Post-Game Talk (GBU): 1 down 81 to go

[Bps21*]

They introd him between deslauriers and ristolainen...he walked out in a suit like everyone else. I just watched it on the DVR to put it to bed.

 

[30Yonge]

Myers is 19th in terms of cap hit for defensemen.

He is not a top 20 D, yet he is certainly preferable to lots of guys in the 20-50 range for cap hits. Complaining about his salary is so 2012.

 

[Paxon]

Myers is 19th in terms of cap hit for defensemen.

He is not a top 20 D, yet he is certainly preferable to lots of guys in the 20-50 range for cap hits. Complaining about his salary is so 2012.

Yeah. There's quite a few guys with between a $5.5m and $5m cap hit who are no better than Myers to say the least. It's not a sweetheart of a contract but it's quite fine.

 

[Heraldic]

Foligno is really frustrating. It seems that the more time and space he has with the puck, the worse his decision making becomes. He's best when he gets the puck when there's not a lot of options or space and just needs to rush it through.

Zadorov was also introduced.

 

[misterchainsaw]

Oh and Columbus just had another odd man rush!

I don't know how anyone could say they looked decent. They got their ***** kicked in their own home opener up and down the ice after the first 10 minutes or so. This is going to be an awful team. I'm sure that's what some want, but this team is much more than a player away, and I question how much guys can develop amid this tire fire.

I mean, it's not like there's a ready example of teams in the NHL who somehow continue to be bad despite high pick after high pick...

 

[Heraldic]

I don't know how anyone could say they looked decent. They got their ***** kicked in their own home opener up and down the ice after the first 10 minutes or so. This is going to be an awful team. I'm sure that's what some want, but this team is much more than a player away, and I question how much guys can develop amid this tire fire.

I mean, it's not like there's a ready example of teams in the NHL who somehow continue to be bad despite high pick after high pick...

It's a combination of developing your current highly talented players (Ristolainen, Pysyk, Zadorov, Girgensons, Reinhart, Grigorenko and McCabe being the most developed) and upgrading other areas through trade (and we do have assets).

 

[Sabresfansince1980]

G - Well on pace for McEichel
B - Only one effective line (28, 82, 80)
U - Benoit/Meszaros - this looked like a train wreck from the start. I hope Pysyk doesn't come back and mess this up, because this pairing can bring home the #1 pick all by itself.

 

[Zip15]

Zadorov got announced and was there. I'd bet my house on it. Right before Risto. Watch again.

How do I know this? I was holding my 18 month old and said " Can you say Zadoooooorrrrrrov?" She couldn't.

 

[Moskau]

I don't know how anyone could say they looked decent.

Yeah this game was right up there with their worst from last year. The defense looked Rolston era at times. When they weren't coming in 2 on 1 Columbus was just willingly entering the zone and setting up. They hit 3 posts in the 1st alone and missed on a ton of point blank shots. As I mentioned in the GDT Buffalo looked much worse than every other team I watched tonight. Anaheim lost 6-4 to Pittsburgh and they would have destroyed Buffalo tonight. Columbus was arguably missing one of their most important forwards, a guy who will be their top defensemen this year and their #1 Center wasn't in game shape. It's game 1 but people are really grasping for positives if they think Buffalo looked decent.

 

[ZeroPT*]

Zads was definitely introduced. He threw up like a 3 handed peace sign to the crowd.

 

[BowieSabresFan]

I only saw the third period, but that's what I was seeing as well. Myers had quite a few moments. It's one thing if he's your fourth best defenseman, but when he is your most important blue-liner, it's no surprise that this team struggles as much as it does. They weren't jarring moments you can't live with, just "we need you to be better" moments. When this team is good, Myers is going to have to have a significantly smaller role.

God help us if you ever become GM of the Sabres.

 

[Jim Bob]

Outshot 40 to 22 by a beat up Columbus squad.

Well, Enroth is going to get a shot to earn a lot of money this season.

 

[stokes84]

God help us if you ever become GM of the Sabres.

I guess you think he's good enough to be a no. 1 or 2 on a championship team. Good luck with that.

 

[TehDoak]

I find it odd that there can be such divergent opinions on the same game.

Buffalo did not look good. Period. While I think the "effort" was there, it looked nearly identical to last year. The team appears to be less than the sum of its parts.

-Buffalo was unable to sustain an effective forecheck. Very few times was there more than a single shot on goal/chance in a sequence
-Buffalo gave up a ton of shots against including several odd man rushes.
-Not sure if possession stats are available yet, but I'm certain columbus had the puck 60%+ of the time

The score could have easily been 2-0 or 3-0 after the first. Easily. Columbus whiffed on quite a few chances and rang the pipe a few times.

