GDT: Red Wings @ Sabres 7 pm 12/29/22 TV: MSG and Radio: WGR55

[PromoTheRobot]

12 minutes ago, bg17 said:

It doesn’t seem that long ago that losing Sheehan, essentially for Jost, was a bad look for the organization. They seem to be recovering from that but let’s not completely airbrush it away. 

This is a joke right? Replacing a mediocre bottom 6 player for a better one is a bad look? In what universe?

[LGR4GM]

2 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Never did I think this was a bad look.  The organization should be committed to improving the team.  They did that by signing Jost and he has moved ahead of a number of bottom 6 candidates.   

The bad look was all on Sheahan, who signed a two way contract and did not honor it.  He had an opportunity to play for the Sabres and he fell short.  No player is bigger than the team. 

The day this organization starts making roster decisions based on a 4th line player who might end up upset by it, we all lose. 

[PromoTheRobot]

1 hour ago, PASabreFan said:

This took me to the NHL standings. The other thing I learned while looking at the standings, to my dismay, is that despite a five game winning streak the Sabres are still eight points behind three teams.

But we have up to 4 games in hand on those teams.

[Dreams Burn Down]

9 hours ago, Doohickie said:

Question:  Was this Casey Mittelstadt's best game this year?

Not just the goals, but he didn't make me wince once tonight.  Seemed like he kept making the right play.  Is there hope for him?

This was definitely his best game of the season.  His positioning throughout made him look like a different player.  I've always liked him, but he's still expendable if an offer for an experienced defenseman opens up.  If it does, like Tom Hagen said in The Godfather, "You make the deal, Sonny."

[Pimlach]

2 hours ago, K-9 said:

Whenever I watch Bjork in the A, I wonder how he ever cracked our lineup in the first place. Jost has been a solid upgrade to say the least, a sneaky good move by KA.

He is a 5th rounder that played 200+ games in the NHL - respectable for his draft position, but he is an AHL level player.  He had one promising year with the Bruins before Covid.  After that he seems to lack consistency and energy.  

Cracking our lineup the past few seasons was not that hard actually.  It is now, and it will be even harder in the next 2-3 years.  

Edited December 30, 2022 by Pimlach

[PromoTheRobot]

1 hour ago, K-9 said:

Whenever I watch Bjork in the A, I wonder how he ever cracked our lineup in the first place. Jost has been a solid upgrade to say the least, a sneaky good move by KA.

Sometimes you have to start with what's at hand and keep an eye out for better. Granato coached a lot of players and between him and the scouting department they seem to have an eye for who can improve the Sabres when they shake loose, without giving up assets.

[PromoTheRobot]

8 hours ago, inkman said:

It was cringe worthy.  I’m no Hamilton fan but I felt for him in that moment.  No one deserves to be fat shamed on TV for just doing their job.  

I caught that too. I assume Ray and Bone are close enough to roast each other in good fun. But that one might have stung.

[Dreams Burn Down]

10 hours ago, LTS said:

Oh well.. Saturday will be tough. Bruins are.. insane.

Saturday will certainly be a litmus test for this team.  I'm excited as I feel that we can stay with anyone in this league with our play as of late; third period stumbles notwithstanding.

[Broken Ankles]

9 hours ago, Doohickie said:

Question:  Was this Casey Mittelstadt's best game this year?

Not just the goals, but he didn't make me wince once tonight.  Seemed like he kept making the right play.  Is there hope for him?

Probably not. He has had a few highly skilled goals this year and at least one game where he dominated ES.  Last night he had two extremely fortunate goals.  As noted earlier in the thread, the first one was a direct result of the PP but counted as Even Strength(+1). With the exception of the two lucky goals and an 🍎 on KO’s goal (which was nice) it was a below average game, again. He and his line mates were hemmed in most of the night 5v5.  And when they entered the Offensive zone, they could never sustain control.  Not wince  worthy, but SMH. 

  And there’s always hope.  

[Pimlach]

8 hours ago, bunomatic said:

According to Redmond and the other fella Larkin thought it was an icing ?

