GDT Sabres at Ottawa 3/8/18 7:30pm MSG GR

[PASabreFan]

Did Harrington watch a different play?

 

"Neither Okposo nor Ryan saw the other player coming and they skated directly into each other."

 

I saw Ryan recognizing that he was about to get hit and brace himself and deliver a hit instead. Should have been an interference penalty and maybe a major.

 

 

Nice to see them shake off that stinker the next night and on the road.

11-9-2 since the Dallas debacle.

Two stinkers (Calgary and Washington, some would add Florida)
Five big wins against Tampa, Toronto and Boston.
61 for, 58 against.

Sam Reinhart, 22 points in those 22 games.

Also 6-6-1 without Jack.

Bulldog was talking about the recent record on WGR, throwing some serious shade on it. He asked, and I'll ask — is the bar really this low? DeLuca .500 for a quarter season and we're making note of it?

[SwampD]

Did Harrington watch a different play?

 

"Neither Okposo nor Ryan saw the other player coming and they skated directly into each other."

 

I saw Ryan recognizing that he was about to get hit and brace himself and deliver a hit instead. Should have been an interference penalty and maybe a major.

 

 

Bulldog was talking about the recent record on WGR, throwing some serious shade on it. He asked, and I'll ask — is the bar really this low? DeLuca .500 for a quarter season and we're making note of it?

Yes. The bar is that low.

[dudacek]

Did Harrington watch a different play?

 

"Neither Okposo nor Ryan saw the other player coming and they skated directly into each other."

 

I saw Ryan recognizing that he was about to get hit and brace himself and deliver a hit instead. Should have been an interference penalty and maybe a major.

 

 

 

Bulldog was talking about the recent record on WGR, throwing some serious shade on it. He asked, and I'll ask — is the bar really this low? DeLuca .500 for a quarter season and we're making note of it?

Yes, it absolutely is that low,at the moment.

You’ve seen that roster.

[woods-racer]

Yes, it absolutely is that low,at the moment.

You’ve seen that roster.

At some point the upward swing of winning needs to start. If it's now, the end of the 17-18 season, so be it.

[Drunkard]

I fully expect them to win something crazy like 10 or 12 of their last 15 games and finish 25th overall while drafting 9th.

It's coming. The pressure is gone and they are getting hot as a team. Even Lehner figured out how to win a shootout.

 

I'm glad Reinhart is playing well. His turn around since the calendar changed to 2018 has been one of the biggest bright spots in this crummy season.

[Doohickie]

O'Regan looks to be slow of foot

Which is weird as he was billed just the opposite

 

Could it be lack of familiarity with the system causing hesitation which makes him look slower? I didn't really notice him until later in the game.  He seemed a bit lost at times.

[LTS]

 

Bulldog was talking about the recent record on WGR, throwing some serious shade on it. He asked, and I'll ask — is the bar really this low? DeLuca .500 for a quarter season and we're making note of it?

 

I don't view it as the bar being that low.  It's really how you want to choose to process the situation.  You can focus on the overall record and performance of the team and you'd be right in saying it sucks.  The team is not good enough.  

 

However, I prefer to look at the team as a work in progress.  I am not choosing to ignore that the organization made another change and as such there is a changeover period where the actual capability of the team will not be realized. This is not a hockey only situation either.  I work in telecom where there are continued organizational changes and there is constantly a reset of what is expected of you, who you report to, how things are done, etc.  It takes time to get up to speed on those things.

 

So, treating the situation in that way, you begin to look at portions of the season to see if the team is improving.  All signs indicate that the team itself is improving.  However, no one should be saying that this team is good enough yet.  It needs more talent without a doubt.  The team MIGHT have been able to speed up the process by bringing up the AHL prospect rather than filling the roster with cast-offs from other organizations.  However, the leader hired to build this team does not subscribe to that method.  Like it or not.  

 

What are we left with?  The team is showing signs of improvement even with the current talent load.  We have no choice but to look to the future and see what additional changes put this team in a position to finally move up in the standings and be more of a contender next year.

 

You can wallow around in the past failures.  You can moan about how everything has sucked for so long and that they still suck.  I don't see the point in it.

 

If you tore your knee up and needed massive surgery, would you look forward to the progress points in your recovery or would you wait until you were maybe 80% and then finally stop saying everything sucks and it's all bad?  If you had a loved one recovering from cancer would you wait until they were in remission before you showed signs of support or would you support every little step of the way back?

 

Why be any different with this team?

