Corp000085 Posted March 14, 2007 Report Share Posted March 14, 2007 now that the bleeding has been controlled, here's some positives to hash around till thursday: 1) Numminen has been playing stronger as of late. He had a couple horrible games last week, but he seems to have gotten his game under control again. 2) Lydman is a friggin machine. He's played very well. Compliments tallinder. The lydman-tallinder combination is still one of the top 3 d pairings in the whole league. 3) speaking of tallinder... He OWNED crosby last night on one on one battles. The dude has a great pokecheck when someone is streaking down the wing. 4) The return of the clutch play. This team was down by 2 goals last night. They didn't win the game, but they came back. Haven't seen a closing seconds goal in a while, and it feels real good. Totally overshadows the fact that we lost in the shootout last night. 5) The injured guys are on the verge of returning. I hate to use injuries as an excuse, but its pretty obvious that macarthur, ryan, and yes, stafford do not belong yet. Kotalik, spacek, and paille can't get back soon enough, which should be thursday or friday. As for max and connolly... keep healing away. I'm not really expecting another update till next week, but barring another ridiculous stress fracture, connolly could be a couple weeks away. 6) no SHG last night. the pp was terrible again, but they stopped that bleeding. 7) after all this whining, crying, negativity, justified criticism and worry, the sabres now have a 2 point lead in the eastern conference. If the sabres forget about their other issues, they can just worry about beating the panthers to move ahead by a larger margin (or to keep pace with the devils). It's not all doom and gloom today. Just focus on the panthers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerryg Posted March 14, 2007 Report Share Posted March 14, 2007 So, in other words, we're down to chalking up "moral victories"...like losers do. Well, yeah we lost again, but one of our D-men did a good job neutralizing their best scorer. We lost again, but one of our D-men is a wicked poke-checker. We lost again, but we came from behind and ALMOST won. We lost again but the special teams were merely awful...not as bad as they've been lately. That's the stuff last place teams say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Enabler Posted March 14, 2007 Report Share Posted March 14, 2007 Heading down to Great Skate to pick up my Ty Conklin jersey to start my day :w00t: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted March 14, 2007 Report Share Posted March 14, 2007 Technically they scored on a DELAYED PP... :nana: :nana: On the Pomminstein goal... Does that count? :D :bag: So, in other words, we're down to chalking up "moral victories"...like losers do. Well, yeah we lost again, but one of our D-men did a good job neutralizing their best scorer. We lost again, but one of our D-men is a wicked poke-checker. We lost again, but we came from behind and ALMOST won. We lost again but the special teams were merely awful...not as bad as they've been lately. That's the stuff last place teams say. You gotta be kidding?... They turned it on when they had to... Sure it was late... Sure the Pens picked up TWO flukey goals... Okay, okay... Actually one... But... Come on... With all the injuries... I don't care if they coast and lose... This is the regular season! Not the important season... If they were like this in game one of the first round... Then maybe, I would agree with you! It is basically locked up... Now it is up to Lindy to decide what is in the best interest of the team and maybe, MAYBE pull a Bill Bellyache and possibly look at the possible first round pairings and beyond... I wouldn't, GASP!, be adverse to possibly tanking to get into a playoff seed that seemed advatageous over the long haul! Fire away!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Enabler Posted March 14, 2007 Report Share Posted March 14, 2007 5) The injured guys are on the verge of returning. I hate to use injuries as an excuse, but its pretty obvious that macarthur, ryan, and yes, stafford do not belong yet. Kotalik, spacek, and paille can't get back soon enough, which should be thursday or friday. As for max and connolly... keep healing away. I'm not really expecting another update till next week, but barring another ridiculous stress fracture, connolly could be a couple weeks away. :doh: Thinking out loud, Paille has been out with a broken finger? Come on! Maybe I just lost this one while I was listening to upper and lower body injuries. Unless it is a fracture, pick up your skirt and get out there :angry: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grinreaper Posted March 14, 2007 Report Share Posted March 14, 2007 5) The injured guys are on the verge of returning. I hate to use injuries as an excuse, but its pretty obvious that macarthur, ryan, and yes, stafford do not belong yet. Kotalik, spacek, and paille can't get back soon enough, which should be thursday or friday. As for max and connolly... keep healing away. I'm not really expecting another update till next week, but barring another ridiculous stress fracture, connolly could be a couple weeks away. :doh: Thinking out loud, Paille has been out with a broken finger? Come on! Maybe I just lost this one while I was listening to upper and lower body injuries. Unless it is a fracture, pick up your skirt and get out there :angry: Sort of is helpful in a hockey game to be able to grip the stick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taro T Posted March 14, 2007 Report Share Posted March 14, 2007 5) The injured guys are on the verge of returning. I hate to use injuries as an excuse, but its pretty obvious that macarthur, ryan, and yes, stafford do not belong yet. Kotalik, spacek, and paille can't get back soon enough, which should be thursday or friday. As for max and connolly... keep healing away. I'm not really expecting another update till next week, but barring another ridiculous stress fracture, connolly could be a couple weeks away. :doh: Thinking out loud, Paille has been out with a broken