Erik Johnson sends a clear message postgame "until we have a commitment to team defense, we won’t accomplish much"

[WhenWillItEnd66]

Just listened to his interview on the post game show. He is one smart man and a definite smart bring!! Now if that message can be crushed into the the rest of the team. How many times were the Flames the first people back to defend in their zone compared to Buffalo? 

[Pimlach]

11 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

It’s weird stat, especially when we have last change and should be able to get favorable matchups for our best forwards.  For a team like ours getting the last change should be a clear advantage.  

Could it simply be that these guys are more relaxed on the road and therefore play better?

On the road they are more relaxed and more filled with team spirit too.  

There will be no home game sellouts until this teams' play is consistent enough to draw them in.  I NEVER thought I would see such poor home attendance in Buffalo - and they (the Sabres)  deserve it too.   I will refrain from ranting on Pegula, but I hold him accountable for the lack of interest in hockey in what was once a hockey hotbed.  

The home record is puzzling and it makes me angry.  

The Flames were in Buffalo on Tuesday for a Thursday game, they wanted to start their road trip off with the win, they have harder games ahead.   
We should have played a backup, elevated our game for him, and been ready win at home.  

Edited October 21, 2023 by Pimlach

[WhenWillItEnd66]

6 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

On the road they are more relaxed and more filled with team spirit too.  

The will be no home game sellouts until this teams' play is consistent enough to draw them in.  I NEVER tbrother!hought I would see such poor home attendance in Buffalo - and they (the Sabres)  deserve it too.   I will refrain from ranting on Pegula, but I hold him accountable for the lack of interest in hockey in what was once a hockey hotbed.  

The home record is puzzling and it makes me angry.  

The Flames were in Buffalo on Tuesday for a Thursday game, they wanted to start their road trip off with the win, they have harder games ahead.   
We should have played a backup, elevated our game for him, and been ready win at home.  

Preach Brother, Preach!!!!!!! Amen and pass the biscuits!!!! 

[Marvin]

1 hour ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

It does make you wonder why Donnie hasn’t been able to deliver the same message.  Is his fast break system part of the issue?

Without better defense this team won’t make the playoffs regardless of how many goals they score.  They gave up 304 last year.  That needs to go down by at least 30 goals to make the playoffs.

I disagree: it needs to down by 50.

[...]

BREAKING NEWS: Sabres veteran defenseman Erik Johnson has been loaned to the Jacksonville Icemen. Kale Clague has been called up from the Rochester Americans to take Johnson's place.

 

 

 

 

 

***This is obviously satire.

[zow2]

All I know is the puck needs to be in our end LESS, and in the other teams zone MORE.  The more you putz around in your own end of the ice, the more opportunity for the puck to end up in the back of your net.  That's just fact.  Play defense all you want but if the other team can cycle and maintain possession too easily, they will score.

[matter2003]

35 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

On the road they are more relaxed and more filled with team spirit too.  

The will be no home game sellouts until this teams' play is consistent enough to draw them in.  I NEVER thought I would see such poor home attendance in Buffalo - and they (the Sabres)  deserve it too.   I will refrain from ranting on Pegula, but I hold him accountable for the lack of interest in hockey in what was once a hockey hotbed.  

The home record is puzzling and it makes me angry.  

The Flames were in Buffalo on Tuesday for a Thursday game, they wanted to start their road trip off with the win, they have harder games ahead.   
We should have played a backup, elevated our game for him, and been ready win at home.  

I don't think it's a lack of interest.  I've watched them all thru the drought years and watch other games regularly even if they are non-Sabre related.  What I won't do is pay a bunch of money for a crap product or a team that doesn't play like they want to win at home. So i will continue watching on TV until they can show me there is a much higher chance of seeing a good game from them rather than a game like the Rangers game opening night.

28 minutes ago, Stormcloudmember66 said:

Preach Brother, Preach!!!!!!! Amen and pass the biscuits!!!! 

I sang on DooWutchyaLike, and if you missed it...I'm the one who said just grab 'em in the biscuits...

Edited October 20, 2023 by matter2003

[Thorner]

1 hour ago, Curt said:

I also heard these comments and thought they were very on the nose.  Needed to be said.  It’s part of why he is here.

I think when he first took over, Granato’s focus was young player development, building confidence and getting the team going offensively.  Now they are putting more focus on improving their team defense.  At the moment it looks like they are struggling with integrating it into their game.  I think they will get there.  How quickly they get it together will determine whether they make the playoffs.  It’s a long season and most teams go through ups and downs, they have a little time.

