Did Tage reveal the reason (one reason?) "youth movements" are problematic?

[PASabreFan]

Tage was asked about the "transformation" of the last 20 games and what was the difference in the team. Terrible question IMHO. It was garbage time (again). Putting that aside, perhaps the answer was very telling. I have always thought individual development in the context of no emphasis on winning is a terrible way of rebuilding. I had never thought of Tage's take on how young players think in that situation:

He said the so called transformation was the result of "more maturity." He said the Sabres had a lot of young guys chasing goals and personal accomplishments, but they managed to start doing "the right thing" with and away from the puck. My read is that the right thing when trying to win a hockey game is not always the right thing when trying to score a goal or put up points.

Now, Tage was referring to a time when the team was effectively eliminated. The last 20, not the first 20.

Still, would it be a surprise to learn that having the youngest team in the league for several seasons has resulted in plenty of selfish play when the bullets are real, especially considering what the kids have seen: a never ending drought, the EEE stance of the owner, meager cap spending, who the GM is and how he constructs a roster, the eternal emphasis on individual development, development oriented coaches, etc.

Why wouldn't young players "go get theirs" number one and play the right way to win a distant number two?

I'll listen and hang up.

Edited Saturday at 05:22 PM by Stoner

[pi2000]

Young players have been chasing personal goals (over team goals) their entire careers... it's the only thing they know how to do.

It's why young teams struggle to win. 

[Mr Peabody]

The young ‘uns are sitting on the bench next to the coach that stressed their development in Rochester,  so I can see how they’d fall into that comfort zone.  
 

TBH, I think the interviews fall into the word salad category and what pops into their heads are parting words from coaches and GM.   Lots of “we need to look in the mirror” comments yesterday - too many to be a coincidence.  I thought Rasmus’ interview was most telling by the way he held back.  Purely my speculation, but it seemed to indicate there’s a handful that didn’t pull their own weight.

[PASabreFan]

16 minutes ago, Mr Peabody said:

The young ‘uns are sitting on the bench next to the coach that stressed their development in Rochester,  so I can see how they’d fall into that comfort zone.  
 

TBH, I think the interviews fall into the word salad category and what pops into their heads are parting words from coaches and GM.   Lots of “we need to look in the mirror” comments yesterday - too many to be a coincidence.  I thought Rasmus’ interview was most telling by the way he held back.  Purely my speculation, but it seemed to indicate there’s a handful that didn’t pull their own weight.

I thought it was a thoughtful answer by Tage. I mean, he actually answered the question. I wouldn't put it in the "yeah ya know obviously" bin.

[Archie Lee]

I heard a Brind'Amour interview last off-season.  He was discussing Necas and spoke about how talented Necas is offensively. He then added that the challenge he had as a coach with Necas, was in getting him to understand that not every shift and not every puck possession is a goal scoring opportunity.  I think this is a general issue with the Sabres.  Part of it is that so many of our players are offense oriented, part of it is inexperience, part of it is coaching and development.  All of it, at this point, is on Adams.

[LGR4GM]

58 minutes ago, pi2000 said:

Young players have been chasing personal goals (over team goals) their entire careers... it's the only thing they know how to do.

It's why young teams struggle to win. 

Seems doubtful

[Jorcus]

1 hour ago, Stoner said:

Tage was asked about the "transformation" of the last 20 games and what was the difference in the team. Terrible question IMHO. It was garbage time (again). Putting that aside, perhaps the answer was very telling. I have always thought individual development in the context of no emphasis on winning is a terrible way of rebuilding. I had never thought of Tage's take on how young players think in that situation:

He said the so called transformation was the result of "more maturity." He said the Sabres had a lot of young guys chasing goals and personal accomplishments, but they managed to start doing "the right thing" with and away from the puck. My read is that the right thing when trying to win a hockey game is not always the right thing when trying to score a goal or put up points.

Now, Tage was referring to a time when the team was effectively eliminated. The last 20, not the first 20.

Still, would it be a surprise to learn that having the youngest team in the league for several seasons has resulted in plenty of selfish play when the bullets are real, especially considering what the kids have seen: a never ending drought, the EEE stance of the owner, meager cap spending, who the GM is and how he constructs a roster, the eternal emphasis on individual development, development oriented coaches, etc.

Why wouldn't young players "go get theirs" number one and play the right way to win a distant number two?

I'll listen and hang up.

