GDT November 30th Sabres @ Blues 8pm MSG, ESPN+

[Sabres Fan in NS]

Oh, well.

Pilaging and baby eating coming up.

[Buffalonill]

11 hours ago, tom webster said:

I’m pissed. Besides the way he handled Kane, to say he is considering letting Benson play for the Canadian junior team during a season where they are supposed to be trying to actually win is beyond believable to me.

 

[Pimlach]

48 minutes ago, Spoonman said:

Me in the Oranges at the Aud, back in the day. Saved up my paper route money to go to the game, buy a pennant to hang in my room,bag of peanuts (in the shell, of course), and a Pepsi! We played the hated bean turd bruins, had 3 fights (one bench clearing), and Sabres won the game. Oh, and I walked to the game in 12 inches (30 cm) of snow uphill (both ways). Fun times.

Hmmm.  Judging by the clothes and hats, this looks like old Aud, pre Orange balcony expansion.   Are you sure this wasn’t Bisons vs Hershey Bears.   And your seats were in the greys.  
 

You old timers forget everything.  

[Pimlach]

11 hours ago, Spoonman said:

Good Evening Children of the ⚔️

Spoon late joining….. was w my girl @ dog park & catching up on game…..

3-3 LFG!

 

[JohninMinn.]

Last nite we saw in one game the bad Sabres the Super Sabres and finally the bad Sabres.

[FrenchConnection44]

Coaching staff needs to be entirely revamped. But it needs to be the right coach who has a system that fits the talent. 
 

I’m fine with a sale of the club if Pegula isn’t going to be a better and more committed owner, but who is he selling to?
 

How many billionaires are out there willing to buy the club, pour money into it even without big city advertising revenue, and are fully committed to the city of Buffalo? Can’t sell to an outsider who might move the team. 

[Pimlach]

Just a few more observations and thoughts after watching them live last night.  
 

• This team could be much more physical, they are in position to be, but they chose not to be.  Finishing a check is not going to slow them down from the Granato system, but they play like it is.  Very passive and easy to play against.  
• Rosen is not ready for this level of play..  Second period, a loose puck fortuitously comes to him while he is standing in the slot.  Instead of firing it on net for his first NHL goal he did a backward pass, gave the Blues time to recover and Binington made a big save.  Not what I wanted to see.  Good prospect but needs 2 more years to earn a spot on an established team. 
• Benson was very good.  A few Blues fans asked me about him.  You notice him, his passion and his motor. 
• The time out after we tied the game at 3 was classic good coaching and bad coaching.  Blues get two in 20 seconds. Sabres literally stopped playing for some reason.  The Sabres overcame a lousy start and then this timeout was the turning point.  Wonder what Matty and the boys told them? 
• Blues 4th goal was atrocious.  Samuelsson with an unforced turnover.  Samuelsson has become a lazy hockey player. Looking like a 3rd pair guy lately.  
• Blues 5th goal was worse.  Little Johnson strolled insteaded of skated and let Kyrou get behind him.  The rookie probably does not know who he is.  Power gets blamed on this one but it started in the neutral zone with Johnson.  
• Power had another rough game.  Everyone is on him, no need to add more.  He and RJ are not a good pair, Johnson was -3 and Power -2.  Bad night for sure. 
• UPL is back.  He looked just like last years model.  
• The first line was out there for a bunch of goals against, they played a lot of minutes,  but no points.  Can’t win if they have a night like that. 
• Lazy effort that was compounded by bad goaltending.  They tried hard for awhile, but for the most part they looked like a young team that doesn’t listen or respond to their coach. 

Pregame - the Blues had a nice ceremony for HoF inductees Ken Hitchcock (6years as blues coach) and Pierre Turgeon (5 years at center for Blues) .  Very classy.  

Atmosphere was great, the Blues game experience is a really good one.  Lively night,  their fans expect to win at home.  It’s a habit.   

 

Edited December 1, 2023 by Pimlach

[Pimlach]

12 hours ago, Stads said:

Too much homerism?

Panger is gone. He used to do color on blues games and he knows a ton about all the teams.  

[WhenWillItEnd66]

Some Thought and observations from last night:

- This team and the slow starts are destroying any playoff chance. How many goals against us happen in the first couple of minutes?? That is all on the COACHES!

- Bensen, Krebs, JJ, and Cozens came to play!!! The rest of the team not so much.

- Lack of backchecking and physicality! I want to see our forwards sweating to play defense!! They are definitely not doing that. Our players need to play more physical and stop with the stick check. TAKE THE MAN!!!!

- We are seeing some players step up, but way too many do not. It is definitely not a team effort. 

- You figure after watching players score in front of the net, more would go there and try it. Uhhhh nope. Tired of the outside crap. GO TO THE FRONT OF THE DAMN NET!!!!

Weird game as i would say Buffalo dominated 65% of that game. Blues buried everything, while Buffalo, who should have scored 8,  buried only some.

