Tage Thompson- What the h*** happened?!?!

[JoeSchmoe]

He used to be really good at hockey. Now he's not. 

Most nights it doesn't even look like he's trying to be good at hockey, the way he plods along, hoping he can do something good at half speed.

Most of the points he is getting are passenger type points... He's not driving play.

Demote him, sit him, claw his ice back... Do something.

PS- Last year I posted a "what happened to Thompson" thread and he went off like crazy immediately after. 🤞

[Second Line Center]

If your best players aren’t your hardest workers your team will not reach its full potential.

Dahlin can get like this to.  Another minus 3 tonight and minus 13 on the season.

[PerreaultForever]

23 minutes ago, Second Line Center said:

If your best players aren’t your hardest workers your team will not reach its full potential.

Dahlin can get like this to.  Another minus 3 tonight and minus 13 on the season.

Truth. 

[GoPuckYourself]

1 hour ago, JoeSchmoe said:

He used to be really good at hockey. Now he's not. 

Most nights it doesn't even look like he's trying to be good at hockey, the way he plods along, hoping he can do something good at half speed.

Most of the points he is getting are passenger type points... He's not driving play.

Demote him, sit him, claw his ice back... Do something.

PS- Last year I posted a "what happened to Thompson" thread and he went off like crazy immediately after. 🤞

Not only that but he he gets bowled over by what seems like everyone and he's turning the puck over at alarming rates. He was on the 3rd line but to be honest I think he should sit for a bit and maybe it will create a spark in him. I still cannot believe we're benching Ryan Johnson yet Power/Clifton/E Johnson and Jokiharju are regulars which again makes me think this staff and GM have no clear vision or plan here.

[bunomatic]

I think this team are all questioning this coaching staff. Quietly. They’ve lost confidence in the system(whatever it is) as well as their own abilities. Hard to believe after the season they had previously but an athletes confidence is a fickle thing. Tage was a monster last season. He’s not the same player by a country mile. Can’t remember the last time a play or move or shot by him took me out of my seat. 

[PerreaultForever]

8 minutes ago, bunomatic said:

I think this team are all questioning this coaching staff. Quietly. They’ve lost confidence in the system(whatever it is) as well as their own abilities. Hard to believe after the season they had previously but an athletes confidence is a fickle thing. Tage was a monster last season. He’s not the same player by a country mile. Can’t remember the last time a play or move or shot by him took me out of my seat. 

I question that 🙂

Certainly didn't seem to be the case with the response game after the fire Granato chants. 

Leadership is definitely missing though. 

[JoeSchmoe]

4 hours ago, bunomatic said:

Can’t remember the last time a play or move or shot by him took me out of my seat. 

Remember last year when he'd do that multiple times a game? 

[#freejame]

Did Thompson used to be really good at hockey? He wasn’t a top player for the USNTDP. He wasn’t a top player in college. He has spent most of his pro career looking lost. He’s had a couple of good seasons now, but his consistency and effort isn’t always there.

I know I’m far from the only one who wondered how they were so wrong about Tage breaking out. What’s to say that wasn’t a blip? 

[Night Train]

These guys all got paid too early.

Incentive looks to be next to zero now. 

[Cascade Youth]

He’s just not strong on the puck this year.  He’s coasting a bit or injured or both.

[SwampD]

9 hours ago, Second Line Center said:

If your best players aren’t your hardest workers your team will not reach its full potential.

Dahlin can get like this to.  Another minus 3 tonight and minus 13 on the season.

Absolutely. I’m really hoping that he gets that ASG boost that he got the last time he went. He needs to see how it’s done by guys that get it done. The Sabres don’t have that guy on the team.

[JoeSchmoe]

2 hours ago, Cascade Youth said:

He’s just not strong on the puck this year.  He’s coasting a bit or injured or both.

The drop in speed from him, Cozens, and Tuch has been from the very outset of the season. Could they have just not prepared for the season properly instead of all three of them being injured?

Another thing... When Granato took over the team, one of his talking points was how he was going to whip the team into shape in practice. It seemed to work.

I get the sense he's reverted to being the Krueger coach who's more concerned about resting his millionaire players instead of whipping them into shape.

[Buffalonill]

Don't worry i'm sure they all go to the bahamas To celebrate their successful season so far just like they did last year .

 

This team needs a captain like chris drury I'm sick of this crap 

[Taro T]

8 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

I question that 🙂

Certainly didn't seem to be the case with the response game after the fire Granato chants. 

Leadership is definitely missing though. 

