grinreaper

At the very first I was willing to give Krueger a little rope. When he demoted Skinner to the 4th line and if I remember correctly sat him it was apparent that Krueger wasn't the coach we had hoped for.

I remember him. Was he also a face off specialist?

Girgensons, besides his prior All Star status is not the type of player that he was projected to be. He's still a valuable player with an excellent work effort. Sometimes I watch part of the Sabre's games from about 30' away and it isn't easy to determine immediately who is on the ice. His line often retrieves the puck in the opponents end and just plain keeps it there. It appears as if they're going to have an excellent chance to score and I pay close attention or move closer to the TV. I then realize that it was #28 who just took the shot with a net that was fairly open and hit the GT in his breastbone. He's a good bottom 6 forward who can play wing or center and a stalwart on the PK. He has good speed and sets a great example for the kids. I'd like to see him get re-signed.

A picture that sticks in my mind is actually a composite of Risto in front of his own net. The other team scores a goal off of a rebound put in by a player still on his feet. After the goal Risto, being the big strong guy that clears the net front cross checks someone, anyone and gets involved in a scrum just shy of being penalty worthy. Risto puffs out his chest and some people give him praise for his toughness. I've seen videos of his workouts and he is a beast. The bottom line is that he has done less with more than nearly everyone I can think of. His hockey awareness is on par with JaMarcus Russell's work effort.

Hmmmn. To step in it or not to step in it? 😀😝😀😁

It seemed like Granato had a good read on what was going on and thought that he'd better settle the team down and try to get them back on track.

Depends on if it fits your narrative or not.

Technically it might be much further down.

Obviously really important and without those two being top notch and a good goaltender you're going to have a crappy team. This is an argument that could go on longer than Tom Brady's drawn out career and still would never be settled.

If you as a poster don't really pay attention to the other posters on a site you'll be stepping in it often. I post elsewhere to an extent that dwarfs what I have posted here. I know those guys (and girls) and their opinions. I'm not easily fooled by their sarcasm and I rarely can fool any longtime posters. I sorta knew this all along but it became much clearer to me when I started lurking and posting more here. I had to pay attention to who said what if I wanted to respond to the poster's overall opinions. If you've been reading Zamboni's posts over a period of time and know that he has often complained about how his little sister used to beat him up you'll know that his bravado about his winning record in hockey fights is probably bogus. All kidding aside, I've had a little communication with Zamboni and we're pretty much on the same page. I was able to immediately tell that his comment that ruined your 4" pumps*** was sarcasm. Forgive me if this sounds like a lecture from your 8th grade English teacher that you thought was hot. I like you as a poster and think your opinions are more than valid. One more thing, you previously mentioned the need for a sarcasm emoji. Emojis suck. They are simply a way to be able to pass off bad writing and get away with it. I admit that once in awhile I'll use them but only when I'm pushing the envelope with someone that doesn't really know me. ***PoopyOff works wonders if you apply it within 72 hours

The disparity in shooting percentage sorta backs that up. I know some people here will attribute that to the Sabres having some better snipers and not their style but the eye test tells me that the good guys get into more super quality shot positions than their opponents.

It's so hard to project the future play of a young goalie. I think of Ryan Miller in his first two early stints with the Sabres. After one game he ended up in tears. Hasek was traded to the Sabres for a fraction of what his worth ended up being. His stats prior to that trade did not indicate his future super stardom. If I'm management I'm going to err on the safe side and keep plenty of goaltenders in my system with the expectations that some of them will work out. (I know that in doing so that creates other challenges but what position is more important than GTer on a hockey team?)

UPL made some great saves but Vegas also had a lot of shots at him without a screen in front. I presume they were simply hoping for rebounds that could be stuffed in. His rebound control was good but then again maybe he had Stickum on his crest.

Do the amount of pages count as much as hits when determining the outcome of games?

I don't disagree with you at all. My reference was about the posters who two weeks ago were basically in hysterics because GMKA hadn't anticipated that we'd be down to 2-3 defensemen that started the season and didn't have enough NHL capable spares to make it no big deal. They claimed that dereliction of duty would make the playoffs out of reach. After the Sabres won a few games in a row that tune changed to the Sabres weren't built to win in the playoffs. They are a developing team that will have ups and downs. No need to live or die with every nice goal they have or bad pass they give up.

