Buffalo Sabres and NHL: 2019/20: Sabres season officially over. Draft lottery June 26th

[Spun]

TB is loaded.  That said the Sabres came out strong and carried the action until the penalties started adding up.  TB has a very good PP.  Some of the penalties were bad as were the calls and non-calls.  The shots were 43-40 in favor of the Sabres.  They played better in game two but the penalty kill and the third period collapse was decisive.  Giving up a goal with 1.3 seconds to go in the second was painful..  Hutton didn’t have a great game.  Dahlin gets nervous handling the puck inside the Sabres zone hence the giveaways. He needs to develop some confidence.

 

The Sabres have to commit to this experience as being one to build on.  They came out sharper in game two.  They adapted but ultimately their flaws hurt them.  

 

Don’t be surprised if the Lightning go far in the playoffs if not win it all.  The TB fans said that usually the Lightning play flat when their backup is in net.  Not last night.

 

The Lightning fans traveled well.  I first noticed it at the airport.  There was one SABRES fan leading the cheers with his drum!  The security entering the building wasn’t as extensive in the US.  Carry a bag that isn’t visible plastic in the US and you don’t get in.  A drum in Sweden?  Come on in!  The crowds were very quiet unlike in North America.  The Swedish fans that I talked to know a lot bout the NHL.  There were a sizable contingent of fans in attendance from other European countries.  If the Sabres didn’t play in Stockholm, I may have missed this city.  It is a cool city, I am glad that I visited.

[4merper4mer]

13 hours ago, plenzmd1 said:

here we go....5 in a row and 5 days off to think about it...then 10 in 17...guess its time to start following these handles

 

https://twitter.com/SabresProspects?ref_src=twsrc^google|twcamp^serp|twgr^author

 

https://twitter.com/Prospects_Watch

 

 

I still view the coach in a positive light.  I'd say internally let him assess the needs and communicate them.  Maybe time to re-set again?  

 

Some really big trades, like even Eichel?  His career is clearly being wasted,maybe some of that is on him, and he would return a king's ransom.  This GM shows zero urgency unless there is traffic before tee time so if I'm Pegula I wait.....again....dump the GM .1 seconds after the season ends and get someone that is connected with Krueger.  Ideally that would be done now but it seems unrealistic.

 

Edited November 10, 2019 by 4merper4mer

[zow2]

The Years lead up to getting Eichel sucked, the years since Eichel have sucked.  I said it last year, I’d explore trading him to get a bounty of ready NHLers.  At the very least they should explore it. Also, our goalies have a habit of getting outplayed by the opponents goalie.  They had a nice first 9 games. But now falling back into last years habits. Make a few saves 

[JohnC]

1 hour ago, zow2 said:

The Years lead up to getting Eichel sucked, the years since Eichel have sucked. I said it last year, I’d explore trading him to get a bounty of ready NHLers.  At the very least they should explore it. Also, our goalies have a habit of getting outplayed by the opponents goalie.  They had a nice first 9 games. But now falling back into last years habits. Make a few saves 

Trading an exceptional player for a collection of good players makes no sense. Acting on frustration and exasperation is a recipe for even a longer period of mediocrity. Look at all the cup winners and contending teams. What they all have in common is that they have two to four elite players surrounded by good role players. We already have an elite player in Jack. Dealing him for a bevy of solid to good player would not improve the team---- it would set it back. 

 

Dahlin has elite skills. He's a young player who is struggling. That shouldn't be surprising because young players still have to go through the developing process. If anyone suggested that he should be dealt because he could bring back a quantity of good talent it would be an act self-inflicted regression. 

 

Tampa is one of the most talented teams in the league. It is a genuine cup contending team. It shouldn't surprise anyone that when they play at their talent level and when an inferior talented team plays at their level that the superior team is going to prevail. And that's exactly what happened in these two games. When the Sabres made mistakes Tampa capitalized. When Tampa made mistakes we weren't able to capitalize. You don't have to be an analytical wizard to understand that in sports and most fields of endeavor that talent usually prevails. And that's exactly what happened in Sweden. 

Edited November 10, 2019 by JohnC

[4merper4mer]

14 minutes ago, JohnC said:

Trading an exceptional player for a collection of good players makes no sense. Acting on frustration and exasperation is a recipe for even a longer period of mediocrity. Look at all the cup winners and contending teams. What they all have in common is that they have two to four elite players surrounded by good role players. We already have an elite player in Jack. Dealing him for a bevy of solid to good player would not improve the team---- it would set it back. 

