Casey Mittelstadt traded for Bowen Byram

[Hank]

58 minutes ago, JohnC said:

. Our young goalie is playing at a surprisingly high-end level.

Every time you say something like this I feel a twinge. Back in July I explained why 6K was a good goalie and that he would have a good year. Noone wanted to hear it, most wanted him waived. When most were bitching about the Byram trade I said no, this is a good trade for us, and this is why. People just kept bitching. Same thing happened with Mitts. Same thing happened with Tage. Same thing happened with Ollafson years ago when everyone loved him and I said he needed to go. Noone wants to listen to the meathead. 

[Doohickie]

14 minutes ago, FrenchConnection44 said:

Same thing with Casey 2-3 years ago. Then same folks wringing  hands over trading him! Same lamenting over UPL the past two seasons. Worthless. Will never be an NHL goalie. 

Everyone is so impatient. 

He does need to get way stronger and more physical. 

 

I think Cale Makar was kind of a unicorn when he came up and they let him run with it.  Byram came up in that environment, into a mature system, and their tone on D was set by Makar- defensemen that freely activate into the offense, and with forwards that know to backfill.

When Rasmus got here we just didn't have good coaching and the rapid coaching changes meant that the system was never settled.

Then Byram got here and I think he said, "Guys, you're making this harder than it needs to be.  Just go with the flow."  And suddenly the team feels.... different.

[bob_sauve28]

4 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

I think Cale Makar was kind of a unicorn when he came up and they let him run with it.  Byram came up in that environment, into a mature system, and their tone on D was set by Makar- defensemen that freely activate into the offense, and with forwards that know to backfill.

When Rasmus got here we just didn't have good coaching and the rapid coaching changes meant that the system was never settled.

Then Byram got here and I think he said, "Guys, you're making this harder than it needs to be.  Just go with the flow."  And suddenly the team feels.... different.

Ya, something seems to of happened! A new guy, super talented, and the other players feed off of that.

[...]

1 hour ago, Doohickie said:

I think the negative view of Power is fueled by the fact that people want to see the finished product now but Power is still on the development curve.

That's pretty dismissive. IOW the negative view of Power is powered by people who can't grasp the concept of player development and are blind to his hidden assets that some day will blossom into what these people want to see.

[Doohickie]

21 minutes ago, ... said:

That's pretty dismissive. IOW the negative view of Power is powered by people who can't grasp the concept of player development and are blind to his hidden assets that some day will blossom into what these people want to see.

[Believer]

22 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

Sorry, Doohickie… Doubt Power can change his personality type… He doesn’t like the tough stuff that’s part of the game… Just not him.

Edited March 13 by Believer

[North Buffalo]

Casey with a goal Bo with 2 not sure how many assists last nite

[RochesterExpat]

This is from Byram's second goal last night and is a perfectly cherry picked small sample sized example to prove a couple of points about this team.

For those of us with memories impaired from using alcohol as a coping mechanism for Buffalo sports fandom, the needed context is the puck was on the wall and Girgensons won the puck and played it back to Tage on the point. Byram is circled in red.

The point here is there is absolutely no hesitation whatsoever by Byram. He's already moving to the net. Tuch (who is right behind him) and is usually one of the only players to reliably crash the net is only now turning to move. Girgs is going to cycle to replace Tage as Tage pinches in. Dahlin is actually moving backward at this point to pinch in for a rebound/pass when it becomes obvious Tage is going to the net with the puck. No one here is making a mistake or anything. It's simply to point out that Byram is quite literally a step ahead of everyone else in Black and Red.

