GDT / Carolina Hurricanes @ Buffalo Sabres, Sunday 6:05pm ESPN+ MSG & WGR Radio

[Stoner]

12 hours ago, pi2000 said:

Games like this provide a glimpse into what they would look like with a head coach who could get them to show up consistently.

They looked focused and motivated.   Where has this been all season?  

We see it now simply because their backs are against the wall, but it's too little too late.... again.    Points in October and November are just as important.

Backs against the wall would suggest they played well under pressure. But there is zero pressure right now and the players know it and are responding to it.

However the coaches feel pressure. They know they can save their jobs. They've also undoubtedly gotten the message that season tickets renewals are coming soon.

Dan got the message. Make it sound exciting!

13 hours ago, ... said:

Wow. That was satisfying to watch. I almost can't believe I watched this Sabres team gut out a win like that. 

Have to admit I've been on the fence regarding UPL's comeuppance, and I was nervous in the shootout, but he stonewalled them.

Best players were Greenway, Dahlin, Clifton and, wait for it, KREBS.

I endorse the use of comeuppance here. It might even be brilliant.

Words evolve.

[Stoner]

1 minute ago, Doohickie said:

Usage does though, and comeuppance has a very specific usage which you did not adhere to.

This post is sick.

[Doohicksie]

It's beyond that.  It is no more.

[PromoTheRobot]

7 hours ago, Thorny said:

The goal wasn’t for the GM to configure a situation wherein we achieved good goaltending half way through the season. The goal was to provide good goaltending for the season. Fail.

Maybe next year. 

You make the leap that there was a guaranteed winning goalie answer waiting to be acquired. In hindsight none of the names floated as targets were either traded or did much better than what the Sabres had. So by standing pat, the Sabres now have UPL without giving anything up.

Another vector you ignore is the play of the defense. UPL's rise corresponds to the improvement of the Sabres on defense. (Something I said had to happen last year and got laughed at.)

 

[rickshaw]

Krebs is showing some worth as he plays with better players. Go figure. 

[inkman]

1 minute ago, rickshaw said:

Krebs is showing some worth as he plays with better players. Go figure. 

[LTS]

22 hours ago, OverPowerYou said:

Because they like to drag us through the season and keep us hostage. As long as they are winning most of us will keep watching or paying somewhat attention 

 

21 hours ago, PASabreFan said:

Donnie got the memo from the season ticket office.

This damn team.

[inkman]

6 pm start time might be my jam.  

[SwampD]

3 hours ago, ... said:

Not a wit of this has any bearing on the actual meaning of the word or how it can be used.

 

Neither did your post using it.

[Buffalo Super Fan]

Very good Buffalo Sabres win last night onto the Florida Panthers game in my opinion. Go Sabres! Let’s Go Buffalo 

[Thorner]

7 hours ago, Pimlach said:

Worked just fine????  Don’t confuse a fortunate outcome with great execution.   Goaltending cost us the playoffs last year and it was terrible for most of this season, until UPL emerged. 

How much knowledge does it take to know that Comrie is an injury prone boarderline #2?
How many 21 year old NCAA goalies make the jump to the NHL after 7 games?

Any normally run team would bring in a vet for insurance and finish your goaltending competition before the season starts. The Sabres had a lackluster off season, a poorly managed training camp and preseason, and they clearly were not ready to take the next step that was promised.  UPLs development is a happy and fortunate side effect of Adams stubborn and slow approach.  
 

Thanks for picking up the slack here, if I’ve explained the stance once I’ve explained it a hundred times 

 

8 hours ago, Archie Lee said:

I don’t personally disagree with your point. I would just add though that the “goal” you refer to (having good goaltending to start the season) is a bit nebulous. Whose “goal”?  Yours?  Absolutely. Fans in General? For sure. The actual GM?  It doesn’t appear that was his goal, necessarily. Rather, it seems he and his staff were unsure of what they had with their 3 goalies (2 prospects and a journeyman) and were going to roll with 3 and hope at least one emerged. They had their preference, clearly, and he wasn’t ready. 

Just a reminder that the, mostly short-term, goals of us fans don’t necessarily align with the goals of the actual GM or decision makers. 

Yes, if Adams goal at this point still wasn’t to provide good goaltending for this actual full season, ie he still wasn’t measuring in results in year 4, I can definitely agree we aren’t on the same page 

Also, I’m talking goals relative to a league wide comparison: this really has nothing to do with your framing of the “eager, impatient” fan. Taking this long to make the playoffs is an exceptionally long time *relative to the other teams*. It’s Adams goals not aligning with the league, not the fan’s. These *aren’t* short term goals: that’s the key. Adams has been GM a long time. 

Edited February 26 by Thorny

[Thorner]

4 hours ago, PromoTheRobot said:

You make the leap that there was a guaranteed winning goalie answer waiting to be acquired. In hindsight none of the names floated as targets were either traded or did much better than what the Sabres had. So by standing pat, the Sabres now have UPL without giving anything up.

