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Player Discussion All Purpose Goaltending Thread

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theathletic.com

Sabres get back to the basics in hectic, bounce-back win over Senators

Jeff Skinner and Tage Thompson scored a pair of goals in the Sabres' 6-4 win over the Senators.
theathletic.com theathletic.com

But the Sabres’ goalie picture isn’t any clearer now than it was at the start of the season. Devon Levi didn’t travel with the team to Ottawa as he is dealing with a lower-body injury. He played the first four games before getting the injury in his fourth start. Eric Comrie got the first shot at relieving him and played well in his two appearances. Now Luukkonen got a win. Will the Sabres go back to Levi now that he’s had extra rest or give Luukkonen another start since he’s fresh off a win? This is going to be an ongoing discussion as the Sabres balance Levi’s development with what’s best for the team in the short term. Neither of the backups has stolen the gig just yet, but the Sabres are getting solid goaltending through seven games. So we may see three goalies for a bit longer.
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Perhaps @Der Jaeger needs to update the title to the 2023 GCT...
 
Der Jaeger said:
They both matter.

Boston goalies always look great because the Bruins play 5 on a die defense with the center helping low before doing anything offensively. And they had 4 good defensive centers prior to this season. Tim Thomas to Tuukka Rask to Linus Ullmark, they protect their goalies really well. So the goalie is asked to make the first save and not kick out a ton of rebounds.

The Bruins don't need a movement goalie like Bobrovsky, who can legitimately steal games when he's hot. A team like Buffalo, a movement team that gives up a lot of chances, needs a movement goalie who can make more HDZ saves, saves on breakways, second chance saves, etc.

I'm not sure Hellebuyck would've been a great fit in Buffalo. He's great on angle and making the first save. The Sabres need someone more like Ryan Miller, who thrives under a heavier workload.
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You are absolutely on to something here. I do believe UPL is the best goalie of these three and at least the one with the highest ceiling without doubt.
But he's very much leaning on making the first save as well and this becomes even more apparent in NA with smaller rinks and faster bounces.

I just wouldn't write him off just like that though, like some others do. I've seen him win games with defense who know his strengths.
His gold medals with Finland for an example, he was one of the biggest factors when winning those gold medals.
After Saros probably, or clearly the biggest contributing factor at the WJC's among Finnish goalies.
Both at the 18's and the 20's he came up big when it mattered.

Trade him to another franchise and I'll promise he wouldn't make a fool out of himself. Boston, Vegas, Colorado or Tampa and a couple of others.
 
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Svedu said:
You are absolutely on to something here. I do believe UPL is the best goalie of these three and at least the one with the highest ceiling without doubt.
But he's very much leaning on making the first save as well and this becomes even more apparent in NA with smaller rinks and faster bounces.

I just wouldn't write him off just like that though, like some others do. I've seen him win games with defense who know his strengths.
His gold medals with Finland for an example, he was one of the biggest factors when winning those gold medals.
After Saros probably, or clearly the biggest contributing factor at the WJC's among Finnish goalies.
Both at the 18's and the 20's he came up big when it mattered.

Trade him to another franchise and I'll promise he wouldn't make a fool out of himself. Boston, Vegas, Colorado or Tampa and a couple of others.
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This is giving me big Mika Noronen flashbacks.

I still think here are the comparables to the last time the Sabres had a 3 goalie GCT:

Levi = Miller
Comrie = Biron
UPL = Noronen

:dunno:
 
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Jim Bob said:
This is giving me big Mika Noronen flashbacks.

I still think here are the comparables to the last time the Sabres had a 3 goalie GCT:

Levi = Miller
Comrie = Biron
UPL = Noronen

:dunno:
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Well, among the best goalies I've seen at the WJC level were:

Vasi, Saros and Dostal.
Followed by UPL, Knight, Wallstedt, Gibson and perhaps a couple of others.
Pretty darn good goalies and prospects. I wouldn't count out anyone out of these too quickly (if still young).

Vasi was a complete package. Saros and Dostals agility and quickness and recovery impressed me a lot.
UPL and Wallstedt were like walls and I could almost add Lehner there but those two before were a bit more consistent and predictable as youngsters at least.
Like you mentioned, some goalies are just good in almost every environment and others could be both good and bad in different teams.
After witnessing Sabres D in one or two games I do believe Dostal would be the perfect fit but if they can adjust a bit to UPL's strengths? Then do believe he has the most to give back amongst Sabres three goalies.
 
