GDT: Sabres @ Blue Jackets - April 14, 2023 - 7:30PM, MSG-B📺WGR📻

[LGR4GM]

35 minutes ago, thewookie1 said:

We finished over the famous Deluca .500

Son of a bitch. 

Gentlemen, ladies, we have ourselves a hockey team. 

Edited April 15, 2023 by LGR4GM

[K-9]

10 minutes ago, Taro T said:

It's a useless metric that means nothing except your team managed to win (whether it be in regulation, overtime, or via a shootout) in at least 1/2 the games you played.

People will tell you it's a wonderful proxy for getting into the playoffs except when it isn't.

The Sabres won 42 games including their 9 OT wins and 3 SO wins.  So, it looks like they were above 0.500 and the disciples will tell you they should be in the playoffs.  But in regulation, their record was only 30-33-19.   So, they were very good this year in the non-hockey portion of the game and a smidge under so-so in the hockey portion of the game.

They are 1 of 2 teams that hit that illustrious threshold that didn't make the playoffs.

NHL 0.600 is the metric that matters.  Had the Sabres reached it, they'd've been in the playoffs.

Useless indeed. The league standings are predicated on points, period. As far as I’m concerned there are 164 available points in a season and if you finish with 82, you are a .500 team.

[LGR4GM]

12 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

That was the plan going into last season, then Mitts got hurt in Game One.  I'm not sure he was ready then, but he's ready now.

I leaving Mitts at 1C allows you to put Tage and Cozens on the same line and with any decent complementary player that makes a really, really really tough Line 1 and Line 1A to play against.

Then you put JJ and Quinn with an emerging center... holy *****.  We're gonna be hard to play against.

I think we may be forgetting Tage Thompson has been playing injured. 

No, Mitts should not be penciled in to line 1 per say but as you note, lots of lineup options.

No reason to put JJP and Quinn with an emerging center imo. Give them Cozens or Tage or Mitts. We have so many wingers there's few reasons to move Tage or Cozens to wing at 5v5.

Edited April 15, 2023 by LGR4GM

[Thorny]

17 minutes ago, Taro T said:

It's a useless metric that means nothing except your team managed to win (whether it be in regulation, overtime, or via a shootout) in at least 1/2 the games you played.

People will tell you it's a wonderful proxy for getting into the playoffs except when it isn't.

The Sabres won 42 games including their 9 OT wins and 3 SO wins.  So, it looks like they were above 0.500 and the disciples will tell you they should be in the playoffs.  But in regulation, their record was only 30-33-19.   So, they were very good this year in the non-hockey portion of the game and a smidge under so-so in the hockey portion of the game.

They are 1 of 2 teams that hit that illustrious threshold that didn't make the playoffs.

NHL 0.600 is the metric that matters.  Had the Sabres reached it, they'd've been in the playoffs.

No one thinks it’s a wonderful proxy. It’s just generally accurate: as you laid out by saying we are 1/2. The reason it’s a nice metric to follow is not because it guarantees anything: it’s because winning as many, or more than you lose is fun because *winning is the purpose of the game*. It’s fun to see your team win more than you lose.  It’s the most basic metric to understand the inherent, mental value of. The fact that it *often* corresponds with playoffs is what makes it not purely emotional. It’s also fun because teams that win more than they lose are fairly, imo, classified as “good”. 

Hope that helps because you seem to hate it more than people that like it, like it 

Edited April 15, 2023 by Thorny

[Taro T]

6 minutes ago, JohnC said:

There are so many options to consider when assembling lines next year. The issue with Tage is if he is on a Cozens line, which player plays center. I think Tage at center takes less of a pounding than at wing. On the other hand, I like Cozens as a center. I find the Quinn/Cozens/JJ line to be an emerging line. I'm not making any declarations about lines right now because I'm just not sure. 

If Thompson and Cozens are on the same line, let Cozens primarily take the C duties in his own end and let Thompson tend to be that 3F more with Cozens being 1F or 2F (basically, having Cozens as the W in the offensive zone with Tage as the C there).  Very much the way Briere and Leino did it back the last time the Sabres were in the playoffs.

Note, this doesn't mean that the expectation is they will be together again next year; just one example of how they could make it work.

[Taro T]

1 minute ago, Thorny said:

No one thinks it’s a wonderful proxy. It’s just generally accurate: as you laid out by saying we are 1/2. The reason it’s a nice metric to follow is not because it guarantees anything: it’s because winning as many, or more than you lose is fun because *winning is the purpose of the game*. It’s fun to see your team win more than you lose. It’s the most basic metric to understand the inherent, mental value of. The fact that it *often* corresponds with playoffs is what makes it not purely emotional. 

 

 

Sorry, it is a trash metric and the appeal of it is purely emotional.

[Night Train]

Sabres tie the team record for road wins in a season.. yet screw up home ice. Utterly bizarre.

[Doohickie]

15 minutes ago, JohnC said:

There are so many options to consider when assembling lines next year. The issue with Tage is if he is on a Cozens line, which player plays center. I think Tage at center takes less of a pounding than at wing. On the other hand, I like Cozens as a center. I find the Quinn/Cozens/JJ line to be an emerging line. I'm not making any declarations about lines right now because I'm just not sure. 

So maybe the combo with Mitts at 1C is JJ-Cozens-Quinn and then a line with Greenway, Tage, and.... an emerging winger?  I think Greenway and Tage on the same line would be simply punishing for another team to have to defend.

There's no way opposing teams are going to stop all three of those lines.

