Around The NHL 2022-23 Regular Season

[shrader]

The hit looked incidental to me, two guys turning into the same space.

[dudacek]

1 hour ago, shrader said:

The hit looked incidental to me, two guys turning into the same space.

Maybe, but since Marchand did the right thing and stood up for his teammate we know Bergeron will never get hit like that again.

(Sarcasm, in case it wasn’t obvious)

[mjd1001]

8 hours ago, thewookie1 said:

Loved everything but the 2 punches to the MTL guy when he was on the ice. Marchand is the epitome of hate when he's against you but would love him if he were on your team.

Slightly off topic of the actual play, but wow has the NHL changed a lot in the last decade or two.

For all that Marchand has done, only now is he approaching 1000 career penalty minutes. Not there yet, but the lack of fighting really has caused that number to plummet.

-Only 12 current NHL players have over 1000 career penalty minutes, the active leader with 1630.

-The Sabres current roster Active Penalty minute leader for their career is Okposo with just over 500 (16 year career). Skinner has just over 400 (13 year career). No one else really close. (Rob Ray had a couple years with over 350 in a SINGLE SEASON while only playing in about 60 or so games those years).

-Rob Ray had over 3200 for his Career. Barnaby and Brad May both had over 2000 for their careers.

-The last time the Sabres drafted a player, who for his entire NHL career had over 1000 career penalty minutes was in 1996. They drafted Corey Sarich, who had 1089 pms for his career.

Again, we all know the NHL has changed and fighting is way down, I just never realized just how MUCH the numbers have gone down over the years.

[PerreaultForever]

6 hours ago, SwampD said:

Did he get an instigator penalty?

he got 4 minutes. Montreal did get a power play. Bruins post game comments all praised it, including the coach. 

[PerreaultForever]

Apparently I'm not a Sabres fan so I guess I will post this. 

The interesting thing to me is how he turns the question about Marchand not shooting for an open net to try to get him 50 into praise for Marchand sticking up for Bergeron. The point, if it isn't obvious, is a contrast in culture. This attitude is what the Sabres need.

But what do I know, I'm not a fan. So I guess I must be a masochist for watching every single  Sabres game . 

[Thorner]

5 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

Apparently I'm not a Sabres fan so I guess I will post this. 

The interesting thing to me is how he turns the question about Marchand not shooting for an open net to try to get him 50 into praise for Marchand sticking up for Bergeron. The point, if it isn't obvious, is a contrast in culture. This attitude is what the Sabres need.

But what do I know, I'm not a fan. So I guess I must be a masochist for watching every single  Sabres game . 

You are a Sabres fan. 

[dudacek]

4 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

Apparently I'm not a Sabres fan so I guess I will post this. 

The interesting thing to me is how he turns the question about Marchand not shooting for an open net to try to get him 50 into praise for Marchand sticking up for Bergeron. The point, if it isn't obvious, is a contrast in culture. This attitude is what the Sabres need.

But what do I know, I'm not a fan. So I guess I must be a masochist for watching every single  Sabres game . 

Weird, I saw Skinner not shooting at an empty net the other night to try and get Tuch the hattie.

Why aren't we in first place yet?

[Thorner]

18 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

Apparently I'm not a Sabres fan so I guess I will post this. 

The interesting thing to me is how he turns the question about Marchand not shooting for an open net to try to get him 50 into praise for Marchand sticking up for Bergeron. The point, if it isn't obvious, is a contrast in culture. This attitude is what the Sabres need.

But what do I know, I'm not a fan. So I guess I must be a masochist for watching every single  Sabres game . 

On another note 

The first Sabres game I ever saw them win live in person, Kane, after getting vindictively boo’ed by 10 000 ass-hats wearing track suits all game, passed up an easy empty net goal to grant Sam his first career hat trick. The silence in the arena brought a tear to my eye. 

IMO, winning isn’t just a cure all like they say, it also elevates moments like the one I mentioned beyond casual mention by message board lunatic, Sabres fan in Winnipeg to “culture defining” legend.

A lot of is is perspective.

A lot of it is also, frankly, narrative. The fact Kane passed to Sam more likely because he wanted to subvert the expectations of the crowd in real time (selfish player will take glory), rather than because of his love of teammate and country, is something I’m well aware of and yet, it doesn’t lessen it for me. It was beautiful.

