Figster
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Posts posted by Figster
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The Sabres were simply the faster, better team tonight.
What an amazing transformation.
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Tokarski gets the win!
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2 hours ago, inkman said:
They moved 4 players, 3 of which were pending UFAs. Did any other teams move more players?
True, just none of the big names one might expect to hear signaling a rebuild.
No players of any real consequence to the team I suppose is a better way of putting it.
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You go back Jack, do it again,
Wheels turning round and round...
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Seeing the trade deadline come and go without much movement from the Sabres is very interesting.
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12 minutes ago, Radar said:
If this continues and this team continues to play like this you would have to consider Granato going forward. We'll see over the rest of our games but right now I like what I see.
I feel the same
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6 minutes ago, Claude Balls said:
It took Ralph 28 games to get 6 wins. It's taken Granato 13 games to get 4 wins.
A healthy Ullmark makes a huge difference.
I really like how Granato has the team believing in itself.
Steadily building on confidence...
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Lol, awesome
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28 minutes ago, Broken Ankles said:
Washington is only -115 giving the 1.5 spread. Seems too obvious right? With the Midnight Toker in net?
I'm a joker, I'm a smoker
I'm a midnight toker
I sure don't want to hurt no one -
53 minutes ago, Carmel Corn said:
Yes, but at the same time Miro had those "evil" eyebrows that I always thought fit with this name.
This guy actually looked the part, lol
Big fan...
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11 minutes ago, Doohickie said:
One thing I've noticed (eye test, not stats): Under Krueger, even when they were playing "fast" and moving, they were less engaged. There were more "drive-by" attempts to steal the puck but not a real commitment to get it. If a player couldn't just skate by and knock it free they weren't going to kill their momentum doing it. The Sabres are moving faster when they have the puck now, but when they don't, you see them actually stopping and making a real attempt to take the puck away from the opponent. They're just a bit more tenacious on the puck when they don't have control, and it's paying dividends. The Asplund goal and the Mitts goal last night were good examples:
On Asplund's goal, the Devils were moving up ice, almost clearing the blue line. Instead of just drifting back to a defensive posture, Asplund curls up on the blue line and just about stops. The NJ player doesn't cleanly receive the pass and tries to kick it up to his stick but Asplund advances and gets to it first, tapping it to Casey and then jumping toward the goal on a give and go. Under Krueger's system, Asplund stays above the puck, backing off at the blue line and allowing the Devils to clear. Even if the pass is booted the same way and Asplund recovers the puck, he's already moving back and ceding the blue line. Instead he digs in and stops and is able to keep the puck in the offensive zone.
Mittelstadt's goal is that and then some. Dahlin mishandles the pass. No one would blame him if he backed off defensively to make sure the Devils don't get a break. But he aggressively recovers the puck, stepping up instead of backing off as the Devils player tries to knock the pack past him.
Two examples in terms of actually *not* moving, not going into "drive-by" mode, that resulted in goals.
There are a lot of other examples, especially by Mitts, where he doesn't just look as he goes by, he digs in and STOPS and battles for the puck. They also seem to have a better sense of when it is time to back off. It's like they're evaluating their puck battles better and making better choices on when to battle and when to back off. Under Krueger their priority to stay above the puck meant that their default was to back off.
I think with Ullmark in net it allows for more aggressiveness. Linus Ullmark is an NHL superstar in the makings at Goaltender IMO.
I love watching him play. Ullmark knows instantly when the opposition beats him and the body language shows. He's hilarious, lol, what a character. I bet the team loves him.
Linus Ullmark is awesome...
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14 minutes ago, nfreeman said:
Well, I don't want to be the downer here, but I feel like I should say that the Devils, a pretty crappy team, had the better of the play for most of the game last night. The Sabres certainly look better than the dead-eyed zombies they were for the last 15 games or so under RK, but they still have many miles to go IMHO.
Fair enough, because to me it almost felt like last night was to see who owns bragging rights for the worse team in the NHL. Despite the 18 game losing streak the Sabres continue to say no, we are not. The Phantom Sabre hockey team has stepped out of the shadows and become a real force to be reckoned with as teams gear up for the playoffs.
Granato pushing all the right buttons...
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It was nice to see the team come through for Ullmark vs the Devils.
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Just now, PromoTheRobot said:
Would getting in front of the Devils be like making the playoffs for Granato? 8 points back after they win.
Tonight it almost felt like the Sabres were saying to the rest of the league we are not the worst team in the league.