Svedu said:
Well, among the best goalies I've seen at the WJC level were:

Vasi, Saros and Dostal.
Followed by UPL, Knight, Wallstedt, Gibson and perhaps a couple of others.
Pretty darn good goalies and prospects. I wouldn't count out anyone out of these too quickly (if still young).

Vasi was a complete package. Saros and Dostals agility and quickness and recovery impressed me a lot.
UPL and Wallstedt were like walls and I could almost add Lehner there but those two before were a bit more consistent and predictable as youngsters at least.
Like you mentioned, some goalies are just good in almost every environment and others could be both good and bad in different teams.
After witnessing Sabres D in one or two games I do believe Dostal would be the perfect fit but if they can adjust a bit to UPL's strengths? Then do believe he has the most to give back amongst Sabres three goalies.
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The WJC is a small sample size event where there have been mixed results when projecting long term success.

Noronen was really good in his first two WJCs for Finland and it never really translated to the long haul of the North American pro game.

I am not saying that UPL has no chance at being a good NHL goalie. I am just saying that his play at the WJCs, or his one really good OHL season, do not outweigh all of what we have seen of him as a pro to date.

And you cannot be afraid to make moves that you think will help the team because a guy might blossom elsewhere.
 
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Jim Bob said:
The WJC is a small sample size event where there have been mixed results when projecting long term success.

Noronen was really good in his first two WJCs for Finland and it never really translated to the long haul of the North American pro game.

I am not saying that UPL has no chance at being a good NHL goalie. I am just saying that his play at the WJCs, or his one really good OHL season, do not outweigh all of what we have seen of him as a pro to date.

And you cannot be afraid to make moves that you think will help the team because a guy might blossom elsewhere.
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Agreed.

Of course, when speculating there is a whole lot of whataboutism. Good franchises know when to move forward and how.
That makes the NHL a bit more exciting. Canes and Colorado have been pretty successful and good at this last years imo.

Though I have to say that the majority of those goalies have become really good or are still pretty exciting to follow.
I mean when Noronen played guys still had sticks made of wood... So mentioning him is a bit of a stretch. The sport wasn't as fast. But I get your point.

The thing is, what can you get back for UPL? If it's a late rounder? I personally wouldn't trade or throw him off just yet. I would give him another season. Also, I would consider how the D is playing in front of him. When analyzing these things it's also important to consider all factors. Which goalie can play good in these circumstances? What type of a goalie do we need if we want to play like this, etc and so on.
 
great game for Ukko yesterday,I'm gonna go against a lot of people but I think he is a good number 1 keep playing him with Comrie and send the kid to the AHL
 
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Der Jaeger said:
I shall not change it. I am an oak.
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1698247881004.png
 
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Jim Bob said:
The WJC is a small sample size event where there have been mixed results when projecting long term success.

Noronen was really good in his first two WJCs for Finland and it never really translated to the long haul of the North American pro game.

I am not saying that UPL has no chance at being a good NHL goalie. I am just saying that his play at the WJCs, or his one really good OHL season, do not outweigh all of what we have seen of him as a pro to date.

And you cannot be afraid to make moves that you think will help the team because a guy might blossom elsewhere.
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And also I forgot to mention your D's the last game. Dahlin is considered a star but I have to say that he looked really bad defensively sometimes and UPL saved his ass at least once in the first period. Power wasn't that much better.
I mean just because a team has offensively hyped D's doesn't mean they are good at defending. And in all honesty, this seems to explain the Sabres veyr well at the moment.
EK65 is another example and goalies in his teams have rarely got any good help from him.
I mean, it's easy to disfavor goalies and more difficult and realistic to see the whole picture?
 
Svedu said:
And also I forgot to mention your D's the last game. Dahlin is considered a star but I have to say that he looked really bad defensively sometimes and UPL saved his ass at least once in the first period. Power wasn't that much better.
I mean just because a team has offensively hyped D's doesn't mean they are good at defending. And in all honesty, this seems to explain the Sabres veyr well at the moment.
EK65 is another example and goalies in his teams have rarely got any good help from him.
I mean, it's easy to disfavor goalies and more difficult and realistic to see the whole picture?
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From everything I've seen so far I've liked Dahlin's game defensively a lot more than offensively so far this year. At least on 5 v 5.
 
