GDT: Sabres @ Mighty Ducks, Feb 15, 2023, 10pm, MSG WGR

[Doohickie]

50 minutes ago, Hawerchuk said:

Sorry if this was mentioned already, but did anyone watch the Ducks TV broadcast with the streaking black puck line when the teams were on the powerplay? So freaking annoying. Like were back to the glowing puck days! Just stop it!

Yes it was mentioned.  Apparently the streak has its fans.

[GASabresIUFAN]

5 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

Yes it was mentioned.  Apparently the streak has its fans.

The fastest thing on two feet.

[PASabreFan]

2 hours ago, That Aud Smell said:

I would never.

I just won’t understand it. And I’ll be annoyed.

Neither will I. I am being used as a portal or vesicle or something. I am over it.

[GASabresIUFAN]

@Brawndo and @Doohickie  You would think after watching the development of players like Hagel, Briere, Thompson, Olofsson and many others that we would be more patient with young highly skilled guys.  Sometimes it just takes a little longer. 

[Taro T]

1 hour ago, Brawndo said:

For @GASabresIUFAN

 

The Granato Effect is very evident here 

Well, Granato was the one playing him at center with Olofsson & then either Asplund, Krebs, Hinostroza, or at the very beginning of the year Quinn IIRC.

They both wanted him at W but Asplund & Krebs forced him to C w/ 3rd and 4th line talent while the Kids Line developed.

So, is it the Granato effect or simply putting him in a role he can excel at?  Which, btw, Krueger was the 1st one to play him at W and his play appreciably was better than it had been prior to his stint w/ the Amerks.

And considering it was the addition of Jost that allowed him to slide to W, so maybe it's the Kevyn Adams effect?  😉

(And full disclosure, this kid thought he'd be more effective at C than W.  D'oh!)

[GASabresIUFAN]

9 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Well, Granato was the one playing him at center with Olofsson & then either Asplund, Krebs, Hinostroza, or at the very beginning of the year Quinn IIRC.

They both wanted him at W but Asplund & Krebs forced him to C w/ 3rd and 4th line talent while the Kids Line developed.

So, is it the Granato effect or simply putting him in a role he can excel at?  Which, btw, Krueger was the 1st one to play him at W and his play appreciably was better than it had been prior to his stint w/ the Amerks.

And considering it was the addition of Jost that allowed him to slide to W, so maybe it's the Kevyn Adams effect?  😉

(And full disclosure, this kid thought he'd be more effective at C than W.  D'oh!)

Actually it was Housley who started him off on the wing during his initial 6 games with the Sabres when Mitts’ created to high expectations when he scored 5 pts in those 6 games. 

However RK can be credited with nearly destroying Mitts, TNT, Skinner and Dahlin. 

I wouldn’t necessarily call it the Granato affect, but I would say we have a coach with an open mind willing to try anything to get the best out the talent he has.  Honestly we haven’t had a coach like this maybe ever.  

Edited February 16, 2023 by GASabresIUFAN

[Wyldnwoody44]

I watched until I fell asleep around the 2nd intermission mark.

This team cannot come out flat in the 2nd period against a good team and expect to just drop 7 goals. We were playing a tanking team and we dominated overall, but even in the process it showed our worts.

Comrie looks "not good" and he hasn't since the start of the season, the Ducks goalie was one of the worst I've seen in a while. 

Next week against the top teams will be the determining factor, get 3 out of 4 games against the East and those jn playoff spots and then I'll change my tune. I don't think we have the horses this year to get it done. 

[JohnC]

Within this WGR link is a 14 minute segment with Don Granato. In it he explained his reasoning to split up the lines. He said it was a way to refresh the original lines, or as he put it to disassemble in order to reassemble them. He is enjoyable to listen to because he answers the questions without the typical inane coach speak. He talked about Quinn and how highly he regards him. He has high expectations for him. He also discussed the impact that an extended break has when a team gets back to play. Good hockey talk. 

https://www.audacy.com/wgr550/authors/howard-and-jeremy-show

Edited February 16, 2023 by JohnC

[K-9]

1 hour ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

The fastest thing on two feet.

[Taro T]

20 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Actually it was Housley who started him off on the wing during his initial 6 games with the Sabres when Mitts’ created to high expectations when he scored 5 pts in those 6 games. 

However RK can be credited with nearly destroying Mitts, TNT, Skinner and Dahlin. 

I wouldn’t necessarily call it the Granato affect, but I would say we have a coach with an open mind willing to try anything to get the best out the talent he has.  Honestly we haven’t had a coach like this maybe ever.  

And Housley, in his infinite wisdom, never played Mittelstadt at W again.

But, he did have the good sense to not only typically play him as his 2C, but even as the 1C when Eichel 1st was absent injured.  Yeah, sure, it was Krueger who put Mitts on the road to purgatory.

[msw2112]

14 hours ago, DarthEbriate said:

Yes. And I can't believe Portillo looks at the current setup and thinks that he'll have a better opportunity elsewhere. He has to believe he can beat out UPL and Comrie. If not, what's the point?

My guess is that he's more concerned about Levi than Comrie or UPL.  There's also the young Euro goalie they drafted this past season, but I believe that Portillo is well ahead of him on the development curve.  I don't monitor other NHL teams' pipelines, but I'd have to think the Sabres offer as close to a good goaltending opportunity as any NHL team.

Edited February 16, 2023 by msw2112

[GASabresIUFAN]

49 minutes ago, Taro T said:

And Housley, in his infinite wisdom, never played Mittelstadt at W again.

