PerreaultForever

I'm fine with a coach trying Quinn but I'd want to see what he does at the NHL level before proclaiming him the savior. I really think one of the biggest problems for this (and many things) comes down to coaching and how they've set this team up and built it. All the emphasis has and is on developing these young players and it's not about winning hockey games in the NHL. All this development is supposed to take place in the AHL and some in practice (and part of the job of assistants is to work one on one with players on things they need to improve) but the head coach should be working on winning games, making adjustments, game planning, and in game decisions. You need to have scouted the oppositions PK and adjust your PP to exploit their weaknesses. We are far from a level where we can try to just dictate the game.

Benson should become the bumper guy. I'd want a bigger body in front and Benson with more motion also entering that area when appropriate. Peterka might be able to become the point man opposite Dahlin. Quinn as the shooter on PP2 in Tage's spot.

That's part of it. His shot is a weapon, but to make it a better PP he has to do more than just wait for the shot in the same general area. We need to move people around more and Tage has to not shoot when it isn't there and also move into the net front at times and just create more motion and variability. It's not as simple as just sticking another shooter on the other side and saying okay, that's fixed. The PP has to adapt to the opposition's PK scheme. This is on the coaching and game prep, which is sorely lacking here and hopefully a new head coach will be less concerned with developing players and more concerned with game prep and game management.

Definitely comes across that way to me. I think I mentioned it in the other thread but he's a weird guy and often looks shall we say detached or not quite there. When he is engaged he's good but other times he's just floating around. Could be stoned. Could be on meds of another kind. Might just not really like hockey. But 420 enthusiast is definitely a possibility.

I could see this happening but it depends on what their ownership believes. Seattle wanted to make an immediate winning impact so they spent and had some playoffs but then they had to let a number of good pieces go and fell off but the idea of winning was implanted in their fanbase. If Utah feels they need to create hockey excitement they will be looking for some "star power" to build around. Reinhart's not that guy imo, but if that's what's available that might be what they do.

Stop relying on Dahlin so much as QB. Stop looking for the Tage shot all the time. More net front presence. More activity down low and from the bumper. Also win face offs in the O zone. Most of all though it just comes down to pace and winning the puck battles when they occur. Not enough urgency and tempo.

True. I think I remember when the Rags fired him there was talk that management felt he was too much of a players coach and Laviolette, despite his exterior demeanor, was considered more of a demanding hard ass. Tuch played for him and had good things to say about him in his exit interview so that had value for me.

Depends what you mean by dominated. They had the puck more, as expected, but in terms of high danger chances, they were far from dominant. Winnipeg is a defensive counter punch team and they played their game well.

That's my thought on Sullivan as well. You can thrive with a players coach in a strong culture like that. Not sure how he'd do in this environment so I'd prefer the hard ass as well. One must also remember that so called hard ass coaches are not hard ass all the time. The good ones take it up and down as appropriate and they reward effort as well. There are many examples of guys who played with hard ***** and have nothing but nice things to say about them.

I meant the entire organization from Pegula on down but yes, absolutely, Adams has to address this. The coach would be the starting point.

I always forget how much love and worship Karmanos and Ventura get around here. I've never shared that admiration. Well aware that I am in the minority.

He wasn't very good in the game though until right near the end when he did score. Winnipeg dominated that game in places. Vancouver Nashville game was really good. ROR loving hockey. Ya, he was pretty darn good. I had no idea Vancouver and Nashville were the two hit leaders for the season. Nashville didn't surprise me but had no idea Vancouver had moved that far in that direction. Something to be learned there Sabres.

I'm saying Sullivan has worked with a locker room filled with seasoned veterans and at least one of the best leaders in the league. How he'd function in a room like we have is unknown. Bylsma had ROR when he was still loving it.

Can't see this happening unless Crosby wants Sullivan gone. Not this year anyway. If it did though I'm not sure Sullivan is what we need. Remember Bylsma had success with Crosby too.

I've been on about that for years. I don't want to just make the playoffs, I want to build a team that will win in the playoffs if and when they get there. With the right coaching I can see this roster having a Leafs type regular season, but I also see them having a horrible playoff after that with "star" players becoming invisible and multiple errors and collapses. Some might say losing in the playoffs is part of the learning process, but I see no reason to have to go through that if you can learn from other team's mistakes. Crowd chanting "Rempe! Rempe! " on multiple occasions so I'm sure he's hated.

Did not like this one. Goalies are weird animals but this is arrogant and divorced from reality. The D was good???

Can't agree. D would fold under this level of physicality. Our weaknesses are net front and defending when forechecked heavily. That's playoffs. We are not built for it.

I really don't think they will sign him but that'd be good. Unless they can move some big contracts somehow I doubt they can or will afford him. I'm betting he goes to Calgary. Unless of course Vegas puts several players on LTIR and promises him a new tandem bike.

lol, you're really snipey and sarcastic this end of season. Not making the playoffs this year has really hurt you.

The article about promoting Appert scares me. A move like that might finally be enough to make me quit for real.

Well he played well through it but I think the Larkin injury really hurt them and the goaltending. Much like the Sabres, they are not very deep at this point.

I wouldn't. He's incredibly streaky and is likely to disappoint overall. He was good tonight, but that's definitely not every night. Man I love playoff hockey though. Watching this Bruins Leafs game I found myself thinking that even if the Sabres managed to make the playoffs they are so not ready for this. Leafs tried to be physical but this Bruins team looks more playoff ready than last year. Sweeney's deadline moves look like genius.

I honestly believe it's not that it was a difficult system to learn. What they had to learn here was that the forwards weren't going to come back and help out. They (first Clifton then Byram) came from systems with very good back checking and forward responsibility, Clifton was lost at first. Byram got confused. We basically had no system and it was every man for himself. They learned that they can't do the things they were used to doing.

I'm not going to agree with this. I do agree we have too many similar D men and not enough big strong defensive D men but the number of D men is barely adequate. How many times over the last few years have we seen a defensive shortage with injuries? D men get hurt. Especially if they play the right way. You need about 10 competent NHL or marginal NHL bodies in a season for long term durability. We can of course add guys as free agents, but as is, I think our D is barely adequate. The bolded are my tradeable commodities. Especially if we build the bottom 6 properly. I'd also move picks.

Some pretty soft refereeing in this Islanders Canes game. I hope that's not this year's playoff standard.