Post-Game Talk (GBU): "We lost to THESE GUYS?!?" -Sharks fans right now

[Namejs]

The Buffalo Sabres have been a terrible team for a while now and it's got little to do with Ted Nolan or Ronald Rolston.

You could replace them with any recent Jack Adams award winner and this team would still be a steaming pile of garbage.

I don't know why, but it looks like a lot of you seem to be forgetting that.

 

[Yatzhee]

LOL,

There is no Good, Bad or Ugly this season. This isn't about the 82 games on the current schedule, this is about next June and beyond.

Yes the team is poorly put together, it's designed that way. Some youth are getting their feet wet, some of these leader guys brought in will eventually come around to potting some pucks. This won't last forever. This roster has a purpose, and it has everything to do with next June.

Send Samson down, put in Zadarov in place of Mez, let him play the remainder of the season, it can't be any worse, but this was the idea all along. Get exceptional talent in here through the draft.

 

[mikemcburn]

The Buffalo Sabres have been a terrible team for a while now and it's got little to do with Ted Nolan or Ronald Rolston.

You could replace them with any recent Jack Adams award winner and this team would still be a steaming pile of garbage.

I don't know why, but it looks like a lot of you seem to be forgetting that.

I disagree.

Sure, there are career plugs filling out the ranks, but really this team is full of guys who have proven to possess the talent and work ethic necessary to succeed at this level -

Along with a sprinkle of guys who ought reasonably to be taking leaps forward this season (Stewart, Girgensons, etc.), this team has 5 proven scorers good for at least 20 goals, two of whom are in their prime (Moulson and Stafford) and another two of whom are still young 20s, meaning young enough to have some upside (Hodgson and Ennis).

Admittedly the other proven scorer Gionta is past his prime, but that's where this team also has quality veteran leadership in him and Gorges, which ought to be well supported by the likes of other veteran experience in Moulson, Stafford, Weber, etc.

And then there's the promising youth, again Girgensons (who kinda deserves to mentioned multiple times;-)), Reinhart and Ristolainen, etc. Not to mention call up potentials in Grigorenko and Larrson, etc.

All in, there is no way this roster shouldn't be performing better than it is. And when so many (aka: ALL) are floundering at the same time, consistently, then you gotta look to the common denominator as the cause - aka: management.

 

[Arthur]

Girgs had almost as many hits [9] as the whole team had shots [10]

 

[wunderpanda]

G- Noidberg for the first 2 periods
-Zemgus being Zemgus
-Gorges played hard against the team he refused to accept a trade to

B- Myers tried to do too much

U- the lack of team play, seemed every play was a bad pass, turnover, bad coverage and chaotic positioning.
-the 3 consecutive minutes the Leafs kept possession in the Buffalo zone
-Hodgson, Ennis, Foligno, Stewart, Stafford... bench any of them and let Flynn play.

Not ready to dump Nolan yet, there have already been 3 coaches in 3 years, that is the kind of thing that hurts development. Oilers made that mistake, Panthers make that mistake and it stunted the team. Need to let the players grow together, the core kids need stability for a few years while the roster goes through a regular culling.

 

[jBuds]

Nolan was a ******** hire and should have never happened in the first place. There is a clear reason why he wasn't in the league for a while - he can't coach a team in the post lockouts era. Motivation tactics aren't a recipe for success anymore.

Murray botched that by caving to the pressure of keeping a familiar face and not upsetting the apple cart. It was a mistake and needs to be rectified.

Fresh young face to grow with the team, or a veteran coach with a PROVEN track record of succeeding in this kind of situaish.

Ten shots on goal. Lolszyx

 

[mikemcburn]

Not ready to dump Nolan yet, there have already been 3 coaches in 3 years, that is the kind of thing that hurts development. Oilers made that mistake, Panthers make that mistake and it stunted the team. Need to let the players grow together, the core kids need stability for a few years while the roster goes through a regular culling.

Good points of course, which I'd like to imagine is the ONLY reason Nolan is still around this morning.

But still, I dunno how it's any good for the kids to grow together like this, I mean how they even can feel stable.... when someone flounders long enough, it's only natural to start looking for another(s) to blame, and eventually guys are gonna blame teammates who screw up shift to shift, etc. There's a point at which it's good to hold each other to account, and then there's a point at which the negativity implodes and there is zero sense of "team" in the locker room.

Misery only loves company for so long, lol

Any chance mgmt can bring in or promote from within a guy to unofficially take over, have Nolan become a motivational puppet? I mean any chance of Nolan accepting such an effective demotion in order to save-face from an outright firing?

 

[Bps21*]

One more ugly: Hurricanes just lost. Again.

