Practice Notes 3/5/22

[Brawndo]

 

[North Buffalo]

Woo hoo on Eakin though i hope the guy is ok...

[Brawndo]

 

Now that’s a Fourth Line 

[French Collection]

8 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

 

Now that’s a Fourth Line 

I don’t like Bjork as a first pairing D. Kidding! Typo, should be Bryson.

 

[dudacek]

Please tell us Eakin is now a Leaf or a Bruin.

[French Collection]

6 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Please tell us Eakin is now a Leaf or a Bruin.

Or doing his best Icarus imitation after being sent towards the sun.

[LGR4GM]

 

[Bangarang]

Now there’s a 4th line I’ve been waiting to see. 

[Crusader1969]

I’m hopeful we’ve seen the last of Bjork. 
brings absolutely nothing to the team 

 

[Stads]

16 minutes ago, Crusader1969 said:

I’m hopeful we’ve seen the last of Bjork. 
brings absolutely nothing to the team 

 

His hockey sense is what you may deem non-existent 

[inkman]

24 minutes ago, Crusader1969 said:

I’m hopeful we’ve seen the last of Bjork. 
brings absolutely nothing to the team 

 

On the heels of finding out Eakin is injured, this seems extremely hopeful at best 

[Marvin]

2 hours ago, Brawndo said:

 

Now that’s a Fourth Line 

If we get healthy, does that mean Krebs goes back to Rochester?

[Brawndo]

5 minutes ago, Marvin, Sabres Fan said:

If we get healthy, does that mean Krebs goes back to Rochester?

I think He’s here to stay 

[Marvin]

2 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

I think He’s here to stay 

So we actually have a chance at icing 4 NHL quality lines again this season?  Heaven forfend!

[Thorny]

Was posting a while ago about how I felt Mittelstadt would transfer best to W out of our young Cs, because of his skill set. Is that where he played yesterday? Glad to see him still there if so. 

Hope he finds a home there 

[JohnC]

4 hours ago, Marvin, Sabres Fan said:

If we get healthy, does that mean Krebs goes back to Rochester?

No. 

[triumph_communes]

Dahlin-Bjork is a pairing for the ages 

[Doohickie]

2 hours ago, Thorny said:

Was posting a while ago about how I felt Mittelstadt would transfer best to W out of our young Cs, because of his skill set. Is that where he played yesterday? Glad to see him still there if so. 

Hope he finds a home there 

He's almost a co-center with Cozens.  Depending on which side of the ice the faceoff was Casey took some of the draws.  They both seemed to share defensive duties as well.

[Doohickie]

1 hour ago, triumph_communes said:

Dahlin-Bjork is a pairing for the ages 

Per the Sabres page, it was in fact Bryson.  Bjork was an "extra" skater.

 

[JohnC]

1 hour ago, The Ghost of Yuri said:

He's almost a co-center with Cozens.  Depending on which side of the ice the faceoff was Casey took some of the draws.  They both seemed to share defensive duties as well.

Excellent observation. As a winger Mitts played like a center. On the Okposo goal Mitts got the puck on the wing and made a nice move to go up the center of the ice where he got a shot off that rebounded to Okposo who put it in the net. What Granato has done is put his best players on a line regardless of the usual position assignment for that particular player. In other games he has played Krebs on a wing. As like Mitts in this game he played the wing like a center. Using flexibility in order to play your best players. 

[Doohickie]

1 hour ago, JohnC said:

Excellent observation. As a winger Mitts played like a center. On the Okposo goal Mitts got the puck on the wing and made a nice move to go up the center of the ice where he got a shot off that rebounded to Okposo who put it in the net. What Granato has done is put his best players on a line regardless of the usual position assignment for that particular player. In other games he has played Krebs on a wing. As like Mitts in this game he played the wing like a center. Using flexibility in order to play your best players. 

The thing that seems to stand out is that they seem to play off each other pretty well in those situations.  I think there was one exception... what is Mitts-Cozens-Krebs or something like that?  That one didn't work at all.

But yeah, on the Okposo goal Mitts made a top-rate entry and drew the defenders toward him before shooting which resulted in a clear shot for Okie.

There were several plays against Minnesota where Mitts looked just like the Mitts of late last season, the Mitts of training camp who was projected as the team's 1C before he got hurt.  I don't think he will be on the wing forever but I like the confidence it's giving him.  And if our center depth is good enough... maybe he will be a wing.  He is, after all, a pretty darned good wing.

Mitts is definitely getting his Mojo back.  I hope in bleeds into next season.

[Thorny]

1 hour ago, JohnC said:

Excellent observation. As a winger Mitts played like a center. On the Okposo goal Mitts got the puck on the wing and made a nice move to go up the center of the ice where he got a shot off that rebounded to Okposo who put it in the net. What Granato has done is put his best players on a line regardless of the usual position assignment for that particular player. In other games he has played Krebs on a wing. As like Mitts in this game he played the wing like a center. Using flexibility in order to play your best players. 

Ya I mean the argument was that Mittelstadt couldn’t be lined up at W because he was too suited to C/his skills wouldn’t be maximized there. It’s been said many times forwards more less have free reign in the o-zone anyways  - Mittelstadt showing he has the ability to still utilize/access the full ice from a wing starting point shows there’s no issue lining him up there  

[Doohickie]

I think Mittelstadt will be an important part of this team going forward, despite the injuries that killed this season for him.

[JohnC]

10 hours ago, Thorny said:

Ya I mean the argument was that Mittelstadt couldn’t be lined up at W because he was too suited to C/his skills wouldn’t be maximized there. It’s been said many times forwards more less have free reign in the o-zone anyways  - Mittelstadt showing he has the ability to still utilize/access the full ice from a wing starting point shows there’s no issue lining him up there  

There is an advantage with having players who are versatile and whose roles can't be strictly defined by the position they are playing. When the inevitable injuries happen they can easily be moved to what some perceive to be their more natural position. Krebs and Mitts certainly fit that category as wing/centers and center/wingers. This flexibility also becomes useful when the lines are jumbled by the coach for the sake of rejuvenating a line that has gone stale. 

I'm aware that there is a lot of discussion here about the issue of right and left handed defensemen. I consider it to be an overrated issue.  My leaning is simply play your best players. The players will adapt to their offhand position without much trouble. I would argue that with a fast paced team that plays a north/style it is less of a factor. Ideally, you would want a balance on which side to play. But the more important issue is getting your best players on the ice. 

[Thorny]

1 hour ago, JohnC said:

There is an advantage with having players who are versatile and whose roles can't be strictly defined by the position they are playing. When the inevitable injuries happen they can easily be moved to what some perceive to be their more natural position. Krebs and Mitts certainly fit that category as wing/centers and center/wingers. This flexibility also becomes useful when the lines are jumbled by the coach for the sake of rejuvenating a line that has gone stale. 

I'm aware that there is a lot of discussion here about the issue of right and left handed defensemen. I consider it to be an overrated issue.  My leaning is simply play your best players. The players will adapt to their offhand position without much trouble. I would argue that with a fast paced team that plays a north/style it is less of a factor. Ideally, you would want a balance on which side to play. But the more important issue is getting your best players on the ice. 

Playing on your off-hand in the forward ranks and playing your off-hand as a d-man (particularly in the top 4) aren’t one and the same, though, and the discrepancy is borne out statistically - in that way it is not overrated, it’s demonstrable. 

I posted the findings of the common D pairings throughout league for the second or third time a little bit ago and, the simple fact remains that’s while it’s common for forwards to play on their off-hand side, and relatively common for d-men or your last pairing to do so, it is uncommon on pair two and very rare on a top pair.