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Posted
1 minute ago, SwampD said:

It’s gonna be four in a row.

Lindy’s better than Donnie at matching at home.

Granato is better than Lindy in developing young players. While Lindy is better than Granato in managing his lineup for NHL games. Granato was the right coach to take over from Krueger. And it is clear that Lindy was the right coach to take over for Granato. The big change is that players through their play determine where, how much or if at all that they play. It's easy to talk about accountability but it is more challenging to enforce accountability. 

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Posted
10 minutes ago, Ctaeth said:

Lance speculated that the inclusion of McLeod on the fourth line is a match up thing... to line him up against kaprizov

Was thinking the same thing.

McLeod has done nothing to warrant demotion and Malenstyn screams "plays the way Ruff wants."  Expecting that line to be 2nd in ice time tonight behind the Thompson line as it will be expected to counter 1 of the Wild's top 2 lines.

Has Zucker showing the kids how to play the right way while not overworking the elder statesman.  And a totally revamped "Kid Line" (Krebs & Cozens are still kids and Benson has a while to go before he can even legally drink in this country) likely getting the usage the old RAV line got.

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Posted
9 minutes ago, DarthEbriate said:

HCDG didn't even attempt matching at home until February in 2022-23 when they suddenly realized they had a realistic shot at the playoffs. Because development.

And he then went away from it for most, if not all, of last season because ... well, ... um, reasons.

Posted (edited)
10 minutes ago, Taro T said:

And he then went away from it for most, if not all, of last season because ... well, ... um, reasons.

Yup. That was odd.

Two years ago, he sat JJP and Quinn in the 3rd with leads for the half of the season; last year, it was Benson. But otherwise, just keep rolling in all situations. One thing about Ruff... he's coached to win from day one, which we've expected.

Edited by DarthEbriate
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Posted

Old friend Marcus Johansson arrives tonight. Since Zuccarello has gone out with injury, MoJo has been one of the folks to step up. He's averaged over 18 minutes/game for the last 6 games and has taken a bunch more shots than normal, including 8 vs. CAL and 4 vs. WPG in their last two tilts.

It's a contract year, after all.

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Posted
18 minutes ago, JohnC said:

Granato is better than Lindy in developing young players. While Lindy is better than Granato in managing his lineup for NHL games. Granato was the right coach to take over from Krueger. And it is clear that Lindy was the right coach to take over for Granato. The big change is that players through their play determine where, how much or if at all that they play. It's easy to talk about accountability but it is more challenging to enforce accountability. 

I disagree likely because of a definition of what develop means. I think Granato is a great development guy at a lower level where players focus on their skill sets and confidence. Skating and offense. Once they reach the NHL they need to develop their full NHL game and I think he failed at that. This is why it's taken a while for Ruff to get things going. They had a lot to learn. Ruff is teaching them how to be complete hockey players.

Wild are playing really good. Both fast and physical so it's a big test and if the Sabres play well this should be a good game and fun to watch. 

I will however, as I do every time we play the Wild, lament that Foligno is wearing the wrong jersey. 

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Posted
Just now, DarthEbriate said:

Old friend Marcus Johansson arrives tonight. Since Zuccarello has gone out with injury, MoJo has been one of the folks to step up. He's averaged over 18 minutes/game for the last 6 games and has taken a bunch more shots than normal, including 8 vs. CAL and 4 vs. WPG in their last two tilts.

It's a contract year, after all.

BOGO: Zach will be in the lineup, too, I believe 

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Posted
4 hours ago, French Collection said:

McLeod getting a drastic downgrade in wingers.

I would try him between Cozens and Benson.

Promote Krebs while McLeod drops. McLeod did a good job out west.

McLeod will be used to help shut down Minny's top line. We have the last change.  McLeod will get his minutes.  

Will Ferrell Lol GIF by NBA

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Posted
38 minutes ago, JohnC said:

Granato is better than Lindy in developing young players. While Lindy is better than Granato in managing his lineup for NHL games. Granato was the right coach to take over from Krueger. And it is clear that Lindy was the right coach to take over for Granato. The big change is that players through their play determine where, how much or if at all that they play. It's easy to talk about accountability but it is more challenging to enforce accountability. 

To the bold I would say I don't think so.  Granato is good coach for an all star team tossed together for a tournament.  That's about it.  I doubt he gets another NHL HC gig.  

Posted
20 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

To the bold I would say I don't think so.  Granato is good coach for an all star team tossed together for a tournament.  That's about it.  I doubt he gets another NHL HC gig.  

I was thinking about this, people we’ve recently fired who have gone on to achieve the same position or better in another organization. GM, coach, etc. 

I feel like, if Adams breaks the drought, and eventually down the line gets fired/replaced as GM, (every GM eventually does. except Kevin Cheveldayoff….(sorry, Kevyn, missed it by one letter)) I think he’d definitely be a lock for a shot somewhere else at GM. He’d be the guy who got the BUFFALO SABRES to the playoffs. The rest would just be noise 

Posted
2 hours ago, SabreFinn said:

Interesting move by Ruff to spread the fire power on all four lines against a Wild with several injuries and new guys in the line-up. 

Where's the fire power on lines 2,3 and 4?