They actually outshot Vancouver...which...I mean...look at us. Eric Staal came back, skinner is back...they have a nice break until saturday at which point we will have what...3 games played more than them? And we play that day too so they don't even make one up.

The next game I think we have even a realistic chance in is next friday when Edmonton travels across the country and plays in boston the night before. Until then it's boston, Pitt, Montreal, Detroit.

By that time the canes will play home vs. Arizona, home vs. Kings, at Columbus, and home vs. Columbus.

If they're still behind us then...we can revisit it. And...yeah we'd still have a few extra games in hand even if they haven't.

 

[jvirk]

Ehh whether we like or hate Nolan, I think it's very easy to understand that with this team, there are VERY few coaches, if any, that can get them out of the basement.

I would think he's a good hire still. He teaches work ethic and skating hard lol Sounds dumb but it's true.

I honestly believe that whatever "system" we could possibly have probably won't be able to be implemented even. We barely ever have the puck, we're alawys in our defensive zone and facing 40+ shots a night...our so -called "veterans" that we brought in (Gionta, Stewart, Stafford - i know he's been here..., Moulson) have been absolutely irrelevant minus a game or 2.

No matter what coach there is, I doubt anyone can implement any system with the crap team we have. It's a patience game. We NEED to have McDavid or Eichel, plus another year of maturing for Grigorenko and Reinhart. We also need to wait for Risto to get a year older, plus Zadorov, Pysyk, McCabe - ALL of whom should be up with the Sabres next season (although I think Zadorov is better off in the AHL next year).

I don't agree with Nolan on a couple things...I wish he would play the young guys more. But when my mind is clear and I'm not angry with him after a crappy showing by the squad, I realize that this is what the tank is. This is what re-buidling truly is. It's going to be painful. I just keep my eyes on the prize...and that is the almighty McDavid <3

Rebuilding isn't as painful when we're watching our young blue-chip stars playing...but they're not there yet :/ Next season or maybe later on this season it'll be cool to watch them. Guys like Grigo, Reinhart, Risto - hopefully they're getting much more minutes. On the back end you can add in guys like McCabe and Pysyk - both of whom I think can be VERY solid d-men.

I wanna point out that I love what TM is doing with the latter 2 d-men I just named. I truly believe they're going to be solid defensemen on this team. I think McCabe is going to be a solid pairing with Risto next season, and I think Pysyk will be one hell of a 3rd pairing. Slow cooking defensemen is the RIGHT way to go. I love it.

 

[Woodhouse]

Oh, Bill Hoppe has access to the Sabres in closed door post game situations? Or did he hear it through the closed door? Or was there even a closed door to begin with? Gorges "ripped" the team in front of several reporters? I'd like to know these answers. Can this be independently verified?

There are these things called post-game scrums.

After watching his team muster just 10 shots in the 4-0 loss — the lowest total in the franchise’s 44-year history — Tyler Myers intimated that they wouldn’t have beat an AHL squad with that effort.

A few feet away, teammate Josh Gorges fumed.

“I don’t know who we think we are or what kind of team we think we are or what we’ve accomplished to be playing like that,†he said. “We haven’t done nothing to be out there playing a cute game. We don’t deserve to play a cute game.

“Until we figure out that we have to work and scratch and claw and grind and dig in order to give our chance to win, then we’re going to have nights like this.â€

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/road-to-mcdavid-eichel-paved-with-embarrassment/

 

[AmerksPuck]

G- Noidberg for the first 2 periods
-Zemgus being Zemgus
-Gorges played hard against the team he refused to accept a trade to

B- Myers tried to do too much

U- the lack of team play, seemed every play was a bad pass, turnover, bad coverage and chaotic positioning.
-the 3 consecutive minutes the Leafs kept possession in the Buffalo zone
-Hodgson, Ennis, Foligno, Stewart, Stafford... bench any of them and let Flynn play.



Not ready to dump Nolan yet, there have already been 3 coaches in 3 years, that is the kind of thing that hurts development. Oilers made that mistake, Panthers make that mistake and it stunted the team. Need to let the players grow together, the core kids need stability for a few years while the roster goes through a regular culling.

You forgot to include the captain!

 

[mikemcburn]

You forgot to include the captain!

You forgot to include the ASScap Moulson

 

[cybresabre]

U: McCormick giving a nutshot to Panik

 

[stokes84]

Has Murray spoke since before the season? I know he used to do a weekly thing with Schoop and the Bulldog, but I don't think that is still going. They are going backwards and I think Murray needs to come out and speak on it. The start to this season is beyond tanky, it's alarming when you are going in reverse from last years disaster. I don't know that this team could beat the Amerks in a 7 game series.

 

[Chainshot]

So a good night to still be without internet in my house eh? 10 shots? TEN?!?

