Sabres have drastically improved from last year in "Early Relaxation"

[matter2003]

Early Relaxation is a term used to describe scoring a goal to give your team the lead which is then followed by the other team scoring within 2 minutes after that goal.  Sabres were second worst in the NHL last year at it, surrendering 18 such goals with only Arizona being worse at 19.  This year they are among the best in the NHL, only allowing 1 such goal.  A few teams haven't allowed any yet, but the Sabres only allowing one is a huge step in terms of maturity for this team and their mindset after scoring to take a lead...not being so excited that the next shift ends up with a goal in the back of your net from not paying attention or being in the proper mindset.

 

Little things will lead to big things.

 

 

[bob_sauve28]

Early relaxation, or "Buzz Kill" either germ would work, lol 

 

 

[RochesterExpat]

I like this stat because it feeds my personal bias about "momentum" being the key factor in individual games.

Which also feeds my biggest complaint with football and why I went from religiously following football to watching maybe half a dozen games in the last 4 years.  I got fed up with football after watching a meaningless game on a Sunday between two teams I cared so little about that I only remember one of the teams was the Oakland Raiders. Anyway, the game was tied in the late 3rd or early 4th quarter. Raiders' QB throws an interception. They showed the sidelines and the team that intercepted it was hyped. Players jumping up and down. QB grabbing his helmet from the bench to get out there...

Then the play was reviewed which took 5 minutes only to say "yeah he caught the interception." After the review, they cut to a 2 minute commercial break. By the time the offense took the field it was nearly 10 minutes from the interception. All the momentum was gone and I turned the game off and just stopped watching games after that.

I realize it's kind of weird, but I hate to see game changing moments like that squandered. I hate the NHL offsides review after every goal.

Hell, even PBR (Professional Bull Riders) now has challenges and reviews on whether you can stay on the bull for 8 seconds and make a clean ride or not. You get one challenge per team per match with zero penalty for a bad challenge. For those of you not following PBR, team matches are 5 riders vs 5 riders with the team with the highest aggregate rider score winning. Considering teams average like 1.2 or 1.5 successful rides per match, literally every successful ride is challenged because the odds are good the team won't have a second successful ride. It's stupid. It's bull riding. It's already subjectively scored like figure skating. Move on.

Anyway, thanks for coming to my TED Talk.

[matter2003]

3 minutes ago, RochesterExpat said:

I like this stat because it feeds my personal bias about "momentum" being the key factor in individual games.

Which also feeds my biggest complaint with football and why I went from religiously following football to watching maybe half a dozen games in the last 4 years.  I got fed up with football after watching a meaningless game on a Sunday between two teams I cared so little about that I only remember one of the teams was the Oakland Raiders. Anyway, the game was tied in the late 3rd or early 4th quarter. Raiders' QB throws an interception. They showed the sidelines and the team that intercepted it was hyped. Players jumping up and down. QB grabbing his helmet from the bench to get out there...

Then the play was reviewed which took 5 minutes only to say "yeah he caught the interception." After the review, they cut to a 2 minute commercial break. By the time the offense took the field it was nearly 10 minutes from the interception. All the momentum was gone and I turned the game off and just stopped watching games after that.

I realize it's kind of weird, but I hate to see game changing moments like that squandered. I hate the NHL offsides review after every goal.

Hell, even PBR (Professional Bull Riders) now has challenges and reviews on whether you can stay on the bull for 8 seconds and make a clean ride or not. You get one challenge per team per match with zero penalty for a bad challenge. For those of you not following PBR, team matches are 5 riders vs 5 riders with the team with the highest aggregate rider score winning. Considering teams average like 1.2 or 1.5 successful rides per match, literally every successful ride is challenged because the odds are good the team won't have a second successful ride. It's stupid. It's bull riding. It's already subjectively scored like figure skating. Move on.

Anyway, thanks for coming to my TED Talk.

Ehh...I dunno. If that team needs momentum that badly to score they probably aren't very good.

If you haven't been watching the Bills the past 3 years I feel bad for you...one of the greatest offensive teams of the Modern Football Era and Josh Allen does jaw dropping things on a every game basis.

Probably the most exciting time to be a Bills fan ever, even more so than the Super Bowl teams.

Edited November 3, 2022 by matter2003

[North Buffalo]

17 minutes ago, matter2003 said:

Ehh...I dunno. If that team needs momentum that badly to score they probably aren't very good.

If you haven't been watching the Bills the past 3 years I feel bad for you...one of the greatest offensive teams of the Modern Football Era and Josh Allen does jaw dropping things on a every game basis.

Probably the most exciting time to be a Bills fan ever, even more so than the Super Bowl teams.

Oh agree but I still hate the 2-3 min advert breaks during a drive for no good reason.

[matter2003]

4 minutes ago, North Buffalo said:

Oh agree but I still hate the 2-3 min advert breaks during a drive for no good reason.

Usually only happens if there is an injury or timeout. Or two minute warning.

[mjd1001]

24 minutes ago, matter2003 said:

Ehh...I dunno. If that team needs momentum that badly to score they probably aren't very good.

If you haven't been watching the Bills the past 3 years I feel bad for you...one of the greatest offensive teams of the Modern Football Era and Josh Allen does jaw dropping things on a every game basis.

