The Stanley Cup Playoffs 2023: First Round GDT

[Kristian]

I just don’t get this Islanders team. I know they won 5-1, but jeez they look like hot dogshit. 
 

Slow, everything but creative, and even their D looks like ours tonight.

9 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

Just as a point to that I googled and we averaged 14 hits per game. Tampa and Toronto are throwing around 40 plus to 50 per game. 

Pretty much my takeaway from watching these playoffs. Our style won’t cut it.

[Thorner]

2 minutes ago, Kristian said:

I just don’t get this Islanders team. I know they won 5-1, but jeez they look like hot dogshit. 
 

Slow, everything but creative, and even their D looks like ours tonight.

Pretty much my takeaway from watching these playoffs. Our style won’t cut it.

Jets Vegas is leading the hit count too, by far, they posted it in a graphic yesterday during the game. They are just destroying eachother right now 

[Kristian]

1 minute ago, Thorny said:

Jets Vegas is leading the hit count too, by far, they posted it in a graphic yesterday during the game. They are just destroying eachother right now 

Yeah, especially the first period was carnage yesterday.

[Crusader1969]

1 hour ago, PerreaultForever said:

Oh just stop with the 80s/90s nonsense. You watching the games right now? 2023. The amount of hitting in these games is far beyond anything these Sabres have ever had to face.  Their hearts might be in the right place but the team around them is far less than even what Toronto has so I doubt they'd be any different from Matthews (who did drop them with Stamkos after all). 

Actually he didn’t drop them lol.  Never got it gloves off

And you have to be joking if you don’t think Cozens, Dahlin and Thompson would be part of the scrum.  

[Crusader1969]

1 hour ago, PerreaultForever said:

Oh just stop with the 80s/90s nonsense. You watching the games right now? 2023. The amount of hitting in these games is far beyond anything these Sabres have ever had to face.  Their hearts might be in the right place but the team around them is far less than even what Toronto has so I doubt they'd be any different from Matthews (who did drop them with Stamkos after all). 

Out of curiosity.  Out of Dahlin, Cozens and Thompson - who is busy collecting sticks while their teammates are all involved in a scrum?  

[Zamboni]

Of the teams in the playoffs, what is the average hits per game in the REGULAR season?

If the Sabres only get 14.4 hits per game on average. Then it’s only fair to compare the other playoff teams during the regular season. Not the playoffs. Right? 🤔

Regular season 22-23

Kraken … 21.9 hits

Knights … 23.5 hits

Wild … 21.7 hits

Jets … 21.8 hits

Panthers … 21.4 hits

Lightning … 24.7 hits

Colorado … 19.7 hits

Hurricanes … 16.4 hits

Oilers … 22.8 hits

Devils … 16.6 hits

Islanders … 26 hits

Stars … 20.1 hits

Kings … 21.2 hits

Rangers … 24.1 hits

Bruins … 23.4 hits

Leafs … 21.6 hits

 

So a more “hitting” team doesn’t equate to making the playoffs or winning a cup. I mean the Preds were at 27.4 hits a game. The Sens were at 27.9 hits a game. The Pens were at 28.1 hits a game. The Flyers were at 27.1 hits a game.

Edited April 23, 2023 by Zamboni

[aristocrat]

That was a filthy goal by tkatchuk 

[PerreaultForever]

54 minutes ago, Crusader1969 said:

Out of curiosity.  Out of Dahlin, Cozens and Thompson - who is busy collecting sticks while their teammates are all involved in a scrum?  

Oh nobody's collecting sticks. Not that extreme. But I think you get the point. The original comment I was responding to was claiming our leaders would be all in and although we sometimes push and shove back we aren't exactly physical. I don't think we are totally soft any more, but we're definitely not tough enough for this type of hockey.

