njbuff Posted June 19, 2020 Posted June 19, 2020 Austin Matthews tested positive for the Kung Flu virus. This puts a damper into everyone's plans. Quote
JohnC Posted June 19, 2020 Posted June 19, 2020 2 hours ago, eball said: Seriously, how much difference would just having a GOOD goaltender mean to this team, as it currently exists? If the Sabres would have had consistent goaltending at a #1 solid level the Sabres would definitely be in the playoffs under this pandemic playoff system and maybe under a full season of play. The Sabres definitely need to add pieces to upgrade the forward players but consistent solid goaltending actually provides more bang for the upgrade in a position. 1 Quote
eball Posted June 19, 2020 Posted June 19, 2020 3 hours ago, njbuff said: Kung Flu Really not funny. Are you an "All Lives Matter" guy too? Quote
BillsFan4 Posted June 20, 2020 Posted June 20, 2020 https://www.nhl.com/sabres/news/buffalo-sabres-kevyn-adams-general-manager/c-317188682 Quote Who will fill out the remainder of Buffalo's hockey operations is still to be decided, but Adams expects to surround himself with people he can lean on and who will be willing to hold him accountable. Such was the atmosphere he cultivated at the Academy of Hockey. "Kev was instrumental in putting together a team of people who had certain strengths, offset certain things, were able to basically take on a role and the people that he brought in, kind of allowing them the autonomy to do their thing," Ellis said. "And that was something that really, really struck me that I've carried with me. He understood strengths. He understood values and roles. He understood there are certain things certain people are better at and if you get the right people in the right seats on the bus, you're going to drive toward some great things especially if the vision if cohesive and connected." From the Sabres site. Hopefully that means they’re going to let him surround himself with the type of people he will need to succeed, even if it costs some $$. The Pegulas would be foolish not to let him. They’re going to look pretty bad if Adams flops. Quote his character left on mark on former teammates that remains today. "Kevyn Adams is first and foremost a great person," Rod Brind'Amour said in a text message to Sabres.com. "His work ethic and passion in everything he does are second to none. The Buffalo Sabres have made a tremendous move in naming Kevyn as their next GM." "As a teammate, Kevyn always had your back and would sacrifice it all for the good of the team," wrote Justin Williams. "He is a well-respected leader and an honest, hardworking man who has earned everything he's gotten." I don’t know if Justin Williams is done playing, but man it would be amazing if Adams was able to lure him to buffalo for a season. He’s exactly the Chris Drury type of leader that locker room needs. I doubt it happens though. Patrick Sharp had some good things to say about Kevyn Adams leadership too (in the “our line starts” podcast). Said he was big for rookie Jonathan Toews. Said JT leaned on him a lot his rookie year. 1 Quote
Dr. Who Posted June 20, 2020 Posted June 20, 2020 6 minutes ago, BillsFan4 said: https://www.nhl.com/sabres/news/buffalo-sabres-kevyn-adams-general-manager/c-317188682 From the Sabres site. Hopefully that means they’re going to let him surround himself with the type of people he will need to succeed, even if it costs some $$. The Pegulas would be foolish not to let him. They’re going to look pretty bad if Adams flops. I don’t know if Justin Williams is done playing, but man it would be amazing if Adams was able to lure him to buffalo for a season. He’s exactly the Chris Drury type of leader that locker room needs. I doubt it happens though. Patrick Sharp had some good things to say about Kevyn Adams leadership too (in the “our line starts” podcast). Said he was big for rookie Jonathan Toews. Said JT leaned on him a lot his rookie year. Might as well look for the encouraging. He'll need a lot of help from his friends. 1 Quote
njbuff Posted June 20, 2020 Posted June 20, 2020 1 hour ago, eball said: Really not funny. Are you an "All Lives Matter" guy too? Not trying to be funny, the virus came from China. It's the Chinese Virus, The Kung Flu, the Wu Flu etc. All lives are supposed to matter, right? Quote
BillsFan4 Posted June 21, 2020 Posted June 21, 2020 (edited) Interview w/Kevyn Adams from 2007 when he joined the blackhawks. https://www.nhl.com/blackhawks/news/ask-the-hawks-kevyn-adams/c-476928 Quote Kevyn, do you feel you can bring a lot to the table with a young Blackhawks squad other than your grinder work, hard-go-to-the-net style... such as helping the young core of this team develop or adding some depth to special teams? -- Kyle Fischer, Calgary, Alberta One of the things that I truly enjoy doing is being a leader in terms of working with the younger guys and taking them in -- not just on the ice because those guys usually don't need much help on the ice; it's off the ice where you can kind of just work with guys and bring them along and show them little things here and there. Or have them over for dinner away from the rink and just make the guys feel comfortable. That's something