JohnC Posted January 8 Report Posted January 8 38 minutes ago, Marvin said: Following up on your first point: if we go 6-0 on the upcoming homestead with ordinary luck otherwise, we still would not be in a playoff spot. The critical issue isn't so much being in a playoff spot after this homestand as it is being in the playoff mix with a credible chance of getting into the playoffs after this extended home game stretch is completed. Last year, the team dug itself in a hole that was difficult to overcome. Better positioning oneself sooner rather than later gives this team a more realistic chance to make the playoffs. Quote
Weave Posted January 9 Report Posted January 9 59 minutes ago, JohnC said: The critical issue isn't so much being in a playoff spot after this homestand as it is being in the playoff mix with a credible chance of getting into the playoffs after this extended home game stretch is completed. Last year, the team dug itself in a hole that was difficult to overcome. Better positioning oneself sooner rather than later gives this team a more realistic chance to make the playoffs. Credibility left a month ago. Quote
JohnC Posted January 9 Report Posted January 9 2 minutes ago, Weave said: Credibility left a month ago. I disagree. There's still time with little margin of error. Last year, this team dug itself into a deeper whole with three separate 8 non-winning streaks. It wasn't until the last fifth of the season where it made a serious push. We ran out of time. This is a critical extended homestand. We can get into a genuine playoff mix if we come close to maximizing the points on the table. It will be a big challenge but I see it as being doable. You may not. That's okay. Quote
Thorner Posted January 9 Report Posted January 9 2 hours ago, PromoTheRobot said: Adams' timeline is different than ours. The most true thing ever said 1 Quote
Pimlach Posted January 9 Report Posted January 9 (edited) 7 hours ago, bob_sauve28 said: Maybe Adams is genius. If both UPL and Levi round out into above average goalies it will be like KA was right all along. Depends on when, and being “above average” should not be the standard. He could wait 2-3 more and maybe they develop into a strong tandem. That doesn’t make it the right way or the best way. He already did it wrong IMO, by going with the 3 he already had,, not bringing in a true #1, and starting Levi in the NHL immediately. I doubt many, if any, of the other 31 GMs would have done this. It would get some of them fired Edited January 9 by Pimlach 1 Quote
7+6=13 Posted January 9 Report Posted January 9 3 hours ago, #freejame said: This season doesn’t exist in a vacuum But some vacuums are also blowers. 1 Quote
bob_sauve28 Posted January 9 Report Posted January 9 1 hour ago, Pimlach said: He already did it wrong IMO, by going with the 3 he had, not bringing in a true 1, and starting Levi in the NHL immediately. I doubt the other 31 GMs would have done this, and had they, some of them would be fired by now Fair enough, but true #1 goalies do not grow on trees 3 Quote
PromoTheRobot Posted January 9 Report Posted January 9 (edited) On 1/8/2024 at 9:18 PM, bob_sauve28 said: Fair enough, but true #1 goalies do not grow on trees Of course not. They sell em at Home Depot....or is it Canadian Tire? Edited January 10 by PromoTheRobot 1 Quote
bob_sauve28 Posted January 9 Report Posted January 9 1 hour ago, PromoTheRobot said: Of course not. They sell em at Home Depot. I also saw a great goalie for sale at Wegmans! 1 Quote
LETSTUCHINGO Posted January 9 Report Posted January 9 13 hours ago, Pimlach said: Depends on when, and being “above average” should not be the standard. He could wait 2-3 more and maybe they develop into a strong tandem. That doesn’t make it the right way or the best way. He already did it wrong IMO, by going with the 3 he already had,, not bringing in a true #1, and starting Levi in the NHL immediately. I doubt many, if any, of the other 31 GMs would have done this. It would get some of them fired Habs are doing it with 3 goalies! Quote
