Stads Posted January 14, 2017 Report Share Posted January 14, 2017 Does everybody still think this team can "go on a run" and make things interesting, or are they a team that will hover around .500? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woods-racer Posted January 14, 2017 Report Share Posted January 14, 2017 (edited) Remember last year at this time they just got done playing the *hardest* 2 months of hockey for their season, they had just played all the best teams in the league. The last 2 months of the season they looked *improved*, they just played bad teams. January and February of 2017 are their hardest months for this season. If they go .500 we will be very lucky and they will have to play a much better game. Playoffs are a dream. The same amount of points at the end of the season as last year are wishful thinking. The additions in the summer of 16 should have made this team better. This teams record should be much better at this point in the season. edit: Grading.... Player effort B+. Coaching C-. The players are trying but spinning their wheels in the coaching mud. Edited January 14, 2017 by Woods-Racer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gramps Posted January 14, 2017 Report Share Posted January 14, 2017 Remember last year at this time they just got done playing the *hardest* 2 months of hockey for their season, they had just played all the best teams in the league. The last 2 months of the season they looked *improved*, they just played bad teams. January and February of 2017 are their hardest months for this season. If they go .500 we will be very lucky and they will have to play a much better game. Playoffs are a dream. The same amount of points at the end of the season as last year are wishful thinking. The additions in the summer of 16 should have made this team better. This teams record should be much better at this point in the season. edit: Grading.... Player effort B+. Coaching C-. The players are trying but spinning their wheels in the coaching mud. Playoffs ain't happenin ... If you take the gold standard for 8th last year ( 93 pts ), Sabres would have to win 26 of the remaining 40 games. They'll be lucky to get to 80. Our top scorer is tied for 69th in the league ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bunomatic Posted January 15, 2017 Report Share Posted January 15, 2017 This year was to be all about making strides or showing improvement. Considering that we look no better than we did with the tank lineup I have to give the mid season grade as a fail. Short and sweet there's no way of sugarcoating it. Truly disappointing. And to use the old adage of injuries are no excuse I won't give them a pass on that. Its just unacceptable. The fact that we're half way through the season and seemingly no closer to knowing what type of team or what type of style we will throw out there when the build is complete is also mindnumbing. I'm not sure DB knows and although I'm still in GMTMs corner the fact that he's been the invisible man up to this point isn't helping his cause in my books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cityo'Rasmii Posted January 15, 2017 Report Share Posted January 15, 2017 This year was to be all about making strides or showing improvement. Considering that we look no better than we did with the tank lineup I have to give the mid season grade as a fail. Short and sweet there's no way of sugarcoating it. Truly disappointing. And to use the old adage of injuries are no excuse I won't give them a pass on that. Its just unacceptable. The fact that we're half way through the season and seemingly no closer to knowing what type of team or what type of style we will throw out there when the build is complete is also mindnumbing. I'm not sure DB knows and although I'm still in GMTMs corner the fact that he's been the invisible man up to this point isn't helping his cause in my books. Great post ^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorny Posted January 15, 2017 Report Share Posted January 15, 2017 Does everybody still think this team can "go on a run" and make things interesting, or are they a team that will hover around .500? In my estimation we are clearly very much a .500 points % team this season. We've been consistently right around that mark. Fall a little below, win a few to get back to .500, then fail to get above and stay there. Remember last year at this time they just got done playing the *hardest* 2 months of hockey for their season, they had just played all the best teams in the league. The last 2 months of the season they looked *improved*, they just played bad teams. January and February of 2017 are their hardest months for this season. If they go .500 we will be very lucky and they will have to play a much better game. Playoffs are a dream. The same amount of points at the end of the season as last year are wishful thinking. The additions in the summer of 16 should have made this team better. This teams record should be much better at this point in the season. edit: Grading.... Player effort B+. Coaching C-. The players are trying but spinning their wheels in the coaching mud. That's a big tipping point for me. We need to see progress from year to year at this stage in the rebuild. I doubt he'll be held to this standard from those in power, but if we see less points this year than last, for me it's as good a reason as any for Bylsma to be canned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radar Posted January 16, 2017 Report Share Posted January 