I really look forward to and I'm excited the Hawks have a lot of young players so I can do that. In terms of special teams, I feel like that something that has always been my trademark, being a penalty killer. So hopefully I can come in and add that to the Hawks and make us one of the better units in the league. Quote Kevyn, part of building a young winning team is having smart veteran leadership like you to guide the kids. What are some of the important lessons learned during your Stanley Cup winning '05-'06 season that you can pass on to the Blackhawks youth? -- John, Batavia, IL I could go on forever on that. There are certain things that jump out at me right away. You have to expect as a team to be successful and demand each other in the locker room to be successful and have high expectations. No matter where you're picked and what people are saying about you as a team, inside the locker room you have the confidence in each other and have some patience with each other to be successful. I would say that's the first thing, and the second thing would be the willingness to do it. It's easy to say and to want to be good, but the willingness to day-in and day-out be committed to winning a championship takes a lot of work. But when you're doing it together, it becomes a mission and a lot of fun. That's what I hope to bring to the young guys. He ended up being roommates with Pat Kane during Kane’s rookie year with the Blackhawks. Edited June 21, 2020 by BillsFan4 Quote
JohnC Posted June 21, 2020 Posted June 21, 2020 1 hour ago, BillsFan4 said: Interview w/Kevyn Adams from 2007 when he joined the blackhawks. https://www.nhl.com/blackhawks/news/ask-the-hawks-kevyn-adams/c-476928 He ended up being roommates with Pat Kane during Kane’s rookie year with the Blackhawks. By improving on the penalty kill and having more consistent goaltending from the two goaltenders on the roster this team could have had 8-10 more points this season. I'm not making excuses because your record is your record. However, by tightening up play in one specialty area, the PK, with the players already on the roster there is room for internal improvement before even adding talent to the mix. This team doesn't require a major remake. It needs a few judicious pickups to add to the mix and it needs some of its young players beginning their NHL careers such as Cozens, Tage and Mitts to be ready to be phased in. It's probable that not all three will be ready to contribute but if two of them do it will give the decision-makers more flexibility to bring in outside help. 1 Quote
ALF Posted June 22, 2020 Posted June 22, 2020 (edited) It looks like the Pegulas are giving Krueger full power to run the Sabres like Bill Belichick has with NE*. This is worth a try , I like and trust Ralph. In today's sport page BN "The expectation is new Sabres GM Kevyn Adams is going to defer to his experienced head coach on a host of personnel decisions" Edited June 22, 2020 by ALF Quote
plenzmd1 Posted June 22, 2020 Posted June 22, 2020 17 hours ago, JohnC said: with the players already on the roster 10 players on the roster as of now...tough to win in the NHL with 10 players 1 Quote
JohnC Posted June 22, 2020 Posted June 22, 2020 9 minutes ago, ALF said: It looks like the Pegulas are giving Krueger full power to run the Sabres like Bill Belichick has with NE*. This is worth a try , I like and trust Ralph. In today's sport page BN "The expectation is new Sabres GM Kevyn Adams is going to defer to his experienced head coach on a host of personnel decisions" I wasn't able to bring up the BN article but I am familiar in Krueger's approach toward running an organization. The one approach that is antithetical to everything he stands for is the autocratic top down power approach to running an organization. His philosophy is predicated on collaboration and empowering people to maximizing their talents. He believes in building an organization where there is an ethos and direction that everyone has bought into, from the top to the bottom of the staff. If you want someone to be impowered you want someone who is enlightened and competent to be the most influential person in the organization. Quote
JohnC Posted June 22, 2020 Posted June 22, 2020 5 minutes ago, plenzmd1 said: 10 players on the roster as of now...tough to win in the NHL with 10 players There is certainly going to be some reshuffling of the players on the expiring contracts. They are not the primary players i.e. first and second line players other than a player such as Reinhart. You may consider having so many players with expiring contracts as a negative but I do not. It gives the organization the flexibility of who to keep and who not to. And it gives the organization a better ability to bring in some different players to alter the mix and team dynamic. Quote