It's one game, so its impossible to tell. But, the fact that the team has talked about how different if feels this year, etc, to come out and lay an egg in front of the home crowd on your opener is not a good sign going forward. To make it worse, I'm certain the team is aware of how injured the blue jackets are. The team appeared willing to work for a win (I didn't note any obvious passengers like we had late last year), but either the team just plain isn't good enough or the coaching staff doesn't have anything resembling an effective NHL system in place

1 game is 1 game is 1 game, so we'll see as time goes on. But, it certainly isn't a good sign going forward.

 

[Reddawg]

Unseen: Reinhart

I saw him!!! (get crushed into the corner by Skille)

 

[Zip15]

I find it odd that there can be such divergent opinions on the same game.

Buffalo did not look good. Period. While I think the "effort" was there, it looked nearly identical to last year. The team appears to be less than the sum of its parts.

-Buffalo was unable to sustain an effective forecheck. Very few times was there more than a single shot on goal/chance in a sequence
-Buffalo gave up a ton of shots against including several odd man rushes.
-Not sure if possession stats are available yet, but I'm certain columbus had the puck 60%+ of the time

The score could have easily been 2-0 or 3-0 after the first. Easily. Columbus whiffed on quite a few chances and rang the pipe a few times.

It's one game, so its impossible to tell. But, the fact that the team has talked about how different if feels this year, etc, to come out and lay an egg in front of the home crowd on your opener is not a good sign going forward. To make it worse, I'm certain the team is aware of how injured the blue jackets are. The team appeared willing to work for a win (I didn't note any obvious passengers like we had late last year), but either the team just plain isn't good enough or the coaching staff doesn't have anything resembling an effective NHL system in place

1 game is 1 game is 1 game, so we'll see as time goes on. But, it certainly isn't a good sign going forward.

You've been around here long enough to know better. GDT's and GBU's have become little more than a respository to implement your offseason agenda and apply it to game action. They're large strains of confirmation bias.

 

[struckbyaparkedcar]

Myers' mistakes are going to happen because of usage. With Ehrhoff/Sekera gone and Pysyk on the shelf, he's the only dude capable of doing anything in transition from the back end, and the team is going to rely on him as such. That will mean mistakes that a lot of other defensemen aren't making, because a lot of other defenseman don't have those demands.

The one nice thing, is that Nolan has been coaching Myers to use his skillset to essentially cover for himself, in the same way that higher variance defensemen like Karlsson and Subban do, rather than being hyper-efficient at a defensemen's basic responsibilities (like Lidstrom with super powers, and what Lindy Ruff was going for).

 

[struckbyaparkedcar]

Also, all the things that were supposed to key some semblance of turnaround (Girgensons-Gionta providing a line of defense/possession, Larsson (or another possession guy) supporting that duo at 3/4C, Pysyk being able to look decent as a #3 playing lots of vanilla minutes like 2011 Leopold, etc) didn't actually exist on last night's roster.

And Hodgson-Reinhart-Gionta plays to nobody on that line's strengths.

 

[BowieSabresFan]

I guess you think he's good enough to be a no. 1 or 2 on a championship team. Good luck with that.

Actually, if he plays like he did last year (and last night), then he has every chance of being good enough as a #2 on a championship team. He's not done developing either.

My main issue was also your evaluation of his play last night. Most everyone thinks he played quite well, and was quite probably the best Sabre on the ice.

 

[BowieSabresFan]

"And Hodgson-Reinhart-Gionta plays to nobody on that line's strengths."

This x 100.

 

[DolanPlsGoSabres]

The time difference and going to school made me miss the game.

From this thread, safe to assume that Benoit/Meszaros as this year's McBain/Sulzer?

 

[Husko]

-22 corsi for Gionta tonight



He was. Remember #51 not 61

What site has advanced stats up already from last night?

 

[stokes84]

Actually, if he plays like he did last year (and last night), then he has every chance of being good enough as a #2 on a championship team. He's not done developing either.

My main issue was also your evaluation of his play last night. Most everyone thinks he played quite well, and was quite probably the best Sabre on the ice.

Standards. Watch around the league. Good defensemen don't make a quarter of the goofs that he does. Again, I'm not talking about the big, glaring gaffes. I'm talking about the little things, tape to tape passes, holding the puck in, making a subtle play to jeep the play alive. Myers misses on these plays a lot.

 

[struckbyaparkedcar]

The time difference and going to school made me miss the game.

From this thread, safe to assume that Benoit/Meszaros as this year's McBain/Sulzer?

I made the Sulzer comparison the minute we added Benny, so... yes?

 

[struckbyaparkedcar]

Standards. Watch around the league. Good defensemen don't make a quarter of the goofs that he does. Again, I'm not talking about the big, glaring gaffes. I'm talking about the little things, tape to tape passes, holding the puck in, making a subtle play to jeep the play alive. Myers misses on these plays a lot.

Ah yes, unquantifiable observations that plays into your "I have a keener eye than the rest of the plebs/homers on this board" bent.