Sabres at the quarter pole

[French Collection]

1 hour ago, PASabreFan said:

That’s impressive!

[...]

Nov. 25 2023 vs. 2022

2023 GP 21 9-10-2 20pts
2022 GP 21 9-12-0 18pts

[Taro T]

3 minutes ago, ... said:

Nov. 25 2023 vs. 2022

2023 GP 21 9-10-2 20pts
2022 GP 21 9-12-0 18pts

 And earning those 2 extra points to this point would've made a monster difference in outcomes at the end of the year.

[...]

2 minutes ago, Taro T said:

 And earning those 2 extra points to this point would've made a monster difference in outcomes at the end of the year.

The good news is that November isn't over yet! 

[#freejame]

28 minutes ago, ... said:

Nov. 25 2023 vs. 2022

2023 GP 21 9-10-2 20pts
2022 GP 21 9-12-0 18pts

It wasn’t good enough then and it isn’t good enough now. 

[Gatorman0519]

No real progress. 

[Shoot da Puck]

10 hours ago, Goldseatsaud said:

Be patient only been waiting since 1970

Me too, we must be suckers 

[Pimlach]

So we are pretty much in the same place as last year but does it feel like the best of the season is coming? 
 

Will Quinn and Tage be as effective as last season?  
 

Did you expect to be younger this season than last, and still challenge for playoffs?   

[MISabresFan]

Sitting at 20 after 21, to hit 100 need approximately 35 wins and 9 ties in the next 61 games.  Can you say 13.

[Spoonman]

14 hours ago, PASabreFan said:

@PASabreFan My word. Your quote from the debacle that was the nj devils game: "The quality of this board has declined precipitously. Kinda appropriate, I guess, given the state of the franchise."

😝

Edited November 26, 2023 by Spoonman

[Spoonman]

22 hours ago, dudacek said:

The Sabres sit at 9/9/2, 3 points out of a playoff spot and 19th overall.

They are 25th in goals for and 15th in goals against

They are 5/5 at home and 4/4/2 on the road and have won back-to-back games just once.

 

Good developments:

• Secondary scorers Casey Mittelstadt and JJ Peterka have stepped up
• Jordan Greenway has been effective adding strength and good defence to the middle six
• Erik Johnson, Ryan Johnson and Connor Clifton have been a notable upgrade over Bryson, Clague and Lyubushkin
• EJ, Greenway and Tage Thompson have keyed a much improved PK
• Ukko Pekka Lukkonnen (5/3/1 2.71 .914) has provided competent NHL goaltending

 

Bad developments:

• 30-goal scorers Thompson, Alex Tuch and Dylan Cozens have 16 goals combined.
• The bottom 6 of Olofsson, Greenway, Krebs, Okposo, Girgensons and Benson has 8 goals combined.
• They've been outscored in first periods and scored 1st just 8 times (6/1/1)
• The power play is at 13.5% - roughly half last year’s pace.
• Devon Levi has just 2 starts over .900 and 5 under .890

 

It’s simplistic, but one could make a case that the Sabres record can almost entirely be chalked up to their bad power play. Seven of their losses have been in tight games where a key PP score would have made a difference. Turn 2 of those into wins and they’re in the playoffs.

Consensus around here seemed to have been that if this team added some depth on defence and got average goaltending this was a playoff team. The first two things have happened but the 3rd hasn’t followed.

I think that by and large, that’s because too many players handpicked by management to be central pieces of this team - Thompson, Tuch, Cozens, Okposo, Krebs, Power, Samuelsson Levi - have not been nearly as good as they have previously shown or as the team wants and needs them to be.

Is it that because they’re still transitioning to a more defensively responsible style? Coaching? Self-imposed pressure? They aren’t that good to begin with? A mix of all of the above?

I think this team can and should be better. But those identity games they were building last year - the games where they just keep coming regardless of the score - have been lacking, as has the fearlessness that fed them.

There’s still time.

@dudacek and Sabres Spacers - 

Duda - nice post! 

Attention all Sabres Spacers, Attention, this is a message from the North American Pole Board (no not parole board for some of you intransigents!)...

The title of this discussion needs facts around poles (I see that @PASabreFan is quite knowledgeable & I know, 'facts schmacts' on this board 😜)....

However, the poles on a track represent a furlong (= 1/8th of a mile or .4 km for those using the correct measuring system).

The 'quarter pole' is actually LAST 1/4 mi. (.8 km) from the FINISH...

So if we want to play with the horse racing analogy with the Sabres season, and for simplicity's sake, assume a 1 mi. (1.6 km) "race", the title should reflect this and say 'Sabres at the 3/4 pole". 

But hey, don't let the facts get in the way of a good post topic! 🙂 

Now back to our regularly scheduled posting....

 

[Spoonman]

19 hours ago, Taro T said:

Shh, don't bring facts into the discussion.

