Buffalo Sabres & NHL 2018-19: Sabres picking 7th overall (6/21/19). Ralph Krueger hire as new head coach!

[plenzmd1]

 

[BillsFan4]

Quote

What is the worst city to visit on the road?

 

“The 2019 NHL Poll: Best player? Most overrated? Players weigh in on the best (and worst) in the game”  (subscription required)

 

https://theathletic.com/840226/2019/02/28/the-2019-nhl-poll-best-player-most-overrated-players-weigh-in-on-the-best-and-worst-in-the-game/?source=dailyemail

 

 

Sucks to see buffalo as #2 least desirable city to visit, but it’s not at all surprising. 

 

Hey, on a positive note, Mike Babcock was voted the #3 coach that players least like playing for. Tortorella was #1 and Hitchcock was #2. 

 

Interestingly, Tortorella was also tied for 4th with Paul Maurice for coach that players most wanted to play for (with 6% of the vote). Gerard Gallant and Jon Cooper ran away with that one, both receiving roughly 1/4 of the votes each. 

[K-9]

So I was doing some end of the month stat checking and I see that Hunwick, Scandella, and Sobotka (with one each) all put up more points than Tage Thompson, who managed to post a Blutarsky. 

 

With the Berglund situation and the pure suckitude of Sobotka, this trade keeps looking worse and worse for JBotts. And I have to wonder, why no time in Rochester? 

 

EDIT: I forgot to add Hutton as another player who outscored Thompson during February. I didn’t remember his assist on Reinhart’s empty netter vs. the Caps. Wow.

Edited February 28, 2019 by K-9

[Boca BIlls]

8 hours ago, K-9 said:

I guess there’s meeting expectations and then actually showing affirmative signs of progress. In other years with other teams, an 18 point improvement over the previous season might point to an upward trajectory but not this year. Not when the vast majority of the season has been played at the .394 clip we’ve seen the last three months. Not when a team can’t win two in a row since December 13th. Not when the same defensive lapses keep costing us games. 

 

There have been been some positives like Skinner, the continued development of Eichel and Reinhart, and the promising play of Dahlin to name a few. And the streak, fools gold that it turned out to be, was a blast and fun to rally around. 

 

 

So funny people re happy with failure.

[K-9]

2 hours ago, BillsFan4 said:

 

“The 2019 NHL Poll: Best player? Most overrated? Players weigh in on the best (and worst) in the game”  (subscription required)

 

https://theathletic.com/840226/2019/02/28/the-2019-nhl-poll-best-player-most-overrated-players-weigh-in-on-the-best-and-worst-in-the-game/?source=dailyemail

 

 

Sucks to see buffalo as #2 least desirable city to visit, but it’s not at all surprising. 

 

Hey, on a positive note, Mike Babcock was voted the #3 coach that players least like playing for. Tortorella was #1 and Hitchcock was #2. 

 

Interestingly, Tortorella was also tied for 4th with Paul Maurice for coach that players most wanted to play for (with 6% of the vote). Gerard Gallant and Jon Cooper ran away with that one, both receiving roughly 1/4 of the votes each. 

I wonder if a “Worst Place to be Traded” poll would score similarly. We’ve seen a number of players over the years who were flat out upset about coming here in years past. And with the Berglund situation, one has to wonder. 

8 minutes ago, Boca BIlls said:

So funny people re happy with failure.

I seriously doubt anyone is happy with failure, but there is a reluctance to see lack of progress for what it is. 

[BillsFan4]

53 minutes ago, K-9 said:

I wonder if a “Worst Place to be Traded” poll would score similarly. We’ve seen a number of players over the years who were flat out upset about coming here in years past. And with the Berglund situation, one has to wonder. 

I seriously doubt anyone is happy with failure, but there is a reluctance to see lack of progress for what it is. 

My guess would be yes. Especially with how bad the Sabres have been the last 5 years. I don’t think buffalo, the city, will ever be a destination among players. It’s a definite disadvantage in free agency. But it seems like a lot of players end up liking it once they spend some time here. 

