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

[JohnC]

3 minutes ago, K-9 said:

I didn’t ask why you would keep Marchand, I asked why you would cut a less talented version. 

I don't understand your question. The less talented version of what? If a player is more productive than other players I would prefer him on the roster.

 

You may not be aware of it but the Sabres have their own version of Marchand in Rochester. In fact his model of play is a Marchand style of play. The player is Matej Pekar. Are you go to boo him if he is brought up to the big club? 

[K-9]

Just now, JohnC said:

I don't understand your question. The less talented version of what? If a player is more productive than other players I would prefer him on the roster.

 

You may not be aware of it but the Sabres have their own version of Marchand in Rochester. In fact his model of play is a Marchand style of play. The player is Matej Pekar. Are you go to boo him if he is brought up to the big club? 

The less talented version of a dirty player like Marchand.

 

I’ll answer it for you then. Any concerns about a player’s REPEATED classless, dirty, suspension filled (six times and counting) behavior get tossed aside in favor of talent. What are the acceptable varying degrees of talent that justify keeping such a player? All Star level? 2nd best player on the team? Third line checker who doesn’t score a lot but can shut down opposing scorers? What, exactly, is the dividing line that justifies keeping an embarrassment on the roster? 

 

I can’t agree with the Pekar comparison at all. Has he developed a rep for cheap shots and cowardly play? Has he been suspended six times at any level? There is being hard to play against vs. being a dirty player. 

 

And if Pekar comes up and DOES resort to the kind of dirty play? Yeah, I’ll boo his ass out of the building. Certain things, like respect for the game, matter. I get that may not be fashionable in today’s world, but, again, I couldn’t give a crap. 

 

 

[4merper4mer]

8 hours ago, K-9 said:

The less talented version of a dirty player like Marchand.

 

I’ll answer it for you then. Any concerns about a player’s REPEATED classless, dirty, suspension filled (six times and counting) behavior get tossed aside in favor of talent. What are the acceptable varying degrees of talent that justify keeping such a player? All Star level? 2nd best player on the team? Third line checker who doesn’t score a lot but can shut down opposing scorers? What, exactly, is the dividing line that justifies keeping an embarrassment on the roster? 

 

I can’t agree with the Pekar comparison at all. Has he developed a rep for cheap shots and cowardly play? Has he been suspended six times at any level? There is being hard to play against vs. being a dirty player. 

 

And if Pekar comes up and DOES resort to the kind of dirty play? Yeah, I’ll boo his ass out of the building. Certain things, like respect for the game, matter. I get that may not be fashionable in today’s world, but, again, I couldn’t give a crap. 

 

 

Marchand has purposely done things that could have easily paralyzed, if not killed, his victims on several occasions.  There should be no tolerance for that but the league will wait until he actually paralyzes someone.  The punk punch to the back of the head isn't really in the same category but Columbus has turtled to it instead of responding.

[plenzmd1]

8 hours ago, 4merper4mer said:

Marchand has purposely done things that could have easily paralyzed, if not killed, his victims on several occasions.  There should be no tolerance for that but the league will wait until he actually paralyzes someone.  The punk punch to the back of the head isn't really in the same category but Columbus has turtled to it instead of responding.

yep..i am not all old school; guy....but these things matter in the NHL. The Miller hit, Boychuck taking Jack out with a dirty hit last year, the same Bpychuck who broke Vaneks ankle in the playoffs with no response.. Yandle cheap shotting Skinner this year ..all with zero response from the Sabres. And all 4 teams eventually losing the season to suckitude and guys not playing for each other.

 

I got roundly criticized by some members(hmm, hmm, @JohnC?) of this thread back in December when I said Yandle HAD to pay for that hit..that I was old, brutish, the game does need not that kind of payback,...score om the powerplay is the real revenge...no, in this league a response is required!( exception going on a major down 3 in a game 7).

 

Vogl knew then too.

 

https://theathletic.com/891502/2019/03/28/how-a-tuesday-night-in-december-set-a-fateful-tone-for-the-rest-of-the-sabres-season/

Edited May 5, 2019 by plenzmd1

[K-9]

4 hours ago, plenzmd1 said:

yep..i am not all old school; guy....but these things matter in the NHL. The Miller hit, Boychuck taking Jack out with a dirty hit last year, the same Bpychuck who broke Vaneks ankle in the playoffs with no response.. Yandle cheap shotting Skinner this year ..all with zero response from the Sabres. And all 4 teams eventually losing the season to suckitude and guys not playing for each other.

 

I got roundly criticized by some members(hmm, hmm, @JohnC?) of this thread back in December when I said Yandle HAD to pay for that hit..that I was old, brutish, the game does need not that kind of payback,...score om the powerplay is the real revenge...no, in this league a response is required!( exception going on a major down 3 in a game 7).

 

Vogl knew then too.

 

https://theathletic.com/891502/2019/03/28/how-a-tuesday-night-in-december-set-a-fateful-tone-for-the-rest-of-the-sabres-season/

Spot on. This is one of the things I miss about Lindy. He knew and respected the code. Agree entirely that the lack of response to Yandle served notice that we didn’t play for each other. That we lacked the foxhole mentality required. Having that mentality does not harken back to the Broad Street Bullies era at all. Rather, it says we can handle teams that insist on going there if we have to. 

