Ace
Registered User
- Oct 29, 2015
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I would simply play him more minutes.
Roster Thread (2023-2024 Season)
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I would simply play him more minutes.
Mattilaus
Registered User
Stop conflating defending KA with waiting to see results before screeching non-stop. We have been over this. Polls were done. The vast vast majority of the board wanted a goalie and a top 4 D to be acquired in the off season. Just because we didn't scream non-stop when it didn't happen, doesn't mean we were defending KA doing nothing. It just means we waited to see the results before getting unreasonably upset.
Nobody is happy with the teams performance. You want to run victory laps over an imagined enemy because you predicted they would be bad and they are? Congrats, I hope that makes you happy. Nobody else here is keeping score.
I mean, wouldn't you expect the Krebs/Okposo/Girgensons line to be at the bottom of expected goals for list? It's not their function to go out and score a lot of goals. They play against highly talented lines to try to neutralize them. Not to produce offense.
This seems like one of those times when pulling specific data out of analytics is misleading the way it is represented.
It’s called being online too much! Symptoms include “us verse them” mentality, believing an online community is out to get you, selective memory, quick to run laps when you think you are right in a debate you weren’t actually in, talking about the interaction of other online communities that the rest of us have no idea about, and ignoring when people call you out on the things you were objectively wrong on.
The season is young folks, the Sabres are certainly in a slump. But unlike past years, they are seemingly avoiding the catastrophic loss streaks while slumping which is good. Nothing has gone right and they are still playing about .500. Which again, is good. SO LONG as they turn it around.
Snippit
Registered User
- Dec 5, 2012
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Is it a slump or the new standard of play? After 18 games you start to think it's just the norm for the season.
Beerz
Registered User
- Jun 28, 2011
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How often does that happen to Girgs tho? Not often.
Dubi Doo
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- Aug 27, 2008
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That'd be the cherry on top of a truly craptastic first quarter of he hockey season.
- Feb 3, 2015
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If you abstained from either defending or criticizing Adams then Ace wasn't talking about you. Seems weird to interject on behalf of Adams defenders if you weren't one.
Now that you've seen the results, are you upset and ready to screech about Adams?
They won't
It's a reality that people scoffed at the idea that the roster had deep holes despite having a ton of available cap room. Some people were downright nasty. Not everyone by a long shot, but there was a mindset among a large crown that the team addressed some key issues on defence and goaltending could hold up. A familiar refrain was that we were better than last year at X. I'm not so sure.
All that said, I think I'm now almost less pessimistic than some people, but the real issue is there are parts of the organization that seem to have a ridiculous stubbornness to make changes. It just feels nuts to keep trotting Okposo out on PP or even shorthanded. They seem unwilling to possibly give Levis a stint in minors. Ryan Johnson cannot earn more ice time no matter what he does. And while Benson can make an argument to stay, he might not. We have two top 15 AHL guys who most teams would test drive right now for a week.
My prediction is they will make some changes but all too late and we will finish with 88 points for no real reason. Just like last year, when one or two very minor deadline deals end the drought. I know we got Benson but how long we gonna play this draft game?
Mattilaus
Registered User
Except people who took a measured response to the lack of inactivity this summer were accused of defending. As stated, the vast majority wanted additions, so if there are even any defenders of doing nothing st all, you are looking at such a small amount of posters that I don't see the purpose of trying to dunk on them now.
If you've read any of my other posts recently you can see I am upset with where we are at. At the very minimum, Levi needs to be sent down, we should probably find a new home for one of our bottom D so RJ can get respectable minutes, and kulich and/or Rosen should be brought up and we should cut the dead weight from the bottom of the roster imo. I would love some moves to get talent from outside the organization but think it is highly unlikely to happen this early in the season.
joshjull
Registered User
Girgs can’t lose his man becasue he didn’t have one to cover. It’s a 5v6 situation, theyre not playing man to man. Girgs has a zone of responsibility that has its pivot point in the high slot (top of face off circles). His job is to be in position to challenge high if Carlson had the puck, or drop low if the situation dictates. But even when dropping low he has to be cognizant of Carlson sneaking down from the slot. So he can’t just run right to Wilson after Greenway gets beat.
Yes Greenway getting beat up high with his hips turned away. Thats what breaks down our coverage and allows Strome to attack towards the faceoff dot. It puts Sammy and Girgs in a tough position.
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joshjull
Registered User
They were 7-11 last year after 18 games, good for 14 points. So no, that was not the norm for the season last year. Nor does any team’s first 18 games necessarily reflect their season.
This is true of any sport, of any team, of any year. Not sure why a lot fans forget that every year
If Jokiharju was playing as bad as Cozens/Tuch/Skinner, the summer posters crowing for a top-4 RHD could run victory laps over KA's inaction. I was one that wanted a top-4 RHD but I see Joker is not a problem. If UPL and Comrie...or just one of them was playing badly with Levi then the summer posters crowing for a goalie could run victory laps, but only Levi looks bad.
