What’s up with Tage Thompson?

[TheDawnOfANewTage]

Last year Tage scored 47g, 47a, 94 points, in 78 games.

This year he has.. 15g, 14a, 29 points in 43 games.

So.. what gives?

1) Injury. Dude was banged up earlier this year, dunno if that’s still the case.
2) Confidence. Tage seems to grip the stick too tightly and second guess decisions. Last year he just got on a heater where things built and built, now he’s trying to get back to that level while also trying to play better D, play more responsibly.
3) Coaching. Granato did well on that first step, putting Tage in a spot to succeed, but it doesn’t seem like there’s much else there. No adjustments, no fine-tuning. He’s not getting Tage out of his own head or back on an upwards trajectory, it feels like it’s just “you can do it” platitudes.

Anyways- Tage could still be a monster, but somethin is off this year. We haven’t really discussed it, everything in Sabres land sucks right now, but this is the worst. Immense talent lookin’ like a Cheechoo, idk what is happening there. Thoughts?

Click to read more...

 

[MNRube]

Sabres had a freakish offensive season last year as a whole. Tage benefitted from that as much as anyone. Seems like this year they have opted out of the pond hockey style they employed last year.

Another issue is that their veterans are god-awful and you can’t win in this league with a roster full of kids.

He also just seems like a streaky player and those guys tend to have considerable variation year to year.

 

[Khelandros]

Well, you can look here and see what is going on.

 

[Ted Hoffman]

I suspect injuries are playing some role in this. Even if he started comparatively slow (16 games, 6-6-12 vs. last year's 11-10-21 that was pumped up by a 6-5-11 outburst in 3 games), missing time due to a puck off the wrist didn't help. After a couple weeks to kind of get back up to speed, he was 6-5-11 through the next 8 games (through the Ottawa game on 1/11).

That Ottawa game was also one where he left early with an undisclosed injury, and he's 1-1-2 since.

 

[Chainshot]

Mostly injury and their inability to scheme up anything other than his one timer on the power play.

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

last year was an outlier and not the norm

 

[Nikolajs Sillers]

 

[CrownofThornton]

He is simply not as good as the season he had last year.

 

[Prairie Habs]

I'll admit to not having watched much of the Sabres this season, but I can see they allowed 300 goals last season but are on pace for "only" 254 this year. Has there been a noticeable shift in defensive expectations among the forwards? He might be finding it hard to produce at the same level while also trying to play responsibly.

That or Slafkovsky has stolen his talent space jam style. That's right folks, its another Slaf thread.

 

[JustAHabFan]

I'll admit to not having watched much of the Sabres this season, but I can see they allowed 300 goals last season but are on pace for "only" 254 this year. Has there been a noticeable shift in defensive expectations among the forwards? He might be finding it hard to produce at the same level while also trying to play responsibly.

That or Slafkovsky has stolen his talent space jam style. That's right folks, its another Slaf thread.

It's amazing how you turn a Tage Thompson thread into a Slaf thread.

 

[HansonBro]

It's amazing how you turn a Tage Thompson thread into a Slaf thread.

Hes a unicorn

 

[Iggys Dome]

Hard to produce on a bottom 5 team

 

[TGWL]

Went from 3rd to 20+ in goals per game. While it could be put on Tage not scoring those goals, it seems like maybe there's a bigger issue. The power play is also at the bottom of the league.
They improved their goals against per game. Can't have it both ways...

 

[bleedgreen]

last year was an outlier and not the norm

He was very good the year before last.

 

[Raistlin]

he is uncommonly bad, even when the whole team is humming in the few games here and there he seems to be lagging behind in production. lately his ice time has been cut too. last year seems to be an aberration.

 

[Buck Naked]

Hard to produce on a bottom 5 team

 

[Nikki Potnick]

Isn't OP a Sabres fan? Why are you asking other fans why your own player isn't playing well? Definitely a Sabres board thread...

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

He got a nasty lower body injury early in the season .

That said, every Buffalo player had inflated stats last season, especially in the first half.

 

[Faceboner]

Isn't OP a Sabres fan? Why are you asking other fans why your own player isn't playing well? Definitely a Sabres board thread...

There are threads of the same ilk all the time on the mainboard when a player goes on a heater or slumps hard

 

[Nikki Potnick]

There are threads of the same ilk all the time on the mainboard when a player goes on a heater or slumps hard

Fans of team's player, ask fans of other teams why that player is not doing well?

How the f*** should we know, you watch them all the time, not us...

 

[frederixx]

I feel for Sabres fans, i really do. Despite all the hopes and promising future, they're still bottom feeders and they doing worst than some newly rebuilding teams. I just don't get it, it must be infuriating

 

[Washed Up 29YearOld]

I feel for Sabres fans, i really do. Despite all the hopes and promising future, they're still bottom feeders and they doing worst than some newly rebuilding teams. I just don't get it, it must be infuriating

It is. We have fans who would rather move the team because they’re tired of the losing. Lol. Sabre land is definitely distraught this season. Infuriating is the right word. Appreciate the feels

 

[Team_Spirit]

They ask bout Thompson but not about Cozens, Olofsson, Skinner...

Could it be the coaches trying to win 3-2 instead of 6-5.

 

[Felidae]

last year was an outlier and not the norm

Funny thing is his shooting percentage last year is just a bit better than it was the year before when he had 38 goals, which was good for 19th in the league.

So while last year may have been a outlier, it's not so much due to his goalscoring.

 

[Arthur Morgan]

Tage will be fine but I dont think he will have many seasons moving forward like he did last year but still he's locked down at a nice value.