What are things about the current team you were WRONG about?

[mjd1001]

Most people, myself included, like to post things we are sure we are correct about.  Obviously we like to agree with those who are like-minded on a topic and disagree with those who think something different.

With that said, what are things about this current team that you were WRONG about (or at least it is trending that way).

For me:

-Mittlestadt.  Up until even earlier this year, I thought by now he would be the 20-25 goal, 60+ point guy (with a potential go to 30g, 70 points), who would generate offense whenever on the ice.  It looks like this many years into the league, he is falling short of that.

-Cozens. The opposite of Mitts. Again up until the start of this year, I thought he was going to be a very good 2-way center. A guy who would be a fixture on the 3rd line but the most you would expect out of him was 15-20 goals (tops) because he just didn't look like he had a good shot.  Well, this year alone at his age he exceeded what I expected from him offensively.

-Bryson. I never thought he would be a star, but I thought he was going to be a great 3rd pair guy, but a good enough skater that he might even be a good 2nd pair guy. Not only has he not reached that level, but the more ice time he gets, the more he regresses.

-Anderson in goal.  I wasn't against him coming back, but I thought he would be here for half the season, play 10 games until UPL and Comrie took over the duties...and when he played you would HOPE he would get you .895 save percentage and not embarass himself.  He isn't this teams starting goalie, but he has been a LOT better than I thought.

On a league related note, I have to say Claude Giroux falls into this cateory and so do the Flyers. Giroux when he signed with Ottawa I thought was done. Finished. Washed up. that by half way through the season they woudl reget signing him. BUT, he is on a pace for almost 35 goals and almost 80 points. Ooops...

The Flyers, I was thinking bad. Worst in the league bad. Getting blown out every other game bad. Well, they aren't 'good' but they are only 4 points behind Buffalo (although with more games played) and aginst the Sabres they knocked them around pretty good.

Lets not even talk much about the Bruins. They will EVENTUALLY have a bad year where the miss the playoffs. its coming, It has to be.

 

Edited February 22, 2023 by mjd1001

[Thorny]

- chemistry and culture needing to be prioritized, at first, over talent 

- I thought it unlikely Dahlin would establish as a mainstay RD (though he’s been back on the left, lately)

- Comrie: I thought he’d prove to be an adequate backup rather than proving little of anything which, after this long, proves enough.

- Thompson and Tuch being THOMPSON AND TUCH

[TageMVP]

This an admirable topic. Good on you for owning your incorrect predictions 

Most people cower when they're incorrect 

[CallawaySabres]

I would have never guessed the defense was going to be this bad. I underestimated how important the guys outside of Dahlin, Mule and Power would have to be in order to succeed. All I saw was offensive firepower on D and forgot about the guys who need to clear out the net presence.

The offense is much better and far more exciting than I thought it was going to be.

Goaltending is awful (other than Anderson) and I already thought that it was going to be the weakest part of the team.

[pi2000]

Goaltending, thought both Comrie and UPL would be better.

Team defense is still lacking.   The lack of improvement in their own end over the course of the season is disappointing, and that's on Granato. 

[Marvin]

I thought the goaltending would be better.

I thought Bryson, Fitzgerald, and Pilut would all be better.

I expected more out of Mittlestadt and Olofsson.

I am stunned at the development of Cozens.

I thought Power would struggle more.

[K-9]

I’ve never been wrong about anything about any Sabres team ever. From the opening puck drop vs the Penguins in October 1970 thru last night. 

[GASabresIUFAN]

Tnt’s ascension to super star status and Cozens maturing as he has.  While UPL has been slightly better than I thought, he still is a below average NHL goaltender and having him and Comrie man the crease next year will be a mistake.  Unfortunately that is exactly what KA is going to do.

Sadly I was correct about the defense and goaltending.  I felt they weren’t adequate at the end of last season and thought Comrie and Bush were band-aids.  I wanted KA to bring in two good stay at home D in the off-season (no I don’t think Bush is any good either) and wanted KA to bring in 2 goaltenders.  I acknowledged that he’d like bring back Anderson.  