[PerreaultForever]

38 minutes ago, Zamboni said:

So a more “hitting” team doesn’t equate to making the playoffs or winning a cup. I mean the Preds were at 27.4 hits a game. The Sens were at 27.9 hits a game. The Pens were at 28.1 hits a game. The Flyers were at 27.1 hits a game.

That's not the point though. The point is would this Sabres team be able to withstand this sort of hockey? I say no. 

[Marvin]

15 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

That's not the point though. The point is would this Sabres team be able to withstand this sort of hockey? I say no. 

In 2005-6, we saw players like Afinogenov, Vanek, and Pominville consistently finish their checks.  Playoffs bring unknown abilities out of players.

[Crusader1969]

49 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

Oh nobody's collecting sticks. Not that extreme. But I think you get the point. The original comment I was responding to was claiming our leaders would be all in and although we sometimes push and shove back we aren't exactly physical. I don't think we are totally soft any more, but we're definitely not tough enough for this type of hockey.

Sorry Dahlin and Cozens arent physical?   Thompson has had a few fights including vs Chara.  
I wasn’t saying the leafs are soft. My comment was directed at Matthews and that he will never be a leader who takes his team anywhere 

[Thorner]

The differentiating factor for succeeding in the playoffs isn’t about grit, you need grit to get in/battle through an 82 game sched, in the first place 

its about being able to score at even strength when the officials stop calling penalties 

Edited April 23, 2023 by Thorny

[PerreaultForever]

17 minutes ago, Crusader1969 said:

Sorry Dahlin and Cozens arent physical?   Thompson has had a few fights including vs Chara.  
I wasn’t saying the leafs are soft. My comment was directed at Matthews and that he will never be a leader who takes his team anywhere 

Thompson fought Chara? I don't remember that. He took on Miller once which was brave. 

Maybe I'd consider the Sabres tough if they still had Ullmark 🙂

(if you weren't watching Ullmark ready to take on Tkachuk end of the Bruins game only stopped by the refs who then made a bizarre call favoring Florida but Ullmark has big ones)

[thewookie1]

3 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

Oh just stop with the 80s/90s nonsense. You watching the games right now? 2023. The amount of hitting in these games is far beyond anything these Sabres have ever had to face.  Their hearts might be in the right place but the team around them is far less than even what Toronto has so I doubt they'd be any different from Matthews (who did drop them with Stamkos after all). 

3 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

Just as a point to that I googled and we averaged 14 hits per game. Tampa and Toronto are throwing around 40 plus to 50 per game. 

Toronto averaged 21.65 hits per game

Tampa averaged 24.71 hits per game

Who's to say our players would also not suddenly increase their hit output like everyone else has?

 

 

[Crusader1969]

2 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

Thompson fought Chara? I don't remember that. He took on Miller once which was brave. 

Maybe I'd consider the Sabres tough if they still had Ullmark 🙂

(if you weren't watching Ullmark ready to take on Tkachuk end of the Bruins game only stopped by the refs who then made a bizarre call favoring Florida but Ullmark has big ones)

Yes I was watching.   Was looking for Matthews out there picking up all the sticks during the melee lol 

[PerreaultForever]

1 minute ago, thewookie1 said:

Toronto averaged 21.65 hits per game

Tampa averaged 24.71 hits per game

Who's to say our players would also not suddenly increase their hit output like everyone else has?

 

 

cause that's not who they are or how they play. There's a few players who would maybe hit more, but as a whole the team we currently have would not withstand this stuff. We'd fall fast against physicality the same way Tampa did before they beefed up with Maroon etc. 

[PerreaultForever]

 

[GoPuckYourself]

Oettinger is in the zone right now.

[DarthEbriate]

1 hour ago, thewookie1 said:

Toronto averaged 21.65 hits per game

Tampa averaged 24.71 hits per game

Who's to say our players would also not suddenly increase their hit output like everyone else has?

