Buffalo Sabres and NHL: 2019/20: Sabres season officially over. Draft lottery June 26th

[KD in CA]

Ahh....replay.   A reversal of a reversal to just get back to what actually happened on the ice.   What ***** nonsense.

[K-9]

Liking Vesey's game the last few. 

 

Dahlin needs to sit a couple games. 

[BillsFan4]

26 minutes ago, K-9 said:

Liking Vesey's game the last few. 

 

Dahlin needs to sit a couple games. 

Dahlin has definitely been struggling lately. Hopefully he shakes it off soon. 

 

Not worried about him yet, maybe mildly concerned. But I have no doubt he will be fine long term. It took Victor Hedman about 4 seasons to become Victor Hedman. People talking about a Norris were getting WAY ahead of themselves though. 

 

 

And as i’m typing, Buffalo gets a PP!  They Need to take advantage. 

 

BTW, Kane is having a heck of a game. It doesn’t surprise me he’s fired up to play Buffalo.  

 

He’s had a really good start this season. Had a hat trick the other night. 

 

 

 

Also, Love how Buffalo is attacking rebounds and crashing the net tonight! 

 

 

(yes, I know this post is all over the place. Just typing random thoughts as I watch the game, half asleep...lol) 

[K-9]

1 minute ago, BillsFan4 said:

Dahlin has definitely been struggling lately. Hopefully he shakes it off soon. 

 

Not worried about him yet, maybe mildly concerned. But I have no doubt he will be fine long term. It took Victor Hedman about 4 seasons to become Victor Hedman. People talking about a Norris were getting WAY ahead of themselves though. 

 

 

And as i’m typing, Buffalo gets a PP!  They Need to take advantage. 

 

BTW, Kane is having a heck of a game. It doesn’t surprise me he’s fired up to play Buffalo.  

 

He’s had a really good start this season. Had a hat trick the other night. 

 

 

 

Also, Love how Buffalo is attacking rebounds and crashing the net tonight! 

 

 

(yes, I know this post is all over the place. Just typing random thoughts as I watch the game, half asleep...lol) 

@plenzmd1 mentioned it the other day and I am tending to agree at this juncture: Dahlin has lost confidence. Everything he does on the ice, EVERYTHING, is weak. Passes, clear attempts, manning the puck, you name it; it's weak. He needs to sit up in the box for a game or two. 

[BillsFan4]

Girgs!! 

 

I Love seeing the Larsson line get rewarded! 

Edited October 20, 2019 by BillsFan4

[snafu]

Now hold on tight. This third period has been intense. 

 

[BillsFan4]

Those casual Eichel backhand passes (especially at the blue line).... might be my biggest pet peeve with Eichel. 

[BillsFan4]

Nice win from what I saw (slept through the 1st and a bit of the 2nd). 

[K-9]

4 out of 6 on the road trip. I'll take it. The good thing is that we banked these points without playing anywhere near our best, too. I think that bodes well. 

9 minutes ago, BillsFan4 said:

Those casual Eichel backhand passes (especially at the blue line).... might be my biggest pet peeve with Eichel. 

 

I hear that. Drives me crazy. And it's a short drive to begin with!

[KD in CA]

Wow....that last minute is why watching hockey is bad for my health!

[BillsFan4]

I am really encouraged by Mittelstadt’s last few games. I’m hoping that he’s found his confidence and is turning a corner in his development. That whole Mittelstadt line has been pretty good the past 2 games.

 

Another great game from Jokiharju, too. Kid has been a huge surprise for me. I knew Blackhawk fans were hyping him up at the beginning of last season, but I didn’t start watching him until Jeremy Colliton took over for Q, and there was so much chaos in their new man to man system, it was hard to judge anyone. But now I see why they were so hyped up. Krueger’s system is much more similar to Quenneville’s, where as Colliton’s is more similar to Housley’s. He’s obviously a better fit in this defense. I still can’t believe the hawks traded him for Nylander! lol  All because he struggled in a new coaches system. A 31yr old rookie coach who looked in WAY over his head and who the Blackhawk players don’t seem to respect. 

 

 

[K-9]

Heard Duffer say in the post game that we are +10 in 5x5 for the season. If there was ONE area we needed to improve this year, that was it. And the thing is, I don’t think the Eichel line is out scoring the opponents in 5x5 hockey for the season, either. That tells me we are FINALLY seeing the secondary scoring we’ve been missing for a while now. Another good sign moving forward. 
 

Coaching. It makes a difference. 

[plenzmd1]

5 hours ago, K-9 said:

Heard Duffer say in the post game that we are +10 in 5x5 for the season. If there was ONE area we needed to improve this year, that was it. And the thing is, I don’t think the Eichel line is out scoring the opponents in 5x5 hockey for the season, either. That tells me we are FINALLY seeing the secondary scoring we’ve been missing for a while now. Another good sign moving forward. 
 