And that leads me to my next point: coaching. Byram is absolutely a talented hockey player and every scouting report talks about his hockey IQ and vision--just like most scouting reports for early 1st round talents. A D-man instinctively crashing the net in this situation isn't just raw talent. That's from playing in Colorado under Jared Bednar and his staff. That's from a coach who sets expectations with players and holds players accountable. Colorado is a good team in part because a lot of their goals come from players going to the net. And this goes back to tons of people on this board repeatedly talking about "adding grit" or whatever else. While I'm sure some posters still define "grit" as dropping the gloves, I'm of the younger crowd which considers "grit" as the forwards who are going to the boards to win the puck and then turning and going to the net. And it's not simply going to the net. It's staying there and battling with the D-man for position. It's screening the goalie. It's getting to the rebound and just being generally annoying for the other team. It's getting the "dirty" goals.

Once again, to use cherry picked data, lets just look at the power play scoring differences between Colorado and Buffalo. It's pretty easy to figure out why the league figured out how to counter Buffalo's powerplay.

Back to the point about going to the net: there's no question that Jeff Skinner has slumped again this season. Last season, he wasn't scoring pretty perimeter goals. He was just scoring goals because he was at next to zero distance from the goalie for a large percentage of his shots. He started out the season doing the same, but he's taken steps back and hasn't been crashing the net the same (this somewhat matches up to his and Tage's injuries earlier in the season which may play a part that we're not privy to). But that change in his behavior has been hugely impactful. Now, we can either write Jeff as a headcase, or we can question why the coaching staff has allowed this to go on as long as they have. And the issue extends beyond just Skinner and applies to the vast majority of the roster. Skinner is just the easiest target.

Lastly, lets look at Byram's first goal. For context, Greenway passed the puck to Benson at the top of the circle, Cozens crashes the net, and Benson shoots a low shot that generates a very fast and high rebound.

Once again, look at what Byram is doing. The live clip shows you just how quickly this happened. Byram didn't get that rebound by seeing where the puck was going and then moving to it. He was already moving to where he was coached to go and he was coached to go there for exactly this reason. He didn't stop skating when he got to the blue line. He just kept moving.

The second takeaway from that clip is watching Dahlin see the rebound and start cycling back to retrieve... only to realize his D partner is competent and would cover it. So Dahlin ends up kind of just stopping and standing there for a second looking almost confused. It's honestly kind of funny to see. But that's the value that Byram is bringing to Buffalo. Dahlin isn't going to be expected to do everything on defense for 30 minutes a night anymore. If these trends continue and Dahlin and Byram continue to play well together, Dahlin is going to have the opportunity to really elevate his game even further.

Before I step off my soap box, I want to circle back to an earlier point: a lot of this goes back to coaching. Byram looks like an electric player in part because he's been coached at an NHL level. He knows where he needs to be on the ice and he never stops moving. Not to pick on Benson in that second goal, but he shoots the puck and then just stands there. He looks like he's lost. That's the kind of thing that the coaching staff should address with him after the game so that it doesn't become a habit. But it's also the kind of thing I don't expect our coaching staff to follow up on.

And to that note, the Colorado broadcast last night took an incidental shot at Buffalo's coaching when they said something akin to, "Mittelstadt has so much more room to grow and develop as he learns how to play at the NHL level under Bednar" and suggesting he was basically a "raw" talent that needed to be molded. This is a player with 341 NHL games played. He shouldn't be learning how to play at the NHL level at this point. The sad part is that I don't even disagree with the Colorado broadcasters. They're right.

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk. I will now pass my soap box on to the next poster.

 

[Doohickie]

47 minutes ago, Believer said:

Sorry, Doohickie… Doubt Power can change his personality type… He doesn’t like the tough stuff that’s part of the game… Just not him.

He doesn't need to be a bruiser to be effective.  Thinking that he does is a fallacy.

[North Buffalo]

Oh agree when i say grit,  i want someone smart at hockey, yes hits with a purpose, retrieves pucks, but also goes to the net and grinds with skill and doesnt stop reading and skating... one of the things I like about Bryson is that he has shown some of that at times and now need to find a shot... I think the current D group is going to be great but may need a third/fourth liner to be an trouble maker... Power reminds me a bit of a young Tyler Myers... gonna take some time but his skating and stick is elite just needs strength and taught how to clear the net.

