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Posted
39 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

I thought Power looked good after he returned from injury, until last night.  However, I thought he played afraid last night.  He has no physical aspect to his game.  None.  Not only does he not hit, but he avoids being hit and he plays with his stick way too much.  Two goals were on him.  

He was right there when Fisher purposely jumped on UPL and he did nothing.  So what happens, they jump UPL again   The Wings were begging for it last night   

Yeah, Power is only 21.   Byram is only 22.  Dahlin is only 23.   

If Bryam has a huge year next season is Adams going to pay him or trade him?   Mitts was moved in part because of salary planning.   All Adams did was kick that can down the road for one year.  
 

I didn't watch whole game, but I thought he looked great moving puck, jumping in on play. Loved the play he made on the goal that was called back. I hope they do not trade him.

  • Thanks (+1) 1
Posted
7 minutes ago, bob_sauve28 said:

I didn't watch whole game, but I thought he looked great moving puck, jumping in on play. Loved the play he made on the goal that was called back. I hope they do not trade him.

Power is 21 years old. 21!!!!  The amount of hate people have on this board borders on craziness for a player who is so young and still has a ton of room to grow.

  • Like (+1) 4
Posted
23 minutes ago, matter2003 said:

Power is 21 years old. 21!!!!  The amount of hate people have on this board borders on craziness for a player who is so young and still has a ton of room to grow.

Same thing with Casey 2-3 years ago. Then same folks wringing  hands over trading him! Same lamenting over UPL the past two seasons. Worthless. Will never be an NHL goalie. 

Everyone is so impatient. 

He does need to get way stronger and more physical. 

 

Posted
40 minutes ago, nfreeman said:

I agree with the concerns on Power.  At some point I'd sure like them to find him a partner with some edge to his game, because Power doesn't seem to have it in his nature.  Having said that, I am pretty far from feeling like Power is a bust or that they will need to trade him.  He's a very young player with a very high hockey IQ IMHO and he'll improve every year.

I kinda disagree with the bolded.  While I think money did play a role, I think KA's bottom line was that Mitts, although a good player whom KA would've been happy to keep at the right price, simply wasn't worth what it would have cost to keep him.

I also think there will be cap room to keep Dahlin, Power and Byram around long term if their play warrants it -- and that KA thinks their play will warrant it and is planning to keep all 3.

So you’re saying that money played a role, but really it was about ….money? 
Agreed!

Posted
58 minutes ago, JohnC said:

. Our young goalie is playing at a surprisingly high-end level.

Every time you say something like this I feel a twinge. Back in July I explained why 6K was a good goalie and that he would have a good year. Noone wanted to hear it, most wanted him waived. When most were bitching about the Byram trade I said no, this is a good trade for us, and this is why. People just kept bitching. Same thing happened with Mitts. Same thing happened with Tage. Same thing happened with Ollafson years ago when everyone loved him and I said he needed to go. Noone wants to listen to the meathead. 

  • Haha (+1) 1
Posted
14 minutes ago, FrenchConnection44 said:

Same thing with Casey 2-3 years ago. Then same folks wringing  hands over trading him! Same lamenting over UPL the past two seasons. Worthless. Will never be an NHL goalie. 

Everyone is so impatient. 

He does need to get way stronger and more physical. 

 

I think Cale Makar was kind of a unicorn when he came up and they let him run with it.  Byram came up in that environment, into a mature system, and their tone on D was set by Makar- defensemen that freely activate into the offense, and with forwards that know to backfill.

When Rasmus got here we just didn't have good coaching and the rapid coaching changes meant that the system was never settled.

Then Byram got here and I think he said, "Guys, you're making this harder than it needs to be.  Just go with the flow."  And suddenly the team feels.... different.

Posted
4 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

I think Cale Makar was kind of a unicorn when he came up and they let him run with it.  Byram came up in that environment, into a mature system, and their tone on D was set by Makar- defensemen that freely activate into the offense, and with forwards that know to backfill.