6 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Weird, I saw Skinner not shooting at an empty net the other night to try and get Tuch the hattie.

Why aren't we in first place yet?

Well timed, dude

Edited March 24, 2023 by Thorny

[dudacek]

2 minutes ago, Thorny said:

On another note 

The first Sabres game I ever saw them win live in person, Kane, after getting vindictively boo’ed by 10 000 ass-hats wearing track suits all game, passed up an east empty net goal to grant Sam his first career hat trick. The silence in the arena brought a tear to my eye. 

IMO, winning isn’t just a cure all like they say, it also elevates moments like the one I mentioned beyond casual mention by message board lunatic, Sabres fan in Winnipeg to “culture defining” legend.

A lot of is is perspective. A lot of it is also narrative. The fact Kane passed to Sam more likely because he wanted to subvert the expectations of the crowd in real time (selfish is player will take glory) doesn’t lessen it for me. It was beautiful.

Well timed, dude

The fact that the Pastrnak clip is pure hockey cliche voiced by every sweaty guy in front of a dressing room stall, including the Sabres, makes @PerreaultForever 's conclusion pretty easy to dismiss.

The fact that he has frequently stated he doesn't pay attention to interviews and has dismissed various statements from various Sabres as pretty much saying what people want to hear doesn't do much to reduce my skepticism.

[Thorner]

Ben Gotz (Las Vegas review journal) on Marek, talking about how joyful the Knights locker room is, how their “good vibes” are responsible for their success this season. Mentioned the key figure was Eichel, specifically, in easing their mental burden. Said he instituted several things like Elvis wigs in the post game, little traditions they take part in after wins in the locker room. Some won’t like this or think it’s pointless to post or that I mean anything by it but I don’t: I’m just happy for the guy. Sounds like both parties have benefited wildly from the separation 

[dudacek]

1 minute ago, Thorny said:

Ben Gotz (Las Vegas review journal) on Marek, talking about how joyful the Knights locker room is, how their “good vibes” are responsible for their success this season. Mentioned the key figure was Eichel, specifically, in easing their mental burden. Said he instituted several things like Elvis wigs in the post game, little traditions they take part in after wins in the locker room. Some won’t like this or think it’s pointless to post or that I mean anything by it but I don’t: I’m just happy for the guy. Sounds like both parties have benefited wildly from the separation 

Just gotta pile on, don't ya...😜

[Thorner]

Oh now he’s got Kevin Snow on re: his book, The Science of Hockey, that John Vogl actually wrote the Foreword to. Could be interesting 

Edited March 24, 2023 by Thorny

[Randall Flagg]

29 minutes ago, Thorny said:

Ben Gotz (Las Vegas review journal) on Marek, talking about how joyful the Knights locker room is, how their “good vibes” are responsible for their success this season. Mentioned the key figure was Eichel, specifically, in easing their mental burden. Said he instituted several things like Elvis wigs in the post game, little traditions they take part in after wins in the locker room. Some won’t like this or think it’s pointless to post or that I mean anything by it but I don’t: I’m just happy for the guy. Sounds like both parties have benefited wildly from the separation 

Sabres fans will drink from a well, get poisoned within an inch of their life, and then return to the same well for a drink as soon as they feel better again

(Lashing out with full-on character assaults on good, fine, reasonable hockey players and then watching the player have success elsewhere in a way that renders a lot of their worst moments unforgettably embarrassing, while their team is in the exact same spot years later) 

Edited March 24, 2023 by Randall Flagg

[Thorner]

2 minutes ago, Randall Flagg said:

Sabres fans will drink from a well, get poisoned within an inch of their life, and then return to the same well for a drink as soon as they feel better again

(Lashing out with full-on character assaults on good, fine, reasonable hockey players and then watching the player have success elsewhere in a way that renders a lot of their worst moments unforgettably embarrassing) 

Undoubtedly.

My next drinking well: the 2023/24 Sabres season.

Playoffs, baby! 

