JohnC
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Posts posted by JohnC
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I’m hoping that when Kesserling works out the rust that he gets paired with Power. I like the way Sammy has been playing but I believe he is better suited on the third pair with Timmons. That leaves Bryam paired with Dahlin on the first pair.
The player that I’m most pleased with in the unit is Samuelsson. He’s not noticeable because he’s efficiently doing his job and seems to be playing with confidence.
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1 hour ago, Taro T said:
Playing UPL was reasonable for the ST but a poor choice for the LT. If we all know UPL is a head case, surely those working at SHKIII Plaza know it as well. He has played exactly 1 game that matters (and that only mattered at the minor league level) and hasn't practiced with the big team yet during the RS. There was little to no chance that he'd've been in the right mental place to believe he had the situation under control; and it turns out that was how it played out. He played slow and he played small. Which is how he plays when he's not sure of himself.
It was smart to not play Lyon. Will accept that they didn't want to pull Levi up especially after having played the night before (though in college they ALWAYS played 2 days in a row so it's not like he's never done that before). So, as much as this kid hates the idea, to keep from messing with UPL's head, they should've pulled Georgiev up even though they quite likely weren't going to get the 1 point either.
IF they believe UPL can be redeemed (and it's pretty clear they do, or at minimum did prior to last night, and doubt they changed their opinion in 1 night); they should've given him the starter's net in Monday's practice and the game against the BJs like the plan was originally. And personally, would've kept him down in Ra-cha-cha for the full 2 week conditioning stint to get his head in as good a place as it could be. But that horse had already left the barn.
Though short stints, UPL has gotten out of his own head, even for 2 months that 1 time. But he's always needed to be their only legit option in net and he's needed to trust his hips won't explode if he goes full out and he's needed to have management and teammates showing him the love. None of that was the case last night. (They likely were talking him up; but everybody knows that at least for now, the net is Lyons when he's able to go.) Will be pleasantly surprised if UPL does manage to get out of his own head again this season barring Lyon injury.
As you point out, the inescapable deficiency with UPL is that he isn’t mentally tough enough to handle a position that requires tough-mindedness.The best way to make a judgment on that attribute is not how a goalie handles success but rather how one handles adversity. I want him to do well, but I wouldn’t want to count on him. KA made a bet on him and invested on him. KA is not very savvy.
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1 hour ago, GASabresIUFAN said:
Why the Power dislike? Simple, the kid remains terrible defensively. He keeps making the same mistakes that you gloss over. For every good play, there are 4-5 bad ones.
Yes, UPL had no business playing last night. He was bad and the Sabres should have left him in Rochester as long as possible. He is not and has never been a good pro goalie. The contract years was a career year unlikely to ever be repeated. Time to move on. However, his deficiencies don't excuse Power for being a one dimensional offensive D who we are overpaying by $4 mill a year; money that would be better allocated elsewhere.
Playing UPL was a reasonable decision given the choices. Ellis was supposed to start but because of his stiffen back couldn't play. (That's what was reported.) So the choice was between playing UPL or playing Lyon on a back-to-back. Criticizing UPL's is understandable. But criticizing him playing has less merit given the circumstances.
We have opposite views on Power. I certainly don't consider him to be a defensive stalwart. But that isn't his game and never will be his game. What you and other critics of him are unwilling to yield on is that his style of play is never going to be agreeable to you. I'm confident that he will be one of our emerging and mainstay players for us.
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1 minute ago, Pimlach said:
I am more upset that he was called up from conditioning so quickly, after one game. It was obvious he was not ready to play. The team keep the shots down, they played pretty solid around him all night, that game should have never went to OT.
I don’t faith in UPL after last season. You can hear his teammates sticking up for him after the game. That’s fine. That’s good actually. But it is possible that UPL is going to get games because they invested in him.
The Sabres organization is looking at 15 years, and that includes 5 years with the current core. Every game is important. Every point is important. Every opportunity to close out a win is a test of this team’s meddle.
You and I are in accord that we don't believe that UPL will be the answer in net. As I stated in a prior post, KA jumped the gun in his evaluation of him. He made an overvalued projection based on a good season. You are presenting a key question as to whether the organization will continue playing him because they have invested in him? Smartly run organizations wouldn't do so, especially for this mercurial position. Few hockey people would consider the Sabres to be a smart organization.
UPL playing last night was due to uncontrollable circumstances. Reports are that Ellis was supposed to get the start but had a stiff back. So the choice was between playing Lyon on consecutive nights or rushing UPL in. In my view, playing UPL last night was a reasonable decision.
On WGR a couple of days ago, Bulldog's son who works for WGR and was a goalie pointed out that Ellis has had a better developmental career than UPL leading into their NHL play. As you well know, KA gets invested in players and doubles down on them. When you make bad decisions on such a critical position, you handicap yourself.
