GDT: Sabres @ Devils (in Prague), 10/5 @ 10am ET, MSG (local), NHLN, 550

[fiftyone]

Who was Lindy talking about in the last question of his presser? Someone asked a question on his thoughts on some player, Lindy said he looked a little nervous but made some plays and he likes his potential? Levi? Or Casey?

[Doohicksie]

Missed the whole game, was out riding my bike.  From the replays looked like more of the same, eh?

[HumanSlinky39]

Just now, Doohicksie said:

Missed the whole game, was out riding my bike.  From the replays looked like more of the same, eh?

Pretty much.

[Gatorman0519]

1 minute ago, Doohicksie said:

Missed the whole game, was out riding my bike.  From the replays looked like more of the same, eh?

A much better 1st period, then the wheels fell off and they skated circles around us and doubling us in shots. 

[Pimlach]

18 minutes ago, SwampD said:

It wasn’t a dirty hit. I don’t even think it should have been an interference penalty.

JJP,… WTF?! You skated right into a guy that was standing still! Keep your ***** head up!

Maybe, but he lit up a defenseless player and the Sabres response was close to ZERO.   Tuch did not throw a single punch.  

This team is so unlike most of the teams in the league.  

[mjd1001]

24 minutes ago, SABRES 0311 said:

Cozens is a 3C in terms of skill. Based on what we see of him and Tuch on the PK, they could make for a good shut down third line with Benson.

This is the biggest misconception I think on this board right now about Cozens.

He is not a shutdown player. Far from. 

Maybe his raw talent, his size, his aggressiveness makes people think he could be. 

But he might be the farthest center on this team or forward on this entire team in terms of a shutdown player. 

He is a literal machine at making bad decisions. He has virtually no sense of what position to be on the ice. 

On the pk, for years now, he is a one-man disaster. There was a posting and thread I made about this a couple days ago, but look at the replay of the first goal allowed in the preseason. That's not an exception, that's the rule. Cozens has been, and continues to be the single best weapon the Opposing team has on the power play when He is on the ice. 

I haven't totally given up on him as a player, he has the raw talent, but he is, absolutely, positively, nowhere near being a shutdown player. He might be the worst forward the Sabres have on the team in that regard.

Granato kept forcing him on the PK because I think he was trying to mold him into that role. It didn't work. Hopefully Ruff doesn't experiment quite as long with him.

[Mango]

46 minutes ago, jahnyc said:

The team is poorly constructed.  There is some individual talent, but the sum of the parts does not make for a quality team.  Watching the Devils successfully drive to the net or get to the front of the net from behind the net suggests that we just don't have the physical mix of players to stop this from happening.

The Devils have some very good young talented players and I think their young core is better than our core.  Not sure if that can be fully blamed on Adams and the scouts, but I don't think that Adams knows how to put together a competitive team roster.  He has had enough time, and the poor results continue.

To add on to this, I think the onboarding into the league for these kids was abysmal and a big part of why they stink as a unit even though they have talent. 
 

They hung these kids out to dry for years because “growth” with not a single real NHL coach, core of real NHL vets, or an NHL GM. 
 

As pieces they’re fine. But as a unit they just don’t know how to be adult professional hockey players. Most of the guys were counting on will go on to be productive once they’re allowed to just be a piece on a real roster. Until then they don’t know WTF they’re doing. 

Edited 9 hours ago by Mango

[HumanSlinky39]

1 minute ago, Pimlach said:

Maybe, but he lit up a defenseless player and the Sabres response was close to ZERO.   Tuch did not throw a single punch.  

This team is so unlike most of the teams in the league.  

Which is wildly disappointing because one of the things that would supposedly come with Lindy is a "tougher" team, a team with some bite. I suppose that could grow over time, but this looks like the same bunch of pushovers they've been for years 

[Pimlach]

25 minutes ago, SABRES 0311 said:

I think it’s time to look for a replacement at 1RW. I’ve said before, Tuch isn’t a first liner on most teams. TT I do believe would make for a good 2C. Of the three, only one I like on the top line is the one concussed.

Cozens is a 3C in terms of skill. Based on what we see of him and Tuch on the PK, they could make for a good shut down third line with Benson as 3LW.

That would mean the team needs a real 1C, 1RW, 2C, and 2LW. This could explain why the offense and PP are so bad. Four of our top six are woefully out of their depth.

To be clear, TT is not a 1C just because of a salary and flash in the pan 1 1/2 seasons.

This is really becoming more of a reality, our top 6 is not very good.  

In the off season I pushed for getting a real 2C and pushing Cozens down to 3C.  Cozens is a 3C, if he is a C at all.   TNT is a 2C or maybe a winger on a first line.  Tuch is not a first line player.  

For all of the drafting of centers by Adams, we still do not have a top 1C on the roster.  

[Mango]

1 minute ago, HumanSlinky39 said:

Which is wildly disappointing because one of the things that would supposedly come with Lindy is a "tougher" team, a team with some bite. I suppose that could grow over time, but this looks like the same bunch of pushovers they've been for years 

Lindy isn’t a Hall of Famer. But he’s a Hall of Good’er and can be a stable coach for an org.

I think the hope for the Sabres is that he can turn this around. But as much as it is his job to coach the on ice product, I think it’s also his job to report back to Terry on whether or not GMKA is a viable option to GM this franchise. 

[Pimlach]

27 minutes ago, nucci said:

How long did it take to build?

Well it took about 800 years to reach its peak.  That was after centuries of growth by conquest and the development of some pretty good engineering.  