MOGlLNY said:
From everything I've seen so far I've liked Dahlin's game defensively a lot more than offensively so far this year. At least on 5 v 5.
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Well, yesterday he lost the puck in offensive zone and hesitated a couple of times and was not able to win it back from his guy. That there is for me not only bad offense, it's just as bad defending because he let the puck go and gave away great opportunities but UPL saved his ass. That was my point and if you saw the game yesterday, especially the first half, you would probably agree.
 
Svedu said:
And also I forgot to mention your D's the last game. Dahlin is considered a star but I have to say that he looked really bad defensively sometimes and UPL saved his ass at least once in the first period. Power wasn't that much better.
I mean just because a team has offensively hyped D's doesn't mean they are good at defending. And in all honesty, this seems to explain the Sabres veyr well at the moment.
EK65 is another example and goalies in his teams have rarely got any good help from him.
I mean, it's easy to disfavor goalies and more difficult and realistic to see the whole picture?
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I think you're reading an awful lot into one game. Dahlin is very, very good defensively.
 
BowieSabresFan said:
I think you're reading an awful lot into one game. Dahlin is very, very good defensively.
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I've seen one game with the sabres this year and he was bad. What can I say? Lie?
Also, he was actually bad. I didn't say he's bad overall. Power was pretty bad yesterday as well. Doesn't mean he's a prospect that will fail... But I don't understand why someone needs to explain the obvious...
 
Svedu said:
I've seen one game with the sabres this year and he was bad. What can I say? Lie?
Also, he was actually bad. I didn't say he's bad overall. Power was pretty bad yesterday as well. Doesn't mean he's a prospect that will fail... But I don't understand why someone needs to explain the obvious...
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Because you seemed to be extrapolating a bit beyond that one game. If you look at the recent posts, I wasn't the only one noticing it.
 
Looking like this area may be the problem area again?

I'm starting to really like the idea of trading for Thatcher Demko

He has 3 / 15 million remaining on contract with 5 million aav

Maybe UPL , Rosen and a draft pick ?
 
BG82 said:
Looking like this area may be the problem area again?

I'm starting to really like the idea of trading for Thatcher Demko

He has 3 / 15 million remaining on contract with 5 million aav

Maybe UPL , Rosen and a draft pick ?
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We have had 3 straight games of good goaltending and at 1am you are thinking we need a goalie?
 
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BG82 said:
Looking like this area may be the problem area again?

I'm starting to really like the idea of trading for Thatcher Demko

He has 3 / 15 million remaining on contract with 5 million aav

Maybe UPL , Rosen and a draft pick ?
Click to expand...
I highly doubt that Vancouver has any interest in moving Demko right now given that he is healthy and playing well to start the season.
 
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At least two of the goals UPL allowed were pretty much unstoppable...guys left alone right in front or just off the crease. One was a scramble after a shot went off the pipe and UPL almost recovered in time once he saw the rebound.

Comrie let in a softie but he also made some big stops that the TEAM should not have allowed. Same for Levi...there were too many HDSC against him in those first four games. It's not an ideal situation but until the TEAM stops making brain-dead TOs and leaving FWs alone in front I can't gripe too much on the 3-headed monster.
 
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BG82 said:
Looking like this area may be the problem area again?

I'm starting to really like the idea of trading for Thatcher Demko

He has 3 / 15 million remaining on contract with 5 million aav

Maybe UPL , Rosen and a draft pick ?
Click to expand...

1.) We're getting decent goaltending and NOW you bring up that it's a problem area?

2.) Vancouver isn't rebuilding (even though they SHOULD, they're not). So they've got no real reason to trade Demko. Like at all.

3.) Demko has shown he's healthy and a top-10 goalie again. That package isn't getting him, even if that draft pick is an unprotected 2024 1st. Think one more good piece.
 
Sabresfansince1980 said:
At least two of the goals UPL allowed were pretty much unstoppable...guys left alone right in front or just off the crease. One was a scramble after a shot went off the pipe and UPL almost recovered in time once he saw the rebound.

Comrie let in a softie but he also made some big stops that the TEAM should not have allowed. Same for Levi...there were too many HDSC against him in those first four games. It's not an ideal situation but until the TEAM stops making brain-dead TOs and leaving FWs alone in front I can't gripe too much on the 3-headed monster.
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If I look at the goalie whose performance up to now that's been the "worst".....or probably better worded as "left me wanting better"........it's Levi. I've had zero issue with Comrie or UPL.
 
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