There's more to the coaching staff than just Granato.  And it's possible they love the whole crew, but honestly don't see how at least a couple of the assistants aren't wearing out their welcome.

[Pimlach]

Tage has not been strong this year.  Not a strong stick, no use of his body, very lackadaisical in his movements away from the puck, and even in his posture. 

In the offensive zone with the puck, he quite often is making too many moves.  In the defensive zone he is not playing hard enough.  He needs to simplify everything and work harder.  

I think he has had a few minor injuries that are slowing him down, then there is the  thumb, but mostly the effort is not always there.  

He played with Greenway and Benson early in the year when everyone was injured and he did ok.  Last night he looked bad. 

Edited January 11 by Pimlach

[WhenWillItEnd66]

A lot of the team looks horrible.

- Defense does too much stick checking and too much watching. One of the better Dmen is watching instead of playing. 

- Offense is spotty. They are weak minded and play crappy for long periods after giving up a goal. Instead of playing harder, they take foot off of the gas.

- Many players look slow and just do not have the same fire of last year. Dahlin, Tage, Tuch, Power, etc. 

- They do not know what a 60 minute game is. 

- Poor player management. Benson should not be here. Yes he has a spark and skates like hell, but the team and player are not ready for him to be here. RJ does have the goods and is watching instead of playing.

- The front of the opponents net is still too much taboo and few go to the sweet scoring spots. 

 

And the list goes on and on. Poor coaching, poor GM, poor management, all equals poor play. Not expecting any changes in the future. I am expecting less and less fans at the arena! We will be back to nobody wants to come to this tire fire.

[mjd1001]

10 hours ago, Second Line Center said:

If your best players aren’t your hardest workers your team will not reach its full potential.

Dahlin can get like this to.  Another minus 3 tonight and minus 13 on the season.

I really think Dahlin is having his play impacted by being frustrated.

Through the first month or two of this season he was playing slightly worse than last year but not all that much...still He was playing like an All-Star level player overall.

His play has really taken a downturn in the past 10 to 15 games.

I remember a game a couple weeks ago where he did an interview and he really didn't want to do the interview. He was really frustrated. He basically was giving the one or two word answers and repeating it like he really was at the end of his rope. That's right about the time His play has taken a downturn and it's been... Average and some cases below average since then instead of great like it should be.

Hopefully it's either a short-term thing or that's not what it is.... But I think we are seeing a frustrated player more than anything else and it is having a major impact on his play.

[mjd1001]

8 hours ago, WhenWillItEnd66 said:

A lot of the team looks horrible.

- Defense does too much stick checking and too much watching. One of the better Dmen is watching instead of playing. 

- Offense is spotty. They are weak minded and play crappy for long periods after giving up a goal. Instead of playing harder, they take foot off of the gas.

- Many players look slow and just do not have the same fire of last year. Dahlin, Tage, Tuch, Power, etc. 

- They do not know what a 60 minute game is. 

- Poor player management. Benson should not be here. Yes he has a spark and skates like hell, but the team and player are not ready for him to be here. RJ does have the goods and is watching instead of playing.

- The front of the opponents net is still too much taboo and few go to the sweet scoring spots. 

 

And the list goes on and on. Poor coaching, poor GM, poor management, all equals poor play. Not expecting any changes in the future. I am expecting less and less fans at the arena! We will be back to nobody wants to come to this tire fire.

I agree with not all of what you said here but most of it.

Tuch I believe puts in a lot of effort, but his strength is forchecking. He's one of the best forcheckers in a league but sometimes he's just not in the position to do so. 

Dahlin, as I said in another post, I think puts the effort in but I think he's at the end of his rope In terms of frustration. I could be wrong but I think that's what's impacting his play. Also, 25 minutes per game on average, some games approacing 28-29 minutes and behind THIS forward group...that has to take a LOT out of you.

Thompson is playing like a 5 million player at most, not a 7 million player that you thought you had a bargain on. Cozens, I argue with people on this forum about him being good, but he's just not. He is absolutely awful in his own zone, and he's not getting production in the offensive zone.  His line "getting chances" is not good enough. He has to actually produce, we are WAY too far into the season to be accepting "Cozens is getting chances, they will go in eventually"

The defenseman are not great but I think they are playing better than we give them credit for. They are often put in bad positions, no win positions by the forwards on their own team and they have to make a choice between a bad decision and they worse decision.

I agree with you on Ryan Johnson, Benson, and the fact that the forwards should be going to the net more than they are. A junk garbage goal from a scrum in the front of the net may not look as pretty as a pinpoint shot where you pick a corner, but it counts just the same.

