Reacting to Rasmus Dahlin’s Defense Comments
I don’t understand what happened to this team’s offense it it’s still boggles my mind how it’s this bad it’s this bad we do know what happened so let’s get into it I’m gonna have Jonah’s about to go off here so gloves are off gloves are off okay so I read
This tweet by Matthew Fairburn at about I don’t know probably 12:30 at night last night I was just scrolling getting tired getting ready to go to bed and then this tweet comes across my timeline where it’s Matthew Fairburn saying that previously in the week he talked to Rasmus Dalene and the
Big quote that is gone everywhere for good reason is that Dalene told him I can’t really jump into rushes right now I got to have more responsibility and take care of the dzone more I could not believe my eyes when I read that I couldn’t I could not believe
It burer is back I read infiltrated I think I read that same quote 50 times when Ralph Krueger was head coach yep how have we gotten back to this point where we’re telling the guy who we spent three years three years probably yeah three years since Krueger was fired
And then onwards so up until that’s about two and a half years almost three years telling him not to do that telling him screw whatever that soccer chman was filling your head with and just go out there and play and we’ve we’re doing this at a point we’re telling him to play more
Defensive at a point when the team’s offense stinks you just lost one- nothing yesterday how is that the time how is that how is that what how is that your main takeaway coming out of that game I mean I guess the quote was before that game but still
Still who is telling this man that his his his lack of defense is why this team is struggling and look his defense has taking a step back there’s no doubt about that but I thought it was because he wasn’t already engaging offensively enough how many times has he taken over a game
Offensively this season once or twice maybe yeah barely is somebody telling him that he’s how can you how can you look at how he’s playing this season and be like this is the same do Lane as last year and we need to stop that we need to tell him to
Play more defensive more principled I I I’m at a loss for words thinking about that quote I I cannot believe we’ve gotten to this point with Don Granado Mr play your game Mr go and we’ll figure out the the mistakes later it’s crazy it’s crazy is it
Krueger’s still in her contract isn’t he he’s still getting paid by the by the probably still paying him so maybe you know he’s an advisor and he was like donene you’re playing too good all right play better defense or Matt Matt Ellis is like a sleeper agent for him
Yeah I don’t know um it’s crazy that we are paying this guy it’s going to be 11 million a year and they want him to be better defensively and offensively when his whole trait is that he’s one of the best offensive defenseman in the league okay he’s probably our second most
Talented offensive player on our team other than Tage Thompson and they’re going to take that away from him I mean what are you doing what could you possibly think you’re going to get out of that to take everything that you earned last year with how he played to
Just throw that away and say don’t do that anymore play better defense like that’s that’s personally why I think him and samelson haven’t been as good this year because Don’s trying to play more defense where it’s not like like Sam I’ve seen Samson go up in the rush a lot
More this year it’s probably because donene is isn’t doing it as much like I just I can’t believe that quote it it’s crazy like we need more offense this year and he’s wanting to play more defense and like I think it all goes back to Eric Johnson’s quote in his
First interview as a buffalo saber that this team needs to play more defense it’s like that was the kiss of death like we should have known right there the flash point it’s the flash point of this team from that moment yep man let’s change a system that was
Working for us okay okay we had a ton of defensive deficiencies last year yes we did but we could outscore it and it was working for us okay if we played a whole season like we did the last half of the Season we would easily be in the
Playoffs right now yet we got rid of that entire system and told all of our best offensive players to play more defense and to cut back from the offense a little I mean Tage Thompson was playing s worthy hockey in the beginning of the season and it was kind of a meme
But he was playing that good defensively but he wasn’t producing as much offensively like why are you telling these offensive talented players to play more defense I don’t know there’s nothing wrong with that there’s nothing wrong with tell him to play more defense but telling your franchise defenseman to not play offense
Essentially there is no way he came to that conclusion by himself no and if I’m a coach and I and I read that I’m going Rasmus what are you doing you’re at your best when you’re creating offensively we’re making our team worse by doing that it to me significantly it
Is another clear-cut example of this team not using the analytics staff for the day-to-day operations there’s just no way this is a player that should have won the Norris last year and not in an Carlson way where he was producing so much offensively no he was the best
Defensive player on this he was he was one of the most elite defensive players in the NHL on one of the worst defensive teams there should not have been a a a message sent to him other than just do it again do play the exact same way you played last
Year and here we are and this is why how I’ve said I said this when we went over our mailbag and I had a little push back but I said I think most of the season is on the coaches and this is exactly why Don donene is not sitting at that offseason
Saying look I was almost an norest caliber player I have to change my game I need to play more defense and play less offense it’s the coaches it is the coaches and I will also throw Eric Johnson into that because his entire ality this whole season even when we
