Player Discussion Casey Mittelstadt (2017, 8th) #37 - Part III

TehDoak

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First off, let me say, the notes from Krueger sound positive. Glad to hear he looks quicker. I'd still like to see how he does against NHL Level competition before we make any judgements. I still think he needs time in Rochester.

That being said....Can I just say how embarrassing it is to have a beat reporter that equates something as anecdotal as "being last off the ice" in one day at a training camp as "putting in the work"

Never mind the, you know, 9 months between games. Guy stayed on the ice after everyone else once. He's putting in the work!

Hamiltons poor observations from the cheap seats have been the bane of the sports radio hot takery for so long. I can't remember the last time he reported any ACTUAL news from the team before someone else.
 

Der Jaeger

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These are two different things. Mittelstadt was not at all ready for the NHL, and Cozens can be given a protected role at least, he is clearly better prepared physically than the plump Casey.

The only comparison we have between Mittelstadt and Cozens in the WJC U20 post draft season. Mittelstadt had 11 points in 7 games, same as Cozens, and was arguably more dominant since he played one game in a snowstorm.

Cozens may be physically ready, but giving Cozens anything but a sheltered bottom 6 role is asking for trouble. If Housley and Botterill did the same with Mittelstadt, or send him to the AHL right away, he'd be at a different stage of his development right now.
 
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Fjordy

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The only comparison we have between Mittelstadt and Cozens in the WJC U20 post draft season. Mittelstadt had 11 points in 7 games, same as Cozens, and was arguably more dominant since he played one game in a snowstorm.

Cozens may be physically ready, but giving Cozens anything but a sheltered bottom 6 role is asking for trouble. If Housley and Botterill did the same with Mittelstadt, or send him to the AHL right away, he'd be at a different stage of his development right now.
Again, I see a huge difference in physical fitness and anthropometry between Cozens and Mittelstadt. Even after a season, Casey was not ready to play in the NHL, that is, he simply cannot get back to normal physical condition for the third year to play in the NHL.
 

Der Jaeger

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Again, I see a huge difference in physical fitness and anthropometry between Cozens and Mittelstadt. Even after a season, Casey was not ready to play in the NHL, that is, he simply cannot get back to normal physical condition for the third year to play in the NHL.

Krueger just said today he came to came in shape.
 

Fjordy

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Krueger just said today he came to came in shape.
So we'll see, because in past seasons he just looked like a child among men, he has good hands and a good IQ, but he did not keep up with the speeds of the NHL and his physical characteristics were not very good.
 

Fezzy126

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First off, let me say, the notes from Krueger sound positive. Glad to hear he looks quicker. I'd still like to see how he does against NHL Level competition before we make any judgements. I still think he needs time in Rochester.

That being said....Can I just say how embarrassing it is to have a beat reporter that equates something as anecdotal as "being last off the ice" in one day at a training camp as "putting in the work"

Never mind the, you know, 9 months between games. Guy stayed on the ice after everyone else once. He's putting in the work!

Hamiltons poor observations from the cheap seats have been the bane of the sports radio hot takery for so long. I can't remember the last time he reported any ACTUAL news from the team before someone else.

I agree, it's really tough to gauge reality because Ralph has been super positive about everyone, although specifically labelling Casey as a "depth" player does seem to provide some insight. I think his message is a little different when talking about Tage, but we'll see how it shakes out.

Casey has always been a rink rat, the kid obviously loves being on the ice. It's the weight room, diet, and dedication to being a pro that are the things that have been under question the past few years. I'll file Pham's observations in the same category as these hot takes:
  • Reinhart has a bad attitude because he stopped showing up for the O'Reilly practices
  • O'Relliy has a bad attitude because he's not staying at the rink anymore (never mind that he has a newborn at home)
 
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Der Jaeger

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So we'll see, because in past seasons he just looked like a child among men, he has good hands and a good IQ, but he did not keep up with the speeds of the NHL and his physical characteristics were not very good.

see below

I agree, it's really tough to gauge reality because Ralph has been super positive about everyone, although specifically labelling Casey as a "depth" player does seem to provide some insight. I think his message is a little different when talking about Tage, but we'll see how it shakes out.