[bob_sauve28]

36 minutes ago, RochesterExpat said:

This is from Byram's second goal last night and is a perfectly cherry picked small sample sized example to prove a couple of points about this team.

For those of us with memories impaired from using alcohol as a coping mechanism for Buffalo sports fandom, the needed context is the puck was on the wall and Girgensons won the puck and played it back to Tage on the point. Byram is circled in red.

The point here is there is absolutely no hesitation whatsoever by Byram. He's already moving to the net. Tuch (who is right behind him) and is usually one of the only players to reliably crash the net is only now turning to move. Girgs is going to cycle to replace Tage as Tage pinches in. Dahlin is actually moving backward at this point to pinch in for a rebound/pass when it becomes obvious Tage is going to the net with the puck. No one here is making a mistake or anything. It's simply to point out that Byram is quite literally a step ahead of everyone else in Black and Red.

And that leads me to my next point: coaching. Byram is absolutely a talented hockey player and every scouting report talks about his hockey IQ and vision--just like most scouting reports for early 1st round talents. A D-man instinctively crashing the net in this situation isn't just raw talent. That's from playing in Colorado under Jared Bednar and his staff. That's from a coach who sets expectations with players and holds players accountable. Colorado is a good team in part because a lot of their goals come from players going to the net. And this goes back to tons of people on this board repeatedly talking about "adding grit" or whatever else. While I'm sure some posters still define "grit" as dropping the gloves, I'm of the younger crowd which considers "grit" as the forwards who are going to the boards to win the puck and then turning and going to the net. And it's not simply going to the net. It's staying there and battling with the D-man for position. It's screening the goalie. It's getting to the rebound and just being generally annoying for the other team. It's getting the "dirty" goals.

Once again, to use cherry picked data, lets just look at the power play scoring differences between Colorado and Buffalo. It's pretty easy to figure out why the league figured out how to counter Buffalo's powerplay.

Back to the point about going to the net: there's no question that Jeff Skinner has slumped again this season. Last season, he wasn't scoring pretty perimeter goals. He was just scoring goals because he was at next to zero distance from the goalie for a large percentage of his shots. He started out the season doing the same, but he's taken steps back and hasn't been crashing the net the same (this somewhat matches up to his and Tage's injuries earlier in the season which may play a part that we're not privy to). But that change in his behavior has been hugely impactful. Now, we can either write Jeff as a headcase, or we can question why the coaching staff has allowed this to go on as long as they have. And the issue extends beyond just Skinner and applies to the vast majority of the roster. Skinner is just the easiest target.

Lastly, lets look at Byram's first goal. For context, Greenway passed the puck to Benson at the top of the circle, Cozens crashes the net, and Benson shoots a low shot that generates a very fast and high rebound.

Once again, look at what Byram is doing. The live clip shows you just how quickly this happened. Byram didn't get that rebound by seeing where the puck was going and then moving to it. He was already moving to where he was coached to go and he was coached to go there for exactly this reason. He didn't stop skating when he got to the blue line. He just kept moving.

The second takeaway from that clip is watching Dahlin see the rebound and start cycling back to retrieve... only to realize his D partner is competent and would cover it. So Dahlin ends up kind of just stopping and standing there for a second looking almost confused. It's honestly kind of funny to see. But that's the value that Byram is bringing to Buffalo. Dahlin isn't going to be expected to do everything on defense for 30 minutes a night anymore. If these trends continue and Dahlin and Byram continue to play well together, Dahlin is going to have the opportunity to really elevate his game even further.

Before I step off my soap box, I want to circle back to an earlier point: a lot of this goes back to coaching. Byram looks like an electric player in part because he's been coached at an NHL level. He knows where he needs to be on the ice and he never stops moving. Not to pick on Benson in that second goal, but he shoots the puck and then just stands there. He looks like he's lost. That's the kind of thing that the coaching staff should address with him after the game so that it doesn't become a habit. But it's also the kind of thing I don't expect our coaching staff to follow up on.