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Our middling GM placed a bet on UPL, and doubled down on him. He lost and the franchise lost.
I’m not anti-UPL or any player. The GM had taken an approach of entitling players roster spots. He used prospect projections as a basis for roster decisions instead of having them compete and earn their spot. That’s how the UPL case has been handled. Bad decisions have bad consequences.
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7 minutes ago, tom webster said:
The Power hate is amusing. He makes a great play to help seal the game the night before but he gets killed for losing control of the puck the next day. He’s not supposed to sit back in overtime. He did everything he’s supposed except lose control of the puck. It happens. They lost the game because UPL was terrible and because they didn’t bury a couple of other opportunities to score.
You are absolutely right that in OT when you have an opening on offense, you should go for it. Is it a risk that you are leaving yourself defensive vulnerable? Of course it is. But in a 3 on 3 format the worst strategy you can take is a passive approach.
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Frustrated at the final result. On the other hand, being able to get the loser point might be a sign distinguishing this team from prior years when the team would freeze and the momentum would swing to other team snatching a win from us.
I thought that the Sabres had the slight edge in play. But as @Taro T pointed out if the Toronto shooters were more accurate hitting the target this would have a been a different game.
One big positive was the play of Tage. I liked the play of Timmons. He’s a no frills solid defenseman.
Quinn is getting better and playing with more grit and speed.
How can someone not like how Benson plays? In a couple of years when he is more physically developed he is going to be a gem.
The Toronto player who stood out to me was McCabe. He was the toughest player in the game.
The loss was disappointing but getting 3 points in a back to back is a positive.
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3 hours ago, Pimlach said:
Ok, the team is playing better and confidence is building. They have an opportunity to gain points on the dreaded Maple Leaves.
Ellis should be starting again, he earned it. UPL had the shortest conditioning assignment in the NHL. Who gets the net?
I would love to see the first line collect a bunch of goals and the Sabres run away with it. Instead goaltending will probably decide tonight’s game.
I don't want to overreact either up or down. However, even recognizing that the improved play is for a short stint, isn't it so much more fun when the team is playing well? The focus of the attention is then directed to the play rather than to the rickety state of the organization. There are a number of reasons for this upgrade in play. In my view, the biggest factor to this better play is the play in net.
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1 hour ago, inkman said:
I’m sure he’s doing all he can from Pittsburgh
You may be mixing up Jarmo with Karmonus who lives in Pittsburgh.
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12 minutes ago, Archie Lee said:
We are in the same spot with Kekalainen as we were with Ruff a year ago. Every move seen as positive by the fanbase and every move that seems to be working out, is credited to the influence of Ruff, and now Kekalainen. That is, until it doesn’t work out, in which case it’s Adams (see: adding Malenstyn and Lafferty are clearly Ruff’s influence, quickly becoming Adams is a fool). I’m not defending Adams, but he is not batting .000 when it comes to roster moves.
No GM, good or bad, gets everything right or wrong. That’s not how you evaluate a GM, an overseeing position. The fairest way to make an evaluation is assessing the body of work over an extended period of time. Based on that criteria, I’m comfortable in my critical view of him.
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15 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:
No one talks about Jarmo Kekalainen much. How much of these moves are due to his influence?
I don’t know. I think that Ruff has been the most influential in encouraging the changes in reshaping the roster to being more physical and less finesse oriented. With respect to Jarmo, it is a good thing to have fresh eyes and different voices in the room.
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8 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:
Like everything else Adams does, he puts a patch on it until it blows up in his face and then panic throws all his assets at the problem. See RHD as another example. So yes, he's fixing the problem after years and years of thinking his pet projects would work out eventually. He's a reactive GM with no plan except what others give him. Ruff and Kekalainen clearly told him he needed more Doan in the lineup.
You make an incisive point about KA and how he functions. He’s not much of a visionary as he is reactive. And even recognizing that, he had to be pushed by others to rectify problems that he hasn’t satisfactorily addressed. He’s a checkers player in a chess match.
He’s basically a pedestrian tactician in a position that requires a stratisgist.
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2 hours ago, #freejame said:
I think I’ll be there today. We were going to go to the Jays game, but prices never really budged. Will be my first time at Scotiabank outside of an Alanis Morrisette concert. Sabres will need to win convincingly to beat her performance.
How much are the hockey tickets in Toronto? If question is too intrusive, I understand.
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1 minute ago, Pimlach said:
Damm. It was pretty loud in that rink for the leaves goal.
Come on Sabres Bring your fans into it.
What's the estimate of Toronto fans in the arena vs Sabre fans?
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1 hour ago, Brawndo said:
I will have Mrs Brawndo take my phone for a day
What’s that going to do? You have two phones. 😇
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9 minutes ago, SwampD said:
Talking about playoff spots this early in the season is pure folly.
Just win.
… and keep winning.
