GASabresIUFAN

2-0. Way to go boys.

Oh look, Sabres give up the 1st goal. Power and Clifton get beat down by the net.

And your point is? Welcome to player no.1 on the list of players to move on from.

On the NHL pre-game on the NHL Network, they are killing the Caps PP and it looks just like ours. Slow perimeter passing, bad zone entries, dumb penalties etc…. Sound familiar? He says they are too predictable and predictable PPs are easy to defend. He suggests crashing the net, faster puck movement, and changing the look.

Well family issues could certainly hurt someone’s focus on the ice.

Also whose job was it to make sure there were only 11 men on the field for the final play.

I wasn’t in the fire McD camp, but his benching of Cook and not Davis for a similar mistake, especially given Cook’s rep for holding on to the ball and Davis’ history of dropping passes, was the last straw. If they fire McD I’m now ok with that. That was Cook’s first lost fumble on the season on 120 carries. Davis lead the league in drops last year with 9.

Why wasn’t Davis benched for blowing a catch that hit him in the hands and lead to an int?

Bobo?

On the bright side, it's time to clean out some of the dead wood on this roster and get younger and cheaper. Having a mediocre injury-riddled campaign will be the excuse Beane needs to make some changes. We'll get a higher draft pick and a more favorable schedule next year. Fire Dorsey and bring in someone who has a fresh set of eyes to run the offense. Maybe an Andy Reid disciple? There are some nice pieces on offense like Torrence, Kincaid, and Cook (when he holds on to the ball). Diggs can still play, but move on from Davis. The defense also has some nice young players like Rouseau, Bernard, and Benford. Douglas looks like a nice pickup who is under contract for next year as well. All is not lost, but a reset or at least a rethink is needed.

Not laying in on think, just explaining why I believed in the kid.

I have watched alot of Big 10 hockey and Casey basically was a one man team his year at Minn. He only averaged a 1pt a game, but you could see him controlling play. If you remember a few nights ago when he didn't register a point, but controlled the puck for minutes on end and Greenway and others failed to convert the opportunities he created. That is what things were like for Casey at Minn. When he played with good players at the World Jrs he exploded. The other guys I have felt that strongly about recently were JJP and Kulich. Like Casey they stood out at the World Jrs. Stutzle was great for Germany, but JJP wasn't just a side kick. He was almost an even partner. Kulich was much the same, but with a non-stop motor. @freester and I were watching the draft and I was PO'd when we took Östlund over Kulich and then got lucky when Kulich fell to us anyway. I thought he was out best pick of the 3 1st rounders. PS I always liked the Ryan Johnson pick. I know one vocal poster here hated the pick because of the excellent forwards still available (a just criticism), but I had a 1st grade on Johnson and really enjoyed watching his calming and intelligent play at Minn.

Nothing wrong with adding Vets. The key is adding the right vets and knowing when to move on from certain vets. KA hasn't learned this balance yet. Nothing wrong with adding Eric Johnson or adding goaltending, but it was time to move on from VO, Z and/or KO.

Does he get to 1001?

DG mentioned that something is going on with Krebs and that he would elaborate more later. Has anyone seen any additional information on Krebs?

DG is not the problem. KA is. He has needed to add a veteran goalie for 3 years and hasn’t. He needed to move on from VO this off-season and didn’t. I thought he needed to add a 4th line center and move on from at least one of Z or KO and didn’t. We are now paying for those mistakes. Sometime developing youth is not enough to take a team to the promise land.

I didn’t get a chance to watch last night’s game. @freester and I were enjoying the Georgia demolition of Ole Miss, but we kept an eye on the score. The Sabres again didn’t play a 4th line on the back half of a back to back. Instead they opted for a 7th D. This is a very clear indication that we lack forward depth and the 0-4 score underscores that none of the depth steps up when the top guns have an off night. At this point, I doubt there is much KA can do. The trade market is probably non-existent until the end of the year. He and DG have to decide what to do with Olofsson. It’s time to either play him and try see if there is anyway to get offense out of him or waive him and move on. It’s also time to bench Krebs for a few games to get his head back on straight. I’d also be recalling Kulich and Rosen to see if they can provide a spark. I know Rochester is also depleted, but that can’t be helped. I might also see about giving a vet like Mersch a callup. He is a savvy player, who because of the veteran rules in the AHL has only played 6 games. Might as give him a shot as well. Desperate times deserve desperate measures.

