Around the NHL: 2024-2025 Season

[PerreaultForever]

Zemgus showing how you actually respond to a bad hit.  Adams upgraded though didn't he.

https://www.hockeyfights.com/fights/n271698

 

[thewookie1]

2 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

Zemgus showing how you actually respond to a bad hit.  Adams upgraded though didn't he.

https://www.hockeyfights.com/fights/n271698

 

He never fought here hardly, he has about 5 in TB 

[PerreaultForever]

3 hours ago, thewookie1 said:

He never fought here hardly, he has about 5 in TB 

I know right. Just another in the long list of guys who give more elsewhere than they did in Buffalo. Sabres hockey seems to sap the life out of many players.

[Weave]

3 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

I know right. Just another in the long list of guys who give more elsewhere than they did in Buffalo. Sabres hockey seems to sap the life out of many players.

Bah.  It’s pretty obvious that they didn’t want him fighting here.  They didn’t want that here at all, really.

[LGR4GM]

Sorry I am just so f-ing tired of reading the nonsense that everyone who leaves Buffalo is better. No, the ones who "look better" were good here but now aren't on the Titanic. The ones like Zemgus are the ***** same mediocre players they always were. Buffalo's issue is they can't tell the f-ing difference between the Reinhart's of their roster and the Zemgus'

[Ctaeth]

I would love to see Columbus make it in and Montreal miss!  Need a Montreal regulation loss and a Columbus win

Hurricanes vs Canadiens today

Blue jackets vs Islanders Thursday

[Ctaeth]

9 hours ago, thewookie1 said:

He never fought here hardly, he has about 5 in TB 

Pretty interesting that he starts fighting as soon as he leaves Buffalo.  I wonder what's the reasoning behind that.  Was he coached not to?  Was it his choice not to in Buffalo?  Was he told by TB that he had to occasionally fight?  Was it his decision to start fighting when he changed teams?  

[Weave]

49 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Sorry I am just so f-ing tired of reading the nonsense that everyone who leaves Buffalo is better. No, the ones who "look better" were good here but now aren't on the Titanic. The ones like Zemgus are the ***** same mediocre players they always were. Buffalo's issue is they can't tell the f-ing difference between the Reinhart's of their roster and the Zemgus'

I have said it before.  Nearly every player on this roster (this goes for last season too) is good enough to be a regular contributor on a playoff team.  The talent is there.  The team building and team management sucks.

41 minutes ago, Ctaeth said:

Pretty interesting that he starts fighting as soon as he leaves Buffalo.  I wonder what's the reasoning behind that.  Was he coached not to?  Was it his choice not to in Buffalo?  Was he told by TB that he had to occasionally fight?  Was it his decision to start fighting when he changed teams?  

My bet is he signed with TB with the understanding that he might need to drop the gloves to keep his roster spot.

I feel weird about it.  He’s not that kind of player at all, and I am sure he is well outside his comfort zone doing it.  It’s kind of…….. sad, or disrespectful in a way, that a guy who isn’t that guy has decided to be that guy for one last paycheck.  His choice, of course.  But I don’t understand the animosity towards him doing it now when it was never the type of person he was back when he was young.

Leopards and spots.  I don’t think he changed his.

[Archie Lee]

58 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Sorry I am just so f-ing tired of reading the nonsense that everyone who leaves Buffalo is better. No, the ones who "look better" were good here but now aren't on the Titanic. The ones like Zemgus are the ***** same mediocre players they always were. Buffalo's issue is they can't tell the f-ing difference between the Reinhart's of their roster and the Zemgus'

The point here, in my view, is that Adams structured his off-season around remaking the fourth line.  Think of all the energy that went in to scouting Malenstyn, Lafferty, and Aube-Kubel.  The energy that went into determining their value, negotiating the trade, dealing with the agents on July 1 to get contracts worked out.  And, he literally could have just re-signed Girgensens, Jost, and Robinson, and it would have made no material difference. It's not that Girgs, Jost, Robinson, were difference makers and we just didn't realize it.  It's that our predicament has nothing to do with out 4th line, or our 3rd pairing D, or who the back-up goalie is.  Of course those things are relevant, but THE issues are that we are managed by a man who has clearly displayed he is not up to the task, and we we are coached by yesterday's man. And they will both be back.

Seeing Girgs, Robinson, Jost, Cozens, Comrie, etc., playing roles on playoff teams while we finish at the bottom of the Conference standings, doesn't mean Adams dropped any balls specific to any player. It just confirms that he really has no plan. To the extend that he had a plan, it has failed.

[Brawndo]

 

[LGR4GM]

Meanwhile... Terry Pegula:

[shrader]

I don't care one way or the other, but I hope Columbus sneaks in after everything they've had to deal with this year.

[DarthEbriate]

4 hours ago, Ctaeth said:

Pretty interesting that he starts fighting as soon as he leaves Buffalo.  I wonder what's the reasoning behind that.  Was he coached not to?  Was it his choice not to in Buffalo?  Was he told by TB that he had to occasionally fight?  Was it his decision to start fighting when he changed teams?  

The real issue wasn't that Girgs ended up in a long-delayed "do you wanna go?" fight. It's that when Chafee was hit all 4 Lightning skaters were immediately going after Panthers, whomever they could find. It wasn't just Tuch or Krebs skating to the offender, it was everyone and it was instantaneous.

