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RochesterExpat

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  5. Practice lines 11/13

    in The Aud Club

    Posted

    2 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

    This team needs to get over its vet fetish. No reason to play big Johnson over little Johnson. None. They need to start letting play not gravitas dictate the lineup. 

    I don't understand why he's still with the team if he's not playing. He should be in Rochester. Unless we're going to run 11-7 again tomorrow, but I don't see that as beneficial either. This is beginning to look like poor roster management.

    • Like (+1) 1
    • Agree 1

  10. GDT: Wild @ Sabres - Nov 10, 2023 - 7:00pm, MSG-B/ESPN+📺WGR📻

    in The Aud Club

    Posted

    17 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

    UPL and Levi have delivered some good games for us. Levi was great tonight. 

    Sabres don't look great right now. The PP is beyond useless, it's truly the dumbest part of their game. Krebs is tough to watch. Savoie was a non factor. Big Johnson isn't holding up and I would give him a game off. 

    Tage and Skinner are looking good. Peterka was a good compliment to them. 

    Cozens... I mean woof. Dude is in his head and needs to simplify his game. 

    Mittelstadt is an important part to this team. I'd extend him now.

    Ryan Johnson should stay and start. 

    We won and honestly I think overall we played them even. I know the shots are in their favor but they didn't feel very threatening. Our pk looked like poo at times. 

    Winning is winning but this team still isn't firing on all cylinders. 

    Agree with everything but want to add that Joki has been a reliable player this season and it’s made a difference. Nice step forward for him. 

    • Like (+1) 4
    • Agree 1

  16. Why isn't Kulich up?

    in The Aud Club

    Posted

    14 hours ago, Crusader1969 said:

    here is the full clip   I will say again. Yes they have a great shot but there is nothing else about Kulich that is Olofsson like 

     
    8 hours ago, Doohickie said:

    Are you watching the same clip as the rest of us?

    1. Retrieves loose puck
    2. Takes it back toward the corner, drawing a defender
    3. Passes back to the point man (who is open because the defender just followed Kulich down)
    4. Finds the soft spot to receive the pass
    5. One-times it for a goal.

    VO doesn't execute 1, 2, or 3, and is not the best at 4.

    The VO comparison is simply because they both have absurd shots and are "incomplete" players. It's not because Kulich doesn't forecheck and Kulich is far more defensively responsible than VO. It's not really a a good comparison but it's good enough to make the point that Kulich isn't ready for the NHL using a player from recent memory.

    If we want to name a former Sabres player that's probably more similar to Kulich than VO is, it's probably Afinogenov, but I'm worried saying that is going to invoke rose-tinted glasses of the past and will open a can of worms from people who want to remember only the good times.

    Afinogenov was a frustrating player to watch. When Afinogenov wanted to dominate a game he could. He absolutely could. He had the wheels and the positional sense of where to find holes in the defense. He could play responsibly in the defensive end and his forechecking was unreal for a player of his size in the era during which he played. He had all the pieces (except maybe stickhandling) but he never found the consistency to do everything all the time. He never managed to put everything together. He will forever be in Hall of What Could Have Been.

    It's not a perfect comparison either for people who are going to start nitpicking. Afinogenov took stupid penalties and fumbled the puck a lot. Kulich does neither. I don't expect Kulich to be looking to scrum after every play and Kulich at least knows how to stickhandle.

    But the comparison is true in the following:

    - Inconsistent/immature play. Flashes of absolute absurd glory and then whole stretches of "was he even on the ice?"
    - A lot of "unilateral" playing where he does too much on his own. Kulich absolutely does this. When he wants to score, he does some flashy stuff to get to the net. It's not always the right move and anyone who watched the Sabres 20 years ago has to remember "Afinogenov doing Afinogenov things" 
    - Capable backchecker when he wants to be, but a lot of times Afinogenov would play too hard in the offensive zone and then disappear when the puck transitioned into the Sabres end because his in-game pace was imbalanced and he was running on empty
    - Afinogenov never learned to balance himself in an "80% league" and was prone to very streaky behavior

    I think Afinogenov was a difficult player to coach which is why he never took that next step. I don't think that's true for Kulich whatsoever and I think the Sabres development and coaching staff both see an opportunity for a superstar. It's better that he eats minutes in Rochester and works on his consistency than it is for him to be given sheltered minutes with Buffalo. I expect him to be in Buffalo before the end of the season because I believe he is a coachable player and working to improve--and everything he needs to fix is fixable. I just don't want another Afinogenov if we can get a Jason Pominville instead.

  19. Why isn't Kulich up?

    in The Aud Club

    Posted

    4 hours ago, inkman said:

    Let me reword it. He’s currently relying on his shot for 90% of his goals. He plays a more diverse offensive game than Olofsson but because so many of his goals are coming via his shot, particularly at the right face off dot, his game resembles Olofsson.  
     

    Does he forecheck better? Yes.  Does he have more skill than Olofsson. Almost certainly.  What I see more often than not is a shooter, not a creator.  He needs to work on his overall game, offensively and defensively. 

    100% agree with this.

    The other issue I've noticed Kulich is his pace of play. He isn't consistent and that's common for his age. It's also weirdly something I've noticed more with European imports. He's already shown improvement over last season and he certainly improved during the course of his rookie year, but he still needs to mature in that regard. It's better for him in the long-term to play more minutes in Rochester than to play 9-12 minutes in a handful of games in the NHL as an injury call up. The pace of play impacts his complete game development as well.

  20. Ryan Johnson called up; Mattias Samuelsson placed on IR

    in The Aud Club

    Posted

    2 hours ago, Buffalonill said:

    He's a good player when healthy it stinks he's already at injury risk every game though.. but like you said it's the style of play 

    The issue is we need D-players with his style of play. They're also prone to injury. That contract may have been one of the smartest moves by KA since the buyout is so cheap. Way better than trying to add a 29 year old injury-prone vet to fill the role.

    • Like (+1) 2

  21. GDT: Flyers @ Sabres - November 3, 2023 - 7:00PM, NHLN/MSG-B📺WGR📻

    in The Aud Club

    Posted · Edited by RochesterExpat
    Sorry Krebs

    1 hour ago, That Aud Smell said:

    So maybe both Olofsson and Jost will sit

    I'd rather KO sit than Jost right now. 

    On second thought, I'd rather it be Krebs. I suspect the lines will be:

    Greenway - Thompson - Biro
    Skinner - Mitts - JJP
    Rousek - Cozens - Tuch
    Girgs - Krebs - Okposo

    That's three solid lines and the fourth line that is going to continue to be a liability instead of a strength. I think Jost with Girgs and Okposo passes the eye test better than Krebs with Girgs and KO--and the fancy stats agree.

    • Agree 1

  22. The 6K discussion thread: Can he lead us to the playoffs? Keeping the crease warm for Levi?

    in The Aud Club

    Posted

    3 hours ago, Hank said:

    Loser donates $100 to a local Buffalo charity of the winner's choice?

    I'll make a bet, but I'd rather be allowed to choose a non-local charity to donate to since I am not a Buffalo native nor resident.

    I'll bet $50 he doesn't hit 34 games this season (one more than he played last season).

    I'll then make a $25 bet that, assuming he plays at least 10 games, his 23-24 season SV% is under .905 (league average) and a second $25 bet that his GAA is above 3.0.

    Makes it a little more fun than a straight up $100 bet.

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