Practice Report 11-6-18

[Brawndo]

Hell Yes 

 

[WildCard]

Reinhart, you continue to disappoint me

[pi2000]

3 minutes ago, WildCard said:

Reinhart, you continue to disappoint me

It's too bad the NHL doesn't allow biannual contracts.

[...]

1 hour ago, WildCard said:

Reinhart, you continue to disappoint me

Trade him while he still has the smell of "potential"!

[nfreeman]

IMHO, KO has earned the promotion and Reino has earned both demotions (the 2nd one is getting dumped from Eichel's 3-on-3 group). 

Frankly, it's crazy to me that the top 3-on-3 group wasn't always Eichel-Skinner-Dahlin.

I think though that Reino will do well with Sobotka and ERod.

[R_Dudley]

Wow maybe we are evolving. 

No Risto or Reino in the top OT 3 on 3 and shazam they even practice before hand.... Sure did not look like it when they got to their first OT's.... 

[...]

Maybe they forgot there was the potential for 3 on 3s?  Easy mistake to make.

[Randall Flagg]

Just from watching our OT play this year you could convince me that this is our first time practicing 3v3

[Taro T]

Except for bumping Beaulieu into the lineup, am of the belief that those are the best lines this current collection of 23 can be molded minto (assuming the wall Pominville hit in MSG was due to the emotionally draining weekend, which is likely, rather than being 15 games into the season like was the cause last season).

And really glad that they finally are plannning to ice a 3v3 threesome that can drive play (& not automatically back into their own net for that matter either).

[Taro T]

Too bad Yerdon didn't state who the Eichel threesome was lining up against.  My guess is Ristolainen, Reinhart, & Sheary; but it is purely a guess.  Hoping it's Sheary, Mittelstadt, & McCabe ('cause there's no way he'd give Rodrigues 2nd line duty).

[Randall Flagg]

That 3v3 combo will still allow OT goals but it's probably our only one with a chance of scoring them.

[WildCard]

18 minutes ago, Randall Flagg said:

That 3v3 combo will still allow OT goals but it's probably our only one with a chance of scoring them.

That's what 3v3 is though. It's not about prevention, it's a race

[dudacek]

Sobotka will be that rare player who doesn’t improve beside Reinhart.

This talk of demotions and promotions is a little silly though. The relevant indicator is ice time, not some arbitrary definition of what “number” each line is.

Over the past six games, the gap between the number five forward (Sheary) and the number 11 (Okposo) is negligible - about 80 seconds per game. Technically, Mittelstadt has been the fourth line centre if you measure ice time. The Eichel line (and, to a lesser extent Reinhart) plays more. Berglund (with very little special team work) plays less. Everyone else has been roughly equal.

Edited November 6, 2018 by dudacek

[Randall Flagg]

3 hours ago, dudacek said:

Sobotka will be that rare player who doesn’t improve beside Reinhart.

This talk of demotions and promotions is a little silly though. The relevant indicator is ice time, not some arbitrary definition of what “number” each line is.

Over the past six games, the gap between the number five forward (Sheary) and the number 11 (Okposo) is negligible - about 80 seconds per game. Technically, Mittelstadt has been the fourth line centre if you measure ice time. The Eichel line (and, to a lesser extent Reinhart) plays more. Berglund (with very little special team work) plays less. Everyone else has been roughly equal.

I think Sobotka does improve besides Reinhart actually. But I'm too lazy to go look. They just don't improve to "being able to produce at ES" levels, though they can play alright hockey together.

Agreed on the second sentence. 

And the third paragraph thing makes sense with our roster structure, that's how it probably should be. 

Edited November 7, 2018 by Randall Flagg

[Randall Flagg]

Just kidding I did look. Sobotka ain't pretty. But Reinhart and he are a better couple than they are apart. Look for the Blue 23 - that's Vlad doing quite bad without Sam. Look for the red 23: that's Sam doing better, but not quite good, without Vlad. Then the Black 23 is them being on the positive side of shot shares together. 

Of course, this is just some chart. On the ice, when Vlad is with, say, Thompson, or something, his penchant of "surviving" board battles doesn't get much done, because those particular teammates won't help out or do anything with the puck if he can get it to them. Sam is a fulcrum from the boards to offensive zone possession in better areas than the boards, though, which is why better things happen for Vlad when he's with Sam. 

Edited November 7, 2018 by Randall Flagg

[Randall Flagg]

And by the way, it looks like the Blues fans who said not to play Berglund and Sobotka together were bang on. Dear god 

[nfreeman]

While I agree that ice time is the correct barometer of where a player is, and that ice time among  the forwards other than those on Eichel’s line is a fluid situation, I also think that next game we’ll see Sheary-Mitts-KO get more ice time than ERod-Vlad-Reino.  Further, I think that the coaches and players all recognize that this is happening and that it’s based on what the players have earned.  

In particular, I think KO has been playing better than Reino.  In a sense, this is a good sign, as the Sabres are pretty much married to KO for the next 5 years, and I and many others have been concerned that we were looking at another Moulson situation.  His legs look quite lively and his hands and reflexes are catching up.  

I also think that Reino will come along and be a contributor.  But I am quite glad they didn’t give him a huge contract.  

[dudacek]

Or the players could view it as Sheary (5th in ice time) got demoted to play with the 10th and 11th forwards, while Rodrigues Reinhart and Sobotka are 6, 4 and 8 respectively.

Reinhart has been meh versus expectations, IMO, but he’s outscored everyone save the Eichel line and protects and moves the puck and creates far better than other offensive guys like Mittelstadt, Okposo and Sheary.

[nfreeman]

Well, KO and Sheary have the same # of pts as Reino, and each has more goals than Reino's single goal, so Reino hasn't outscored them.  Mitts also has more goals than Reino, FWIW.  And Reino is scoreless in 4 of his last 5 games.

In any case my comment was motivated at least as much by an unexpected feeling of confidence that KO's play is really coming on -- I'd go so far as to say that I think in the last couple of games he's looked as good or better as he has at any time since joining the Sabres.