They should go to the Gimp's box and feel shame.

 

[Bones Malone]

G:
Royals won
Falling asleep on the couch
Going to the Amerks game tonight
McCormick's nut shot on (Panik ?)

B:
Kessel's BMI
Playing the B's next

U:
Sabres
Nolan
Suffering
Main board

 

[42]

Murray should trade Stewart while there is still interest in him.

 

[zman]

I'm fine with Nolan coaching this disaster of a team through April 2015, then he needs to be jettisoned. Teddy will not be leading this team out of misery. He's here to guide them through it, that's it.

Murray will need to hire a professional, proven winner hockey coach who employs a professional system to suit this team. They cannot hang onto the puck. There's no excuse for this.

 

[AlsPug]

Complainers gonna complain. Was standing aside and did not bother to argue with these complaners/pro hockey coaches who have been in the dressingroom with the team from the 1st game this season.

All of you see a dirty mother****** in Nolan. Has anyone thought,that it's on purpose? I mean the loosing. Show me the person, that would not like to draft 1st or 2nd? To do that you need to finish last. Guess what... there is a huge competition for that. Imagin we'd won. You'd be much further from the last place.

Nolan did explain why Zads is sitting right now. He will play eventually, hes got to get into shape and he did aknowledge that he played well. It's so tiresome to see the same posts allover again.

 

[brian_griffin]

U: I've watched all 10 games so far

Explains your username.

G- Set record 10 shots
B- missed the fan advantage word of the game. Anyone know it?
U- most of the team

Others replied with "tripping", but I believe the front office will also accept "putrid".

 

[Namejs]

I disagree.

Sure, there are career plugs filling out the ranks, but really this team is full of guys who have proven to possess the talent and work ethic necessary to succeed at this level -

Along with a sprinkle of guys who ought reasonably to be taking leaps forward this season (Stewart, Girgensons, etc.), this team has 5 proven scorers good for at least 20 goals, two of whom are in their prime (Moulson and Stafford) and another two of whom are still young 20s, meaning young enough to have some upside (Hodgson and Ennis).

Admittedly the other proven scorer Gionta is past his prime, but that's where this team also has quality veteran leadership in him and Gorges, which ought to be well supported by the likes of other veteran experience in Moulson, Stafford, Weber, etc.

And then there's the promising youth, again Girgensons (who kinda deserves to mentioned multiple times;-)), Reinhart and Ristolainen, etc. Not to mention call up potentials in Grigorenko and Larrson, etc.

All in, there is no way this roster shouldn't be performing better than it is. And when so many (aka: ALL) are floundering at the same time, consistently, then you gotta look to the common denominator as the cause - aka: management.

You're missing my main point - this team isn't performing any worse than it was last season.

If you look at the first 10 Sabres games in 13/14, statistically there are almost no changes in terms of the number of goals scored (11 vs. 13) or points acquired (4 vs. 3). Also, early this season the opposition that they've faced has been of higher quality when compared to 13/14. Arguably, the Sabres overall have even less talent than they did a year ago (no Miller/Vanek/etc.).

I saw those 10 games last year and I saw them all from start to finish this year. I might've lost more than 2 days of my life watching them, but there's no doubt in my mind that they will pick up the goal scoring pace as the season goes along.

Yes, there's room for improvement in terms of player selection, but at the same time that sort of in on itself means that the management isn't too concerned about short term success or maximizing the quality of this team right now. If necessary (if they plunge to new lows), they will use the reserves that they have in Rochester (Grigorenko, Larsson, Pysyk would definitely be an improvement over some players on the current Sabres roster) or, say, break up the 1st line entirely, which they did a couple of times last season with some limited success. BUT, for obvious reasons, that is not their primary concern.

You can grab the torches and look for the nearest pitchfork, but it doesn't change the fact that the Sabres will win 2 or 3 times out of every 10 matches this season, whether you're going to scapegoat Nolan or not.

There's no basis whatsoever in saying that they should have substantially more points than they did last season.

 

[DrStrangelife]

Another is that no amount of individual work and effort is useful in the void of no system, no strategy, no plan - and seemingly no concept on how to put together a team of individual parts.

I'm going to defend Nolan here. Tell me what system could work with this team? This team is not a winner. This cast of players is merely there to fill in the gaps needed to have an NHL team. The minimum required to play the game. Sure, 10 shots is way below our potential level. But how do we reach that potential level? It's not like any coach would be better than Nolan, or just implementing a new or simply a system would do the trick. Yes, there might be a system out there, floating in the universe, that could be perfect with the pieces we've got. I agree with you. But lets now return back to reality. Which coach do we hire instead?? What system solves our troubled team?? We can guess, we can speculate... We could try on 10s of coaches like people try on clothes and then find none that really suit us. What's the point? It's better for the development when we have 1 coach.