[Alaska Darin]

4 hours ago, plenzmd1 said:

yep..i am not all old school; guy....but these things matter in the NHL. The Miller hit, Boychuck taking Jack out with a dirty hit last year, the same Bpychuck who broke Vaneks ankle in the playoffs with no response.. Yandle cheap shotting Skinner this year ..all with zero response from the Sabres. And all 4 teams eventually losing the season to suckitude and guys not playing for each other.

 

I got roundly criticized by some members(hmm, hmm, @JohnC?) of this thread back in December when I said Yandle HAD to pay for that hit..that I was old, brutish, the game does need not that kind of payback,...score om the powerplay is the real revenge...no, in this league a response is required!( exception going on a major down 3 in a game 7).

  

Vogl knew then too. 

  

https://theathletic.com/891502/2019/03/28/how-a-tuesday-night-in-december-set-a-fateful-tone-for-the-rest-of-the-sabres-season/

Couldn't agree more.  There's a reason teams run right over the Sabres.  If you don't respect and stick up for yourself, you're going to get bullied.  It's that simple.

[shrader]

22 hours ago, K-9 said:

Spot on. This is one of the things I miss about Lindy. He knew and respected the code. Agree entirely that the lack of response to Yandle served notice that we didn’t play for each other. That we lacked the foxhole mentality required. Having that mentality does not harken back to the Broad Street Bullies era at all. Rather, it says we can handle teams that insist on going there if we have to. 

 

That whole Yandle-Skinner thing is a bit of you reap what you sow.  Turtling has always been a big part of Skinner's game.  He's out there trying to draw penalties, that's his style.  So when that actually happens, teammates are going to stop and leave him to his game. 

[K-9]

19 minutes ago, shrader said:

 

That whole Yandle-Skinner thing is a bit of you reap what you sow.  Turtling has always been a big part of Skinner's game.  He's out there trying to draw penalties, that's his style.  So when that actually happens, teammates are going to stop and leave him to his game. 

Be that as it may (or not), the Yandle hit on Skinner deserved an escalated response in kind. It was gut check time and our character (or lack there of) was revealed for the entire league to see. 

 

Again. 

[BillsFan4]

With St. Louis winning, the Sabres will now officially be getting a 1st in the 28-31 range. 

 

We just have to wait and see exactly where, but at this point it doesn’t really matter all that much if it’s 28-31. Obviously I prefer 28, but it’s 4 spots at the very end of the 1st. I look at it more like a 2nd than a 1st at this point. 

 

 

That ROR trade just keeps getting worse. Craig Button called it one of the worst trades we have seen in years and I tend to agree at this point. 

 

It all likely comes down to Thompson, as the odds of getting a good NHL player at 28-31 are not very good. 

 

Buffalo has done an unbelievably poor job with asset management for much of this rebuild. 

[Buffalo Barbarian]

Sign me up.

 

 

"When you watch Team Sweden, you see a team where everybody is a forward and everybody is a defenseman. Grönborg said that’s by design, “I’ve been very fortunate here with the Swedish program to have great skating defensemen, and you guys have one, if not two in Buffalo there. We involve our defensemen in the rush, very offensive minded defensemen. We have a free-flowing game, we like to change positions, we involve everyone in offense as well as defense.”

 

. I see myself as more of a hybrid guy. I come from a Swedish background, but most of my career as a coach, I have been over in North America. "

 

https://wgr550.radio.com/articles/news/gr-nborg-doesnt-feel-hes-european-coach?view=getnewpost

 

 

Edited May 8, 2019 by Buffalo Barbarian

[OldTimeAFLGuy]

Emily Kaplan ESPN :

 

Longtime Detroit Red Wings general manager Ken Holland was named the new GM and president of hockey operations of the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday, and he got right to work.

 

At his introductory news conference, he said he had already informed Ken Hitchcock that he will not return as coach of the team.

[K-9]

Eichel. 

 

 

[JohnC]

7 hours ago, BillsFan4 said:

With St. Louis winning, the Sabres will now officially be getting a 1st in the 28-31 range. 

 

We just have to wait and see exactly where, but at this point it doesn’t really matter all that much if it’s 28-31. Obviously I prefer 28, but it’s 4 spots at the very end of the 1st. I look at it more like a 2nd than a 1st at this point. 

 

 

That ROR trade just keeps getting worse. Craig Button called it one of the worst trades we have seen in years and I tend to agree at this point. 

 

It all likely comes down to Thompson, as the odds of getting a good NHL player at 28-31 are not very good. 

 

Buffalo has done an unbelievably poor job with asset management for much of this rebuild. 

I have made this point before so I apologize for the redundancy. The ROR trade as it currently stands certainly isn't a balanced deal. In the short run it was a devastating deal for us and a stupendous success for the Blues. But although the deal dramatically tilts toward the Blues that doesn't mean that in the longer run that balance for our side rises a bit. Because of the trade of ROR and his contract the Sabres were in a better situation to sign Skinner and then hopefully get him on a longer term deal. And because we had an additional first round pick in our arsenal we were able to use it to trade for Montour. If Thompson develops, and that is a reasonable prospect, then although the deal still balances toward the Blues it becomes a more reasonable deal. 

