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GDT:The Season Opener! Montreal at Buffalo 10/14/21 7pm MSG, WGR550


Brawndo

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Having my coffee after a Sabres opening season win, combined with a Jets season opening loss - 'tis a good day. 

Was there any individual performance last night more positive for the team LT than Skinner's? He mas making plays all night and it showed up with apples on the scoresheet, and he was back to drawing calls as well. And I mean drawing. He suckered that official right in

If we can get some sort of reasonable positive value from that deal, for the majority of what's left, we'd be in a much better spot 

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6 minutes ago, dudacek said:

This was exactly my reaction.

WTF guys? Enjoy the moment.

Meh. Part of the "will Eichel be a distraction?" question comes down to whether or not the fans think and act like it's a distraction. This is the other side to "trust the process, wait for the highest return". Eichel is still a member of the team, after all. 

More to the point, I trust you saw what kicked-off that discussion, right? We all answer to a higher power around here, in the end. 

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39 minutes ago, That Aud Smell said:

I loved watching peak Eichel play for the Sabres. He is a rare talent, imo.

I don't think his style (approach? role? temperament?) would fit all that well with what Granato's teaching and demanding.

This is not an indictment on Eichel. His talent, vision, strength, skating ability, etc. are such that, most times, he has this sort of almost languid (even mellow (?)) quality about his game. I know that's ridiculous to say, on some level, because I sat 5 rows up once when Eichel was at his peak, and holy sp1t everyone on the ice, especially him, is so fast.

But he has this manner in which he seems to be anticipating what is going to happen in 2 seconds, so he sort of slows the game down a bit, waits for his window, and then BAM. From what I've seen, I don't see him as someone who can properly commit to playing with high pace, high intensity, hair on fire. I don't think that's his game.

I have said on this forum for a few years that Eichel is one of the slowest 'fast' guys I have ever seen play.  By that I mean we know he is a VERY fast skater, and every once in a while he displays that on a 1/2 ice rush, but that is not his 'everyday' game. 

More often than not I notice him carrying the puck into the zone at medium speed, looking around and trying to set up something once he gains the zone, often slowing the play down once he gains the zone.  That is NOT the way the Sabres played last night.

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It's far too early to say this seriously, but last night's performance gave me strong late 90's vibes.  Just JAGs and slightly better than JAGs and young kids who might be legit putting in work.  

Therefore, this team is exactly one in-his-prime Dominik Hasek away from cup contention.  Get it done KA...

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13 minutes ago, Sabel79 said:

It's far too early to say this seriously, but last night's performance gave me strong late 90's vibes.  Just JAGs and slightly better than JAGs and young kids who might be legit putting in work.  

Therefore, this team is exactly one in-his-prime Dominik Hasek away from cup contention.  Get it done KA...

you're right...it's far too early

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2 minutes ago, Ross Rhea said:

Wasn't expecting much but last night was a pleasant surprise. They play hard and it paid off. Maybe they won't be doormats and they'll actually be half way decent and fun to watch.   

If this team ends up being an 80 point team at the end of a full season, I'd be very content.

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As a casual hockey fan, I enjoyed the brand of hockey the Sabres played under Granato at the end of last season. I watched the Detroit preseason game and saw, again, an entertaining style of hockey being played (compared to how difficult they were to watch under Kreuger). Last night was also fun to watch.  Going forward, if they play with that kind of energy every night, they will keep this fan watching, win or lose.

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33 minutes ago, Thorny said:

Having my coffee after a Sabres opening season win, combined with a Jets season opening loss - 'tis a good day. 

Was there any individual performance last night more positive for the team LT than Skinner's? He mas making plays all night and it showed up with apples on the scoresheet, and he was back to drawing calls as well. And I mean drawing. He suckered that official right in

If we can get some sort of reasonable positive value from that deal, for the majority of what's left, we'd be in a much better spot 

He was very good, in that chaotic punch-me-in-the-face Euro soccer star way he needs to play. The way he drew that 5-on-3 was a slimy work of art.

