GDT: Knights @ Sabres 3-2-2024 7pm ESPN+ Hulu

[Pimlach]

1 hour ago, KC Scouts said:

6 Sabres have done it....Cozens is the 7th

1 Don Luce 12/22/1974 at WSH

2 Bob Sweeney 04/01/1995 at NYI

3 Michael Peca 12/31/1997 vs. OTT

4 Alexei Zhitnik 03/19/1998 vs. FLA

5 Evander Kane 10/07/2017 at NYI

6 Brandon Montour 03/31/2021 vs. PHI

 

 

 

[Thorner]

1 hour ago, Sabres73 said:

This is why I think major trades restructuring the team would be a tragic mistake. Healthy Quinn and Samuelson next year - we need another D, VO and KO will be gone, bring up Kulich next year, Levi to back up and we're pretty good to go. 

Dunno about Levi 

[K-9]

30 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

UPL will play tomorrow.  They have two off days until the Sabres play again on Wednesday.  Donny's gonna ride the hot hand.  If he has a rough start he'll get pulled.

Does Hellebuyck go again for the Jets? 

[Thorner]

52 minutes ago, inkman said:

Hearing Melrose or whatever T-Rex they have in studio say “low glizzy” was not on my bingo card tonight. 

Grizzly Adams DID have a beard 

52 minutes ago, inkman said:

Hearing Melrose or whatever T-Rex they have in studio say “low glizzy” was not on my bingo card tonight. 

Grizzly Adams DID have a beard 

[thewookie1]

5 minutes ago, Thorny said:

Dunno about Levi 

Yeah, honestly I want a Stolarz or Dostal type 1B style backup for next season and let Levi cook in Rochester the whole year.

[Thorner]

58 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

Pity it's too late. 

 

55 minutes ago, thewookie1 said:

Frankly I disagree only because the players seemed very positive about Levi. If anything I’d say Comrie’s performance was more of the stab in back versus them going in disinterested.

Cause Comrie stanks

[Thorner]

40 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

...and then they weren't.  They played almost one decent period (end of first, beginning of second) but other than that the Sabres were clearly the better team.

They don’t need Jack, he was a complimentary piece 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

/s

[PromoTheRobot]

1 hour ago, Scottysabres said:

UPL lifted his stick to the fans, he can stay.

Okposo, don't bother, your gone.

Nice win.

How about Krebsie with the "Are you not entertained?" wave after his fight?

[...]

By game 61 last season the Sabres had 68 points and were out of the second wildcard slot by 3 points.

This year at game 61 they have 62 points and are out of the second wildcard slot by 10 points.

[PromoTheRobot]

4 minutes ago, Thorny said:

They don’t need Jack, he was a complimentary piece

We all know Jack didn't want to get booed.

[Thorner]

1 minute ago, ... said:

By game 61 last season the Sabres had 68 points and were out of the second wildcard slot by 3 points.

This year at game 61 they have 62 points and are out of the second wildcard slot by 10 points.

Checks out 

1 minute ago, PromoTheRobot said:

We all know Jack didn't want to get booed.

[Doohicksie]

28 minutes ago, K-9 said:

Does Hellebuyck go again for the Jets? 

No.

18 minutes ago, Thorny said:

They don’t need Jack, he was a complimentary piece 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

/s

...and Stone and Carrier and... well the other guy I never heard of.  But you take Tage and Cozens and Mitts off the Sabres and what are you left with?

[Doohicksie]

14 minutes ago, ... said:

By game 61 last season the Sabres had 68 points and were out of the second wildcard slot by 3 points.

This year at game 61 they have 62 points and are out of the second wildcard slot by 10 points.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, we know all that.  Just keep winning.  It will sort itself out or it won't.

[Doohicksie]

1 hour ago, inkman said:

Ok, I still love Krebs 

And here you said you had no reason to watch this game.  I guess I was right:  You watched it anyway.

[Thorner]

9 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

No.

...and Stone and Carrier and... well the other guy I never heard of.  But you take Tage and Cozens and Mitts off the Sabres and what are you left with?

[Doohicksie]

Sabres are now 12-3 with Bryson.

Edited March 3 by Doohickie
sorry, messed up last night. 3 losses in 15 Bryson games played

[Doohicksie]

Random facts:

Sabres had only one player with a minus rating (Zach Benson with a -1).
Knights had only one player with a plus rating (Paul Cotter with a +1).

[PerreaultForever]

2 hours ago, mjd1001 said:

Maybe UPL needed to 'get in a groove' and get consistent play...but when he DID play early in the year, he didn't play all that well.

Through December...he DID play more games than any other goalie...he was 7w-10L, 3.13gaa and only an .892 save percentage.

Since January 1,  11w-7L, 1.84gaa and .934 save percentage.

His play, and the entire team (mostly the forwards up front getting back in the D-zone), I don't know if I remember a team playing a totally different game, like flicking a light switch...when the Calendar changed from 2023 to 2024.

