Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - Between the 2021-22 season and 2022-23 season, Buffalo Sabres center Tage Thompson played 78 games and scored 38 goals and 47 goals, respectively.
Last year, Thompson broke his hand blocking a shot earlier in the season, then came back too early and only scored 29 goals in 71 games.
If you take the three seasons combined, it’s still 41 goals over 82 games for Thompson.
The biggest difference for Thompson came on the power play when Rasmus Dahlin and Jeff Skinner insisted on trying to feed the center, despite the fact opposing teams were taking him away. Two years ago, he had 20 goals with the extra man, but only netted nine last season.
At the age of 26, Thompson has turned into a leader on this team. Even though he likely won’t be named captain, he’s very worthy of wearing the “C”.
Thompson is back 100% healthy, and is taking full responsibility for his play going back to last year.
"You’re always hungry to get better, and for me, I’ve already set a standard that is better than what I did last year. Anything short of that is just not good enough," said Thompson earlier this week at the start of training camp. "I’m always trying to exceed expectations and goals, and I didn’t even come close to those last year. So statistics weren’t good enough, and other aspects of my game that you can’t put a finger on like consistent compete, it just needs to be way better. Those are the things I looked at over the summer, watched a lot of the games back, and just areas where I can improve on the game and just try to learn and grow."
In watching that game tape from last year, Thompson felt there were some games he felt he was a little too much of a perimeter player, where he could’ve gotten to the net a little bit more instead of slowing the game down too much.
"Instead of using my size and speed, I feel that’s when I’m at my best when driving the play and taking pucks to the net, and then from there, I get my time and space where I can make plays and slow the game down," Thompson said.
"For me, it goes back to the consistency thing. Obviously you could probably chalk a lot of that up to injuries and make excuses, but at the end of the day, there are none. If you’re going to get on the ice, whether you’re at 50% or at 100%, you’ve got to be the best player on the ice."
Two seasons ago, the Sabres were in the top-three of the NHL for much of the season. They ended up finishing ninth because of a late-season slump at 23.4%.
Last year, they were 29th at 16.6%, and forcing plays to Thompson was a big reason why. He adds the Sabres also weren’t good enough in battles to keep the puck.
"We’ve got the same personnel and guys that have been together before. We’ve got a lot of skill in the lineup, so it’s not for a lack of skill. I think it goes back to just the commitment to working before the skill," Thompson explained.
"I think last year, we wanted it easy, and thought we were going to get a goal. Then you let that affect you mentally, and then it spirals. So it comes with work first. We’ve got to outwork the PK, and then just simplifying, getting pucks to the net, getting them in chaos and running around. Then your seems open up from there."
Under the tutelage of head coach Lindy Ruff, things aren't going to be as loose as they’ve been here for a long time.
"I think it’s just about commitment. If everyone commits to what he’s throwing out there and everyone’s on the same page, I think we’re going to have success," Thompson said. "It's just got to be everyone buying in, and a lot of selflessness.
"It’s got to be things that are not fun to do, which are going to get the job done. He’s already talked about tracking being non-negotiable. I think you guys saw a little taste of it the first 30 minutes [of practice], battling through when you get tired. Those are things winning teams do that we haven’t done enough of."
This is a very close team. They do things together here in Buffalo, and they even travel together.
With that being said, they also need to be able to hold each other accountable without losing any respect or friendships. Thompson believes that can be accomplished.
"There’s a really tight group in that locker room, and if someone says something to you, it’s not because they don’t like you or they think you’re a bad player. It’s because they want the best for you, and they want the best for the team. It’s all coming from a good place," Thompson said. "I think everyone in there knows that, but you’ve got to be the first person to look in the mirror and say you weren’t good enough. And obviously last season for me wasn’t good enough, and I have a lot more to give. That’s something I’m taking a lot of pride in over the summer."
In Friday’s scrimmage, the first half, which was 25 minutes, was all defense. You could tell the team was really paying attention to structure, as Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen faced one scoring chance from the slot from Thompson, who shot the puck wide.
For Devon Levi, Isak Rosen forced a turnover and found an open Peyton Krebs, who missed the net. Jiri Kulich brought the puck to the crease, but Levi held strong. Krebs set up Connor Clifton down the slot, but the puck bounced and Levi stopped Dylan Cozens in the slot.
That was it for scoring chances.
"What you saw was real good attention to detail of making sure to get people back and get above people," said Ruff following practice. "I thought our work away from the puck, it really had nothing to do with system. It had to do with effort."
With scoring chances at a premium, Ruff enjoyed watching his players get mad about it.
"There were some guys that were pretty annoyed. I thought our top guys got a little annoyed that there wasn’t much ice to skate around in," Ruff said.
In the second 25 minutes, things opened up quite a bit.
Felix Sandstrom faced penalty shots from Kulich and Cozens, and made saves. He joined Luukkonen and Levi, stopping all the shots they faced.
James Reimer gave up a rebound goal to Konsta Helenius after a breakaway, and also Thompson left a puck for JJ Peterka to rip under the crossbar to give Team White a 2-0 win.
Ruff still thought there were too many poor puck decisions in the scrimmage.
The lines for the scrimmage were:
Forwards:
Peterka – Thompson – Tuch
Malenstyn – Lafferty – Aube-Kubel
Ostlund – Helenius – Rousek
Benson – Cozens – Quinn
Zucker – McLoud – Greenway
Kulich – Krebs – Rosen
Defense:
Byram – Power
Samuelsson – Jokiharju
Rathbone
Bryson – Clifton
Gilbert – Johnson
Clague
Luukkonen
Levi
Reimer
Sandstrom
Ruff also mentioned he thought Byram was the best player on the ice.
He adds the two preseason games on Saturday and Monday will mostly be made up of the team’s front-line players.
Rasmus Dahlin was on the ice on Friday on his own, but isn’t quite ready yet.
"We’ll see where that goes. It was encouraging that he was back out there," Ruff said.
Here's Pittsburgh's lineup for Saturday:
The first preseason game is slated for Saturday at 6:30 p.m. ET. Join Brian Koziol and myself for pregame coverage on WGR.