It’s a race, and it’s an interesting calculation, I think, as well: how quickly can they sort out the D to a reasonable level, and, particularly given the fact the roster hasn’t changed: how much offence relative to last year ends up getting sacrificed in pursuit of said D. Particularly relative to all the career years we saw last year. And when comparing and contrasting the two, is it a zero sum game, or does it allow for a net gain to the tune of bridging the gap we needed to, to make the playoffs?

pretty fascinating 

[dudacek]

Yep, they’re trying to be different, they’re just not good enough at it yet, and it’s affecting what they are good at.

[LTS]

This is the impact of a veteran presence in the locker room... on defense.  He's right, and they all know he's right.  I don't think he's saying anything the coaches aren't already aware of and in agreement with. He's just delivering it much more pointedly.  I think that's one of the reasons he is here.  To be that delivery person and play an interesting dynamic for how to coach the younger players. They might not listen to the coach, so let's bring in someone they will listen to.

Love it.

[Brawndo]

3 hours ago, inkman said:

I think the part where EJ mentions taking what’s there is why they aren’t scoring.  They are pushing the puck right into the teeth of the defense.  They want to keep possession, probably even coached to do it.  They need to realize the only way to maintain possession in those situations is getting the puck past the other teams trap and skating to the puck.  I witnessed the Tage line do it successfully on a couple of occasions last night.  As a matter of fact that line excels at dump and chase as every one of their forwards is excellent at skating, stick handling and applying pressure on the opposing D.  
 

It’s just recognizing when to chip the puck past the D or gain zone entry when the holes are there.  Casey Mittlestadt was the poster boy for never getting this right.  He was downright abysmal and would try to stick handle through the entire opposition D.  Now that he’s on a forechecking type line, he’s excelling.  I’m confident they’ll figure it out. Hopefully it won’t be too late. 

Granato talked about this in His Post Game Presser

3 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Part of the scoring issue is the PP is 1/13. That’s cost us about 3 goals so far. 
 

By the way the PK is 15/16 which is a huge improvement if they can maintain it.  

The irony is their defensive metrics are actually much improved, but as Johnson mentioned they have a ways to go

3 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

I was thinking Benson to bumper on PP1 with Skinner to PP2.  

Skinner doesn’t have a consistent one timer and is not the best cross ice passer, this would be a good move 

[matter2003]

22 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Yep, they’re trying to be different, they’re just not good enough at it yet, and it’s affecting what they are good at.

[GASabresIUFAN]

6 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

The irony is their defensive metrics are actually much improved, but as Johnson mentioned they have a ways to go

They are on pace for 287 GA (so a 17 GA improvement).  It's better, especially on the PK but not even close to good enough.   The funny thing is the quicker they get control of the puck on D the quicker they can transition to offense.  

[Curt]

1 hour ago, Thorny said:

It’s a race, and it’s an interesting calculation, I think, as well: how quickly can they sort out the D to a reasonable level, and, particularly given the fact the roster hasn’t changed: how much offence relative to last year ends up getting sacrificed in pursuit of said D. Particularly relative to all the career years we saw last year. And when comparing and contrasting the two, is it a zero sum game, or does it allow for a net gain to the tune of bridging the gap we needed to, to make the playoffs?

pretty fascinating 

Yeah, and I’m kind of thinking slightly beyond the point of making the playoffs (dangerous, I know, but hear me out).

Maybe they could squeak into the playoffs playing just like they did last season l, but we kind of know that when you are playing only good teams, and the officiating changes a bit, that style of going all out for transition offense doesn’t really work in the playoffs.  This is an adjustment that they will need to make.

[Thorner]

7 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

They are on pace for 287 GA (so a 17 GA improvement).  It's better, especially on the PK but not even close to good enough.   The funny thing is the quicker they get control of the puck on D the quicker they can transition to offense.  

You are a baseball guy, right? I know it’s not the same situation as they had more actual turnover, but the Jays worked themselves into a shoot to improve their D this past offseason, and certainly did so. It just happened to neuter their offence to the tune of actually committing a slightly worse record to paper this season

you can tinker, you can tailor, but if  they don’t have the right soldiers for the game plan, we might be spying the standings early on

Edited October 20, 2023 by Thorny
Ok, that one wasn’t as good

[Thorner]

2 minutes ago, Curt said:

Yeah, and I’m kind of thinking slightly beyond the point of making the playoffs (dangerous, I know, but hear me out).

Maybe they could squeak into the playoffs playing just like they did last season l, but we kind of know that when you are playing only good teams, and the officiating changes a bit, that style of going all out for transition offense doesn’t really work in the playoffs.  This is an adjustment that they will need to make.