plenzmd1 Posted June 22, 2020 Posted June 22, 2020 10 minutes ago, JohnC said: There is certainly going to be some reshuffling of the players on the expiring contracts. They are not the primary players i.e. first and second line players other than a player such as Reinhart. You may consider having so many players with expiring contracts as a negative but I do not. It gives the organization the flexibility of who to keep and who not to. And it gives the organization a better ability to bring in some different players to alter the mix and team dynamic. ypu said the current mix with the players on the roster....there is not a lot on the roster. Add in the fact Sammy has leverage out the wazoo, the 2/3rds of the log line is UFA,,,4th line granted but they were at least effective last year..and after this mess could you blame either either Larry or Gus getting the hell out of dodge, ...they have their work cut out for them ...and i dont think you are going to see the same roster with just a few additions...i think it is going to be a good 40% -50% new players. Quote
JohnC Posted June 22, 2020 Posted June 22, 2020 2 minutes ago, plenzmd1 said: ypu said the current mix with the players on the roster....there is not a lot on the roster. Add in the fact Sammy has leverage out the wazoo, the 2/3rds of the log line is UFA,,,4th line granted but they were at least effective last year..and after this mess could you blame either either Larry or Gus getting the hell out of dodge, ...they have their work cut out for them ...and i dont think you are going to see the same roster with just a few additions...i think it is going to be a good 40% -50% new players. The bottom two thirds of the players are going to be reshuffled. On the other hand the core players are going to remain. I like players such Larsson and Gergs but they are not primary players. They leaving is not debilitating because they are replaceable. The issue is can they make a deal or two to bring in genuine second line players to take some pressure of the Jack line? I'm open to trading Risto and throwing in the first round pick if a good deal can be secured to accomplish that procurement. Quote
ALF Posted June 22, 2020 Posted June 22, 2020 I think it is an advantage for the Sabres not to be in the playoffs this year . The covid 19 is not worth the risk for a team that is not yet competitive. They can heal and focus on next season , especially the front office and coaches. Quote
May Day 10 Posted June 22, 2020 Posted June 22, 2020 1 hour ago, ALF said: It looks like the Pegulas are giving Krueger full power to run the Sabres like Bill Belichick has with NE*. This is worth a try , I like and trust Ralph. In today's sport page BN "The expectation is new Sabres GM Kevyn Adams is going to defer to his experienced head coach on a host of personnel decisions" The NHL and hockey in general doesn't and can't work like that. I want to grab the Pegulas and shake them until it gets into their skull. They are blending what works in the NFL (coach centric) to their NHL team (my favorite team) (coach centric). McDermott has appeared to work out so far and the Bills have had OK success based on a very low bar set over 17 years of barely being considered a part of the league. So the Pegulas think they have sports figured out now. NHL coaches are throw-away independent contractors. They all have a limited shelf-life and are a low-ranked person in the organizations behind players, GM, president. Coaches, frankly, dont usually have a huge influence on results. There are good ones, that you hang onto for a bit... completely unsure if Kruger is it. There is limited/no data with him, and I am offput by his sig-sigma growth shtick. You reserve a card to pull. Switch the coach to light a fire on a team going through the motions. This is the problem we had under Ruff. Players tuned him out and Regier refused to make a change which led to stagnation. What happens if/when players tune Kruger out (it will happen someday). You cant turn over players in the NHL like you can in the NFL where contracts arent guaranteed and you could get like 7 immediate players in a draft. So yeah. We need to sit here and wait 2-4 more years for the Pegulas to figure this out. Quote
snafu Posted June 22, 2020 Posted June 22, 2020 9 hours ago, plenzmd1 said: 10 players on the roster as of now...tough to win in the NHL with 10 players One is named Okposo and the other is Hutton. But, yeah, just a couple finishing touches. 1 Quote
Ridgewaycynic2013 Posted June 23, 2020 Posted June 23, 2020 (edited) On 6/22/2020 at 10:45 AM, ALF said: They can heal and focus on next season , especially the front office and coaches. Do their clock radios start all their mornings with Sonny and Cher singing ? I Got You, Babe ? ? * ? Edited June 23, 2020 by Ridgewaycynic2013 Quote
JohnC Posted June 24, 2020 Posted June 24, 2020 The attached link is by John Tonin writing for the Whitehorse Daily Star. It states that because of the later starting date for next season that Cozens could play for the national junior team and also play for the Sabres when the season starts. It is likely that there is going to be plenty of player shuffling with the lower half of the roster. It will be interesting to see if Cozens, Tage and Mittelstadt all make the roster and are given meaningful playing time. If two of the three make the jump then that will give the organization more cap flexibility to bring in outside help. https://www.whitehorsestar.com/Sports/cozens-selected-to-national-junior-camp?view=getnewpost Quote
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