shrader Posted October 22, 2018 Posted October 22, 2018 There's that first come from behind win that I've been waiting for. Hopefully they can string together a few more of those (but feel free to not fall behind at all). I also want to go dig up my "one he gets one goal..." comment about a certain someone, but I'm not big on I told you sos. 1
JohnC Posted October 22, 2018 Posted October 22, 2018 1 hour ago, shrader said: There's that first come from behind win that I've been waiting for. Hopefully they can string together a few more of those (but feel free to not fall behind at all). I also want to go dig up my "one he gets one goal..." comment about a certain someone, but I'm not big on I told you sos. You are entitled to gloat but with a qualification to your braggadocio behavior. What changed the dynamic for Skinner is when the coach put him on the Jack line i.e. the scoring line. This impotent team desperately needed finishers and scorers. He is a finisher and scorer! He's also a feisty bastaard. Good to have him on your team and a player to be scorned if on another team.
JohnC Posted October 22, 2018 Posted October 22, 2018 2 hours ago, Doc said: Holy *****. Ryan Miller is still playing? He played well in this game.
BillsFan4 Posted October 22, 2018 Posted October 22, 2018 Well, this is a strange, somewhat confusing feeling. It’s.... fun to watch the Sabres play? That went a long way toward making up for that terrible Bills game. I feel like this team might be making some real progress. Last year, that 2nd Anaheim goal that Hutton let in would have been a back breaker. Sabres were dominating play, then Anaheim takes one shot and Hutton lets in a somewhat questionable/soft goal. In years past, that whole heads hanging, “woe is me” attitude would have taken over. This is looks like a different team. They are finally starting to do a lot of the things that good hockey teams do. Just the little things that they didn’t do in years past. like cycling the puck well, reading off your teammates and getting to the open areas of the ice. Consistently winning their puck battles and working their butt off the whole game. Getting to the dirty areas of the ice, crashing the net on rebounds and having a net front presence on shot attempts. And probably biggest of all, they are playing as a team. It’s not everyone doing their own thing. You are finally starting to see what Housley’s system truly looks like. The D men are doing a nice job activating on the rush and in the O zone. The defense actually looks a lot like Nashville did in Housley’s last year there when they made that run to the finals. Obviously not on the same level as nashville’s D though. They are starting to play fast as a 5 man unit. It was a good reminder of how good Housley’s system can look (and did look in Nashville) if it’s executed properly. 2
zevo Posted October 22, 2018 Posted October 22, 2018 1 hour ago, BillsFan4 said: Well, this is a strange, somewhat confusing feeling. It’s.... fun to watch the Sabres play? That went a long way toward making up for that terrible Bills game. I feel like this team might be making some real progress. Last year, that 2nd Anaheim goal that Hutton let in would have been a back breaker. Sabres were dominating play, then Anaheim takes one shot and Hutton lets in a somewhat questionable/soft goal. In years past, that whole heads hanging, “woe is me” attitude would have taken over. This is looks like a different team. They are finally starting to do a lot of the things that good hockey teams do. Just the little things that they didn’t do in years past. like cycling the puck well, reading off your teammates and getting to the open areas of the ice. Consistently winning their puck battles and working their butt off the whole game. Getting to the dirty areas of the ice, crashing the net on rebounds and having a net front presence on shot attempts. And probably biggest of all, they are playing as a team. It’s not everyone doing their own thing. You are finally starting to see what Housley’s system truly looks like. The D men are doing a nice job activating on the rush and in the O zone. The defense actually looks a lot like Nashville did in Housley’s last year there when they made that run to the finals. Obviously not on the same level as nashville’s D though. They are starting to play fast as a 5 man unit. It was a good reminder of how good Housley’s system can look (and did look in Nashville) if it’s executed properly. No..all wrong...Jeremy white says housley should be fired...you are wrong.