When Rasmus got here we just didn't have good coaching and the rapid coaching changes meant that the system was never settled.

Then Byram got here and I think he said, "Guys, you're making this harder than it needs to be.  Just go with the flow."  And suddenly the team feels.... different.

Ya, something seems to of happened! A new guy, super talented, and the other players feed off of that.

Posted
1 hour ago, Doohickie said:

I think the negative view of Power is fueled by the fact that people want to see the finished product now but Power is still on the development curve.

That's pretty dismissive. IOW the negative view of Power is powered by people who can't grasp the concept of player development and are blind to his hidden assets that some day will blossom into what these people want to see.

Posted
21 minutes ago, ... said:

That's pretty dismissive. IOW the negative view of Power is powered by people who can't grasp the concept of player development and are blind to his hidden assets that some day will blossom into what these people want to see.

Bangladeshi Yes Bro GIF by GifGari

Posted (edited)
22 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

Bangladeshi Yes Bro GIF by GifGari

Sorry, Doohickie… Doubt Power can change his personality type… He doesn’t like the tough stuff that’s part of the game… Just not him.

Edited by Believer
  • Like (+1) 1
Posted
47 minutes ago, Believer said:

Sorry, Doohickie… Doubt Power can change his personality type… He doesn’t like the tough stuff that’s part of the game… Just not him.

He doesn't need to be a bruiser to be effective.  Thinking that he does is a fallacy.

  • Like (+1) 1
Posted

Oh agree when i say grit,  i want someone smart at hockey, yes hits with a purpose, retrieves pucks, but also goes to the net and grinds with skill and doesnt stop reading and skating... one of the things I like about Bryson is that he has shown some of that at times and now need to find a shot... I think the current D group is going to be great but may need a third/fourth liner to be an trouble maker... Power reminds me a bit of a young Tyler Myers... gonna take some time but his skating and stick is elite just needs strength and taught how to clear the net.

Posted
36 minutes ago, RochesterExpat said:

This is from Byram's second goal last night and is a perfectly cherry picked small sample sized example to prove a couple of points about this team.

For those of us with memories impaired from using alcohol as a coping mechanism for Buffalo sports fandom, the needed context is the puck was on the wall and Girgensons won the puck and played it back to Tage on the point. Byram is circled in red.

bo_goal_2.thumb.JPG.a1fadcd4d51a627a46abbbe8c85c30aa.JPG

The point here is there is absolutely no hesitation whatsoever by Byram. He's already moving to the net. Tuch (who is right behind him) and is usually one of the only players to reliably crash the net is only now turning to move. Girgs is going to cycle to replace Tage as Tage pinches in. Dahlin is actually moving backward at this point to pinch in for a rebound/pass when it becomes obvious Tage is going to the net with the puck. No one here is making a mistake or anything. It's simply to point out that Byram is quite literally a step ahead of everyone else in Black and Red.

And that leads me to my next point: coaching. Byram is absolutely a talented hockey player and every scouting report talks about his hockey IQ and vision--just like most scouting reports for early 1st round talents. A D-man instinctively crashing the net in this situation isn't just raw talent. That's from playing in Colorado under Jared Bednar and his staff. That's from a coach who sets expectations with players and holds players accountable. Colorado is a good team in part because a lot of their goals come from players going to the net. And this goes back to tons of people on this board repeatedly talking about "adding grit" or whatever else. While I'm sure some posters still define "grit" as dropping the gloves, I'm of the younger crowd which considers "grit" as the forwards who are going to the boards to win the puck and then turning and going to the net. And it's not simply going to the net. It's staying there and battling with the D-man for position. It's screening the goalie. It's getting to the rebound and just being generally annoying for the other team. It's getting the "dirty" goals.

Once again, to use cherry picked data, lets just look at the power play scoring differences between Colorado and Buffalo. It's pretty easy to figure out why the league figured out how to counter Buffalo's powerplay.