Really?  That is interesting.  Very un-Larkin-like.  

Icing was a bit of a mystery at times last night.  Two in the first period were waived off that are normally called.  I recall another one in the 2nd period.  

You have to play hard right to the whistle.  

[That Aud Smell]

Harrington’s report from the game indicates that Granato gave an empassioned pregame speech that the arena production people then rebroadcast via the jumbotron.

Anyone have a link? Sorry if it was posted upthread and I missed it.

[Dreams Burn Down]

3 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

 

I consistently undervalue Muel's importance to this team.  The Bill Hajt comparisons made earlier on the board pan out.  I consistently undervalued Hajt and he's one of my favorite Sabres of all time.  Like Hajt, Muel is rarely out of position and plays a quietly stellar defensive game.  It's a pleasure to witness, really.

[Porous Five Hole]

2 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Really?  That is interesting.  Very un-Larkin-like.  

Icing was a bit of a mystery at times last night.  Two in the first period were waived off that are normally called.  I recall another one in the 2nd period.  

You have to play hard right to the whistle.  

I just re-watched it and I have no idea why that wasn’t icing. Not sorry tho!

[PromoTheRobot]

 

 

 

[TheAud]

2 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

 

 

 

And 2.6% chance to win the Cup!

 

 

(yeah, right) 🙂

[Dreams Burn Down]

2 hours ago, jsb said:

Rack up Jost for another good pickup by KA

Jost has really impressed me.  I went from a "Who the hell is this?" attitude to appreciation very quickly.

[dudacek]

15 minutes ago, Dreams Burn Down said:

I consistently undervalue Muel's importance to this team.  The Bill Hajt comparisons made earlier on the board pan out.  I consistently undervalued Hajt and he's one of my favorite Sabres of all time.  Like Hajt, Muel is rarely out of position and plays a quietly stellar defensive game.  It's a pleasure to witness, really.

Sabres with Mule in the lineup since March 1: 30/12/4. That’s a 114-point pace over a more than half a season sample size.

This year it’s 14/4/2.

(Edited to correct my math. Missed a loss)

Edited December 30, 2022 by dudacek

[GASabresIUFAN]

This 5 game winning streak has illustrated a few things.

1) We have forward depth, but the team structure is more effective at home when DG can get the matchup he wants for the Cozens' line.  

2) We only have 4 legit D and this will remain the case until KA addresses it.  Sorry, I'm not a fan of Bryson or Lyubushkin.  

3) Hard to properly evaluate the goalies without a full compliment of real NHL D.  I thought UPL played solidly in the 1st 2 periods, but the Sabres really dominated those two periods with constant pressure in the O Zone.  In the 3rd the D broke down and Det scored 3, although there was only 1 I thought UPL could have stopped.  This is why Clague, Bryson, Lyubishkin, Fitz, Pilut all need to go and be upgraded asap even if it means letting VO or someone else go. 

4).  Jost is doing a good job of channeling Curtis Lazar.  Similar high pedigree players who seem to have found a home in the NHL being an energy forward.  I don't think he is worth his current 2 mill paycheck, but if KA decides to re-sign him 2-3 years at similar money, I don't think anyone here will complain to much.  I also wonder if this will be Krebs' long-term fate as well.

Sorry Sabrespace, but I don't see Mitts be voted off the island until his contract expires unless it's in a blockbuster trade.  DG seems to trust him and he can play up and down the lineup.  He had 19 points in 40 games last year and 19 in 33 this year.  Not a break out per se, but improvement.  IF he gets to 50 points this season will anyone really care if he gets half of them on the PP?  I doubt it.  All good teams need secondary scoring and that is what KO, Mitts, and VO are providing.  

[Dreams Burn Down]

1 hour ago, FrenchConnection44 said:

What I’d like to see from him, Cousins, Power … really many of our young guys … is to get physically stronger.

I think that this will come.  They (Cousins, Power, etc.) need to fill out their frames with some muscle mass, like Dahlin has done.  They're still so young and they need time.

