mjd1001

Well, it is hall of FAME, not hall of excellence. So in WNY...yeah

I'm overall happy with the Defense back 6 (OR 7 this game) and their play. They have made a few mistakes the first few games (a few glaring ones) but 95% of the time they are solid, VERY solid. Even when they seem to be out of position, often times they are in that position due to being hung out to dry by the forwards. I don't like Samuelssons penalty last game. I don't like Powers bad pass/giveaway that led to a goal. I think Dahlin isn't himself in the offensive zone. But in the defensive zone, this group looks pretty good too me..not just today but the whole year.

Didn't like the play by Byram in the corner.

He's going to come around. He's an easy target to pick on but he's the teams best offensive player.

WAY too early in the season to be making concrete judgments on people, but I really think Greenway is playing the best compared to my expectations.

Looking at the replay of the goal.... The Sabres D were caught up the ice a bit, but they got back. Would have loved them to have been back farther and turned to face the puck, but its not really on them, it was a fast breakout by Florida. Byram took himself out of the play but by doing that he slid to prevent the shot and force it back to the center of the ice. Samuelsson slid to block the shot, went low to not screen Levi. I like how they both played it. So why was the goal scored? Florida had more numbers. When the puck came back up the ice, Tuch and Tage kinda bumped into each other in the offensive zone and 'took each other out', slowing them down so they couldn't get back. I'd like one of them to get back. Other than that, its on my goalie. It was a good shot, but he was set, he saw it all the way and wasn't screened, and it was from at least 12-15 feet out. I want that save made. The ONLY excuse would be if the puck was slightly deflected/moved by Samuelsson on the way in when he went down to block it, but from the replay angles I saw, I don't think that happened. Again, Bryam and Samuelsson played that as well as they could for the position they were in. Its on the goalie and the 2 forwards.

It may not have been 'intentional tripping', but it still was tripping.

I think #42 just hopped on, but he was on WAY early for the guy getting off the ice.

Yeah, looks like it. Automatic response seems to blame Samuelsson...but he was in position.

Did the Panthers have 6 men on the ice right before the goal was scored due to a bad line change?

To me that goal was less on Samuelsson and more on Benson/Tuch/Tage (if he was on the ice, haven't seen yet) for either not hustling back quick enough...or being to tired to hustle back because they took a long shift. If I want to nit-pick without seeing the replay, the 2 D-men were back, Benson could have turned and taken the trailer, but that happened so quick its hard to tell. If there wasn't a huge Screen, I want my goalie to make that save.

Dahlin just looks really off. I can't say for sure what it is..but he's not making anyone really miss when he has the puck. Not making may of his really good short/quick passes. Just seems to be 1/2 second later reacting or getting to loose pucks like he usually is.

Looks like Lafferty. 7 D and 11 F really only make sense if someone is hurting.

Well, it is kinda early to be comparing things from year to year with only 3 games played, but since it was brough up, here goes: This year, 3 games 1 goal: 0 assists, 11 shots Last year through 3 games: 0 goals, 0 assists, 12 shots 2022-23 through 3 games: 1 goal, 0 assists, 6 shots 2021-22 through 3 games: 2 goals, 0 assists, 12 shots. So, again, 3 games is early but he is pretty much tracking his recent career pace. Take that for what its worth. I really try not to make too much of a judgement on a single player, other than if your top scoreres, as a group, would score, you wouldn't be 0-3. Tage is part of that group.

What are you talking about? He led the team in goals last year. He had 29 despite missing 11 games. (would have had well over 30 without those games missed). Not as good as the prior year, but couldn't hit the broadside of a barn? Holy anti-Tage vendetta you have there. And yes, he had an arm injury. It happened. And guess what? as the season went on and he got farther away from it, he got a lot better. You said picked up right where he left last year? Do you even know what you are talking about? Lets see where he 'left off last year'. The last 2 months of the season as he got farther away from that injury, he had 11 goals in 21 games (more than a goal every other game) and he shot almost 17%. And you think injuries for players like him don't matter? Think again. The year before Austin Matthews had a very similar injury...Matthews shooting percentage when down by 5 whole points the year he had the similar injury to Tage, and the following year, it was back up to his previous years average. Some people can use injuries as an 'excuse', but where there are facts behind it, its not an 'excuse' its more of a reason'. You want to look for excuses? Come back here in 10-15 games if he isn't producing, many of us will listen then. But to criticize his play by saying he's picking up where he left off last year? He finished last year playing very well and scoring quite a bit for the LAST 2 MONTHS.

Thompson. Garbage not at all, he is getting chances from the prime spots on the ice, he's just not burying them. He already has gotten in position in the prime spots on the ice and gotten off good shots many times, and he hasn't played poorly defensively. His game has not been garbage at all, hes just not scoring. Cozens. Same as Thompson except Thompson has scored one time on less shots, Cozens has taken even more shots and not scored. Again, he has gotten into good spots on the ice to coaching/positioning is not an issue. its simply a matter of scoring on your chances.

We can go back and forth on this for a very long time... And yes there are a lot of problems with the tea...but Most of the first three games comes down to one thing for me. Not converting on their chances. And yes, they've had some good chances. We can argue all day whether or not Tage is as good as his career year or not. Whether Cozens is a scorer or not. Weather Mitts should have been traded or not. Those are all valid medium to long-term discussion topics But the record the first three games and their performance to first three games comes down to this: They are not converting good chances into goals. They are not converting their chances into goals at the same rate they did last year They are not converting their chances into goals at the same rate they did 2 years ago. They are not converting their chances into goals at the same rate as their career averages say they should be For the most part, they have played pretty well in their own end with a couple of glaring mistakes, but overall good enough to win. Their goaltending has been overall good enough to win. If they simply would convert on their chances at the rate these players do normally, throughout their careers, they'd have one win, possibly 2. The team may not be a cup winner because Ruff may not be good enough of a coach. The team may not be a playoff team because Adams hasn't made enough moves or the correct moves. But the coach who is here, the guys who are here, the reason they are 0-3 is simply because of their shooting in these particular three games being worse than it normally is.

