Buffalo Sabres & NHL 2018-19: Sabres picking 7th overall (6/21/19). Ralph Krueger hire as new head coach!

[BillsFan4]

Once again though, mistakes killed the Sabres. That 3 minutes stretch where they just totally collapsed and Toronto scored 3, and then Dahlin diving at the blue line on the leafs last goal were the difference tonight. 

 

Buffalo just isn’t able to overcome their mistakes on many nights. 

 

Overall though, I actually thought buffalo played a pretty good game tonight. They controlled the play for a good part of the game. 

And I have to say, I like their no quit attitude. It’s nice seeing a team with some fight after years of watching buffalo teams hang their heads and pack it in after getting down by a goal or two. 

 

Anxious to see Montour in the lineup tomorrow. 

 

anyone else see this? I feel for Hank. Zuccarello was his good buddy. Reminds me a bit of Ryan Miller when he left buffalo. He was very emotional too. 

 

Good reminder of the human aspect involved in all these trade deadline deals. Lots of lives shaken up in the process. 

[K-9]

Housley needs to come right back with Hutton tonight. 

[shrader]

11 hours ago, K-9 said:

Is it still so cliquish over there? Haven’t been there in a long long time.

 

I think that usually the people who get pounced on by the group tend to deserve it.  But yes, a few people get far too emotionally involved all while posting way too much.  If you can weed through that, it's still valuable.  If someone is able to wade through the Bills side here (note: I can't), they can easily get through that place.

[K-9]

16 minutes ago, shrader said:

 

I think that usually the people who get pounced on by the group tend to deserve it.  But yes, a few people get far too emotionally involved all while posting way too much.  If you can weed through that, it's still valuable.  If someone is able to wade through the Bills side here (note: I can't), they can easily get through that place.

I spent several years as a regular at Sabrespace and I agree. It’s also a great place to discuss hockey with a few very knowledgeable hockey fans who know the game. I learned a ton from various posters there.

 

I doubt I’ll ever participate in that forum again, but if a newcomer can tolerate a certain level of territorialism initially, it’s a good place to discuss hockey in general and Sabres in particular. 

[shrader]

29 minutes ago, K-9 said:

I spent several years as a regular at Sabrespace and I agree. It’s also a great place to discuss hockey with a few very knowledgeable hockey fans who know the game. I learned a ton from various posters there.

 

I doubt I’ll ever participate in that forum again, but if a newcomer can tolerate a certain level of territorialism initially, it’s a good place to discuss hockey in general and Sabres in particular. 

 

Sadly the guy you'd learn the most from (X Benedict) left a couple years ago.  They've lost too many people like that.  But anyway, back to the original question.  If you're looking for a little more depth and more topics, obviously they'll have that at the hockey-focused board.  If nothing else, I'd say give it a shot and see what you think.

 

And an added bonus for trying that out, it might give you a slight break from John and plenz's slap fights in here.

[GG]

4 minutes ago, shrader said:

 

Sadly the guy you'd learn the most from (X Benedict) left a couple years ago.  They've lost too many people like that.  But anyway, back to the original question.  If you're looking for a little more depth and more topics, obviously they'll have that at the hockey-focused board.  If nothing else, I'd say give it a shot and see what you think.

 

And an added bonus for trying that out, it might give you a slight break from John and plenz's slap fights in here.

 

I miss X too.  He departed here as well.

[K-9]

3 minutes ago, shrader said:

 

Sadly the guy you'd learn the most from (X Benedict) left a couple years ago.  They've lost too many people like that.  But anyway, back to the original question.  If you're looking for a little more depth and more topics, obviously they'll have that at the hockey-focused board.  If nothing else, I'd say give it a shot and see what you think.

 

And an added bonus for trying that out, it might give you a slight break from John and plenz's slap fights in here.

Yeah, X was awesome. Loved talking Sabres history with him and PA at times. And MODO is one of my all time favorite forum participants. 

 

But it will be a cold day in hell before I go back to that place. 

 

And I enjoy participating in John's and PLenz's debates. Heck, I do my own share of slapping and getting slapped. But I'll say this for John, he is passionate about his view and does a good job defending it. Gotta respect that. 

[shrader]

1 minute ago, K-9 said:

Yeah, X was awesome. Loved talking Sabres history with him and PA at times. And MODO is one of my all time favorite forum participants. 

 

But it will be a cold day in hell before I go back to that place. 

 

And I enjoy participating in John's and PLenz's debates. Heck, I do my own share of slapping and getting slapped. But I'll say this for John, he is passionate about his view and does a good job defending it. Gotta respect that. 

 

And here's to hoping that some of that passion finally pays off next year.  I hate saying it in February, but it is going to be a very interesting offseason.  Botterill has at least shown that he's not afraid to make actual deals that go beyond just prospect swaps or discount bin shopping in order to build his team.