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Awesome 5 goal game for the Sabres
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We need to give him a Wedgy
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2 hours ago, Taro T said:
And covering for known to be substandard goaltending EVERY SINGLE GAME causes teams to concentrate on not getting caught in odd man rushes against killing any semblance of a forecheck and concentrate on taking away the 1st high quality chance in their own zone resulting in creating additional high quality chances against. They lose focus of what they should be doing because breakdowns automatically end up with face offs atcenter ice.
It's a viscious cycle and one literally EVERY SINGLE PERSON HERE predicted when Adams was unable to get an NHL quality goalie to team with Ullmark.
Look at how bad Carolina was a couple of years back when their goaltending was atrocious. Flagg kept posting great things Carolina would do on zone exits & entires because they had guys thatcould consistently do those things but they still lost way more than they won because they couldn't overcome it.
Minus Eichel, McCabe, Borgen, and oftentimes Cozens & Reiter there was no way this team was going to overcome their dumpster quality goaltending.
Ullmark was looking great just before getting hurt & is doing do again. Don't know if that's real or if his bigger body of recent work indicating he's more of a Marty Biron is the real him, but either is a legit NHLer and is the ONLY one this team has at present. (All due respect to Tokarski who has played out of his mind since Hutton broke again. But it is very unlikely he is another Thomas or even a restyled Roloson. The odds are, it's adrenaline and a very hot streak which will slide back to his career sieveness. Hoping that's wrong and he caught something. But wouldn't put any money on it.)
Its a good argument you make for Ullmark and why I view Linus as the Buffalo Sabres MVP. Hockey is a game of confidence in so many ways. It starts with goaltending.
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13 minutes ago, Taro T said:
Did not say it was the only reason. (Actually state that there ARE other contributing factors in the OP. 😉 )
But it IS the necessary factor & the predominant factor.
This team looked no closer to winning a game without Krueger & without Ullmark against the B's, Rags, & Pens than they looked with Krueger and no Ullmark.
Huge fan of Ullmark, don't get me wrong, but the forwards couldn't score goals. The Defensiveman couldn't defend properly and the whole team was out of sync IMO. Playing the way they are now even the Toker has a shot at a win IMO.
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4 hours ago, StuckinFL said:
I think the thing to remember with Granato is that when a coach takes over during the season they tweak and improve the previous coach's system to work better rather than starting from scratch with their own. It's in this exact scenario that DDB won a Stanley Cup. And then we saw what happens when he created his own system in both Pittsburgh and here.
I think its more about being synchronized to the plan your coach wants you to follow. Sabres went from a defensive mode to going on the offensive vs the Rangers between a 2 game set and controlled the tempo last night. Its the kind of adjustment that beats your opponent in the playoffs IMO.
The previous coaches system is history...
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6 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:
The over reactions here remind me of the 10-0 start (a bandwagon I also jumped on to). Maybe get a little excited if we blow past New Jersey every game but talk to me after we see how many of those 7 games we win against Boston. I'm not convinced this is more than a blip.
A few players have surprised me though. Like Mitts. Let's see if it's going to be sustainable. At the moment my greatest fear might be coming true. A modicum of success after firing Kreuger leading to a stay the course mentality and thus another bust season next year.
Lets see If its going to be sustainable...
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40 minutes ago, Zamboni said:
You really think he’s that good of a coach?
wouldn’t he have already gotten his shot before he came to the Sabres if he was that good of a coach? A coach good enough to get them into the playoffs. I guess is what I mean. I guess I’m just not sold on the fact that if he was the coach all season long they would be in the playoffs. Instead of looking like an embarrassment every night and losing games. They would look a lot better as a team, but still lose the majority of their games. Maybe lose by a goal instead of 2 or 3 goals 😂
I’m just not entirely convinced of that yet. I think the team is responding to a different coach and different system and playing an underdog role knowing that there’s no expectations at this point because they’ve sucked so much. Less pressure overall. I wouldn’t mind keeping Granato around… But strictly an assistant role. I hope KA swings for the fences and brings in a much much better coach than Granato. Just my O.
Less then two weeks ago the Sabres were being described by many as the worst hockey team ever assembled with a losing streak to match it. The transformation from then until now.
if I'm the Pegula's Granato's got my attention.
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Ralph Krueger: Bad Coach or Bad Person
in The Aud Club
Posted · Edited by Figster
Voted bad coach , although bad circumstances crosses my mind.
I don't hold it against someone for selling themselves. Its when you don't hold up your end of the bargain is where the con man part comes in IMO. The difference between being a bad person through deceit vs bad performance as Sabre HC has me torn. The Sabre results before the coaching change might indicate a con job took place. So perhaps there is more then one correct answer depending on how you look at it IMO.