mjd1001

My question was rhetorical in a way...in that I understand people don't think they should. Personally, I think they should be there simply because they have 1 loss and the others in question have 2 losses. I understand some people like the thing in college sports about ranking, selection comittees, ranking teams based on 'when' the losses took place, etc. That isn't for me. If you come from a big conference and have one loss, to me you get in over a 2 loss team. If there are 'ties' in records, then you can go to all that other stuff.

Personally this would be the most interesting to me. Should TCU be in there? I don't know, but honestly I'd rather see them there (or someone new like Tennessee although with an inured QB that would be an issue) rather than Alabam or Clemson or even Notre Dame. The same old stuff doesn't do it for me, this will be fine. One or two more years in a row of Georgia and then they might be wearing on me, but i'm not there yet with them. The expanded playoffs can't come soon enough. I'll be OK with arguing about who the 13th team left out will be rather than about the 5th or 6th like we do now.

Just a follow up on Cozens. Again, he is playing well overall. I think 90% of his game is great, just his tendency to chace the puck is a problem. Last night is not as good of an example as other games, but look at both even strength goals (minus the one at the end of the game) that Colorado Scored. Both goals were scored from the center/Slot. Cozens was the center. Instead of skating hard to cover the slot/center in the D-zone....he drifts to the side where the puck is with the Sabres had other defenders there, allowing an opposing forward to come to the front of the net with no-one covering him. Again, last night wasn't as bad of an example as other games, but if he can just stop being pulled to the puck like a magnet and instead cover his guy/spot that a center should, both of those goals may not have been scored. With how he is playing every other aspect of his game, if he can lose that tendency in the D-zone you might be able to say he isn't turning into just a good player, but bordering on a possible great player. BUT he just can't seem to break his desire to chase the puck, or at least go to the side of the ice where the puck is, instead of covering the opposing guy trailing into the zone who is scoring a lot. He is the center, he really needs to allow the D-men and the wingers take the boards while he covers ANYONE who goes to the center of the ice in front of the net...those guys are open too much when he is out there.

Agreed. I know that isn't how it works, but I'd like 2 prime time games per year at most. One in the beginning of the year, 1 in the 2nd half. I know with west coast trips you would probably have to add a couple 4 or 4:30 games in there. But prime time games? I'll watch other teams play them, but I want 'my' team Sunday at 1 most of the time. Then again, I still watch MOST games but the past couple years I have been watching less football, even the Bills games...so if others want the prime time games then I'm happy for those who like them.

Nobody at work, or in society in general, tends to care about anything or anyone but themselves. Yeah, I know, some will say it was always like that, we just tend to remember the past more fondly, but there is no way people (in general) put forth less effort at work. Instead of taking pride in their jobs, its almost as if people take pride in GETTING AWAY with what they can at their job more than actually doing the work. A typical employee at my job (and my wife's job it seems) has 2 goals: 1.) make as much money as possible, by getting raise or promotions they don't deserve or skimming as much time as possible..then...2.) doing as little work as they can for what they make. Doesn't matter if they just got a raise....now they don't want to be that 'chump' who works harder than they need to. My current job, 3 days a week I'm on the computer. 2 parts of my work consist of a.) Generating my own reports and b.) Correcting mistakes made by others. For the first time every this summer, I had a week where I spent MORE time correcting others reports than doing my own. The last 2 months, that is now happening every other week.

I understand Cozens may get the puck out of the zone better because of his 'aggressiveness' and the Analytic heat map may show that. But the flip side of that is when he IS in the wrong postion, it tends to be very costly. Again, I'm not sure what the heat map you are referencing is showing...but what I do feel is that if he would stay in his position better (like Tage or Mitts), less great scoring chances (and goals against) would be the result.

Lots of competition. In addition to the older guys like Hedman, you have guys under 30 who will be around for a while like Makar, Fox, McAvoy, Ekblad, Quinn Hughes, Power, maybe Nemec...who all have the talent to contend for the Norris. Not to mention who might be coming into the league in the next couple years. The next 5-10 years, the 'top' of the Norris candidate list is going to be pretty croweded.

Hes pretty bad. His numbers have gotten worse every single year he has been in the league. Just looks awful now.

Watch the games....like it or not his defensive positioning in his own zone is an issue. +/- has a lot to do with who your linemates, are, what role you are playing on the team, usage...and of course the + influences the +/- as much at the minus. So I'm not sure what point you are trying to make when I say that Cozens is out of position in his own zone a lot. It is true. Look at the first goal last night...or better yet look at the posts I have made on game nights after watching the replays of the goals. Like it or not, he is all over the ice in the D-zone. When Cozens is on the ice, there have been many instances of goals being allowed where the goal scored comes from the center/slot area that he vacated when it wasn't needed. With Mitts (and Thompson) that isn't the case. Randomly bringing up a +/- stat does not change that. The highlights/replays are out there, check them out.

