GDT: 1/25/2022 Sabres at Senators, 6 pm CT (that's 7 ET for you Buffalonians) MSG, WGR

[Mustache of God]

1 hour ago, bob_sauve28 said:

Add Okposo and subtract Hayden 😉

Subtract Bjork & Hayden for Okposo and Quinn (when healthy) and now we're cooking.

[Dreams Burn Down]

I'm looking forward to seeing Krebs tonight, after last game's performance.  Hopefully, Mitts is close to in-game shape and is able to avoid getting two-handed with the lumber for a few games.

[Doohicksie]

51 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Hope he has the goods when winning becomes the priority because he is a good man, a smart man, and such an easy guy to root for.

If not maybe they can find a staff position with associated fancy title and turn the game night bench over to a coach to take them over the top.

53 minutes ago, dudacek said:

And there's still that pesky little issue of the AHLer and the ECHLer in net.

That ECHLer may or may not be an issue.  Houser's done yeoman's work at the NHL level so far.

[LGR4GM]

2 hours ago, The Ghost of Yuri said:

Expected lines:

19 Peyton Krebs / 37 Casey Mittelstadt / 96 Anders Bjork

53 Jeff Skinner / 72 Tage Thompson / 89 Alex Tuch

71 Victor Olofsson / 24 Dylan Cozens / 74 Rasmus Asplund

28 Zemgus Girgensons / 20 Cody Eakin / 15 John Hayden

 

26 Rasmus Dahlin / 10 Henri Jokiharju

23 Mattias Samuelsson / 13 Mark Pysyk

78 Jacob Bryson / 8 Robert Hagg

Not sure why this is the expected lineup but if so, I think we can clearly see the issues still present and how we need more talent. 

[Doohicksie]

18 minutes ago, Mustache of God said:

Subtract Bjork & Hayden for Okposo and Quinn (when healthy) and now we're cooking.

Everyone wants to dump Bjork and Hayden and yeah they're not part of the core or anything but think of some of the slugs we've had at the bottom of the roster in the past.  They're fine as 13th/14th forwards.  And Bjork may prove to be a bit more than that.

1 minute ago, LGR4GM said:

Not sure why this is the expected lineup

Practice lines from yesterday with Tuch subbed for Janko.

[Mustache of God]

8 minutes ago, The Ghost of Yuri said:

Everyone wants to dump Bjork and Hayden and yeah they're not part of the core or anything but think of some of the slugs we've had at the bottom of the roster in the past.  They're fine as 13th/14th forwards.  And Bjork may prove to be a bit more than that.

Practice lines from yesterday with Tuch subbed for Janko.

Bjork went 7 games without a shot and now that we've had him for almost a full season I think we've seen what he is. I have no expectations for him to get better or remain on this team.

[LGR4GM]

9 minutes ago, Mustache of God said:

Bjork went 7 games without a shot and now that we've had him for almost a full season I think we've seen what he is. I have no expectations for him to get better or remain on this team.

Bjork needs to go in the offseason. He brings nothing to the lineup that is not easily replaceable by JJ Peterka or any other JAG I want to name, hell Jankowski is a better option for his spot. 

[Doohicksie]

1 minute ago, Mustache of God said:

I have no expectations for him to get better or remain on this team.

And that's okay too.  Just saying.... he's no Sabotka.

[Doohicksie]

3 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Bjork needs to go in the offseason. He brings nothing to the lineup that is not easily replaceable by JJ Peterka or any other JAG I want to name, hell Jankowski is a better option for his spot. 

Jankowski I think will be one of next year's JAGs.  He can shift between wing and center as needed, a nice 13th forward to keep around.  And .36 PPG so far.  And +6 in 11 games!

Edited January 25, 2022 by The Ghost of Yuri

[Mustache of God]

1 minute ago, The Ghost of Yuri said:

And that's okay too.  Just saying.... he's no Sabotka.

At least Sobotka gave me a reason to hate him and made me feel some sort of emotion. Bjork is such bland player. If he was a spice he'd be flour.

[Norcal]

Happy for Casey.

Let's hope he can stay healthy now and get in on some of this development happening. 

Love to see him finish the season strong. 

[Bangarang]

I long for the day where I don’t have to see Eakin play hockey for this team. 

[Brawndo]

Dell in net 

[French Collection]

This lineup has a chance to do some damage. I want to see some guys mesh and make some plays.

Goaltending is the only thing that keeps me from booking the W.

[Sabres Fan in NS]

44 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

Dell in net 

May Allah have mercy on us all.

[Zamboni]

This is the second of three meetings between the Sabres and Senators this season. 
• Last meeting: Buffalo defeated Ottawa 3-1 in Ottawa on Jan. 18. 
• Next meeting: Thursday, Feb. 17 in Buffalo. 

• The Sabres are 4-6-0 in their last 10 games against the Senators; 5-4-1 on the road. 
• This is the 147th game all-time between Buffalo and Ottawa; Buffalo has a 71-55-20 series record. 
• The Sabres are 32-31-12 on the road against the Senators all-time.

 

• Since making his Sabres debut on Dec. 29, Sabres forward Alex Tuch has recorded 10 points (3+7) in nine games, including a point in each of his last four contests (2+4). 
• Only three players in franchise history have ever had more points than Tuch in their first nine games for the team after being acquired via trade: Doug Gilmour, 13 points (3+10), Steve Heinze,11 points (5+6) and Pat LaFontaine, 11 points (5+6). 
• Tuch has seven points (4+3) in six career games against the Senators. 

