertaining game.

They looked like a team out there - playing with and for each other.

You knew the shaky goaltending was coming and it will be hard to keep the spirits up as the losses pile up.

But they worked hard, kept me interested, and I feel like I have been slowly watching Thompson, Dahlin and Cozens blossom into their best selves before my eyes.

We’ve got a long, long way to go, but I can see the foundation being laid.

From a future perspective I have the same positive outlook that you have. That is to say that a foundation is being built with its young players. My biggest worry that has happened before with our core players is that systemic losing becomes corrosive and dispiriting. That is exemplified by ROR, Jack, Reinhart and Risto all becoming emotionally and psychologically fatigued by the constant losing resulting in each of them desperately wanting out. Each player had somewhat different situations but at its core the issue was losing and the inability to envision a change in that dynamic in the near future. 

As you point out the expected shaky goaltending (after some quality goaltending) is starting to manifest itself. The fear of contaminating the rest of the roster which you allude to is a big worry. What is the short-term answer? I don't know. This is an issue that is usually addressed in the offseason. The GM didn't have an adequate fallback position with regards to Ullmark. That oversight is a costly mistake that can reverberate throughout the rest of the roster.  

[Thorner]

3 minutes ago, JohnC said:

From a future perspective I have the same positive outlook that you have. That is to say that a foundation is being built with its young players. My biggest worry that has happened before with our core players is that systemic losing becomes corrosive and dispiriting. That is exemplified by ROR, Jack, Reinhart and Risto all becoming emotionally and psychologically fatigued by the constant losing resulting in each of them desperately wanting out. Each player had somewhat different situations but at its core the issue was losing and the inability to envision a change in that dynamic in the near future. 

As you point out the expected shaky goaltending (after some quality goaltending) is starting to manifest itself. The fear of contaminating the rest of the roster which you allude to is a big worry. What is the short-term answer? I don't know. This is an issue that is usually addressed in the offseason. The GM didn't have an adequate fallback position with regards to Ullmark. That oversight is a costly mistake that can reverberate throughout the rest of the roster.  

It reminds me a little of the "botterill couldn't get a 2C" discussion, except we weren't sitting around saying "we have some coming in the system, don't worry"

[Gatorman0519]

5 minutes ago, Thwomp! said:

Terry's got us to the point where we're happy with fun losses.  I don't equate fun with losing, sorry Terr-Bear.  I'll find something more enjoyable to call fun.

The truth of the matter is that the vast majority of Sabres fans have made it abundantly clear what they feel about the state of this organization by the shockingly empty arena and lack of merchandise sales. The proof is all right there despite our debates on this message board. He literally turned this place into hockey hell. It takes a lot to kill off a passionate and knowledgeable fan base. 

[Thwomp!]

Everyone else who needs goaltending, finds goaltending.  Why exactly can't we find one?  It's not that difficult.  I don't think the will was there.  It's another tank, they just don't want to say it.

[Thwomp!]

The most galling move to me is that Kevyn traded for the corpse of Boychuk instead of potentially bringing in some salary to help the team.  That tells you all you need to know.  Well that, and the fact that we're flirting with the cap floor, and yet we can't improve the current roster.

[JohnC]

4 minutes ago, Thorny said:

It reminds me a little of the "botterill couldn't get a 2C" discussion, except we weren't sitting around saying "we have some coming in the system, don't worry"

Washington worked a pre-expansion draft deal with Seattle for them to select one of their  goalies and then trade the player back for a second round pick. With a little creativity maybe we could have worked out a deal with Seattle in advance to select one of the exposed goalies and then use a draft pick for the selected player.  Getting a better solution is preferrable over getting a predictably inadequate solution. 

[inkman]

22 minutes ago, Thwomp! said:

Terry's got us to the point where we're happy with fun losses.  I don't equate fun with losing, sorry Terr-Bear.  I'll find something more enjoyable to call fun.

Certainly your right as a consumer 

[Kristian]

2 hours ago, Thorny said:

I get that - but goaltending is also a portion of the roster, last I checked. There are posters saying it’s “really hard” to find good goaltending so we can’t fault Adams, and also some saying we are just waiting 3/4 years for Levi.

If either of those avenues represent necessary components in improving from a sub .500 team, im not altogether reassured. Neither seem particularly appealing. If it’s so hard to get goaltending, how can I be confident it’s coming? If it’s so hard we need to develop our own, we are waiting multiple years for a “maybe”. 

And it’s not like GT is the only area of need. 

No arguments with any of this, just pointing that we’ve had zero goaltending, and still the team hasn’t folded.

[Thwomp!]

12 minutes ago, Thwomp! said:

Everyone else who needs goaltending, finds goaltending.  Why exactly can't we find one?  It's not that difficult.  I don't think the will was there.  It's another tank, they just don't want to say it.

I think that's Mitts and Cozens leading the charge.