The 60 minute game is something I didn't believe in as a criticism in the past. If you make good plays, it looks like you're trying hard, when you make bad plays It looks like you're lazy. But, we have too many examples where this team looks totally different from night to night. I am putting less on the coaches and more on the effort of the players, or more on the players for doing what they want to do instead of what they're supposed to. Of course part of that is still on coaching because it's the coach's job to make sure that the players listen and execute the plan.

I think Power is going to be a very good to great defenseman, but I've been saying since last year that he's not as good yet as some people think.... and not to expect him to be good going forward right away. It might take two to three more seasons before we see his best. That's just the way it works with MOST D-men.

Edited January 11 by mjd1001

[Dreams Burn Down]

25 minutes ago, WhenWillItEnd66 said:

We will be back to nobody wants to come to this tire fire.

Have we ever left? 😉

[Mango]

2 hours ago, JoeSchmoe said:

The drop in speed from him, Cozens, and Tuch has been from the very outset of the season. Could they have just not prepared for the season properly instead of all three of them being injured?

Another thing... When Granato took over the team, one of his talking points was how he was going to whip the team into shape in practice. It seemed to work.

I get the sense he's reverted to being the Krueger coach who's more concerned about resting his millionaire players instead of whipping them into shape.

The Cozens injury thing has been driving me nuts. His game  been slow and sucked to open the season. He got punched in the face a couple of months ago and his game still sucks. 

He looks like Hellen Keller playing "ring around the rosie" in the defensive zone. That isn't an injury. 

 

[Mango]

10 hours ago, bunomatic said:

I think this team are all questioning this coaching staff. Quietly. They’ve lost confidence in the system(whatever it is) as well as their own abilities. Hard to believe after the season they had previously but an athletes confidence is a fickle thing. Tage was a monster last season. He’s not the same player by a country mile. Can’t remember the last time a play or move or shot by him took me out of my seat. 

Are John Biebe and Judge Burns available. 

(It is bonkers to me that there are no Mystery, Alaska Giphy's anywhere. Sheesh)

[JohnC]

2 hours ago, Pimlach said:

Tage has not been strong this year.  Not a strong stick, no use of his body, very lackadaisical in his movements and even in his posture. 

In the offensive zone he quite often is making too many moves.  /in the defensive zone he is not playing hard enough.  He needs to simplify everything and work harder.  

I think he has had a few minor injuries slow him down, then the thumb, but mostly the effort is not always there.  

He played with Greenway and Benson early in the year when everyone was injured and he did ok.  Last night he looked bad. 

On WGR Paul Hamilton gave his view why Tage was quickly dropped off the first line in this game. It makes the same point that you just made that instead of making the more simply play, he tried to out cute the opposition with his extended stick handling. After he did that early in the game and lost the puck, the coach immediately switched Mitts into his spot. There comes a point when a player stubbornly does what he wants to do instead of doing what the coach wants him to do, there are consequences to not listening to the coach. This team simply can't adjust to the opposition when it plays a more conservative and harder brand of game.  

[Believer]

19 minutes ago, JohnC said:

Tage was quickly dropped off the first line in this game. It makes the same point that you just made that instead of making the more simply play, he tried to out cute the opposition with his extended stick handling. After he did that early in the game and lost the puck, the coach immediately switched Mitts into his spot.

Thompson needs to watch a few games from the Press Box… 

[ska-T Palmtown]

20 minutes ago, JohnC said:

On WGR Paul Hamilton gave his view why Tage was quickly dropped off the first line in this game. It makes the same point that you just made that instead of making the more simply play, he tried to out cute the opposition with his extended stick handling. After he did that early in the game and lost the puck, the coach immediately switched Mitts into his spot. There comes a point when a player stubbornly does what he wants to do instead of doing what the coach wants him to do, there are consequences to not listening to the coach. This team simply can't adjust to the opposition when it plays a more conservative and harder brand of game.  

But what you are describing sounds like accountability, I was promised by SabreSpace that the Sabres have none of that. So, it must be something else.

[Quint]

2 hours ago, mjd1001 said:

 

Dahlin, as I said in another post, I think puts the effort in but I think he's at the end of his rope. In terms of frustration. I could be wrong but I think that's what's impacting his play.

 

I've noticed Dahlin with the short fuse in a past post or two. Slamming his stick is the main thing I see. He must be cursing that mega contract he signed after stalling for so long. Wonder what the over/under is for when Dahlin trashes the Sabres' precious $10 million locker room?