Cody Hodgson

[TrueBlueGED]

Look at the POS avatars on this website.....

 

It's a F'N accepted Culture of Losing!!!

 

I'll take this as an admission you're losing. Victory is mine! :nana:

[LastPommerFan]

I guess you didn't listen to the interviews of Kyle Williams, Fred Jackson, and Eric Wood, before the past 5 day implosion.

 

You see it now with Ted Nolan.

 

Part of being a winner is "efficiency". When you know you are being set up to fail, by your team president who goes on the radio for 18 months telling you how great it is to finish last, and your season ticket holders get sent out a brochure showing you how great it is to get rid of veterans for draft picks, and an owner who has taken his identity to selling doughnuts over playoff tickets......any reasonable person....especially someone of blood and guts who will die for valor......is going to give you a big old FU at a certain point.

 

I've mailed it in posting the past 2 years. I used to love doing research and stats backing up points. It doesn't matter anyomre. Why should I work my ass off on a team and fanbase that doesn't give a sh!t? I used to get people complaining about how long my posts were years ago. Not anymore.....because there is nothing left to say.

 

Ya, culture and the will to win within a season/roster can fall apart, my contention would be if you put the talent and cohesive plan in place to be able to win, that culture goes away fast. I don't think the constant losing has hurt Freddie. I don't think it's going to hurt any of the other players. Regehr certainly didn't poison LA.

[Ghost of Dwight Drane]

I'll take this as an admission you're losing. Victory is mine! :nana:

 

I concede.

 

Seriously.

 

If you've ever had the misfortune of watching someone close to you, slowly die, that is what my posting feels like to me over the years. Without any passion for the team, the organs just start to shut down. I've signed the waiver and have accepted the morphine drip. Tickets to a game on Stubhub for $8, yet people will stand in line 45 minutes to pay $8 for a coffee and a few doughnuts across the street. What's left?

 

Ya, culture and the will to win within a season/roster can fall apart, my contention would be if you put the talent and cohesive plan in place to be able to win, that culture goes away fast. I don't think the constant losing has hurt Freddie. I don't think it's going to hurt any of the other players. Regehr certainly didn't poison LA.

 

Regehr came here in his 30's after being to a Cup himself.

 

Roy, connolly, Vanek, Pominville, Gaustad, Afinogenov, Kalinin, Kotalik, Miller.....the guys that were NURTURED under this culture and didn't get out in their early 20's.....what have they done? Granted it is early on a few, but it was so obvious all along. Even though Darcy/Lindy are gone, there is still a nuclear half-life in play. I don't know the formula yet. I will tell you it years down the line when they start winning playoff series.

[dudacek]

 

 

I think there's a world of difference between being down psychologically because you know this year is shot, and having a permanently damaged psyche that ruins future seasons. The former can be very real. But the latter? Not even remotely convinced. Why? Because looking at history, it's amazing how quickly a seemingly permanent "culture" of losing turns around when a few star players show up. It's likewise amazing how a winning culture becomes a losing one when star players exit.

I agree. Tough times test people's mettle and some come out the other side better for the experience.

I look at this season as a crucible showing us which players are worth keeping and which ones need to go.

 

 

Darcy/Lindy circa 2007-2013......and X/X..X/X...X/X....2013-?????????????

 

 

 

It doesn't tie into Hodgson...he was a loser from day #1.

 

We went from "Sole Reason for Existance is to Win Multiple Stanley Cups!!!"

 

to:

 

"Look at this pretty paper where we have all kinds of draft picks who will probably not be ready for 5 years....but golly, gee!, maybe someday we will be good!!"

 

 

There is 10x more excitement for a Fkng Doughnut shop and sports bar than an NHL franchise. All this from a guy who said had zero interest in real estate development.

I disagree with this being Pegula's mindset. He believes acquiring and developing a core of emerging young talent is the best way to make this team a contender for a long time. There are no guarantees, but he does care, he does have a plan and so far he is sticking to it. It's the hockey fan equivalent of Juno Beach, but it is the price he has elected to pay.