K-9 Posted October 22, 2018 Posted October 22, 2018 57 minutes ago, BillsFan4 said: Well, this is a strange, somewhat confusing feeling. It’s.... fun to watch the Sabres play? That went a long way toward making up for that terrible Bills game. I feel like this team might be making some real progress. Last year, that 2nd Anaheim goal that Hutton let in would have been a back breaker. Sabres were dominating play, then Anaheim takes one shot and Hutton lets in a somewhat questionable/soft goal. In years past, that whole heads hanging, “woe is me” attitude would have taken over. This is looks like a different team. They are finally starting to do a lot of the things that good hockey teams do. Just the little things that they didn’t do in years past. like cycling the puck well, reading off your teammates and getting to the open areas of the ice. Consistently winning their puck battles and working their butt off the whole game. Getting to the dirty areas of the ice, crashing the net on rebounds and having a net front presence on shot attempts. And probably biggest of all, they are playing as a team. It’s not everyone doing their own thing. You are finally starting to see what Housley’s system truly looks like. The D men are doing a nice job activating on the rush and in the O zone. The defense actually looks a lot like Nashville did in Housley’s last year there when they made that run to the finals. Obviously not on the same level as nashville’s D though. They are starting to play fast as a 5 man unit. It was a good reminder of how good Housley’s system can look (and did look in Nashville) if it’s executed properly. This could be that crucible moment we look back on to pinpoint when it all changed for this team. As you alluded to, we dominated play for nearly two whole minutes in their zone, making line changes while doing so, and totally wearing them out; complete domination. Only to see them get a lucky, clean break out to send a man in alone on Hutton and score. Previous teams would have been devastated and I was sure the Sabres wold fold and the Ducks would go on to score that all important “next goal” in a 2-0 game. The Sabres responded like a winner. I want want so much to believe we’ve turned a corner. Thursday vs. a surprising Montreal team with a great goalie will tell us much. Will they come out flat like so many teams playing their first game at home after a long road trip or will they carry the play like last night. Even is Price stones them, if I see the style of play I saw last night, I will have been ok with it. Get ‘em ready, Phil. 1
eball Posted October 22, 2018 Posted October 22, 2018 4 minutes ago, zevo said: No..all wrong...Jeremy white says housley should be fired...you are wrong. It has been difficult to watch the lackluster efforts that dominated last year's Sabres and wonder what role the HC plays in lighting a fire under players' *****. Then, we see the clunker to open the season and the losses at LV and SJ and you think "what is the problem?" Some have gone the "it's Housley's fault" route, while others have taken an more even-keeled approach. Given the drastic roster overhaul the latter may be the more prudent perspective. One key will be to watch how the Sabres follow up this very impressive end to the west coast road trip. Housley certainly deserves credit for shaking up the lines heading into the weekend.
shrader Posted October 22, 2018 Posted October 22, 2018 2 hours ago, JohnC said: You are entitled to gloat but with a qualification to your braggadocio behavior. What changed the dynamic for Skinner is when the coach put him on the Jack line i.e. the scoring line. This impotent team desperately needed finishers and scorers. He is a finisher and scorer! He's also a feisty bastaard. Good to have him on your team and a player to be scorned if on another team. I refuse to brag since I said he'd be up to 6 goals. Clearly I was wrong. But anyway, it still does point out the obvious lack of secondary scoring on this team. Hopefully last night was another sign of change, seeing as how they got 3 goals that weren't from the Eichel line. Someone else needs to wake up, then things could get interesting fast. You'd have to think that the guys you're expecting those goals from would have to be some combination of Reinhart/Okposo/Mittlestadt.
K-9 Posted October 22, 2018 Posted October 22, 2018 10 minutes ago, shrader said: I refuse to brag since I said he'd be up to 6 goals. Clearly I was wrong. But anyway, it still does point out the obvious lack of secondary scoring on this team. Hopefully last night was another sign of change, seeing as how they got 3 goals that weren't from the Eichel line. Someone else needs to wake up, then things could get interesting fast. You'd have to think that the guys you're expecting those goals from would have to be some combination of Reinhart/Okposo/Mittlestadt. Mitts is going to go off and when he does, watch out. Tomorrow’s practice is key. I believe it’s a tendency for younger players to relax a bit after an impressive couple of games on a road trip. You’re home, have a day off, get to read some positive clippings for a change. Yep, life is good. Bullhockey! Back in the day, Drury and Briere would lead a grueling practice after that kind of small success. All the time. Until hard practices became the accepted routine by everybody, win or lose, or else. Kyle “I should have said something” Okposo and Jack “I’m only 21” Eichel need to be emphatic that tomorrow’s practice is sharp and, if not, be assertive in getting the message across. If I’m Housley, I’ve already conveyed that to team leadership. Young players also also have a tendency to believe that it’s only October and it’s a long season. But this is when you bank the points. I can remember Drury tossing a boom box out of the locker room after an October loss. He never accepted complacency, early in the year or not. Our team csptsins need to be the same way. And it starts with their example. 3
shrader Posted October 22, 2018 Posted October 22, 2018 Hopefully those two losses on the road trip are fresh on their mind. Yeah, they started and ended the trip well, but they also got their ***** handed to them twice (and that last home game). They're still just steps away from those debacles and then need to stop losing like that. When they lose, they're losing by an average of 4 goals per game. That's flat out disgusting.