[JohnC]

2 hours ago, dudacek said:

 

 

 

Donnie's pressers might be the most entertaining part of the Sabres season.

Hope he has the goods when winning becomes the priority because he is a good man, a smart man, and such an easy guy to root for.

Granato possess a pleasant persona. But don't be fooled into believing that he doesn't hold his players accountable. He does. He's not afraid to sit a player down or curtail minutes. But to his credit he doesn't do it in a demeaning way by publicly singling the player out. Granato has been in the business long enough to know that coaching survival revolves around winning. As you suggest winning isn't the priority right now compared to player development. Next year, the pressure will build for him to get the winning/losing ratio in better balance. 

[Indabuff]

More Wellbutrin.  

[Norcal]

26 minutes ago, Zamboni said:

This is the second of three meetings between the Sabres and Senators this season. 
• Last meeting: Buffalo defeated Ottawa 3-1 in Ottawa on Jan. 18. 
• Next meeting: Thursday, Feb. 17 in Buffalo. 

• The Sabres are 4-6-0 in their last 10 games against the Senators; 5-4-1 on the road. 
• This is the 147th game all-time between Buffalo and Ottawa; Buffalo has a 71-55-20 series record. 
• The Sabres are 32-31-12 on the road against the Senators all-time.

 

• Since making his Sabres debut on Dec. 29, Sabres forward Alex Tuch has recorded 10 points (3+7) in nine games, including a point in each of his last four contests (2+4). 
• Only three players in franchise history have ever had more points than Tuch in their first nine games for the team after being acquired via trade: Doug Gilmour, 13 points (3+10), Steve Heinze,11 points (5+6) and Pat LaFontaine, 11 points (5+6). 
• Tuch has seven points (4+3) in six career games against the Senators. 

Tuch just collects points

[JohnC]

3 hours ago, bob_sauve28 said:

Me too.

Here's a cool article interview with him. He seems so not bothered by the small stuff, and perhaps, that's because of his experience with cancer and the other life threatening situation he had

 

https://www.wgrz.com/article/sports/nhl/sabres/one-on-one-with-buffalo-sabres-head-coach-don-granato-hockey-nhl/71-95104a28-be04-4fb0-bb09-31d297e9f790

Thank you for this terrific clip. It captured the type of empathetic person he is. 

An example of his empathy was on display last year when he was asked about Eichel and his situation. He didn't take any cheap shots about wanting players who wanted to be here. What he said is that Jack is a young man whose entire life revolved around hockey. It was his life passion. And because of his injury it was not only taken away from him for the short term but also possibly forever. So he understood the emotions that Jack was undergoing. He stated no matter how things work out he wished Jack the best and wanted him to succeed in the game that he loved. That's a good guy and wonderful human being.  

[Doohicksie]

19 minutes ago, JohnC said:

That's a good guy and wonderful human being.  

He's a better man than I am.

[PerreaultForever]

2 hours ago, The Ghost of Yuri said:

Everyone wants to dump Bjork and Hayden 

Not everyone.

Some of the same people don't want Tuch killing penalties and don't want Cozens fighting so I'm not sure who they want doing it if you want to ditch those guys.

idk about this Krebs/Mitts/Bjork line but wait and see I guess. Will be interesting to see what Mitts has to offer at this point and how he will fit in. I'm just going to wait and see. 

While I would be happy to upgrade Hayden for a better version, we need the grit on the roster somewhere. Somebody has to get back in Tkachuk's face when he starts his usual antics. The team, as a whole, is finally starting to play a little bigger, and I think Hayden being there has a little to do with that. A little. 

[JohnC]

1 hour ago, The Ghost of Yuri said:

He's a better man than I am.

I can state with confidence that he is also a much better man than I am. I can also state with no hesitation that I set a low bar. 😃

Edited January 25, 2022 by JohnC

[K-9]

49 minutes ago, JohnC said:

Granato possess a pleasant persona. But don't be fooled into believing that he doesn't hold his players accountable. He does. He's not afraid to sit a player down or curtail minutes. But to his credit he doesn't do it in a demeaning way by publicly singling the player out. Granato has been in the business long enough to know that coaching survival revolves around winning. As you suggest winning isn't the priority right now compared to player development. Next year, the pressure will build for him to get the winning/losing ratio in better balance. 

My only complaint with DG is that he doesn’t seem to be a good tactician, especially in game. Perhaps that’s by design given the developmental nature of this season and his mantra about letting players growing thru their repeated mistakes, but it’s a concern for me moving forward. 

[IKnowPhysics]

6 hours ago, Weave said:

We have a full fleet of centers now, right?

Mitts, Tage, Cozens, Krebs, Jankowski

Will be interesting to see if Mitts has game stamina, and how well he meshes with all the new blood.

 

Edit- Eakin.  Forgot Eakin

It's going to be real interesting to see where this center group is in two years, especially with how they're currently tracking.

Remember that leading into 05-06 from 03-04 was a roster with Drury, Briere, Roy, and an injured Connolly that would add only Gaustad.  Only Drury was a known quantity at that point in 03-04 and Briere was merely breaking out.

Now we have Thompson, Cozens, and Mitts breaking out, with Krebs potentially about to explode.