 

Dahlin has elite skills. He's a young player who is struggling. That shouldn't be surprising because young players still have to go through the developing process. If anyone suggested that he should be dealt because he could bring back a quantity of good talent it would be an act self-inflicted regression. 

 

Tampa is one of the most talented teams in the league. It is a genuine cup contending team. It shouldn't surprise anyone that when they play at their talent level and when an inferior talented team plays at their level that the superior team is going to prevail. And that's exactly what happened in these two games. When the Sabres made mistakes Tampa capitalized. When Tampa made mistakes we weren't able to capitalize. You don't have to be an analytical wizard to understand that in sports and most fields of endeavor that talent usually prevails. And that's exactly what happened in Sweden. 

 

Even longer period of mediocrity?  A. Longer than what?  The decade we've already logged?  B. Sadly mediocre would be a giant step up from where the Sabres have been.  Whatever they're doing hasn't worked with or without Eichel.  I'm not saying he has to go but am saying we don't have the luxury of taking options off the table.  Dahlin is the obvious exception.

 

Your last paragraph discusses talent.  It is the GM's job to put talent on the ice.  The previous GM had a glorious opportunity and failed while calling everyone else stupid.  This guy was not dealt the same hand but it wasn't a bad one either.  You state that a team needs elite talent and role players but he has gone after role players and marginal talent.  Rochester wins, but very few guys look NHL ready.  Nylander took 100 years and sucked.  They traded him, at least getting a decent player in return, and he immediately looks viable in Chicago.  Dahlin isn't as good at 19 as he was at 18.  How often does that happen?  We have two decent backup goalies and no starter.  This is all on the GM and none of it has improved.

 

 

[Helpmenow]

Botterill on the hot seat. Maybe he is next with the door

[bbb]

18 hours ago, K-9 said:

Love the Bonnies. Have since the Bob Lanier, Bill Butler days. I still haven’t forgiven Chris Ford! 
 

That said, I like all the Little 3/Big 4 teams and root for them. When it’s head to head, I gotta go with my Golden Griffins, though.

 

***** Chris Ford!...............My dad was a Canisius grad and took me to games starting at a young age.  I always had Canisius 1st, Bona 2nd and for some reason, didn't like Niagara.................But, then in 1972, he took me, at nine years old, on my first air flight to go see Niagara play Maryland (McMillian, Elmore) for the NIT championship.  I remember him talking to a Niagara alum and they said Yeah, they're rivals locally but when it comes to the national stuff, they root for each other.  

[K-9]

I remember that Niagara team, too. Loved Marshall Wingate when I was a kid. 

[bbb]

6 hours ago, K-9 said:

I remember that Niagara team, too. Loved Marshall Wingate when I was a kid. 

 

He played awesome in the championship game.  And, was sitting right behind me on the flight back.  My dad and I didn't stay over in NYC.  Flew down, went to the game, and then flew back...............And, Marshall didn't fly back with the rest of the team because he had some All Tournament stuff to do.  

[Nextmanup]

22 hours ago, zow2 said:

The Years lead up to getting Eichel sucked, the years since Eichel have sucked.  I said it last year, I’d explore trading him to get a bounty of ready NHLers.  At the very least they should explore it. Also, our goalies have a habit of getting outplayed by the opponents goalie.  They had a nice first 9 games. But now falling back into last years habits. Make a few saves 

Our goaltending was playing over its head to start the season and I mentioned a while back that it wouldn't last.

 

It was one of the main reasons why we were terrible last year after the streak ended. 

 

Our white hot PP has cooled (surprise, surprise) and coaches are now seeing tape of what Ralph likes to do.

 

We are likely to transition to a more normal pace of point getting at this point.  The question is what will that pace be?

 

Took us all season last year to win 2 in a row after the streak ended.

 

Hopefully we can win 2 in a row this week, but I'm not holding my breath. 