Needed more offense at the beginning of the Season he was saying how we need to play more defense so I am throwing Eric Johnson in this too I think his voice has been it’s been going the wrong way the entire season and the coaching staff has been on board with that and it’s
It’s it’s mindboggling it makes no sense you have one of the best defensemen in the league and you’re taking away his best talent it’s dumb it is really dumb and really stubborn and I also think okay power was very good in the beginning of the Season
He has cooled off I think a significant amount he hasn’t been as much he hasn’t been as good I think they’re probably giving power the same exact message and that’s why he hasn’t been as good he has not been contributing offensively even last year when he had his struggles okay
He was contributing off he was one of the best offensive contributors on a team last year he was creating plays he was driving play okay he’s not doing that right now and I think it’s the same exact message that they’re giving they’re telling power they’re saying look you are very talented offensively
Let’s let’s style back on that play a little more defense let’s develop that part of your game it’s not what they’re good at okay it’s not stop stop with this nonsense stop being dumb like I I was at the game um um Thursday or um Wednesday or whatever the
Game was with my girlfriend and I said I said WR point I said I think I could coach this team better sometimes it is unbelievable unbelievable and I said that in response to their amazing amazing regroups that they have where guys just stand still on the blue line
And do absolutely nothing like we haven’t touched on that too much but you tweeted about it some of this stuff is just so Elementary that it’s it’s not that difficult but it’s it’s mindboggling like it it blows my mind some of the stuff they’re doing this
Year it blows my mind and this is at the tip of it all and that comment is insane it’s insane you should not be hearing that out of your franchise player oh man I wasn’t even planning on talking about the regroups I want to get into it okay and
You could go first because I need to cool off a little but it makes no sense keep keep going ride the way I I played very low-level hockey compared to these people okay I know in a regroup you’re supposed to move you’re supposed to gate you’re supposed to give your defense
Options okay they don’t do that they have two guys sitting on the blue line okay and the defense they’ll go like d to D all the time because no one’s open and then eventually their play is a long pass and then they dump it in I have
Never seen a team especially an NHL team where people stand still so much and that’s their issue with their power play too but you could lead that into the group the regroup too like we were such a good transition team last year it’s because people were moving they were
Flying they had these good passes that’s all been thrown out the window again it’s I like I’m not joking when I say I could at least coach a better regroup like it’s I don’t even know what they’re telling them like yeah sit still sit still in the blue line like even if
That’s not the message can you at least like drill into them like you should not be doing this like what the hell are you doing like that might not be the coaches because if a Coach is telling them like this is going to be a regroup I I think
They shouldn’t even have an NHL job so maybe it is the players and maybe they’re just being lazy but I have seen it the entire year and it makes no sense no and no hockey team ever in the history of hockey should be doing that as a regroup we’re talking about the regroup
Like this is crazy that’s that’s talking right now we’re talking about the Buffalo Sabers regroup what a downfall this should be like the last of the issues you should ever have to bring up with Don Granado this is Mr all offense this is Mr giddy up and go Mr go play your game
Play Fearless don’t worry about making mistakes and he’s got them playing this sheltered play style doesn’t play to their strengths and I just I do not know what to say anymore it’s dumb idiotic and he’s being stubborn all right change it up go back to last year I just I don’t even think
They can go back to last year that’s the thing right like we thought for a few games like here we go we’re going to get the the old Sabers back they beat the Leafs 9 to3 they put up a good performance against the New York Rangers and then like that was it that
Was it these regroups are still persisting their failure to clear the dzone or any attempt that they have to clear the dzone it’s just a flip to Center Ice yep that was that was the reason for all three goals on the Senators game by the way three pathetic
Attempts to get it out of the zone that led to three goals they have I think they struggle in every end of the ice every end every end of the ice they can’t break it out they can’t clear the Zone in the neutral zone they can’t regroup for
[ __ ] and in the offensive zone everything is perimeter even their Rush offense stinks it’s neutered it’s muddled they struggle in every facet of the game right now and are only carried by I guess the high level of talent that they have we have questions about whether or
Not this core is even good enough to win and sometimes I get into like that I I go into that downward spiral but then I look at the Boston Bruins who have Charlie Coyle as their firstline Center and they’re on Pace for 114 points you can’t cannot tell me that
This court isn’t good enough at least to break 80 points we’re 42 games in they’re going to hit 76 could you IM could you imagine if they finish with less points than they did in the 2122 season they finished with 75 that year they were everybody and their grandmother thought
They were going to get Shane Wright That season and they ended up finishing fifth in the division out producing their preseason projections by like 15 points could you imagine if they finish lower than that I don’t even want I want to I you don’t want to but look for 76
Points oh my God what the hell happened what the hell happened
Taken From “The Sabre Roundtable: Episode 54 – January Blues”
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