Coaching. It makes a difference. 

Peters>>>>>Marty

[JohnC]

I watched the first period and then the recap this morning. The player who has unexpectedly caught my eye this season is Jokiharju. He is getting better each game. You can see him playing with confidence and asserting himself more and more. What is so impressive about him is that for such a young player he plays with the poise of a veteran. He was a factor in two scores. Botterill should be arrested for felonious theft in his deal with the Blackhawks. 

 

You have to like what you see from the Mitts line. I'm sure most of the attention is on Mitts with his goal scoring but the player that I see steadily loosening up and playing better is Vesey. Jimmy V is known to be a slow starter but you can see him coming out of his shell and being a factor. His style of play is not flashy. It is more of a blue collar and straight line style of play. He was a good pickup by the GM.

 

I said this before but the GM with his non-flashy additions has solidified this team. Johannson, Miller, Vesey and Joki are all positive additions. Olofsson who is also an addition from the system is a dynamo on the PP but hasn't been much of a factor on 5x5. I'm confident that he will come around.

 

The one thing that I liked about the Sabres in this game is that there is a more net presence where most of the goals are scored. There is a big difference in that mucky area this year compared to the recent past. The feisty Skinner (another Botts acquisition) is one of the most effective players in the league in that congested area. 

[JohnC]

The attached link is the current league standings. Besides our record what stands out is our +13 stat. That is second to Colorado's +14. That is a indicator that our record is not a fortunate fluke like it was with our early success last year. 

 

https://www.nhl.com/standings/2019/wildcard

[JohnC]

8 hours ago, BillsFan4 said:

Dahlin has definitely been struggling lately. Hopefully he shakes it off soon. 

 

Not worried about him yet, maybe mildly concerned. But I have no doubt he will be fine long term. It took Victor Hedman about 4 seasons to become Victor Hedman. People talking about a Norris were getting WAY ahead of themselves though. 

 

 

And as i’m typing, Buffalo gets a PP!  They Need to take advantage. 

 

BTW, Kane is having a heck of a game. It doesn’t surprise me he’s fired up to play Buffalo.  

 

He’s had a really good start this season. Had a hat trick the other night. 

 

 

 

Also, Love how Buffalo is attacking rebounds and crashing the net tonight! 

 

 

(yes, I know this post is all over the place. Just typing random thoughts as I watch the game, half asleep...lol) 

When you are tired you are a free floater poster. That is so psychedelic. Are you sure that you didn't pop one of those LSD mind expanding pills last night? ? 

[JohnC]

The attached link is WGR's Paul Hamilton giving a quick and brief summarization of the game. I liked that he recognized Joki's play in this game.

 

https://wgr550.radio.com/articles/opinion/sabres-used-some-good-work-win-san-jose

[Doc]

So moving Skinner from Eichel's line was a big boost?

[K-9]

9 minutes ago, Doc said:

So moving Skinner from Eichel's line was a big boost?

Getting scoring from the bottom 6 is the big boost. 

[plenzmd1]

9 hours ago, K-9 said:

@plenzmd1 mentioned it the other day and I am tending to agree at this juncture: Dahlin has lost confidence. Everything he does on the ice, EVERYTHING, is weak. Passes, clear attempts, manning the puck, you name it; it's weak. He needs to sit up in the box for a game or two. 

that first chart is not pretty...

 

 

[JohnC]

20 minutes ago, Doc said:

So moving Skinner from Eichel's line was a big boost?

The Sabres are +13 on five on five with a 7-1-1 record. There is more scoring balance than before and it is translating into wins. The Eichel line is not scoring at the rate hoped for on 5x5 but that doesn't mean that they won't get back on track in the near future. 

[JohnC]

The attached link is an article on two way players written by Alex Prewitt and taken from a SI site. It mentions players who are top tier two way players such as O'Reilly and Barkov, and others. It also mentions some players from earlier eras who top were elite two way players. This is not a short article but also not tiresomely long. You can skip through some sections. 

 

https://www.si.com/nhl/2019/10/02/two-way-forward-oreilly-barkov-sissons

 

[JohnC]

The attached link is a five minute recap of the San Jose game. This link came from NHL.com.

 

://www.nhl.com/gamecenter/buf-vs-sjs/2019/10/19/2019020123#game=2019020123,game_state=final

[OldTimeAFLGuy]

1 hour ago, JohnC said:

The Sabres are +13 on five on five with a 7-1-1 record. There is more scoring balance than before and it is translating into wins. The Eichel line is not scoring at the rate hoped for on 5x5 but that doesn't mean that they won't get back on track in the near future. 

 

....+13 and leading the division by 3?......they are playing some inspired hockey.....Hutton back to back zeros is pretty impressive.....stopped 47 I believe.......