The big summer adds everyone wanted aren't why the team is mediocre. The transition from free-for-all hockey to a responsible game is not being implemented well, whether due to coaching or dumb/stubborn players - both vets and young guys. That's the problem and it's not an issue any of us could have guessed about three months ago.
What's going on now though includes some unusual roster issues that KA/Granato seem uncertain how to handle. Those issues may not turn the season around if addressed right now, but it's still uneasy to see them waffle about with 8 D and 3 G for no good reason, while seeming unwilling to make tough decisions about a couple FWs that need to be waived or traded. To me it appears they just don't have any urgency to hold the players to a high standard, or to make the playoffs by acting now before another couple weeks are lost.
This first part of the season stinks of complacency, a level of patience that looks more like apathy that accepts losing. Young players can easily fall into this mindset and it's a bad standard to set. KA needs to make moves to clean up the roster regardless of the vibes, and Granato has to set a harsh tone that demands more from everyone.
The big summer adds everyone wanted aren't why the team is mediocre. The transition from free-for-all hockey to a responsible game is not being implemented well, whether due to coaching or dumb/stubborn players - both vets and young guys. That's the problem and it's not an issue any of us could have guessed about three months ago.
What's going on now though includes some unusual roster issues that KA/Granato seem uncertain how to handle. Those issues may not turn the season around if addressed right now, but it's still uneasy to see them waffle about with 8 D and 3 G for no good reason, while seeming unwilling to make tough decisions about a couple FWs that need to be waived or traded. To me it appears they just don't have any urgency to hold the players to a high standard, or to make the playoffs by acting now before another couple weeks are lost.
This first part of the season stinks of complacency, a level of patience that looks more like apathy that accepts losing. Young players can easily fall into this mindset and it's a bad standard to set. KA needs to make moves to clean up the roster regardless of the vibes, and Granato has to set a harsh tone that demands more from everyone.
Zman5778
Moderator
Yep. Absolutely. 100% agreed.
Yep. Agreed. Health is also playing a bit of an issue. Tuch has been injured, Cozens has been injured and not 100% thanks to the fishbowl and Tage is (obviously) injured. That's a LOT more injured than our forward group was last year.
I get the whole "Johnson forced our hand" thing with carrying 8 D.......but going 11/7 while playing Johnson 10 min isn't it. Either play Johnson like the NHL-level defenseman he seems to be or send him to Rochester and have him eat mega minutes. Levi also needs seasoning, and why he's still here is absolutely baffling to me.
Also -- I doubt any trade is forthcoming, regardless of "need" (real or perceived).
I don't think that's realistic. Granato's big thing is to let everyone learn on their own at their own pace. He's simply not a demanding head coach. He's more of the patient, teaching type. Even if we do need a bit more demanding from him, it's not coming. It's just not Donnie.
Snippit
Registered User
- Dec 5, 2012
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You think I’m talking about record? I’m talking about the shit performances.
I’m talking about how our offense generation has been putrid all year.
I think you're right...and that's a problem - it's patience to the point of complacency, and inadvertently setting a tone of having no urgency to play better. Just like with Adams - he hasn't necessarily made a terrible move but the wait-and-see-to-the-hilt approach is setting the same lame example.
debaser66
Registered User
- Mar 10, 2012
- 5,292
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maybe invest a bit of that honesty in self reflection.
and don't take that personal, sorry I don't hate you, there are millions posting that way on twitter and Instagram or whatever.
Its just tiring to read such histrionics no matter the content or side. your not proving any point with that victim mentality.
You probably know more about hockey than I do, so no need for that!
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You think we looked good last year when we were 7-11? They looked even worse last year to start the season
Snippit
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- Dec 5, 2012
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ValJamesDuex
Registered User
- Nov 4, 2021
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I think you mean "The people who were realistic about trades, the cap situation and the reality of the UFAs that debunked the BS narratives."
Acting like you predicted everything when the majority of your takes in hindsight have been terrible is just more BS.
You screamed "dump Mittelstadt". You complained that Adams would not spend the cost to make a trade and sighted Stillman over Ekholm, and you basically threw tantrums to try to convince everyone to dump Jokiharju - but here we are a half a year later, Mitts is solid, Adams thankfully did not give up Benson to acquire Ekholm, who turned 33 and looks completely cooked in Edmonton, and Jokiharju is playing well. Hell, you even took shots at Adams over not signing R. Johnson before he signed.
Posters weren't trolling you, they are responding to the bullshit with facts and a reality check.
But feel free to keep falsely pretending the shortcomings of this current team are points you made and not the fact that the teams top players are struggling or injured, or that the team is having trouble transitioning to a more defensively sound gameplan in an evolving league that is moving away from wide-open play.
MOGlLNY
Registered User
- Jan 5, 2008
- 12,717
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Claiming that most posters were cool with running back the same roster is some wild revisionist history lol.
Zman5778
Moderator
Which Johnson is that?
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