Probably the most exciting time to be a Bills fan ever, even more so than the Super Bowl teams.

I kinda agree with you.  I mean, if people like looking at stats like this and there is some meaning to them than fine, but this is an one example of analytics that I personally thinks goes to far.  Meaning, even if you do identify it, and if it IS real and not random (which I question) but what do you do to change it.

Again, I dig deep into stats for fun that may not mean much to anyone else and post about them sometimes, so I am not going to say this isn't something interesting or fun to look into or maybe paints a picture that stats support, just for me personally it doesn't mean much.

[RochesterExpat]

1 hour ago, matter2003 said:

If you haven't been watching the Bills the past 3 years I feel bad for you...one of the greatest offensive teams of the Modern Football Era and Josh Allen does jaw dropping things on a every game basis.

Unfortunately for my standing on this board, my dad stopped going to Bills games when beer hit $1 which was sometime in the early 80s (I guess? it was before I was born is all I know). For the record, to this day he is adamant that beer should not cost more than $1. I kind of appreciate his stubbornness. He's an Amerks season ticket holder and he won't buy beer at Amerks games either because it's more than $1. Says a lot.

Anyway, my maternal grandmother and her sister held Steelers season tickets since the 1970s. She ended up transferring them to my uncle and his wife around the time I was in middle school(ish?). His wife refused to go to any game that was "too cold" so I grew up going to Steelers games and became a Steelers fan--much to my father's chagrin. I'm also a Pirates fan because my grandparents would take me to Pirates games in the summer.

On the flip side, I never went to a Penguins game, but I went to plenty of Sabres and Amerks games. Hence how I'm a Sabres fan. I just became a fan of whatever team I would see play in person. I've got a soft spot for the Bills, but I'm not a Bills fan. Granted, I've watched so little football in recent years I can't call myself a Steelers fan anymore either.

There's also more to my criticisms of football than simply the excessive number of breaks and stoppages. There's the related note of games taking too long. When I was a young 20-something bachelor, I had no problem sitting on my couch for four hours on a Sunday to watch a football game. Now that I've got a family, it's easier to justify watching a hockey game on a week day after dinner than it is to justify taking up my Sunday afternoon to watch a football game. There are just other things I'd rather be doing at this point in my life.

There were other things from the last decade that built up over time too and I'm sure if I sat here longer I'd think of a bunch. I was a big Penn State fan, but Sandusky happened and I virtually stopped watching college football as a result. I got less invested in football in general after that just as a side effect. 

My point is it's a lot of things that played into to it, but it was one minor thing that just turned the switch off in my brain because I felt the games themselves just weren't that interesting anymore. I don't think the quality of the on-field product is there. Hell, I watched two football games last season. I watched the Buffalo vs KC divisional playoff game and the Super Bowl. I only watched the Super Bowl because I was on a cruise ship and they had it projected on the pool deck under the stars--so that was a cool experience. But the divisional game? Man, that just reminded me not to watch the NFL. That was a great game that was ruined by garbage OT rules that had been garbage for a long time. Yes, I realize those rules have since changed, but it took ruining a QB duel of the ages for the NFL to do something. It's silly.

2 hours ago, matter2003 said:

Probably the most exciting time to be a Bills fan ever, even more so than the Super Bowl teams.

My only contribution to the Buffalo Bills 2022-2023 thread was after the Titans game which I tuned in for about half of and my entire comment was:

"I'll be honest, I don't really follow the Bills, but I did tune into this game and... holy hell."

I'm glad the Bills are fun to watch and I'd love for Buffalo to win a Super Bowl, but I'm just over football. I'll stick to hockey, baseball when I'm working in the garage and half paying attention, and IndyCar when I've got nothing else.

2 hours ago, matter2003 said:

Ehh...I dunno. If that team needs momentum that badly to score they probably aren't very good.

 

I don't mean this on a macro level of the season as momentum-needed-to-score, but on a shift-by-shift basis during the game, momentum certainly matters. Anyone who has played sports competitively knows the feeling where you feel you can suddenly just takeover a game because the adrenaline rush of something happening.  You can pretty quickly lose that if the other team answers. My perspective on the excessive breaks in professional sports is simply that we take that away from the athletes and, if I played in those circumstances, it would drive me nuts. I think it diminishes how exciting the games could be as a result. Again, just a personal viewpoint.

[Doohickie]

I think it's a matter of Granato's coaching style, stressing "playing the right way" versus stressing results.  I also think it's a matter of the top players not getting too high with the good stuff and not getting too low with the bad stuff.  During his hat trick night the other night someone remarked that Tage should smile once in a while.  But he himself has said we works hard to stay on an even keel.  I think Okie and Girgs model that behavior.  Past editions of the Sabres seemed to have players who would get so emotionally invested in games they would get off their game.  This year they seem to be on a mission:  Win the game they're playing.  Stuff in the past doesn't matter; games down the road don't matter.  This game right now matters.  But when it's over don't dwell on it, good or bad.

I think same thing is going on with the goal scoring thing:  When the other team scores they don't let it get them down too much.  When they score they don't enjoy it too much.  It's just back to work.  I don't think Donny is preaching this but the players seem to have adopted it.