GDT: Blackhawks @ Sabres, Dec 27, 2024 - 7:00PM, ESPN2 📺, WGR550 📻 🎙

[thewookie1]

39 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Did you see what happened when Dahlin went out? Team played some of its worst hockey of the year. Where was Tuch?

I really like Alex Tuch, I bet ppl think I don't. 

Tuch was, like multiple others, gripping their sticks too tight and slumping.

Also like I said, effort wasn't exactly the issue during the streak; rather, they played stupid hockey while their top guys strangled their sticks as the pucks seemingly fought our guys.

[LGR4GM]

5 minutes ago, thewookie1 said:

Tuch was, like multiple others, gripping their sticks too tight and slumping.

Also like I said, effort wasn't exactly the issue during the streak; rather, they played stupid hockey while their top guys strangled their sticks as the pucks seemingly fought our guys.

Effort was certainly a problem during the streak. At least imo.

[SwampD]

15 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Effort was certainly a problem during the streak. At least imo.

Absolutely. Everyone stopped skating. It was brutal to watch.

I’m still traumatized by Tuch’s drive by on that breakaway where he looked like he was rollerblading.

[Pimlach]

9 hours ago, repster said:

Quick question.  Bar Bill North or Bar Bill East Aurora for wings?

Any difference?  Going to try one of them for the first time tomorrow.

Nice win tonight.

East Aurora is better.  

[Pimlach]

I saw only the 2nd and 3rd periods.  I thought they got outplayed most of the second period and for the first part if the 3rd.  When it was 4-2, and we had that big PK, I suspect many of us were thinking they could collapse.  Great to see Tuch get that 5th and then 6th goal.  

Given the big crowd, a win was nice to see.  The ESPN guy, Bucci, seems to follow the team closely. 

[OverPowerYou]

Sabres have caught my attention again. Expect a 4 game losing streak and a couple of 0-3 first period starts. That’s the way it goes with me

[JustOneParade]

I believe this is the sixth time this year the Sabres have chased a starting goalie. Isn’t that an above average number of games to do so in a whole season, let alone in 36 games?

(Leaving the outcomes out of the conversation 🙄).

[Flashsabre]

11 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

Lol.  They certainly could have used OHL goal scoring leader Michael Misa. 

But... they left him home. 

Leaving Senneke and Misa off the team for some of these other guys has already bitten them.

Edited December 28, 2024 by Flashsabre

[Sidc3000]

2 hours ago, thewookie1 said:

Tuch was, like multiple others, gripping their sticks too tight and slumping.

Also like I said, effort wasn't exactly the issue during the streak; rather, they played stupid hockey while their top guys strangled their sticks as the pucks seemingly fought our guys.

So what changed from the 20th to the 23rd. Did they miraculously realize they were “gripping their sticks too hard”? 
 

i hate that saying. To go through an extended losing streak like that, most likely because of one player not in the line up, shows that they are  mentally weak. If they can’t handle not having Dahlin in the line up, they need some serious professional help. 
 

 

[inkman]

13 hours ago, thewookie1 said:

On the whole Tuch captaincy thing; Tuch is the team's heart while Dahlin is the brain.

The 13 game losing streak had plenty of effort but far too much stupidity.

When Tuch is out they look listless more often than not.

Ironically they are very akin to our old Co-captain set up with Drury and Briere

 

[Pimlach]

14 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

It's fun to win, just wish they'd do it more often. 

Lots of players doing little things better. Samuelsson back to blocking shots and playing D like he did 2 years ago. That's encouraging. 

The Foligno Kulich incident showed they are still way too soft and that will bite them no matter how well this core develops but that's a down the road issue. Core has to get good enough first and that's uncertain. 

Still, winning is fun and you can see the fan base will flock back if this team actually ever starts to get good. They are out there. 

Sure, it was Chicago, and they are crap, but again, doesn't matter. Winning is fun. 

Foligno was trying to intimidate.  They also have Maroon and few others that can do that.

I am betting that Lindy Ruff wants someone on this team that can and will throw down and can still play the game.  Those players are getting harder to find.  

[SwampD]

17 hours ago, K012010 said:

Tuch at least always tries for the perfect snipe. When he’s off it looks bad (always misses the net). When he’s on, he makes it look easy af

It needs to be pointed out that on Tuch’s second goal, the shot was going wide, but the goalie steered it in with his pad. 😂

[spndnchz]

7 minutes ago, SwampD said:

It needs to be pointed out that on Tuch’s second goal, the shot was going wide, but the goalie steered it in with his pad. 😂

At least he shot. Amiright 🎉

[PerreaultForever]

3 hours ago, Pimlach said:

Foligno was trying to intimidate.  They also have Maroon and few others that can do that.