Col_PowerPlay.thumb.JPG.224063091cfc297869124d7235642bc8.JPGBuff_PowerPlay.thumb.JPG.a1079f1133dff3c6713bf7efedfbfe1c.JPG

Back to the point about going to the net: there's no question that Jeff Skinner has slumped again this season. Last season, he wasn't scoring pretty perimeter goals. He was just scoring goals because he was at next to zero distance from the goalie for a large percentage of his shots. He started out the season doing the same, but he's taken steps back and hasn't been crashing the net the same (this somewhat matches up to his and Tage's injuries earlier in the season which may play a part that we're not privy to). But that change in his behavior has been hugely impactful. Now, we can either write Jeff as a headcase, or we can question why the coaching staff has allowed this to go on as long as they have. And the issue extends beyond just Skinner and applies to the vast majority of the roster. Skinner is just the easiest target.

Lastly, lets look at Byram's first goal. For context, Greenway passed the puck to Benson at the top of the circle, Cozens crashes the net, and Benson shoots a low shot that generates a very fast and high rebound.

Bo_goal_1.thumb.JPG.a90310bc8c21b2909992bea2ef5d227e.JPG

Once again, look at what Byram is doing. The live clip shows you just how quickly this happened. Byram didn't get that rebound by seeing where the puck was going and then moving to it. He was already moving to where he was coached to go and he was coached to go there for exactly this reason. He didn't stop skating when he got to the blue line. He just kept moving.

The second takeaway from that clip is watching Dahlin see the rebound and start cycling back to retrieve... only to realize his D partner is competent and would cover it. So Dahlin ends up kind of just stopping and standing there for a second looking almost confused. It's honestly kind of funny to see. But that's the value that Byram is bringing to Buffalo. Dahlin isn't going to be expected to do everything on defense for 30 minutes a night anymore. If these trends continue and Dahlin and Byram continue to play well together, Dahlin is going to have the opportunity to really elevate his game even further.

Before I step off my soap box, I want to circle back to an earlier point: a lot of this goes back to coaching. Byram looks like an electric player in part because he's been coached at an NHL level. He knows where he needs to be on the ice and he never stops moving. Not to pick on Benson in that second goal, but he shoots the puck and then just stands there. He looks like he's lost. That's the kind of thing that the coaching staff should address with him after the game so that it doesn't become a habit. But it's also the kind of thing I don't expect our coaching staff to follow up on.

And to that note, the Colorado broadcast last night took an incidental shot at Buffalo's coaching when they said something akin to, "Mittelstadt has so much more room to grow and develop as he learns how to play at the NHL level under Bednar" and suggesting he was basically a "raw" talent that needed to be molded. This is a player with 341 NHL games played. He shouldn't be learning how to play at the NHL level at this point. The sad part is that I don't even disagree with the Colorado broadcasters. They're right.

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk. I will now pass my soap box on to the next poster.

 

Funny thing on Bo's second goal, if I remember correctly, but Dahlin was ALSO cruising towards the net on the play. Both D-men going to the net!

  • Like (+1) 1
Posted
37 minutes ago, RochesterExpat said:

This is from Byram's second goal last night and is a perfectly cherry picked small sample sized example to prove a couple of points about this team.

For those of us with memories impaired from using alcohol as a coping mechanism for Buffalo sports fandom, the needed context is the puck was on the wall and Girgensons won the puck and played it back to Tage on the point. Byram is circled in red.

bo_goal_2.thumb.JPG.a1fadcd4d51a627a46abbbe8c85c30aa.JPG

The point here is there is absolutely no hesitation whatsoever by Byram. He's already moving to the net. Tuch (who is right behind him) and is usually one of the only players to reliably crash the net is only now turning to move. Girgs is going to cycle to replace Tage as Tage pinches in. Dahlin is actually moving backward at this point to pinch in for a rebound/pass when it becomes obvious Tage is going to the net with the puck. No one here is making a mistake or anything. It's simply to point out that Byram is quite literally a step ahead of everyone else in Black and Red.

