JohnC

Casey M will never match Girgs in style of play. They are simply two different players with two different styles of play. I'm a Girgs fan. His offensive production will never reflect the importance of his role on this team. He's a tough player whose style of play is an asset to this team. That doesn't mean that in his own way Mitts can't be an important contributor. It's unlikely that he will reach the level of being a critical and indispensable player for us, but that doesn't mean that he isn't an asset as a third line forward. If there is a weakness on this roster is relates more to the lower lines and pairings than to the higher top two lines and pairings. I'm confident that @K-9disagrees with me that Mitts is more of an asset than a liability. He's a versatile player who can play on the wing, center and second PP unit, and when needed moved to other lines to fill in when injuries and suspensions happen as was the case when Skinner was sidelined. Although Mitts is a punching bag by many here. I'm not a member of that distaining crowd.

This clip says it all about McDermott and both organizations. The issue was simple: basic humanity and caring for a player. There was no need for making any calculations or consider any ramifications. It was simply about caring for another person whose life was in jeopardy.

You just hit on the reason why Mitts is the object of scorn by so many fans. The level of expectation based on his draft status with respect to his play and production don't match. Some of the sources of his struggles are due to a young player learning to adjust to a higher level of play and the training and preparation necessary to play at the highest level of hockey. As you point out, his superior talents allowed him to dominate his peers. But that youngster approach doesn't work in the highest level of hockey. Again, as you point out with players such as Jost and Lazar, they are working hard to find their niche in this league while their game is evolving. I see Mitts as a good third line player who is versatile enough to play on the wing and center. He also has enough ability when needed to move to a higher line when injuries create a need. He playing on the first line when Skinner was suspended is an example of that. He is also a contributing on the second PP unit. In my opinion there is too much effort to fixate on what he is not instead of what he is as a player.

It's going to be interesting to see how the organization handles the goaltending situation when Comrie comes back. What will the distribution of play be among the three goalies? Will UPL be sent back down to Rochester? It will be important for the front office to make an assessment on Comrie this season. In my opinion, UPL has a longer timeline as far as assessment period.

For some reason, after reading your post on that mouth-watering recipe, I gained three pounds. 😄

I wouldn't. No one can predict how a goalie prospect will turn out, even a highly rated prospect. However, if he turns in the short or long run to develop into a #1 goalie, he would be worth more than two #1 draft picks. When all is said and done and the tabulations are finally made about the return on our traded former core, the Reinhart trade may end up being the most consequential transaction of the three trades, including the Jack trade.

If it's not on Ralph then explain the difference in his performance while Krueger was the coach compared to when Granato was the coach. As far as his inconsistency in play there is nothing unusual about goal scorers having peaks and valleys scoring goals. What matters is that in the end his numbers add up to having an impactful season. There is another aspect to Skinner's game that doesn't get much attention. Under Granato, Skinner's passing and his responsible two-way play has noticeably improved. He's now a much more well-rounded player. As an integral member of one of the top first lines in the league he is earning his sizeable contract. Coaching matters!

I'm not sure what you are getting at. Could you explain a little more at what you are suggesting? As bad as Skinner was handled, the way the former coach handled Dahlin was just as egregious. He took one of the most talented young defensemen in the league and straitjacketed him as a player. When Granato took over one, of the first things he did in handling the defenseman was to allow him more freedom and creativity so he could fulfill his potential. Now Dahlin is not only arguably the best player on the team but one of the best defensemen in the league. The moral of the story is that people who work hard to demonstrate how smart they are often demonstrate how unsmart they are. What's the definition of a charlatan?

You make an interesting point that Skinner didn't complain about his plight under Krueger. Last year, Granato talked about Skinner and his practice habits. The coach said that even when Skinner was mostly sidelined by the former coach, what he observed was that Skinner was still one of the hardest working practice players on the team. He pointed out that even when the player knew that he was going to get minimal minutes he still prepared as if he was going to be a primary player. It's amazing how the narrative on a player can dramatically change from being a cap and player albatross to a player who is now worth his sizeable contract. He is now an important player on one of the top first lines in the league. Coaching matters!

Attached is a WGR link and within the link is a 19 min interview with Don G. In this interview he was asked about the Makar incident of waving off a penalty. His response was intriguing and a little surprising to me. The more one listens to him the more one has an appreciation on what his philosophy is in coaching players. I'm such a fan of his. I didn't want to start another topic and thought this link would be relevant to the current topic. If this link is on another post, I apologize for the redundancy. https://www.audacy.com/wgr550/authors/howard-and-jeremy-show

The only line that is not going to get touched is the top line, for obvious reasons. Sometimes lines get stale in their play. So changing the mix can invigorate the fading line and give the jumbled players a fresh/different landscape in how they play with different players. DG is good at juggling lines and giving players different roles just to re-energize them. I don't want to overstate the placing of Krebs on the line with older players, but it resulted in altering how he played. He went from being a young player who was often watching the games in the team suite to becoming a more focused player who played a tighter and tougher game.