Give me a break. It's a difficult cross to bear when I inadvertently make other posters so hot.

I said "who cares what Torts says". Putting it in context gives a more honest reflection of my response. My other comments were somewhat in jest and I can understand why guys like Lt. Stephen Hauk below lack the ability to see beyond your accordion. Polka anyone?

You are a good poster John and I normally enjoy and agree with your comments. You might want to get new batteries for your sarcasm meter though since Zamboni's remarks were nothing like his sentiments that he has previously posted here.

Starting with the premise that all teams are at least somewhat different in makeup and style, opposing teams utilize different game plans to give them the best chance to earn a victory. In addition, in-game adjustments are necessary and situational adjustments usually become more important as the game progresses. There's been much talk in this thread regarding third goal leads and "Alamo" type defenses. Teams with multiple goal deficits, especially in the 3rd period are going to put on a push to tie or take the lead. In order to do so they will take chances and leave themselves vulnerable to the other team increasing their lead. This approach isn't new nor should it be some kind of revelation to the knowledgeable fans frequenting this site. The team that holds the lead has to choose how they are going to handle the onslaught that they know is coming. Obviously it's the head coach's job to determine the way in which his team is going to respond to the other team's push. I would imagine that his late game approach will take into account the makeup and style of the other team, their ability to score, both goaltender's game that day, a sense of his team's energy and a myriad of other conditions that only he and his staff use to make these kind of decisions. With the above in mind, there is no one correct way for a team to closeout a win. The Sabres have had several wins this year in which they took advantage of the other team's desperation or offensive ineptitude and just poured it on in the 3rd period. They've had a couple games in which they beat teams higher in the standings by relying on good goaltending and the "Alamo" approach. On a different note, isn't it amazing that 2 weeks ago the biggest complaint or maybe just the people with the loudest microphone here were giving themselves wedgies over the Sabre's defense and goaltending while lamenting that they'd never make the playoffs this year because of it. Now, after a few wins in a row the complaint has turned to a belief that the Sabres and their style of play will never win in the playoffs. Patience guys, management is building this team in the right way. The quest for the Stanley Cup is like the pursuit of the Holy Grail, and we know what happened when Elsa decided to take a shortcut.

I don't expect those defensemen until Summer during FA. Maybe something at the deadline but the Sabres aren't going to give up a lot in a trade.

The Sabres are pretty set with puck moving defensemen that can also captain the power play. What they need are a couple of good stay at home defensemen that should be able to be picked up at a reasonable cost in FA.

So, if I don't like what Torts has to say I should just ignore it? Should I wait to comment until he wishes for his team to be called "The New Broad Street Bullies" and he starts pining for the Hanson Brothers? Tortorella is dreaming of the time when the town clock strikes, the DeLorean shows up and the NBA returns to shorts that look like hot pants.

Simply put, your plan would turn a stable full of race horses into plow horses. If the Sabres used their assets in trades and free agency they could end up in affect swapping them for a bunch of players that they could ice in order to make the playoffs. Maybe if Kevyn Adams left and they changed GM's they could abandon their plan to develop a team capable of winning a Cup or more and lower their goals to just making the playoffs as the gold standard. When that is accomplished maybe we could petition the NHL to make the amount of hits replace goals as the criteria for choosing who wins a game. Just think, all the Sabres would have to do is keep giving up the puck to their opponent so they could legally rack up the hits. Discounting my sarcasm above, think about what you are posting. You find fault with the Sabre's youth movement and praise what Tortorella is doing in Philadelphia but lament the fact that his record is so poor because he doesn't have enough "kids". Those are tough conflicting premises to argue against.

Style wise he would make a good partner with the First Lady, who does her clothes shopping at Bed, Bath and Beyond.

The team defense they played against the Avs as shorthanded as they were was a thing of beauty. The forwards really worked along with of course the defensemen. If the team could play that kind of defense when they get healthy they would be really difficult to play against.