Taro T

AHL.tv is free today in case anybody wants to check the Amerks game out. Apparently they've got all 32 teams playing today to celebrate the 50,000th AHL game ever.

Having sat through the last 4 games of the recent homestand, personally believe a big part of the reason their play seems slow is because when they have the puck they rarely challenge the defender to get past him. Rather they curl back away from the defender looking for a teammate moving into a play. It's very methodical, very much different from what they were doing last year, leads to a lot of standing around, and oftentimes results in a turnover with no real scoring chance from a play that had the Sabre pushed the envelope he could've forced some of the chaos that @LGR4GM is always raving about in prospects he's fond of. It seems they're taking a page out of Patrick Roy's last 2 years coaching in Colorado when they'd have a ton of puck possession but couldn't score any goals because they were too busy controlling the puck to bother actually working it to a high danger area and shooting it. The play seems slow, because it is. But that seems more by design than because the players don't have wheels. Having guys like Tuch working through LBIs too doesn't help with the team speed either.

Chose Chara because he was well known for hits to guys heads that he routinely got away with throughout his entire career including those years as an Aisle and an Otter long before he ever wore the spoked B and he still did get away with after he moved on from them. He also destroyed Hamel's knee when he was an Aisle with a dirty hit and he famously nearly killed Pacioretty with one of the dirtiest hits ever. He was dirty and he nearly always got away with it. Though he DID get a fine for a cross check on the aforementioned Gallagher. No suspension, because how could he get that, he wasn't a repeat offender, he officially pretty much never was. (And think how giving a star like him a suspension would look to the children.) Given his history, believe it was an extremely apt comparison. But, go right ahead excusing him; guess that's because he was a B.

Pretty sure he's not in the way guys like Chara weren't repeat offenders very often at all. Everytime he's gotten a questionable hit, they decided there was no supplementary discipline due because he wasn't a repeat offender and then then next time it happened, and it happened often, that there was no supplementary discipline due because he wasn't a repeat offender. Lather, rinse, repeat. But Gallagher is ALWAYS pushing the envelope.

Better: Girgensons (though, due to the need to let the leaders that are in their primes begin to own the team, believe he needs to move on (which stinks, REALLY wanted him to get to experience the playoffs as a part of this roster)) Better: Mittelstadt (though now that Cozens is in most people's dog houses, most have come around to liking Mitts too) Better (at least ST, probably not much more than others LT): Levi Probably better: Tuch (still believe a lot of his "lazy" play is due to fighting through whatever injury he came into camp with) But, in general, personally still really like this team's players. Even guys that were truly disliked when they were on other rosters (referring to you, Skinner and Clifton) like on this squad. And even the guys that Granato misuses by giving too much responsibility to (referring to you Jokiharju and Okposo) personally like. The only guy that should absolutely 100% be punted to the moon is Ellis but most everybody has come around to agreeing he isn't even the Matt Ellis of NHL AC's, so don't believe he's viewed less favorably in this household than he is in everybody else's. Because most of the guys that might be earning their way into the doghouse (your examples of Cozens and Power being the prime examples), personally believe that they'll look a lot more like people expected them to look when they have a more reasonable defensive assignment (Cozens) or when they're finally beyond their sophomore season (Power). And personally believe Thompson is just now finally starting to get past the limitations his injuries have put upon him, so am probably with many of the rest of the fans in cutting him some slack.

The team has size. Personally believe corrections in the coaching staff goes a long ways (if not all the way) towards fixing grit and 2 way ability. Gracefully move on from the current leadership and let the leaders that are already here do their thing. They probably, again w/ different coaching philosophy, already have close to, if not, enough fighters. But Krebs and Skinner are pretty much it in the rat department and neither can get under the skin of opponents nor be nearly as effective as the B's Rat Faced Git. Could definitely use more of that on the roster. Would be perfectly fine with bringing in one of the true NHL studs in net, and it never hurts to have more good prospects on the way, but the goaltending combo of 2 years from now is already here. Just too darn soon. Fix the x's and o's of how they actually go about trying to accomplish what they're trying to accomplish and expect we'll find out there's a lot more talent on this roster already than the results indicate they have.

That's bad. But considering this is a Sabres-centric board, don't believe it tops Roy for Malkin straight up.

Good call. He went in the summer of '14. A few months after Regier was sent packing.

Which Ehrhoff move? Bringing him in or punting him? Bringing him in was clearly not Regier's call (or if it was his call, it was heartily endorsed by the boss who loved Ehrhoff). Cutting him was likely Regier's Murray's call as doubt that anyone above him in a non-hockey department role would've said the Sabres needed to buy him out rather than trade him due to the monstrous cap penalty that would've been incurred when Christian finally retired with time remaining on the original deal. Doubt they would've fully understood the repercussions of what a trade likely would've meant about 1 year ago. Or, are you referring to the broader concept of who came up with the plan that would bring on "suffering?"