And that leads me to my next point: coaching. Byram is absolutely a talented hockey player and every scouting report talks about his hockey IQ and vision--just like most scouting reports for early 1st round talents. A D-man instinctively crashing the net in this situation isn't just raw talent. That's from playing in Colorado under Jared Bednar and his staff. That's from a coach who sets expectations with players and holds players accountable. Colorado is a good team in part because a lot of their goals come from players going to the net. And this goes back to tons of people on this board repeatedly talking about "adding grit" or whatever else. While I'm sure some posters still define "grit" as dropping the gloves, I'm of the younger crowd which considers "grit" as the forwards who are going to the boards to win the puck and then turning and going to the net. And it's not simply going to the net. It's staying there and battling with the D-man for position. It's screening the goalie. It's getting to the rebound and just being generally annoying for the other team. It's getting the "dirty" goals.

Once again, to use cherry picked data, lets just look at the power play scoring differences between Colorado and Buffalo. It's pretty easy to figure out why the league figured out how to counter Buffalo's powerplay.

Col_PowerPlay.thumb.JPG.224063091cfc297869124d7235642bc8.JPGBuff_PowerPlay.thumb.JPG.a1079f1133dff3c6713bf7efedfbfe1c.JPG

Back to the point about going to the net: there's no question that Jeff Skinner has slumped again this season. Last season, he wasn't scoring pretty perimeter goals. He was just scoring goals because he was at next to zero distance from the goalie for a large percentage of his shots. He started out the season doing the same, but he's taken steps back and hasn't been crashing the net the same (this somewhat matches up to his and Tage's injuries earlier in the season which may play a part that we're not privy to). But that change in his behavior has been hugely impactful. Now, we can either write Jeff as a headcase, or we can question why the coaching staff has allowed this to go on as long as they have. And the issue extends beyond just Skinner and applies to the vast majority of the roster. Skinner is just the easiest target.

Lastly, lets look at Byram's first goal. For context, Greenway passed the puck to Benson at the top of the circle, Cozens crashes the net, and Benson shoots a low shot that generates a very fast and high rebound.

Bo_goal_1.thumb.JPG.a90310bc8c21b2909992bea2ef5d227e.JPG

Once again, look at what Byram is doing. The live clip shows you just how quickly this happened. Byram didn't get that rebound by seeing where the puck was going and then moving to it. He was already moving to where he was coached to go and he was coached to go there for exactly this reason. He didn't stop skating when he got to the blue line. He just kept moving.

The second takeaway from that clip is watching Dahlin see the rebound and start cycling back to retrieve... only to realize his D partner is competent and would cover it. So Dahlin ends up kind of just stopping and standing there for a second looking almost confused. It's honestly kind of funny to see. But that's the value that Byram is bringing to Buffalo. Dahlin isn't going to be expected to do everything on defense for 30 minutes a night anymore. If these trends continue and Dahlin and Byram continue to play well together, Dahlin is going to have the opportunity to really elevate his game even further.

Before I step off my soap box, I want to circle back to an earlier point: a lot of this goes back to coaching. Byram looks like an electric player in part because he's been coached at an NHL level. He knows where he needs to be on the ice and he never stops moving. Not to pick on Benson in that second goal, but he shoots the puck and then just stands there. He looks like he's lost. That's the kind of thing that the coaching staff should address with him after the game so that it doesn't become a habit. But it's also the kind of thing I don't expect our coaching staff to follow up on.

And to that note, the Colorado broadcast last night took an incidental shot at Buffalo's coaching when they said something akin to, "Mittelstadt has so much more room to grow and develop as he learns how to play at the NHL level under Bednar" and suggesting he was basically a "raw" talent that needed to be molded. This is a player with 341 NHL games played. He shouldn't be learning how to play at the NHL level at this point. The sad part is that I don't even disagree with the Colorado broadcasters. They're right.