Edited November 15, 2014 by dudacek

[Ghost of Dwight Drane]

"The Plan"

 

At any given time, any of the 30 NHL teams can execute the Sabres plan and be successful. Just sell off all veteran assets for draft picks...stock up...and cross your fingers.

 

That is all the Sabres have done, and in cases of real teams, Chicago could probably sell off their roster for 3x the quality picks the Sabres have and start from scratch at the same spot.

 

Hope....isn't a plan. It's a coping mechanism.

[wjag]

Hodgson needs to stay... Somebody needs to stay on this team. Might as well be him.

[Eleven]

Hodgson needs to stay... Somebody needs to stay on this team. Might as well be him.

 

This is a good point. There is at least half a roster to can before we even get to Hodgson.

 

"The Plan"

 

At any given time, any of the 30 NHL teams can execute the Sabres plan and be successful. Just sell off all veteran assets for draft picks...stock up...and cross your fingers.

 

That is all the Sabres have done, and in cases of real teams, Chicago could probably sell off their roster for 3x the quality picks the Sabres have and start from scratch at the same spot.

 

Hope....isn't a plan. It's a coping mechanism.

 

Although I would rather people use coping mechanisms for things more serious than sports, I agree with this generally.

[dudacek]

"The Plan"

 

At any given time, any of the 30 NHL teams can execute the Sabres plan and be successful. Just sell off all veteran assets for draft picks...stock up...and cross your fingers.

 

That is all the Sabres have done, and in cases of real teams, Chicago could probably sell off their roster for 3x the quality picks the Sabres have and start from scratch at the same spot.

 

Hope....isn't a plan. It's a coping mechanism.

 

Of course, any team can do it. Some have, although very few have as thoroughly and deliberately as the Sabres have. Call it a ###### plan if you want, but it is still a plan. This is the "suffering" part.

Edited November 15, 2014 by dudacek

[WildCard]

You can have the Sabres tank plan and still draft like the Oilers have and fail. The 2nd round hits we have, as well multiple 1st round hits, seem to be working out very well so far. This is what gives me hope

[Kristian]

I don't agree. I get the impression Murray had a good idea of how bad this team would be. I also think he sent Reinhart away for a good reason. Risto and Zad don't seem effected by the tank now that they are paired together. As for the McEichel will learn to lose, I think that part is entirely wrong. Jack and Connor don't lose. They have won everywhere they played and they don't possess the a loser mentality. Both guys are competitors who hate losing. As to the final part we did start changing the culture this year. Yes we are terrible but last year it was all "We got some bad bounces and we aren't sure why we aren't winning and blah blah blah" this year the locker room is saying things like "We did not work hard enough, we did not play hard enough, we need to be better" That indicates that someone in there is saying something and making this team responsible. That won't translate to the ice because of the lack of talent but when an infusion of talent occurs next season, and the one after that, and the one after that you will see a very different team.

 

We don't have to draft Jack or Connor to turn it around but they will speed the process. They are competitors, that is why they have pushed themselves to be as good as they are.

 

To be perfectly honest, all those quotes I'm sure I've heard from Pominville in the past. They've always talked a nice talk. I'm hoping you're right, but the jury's still out.

 

As to whether McDavid and Eichel hate losing or not, I agree - Of course they hate losing, I doubt you can find a single NHL'er who doesn't.

 

I bet even Cody Hodgson hates losing, but does it show in his game?

 

Totally agree. The 2005-06 Sabres didn't need to overcome some mythical culture of losing, and neither did the 1988 Bills.

 

Unless changes are made, besides bringing up rookies and drafting youngsters, regardless how talented, I don't see how this team starts winning.

 

What I'm saying is, pieces need to added, and that those pieces may be hard to come by.

[Drunkard]

 

 

To be perfectly honest, all those quotes I'm sure I've heard from Pominville in the past. They've always talked a nice talk. I'm hoping you're right, but the jury's still out.