And to that note, the Colorado broadcast last night took an incidental shot at Buffalo's coaching when they said something akin to, "Mittelstadt has so much more room to grow and develop as he learns how to play at the NHL level under Bednar" and suggesting he was basically a "raw" talent that needed to be molded. This is a player with 341 NHL games played. He shouldn't be learning how to play at the NHL level at this point. The sad part is that I don't even disagree with the Colorado broadcasters. They're right.

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk. I will now pass my soap box on to the next poster.

 

Funny thing on Bo's second goal, if I remember correctly, but Dahlin was ALSO cruising towards the net on the play. Both D-men going to the net!

[LGR4GM]

37 minutes ago, RochesterExpat said:

This is from Byram's second goal last night and is a perfectly cherry picked small sample sized example to prove a couple of points about this team.

For those of us with memories impaired from using alcohol as a coping mechanism for Buffalo sports fandom, the needed context is the puck was on the wall and Girgensons won the puck and played it back to Tage on the point. Byram is circled in red.

The point here is there is absolutely no hesitation whatsoever by Byram. He's already moving to the net. Tuch (who is right behind him) and is usually one of the only players to reliably crash the net is only now turning to move. Girgs is going to cycle to replace Tage as Tage pinches in. Dahlin is actually moving backward at this point to pinch in for a rebound/pass when it becomes obvious Tage is going to the net with the puck. No one here is making a mistake or anything. It's simply to point out that Byram is quite literally a step ahead of everyone else in Black and Red.

And that leads me to my next point: coaching. Byram is absolutely a talented hockey player and every scouting report talks about his hockey IQ and vision--just like most scouting reports for early 1st round talents. A D-man instinctively crashing the net in this situation isn't just raw talent. That's from playing in Colorado under Jared Bednar and his staff. That's from a coach who sets expectations with players and holds players accountable. Colorado is a good team in part because a lot of their goals come from players going to the net. And this goes back to tons of people on this board repeatedly talking about "adding grit" or whatever else. While I'm sure some posters still define "grit" as dropping the gloves, I'm of the younger crowd which considers "grit" as the forwards who are going to the boards to win the puck and then turning and going to the net. And it's not simply going to the net. It's staying there and battling with the D-man for position. It's screening the goalie. It's getting to the rebound and just being generally annoying for the other team. It's getting the "dirty" goals.

Once again, to use cherry picked data, lets just look at the power play scoring differences between Colorado and Buffalo. It's pretty easy to figure out why the league figured out how to counter Buffalo's powerplay.

Back to the point about going to the net: there's no question that Jeff Skinner has slumped again this season. Last season, he wasn't scoring pretty perimeter goals. He was just scoring goals because he was at next to zero distance from the goalie for a large percentage of his shots. He started out the season doing the same, but he's taken steps back and hasn't been crashing the net the same (this somewhat matches up to his and Tage's injuries earlier in the season which may play a part that we're not privy to). But that change in his behavior has been hugely impactful. Now, we can either write Jeff as a headcase, or we can question why the coaching staff has allowed this to go on as long as they have. And the issue extends beyond just Skinner and applies to the vast majority of the roster. Skinner is just the easiest target.

Lastly, lets look at Byram's first goal. For context, Greenway passed the puck to Benson at the top of the circle, Cozens crashes the net, and Benson shoots a low shot that generates a very fast and high rebound.

Once again, look at what Byram is doing. The live clip shows you just how quickly this happened. Byram didn't get that rebound by seeing where the puck was going and then moving to it. He was already moving to where he was coached to go and he was coached to go there for exactly this reason. He didn't stop skating when he got to the blue line. He just kept moving.

The second takeaway from that clip is watching Dahlin see the rebound and start cycling back to retrieve... only to realize his D partner is competent and would cover it. So Dahlin ends up kind of just stopping and standing there for a second looking almost confused. It's honestly kind of funny to see. But that's the value that Byram is bringing to Buffalo. Dahlin isn't going to be expected to do everything on defense for 30 minutes a night anymore. If these trends continue and Dahlin and Byram continue to play well together, Dahlin is going to have the opportunity to really elevate his game even further.