[mjd1001]

1 hour ago, Thorny said:

Ben Gotz (Las Vegas review journal) on Marek, talking about how joyful the Knights locker room is, how their “good vibes” are responsible for their success this season. Mentioned the key figure was Eichel, specifically, in easing their mental burden. Said he instituted several things like Elvis wigs in the post game, little traditions they take part in after wins in the locker room. Some won’t like this or think it’s pointless to post or that I mean anything by it but I don’t: I’m just happy for the guy. Sounds like both parties have benefited wildly from the separation 

I don't know why but I just never was a huge Eichel Fan even at his peak in Buffalo.  With that said, glad he moved on, it has taken longer than I thought for him to 'find his spot' in Vegas, but it sounds like he has.  Hindsight, it didn't seem like he was ready to be viewed as the savior/superstar in Buffalo, and the team vibes/management/roster construction was not one that was going to work with him it seems.  The trade allowed him to reset his career and slide into more reasonable expectations, while Buffalo got something of pretty good value back for him.

[PerreaultForever]

1 hour ago, dudacek said:

The fact that the Pastrnak clip is pure hockey cliche voiced by every sweaty guy in front of a dressing room stall, including the Sabres, makes @PerreaultForever 's conclusion pretty easy to dismiss.

The fact that he has frequently stated he doesn't pay attention to interviews and has dismissed various statements from various Sabres as pretty much saying what people want to hear doesn't do much to reduce my skepticism.

I guess it was cliche. They didn't have any wings to pass around this time. 

There's always a way to spin everything in sports positively or negatively for isolated examples, interviews, coaches comments and so forth but you can discern patterns and similarities over time and year after year. Is your actual argument that the Bruins culture is not superior to the Sabres in every way? Is it just a media driven illusion? Sabres are the same. Would that be your position?

There is an argument that winning makes that sort of thing easier and automatic but I'm not sure that's true. Leafs win lots of games but I'd make the same argument about the superiority of the Bruins culture over theirs as over ours. It's an argument I've made for years here and it keeps repeating. I see the contrast constantly because the Sabres being as bad as they have been has driven me to watch more Bruins games. I used to watch the Sabres games first and live but at this point I often do watch the Bruins game first and the Sabres game after in replay because I am pretty sure the Bruins game will be better hockey and better entertainment. Every year I wait for the flip when they fall and Sabres rise but so far it hasn't happened. 

Briefly this year the culture looked like it might be changing, but if you look back I said at the time I thought it was fragile and sure enough it appears to have broken again.  My build philosophy was/is and always has been. Build the culture first. get rid of anybody who doesn't buy in. then add the talent starting from goal out and with that you will have a long lasting and enduring winning team. Sabres believe in reversing that process. So far it hasn't worked.

 I'm going to be interested to see if we rise faster (which you'd think we should) or if Philly does. They seem to be coming out of an era of dreadful management and bad decisions, bad trades, bad drafting, and a complete cultural collapse. End of the season here they do seem to have changed their culture first, now it's a question of the subtraction and then the new talent. It looks like they might be following my method. Maybe Sabres will be better. I'd hope so with all the picks and prospects we have (including Philly's)  but again, not yet. Time will tell. 

Bottom line, it's really hard to be a Sabres fan. 

[JohnC]

2 hours ago, dudacek said:

Maybe, but since Marchand did the right thing and stood up for his teammate we know Bergeron will never get hit like that again.

(Sarcasm, in case it wasn’t obvious)

Is there a sarcasm emoji? It would have great utility on this site. 

[thewookie1]

1 hour ago, Thorny said:

Ben Gotz (Las Vegas review journal) on Marek, talking about how joyful the Knights locker room is, how their “good vibes” are responsible for their success this season. Mentioned the key figure was Eichel, specifically, in easing their mental burden. Said he instituted several things like Elvis wigs in the post game, little traditions they take part in after wins in the locker room. Some won’t like this or think it’s pointless to post or that I mean anything by it but I don’t: I’m just happy for the guy. Sounds like both parties have benefited wildly from the separation 

Good for him, the whole savior complex got to his head here and a trade allowed him to reset himself along with being humbled a bit through experience. In the end his persona never quite meshed with Buffalo quite like it does in Vegas. Vegas as a whole is loud and obnoxious and Bostonians tend to behave similarly. 

