GDT - Canucks @ Sabres - Nov. 15, 2022 - 7:00 PM (EST) - MSG and WGR

[Refuting]

4 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

I am told that DG had them playing a freewheeling and open style to “help development “ of their skills.  
 

It is time to instill a system to help keep goals out of our net.  The team is better than what we are seeing.  

Agreed. 

To be clear I'm not saying Granato should be fired, I meant an assistant coach who excels at defensive philosophies. Because whatever they're doing now is beyond subpar 

[PerreaultForever]

I was watching a replay of the Flyers Columbus game after. First period, Flyers were bad and down 2-0. They do the bench interview with the coach thing and Torts simply answers "we suck". Second period Flyers came out completely different and made it a good game. Lost in OT but still, it was more entertaining hockey with effort. 

Now I'm not suggesting the Flyers are any good or have things right, they're not. They have very little actual talent and Torts will struggle to get them any wins at all BUT maybe this kind of coaching honesty is what this team needs.  Time to stop talking about "learning experiences" and other bs excuses and actually trying to win some hockey games. 

[Huckleberry]

This is not how i hoped november would go, at least my goathead is almost here 😁

[PASabreFan]

5 hours ago, Thorny said:

Exactly. We have the capital. Converting a little for the now is really, really ok. 

If all we do is stockpile for the future, the catch 22 is that said future probably doesn’t come 

Or it could be a Pyrrhic victory. The individual players develop but at too high a cost to the franchise and fanbase.

5 hours ago, SwampD said:

Absolutely. We’re not even spending to the floor on actual players. I just hope (pray) that it truly is a “keeping our powder dry” scenario and not something else.

It needs to be considered. Something just ain't right here. And if the players figure it out, you get last night. What's with Tuch? Those are guys who tend to check out first.

[bob_sauve28]

Don't leave players wide open in the slot. ok? 

[Radar]

7 hours ago, sabresouth said:

We need a good goalie also. Comrie is at 3.65 gaa And Anderson is well on his way to being over 3 gaa. Tuff to win consistently when you have to score 4+ goals every game. Would be nice if our goalie would steal a game now and then as well.

Well maybe if we could play defense our gaa might come down. Nice open aggressive play? Ok but forwards need to think defense at least some of the time. Bottom line is our goaltending is not great but our defense may be worst.

[Ross Rhea]

Terrible, worked over by a 4-9-3 team at home on Vans last game of their 5 game in 9 days road trip out east. That was pathetic!

Edited November 16, 2022 by Ross Rhea

[zow2]

Defense, even when healthy isn't all that good and the goalies are subpar.  Sorry to all you that are leaving Comrie and Anderson off the hook but they need to be better.  Buffalo does defense/goaltending worse than any other team in the league...for years now.

[WhenWillItEnd66]

Well, that game was disgusting. Some thoughts and observations:

- This team is a bunch of panzies.  With the exception of the off "Get mad" moment, we are pushed around like a 10 year old playing against men. 

- This team seriously misses Muel. Also, we need another LARGE PHYSICAL defenseman who knows what the hell he is doing.

- When was the last team we out on the ice that could handle any kind of forecheck???

- If we draft another undersized skilled forward.......

Do we see a pattern here? Do not need replace the team, just add some size and someone "who is not a glass Joe" that can handle the bigger and more aggressive teams. This team is going to be very bad unless that is addressed.   

[WhenWillItEnd66]

3 minutes ago, zow2 said:

Defense, even when healthy isn't all that good and the goalies are subpar.  Sorry to all you that are leaving Comrie and Anderson off the hook but they need to be better.  Buffalo does defense/goaltending worse than any other team in the league...for years now.

I partially agree, but neither minder has gotten any help. From pucks going off of mispositioned Sabres or point blank chances cause we do not cover the high percentage scoring areas on the ice, to we do not have the size or strength to clear the front of the net.

[Cascade Youth]

10 year extensions for everyone.  The unseen hand of progress.

[Getpucksdeep]

On the "easy to play against" point and Dahlin swagger, we've lost every game since his a-hole post whistle slapper earning the solid punch in the face.  Turning out to be one hell of an effective punch.  

