Levi to start vs. NYR on Friday

[Pimlach]

1 hour ago, PASabreFan said:

I can't get there with ya. This group with all its warts in goal have gotten us within hailing distance of the playoffs. They deserve to play it out. Anderson the cagey vet or Comrie with a recent shutout work for this game. How does it play in the lockerroom is one concern of mine. On a technical level there's the critical issue of communication between goalie and esp. D.

This is about showcasing the future. Again, the present can go to Hell.

Valid concerns and comments.  Not even contrarian. 

KA walked up to DG and said "play the kid".   Shades of ... 

           vs.   

 

Edited March 30, 2023 by Pimlach

[Weave]

2 minutes ago, Porous Five Hole said:

I don’t agree. I realize Comrie had a nice week, and I’ve been advocating to see him more…but plain and simple, our goalies are inadequate. Below average is generous. 
 

The Sabres are not sacrificing anything toward a playoff run by starting the kid. I’m more interested in what Levi can do cuz Andy looks outta gas and UPL ain’t it. 

Noone is questioning the competence of the other 3 goalies.  But they are known commodities.  Levi is very much an unknown.  It may be a simple coin toss whether a first time goalie is an improvement, or worse.  Hell, the odds might not even be that good.  Its most definitely a high risk position to choose the unknown if winning is important.

[MBD]

35 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

I can't get there with ya. This group with all its warts in goal have gotten us within hailing distance of the playoffs. They deserve to play it out. Anderson the cagey vet or Comrie with a recent shutout work for this game. How does it play in the lockerroom is one concern of mine. On a technical level there's the critical issue of communication between goalie and esp. D.

This is about showcasing the future. Again, the present can go to Hell.

You could make the argument that when KA didn't make a major trade by the deadline, the present was told to go to Hell then.  Or:

21 minutes ago, Marvin said:

It could be that he's been a wall in practice.

 

[Porous Five Hole]

1 minute ago, Weave said:

Noone is questioning the competence of the other 3 goalies.  But they are known commodities.  Levi is very much an unknown.  It may be a simple coin toss whether a first time goalie is an improvement, or worse.  Hell, the odds might not even be that good.  Its most definitely a high risk position to choose the unknown if winning is important.

I’ll take the unknown over the known of UPL & Andy, and Comrie isn’t playing back to back.  
Money Puck has our playoff odds at 2.8% anyway. I would hate to damage that 2.8% lol 
 

 

[K-9]

If the commodities are “known” to be substandard over a large sample size like, let’s say, an entire season to date, then they don’t deserve any benefit of the doubt whatsoever. Other than a handful of stellar moments, our collective goaltending group has crapped the bed. They haven’t carried this team to playoff contention in the least as it’s been the offense having to score four or more a game to offset their ineptitude to get us where we are. Indeed, better goaltending would have seen us already in a playoff position.

While it’s not saying much at all given how poor we are between the pipes, the moment he signed, Devon Levi became the best goalie on our team. And I suspect the coaches and players are already well aware of that, which is why the decision to play him has nothing to do with putting things off until next year and everything to do with legitimately giving us the best chance to win a game. 

[Weave]

12 minutes ago, Porous Five Hole said:

I’ll take the unknown over the known of UPL & Andy, and Comrie isn’t playing back to back.  
Money Puck has our playoff odds at 2.8% anyway. I would hate to damage that 2.8% lol 
 

 

And thats fine, obviously.  But it is high risk.

And if KA is judging a 2.8% chance as not worth pursuing, PA is absolutely correct.

[K-9]

5 minutes ago, Weave said:

And thats fine, obviously.  But it is high risk.

And if KA is judging a 2.8% chance as not worth pursuing, PA is absolutely correct.

It’s also high reward whereas any of the other three are high risk only. 

[inkman]

5 hours ago, ExWNYer said:

It's tomorrow...Friday...the last day of this month...it's still March...there are 31 days in March...so 3/31/23.

Puck drop is at 7:00 PM...the big hand will be on twelve and the little hand will  be on seven...if you have a digital clock it will be 7:00...if you prefer military time it's at 1900 hours.

OP amended the thread title after my offering soooooo…

[Mustache of God]

He's either gonna get pulled in the second after letting in 6 or have a shutout/RMshutout. There's no in between.

Edited March 30, 2023 by Mustache of God

[Pimlach]

20 minutes ago, Weave said:

And thats fine, obviously.  But it is high risk.

And if KA is judging a 2.8% chance as not worth pursuing, PA is absolutely correct.

What?  Which?  Wha?  

[dudacek]

1 hour ago, PASabreFan said:

I can't get there with ya. This group with all its warts in goal have gotten us within hailing distance of the playoffs. They deserve to play it out. Anderson the cagey vet or Comrie with a recent shutout work for this game. How does it play in the lockerroom is one concern of mine. On a technical level there's the critical issue of communication between goalie and esp. D.

This is about showcasing the future. Again, the present can go to Hell.

The present goes to hell 3 out of every 5 times one of the other 3 start.

55 minutes ago, Weave said:

The only reason I’m not fully there with you is, I have no idea how Levi has looked in practice.

If (big if) KA had any priority or urgency tied to getting into the playoffs, this seems like a decision counter to that goal (again, with no knowledgeable of how Levi has looked in practice).  It’s fairly high risk - high reward in terms of winning enough games to have a shot at the playoffs, and high risk - high reward is pretty counter to KAs strategy to date.

So this certainly seems a “don’t block the kids” move, not “let’s prioritize getting into the playoffs”.

Will be interesting to see if Levi had the stuff to make the reason behind the decision irrelevant.

Why can’t this be a “this kid looks better than the trash we’ve been putting out there, let’s take a swing at the playoffs” move?