No it's not. I don't know if the Sabres will get into the playoffs. No one does. But at the minimum, for the sake of the fans, it's important to stay in a realistic playoff race for most of the season. Falling by the wayside before the halfway point will ensure even more fans to fade away.
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The Sabres need to mathematically stay in the playoff race by the team they reach mid-season. They simply can't have extended losing streaks that take essentially take us out of the race. What's been encouraging so far at this early stage of the season is that our goaltending has been pretty good. I'm hoping that it will continue.
I won't be able to watch this game because it isn't available to me. As a consolation, I won't have to watch a game when Toronto fans take over the building. I just hate that embarrassing spectacle! The best way to contain that scene is to score early and win.
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1 hour ago, mjd1001 said:
Some people become part of a 'club' or 'a team of their own' and can't say anything that goes against that narrative. It’s becoming a bigger and bigger part of society. Lets say you are a fan of a particular player in a sport, a member of a certain political party, a fan of a team or a driver...maybe a fan of 'the Sabres will never be good" or "fire Adams and Ruff at all cost". In order to mentally stay in good standing with that 'club' or 'team' you belong to, it is very very hard to say anything against it.
With respect to this particular trade, it was a fair-value trade for the respective clubs. I respectfully disagree on how you are considering this trade by going beyond the specific deal by framing the assessment of it in “tribalism” evaluation terms.
I’m not part of any “anti” club. Our GM made a good deal in this case. On the other hand, even with this transaction in the fold I consider KA to be a less than mediocre GM. That’s not an evaluation based on “tribalism”—-it’s an evaluation based on his extended overall record.
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10 hours ago, 7+6=13 said:
Then why can't you say we won the trade in your description? Why does it have to be, it was good for both teams?
I believe it was a good trade for each team. Each team was in a different situation and each team acted in what they perceived to be in their best interest.
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8 hours ago, Pimlach said:
I was happy to see Doan coming to Buffalo. Word out west is that he played with a high motor. Comparables to his Dad’s work ethic and personality were flattering, but can he finish? That is the question. So far in Buffalo he is making things happen and bringing a work ethic to the rink that Buffalo fans want to see.
It’s early, but Doan is settling in. Hope the long winter doesn’t bother him, he is a desert kid.
Maybe a younger Zucker????
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1 hour ago, Pimlach said:
I think Norris' timeline was 1 month but I am not sure.
Tage is taking heat here at Sabre Space. 7 games with 1 goal, 4 points and a -7 is not helping. He is pressing out there no doubt.
I expect he will get on a hot streak and the goals will come.
Tage appears to be pressing. As you well know, his goals usually come in spurts. Very often when you try to do too much, you end up doing less.
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31 minutes ago, 7+6=13 said:
So Kesselring was the throw in?
No. It was part of a package. If either one of the two former Utah players were not part of the trade proposal, I don’t believe that the deal would have been made.
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17 minutes ago, Pimlach said:
Yeah, Benson has a motor, so does Doan. We need to add more players like this. Maybe Helenius someday?
Kozak - I would not call him high motor as in high speed, but he plays smart-motor, he is steady and efficient. When Mike Peca was an Amerks coach he spoke highly of Kozak and thought he had good potential.
I think we are seeing that now. Maybe Kozak could project to a 10-12 goal 4C, and one that can shut down the opponent. He looks sturdy and he plays a smart game. He is just 22, but I can see him being a savvy vet someday. His AHL days could be coming to an end and he has to clear waivers to go back to Rochester.
It will be interesting when UPL, Greenway, Danforth, and Norris come back. If we keep 3 goalies for awhile what will we do with the excess forwards?
Gertie will be waived.
Kozak vs Krebs is an interesting decision for Adams. As well as Danforth vs Malenstyn vs Greenway.
Is Norris expected to come back this season? I'm aware that he has been injured prone but that was a big loss, especially for Tage. It seemed that last night Tage was playing a lot of solo hockey untethered to the line he was on.
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42 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:
This kind of garbage is what I've been railing over and distracts fans from the real problem. Don't just look at the end result (a goal) look at the comedy of errors that led to it.
I agree with you that to get a full picture on a play it goes beyond the end result. The general point that was made by the analyst is the importance of the attention to detail. And the clip he showed demonstrated that point. It began with an advantageous situation in our zone to losing the puck, resulting in the play going the other way. The too often haphazard play shouldn't be a surprise because for the past number of years the Sabres have been a very young team not sufficiently instilled with how to play a more mature and responsible game. As time goes on the younger players are getting more experience and the roster is being steadily reshaped/augmented with more experienced players. Hopefully, that augurs a better future.
What if, we trade Owen Power
in The Aud Club
Posted · Edited by JohnC
Trading Power for Byfield makes absolutely no sense to me. Sure, I would love to add Byfield but not for Power. And it would take a lot more than Byram to get Byfield.