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GDT - January 28th, 2020 - Senators @ Sabres, 7 PM ET (WGR/MSG/NHL Network)


Doohickie

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13 minutes ago, dudacek said:

I pin the Colin Miller situation primarily to a collision between Jason Botterill's roster construction and Ralph Krueger's lineup philosophy.

Miller is very good in the Jason Woolley role, meaning an offensively oriented 4/5 who gets his minutes on the PP and in offensive situations and against weaker opposition. Unfortunately for him, Rasmus Dahlin is even better in that role and is the one getting the call in those situations.

This is and will be a problem for any Sabres coach with JBot. It's good to have a Woolley and a backup Woolley. But we have Miller (with a heavy shot), Dahlin, and Pilut on the roster and they're all currently a 3D+PP guy. Joker being so steady at the beginning of the year also took Miller out of the equation. And we have Gilmour, Bryson, Laaksonen, and Johnson in the system. Sorry, Miller. The trouble is, you can't dress a D-corp of only Woolleys.

And we all wish Bogo was simply better at defense, worth his cap hit offensively, and always healthy, given what he can bring to the table (speed, energy, fisticuffs and a laughing beard -- ala that PHX game a few years back now).

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5 minutes ago, DarthEbriate said:

This is and will be a problem for any Sabres coach with JBot. It's good to have a Woolley and a backup Woolley. But we have Miller (with a heavy shot), Dahlin, and Pilut on the roster and they're all currently a 3D+PP guy. Joker being so steady at the beginning of the year also took Miller out of the equation. And we have Gilmour, Bryson, Laaksonen, and Johnson in the system. Sorry, Miller. The trouble is, you can't dress a D-corp of only Woolleys.

And we all wish Bogo was simply better at defense, worth his cap hit offensively, and always healthy, given what he can bring to the table (speed, energy, fisticuffs and a laughing beard -- ala that PHX game a few years back now).

Is Bogo and speed a thing? I'm asking for a friend.

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1 hour ago, dudacek said:

I pin the Colin Miller situation primarily to a collision between Jason Botterill's roster construction and Ralph Krueger's lineup philosophy.

Miller is very good in the Jason Woolley role, meaning an offensively oriented 4/5 who gets his minutes on the PP and in offensive situations and against weaker opposition. Unfortunately for him, Rasmus Dahlin is even better in that role and is the one getting the call in those situations.

Montour can do everything Miller can, and is a better all-around player. Jokiharju isn't as good offensively but is also a better all-round player. And Risto brings as much offence, plus size and snarl. That effectively rounds out the top four. And then there's Pilut, whose skillset mirrors Miller's.

Krueger subscribes to the theory of using the bottom slots in his roster for situational players. And when he looks at the above six and asks himself what is missing, it isn't the offence and skating Miller provides, it's leadership, sandpaper and penalty killing. And that's why he likes to include McCabe and/or Bogosian in the mix over Colin.

It's not that Miller isn't a decent player, or that he's playing horribly, it's just that essentially, in Krueger's view of a balanced defence, he is often redundant.

Now personally, I think Bogosian's play and whining outweighs the above, but I can understand where Krueger is coming from.

Ironically for Miller, had Montour not been injured in TC, which had the dual effect of bouncing Miller to the 2RD role AND Jokiharju to the 3RD role on opening night; he'd likely be getting regular game time as the 3RD because Jokiharju would be partnering with Pilut as the Amerks top D pair and he would've been waiting for a move like the Scandella one to finally get his opportunity.

Though it looked like Monty's injury created opportunity FOR Miller, it actually threw a huge roadblock in his path.  Sometimes, life's funny like that.

Edited by Taro T
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34 minutes ago, Mustache of God said:

Do any other teams run a ridiculous 11-7 forward / defense setup or is this #justsabresthings as a result of JBOT severely mismanaging the roster? 

If you are talking about the situation where we have too many NHL defencemen and not enough forwards, then sure.

But I don't know that 11/7 is ridiculous in and of itself. Gets all the forwards involved, absorbs injuries better, makes it easier to use your D situationally.

It certainly seems to have been good for Risto and Dahlin.

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2 hours ago, #freejame said:

Has that always been the rumor?

Let's just say that he once ran Kessel in less than 12 parsecs, never mind that a parsec is a unit of distance and not a unit of time. And I see what you did there.

Before he was cut in half and made up of more surgeries than man, Bogo had good straight-line speed. What I've been able to see in an SI article and early write-up is that Bogo was viewed as a smooth skater when younger, but certainly not praised for elite skating or speed.

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4 hours ago, PASabreFan said:

Is Bogo and speed a thing? I'm asking for a friend.

He was a good skater before 1,000 injuries.  That was the original appeal of Bogo the prospect/young player.  Big strong mean physical guy who could actually skate.

Edited by Curt
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