dudacek
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Posts posted by dudacek
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Yes, Williams!
Key play at the right time.
Now take advantage.
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Like how they are sticking with the run here.
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So EJ 10 for 12 and the 2 misses were drops by Chandler and Woods.
Wonder if he can keep that up?
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Typical eh?
EJ has looked very solid the D not so much.
So far it looks like a real football game.
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CJ and Freddy run wild and the defence scores one. Bills 24-13.
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That doesn't show anything conclusive.
It conclusively shows it's been along time since a first-line forward was picked in that slot.
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$200 cdn
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That's PA alright, always lurking in the bowels of Sabrespace. ;-)
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I've watched lots of preseasons that fed false hope before.
But I have never watched a preseason that was as much of a pessimistic, sky-is-falling, we're doomed tire fire as this one.
I caved and bought Sunday ticket this morning.
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According to THN, in February 2012, Grigorenko was still #3 and was the highest rated C. Forsberg (who fell to (shudder) 11 and whom several here still covet) had taken Galchenyuk's 2nd spot as Alex fell to 6.
It wasn't until Grigorenko's poor close to the year due to the mono that his stock dropped.
Also according to TSN, in February 2014, Reinhart was #4 and was the 3rd ranked C behind Draisatl and Bennett. Those 2 names might ring a bell as there were a fair # of people here that thought Bennett could be the Sabres pick and I could've sworn somebody here thwought it could have been Leon. (Not positive on the last one.)
So to say Reinhart was ALWAYS thought more highly than Grigorenko would not be accurate. (At least according to the crew at THN.)
All true. But the snapshot you are looking at is where Grigo was at his apex and Reinhart his nadir, in terms of hype.
And it is at the midway point of the season that fans and media start paying serious attention to the draft.
Typically, during the first half of a draft year scouts are picking apart the favourites (like Reinhart and McKinnon) and giving serious consideration to the risers (like Bennett and Drouin). Then they spend the second half of the season second guessing their second guessing.
So you're right, "always" was hyperbole, and I apologize for that. But it is accurate to say that in the two-year run-up to the draft Reinhart spent a lot of time as a consensus number one and never dropped lower than a very close four. Grigo was never a consensus one and ultimately a 12. I'll try this, "generally", Reinhart was a higher-ranked prospect.
(I hope you're right and mono was the only reason.)
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Not sure how you can say Sam has always been a better prospect than Mikhail. They've both been considered top 3 at points and I don't recall people claiming heading into the draft that the '12 draft class was a particularly weak one, unlike the class of 14.o
At the beginning and at the end of 2012/13, Sam was the consensus number one guy for 2014. Grigo was never the number one guy for 2012 and was only seriously in that conversation for a few months early in his draft year. Sam was never out of the conversation in his year.
Neither 2012, nor 2014 were considered weak drafts. They were considered average.
The "weak" perception comes from comparisons to the top end of 2013 and 2015, where McKinnon, Jones and Eichel were/are being talked up as franchise players and McDavid is getting the generational tag.
Reinhart is neither, but he is just as good a first-line prospect on his draft day as Barkov, Drouin, Yakupov, Galchenyuk, and Nugent-Hopkins were on theirs.
Grigorenko was not. That is why he slipped to 12.
I feel very sorry for the kid for the fact the media-created perception to the contrary was out there, and that The Sabres did everything they could to encourage it.
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And in terms of having a plan for my own elder care? I'll take daughters over sons every day of the week and twice on Sundays.
This. And I have been reminding my girls of that on a regular basis since they were little.
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The bruins? Really?
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The fact that this story is even out there tells me there is huge tension in the front office.
It may not be completely accurate, but Lacanfora didn't make this stuff up.
This is the story he was told by some (rat/hero) within the organization.
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I'm amazed at how the 12th overall draft pick in 2012 arrived with sky-high first-line centre expectations and half the fan base was prepared to write him off as a total bust when he wasn't ready to be an NHL regular 18 months later.
Now it will be a mistake if the 2nd overall draft pick in 2014 doesn't wait 15 months before becoming an NHLer and virtually no one is trumpeting him as the long-awaited solution to our first-line centre woes.
Reinhart is and always has been a better prospect than Grigorenko.
Hype and context sure have a way of changing public perception.
Lucky for Samson, too bad for Grigo.
They both can thank Darcy for that.
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I agree with the last few posts as an abstract.
But I am looking at it from a realistic perspective on our roster; this isn't last year's forward corps.
Consider this:
We have eight legitimate full-time NHL forwards: Moulson, Ennis, Stafford, Stewart, Hodgson, Gionta, Girgensons and Foligno.
We also have proven utility NHLers in McCormick, Kaleta and Mitchell, plus a handful of prospects.
If Reinhart's not more effective than the second group, send him down.
If he is better, then being in the NHL is what's best for his development.
It's not like Grigorenko, where they had no other centres.
It looks to me like Tim assembled a roster designed to give him a shot, but also one where he won't be forced to keep him.
They are going to make him earn it.
And if he earns it, if he shows he is better than our fourth liners and our other forward prospect, then he should be here.
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or... he refuses to do the GM's bidding. Which I think we all agree is very likely. Tim needs a tank this year, and he needs it bad.
