Practice Notes 2/12-The Lines they are a changing

[Brawndo]

 

[Taro T]

5 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

 

 

Interesting.

Those lines could work.

[Night Train]

 Maybe Quinn and Peterka should be in Rochester for a spell. They have fallen off the grid and it's not all that surprising. Kids. How about a couple new promotions with some energy. 

[JohnC]

4 minutes ago, Taro T said:

 

Interesting.

Those lines could work.

Just me conjecturing but I think the impetus for jumbling the lines is the Quinn/Cozens/JJ line is struggling. Cozens's play is still very good. But it is not sufficiently elevating the play of JJ, and Quinn to a lesser extent. It's not unusual to juggle the lines just for the sake of changing the lines when they seem to go stagnant. Teams adjust to what you do---so teams have to respond with their own adjustments. 

[Pimlach]

24 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

 

I like Thompson with Tuch. Hate to see those two breakup.  
 

Breaking up Cozens and the Kids is probably needed for now.  
 

Maybe Quinn can get going with Krebs and Z.  It’s worth a look.  

[Weave]

I think they needed to spread the vets around a bit.

Going back to that “the nhl is an 85% league” thread, the rooks and 2nd years guys were doing well while the league was at 85%, but I’m fairly certain our kids were at 100%.  Seems leading up to the trade deadline, the league is ratcheting up over 85%, the kids may be a little low of fuel, and our kids aren’t having the success they had earlier.

[matter2003]

37 minutes ago, Night Train said:

 Maybe Quinn and Peterka should be in Rochester for a spell. They have fallen off the grid and it's not all that surprising. Kids. How about a couple new promotions with some energy. 

Quinn scored an amazing goal against Minnesota and was the best player on the ice against Carolina...not sure what you are talking about.

Edited February 12, 2023 by matter2003

[SabresBillsFan]

These lines mean nothing to me when their overall team defense is horrid. They need to shut down the middle of the ice in their own zone and clean up these breakaways.

[inkman]

I’d be surprised if they win a period let alone a game with those lines.  

[Eleven]

1 hour ago, Taro T said:

 

Interesting.

Those lines could work.

Yeah, anything COULD work.  But messing with the obvious chemistry of what has been the first line for most of the season is pretty risky at this point.  I'd rather wait for the team to be completely out of reasonable playoff range before Granato heads to his laboratory and starts concocting new stuff.

Edited February 12, 2023 by Eleven

[Doohicksie]

1 hour ago, Pimlach said:

I like Thompson with Tuch. Hate to see those two breakup.  

Maybe, but I think Thompson's new line might have some serious jam to it and be very hard to play against.

[Thorner]

2 hours ago, Brawndo said:

 

Not a fan of Tage’s mates here 

[Thorner]

1 hour ago, SabresBillsFan said:

These lines mean nothing to me when their overall team defense is horrid. They need to shut down the middle of the ice in their own zone and clean up these breakaways.

Interestingly, our goals against is 22nd in the league, and our record is 21st. Our 4th in goals isn’t pulling as much weight as the poor D is. This is what I was getting at when I said this is the reason Adams appears, from what he says, to be open to additions across the board depending on fit, and not just at D and G. We need a more well-rounded F group as well, as part of taking that next step

55 minutes ago, Eleven said:

Yeah, anything COULD work.  But messing with the obvious chemistry of what has been the first line for most of the season is pretty risky at this point.  I'd rather wait for the team to be completely out of reasonable playoff range before Granato heads to his laboratory and starts concocting new stuff.

He’s probably trying to get a boost from a new configuration *before* we find ourselves out of playoff range. The odds have been dipping lately. 

Not that I agree w/ the configuration but we’ll have to see 

Edited February 12, 2023 by Thorny

[Stoner]

2 hours ago, Taro T said:

 

Interesting.

Those lines could work.

And wolverines could make good house pets.

[Contempt]

32 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

Maybe, but I think Thompson's new line might have some serious jam to it and be very hard to play against.