 

I am glad I listened to the interview before I responded to this because My first thought was Tage is one of the guys who has a tendency to play an individual game at times. I don't think it's as much about chasing goals but having the mindset that he has to do it all himself. Part of that comes by playing with younger inexperienced people that he is not familiar with or don't always trust. He was complimentary about Benson and Kulich but I am certain he would rather play with others. He plays best when he is passing more and dangling less. You can tell when things are not going well with Tage, He stops passing the puck. He is one of the better interviews. Very thoughtful player. 

 

Edited Saturday at 06:58 PM by Jorcus

[Pimlach]

1 hour ago, Archie Lee said:

I heard a Brind'Amour interview last off-season.  He was discussing Necas and spoke about how talented Necas is offensively. He then added that the challenge he had as a coach with Necas, was in getting him to understand that not every shift and not every puck possession is a goal scoring opportunity.  I think this is a general issue with the Sabres.  Part of it is that so many of our players are offense oriented, part of it is inexperience, part of it is coaching and development.  All of it, at this point, is on Adams.

And Granato.     They never played an NHL system under Donnie and they never stressed two way hockey.  Once they tried too do that they could not generate offense anymore.    Lindy, or any coach, was going to need time and buy in to erase these habits.   

How many of the young stud  prospects want to just have a clean shift while controlling the play in the opponents defensive zone, forcing an O-zone face off,  and killing 50 seconds while protecting a lead?    Uh - maybe Krebs and Kozak and who else?      The mentality that that stuff is for the 4th liners is a problem.  That is  were a Bergeron or a Barkov on the team would help a lot.   

Thompson and Dahlin and Tuch need to speak up and call out the ones that cheat the game.  

Edited Saturday at 08:00 PM by Pimlach

[LGR4GM]

5 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

And Granato.     They never played an NHL system under Donnie and they never stressed two way hockey.  Once they tried too do that they could not generate offense anymore.    Lindy, or any coach, was going to need time and buy in to erase these habits.   

How many of the young stud  prospects want to just have a clean shift while controlling the play in the opponents defensive zone, forcing an O-zone face off,  and killing 50 seconds while protecting a lead?    Uh - maybe Krebs and Kozak and who else?      The mentality that that stuff is for the 4th liners is a problem.  That is  were a Bergeron or a Barkov on the team would help a lot.   

Thompson and Dahlin and Tuch need to speak up and call out the ones that cheat the game.  

Zach. Benson. 

[North Buffalo]

Agree on Benson, Krebs and Kozak.... toward the end I saw Kulich playing better D too...

I wonder how much of TT's comments were toward himself and Peterka... saw Tage block more pucks and tracking back more with less pouting but they both do it... Östlund seems to get it too...

too often Sabres would press with 4 men deep and a winger would not cover the point and then get burned... team awareness is something young guys really need to work on.

Edited Sunday at 01:31 PM by North Buffalo

[JP51]

On 4/19/2025 at 1:19 PM, Stoner said:

Tage was asked about the "transformation" of the last 20 games and what was the difference in the team. Terrible question IMHO. It was garbage time (again). Putting that aside, perhaps the answer was very telling. I have always thought individual development in the context of no emphasis on winning is a terrible way of rebuilding. I had never thought of Tage's take on how young players think in that situation:

He said the so called transformation was the result of "more maturity." He said the Sabres had a lot of young guys chasing goals and personal accomplishments, but they managed to start doing "the right thing" with and away from the puck. My read is that the right thing when trying to win a hockey game is not always the right thing when trying to score a goal or put up points.

Now, Tage was referring to a time when the team was effectively eliminated. The last 20, not the first 20.

Still, would it be a surprise to learn that having the youngest team in the league for several seasons has resulted in plenty of selfish play when the bullets are real, especially considering what the kids have seen: a never ending drought, the EEE stance of the owner, meager cap spending, who the GM is and how he constructs a roster, the eternal emphasis on individual development, development oriented coaches, etc.

Why wouldn't young players "go get theirs" number one and play the right way to win a distant number two?

I'll listen and hang up.

This is another indictment of the type of player that we draft...  so add... me player to the, we were too full of our selves and they didnt come to camp in shape narrative... what does this say about the people building the team... ?? 

[PerreaultForever]

Playing as individuals and not a team has been a thing here for all the last decade since the tank. They destroyed the culture. They didn't rebuild the culture. They let young star players just go out and "play". TEAM as a concept has been secondary for a long long time. 

Believing that this has finally changed in the last 20 games is questionable to say the least.