[Sabres Fan in NS]

15 hours ago, PASabreFan said:

Why was the title fixed? It was perfect!

The win was ours, then someone fumbled the snap.

***** it.

Fixed ...

😎

[Scottysabres]

1 hour ago, NJhopelessSabresfan66 said:

Well, that game was disgusting. Some thoughts and observations:

- This team is a bunch of panzies.  With the exception of the off "Get mad" moment, we are pushed around like a 10 year old playing against men. 

- This team seriously misses Muel. Also, we need another LARGE PHYSICAL defenseman who knows what the hell he is doing.

- When was the last team we out on the ice that could handle any kind of forecheck???

- If we draft another undersized skilled forward.......

Do we see a pattern here? Do not need replace the team, just add some size and someone "who is not a glass Joe" that can handle the bigger and more aggressive teams. This team is going to be very bad unless that is addressed.   

100% concur

[nucci]

I was told to not be upset after a loss because the plan is to win in 2-3 years

[Pimlach]

My brother took this last night.  Real attendance is about half of paid. 
 

I never thought I would see this in Buffalo.   What happened to the optimism?  
 

Edited November 16, 2022 by Pimlach

[Weave]

3 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

My brother took this last night.  Real attendance is about half of paid. 
 

I never thought I would see this in Buffalo.   What happened to the optimism?  
 

 Casualty of tank warfare.

[eman]

9 hours ago, sabresouth said:

We need a good goalie also. Comrie is at 3.65 gaa And Anderson is well on his way to being over 3 gaa. Tuff to win consistently when you have to score 4+ goals every game. Would be nice if our goalie would steal a game now and then as well.

I would beg to differ just slightly. The amount of odd man rushes, 2 on 1's and just flat out breakaways given up by this current edition of Sabres defence is criminal. You can have the greatest goaltender in the World but expecting him to continuously stop and cover up these miscues is dreaming. By the way, Comrie and Anderson have done a decent job of doing that so far. The defence on this club is absolutely horrendous. Ridiculously so. Stop blaming the goaltender and needing them to steal games for this club to win. The rest of this squad bears scrutiny and needs to be held responsible. 

[Pimlach]

7 minutes ago, Weave said:

 Casualty of tank warfare.

Not long ago, Just weeks ago, people were happy with close losses to good teams.  
 

Losing has become unacceptable to our fans but not to our ownership and front office.  
 

Edited November 16, 2022 by Pimlach

[eman]

1 hour ago, zow2 said:

Defense, even when healthy isn't all that good and the goalies are subpar.  Sorry to all you that are leaving Comrie and Anderson off the hook but they need to be better.  Buffalo does defense/goaltending worse than any other team in the league...for years now.

Heavy emphasis on THE DEFENCE. I'm not totally with throwing the goaltending under the bus watching highlights of the goals against. They (Anderson and Comrie) have stopped numerous odd man rushes and 2 on 1's etc. in almost each and every game and that is just deplorable D. Sure thay may give up the odd suspect goal but this defence is absolutely garbage right now (and has been for the past few seasons) Leaving numerous opposing snipers unmarked in the slot is not on the goaltending. Given that amount of time and coverage, snipers are gonna snipe. Again totally on the defence. Absolute rubbish!

[LGR4GM]

2 hours ago, NJhopelessSabresfan66 said:

Well, that game was disgusting. Some thoughts and observations:

- This team is a bunch of panzies.  With the exception of the off "Get mad" moment, we are pushed around like a 10 year old playing against men. 

- This team seriously misses Muel. Also, we need another LARGE PHYSICAL defenseman who knows what the hell he is doing.

- When was the last team we out on the ice that could handle any kind of forecheck???

- If we draft another undersized skilled forward.......

Do we see a pattern here? Do not need replace the team, just add some size and someone "who is not a glass Joe" that can handle the bigger and more aggressive teams. This team is going to be very bad unless that is addressed.   

Yup, that's the way. Just add a tall fat guy and we will win. The fact after all these years ppl still spout this is something, idk what but it is something. Sabres are 17th in NHL average weight and 1lb lighter than Vancouver. 

