Post-Game Talk (GBU): A lot to dislike

[littletonhockeycoach]

Only saw the 3rd period but once the Leafs scored, Babcock had his players really uptempo the forecheck and they harassed the Sabres D the rest of the game. They also closed down the NZ and any further sustained Sabres puck possession and control was largely absent. Toronto knew what they were doing. The Sabres could not/did not counter and adjust. I believe the Leaf's hit the post and the outside of the net on 2 shots that could have scored. Plus Risto's brainfart give away pass to the slot that Hutton was quick on. Sabres had few opportunities after that. It's the old story of one team knowing its system inside out and the other team not knowing how to adjust.

To me that does say something about coaching. I haven't tuned in for a while but I don't recall Housley being referred to extensively as a greatly respected "teaching coach".

 

[sabresfan129103]

Yeah Dahlin was not good tonight, but these types of games can be good for young players. He's starting to get an idea of what plays he can and can't make at the NHL level. Some of the stuff that worked in Sweden will not work here.

 

[AustonsNostrils]

Only saw the 3rd period but once the Leafs scored, Babcock had his players really uptempo the forecheck and they harassed the Sabres D the rest of the game. They also closed down the NZ and any further sustained Sabres puck possession and control was largely absent. Toronto knew what they were doing. The Sabres could not/did not counter and adjust. I believe the Leaf's hit the post and the outside of the net on 2 shots that could have scored. Plus Risto's brainfart give away pass to the slot that Hutton was quick on. Sabres had few opportunities after that. It's the old story of one team knowing its system inside out and the other team not knowing how to adjust.

To me that does say something about coaching. I haven't tuned in for a while but I don't recall Housley being referred to extensively as a greatly respected "teaching coach".

Last night's lineup played fine. Keep on blaming coaches.

When Botterill makes his final roster decisions he needs to err on the side of new blood, the group that has been through several seasons of ineptitude and losing needs to be broken up.

If this team is struggling still at the 20 game mark then Housley should be fired but the next coach better be a veteran coach who is a tough mothereffer - Darryl Sutter.

 

[Chainshot]

Wouldn't necessarily call Reinhart good tonight. He did make a nice play for the goal.

Do not agree at all. He generated a ton of chances for his line, fed Jack and Skinner for great chances, Andersen stoned him on a solo event in front. And he was there making the goal happen.

 

[joshjull]

 

[Gabrielor]

That's hopefully a good from this game:

Eichel-Reinhart the rest of the season

 

[Royal Thunder]

Reinhart continued to look strong on his skates and in puck battles. Liked seeing him man handle Ennis along the wall in our own zone. Now that he is maturing physically he's gonna be a beast. I thought he was our best skater tonight by quite a bit.

 

[sabrebuild]

Eichel looked pretty good.
Reinhart looked like ppg Reinhart, with a little rust, but looked assertive.
Skinner, nice, showed the quickness a couple times.
Thompson continues to look like the 2nd best rw on the team.

Didn’t mind any of Dahlin’s screw ups. Pretty much everything happened on aggressive plays or ones where he needs a touch more urgency. Good learning experience and he recovered well on most of the mistakes.

Bogo looked like a nervous hunched over grandpa.

 

[NotABadPeriod]

Don't forget it was Reinhart's screen in front of the net on the Okposo PP goal. Reinhart was good.

 

[Paxon]

Don't forget it was Reinhart's screen in front of the net on the Okposo PP goal. Reinhart was good.

It was a great screen, too. Andersen had no clue.

 

[HogtownSabresfan]

G
Jack; faceoffs, playmaking, he looked good
Reinhart
Larsson
Skinner
McCabe
Hutton


Meh:
Bogo
Wilson
Thompson

B:
Dahlin
Beaulieu
Ristolainen
Rodrigues

U:
Okposo

Risto? He had a tape to tape pass to someone in slot at key moment in third -- let's not be picky because it was a Leaf.

 

[HogtownSabresfan]

UGLY:

The amount of Toronto fans that attend turning our homes games into theirs, its gotta be demoralizing on the players getting cheered against in your own barn.

Were you at the actual game? I was. Place was half empty and tons of tickets available for $20 for so-called Sabres fans. Just an excuse for a team that needs to get better.

 

[Tim14125]

Did Bogo actually make it through the game unscathed?

 

[PatrikBerglund]

Don't forget, a lot of players do not really care about pre-season games, especially thos who know they have a sure spot in the opening day lineup.

This also affects everyone else, since it is hard tio play alongside those who only go 80% and don't fight for positions, pucks, passes or shots.

There are also quite a few new players that have to learn the system and find chemistry with linemates.