With a goals against of over 3.4 per game the team is paying the price for KA not being more aggressive in the off-season to address the obvious issues with the team.    NJ aggressively fixed similar issues this past off-season and look where they are now.
 

 

[Quint]

I'm not wrong about anything. 😉

[DHawerchuk10]

On the positive side:

Dahlin turned the corner into a stud, and Power has progressed nicely all year.  I thought Power was going to be a Dahlin redux of sorts (put up good numbers, but be god awful in his own zone).

Offense is more dynamic than I thought it would be

On the negative side:

Really thought Mittelstadt was going to have 2021-22 Tage Thompson type year.  

Team defense is very lackluster and is still committing multiple sins (not getting the puck deep, forwards missing assignments, watching the puck instead of taking the body, etc.) that plagued them last year.

[Mr. Allen]

I said multiple times that I liked Tage but I expected him to have a slight regression this year. 

[North Buffalo]

Mitts has been somewhat a disappointment but in some respects on the wall more physical... now if he'd only shoot... Ollie is what he is a perimeter player despite sometimes making an effort..  Disappointed Peterka hasnt found his groove... UPL was suspect and Comrie was a crap shoot... Disappointed in overall D and goaltending. 

Edited February 22, 2023 by North Buffalo

[Weave]

I’m still not convinced I was ever wrong.  😁

Although I am still not convinced he’s the type of player we need to be successful, Mitts has turned into a serviceable NHLer.  Thats more than I expected.

Dahlin developed defensive game, so he’s not the Housley clone I feared we drafted 1st overall.

[Eleven]

I overestimated Jokiharju and underestimated Okposo's ability to be a defensive forward / open up space.

Other than that, I don't think I got too much wrong.  I've been worried about the goaltending all year and I've never had much faith in Mittlestadt.

[Night Train]

 We speculate. 

The team can finally score after years of seeing a 2 goal game as an outburst.  I was surprised they are scoring so many goals on average. 

 That they have zero idea how to play D is shocking. 

 

[Ctaeth]

I think the big one for me was Krebs.  Going back to last year, it always felt like he would make the pass instead of shooting, regardless of situation.  It was frustrating to watch.  When he struggled this year to start, I wrote him off.  Glad to see I was wrong, I like his trajectory and think he's going to be a solid contributor that I can see being able to play up and down the lineup.  

[Taro T]

Mittelstadt - thought he'd be better as a C than a W. Thought he'd play the way he has lately or maybe even better but did not expect the truly rough start he had and again, didn't expect he'd need to go to W to get stuff figured out again.

 

UPL - thought he had an outside chance of figuring stuff out, but didn't expect him to get the mental block he has out of his head. He's done a pretty good job of that and has played well at times, but am concerned that he's starting to get back into his own head again. The double hip surgery really messed with his head. 

 

Krebs - he's got a lot more moxy than expected. @PerreaultForever has seen him as a solid 3rd liner in a 200' role if he gains a bit more strength. Thought he was too small to do that, but he's really shown that with a bit more strength and experience he'll be a good player.

 

Pilut - thought he'be an adequate 6. He's not. He's an 8 at best.

 

Adams - wasn't sure that he actually didn't want a nice lottery ticket for Bedard. Am convinced he doesn't want that and do believe he expects this team to be VERY good next year.

 

 

[Pimlach]

I was wrong on the goaltending and thought it would be better, especially Comrie.  

I was wrong about Samuelsson.  I really questioned that contract with only 50 NHL games under his belt.  i still think he is a work in progress but he is doing better than I thought. 

I was wrong about Skinner, we are getting more out of him than I thought.  

I thought Zemgus had more of everything to his game.   He needs to bring energy and grit more often than he does.  

I am pleasantly surprised by Tuch.  He is full step better than I expected.   

