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Is the "as for the message sent" part yours or the articles? (My Athletic subscription lapsed and I'm not renewing.) There *is* an "ick factor" here. I couldn't agree more. But young people (and older people) do icky things, as all six of the individuals involved here did. In other words, whatever ick there was, was consensual. (And it does seem that Hart's participation was very limited and only involved doing splits.) Hart would be an improvement not only over Lyon, but also over UPL. And I wouldn't want any part of McLeod, either, but he's not the guy I'm considering in these posts.

Back in the heyday of WWF they’d come to Syracuse 2-3 times a year. My ex-wife’s grandmother loved it and thought it was real. I took her to a couple shows and the last time got great seats in folding chairs about ten rows back. She was an Italian immigrant who spoke English quite well but a tad broken. During one match Adrian Adonis was pummeling someone and she stood on her chair and started yelling “he cheating, he cheating, Ronnie that sumofanbitch is cheating”. Next thing I know she’s off her chair and running toward the ref screaming he’s cheating. My wife had to go get her and she was so pissed off shaking I was worried - she was at least mid 70’s. I didn’t dare take her to any more shows. RIP Rose, wonderful lady.

I think this quote from the Athletic article on this is exactly why I have an issue with just "moving on" and bringing in the players involved. It perfectly encapsulates how this was covered and the presiding feeling now that it is "over". https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6429400/2025/07/24/hockey-canada-trial-players-not-guilty/

There's the law side of things and the "this wasn't right" side of things. I heard enough of the testimony and the evidence to think even if legally these players cannot or even should not be punished, what happened was in that "this isn't right" realm. It's fairly clear from the factual sequence of events that things, at least in terms of my morality, were taken to far and have that "ick" factor. At the very least McLeod would be someone I would not want on my team due to his grievous lack of judgement.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/alexalisitza/reddit-maga-voter-needs-medicaid I said months ago that the GOP needed to understand the demographics of who benefits from Medicaid and where. Apparently, their own constituents aren’t much aware, either. It truly sucks that anyone will be getting kicked off of their vital medical insurance, but the selfishness exhibited by the particular Medicaid recipient in Iowa cited in the attached article is often too indicative. Until they came for me indeed.

Aggregators, that’s a newly discovered species in the Central American rainforests, no?

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I did learn this morning that Bettman won't let him back in the league just yet. But I wouldn't have any moral qualms about it, especially given the judge's somewhat scathing critique of the complainant's credibility. I tend to trust the courts in places like Canada.

Of course that's the case. But if the Bandits and Bills were not good things would change. There's also a different dynamic where Bills fans only have a handful of games to attend in any given year so it becomes more of an event. But the point is that viewing percentage can lead to incorrect analysis of actual value given that the number of actual people showing interest by watching is lower. It does if it's not weighted when they do it in aggregate. Of course this is the kind of stuff that gets done by marketing, etc. to spin a narrative. They could be. I don't know them. I'm not talking football either. I am not saying the NHL should not care about Buffalo. I am merely saying that viewing percentages can demonstrate the relative interest to the population in any given market but that it cannot be used to compare market to market as the actual numbers can vary widely. Yes, Southern Ontario is likely not included in these numbers but it does not matter when measuring nationally televised, non-Buffalo Sabres events. In this case we are talking about a hockey event that did not include the team in the market. As such it's reasonable to assume some percentage (likely a high percentage) would have watched those games whether the Sabres were in Buffalo or not. The statistic in question was not a measurement of viewership of Buffalo Sabres games. It was a measure of interest in a nationally televised game. It stands to reason that the Florida markets were at the top as their team was in the game. It's a testament to Buffalo that so many are interested in the games. However, percentages don't translate directly to spend. Actual people spend actual dollars. If you use just a percentage then you could have a town of 100 people who all love hockey and tuned in. Do you think the NHL cares about those 100 people just because their viewership was 100%?

I think Team Canada used him well in the World Championship when he got 9 goals in 10 games. He was playing wing and used his speed to get open for a playmaking centre to feed him. If he carries the mail it becomes return to sender.

Cross-data source aggregators... Gotta love them.

I think anyone watching knows how often plays died on Cozens stick and structure broke down because of it.

As well-considered and rational as this is, what we should find amazing is how few hockey players seem to think this way. What do retired players say most often when looking back at their careers? It’s how much they miss the room. Hockey culture is peculiarly tribal and the team has a talismanic quality, a reverence drilled into players from the first time they put on skates. “Have each others backs” “the crest on the front not the name on the back” “this stays in the room”. Belonging is a crucial psychological element in the indoctrination. Once established it can be hard to shake. The typical player does not maximize his earnings over a series of short-term deals and highly leveraged negotiations, he chases security and term and signs for a home-town discount before ever hitting the open market. Even in such a “toxic” situation as Buffalo you get: Luukkonen 5 years Thompson 7 years Samuelsson 7 years Power 7 years Cozens 7 years Dahlin 8 years You don’t think Zucker could have got his deal somewhere else this summer? Or Greenway? Ryan McLeod just signed on for 4 more seasons. People are constantly throwing out “no one wants to be in Buffalo” And yet… Im not suggesting that none of the above decisions were free of business considerations. I am saying that it is actually crazy how frequently those considerations can take a back seat to loyalty, the desire to feel needed and the need to belong.

The question is was Cozens really a drag on the defense or was that just because the team overall was bad?

Same. And I used to dance around like a fool to it, iirc. I had no idea he was from Roch. RIP.

Another great entertainer whose personal life decisions ruined his public reputation.

Ppl who don’t know I guess

But Cozens did. It’s just a cleaner comparison to look at the production differential between Cozens and Norris. I still think we benefit more because Norris’s baseline is probably better peak Cozens, with the huge caveat of health.

Yes you can. Norris didn't play last year. That's precisely what we can do.

I don't know on what lines Quinn, Kulich and Benson will end up playing on. Even if one, two or three of these players end up on the top two lines, or not, I expect all three of them to have more goals than they had last year. Will these players make any headway? (Your question.) Of course they will. The issue then becomes how much so? I'm counting on Quinn to make the biggest scoring leap. (Recognize many others don't believe so.) The issue to focus on is not the goal scoring. The more substantive issue relates to the goaltending and blue line unit. I'm more comfortable with our blue line than with our goaltending. That will be the determining issue for success or not.

I enjoy Twitter and can’t quit it. But it will occasionally cause a burp like this.

The cap increase was larger than the past few years while the crop of UFAs was weaker. I think cap space will be plentiful for a few teams until the deadline when they can take on salary for the teams that join the playoff arms race. Agents are salivating for the next few years as there will be a bidding war if McJesus hits the market and crazy money will be thrown at others. Not many owners will have an internal cap. Gone are the days when KA had the advantage of cap space to weaponize.

Show me someone who hasn’t messed up hard a couple times in their life and I’ll show you a liar who just wasn’t caught. RIP Hulkster. Loved wrestling until they got to the PG era. As imperfect as he was, Hogan is a childhood hero to a lot people around the world.

Long live Iron Sheik!

No but you can't look at the roster and say Norris gives us goals to make up for Peterka. That still leaves you filling a forward spot and either Kulich or Benson has to step up and emerge big time. I just think there are too many too young players in our top 6 to make any kind of headway.