As I watch Boston it's weird cause it's almost like they've swapped jerseys. 2023 Bruins were as solid as ever and Sabres sucked. 2024 Sabres are playing decent hockey and the Bruins are falling apart. At some point I did expect this, but not in a mid season. 

2 hours ago, thewookie1 said:

Frankly I disagree only because the players seemed very positive about Levi. If anything I’d say Comrie’s performance was more of the stab in back versus them going in disinterested.

Okay but why did they suck so bad then? What's your explanation for this?

[PerreaultForever]

2 hours ago, Second Line Center said:

 

It’s also possible Levi’s presence pushed UPL.  
 

Iron sharpens iron.  
 

Internal competition.  You need to feel like everyone around you makes you want to be better.  

Personally I always felt UPL was more of a gamer than a look good in practice guy but he does seem to have found his zone. How long it lasts is anybody's guess. 

[PerreaultForever]

1 hour ago, Pimlach said:

The goaltending was inconsistent and so were all the other facets of the game.  Scoring still is.  
 

They just were not mentally ready to play at this level.  I didn’t like the preseason. They had tryouts for too long into the regular season. 

That's fair as I didn't think they ran training camp well either.  

So if I have it correct you would say Granato is at fault for the season for running a poor training camp and not entering the season in a work hard make the playoffs mode where every game matters. Correct?

[PerreaultForever]

1 hour ago, Thorny said:

 

Cause Comrie stanks

Not really up on the whole Harry Potter thing so all I can offer as rebuttal is this:

 

[thewookie1]

1 hour ago, PerreaultForever said:

As I watch Boston it's weird cause it's almost like they've swapped jerseys. 2023 Bruins were as solid as ever and Sabres sucked. 2024 Sabres are playing decent hockey and the Bruins are falling apart. At some point I did expect this, but not in a mid season. 

Okay but why did they suck so bad then? What's your explanation for this?

A combination of 3 things:

1. Thompson, Cozens & Tuch Issues early -

Thompson's offseason was likely delayed by his end of season back injury; he is a proven slow starter as well but by the time he got going he ended up hurt 6wks + (Only since the All Star Break has he looked more akin to himself)

Cozens went into the season feeling the weight of his new contract as well as Quinn's injury and overplayed everything to start the year, became agitated and got his face broken by a much bigger Flyer, couldn't see the puck with the full bubble and didn't seem to settle back in until Quinn returned and seemed to reset his brain. (He's weird sort of center who thrives on playing a more "winger-like" north-south style and does so when with Quinn and Peterka or when he plays wing/center with Mitts)

Tuch's early season issues seemed to keep him slow and less explosive and I honestly don't think he really knew what to do without his above average speed to help in forechecking. (If you put cinderblocks on a guy who plays a very fast paced pressure style; it isn't going to look pretty)

2. Eric Comrie, and the unstable goaltending situation -

Levi and UPL played very inconsistently with Levi actually having the Goalie lead for quite some time. Add that to Comrie's continuous issues both due to himself and the team's inability to give him goal support seemed to create a nigh-endless teeter-tauter. Additionally, due to Vasilevskiy's injury, Tampa was hunting the waiver wires for goalies (especially when they had to start random dudes) for any NHL goalie. 4 teams including the Sabres were literally trapped with 3 goalies to prevent Tampa from poaching them. And since Levi was in the Top 2 and they wanted to still give Comrie a shot, we ran with 3 goalies. I believe if Tampa had their goalie, Comrie is likely sent down mid-November and then brought up occasionally until Levi either seized the job or lost it. This uncertainty undoubtedly caused the players to feel less comfortable to take risks. 

3. Overachievements in 22-23 didn't just level out, they went the opposite direction. 

People here have claimed all the career years were bound to regress to the mean; and there is merit to that in regards to players like Tuch and Skinner but for younger players, career years aren't finalities and can just as easily be breakout seasons to lead onto greater achievements. However, instead of basic regressions and experience gain we've had catastrophic underachievement in part due to injury as well as unusually bad luck. Teams rarely take a nose-dive in GpG between seasons like we have and the power play's inability to function seemed to sap the confidence out of the team. Injuries not only derailed players like Dahlin, Samuelsson and the three mentioned earlier but eliminated Quinn entirely while leaving lines in shambles adjusting the losses. Once you lose your confidence and start pressing, things are only going to spiral however this team seemed perpetually trapped in a wind tunnel never bottoming out but never getting anywhere either. 