His second assist may have gone off his ass, but he generally moved the puck well and smartly on the PP, which has always been his downfall there.

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My observations from the arena:

- Place was less than half full but the crowd was into it. I’ve been to 20+ games in my life and the only other time I remember it being that loud was a game against Toronto a few years ago, but those were all Toronto fans making the noise 

- Beers were more expensive there than at Highmark stadium 

- It seems like the annoying DJ has been replaced by a house band. Or maybe it was just the opener. Idk but I welcomed the change

- Id be absolutely shocked if we didn’t win the Stanley Cup after watching this game

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Just now, dudacek said:

He was very good, in that chaotic punch-me-in-the-face Euro soccer star way he needs to play. The way he drew that 5-on-3 was a slimy work of art.

His second assist may have gone off his ass, but he generally moved the puck well and smartly on the PP, which has always been his downfall there.

Skinner, probably: "There can be only 1" 

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Happy for the fans that went to the game.  
hopefully a few more will decide to check them out on Sat

i like that they were loud.  Better to have 8000 screaming fans than 16000 sitting on their hands.   
 

hopefully the team will continue to entertain and work like they did last night. 
if so, I know I’ll be going to a game or two once the border opens back up 

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They are unquestionably a faster team that plays a faster style.

I don’t think we should start planning the parade just yet, but they sure looked like they can be competitive with a big chunk of the league.

And I was surprised and delighted in the 3rd period, and I’m looking forward to Saturday, neither of which I was expecting to feel.

Go get ‘em Donny.  

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11 hours ago, mjd1001 said:

This is really fun to watch, but I need to see a few more games of it before I change my mind on this team.

 

The funny thing is you can't point at anything they did wrong or badly last night. This was not some flukey one-goal win. It was utter domination of the Stanley Cup runner up from start to finish. Who predicted that?

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6 minutes ago, Crusader1969 said:

Happy for the fans that went to the game.  
hopefully a few more will decide to check them out on Sat

i like that they were loud.  Better to have 8000 screaming fans than 16000 sitting on their hands.   
 

hopefully the team will continue to entertain and work like they did last night. 
if so, I know I’ll be going to a game or two once the border opens back up 

If you paid attention to when they cheered it was a very hockey savvy crowd. Also nice not having half Habs fans in the building. It's like you filtered out Chet & Muffy's and left only the true hockey fans.

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9 hours ago, Let's Go B-Lo said:

Wanting to win and being willing to do the things necessary to win are different things. I'm sure Jack wants to win. Everyone wants to win. When the 10m captain doesn't backcheck nobody is going to backcheck. When nobody backchecks you lose a lot.

I would love to watch a less talented team without him on it win more games than he ever did by doing all the stuff he didn't want to do.

Jack played for an inept organization that constantly turned over its staff. The situation was unstable since he got here. It seems to me that this new staff is establishing a coherent plan and direction for this franchise. That didn't exist pre-injured Jack. If you look at how differently the team played for Granato compared to the previous coach/coaches you can see how important order and coherency are.

Despite what the majority of people believe for me it would be wonderful to see a healthy Jack playing for Granato. Within a year or so Quinn, Peterka, Samuelsson and Power will be added to the roster mix. If you add a healthy Jack to the lineup you can see the makings of a robust roster. 

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Just now, JohnC said:

Jack played for an inept organization that constantly turned over its staff. The situation was unstable since he got here. It seems to me that this new staff is establishing a coherent plan and direction for this franchise. That didn't exist pre-injured Jack. If you look at how differently the team played for Granato compared to the previous coach/coaches you can see how important order and coherency are.

Despite what the majority of people believe for me it would be wonderful to see a healthy Jack playing for Granato. Within a year or so Quinn, Peterka, Samuelsson and Power will be added to the roster mix. If you add a healthy Jack to the lineup you can see the makings of a robust roster. 

But he won't... so we can probably limit eichel comments to the 300 page thread about trading him.  He'll never play here again.

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