[That Aud Smell]

3 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Sabres with Mule in the lineup since March 1: 30/11/4. That’s a 117-point pace over a more than half a season sample size.

This year it’s 14/3/2.

Shades of Bill Hajt. I don’t give a damn whether and how much he scores or records points.

[GASabresIUFAN]

20 minutes ago, Broken Ankles said:

Probably not. He has had a few highly skilled goals this year and at least one game where he dominated ES.  Last night he had two extremely fortunate goals.  As noted earlier in the thread, the first one was a direct result of the PP but counted as Even Strength(+1). With the exception of the two lucky goals and an 🍎 on KO’s goal (which was nice) it was a below average game, again. He and his line mates were hemmed in most of the night 5v5.  And when they entered the Offensive zone, they could never sustain control.  Not wince  worthy, but SMH. 

  And there’s always hope.  

I watched the game this morning and a couple of thing keeps standing out for that line.  1.  VO is awful in the D Zone and 2.  DG keeps putting them on the ice with the 3rd D pairing.  I understand why he does it, but it's destroying that lines ability to generate more offense.  Mitts isn't blameless either, but if I were KA, VO would would be the 1st forward I'd trade from this group.  I'd also elevate Girgensons to the line (dropping VO to KO's line) to see if adding that physical presence would change the line D zone play.  

2 minutes ago, That Aud Smell said:

Shades of Bill Hajt. I don’t give a damn whether and how much he scores or records points.

1 more like him to play with Power would make the team nearly unstoppable.  

Dahlin Mule

Power Mule 2

Jokiharju Bush

[Dreams Burn Down]

36 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

He is a 5th rounder that played 200+ games in the NHL - respectable for his draft position, but his is an AHL level player.  He had one promising year with the Bruins before Covid.  After that he seems to lack consistency and energy.  

Cracking our lineup the past few seasons was not that hard actually.  It is now, and it will be even harder in the next 2-3 years.  

Besides that, I miss @Doohickie score postings for Bjork immensely.

[Pimlach]

9 minutes ago, Dreams Burn Down said:

I consistently undervalue Muel's importance to this team.  The Bill Hajt comparisons made earlier on the board pan out.  I consistently undervalued Hajt and he's one of my favorite Sabres of all time.  Like Hajt, Muel is rarely out of position and plays a quietly stellar defensive game.  It's a pleasure to witness, really.

Yes.  The TEAM numbers on Samuelsson do not lie.  He is like Hajt in some ways.   

Bill Hajt - Tall, smart, strong, and rangy.  Very good skater too.  He would quickly get to the puck, look up and make a nice breakout pass - Boom - we are on the attack.  Even when he was about to get hit he kept cool and made the play.  He was a steady +30 player and excellent on the PK.    He did this consistently for over 12 seasons and 840 games.  Some people back in the day did not like that he was a not a fighter.  He was an unsung as you can get.   

[K-9]

1 hour ago, Pimlach said:

He is a 5th rounder that played 200+ games in the NHL - respectable for his draft position, but he is an AHL level player.  He had one promising year with the Bruins before Covid.  After that he seems to lack consistency and energy.  

Cracking our lineup the past few seasons was not that hard actually.  It is now, and it will be even harder in the next 2-3 years.  

Have you been watching him play with the Amerks? He sucks and our easy to crack lineup notwithstanding, I still wonder how he made our roster. Then again, DG tends to favor players he knows from his US Junior development days, so perhaps it’s not surprising at all. 

[Derrico]

1 hour ago, Dreams Burn Down said:

I consistently undervalue Muel's importance to this team.  The Bill Hajt comparisons made earlier on the board pan out.  I consistently undervalued Hajt and he's one of my favorite Sabres of all time.  Like Hajt, Muel is rarely out of position and plays a quietly stellar defensive game.  It's a pleasure to witness, really.

I'm so glad we have Muel locked up for 7 years at such a discount relative to his worth to the team.  Ya he probably will never get the points which usually gets guys paid.  But man oh man we're lucky to have this guy locked up.