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Is Cozens Ready?


GASabresIUFAN

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He had a great tournament until the biggest game of his young life.  He played on the perimeter to much and seemed to be missing the aggression he exhibited earlier in the tourney against weaker opponents.

Now we are asking him to be that power forward in the biggest toughest league in the world.  My honest assessment is that like Mitts before him, he isn't physically ready for the NHL.  He honestly looks like he needs 15-20 lbs more to play his game in the NHL.  '

That may not mean he won’t be effective in another role, but I'm thinking he would be better off developing another year away from the NHL.

Edited by GASabresIUFAN
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4 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

He has a great tournament until the biggest game of his young life.  He played on the perimeter to much and seemed to be missing the aggression he exhibited earlier in the tourney against weaker opponents.

Now we are asking him to be that power forward in the biggest toughest league in the world.  My honest assessment is that like Mitts before him, he isn't physically ready for the NHL.  He honestly looks like he needs 15-20 lbs more to play his game in the NHL.  '

That may not mean he can be effective in another role, but I'm thinking he would be better off developing another year away from the NHL.

You used the wrong too in the second sentence.

And Cozens is ready to play in the NHL.

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If he is strictly started in a 4th line role, he may be.  He should get his prorated 9 game look see.  If he looks like Reinhart during his year 1 9 game stint, get him away from the Sabres asap.  If he gets sheltered minutes to start & gets some confidence, he can earn staying here.

My faith is in Krueger that he won't throw him to the wolves.

Won't say he shouldn't be in Buffalo because he didn't end up the tourney MVP.  Had the captain's shot been 1/2" over to the left, people would be celebrating his creating the goal that got Canada back into the game.

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7 hours ago, Taro T said:

If he is strictly started in a 4th line role, he may be.  He should get his prorated 9 game look see.  If he looks like Reinhart during his year 1 9 game stint, get him away from the Sabres asap.  If he gets sheltered minutes to start & gets some confidence, he can earn staying here.

My faith is in Krueger that he won't throw him to the wolves.

Chemistry, usage, and performance over the first 3-4 games should give us a good indication if he will be playing on the 2nd line with Stall and Skinner, sheltered minutes on a 3rd line, or back to juniors. 

I'm not sure with a 56 game season if the coaches leash will be long enough to warrant a 9 game look if he doesn't show promise right off the jump...

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How is 'not throwing him to the wolves' forcing him into the lineup?

7 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

With the compressed schedule, I'm not sure this is the season to experiment.  The Sabres need to get off to a good start to build momentum.  Forcing someone your not sure is ready into the lineup could hurt those chances to start well.

How is 'not throwing him to the wolves' forcing him into the lineup?

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1 minute ago, SHAAAUGHT!!! said:

Chemistry, usage, and performance over the first 3-4 games should give us a good indication if he will be playing on the 2nd line with Stall and Skinner, sheltered minutes on a 3rd line, or back to juniors. 

I'm not sure with a 56 game season if the coaches leash will be long enough to warrant a 9 game look if he doesn't show promise right off the jump...

With 56 games, that 9 game window will be 5 or 6 games.

Especially with Girgensons hurt, there will be room for him to be pencilled into the 4th line.  Expecting he'll hold onto it; but also expecting Krueger will give an honest evaluation & if he's beat out for that spot by Sheahan or Mittelstadt (wouldn't some heads explode were that to happen) or other, then so be it.

The taxi squad adds a ton of flexibility.  Maybe he doesn't play against the Caps, but gets his look against the Devils or Rags. Would be shocked if he doesn't get 2-3 games; getting to 7 could go either way but it is likely.

Am just finding it humorous that people that were sure he should be Staal's winger now want him not even on the roster due to a single game where he didn't play poorly but didn't dominate either.

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7 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

He has a great tournament until the biggest game of his young life.  He played on the perimeter to much and seemed to be missing the aggression he exhibited earlier in the tourney against weaker opponents.

Now we are asking him to be that power forward in the biggest toughest league in the world.  My honest assessment is that like Mitts before him, he isn't physically ready for the NHL.  He honestly looks like he needs 15-20 lbs more to play his game in the NHL.  '

That may not mean he can be effective in another role, but I'm thinking he would be better off developing another year away from the NHL.

It was one game and NO Canadian forwards did anything but play the perimeter. The US just kept them to the outside all night and you are overreacting to one game in a tournament where he still played ok. 

He should be on the Sabres learning what it takes to play at this level. At worse he should go to the AHL since a WHL season seems unlikely. 

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4 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

no.

Yes, that’s how I remember it. Vancouver rushed him after one good year in the AHL, had a log jam with Sedin and Kessler so they traded him. He had a solid first season playing 2C (?) but eventually we then shoved him in the bottom six. I remember his second season was awful. 