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk. I will now pass my soap box on to the next poster.

 

I firmly believe Buffalo needs a coaching change. Both assistants and Granato need to be relived and a better coach brought in. Brind'Amour would be my first choice. If Adams goes into the 24 season with Adams and both assistants, it not only proves he lacks the ability to lead but that he lacks the courage to make difficult choices. 

  • Like (+1) 3
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Posted
18 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

He doesn't need to be a bruiser to be effective.  Thinking that he does is a fallacy.

In my best Bill Clinton imitation… “It depends on what your definition of effective is.”

Posted
25 minutes ago, RochesterExpat said:

This is from Byram's second goal last night and is a perfectly cherry picked small sample sized example to prove a couple of points about this team.

For those of us with memories impaired from using alcohol as a coping mechanism for Buffalo sports fandom, the needed context is the puck was on the wall and Girgensons won the puck and played it back to Tage on the point. Byram is circled in red.

bo_goal_2.thumb.JPG.a1fadcd4d51a627a46abbbe8c85c30aa.JPG

The point here is there is absolutely no hesitation whatsoever by Byram. He's already moving to the net. Tuch (who is right behind him) and is usually one of the only players to reliably crash the net is only now turning to move. Girgs is going to cycle to replace Tage as Tage pinches in. Dahlin is actually moving backward at this point to pinch in for a rebound/pass when it becomes obvious Tage is going to the net with the puck. No one here is making a mistake or anything. It's simply to point out that Byram is quite literally a step ahead of everyone else in Black and Red.

And that leads me to my next point: coaching. Byram is absolutely a talented hockey player and every scouting report talks about his hockey IQ and vision--just like most scouting reports for early 1st round talents. A D-man instinctively crashing the net in this situation isn't just raw talent. That's from playing in Colorado under Jared Bednar and his staff. That's from a coach who sets expectations with players and holds players accountable. Colorado is a good team in part because a lot of their goals come from players going to the net. And this goes back to tons of people on this board repeatedly talking about "adding grit" or whatever else. While I'm sure some posters still define "grit" as dropping the gloves, I'm of the younger crowd which considers "grit" as the forwards who are going to the boards to win the puck and then turning and going to the net. And it's not simply going to the net. It's staying there and battling with the D-man for position. It's screening the goalie. It's getting to the rebound and just being generally annoying for the other team. It's getting the "dirty" goals.

Once again, to use cherry picked data, lets just look at the power play scoring differences between Colorado and Buffalo. It's pretty easy to figure out why the league figured out how to counter Buffalo's powerplay.

Col_PowerPlay.thumb.JPG.224063091cfc297869124d7235642bc8.JPGBuff_PowerPlay.thumb.JPG.a1079f1133dff3c6713bf7efedfbfe1c.JPG

Back to the point about going to the net: there's no question that Jeff Skinner has slumped again this season. Last season, he wasn't scoring pretty perimeter goals. He was just scoring goals because he was at next to zero distance from the goalie for a large percentage of his shots. He started out the season doing the same, but he's taken steps back and hasn't been crashing the net the same (this somewhat matches up to his and Tage's injuries earlier in the season which may play a part that we're not privy to). But that change in his behavior has been hugely impactful. Now, we can either write Jeff as a headcase, or we can question why the coaching staff has allowed this to go on as long as they have. And the issue extends beyond just Skinner and applies to the vast majority of the roster. Skinner is just the easiest target.

Lastly, lets look at Byram's first goal. For context, Greenway passed the puck to Benson at the top of the circle, Cozens crashes the net, and Benson shoots a low shot that generates a very fast and high rebound.

Bo_goal_1.thumb.JPG.a90310bc8c21b2909992bea2ef5d227e.JPG

Once again, look at what Byram is doing. The live clip shows you just how quickly this happened. Byram didn't get that rebound by seeing where the puck was going and then moving to it. He was already moving to where he was coached to go and he was coached to go there for exactly this reason. He didn't stop skating when he got to the blue line. He just kept moving.

