dudacek Posted January 1, 2023 Report Share Posted January 1, 2023 Two cliches are frequently held up around here as facts that can’t both possibly be true: ”They are doing this when they are well out of the playoffs, let’s see what they do when the standings are still up for grabs and the games really matter.” ”They are doing this before the good teams buckle down and get serious, let’s see what they do down the stretch when the games really matter. But sample sizes certainly are relevant and a full calendar year is worth talking about. In 2022, the Sabres were: 40/36/8, good for 21st in the NHL Scored 281 goals, good for 16th Allowed 291 goals, good for 24th Connected 25.4% of the time on the PP, good for 4th Killed 74.4% of their penalties, good for 24th Finished 18th in shots for at 30.9 per game Finished 24th in shots against at 32.5 per game Finished 17th in Corsi, at exactly 50% Individually: Thompson scored 53 goals and 99 points, good for 6th and 18th in the NHL, respectively. Dahlin scored 17 goals and 71 points, good for 6th and 5th among NHL defencemen, respectively. Skinner scored 41 goals and 84 points, good for 8th and 11th among NHL left wingers, respectively. Tuch scored 29 goals and 76 points, good for 19th and 12th among NHL right wingers, respectively. Cozens scored 17 goals and 57 points Olofsson 28 and 48 Mittlestadt 12 and 37 Krebs 10 and 30 Some comparables: Jack Eichel in his best calendar year: 38 goals, 86 points Sam Reinhart at Cozens age: 15 goals, 38 points Thomas Vanek in 2006: 36 goals, 63 points Danny Briere in 2006; 26 goals 81 points (just 63 games) 2 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dudacek Posted January 1, 2023 Author Report Share Posted January 1, 2023 It’s also worth noting that since March 1 - a sample size of between 62 and 70 games - the Sabres have the 8th-best points percentage in the east, just nosing out PIttsburgh and the Islanders for the final playoff spot. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weave Posted January 1, 2023 Report Share Posted January 1, 2023 (edited) For this season, we are well past “when teams buckle down and get serious”. They are passing that test so far. They can succeed at regular season hockey . At this point, their next test is the heavy hockey of playoffs. Edited January 1, 2023 by Weave 1 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taro T Posted January 1, 2023 Report Share Posted January 1, 2023 5 minutes ago, dudacek said: It’s also worth noting that since March 1 - a sample size of between 62 and 70 games - the Sabres have the 8th-best points percentage in the east, just nosing out PIttsburgh and the Islanders for the final playoff spot. Was mildly surprised the Sabres in calendar year '22 were only 21st, but they started the year really bad & had that November to forget. With them getting good goaltending, they really might find the extra 3 points over the final 48 games they need to finish the year at NHL 0.600. (The current winning streak has an NHL 0.625 getting them to 98 on the year & an almost definite playoff berth.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pimlach Posted January 1, 2023 Report Share Posted January 1, 2023 So things are looking up in Sabresland? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PromoTheRobot Posted January 1, 2023 Report Share Posted January 1, 2023 17 minutes ago, dudacek said: It’s also worth noting that since March 1 - a sample size of between 62 and 70 games - the Sabres have the 8th-best points percentage in the east, just nosing out PIttsburgh and the Islanders for the final playoff spot. Right when Anderson came back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nfreeman Posted January 1, 2023 Report Share Posted January 1, 2023 Quote Well, as a frequent purveyor of the "results in late-season garbage time need to be taken with a large pinch of salt" view, I will also say that we now have a large enough sample size this season to take this team seriously. If they avoid key injuries and get good goaltending, they have a very good shot at the playoffs -- nand I'm not writing them off as a 1-and-done either (although I'd sure like to avoid Boston and TB in the 1st round). In the meantime, there are thrills and joy to be had in watching the games and rooting for this very likeable team. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarthEbriate Posted January 1, 2023 Report Share Posted January 1, 2023 2 hours ago, PromoTheRobot said: Right when Anderson came back. Anderson and Tokarski both got back into the lineup at the very end of January, but the team kept scuffling through February with injuries (Girgs, Okposo, VO's wrist/hand recovery). The change really seemed to coincide with the big games: Toronto outdoors, Eichel's return, RJ Night. They got up for those and with a few blips, haven't really come down since. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwampD Posted January 1, 2023 Report Share Posted January 1, 2023 3 hours ago, dudacek said: Two cliches are frequently held up around here as facts that can’t both possibly be true: ”They are doing this when they are well out of the playoffs, let’s see what they do when the standings are still up for grabs and the games really matter.” ”They are doing this before the good teams buckle down and get serious, let’s see what they do down the stretch when the games really matter. But sample sizes certainly are relevant and a full calendar year is worth talking about. I want to take this as a separate posts, because I'm not really sure if I've heard either of these. (at least not this season) 1. In my mind, there is no "out of the playoffs" until there is, or at least until the end of January when things become apparent. 2. Good teams are still good teams, but I'm still remaining cautiously optimistic until we start seeing starting goaltending on a regular basis. 3 hours ago, dudacek said: In 2022, the Sabres were: 40/36/8, good for 21st in the NHL Scored 281 goals, good for 16th Allowed 291 goals, good for 24th Connected 25.4% of the time on the PP, good for 4th Killed 74.4% of their penalties, good for 24th Finished 18th in shots for at 30.9 per game Finished 24th in shots against at 32.5 per game Finished 17th in Corsi, at exactly 50% Individually: Thompson scored 53 goals and 99 points, good for 6th and 18th in the NHL, respectively. Dahlin scored 17 goals and 71 points, good for 6th and 5th among NHL defencemen, respectively. Skinner scored 41 goals and 84 points, good for 8th and 11th among NHL left wingers, respectively. Tuch scored 29 goals and 76 points, good for 19th and 12th among NHL right wingers, respectively. Cozens scored 17 goals and 57 points Olofsson 28 and 48 Mittlestadt 12 and 37 Krebs 10 and 30 Some comparables: Jack Eichel in his best calendar year: 38 goals, 86 points Sam Reinhart at Cozens age: 15 goals, 38 points Thomas Vanek in 2006: 36 goals, 63 points Danny Briere in 2006; 26 goals 81 points (just 63 games) It certainly has been some of the more wonderful hockey to watch (sans losing streak) in quite some time. If 6K can keep this up, we could absolutely be looking at the playoffs. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weave Posted January 1, 2023 Report Share Posted January 1, 2023 1 hour ago, SwampD said: I want to take this as a separate posts, because I'm not really sure if I've heard either of these. (at least not this season) The second one is almost a direct quote of something I posted once or twice in response to early season wins. I still stand by the sentiment, but the season is well past the loose play that we see around the league in the first few weeks. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PASabreFan Posted January 2, 2023 Report Share Posted January 2, 2023 Time will tell. (I shook my eight ball and yes I win a lot of bar bets.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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