Taro T

That stinks. I wish him well. He's a good writer. Hopefully they can bring him back when the lockdown ends and there are actually sports to report on again. And hopefully that is very soon.

One of these things is not like the others. (And no, not referring to moonshine.)

Read above, it SHOULD. Sadly, it doesn't. Even more sadly, it looks like they won't get to a winner even though they should finish that game & (wishfully, should that go well) game 7 before they're all too d*man old to resolve it.

The league kept Balsillie from PURCHASING a team (at least twice) which is a FAR cry from preventing a team owner from moving his/her team. (They also back in the 80's kept an owner that wanted to move the Blues to Saskatoon from buying the team from Ralston-Purina scuttling that sale. R-P owning the Blues being the reason the building they played in being called the Checker Dome.) Had Balsillie been smart and not pushed the "my team is moving to Kitchener/Windsor" mantra so vehemently, he'd've owned a team & Canada would currently have 8 franchises.

Al Davis moved his Raiders twice against league wishes. The NFL seems to be stronger than the NHL. Really doubt the NHL could completely prevent a move by a determined out of town owner. IMHO, the thing that gives Buffalo its greatest protection from losing its team is having well capitalized owners committed to staying in Buffalo. For the times, the Knoxes were that. When they no longer were relatively, that's when the criminals got involved (fortunately, their business needed the Sabres to be viable in Buffalo even though their ethics were compromised). Golisano definitely fit the bill & the Pegulas raise that a notch, though their apparent ST cash flow issues are problematic.

Coaching is definitely an issue as they play a very passive box. Of course, fear of leaving somebody open in the slot or at the side of the net should a pass get through with post-Sweden Hutton in net might cause a substantial portion of that passivity.

Again, fully expect the clause is in the contract. Whether it would survive a bankruptcy filing is another discussion. And it wouldn't be too onerous for them to get to a point where bankruptcy was feasible (if they wanted to go that route). (And not saying they want to declare bankruptcy.) About the only way the clause (in the eyes of this non-lawyer) would be more or less iron clad is if there were some sort of right of 1st refusal for Golisano or one of Quinny's cronies which likely isn't there.

Might have to hit a restaurant that will likely have patio seating on Sunday. (They've been doing takeout, so their patio is likely open. