JohnC

I'm with you. He adds an element of grittiness that was previously lacking with this soft team. He plays a hard game especially when the other team has the puck. I'm aware that the term "hard on the puck" has become an overused cliché but it is an apt description of his style of play. I thought the Dallas game was his best game, and his line's best game.

The attached link is an article by Bill Hoppe for Buffalo Hockey. This link was taken from the hockey side of TBD. The focus of the article is on Vesey. It highlights the fact that although he is not producing offensively he is contributing defensively. It also points out that he has a history of starting slow. http://www.buffalohockeybeat.com/jimmy-vesey-happy-with-sabres-says-start-has-been-good-and-bad/?view=getnewpost

The attached link is an article by Lance Lysowski for the BN. It focuses on Risto. The gist of the article is that the team's history of losing wore him down. Hopefully, more consistent winning will be the medicine that will improve his attitude about playing here. It also points out that the coach isn't concerned about limiting his playing time. He's more concerned about getting as much out of him that he can. https://buffalonews.com/2019/10/15/buffalo-sabres-rasmus-ristolainen-ralph-krueger-nhl-news-2019/

You make an excellent point about the coach understanding the capabilities of his players and then put them in a position to succeed. Most often, a new coach would come in and he would juggle the lines and pairings in an attempt to find the best matches. It seems that he studiously examined his players' assets and liabilities and by the end of preseason he smartly put together the complementary pieces. Last year, Okposo, Scandella and Sobotka were struggling. Now they seem rejuvenated and are embracing and thriving in their roles. What is apparent is that the internal improvement of the inherited players as much as the addition of talent (Johansson, Miller, Vesey and Joki) has helped to stabilize this rudderless team. Note: I didn't intentional highlight my post. I am not egotistical!

Vesey historically has been a consistent 18 goal scorer with most of his goals coming on five on five. He also plays a physical game and is not afraid to mix it up. He is currently not scoring points but he is contributing in other ways. The Mitts line may not be a high yield line but that doesn't mean that this unit isn't playing reasonably well. So far this line is not accumulating points but clearly there is a collective effort by the members of that line.

This link is Paul Hamilton on WGR talking about the Sabres and the difference from last year. It is a 13 min. segment. Interesting comments about Scandella and pairing with Joki. Hamilton talks about the players' belief in Krueger. https://wgr550.radio.com/media/audio-channel/10-15-paul-hamilton-howard-and-jeremy

Paul Hamilton for WGR gives his summarization of the game. https://wgr550.radio.com/articles/news/sabres-solve-ben-bishop-and-beat-stars

Dallas is not bereft of talent. They do have a lot of talent. There is something very wrong with that team. They showed no fight and heart. While the Sabres from the beginning to the end demonstrated effort and kept working, especially on the defensive side of the game, the Stars seemed to lose heart after we scored. In a sport like hockey going through the motions against a team that is working hard becomes very evident.

Yes. Craig Rivet who is a former Sabre and a host on WGR's Instigator Show was talking about Olofsson before the season started. He was adamant that he was going to be a first or second line player. In fact he advocated to put him on the Jack line and move either Reinhart or Skinner to the second line.

All three of our defensive pairings are playing well. The coach smartly put together the veteran Miller with Dahlin and the veteran Scandella with Joki. What has impressed me the most about Joki is his poise. He is a terrific skater and passer. But the attribute that stands out for such a young player is his maturity on the ice. He never seems to be rushed and his efficient play belies his youth. The former coach of the Blackhawks, Quenneville, loved Joki. After he was fired the new coach wanted to go in a different direction. The Nylander for Joki deal was a terrific deal for us (as you noted). I am changing my position on Risto. We need to keep him. He is a durable big body defenseman who because of his extended playing time is like a mule on the ice. The takeaway for me in this game is that all the lines played a tight game. Whenever a Dallas player got the puck he was swarmed. It should be noted that in every game we got good goaltending. Although this line wasn't involved with scoring I thought the Mitts line played well. Vesey was very active in this game. Olofsson made a terrific pass to Reinhart and Sobotka made a terrific pass to Skinner for their scores.

The attached link is Ralph Krueger on WGR. This is a 14 minute segment. He made some interesting comments on Mitts at the end of the interview. https://wgr550.radio.com/media/audio-channel/10-14-sabres-head-coach-ralph-krueger-howard-and-jeremy

I'm not worried about Sobotka. He's not an albatross. He is playing within his established role, and overall has been solid. And so are Scandella and Okposo, two frequent targets of the frustrated fans. I don't understand your queasiness about this team. Without question this roster is upgraded with the additions. And demonstrably they are playing a harder brand of play for longer periods of time. Last year's team was mentally soft. Players quit on the coach and on themselves. The difference this year is that this coach has more depth on its roster and in Rochester. If any player/s succumbs to lax play they will be replaced by the more demanding coach. The going through the motion malignant mentality will not happen under this coach. I'm not getting carried away by this excellent start. It's very early in the season. However, what I'm not going to do is merge last year's team with this year's team. They are two distinct entities. Be brave and don't become a worrier. The trajectory is upward.

Excellent post. What many people may not have noticed is that at the end of the Panther game Vesey was playing on the first line replacing Olofsson. The switch was for the same reason that Dahlin didn't play at the end of the game when the Panthers were making an offensive push. What this boils down to is situational awareness and attention to detail by this very smart coach. The coach's first responsibility for this team (a fringe playoff team) is to win. These two young players are getting significant playing so the issue of development is not impinged. The Sabres have had good fortune and started off 4-0-1. So I am not going to get carried away. However, there is no doubt in my mind that astute coaching and not sentimental coaching is a factor in our early success. The coach is smartly managing the assets and liabilities he has within his roster. That's what good coaches do.