Edited March 3 by thewookie1

[PerreaultForever]

2 minutes ago, thewookie1 said:

A combination of 3 things:

1. Thompson, Cozens & Tuch Issues early -

Thompson's offseason was likely delayed by his end of season back injury; he is a proven slow starter as well but by the time he got going he ended up hurt 6wks + (Only since the All Star Break has he looked more akin to himself)

Cozens went into the season feeling the weight of his new contract as well as Quinn's injury and overplayed everything to start the year, became agitated and got his face broken by a much bigger Flyer, couldn't see the puck with the full bubble and didn't seem to settle back in until Quinn returned and seemed to reset his brain. (He's weird sort of center who thrives on playing a more "winger-like" north-south style and does so when with Quinn and Peterka or when he plays wing/center with Mitts)

Tuch's early season issues seemed to keep him slow and less explosive and I honestly don't think he really knew what to do without his above average speed to help in forechecking. (If you put cinderblocks on a guy who plays a very fast paced pressure style; it isn't going to look pretty)

2. Eric Comrie, and the unstable goaltending situation -

Levi and UPL played very inconsistently with Levi actually having the Goalie lead for quite some time. Add that to Comrie's continuous issues both due to himself and the team's inability to give him goal support seemed to create a nigh-endless teeter-tauter. Additionally, due to Vasilevskiy's injury, Tampa was hunting the waiver wires for goalies (especially when they had to start random dudes) for any NHL goalie. 4 teams including the Sabres were literally trapped with 3 goalies to prevent Tampa from poaching them. And since Levi was in the Top 2 and they wanted to still give Comrie a shot, we ran with 3 goalies. I believe if Tampa had their goalie, Comrie is likely sent down mid-November and then brought up occasionally until Levi either seized the job or lost it. This uncertainty undoubtedly caused the players to feel less comfortable to take risks. 

3. Overachievements in 22-23 didn't just level out, they went the opposite direction. 

People here have claimed all the career years were bound to regress to the mean; and there is merit to that in regards to players like Tuch and Skinner but for younger players, career years aren't finalities and can just as easily be breakout seasons to lead onto greater achievements. However, instead of basic regressions and experience gain we've had catastrophic underachievement in part due to injury as well as unusually bad luck. Teams rarely take a nose-dive in GpG between seasons like we have and the power play's inability to function seemed to sap the confidence out of the team. Injuries not only derailed players like Dahlin, Samuelsson and the three mentioned earlier but eliminated Quinn entirely while leaving lines in shambles adjusting the losses. Once you lose your confidence and start pressing, things are only going to spiral however this team seemed perpetually trapped in a wind tunnel never bottoming out but never getting anywhere either. 

While I respect the detailed analysis, you are still saying that the goaltending sucked and most of the "core" players sucked. You have varying reasons to explain their sucking but it doesn't really change the fact they collectively sucked. 

I can accept these various reasons as valid, but I think every year you can come up with a list of reasons/excuses and certainly blaming injuries is the weakest as we are currently better as a team with 2 supposed key players out long term. Everybody has injuries. Vegas had more injuries than we do for example. 

However you want to boil it down I still say it's on Adams for not getting us a solid veteran goalie and on Granato for poor coaching and preparing this team for the grind in a way it needed to be prepared. lack of veteran leadership can be partially faulted for that as well, but that too is on management. 

 

[thewookie1]

7 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

While I respect the detailed analysis, you are still saying that the goaltending sucked and most of the "core" players sucked. You have varying reasons to explain their sucking but it doesn't really change the fact they collectively sucked. 

I can accept these various reasons as valid, but I think every year you can come up with a list of reasons/excuses and certainly blaming injuries is the weakest as we are currently better as a team with 2 supposed key players out long term. Everybody has injuries. Vegas had more injuries than we do for example. 

However you want to boil it down I still say it's on Adams for not getting us a solid veteran goalie and on Granato for poor coaching and preparing this team for the grind in a way it needed to be prepared. lack of veteran leadership can be partially faulted for that as well, but that too is on management. 

I think to start the year it also was a perfect storm of injuries, trying a more defensive system, and some goaltending variability. Usually teams have their core players go through downturns at different times but we effectively had everyone cold for the first two months and seemed unable to escape it. 

Goaltending was between a rock and a hard place; to get Levi to sign we had to promise him a chance to make the team and after his solid starts last season in clutch situations Adams really couldn't argue that he wasn't ready and jettison him to Rochester day 1. (This was mentioned by a few ESPN analysts when talking about Levi's agent being very much against Buffalo bringing in a vet goalie. UPL, thankfully still had supporters on the staff, and Comrie was sort of just a guy who they had expected at least some degree of competence out of. 

Granato needed to certainly do better at snapping them out of the funk they were in, how I have no idea but that's what the staff is paid for.

Veteran leadership is a very amorphous measurement since it can only be judged based on the success you do or don't have. While Erik Johnson hasn't been Teppo Numminen by any means, he was the type of move I hoped for when Pesce denied us for a depth role. (7th/8th Dman) Clifton brought his experience from Boston as well so I can't say Adams didn't even try to bring in more experience. Where he stumbled was bringing back Jost and not bringing in a body to fill in for Quinn.

 

[Believer]

3 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

That's fair as I didn't think they ran training camp well either.  

So if I have it correct you would say Granato is at fault for the season for running a poor training camp and not entering the season in a work hard make the playoffs mode where every game matters. Correct?

Agree completely… And running the Three Goalie rotation for much too long…

It’s not all on Granato, though.

Guessing Adams influenced the preseason fiasco and wanted the extended auditions instead of allowing Granato to play his starters exclusively the last three preseason games…

Rookie GM mistake.. Bonehead move, imo.