[nfreeman]

10 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Maybe, but he lit up a defenseless player and the Sabres response was close to ZERO.   Tuch did not throw a single punch.  

This team is so unlike most of the teams in the league.  

Yes.  I bet we see Gilbert dressed, probably for Joki, next game.

[Scottysabres]

My god, they aren't even an NHL competitive team at this point. They are AHL material, and that's not angered hyperbole either. That's just straight out physically viewing the decision making at the mngt lvl and the players those decisions put on the ice in actual NHL games. Yes, it's that bad.

[Pimlach]

4 minutes ago, Mango said:

Lindy isn’t a Hall of Famer. But he’s a Hall of Good’er and can be a stable coach for an org.

I think the hope for the Sabres is that he can turn this around. But as much as it is his job to coach the on ice product, I think it’s also his job to report back to Terry on whether or not GMKA is a viable option to GM this franchise. 

Hmmm.  I cannot see Lindy bad mouthing Adams to Pegula.   Adams is his boy, and Adams lets Terry be Terry.

Terry fired Lindy once, and he will do it again.  

[LGR4GM]

I need a break. This just isn't any fun. 

[Pimlach]

2 minutes ago, nfreeman said:

Yes.  I bet we see Gilbert dressed, probably for Joki, next game.

Joki is the poster boy for "same as it ever was".  Decent 3rd pair guy but we use him in the top 4.   I look at the roster construction and he is like Power and Byram.   Do we need 3 of them?  

[GASabresIUFAN]

It’s amazing how quickly the KA lead Sabres can suck the hopium out of a season.  

They talked all offseason about needing to compete for the playoffs.  No excuses any longer.  He remade the 3rd and 4th lines.  Brought in a highly touted D for the center he didn’t want to pay and brought back the Sabres ex-long time good coach.  Then in 2 games to start the new season, the team looks and plays exactly the same.  The PP can’t even get in the zone to setup, no one goes to the net, the D turn the puck over and over in their own zone and as a team they play without any passion. 
 

There are still 80 games left, but if you are trying to build momentum for the season, two listless performances weren't the way to do it.  
 

 

Edited 5 hours ago by GASabresIUFAN

[SabresBillsFan]

4 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

I need a break. This just isn't any fun. 

The last time Sabres hockey was fun to watch was 2005-2007, this current team from top to bottom is just a cluster *****. I don’t see this team making the playoffs this year. 

Edited 9 hours ago by SabresBillsFan

[SwampD]

5 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Joki is the poster boy for "same as it ever was".  Decent 3rd pair guy but we use him in the top 4.   I look at the roster construction and he is like Power and Byram.   Do we need 3 of them?  

He actually played a decent game today.

Tuch, on the other hand, played some dumb hockey. I don’t know if it was bad, but it was definitely dumb.

[SabresBillsFan]

3 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

It’s amazing how quickly the KA lead Sabres can suck the hopium out of a season.  

Here it is they talked all offseason about needing to compete for the playoffs.  No excuses any longer.  He remade the 3rd and 4th lines.  Brought in a highly touted D for the center he didn’t want to pay and brought back the Sabres ex-long time good coach.  Then in 2 games to start the new season, the team looks and plays exactly the same.  The PP can’t even get in the zone to setup, no one goes to the net, the D turn the puck over and over in their own zone and as a team they play without any passion. 
 

There are still 80 games left, but if you are trying to build momentum for the season, two listless performances weren't the way to do it.  
 

 

They should have fired all the assistant coaches they had last year, if Matt Ellis is the powerplay coach then he needs to go!

[Mango]

9 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Hmmm.  I cannot see Lindy bad mouthing Adams to Pegula.   Adams is his boy, and Adams lets Terry be Terry.

Terry fired Lindy once, and he will do it again.  

When you put it that way it sounds like tattling. I think he’s also acting as a senior advisor for Terry and taking an inventory of the roster/FO.

Maybe thats just wishful thinking on my part. 

[SabresBillsFan]

2 minutes ago, SwampD said:

He actually played a decent game today.

Tuch, on the other hand, played some dumb hockey. I don’t know if it was bad, but it was definitely dumb.

I would change up all these lines, even the defensive pairing, they ain’t working. Pretty sad when the Devils troll you to start the season. 

[Mango]

7 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

It’s amazing how quickly the KA lead Sabres can suck the hopium out of a season.  

Here it is they talked all offseason about needing to compete for the playoffs.  No excuses any longer.  He remade the 3rd and 4th lines.  Brought in a highly touted D for the center he didn’t want to pay and brought back the Sabres ex-long time good coach.  Then in 2 games to start the new season, the team looks and plays exactly the same.  The PP can’t even get in the zone to setup, no one goes to the net, the D turn the puck over and over in their own zone and as a team they play without any passion. 
 

There are still 80 games left, but if you are trying to build momentum for the season, two listless performances weren't the way to do it.  
 

 

Am I the only one who thought Adams addressing the team to announce the captains was super weird. That whole thing feels like a coaches place and coaches place only.

No reason for a GM to announce a coach to announce the captains. 

So out of place. I’m not sure Adams realizes his job is not to always be in the locker room/holding court with the team. 
 

 

 

[SwampD]

6 minutes ago, SabresBillsFan said:

I would change up all these lines, even the defensive pairing, they ain’t working. Pretty sad when the Devils troll you to start the season. 

The Devils are a pretty good team.

[Thorner]

2 hours ago, Stoner said:

The other day. Thorny became Thorner in a bid to get posters to change to their hockey nickname. It hasn't caught on.

lol that’s Bull