[shrader]

Is there any status update on Sobotka?  I don't want to wish an injury on anyone, but this would be a good opportunity to move on from a guy who has no future here.  If anything, he'd slot in nicely with Girgensons/Larsson (too lazy to look up LW vs. RW)... but then you're still left with a different albatross in the Okposo contract.  They need some skill out there with Skinner/Johansson if they're ever going to get any secondary scoring.  Over the last 8 games you have a grand total of 2 goals from forwards not named Eichel/Reinhart/Olofsson, and one of those was some guy named Skinner.  You don't have to look far to see that this is the same exact team as last year.

 

We probably have to wait for the long list of expiring contracts after this season, but they can't continue to ignore this complete absence of forward depth any longer.  Maybe they were hoping for something from Mittelstadt at this point, but instead you now have to worry that they broke him in the process.  They badly need to get that kid jump started.  If they're going to leave him on the wing for a while, I'd consider pairing him with Eichel to get some confidence back.

[K-9]

3 hours ago, shrader said:

Is there any status update on Sobotka?  I don't want to wish an injury on anyone, but this would be a good opportunity to move on from a guy who has no future here.  If anything, he'd slot in nicely with Girgensons/Larsson (too lazy to look up LW vs. RW)... but then you're still left with a different albatross in the Okposo contract.  They need some skill out there with Skinner/Johansson if they're ever going to get any secondary scoring.  Over the last 8 games you have a grand total of 2 goals from forwards not named Eichel/Reinhart/Olofsson, and one of those was some guy named Skinner.  You don't have to look far to see that this is the same exact team as last year.

 

We probably have to wait for the long list of expiring contracts after this season, but they can't continue to ignore this complete absence of forward depth any longer.  Maybe they were hoping for something from Mittelstadt at this point, but instead you now have to worry that they broke him in the process.  They badly need to get that kid jump started.  If they're going to leave him on the wing for a while, I'd consider pairing him with Eichel to get some confidence back.

Time to reunite Skinner with Eichel and Reinhart. I understand Krueger’s desire to spread out the scoring, but it isn’t working lately so I think it’s better to have at least one dominant scoring line with three potential 30+ goal scorers. Doesn’t much matter where in the middle six you line up Olofsson as EVERY middle six winger is the same as the next. 
 

Who gets the call up from Ra Cha Cha? Putting aside that there are injuries to several wingers down on the farm currently,  it really doesn’t matter as whoever gets the call up, will also be the SAME guy as all of our other middle six wingers. 

[JohnC]

3 hours ago, shrader said:

Is there any status update on Sobotka?  I don't want to wish an injury on anyone, but this would be a good opportunity to move on from a guy who has no future here.  If anything, he'd slot in nicely with Girgensons/Larsson (too lazy to look up LW vs. RW)... but then you're still left with a different albatross in the Okposo contract.  They need some skill out there with Skinner/Johansson if they're ever going to get any secondary scoring.  Over the last 8 games you have a grand total of 2 goals from forwards not named Eichel/Reinhart/Olofsson, and one of those was some guy named Skinner.  You don't have to look far to see that this is the same exact team as last year.

 

We probably have to wait for the long list of expiring contracts after this season, but they can't continue to ignore this complete absence of forward depth any longer.  Maybe they were hoping for something from Mittelstadt at this point, but instead you now have to worry that they broke him in the process.  They badly need to get that kid jump started.  If they're going to leave him on the wing for a while, I'd consider pairing him with Eichel to get some confidence back.

You accurately described the heart of the problem with this roster i.e. not enough scorers spread out through the lines. Other than a trade involving Risto I don't see an accomplished forward coming back as a return. The Sabres have a number of players with expiring contracts next year. That is more likely when the lack of scoring depth can be meaningfully addressed. Will Cozens be ready next year? Probably not. I think it will take another year of development before he will be a contributor in the league. 

 

Two years ago the team earned 62 points. Last year the team earned 76 points. This year I expect the team to earn between 86 to 88 points. There was never going to be a quick fix to bolster this roster to the point of being a serious team. Because of our favorable cap situation and the number of young players currently on the roster I see next year as the year where fans will be more optimistic about this team. For those people who are too impatient and disgruntled I say that is their problem. The glaring mistakes of the past have increased the distance to the road to respectability. Whether people want to accept it or not that's the reality of the situation.    

[BillsFan4]

 

[shrader]

31 minutes ago, K-9 said:

Time to reunite Skinner with Eichel and Reinhart. I understand Krueger’s desire to spread out the scoring, but it isn’t working lately so I think it’s better to have at least one dominant scoring line with three potential 30+ goal scorers. Doesn’t much matter where in the middle six you line up Olofsson as EVERY middle six winger is the same as the next. 
 