Before I step off my soap box, I want to circle back to an earlier point: a lot of this goes back to coaching. Byram looks like an electric player in part because he's been coached at an NHL level. He knows where he needs to be on the ice and he never stops moving. Not to pick on Benson in that second goal, but he shoots the puck and then just stands there. He looks like he's lost. That's the kind of thing that the coaching staff should address with him after the game so that it doesn't become a habit. But it's also the kind of thing I don't expect our coaching staff to follow up on.

And to that note, the Colorado broadcast last night took an incidental shot at Buffalo's coaching when they said something akin to, "Mittelstadt has so much more room to grow and develop as he learns how to play at the NHL level under Bednar" and suggesting he was basically a "raw" talent that needed to be molded. This is a player with 341 NHL games played. He shouldn't be learning how to play at the NHL level at this point. The sad part is that I don't even disagree with the Colorado broadcasters. They're right.

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk. I will now pass my soap box on to the next poster.

 

I firmly believe Buffalo needs a coaching change. Both assistants and Granato need to be relived and a better coach brought in. Brind'Amour would be my first choice. If Adams goes into the 24 season with Adams and both assistants, it not only proves he lacks the ability to lead but that he lacks the courage to make difficult choices. 

[Believer]

18 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

He doesn't need to be a bruiser to be effective.  Thinking that he does is a fallacy.

In my best Bill Clinton imitation… “It depends on what your definition of effective is.”

[Buffalonill]

@Hank why are you Disagreeing with @LGR4GM

He's right  The coaching in buffalo is horrendous and they all should be gone.

 

 

[SabreFinn]

25 minutes ago, RochesterExpat said:

This is from Byram's second goal last night and is a perfectly cherry picked small sample sized example to prove a couple of points about this team.

For those of us with memories impaired from using alcohol as a coping mechanism for Buffalo sports fandom, the needed context is the puck was on the wall and Girgensons won the puck and played it back to Tage on the point. Byram is circled in red.

The point here is there is absolutely no hesitation whatsoever by Byram. He's already moving to the net. Tuch (who is right behind him) and is usually one of the only players to reliably crash the net is only now turning to move. Girgs is going to cycle to replace Tage as Tage pinches in. Dahlin is actually moving backward at this point to pinch in for a rebound/pass when it becomes obvious Tage is going to the net with the puck. No one here is making a mistake or anything. It's simply to point out that Byram is quite literally a step ahead of everyone else in Black and Red.

And that leads me to my next point: coaching. Byram is absolutely a talented hockey player and every scouting report talks about his hockey IQ and vision--just like most scouting reports for early 1st round talents. A D-man instinctively crashing the net in this situation isn't just raw talent. That's from playing in Colorado under Jared Bednar and his staff. That's from a coach who sets expectations with players and holds players accountable. Colorado is a good team in part because a lot of their goals come from players going to the net. And this goes back to tons of people on this board repeatedly talking about "adding grit" or whatever else. While I'm sure some posters still define "grit" as dropping the gloves, I'm of the younger crowd which considers "grit" as the forwards who are going to the boards to win the puck and then turning and going to the net. And it's not simply going to the net. It's staying there and battling with the D-man for position. It's screening the goalie. It's getting to the rebound and just being generally annoying for the other team. It's getting the "dirty" goals.

Once again, to use cherry picked data, lets just look at the power play scoring differences between Colorado and Buffalo. It's pretty easy to figure out why the league figured out how to counter Buffalo's powerplay.