The second takeaway from that clip is watching Dahlin see the rebound and start cycling back to retrieve... only to realize his D partner is competent and would cover it. So Dahlin ends up kind of just stopping and standing there for a second looking almost confused. It's honestly kind of funny to see. But that's the value that Byram is bringing to Buffalo. Dahlin isn't going to be expected to do everything on defense for 30 minutes a night anymore. If these trends continue and Dahlin and Byram continue to play well together, Dahlin is going to have the opportunity to really elevate his game even further.

Before I step off my soap box, I want to circle back to an earlier point: a lot of this goes back to coaching. Byram looks like an electric player in part because he's been coached at an NHL level. He knows where he needs to be on the ice and he never stops moving. Not to pick on Benson in that second goal, but he shoots the puck and then just stands there. He looks like he's lost. That's the kind of thing that the coaching staff should address with him after the game so that it doesn't become a habit. But it's also the kind of thing I don't expect our coaching staff to follow up on.

And to that note, the Colorado broadcast last night took an incidental shot at Buffalo's coaching when they said something akin to, "Mittelstadt has so much more room to grow and develop as he learns how to play at the NHL level under Bednar" and suggesting he was basically a "raw" talent that needed to be molded. This is a player with 341 NHL games played. He shouldn't be learning how to play at the NHL level at this point. The sad part is that I don't even disagree with the Colorado broadcasters. They're right.

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk. I will now pass my soap box on to the next poster.

 

Colorado has been the fastest team in the league for some years. But that does not mean that every one on the team is fast and know how to play the Bednar -game. Their system demands a lot from the players and that's why they have problems to find a suitable 2C and 29 and 96 play huge minutes every night, minutes that probably cost them the cup. We are lucky to get a player that has that speed in him and that seem to fit in with us, I have nothing against a bit more speedy game, but to try to copy Colorado might make us a bit lost. But there is a lot to improve on the coaching, that's for sure.

What I hope Byram will bring in is how to practice hard and the MacKinnon-way of being a pain in the ass and demanding nothing but 110%effort from teammates in everything they do. 

  • Like (+1) 2
Posted
7 minutes ago, Believer said:

In my best Bill Clinton imitation… “It depends on what your definition of effective is.”

Eh, one of the best to play the game, Nick Lidstrom, wasn't especially physical.  What made him exceptional was his positioning.

Posted
3 minutes ago, SabreFinn said:

What I hope Byram will bring in is how to practice hard and the MacKinnon-way of being a pain in the ass and demanding nothing but 110%effort from teammates in everything they do. 

Depending on how things go between Dahlin and Byram, I wouldn't be surprised to see Byram get the C next year.  (If they think Dahlin would see that as a snub then Dahlin will get it; the other candidate I think is Tuch.)

Posted
1 minute ago, Doohickie said:

Depending on how things go between Dahlin and Byram, I wouldn't be surprised to see Byram get the C next year.  (If they think Dahlin would see that as a snub then Dahlin will get it; the other candidate I think is Tuch.)

I am still not that convinced with the idéa of having three D earning big money, I do not like the balance in the roster. But if he can bring in a MacKinnon -like leadership and stay healthy and play the way he does, I will change my mind.

Posted
3 minutes ago, SabreFinn said:

I am still not that convinced with the idéa of having three D earning big money, I do not like the balance in the roster. But if he can bring in a MacKinnon -like leadership and stay healthy and play the way he does, I will change my mind.

If they can bring in the best player in the world, to offset the overpaid D, they’ll be fine? 

  • Like (+1) 1
Posted
10 minutes ago, inkman said:

If they can bring in the best player in the world, to offset the overpaid D, they’ll be fine? 

Read it again. That’s not what the post says. 

This topic is OLD. A NEW topic should be started unless there is a VERY SPECIFIC REASON to revive this one.

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