Who gets the call up from Ra Cha Cha? Putting aside that there are injuries to several wingers down on the farm currently,  it really doesn’t matter as whoever gets the call up, will also be the SAME guy as all of our other middle six wingers. 

 

I'm not sure what they gain from moving Skinner to that line.  I supposed the could score a bit more, but Eichel's line is already scoring every single goal for this team.  What they need, and sadly it's probably a long-term need, is that piece that's going to unlock the offense from the Skinner/Johansson combo.  It's not going to come from any section of this current roster.

 

As for the Rochester guys, I'd say it's pretty clear that the hope for future scoring is Thompson.  At this point though, I think it's probably best for him to stick there the entire year and grow from leading that team.  No one else is helping now, at least not filling any role that is currently missing from this team.  Which guys are injured down there right now?

[K-9]

15 minutes ago, shrader said:

 

I'm not sure what they gain from moving Skinner to that line.  I supposed the could score a bit more, but Eichel's line is already scoring every single goal for this team.  What they need, and sadly it's probably a long-term need, is that piece that's going to unlock the offense from the Skinner/Johansson combo.  It's not going to come from any section of this current roster.

 

As for the Rochester guys, I'd say it's pretty clear that the hope for future scoring is Thompson.  At this point though, I think it's probably best for him to stick there the entire year and grow from leading that team.  No one else is helping now, at least not filling any role that is currently missing from this team.  Which guys are injured down there right now?

What they will get is more goals from that line instead of fewer from either of the top two. Over the last seven games, the attempt to spread the scoring out hasn’t worked. Instead, it has diluted the scoring on the top line. Just because Eichel and Reinhart are doing the scoring while nobody else is doesn’t mean they’re scoring enough. They would be more effective, more of a threat with Skinner vs, Olofsson. I guess I’d rather have at least one dominant line than multiple diluted lines. 
 

Sadly, you are right about the situation in Rochester. But there aren’t any answers down there anyway. How did we get so bereft of talent even though we chose high in the draft year after year after year? It’s mind boggling.

 

I thought I read that Smith, Elie, and Leier are all out of the Rochester lineup currently. And  I think Asplund just returned? Anyway, not much to choose from, regardless. 

 

 

Edited November 11, 2019 by K-9

[BillsFan4]

 

[plenzmd1]

Grapes is finally, thankfully, fired

 

https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/28059815/hockey-icon-don-cherry-fired-immigrant-comments

 

never understood his appeal, total tool in my mind

 

 

[JohnC]

41 minutes ago, plenzmd1 said:

Grapes is finally, thankfully, fired

 

https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/28059815/hockey-icon-don-cherry-fired-immigrant-comments

 

never understood his appeal, total tool in my mind

 

 

Don Cherry is a nativist who couldn't adjust to the changing world. For people like him looking back was more comforting than dealing with the present and future. There is nothing new about a person like him and his backward world view. They have always existed. America probably has a higher percentage of people who fall in those "back in the old days" devotees than Canada has. You will never change the attitude of this hardcore faction. You just have to work around them. 

[4merper4mer]

5 hours ago, JohnC said:

You accurately described the heart of the problem with this roster i.e. not enough scorers spread out through the lines. Other than a trade involving Risto I don't see an accomplished forward coming back as a return. The Sabres have a number of players with expiring contracts next year. That is more likely when the lack of scoring depth can be meaningfully addressed. Will Cozens be ready next year? Probably not. I think it will take another year of development before he will be a contributor in the league. 

 

Two years ago the team earned 62 points. Last year the team earned 76 points. This year I expect the team to earn between 86 to 88 points. There was never going to be a quick fix to bolster this roster to the point of being a serious team. Because of our favorable cap situation and the number of young players currently on the roster I see next year as the year where fans will be more optimistic about this team. For those people who are too impatient and disgruntled I say that is their problem. The glaring mistakes of the past have increased the distance to the road to respectability. Whether people want to accept it or not that's the reality of the situation.    

Impatient LOL.

 

What about Botts tells you that this offseason will be the one where he adds talent?  In a race with a sloth and a snail Botts would get the bronze.