 

1 hour ago, K-9 said:

So I was doing some end of the month stat checking and I see that Hunwick, Scandella, and Sobotka (with one each) all put up more points than Tage Thompson, who managed to post a Blutarsky. 

 

With the Berglund situation and the pure suckitude of Sobotka, this trade keeps looking worse and worse for JBotts. And I have to wonder, why no time in Rochester? 

 

It’s by far his worst trade. 

 

But it’s still salvageable. It’s looking like we could give Anaheim the St. Louis pick if everything holds the way it is now. 

 

So, essentially it’ll then be ROR and Guhle for Montour, Thompson and whatever that 2nd turns into. (Plus Sobotka if you want to count him...lol). 

 

If Montour turns into a good, long term top 4 RHD for Buffalo and Thompson develops into a top 6 F, the trade could look ok.

 

At least we got more of a sure thing with Montour though. 

 

 

The rest of Botterill’s trades have been better though. It makes me hopeful that the ROR trade was just an aberration. There were some extenuating circumstances there. 

But still, it sucks to give away our biggest trade chip for what buffalo did. 

Too bas they weren’t willing to eat that $7.5M bonus... (easy for me to say, right? lol). I think that would have changed things and even opened up more teams to trade him to (Carolina, NYI etc). 

[K-9]

17 minutes ago, BillsFan4 said:

My guess would be yes. Especially with how bad the Sabres have been the last 5 years. I don’t think buffalo, the city, will ever be a destination among players. It’s a definite disadvantage in free agency. But it seems like a lot of players end up liking it once they spend some time here. 

 

 

It’s by far his worst trade. 

 

But it’s still salvageable. It’s looking like we could give Anaheim the St. Louis pick if everything holds the way it is now. 

 

So, essentially it’ll then be ROR and Guhle for Montour, Thompson and whatever that 2nd turns into. (Plus Sobotka if you want to count him...lol). 

 

If Montour turns into a good, long term top 4 RHD for Buffalo and Thompson develops into a top 6 F, the trade could look ok.

 

At least we got more of a sure thing with Montour though. 

 

 

The rest of Botterill’s trades have been better though. It makes me hopeful that the ROR trade was just an aberration. There were some extenuating circumstances there. 

But still, it sucks to give away our biggest trade chip for what buffalo did. 

Too bas they weren’t willing to eat that $7.5M bonus... (easy for me to say, right? lol). I think that would have changed things and even opened up more teams to trade him to (Carolina, NYI etc). 

Great point about paying the 7.5m to attract more potential trading partners. That’s pocket change to the Pegulas, too. 

 

In keeping with the theme of the poor trade, I fully expect that pick to Anaheim, if it ends up being St. Louis’s, will becomes the next Wayne Gretzky.

[BillsFan4]

2 hours ago, K-9 said:

 

In keeping with the theme of the poor trade, I fully expect that pick to Anaheim, if it ends up being St. Louis’s, will becomes the next Wayne Gretzky.

Sounds about right...  ? 

[BillsFan4]

 

 

 

 

Not a warm reception, to say the least. 

 

 

 

Edit -  Isles win 6 - 1

 

love it for islander fans.

They are every bit as die hard as Sabres fans are. 

 

Edited March 1, 2019 by BillsFan4

[Nextmanup]

This is a thread for discussing Sabres hockey, not a general NHL or hockey thread.

 

 

[K-9]

19 minutes ago, Nextmanup said:

This is a thread for discussing Sabres hockey, not a general NHL or hockey thread.

 

 

This thread had a predecessor made by 26CornerBlitz for years and it always included NHL talk in general as well as Sabres discussion. When he left TBD, BillsFan4 started this newer thread to keep the tradition alive as a place for us Bills fans to also have a dedicated thread for hockey discussion. While it’s predominantly a Sabres discussion thread, it has always been open to other hockey discussion. 

