[Incomplete Title] Sabres (21-12-5) & NHL 2018-19 - Game 39 (MSG-B) vs. BOS (20-14-4) at 7 PM ET on 12/29

[KD in CA]

First Sabres game I watched in a long time....and it looks exactly like every other Sabres game I've watched for the last quarter century:  the other team skates and passes circles around the Sabres up and down the ice for 60 minutes with Buffalo hanging around for as long as the goalie can stand on his head.   They seriously haven't completed two consecutive passes of longer than six feet this period.

 

I'll make a note to check in on them again in two years.

[K-9]

Scandella needs to watch a few games from the box. His season has been absolute crap and he's playing his worst game tonight. Pathetic. 

[plenzmd1]

9 hours ago, K-9 said:

Could not have drawn up a worst start. 4 minute major in the first two minutes of play, two power play goals against and counting. 

Great. Another penalty. This team blows chunks. 

1

and Chunks is my dog!!!!

7 hours ago, K-9 said:

Scandella needs to watch a few games from the box. His season has been absolute crap and he's playing his worst game tonight. Pathetic. 

he yaps a good game..and sucks. Get the young fellas up soon and make these guys accountable.

[Bray Wyatt]

I fell asleep after the 2nd period, wtf happened??

Edited October 19, 2018 by Bray Wyatt

[26CornerBlitz]

 

 

[PromoTheRobot]

8 hours ago, KD in CA said:

First Sabres game I watched in a long time....and it looks exactly like every other Sabres game I've watched for the last quarter century:  the other team skates and passes circles around the Sabres up and down the ice for 60 minutes with Buffalo hanging around for as long as the goalie can stand on his head.   They seriously haven't completed two consecutive passes of longer than six feet this period.

 

I'll make a note to check in on them again in two years.

 

Don't forget the Sabres falling down as if they are just learning to skate. It's freaking ponderous. What is it about this city lately? Athletes come here and literally forget how to play and coaches forget how to coach. It's a gypsy's curse.

1 minute ago, 26CornerBlitz said:

 

 

 

Start with cutting Kyle Okposo. Of course he'll go on to score 50 goals on his new team.

Edited October 19, 2018 by PromoTheRobot

[JohnC]

8 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

 

Don't forget the Sabres falling down as if they are just learning to skate. It's freaking ponderous. What is it about this city lately? Athletes come here and literally forget how to play and coaches forget how to coach. It's a gypsy's curse.

 

Start with cutting Kyle Okposo. Of course he'll go on to score 50 goals on his new team.

There isn't any curse. When all is said and done it comes down to who has the most talent. When you have a deficit of it and you are not the hardest working team on the ice then the outcome is predictable. When your effort is lackluster game after game then something is systemically wrong. The worst indictment that someone can make about a sports team is that they are a bore. And that's exactly what they are as a team and a franchise. It's just the same shiiit over and over. 

[shrader]

I can't picture them going anywhere until Dahlin starts to approach the superstar status that everyone expects from him.  Until then, we'll have to sit through a ton of inconsistent hockey.

[GG]

1 hour ago, Bray Wyatt said:

I fell asleep after the 2nd period, wtf happened??

 

Same here.  I liked what I saw in the 2nd, and thought it would carry over into 3rd.  Then wake up to see they gave up 3 goals?

[K-9]

4 hours ago, plenzmd1 said:

and Chunks is my dog!!!!

he yaps a good game..and sucks. Get the young fellas up soon and make these guys accountable.

That is a GREAT name for a dog. 

3 hours ago, JohnC said:

There isn't any curse. When all is said and done it comes down to who has the most talent. When you have a deficit of it and you are not the hardest working team on the ice then the outcome is predictable. When your effort is lackluster game after game then something is systemically wrong. The worst indictment that someone can make about a sports team is that they are a bore. And that's exactly what they are as a team and a franchise. It's just the same shiiit over and over. 

With this team, it's less a question of working hard than it is of working smart. It's uncanny how often so many of these players don't make the smart, simple play. Effort can overcome many shortcomings sometimes, but stupidity is seldom one of them. Bad decision after bad decision and by guys (I'm looking at you Scandella and Okposo) who are team leaders and expected to know better. If that's not a reflection on the coaching, what is?

[JohnC]

1 hour ago, K-9 said:

 

With this team, it's less a question of working hard than it is of working smart. It's uncanny how often so many of these players don't make the smart, simple play. Effort can overcome many shortcomings sometimes, but stupidity is seldom one of them. Bad decision after bad decision and by guys (I'm looking at you Scandella and Okposo) who are team leaders and expected to know better. If that's not a reflection on the coaching, what is?

Coaches can't play for the players. But what they can control is who plays and who sits. Something is amiss when the problems are the same, over and over. I didn't watch the Shark game but I did see the first period of the Vegas game. You don't have to know much about hockey to recognize that the opposing team was much more tenacious and played with urgency. This is the big league. When you have a defensive lapse you are going to pay for it. And most of their lapses are glaring mistakes that shouldn't be tolerated. 