16, 2017 This year was to be all about making strides or showing improvement. Considering that we look no better than we did with the tank lineup I have to give the mid season grade as a fail. Short and sweet there's no way of sugarcoating it. Truly disappointing. And to use the old adage of injuries are no excuse I won't give them a pass on that. Its just unacceptable. The fact that we're half way through the season and seemingly no closer to knowing what type of team or what type of style we will throw out there when the build is complete is also mindnumbing. I'm not sure DB knows and although I'm still in GMTMs corner the fact that he's been the invisible man up to this point isn't helping his cause in my books. Good post overall. Still feel GM has overall improved this team. We have given points away by not finishing games. Overall, for me at least, the team has been more entertaining and better. I know the record doesn't seem to back that up. Jury is out on DB in my mind he has the rest of the season to save his job or lose it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GASabresIUFAN Posted January 17, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2017 I graded the team as I did because of the 20% improvement in points year over year (34 1st half last season vs 41 1st half this season). A 20% improvement while losing 200 man games is worth a positive grade. It's certainly better then a "C." So I'm confused for the dislike of DD who can only coach what he has to coach. He doesn't pick the players, he doesn't sign the players, he can't stop players from being injured. All he can do is look at the roster GMTM gives him and try to make the best out of it he can. Seriously, how many teams would be playing 500 hockey with a D group that has Fedun, Falk, Gorges, and Franson as regulars and has only 4 assists and 43 games between $10 mill D Kulikov and Bogosian. Also how many team would be at 500 with most of the top 6 forwards losing significant times to injury; Eichel missing 21 games, Ennis, 28 games, ROR 10 games, Kane 11 games, Only Reinhart and Okposo (1 game lost) have played all season. I think the staff has done a very good job just keeping air in the tires of this mediocre team. If you really want to blame someone, blame GMTM. He's the guy who traded for Kane, Bogosian, Kulikov, Lehner and Gorges. He is the guy who invest millions in Franson and Moulson. He's the guy who failed to get a talented puck mover to take some of the heat (and ice time) off Ristolainen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GASabresIUFAN Posted January 20, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 20, 2017 http://artvoice.com/2017/01/19/sabres-mid-season/#.WIIvGRsrKUk This article was posted on Sabrespace's new feed. The two authors apparently need to actually watch the Sabres. They give the overall offense a D. While not unreasonable given the total output, but does the offense really get a D when you consider the injuries to the top 6? Also how do you call Foligno and Gionta under achievers when Foligno is on pace to far exceed his career best in goals and points and Gionta is having his best year as a Sabre? How also do you give the D a C- when they only have two performing player (Risto and McCabe) and one partially performing player (Fedun). In addition the poor defense is one of the problems with the offense. One can't score if you are locked up in your own end, which is frequently the case. Oh by the way William Carrier is a forward. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scottysabres Posted January 20, 2017 Report Share Posted January 20, 2017 Forwards B Top 6 needs 2xLW Bottom 6 needs 1xC 2xW'ers Defense D Risto, McCabe with Ghule incoming. Where is the help? Need 3xD + depth Goalie D Lehner ain't it. Critical to addressing this at every level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matter2003 Posted January 21, 2017 Report Share Posted January 21, 2017 (edited) Forwards aren't the issue..this team has plenty of firepower at forward. Want to know how easy that is to figure out? They are the 5th ranked powerplay in the NHL.Defense and team defense IS the issue. Want to know how their team defense and defense is terrible? They have the worst penalty killing in the NHL by a mile.Tells you everything you need to know about this team in a nutshell. Thank God they are one of the least penalized teams in the NHL...could you imagine how much worse they'd be if they had been shorthanded another 45 times like Calgary has been?? I shudder to think about it...Also the loss of Eichel for this team and team mentality was huge...much bigger mentally than it actually was physically, although it was a loss physically. They played sacred, timid, un-aggressive hockey without Eichel in the lineup. A lot more attacking, a lot more creativity since he has been back. Obviously it was a loss of a hugely talented player, but the team just basically went into a shell mentally...almost like they were stunned and couldn't believe it...Its a young team, they still have some mental toughenss to build. With Eichel the team has 26 points in 24 games or an 88+ point pace for the year. Without Eichel the team had 19 points in 21 games or a 74 point pace for the year. That's a big swing...basically from being a bottom feeder to being on the cusp of the playoffs...even with all the other issues Edited January 21, 2017 by matter2003 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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