LTS

The cannon is still effective in running from below the line. The key is to make the defenders have to continually turn. In the cliche 1-3-1 the defenders can 99% face up ice. Every defender is taught not to go behind the net on the PK so that space is open. Also, most teams don't use the cannon, they rely on the FO shooters more. Teams have gotten real good at how to put the right pressure on and only teams with highly effective shooters see success (thankfully that's the Sabres this year). I would drive it below the net all day long. A good QB below the net can still get a pass up to the cannon on the blue line.

I see a lazy team pretty much every time they touch the ice. They are sloppy, have been sloppy, and they generally play like they don't care. They lose more puck battles than they win simply because they aren't even there to contest the puck. I've counted at least 4 times this season, and 2 in yesterday's game, where Ristolainen backed off the blue line rather than pinch. In every case he's had at least one forward in good defensive position to cover his pinch. Each time he looks hesitant, like he wants the puck but somewhere in head is a coach saying something about his system. This team is not on the same page. They are missing little plays. That's usually a coaching issue that manifests itself in the players. I'd love to see their practices because it appears as though this behavior is tolerated in practices. I didn't want to say too much after a few games but this is continual. If I cared enough to spend more time breaking them down I could probably get more technical. But I don't care. I joked in the beginning that 1pm games give me an excuse to be lazy... I'd rather scrub the toilets in the house than watch the team I saw yesterday. What I am seeing this year is finally putting me over the edge with this team. I've not had faith in ownership, I don't have faith in KA, and while I was reserving judgement on RK it's definitely not trending in the right direction. I've long had concern about Eichel as a player and definitely as the "C". Hearing that he demanded to stay out on the PP2 unit over Tage Thompson in the first game against NJ concerns me. First, TT had no clue out there, so Eichel is not wrong, but that's a coach's call. The other thing that concerns me is him putting the team on his back, like a "C" should, but then crumbling from the weight of it. There are flashes of what this team could achieve if they stepped it up, but I just don't see it happening. I don't think they have the right pieces, the drive, the leadership to turn it on. I'd love to be wrong, but 10 games it certainly feels like more of the same.

Good god let it be that they want Casey to look good so they can trade him... That's all I have at this point.

Thanks for the link. A good watch.

I would agree. I mean, kids were already trending to more housebound isolation via video games and social media (why get together if you can do so virtually) but they definitely still need to be around each other. That's why I am glad some things are opening up. Our jazz band is starting this week, so my daughter now has that to go to in addition to volleyball. I was coaching baseball practice last night, hockey tryouts start tomorrow, so my son is starting to get back to a little normal. Normal is the question... I'm frankly sick of the mask but I don't think we're going to be done with those for quite some time. Mutations in the virus and prolonged precaution (paranoia) over WHEN it is safe will be the real key. I say precaution/paranoia because as things become safer there will be continued debate over when its safe to reduce restrictions, etc. When Cuomo opened up high risk sports parents began going off about kids still not being in school full time, no music programs, etc. They are interesting points as to what activities are safe or not.

Yeah. If you go into the series with the confidence that it will make its way into the story line and accept the genre nods in the first few episodes I think you'd be fine. But it was a strange start. It's now going to be into full blown Marvel mode I think. They might throw a little sitcom into it at times, but it feels like they are getting into the drama aspects. I had kinda figured what the series was about just given its placement in the MCU and being a bit of a nerdnik over Scarlett Witch. The last episode seemed to confirm it.

@jsb Another great GDT. Love the NHL news as well. Loving the 1pm starts... can't lie about that. Gives me a reason to do nothing during the day and then at night its too dark out to do anything. So I have excuses to be lazier than I already am! As for this team? Still not feeling confident. They find a way. Overall the games have looked terrible. The team definitely does not appear to be on the same page and there's some real sloppy hockey being played. Although, I think that can be said for the league overall.

Thanks. Overall I have to be thankful as we all remain healthy. I remain employed (insanely busy in fact). But you sometimes don't recognize what you are missing and its impact on you.

NYS opened up high risk sports for a February season. You can say whatever you want, but the psychological boost given to my kids this week is quite noticeable. My son was more noticeable as he's a junior in HS playing varsity hockey. My daughter, 13, is on the outside, but her club volleyball team is back to playing tournaments. There's just no denying how much psychological impact this virus has had on the youth of this country. That said, I'm not the youth of this country and I am beginning to realize just how much impact it has had on me. My life did not change dramatically as I had worked from home for 2 years prior, I had been busy with work. I am beginning to realize how much the change in how society operates is impacting me. it's undone a good 2 years of work on improving my overall health without a doubt.

He has played demonstrably better since "the game". Skinner is still mediocre in my opinion. If he made $5M we might not even be talking about him other than to get rid of him. Your point is perfectly valid. If the overall team benefit is there, then you move him. But we don't know that it would happen and there are no statistically relevant measures that say otherwise. Even pointing to prior seasons doesn't work necessarily because this year is not equal to last year. You know that though.. The real question, where do you move Skinner where it results in a net benefit to the team? After tonight I feel like where ever you have Eichel and Reinhart will benefit. Hall has dropped off since Reinhart moved up. Nothing has really worked beyond Eichel/Reinhart. Something might, but right now it's just not. I would also do this. I dunno. That kind of crap just happens in a game. I don't put it on the player as though they suddenly are crappy players. Do we think Brian Campbell is a total piece of crap for his flip over the glass in 2006?

I think he has to learn how to not put the entire franchise on his shoulders and also to divest himself from his own struggles. It's not easy, not sure if he can do it, but he needs to find a way. I've had quite a few beers tonight but I feel confident in pointing out Hutton did not play tonight and he's not played four in a row. 😛 Perhaps you had one more beer than me? (just having some fun).

