So I watched last night's game on the Denver broadcast (it was in HD, and there was no RJ on the Buffalo feed anyway). I actually enjoyed their broadcast a lot, and some of what the announcers were saying helped sort of crystalize some thoughts I've been having about this year's Sabres team since game 1.

First and foremost, they made some really perceptive comments about Buffalo's rush into the zone. Early on they noticed that there always seemed to be forwards driving the net on every rush. One of the announcers made a comment later in the game that Buffalo's forwards were overskating the rebounds on the rush. For some reason that made a light bulb go on in my head.

From the first game of the season, I noticed that on rushes, all Sabre forwards (and often even the D-men) were basically on the same level, in a straight line as they rushed the net. I've been thinking that isn't an effective attack since October, but I think my feelings were based on the passing options (or lack thereof) that this scheme gave to the forwards. When the announcer made the comment about the rebounds, it clicked to me why that kind of attack has been so ineffective. Not only can the defense easily get in between the attacking players when they're basically rushing the net in a straight line, but also when someone does get a shot off, there's no one there to tap home a rebound in front because everyone has already passed by the prime shooting area in the slot.

It's a freaking awful way to attack the net if you ask me, and it has lead to few chances, but also has made for a ton of counter rushes up the ice by the opponents because all the forwards get caught so deep and have to sprint to get back for any kind of backcheck, and they often don't get there until the other team has an excellent scoring chance.

Is it just me, or did that not happen a lot last year, much less every single fucking time up the ice? Seems like the Sabres could score the odd goal on an entry into the zone last year. This year, it's freaking horrible unless the opposition's goalie lets in a shot from a weird angle. Do you think the coaching staff has coached them to skate into the zone all on the same level? And if they haven't coached this, why in God's name haven't they fixed the problem yet. It's a major problem not only for Buffalo's scoring, but also for their defense. What the hell is going on?

great observation... Im not as astute as most on here when it comes to X's and O's but they do seem off this year... the one that still kills me is the entry where you almost have the guys along the boards standing at the blue line, skater brings the puck down the middle crosses the blue line and immediately passes to one of the guys about standing on the wing... from what ive seen, it doesnt work, its easily broken up and kills any opportunity to sustain pressure in the opponents zone... whats wrong with dump and run? whats wrong with getting the wing into the zone by at least a few strides and see what the d does... that has driven me crazy as of late...

and its my guess that it is how they are being coached....

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I don't know. It seems to me as though this team gets tons of chances and can never finish. Luke Adam's goal was kept out by Ennis's stick last night.

Then, while we're on the power play in OT, Hecht misses an opportunity to tap the puck in the wide open net.

Just a shit year.

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Wheelhouse

Good teams finish.

Poor teams almost finish.

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Bounces and rebounds act differently every shot, some go far away from the goalie and others are right on the door step.

They are getting their chances, it's just not going their way this year.

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Their feed didn't piss me off that much, which is actually a great compliment. I long for a world that allows me to listen to nothing but on ice audio, the action, and the crowd. PbP and CC are for sports newbs and not for me. I NEED a button on my receiver to mute them and I will invent this myself if need be!

I digress, your/their observation is a good one, the Sabres were not on the same page as far as timing and anticipation, and that's nothing new.

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"I love that you know how to do that." Cheryl/Carol/Crystal

"And I love that I have an erection that doesn't involve homeless people." Kreiger

But their timing never seems to really click this year. I just don't quite get it. They all seem to be doing the same thing, and maybe that's why the timing is so terrible. I mean what the fuck?

I've never, ever been one to say it's time for Lindy's head, but jeez. I feel like there's something really fundamentally wrong with the guidance of a team that has such major problems and seem to repeat them over and over. This year whenever anything goes wrong, everybody just scrambles to the puck. Once they have it, they mostly just skate with it and everybody heads towards the net. Nobody is playing a positional game. D-men ALWAYS pinch when they have the opportunity, and no one is where they're suppossed to be when their teammates need options. How can this happen for an entire half season?

The fact that early on in the season, the team looked like it had never been coached, was troubling to me.

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Proud LGBTQQ Individual

Yeah they seemed to enter "fuck it" mode early on and it's been shit all season, well except for that stretch of OT games. Man was that entertaining, they were finding ways to win instead of allowing points to slip away like they did last night.

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"I love that you know how to do that." Cheryl/Carol/Crystal

"And I love that I have an erection that doesn't involve homeless people." Kreiger

Yes, I do think our attack is offensive.

I've always thought the sabres, both on offense and defense, have a troubled understanding of what the blue line really is.

On offense, they find a way to get the puck in deep, but way too often it's time for a change or they only send one forward who doesn't have a chance at a good forecheck. Where is the support? One of our forwards isn't going to beat 2 defensemen and a goalie.

On defense, if you watch other teams, they use the blue line as a defense marker. A way to pinch the other team out and create a turnover. Some big hits can result from this play, and keep the other teams scared of entering so freely.

We just usually give it up. Almost every game Rob Ray makes a comment on how we just don't use it, and he's right.

I'm not sure if it's coaching or not. I'm a huge Ruff supporter, but it seems we've always acted this way.