Weave Posted January 10 Report Posted January 10 On 1/8/2024 at 7:39 PM, JohnC said: I disagree. There's still time with little margin of error. Last year, this team dug itself into a deeper whole with three separate 8 non-winning streaks. It wasn't until the last fifth of the season where it made a serious push. We ran out of time. This is a critical extended homestand. We can get into a genuine playoff mix if we come close to maximizing the points on the table. It will be a big challenge but I see it as being doable. You may not. That's okay. Nope. Its over. It was over before Christmas. We’re at the halfway point now. It’s definitely over after the Kraken game. There is no wishing and hoping from here. The pace they’d need is nearly historic, with no prior indication they have it in them. 3 Quote
bob_sauve28 Posted January 10 Report Posted January 10 26 minutes ago, Weave said: Nope. Its over. It was over before Christmas. We’re at the halfway point now. It’s definitely over after the Kraken game. There is no wishing and hoping from here. The pace they’d need is nearly historic, with no prior indication they have it in them. Over? Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? Quote
LGR4GM Posted January 10 Report Posted January 10 On 1/8/2024 at 7:39 PM, JohnC said: I disagree. There's still time with little margin of error. Last year, this team dug itself into a deeper whole with three separate 8 non-winning streaks. It wasn't until the last fifth of the season where it made a serious push. We ran out of time. This is a critical extended homestand. We can get into a genuine playoff mix if we come close to maximizing the points on the table. It will be a big challenge but I see it as being doable. You may not. That's okay. This team is bad. They don't have league average goaltending, defense, or scoring. The players look lost, the coaches sound lost, and the GM is MIA. The season is done, start looking at the top 10 in the draft. 3 Quote
GASabresIUFAN Posted January 10 Report Posted January 10 Everything we are seeing comes down to goaltending. When are goalies make some big stops early the team feeds off the energy and usually plays well. When the goalies get beat early, their fault or not, the team collapses. Inconsistent goaltending, inconsistent team. KA is going to leave Levi and UPL in place for the season as part of his “growing pains” development season strategy. Here is the worse news. Both guys will be back next year as well. Expect a younger status quo roster for next season with more kids replacing the vets at forward. Yeah. 1 Quote
Thorner Posted January 10 Report Posted January 10 2 hours ago, LGR4GM said: start looking at the top 10 in the draft. Quote
#freejame Posted January 10 Report Posted January 10 2 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said: Everything we are seeing comes down to goaltending. When are goalies make some big stops early the team feeds off the energy and usually plays well. When the goalies get beat early, their fault or not, the team collapses. Inconsistent goaltending, inconsistent team. KA is going to leave Levi and UPL in place for the season as part of his “growing pains” development season strategy. Here is the worse news. Both guys will be back next year as well. Expect a younger status quo roster for next season with more kids replacing the vets at forward. Yeah. This is literally hockey 101. It applies at every level from mites to pros. If you trust your goalie you play better. It’s why teams build from the net out. 1 Quote
Thorner Posted January 10 Report Posted January 10 (edited) 10 minutes ago, #freejame said: This is literally hockey 101. It applies at every level from mites to pros. If you trust your goalie you play better. It’s why teams build from the net out. Funny thing is… I think we have been. I mentioned a couple years ago we might be willingly on the “Levi timeline” ie I’m not sure what kind of success Adams expects until Levi is ready to be a #1. It’s probably why they made those promises to him or whatever. Adams has already decided to franchise is beholden to him, sort of Eichel-like, so why not If you listen to some, goalies don’t fill the shelves at the Home Depot or whatever, right? So our best option was to trade one of the best forwards in the league for a small prospect goalie (and call it a “fleecing”) and refuse to adequately fill out the rest of the team until said goalie matures it’s a good strategy. Pay no attention to the lack of playoff appearances behind that curtain Edited January 10 by Thorny Quote