 

As to whether McDavid and Eichel hate losing or not, I agree - Of course they hate losing, I doubt you can find a single NHL'er who doesn't.

 

I bet even Cody Hodgson hates losing, but does it show in his game?

 

 

 

Unless changes are made, besides bringing up rookies and drafting youngsters, regardless how talented, I don't see how this team starts winning.

 

What I'm saying is, pieces need to added, and that those pieces may be hard to come by.

 

It's much easier to add pieces when you have the nucleus in place. A last place finish this year guarantees us a top center, plus we already have a good 3rd line center in Girgensons. Between Reinhart and Grigorenko one of them should pan out to be a great 2nd line center within the next 2 years.

 

On defense we have Gorges, Myers, Ristolainen, Zadarov, Psysk, McCabe which should all but guarantee us at least a decent to very good top 4.

 

Moulson should return to form playing with a guy like Eichel plus we have Ennis and plenty of guys in the pipeline who have potential to fill in on the wings and guys like Gionta and Hodgson to fill in for the mean time.

 

Neuvirth has shown to be solid and should improve with a better team in front of him. It should be much easier to improve the ancillary pieces once we have our top 3 centers and 4 defensemen in place which it seems we will have once the Draft takes place.

[qwksndmonster]

Although I would rather people use coping mechanisms for things more serious than sports, I agree with this generally.

I think most people just prefer following sports to be a fun thing. So if the team sucks, they get excited about the future.

[LTS]

I think this needs to be approached from a different perspective.

 

There's a huge difference between a losing culture and not having a winning culture.

 

The players want to win, but they apparently don't want to win enough. There's no way I accept that any of them WANT to lose.

 

The difference between wanting to win and winning are the little things that teams do to be in the position to succeed. They know where each of their teammates are on the ice. They execute good passes because of this. They score because they have covered the ice and outworked the other team.

 

We only see the games. We see the output of a practice. The hard work ethic, the attitude to not accept anything BUT perfection and the winning that comes with it all starts in practice.

 

I'll grant that a lot of players on this team don't have the talent to be successful unless they can give 100% all the time. Even then, they might not have the talent to truly succeed in the NHL. But a player who has the talent (and Hodgson has talent) but who shuts down and accepts a level of play as horrible as Hodgson has displayed is going to be a problem. Perhaps he needs some success to pull him along and perhaps he'll be tolerated enough to actually stay with the team but he'll always be waiting for someone else to kick him in the ass and that's a problem.

[kas23]

I think if the paying fans can endure multiple losing seasons and still hope for a bright future, then the players, who was making millions, can do it too. Besides, the Sabres are doing what their management wishes, so in their minds, they're actually winning.

[PASabreFan]

I know this will be controversial. Has Cody been tested for Cushing Disease?

 

Here's a link, but I will give you the highlights: Fatigue, Moon Face, thin skin with easy bruising, menstual cycle that becomes irregular, buffalo hump. It even sounds right.

 

http://www.nlm.nih.g...icle/000348.htm

Edited November 15, 2014 by PASabreFan

[Drunkard]

I know this will be controversial. Has Cody been tested for Cushing Disease?

 

Here's a link, but I will give you the highlights: Fatigue, Moon Face, thin skin with easy bruising, menstual cycle that becomes irregular, buffalo hump. It even sounds right.

 

http://www.nlm.nih.g...icle/000348.htm

 

I love this board. Myers with marfans and now this. Funny stuff. For the record I don't think Hodgson has any disease or physical condition. I think he just plays crappy defense and now that he's not scoring it makes his chappy defense even more noticeable.

[3putt]

Not just that, but one of the reasons you should consider things veeeeery carefully before you start a deliberate tank, is that you could end up breeding a losing culture in the team, that takes over the entire organisation.

 

I'm sure GMTM expected the team to be bad this year, but I doubt he saw the current trainwreck coming, and I fear both he and Nolan are absolutely cluess about how to rectify it, which *has* to raise some panic-levels somewhere.