[JohnC]

7 hours ago, shrader said:

 

And here's to hoping that some of that passion finally pays off next year.  I hate saying it in February, but it is going to be a very interesting offseason.  Botterill has at least shown that he's not afraid to make actual deals that go beyond just prospect swaps or discount bin shopping in order to build his team.

I'm counting on the GM to take advantage of the situation he has positioned this franchise to bolster the roster next year. I have stated before that I believe that this franchise is two years away from being a serious team. That is not to say that next year this team won't be better and continue to move up the ranks. I have never believed in the quick-fix because our talent base was too low when this new regime took over. One of my friendly nemesis believes that the cupboard was more full than I did.

 

A number of people have characterized my position as succumbing to accepting mediocrity and lowering my expectation for this team. That is gross  misinterpretation of what I have been saying. My position is that this team is not a complete team especially when compared to the top tier teams. The core of the problem in my estimation has little to do with the HC and the GM's management of this team.. It's simply evident to me that although we have some emerging talent there are still glaring deficiencies that have encumbered this team. That is a reality that some critics refuse to acknowledge at least to the degree that I do. They place more of the blame on the coach than I do. 

 

What is encouraging is that when the Sabres play good teams such as Tampa, Calgary, Winnipeg and Toronto they are able to compete with them. But usually they fall short because they simple can't match the talent. I expect this offseason that Botts, who I have a high regard for, will bring in enough talent to create a credible second line and take some of the scoring load from the top line. Stating the obvious we don't have enough secondary scoring. That to me is our biggest flaw. 

 

I'm not so much hung up on making the playoffs this year. Of course I would love for the Sabres to qualify. My bigger focus is on the younger players with the Sabres and with Rochester getting better. I'm optimistic about the near future while some of my witty combatants are less so. That is the usual source of the friendly dueling. In general, I like the direction this franchise is going in and am more willing to let it play out. 

Edited February 26, 2019 by JohnC

[Nextmanup]

I've over at Sabrespace, but don't post much.  I find the forum to be rather limited in its hockey knowledge and it is mostly a bunch of college kids discussing things other than hockey.  There seems to be few members there and activity at any moment in time is a tiny fraction of what you would find at this forum.

 

If you want a much more intelligent Sabres discussion, go to the Sabres page at HF Boards, but be warned!  It's a collection of a-holes and it has one of the nastiest forum cultures I've run into.  But if you want intelligent insight into Sabres talk, that's the place to go, not Sabrespace.

 

 

[suorangefan4]

I still can't believe how bad we messed up the 3rd round in 2014.

 

We had the first pick in that round #61 and pick #74 and passed on Brayden Point (#79 overall) for Jonas Johansson and Brycen Martin. Point was at one time projected to be a first rounder if I'm not mistaken. 

 

You could do that with a lot of players who should've been picked but weren't but that seemed like an easy choice to me.

 

[shrader]

12 minutes ago, suorangefan4 said:

I still can't believe how bad we messed up the 3rd round in 2014.

 

We had the first pick in that round #61 and pick #74 and passed on Brayden Point (#79 overall) for Jonas Johansson and Brycen Martin. Point was at one time projected to be a first rounder if I'm not mistaken. 

 

You could do that with a lot of players who should've been picked but weren't but that seemed like an easy choice to me.

 

 

It's kind of odd to focus on the 3rd round of any given draft though.  I'll take your word that he was rated highly but fell.  But anyway, at that stage in the draft, every single team passed on him a couple times.  Hell, even Tampa passed on him 3 times and has nothing to show for the three players they did take.  If they thought he was going to be what he looks like he could be now, they're not waiting to make that pick.

[suorangefan4]

5 minutes ago, shrader said:

 

It's kind of odd to focus on the 3rd round of any given draft though.  I'll take your word that he was rated highly but fell.  But anyway, at that stage in the draft, every single team passed on him a couple times.  Hell, even Tampa passed on him 3 times and has nothing to show for the three players they did take.  If they thought he was going to be what he looks like he could be now, they're not waiting to make that pick.

 

The only reason I forcused on it is because he was rated high most of the year. All the GMs missed on him (they do a lot of players but it's not like scouts didn't rank him high.. because they did for a lot of the year again if I'm not mistaken). 

 

He was smaller. Teams got too obsessed with size. A lot of smaller players are succeeding in the league. The Sabres had a lot of picks that year (3 in the second round, 2 in the third round) and should've taken the chance on him seeing how he was very productive before being drafted.

Edited February 26, 2019 by suorangefan4

[snafu]

20 minutes ago, suorangefan4 said:

I still can't believe how bad we messed up the 3rd round in 2014.

 

We had the first pick in that round #61 and pick #74 and passed on Brayden Point (#79 overall) for Jonas Johansson and Brycen Martin. Point was at one time projected to be a first rounder if I'm not mistaken. 

 

You could do that with a lot of players who should've been picked but weren't but that seemed like an easy choice to me.

