pi2000

do better

How about a 3C then? Or a 4C who ranks top 50 in FOW%?

That's an automatic match penalty and 30 day suspension by USA Hockey rules (for amateur hockey). 30 day suspension from ALL team activities including practices and off ice activity. Can't even go in the locker room.

wow top 30 for es goals better give him 8 mil

Their culture is one where something doesn't go their way and the hang their heads with a "here we go again" attitude. As a result they give up goals in bunches. This is the left over stink from the tank. With a winning culture that doesn't happen, or happens very rarely. They're trying to break out of it, just not quite there yet.

Wrong. His work ethic has been a question mark for years. The lazy play on the Larkin goal came one game after he called out his teammates to "step the hell up", so it was magnified as it should have been. His effort against the Rangers was the exception, not the rule. It was an outlier, NOT the Detroit game. If he needs a reporter to light a fire under him, then we have bigger problems.

Recency bias. Nothing he did against the Rangers changes the fact that he flat out quit on the Larkin goal.

Point production is similar, but there's more to hockey than just putting up points. Points being equal, I'll take Marchand everyday of the week. Most folks here have blinders on when it comes to evaluating players... focusing solely on points, or shot generation, XGF%, etc. They discredit all the other ingredients that go into making a good hockey player... courage, will to win, toughness, determination, etc. Unmeasurable characteristics that good teams posses and poor teams lack.

Very well done Flagg. Buffalo is DFL in FOW% and blocked shots/60, 30th in takeaways/60, and 24th in hits/60. What I take from your analysis is that as long as the team is at some minimum ranking, they have just as much chance at success as any other team at the same minimum? If I'm trying to fix the Sabres and Im in the hunt for a #2 center, I'm going to look closely at FOW%. And I'm also looking at bottom 6 guys that can play physical, are skilled defensively and willing to block shots... which is a skill believe it or not. Guys like Larsson, Girgensons, Okposo, etc.. are not the bottom 6 guys I'm looking for. They were miscast early in the developmental stages of their careers as top 6 players who were relied upon for offense. They're simply not good enough at the details of defending to fill the role this team needs. They need a few more Sobtoka's IMO.

True, Sam has outproduced Marchand on a worse team, however Sam plays with a more talented center than Marchand played with at that point of his career.

Gliding was the wrong play here. He was not at top speed when he pulled up. He took his last stride at the blue line, coasted in, leaned back on his heels, two hands on his stick off the ice. At least make a desperate attempt, skate hard to the hash marks, take a penalty, dive, do something... act like you care. The fact we are even having this discussion is alarming.... trying to excuse a guy for coasting... and you wonder why the TEAM is struggling. Year after year after year with this group of players there are long stretches where the effort level comes into question. You want a culture change? Then a good start would be NOT throwing $7-8mil/yr at a player that does THAT.

OK coach, so if the guy is faster than me and has a step, I have the to green light to just pull up and coast? What if the puck skips over Larkins stick, or he hits a rut and slows down, or doesn't see you coming so he slows down, or he slows down to put a move on the goalie cutting all the way across the crease to go backhand.... this is why you don't quit on plays. 2nd, 3rd, 4th effort make the difference between winning and losing hockey. The period wasn't over, Larkin received the pass on his forehand, cut across the front of the net to his backhand, scored, and there was still a face-off at center ice. Reinhart used the clock as an excuse to coast. You know what's hard? Pushing yourself when you're tired.

I'm not defending the trade but there were also a lot of ifs that had to happen for it turn out this badly for Buffalo. Berglund quits hockey. Sobotka finds success in his role under RK, team having success, lands on season ending IR 16 games into the season. Thompson taking the next step in Roch showing development, 1st game in Buffalo goes on season ending IR. JBOT couldn't have known these things were going to happen, but they did, so it looks like an even worse trade at this point.

Right, he was being dead honest. It's unavoidable if you're human and if winning is important to you. I see him as a competitor being honest with the effect the season had on his psyche. Maybe other guys on the team don't care so much about winning so losing doesn't bother them that much as long as they're putting up points and getting paid... but ROR values winning, so yeah losing takes it's toll on those guys, and if more guys on the team felt that same way maybe we wouldn't be talking about 9 straight seasons without playoffs. Now put that into perspective with Reinhart's play on the 2nd Larkin goal. Does that look like a play a guy makes who hates losing, who values winning, puts the team above self, willing to do whatever it takes to help the team win?

I'm willing to give him another year or two. There is simply not enough depth yet. Some injuries (Olofsson, Dahlin, Ullmark, Sobotka, Okposo, Skinner, etc) and this team is just not very good. Sobotka's injury really set this team back. He was filling his role perfectly, best face-off man on the team (56% on 70 attempts), physical 2nd on the team in hits/60 at the time. They are 12-18-9 since his injury.

Bold prediction.... Reinhart puts up 3 points, falls down 6 times, turns the puck over 7 times, is a minus with 0 hits, 0 blocked shots and 0 takeways, then all we hear about for the next week is that he deserves $10mil/yr because the team can't survive without his Eichel enhanced point production.

Nobody is blaming Sam for the goal. We're blaming Sam for not trying to stop the goal. Big difference. From a young age you're taught to backcheck all the way to the puck... Keep your legs moving until you are at the puck, not the coattails of the player with the puck. If you're at the end of a shift and tired, at minimum you need to keep your legs moving and get to the net front as best you can to clear a rebound, check the opponent, or block an attempt. Sam stopped skating at the top of circles, pulled up, stick off the ice, turned his skates towards the corner... just an absolutely pathetic effort for somebody who is at the top of their profession. I would've told my boys to cover their eyes if they were watching. Poor example and even poorer effort. Inexcusable at that level.

I defended RORs comments from the moment it happened and could not believe the number of folks on here who wanted him gone simply because of what he said.

bookmarked

Would you be Ok with a mid/low 1st, a prospect and a bottom 6 roster player if it also included Okposo going the other way? Asking for a friend.

Explain to me how Sheary and Vesey sucked last night. Vesey had a goal, 4 shots, 2 hits and was a +2. Sheary an assist a shot on goal and a +1 in just over 8min of ice time. Skinner 5 shots on goal. Reinhart 0 points, 0 +/-, 1 shot and 0 hits in 25min. But yeah let's point the finger at the other guys making a fraction of what Sam will demand this summer and who get half the ice time. SMH

I'll chalk it up to fuzzy math. Winning faceoffs is better than losing faceoffs. Blocking a shot is better than not blocking a shot. Taking the puck away from the opposition is better than letting them posses the puck. Playing against a team that hits is more taxing than playing against a team that doesn't hit. Buffalo would be a better team if they had players who could fill those roles.

This comes 1 game after his comment about players needing to "step the hell up". If I'm a teammate I want this dude gone.

He didn't even skate, he pulled up at the top of the circles. Just inexcusable. And why is Risto trying to stick check Fabbri when Larkin is about to go backhand shelf? If you watch the replay you hear somebody yell "keep movin!!" right after the goal is scored.