I think Tim would be perfectly happy with a team that's in the playoff hunt because that would mean a lot of his young talent really stepped up and are showing they could be for real, and that he's found his goalie of the future.
We don't need McDavid to be a contender.
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He's not Tim's guy. The fact that he hired him is more a matter of not upsetting the apple cart too soon. He is PLF's coach and as a result, he has to go. A bad team doesn't get better by firing the coach mid season. They get worse.
Tim is just now putting his stamp on this franchise and TN doesn't fit.
I agree with most of that, except that right now, Ted does fit. He is the right guy to emphasize character and hard work and install the proper culture Tim wants the young guys to grow in.
He gets fired when he shows he isn't the right guy to push a talented team over the top.
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1 Tim hired him
Two and three cancel each other out.
4 Eventually, but not yet. He'll look like a fool firing a winning coach with this roster and will lose the players.
5 The tank gains nothing if he fires a losing coach
6 see one
Ted is a no-lose situation this year - given the franchise's state, he's a success win or lose.
The only way gets fired is if he is openly insubordinate
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LGR is right. it's about the individual kid (even if he is wrong for prejudging whether Sam is ready)
It's simple: Samson should play in bUffalo if he is one of its best nine forwards.
He'll get training camp to show that, and a further nine games if the answer isn't clear.
Girgorenko is the wrong comparison. He wasn't ready and that is why he failed.
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I expect Ted Nolan to be fired by December.
Seriously? Why?
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I think our special teams coaching has been pathetic and that will change this year. Trying to stick to a system that lacks players who fit the system is done. Instead, players will be allowed to use their strengths. Buffalo will be able to attack more... borderline force the puck, as their players will be allowed to use their talents. Ennis will be able to hold the puck and work from the wall without making the point man shoot into the defenders shin pads. Myers will be able to carry the puck in and when he dumps the puck off, we will have someone there to forecheck. I think we will see something refreshing this year. Do I know anything from an inside source? No. Is it a ton of wishful thinking... yes.
I just don't think they have the personnel.
Moulson is the only power play ace on the roster, in the garbage collector role.
I think Hodgson could thrive on the power play, because he can pass and finish, but he needs more elite talent to work with.
Ennis can make plays, but is not elite at this level, stafford and Stewart are big bodies with skill, but they are afterthoughts, and Reinhart will be great in the future, but is too young to make an impact now. Gionta has lost his shot.
That's a mediocre group of forwards, lacking the impact guy.
But it's the blueline that is the real problem. Myers can lug the puck, and knows when to move in, but he can't distribute and he doesn't have a deadly shot. He's a complementary guy when the puck is in the attacking zone. Benoit probably is the best-equipped to be a quarterback, but he's a fringe NHLer. Our only hope is Rasmus turning into Denis Potvin. It could happen but I doubt it's this year.
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It is now September. The Bills talk has already become unbearable and the busiest thread on here at the moment is about PA's rectum.
With training camp here soon, is anyone interested in some actual Sabres talk about how you see this season unfolding?
I expect a more entertaining hockey team this year.
I expect the Ted Nolan stamp to firmly attach itself to this year's squad; we will be on the bad end of a few blowouts; we will spend all kinds of time in our own end; and we will still struggle mightily to score goals.
But at least we will be struggling hard. We will have more depth and better leadership; we will hit and skate and throw ourselves in front of shots. At times we will be hanging on by our fingernails. But we will hang in there. And we will play with pride.
We better hope that renewed pride is at least partly due to dumping Ehrhoff. Because his loss hurts us virtually everywhere else. Unless Pysyk and Risto make big leaps, I expect Myers to be the only defenceman capable of moving the puck out of our zone with any form of regularity. I expect this to be the team's biggest weakness, along with a dismal power play, completely lacking in a real quarterback on the point.
But once we do get it out of our zone, I expect more extended periods in the attacking end, and a much better forecheck thanks to a combination of philosophy and a forward corps more tailored to that kind of game (think Mitchell, Kaleta, Stewart, Larsson, Deslauriers, Gionta, an improving Foligno and Girgensons and the 2014 Stafford.) We will also score more thanks to better depth, but it won't be enough to make a huge difference.
That's because we will also allow more goals, probably a lot more goals. I expect Neuvirth and Enroth to each steal games this year, and I expect them to give a few away as well. I hope one of them emerges as a clear number one, but I don't expect it.
I also don't expect any breakthrough offensive leaps by any sabres player. But I do expect Myers to thrive under Nolan. And I expect that by the end of the season, Zemgus Girgensons will have started to get NHL people talking.
Overall, I expect that a more consistent effort, a better team focus, the chance to watch the ups and downs of a few intriguing young players, more unpredictable goaltending, and less Ville Leino will add up to more interesting games. I certainly expect better than the minor league team we watched after the trade deadline last year, and the deer-in-the-headlights horror show that got Ron Rolston fired.
I think that in the period in between those two segments we were probably on a pace for 60-70 points. I expect that to be what we finish with this year, good for a bottom five ticket in the McDavid derby.
What do you expect?
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I'm gold and (at the moment) can do either night.
Buffalo Bills 2014
in The Aud Club
Posted
Woods looks good today.