Post-Game Talk: Well poop: Sabres win 2-1

[phillycheesekessel]

Kadri is ready to be an NHL first liner now.

he was ready to be an NHL third liner years ago.

You are sadly confused. a couple of games and hes ready for first line

 

[The Reaper]

Starting a guy who has given up 3 goals in 2 goals over someone who clearly didn't seem ready in camp seems like a bad idea to you?

uhh what?

 

[4evaBlue]

For all his hype Komarov has been underwhelming too.

I agree. His offense is virtually non existent. Maybe it'll start to puck up eventually, but until then he'd probably be a better fit on the 4th line in Brown's place.

 

[Drew311]

what do people think of Holzer and Fraser's games?

I liked Fraser. He is actually quite smart with the puck, something you don't expect from a tough guy. I would take him over Komisarek any day.

Holzer is really nothing special. We're going to lose one of them through waivers later this week, I'm hoping it's Holzer instead of Fraser.

 

[Dangles McGavin]

Watch some Marlie games before making these assumptions. Kadri has been playing like this for the Marlies since day 1... people over exaggerating that he wasn't ready, if he wasn't he wouldn't have been the first damn call up each and every time... He would come up play with hacks be the best player on the line but we will complain about him not picking up points, we will complain about the one or 2 turnover he commits trying to make plays, we complain about him getting knock down things that happen tonight but because he scored these past 2 games the view has all of the sudden changed . Is he or has he finished growing and developing ?NO but don't give me this crap he wasn't ready to play in the NHL 2 years ago CAUSE EVERYTHING HE NEEDED TO LEARN COULD HAVE BEEN DONE IN THE DAMN NHL THROUGH EXPERIENCE.

I've said this before and I'll say it again if Kadri was on Edmonton do you really think he would have spent this much time in the AHL? The answer and everybody knows it is NO.

This is not true at all. Considering that I watch a ton of the Marlies, I think I know a thing or two about the evolution of Kadri's game.

 

[Phion Keneuf]

uhh what?

It's clear he meant 2 games

 

[4evaBlue]

And now surely you'll watch the whole game over again to take note of any 'wins' that werent really wins by our other centers, right? Because surely you're not reaching a little too far for a criticism of a players you dislike.

Actually, I will be re-watching the game once the download becomes available, and paying very close attention to faceoffs. I'm baffled at how bad we were against the Habs, and how good we were tonight. As in, our faceoff success doubled in a span of two days. Are the Habs really that good on the dot, and the Sabres so awful?

 

[Slapshot17]

Grabo's line was minus 2 tonight. They've been very disappointing so far this year. Especially for 3 players that have been playing in other leagues.

Another Beauty game for Kadri. Glad to see him excel. I always felt he'd be a better NHL player than AHL player because he'd have better players surrounding him.

Scrivens with another solid game. He's not a spectacular save type of guy but he certainly gets the job done. GAA is under 2 right now. I can't complain about that after the past few seasons. His confidence will grow as the season goes on.

 

[The Winter Soldier]

And now surely you'll watch the whole game over again to take note of any 'wins' that werent really wins by our other centers, right? Because surely you're not reaching a little too far for a criticism of a players you dislike.

He hasn't been very good this year, or the last 10 games last year coincidentally when a new coach was named.

Very unlike a 5.5M player should be, instead of making excuses why not just be honest and admit he has been our 3rd best C thus far this year, infact maybe 4th best since I have been somewhat impressed by Mcclement this year.

#84 needs to pick it up, or he will make Komi look like a hero. No one talks about him being overpaid now. Could be a new target soon.

 

[1TuchAnd1NoTuch]

Kadri got a gift wrapped bounce off the end boards, was not noticeable the rest of the game, theres more to the game than the box score.

Leafs first line looked good, Miller was stellar, Scrivens looked solid although had a couple pucks saved by his D in the crease

 

[TheLeastOfTheBunch]

Opportunities were there but Miller stood on his head. Good thing is we face Fleury (good chance to get the offence going), and then NYI back to back Wednesday and Thursday.

 

[LV*]

Scrivens gets the start again, if it were up to me. It would be horrible to throw out Reimer against Pittsburgh, when he's cold.

 

[diceman934]

Pre-season? Really? Kadri has always been ready? Really? He was being physically pushed around, overhandled the puck, had a ton of turnovers, and failed to impress when given PP time. He just wasn't ready. Period. It was so painfully obvious, I hated Wilson as much as anybody but he was right on that one.

A lot of people on here seem to think that if only Kadri had been put on the first line and played 20 minutes a night he would have shown he was ready. Wrong. He was being given sheltered minutes like just about every team does with their prospects. Remember when Tyler Seguin was playing on the third line and getting benched/scratched? And he's better than Kadri. What you don't seem to understand is that it takes a VERY special player at 18-20 years of age to play on a first line. You know who first lines play against? Top defensive matchups.

If Kadri is ready for the NHL now, it takes a certain kind of dumbass to then say "see? he was ready the whole time!" That's not how it works. If he keeps playing like he has these first two games, it's not DESPITE all the time he spent in the AHL. It's BECAUSE of it.

He was ready....you do not have to believe me....but he was. Like I stated a Hunter coached player understands the game defensively.....

