TheDawnOfANewTage
Dahlin, it’ll all be fine
- Dec 17, 2018
- 12,301
- 17,942
Let me preface this by saying that the Sabres roster is not good. I know that. They are likely struggling for a playoff spot no matter who's behind the bench, but if we assume they'd still have that lucky 10 game streak I think they'd be in a much better position.
Let me also say that I actually liked the Housley hire originally. I don't usually do knee-jerk reactions, and I don't think this to be knee-jerk either. It's not about the standings, it's about what I see game in and game out.
1) The lack of accountability. Scandella has been an unmitigated disaster. We know he can play better, yet he's on the ice 18 minutes a night no matter how many goals are a direct result of his mistakes. Same goes for Ristolainen, but there the ice time is 25 minutes a game. Same with Sobotka, Sheary, Mittlestadt, and Tage Thompson. If you wanna argue the bench is thin, I know, but these guys directly lead to goals against and don't miss a single shift for it. Scandella especially, it's just embarrassing how little effort he puts in.
2) Player usage. Risto gets 25 minutes a night and it makes no sense. He's simply not good enough for that. They do it because they know he can manage it, but it's not a high level of play he brings. It's like insisting Tyler Myers is Chara. I really like Risto as a player, but he needs to work on some things and in no way is a #1 D workhorse. Sobotka and Sheary are complete black holes out there and yet are 5th and 6th in ice time for offense.
3) The lines/pairings. Skinner-Eichel-Reinhart were fire to start the year, but our other lines were just nonexistent. We stuck with that for way too long even after that first line cooled off a bit, and only in recent weeks have we had the revelation that Reinhart can actually carry a 2nd line all by himself. Y'know, that thing the Sabres have needed desperately all along. Meanwhile ya sub Poms for him on the first line and Eichel and Skinner keep producing just fine. We ran into trouble against Philly today- boom, desperate Phil goes right back to Skin-Eich-Rein. You cannot consistently win with 1 line, we'd finally taken the risk of spreading it to 2 and it friggin worked.. and he goes right back to same old same old. Thompson has massive flaws but can show signs of shooting brilliance- let's put him with Sobotka and Sheary, two guys who he can't help and who can't help him. Risto and Scandella are a tire fire- let's leave 'em together for extended periods of time.
4) The system. We can't cycle, and some of that is on the players, but you'd hope to see some sorta improvement. It looks worse every game. Defensive marking- the guys put in effort, yet consistently seem lost as to what the actual plan is. Once again, I know they're not a hugely skilled team, but watching 4 guys around the net trying to figure out who has who is just painful. There's no improvement, no adjustment, no system to speak of. They're winging it out there because their "coach" has left them without a working system.
5) The PP. The one system we do seem to have is the drop pass on the PP, and it is driving me insane. It is literally all we do, and every team knows it. I can call it in advance as soon as we touch the puck, and it simply doesn't work when it's your only move. Almost like Phil enjoyed success with it in his day and figures why not do that 100% of the time. Eichel/Dahlin/Risto weaving their way through 5 guys as 4 other Sabres wait at the blue line is not an effective zone entry.
6) The lack of intensity. I think Torts brings it too much, and I thought Ruff lost the room by overdoing it towards the end of his tenure, but jesus, you need some kinda fire. You need to rant and rave from time to time, you need to take guys to task when they screw up badly. Phil has the demeanor of a lobotomized Jeff Bridges, and it's killing us. We score, no reaction. We give up 3 goals in 2 minutes to Toronto, no reaction. I've honestly seen him do nothing but chew enough gum to make me consider buying Wrigley's stock this season. We don't even have a coach back there, we have just this blank space with zero effect on the game outside of the stupid drop passes and poor use of personnel. It's embarrassing.
Alright, that pretty much sums it up.. and before someone says "wah you didn't like the last 2 coaches either!" Well, ya, they were also bad. Them being bad does not mean this one is good. It's like if you have 3 bad girlfriends in a row- at some point you should do some introspection and figure out what you're doing wrong on your end, but that's not a reason not to get rid of your current deadweight nothingness of a partner.