I am annoyed because I keep reading this and it keeps being false. I would see this same post in 2013 when we brought in Ott and Scott and had to draft Kassian and it amounted to nothing. We aren't losing because of size, we are losing because of effort... again. The team should be embarrassed about last night.

Size doesn't equal toughness and never has. 

[WhenWillItEnd66]

22 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Yup, that's the way. Just add a tall fat guy and we will win. The fact after all these years ppl still spout this is something, idk what but it is something. Sabres are 17th in NHL average weight and 1lb lighter than Vancouver. 

I am annoyed because I keep reading this and it keeps being false. I would see this same post in 2013 when we brought in Ott and Scott and had to draft Kassian and it amounted to nothing. We aren't losing because of size, we are losing because of effort... again. The team should be embarrassed about last night.

Size doesn't equal toughness and never has. 

Small grit does not keep you in front of the net. (ours or theirs) I am not saying fill the team, but our bigger players are like Pyatt was. Big but worthless. If you are just watching highlights or reading the results, then i see your opinion. If you are watching, then you are not watching the Sabres. We get pushed around taken off the puck easily. Our guys that go to the net front get thrown around like rag dolls. This team does need it, and they need to learn how to handle being forechecked other then being scared. 

[nucci]

32 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Yup, that's the way. Just add a tall fat guy and we will win. The fact after all these years ppl still spout this is something, idk what but it is something. Sabres are 17th in NHL average weight and 1lb lighter than Vancouver. 

I am annoyed because I keep reading this and it keeps being false. I would see this same post in 2013 when we brought in Ott and Scott and had to draft Kassian and it amounted to nothing. We aren't losing because of size, we are losing because of effort... again. The team should be embarrassed about last night.

Size doesn't equal toughness and never has. 

Gare was toughest Sabre and one of the smallest. Fought Clark Gilles often

[JoeSchmoe]

It's the goaltending not the defense.

 

All teams have defensive lapses. The stats show, we're actually pretty good at NOT giving these up. 

Our goaltending on the other hand is less reliable than most of the league.

[nfreeman]

7 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

I was watching a replay of the Flyers Columbus game after. First period, Flyers were bad and down 2-0. They do the bench interview with the coach thing and Torts simply answers "we suck". Second period Flyers came out completely different and made it a good game. Lost in OT but still, it was more entertaining hockey with effort. 

Now I'm not suggesting the Flyers are any good or have things right, they're not. They have very little actual talent and Torts will struggle to get them any wins at all BUT maybe this kind of coaching honesty is what this team needs.  Time to stop talking about "learning experiences" and other bs excuses and actually trying to win some hockey games. 

I thought DG's post-game presser was spot-on, as was Fairburn's description in the Athletic: 
 

Quote

 

But after a 5-4 loss to the Vancouver Canucks, Granato entered the postgame media room as upset as he’s been all season. This extended the losing streak to six including four straight at home. Asked if the Sabres took too long to show urgency, he said simply, “Absolutely.”

...

The Sabres dug themselves a hole early and let that bleed into the second period. In the first period, they had only 32 percent of the shot attempts and 33 percent of the expected goals. It took until they were down 5-2 for them to consistently generate pressure and control the pace of play. At five-on-five, the Sabres allowed 11 high-danger scoring chances in the first two periods and managed to generate only five. They didn’t play with the urgency you would expect from a team riding a five-game losing streak coming into this game.

“Too easy out of the gate,” Granato said. “That is a big lesson that needs to be learned now. Period.”

...

Granato boiled this loss down to the Canucks being willing to compete harder earlier in the game.

 

They didn't want it bad enough and they got dominated at home by a crappy team.  It's happened too many times already this season, and we're only 16 games in.

That's a leadership and character issue.

Torts would have peeled the paint the locker room during and after that game, usually with results.

I wish I felt confident DG would get results here.

 

 

1 hour ago, Pimlach said:

My brother took this last night.  Real attendance is about half of paid. 
 

I never thought I would see this in Buffalo.   What happened to the optimism?  
 

They haven't earned any optimism.  Last night was a disgrace.

 

8 minutes ago, nucci said:

Gare was toughest Sabre and one of the smallest. Fought Clark Gilles often

This team is dying for a guy like Gare -- preferably a few of them.