 

If you want a place for more Sabres only threads, you may want to check out The Aud Club at SabresSpace, SDR’s sister site to TBD and TSW.

[Q-baby!]

10 hours ago, Nextmanup said:

This is a thread for discussing Sabres hockey, not a general NHL or hockey thread.

 

 

Read the thread title. 

[Ridgewaycynic2013]

As it stands now, playoffstatus.com calculates a 93% probability of Sabres not making the playoffs.

[Turk71]

1 minute ago, Ridgewaycynic2013 said:

As it stands now, playoffstatus.com calculates a 93% probability of Sabres not making the playoffs.

So there is a chance? Right? I am gonna read this that there is at least a 7% chance the Sabres make the playoffs!!! Playoffs!!!

[shrader]

18 hours ago, K-9 said:

I wonder if a “Worst Place to be Traded” poll would score similarly. We’ve seen a number of players over the years who were flat out upset about coming here in years past. And with the Berglund situation, one has to wonder.

 

Berglund's still not playing anywhere in the world, right?  I think that's more telling about his situation to where very little of it was about Buffalo.

[plenzmd1]

1 hour ago, Ridgewaycynic2013 said:

As it stands now, playoffstatus.com calculates a 93% probability of Sabres not making the playoffs.

well, the only positive is this

 

On December 16th, the Sabres had a 92% chance of MAKING the playoffs...so , maybe this is wrong too.

 

I mean think about that, in a little over two months they have completed reversed this graph...that is really freaking hard to do!

 

http://www.sportsclubstats.com/NHL/Eastern/Atlantic/Buffalo_ChanceWillMakePlayoffs.html

[Q-baby!]

7 minutes ago, plenzmd1 said:

well, the only positive is this

 

On December 16th, the Sabres had a 92% chance of MAKING the playoffs...so , maybe this is wrong too.

 

I mean think about that, in a little over two months they have completed reversed this graph...that is really freaking hard to do!

 

http://www.sportsclubstats.com/NHL/Eastern/Atlantic/Buffalo_ChanceWillMakePlayoffs.html

And coach was talked about for coach of the year award. 

[K-9]

7 minutes ago, shrader said:

 

Berglund's still not playing anywhere in the world, right?  I think that's more telling about his situation to where very little of it was about Buffalo.

Perhaps, but that doesn’t explain past players who didn’t like getting traded here.

9 minutes ago, plenzmd1 said:

well, the only positive is this

 

On December 16th, the Sabres had a 92% chance of MAKING the playoffs...so , maybe this is wrong too.

 

I mean think about that, in a little over two months they have completed reversed this graph...that is really freaking hard to do!

 

http://www.sportsclubstats.com/NHL/Eastern/Atlantic/Buffalo_ChanceWillMakePlayoffs.html

Not only is it hard to do, my guess is that it’s history making. If not in the league, then certainly in franchise history.

[BillsFan4]

25 minutes ago, K-9 said:

Perhaps, but that doesn’t explain past players who didn’t like getting traded here.

Not only is it hard to do, my guess is that it’s history making. If not in the league, then certainly in franchise history.

I think buffalo will be the 3rd NHL team to miss the playoffs after a 10 game win streak. 

 

I know Philly did it in recent years (one of their annual win streaks...) and I can’t remember who the other team was (it may have been Philly too (lol, kidding)). 

 

But yeah, pretty rare. 

Edited March 1, 2019 by BillsFan4

[K-9]

1 minute ago, BillsFan4 said:

I think buffalo will be the 3rd NHL team to miss the playoffs after a 10 game win streak. 

 

I know Philly did it in recent years (one of their annual win streaks..... lol) and I can’t remember who the other team was (it may have been Philly too (lol, kidding)). 

 

But yeah, pretty rare. 

Definitely 10 game streak history.

 

But I was referring to the 92% chance of making the playoffs in mid-December to the 93% chance of not making them less than theee months later.