As to Buffalo - it doesn't seem appropriate to praise them on our post game thread, and the moderators may move this, and with the caveat that two games are no more a valid sample for them than for us, but . . .
as to Buffalo, they sure looked gangbusters last night and some of that belongs to them and isn't on us.
Dahlin looks like the real thing, he's positionally sound, dominant on the puck, a superior skater, almost impossible to handle and allows Ristolainen to play a second pairing role he's more suited to.
Then that guy Olafsson's two shots were lasers. Time will tell how good he is but last night was as impressive a debut as you will see, as impressive as Bratt was a couple of years ago. Blackwood didn't react until the pucks were past him.
Plus that new coach, Kreueger - straight out of both European Hockey and Football (soccer). He's a perfect systems guy because both European sports - especially soccer - are position games. Watch Barcelona or the German Bundesliga teams (where Kreuger comes from) play soccer. The ball goes to a spot, the man goes to the spot. That's the name of the game. Canadians are basically chaotic and individualistic psychologically in comparison.
Finally Eichel, dipsy doodling and the (again laser) cross ice passes. Plus the release on his own shot is very fast and the shot is very powerful. If Reinhardt and Middlestadt grow (as they appear to be doing) this club can be very hard to handle.
I like Buffalo in principle. It's one of the best hockey towns in North America because that's all it is pro sports wise and it's as Canadian as a US location can be. Queen of the Rust Belt too. In 1900 like the 5th most populous city in the US, Erie Canal, gateway to the West. I've no bad feelings for the Sabers a priori and I'll certainly be rooting for them against Boston and Toronto.
as to Buffalo, they sure looked gangbusters last night and some of that belongs to them and isn't on us.
Dahlin looks like the real thing, he's positionally sound, dominant on the puck, a superior skater, almost impossible to handle and allows Ristolainen to play a second pairing role he's more suited to.
Then that guy Olafsson's two shots were lasers. Time will tell how good he is but last night was as impressive a debut as you will see, as impressive as Bratt was a couple of years ago. Blackwood didn't react until the pucks were past him.
Plus that new coach, Kreueger - straight out of both European Hockey and Football (soccer). He's a perfect systems guy because both European sports - especially soccer - are position games. Watch Barcelona or the German Bundesliga teams (where Kreuger comes from) play soccer. The ball goes to a spot, the man goes to the spot. That's the name of the game. Canadians are basically chaotic and individualistic psychologically in comparison.
Finally Eichel, dipsy doodling and the (again laser) cross ice passes. Plus the release on his own shot is very fast and the shot is very powerful. If Reinhardt and Middlestadt grow (as they appear to be doing) this club can be very hard to handle.
I like Buffalo in principle. It's one of the best hockey towns in North America because that's all it is pro sports wise and it's as Canadian as a US location can be. Queen of the Rust Belt too. In 1900 like the 5th most populous city in the US, Erie Canal, gateway to the West. I've no bad feelings for the Sabers a priori and I'll certainly be rooting for them against Boston and Toronto.