The AHL did not hurt him but the treatment of him has been horrible. So you yelling at me must mean that you are right. ....I said that he was ready many times on here before so.....As far as a dumbass goes, I leave that to people who believe things that they read and hear, I prefer to use my eyes and own opinion.

 

[Jarqui]

I liked Fraser. He is actually quite smart with the puck, something you don't expect from a tough guy. I would take him over Komisarek any day.

Holzer is really nothing special. We're going to lose one of them through waivers later this week, I'm hoping it's Holzer instead of Fraser.

I think Holzer is still waiver exempt

 

[SeenSchenn2]

Bozak was fantastic.

 

[Vexed]

I disagree. I thought he back checked well, made some nice passes to create chances and played hard along the boards.

Is he dominating? No, but he's been good and he's been in the mix. Drew a penalty too.

 

[The Blue Devil]

You must also remember that they just happened to be on the ice for both goals against tonight. They were nearly invisible offensively for the first two periods, and in the 3rd, when they managed to get something going, it was essentially Grabo circling around along the boards, not doing anything with the puck. They didn't really generate anything offensively.

You never give up do you? What are your explanations for Kule's lousy play? Or how he's so easily knocked off the puck? But yeah, both goals were all Grabo's fault he did nothing and Kule is a saint who did nothing wrong... I mean if Grabo were any good he'd go God mode and stop the puck from hitting off of Hodgson and into the net. Why Grabo WHY????

 

[zeke]

Kadri got a gift wrapped bounce off the end boards, was not noticeable the rest of the game, theres more to the game than the box score.

despite almost no icetime the first two periods, Kadri still managed to set up the leafs two best chances of the game (amongst others), to Liles and Kessel wide open in front. he was also our best forward moving the piuck through the neutral zone, and a physical forechecking presence on near every shift.

if you didn't notice him, that says more about you than him.

 

[Drew311]

Kadri got a gift wrapped bounce off the end boards, was not noticeable the rest of the game, theres more to the game than the box score

You're crazy. He had about 4 or 5 beautiful feeds that created prime scoring chances. This stuff goes unnoticed with a lot of fans. If you watch closely, you'll see just how much offense he creates. His passes are so soft and accurate, it pretty amazing to watch. I couldn't name another player out there tonight that connected on more than three passes in the neutral or offensive zones.

 

[The Winter Soldier]

On the bright side we have given up 1.5 GA in 2 games, but that will probably change against the Pens. High scoring team up next. Should be interesting to see who Phaneuf matches up against, Crosby or Malkin. When Phaneuf is not on the ice against one of the big guns, it can turn ugly. Then we will see the true value of Dion.

 

[Slapshot17]

Kadri got a gift wrapped bounce off the end boards, was not noticeable the rest of the game, theres more to the game than the box score.

Leafs first line looked good, Miller was stellar, Scrivens looked solid although had a couple pucks saved by his D in the crease

Exactly, there is more to the game than the box score such as the solid defensive game Kadri played, the passes he made (such as the one to Liles) that should have resulted in goals, and the fact that he didn't shy away from the rough stuff, like when Kaleta ended up taking a penalty on him right before the goal was scored.

His hustle tonight resulted in a goal, and him, JVR and Komarov looked like the most dangerous line the Leafs put out there tonight.

 

[diceman934]

Kadri got a gift wrapped bounce off the end boards, was not noticeable the rest of the game, theres more to the game than the box score.

Leafs first line looked good, Miller was stellar, Scrivens looked solid although had a couple pucks saved by his D in the crease

Kadri was our best forward along with Bozak.....the rest of our top line did not have a great game....good last 5 minutes. Scriven's did have a good game. Dion had maybe his best game defensively since he arrived here tonight.

 

[DaveT83*]

Its pretty evident to me that leafs are simply too small up front to compete. Buttalo did an excellent job pushing them to the outside. Nobody was anywhere near the front of the net - when they did get close they get knocked down or punched in the head. Miller made some good saves but really with no traffic any competant Goalie should stop them 100% of the time.

Lupul started to drive the net in final minutes of third. Other than that a pretty perimeter game all around by the Leafs ... somethings gotta give.

I'd like to see JVR and Kulie swapped. I'd like to see Frattin in for Mac.

 

[EmergencyExit]

Really boring game except for the end. Those fruitless powerplays were driving me crazy. Miller is a damn good goalie, and he still has our number. Loved the effort from Kadri, Phaneuf, Bozak, and Kessel. Lupul had some more chances tonight, he looked more effective than in Montreal. Orr's fight was great. JVR was not too good for the first two periods. A little better in the third but still largely ineffective. I hope he gets it going soon.

I felt that Bozak had a great game, totally money on faceoffs especially in crunch time. But I think he's sometimes too passive on the PP. Tries too much to force passes. Though the people he's passing to are better scorers than him, they won't always be in prime position to shoot. Sometimes he might as well take a shot if no one is covering him, if he's always going to pass it's way too predictable. Kostka, not a bad game but I don't think he's ready for PP time either. Hopefully Gardiner is back for the Pittsburgh game.

As for the defense, I don't think more than one of Holzer/Fraser/Komi should be playing in the same night. Too similar in skillsets. I don't mean to cast judgement on Holzer or Fraser after one game, but we missed Franson's shot and mobility on the back end tonight. And screw Kaleta!

 

[Guy Boucher]

Am I the only one who thought Gunnarsson had an awful game?