He's only played 37 games. If he really would be better off playing in juniors, they could send him down and he wouldn't earn an accrued year of NHL service. He's burned a year of the ELC but for 2 more games is no closer to RFA w/ arbitration rights nor UFA status. (Don't believe he was placed on IR earlier in the year that he was out a few games. If he was on IR for at least 3 games then the accrued season boat has sailed.) And regaardless of the accrued season issue, he can always get sent back down to Juniors. Just he can't come back until his team's season is over except on an emergency basis.

He flat out couldn't be any worse. (Speaking as an AC. The jury hasn't even been sent notices as to how he'd be as a HC at this time.)

And it looks like this kid went to bed about 30 seconds before Peterka got the goal that got them going. 2 totally different games. And the play by Clifton to keep it from going to 4-1 doesn't seem to be getting as much love as it should. For the 1st time this year, Levi actually had one of his defensemen keep a sure goal out of the net rather than bouncing something that would've gone harmlessly past the post right into the far side of the net. That was the last time a shot had Levi beat last night. He still wasn't controlling rebounds as well as he would like to have been controlling them, but he wasn't beat again a single time last night.

Not disagreeing nor disputing what either of you are saying. Just throwing out a bit more info. When LA was coming through the neutral zone and into the Sabres zone, the King that's just inside the Sabres blue line HAD been ahead of Kopitar and Mittelstadt had been covering him while he was the most dangerous uncovered King on the rush. But he curled to give the puck carrier (Kempe?) another option and when he did, Mittelstadt did not look back to see Kopitar breaking in hard towards the far post but rather turned towards the King that Dahlin had been 1 on 1 with as Dahlin started to move a bit towards the puck carrier presumably anticipating the possibility that the puck carrier smoked the D (Bryson?) that had him. And in that decision by Mittelstadt, Anze was left all alone. It's a very interesting thought that Mittelstadt actually did what he's being coached to do which is to help with the more easily accessed (via pass from the current puck carrier) threat than the more dangerous threat. Not sure I'm completly buying it as Mittelstadt NEVER looked away from the play in front of him to even know that Kopitar hadn't stepped up to rejoin the attack of the rush as his teammate turned and held the Sabres blue line. Had Mitts looked that way and THEN made the decision he did end up making would give it more credence that he did what they wanted him to do.

Yeah. Will watch the last half of the game tomorrow. Too friggin' late.

Yes, but likely not tonight.

Yep. The long layoff got him off his game. When he's off, that low glove side shot is kryptonite. He absolutely has to have that 3rd one and the 2nd one was bad too. Let him get it back. He wasn't on his game in his Ra-cha-cha game either. Let him spend February in the A and see where he and the Sabres are at come March and put him where it makes sense at that point.

Will catch the full game. Probably right after dinner tomorrow night.

Actually, pretty sure it wouldn't take any effort at all.

But conversely, they're 16-3-1 when they score 1st. Which has to be pretty high on the list. And, basically, we can all turn the TV off pretty early in the game if all that we care about is whether they win or lose. What, somebody scored? Guess we can chalk that one up. 😉

Hoping it continues, none the less. 😉

Le sigh.

At least there are only 2 more games to the AS break. Survive these next 2. Seriously consider a shakeup in the coaching staff. (Wanted the PP coach gone last year. That move needs to happen yesterday.) Definitely need better assistants. Maybe Granato needs to go too. But focus on playing the right way after the AS break and make sure the players realize that they're at minimum playing for their beloved Granato's job and quite possibly their own jobs as well. See how they can play with the sense of urgency of things ARE going to change if they don't change. Let the guys that should've been the leaders this season officially become the leaders next season. (Presumes they don't totally screw the pooch down the stretch. Expect they can avoid doing that.) Really like Girgensons and will be sad to see him go, but he and Okposo need to be gone at the end of the year at the latest. There are a lot of guys on this team that have been leaders at lower levels and they now need the opportunity to step up. The younger guys have deferred to Okposo for too long. They need to step up. They've already suffered through the kids growing pains these past 3 years. There's still some more growing pains for those that aren't (or just barely are) legally allowed to drink after home games; but expect the worst of them can be past provided they fix the coaching issues. Don't see a reason to blow it up once again unless we want to add ANOTHER 3-4 years to this drought. 17 years was the magic # for the Pegulas other major franchise, realize that'll be here before we realize but really don't want to see them do another reset. Kulich likely makes the team next year. At most that is how many rookies should be added to next year's roster. Still would like a vet top 4D brought in. If that costs some of the assets that Adams has accumulated, so be it.

Whatevs.

Fully agree with that.

And what goes around comes around. Blink-182 was SOOOOOOO close. Nobody loves you when you're twenty-two, they all shout out go #### you. What's their age again, what's their age again?