finger? Come on! Maybe I just lost this one while I was listening to upper and lower body injuries. Unless it is a fracture, pick up your skirt and get out there :angry: You do realize that a broken finger IS a fractured finger? Right? :unsure: :doh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evil_otto Posted March 14, 2007 Report Share Posted March 14, 2007 :doh: Thinking out loud, Paille has been out with a broken finger? Come on! Maybe I just lost this one while I was listening to upper and lower body injuries. Unless it is a fracture, pick up your skirt and get out there :angry: Sort of is helpful in a hockey game to be able to grip the stick. Yeah, I think we'd rather have Paille being able to play 100% as opposed to being a pylon. I think he actually had a screw or something shoved into it to speed up the healing too? ...and Corp000085, thanks for listing those positives. I should have realized those points too, but I was too distracted by the monthly Sidney Crosby circle jerk on Vs with special guest star Mario Lemieux, sponsored by Verizon. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shrader Posted March 14, 2007 Report Share Posted March 14, 2007 Sort of is helpful in a hockey game to be able to grip the stick. Overrated. Who really uses their stick anyway? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bmwolf21 Posted March 14, 2007 Report Share Posted March 14, 2007 Overrated. Who really uses their stick anyway? Chris Simon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evil_otto Posted March 14, 2007 Report Share Posted March 14, 2007 Chris Simon. "Touche' pussycat" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claude Balls Posted March 14, 2007 Report Share Posted March 14, 2007 During the playoffs if the Sabres, or anyone for that matter, are down by two with 7 minutes left, game over. Teams tend to tighten up their game quite a bit when it really counts. And if the Sabres have to keep coming back again night in and night out, they will be spent pretty quick, especially playing every other night and back to back games. Teams don't coast into the playoffs and then all of a sudden just turn on the light switch. This isn't football where you only play once a week. Hopefully this little slump ends real soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffalo Wings Posted March 14, 2007 Report Share Posted March 14, 2007 Good post, Corp. Just a comment.... 5) The injured guys are on the verge of returning. I hate to use injuries as an excuse, but its pretty obvious that macarthur, ryan, and yes, stafford do not belong yet. Kotalik, spacek, and paille can't get back soon enough, which should be thursday or friday. As for max and connolly... keep healing away. I'm not really expecting another update till next week, but barring another ridiculous stress fracture, connolly could be a couple weeks away. I disagree on Stafford. I think he's ready right now and should be on the playoff roster. You're right about needing Kotalik, Spacek, and Paille back ASAP, but I think Stafford can play with the big boys today. Once Kotalik & Paille come back, Stafford should be put on the Vanek-Roy line. If anything, Stafford wouldn't play because of the "loaded" roster. He'd be on the second line (if not the first) of most teams in the league. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IKnowPhysics Posted March 14, 2007 Report Share Posted March 14, 2007 blah blah blah You make a fine point. We should dwell on the loss, and not look for positives to build off of for the next game. We will concentrate on the fact we couldn't win the game and only came away with one point, instead of improving ourselves to guarantee 2 points against Florida. Let us not be cognizant of the returning players or lineup improvements because those players didn't help us win the last game. Improving defensive responsibility on the PP isn't important. We should continue "all this whining, crying, negativity, justified criticism and worry." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apuszczalowski Posted March 14, 2007 Report Share Posted March 14, 2007 During the playoffs if the Sabres, or anyone for that matter, are down by two with 7 minutes left, game over. Teams tend to tighten up their game quite a bit when it really counts. And if the Sabres have to keep coming back again night in and night out, they will be spent pretty quick, especially playing every other night and back to back games. Teams don't coast into the playoffs and then all of a sudden just turn on the light switch. This isn't football where you only play once a week. Hopefully this little slump ends real soon. Exactly, Teams that coast into the playoffs, usually coast pretty quickly out of them You don't just play out the year trying not to get injured, or trying to get a better matchup for the playoffs. If this team is as great as everyone says when healthy, why would the opponent even matter? You want to enter the playoffs with momentum and carry it through, otherwise we will all be whining about some team being in the Finals that doesn't deserve to be there and how "If it wasn't for the injuries (or insert another excuse)" the Sabres would be champs right now Jerryg is right, sitting here trying to find positives to justify playing a poor game is what losing teams do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wraith Posted March 14, 2007 Report Share Posted March 14, 2007 Jerryg is right, sitting here trying to find positives to justify playing a poor game is what losing teams do. What exactly is the connection between what fans say on a message board and how the team performs on the ice? Fans finding positives means the team is a loser? Did the team get worse when this thread was started? If a mod deletes this thread, will the Sabres win their next game? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hopeleslyobvious Posted March 14, 2007 Report Share Posted March 14, 2007 During the playoffs if the Sabres, or anyone for that matter, are down by two with 7 minutes left, game over. Teams tend to tighten up their game quite a bit when it really counts. And if the Sabres have to keep coming back again night in and night out, they will be spent pretty quick, especially playing every other night and back to back games. Just like teams never tie it up with their goalie pulled, give up another goal, pull the goalie again and tie it up? Oh and then go on to win in OT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