The only jam Mittelstadt has is on toast.

[Thorner]

5 minutes ago, Contempt said:

The only jam Mittelstadt has is on toast.

Casey has been decent though, no? I could see him being OK with Tage. Okposo has been disappointing. Maybe he’s such a good stylistic fit with Thompson and Casey the line gels, I can see it, but I kinda hoped (and actually thought) we were past the days of energy line grinders playing with my star C 

Edited February 12, 2023 by Thorny

[Contempt]

2 minutes ago, Thorny said:

Casey has been decent though, no? I could see him being OK with Tage. Okposo has been disappointing. Maybe he’s such a good stylistic fit with Thompson and Casey the line gels, I can see it, but I kinda hoped (and actually thought) we were past the days of energy line grinders playing with my star C 

I can't comment on Mittelstadt objectively. I'll let you guys debate that.

[Thorner]

Part of that may come down to the fact we’d have maybe expected a guy like Quinn or Peterka to slide up, but they are part of the reason for the changes in the first place. 

If KA was using this as an “evaluation” year, there’s so much ground left to cover but IF the season ended today/things looked more less like this at season’s end, one of the big take away “evaluations” needs to be that the roster needs to be prepared for / have back-up options ready for the scenario next season where Quinn/Peterka/ or whoever other rookie can’t give us what we need in the role we have them penciled in for. No excuses next year because we’ve literally tossed this year onto the “evaluation year” pile from game 1. That’s what management intimated. Which is fine, and good, I’m on board - but the roster for next season needs to be built by way of the information gleaned from those evaluations or it was wasted and no, the answer certainly can’t be “we need another year to evaluate”.

4 minutes ago, Contempt said:

I can't comment on Mittelstadt objectively. I'll let you guys debate that.

Love this

Edited February 12, 2023 by Thorny

[Brawndo]

 

[Taro T]

48 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

And wolverines could make good house pets.

It's true.

[Pimlach]

1 hour ago, PASabreFan said:

And wolverines could make good house pets.

My older son has a Boa Constrictor and a Pit Bull. They get along fine.  I won’t go into his house unless the Boa is put away.  

[JohnC]

56 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

My older son has a Boa Constrictor and a Pit Bull. They get along fine.  I won’t go into his house unless the Boa is put away.  

You don't like to be hugged? 🤡

[SabresBillsFan]

2 hours ago, Brawndo said:

 

It’s always been about working hard. This team needs to bring it and then need to shut down the middle of the ice in their own zone. 

[Marvin]

4 hours ago, Night Train said:

 Maybe Quinn and Peterka should be in Rochester for a spell. They have fallen off the grid and it's not all that surprising. Kids. How about a couple new promotions with some energy. 

I was wondering that myself.  This is one of those time where I wish we still had Hinostroza up here.

2 hours ago, Thorny said:

Interestingly, our goals against is 22nd in the league, and our record is 21st. Our 4th in goals isn’t pulling as much weight as the poor D is. This is what I was getting at when I said this is the reason Adams appears, from what he says, to be open to additions across the board depending on fit, and not just at D and G. We need a more well-rounded F group as well, as part of taking that next step

He’s probably trying to get a boost from a new configuration *before* we find ourselves out of playoff range. The odds have been dipping lately. 

Not that I agree w/ the configuration but we’ll have to see 

As a point of fact: currently, Buffalo has 2 of the top 40 points percentage jumps in North American professional hockey history; the 1972-3 jump is still in the top 10.  From 1971-2 to 1972-3, their GF went up a bit, but they cut GA by about 1 per game.  For most teams in the top 50 now, the biggest gains were young teams cutting GA by at least 20% the year after their GF soared.  So Granato's apparent plan of growing offence this year and probably defence next year is normal.  The best gains would be a couple of stylistic changes in the middle 6 forwards and a veteran defencive top-4 D.

 

Edited February 12, 2023 by Marvin

[Brawndo]