Billions and Billions of dollars. Casey is becoming indispensable too this team. He is the team’s best playmaker and the puck seems glued to his stick. He is also a force along the boards and possibly our best two way forward. If the Sabres are lucky they’ll get him signed for 6 years at 42 million.

The Sabres gave up 888 HDCA last season 5 on 5. This was the 4th worst mark in the NHL last season. That’s nearly 11 (10.82) HDCA per game. This season the Sabres are 4th worst again with 138 5 on 5. The good news this is nearly 1 chance against per game better. (10.82 vs 9.85) In 2022/23 those 888 chances resulted in 643 shots or 7.84 HDSA per game. This was the 2nd worst number in the NHL. This season we are only giving up 6.07 shots on those high danger chances. This season have allowed 293 shots (20.93 per game) against this season 5 on 5. This is solidly middle of the pack number in the NHL this season. Last season the Sabres allowed 2109 (25.72 per game) which was the 4th worst in the NHL. Add the improved PK and I’d argue the D is better. The large number of HDCA is still a huge problem for this team. These stats match the eye test. Joki is better than last season. Ryan Johnson has been a great addition as a rookie. Clifton is better post suspension and Eric Johnson has been a great addition. I also think Power has improved defensively. He seems more aware of using his size to his advantage. The biggest difference is moving on from Lyubuskin, Stillman, Clague, and Bryson and replacing them with Clifton, Johnson and Ryan Johnson. The biggest question is what happens when Mule returns. Do you send Ryan down or waive Bryson? I’d send Ryan down unless DG has a plan to keep him in the lineup most nights, such as giving Mule and EJ days off to keep them healthy, especially given how well Ryan has played with Dahlin.

I’ve updated the thread title to reflect better what is going on the ice. Let’s face it; the Sabres have bigger problems in the bottom six then just Krebs and Jost. Our top 5 forwards have 10 or more pts each (Skins, Tnt, Mitts, Tuch and JJP). DC has 7 in 12 games. Greenway has 6 in 14 games but adds significant contributions elsewhere. After that nothing. KO 3 pts (0 goals), Z 2 pts both goals, Jost 2 pts, Krebs 1 pt and VO 1 pt. VO has been a healthy scratch. Injuries and KA’s rookie roster experiments haven’t really helped much either. Collectively the kids have played 12 games and collected 2g 2a and Biro and Benson are out with injuries. DG’s usage of Savoie tonight (3:55 of toi) was a clear indication to me that winning is now the priority. Last year DG would have skated Savoie 12+ to see what the kid has. Now the Sabres’ really can’t afford rookie mistakes. It’s time to send Benson and Savoie to Jrs and move on. On paper forward depth was the Sabres strength to start the season, but it looks right now like VO, Z and KO are done as NHL players. Krebs needs to go back to the minors to find his game. I’m now firmly in the camp of KA trying to find a forward to help this team. Maybe Quinn comes back and gives the team a spark, but we need more depth production.

Why isn’t JJP on the 1st PP?

To run two good PP units you need at least 7 good forwards (preferably 8). Right now we have 6 (TNT, Skinner, Mitts, Tuch, Cozens, and JJP). That means we are two forwards short. The rest of the forwards have either been ineffective (Z, KO, Jost, Krebs, and VO), rookies (Benson (IR), Savoie, Rousak, and Biro (IR) or lack the necessary skill set (Greenway). To diminish this issue, I'd like to see the 2nd unit feature Greenway as a net-front presence and a 2nd D (Joki or Clifton) to pair with Power. If VO gets out of the dog house, I'd add him to the 2nd unit over a 2nd D.

John, you are absolutely wrong on this one. Go look at both Minn goals tonight and you'll see exactly what I'm talking about. Goalies can stop nearly all shots they see, but a goaltender setting up for a shot from TNT is not in a good position to stop a pass going wide of the net for a tip from a winger crashing to the net.

He is playing himself into Rasmus Asplund territory.

I agree. Once simple thing they can do to help the PP is for Thompson instead of winding up for his big slapper all the time, he instead whips a pass to the far post for Skinner, Cozens or Mitts to tip in.