Panthers won the cup last year: -started 0-2, including getting shut out and allowing 8 goals over those 2 games -lost 4 out of 5 in mid December, getting shut out twice and being outscored 15-2 in those losses. -4 game losing streak in January -4 game losing streak in march -were shut out 7 times last season So yeah, it happens to just about everyone, hockey is a long season with good and bad streaks. With the fanbase and history here, the worst time you can get that is to start the season, but here we are.

As much as I pick on Cozens, he HAS played better in his own end and honestly, he is getting to the prime scoring areas and getting off shots. He just is such a bad shooter! That is what can make him such a frustrating player. He is very good, almost great at getting to the scoring areas...but once he gets there he doesn't have the talent to convert. I think that is why he keeps getting so many chances, he LOOKS like he is so close to 'getting it done' but he is not a finisher. Believing that is why I think hes a potentially very good/great 3rd line winger at $5m per year...but...not a 2nd line center at $7m per year.

There you go. One unit you have Cozens just park himself in front of the net, the other unit Greenway does it. Take a beating, provide screens, whack away at rebounds.

I like most of what you said, not all, but most, a few notes: -Clifton. I like him a lot. Many of our thoughts on him were colored by a bad first 20 or so games last year. Is he a top pairing guy? Nope, but the last 60% of last year and the couple games this year, I think he is a VERY good 3rd pair guy and can play 2nd pair minutes if needed for a short time. -Tuch. He CAN get you 30+ goals per year, but its best when you don't expect it. View him what he is..a $5.5m guy, 20-25 goal scorer (with potential for more), great forchecker, energy guy, and he is very good at all those things. -Thompson. Is he an Elite #1 guy? It looks like no at this moment. But he is skating, he is shooting, he is getting chances. He's just not finishing. If 10 games into the season he has 3-4 goals, I'll admit its an issue, but I think he is going to come around and be a 'good' #1 center. I'm holding out hope. -Quinn? I have no idea what is up. He's invisible, he's not taking shots. No idea what is up with him. Looks like a different (worse) player than last year. -Cozens. He's bad. The best example of "looks like a hockey player in the uniform" or "looks like a hockey player in practice" but on the ice he's just bad. The BEST you can hope is he doesn't do a boneheaded play in his own zone. And he can't score. Well, he's a 15-20 goal guy, but you don't pay $7m+ for a guy who is bad in his own end and gets you 15-20 goals per year. Move him to the 3rd line already, preferably on wing. -Byram. I think he and Power have been the best pairing for this team so far. To me I see him as on the edge of 'breaking out', but I agree we haven't actually SEEN it yet, but like Thompson, I'm hopeful with the signs, but he has to actually produce in the next few weeks. HOWEVER, even if Bryam is good and does 'break out', Mitts on this team would be so much more valuable at this point. $5.75 million he is getting from Colorado would look great on this roster right now. The only thing that makes sense with Mitts is that they think Mitts hit a ceiling and Helenius or Östlund will be better for the majority of the next 5 years (that doesn't help them right NOW though) If by the 20 game mark Cozens is at or under 4-5 goals or is shooting well under 10%, and one of the young guys in Rochester has even a decent start, I'm calling them up and giving them a taste of C at the NHL level. I'm even at the point of swapping McLeod up to play with Quinn and Peterka/Benson...and moving Cozens between Lafferty and Malenstyn to see what happens. This team is in DESPERATE need for a legit top-2 center.

I just looked at how many shots each player has taken, multiplied that number by their career shooting percentage, and added it up. Regardless, the results are the same...based on the shots, number of shots, quality of shots, who took the shots, they should have a lot more goals.

Statistically, if every Sabres player was shooting at their career percentage, with the shots they have taken, the math says at their career percentage the team SHOULD have 7.25 goals right now. They have 3.

On the PP last year and the first 3 games this year among forwards with 50 minutes or more ice time on the PP, look at shooting percentage on the power play: -Greenway, 25% (limited opportunities, but still have him stand in front of the net!) -Skinner, 15% -Thompson, 14% -Okposo, 13.3% -Mitts 11.7% -Quinn, 11.1% -VO, 11.1% -Peterka, 10% -Tuch, 7.2% -Cozens.........5.5% (and under 10% for his entire career on the PP, even including his 'good' year) 2 goals on 36 shots

I do understand your sentiment, but my issues with Cozens are 2 things that are un-related to who he plays with. 1.) He HAS gotten better in this way, but he has been awful positionally in the Defensive zone. Again, he's better the last 6 months, but he want from 'awful' to 'average'. 2.) Regardless of his teammates, he is getting shots, taking shots, getting shots from prime areas of the ice, and he simply isn't converting. When you are taking the majority of your shots from the center of the ice, top of the circle in....and for all of last year and into this year, you are shooting 8%...that is on him. He's just not good at shooting. Give him better teammates, older guys, and what changes? He gets more chances? He is still shooting at a poor rate when he has those prime chances. You want to throw Cozens on a line with Tuch and Peterka for a couple weeks, at this point have at it....I mean, how much more can it hurt? Give it a try I guess. But I think ultimately there has to be someone better, a better producer, a better shooter than him in the top 6.