I refuse to set my expectation beyond making the playoffs. To me aiming for higher is hubris, where this franchise is concerned. I linked a post yesterday I made from 2021 where I proposed a theory re: the potential poisoning of this type of thinking: but deleted it, as it’s too early. But it’s still on my mind 

[Curt]

1 minute ago, Thorny said:

I refuse to set my expectation beyond making the playoffs. To me aiming for higher is hubris, where this franchise is concerned. I linked a post yesterday I made from 2021 where I proposed a theory re: the potential poisoning of this type of thinking: but deleted it, as it’s too early. But it’s still on my mind 

Haha, I knew you feel this way, which is why I prefaced my statement.

It’s true, there is danger to thinking too long term.  It’s just the next logical step in improving team performance though.  It’s the next set of tactics that the team needs to become proficient in.  In my opinion.

[Thorner]

1 minute ago, Curt said:

Haha, I knew you feel this way, which is why I prefaced my statement.

It’s true, there is danger to thinking too long term.  It’s just the next logical step in improving team performance though.  It’s the next set of tactics that the team needs to become proficient in.  In my opinion.

Fair. My response prob a little too on the nose re my expected content 

I’d say you are objectively correct where your point is concerned: it’s always driven me nuts but the game quite literally becomes a different one in the playoffs. I literally avoid talking about it out of some sort of “out of sight out of mind” positioning because it truly is a daunting thought 

[Curt]

6 minutes ago, Thorny said:

Fair. My response prob a little too on the nose re my expected content 

I’d say you are objectively correct where your point is concerned: it’s always driven me nuts but the game quite literally becomes a different one in the playoffs. I literally avoid talking about it out of some sort of “out of sight out of mind” positioning because it truly is a daunting thought 

I get it.  I mostly agree when it comes to worrying about “blocking” young guys with good veterans who could improve the team, or worrying about using too much assets to acquire a good player.  But when it comes to playing a high quality, more efficient style of hockey, yeah, I want them to learn to do that.

[GASabresIUFAN]

8 minutes ago, Thorny said:

You are a baseball guy, right? I know it’s not the same situation as they had more actual turnover, but the Jays worked themselves into a shoot to improve their D this past offseason, and certainly did so. It just happened to neuter their offence to the tune of actually committing a slightly worse record to paper this season

you can tinker, you can tailor, but if  they don’t have the right soldiers for the game plan, we might be spying the standings early on

I am a baseball guy.  My office is across the street from the Braves stadium. If I'm understanding your thought, the Jays focused on improving their D at the expense of guys who can hit.  It seems the best baseball teams are the ones that do both well.  For the Braves, their top 9 was a murders row (until the playoffs) and most are plus fielders like Reilly, Olson, Murphy, and Harris.  The Braves f'd up because of pitching issues.  They started 16 different starting pitchers.

The comparison I'd make is to basketball.  DG's goal is to grab the rebound and fast break up the ice using our speed and skilled shooters.  The problem is this style often creates turnovers and allows odd-man rushes the other way.  Edm played that way back in the day but were also so good at the half-court offense.  We are not good enough yet the half-court offense.  We cycle the puck well but still have a very hard time getting the puck through to the net.  

[PerreaultForever]

So there's a guy from outside the organization coming in and saying what some of us have been saying all off season so the question is why has the coaching staff not made that their priority in training camp? Ultimately this falls on the coach.

[matter2003]

5 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

So there's a guy from outside the organization coming in and saying what some of us have been saying all off season so the question is why has the coaching staff not made that their priority in training camp? Ultimately this falls on the coach.

Training camp isn't even close to enough time to have something like that take hold...needs to be game in game out for half a season or more before it is really going to become second nature to players.  Players are not robots.

Edited October 20, 2023 by matter2003

[LGR4GM]

20 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

So there's a guy from outside the organization coming in and saying what some of us have been saying all off season so the question is why has the coaching staff not made that their priority in training camp? Ultimately this falls on the coach.

You are broken record. A smug broken record. 

[LGR4GM]

15 minutes ago, matter2003 said:

Training camp isn't even close to enough time to have something like that take hold...needs to be game in game out for half a season or more before it is really going to become second nature to players.  Players are not robots.

No you see if we had Peca or Torts or whoever is the flavor of the week, they would understand. But since Granato doesn't say the "right" things in front of the cameras, he's apparently oblivious. 

[LGR4GM]

5 hours ago, Getpucksdeep said:

Here's his post-game only.  Count me as his newest fan.

https://www.nhl.com/sabres/video/erik-johnson-postgame-vs-cgy-6339490059112

"make the play that's there" EXACTLY.  So many forced passes that just aren't there.  Skinner is the all time great at this. Power and Cozens creeping up the standings quickly this year.

That's the biggest thing imo. They are forcing plays and overcomplicating the offense while also being very lazy on the attack.