Kesselring comments. That didn’t take long.

[PASabreFan]

29 minutes ago, Eleven said:

He liked playing in a market new to hockey where everything was positive and also respects the fact that Buffalo has educated and more demanding fans.

There's no reason to read anything negative into it unless you want to.

If you're going to do this, and I have long thought it's a decent idea, the percentage is 100% and goes all the way to the mailroom.  Everyone.  No survivors.

But he said the word critical.

So we also agree on the purge. You have to dig up the deep state. Please start with the two equipment clowns behind the bench. You have to get at everyone who is in the players' ears. I always astounded that new coaches don't want their own people in those roles.

[Eleven]

23 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

But he said the word critical.

Yep, we're likely more critical than fans in Utah.

[pi2000]

I don't understand how his comments are offensive.

He speaks the truth.

A market of knowledgeable hockey fans will be more critical of their team than fans who are just learning the game.

To me, it's a compliment to the great fans in Buffalo.

Now if only management was as critical as the fans, we might have something 😂.

[Mr Peabody]

2 hours ago, inkman said:

Super alarming comment from a guy who has been completely invisible.  If you are involved in a trade where the player going the other way is already exceeding expectations, should you really be bumping your gums about how “hard it is to play” for fans that aren’t just simps waiting for the next goal. This attitude is disgraceful. 

This is the reaction Lance was looking for 

Edited 2 hours ago by Mr Peabody

[mjd1001]

He was coming off of an injury, but he's played 7 games now.  He needs to play better.

-He has zero points. None. No goals, no assists. he's a -4 through just 7 games.

-His corsi is 10 percentage points on the wrong side of even. Fenwick -6. Shots nearly -10. Actual goals for/allowed he's 20 percentage points below even. Hes negative in expected goals, negative in high danger chances, negative in pure scoring chances.

-He hasn't been used on the PP. He's not even used all that much on the PK, so he's not giving you anything on special teams.

-For me personally, take all of that away, and my 'eye test' doesn't see anything special.

Its not based on his comment from last night, but in terms of his regular play he needs to step up. He's not playing like a top pair guy, he's not even playing like a 2nd pair guy.

Edited 1 hour ago by mjd1001

[MISabresFan]

11 minutes ago, mjd1001 said:

He was coming off of an injury, but he's played 7 games now.  He needs to play better.

-He has zero points. None. No goals, no assists. he's a -4 through just 7 games.

-His corsi is 10 percentage points on the wrong side of even. Fenwick -6. Shots nearly -10. Actual goals for/allowed he's 20 percentage points below even. Hes negative in expected goals, negative in high danger chances, negative in pure scoring chances.

-He hasn't been used on the PP. He's not even used all that much on the PK, so he's not giving you anything on special teams.

-For me personally, take all of that away, and my 'eye test' doesn't see anything special.

Its not based on his comment from last night, but in terms of his regular play he needs to step up. He's not playing like a top pair guy, he's not even playing like a 2nd pair guy.

Because he is neither.  We wanted him to be a 2nd pair guy because of the trade.

[French Collection]

Timmins has been better than him.

[mjd1001]

14 minutes ago, French Collection said:

Timmins has been better than him.

So far Timmins has played pretty well. Totally happy to have him get 3rd pair minutes, yet he looks like a guy who can move up to the 2nd pair/2nd pair minutes for a period of time and not hurt you too much. Also has the ability to fill in, in a pinch, if needed on the PP or PK.

Happy with him so far. Coming from low expectations, but there are only 4-6 guys on this team I'm happy with so far.

[DarthEbriate]

54 minutes ago, mjd1001 said:

He was coming off of an injury, but he's played 7 games now.  He needs to play better.

-He has zero points. None. No goals, no assists. he's a -4 through just 7 games.

-His corsi is 10 percentage points on the wrong side of even. Fenwick -6. Shots nearly -10. Actual goals for/allowed he's 20 percentage points below even. Hes negative in expected goals, negative in high danger chances, negative in pure scoring chances.

-He hasn't been used on the PP. He's not even used all that much on the PK, so he's not giving you anything on special teams.

-For me personally, take all of that away, and my 'eye test' doesn't see anything special.

Its not based on his comment from last night, but in terms of his regular play he needs to step up. He's not playing like a top pair guy, he's not even playing like a 2nd pair guy.

We've also seen the way Utah plays. Their forwards are everywhere and with pace (and did the same last year). They make things a lot easier on their defensemen than the Sabres forward do. Kesselring looked good jumping up the lineup all last season in part because he was on a solid team and played a bunch with veterans like Cole, Maata, and Sergachev.

Most nights (and especially when Benson/Dahlin/Zucker are out, and TNT isn't feeling it) the Sabres don't make anything easy for their teammates.

Kesselring looked top-4 capable with Utah and if you put him with a fully operational Dahlin he probably looks great. But with Power, or Byram, or Bryson --- he's going to be exposed at times.

[GASabresIUFAN]

I’m not really surprised Kesselring is struggling some in his new role.  His partner most of  last season was defense first seasoned vet Ian Cole.  I also wrote that he was a third pairing guy worthy of 17 minutes a night and that the best part of his game was offense as evidenced by his 29 pts last year.  

I think he is good player and a solid D in general but we were trying to get a partner for Power who needs an Ian Cole not a Kesselring.