I will always watch as i love hockey, but i am quickly losing faith in the coaching and management if they think this team is going to win consistent as is. 

[JohninMinn.]

Bottom line. We have the softest team in the league

The reason nobody ever talks about it is because we have the softest fans to go along with it. Poor Krebsy is the enforcer. I felt bad for him last night.

[PASabreFan]

34 minutes ago, JohninMinn. said:

Bottom line. We have the softest team in the league

The reason nobody ever talks about it is because we have the softest fans to go along with it. Poor Krebsy is the enforcer. I felt bad for him last night.

You nailed it.

[Pimlach]

Are the Sabres doing anything to recognize Turgeon this season?  

The Blues had him come out, get cheered upon, they rolled the highlight reel, and he was part of the puck drop.   

It was fast, easy, classy, and he looked like he loved it. 

Ditto for Hitchcock. 

Well done.  

[WhenWillItEnd66]

57 minutes ago, JohninMinn. said:

Bottom line. We have the softest team in the league

The reason nobody ever talks about it is because we have the softest fans to go along with it. Poor Krebsy is the enforcer. I felt bad for him last night.

We have been saying this for years. We are stick checkers, not really body checkers. We have too many of the same kind of player and no real sandpaper and or grit in the lineup. A good/great 3rd liner that can hit and or score can be had. Management obviously does not see it that way.

[Sabres Fan in NS]

25 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Are the Sabres doing anything to recognize Turgeon this season?  

The Blues had him come out, get cheered upon, they rolled the highlight reel, and he was part of the puck drop.   

It was fast, easy, classy, and he looked like he loved it. 

Ditto for Hitchcock. 

Well done.  

Sneaky Pete was here for what (??) .. 5 years when the Sabres were terrible.  Still maybe they should do something at some point.

As for Hitchcock - no.  Never going to honour that guy (insert winkie thingie here).

[Pimlach]

3 minutes ago, Sabres Fan in NS said:

Sneaky Pete was here for what (??) .. 5 years when the Sabres were terrible.  Still maybe they should do something at some point.

As for Hitchcock - no.  Never going to honour that guy (insert winkie thingie here).

No, of course we would not honor Hitchcock, he never was a Sabre.  

Pierre was in Buffalo for four full seasons and was traded in the beginning of his 5th for Pat LaFontaine. We made the playoffs every year with Pierre, but  never got past the first round, something he took the hit for.  He also had a 4 year stint with the NYI were he put up some big numbers. Then a few years with the Habs before he landed in St Louis.  

He played in 5 full seasons for the Blues, logging a few more games and a few more goals than he did on Buffalo, even though it was later in his career.  The Blues last night commented on his playoff scoring ironically.  

When I think of him I don't think of one team.  

 

[PerreaultForever]

4 hours ago, JohninMinn. said:

Bottom line. We have the softest team in the league

The reason nobody ever talks about it is because we have the softest fans to go along with it. Poor Krebsy is the enforcer. I felt bad for him last night.

I guess my name is Nobody cause I've been talking about it since I got here many years ago. 

There are a few who agree as well. 

Krebs looked in over his head there and for a second I thought he was going to turtle. I swear he definitely flinched when the bigger St. Louis guy (Tucker?) gave him the shove and the stare. Krebs between two tough guys might work as a 4th line. Krebs on his own is a minor irritant to some teams and he's going to get destroyed if he makes somebody tough truly mad. 

Any time toughness tries to emerge on this team it heads back into retreat when the player involved gets no support. 

Pegula don't like that type of hockey. I stand by that claim. 

Edited December 1, 2023 by PerreaultForever

[Scottysabres]

4 hours ago, JohninMinn. said:

Bottom line. We have the softest team in the league

The reason nobody ever talks about it is because we have the softest fans to go along with it. Poor Krebsy is the enforcer. I felt bad for him last night.

Hey now, I've been screaming.....

 

For a long while now.

Edited December 1, 2023 by Scottysabres

[Spoonman]

6 hours ago, Pimlach said:

Actually, this is strangely familiar..... oh, yeah, Sabres last night. 

SMH

BTW @Pimlach looking forward to your assessment of the Boys in Blue. I have been reviewing my thoughts as well. Are you going with logic and cool headed reason, or just going to join some more er, em, emotional and 

*Everyone can have an opinion.....you know the proverbial "Opinions are like......and they all stink". I will readily admit that most opinions, other than mine stink.

[Spoonman]

5 minutes ago, Scottysabres said:

Hey now, I've been screaming.....

 

For a long while now.

@Scottysabres did you always play slow pitch and toss these kinds of softballs? 

Where's the beef? 

I mean, the potential comments write themselves.

Please, sir, don't make me see this type of post again, I see so much potential in you.

 

12 minutes ago, Scottysabres said:

Bottom line. We have the softest team in the league

The reason nobody ever talks about it is because we have the softest fans to go along with it. Poor Krebsy is the enforcer. I felt bad for him last night.

