Sabres Fan in NS Posted May 15, 2022 Report Share Posted May 15, 2022 7 hours ago, JohnC said: The brave go where most people fear to go. Inhabiting the space of the opposition in order to unmercifully taunt them can be fraught with danger. Evidently, he fears not! The question is: Is he brave or foolish? I will leave that up to others who know him well. 🧨 He said it was all in fun. I believe he has been banned there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnC Posted May 15, 2022 Report Share Posted May 15, 2022 On 3/3/2022 at 5:56 AM, Curt said: My retort for Mr J Fresh would be that if you watch Thompson play, the ways that he is shooting are materially different from years past. Does everyone else see this as well? Maybe he won’t be able to continue shooting this high above expected, but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he is able to maintain goal production above xG going forward. He has got a great shot. A while back Granato was on WGR and talked about Thompson's shooting and his high rate of scoring goals this season. The advice he gave TT last offseason and this season that he seemed to take to heart is to get his shot off quicker rather than delay to maneuver around for a more open shot. The coach stressed that with the caliber of his powerful shot that he didn't need to wait for a better positioned shot. The coached worked to change his mind-set from being a precision shooter to being more of a bulk shooter. It's obvious by the results that the player was receptive to what his coach was advocating for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt Posted May 15, 2022 Report Share Posted May 15, 2022 1 hour ago, JohnC said: A while back Granato was on WGR and talked about Thompson's shooting and his high rate of scoring goals this season. The advice he gave TT last offseason and this season that he seemed to take to heart is to get his shot off quicker rather than delay to maneuver around for a more open shot. The coach stressed that with the caliber of his powerful shot that he didn't need to wait for a better positioned shot. The coached worked to change his mind-set from being a precision shooter to being more of a bulk shooter. It's obvious by the results that the player was receptive to what his coach was advocating for. And I think that’s visible from watching him. One glaring example is that he used to very often do those long exaggerated toe drag moves around defenders to create a clear lane for a shot. Problem was that it was time consuming and obvious. Goalies had time to see where and when the shot was coming. Now he hardly ever toe drags like that. He usually just lets it rip before the goalie has time to adjust. That’s working better for him. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnC Posted May 15, 2022 Report Share Posted May 15, 2022 35 minutes ago, Curt said: And I think that’s visible from watching him. One glaring example is that he used to very often do those long exaggerated toe drag moves around defenders to create a clear lane for a shot. Problem was that it was time consuming and obvious. Goalies had time to see where and when the shot was coming. Now he hardly ever toe drags like that. He usually just lets it rip before the goalie has time to adjust. That’s working better for him. Granato demonstrates the value of coaching and player development. And this player development doesn't only apply to the young players. If you look at Skinner and compare his play under Krueger and Granato it is a stark difference. Krueger took a $9 M player and turned him into a $250,000 scrub. Under Granato the same player became a productive $6-7 M caliber player. How's that for regaining value on a locked in contract? It shouldn't be surprising that Okposo has been revitalized and is playing as well as he has in his career under the coach with the cool blue framed glasses. Overall, KA has done an excellent job. The most influential decision he has made is elevating Granato to the HC position. You can't overvalue the positive ramifications of that coaching selection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjd1001 Posted May 15, 2022 Report Share Posted May 15, 2022 10 minutes ago, JohnC said: Granato demonstrates the value of coaching and player development. And this player development doesn't only apply to the young players. If you look at Skinner and compare his play under Krueger and Granato it is a stark difference. Krueger took a $9 M player and turned him into a $250,000 scrub. Under Granato the same player became a productive $6-7 M caliber player. Slightly off topic but concerning Skinner... -He has the 2nd most career goals of anyone is his draft class, and is only 7 goals behind the leader (Tyler Seguin) -Last year he was 3rd in the league in goals by anyone in his draft year (33), Behind on Brock Nelson (37) and Tarasenko (34) Not really anything important, I just thought interesting. Anyway, nice bounce-back year from Skinner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnC Posted May 15, 2022 Report Share Posted May 15, 2022 3 hours ago, mjd1001 said: Slightly off topic but concerning Skinner... -He has the 2nd most career goals of anyone is his draft class, and is only 7 goals behind the leader (Tyler Seguin) -Last year he was 3rd in the league in goals by anyone in his draft year (33), Behind on Brock Nelson (37) and Tarasenko (34) Not really anything important, I just thought interesting. Anyway, nice bounce-back year from Skinner. Your comments about Skinner are not off topic. As with Tage, coaching was a critical factor in each player stepping up their game. In each case the coach got the player to emphasize their assets and improve upon their individual weaknesses. Granato made the observation about Skinner that even when he was metaphorically exiled by the previous coach, Skinner still remained one of the hardest working players in practice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doohickie Posted May 15, 2022 Report Share Posted May 15, 2022 On 5/14/2022 at 2:45 PM, JohnC said: The brave go where most people fear to go. Inhabiting the space of the opposition in order to unmercifully taunt them can be fraught with danger. Evidently, he fears not! The question is: Is he brave or foolish? I will leave that up to others who know him well. 🧨 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doohickie Posted May 15, 2022 Report Share Posted May 15, 2022 19 minutes ago, JohnC said: Granato made the observation about Skinner that even when he was metaphorically exiled by the previous coach, Skinner still remained one of the hardest working players in practice. I could see it during games. He never stopped working; he just wasn't doing anything that would bear fruit in a RFK-coached system. Pairing him with Tage and any competent winger (Tuch, Olofsson) and then just having them to what they did naturally was a breath of fresh air. Skinner and Tuch in particular are Lords of Chaos. When playing their best, they push the opposition hard and gobble up their mistakes. Having a guy with 3 times the reach of a mortal player as their center means that more of the chaos they create ends up on a Sabres stick. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnC Posted May 15, 2022 Report Share Posted May 15, 2022 2 hours ago, Doohickie said: I could see it during games. He never stopped working; he just wasn't doing anything that would bear fruit in a RFK-coached system. Pairing him with Tage and any competent winger (Tuch, Olofsson) and then just having them to what they did naturally was a breath of fresh air. Skinner and Tuch in particular are Lords of Chaos. When playing their best, they push the opposition hard and gobble up their mistakes. Having a guy with 3 times the reach of a mortal player as their center means that more of the chaos they create ends up on a Sabres stick. I agree with everything you said. With respect to Skinner his effort could never be question. However, playing for Krueger he was like a fish out of water. There was little cohesion between him and his linemates. He seemed disconnected from his linemates. On the other hand with his first line members this season there was a cohesion and fit that didn't exist under Krueger. How many high quality passes did he make to put his mates in a position to score this past season compared to the previous wasted year? And as you keenly pointed out Granato allowed the player/s to utilize their assets and upgrade their weaknesses. There is two sides to this coin of player development: good coaching and player receptivity to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnC Posted May 15, 2022 Report Share Posted May 15, 2022 2 hours ago, Doohickie said: Are you implying that when I am called stupid (as I'm often called) there is a chance that I could be receiving a back handed compliment? Is that what you call the power of positive thinking? 🙃 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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