I've heard Granato talk about Mitts on a number of occasions on WGR. My impression is that he has a belief that Mitts has talent, and as a coach it his responsibility to unlock that talent where can translate it into production. Is the coach chasing fool's gold? I'm not sure? On more than a few occasions he has stated that Mitts was one of the best players in training camp two years ago. Then he got hurt and never got back on that upward trajectory that he appeared to be on. When DG put Krebs on the Girgs and Okposo line I thought that was an odd decision and line fit. It turned out to be an insightful move that altered how Krebs played for the better. I'm hoping that this very open-minded coach, who is constantly experimenting to put players in a position to succeed, can find the right formula to get Mitts on the right track. With a player such as Mitts I have not made any conclusive judgments about him. My sense is that the organization is going to allow the player to play and give them opportunity to prove whether they should be in the organization's plans or not. My position about the player is that I just don't know?????

You are putting too much effort into commenting on someone else's lack of apprehension of someone's sarcasm. I was fooled by someone's sarcastic comments. Big freaking deal!

Goalies are an odd lot. Even when they are so-called developed, they can thrive and then fall off a cliff. A change of scenery (teams) will sometimes get them to return to the higher form, only to go through that downward cycle again. There are a few elite netminders such as Vasilevski, Lundquist and Shesterkin who consistently play at a high level. They are more of the exception than the rule.

I stink because I'm constantly stepping on it https://www.shutterstock.com/search/pile-of-poop

You make an astute observation about UPL being vulnerable to the top part of the net. Marty Biron has often talked about that same vulnerability when discussing UPL's prospects as a NHL goalie. It bothered Marty a lot.

I agree with you that it is still an open question on how good the big goalie be. I'm simply not sure? It should be remembered that it took Ullmark 6 years in the system before he became a NHL caliber goalie.

Without question he is getting better coaching in the NHL. And as you noted Anderson certainly is a good mentor and example to follow. But there is a lot more discipled and structured play in the big league than there is in the lower league. Players respond differently while they are developing. He may be the aberrant prospect who plays up to the talent that he is facing. I'm not getting carried away in making declarations about him as a player. He has played well in the last three games while he has struggled or been inconsistent in his prior games. What is evident is that he has played better over the last few games in the NHL than he has in the AHL.

I have been gotten! We need a sarcasm emoje so gullible people like me don't get bitten.

There is simply more structure in play both offensively and defensively in the NHL. In the AHL it is more helter-skelter and free-wheeling. Some players thrive when there is a lot of free-lancing, while others don't. Qualitatively, it is a much different game between the two leagues. The one advantage that UPL had in the lower league is that he could get more playing time. For a relatively inexperienced player that should help in his development.

Your so called "true story" is false. Where do you and @PerreaultForevercome up with this hooligan mentality BS? Anyone who watches a lot of Sabre games knows very well that they hold up well and adequately respond to the physical play of other teams. The reality is that the Sabres give as much as they receive. You are responding to a myth of your own creation. It is utter nonsense!

In hockey, and football, as you noted, the reality is that the team that is behind loosens their defensive responsibilities in order to go full throttle on offense. So it shouldn't be surprising that the team that is dealing with the onslaught has to have a more defensive posture. They have no choice. They are adjusting to the situation. If, in this case, the Sabres took a more offensive response, they risk giving up quick goals in a short duration. I have no problem with taking the safer approach to prevent a score as opposed taking a risk to score additional goals. The coach and the team played it right. We got a win against a good team on the road.

The biggest takeaway from this game is the play of UPL. If he can sustain the play he has shown over the past few games, our expectations for the season should be elevated. At least for me, my expectation goes beyond merely staying in the playoff race until the end of the season to actually making the playoffs. There is still a long way to go. But if one looks back a week or so ago, and consider what the perception of UPL was then, and then seeing what it is now, that's a dramatic swing for the most important position on the ice. It's amazing how perceptions can change in a short period of time. The remedy is to have patience.

The comeback was Lyubushkin getting follow up penalties trying to pay back that hit. That hurt the cause. The best way to inflict punishment is to score more goals and win. We did. We won!

I agree with you that the extended minutes for this top pair is not sustainable over a grinding season. However, when you are in the survival mode present moment you don't worry about the long-term. Power should be back soon, and then Joki should return in another couple of weeks. And after another game or two Lybushkin should get back into the swing of things. I watched the first period and thought that Vegas dominated it. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that we won and that UPL played a sterling game. If he continues to play at his current level, this is going to be an exciting season up to the end.