I know everyone loves Benson,  but at some point, he needs to start scoring,  right? Even an assist or 2 would be nice. 

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Posted (edited)
28 minutes ago, klos1963 said:

Where's the fire power on lines 2,3 and 4?

I know everyone loves Benson,  but at some point, he needs to start scoring,  right? Even an assist or 2 would be nice. 

Don't you need to be playing with somebody that can finish in order to get assists?  Let's face it, for a significant portion of this season the guy who is typically his C has had issues with putting a puck into even an undefended net with multiple chances at it.  His typical other W has been a basket case most of the season but has finally been showing signs of life the past 2 games, so that guy gets replaced by Krebs.  (Who does have a couple of nice goals this year btw but is rarely in the conversation of finishers.)

Just sayin'.

Edited by Taro T
Posted
17 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Don't you need to be playing with somebody that can finish in order to get assists?  Let's face it, for a significant portion of this season the guy who is typically his C has had issues with putting a puck into even an undefended net with multiple chances at it.  His typical other W has been a basket case most of the season but has finally been showing signs of life the past 2 games, so that guy gets replaced by Krebs.  (Who does have a couple of nice goals this year btw but is rarely in the conversation of finishers.)

Just sayin'.

Sure,  but last year, excusable as a rookie, disappeared for weeks at a time,  he had a few 10+ game non scoring streaks. This season all his 4 points were in a 4 game stretch.

It's not all in him,  but geez, he's a top pick who doesn't score.

Should he even be in Buffalo now?

Posted

A win today guarantees we reach the legendary “playoff spot by thanksgiving” standard. 

I’ve got a good feeling about it tbh. Sabres W.

(We will be in a playoff spot by points%, regardless) 

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Posted
2 hours ago, JohnC said:

Granato is better than Lindy in developing young players. While Lindy is better than Granato in managing his lineup for NHL games. Granato was the right coach to take over from Krueger. And it is clear that Lindy was the right coach to take over for Granato. The big change is that players through their play determine where, how much or if at all that they play. It's easy to talk about accountability but it is more challenging to enforce accountability. 

Not sure how great he was at development if they are not used to playing hard, both in games and practices.  Not teaching defense is a major demerit, as well as not holding players accountable.  He was kind of like Aaron Boone, the difference being Boone has veterans and highly skilled players, though their attitude and motivation if often questionable.

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Posted
15 minutes ago, sabresouth said:

Let's go BUFFALO 

Get the ever elusive 4 W's in a row. I can't remember the last 4 game win streak. We've had a couple cracks at it so far this season. It's time to get it tonight 

January '23.  Won 5 in a row and bookended the streak w/ post-regulation L's for a 7 game point streak.  Believe they had 1 more 3 game W streak that year and then the 2 - 3 game win streaks towards the end of last year were the only other times until this year that they've come close to a 4 game W streak.

Hoping (and to a small degree expecting) the 3rd time will be the charm in the quest for the elusive 4 game W streak.

Posted
24 minutes ago, steveoat87 said:

Not sure how great he was at development if they are not used to playing hard, both in games and practices.  Not teaching defense is a major demerit, as well as not holding players accountable.  He was kind of like Aaron Boone, the difference being Boone has veterans and highly skilled players, though their attitude and motivation if often questionable.

Granato was coaching a lot of young players. It was the GM who when he took over publicly stated that this was a rebuilding job that emphasized a "draft and develop" approach. Eichel was our best player. He was dealt. (Let's not reprise the issues about him.) Reinhart was also one of our best players. He was dealt. (Again, let's not go through that saga again.) 

It's not a surprise that a roster laden with young players is going to be inconsistent and lacking a defensive focus. That's a byproduct of having such a young roster. There was an expected trade off of how young inexperienced players play and how veteran players perform in the NHL. Was the GM's exceedingly youth-oriented approach the best approach? That's not worth debating because that was the organizational decision made by the GM with the owner's consent. 

I stand by my belief that Granato was the right coach to take over from Krueger considering the direction that was set by the GM. And the time came where a more experienced NHL was required to replace Granato. Different stages of the rebuild mandated the coaching change. We are now at a more mature stage where the emphasis on wining for today.

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Posted
2 hours ago, Pimlach said:

To the bold I would say I don't think so.  Granato is good coach for an all star team tossed together for a tournament.  That's about it.  I doubt he gets another NHL HC gig.  

I agree that odds are that he won't get another HC job. But that doesn't mean that he didn't do a good job developing young players during his brief tenure. As an example comprare how Dahlin played under Krueger vs Granato?

The Sabres are now at a different stage where a more experienced NHL HC is more suitable. Now is about the now. That's where we are at. And getting from there to here has been an excruciating process, especially for the fans.  

Posted
6 minutes ago, JohnC said:

I agree that odds are that he won't get another HC job. But that doesn't mean that he didn't do a good job developing young players during his brief tenure. As an example comprare how Dahlin played under Krueger vs Granato?

The Sabres are now at a different stage where a more experienced NHL HC is more suitable. Now is about the now. That's where we are at. And getting from there to here has been an excruciating process, especially for the fans.  

He was much better than Krueger for sure.  

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