@Taro T Great minds, as I have also noted numerous times! "FACTS SCHMACTS" don't let them get in the way of a good/bad/indifferent post!

[Spoonman]

1 hour ago, MISabresFan said:

Sitting at 20 after 21, to hit 100 need approximately 35 wins and 9 ties in the next 61 games.  Can you say 13.

I will keep COUNTing....ah ha ha ha ha haaaaaa!

[PASabreFan]

1 hour ago, MISabresFan said:

Sitting at 20 after 21, to hit 100 need approximately 35 wins and 9 ties in the next 61 games.  Can you say 13.

Yes. Not to pick on Taro again, but to finish with his 103 points, an 82 point pace team through a quarter of the season is going to have to go the rest of the way pacing as a 110 point team. There are zero signs this is in the offing.

I'm afraid last night was telling. Harry Neale used to say scoring a goal went right to a player's legs. Beating Pitt should have propelled the Sabres to a great performance. The chance to get on a roll and start to end the nightmare was sitting there. It didn't happen. 

 This team's head space is bizarre. 

[GASabresIUFAN]

The Sabres have 10% more points than last year.  I'm sure KA is very proud of his improved roster.

[Thorny]

16 hours ago, ... said:

Nov. 25 2023 vs. 2022

2023 GP 21 9-10-2 20pts
2022 GP 21 9-12-0 18pts

I prefer just looking at last season’s pace vs this season's. It’s not a golf course, improving by 2 points over a poor start from last year doesn’t mean we are in better shape than last year, more reflective is how the pace has downturned since they finished last season 

You hope that carries over + improvement not that you more less revert back to a stage pre-several stages of development. What would be the point of having a development year last year if it didn’t carry over - that’s the entire point 

[sabremike]

Here is the reality: In terms of Points Per Game (which is the meaningful stat in regards to the NHL, not Win Percentage) we are at .476. Only the corpse of the Blue Jackets are worse in the east (We are tied with the Habs for second worst). And there's also the fact that even this crap record flatters them and is far better than actually deserved.

[Porous Five Hole]

Goaltending isn’t killing them relative to the rest of the league. But it sure feels that way.  

[Taro T]

6 hours ago, Porous Five Hole said:

Goaltending isn’t killing them relative to the rest of the league. But it sure feels that way.  

Getting no help from their teammates can skew perceptions.  Is what it is.

How many goals have gone in off Clifton?  How many goals have gone in that were in Power's skates?  How many goals went in that Samuelsson was in position but couldn't win the battle.  ...

(Not even gettting into how many times did the F's leave them all on an island.)

[Gatorman0519]

This team is still a tire fire. Nothings changed. 

[sabremike]

The biggest reason I think this is the most unlikable Sabres team ever is simple: They spent the whole offseason doing a victory lap over a failure while with all sorts of big talk about next season (even having the balls to call out fans for not filling KBC) and then they all come into the season unprepared and out of shape and have stunk the joint out the vast majority of nights so far. They moaned about fans booing them and then the next night were beaten and humiliated as bad as a team can possibly be. There is absolutely nothing worse than guys who talk the talk and don't back it up in the least. And now Detroit actually did what our loudmouth underacheivers who've never won anything said the would do and took the next step to blow a million miles past us to join the other big four laughing and kicking sand in our face. 

[Pimlach]

15 hours ago, Porous Five Hole said:

Goaltending isn’t killing them relative to the rest of the league. But it sure feels that way.  

We keep seeing stats that say our goaltending is not the biggest problem this year yet people keep blaming the goalies. 

The forwards are a completed mess.  The lines keep shifting and there is no consistency in them from game to game.  This was the year we "learn defense" in the Granato system.  I don't see it.  I see the forwards playing slow and thinking too much - that is not team defense.   

We have 4 forwards that are just not good enough to be on an NHL playoff team.  At least three of them play every night.  Last game we had too many AHL players on the roster at one time and NJ took advantage of them.  

The bottom 6 started bad and is worse due to injuries in the top 6.   The AHL forward prospects are not ready.  Management did not add NHL depth.  

[PASabreFan]

Something is stuck in my hockey head. Please help me dislodge it.

After the loss to NJ a somewhat exasperated DG explained that he had given the team a charge... Play a simple game, "get pucks in behind." It came off as, hey, I coached 'em up, but they wouldn't listen.

But this is the NHL. Wouldn't a player expect more of a game plan than that?

Was the simple charge a reflection of the coach thinking he had a tired team playing in its third game in four nights?

Or is this the way DG thinks? He's on record as saying it's easier to learn the offensive side than the defensive side, and nobody fears defense anyway. Rob let it slip that Donny doesn't do much coaching in a game, he lets the players figure it out.

If he's not a tactician, that's fine. Does he have one on his staff?

With the heat being turned up on the guy, I guess I'm just wondering... What do we got here in our head coach?

Edited November 27, 2023 by PASabreFan