 

[Thorner]

3 minutes ago, thewookie1 said:

Good for him, the whole savior complex got to his head here and a trade allowed him to reset himself along with being humbled a bit through experience. In the end his persona never quite meshed with Buffalo quite like it does in Vegas. Vegas as a whole is loud and obnoxious and Bostonians tend to behave similarly. 

 

You were flirting with an “agree” from me until the last sentence

10/10

[dudacek]

14 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

I guess it was cliche. They didn't have any wings to pass around this time. 

There's always a way to spin everything in sports positively or negatively for isolated examples, interviews, coaches comments and so forth but you can discern patterns and similarities over time and year after year. Is your actual argument that the Bruins culture is not superior to the Sabres in every way? Is it just a media driven illusion? Sabres are the same. Would that be your position?

There is an argument that winning makes that sort of thing easier and automatic but I'm not sure that's true. Leafs win lots of games but I'd make the same argument about the superiority of the Bruins culture over theirs as over ours. It's an argument I've made for years here and it keeps repeating. I see the contrast constantly because the Sabres being as bad as they have been has driven me to watch more Bruins games. I used to watch the Sabres games first and live but at this point I often do watch the Bruins game first and the Sabres game after in replay because I am pretty sure the Bruins game will be better hockey and better entertainment. Every year I wait for the flip when they fall and Sabres rise but so far it hasn't happened. 

Briefly this year the culture looked like it might be changing, but if you look back I said at the time I thought it was fragile and sure enough it appears to have broken again.  My build philosophy was/is and always has been. Build the culture first. get rid of anybody who doesn't buy in. then add the talent starting from goal out and with that you will have a long lasting and enduring winning team. Sabres believe in reversing that process. So far it hasn't worked.

 I'm going to be interested to see if we rise faster (which you'd think we should) or if Philly does. They seem to be coming out of an era of dreadful management and bad decisions, bad trades, bad drafting, and a complete cultural collapse. End of the season here they do seem to have changed their culture first, now it's a question of the subtraction and then the new talent. It looks like they might be following my method. Maybe Sabres will be better. I'd hope so with all the picks and prospects we have (including Philly's)  but again, not yet. Time will tell. 

Bottom line, it's really hard to be a Sabres fan. 

Bottom line is the only thing that really is objective is wins and losses because that, by definition, is the objective.

Everything else about being a sports fan is varying degrees of how it makes you feel.

[Weave]

3 hours ago, dudacek said:

Maybe, but since Marchand did the right thing and stood up for his teammate we know Bergeron will never get hit like that again.

(Sarcasm, in case it wasn’t obvious)

There is an esprit de corp these moments develop that seems under appreciated.  It’s not the “well that will teach the next guy who thinks they are going try this” as much as it is the excitement and the sense that the team has their backs.  It seems infectious to me, and that is the real value.

[dudacek]

12 minutes ago, Weave said:

There is an esprit de corp these moments develop that seems under appreciated.  It’s not the “well that will teach the next guy who thinks they are going try this” as much as it is the excitement and the sense that the team has their backs.  It seems infectious to me, and that is the real value.

Agree with most of this except I think it is poorly understood and often misread and overrated by fans, many of whom just use it as an excuse to cover what they really want: to enjoy the catharsis of “our” guy pounding the snot out of “their” guy.

Riley Stillman went after Tanner Jeannot. Dylan Cozens went after Trent Frederic. They “had their teammates backs.” Doesn’t carry a ton of weight for the masses because in the first case they lost the fight and in the 2nd they lost the game.

Did it carry weight in the room? Probably, but it doesn’t seem to be carrying much on the scoreboard.

Edited March 24, 2023 by dudacek

[thewookie1]

1 hour ago, Thorny said:

You were flirting with an “agree” from me until the last sentence

10/10

I like Las Vegas but it can become obnoxious in some ways like if you get a headache there; and I can't just say Vegas and Bostonians are loud lol Not exactly a super connection

[Crusader1969]

Kent Johnson with a “Michigan” tonight, 27 years to the date of the original Michigan goal 

pretty cool I’d say 

[PerreaultForever]

4 hours ago, dudacek said:

Bottom line is the only thing that really is objective is wins and losses because that, by definition, is the objective.

Everything else about being a sports fan is varying degrees of how it makes you feel.

That, and different people prefer different styles and as such their "solutions" vary accordingly and that's what we get to argue about.