[JohnC]

2 hours ago, OldTimeAFLGuy said:

 

....+13 and leading the division by 3?......they are playing some inspired hockey.....Hutton back to back zeros is pretty impressive.....stopped 47 I believe.......

Both Hutton and Ullmark are playing well. What is contributing to the good goaltending play is the responsible play of the defenders and forwards. There is a structure to the defense that didn't exist under Housley. And as you suggest Hutton is our #1 goaltender. The coach is smartly utilizing both of his goaltenders because he understands that the compressed schedule this year is going to wear down his primary goaltender if he over uses him. 

[JohnC]

The attached link is a Buffalo News article by Lance Lysowski indicating that because of last year's dramatic fall off after the winning streak this team is very aware that they can't take anything for granted. The signs are that this unit is more resilient. It is also pointed out that Johansson replaced Olafsson on the first PP unit. This coach is basing his playing decisions on performance regardless who you are. Dahlin's playing time was reduced and Olafsson seems to already hit a bump in the road. If Olafsson slides it will interesting to see how RK adjusts the lines.   

 

https://buffalonews.com/2019/10/20/buffalo-sabres-san-jose-sharks-jeff-skinner-ralph-krueger-zemgus-girgensons-nhl-news-2019/

[BillsFan4]

https://theathletic.com/1301489/2019/10/17/16-stats-the-surging-sabres-surprising-starts-and-stanley-cup-slumps/

 

Quote

Through the early going the Buffalo Sabres are off to a roaring 5-1-1 start, and are currently sitting above Boston, Toronto and Tampa Bay atop the Atlantic division. Not a single soul likely suspected that at any point this season.

 

Usually, in those cases, there’s a tendency to write off any surprising success story since what we knew about this team two weeks ago shouldn’t have changed much. Generally, it’s a percentage-induced binge. That might not be the case with Buffalo who are shocking some teams out of the gate with their ability to control the play of the game. There are stretches where they’re just skating circles around the other team – that wasn’t happening much last year. That they have a lethal power play that is tops in the league doesn’t hurt either.

 

Will they keep up some of their percentages? Probably not. But the way they’ve managed the puck through their first seven games is impressive. They’re currently rocking a 53 percent Corsi and 54 percent expected goals rate which both rank just outside the league’s top 10. It’s a huge step up from last season where those stretches were rare if not non-existent. It’s the main reason to be optimistic that this time, this team is for real. When the Sabres were briefly atop the league last season it was on the back of sequencing luck from winning a flurry of one-goal games and little about their output screamed it was legit.

This? It’s promising.

 

The key to the Sabres’ start has to be new coach Ralph Krueger that has the group playing extremely staunch defense. They rank fourth in shot attempts and expected goals against leading to stingy actual numbers. The Sabres have become difficult to penetrate on most nights which would’ve been hard to believe when looking at the mostly unimposing roster.

I still don’t think much of the group of players here outside the stars and wouldn’t be surprised if the team’s shot share comes back down to earth going forward, but it’s clear Krueger has been able to get more out of this group than previous regimes could. Whether he can get enough to bring this team back into the playoffs will be one of this season’s most fascinating storylines.

There’s more in the link (athletic subscription required).

 

This is from Dom Luszczyszyn at the Athletic. Here’s his bio for reference:

“Dom is a national NHL reporter for The Athletic who writes primarily about hockey analytics and new ways of looking at the game. Previously he’s also worked at The Hockey News, The Nation Network, and Hockey Graphs.”

 

Last year, he was never high on the Sabres, even during the 10 game win streak. He continually pointed out how poor their underlying analytics were. He seems much more impressed with this year’s team. 

[JohnC]

10 hours ago, BillsFan4 said:

https://theathletic.com/1301489/2019/10/17/16-stats-the-surging-sabres-surprising-starts-and-stanley-cup-slumps/

 

There’s more in the link (athletic subscription required).

 

This is from Dom Luszczyszyn at the Athletic. Here’s his bio for reference:

“Dom is a national NHL reporter for The Athletic who writes primarily about hockey analytics and new ways of looking at the game. Previously he’s also worked at The Hockey News, The Nation Network, and Hockey Graphs.”

 

Last year, he was never high on the Sabres, even during the 10 game win streak. He continually pointed out how poor their underlying analytics were. He seems much more impressed with this year’s team. 

Prior to the season Krueger was asked about what he as a coach emphasized. He was succinct and clear. It was complete buy-in by the players to play the right way not only when they had the puck but more importantly when they didn't have the puck. He pointed out that if one player on the ice faltered in carrying out his responsibility then the system would fail. 

 

Essentially, pressing the puck on defense initiates the offense. It's not a complicated strategy but that is not to say that it is an easy strategy to execute. Again, if everyone on the ice is not playing within the system then there will be a vulnerability in the system. Freelancing a bit on offense is tolerable but not when playing your man or in a defensive posture. 