Back to the point about going to the net: there's no question that Jeff Skinner has slumped again this season. Last season, he wasn't scoring pretty perimeter goals. He was just scoring goals because he was at next to zero distance from the goalie for a large percentage of his shots. He started out the season doing the same, but he's taken steps back and hasn't been crashing the net the same (this somewhat matches up to his and Tage's injuries earlier in the season which may play a part that we're not privy to). But that change in his behavior has been hugely impactful. Now, we can either write Jeff as a headcase, or we can question why the coaching staff has allowed this to go on as long as they have. And the issue extends beyond just Skinner and applies to the vast majority of the roster. Skinner is just the easiest target.

Lastly, lets look at Byram's first goal. For context, Greenway passed the puck to Benson at the top of the circle, Cozens crashes the net, and Benson shoots a low shot that generates a very fast and high rebound.

Once again, look at what Byram is doing. The live clip shows you just how quickly this happened. Byram didn't get that rebound by seeing where the puck was going and then moving to it. He was already moving to where he was coached to go and he was coached to go there for exactly this reason. He didn't stop skating when he got to the blue line. He just kept moving.

The second takeaway from that clip is watching Dahlin see the rebound and start cycling back to retrieve... only to realize his D partner is competent and would cover it. So Dahlin ends up kind of just stopping and standing there for a second looking almost confused. It's honestly kind of funny to see. But that's the value that Byram is bringing to Buffalo. Dahlin isn't going to be expected to do everything on defense for 30 minutes a night anymore. If these trends continue and Dahlin and Byram continue to play well together, Dahlin is going to have the opportunity to really elevate his game even further.

Before I step off my soap box, I want to circle back to an earlier point: a lot of this goes back to coaching. Byram looks like an electric player in part because he's been coached at an NHL level. He knows where he needs to be on the ice and he never stops moving. Not to pick on Benson in that second goal, but he shoots the puck and then just stands there. He looks like he's lost. That's the kind of thing that the coaching staff should address with him after the game so that it doesn't become a habit. But it's also the kind of thing I don't expect our coaching staff to follow up on.

And to that note, the Colorado broadcast last night took an incidental shot at Buffalo's coaching when they said something akin to, "Mittelstadt has so much more room to grow and develop as he learns how to play at the NHL level under Bednar" and suggesting he was basically a "raw" talent that needed to be molded. This is a player with 341 NHL games played. He shouldn't be learning how to play at the NHL level at this point. The sad part is that I don't even disagree with the Colorado broadcasters. They're right.

Thank you for coming to my TED Talk. I will now pass my soap box on to the next poster.

 

Colorado has been the fastest team in the league for some years. But that does not mean that every one on the team is fast and know how to play the Bednar -game. Their system demands a lot from the players and that's why they have problems to find a suitable 2C and 29 and 96 play huge minutes every night, minutes that probably cost them the cup. We are lucky to get a player that has that speed in him and that seem to fit in with us, I have nothing against a bit more speedy game, but to try to copy Colorado might make us a bit lost. But there is a lot to improve on the coaching, that's for sure.

What I hope Byram will bring in is how to practice hard and the MacKinnon-way of being a pain in the ass and demanding nothing but 110%effort from teammates in everything they do. 

[Doohickie]

7 minutes ago, Believer said:

In my best Bill Clinton imitation… “It depends on what your definition of effective is.”

Eh, one of the best to play the game, Nick Lidstrom, wasn't especially physical.  What made him exceptional was his positioning.

[Doohickie]

3 minutes ago, SabreFinn said:

What I hope Byram will bring in is how to practice hard and the MacKinnon-way of being a pain in the ass and demanding nothing but 110%effort from teammates in everything they do. 

Depending on how things go between Dahlin and Byram, I wouldn't be surprised to see Byram get the C next year.  (If they think Dahlin would see that as a snub then Dahlin will get it; the other candidate I think is Tuch.)

[SabreFinn]

1 minute ago, Doohickie said:

Depending on how things go between Dahlin and Byram, I wouldn't be surprised to see Byram get the C next year.  (If they think Dahlin would see that as a snub then Dahlin will get it; the other candidate I think is Tuch.)

I am still not that convinced with the idéa of having three D earning big money, I do not like the balance in the roster. But if he can bring in a MacKinnon -like leadership and stay healthy and play the way he does, I will change my mind.