I am right about everything else.  

[Huckleberry]

They can give zemgus and KO another 1 year deal.   But I seen enough from them , Those spots should be held by young guys in 2 years.

Mittelstadt I was hoping he would have a Cozens type season.

I expected more from Bryson.

Was hoping Comrie would take the net more.

 

Edited February 22, 2023 by Huckleberry

[PerreaultForever]

let me think (and I will probably forget something) but I was wrong about:

-  Quinn and Peterka have not hampered the team as much as I thought they might. They have had ups and downs and bad nights but I did think playing them this much this early would hurt the team substantially and it hasn't. 

- Cozens. I expected him to eventually be good, but he has leapt forward faster than I expected. I thought next year what this year already is. 

- UPL. Although still terribly inconsistent (horrible last night against the Leafs) he has had very good games and goaltending has not hurt us as badly as I thought it would.

- Krebs, like Cozens, has taken great strides I didn't expect. I did say earlier this year I thought he could be developed into a solid role player, and he is, but I can see him now actually being even better than that. He could become a lesser version of Marchand for us in time. I really like this kid now. 

- Power has adapted to the NHL faster than expected. I have always believed in him and still do, but I thought he'd struggle more season one. 

- Skinner hasn't sucked. I still don't like him and hate his contract, but he hasn't been terrible.

I still think I'm right though that this season will end up a missed opportunity and when we miss the playoffs by a few points I will still be able to say I told you so 🙂

 

[Porous Five Hole]

Indirectly Sabres related.
I thought Jack Campbell was the answer to our crease this past off-season.  
 

His save percentage for the Oilers is .887.  

Oops.  
 

I thought Pilut coming off his KHL experience was going to be a good third pairing D. He was not.  

[French Collection]

Positives

Dahlin is where I thought he would be next year. I was hoping for 70 points. He’s still only 22.

Cozens has also exceeded my expectations.

Tuch is better than I thought, plus all of the intangibles. He showed the most effort in that s**t show last night.

I had Quinn with a shot at 20G, he can still get there with a hot streak. He is on the cusp of an upward move.

Negatives

Comrie has not been a difference maker in any games. He hasn’t had many opportunities to turn it around but I expected more.

Lyubushkin has been hurt but he is not hitting or shutting anyone down. I thought he had a chance of being a 4D.

Okposo has lost a step and isn’t getting any quality shots on net. He works hard and I like him but he looks done.

PP. These are some of the most gifted offensive players yet they are not creative at all. They are scoring quite a bit but they don’t have a different look for when teams take away Tage.

PK. Have a basic system and get some buy in. This is a real weakness. Guys could get serious minutes added on if they get good at this.

 

 

[Zamboni]

I was wrong about Anderson. I thought he’d be a massive hot mess. He’s only luke warm.

I was thinking Power would be a struggling rookie. Not terrible. But not impressive this season.

I thought VO would be a weak link on the team this season.

I thought the attendance would be better than it has been this season.

[LGR4GM]

17 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Tnt’s ascension to super star status and Cozens maturing as he has.  While UPL has been slightly better than I thought, he still is a below average NHL goaltender and having him and Comrie man the crease next year will be a mistake.  Unfortunately that is exactly what KA is going to do.

Sadly I was correct about the defense and goaltending.  I felt they weren’t adequate at the end of last season and thought Comrie and Bush were band-aids.  I wanted KA to bring in two good stay at home D in the off-season (no I don’t think Bush is any good either) and wanted KA to bring in 2 goaltenders.  I acknowledged that he’d like bring back Anderson.  

With a goals against of over 3.4 per game the team is paying the price for KA not being more aggressive in the off-season to address the obvious issues with the team.    NJ aggressively fixed similar issues this past off-season and look where they are now.

Why come into this thread to post the same thing you post in every other thread? 

[Buffalonill]

I wasn't wrong about  The goalies.

 But I was dead wrong about tage ,cozens