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Just now, I-90 W said:

Yes, that’s how I remember it. Vancouver rushed him after one good year in the AHL, had a log jam with Sedin and Kessler so they traded him. He had a solid first season playing 2C (?) but eventually we then shoved him in the bottom six. I remember his second season was awful. 

Hodgson had 34 points in 48 games during the lockout shortened season. 

He then had 44points in 72 games his first full Sabres season. This included 20 goals.

Then his disease clearly took over as he dropped like a rock. He got 13 points in 78 games and then was off the team. 

So again, no that isn't what happened. A genetic disease is primarily responsible for the end of Cody Hodgson and that gets lost in all this because we didn't know it at the time and only found out years later. 

https://theprovince.com/sports/hockey/nhl/vancouver-canucks/ex-canuck-cody-hodgson-releasing-documentary-about-genetic-disorder-that-ended-his-nhl-career

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16 minutes ago, I-90 W said:

If memory serves, didn’t we spoil Cody Hodgson by rushing him after the Kassian trade and then sticking him with bottom six wingers? 

Umm, playing as the 2C in Buffalo didn't mess up his back nor cause his illness.  Those were the items that "spoiled" him.

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1 minute ago, I-90 W said:

^ I don’t know how I forgot about that, I remember hearing something about this but never really bothered to learn more about what happened. I feel bad now, poor guy. 

We all forget about that but if I had to guess that is what tanked his numbers in his last Sabres season... well that and the tank. 

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1 hour ago, Taro T said:

How is 'not throwing him to the wolves' forcing him into the lineup?

How is 'not throwing him to the wolves' forcing him into the lineup?

I’m not sure it’s even a good idea to even give him the tryout. I hate taking young skill players and dumping on the 4th line.

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8 hours ago, Curt said:

You used the wrong too in the second sentence.

Nobody polices grammar like me on this forum and I think this is a little much.  Every third post on this forum has grammar issues.  Rather than being a doosh, I just move on with my day.  Clearly you aren’t triggered by the “then” “than” issue which i estimate 60% of posters get wrong every time.  

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4 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

lol What?

 

This season is a 56 game playoff for the Sabres.  Yes I may be over reacting to one game, but he didn’t react well to his first real challenge.  I’m concerned he isn’t ready for the physical challenge that is the NHL and don’t want to go down the Mitts road again.

 

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Just now, GASabresIUFAN said:

This season is a 56 game playoff for the Sabres.  Yes I may be over reacting to one game, but he didn’t react well to his first real challenge.  I’m concerned he isn’t ready for the physical challenge that is the NHL and don’t want to go dumb the Mitts road again.

So you don't even want to give him a chance? That seems crazy to me based off of one game where he was still one of Canada's only useful players. 

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3 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

So you don't even want to give him a chance? That seems crazy to me based off of one game where he was still one of Canada's only useful players. 

In a normal season, absolutely give him a chance. But in this compressed season where the Sabres need to take a step forward, I’d rather start him in the AHL and if he plays well there then call him up.  I’m assuming the WHL doesn’t play. 

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Just now, GASabresIUFAN said:

In a normal season, absolutely give him a chance. But in this compressed season where the Sabres need to take a step forward, I’d rather start him in the AHL and if he plays well there then call him up.  I’m assuming the WHL does play. 

I'd rather give him a couple games. If he is really that bad, you bench him, but he won't be. 

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4 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

I’m not sure it’s even a good idea to even give him the tryout. I hate taking young skill players and dumping on the 4th line.

I think you are being too cautious with Cozens. There are players who are more mature than their age. It appears that he is one of those players. I agree with you that he is not fully physically developed because of his age but he is physically ready enough to play and handle the rigors of NHL play. Krueger isn't going to start him off with a full load of play. He will start him off by limiting his ice time and role and then increase them as he shows what he can handle. 

Even at a young stage Cozens has little to gain by going by to the lower rungs of the game. If the AHL was starting on time you would have a stronger argument. But that's not the case this season. Even then Cozens would probably be making the NHL roster. 

On this issue I believe he not only will he be on the roster but as the season advances he will be a contributing player.  

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9 minutes ago, inkman said:

Nobody polices grammar like me on this forum and I think this is a little much.  Every third post on this forum has grammar issues.  Rather than being a doosh, I just move on with my day.  Clearly you aren’t triggered by the “then” “than” issue which i estimate 60% of posters get wrong every time.  

Lol.  It was kind of a joke.  I was making it out like that small grammar error was the most relevant thing in his post.

Because the idea that Cozens had one kinda bad game in an otherwise dominate tournament, after a dominant WHL season, after a really good WJC tournament last season where he was really good in the gold metal game, that means he definitely isn’t ready for the NHL.

It’s absolutely absurd.

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