Inside The Numbers – Time To Talk About The Hitting Numbers (Again)
hi folks welcome to inside the numbers a video on the channel if you’re new I usually have the board behind me breaking down stats seasonal stats long-term stats whatever whatever stat it is I don’t need that tonight but I do need a visual of the cup so I’m keeping the cup out for this video it’ll make make a little sense after why and then I’ll put it down and let it go in its glory in the corner somewhere so for now guys how many years have I been bitching on this channel and whining I’ve been known to whine about the Sabers not hitting enough how long’s this been going on guys since I started the channel right I finally believe we’re on the right track okay we addressed it in the offseason finally went and got some guys many of you told me years ago Wayne you got to get you got to acquire these players you can’t just teach it I believe you can teach it a little a little which Grenada was terrible at and I said years ago he’s going to get fired this coach he’s going to get fired because that’ll be his demise okay you can’t have a team that doesn’t hit and have great success you just can’t so let’s take a look guys let’s go back some time we’re going to start with the 20 20 2021 season okay so 2020 2021 the 56 Game season where the sabes were dead last let’s take a look where we were that year in the league and hitting but let’s keep in mind we weren’t in our usual division but still let’s take a look okay so you see the worst team in the league in hitting that year was the Avalanche everybody was picking him to win that cup that year and I was getting roasted online because I kept telling everybody it’s never going to happen never going to happen not with the way they’re hitting absolutely no way not until they wake up from this and the ABS were the worst team in the league in hitting the devil’s the second worse the Red Wings the third the map beliefs also which they’ve addressed Toronto let’s face it Toronto’s addressed this issue uh Toronto was fourth at the bottom of the league in hting Toronto for many years was a bottom feeder in hitting but all of a sudden they are changing that the last two years and there you see the Sabres fifth before the bottom in the league let’s go to 21 22 and there you see the Sabers dead last in the league in hits hundreds of hits behind New Jersey who were 30th at the time think about it folks right there was 31 teams I’m correct saying that yes I am all right so 30th the Sabres are 31st 305 hits behind everybody in the league even Detroit who don’t hit for their life are right there at 1599 and then you got the blues and the Kings to round it off okay we go to the next year 2223 which is last year the year before last year sorry guys The Good Year where we almost made the playoffs all right there you see the Sabers uh 1171 hits the Ducks 1284 so we’re 100 at least 100 hits behind everybody and there’s the Hurricanes guys I’m going to address that in a second the Hurricanes very quietly suck at hitting and nobody talks about it everybody says bore is this genius well guys I tend to differ when it comes to bremore thank God the Sabers did not get him as coach there you see the Devils with their good season not much hits though and this is why I think the Devils eventually fizzled out a little too too easy actually and um anyway we’ll continue talk about that in a sec and there you see the Habs under St Louis changing their system uh which I understand when a team’s young uh when a team’s young you’re not you know you they’re not really teaching aggression till they get a little older right you notice these are young teams the Ducks the Sabres the Devils the Canadians okay we’ll come back to this in a sec so this is what led up to this year okay and and I’m telling you I’m a believer that you got to be a hitting team to win the Stanley Cup now when the one thing I want to say about the Avalanche next year when they won the Stanley Cup they weren’t one of the top top teams in the league in hitting they weren’t the worst anymore though they they knew they they somehow knew they were smart enough I think in their dressing room to know were too soft you know and if you look at the ABS run they had an amazing run the Avalanche when they won that Stanley Cup they were hitting like hell every game was like 40 hits they were out there being physical so I do believe you can teach it this is my point right there because the Avalanche basically with the same roster basically went from a non- hitting team to the best hitting team in the playoffs that year and that’s when I knew they’re going to break through this year this is the year they’re breaking through you could tell by a team physically if they’re going to break through okay let’s go to this year’s playoffs guys and we’ll talk about it in a no this year’s hits all right here’s where the Sabers were this year big Improvement let’s take a look okay these are the worst hitting teams in hockey and you see the Sabers finished in front of 11 teams 1790 hits and the year before 117071 hits so we hit about 600 almost 700 more hits last year guys that’s a lot that’s what remember last year I was saying I can live what they’re hitting this year because finally the sabes were they weren’t dormant anymore they weren’t exactly great but they weren’t exactly awful like the year before there was games where they had less than 10 hits I can’t tell you how many times and there you see the Hurricanes I want to talk about that right now now the Hurricanes you see the worst hitting team in hockey and this is why last year and the Stars why I just didn’t think these teams were going to win Stanley Cup I just didn’t I it’s like I don’t want to write them off but take a look at the ABS there they are again very quietly though so I knew if one of these teams is going to break through and Dallas is a big team but they’re not a physical team and if Dallas was going to break through I figured they’re going to throw like 40 hits a night that’s what they’re going to do but it didn’t transpire that’s not what happened so the Sabres look not a bad year in hitting our best year in years well our best year by far under Granado physically now let’s look at the top teams in the league in hitting this year those are the worst let’s look at the top and they’re the Panthers are number one