will Posted March 14, 2007 Report Share Posted March 14, 2007 maybe if they are down by 7 with two minutes left...game over. maybe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claude Balls Posted March 14, 2007 Report Share Posted March 14, 2007 Just like teams never tie it up with their goalie pulled, give up another goal, pull the goalie again and tie it up? Oh and then go on to win in OT. It's not something that happens every night and not something you want to have to try and do that often either. It's alot tougher to do in the playoffs than the regular season. It's not what I want to see on a regular basis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apuszczalowski Posted March 15, 2007 Report Share Posted March 15, 2007 What exactly is the connection between what fans say on a message board and how the team performs on the ice? Fans finding positives means the team is a loser? Did the team get worse when this thread was started? If a mod deletes this thread, will the Sabres win their next game? Maybe the wording made it hard to understand. making excuses for a team losing is what fans of a losing team do to justify a bad game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Enabler Posted March 15, 2007 Report Share Posted March 15, 2007 Maybe the wording made it hard to understand. making excuses for a team losing is what fans of a losing team do to justify a bad game. What is a good Bills board these days? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted March 15, 2007 Report Share Posted March 15, 2007 During the playoffs if the Sabres, or anyone for that matter, are down by two with 7 minutes left, game over. Teams tend to tighten up their game quite a bit when it really counts. And if the Sabres have to keep coming back again night in and night out, they will be spent pretty quick, especially playing every other night and back to back games. Teams don't coast into the playoffs and then all of a sudden just turn on the light switch. This isn't football where you only play once a week. Hopefully this little slump ends real soon. Ottawa series 2006 anyone? :nana: :nana: I agree to a certain extent... But... This team is special... They can turn it on at will! Pitt should be ashamed about last night more than BFLO should... They rushed down and missed the OPEN net and LITERALLY BFLO took an end to end rush, sliced and diced them and beat the Pens GOALIE... How?... By getting in front of the net! Causing havoc! Shades of Timmy against Ottawa... The question is... How on earth to you keep the this "high motor" without throwing a piston!?? What a friggan manic team... That is one reason why I love 'em! ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wjag Posted March 15, 2007 Report Share Posted March 15, 2007 I'd rather focus on what went right in things than what went wrong. I'm not saying ignore the negative, but I find in my life that emphasizing the positive gets me further down the road than dwelling on the negative. Look objectively as possible at what went wrong, try some corrections and move on. Repeat as necessary. So here are my positives from the loss: - A desparately needed point out of that game that was lost midway through the third. - A come back in a game, any game. - No shorty allowed. - Much, much better defense played. - Both Captains scored and maybe, just maybe, Drury is fully back now from "the hit". - The play of Stafford. He has some real moves along the board to get or retain puck possession. - Still in first place after a four game slide. - Holding in check Stahl and Malkin.. Can't stop everybody, but did any notice Stahl out there? - Watching the prettiest defensive play of the year as Tallinder picked the Great One's pocket. - A perfectly executed 2-on-1 between Danny and Jochen. - A very entertaining hockey game. Had all the feel of a playoff game.. My correction factors from the loss: - No bodies in front of the net on the powerplay - Throw more pucks at the net - Still one too many passes on this team. - Powerplay needs to stop the dump and chase on speedy teams. It doesn't work. Skate it in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wraith Posted March 15, 2007 Report Share Posted March 15, 2007 Maybe the wording made it hard to understand. making excuses for a team losing is what fans of a losing team do to justify a bad game. Sure it's what fans do after a loss. It's also what most observers do after bad things happen. In addition to looking at what wrong, you look for went right in spite of the bad outcome. I sure as hell hope the Sabres players and their coaches look at both after every game, regardless of if it's a win or a loss. That's how improvements happen. It's not making excuses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jad1 Posted March 15, 2007 Report Share Posted March 15, 2007 Fans of losing teams focus on the positives or "moral victories" because they are looking for some sign that their team will eventually turn things around. They're looking for something to build on to prove that their team is not a lost cause. Fans of winning teams look for positive signs when their team slumps because they are trying to gauge when their team will return to form. No doubt, slumps suck. But they happen to every team in the league for a variety of reasons, some explainable (injuries), some not (lack of scoring touch). Many have pointed out that this slump is similar to last year's March slump. Comparing the Sabres to a losing team, or claiming that their fans have a loser mindset when discussing the Sabres in this manner is ridiculous. The Sabres aren't a losing team, and their fans are just waiting for them to snap out of this latest funk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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