 

Hockey is a fast paced sport. There are going to be mistakes. But you have to respond and continue on. It just seems that this team is incapable of reacting when things are not going well. What I have noticed is if the first period is going well that it indicates how the game is going to unfold for the rest of the game. There is a sameness to this team that makes it understandable why fans are steadily peeling off. 

[K-9]

2 minutes ago, JohnC said:

Coaches can't play for the players. But what they can control is who plays and who sits. Something is amiss when the problems are the same, over and over. I didn't watch the Shark game but I did see the first period of the Vegas game. You don't have to know much about hockey to recognize that the opposing team was much more tenacious and played with urgency. This is the big league. When you have a defensive lapse you are going to pay for it. And most of their lapses are glaring mistakes that shouldn't be tolerated. 

 

Hockey is a fast paced sport. There are going to be mistakes. But you have to respond and continue on. It just seems that this team is incapable of reacting when things are not going well. What I have noticed is if the first period is going well that it indicates how the game is going to unfold for the rest of the game. There is a sameness to this team that makes it understandable why fans are steadily peeling off. 

No, coaches can't play. But as a life long believer in "you play like you practice" I have to wonder about Housley's attention to detail. Last week, after getting their ***** handed to them by the Rockies, Okposo said something was "off" in practice and that he should have said something. Housley said practice went well. What gives? 

 

While many of their mistakes are of the glaring variety, it's the consistently stupid, little mistakes they make that often leads to disaster. It's mind boggling how stupid these players are on the ice at times. These happen regularly and, again, that points to preparation and coaching in my book. 

 

Here's a concerning thing for me as well: our top line D pair consists of a 2nd pair talent (Risto) and a 3rd pair talent (Scandella). That spells disaster in my book. Now Housley can't do much about acquiring the talent to compensate and that will have to wait, but he's got to stop acting like he has the group he had in Nashville and make necessary adjustments in the meantime. So far, he has shown NO propensity for doing so. Yet another coaching failure on his part, imo. 

 

Anyway, the clock is ticking towards 10/31. Teams that are out of a playoff spot by four or more points on Halloween, miss the playoffs 87% of the time. If I had ANY more faith in Housley's ability to get his finger on the pulse of this team and make the right corrections, like removing Okposo from the PP and having Scandella sit a game or two, I'd have more faith that we would be in that rare 13% segment that do make the playoffs. 

 

But I don't. 

[Fadingpain]

25 minutes ago, JohnC said:

Coaches can't play for the players. But what they can control is who plays and who sits. Something is amiss when the problems are the same, over and over. I didn't watch the Shark game but I did see the first period of the Vegas game. You don't have to know much about hockey to recognize that the opposing team was much more tenacious and played with urgency. This is the big league. When you have a defensive lapse you are going to pay for it. And most of their lapses are glaring mistakes that shouldn't be tolerated. 

 

Hockey is a fast paced sport. There are going to be mistakes. But you have to respond and continue on. It just seems that this team is incapable of reacting when things are not going well. What I have noticed is if the first period is going well that it indicates how the game is going to unfold for the rest of the game. There is a sameness to this team that makes it understandable why fans are steadily peeling off. 

Housley is the wrong coach for this team, but the team is poorly constructed as it turns out.

 

We have a core that is very similar to the discarded old Rochester core that began this rebuild.  We've come full circle and have a group of players that are very similar.  

 

I.E., we need a new coach, yet that won't solve our problems.  

 

We hoped Eichel would be another Crosby type; he's more like Pierre Turgeon.

 

And like Pierre, Eichel may well be traded at some point, if we can get the right return.  Who knows.

 

The thought of that is not unthinkable, but it should be.

 

 

 

 

[JohnC]

2 minutes ago, K-9 said:

No, coaches can't play. But as a life long believer in "you play like you practice" I have to wonder about Housley's attention to detail. Last week, after getting their ***** handed to them by the Rockies, Okposo said something was "off" in practice and that he should have said something. Housley said practice went well. What gives? 

 

While many of their mistakes are of the glaring variety, it's the consistently stupid, little mistakes they make that often leads to disaster. It's mind boggling how stupid these players are on the ice at times. These happen regularly and, again, that points to preparation and coaching in my book. 

 

Here's a concerning thing for me as well: our top line D pair consists of a 2nd pair talent (Risto) and a 3rd pair talent (Scandella). That spells disaster in my book. Now Housley can't do much about acquiring the talent to compensate and that will have to wait, but he's got to stop acting like he has the group he had in Nashville and make necessary adjustments in the meantime. So far, he has shown NO propensity for doing so. Yet another coaching failure on his part, imo. 

 

Anyway, the clock is ticking towards 10/31. Teams that are out of a playoff spot by four or more points on Halloween, miss the playoffs 87% of the time. If I had ANY more faith in Housley's ability to get his finger on the pulse of this team and make the right corrections, like removing Okposo from the PP and having Scandella sit a game or two, I'd have more faith that we would be in that rare 13% segment that do make the playoffs. 

 

But I don't. 

