dudacek

But he's not. He's not productive at all. He has no goals and one assist the entire year, and if I remember correctly that was a secondary assist that came thanks to an amazing (flukey?) pass by Sheahan. I'd be more willing to buy into the fancy stats if Skinner's dip was short enough to call a slump. Eichel is in a slump. As @PASabreFan correctly pointed out, Jeff is in down stretch that predates Krueger, encompasses nearly two calendar years, and (other than a month-long bump when Krueger first took over) has gotten progressively worse. Things like ice time, linemates or slumps change players from 35 goal scorers to 23 goal scorers, not 35 goal scorers to 10-goal scorers. I don't think people have really put into perspective how non-productive Jeff has been, and for how long. In the past 45 games Skinner has 4 goals and 3 assists! Brian Flynn, Nick Deslauriers, Cody Hodgson and Torrey Mitchell put up better numbers with similar ice time, playing with each other in the depths of the tank! It's funny how everyone says Jeff's bad play coincided with Krueger (which isn't entirely true) and almost no one talks about how it also coincided with a contract that set him up for life. The second might be true. The first undoubtedly is. Jeff Skinner was magical his first three months in Buffalo. That player hasn't been seen for years and I suspect he never will be again. Blaming it all on Krueger is just fooling yourself.

Since Nov. 1, 2019 — despite playing more games — Jeff Skinner has scored fewer goals (7) and/or fewer points (14) in a Sabres uniform than Marcus Johansson 5/21 Jimmy Vesey 9/18 Johan Larsson 5/16 Zemgus Girgensons 11/15 Conor Sheary 6/15 Kyle Okposo 8/14 Curtis Lazar 8/14 He's well behind Risto, Dahlin and Montour in points and barely ahead of McCabe, Miller and Jokiharju. Heck, he's only 4 points ahead of Taylor Hall. Mittelstadt has as many points in two games this year as Jeff has in 14. This isn't a slump, it's 60 games and 18 months of not producing. I say it's about ***** time he sits out.

I played in a 3-on-3 ball hockey league for a few years that had all its games in small elementary school gyms. Missed or blocked shots or big rebounds became scoring chances at one end or the other end literally within seconds. Power plays clicked at about 80 per cent. It seemed like 80 per cent of the time the ball was within high-danger range of one goal or the other and at almost all times, the attacking team only had to beat one defender to get a scoring chance. Compare that to the NHL where the puck spends at least 80 per cent of the time out of high danger range and you can go whole periods without seeing a puck carrier with just one man to beat. The more distance to the goal and the more bodies on the ice, the larger the advantage to the defender. It should be obvious to anyone who has played variations of the standard game.

This isn't about the Sabres, it's about the game.

"The clever cat-and-mouse game between goalies and shooters has run its constructive course. The goalies, by winning, have changed the game. Hockey is a game that needs open ice. It is made for open ice. The problem is the goalies. The answer is the goalies." Hall of Famer Ken Dryden has convinced me that changes must be made to open up the offensive zone, the same way the three-point shot opened up basketball. A must-read for fans of the game. https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2021/02/hockey-goalies-are-too-big-now/618021/?utm_source=pocket-newtab

UPL brought that one home. Good to see.

So Samuelsson handled that speedy push to the outside pretty easily. I wonder of this game will start to ease the myth that he cant skate.

It's scheduled to happen. It will be interesting to see whether the COVID list gets any shorter by then.

Ah, the Facebook live feed just kicked in

You got a feed? Mine hasnt started yet

Burger King is to Timmy's as Terry is to the Sabres

Ville was misundersood on the ice and now he's misunderstood off the ice

#SkinneriswhatCarolinathoughthewas

So he's basically a limited NHL hockey player: a streaky goal scorer who works hard in bursts and draws penalties, but cannot produce away from optimal players/situations, elevate the play of his linemates, or be trusted to protect the puck or play responsible defence. It's hard to imagine that people thought he was better than Sam Reinhart, eh? Or that he was worth $9 million.

Can Jeff Skinner be a better, more effective player than what he has been over the past 50-odd games given 14 minutes a night away from Jack Eichel?

Also fair. I’ve never had any trouble with people wanting this, or slamming Krueger for not trying it. Just with giving Jeff a free pass for his ***** production.

He is capable of more than what he has produced away from Jack, and playing him with Jack isn't a magical gaurantee that he will score 40. Skinner's lack of production predates Krueger, and he has produced away from Jack, even in Buffalo With Housley and Eichel first half: GP:41 28/13/41 With Housley and Eichel second half: GP:41 12/10/22 With Krueger and Johannson October: GP: 13 7/3/10 With Krueger and many others since: GP: 56 7/7/14 He didn't produce 1st line numbers with 1st line minutes in the second half of his first season And he did produce with crappy players during Krueger's first month here. You guys need to stop making excuses for him. He needs to be better, regardless of how he's been used.

Yes, Jeff's played really well. Everyone can see it.

Maybe the underlying numbers don't mean as much as actual goals for and against? He has 7 goals and 7 assists in his last 56 games.

No domestic supply. Our main international supplier (Pfizer) has had its supply chain disrupted by a production upgrade and our secondary supplier (Moderna) has not been delivering the amounts promised. Trudeau calling it a blip and promising we are still on track for 3 million vaccinations by March and the entire population by the end of September. We'll see. Astra Zeneca likely to get approval this week and Johnson and Johnson in a month or so, so that will help.

US is vaccinating 1 million people a day, Canada less than 20,000.

What, people can say Ralph doesn't like Skinner, but they can't say Jack doesn't like Skinner? With the same amount of evidence? Remember when Jeff Skinner played on the first line in the spring of 2019 and scored 1 goal in 20 games? How about his current run of 3 goals in 32 games playing against 3rd pairing defencemen? Toby Rieder has 3 goals in his past 10 with similar ice time and linemates and tougher minutes. When are you going to stop blaming everyone else for Jeff's poor play? (For the record, I am not suggesting Jack doesn't like Jeff. I am saying that Jack has enough power and influence that if he went to Ralph and said "maybe we should give it a try" it would happen. I have heard Jack talk about how much he likes playing with Victor. Hmmm...)

LOL at the idea Thompson is somehow a favourite. He played two games on the first line because of a good training camp. He has played a total of 34 minutes since in eight games combined. As if the lines you're seeing in today's practice have any relevance to ice time — prior to today, or a week from now when we might start playing again. Also, Jeff Skinner would be on Jack's line if Jack really wanted him there.

Was there a push from Mario to reset and a reluctance by Rutherford to do that? Hextall is a good hockey man. Not really a fan of what Burke brings in this day and age.

Why? Is the development path Ullmark has taken, or something in the track records of Seamus Kotyk and Mike Bales?