Another vector you ignore is the play of the defense. UPL's rise corresponds to the improvement of the Sabres on defense. (Something I said had to happen last year and got laughed at.)

 

No one laughed at you. I told you it would correspond with a dip in offense and lo and behold, it’s exactly what happened 

it’s always fun to argue from points of view like yours because you can always be right because you never have a stated scenario in advance that you need to see to be satisfied. You’ve never once argued the team wasn’t doing everything properly: your stance is merely just that things are going well because you can’t prove there’s not worse. No matter what the team does you’ll move the goal posts and say, “what could have even been done differently?”

I call my shots in perpetuity. I do not care if you don’t agree with my takes: they have an internal logical consistency. I have stated time and time again the metrics by which I am evaluating the team, called out in advance, so my arguments can be fairly applied. I said was measuring by way of results this year, that decisions were going to be evaluated by way of their role in helping us make, or miss, the playoffs.

If that wasn’t your goal, fine. If you think the rebuild is going at a reasonable pace: that’s fine. Moreover: if you don’t actually care about the results of the team and just want full buy in from the fanbase and a full building: have at it, root for that.

I have explained my stances and what goes into evaluating and they have remained consistent. I said a year ago Adams would need to be credited if we made the playoffs this year. He would be due the credit had that happened. I’ve stated he’ll get credit for providing good goaltending for next year if there’s good goaltending for next year. It’s honestly pretty simple. And if we make the playoffs next year, I’ll credit him by continuing to follow this team. If not, and he stays on: don’t worry, you’ll have one less person around here talking about wanting a winning team. 

Edited February 26 by Thorny

[Thorner]

6 hours ago, matter2003 said:

The problem with their win streak?  Everyone else in the Atlantic is winning too...except the Canadiens beneath them and the first place Bruins who are way out of reach. 

Ya, our odds fell to 3.8 % yesterday from 4.6

[K-9]

20 minutes ago, Thorny said:

No one laughed at you. I told you it would correspond with a dip in offense and lo and behold, it’s exactly what happened 

it’s always fun to argue from points of view like yours because you can always be right because you never have a stated scenario in advance that you need to see to be satisfied. You’ve never once argued the team wasn’t doing everything properly: your stance is merely just that things are going well because you can’t prove there’s not worse. No matter what the team does you’ll move the goal posts and say, “what could have even been done differently?”

I call my shots in perpetuity. I do not care if you don’t agree with my takes: they have an internal logical consistency. I have stated time and time again the metrics by which I am evaluating the team, called out in advance, so my arguments can be fairly applied. I said was measuring by way of results this year, that decisions were going to be evaluated by way of their role in helping us make, or miss, the playoffs.

If that wasn’t your goal, fine. If you think the rebuild is going at a reasonable pace: that’s fine. Moreover: if you don’t actually care about the results of the team and just want full buy in from the fanbase and a full building: have at it, root for that.

I have explained my stances and what goes into evaluating and they have remained consistent. I said a year ago Adams would need to be credited if we made the playoffs this year. He would be due the credit had that happened. I’ve stated he’ll get credit for providing good goaltending for next year if there’s good goaltending for next year. It’s honestly pretty simple. And if we make the playoffs next year, I’ll credit him by continuing to follow this team. If not, and he stays on: don’t worry, you’ll have one less person around here talking about wanting a winning team. 

Given that UPL has been providing good goaltending for a couple months now and if he stays on that trajectory, is it reasonable to assume that we already have good goaltending heading into next season? Or is the acquisition of a more capable backup than Comrie an essential part of the goaltending equation and you can’t have good goaltending if your starter is the only good goalie on the roster? Personally, I think it’s the latter as the the top rated goalies in the league are backed up by goalies with solid stats as well, which stands to reason given that those teams are all rather sound defensively. 

It’s imperative that KA find a backup capable of providing solid net minding stats for 25-30 games before I can say we have “good” goaltending.” As good as Oopie may be, he’s only part of the goaltending equation.

[Hank]

35 minutes ago, Thorny said:

No one laughed at you. I told you it would correspond with a dip in offense and lo and behold, it’s exactly what happened 

it’s always fun to argue from points of view like yours because you can always be right because you never have a stated scenario in advance that you need to see to be satisfied. You’ve never once argued the team wasn’t doing everything properly: your stance is merely just that things are going well because you can’t prove there’s not worse. No matter what the team does you’ll move the goal posts and say, “what could have even been done differently?”

I call my shots in perpetuity. I do not care if you don’t agree with my takes: they have an internal logical consistency. I have stated time and time again the metrics by which I am evaluating the team, called out in advance, so my arguments can be fairly applied. I said was measuring by way of results this year, that decisions were going to be evaluated by way of their role in helping us make, or miss, the playoffs.

If that wasn’t your goal, fine. If you think the rebuild is going at a reasonable pace: that’s fine. Moreover: if you don’t actually care about the results of the team and just want full buy in from the fanbase and a full building: have at it, root for that.