 

When all is said and done there is nothing ingenious about his strategy because it is basic hockey. What is ingenious is the ability to get everyone with their different skill sets to buy in to the team concept. 

[shrader]

The oh so common home-and-home series with the Sharks.  I can't say I've seen one of those before.  Thank god they're back to start times I can actually watch.

[BillsFan4]

 

 

another respected analytics guy who likes what is going on in Buffalo. 

 

This is weird... I can’t remember the Sabres ever getting love from the analytics community (except for Dahlin, anyway). 

[Greybeard]

On 10/18/2019 at 5:51 PM, plenzmd1 said:

As i age, i find it harder and harder to sleep past 4AM..so i record most of the night football games and other games like this Sabre game and watch maybe the first half or first period, go to bed, and watch the rest when i wake up at this ungodly hour.I am usually pretty diligent about not looking at my phone, so its like live to me, but this morning i did!

 

Sucks to get old!!!!

          I have had the same problem for 3 or 4 years.  Two weeks ago I started taking Melatonin before bedtime.  I still wake up at 4 sometimes but I am now able to fall asleep for another 2 or 3 hours.

[JohnC]

2 hours ago, BillsFan4 said:

 

 

another respected analytics guy who likes what is going on in Buffalo. 

 

This is weird... I can’t remember the Sabres ever getting love from the analytics community (except for Dahlin, anyway).

I have a basic analytic that rarely fails me. I trust my eyes! ?

 

Effort isn't usually a quantifiable metric. However, when you see it (win or lose) you recognize it. So far I have seen plenty of it. 

[plenzmd1]

38 minutes ago, Greybeard said:

          I have had the same problem for 3 or 4 years.  Two weeks ago I started taking Melatonin before bedtime.  I still wake up at 4 sometimes but I am now able to fall asleep for another 2 or 3 hours.

I just invested in a CBD startup, going to try that ASAP

[JohnC]

This link is an article that WGR's Paul Hamilton wrote about the California trip. It points out the coach's belief in the importance in off ice bonding of the players that contribute to team success.

 https://wgr550.radio.com/articles/news/sabres-got-know-each-other-better-california

 

This link is a WGR 10 minute press conference with Ralph Krueger. He is a pleasure to listen to. When he is at the podium there are few clichés. He gives a lot of genuine analysis with an impressive level of verbal dexterity. He is enjoyable to listen to. 

https://wgr550.radio.com/media/audio-channel/10-21-ralph-krueger

[K-9]

3 hours ago, JohnC said:

This link is an article that WGR's Paul Hamilton wrote about the California trip. It points out the coach's belief in the importance in off ice bonding of the players that contribute to team success.

 https://wgr550.radio.com/articles/news/sabres-got-know-each-other-better-california

 

This link is a WGR 10 minute press conference with Ralph Krueger. He is a pleasure to listen to. When he is at the podium there are few clichés. He gives a lot of genuine analysis with an impressive level of verbal dexterity. He is enjoyable to listen to. 

https://wgr550.radio.com/media/audio-channel/10-21-ralph-krueger

Two words: mental acuity. 
 

Four more words: the anti Phil Housley.

[BillsFan4]

 

Nice! I’ve been pretty anxious to see how he looks in the AHL. 

[JohnC]

2 hours ago, BillsFan4 said:

 

Nice! I’ve been pretty anxious to see how he looks in the AHL. 

The current GM has invested in stocking the system with talent and allowing it to develop. The previous GM, Murray, was more inclined to deal talent for immediate help. Giving up a first round pick for Lehner, a goalie that the Senators were probably not going to keep, was foolish. Lehner had a short stint with the Sabres and the traded pick could have been a forward who would have been ready to play on the second line. The more patient approach is the most proven and sustainable approach for success. You have to be happy with the way Botterill has run the operation.  

[Doc]

What are the Sabres' 2-1st round picks doing this year?

[K-9]

4 minutes ago, Doc said:

What are the Sabres' 2-1st round picks doing this year?

Cozens is kicking ass for Lethbridge in the WHL and Johnson is four games into his freshman year at Minnesota.

Edited October 22, 2019 by K-9

[JohnC]

4 minutes ago, Doc said:

What are the Sabres' 2-1st round picks doing this year?

I can't speak to their lower first round pick but Cozens is doing well with 4 goals and 4 assists. I think he is going to be with the big club next year, and if not he will be there in two years. He is eventually going to be our second line center. 

https://www.rotowire.com/hockey/player.php?id=5965

3 minutes ago, K-9 said:

Cozens is kicking ass for Lethbridge in the WHL and Johnson is four games into his freshman year at Minnesota.

In another year or two we are going to have a strong middle. I do like Mitts but I think that Cozens is eventually going to be our second line center with Mitts as our third center. The expectation is that Johansson will move back to the wing.