 

The big unknown in the longer term view of this deal is Mittelstadt. Will he eventually become a second-line center? Without question he is not there, and I don't believe will be there in his second year. But it is not out of the realm of possibility or maybe even probability that he will attain that status. The point I'm making here is that the calculation that you make in the short term doesn't necessarily turn out to be the same calculation you make in the longer term. 

 

 

[GG]

8 hours ago, BillsFan4 said:

 

That ROR trade just keeps getting worse. Craig Button called it one of the worst trades we have seen in years and I tend to agree at this point. 

 

 

It's almost as bad as the first ROR trade.

[K-9]

16 minutes ago, JohnC said:

I have made this point before so I apologize for the redundancy. The ROR trade as it currently stands certainly isn't a balanced deal. In the short run it was a devastating deal for us and a stupendous success for the Blues. But although the deal dramatically tilts toward the Blues that doesn't mean that in the longer run that balance for our side rises a bit. Because of the trade of ROR and his contract the Sabres were in a better situation to sign Skinner and then hopefully get him on a longer term deal. And because we had an additional first round pick in our arsenal we were able to use it to trade for Montour. If Thompson develops, and that is a reasonable prospect, then although the deal still balances toward the Blues it becomes a more reasonable deal. 

 

The big unknown in the longer term view of this deal is Mittelstadt. Will he eventually become a second-line center? Without question he is not there, and I don't believe will be there in his second year. But it is not out of the realm of possibility or maybe even probability that he will attain that status. The point I'm making here is that the calculation that you make in the short term doesn't necessarily turn out to be the same calculation you make in the longer term. 

 

 

At this point, the 1st round draft pick used to acquire Montour is tied to San Jose. 

[JohnC]

12 minutes ago, K-9 said:

At this point, the 1st round draft pick used to acquire Montour is tied to San Jose. 

At this point you are right. But when the deal was made it could have been either one of them. When the deal was made we were getting Montour with one of the two extra first round picks acquired in trade deals. Don't be surprised if the lower first round ROR pick will also be traded in a future deal. 

[shrader]

51 minutes ago, K-9 said:

Eichel. 

 

 

 

Here is the description of that goal from a USA hockey recap:

 

Team USA evened the game seven minutes into the middle frame when

Clayton Keller (St. Louis, Mo.) scored off a pass from Jack Eichel (North Chelmsford, Mass.). With a faceoff to the left of Germany's goal, Eichel pounced on a loose puck and dished it to an open Keller for a quick-wristed tally.

 

Seriously USA hockey?  You describe that as "pouncing on a loose puck"?

[K-9]

Just now, JohnC said:

At this point you are right. But when the deal was made it could have been either one of them. When the deal was made we were getting Montour with one of the two extra first round picks acquired in trade deals. Don't be surprised if the lower first round ROR pick will also be traded in a future deal. 

When the deal was made, the first round pick traded was specifically the one acquired from San Jose in the Kane trade. Anaheim has the option to choose the one acquired from St. Louis if it falls between 20-31, which they now do because the Blues won last night. If the Blues had lost, they would have finished with a top 19 pick and we would have been guaranteed of keeping that pick. If the Sharks lose tonight or to the Blues in the next round, Anaheim will keep the pick we acquired from San Jose. 

1 minute ago, shrader said:

 

Here is the description of that goal from a USA hockey recap:

 

 

 

 

Seriously USA hockey?  You describe that as "pouncing on a loose puck"?

That description is weak and doesn’t do that play any kind of justice. 

[BillsFan4]

6 hours ago, Buffalo Barbarian said:

Sign me up.

 

 

"When you watch Team Sweden, you see a team where everybody is a forward and everybody is a defenseman. Grönborg said that’s by design, “I’ve been very fortunate here with the Swedish program to have great skating defensemen, and you guys have one, if not two in Buffalo there. We involve our defensemen in the rush, very offensive minded defensemen. We have a free-flowing game, we like to change positions, we involve everyone in offense as well as defense.”

 

. I see myself as more of a hybrid guy. I come from a Swedish background, but most of my career as a coach, I have been over in North America. "

 

https://wgr550.radio.com/articles/news/gr-nborg-doesnt-feel-hes-european-coach?view=getnewpost

 

 

So... basically the same thing Housley just tried to do the last 2 years? Playing as a 5 man unit with d men joining the rush.

Edited May 8, 2019 by BillsFan4

[BillsFan4]

Apparently WGR said today that Friedman saying that Tippett is a favorite for the Edmonton job (Someone else posted this info. I am still trying to verify it for myself). 

 

If its true, Edmonton hasn’t even had a damn GM for the last few months. Holland was just out in place yesterday ffs. 

 

I will be so pissed if the oilers get Tippett. But I guess it’s my own fault for getting my heart set on him. 

 

 

Edited May 8, 2019 by BillsFan4