[PASabreFan]

There should be no signs of improvement when the games have no meaning in the standings. I'll hope Botterill feels the same way as Okposo does and makes pretty massive changes in the roster. Then, let's look at their record after 20 or 21 games next season. This is a perfectly fair way of looking at the situation and doesn't make me a Debbie Downer.

[Sabres Fan in NS]

I am no fan of the SO and think it should be eliminated.

 

That said, I will gladly take the win last night.

[Radar]

I don't view it as the bar being that low.  It's really how you want to choose to process the situation.  You can focus on the overall record and performance of the team and you'd be right in saying it sucks.  The team is not good enough.  

 

However, I prefer to look at the team as a work in progress.  I am not choosing to ignore that the organization made another change and as such there is a changeover period where the actual capability of the team will not be realized. This is not a hockey only situation either.  I work in telecom where there are continued organizational changes and there is constantly a reset of what is expected of you, who you report to, how things are done, etc.  It takes time to get up to speed on those things.

 

So, treating the situation in that way, you begin to look at portions of the season to see if the team is improving.  All signs indicate that the team itself is improving.  However, no one should be saying that this team is good enough yet.  It needs more talent without a doubt.  The team MIGHT have been able to speed up the process by bringing up the AHL prospect rather than filling the roster with cast-offs from other organizations.  However, the leader hired to build this team does not subscribe to that method.  Like it or not.  

 

What are we left with?  The team is showing signs of improvement even with the current talent load.  We have no choice but to look to the future and see what additional changes put this team in a position to finally move up in the standings and be more of a contender next year.

 

You can wallow around in the past failures.  You can moan about how everything has sucked for so long and that they still suck.  I don't see the point in it.

 

If you tore your knee up and needed massive surgery, would you look forward to the progress points in your recovery or would you wait until you were maybe 80% and then finally stop saying everything sucks and it's all bad?  If you had a loved one recovering from cancer would you wait until they were in remission before you showed signs of support or would you support every little step of the way back?

 

Why be any different with this team?

Well Bull Dog and Schopp certainly know something about setting the bar low.

[R_Dudley]

Is everyone happy that we won, and only picked up a point on Ottawa?

I rooted for them to win for 2/3 of the season and they lost more than won.  

 

I followed what appeared to be the majority of the thread yesterday and rooted for them to lose and they won.

 

Whats left except rooting for them to go to OT/SO for the rest of the season?  :P

 

Oh and yes I am completely happy with the win and only 1 point because at this point why not be happy with the lower draft seed when we see how much talent we still need.

 

    

 

It's coming. The pressure is gone and they are getting hot as a team. Even Lehner figured out how to win a shootout.

 

I'm glad Reinhart is playing well. His turn around since the calendar changed to 2018 has been one of the biggest bright spots in this crummy season.

 

Agreed, we are seeing some players step up, others digress and some stay the same and that is what I continue to watch for in these remaining games. 

 

I really don't and can't root for them to lose but if I can rationalize it to a better future then it makes the wild swings in play and results easier to continue to watch. 

 

Last like several other's here have said, please, pretty please continue to play spoiler for the remaining playoff teams they face and especially Toronto...

 

Now that's something they can look back at and build on for the team and players that are still here this time next year.    

[Drunkard]

I rooted for them to win for 2/3 of the season and they lost more than won.

 

I followed what appeared to be the majority of the thread yesterday and rooted for them to lose and they won.

 

Whats left except rooting for them to go to OT/SO for the rest of the season? :P

 

Oh and yes I am completely happy with the win and only 1 point because at this point why not be happy with the lower draft seed when we see how much talent we still need.

 

 

 

 

Agreed, we are seeing some players step up, others digress and some stay the same and that is what I continue to watch for in these remaining games.

 

I really don't and can't root for them to lose but if I can rationalize it to a better future then it makes the wild swings in play and results easier to continue to watch.

 

Last like several other's here have said, please, pretty please continue to play spoiler for the remaining playoff teams they face and especially Toronto...

 

Now that's something they can look back at and build on for the team and players that are still here this time next year.

I generally never watch the games and actively root for them to lose. I also haven't watched 90% of their games this season. I'm happy when they play well, especially the guys who have become whipping boys on the board (Reinhart pre January, Pominville after around November/December, Lehner, etc.). When they are losing or after each loss I take moving up in the draft as a consolation prize, particularly knowing that the top 4 guys are believed to be NHL ready for next season.

Edited March 9, 2018 by Alkoholist

[PASabreFan]

Well Bull Dog and Schopp certainly know something about setting the bar low.

I like Chris quite a bit. Otherwise, it's pretty remarkable who can get on the radio in Buffalo and talk sports. Who's the stoner producer they let talk once in a while? Does his uncle own the station?