Casey has always been a rink rat, the kid obviously loves being on the ice. It's the weight room, diet, and dedication to being a pro that are the things that have been under question the past few years. I'll file Pham's observations in the same category as these hot takes:
  • Reinhart has a bad attitude because he stopped showing up for the O'Reilly practices
  • O'Relliy has a bad attitude because he's not staying at the rink anymore (never mind that he has a newborn at home)

I think Mittelstadt is going to come around. Playing 3-4 line minutes and situations will be good. The Eakin line will take the bottom 6 defensive situations, so Mittelstadt should see easy minutes
 

Fjordy

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I think Mittelstadt is going to come around. Playing 3-4 line minutes and situations will be good. The Eakin line will take the bottom 6 defensive situations, so Mittelstadt should see easy minutes
I would prefer to see the line R2 - Cozens - Thompson, and Mittelstadt in the AHL or trade.
 

HogtownSabresfan

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First off, let me say, the notes from Krueger sound positive. Glad to hear he looks quicker. I'd still like to see how he does against NHL Level competition before we make any judgements. I still think he needs time in Rochester.

That being said....Can I just say how embarrassing it is to have a beat reporter that equates something as anecdotal as "being last off the ice" in one day at a training camp as "putting in the work"

Never mind the, you know, 9 months between games. Guy stayed on the ice after everyone else once. He's putting in the work!

Hamiltons poor observations from the cheap seats have been the bane of the sports radio hot takery for so long. I can't remember the last time he reported any ACTUAL news from the team before someone else.

Paul is not very good. Most of Buffalo media is subpar. When was last time a story on Sabres broke out of Buffalo. Canadian media break best stories about Buffalo players. I don't even know how Buffalo media can hold its head up sometimes -- they rarely break anything.
 

Buffaloed

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Paul is not very good. Most of Buffalo media is subpar. When was last time a story on Sabres broke out of Buffalo. Canadian media break best stories about Buffalo players. I don't even know how Buffalo media can hold its head up sometimes -- they rarely break anything.
Covering a team that's bad year after year will ruin a reporter. They report predominantly negative news that offends the team and its management so their sources dry up. They still have to produce content so they editorialize in a negative way. Eventually even when things go well they find a dark side to it. Have you seen John Wawrow on the Zoom calls? These guys should be in rehab, not reporting. Lance Lysowski might be the only one that hasn't been sucked into the abyss.
 
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OkimLom

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see below



I think Mittelstadt is going to come around. Playing 3-4 line minutes and situations will be good. The Eakin line will take the bottom 6 defensive situations, so Mittelstadt should see easy minutes

without seeing where Mittelstadt is right now, if he’s anywhere close to the player he was the past two full seasons, which was the same level of play, just a reminder Mittelstadt did absolutely nothing with a heavily favorable minutes deployment with better players than what he would play with on the 3rd-4th line.

Asking Eakin to do the heavy lifting for defensive minutes is asking a lot for a guy who has a weakness in that part of the game.
 

Der Jaeger

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First off, let me say, the notes from Krueger sound positive. Glad to hear he looks quicker. I'd still like to see how he does against NHL Level competition before we make any judgements. I still think he needs time in Rochester.

That being said....Can I just say how embarrassing it is to have a beat reporter that equates something as anecdotal as "being last off the ice" in one day at a training camp as "putting in the work"

Never mind the, you know, 9 months between games. Guy stayed on the ice after everyone else once. He's putting in the work!

Hamiltons poor observations from the cheap seats have been the bane of the sports radio hot takery for so long. I can't remember the last time he reported any ACTUAL news from the team before someone else.

Covering a team that's bad year after year will ruin a reporter. They report predominantly negative news that offends the team and its management so their sources dry up. They still have to produce content so they editorialize in a negative way. Eventually even when things go well they find a dark side to it. Have you seen John Wawrow on the Zoom calls? These guys should be in rehab, not reporting. Lance Lysowski might be the only one that hasn't been sucked into the abyss.

there are ways to maintain a good relationship as a journalist while reporting bad news.