I am betting that Lindy Ruff wants someone on this team that can and will throw down and can still play the game.  Those players are getting harder to find.  

Oh he was definitely trying to intimidate and you could see it worked a little. Chicago was better for a stretch there after that. They're just not a very good team. A Florida type team might have taken over at that point. 

I had hoped Malentstyn would be more like that but he's not. Hits a little and doesn't get intimidated himself but he's not really an instigator. We're not drafting that guy either. Hopefully we improve that aspect down the road. 

 

[SwampD]

58 minutes ago, spndnchz said:

At least he shot. Amiright 🎉

Yes. Absolutely! This team passes up on taking shots more than any other team I think I’ve ever seen.

[Night Train]

As many of you stated, they weren't skating at all during the streak. Standing around. Painfully obvious. 

[thewookie1]

9 minutes ago, Night Train said:

As many of you stated, they weren't skating at all during the streak. Standing around. Painfully obvious. 

I still don’t agree on the effort point to be perfectly honest; I see much of it as paralysis through analysis. I see them working hard but not smart or standing around trying to figure out what they should be doing. 
 

That said I do think as the streak continued, their effort seemed to more quickly evaporate if the game started to get away or generally bad puck luck piled up. 
 

Granted it could have been all of the above with a cascading effect. Thompson starts over thinking the game, Tuch starts trying to do to much and that uncertainty and confusion trickles down to other players who see indecision and begin to doubt themselves and thus lose their confidence and stop playing hard because of it. If you don’t trust yourself to make the play then you’re unlikely to play fast because you fear the consequences of failure. So you slow down to ease the pressure, well that means your teammates slow down to adapt and thus a vicious cycle starts. 
 

in some regard it feels like Tuch took each loss on the chin before almost mentally breaking. At around game 6 or so he started yelling at players off and on going off for intermissions. His skating and skills seemed to diminish and he looked dead during post game. I’d almost say he’s too much like us fans. He takes games extremely personally regardless of his play/effort and then tries to fix it himself. And then all but blows a gasket with imaginary hoops he believes will help. It’s the double edged sword of playing for the team and coach you grew up loving; in victory you have even more confidence and skill whereas the opposite also is true upon multiple losses. Essentially simplifying his game during a losing streak runs counterintuitive to his desire to help lift the entire team immediately.

[ska-T Palmtown]

and our heroic climb out of the basement has begun!

[K012010]

10 hours ago, SwampD said:

It needs to be pointed out that on Tuch’s second goal, the shot was going wide, but the goalie steered it in with his pad. 😂

Didn’t catch that at first! Haha

7 hours ago, ska-T Palmtown said:

and our heroic climb out of the basement has begun!

We should have a running comparison to the Blues’ pace that miracle year they went from basement to cup winners. Still can’t believe that. 

[JP51]

On 12/28/2024 at 12:59 AM, LTS said:

I love wading through a GDT after the fact. This is true... but then if you look at the results tonight you might be inclined to think it's not true.

Hah. it was a great comment. Bucci actually loves Buffalo and Callahan is from Rochester and lives there at present. He's the Sabres personal analyst for ESPN games.

Yes. But Bucci is not as good as Gord Miller which is painfully obvious when switching between the Sabres and the Canada/Latvia game tonight.

They COULD do it. It's a possibility, not a probability. That said, what's the point in crapping on everyone's parade? Let people be happy during the game. The team played well and they won. That's the point of every game. Dissect it after the fact sure. I didn't read the GDT as people thinking the Sabres were suddenly the best team in the NHL. I did however see a lot of people who thought the Sabres would collapse in this game be pleasantly surprised that they were not collapsing and indeed were beating a team they should beat.

Tuch the enigma. He has a game like tonight and people love him. However, you could look at his game tonight and find a lot mistakes, including the penalty he took just before he scored the last two goals. He tends to pass to no one. He and Thompson do not appear to be on the same page. He doesn't (usually) hit people with his 6'4 frame. He often misses the net with his shots.

Then.. he has a game like tonight.

Dahlin is still prone to some boneheaded mistakes too as we saw very early in the game. Tuch and Dahlin are very different people. So I think what people expect from leadership might be influenced by what kind of leader would appeal more to them. What none of us see is the day to day, locker room level stuff.

---------

Bottom line tonight: They won. They did not collapse even though it looked dicey at certain points. I think we saw some of what a confident Sabres team can do and while it was against Chicago I think it still translates. This team needs to believe in itself first and foremost.

On to the next game.

I can only imagine what it would be like to be in the middle of a 14 game streak like that, getting beat bad, or blowing leads, being booed etc... kind of a vicious self fullfilling prophecy of confidence...  the only thing to break that was to win... even after 1 game it could have all gone bad... if the next game was a dud... but to string a few in a row together... has got to be really helpful for the psyche of these players for sure.