25 goals, 50-55 assists seems like a realistic possibility if he stays healthy.

I am happy of course with Cozens play so far. He is now putting up the goals/points, and his overall play is good, and Granato seems to love playing him. I still have one problem with his game that he just refuses to change, how he does not play his position in his own end. Again, I'm not saying he is bad at all, he is playing like one of the top forwards on this team, but he can be so much better if he focuses on his d-zone positioning. In breaking down some past goals the Sabres allowed, he frequently leaves his 'zone' and chases the puck, is caught out of position, and the goal against is scored by the zone he vacated. That kinda happened last night again on the first Det goal. He goes into the corner to chase the puck (2 sabres D-men already back there), leaves the wingers to cover up high, the slot is open, and the goal scorer eventually comes from there. I cannot think that is the Sabres strategy for Centers...Tage and Mitts stay in the slot in front of the net and very few goals are scored from there against the Sabres when they are out there because of it. I just wish, in his own zone, Cozens would not be so agressive to chase the puck and vacate his likely coverage area when the Sabres have D-men there already. When/If he stops doing that, he might be on his way to being one of the top 25 2-way/3 zone forwards in the league.

I guess we are going to disagree. Give me 2 teams that both miss the playoffs. One is slightly better but plays the trap and scores 2 goals per game...I'm not watching. A team with a few less points over a full season but plays up and down the ice and scores 4-5 every night...at least I'm entertained. If you aren't making the playoffs, entertain me. If you dont' do that, I have zero reason to watch.

Every year without fail his numbers have gotten worse. Its like the day he stepped on the ice for the kings was the best he ever was, and it was downhill from there. Both Save percentage and GAA.

I'm not sure where I stand on Detroit overall. They are getting better, but I think their upside is more limited than other teams (including the Sabres) -Their "D" is overall playing better than the Sabres D. But it is all their top 4. Their #5 guy in terms of overall ice time is Robert Hagg (all you need to know about their bottem 2-4). Seider is their great young hope and he is playing a lot, but making lots of mistakes. -Up front The Sabres have more talent for sure. Larkin is what he is, a very, very good (but not great) forward who is young, plays PP, PK, and OT. He is their 'do everything' guy, the star of the team, but not any better of a player than the top of the Sabres Roster. -Lucas Raymond is a good player and it is early, but I think some where hoping for more of a jump in play from him this year. He is very talened, very young, and he IS playing well, but so far this season is is not any more productive than he was last year. Detroit to me is more consistent than the Sabres, is getting better goaltending, and has less young guys making mistakes than the Sabres. But I think the Sabres are more talented overall (enough so they are pretty even teams right now) and the Sabres have more young talent in the system than Detroit. A 'moral victory' (if they exist for the Sabres) you get by outplaying and narrowly losing to a team like Boston, Tampa, Colorado.....but not Detroit. This Red Wing team is not good enough that anyone can justify a 'moral victory' against them.

Not at the expense of taking away the top scorers and seeing a more boring team in its place.

Again, Sarcasm is something on this board that is hard to detect becasue of just how serious some people can be with points that seem just, honestly absurd to me. I honestly think there are probably people on this board that WOULD take a team that still misses the playoffs but gets 9-10 points more playing a Defensive minded, low scoring game.

To be honest, it is hard to tell if something like this is a joke or not unless the sarcasm is laid on REALLY thick. There are times I read posts on here in the past and assumed they were jokes, only to engage and find out the person was really serious with their post.

I actually wouldn't. 80 Point team isn't in the playoffs either, but 'under 80 point' scoring pace would put the team leaders in points close to what Cozens, Mitts, and VO are giving you (the next guys AFTER that top 4). I'll take the Sabres current 71 point pace WITH those top 4 guys putting up the numbers they way they are....rather than take 9 more regular season points (which is about one extra win every 5 weeks), still miss the playoffs, and not have any of the excitement those guys are bringing now.

