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The 6K discussion thread: Can he lead us to the playoffs? Keeping the crease warm for Levi?

Hank

By Hank
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Hank Second Liner

Hank

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I've been his biggest supporter.  I might be his only supporter. He was awarded player of the year in junior. He dealt with major injuries that required surgeries. He was supposed to develop in Rochester last year, but was forced onto the Sabres roster due to injuries to other goalies before he was ready. 

Since he was recalled last year the team is eight games over .500 in those he's started, and six games below .500 combined with all other goalies. 

He is still young for a goalie and has not been afforded a traditional development path, he is not close to being a fully developed goalie. I think he makes a Filip Gustavsson type jump. I see improvement over last year, he's had two quality starts and won both games. Like it or not, our season depends on him. I'm comfortable with it. 

I'll say it again, he'll play over thirty games and have a winning record. 

Edited by Hank
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French Collection First Liner

French Collection

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UPL is important to righting the ship. He is the man right now and Levi will have to play well to get the net back. Long term they could be a tandem. Levi is who I see as a 1A going forward.

Comrie is only signed for this year and he has played OK but his durability is an issue. UPL has an opportunity here to lock up a spot in Buffalo and I hope he can do it. 

He is young enough to find another level, especially if the team plays well in front of him. EJ’s influence will help the goalies.
 

I still do not trust him until he shows some consistency. I was ready to give up on him but KA kept him around which ended up being a good move, for now.

I’ll give him this, he wins games. It is not always pretty but he gets more run support than the others.

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MattPie All Star

MattPie

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1 minute ago, Radar said:

Why don't we just use names? Seems so silly.

Only if we put a -stein filter in for misspellings.

6K? I dunno, but we'll find out of the next few weeks since Comrie is out. He's shown flashes before but always comes back to his normal level. He's still young, but to me, as a highlight-watcher he seems slow to react to anything other than straight-on shots.

For that matter, Levi seems to give up big rebounds and loses the puck too, but maybe that's because I only see the best chances and goals.

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erickompositör72 Third Liner

erickompositör72

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I rewatched highlights from the game. The alarming elements of UPL's game that I've mentioned noticing before (reflexes, balance, body control, recovery) all seemed to be vastly improved. He is still young enough that he could figure these things out. I'm sure working next to Levi in camp lit a fire under him, and showed him first-hand what a freakishly naturally talented goaltender looks like, up close.

 

Another test will be how he can handles breakaways/shootouts. As I said before, I'd be thrilled if he completely overcomes my expectations of him.

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SabresBaltimore Fourth Liner

SabresBaltimore

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Someone previously explained what 6k meant, and I promptly forgot. I still find it a confusing nickname. UPL makes sense to me. Upie also makes sense to me. I won't call him 6k, but at least I know who is being talked about now (the first time seeing the name I had no idea they were talking about UPL).

 

But anyways. I feel like he showed last year he could play well. The problem is he couldn't do that over a long stretch with consistency. He lost confidence, then the team lost confidence in him.

 

Levi is hoping to practice tomorrow. But even he's able to go this week, we have a back to back on Fri/Sat. He'll get at least one game there. Likely he'll be the starter Wed as they try to ease Levi back in from injury (assuming no set backs).

 

We need him to play like he did on Sat with consistency. I'm not optimistic, but I'm rooting for him to succeed.

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Doohickie Hall of Famer

Doohickie

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3 minutes ago, SabresBaltimore said:

Someone previously explained what 6k meant

His name has six Ks in it.  Pretty straightforward.

 

UKKo PeKKa LuuKKonen.

1 minute ago, postseasonblues said:

Youppi!,  which is french for yippee! makes you think of UPL? 

An exclamation point isn't the letter L

Mmmkay.

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