[thewookie1]

6 minutes ago, DarthEbriate said:

The real issue wasn't that Girgs ended up in a long-delayed "do you wanna go?" fight. It's that when Chafee was hit all 4 Lightning skaters were immediately going after Panthers, whomever they could find. It wasn't just Tuch or Krebs skating to the offender, it was everyone and it was instantaneous.

Part of that is TBL had their 4th line out at the time and part of that is we only have 2 D men even subtly interested in coming to aid in a scrum.

[DarthEbriate]

3 minutes ago, thewookie1 said:

Part of that is TBL had their 4th line out at the time and part of that is we only have 2 D men even subtly interested in coming to aid in a scrum.

True. But I think even Kucherov at least goes and grabs someone to prevent them from doubling up on a teammate.

[Weave]

34 minutes ago, DarthEbriate said:

True. But I think even Kucherov at least goes and grabs someone to prevent them from doubling up on a teammate.

And its not like Girgs lumped up the guy that threw the hit.  He grabbed arms with someone and then something happened in that wrestling match that pissed the two players off.  Girgs wasn’t so much coming to the aid of a hurt teammate as much as he was engaging in the requisite group hug that usually ensues, and someone pissed on someone else’s cheerios and they both got mad at each other.

[PerreaultForever]

8 hours ago, Weave said:

Bah.  It’s pretty obvious that they didn’t want him fighting here.  They didn’t want that here at all, really.

Absolutely. Pegula doesn't like fighting and the team as a result never values that until some incident happens and then they play up to it for a while and then the next year it's back to the same. They don't understand hockey.

6 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

Sorry I am just so f-ing tired of reading the nonsense that everyone who leaves Buffalo is better. No, the ones who "look better" were good here but now aren't on the Titanic. The ones like Zemgus are the ***** same mediocre players they always were. Buffalo's issue is they can't tell the f-ing difference between the Reinhart's of their roster and the Zemgus'

You can be as tired of it as you want to be but it's true. However, NOT because they are actually "better" elsewhere but because the team dynamic they get placed into is better, the expectations are higher, and their roles are better defined. Thus, they thrive there. 

Tampa signed Zemgus to do a certain thing and they placed him in that role and he does that thing. No more no less. Our fourth line was less this year than last even though Adams claimed he'd upgraded it and spent a good 2nd round pick to do it. That alone is grounds for firing in most organizations but in Buffalo? Carry on.

[LGR4GM]

12 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

Absolutely. Pegula doesn't like fighting and the team as a result never values that until some incident happens and then they play up to it for a while and then the next year it's back to the same. They don't understand hockey.

You can be as tired of it as you want to be but it's true. However, NOT because they are actually "better" elsewhere but because the team dynamic they get placed into is better, the expectations are higher, and their roles are better defined. Thus, they thrive there. 

Tampa signed Zemgus to do a certain thing and they placed him in that role and he does that thing. No more no less. Our fourth line was less this year than last even though Adams claimed he'd upgraded it and spent a good 2nd round pick to do it. That alone is grounds for firing in most organizations but in Buffalo? Carry on.

Zemgus was the exact same player in Tampa, just older. 

[LTS]

8 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

Sorry I am just so f-ing tired of reading the nonsense that everyone who leaves Buffalo is better. No, the ones who "look better" were good here but now aren't on the Titanic. The ones like Zemgus are the ***** same mediocre players they always were. Buffalo's issue is they can't tell the f-ing difference between the Reinhart's of their roster and the Zemgus'

Yep.  Take your JAG and put them in a Ferrari, odds are they will look better.

[PerreaultForever]

2 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

Zemgus was the exact same player in Tampa, just older. 

Not exact, but that argument's pointless. He's in his correct role and he does his job that's it. We are always shuffling deck chairs on the titanic. 

[ska-T Palmtown]

1 hour ago, PerreaultForever said:

Not exact, but that argument's pointless. He's in his correct role and he does his job that's it. We are always shuffling deck chairs on the titanic. 

Because of the way the Sabres are constructed top to bottom, more is expected from players lower in the depth chart. But given that we are in the upper 1/3 of the league in GF, I would say the players are generally scoring at the appropriate rates (perhaps they have a few more 1-2 man efforts, which is reflected in their lower than average assist rates i think?) They just need to find the players who can play some team defense!

[pastajoe]

It stinks that Carolina sat a number of their best players and lost to Montreal, thus eliminating Columbus. 

[Thorner]

1 minute ago, pastajoe said:

It stinks that Carolina sat a number of their best players and lost to Montreal, thus eliminating Columbus. 

It stinks that Kevyn Adams 

[Archie Lee]

Montreal clinches. They go from Stanley Cup Finalists, through a full rebuild, to playoffs, in 4 seasons. 

Also, Montreal was in last place in the East on American Thanksgiving. Ottawa, Edmonton, and St. Louis also get in despite being out of a playoff spot on Thanksgiving. 

[Thorner]

10 minutes ago, Archie Lee said:

Montreal clinches. They go from Stanley Cup Finalists, through a full rebuild, to playoffs, in 4 seasons. 

Also, Montreal was in last place in the East on American Thanksgiving. Ottawa, Edmonton, and St. Louis also get in despite being out of a playoff spot on Thanksgiving. 

But we are “on the right track” 

Just stay the course