Not having announcers was a dumb concept. It would have been better to simply not broadcast that game. I remembered that game. I quickly turned the game off.

The attached link is an article by Paul Hamilton for WGR focusing on Dahlin and explaining why Dahlin didn't play at the end of the Florida game. Dahlin is a good and coachable kid who is receptive to what the coach decides to do. He's a big talent with a secure ego. We are fortunate to have him. https://wgr550.radio.com/articles/news/sabres-dahlin-knows-why-he-didnt-play-late-third

For the sake of this discussion let's say that Risto is traded to Winnipeg for Ehlers to add a second line forward. The player who would get bumped would be Sobotka. That's an easy call. What happens to Sobotka? He could be moved to the MItts line or simply be an extraneous player who doesn't get much playing time or even be a regular watch in the box type of role. Sobotka is good on faceoffs and is a responsible checking player. But his role is limited. The GM doesn't like to buy out contracts. If that is the case then he will have to maybe send Sobotka down to Rochester or work out some accommodation for him to play in another league.

The issue isn't so much whether he would have been sent down with the return of Montour as it is how does it affect his playing time and pairing? As it stands Miller is working well with Dahlin, Risto and McCabe are our rugged pairing, and Scandella and Joki are a good puck moving and passing pair. Montour is a first or second pairing caliber of player. With whom is he going to be paired with? The person who is impacted with Joki being anchored to the roster is Pilot. I suspect that he will be spending more time in Rochester even after he is fully healed. As it has been much discussed this abundance of defensemen understandably leads to the speculation that Risto will eventually be traded to better balance out the roster. That means getting a second line forward back in a deal if it should happen to materialize. I'm ambivalent on trading Risto. Unless the return is a plug and play second line forward keeping him is a good option. Because he is such a rugged player on a defensive unit that leans toward a finesse style of play I have no qualms keeping him. Addition: Either last Thursday or Friday one of the hosts on the Instigator show made the comment that Montour was at least three weeks away from getting back on the ice. So it can be nearly a month or so before the GM has to address this roster issue.

What also occurred at the end of the game for a few shifts was that Vesey was moved up to the first line to replace Olofsson. It's not so much as holding players accountable, which it is to a degree, but it is more so coaching to the situation and putting the players better suited for that situation. Going with your better defensive players at the end of the game when the other team with high end offensive players is making a push is a reflection of a smart and flexible coach.

By all accounts Dahlin is a very coachable kid. Even with the occasional situational sitting he is getting a lot of playing time. I'm not worried that because he isn't playing in all situations that he still isn't learning from what he is seeing. Krueger is a masterful teacher who knows how to develop his players. He's not an old school ogre who viscerally reacts when handling players. I'm comfortable in how the learned HC is handling not only Dahlin but also the younger players such as Mitts and Joki.

The two games against Montreal and Florida were teams that we will be probably vying with for playoff spots. In the Montreal game I thought they had the edge. We won. In the Florida game I thought they had the edge but if someone took the opposite view I couldn't argue with it. We won. The point is that there are a number of evenly matched teams where the difference in talent is miniscule. Will we be a playoff team? I'm still not sure. Right now the good fortune has worked out in our favor. It usually doesn't last. What makes me more optimistic about our playoff prospects is that this team under Krueger is more resilient and mentally tough.

The strategy of holding your position on the perimeter rather than going to the bench for a stick is the approach that most if not every team uses. The Panthers were in their zone and set up with multiple accomplished shooters. I have no problem with how the player handled the situation. The Housley issue is over for me. He's coaching another team. If you want to continue to chase that bogeyman that is your prerogative. How about giving credit to Florida for coming back? They are a good team with some exceptional offensive players. This was a typical end of the game offensive push by a team that has some potent players. Give them credit for coming back. In this game they had plenty of near miss chances, as we also had. The margin of error is miniscule in this type of a hard fought game. The Sabres are 4-0-1. As you well know hockey is an ebb and flow game. Right now it is flowing in our favor. That good fortune can quickly turn in this quixotic game that can dramatically change on a deflection or two. I'm more than satisfied with how things are developing for us with also recognizing there is still more to be done with this roster.

When the other team is on the power play and you are already a man down I would rather have an outside perimeter player without a stick than the player risk going to the bench, even for a quick retrieval, and be two men down. I believe most, if not all, teams follow this strategy. The coach addressed the situational sitting of Dahlin at the end of the game. He stated that it was a defensive measure dictated by the situation. Dahlin is a sterling offensive defenseman. In a defensive posture he is not the strongest option we have securing his own end. The coaching was maximizing and utililzing the particular talents of each player to suit the situation. It was a smart and detailed move by a smart and detailed man.

The below link is a WGR post game comments by Krueger. It is a five minute segment. https://wgr550.radio.com/articles/news/botterill-we-didnt-need-revamp-we-wanted-add

In this game Ullmark was the first star for us. Okposa and his line mates would earn the second star. On balance I thought Florida outplayed us. Although I thought the opposition had the edge in play the Sabres showed a resilience to continue to compete hard and stick with it. As was noted on the broadcast Sobotka contributed by playing a tough and gritty game. He's certainly not a stat player but he is contributing. As K-9 stated this was a hard fought game by both teams. Florida is a talented team and will be one of the teams we will be competing with for a playoff spot. The Sabres have earned 9 out of 10 points. It's still early in the season but the fans deserve to see some success.

You are probably right. Scandella is playing well and he will more than likely get the nod. From what I have seen from the former Blackhawk I am immensely impressed with him. I still believe that sometime this year Risto will be dealt. But right now the coach is utilizing him to the max. It wasn't too long ago that our defensive unit was very thin and less than mediocre. Now it seems like there is an abundance of riches. In one year the GM added Montour, Miller and Joki to the roster and paid a pittance for them. This GM knows what he is doing.