Let me also say that I actually liked the Housley hire originally. I don't usually do knee-jerk reactions, and I don't think this to be knee-jerk either. It's not about the standings, it's about what I see game in and game out.
1) The lack of accountability. Scandella has been an unmitigated disaster. We know he can play better, yet he's on the ice 18 minutes a night no matter how many goals are a direct result of his mistakes. Same goes for Ristolainen, but there the ice time is 25 minutes a game. Same with Sobotka, Sheary, Mittlestadt, and Tage Thompson. If you wanna argue the bench is thin, I know, but these guys directly lead to goals against and don't miss a single shift for it. Scandella especially, it's just embarrassing how little effort he puts in.
2) Player usage. Risto gets 25 minutes a night and it makes no sense. He's simply not good enough for that. They do it because they know he can manage it, but it's not a high level of play he brings. It's like insisting Tyler Myers is Chara. I really like Risto as a player, but he needs to work on some things and in no way is a #1 D workhorse. Sobotka and Sheary are complete black holes out there and yet are 5th and 6th in ice time for offense.
3) The lines/pairings. Skinner-Eichel-Reinhart were fire to start the year, but our other lines were just nonexistent. We stuck with that for way too long even after that first line cooled off a bit, and only in recent weeks have we had the revelation that Reinhart can actually carry a 2nd line all by himself. Y'know, that thing the Sabres have needed desperately all along. Meanwhile ya sub Poms for him on the first line and Eichel and Skinner keep producing just fine. We ran into trouble against Philly today- boom, desperate Phil goes right back to Skin-Eich-Rein. You cannot consistently win with 1 line, we'd finally taken the risk of spreading it to 2 and it friggin worked.. and he goes right back to same old same old. Thompson has massive flaws but can show signs of shooting brilliance- let's put him with Sobotka and Sheary, two guys who he can't help and who can't help him. Risto and Scandella are a tire fire- let's leave 'em together for extended periods of time.
4) The system. We can't cycle, and some of that is on the players, but you'd hope to see some sorta improvement. It looks worse every game. Defensive marking- the guys put in effort, yet consistently seem lost as to what the actual plan is. Once again, I know they're not a hugely skilled team, but watching 4 guys around the net trying to figure out who has who is just painful. There's no improvement, no adjustment, no system to speak of. They're winging it out there because their "coach" has left them without a working system.
5) The PP. The one system we do seem to have is the drop pass on the PP, and it is driving me insane. It is literally all we do, and every team knows it. I can call it in advance as soon as we touch the puck, and it simply doesn't work when it's your only move. Almost like Phil enjoyed success with it in his day and figures why not do that 100% of the time. Eichel/Dahlin/Risto weaving their way through 5 guys as 4 other Sabres wait at the blue line is not an effective zone entry.
6) The lack of intensity. I think Torts brings it too much, and I thought Ruff lost the room by overdoing it towards the end of his tenure, but jesus, you need some kinda fire. You need to rant and rave from time to time, you need to take guys to task when they screw up badly. Phil has the demeanor of a lobotomized Jeff Bridges, and it's killing us. We score, no reaction. We give up 3 goals in 2 minutes to Toronto, no reaction. I've honestly seen him do nothing but chew enough gum to make me consider buying Wrigley's stock this season. We don't even have a coach back there, we have just this blank space with zero effect on the game outside of the stupid drop passes and poor use of personnel. It's embarrassing.
Alright, that pretty much sums it up.. and before someone says "wah you didn't like the last 2 coaches either!" Well, ya, they were also bad. Them being bad does not mean this one is good. It's like if you have 3 bad girlfriends in a row- at some point you should do some introspection and figure out what you're doing wrong on your end, but that's not a reason not to get rid of your current deadweight nothingness of a partner.