I expect Guhle will be called up in the not too distant future. Defensemen are at a premium and not easily attainable on the market. I agree with you that Risto is more suited as a second pairing defenseman. But on this team with a dearth of talent back there he is playing extraordinary minutes that would usually go to a premium backliner, which he is not. Usually, when you don't have the requisite talent you can't hide it. It catches up to you. On our roster we have too many players who are playing on higher lines and defensive pairings than they should be playing. 

 

I'm not as critical of Housley as you are. In my estimation what this franchise doesn't need is another coaching time, at least right now. Could you imagine if a Torterella or Babcock was coaching this team? The sparks would be flying and players would be held more accountable via playing time. 

1 minute ago, Fadingpain said:

Housley is the wrong coach for this team, but the team is poorly constructed as it turns out.

 

We have a core that is very similar to the discarded old Rochester core that began this rebuild.  We've come full circle and have a group of players that are very similar.  

 

I.E., we need a new coach, yet that won't solve our problems.  

 

We hoped Eichel would be another Crosby type; he's more like Pierre Turgeon.

 

And like Pierre, Eichel may well be traded at some point, if we can get the right return.  Who knows.

 

The thought of that is not unthinkable, but it should be.

 

 

 

 

Housley may not be the right coach but if the source of the malaise is the roster then the mix needs to be changed. My fear is that this franchise has gone through too many coaching changes that don't ultimately change the course of the team. My belief is that although this team has added talent from the low baseline of the prior years more talent still needs to be added to get to be a seriously competing team. We're just not there yet. 

[K-9]

1 minute ago, JohnC said:

I expect Guhle will be called up in the not too distant future. Defensemen are at a premium and not easily attainable on the market. I agree with you that Risto is more suited as a second pairing defenseman. But on this team with a dearth of talent back there he is playing extraordinary minutes that would usually go to a premium backliner, which he is not. Usually, when you don't have the requisite talent you can't hide it. It catches up to you. On our roster we have too many players who are playing on higher lines and defensive pairings than they should be playing. 

 

I'm not as critical of Housley as you are. In my estimation what this franchise doesn't need is another coaching time, at least right now. Could you imagine if a Torterella or Babcock was coaching this team? The sparks would be flying and players would be held more accountable via playing time. 

Why aren't they held accountable now, then? Scandella has sucked all season. WTF is Housley waiting for? And Okposo continuing to screw up PP 1? Housley, that's why. 

 

I submit it's either because Housley is blind to the obvious or is afraid to exert pressure on (presumed) team leadership. 

 

Nothing he has shown to date suggests to me he is a qualified NHL head coach. 

[JohnC]

6 minutes ago, K-9 said:

Why aren't they held accountable now, then? Scandella has sucked all season. WTF is Housley waiting for? And Okposo continuing to screw up PP 1? Housley, that's why. 

 

I submit it's either because Housley is blind to the obvious or is afraid to exert pressure on (presumed) team leadership. 

 

Nothing he has shown to date suggests to me he is a qualified NHL head coach. 

Right now who is the option to him? I'm not saying that he is the right coach for this team but making a change right now could even more destabilize an unstable team. This is a mentally fragile team. I don't see who on the roster can internally impose some order. I'm not sure Jack at this point has the ability to be the authoritative voice in the room. 

[K-9]

3 minutes ago, JohnC said:

Right now who is the option to him? I'm not saying that he is the right coach for this team but making a change right now could even more destabilize an unstable team. This is a mentally fragile team. I don't see who on the roster can internally impose some order. I'm not sure Jack at this point has the ability to be the authoritative voice in the room. 

Then he shouldn't be wearing the C, which Housley had a voice in awarding. There's a leadership void anyway, as evidenced by Okposo's admission that he should have said something at practice last week, but didn't. 

 

If this team is so mentally fragile, then changing coaches is even more of an emergency. 

 

I'm not sure who is out there to replace him. If we are more than four points out at the end of the month, it won't matter, historically. But we can't just keep him for the sake of keeping him, either. He's not a good coach. Why subject these young players to more of his ineptitude during a lost cause of a season, anyway? 

 

 

[plenzmd1]

14 minutes ago, K-9 said:

Then he shouldn't be wearing the C, which Housley had a voice in awarding. There's a leadership void anyway, as evidenced by Okposo's admission that he should have said something at practice last week, but didn't. 

 

If this team is so mentally fragile, then changing coaches is even more of an emergency. 

 

I'm not sure who is out there to replace him. If we are more than four points out at the end of the month, it won't matter, historically. But we can't just keep him for the sake of keeping him, either. He's not a good coach. Why subject these young players to more of his ineptitude during a lost cause of a season, anyway? 

 

 

Chris Taylor is coaching the Amerks for a reason. 

[K-9]

10 minutes ago, plenzmd1 said:

Chris Taylor is coaching the Amerks for a reason. 

I honestly don't know much about Taylor at all. Got them to the playoffs last year and has them playing well so far this year, anyway. 

 

But can he get more out of Scandella or Okposo? I don't think anyone can, which is why they need to sit, imo. Housley doesn't seem to have the stones to do that, though. Even though it's obviously needed. 

[row_33]

Pens get an early lead and hold off the Leafs for a good road win, goalie was amazing.