To a certain degree that would be the case would it not? If the goal is to maximize the output of all 4 lines then improving one line at the expense of another might not make sense. it really depends. You move Skinner, does that decrease the line that he moved away from? And as Taro said, naturally your goal is to outscore the other team. Theoretically that comes from maximizing your opportunities to score. Ultimately, all of these stats mean nothing if they don't win. Anyone can talk about "regression to the mean" but if that never happens someone has to go find the reason why it didn't.. because it means their model was flawed. I understand that the stats are used to try and create the use of resources that support the goal of winning and so they are important. The total and final measuring stick is simply this. Did you win enough to win it all?

I would agree with this in general. So usually when business toes the line it's because it faces significant backlash from its customers. We are its customers, are we holding the NHL accountable? Do we look at what Bettman said and think, "You know, this CEO doesn't get it, we should not support his products." Do we look at the owners not supporting the initiatives for fear of losing STH (and actually saying it) and continue to support them? Do we pressure the advertisers aligned with the NHL, like Honda, and force them into making the NHL make changes? The article really questions how serious the NHL is about this and that despite the lip service, they aren't doing much. It's not about the cultural alignment, it's not about entry barriers into the sport. It's about the fact that the NHL has a position where it can lead by example and because of its lack of diversity it might have greater impact. @thewookie1 - you spoke of affirmative action. It exists. I'm not wading into it. The NFL has the Rooney Rule. Not so much a quota but it does require interviews of a minority. I think there are steps that can be had to encourage growth of minorities within the sport from a business aspect. It might not be directly related to the coaching positions, not right away, but every step helps. It raises awareness of the sport in communities where it hadn't before. Glad we could have a conversation on this though.

I don't think the basis of the article is that they can't have a conversation or the profit aspect. I think it speaks to the ingenuine efforts from the NHL on their publicly stated initiatives. It shouldn't be about how many non-white participants are in the game (I say this because you have Dumba who is Filipino, Kadri who is Lebanese, and others). It should be about the absolute intolerance of racism within all levels of the sport. But you can see from Bettman's comments and the concerns of owners... they aren't really interested in actively working against racism. Certainly losing STH would be a "problem" for the owners. But a bigger statement is to say "If you can't accept our position, we don't want you anyway." I really question how much support the NHL should get given their continued lack of effort and concern over something so important. Someone has to lead the way, and the people at the top of the sport are the most ideal ambassadors.

Ran across this article from SI this morning. I thought it was a good read. Somewhere in the back and forth is the truth, but when you read this it certainly reads as if the NHL is not truly invested in the cause. https://www.si.com/nhl/2021/01/19/akim-aliu-nhl-racial-reckoning-daily-cover Some of the more notable points for me. Time and time again the league proves they aren't all in on this. typical deflection these days "I'm not doing enough? What are you doing?" and if you lose STH over this, so be it. The article is quite disheartening. I think there are opportunities abound to be better about all of it and to really make a difference. But as always the first step in recovery is admitting you have a problem and the NHL doesn't seem to be willing to do that. Hell.. hockey in general.

Or they know what they have in Asplund and they don't need that role on the team whereas Mittelstadt it still slightly unknown and/or they want to evaluate him more in Buffalo rather than Rochester, and/or some team is interested in him as part of a trade... Mittelstadt and Asplund are not the same kinds of players, so you would expect it's not really a pecking order.

Well.. totally forgot there was a game tonight. So busy with work I barely have time to care these days. Go Sabres and all that.

I'm sure winning would help. I hope the things outside of sports get better for you.

That used to be me... but those damn Bills are making me feel again. I'm still nowhere near as close to being a football fan as I used to be however.

His language literally said nothing is imminent and yet you want to blame him for people not understanding the English language or completely disregarding what he had said.. How about we blame those who don't read what was written? Also, you are very angry lately. I hope things outside of this forum are good and its just this team stressing you out. Although, I hope you find a way for this team to stress you less.

Here goes nothing! The Sabres winning or losing will be overshadowed by the Bills game today. But I'd rather feel even that much better with a double dub day.

Hah, don't tell me about next year. We might as well turn that into a GIF to be used with most Sabres posts. 🙂

Especially when you've smoked as much as he did. I'm sure his lungs weren't the healthiest. He did his job well though. I was not a fan but can understand why people liked him.

Hall has been hitting people and has been hit. He's not shying away from anything. Olofsson has been completely engaged and caused more turnovers after the Chara one. He's not going to hit anyone.. he's too small. Skinner.. another story but he's in the bottom 6 🙂 The Sabres are not going to play a physically pounding game. They don't need to. They do, however, need to be hard to play against and that means challenging all pucks and making it difficult on the other team to move around the ice. That doesn't require hitting, but it certainly requires a lot more urgency in their skating than they've had so far this year. Dahlin has played physical in the past. This season, right now, is an anomaly for him. One that needs to get turned around really quick. Tage is still trying to do too much but he's never going to be that physical. I agree there.

Agreed. it's interesting right? Middlestadt's failures are all his but Dahlin's are all the coach? The plays that Dahlin are screwing up are not system plays, they are hockey plays that skilled hockey players make. He's not making them right now and it's beginning to snowball on him. I think they would have left him in the game but smashing his stick on the ice and falling over while doing it was a great indicator that he's completely off. It's a bit of a joke but also true. Do I think Dahlin will be better? I sure do... which is why I suggested they need to remove him from the ice so fans aren't losing their mind over it. It's a two part story.. is Dahlin playing like absolute garbage? Yes. Is Dahling absolute garbage at D? No. Jack Eichel also scores goals... but not right now. All of that aside.. they aren't winning and this isn't a year for moral victories.