who’s just won the Stanley Cup folks now you know why I got the cup out the Panthers were number one in the league in hitting the Bruins were number two the M police were number three and look at uh number seven the lightning all our division guys if we’re we’re going to survive in our division we know these are the four teams we got to beat up we already know these are the four teams right but these are the four teams physically also every they’re four of the top nine teams in the league with 2,000 hits or more and I’m telling you guys this year I’m hoping the sabes hit the 2,000 mark because really they got the Personnel to do it now especially after last year I mean last year let’s face it they had 1,790 no reason they can’t get a few hundred more hits now right unless Lindy shakes it up so bad that he doesn’t go with that thinking so that’s what I’m thinking there we should be I’m guessing under Lindy with this team now guys sorry it’s hot in here uh we should be a top 10 hitting team this year we could be not should be we could be a top 10 hitting team I think we should be in a top 15 and for the record the Oilers were 15th in the league they threw something like 86 more hits on us all year long so when the oer fans talk about physical physical play they don’t know what they’re talking about cuz they were 15th in the league and the Sabers this year had less than 100 hits less than them so they weren’t really a physical team like they talk about online they’re not you’re going to get this with Canadian franchises guys a lot a lot of franchises sales pit you in Canada okay another clip I want to show you here we go all right so there you see the Stanley Cup playoffs Tampa Bay is who Florida draws first Tampa Bay was seventh in the league in hitting with 29 hits Florida wins in five games pretty easily actually too we go to the second round they take on the Bruins number two in the league in hitting remember I was saying it during that while many of you don’t watch the Early Bird videos but I was still doing videos back then and I was talking about how it’s the top two hitting teams in the league playing each other and the number one team prevailed not because of the hitting because Boston could have been just as aggressive as them it didn’t matter this Florida team was way more well balanced and um what was saving the Bruins really in that series was swayman and Nets really they were that out class so Boston though number two in the league and hits they had to play them so there you go two of the top seven hitting teams in the league they had to play on their March to the Stanley Cup we go to the third round and they take on the Rangers they win that Series in six the Rangers were tough as hell you might recall but they wore them down eventually Rangers number 11 in the league in hitting just for the record with 1987 hits and then in the finals as we just seen it went to game seven went right down to the wire the oers were 15th in the league in hitting 1876 hits so that gave them let’s just s 1800 yeah they had 96 more hits than us right 96 uh no no they had 14 less 14 86 more hits than us anyway 84 more hits something like that guys 86 more hits 1986 yeah 1986 so they had 1876 so they had 86 more hits than we did nothing it’s really nothing guys it’s a difference was minuscule believe me let’s look at the next clip now Florida out hit Edmonton six of the seven games 296 to 186 to win the Stanley Cup the first game they out hit them 57 to 32 in a 3 nothing win the second game they out hit them 37 to30 and a 4 to1 win you could feel Edmonton climbing back in that series even though they hadn’t scored much yet we go to game three and they’re out hit 37-33 by the Oilers in a 4 to3 win and then they go back to Edmonton and I think maybe I won’t say overconfidence is what happened but take a look at the hits in that game that was their that was their high of all of all the games was 49 to 29 but Emon threw enough hits to stay in that game of course and blew them out 8 to one then here’s the frustrating one game five in Florida Florida dominate the game they out hit them also 44-6 but they lose 5 to3 cuz the goal tending just was nowhere that night we go to game six in emont they out hit them again 44-21 and a 5 to1 loss and everybody’s picking the oers to win not me because of the hitting I honestly believed that Florida was somehow going to pull it out and Florida’s lowest hit total of the series 32 to 21 and a 2 to1 win so the Oilers in the finals had 26.6 hits per game the Panthers had 42.3 and the Panthers are the team that wound up winning the Stanley Cup so my point of this video is the sabes need to hit more this year okay that’s that’s that’s really where I stand with this video the sabes I think now understand somehow some way they understand that the physicality part of their game sucked for years guys I don’t know how many of you seen me just rip roaring some nights just how frustrated I was with the softness I couldn’t take it I remember listening to by after the whistle if anybody has a link after the whistle do me a favor put it down on the link I lost it when I cleaned out all my my what do you call it my bookmarks I lost after the whistle so please put it in the note please anyway there was one episode I heard Jeremy ronic going off about the Sabers house off they were and that’s what I loved about after the whistle they thought like me they really were so fed up with the physical play of this team this is why olivon and guys like this guys good luck Vegas because that guy will throw you six hits all year like you don’t want guy we don’t want guys like that no more on this team we we want the guys we acquired trust me I don’t even have to see them play in our Jersey and I already know it’s a huge Improvement because they’re going to hit and they’re going to skate too but they’re going to hit they’re going to play hockey so I’m excited guys I’m excited so I’m going to put Lord stanle way see you in the next video
in this video, some breakdowns on why team hitting is so vital if the Sabres really plan to win a Stanley Cup eventually..thanks as always for watching folks 🙂
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17 Comments
If you look at the film from last year, you can see so many hits that were there to give that just did not happen. Fear of the coach benching players that hit?