Weave Posted January 10 Report Posted January 10 8 minutes ago, Thorny said: Funny thing is… I think we have been. I mentioned a couple years ago we might be willingly on the “Levi timeline” ie I’m not sure what kind of success Adams expects until Levi is ready to be a #1. It’s probably why they made those promises to him or whatever. Adams has already decided to franchise is beholden to him, sort of Eichel-like, so why not If you listen to some, goalies don’t fill the shelves at the Home Depot or whatever, right? So our best option was to trade one of the best forwards in the league for a small prospect goalie (and call it a “fleecing”) and refuse to adequately fill out the rest of the team until said goalie matures it’s a good strategy. Pay no attention to the lack of playoff appearances behind that curtain By then the team will need to replace all the mid career guys like Dahlin when they lose their love for the game. 1 Quote
Mango Posted January 10 Report Posted January 10 Protect Levi at all costs. It doesn't matter if he is better or worse than Levi, Comrie, or UPL. Send him back to the AHL. Let him work on his craft and get some more swagger. Keep him away from the stink that this team has at the moment. After re-watching some of last night, this team is playing some of the most uninspired hockey of the Pegula era. I am starting to wonder if there haven't been any moves because Pegula has handcuffed Adams until he is fired at season end. A girl can dream I guess. 1 Quote
JohnC Posted January 10 Report Posted January 10 3 hours ago, LGR4GM said: This team is bad. They don't have league average goaltending, defense, or scoring. The players look lost, the coaches sound lost, and the GM is MIA. The season is done, start looking at the top 10 in the draft. Before I throw in the towel on this season I want to see how this team does in this homestand. I've felt for a long time that the issue isn't so much the quantity of talent as it is the mix of talent. This team can't seem to adjust its more open game when the other team plays a conservative lock down game. Attack within this WGR link is Paul Hamilton's 12 minute segment talking about the Sabres and its problems associated with its mix and how it plays. https://www.audacy.com/wgr550/authors/jeremy-and-joe-show Quote
Thorner Posted January 10 Report Posted January 10 (edited) 1 hour ago, Weave said: By then the team will need to replace all the mid career guys like Dahlin when they lose their love for the game. There’s no one available though, just nothing we could have done. We fans are such a laughable joke. They can’t tell the person paid millions to do the job, how to do it for them? Sure, every other team in the league has figured out their ***** multiple times over since we’ve been wandering the desert, but we can’t get in to judging KA relative to his peers. Nah, stupid fans. Could YOU have built a better team than Adams? The professional? Can YOU score more goals and play better defence than VO??? Just sit down and shut up Edited January 10 by Thorny 1 1 1 Quote
DarthEbriate Posted January 10 Report Posted January 10 Having a slightly off season (their whole team is), but still coming into his prime and with Ullmark-equivalent numbers at the same age/# games played: MIN G Filip Gustavsson. He's under contract for 2 more seasons at $3.75M and Wallstedt is ready to get NHL playing time. Granted, MIN prefers to go Gustavsson/Wallstedt next season, but they'll also still in be cap hell ($14M for the Parise/Suter buyouts) and not ready to contend. Maybe Fleury comes back one more year for them. Minnesota should realistically be aiming for 2025-26 when their cap clears to come out of their reset. And they should absolutely be sellers right now to get into the top 5 this year. Meanwhile, the Sabres get a starter, UPL as backup, and Levi a bit more time. Savoie + draft sweetener + Comrie as insurance -> Gustavsson Or get really interesting: Cozens + Savoie -> Erikson Ek + Gustavsson + draft capital TBD (to balance out the scoring potential) Quote
#freejame Posted January 10 Report Posted January 10 3 minutes ago, Thorny said: The thing that bothers me most is that the issues Levi is having this year he showed last year, even though we played well. His rebounding was atrocious and he struggled to follow the puck then, just like now. Nothing has changed. I’m not even sure if Kevyn added any water to his magic beans. Quote
Thorner Posted January 10 Report Posted January 10 Marek did say the classic Sabres logo was among the best all time in all of sports and he’s definitely right 1 Quote
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