 

Reinhart is currently being subjected to this every day, as is Zadorov and Risto. McEichel is next in line to learn how to lose, lose often, and lose big.

 

We can't draft our way out of this, this is going to take years to fix, and it starts by adding guys who want to win, who can play, and who are very vocal in the locker room. Unfortunately, there aren't too many of those guys around, and I doubt we'll be able to attract many, as long as the Sabres are synonomous with not only losing, but also playing like losers.

No its not. We have 3 maybe 4 players ready to come up. We may get lucky and McEichel is immediately ready. 2015 is a weak ufa class, but a trade is not an impossibility. 2016 is a great ufa class and if the cap stagnates it could be awesome. We will be better next year, the year after that and the year after that. The melodramatic reaction to bottoming out is getting old. This has been the plan and by all accounts we are on track. We will be better. We will be bigger. We will have top level talent used to winning and success. You have toexcise the tumor before you begin healing.

[cdexchange]

I love this board. Myers with marfans and now this. Funny stuff. For the record I don't think Hodgson has any disease or physical condition. I think he just plays crappy defense and now that he's not scoring it makes his chappy defense even more noticeable.

 

And don't forget Ryan Miller's plagiocephaly-induced eye asymmetry: http://forums.sabrespace.com/topic/16615-revisiting-ryan-millers-eyes/

[Drunkard]

 

 

And don't forget Ryan Miller's plagiocephaly-induced eye asymmetry: http://forums.sabrespace.com/topic/16615-revisiting-ryan-millers-eyes/

 

Definitely. If I remember right Mr. Ethron's eye crookedness has also been discussed as well.

[bunomatic]

No its not. We have 3 maybe 4 players ready to come up. We may get lucky and McEichel is immediately ready. 2015 is a weak ufa class, but a trade is not an impossibility. 2016 is a great ufa class and if the cap stagnates it could be awesome. We will be better next year, the year after that and the year after that. The melodramatic reaction to bottoming out is getting old. This has been the plan and by all accounts we are on track. We will be better. We will be bigger. We will have top level talent used to winning and success. You have toexcise the tumor before you begin healing.

 

This is what I'm envisioning. Getting better incrementally until we kick ass.

[Doohickie]

That is what I think the problem with Hodgson is. When he plays hard (once every 7-8 games) he looks good, it's the games in between that good game where he sucks because of a total lack of effort. Maybe if we had a coach that is a good motivator, it would help. :rolleyes:

 

I think he might be "in" on the tank. If you had a whole locker room full of tankers and it was the team plan, it would get out. If you have a GM that supplies a couple of meh veterans (Benoit, Meszaros), a coach that is purposefully throttling the team back, and one or two players that just float around, you can execute a convincing tank. He's also not yet established in the league so if he starts spouting off about the tank they can label him a malcontent and ship him out. But he shows every few games, so you know he can play in the league.

 

Of course it could all be my overactive imagination too.

[Andrew Amerk]

Hodgson or Kassian?

Edited November 18, 2014 by Andrew Amerk

[bunomatic]

Hodgson or Kassian?

 

A choice ? At this point its a wash. I haven't seen much from either of them but inconsistency. Who knows in a couple of years ? I hate the thought of watching ol Hodgy go through the motions until we find out.

[North Buffalo]

STAFFORD FIRST.

 

Agreed, both maybe in one trade to Detroit?

[MattPie]

Roy, connolly, Vanek, Pominville, Gaustad, Afinogenov, Kalinin, Kotalik, Miller.....the guys that were NURTURED under this culture and didn't get out in their early 20's.....what have they done? Granted it is early on a few, but it was so obvious all along. Even though Darcy/Lindy are gone, there is still a nuclear half-life in play. I don't know the formula yet. I will tell you it years down the line when they start winning playoff series.

 

Better factor Paetsch and Briere in to the formula too. What have those guys done since leaving (besides 1 cup win, a couple SCF appearances, and some conference final appearances).