Practice Notes 4/3 Tage is Back

[SwampD]

It's gotta be his ribs.

[Taro T]

1 hour ago, Wyldnwoody44 said:

I honestly think Tage should have sat last night, I get wanting to get your star out there, but I think another skater at 100% would have been better. Tage brought next to nothing and we could risk further injury. 

You could be correct.  But just realize that other skater would've been Olofsson.

[Wyldnwoody44]

22 minutes ago, Taro T said:

You could be correct.  But just realize that other skater would've been Olofsson.

Ugh, yeah... Or Vinny?! 

[Eleven]

35 minutes ago, SwampD said:

It's gotta be his ribs.

Did he not smoke them long enough or is it the sauce he uses?

[SwampD]

Just now, Eleven said:

Did he not smoke them long enough or is it the sauce he uses?

Pretty sure he uses a dry rub.

[Eleven]

21 minutes ago, SwampD said:

Pretty sure he uses a dry rub.

Paging @inkman

[Weave]

1 hour ago, SwampD said:

It's gotta be his ribs.

I said the same to my son last night.

[LTS]

1 hour ago, Taro T said:

You could be correct.  But just realize that other skater would've been Olofsson.

I would have preferred Olofsson.  I would have commented in the GDT but I can do it here.  Shame on Granato for putting Thompson in the game. I know Tage wants to play and help the team but he hurt the team last night. He was completely ineffective, even more than Olofsson would have been. 

This mentality of playing players when they say they are ready has to stop.  Very few players at 80% are as good as other at 100%.  The skill differential just isn't that great.  I don't think Thompson was even at 80%.

 

[Taro T]

8 hours ago, LTS said:

I would have preferred Olofsson.  I would have commented in the GDT but I can do it here.  Shame on Granato for putting Thompson in the game. I know Tage wants to play and help the team but he hurt the team last night. He was completely ineffective, even more than Olofsson would have been. 

This mentality of playing players when they say they are ready has to stop.  Very few players at 80% are as good as other at 100%.  The skill differential just isn't that great.  I don't think Thompson was even at 80%.

 

Probably would've too in hindsight.  Was merely pointing out that most everybody's favorite forward whipping boy would've been the guy going into the lineup had Tage not dressed.  

And, yes, shame on Granato, but also shame on Thompson and the trainers that had been working with Tage.  They seem to have given Granato bad information about how ready Tage was to play.

And this is an issue that should get more consideration; especially as Sabres fans.  Truly believe the Sabres would've won in '93 had either LaFontaine stayed healthy or if Muckler had been smart enough to play Hasek instead of an injured Fuhr.  And believe the latter would've made it more of a certainty.

Also believe that the Sabres wouldn't have beaten Ottawa in '97 had Hasek played through the injury that was bothering him.  Everybody hated Hasek for "quitting" on the team, but if he had played, doubt they would've pulled out the only series they've ever won in a game 7.

[Weave]

Granato mentioned previously that Tage would be ready when the pain was manageable, no?  So I don’t see how you put this on the trainers or Granato.  

[Quint]

Pain might be "manageable' for one game until he gets cross-checked in the ribs again...

"Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth,"                                                                                                                                                                             Mike Tyson

[Flashsabre]

Tage is a competitor. I kept reading on here that it was the “biggest game in a decade”. He wasn’t going to miss it if he could physically get on the ice.

[Carmel Corn]

It was disappointing that he could not be more effective last game, but only he and the training staff know the story.  That said, as a general statement, I've been pleasantly surprised by Tage's durability the last two seasons.  There was a time I questioned whether he could be factor AND stay on the ice before he blossomed under Granato.

[JohnC]

20 hours ago, Taro T said:

You could be correct.  But just realize that other skater would've been Olofsson.

There is nothing unusual that when a player returns from injury there is an adjustment period to get back up to speed. How long should he have been kept out because he was not up to his top form? The coach had an ability to adjust his minutes and his linemates. And he did. He put Mitts back on the top line and moved Tage down. Maybe he didn't make the adjustment soon enough? I thought that in this game Mitts was one of our better players.

Is Tage fully healthy? Probably not. But at this late stage in the season playing impaired is not unusual. I suspect that Dahlin is still dealing with nagging injuries because he doesn't quite have the verve that he previously had. 

The Sabres and Panthers played a hard fought game. It was an even game. Both goalies played really well. In the end, the Panther goalie made a number of quality stops that made the difference. That's hockey. It was enjoyable to watch end of season meaningful games. 

[Pimlach]

21 hours ago, LTS said:

I would have preferred Olofsson.  I would have commented in the GDT but I can do it here.  Shame on Granato for putting Thompson in the game. I know Tage wants to play and help the team but he hurt the team last night. He was completely ineffective, even more than Olofsson would have been. 

This mentality of playing players when they say they are ready has to stop.  Very few players at 80% are as good as other at 100%.  The skill differential just isn't that great.  I don't think Thompson was even at 80%.

 

The first line did look better with Mitts than with Tage.  He must be really hurting.    

Tage had an assist on the first goal, the only lead we had.   He may have been fine to start the game and then regressed.  Certainly by the 3rd he was really ineffective.

No need to blame the coach or the player - this happens, you want the players that want to play.  

[sabresouth]

8 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

you want the players that want to play.  

Absolutely. Tage knew the importance of this game and was going to play if at all possible. Sometimes that's not good because there may be a healthy player that could do better and you don't want to risk reinjury. It's a judgment call between player and coach and you hope they make the right call. But you definitely want that attitude. 

Edited April 6, 2023 by sabresouth

[French Collection]

Tage will probably shut it down if the mathematical possibility is done.

[LTS]

8 hours ago, Flashsabre said:

Tage is a competitor. I kept reading on here that it was the “biggest game in a decade”. He wasn’t going to miss it if he could physically get on the ice.

Right.. but it's that mentality (and Tage is just one of a million examples) that is the problem.  You want players who want to play, you have to protect themselves and the team from that mentality.

5 hours ago, Pimlach said:

The first line did look better with Mitts than with Tage.  He must be really hurting.    

Tage had an assist on the first goal, the only lead we had.   He may have been fine to start the game and then regressed.  Certainly by the 3rd he was really ineffective.

No need to blame the coach or the player - this happens, you want the players that want to play.  

He had an assist but I don't know that he really did much to earn it.  I can't recall the goal now. I know that throughout the game he was stepping off the ice early, he wasn't very engaged in the play. I know that my takeaway during the game was... "He is clearly not ready to play but he's playing because he wanted to."

Managing pain or not.. a player should not be playing unless they will be more effective than the person that will be removed from the lineup.  I didn't see any evidence that Thompson was more effective than Olofsson.

The reason I blame the coach is that you have to have the will to sit the player. You have to evaluate them. It's a fine line though. Imagine Granato sits Thompson and into the media goes the statement "I was ready to play but coach felt otherwise." This fires up everyone. It's happened before. I'm not saying it would happen here, we don't know. I think the coach believes in the player in this case and wants him in there.  I assume they put him through enough pre-game paces to feel confident, but I'd have to ask myself if those pre-game paces are good enough... given what we saw.

It's over now... so be it.

[Doohicksie]

Deploying Tage to the Cozens line and leaving Mitts at 1C was  stroke of genius by Granato.  A line consisting of Tage, Mitts and Greenway much be physically intimidating to play against.  And they scored!