BillsFan4 Posted October 22, 2018 Posted October 22, 2018 (edited) Good article on the Athletic - https://theathletic.com/605329/2018/10/22/what-we-learned-about-rasmus-dahlin-and-the-rest-of-this-young-sabres-team-during-their-first-extended-road-trip/ Quote “Like I said earlier in the season, it just feels different,” Scandella said through the party music Sunday. “We’re going to go through our bumps and bruises. We’re still a really young group, but I just believe that we’re going in the right direction.” The hardest part for Buffalo will be handling the mood swings. The peaks and valleys could be huge for the sixth-youngest team in the NHL. During this trip alone, the Sabres looked like doormats one game and a complete squad the next. It won’t be the last Jekyll and Hyde. “I feel like we have a resilient group,” Scandella said. “We’re definitely just learning to how to bring our game every night. But when we do it, we have success.” A good sign is they seem to be learning quickly. Coach Phil Housley had an overriding message following the loss in San Jose. “When it is 2-1 going into the third, we’ve got to stick with the plan,” Housley said. “That’s part of learning to win because we get away from that, we force things that are not there, and it just comes back at us.” And here was Kyle Okposo after the Sabres erased a 2-0 deficit in Anaheim for a 4-2 victory. “That was the first time all year that we got down in a game and we just never changed the way that we played,” the right winger said. “That second goal could have been a backbreaker for us, but we just stuck with it. We played the exact same way, and we got rewarded.” They are a young team and are just learning what it takes to win on a nightly basis in the NHL. It appears to me that the players might finally be starting to buy in and committ to playing the way their coach is asking them to. I think that is huge for this team. It has been a definite issues in years past. I was so, so glad they won last night because I felt that it would go a long way in reinforcing the message that if they just stick to the plan and keep playing the right way all game, good things will happen. Edited October 22, 2018 by BillsFan4
Cripple Creek Posted October 22, 2018 Posted October 22, 2018 3 hours ago, K-9 said: I want want so much to believe we’ve turned a corner. Thursday vs. a surprising Montreal team with a great goalie will tell us much. Will they come out flat like so many teams playing their first game at home after a long road trip or will they carry the play like last night. Even is Price stones them, if I see the style of play I saw last night, I will have been ok with it. Get ‘em ready, Phil. I'll say something uncommon for me; the fans need to really bring it on Thursday. Such a young team can feed off of an energetic crowd.
JohnC Posted October 22, 2018 Posted October 22, 2018 3 hours ago, shrader said: I refuse to brag since I said he'd be up to 6 goals. Clearly I was wrong. But anyway, it still does point out the obvious lack of secondary scoring on this team. Hopefully last night was another sign of change, seeing as how they got 3 goals that weren't from the Eichel line. Someone else needs to wake up, then things could get interesting fast. You'd have to think that the guys you're expecting those goals from would have to be some combination of Reinhart/Okposo/Mittlestadt. Who are you? I don't remember you ever refusing to brag. 1
snafu Posted October 23, 2018 Posted October 23, 2018 (edited) @Vegas @sharks @los angeles @anaheim Home vs montreal @columbus Home vs calgary I was looking for six points out of these seven games. That Anaheim game was impressive (especially Ristolainen) and I'm hoping for eight. Edited October 23, 2018 by snafu
ChevyVanMiller Posted October 23, 2018 Posted October 23, 2018 11 minutes ago, 26CornerBlitz said: So you're saying there's a chance... 1
BillsFan4 Posted October 23, 2018 Posted October 23, 2018 PHT Q&A with Jack Eichel https://nhl.nbcsports.com/2018/10/23/jack-eichel-on-sabres-changes-dahlin-life-as-a-top-pick-pht-qa/ 1
eball Posted October 24, 2018 Posted October 24, 2018 Man, if Bogo can find a way to stay healthy it really looks like he adds something to the blue line...
shrader Posted October 24, 2018 Posted October 24, 2018 Just now, eball said: Man, if Bogo can find a way to stay healthy it really looks like he adds something to the blue line... I can see why he's wearing the A. Going out there and fighting for his team like he has the last couple of games has to do a ton for the rest of the roster. I can't help but cringe though when I see a guy with constant injury issues out there fighting in each game.
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