Buffalo will do good this season.

 

[wunderpanda]

G- Sam. Would like to see him centering Skinner on 2nd line

B- most of the defense but it feels like its the combos and not the individuals

U-Leaf that punched Tage on the ice
- Okposo looked like Gorges

 

[old kummelweck]

This game was a bit of an indictment of the 'old guard'. When it came for those players to outplay the Marlies, they were unable to make anything happen.

The zone entries were terrible. Yes Dahlin had a bad game, but there were times when he was ready to go, and no one was finding him. They need to understand he's Eichel, and you give him the puck when he wants to attack.

 

[Paxon]

This game was a bit of an indictment of the 'old guard'. When it came for those players to outplay the Marlies, they were unable to make anything happen.

The zone entries were terrible. Yes Dahlin had a bad game, but there were times when he was ready to go, and no one was finding him. They need to understand he's Eichel, and you give him the puck when he wants to attack.

That's one thing that most definitely will come in short order. In their previous game, Eichel was constantly trying to set Dahlin up.

 

[Reddawg]

It really does suck. They should only sell tickets to Buffalo residents, but that's not really realistic. Not really sure what else can be done about it, with the secondary market and such.

Leafs are the most unlikeable team and fanbase in sports, they make the Pats look like angels

The only thing that could reasonably be done about it is get back to 100% season ticket capacity (if we were ever there, not sure) so there are limited single game tickets for all the Laffs fans to snap up.

 

[1point21Gigawatts]

This board gives me whiplash sometimes.

I didn’t think the game was that damning.

 

[Chainshot]

Did Bogo actually make it through the game unscathed?

Injury-wise, yes. In terms of how much suck leaked from his putrescent presence, sadly no.

 

[Zman5778]

This board gives me whiplash sometimes.

I didn’t think the game was that damning.

I didn't either. Reinhart had a solid 1st game back. Hutton proved he was our starter. I think we have a legit top NHL line now. (Skinner-Eichel-Reinhart) Bailey was solid.

Were there some bad points? Yeah. Our effort as a whole sucked. Okposo is a black hole 5v5. Dahlin had a forgettable game. Matthews/Ennis clowned us several times.

 

[Zman5778]

Injury-wise, yes. In terms of how much suck leaked from his putrescent presence, sadly no.

I didn't think he was that bad

 

[OkimLom]

I didn't either. Reinhart had a solid 1st game back. Hutton proved he was our starter. I think we have a legit top NHL line now. (Skinner-Eichel-Reinhart) Bailey was solid.

Were there some bad points? Yeah. Our effort as a whole sucked. Okposo is a black hole 5v5. Dahlin had a forgettable game. Matthews/Ennis clowned us several times.

I didn’t see this last game, but I keep hearing how bad the effort was at certain points. This is my opinion, but as a team that had culture issues and whose goal is to improve the culture around the team, the very last thing I want to hear about is questionable effort. I can stomach losses because difference of talent or better coaching. There is no reason as an organization we should still have questions about effort.

That was a trait of our team for years. I know people love Dahlin because he works his butt off. But when I look at it the team it would be much easier for the current roster and bad habits influence Dahlin, than Dahlin influencing 18+ other players to work hard. Do we have enough positive influencers for good habits? Do we have the coaching staff and standards that influence consistent play of hard work? This year we will see. Just my two cents.

 

[truthbluth]

I didn’t see this last game, but I keep hearing how bad the effort was at certain points. This is my opinion, but as a team that had culture issues and whose goal is to improve the culture around the team, the very last thing I want to hear about is questionable effort. I can stomach losses because difference of talent or better coaching. There is no reason as an organization we should still have questions about effort.

That was a trait of our team for years. I know people love Dahlin because he works his butt off. But when I look at it the team it would be much easier for the current roster and bad habits influence Dahlin, than Dahlin influencing 18+ other players to work hard. Do we have enough positive influencers for good habits? Do we have the coaching staff and standards that influence consistent play of hard work? This year we will see. Just my two cents.

If this trend continues, I predict Chris Taylor is the Sabres coach by New Year’s Day.

 

[Gabrielor]

I didn't either. Reinhart had a solid 1st game back. Hutton proved he was our starter. I think we have a legit top NHL line now. (Skinner-Eichel-Reinhart) Bailey was solid.

Were there some bad points? Yeah. Our effort as a whole sucked. Okposo is a black hole 5v5. Dahlin had a forgettable game. Matthews/Ennis clowned us several times.

That was the story of last year, and why I was very disappointed last night. I can take another non-playoff season. I can't take another 2017-2018 season, where we phone in 75% of the games on effort.