mjd1001

Yep, 2 goals for McLeod this year...and he doesn't kill you defensively. Until further notice, he'd by my #2 center, I have seen enough.

24 minutes into the game, 5 shots on goal. On pace for 12 or 13 for the game!

Dahlin on the ice for over 9 minutes in the first. He is on pace for about 27.5 minutes for the game.

Levi...two goals allowed where shots were taken from more than 10 feet out...he was set on both, facing the shooter on both, beat cleanly on both. Maybe the 1st one was a slight screen, but we need better from him.

Dunleavy is reaching... a good sign on the PP is Kulich getting a shot through on the PP? They are in trouble.

Well, Powerplay coming up, maybe some excitement? So far I haven't felt much this first period at all. I'm bored a bit..no anger, no major frustration, no excitement. They are trying to put us to sleep with boredom this period.

You know, I don't really find those 2 things all that insulting.

Agreed, we haven't had a good board member-vs-board member fight on this forum yet tonight.

On that SH goal allowed, they over-rotated. A bit too aggressive in the Defensive zone, got out of position. No one person's fault in particular other than I want my goalie to make that save. Once Samuelsson went down to block the shot, I would have liked Tuch to stay on his side of the ice but nothing really bad there. Levi was facing the shooter and saw the shot. He may not have seen it leave the stick as Samulesson went down to get in the way and that may have caused him to not see the first 10% of the shot, but it wasn't a full screen. Its not an Easy save, but I want Levi to make that one. Partial screen at best and he was set up and facing the shooter.

The above bolded is exactly what Risto did too. He just went to those areas at the wrong times. Like the forearm Cozens threw last night. He's willing to do that, but by doing so he took himself out of the play. And as far as international tournaments, as stated above (or in another thread), in those tournaments the opposing teams (and his team) is slapped together, the guys don't really practice close to as much in the NHL, and there is significantly less scouting and system installs. Its not "pond hockey" but it is closer to it the the NHL, and you don't get punished as much for playing a 'looser' style of hockey. Cozens thrives off of that 'loose' style. His one good year so far was the ONLY year where his coach openly said "go after it, score goals, we'll worry about defense later". Again, Cozens could score 2 goals tonight and that puts him back on pace for 25+ for the year. Offense comes in bunches with a lot of players, I get that. My biggest problem with him is just how bad he is away from the puck. I'm not an NHL coach, but in watching thousands of hockey games over my life, I have not seen a professional forward make as many mistakes, as many bad decisions without the puck as him. I'm being serious there. I can't. And that concerns me because he is doing it a lot this year. He did it as a rookie, he did it last year, he has done it his entire career and I see very little sign of even a slight positive evolution in his game. I want him to be better. I want him to start scoring obviously. I don't have a 'vendetta' against him because I want him to fail so my posts about him can be proven correct. If he ends up scoring 25-30 goals this year I'll be more than happy to have someone look up my negative posts about him and call me out. But I don't see it. I see a guy who is closing on 300 NHL games, going to be 24 years old soon and in his 5th year, with a LOT of prime ice time, and I don't know how much of a chance he has to get better than what he is now. The thing is, EVERY part of his game is the same as it was before the fight. He is getting the same number of shots (actually more). He is getting shots from the same part of the ice overall. Close to the same number of quality scoring chances. Its just he's not scoring anymore. His shooting percentage, on basically the same quality of shots, is less than half now after the fight than it was in the full season before. If it was lingering impacts from the fight, I can't square the circle of how it appears to have impacted no other part of his game other than his ability to put the puck in the net, his accuracy.

Again with Cozens... And I realize we now have three active threads talking about him. The offensive side of the game can be fixed pretty quickly. For all we know something as simple as a puck going off of him on the power play and deflecting into the net, a secondary assist, and an empty net goal. And now he has a three-point night and two goals on the season. That basically would put him back onto a 27 goal pace. As you said, his maturity is an issue. Yeah he's young but he was named an assistant alternate captain and he's now in his fifth year in the league. He's not a rookie or a second year guy. Also, if you want to be a top two center in this league, he has to step up his game considerably when he doesn't have the puck. But baby steps right? Let's get him on the scoreboard first and then go from there.

Long-Term, I'm open to that. But not now. As much as people have said Kulich has played well in his early ice time, I haven't really seen much yet myself. If you are going to sit Cozens or move him down the line up into Wing, the only options you really have are to move McLeod up and or play Krebs. Neither of those guys are long-term centers on the top two lines.... But they could probably stabilize the position and not hurt you as much right now. Skate hard, don't make any dumb plays, and put a goal in every once in awhile. If either of them can do that, they are already an improvement over what Cozens has been doing. That alone doesn't make this team a cup contender, but it immediately makes them better.