I have explained my stances and what goes into evaluating and they have remained consistent. I said a year ago Adams would need to be credited if we made the playoffs this year. He would be due the credit had that happened. I’ve stated he’ll get credit for providing good goaltending for next year if there’s good goaltending for next year. It’s honestly pretty simple. And if we make the playoffs next year, I’ll credit him by continuing to follow this team. If not, and he stays on: don’t worry, you’ll have one less person around here talking about wanting a winning team. 

It's still not clear what your thoughts are regarding Adams and his slow build. Would you elaborate in great detail? Take your time, really hammer the finer points. Leave nothing out, help everybody understand what your stance is, from forwards to goaltending, drafting to free agency. Don't forget the trade deadline!  No less than three thousand words, anything short of that would leave too much interpretation for the reader. Thanks in advance....

[Hank]

6 minutes ago, K-9 said:

Given that UPL has been providing good goaltending for a couple months now and if he stays on that trajectory, is it reasonable to assume that we already have good goaltending heading into next season? Or is the acquisition of a more capable backup than Comrie an essential part of the goaltending equation and you can’t have good goaltending if your starter is the only good goalie on the roster? Personally, I think it’s the latter as the the top rated goalies in the league are backed up by goalies with solid stats as well, which stands to reason given that those teams are all rather sound defensively. 

It’s imperative that KA find a backup capable of providing solid net minding stats for 25-30 games before I can say we have “good” goaltending.” As good as Oopie may be, he’s only part of the goaltending equation.

We have that. I'll say it again, Levi will start at least 25 games next year and have a winning record. 

[Thorner]

24 minutes ago, Hank said:

It's still not clear what your thoughts are regarding Adams and his slow build. Would you elaborate in great detail? Take your time, really hammer the finer points. Leave nothing out, help everybody understand what your stance is, from forwards to goaltending, drafting to free agency. Don't forget the trade deadline!  No less than three thousand words, anything short of that would leave too much interpretation for the reader. Thanks in advance....

I mean.. I have the 6th most posts in the history of this great website and the 5 folks ahead of me arrived a decade earlier. I think it’s fair to say I’ve remained on brand as a talkazoid.

It’s what it is.

Edited February 26 by Thorny

[thewookie1]

8 hours ago, Pimlach said:

Worked just fine????  Don’t confuse a fortunate outcome with great execution.   Goaltending cost us the playoffs last year and it was terrible for most of this season, until UPL emerged. 

How much knowledge does it take to know that Comrie is an injury prone boarderline #2?
How many 21 year old NCAA goalies make the jump to the NHL after 7 games?

Any normally run team would bring in a vet for insurance and finish your goaltending competition before the season starts. The Sabres had a lackluster off season, a poorly managed training camp and preseason, and they clearly were not ready to take the next step that was promised.  UPLs development is a happy and fortunate side effect of Adams stubborn and slow approach.  
 

If one of the perks of signing here was for Levi to get an opportunity to prove he's an NHL goalie; you can't give him 3 games and bail.

Comrie, he had shown to be a below average backup however, Tampa's goalie situation locked Buffalo along with 3 others into holding their 3 goalies to prevent poaching.

I have a pretty good feeling Comrie would of been waived by October's end if not for Vasy's injury  

[Doohicksie]

2 hours ago, K-9 said:

Given that UPL has been providing good goaltending for a couple months now and if he stays on that trajectory, is it reasonable to assume that we already have good goaltending heading into next season?

Given that the Sabres were third in scoring last season, I thought it was reasonable to assume that they'd be in at least the top ten in goals this season.  I don't know what to believe anymore.

[mjd1001]

7 hours ago, rickshaw said:

Krebs is showing some worth as he plays with better players. Go figure. 

I have not liked Krebs since he started playing with this team. Slower than I thought, not able to win puck battles, very little offense.  I STILL am not sold on him, but last game he looked like a different player. He controlled the puck? When he had it and even was under a bit of pressure it looked like he had composure and waited and watched the ice before making a play.  So, I still am not sure he is a legit top 9 guy in the NHL, but yesterday his play gave me hope in that for the first time in a while.

As for the team's overall play, on both ends of the ice but especially the D-zone....well, the more Cozens plays on the wing and the less he is a center, it seems the better things get.  Power-ish forward, 2nd line winger, good forechecker, physical, fighting for the puck on the boards...to me he is just so much better suited on the wing.

Edited February 26 by mjd1001

[FrenchConnection44]

On 2/26/2024 at 7:03 AM, North Buffalo said:

Hope brings TT along... he needs get back to it or whatever he was doing before his child was born.

For sure. Power could use it as well. Still needs seasoning but getting both those players stronger in their base and core will go a ways to make them that much tougher to play against.  

 

On 2/26/2024 at 8:12 AM, matter2003 said:

The problem with their win streak?  Everyone else in the Atlantic is winning too...except the Canadiens beneath them and the first place Bruins who are way out of reach. 

They are doing just enough to miss the playoffs, draft in the low teens, and retain Granato and Adams for another year. Which sucks, to be honest, as Granato is, imo, the heart of their problem on this team.