Our current level of play vs our potential level of play is not that far off. Right now, it's an exaggeration based on 1 game. This clearly was the crappiest game of the season. **** happens. Not saying that I was satisfied with some of the previous games, but we weren't as far off then as we were last night from the potential we are capable off. We simply aren't ANY good + we are pursuing that Nr. 1 pick.

Another, and in my opinion the most important point, is the relationship of the players with Nolan. I think the players blame themselves way more than they blame Nolan, if they blame him at all. However, if I'm wrong then change is necessary - even if it's Nolan in disguise rehired. Simply a fresh face, a fake illusion of a new hope might give a strong boost to the teams morale. Then I'll accept the rehire idea, but not solely based on the phantom idea that there is a system that could work for us. Let's face the truth. Even if we had the best system out there (for us) - this still would be a miserable year to follow the Sabres.

 

[haseoke39]

I'm going to defend Nolan here. Tell me what system could work with this team? This team is not a winner. This cast of players is merely there to fill in the gaps needed to have an NHL team. The minimum required to play the game. Sure, 10 shots is way below our potential level. But how do we reach that potential level? It's not like any coach would be better than Nolan, or just implementing a new or simply a system would do the trick. Yes, there might be a system out there, floating in the universe, that could be perfect with the pieces we've got. I agree with you. But lets now return back to reality. Which coach do we hire instead?? What system solves our troubled team?? We can guess, we can speculate... We could try on 10s of coaches like people try on clothes and then find none that really suit us. What's the point? It's better for the development when we have 1 coach.

Our current level of play vs our potential level of play is not that far off. Right now, it's an exaggeration based on 1 game. This clearly was the crappiest game of the season. **** happens. Not saying that I was satisfied with some of the previous games, but we weren't as far off then as we were last night from the potential we are capable off. We simply aren't ANY good + we are pursuing that Nr. 1 pick.

Another, and in my opinion the most important point, is the relationship of the players with Nolan. I think the players blame themselves way more than they blame Nolan, if they blame him at all. However, if I'm wrong then change is necessary - even if it's Nolan in disguise rehired. Simply a fresh face, a fake illusion of a new hope might give a strong boost to the teams morale. Then I'll accept the rehire idea, but not solely based on the phantom idea that there is a system that could work for us. Let's face the truth. Even if we had the best system out there (for us) - this still would be a miserable year to follow the Sabres.

No coach will make us a winner, conceded, but there's degrees of incompetence, and this is a little beyond the pale.

We should have a coach who:

1) Most importantly, views it as his prerogative to develop young players. This includes playing them, especially in situations designed to develop the skillsets they were drafted for.
2) Has some discernible offensive strategy. Players learn and develop best when they're asked to play within a smart system. I can't say for sure he doesn't have a defensive system, but we look like total shambles whenever we're in the offensive zone, just positionally, setting aside our actual success at executing the system. We dump and chase a ton and don't seem to have a sound support strategy for the puck carrier, no cycle, nothing. Everyone looks worse than they are talent-wise out there because they're not offensively supported, IMO. I see players like Myers getting frustrated and skating around like a forechecker down low, and that suggests to me even more that no one is making them take specific responsibilities out there.
3) Is willing to bench the right players for poor performance. Maybe he'll get around to it eventually, but Benoit and Meszaros have had a pretty free ride all season, e.g., even while he's got a talented kid who desperately needs ice time right behind them.

No coach is going to make us a winner, but I can watch us lose with some satisfaction that the team is getting better if I'm watching our players learn an NHL system, get good opportunities to develop their skills, and see players held accountable. That would be enough progress for this year, at least. As of right now, I'd be more likely to see, e.g., Grigorenko getting called up as a pause in his development than accelerating it, and that's just not how this team should be.

 

[Baccus]

Has Murray spoke since before the season? I know he used to do a weekly thing with Schoop and the Bulldog, but I don't think that is still going. They are going backwards and I think Murray needs to come out and speak on it. The start to this season is beyond tanky, it's alarming when you are going in reverse from last years disaster. I don't know that this team could beat the Amerks in a 7 game series.

I haven't seen or heard much from Murray, but what do you think he's going to say?

This is exactly what any reasonable person should have expected to be the result of this season, none of the "improvements" even came up to the level of talent that left at the end of last season. The whole "look good while losing" concept was and is ridiculous. Most of the kids still need a couple years or more, and that's not even taking into account the development times for whatever we get from the upcoming draft that everybody is so excited about.

 

[Dubi Doo]

Sounds like I missed an entertaining game.