As a former journalism student, and working around journalists all the time in my job, most of them have too high opinion of themselves and their own opinion to make it work.
 

Chainshot

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there are ways to maintain a good relationship as a journalist while reporting bad news.

As a former journalism student, and working around journalists all the time in my job, most of them have too high opinion of themselves and their own opinion to make it work.

And they seem to have formed a bit of a clique where they almost all close ranks around one another's ideas, even if poorly formed or easily countered.
 

Der Jaeger

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And they seem to have formed a bit of a clique where they almost all close ranks around one another's ideas, even if poorly formed or easily countered.

to add more, you can hear it in Harrington’s voice, and how he runs his social media. To a lesser extent with the other reporters. They legitimately think they are smarter than who they are talking to. Crazy.

They'd get more by stopping with the self righteous need to be right, and actually dig up truth. Still waiting as to why Reinhart hasn’t been tried more at center.

Instead of actually asking Reinhart why he doesn’t work with ROR anymore, we speculate, which is nothing more than gossip. God forbid we ask people tough but real questions.

Maybe someone could ask Mittelstadt about what he did in the off-season?

/rant
 

HogtownSabresfan

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Covering a team that's bad year after year will ruin a reporter. They report predominantly negative news that offends the team and its management so their sources dry up. They still have to produce content so they editorialize in a negative way. Eventually even when things go well they find a dark side to it. Have you seen John Wawrow on the Zoom calls? These guys should be in rehab, not reporting. Lance Lysowski might be the only one that hasn't been sucked into the abyss.

Please, Leafs were horrible forever and the media broke stories about them. Rangers have sucked and stories break about them. Minnesota guy breaks staff. Local Canadiens reporters breaks stuff. Canucks. For all the complaining, Garrioch breaks stuff in Ottawa. The last decent scoop in Buffalo News was Lafontaine being brought in and that was by Bucky Gleason.

The Buffalo News losing streak on original reporting is as long as the Sabres. I'm not saying beat reporters don't do a good job Twitter staying on top of team. They do. Scoops? No. Tim Graham is pretty much only guy in Buffalo who breaks anything and he's at the Athletic now.

Like I said, media gets more access but is no more successful than bloggers at getting ahead of news. I don't know why this is tolerated at senior levels at places like Buffalo News.
 

K8fool

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to add more, you can hear it in Harrington’s voice, and how he runs his social media. To a lesser extent with the other reporters. They legitimately think they are smarter than who they are talking to. Crazy.

They'd get more by stopping with the self righteous need to be right, and actually dig up truth. Still waiting as to why Reinhart hasn’t been tried more at center.

Instead of actually asking Reinhart why he doesn’t work with ROR anymore, we speculate, which is nothing more than gossip. God forbid we ask people tough but real questions.

Maybe someone could ask Mittelstadt about what he did in the off-season?

/rant

Watching interviews on sabres.com. yes I'm bored.. You can see ralph and the players share similar disdain w forced tolerance of a few of the buffalo schill reporters.. Quite refreshing actually .....as you can hear it reflected in less enthusiastic bs questions meant to provoke but are dead on arrrival from this shared disdain of lame divisive narrative.. Gotta love ralph to risto sam and capn jack fightin the lame man..
 
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Chainshot

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So back to Mitts...

Some things over the years he has shown that could translate into helping this team right now are his short area pursuit and forcing takeaways or turnovers from behind, then turning the puck in transition. When he is having a shift where he is a demand for possession, where he wants the puck on his stick and is fully engaged. Can he fit into a more defensive role, particularly as a PKer where the team seems short in terms of established personnel? It might be a way for him to slide into the lineup to contribute with added potential bonus of getting his slick stick skills onto the roster.

If he is in competition for a roster spot, it seems like he's up against Reider and perhaps Sheahan if he's signed, who both feature strong penalty killing as a big part of what they offer.
 

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