[inkman]

3 minutes ago, SabreFinn said:

I am still not that convinced with the idéa of having three D earning big money, I do not like the balance in the roster. But if he can bring in a MacKinnon -like leadership and stay healthy and play the way he does, I will change my mind.

If they can bring in the best player in the world, to offset the overpaid D, they’ll be fine? 

[shrader]

10 minutes ago, inkman said:

If they can bring in the best player in the world, to offset the overpaid D, they’ll be fine? 

Read it again. That’s not what the post says. 

[Believer]

3 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

Depending on how things go between Dahlin and Byram, I wouldn't be surprised to see Byram get the C next year.  (If they think Dahlin would see that as a snub then Dahlin will get it; the other candidate I think is Tuch.)

We don’t know how Dahlin behaves in the locker room… We do know he leads by example on the ice, but he didn’t speak out against the stick stunt player protest against fans… Neither did Okposo, Tuch, and Girgensons… Personally saw this as the opposite of leadership in all of them.

We do know how Byram interacts with teammates on the ice and on the bench based on his play and mic’d up game… He exhibits high level leadership in his example and words to teammates, albeit on a three game sample size…

Imo, Byram will be a Captain here or somewhere else someday… If Dahlin is offended, he will adjust… or not… He has $90M reasons to get over any snub.

[JohnC]

2 hours ago, Hank said:

Every time you say something like this I feel a twinge. Back in July I explained why 6K was a good goalie and that he would have a good year. Noone wanted to hear it, most wanted him waived. When most were bitching about the Byram trade I said no, this is a good trade for us, and this is why. People just kept bitching. Same thing happened with Mitts. Same thing happened with Tage. Same thing happened with Ollafson years ago when everyone loved him and I said he needed to go. Noone wants to listen to the meathead. 

The accumulated frustration has spilled over to the point that even when something has gone right, it can't be acknowledged. It has gotten to the point there is a reflective negative response to everything. The source of this negativity is understandable. Long-term losing and not participating in the playoffs for such a pro-longed period of time is exasperating, especially when you see so many other teams pass you by. What has made this year's level of frustration even more intense is that the expectations were high after coming so close to making the playoffs last year. 

Will the Sabres make the playoffs this year? It's a very daunting task where the odds are against it. However, it the team plays well, I will celebrate it. And when they don't it is fair to criticize. But it has gotten to the point where the successes can't even be acknowledged by some of the inveterate critics. Not only is that a sad state of affairs but it also spoils the atmosphere in the room for others. 

[Night Train]

2 hours ago, ... said:

That's pretty dismissive. IOW the negative view of Power is powered by people who can't grasp the concept of player development and are blind to his hidden assets that some day will blossom into what these people want to see.

He's playing better the last couple of weeks. He stopped skating for long stretches prior and avoided physical play despite being the biggest guy out there. Don't know the reasons why.

When you get paid big far earlier than expected ( should have received a 3 year bridge deal ) and play poorly, the worry is the player isn't motivated anymore. He was one of many well paid supposed core players that played far below their value this season. 

 

[LGR4GM]

1 hour ago, Buffalonill said:

@Hank why are you Disagreeing with @LGR4GM ?

He's right  The coaching in buffalo is horrendous and they all should be gone.

[Pimlach]

4 hours ago, Believer said:

I saw what you saw @Pimlach… Could not believe Power let UPL get run over right in front of him with no response… Power is overrated, overhyped, and overpaid…  If Byram continues to develop his two-way game, Power can be traded while he still has high first round value… Give me an all-pro late 20’s RHD who can skate with heavy presence and grit… Even up.

 

I have been a big defender of Power.  I get the age and the sophomore season struggles.   

Yesterday I was not at all happy to see a guy jump on UPL and neither Power or Joker do a damn thing.  

Power playing playoff hockey, not sure I want him getting 2nd pair minutes. 

Hoping he changes next season.