Ok, another take on this.... I looked at POINTS per game (not goals, not per 60, but points per game) I looked at some of the top players over the past 10-20 years and wanted to see where they had their peak years in terms of where they ranked. Ranking is important to me because some years have more scoring than others, so where a player ranks is more important than their raw numbers. I picked some random players that were in the top 10 in scoring often and were over 30. The result summary: Peak offensive production does appear to be between the ages of 25-27. The players I looked at: Crosby: His peak in terms of PPG ranking was between 19-27 years of age Malkin: Between 22-26 Ovi: 21-26 P. Kane 23-27 St. Louis: 23-29 Thornton: 23-27 Giroux: 22-24 Tavares: 22-23 Taylor Hall 20-21. Some players had individual peak years later (Giroux at 28, St. Louis at 31, Kane at 29) but for the most part, the numbers above hold true for Star level players. Year 26 seems to be the 'peak ranking' in terms of ppg for forwards, at least for the sample of the guys above I looked at. For many of them, their 'peak' year in PPG also is close to the same years their team was at the peak (at least in terms of fighting for the top of the standings on a regular basis) -Absolute peak year, averaging all their rankings out by age is 23 years of age for this group. -Ages 22-26 are very close to peak year. -Some Dropoff at age 27...staying level until age 29. -Larger dropoff starting at age 30 and continuing each year to get worse. -Production at age 20 is about equaly to age 29 or 30.

A different (slightly) approach to the same idea.... https://hockey-graphs.com/2017/03/23/a-new-look-at-aging-curves-for-nhl-skaters-part-1/

I'm noticing they are pushing the new Avatar movie. Interesting thing for me, I was 'kinda' into the original one. I did see it at the theater and while I didn't "LOVE" it I did enjoy it. The new one though that is coming out, I have virtually zero interested in it. Not sure why, normally when there is a sequel to a movie I liked I have some interest in the Sequel, but for the new Avatar movie...nothing.

I have actually changed my sports viewing habits because of commercials. I know people have said they would, but I have gotten to the point where I have. I dont watch much NFL anymore. Even the Bills, I watch most of the games but not all. Most sports on weekday evenings, I'll watch a show or a movie instead. We do pay the extra money for our streaming services to get the ad-free versions. Auto racing is the best example for me. For most of my life I was a Nascar fan. Still am a little. I'd watch most races through the year. But then commercials seemed to get worse and worse. I remember the Daytona 500 this past season, there were SO many commercials in the first hour of the race, I tuned out for a while and Twitter was full of people saying they never remember so many commercials. So other than a couple races, I simply don't watch Nascar anymore. I DO watch Formula one. And its not becasue of 'drive to survive'. About 10 years ago, I stumbled on a race on TV and I noticed....the races last usually under 2 hours, and ZERO commercials during the broadcast. I now watch 4-5 times more F1 than I do Nascar.

I'm fine with Jokiharju also. We all have our opinions, but I think Jokiharju, Olofsson, and Mittlestadt are better players than given credit for (more than a few posters here seem willing to personally drive them out of town to get rid of them). Jokiharju, when I see him play, I see a guy who makes some, but not a ton of mistakes, who is versatile, and who makes the team a lot better when he is on the ice vs when he isn't and the 'third pair' guys take his spot.

Like many things, it can be true at times and not true at others. It might be more of a 'middle step' than anything else. Super high end kids have the talent to function in the NHL at a young age, and while they still need to develop a lot of their game, they don't need that 'middle step' so they won't be overwhelmed while they do so. Other kids (middle first rounders and later), might be best served a year or two in the AHL, because their talent isn't 'elite' enough to be that 18 or 19 year old in the NHL without totally crushing their confidence, as well as earning the ire of their teammates for any ice time they get that turns into a disaster for the team. Kids like this (good, but not elite talent) may be best served in the AHL while their physical body catches up to the NHL level guys so they simply aren't steamrolled (physically or mentally/emotionally) when they play in the NHL. In the AHL, there is more time between games, less games, more time for coaches to work one-on-one with the kids.....less of that in the NHL as practice time is probably more devoted to team-centric goals and winning the upcoming game.

This Bills season isn't that fun for me, but I expected that coming in. Going into the season, it was 'superbowl or bust', best betting odds to win the SB, more experts picked them as the favorite than any other team. It is the curse of high expectations. ANY loss is a disaster to many people, a close, 'non-blowout' win is taken but there is more talk about what is wrong with the team after thos games...and the blowout wins are just expected, they are great to watch, but not much else. Yeah I know they are a good team and most good teams play in more close games than blowouts. But I am a casual fan, my 'fandom' is not just watching the game, but listening to talk radio, reading forum, watching the reaction 'my team' gets....the the reaction after anything other than a blowout win is just 'ehh' for me. WAY too many people have high expectations and are feeling and showing too much stress each game for me.