And to you my friend @JohninMinn.  seeing lots of concern with softness . If it is a problem, bluechew.

[Scottysabres]

17 minutes ago, Spoonman said:

@Scottysabres did you always play slow pitch and toss these kinds of softballs? 

Where's the beef? 

I mean, the potential comments write themselves.

Please, sir, don't make me see this type of post again, I see so much potential in you.

 

And to you my friend @JohninMinn.  seeing lots of concern with softness . If it is a problem, bluechew.

I'm still learning as I go, even at 53. But, I have pointed out the over abundance of still developing youthful players, it does play some, maybe not overwhelming, but some in to the strategy opposing teams implement against us.

Yes I know spoonman, patience, and I will use it. After all, I'm a born and bred blue and gold, I have no other choice 😉

[Pimlach]

18 hours ago, Crusader1969 said:

Are you actually watching or just looking at a chart ??

You know its called progress.  

One day your laying in bed, listening to Rick Jeanneret on this clever little transistor radio calling Buffalo Bisons and then Buffalo Sabres games, painting a picture of a hockey game in your head with his voice.  That seemed good enough.  

Now you can watch just about every game on demand, while listening to two idiots babble about everything but the game, and then afterwards you can look at charts that tell you what you should have seen.  

 

[PASabreFan]

5 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

You know its called progress.  

One day your laying in bed, listening to Rick Jeanneret on this clever little transistor radio calling Buffalo Bisons and then Buffalo Sabres games, painting a picture of a hockey game in your head with his voice.  That seemed good enough.  

Now you can watch just about every game on demand, while listening to two idiots babble about everything but the game, and then afterwards you can look at charts that tell you what you should have seen.  

 

Do you remember Rick calling the Bisons? Cool! I know he did the final season, which culminated in a championship. No recordings lf it exist that I am aware of. Would love to know what he said.

[Pimlach]

2 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

Do you remember Rick calling the Bisons? Cool! I know he did the final season, which culminated in a championship. No recordings lf it exist that I am aware of. Would love to know what he said.

I remember seeing bunches of the Bisons home games the final few seasons, especially the last season.   Which got me listening to the games on the radio at night.  I was listening to Rick because I wanted that Calder Cup championship, not because he was anybody.   I was still too young to care who Rick was or what he would become and I do not remember any special calls - "he shoots, he scores" was a biggie to me.  Since I was very familiar with the game and how a rink is configured I could just closed my eyes and picture it.   The quality of the play by play coverage was important back then.   Now there is so much other "content"  mixed in.  Most of Ricks antics on his calls came much later, in the 80's.  

Lets not forget Ted Darling, the original Voice of the Buffalo Sabres.  He really excelled at PBP, and telling you exactly where the puck was and where the play was going.  

[FrenchConnection44]

8 hours ago, JohninMinn. said:

Bottom line. We have the softest team in the league

The reason nobody ever talks about it is because we have the softest fans to go along with it. Poor Krebsy is the enforcer. I felt bad for him last night.

As others have noted, several of us have been lamenting the physicality and physical toughness of the team for some time. I have for a long time and from the very start of my time in this board. 

 I agree about Krebs. He’s like the only one who really steps up consistently. A few others have tried to but just don’t have the make up. Cozens stepped up but got his face smashed in so badly he missed several games. Tuch did something similar. But there really isn’t a personality on the team to do that. Aside from Krebs  but he’s small  

We don’t have to have goons. But we need, imho, a Terry O’Reilly type. And/ or a Bergeron (someone who is tough and gets under people’s skin). Guys who are good players, but can be physical and enhance the mental and physical toughness. Tom Wilson was a big enforcer early on but also had hockey skills. 

[Spoonman]

15 hours ago, Pimlach said:

I remember seeing bunches of the Bisons home games the final few seasons, especially the last season.   Which got me listening to the games on the radio at night.  I was listening to Rick because I wanted that Calder Cup championship, not because he was anybody.   I was still too young to care who Rick was or what he would become and I do not remember any special calls - "he shoots, he scores" was a biggie to me.  Since I was very familiar with the game and how a rink is configured I could just closed my eyes and picture it.   The quality of the play by play coverage was important back then.   Now there is so much other "content"  mixed in.  Most of Ricks antics on his calls came much later, in the 80's.  

Lets not forget Ted Darling, the original Voice of the Buffalo Sabres.  He really excelled at PBP, and telling you exactly where the puck was and where the play was going.  

I would argue that today's PBP guys grew up on TV. They did not learn to "paint the picture" that radio guys did. Unfortunately for simulcast on radio/TV, the former has no idea what is going on on the ice too many times.

I think about visually impared people trying to enjoy the play with today's "calls". Now I don't know if there is other technology that these folks have to get the PBP, but it is really a degredation of radio calls (and at the least for me it is same with the TV calls as well).

Expectations minus reality equals disappointment.

Edited December 2, 2023 by Spoonman