Greenway for sure. He has pretty good hands, I'm not sure his hands are good enough to get you a bunch of power Play goals but I'm all for it. Benson? It might be more of an issue of physics compared to willpower. Maybe he'd be willing to do it, but when you're only 5 ft. 10 in tall and barely 170 lb... No matter how hard you try, you're just not going to be able to hold your position in front of the net or even provide a screen when you have defenseman who are 4 to 5 in taller than you and 50 lb. Heavier than you whose only job is to cross-check you and get you out of there.

I am not a fan of Cozens as much as you, but with your ideas of what needs to be done with him, I agree almost 100%. I also agree with Sameulsson...I think, with the example of one glaring mistake, he has played well. If I get a very young D-man, tied up long term who plays like he does, that contract looks better as time goes on.

The "all around player" part I think was people looking at his raw skill and thinking "he can hit, he'll be a great 2-way center". He hits, but he never got the 2nd part of the '2 way center' thing. Since he got here, in all 5 seasons so far, he is one of the worst '2 way' players on the roster. He may 'look' like what many people want in a 2-way player, but in the back half of the ice and when he doesn't have the puck, he just is pretty bad, and has been all 280+ games of his NHL career.

Big, kinda slow guys who can't skate but had great hands and would take the beating in front of the net. Andreychuk. Tim Kerr. To an extent Rick Vaive, Owen Nolan and Scott Mellanby. The NHL doesn't have those type of specialists that much anymore...No one wants to make a career of that role (getting crosschecked over and over in front of the net)

The funny thing about the PP is, it is now 5 games into the season and they are NEGATIVE on the PP. For 5 full games, they have 0 goals scored, 1 goal allowed. I wonder what the record is for the longest into a season a team goes being a net negative on the PP? And its early, but Colorado is 50%, 6 for 12 on the PP and they still haven't won a game.

I wish I could answer but none of the choices apply to me. I haven't gone to more than 2-3 home games in about 15 years. Now, right now there is basically Zero chance I would consider even a mini-pack. Just not worth going to any games.

Just a theory here.. Cozens plays "pond hockey" He chases the puck. He's not good when you tell him to be someplace and to stay there. He wants to play like a bunch of teenagers who have never played together. That is who he is. Hard on the puck, but all-gas-no-brakes, even when the situation may call for brakes. That style doesn't go well in the NHL. When you are playing teams that are well coached, that have players that have practiced and played together for years, they can take advantage of Cozens playing that way. Now think of the World Championships when he plays for Canada. He may be playing against 'lesser' competition (not as many NHL stars on some teams). But even bigger than that, those teams are thrown together. They get a fraction of the time to practice together compared to what he sees in the NHL. The systems the coaches give them i'm sure are a lot 'looser'. You can succeed in the World because it is much, much less discipline hockey, simply because the players don't know each other as well and don't get to practice together. Cozens can thrive in that environment. But when he's playing NHL players who are getting paid top dollar to play a very tight and discipline NHL game....Cozens doesn't play against that too well. I'm sure other NHL teams have advanced scouts watching the Sabres, they see his tendencies, how he is one of the most undiscipline forwards on the team. They take advantage of that and I'm sure they probably have some set plays to work against him. In the Worlds, I don't think that happens, again, not enough time. Now would be a bad time to trade him only if you think he will get better in the future and be worth more later. If he ends up being a "Risto" type player, then the longer you wait to move him, the less you will get in return. I'm not saying 'better than Tage' but I could go with 'different than Tage'. Tage is not a distributor. He is at his best when he is taking the shot. Tuch is a well-rounded winger and that goes well with Tage. A Sniper like Peterka....I agree he might be even better with someone who can feed him the puck. They had someone like that last year (Mitts). But this year 2C is Cozens, not a playmaker for sure. I'm not sure where you get one. But what about his away from the puck liabilities? Those aren't confidence issues, he has done that since he was a rookie and keeps doing them. He has shown amost zero signs of changing, wanting to change. Even if he scored 15-20....to me that is his break even point in terms of being of any value to this team. I just dont' know if he gets back to the 30 goal point. The worrying thing about that theory is....if he does thrive in a 'pond hockey' system, that is not what you want long term. Think about this...as mentioned above, he plays well for Team Canada when there are very few 'systems' in place and you can kinda get away with doing your own thing. 2 years ago Granato said openly in several interviews on WGR that he wanted the guys to learn to score. He said defense could be taught later but he wanted them to play a bit looser and score. That is what the team did and that is what Cozens did...that ONE year. The year after (last year) Granato stated the team needed to 'tighten up' and play better defensively. They actually did that the 2nd half of the year, but Cozens? He didn't adapt. Not only did he not play well defensively, but when the whole team played that 'nhl system', he floundered. Ruff comes in and states they need to be even MORE discipline in their play...and Cozens is even worse in terms of production. Lets go back to his first year under Kreuger. Sure his rookier year and only half a season, but Kreuger was VERY rigid with what he wanted with his system..and Cozens had a total of 4 goals in half a season. So, to summarize: Under Krueger in a system that requires discipline: Bad Cozens (albeit his rookie year) Under Granato when he openly states "go for it boys": Good Cozens In the worlds where there really isn't a system: Good Cozens Under Granato the next year where defensive responsibility is asked for: back to Bad Cozens In 5 games under Ruff who requires system play and accountabilit: So far, AWFUL Cozens. Maybe Cozens will still evolve, but all signs point to a player that when you require any kind of accountability and any kind of system that functions in a competitive NHL...he just doesn't fit well.