Edited April 15, 2023 by Doohickie

[TageMVP]

Nice win to end the season 

You know what I find completely absurd? That the tie breaker goes to the team with more regulations wins. How is it not TOTAL wins? Befuddled over here 

Wouldn't mind an explanation regarding that. Makes no sense to me 

Now go make the playoffs next year, Sabres 

[LGR4GM]

1 minute ago, Doohickie said:

So maybe the combo with Mitts at 1C is JJ-Cozens-Quinn and then a line with Greenway, Tage, and.... an emerging winger?

Again, we're forgetting Tage Thompson was injured and over-valuing Mitts imo. I disagree with your idea here. 

[Thorny]

8 minutes ago, Taro T said:

If Thompson and Cozens are on the same line, let Cozens primarily take the C duties in his own end and let Thompson tend to be that 3F more with Cozens being 1F or 2F (basically, having Cozens as the W in the offensive zone with Tage as the C there).  Very much the way Briere and Leino did it back the last time the Sabres were in the playoffs.

Note, this doesn't mean that the expectation is they will be together again next year; just one example of how they could make it work.

Briere and Leino? 

[Flashsabre]

I think Savoie will have a say in how deployment happens next year.

If he is ready he is a strong face off guy so I see him in the middle.

I mean you could do something like:

Skinner Mitts Tuch

Greenway Tage Cozens

JJ Savoie Quinn

Girgs Krebs Rousek

There are a lot of combos you can make from that group. I think Kulich will push his way up later in the season too.

[Thorny]

5 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Sorry, it is a trash metric and the appeal of it is purely emotional.

What a fun conversation.  

[Taro T]

Just now, Thorny said:

Briere and Leino? 

You know, the starting center and 1 of his wingers for the team that knocked the Sabres out of the playoffs most recently.

[LGR4GM]

1 minute ago, TageMVP said:

Nice win to end the season 

You know what I find completely absurd? That the tie breaker goes to the team with more regulations wins. How is it not TOTAL wins? Befuddled over here 

Wouldn't mind an explanation regarding that. Makes no sense to me 

Now go make the playoffs next year, Sabres 

The tiebreaker doesn't matter for us though. It would simply flip us and Pittsburgh at 91pts each. 

91... they topped 90 points with bad defense and leaky goalies.

[K-9]

Sorry fellas, but this talk of splitting up Tage, Skinner, and Tuch is just silly. It’s great that Mitts showed well in his short tenure while Tage was hurt, but he is no TNT. That simple. 

[JohnC]

Just now, Doohickie said:

So maybe the combo with Mitts at 1C is JJ-Cozens-Quinn and then a line with Greenway, Tage, and.... an emerging winger?

I do like Mitts with Tuch and Skinner. Granato has been very adept at putting players in a position to succeed. Moving Krebs to an Okposo/Girgs line demonstrated that. Granato is good at assembling lines and when needed juggling them. I have a lot of confidence in his judgment on the line composition issue. 

[TageMVP]

2 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

The tiebreaker doesn't matter for us though. It would simply flip us and Pittsburgh at 91pts each. 

91... they topped 90 points with bad defense and leaky goalies.

Question goes unanswered

Lol 

Someone else give it a try 

[Taro T]

6 minutes ago, Thorny said:

What a fun conversation.  

Is what it is.

6 teams were within 2 wins of a DeLuca 0.500.  The stat says 4 of the 6 should've made the playoffs.  Only 2 of them actually did.  A stat that fails 1/3 of the time for anybody that has a record near the metric is IMHO trash.

NHL 0.600 has incorrectly predicted a team making the playoffs exactly once in the modern era and that happened under very unusual circumstances over 50 years ago.  You hit that mark, you make the playoffs.  Period.

Edited April 15, 2023 by Taro T

[North Buffalo]

Sad the season is over would have liked to see them in the 1st round but they probably werent ready... need a big rough and tumble D on the back end that doesnt give the puck away...  Lots of possibilities at forward, cant wait to see Savoie and Kulich along with Rousek... his speed and net front should be a good addition... Another year for young guys to get bigger... future is bright. 

[JohnC]

12 minutes ago, Taro T said:

If Thompson and Cozens are on the same line, let Cozens primarily take the C duties in his own end and let Thompson tend to be that 3F more with Cozens being 1F or 2F (basically, having Cozens as the W in the offensive zone with Tage as the C there).  Very much the way Briere and Leino did it back the last time the Sabres were in the playoffs.

Note, this doesn't mean that the expectation is they will be together again next year; just one example of how they could make it work.

As I said in another post, this coach has proven to be adept at putting lines together. Next season is going to be interesting on who they bring in and how the players are assembled. What a dramatic change in atmosphere and expectation about this team entering next season. It's really exciting. This has been such a fun season. 

[Taro T]

9 minutes ago, TageMVP said:

Nice win to end the season 

You know what I find completely absurd? That the tie breaker goes to the team with more regulations wins. How is it not TOTAL wins? Befuddled over here 

Wouldn't mind an explanation regarding that. Makes no sense to me 

Now go make the playoffs next year, Sabres 

Simple.  The league wants to incentivize winning in regulation and wants to deemphasize a glorified skills competition.

[sabresouth]

For the record I am in favor of keeping the TNT,Skinner and Tuch line together.

I am not a fan of Greenway with TNT. He's not skilled enough. I think he drags that line down. 

[Thorny]

6 minutes ago, TageMVP said:

Question goes unanswered

Lol 

Someone else give it a try 

I got you 

I think it’s because 3 v 3 is a sham. It’s what I always say, and the league devaluing it’s role in the tie breaker at least lends a small crumble of merit to my opinion here 

[TageMVP]

Just now, Taro T said:

Simple.  The league wants to incentivize winning in regulation and wants to deemphasize a glorified skills competition.

Sure but that same league incentivizes  losing in overtime 

And created the overtime rules 

It should all be changed, very odd rules that no other league has