42 minutes ago, Weave said:

Noone is questioning the competence of the other 3 goalies.  But they are known commodities.  Levi is very much an unknown.  It may be a simple coin toss whether a first time goalie is an improvement, or worse.  Hell, the odds might not even be that good.  Its most definitely a high risk position to choose the unknown if winning is important.

The odds are less than a coin flip that the other three play well enough to win.

Demonstrably. Provably.

I’ll take the coin flip.

Edited March 30, 2023 by dudacek

[ddaryl]

1 hour ago, PASabreFan said:

I can't get there with ya. This group with all its warts in goal have gotten us within hailing distance of the playoffs. They deserve to play it out. Anderson the cagey vet or Comrie with a recent shutout work for this game. How does it play in the lockerroom is one concern of mine. On a technical level there's the critical issue of communication between goalie and esp. D.

This is about showcasing the future. Again, the present can go to Hell.

Honestly after year of ups and mostly downs for our goaltending trio... I honestly think our chances are better with the unkown.
If the lockerroom is bothered by this decision then they should of played better and not let us be in this position to begin with. I doubt this move is causing lockeroon issues.

 

the trio ***** the bed after the Allstar break (along with most of the team) and down the final stretch. I just have little confidence in them and would rather take the chances with Levi. Hopefully some spectacular G work can inspire the team to do the improbable

 

Whether Levi is really ready to go and provide that spark is a question we are waiting to have answered. 

[Taro T]

24 minutes ago, Weave said:

And thats fine, obviously.  But it is high risk.

And if KA is judging a 2.8% chance as not worth pursuing, PA is absolutely correct.

That 2.8% chance has already incorporated that the other 3 teams the Sabres are chasing will likely play at their season averages (or close to it, depending upon the individual opponents).  If those 3 all play at their pace through 73+ games, the Aisles end with 94, the Pens 91, and the Swamp Cats 89.  The Sabres would likely have the tiebreak with the Pens, so they need to get to 91 at a minimum.   But figure they realistically have to get to 92 or 93.  That means 7-1-1 or 8-1-0.

They play the Canes in Buffalo, so we almost definitely know where the 1 L comes.  To make the playoffs they can at most lose 1 other game in OT/SO.

Can't see any way the Sabres get to 93 (or even 91) using the goalies they've used to date.  So, the effective chance to get in without playing Levi is 0.0%.  Playing Levi isn't high risk, it's the only way to even get to that 2.8% chance of getting in.

[PromoTheRobot]

Goatheads Friday is the hot rumor!!!

 

[Taro T]

1 minute ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Goatheads Friday is the hot rumor!!!

 

Are they allowed to wear thirds more than 12 times?  If not, it isn't happening as they're scheduled for the B&R Goatheads against the Otters.

If they can wear them more often, then sure, why not.  What is there to lose.  (But please stop this B&R madness on more than a gimmick basis next year.  This team's colors are B&G.)

[PromoTheRobot]

8 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Are they allowed to wear thirds more than 12 times?  If not, it isn't happening as they're scheduled for the B&R Goatheads against the Otters.

If they can wear them more often, then sure, why not.  What is there to lose.  (But please stop this B&R madness on more than a gimmick basis next year.  This team's colors are B&G.)

[pi2000]

43 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Goatheads Friday is the hot rumor!!!

 

 

My source confirms they have no choice but to go with the goatheads as Levi still doesn't have a set of blue/gold home pants.

 

[shrader]

1 hour ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Goatheads Friday is the hot rumor!!!

 

Spoiler alert: Thanos did lose.

I hate horrible analogies.

[Buffalonill]

1 hour ago, Taro T said:

Are they allowed to wear thirds more than 12 times?  If not, it isn't happening as they're scheduled for the B&R Goatheads against the Otters.

If they can wear them more often, then sure, why not.  What is there to lose.  (But please stop this B&R madness on more than a gimmick basis next year.  This team's colors are B&G.)

Who cares if its B&R if that wins them a cup i couldn't care less 

[Weave]

1 hour ago, dudacek said:

The present goes to hell 3 out of every 5 times one of the other 3 start.

Why can’t this be a “this kid looks better than the trash we’ve been putting out there, let’s take a swing at the playoffs” move?

The odds are less than a coin flip that the other three play well enough to win.

Demonstrably. Provably.

I’ll take the coin flip.

Regarding the part you quoted me to reply, I conditioned every response with some version of “no data regarding how Levi has looked in practice”, so your “why can’t this be” was covered.

Edited March 30, 2023 by Weave

[Mustache of God]

38 minutes ago, shrader said:

Spoiler alert: Thanos did lose.

I hate horrible analogies.

Thanos lost in 1 out of a bajorllian different timelines. His win percent is 99.9999999999999999999999999999999%

[PerreaultForever]

3 minutes ago, Mustache of God said:

Thanos lost in 1 out of a bajorllian different timelines. His win percent is 99.9999999999999999999999999999999%

So is there a timeline where we still have Ralph Krueger as coach?????

Wow, the expectation bar is set high here. Going to make Friday's game interesting to say the least. 

I believe in Levi. I was one of the first to say so when we traded for him. I'm not sure I believe in instant Levi though. 3-5 year Levi absolutely. 

[Mustache of God]

15 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

So is there a timeline where we still have Ralph Krueger as coach?????

Wow, the expectation bar is set high here. Going to make Friday's game interesting to say the least. 

I believe in Levi. I was one of the first to say so when we traded for him. I'm not sure I believe in instant Levi though. 3-5 year Levi absolutely. 

Yes, but there's also a timeline where Terry Pegula married Ralph Krueger.

[TheAud]

2 minutes ago, Mustache of God said:

Yes, but there's also a timeline where Terry Pegula married Ralph Krueger.

[HumanSlinky39]

Throwing him out there against the Rags to pop his NHL cherry?