We were starting to play how the buffalo beauts played with no checking etc
I will say that only time will tell how these moves and these players will affect this team at the end of the day.
However, this team did bring in a half dozen players that are a LOT Faster and Hit a TON more than what we the last 2 years.
If this team comes out next season flying around the ice, swarming their opponents while hitting them like freight train repeatedly, this team will put so many teams on their heals that they won’t be able to compete with us.
https://youtube.com/@afterthewhistlewithandrewp9554?si=p1F6eiaeJ7UEABHv
The link to after the whistle Wayne!
Granato always gave me Principal Skinner vibes, remember that wimpy "Puma Pride" mural? Great for peewee, not so great for the big leagues. 🤔
Two of my biggest complaints were the Sabres were Soft aka low hit totals and terrible on faceoffs. Well thankfully this will change next season with Lindy coming back , he will demand players to finish their checks and with the new additions on the bottom six. Malenstyn was one of the league leaders in hits . Face off wise the Sabres will be vastly improved with the addition of new centres Ryan Macleod a 50 % faceoff win rate and Sam Lafferty.
Looking forward to this season! Thanks for the video Wayne, hope your back is improving!
Thank you Wayne! Keep preaching the hits. There are so called fans, vocal ones, who are against hitting. Many are on a certain woke fan website. They are awful
Does it concern you that New Jersey was in the bottom five teams in hitting those seasons as well, all of which Lindy Ruff was their coach. Just a thought, I'm not necessarily concerned.
Payback time!
Sure felt like they didn't hit much last year. There were a few games that were exceptionally good, I think one was against Detroit, and you think, OK, they CAN actually do it. Then didn't. Weird.
Ya this will be a fun season to watch ,the fun line and this new core they've brought in to support guys like Quin and Benny,Cozens can bring the stick he used in the world championship s watch out for the fun line ,we dont need Savoie we have Benson it would suck if he did become a Briere type il admit that but u can't blame Kev he knows what he got with Savoie its like a scratch off ticket im tired of waiting and it's nice to see all theese smart moves I think we need to put Krebbs on our 4th give him another year please he's gonna break out like Casey but a year quicker wich is this year right ,if our bottom 6 produce and I believe we have 3 pieces to add in now, new dimension we haven't seen this in 11 + years over a decade and we have no issues in net fingers crossed no injuries ,I would think maybe Ugmark might regret choices he's made I can't believe he signs with Otawa it make no sense to me he's a Hall
Lets sit back and watch Levi and Lu take care of it we are in such a good spot
Not happy to see the devil's on the low hit list when Lindy was coaching. Hope that doesn't carry over
I brought it up at the end of the season and everyone thought I was crazy saying they aren’t physical especially power. Glad people caught on especially LR and KA
I agree with the hits. The thought I had, and I am repeating a point made earlier, is that the faceoff percentage (45%) needs to increase. Lindy mentioned it in his presser, but it didn't appear to me to get a lot of traction.
Now that some time has passed and we've gotten to digest the Savoie trade, the bottom six acquisitions are going to payoff big down the stretch. They are faster and more physical and hopefully by Jan/Feb we will see a team just wearing their opponents down in the third period. Which pays off in two ways. First, having enough in the tank to make some incredible comebacks. Second, protecting a lead and forcing a plethora of empty netters. You could see with Girgy and Okie out there that the speed just dropped and the other team got to catch their breath. This bottom six is going to make it hard on coaches to match up their lines with the top six if they're best defensive fwds are gassed in critical moments.
Another number that needs to be on the rise is blocked shots, a character stat that the bottom six acquisitions will bring. This will show if the Sabres are buying into the challenge of making a deep run this year.
One last point that may go unnoticed. Even though it was time for Donny to go and Lindy to come in, I believe Donny did right by some of these younger players last year by forcing them to learn how to play better defensively. I don't like the results in the win/loss column, but I think he took the long term approach of getting these guys better in the long run. Lindy will benefit from some of the defensive building blocks Donny put in last season. If you check the stats, their GA was 243 last season v 297 the season before. I am sure UPL had a good bit to do with it, but it appeared to me that their team defense (sans hits & blocked shots) looked better in the games I watched.
Improve Home record
Improve Hitting/playing physical/ some timely fights
Improve PP
Improve faceoff %
Its a wrap , we are playoff bound
Thanks for the content Roam!
Hits put you over the top, but you still need to be a great team to begin with. If you look at the Panthers, they were a unique team last season: they were leaders in hitting, sure, but they were also among the best teams in puck possession, and they did not lose many man-games to injury. Nearly everyone else seemed deficient in one or more of those areas, but the Panthers covered all of the bases.