The Sabres absolutely would step up and start throwing the body, though Granato may caution a bit against it. He knows how playoff hockey is. But this year's Sabres would get worn down over time by it because they're not full-sized yet. I guarantee though that in 3 more years as they mature, they'll be capable of being where those teams are now. It's why getting that first taste of actual playoff hockey is so important. Krebs, Quinn, Dahlin, Cozens, Muel, Thompson (and Okposo either, which scares the servomotors out of me) -- I haven't seen any of them back down since Dahlin did at the end of the season against Boston... maybe 2 years ago. Yes, the end of the Krueger/Granato season Dahlin had a chance to stop taking crap from Boston and he didn't. Last year, he changed with that first ASG appearance. They don't always go charging after somebody like we might want them to, but as a team they don't back down and they have much better resolve than the previous core.

The other thing to bear in mind with some of the hit numbers is the statistician. Hit stats in the regular season for some teams are over-the-top, whereas Buffalo's statisticians are pretty reluctant to log a hit. Some teams will log a hit even if its dodged and you just fly into the boards yourself. Then when the playoffs hit, even the statisticians ramp it up. Everything is a hit.

52 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

 

I'd take Ullmark. He's bigger, stronger, and he trained with MMA-mad Lehner. I'm guessing Ullmark's gentle Minion demeanor has a definite switch-flip berserker mode. Edit: And add to that that I've never seen Matthew Tkachuk stick around in any scrum. He's just a wanker.

Edited April 23, 2023 by DarthEbriate

[PerreaultForever]

31 minutes ago, DarthEbriate said:

The Sabres absolutely would step up and start throwing the body, though Granato may caution a bit against it. He knows how playoff hockey is. But this year's Sabres would get worn down over time by it because they're not full-sized yet. I guarantee though that in 3 more years as they mature, they'll be capable of being where those teams are now. It's why getting that first taste of actual playoff hockey is so important. Krebs, Quinn, Dahlin, Cozens, Muel, Thompson (and Okposo either, which scares the servomotors out of me) -- I haven't seen any of them back down since Dahlin did at the end of the season against Boston... maybe 2 years ago. Yes, the end of the Krueger/Granato season Dahlin had a chance to stop taking crap from Boston and he didn't. Last year, he changed with that first ASG appearance. They don't always go charging after somebody like we might want them to, but as a team they don't back down and they have much better resolve than the previous core.

The other thing to bear in mind with some of the hit numbers is the statistician. Hit stats in the regular season for some teams are over-the-top, whereas Buffalo's statisticians are pretty reluctant to log a hit. Some teams will log a hit even if its dodged and you just fly into the boards yourself. Then when the playoffs hit, even the statisticians ramp it up. Everything is a hit.

I'd take Ullmark. He's bigger, stronger, and he trained with MMA-mad Lehner. I'm guessing Ullmark's gentle Minion demeanor has a definite switch-flip berserker mode. Edit: And add to that that I've never seen Matthew Tkachuk stick around in any scrum. He's just a wanker.

Careful with guarantees, but I hope you are right. 

[GoPuckYourself]

This Minnesota/Dallas series is highly entertaining.

 

[PerreaultForever]

8 minutes ago, GoPuckYourself said:

This Minnesota/Dallas series is highly entertaining.

 

It is. Looked like the refs wanted it to be 2-2 though. I suspect it goes 7 . 

[GoPuckYourself]

5 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

It is. Looked like the refs wanted it to be 2-2 though. I suspect it goes 7 . 

Yeah Oettinger stole that game. 

[JohnC]

Playoff hockey is at another level. Ryan Reaves pumping up his team when given the duty/honor to read the roster before the game. 

 

https://www.nhl.com/news/ryan-reaves-enthusiastically-reads-minnesota-wild-starting-lineup-before-playoff-matchup/c-343827886?tid=281396148

[Broken Ankles]

18 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

It is. Looked like the refs wanted it to be 2-2 though. I suspect it goes 7 . 

Agreed.   Marcus called for questionable penalties not once but twice?