 

 

I happened to be watching NHL Network last night and they were showing a TB power play and commenting on how potent it is.  They were saying it is no surprise that Point leads the league in power play goals because they've got Stamkos on one side and Kucherov on the other side, and most teams don't have that kind of firepower on BOTH sides of their PP.  Defending those two completely opens up the entire slot for Point to take advantage.  It's true that he's got to be good enough to finish his chances, but his life is made a lot easier with Stamkos and Kucherov on each side of him and one fewer defender.

 

 

[shrader]

4 minutes ago, snafu said:

 

I happened to be watching NHL Network last night and they were showing a TB power play and commenting on how potent it is.  They were saying it is no surprise that Point leads the league in power play goals because they've got Stamkos on one side and Kucherov on the other side, and most teams don't have that kind of firepower on BOTH sides of their PP.  Defending those two completely opens up the entire slot for Point to take advantage.  It's true that he's got to be good enough to finish his chances, but his life is made a lot easier with Stamkos and Kucherov on each side of him and one fewer defender.

 

 

 

It does make you wonder how much his numbers would drop if on a weaker team like Buffalo... and that's ignoring the difference in the developmental process between the two teams.

[JohnC]

4 minutes ago, snafu said:

 

I happened to be watching NHL Network last night and they were showing a TB power play and commenting on how potent it is.  They were saying it is no surprise that Point leads the league in power play goals because they've got Stamkos on one side and Kucherov on the other side, and most teams don't have that kind of firepower on BOTH sides of their PP.  Defending those two completely opens up the entire slot for Point to take advantage.  It's true that he's got to be good enough to finish his chances, but his life is made a lot easier with Stamkos and Kucherov on each side of him and one fewer defender.

 

 

We may have watched the same segment on the NHL Network when they were discussing Tampa and their consideration of Risto. What stood out is when a commentator (I believe it was Lawson?} stated that Tampa has five prospects who are ready to move up to the NHL. Because they are so loaded it wouldn't be inconceivable that the Risto trade talk will again arise in the offseason because they there is an abundance of talent in their system and big club with little room for additions. 

[snafu]

13 minutes ago, JohnC said:

We may have watched the same segment on the NHL Network when they were discussing Tampa and their consideration of Risto. What stood out is when a commentator (I believe it was Lawson?} stated that Tampa has five prospects who are ready to move up to the NHL. Because they are so loaded it wouldn't be inconceivable that the Risto trade talk will again arise in the offseason because they there is an abundance of talent in their system and big club with little room for additions. 

 

I'd rather have young veterans than young kids at this point for this team.  Let the kids come from the draft and develop them in Rochester. I don't think the Sabres will be ready within your two year timeframe without keeping talent that they already possess.  If Tampa wants to trade NHL-ready talent for anything we've got, then I'm okay with that.  If the Sabres trade Risto for prospects I would consider it a mistake.

 

 

22 minutes ago, shrader said:

 

It does make you wonder how much his numbers would drop if on a weaker team like Buffalo... and that's ignoring the difference in the developmental process between the two teams.

 

Not just Buffalo.  ANY team that doesn't have an ultra-talent manning each low circle on the Power Play, banging one-timers at the net (which is just about every other team not TB).  And I think to be fair to Buffalo, they've only started their development scheme when Botteril came in.

 

 

 

[JohnC]

1 hour ago, snafu said:

 

I'd rather have young veterans than young kids at this point for this team.  Let the kids come from the draft and develop them in Rochester. I don't think the Sabres will be ready within your two year timeframe without keeping talent that they already possess.  If Tampa wants to trade NHL-ready talent for anything we've got, then I'm okay with that.  If the Sabres trade Risto for prospects I would consider it a mistake.

 

 

 

 

 

 

If a player is ready to come up I wouldn't be shy in making a deal if the caliber of the prospect was a high end player. But that wasn't the point of my post. The point I was making is that a team such as Tampa (and some other teams) have an excess of talent without the room to place them on the roster then there are opportunities to deal. On the other side of that equation if a player in their system is ready to move up then there could be opportunities to deal for an already established young player who can be pushed out. 

 

I agree with you that if you are going to trade an established player such as Risto then you need to get back players that you know are ready to immediately play. But that doesn't foreclose wanting one of those high end and ready to play prospects thrown into the mix. I don't see this as an either or when it can be a combo type deal. 

Edited February 26, 2019 by JohnC

[snafu]

55 minutes ago, JohnC said:

The point I was making is that a team such as Tampa (and some other teams) have an excess of talent without the room to place them on the roster then there are opportunities to deal.

 

Right, I agree.  And I was trying to say that if there's no room for the vets on TB's roster because of TB's young talent coming up, then I'd rather trade for TB's talent that's already played in the NHL. Let them hit or miss with their own kids -- especially if I'm giving up NHL talent that's already on the roster.  It's just my preference.

 

 

edited for clarity

 

Edited February 26, 2019 by snafu

[K-9]

But, but, they try so hard.