Maybe Cozens will have a breakout game soon. No bad mistakes or turnovers, five or six shots with one or two goals and help the team win. Tonight would be a good night. If that happens, I don't think we sound the Bell that all is clear with him, but if he's going to be on this team long-term, one of these games, he needs to take a step like that. Sometimes the way to go from playing like a $1m per year player to a $7m a year Player.. is taking a step and becoming a $3m for a few games along the way.

I'd bench Cozens now instead of Quinn, unless Quinn is dealing with an injury. Seriously. He is giving you zero offensively, and he is the worst forward on the team defensively. If I have a guy who is 'tied' for the worst on one side of the ice, and IS the worst in the other aspect...I'll take anyone (even Zucker or Kulich) over him now. If I were Lindy, I'd sit him down in the film room, make him look at his mistakes again positionally, tell him how simple they are to fix, and tell him..."you are getting 2-3 games off from the press box. When you come back, do not do those things again or you will sit again". But again, I'm starting to think more and more that Pegula may be the one who is a big fan of Cozens and that is why hes been given a lot more rope with his game.

Can it be fixed? Yep. It sure can. How to do it? I have no idea what will work. -I'd start with trying to figure out why Dahlin looks ordinary with the puck (he isn't controlling things back there). -Get Cozens off the ice -Throw a big body in front of the net and just have them take punishment there (Sabres guys on the perimeter are getting pressure and not handling it well, throw a big body in front of the net for the other team to worry about so they have to collapse down on that guy a bit.) Greenway. Or maybe that is where you put Cozens (tell him you better not touch the puck on the PP unless its in the crease and you are banging away at it). -As far as zone entries...No clue how to fix it. Again, what is up with Dahlin?

For many fans and their short term psyche/sanity, this is a must win. But yeah, a loss makes things harder an harder with each loss, but we aren't at a point where one game will doom the entire season. A game is never a 'must win' unless that precludes any other game after it from being labled a must win. Kinda the same thing that in any season, in any game, you are 'never out of it' if there is a chance you can still 'get back into it'.

What does everyone 'think' he is. A lot of this is repetitive, but its nice to have one place for discussion about him. -I personally think he is at the age (going to be 24 soon) and experience level (300+ games by mid season) that while he still CAN develop, you are close to getting to the point of what-you-see is what-you-get with him. -So what is that? To me he is a 20 goal scorer. Obviously he has the 'potential' to hit 30, but he also has the potential to be in the teens. -That isn't the issue though. The main issue(s) to me are 2 things: --He is bad defensively. He is horrible positionally. He costs you quality attempts against and he costs you goals against in the way a replacement level player would not. He has been bad defensively, and he continues to be to this date, where he is a net negative on the ice for you without the puck. If he hasn't changed that part of his game by now, I doubt it is in him. --The 2nd thing is, coaches seem to 'see' his raw talent and put him out there over and over, top minutes, PP, PK., etc. Its like they SEE something they can mold into something better (they can't) and they insist they will be the one to do it (they won't.) Because of that, he is taking away ice time from someone who might do better, or even a roster spot (if Cozens wasn't given $7m per year, might Mitts be here instead at $5.5m?) The final thing is maybe its not the coaches, maybe Cozens is "Pegula's boy" and he wants him to keep getting chance after chance. Terry looks at him through the eyes of a fan who likes his 'talent', not through the eyes of a 'hockey person' who looks deeper into his game and sees all the flaws. So, in my eyes, you have a young player, with pedigree (1st round pick), that gets a lot of ice time, that 'looks' like he should be a good player that just isn't that good. Kinda sounds like a forward/center version of Rasmus Ristolainen. What did you do with Risto? Trade him for a first round pick while there still is someone else in the league that may think he has that value. Cozens is at the same level as Risto was, to me. The NHL is a cap league right now. Well, it hasn't been for the Sabres, but if you ever get good, teams spend close to the cap. Its not only how good you are that matters, but its how good are you for what you are getting paid. There is no way he is close to being a $7m player.

Does anyone think the fight last year Cozens got beat down in is a big deal in terms of his production? -They brought him back after missing just a couple games and said he would be OK. He had the entire offseason to 'heal up' form anything lingering. I would think, any concussion symptoms, would have cleared up by now. But...the numbers tell a story: -In the first month of the season before the fight plus the previous season: 90 games played, 34 goals on 220 shots (15.5% shooting percentage) -Since the game of the fight: 75 games played, 15 goals on 199 shots (7.5% shooting percentage, less than half of the above) He is getting about the same shots per game as before the fight. He is going to the 'tough areas' and getting shots off about from the same places as before. He is just scoring less than 1/2 as much since the fight.