But, he did have the good sense to not only typically play him as his 2C, but even as the 1C when Eichel 1st was absent injured.  Yeah, sure, it was Krueger who put Mitts on the road to purgatory.

I think you are reading too much into a situation.  During this never ending rebuild all sorts of players have played in all sorts of rolls because of necessity and not necessarily because coaches thought that was their longterm role.  Remember Z and Larsson once played on our top 2 lines.  

If I remember Mitts first year here he played mostly 2nd and 3rd line center behind Jack and supposed to be Berglund.  With Samson on Jack’s line, what choice did Housley have once Berglund took a powder? Erod, Sobotka, Wilson?

[Taro T]

5 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

I think you are reading too much into a situation.  During this never ending rebuild all sorts of players have played in all sorts of rolls because of necessity and not necessarily because coaches thought that was their longterm role.  Remember Z and Larsson once played on our top 2 lines.  

If I remember Mitts first year here he played mostly 2nd and 3rd line center behind Jack and supposed to be Berglund.  With Samson on Jack’s line, what choice did Housley have once Berglund took a powder? Erod, Sobotka, Wilson?

As a matter of fact, yes, Rodrigues should've been the 2C and by the end of the year even Housley had twigged onto that.  But a 19 yo rookie 1 season removed from HS hockey should not have been placed in that role.  It falls under the category of being set up to fail.

[That Aud Smell]

2 hours ago, PASabreFan said:

Neither will I. I am being used as a portal or vesicle or something. I am over it.

[GASabresIUFAN]

2 hours ago, Taro T said:

As a matter of fact, yes, Rodrigues should've been the 2C and by the end of the year even Housley had twigged onto that.  But a 19 yo rookie 1 season removed from HS hockey should not have been placed in that role.  It falls under the category of being set up to fail.

Hindsight is 20/20.  What Housley should have done was put Reinhart at 2C.  Also ERod is a better winger than center.  It also shows how inadequate the roster was.

[Taro T]

56 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Hindsight is 20/20.  What Housley should have done was put Reinhart at 2C.  Also ERod is a better winger than center.  It also shows how inadequate the roster was.

Yes, Reinhart would've been a better choice, but with the constraints YOU set that was not an option, Rodrigues was the 2nd best C of the remaining players on the roster.

[DarthEbriate]

3 hours ago, msw2112 said:

My guess is that he's more concerned about Levi than Comrie or UPL.  There's also the young Euro goalie they drafted this past season, but I believe that Portillo is well ahead of him on the development curve.  I don't monitor other NHL teams' pipelines, but I'd have to think the Sabres offer as close to a good goaltending opportunity as any NHL team.

You just can't be afraid of Levi (even though he's going to be a hockey god! heck, he's got 2 simultaneous Sabrespace threads about him) because he's an unproven kid, just like Portillo. And with goalies, there are always nicks and scrapes along the way. No one plays their goalies like Ruff used to anymore.

As for Leinonen, Portillo will be on his 2nd contract before he even sniffs the NHL. Nothing to fear there, either.

Join an up-and-coming team with an obvious goaltending need... be a hero!

[GASabresIUFAN]

Just now, Taro T said:

Yes, Reinhart would've been a better choice, but with the constraints YOU set that was not an option, Rodrigues was the 2nd best C of the remaining players on the roster.

But you are talking about a talented rookie, a mediocre W/C, a lousy Sobotka and a nothing in Wilson.  Not exactly a list of great options.  From a talent perspective he went with the best option and Mitts had an ok rookie year overall.  

I have felt for years that stapling Reinhart to Jack's wing was a mistake as he was drafted to be one of our two franchise centers.  Jbot and Housley would have been smart to start Reinhart as the 2C and Berglund as the 3C and then build out the roster from there.  It's all water under the bridge at this point.  Nothing absolves RK of his coaching incompetence.  

Jbot would have been smart just to give DG the job in the first place.  I wrote when RK was hired that we needed a teacher, not a motivator.  

[Taro T]

1 minute ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

But you are talking about a talented rookie, a mediocre W/C, a lousy Sobotka and a nothing in Wilson.  Not exactly a list of great options.  From a talent perspective he went with the best option and Mitts had an ok rookie year overall.  

I have felt for years that stapling Reinhart to Jack's wing was a mistake as he was drafted to be one of our two franchise centers.  Jbot and Housley would have been smart to start Reinhart as the 2C and Berglund as the 3C and then build out the roster from there.  It's all water under the bridge at this point.  Nothing absolves RK of his coaching incompetence.  

Jbot would have been smart just to give DG the job in the first place.  I wrote when RK was hired that we needed a teacher, not a motivator.  

No, actually he didn't.  There were 2 better options and even you have acknowledged explicitly WITHIN THIS POST EVEN that there was 1 better option.

[dudacek]

3 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Hindsight is 20/20.  What Housley should have done was put Reinhart at 2C.  Also ERod is a better winger than center.  It also shows how inadequate the roster was.

But don't worry, Botterill saw that clearly and stepped up to fortify it with solid NHL players like Johansson, Sheary, Vesey, Frolik, Kahun, Lazar, Simmonds and JS Dea.

My god that man was a bad GM.

[French Collection]

12 hours ago, dudacek said:

But don't worry, Botterill saw that clearly and stepped up to fortify it with solid NHL players like Johansson, Sheary, Vesey, Frolik, Kahun, Lazar, Simmonds and JS Dea.

My god that man was a bad GM.

Anything can be fixed with duct tape.

[Taro T]

1 hour ago, French Collection said:

Anything can be fixed with duct tape.

And a 3rd round pick.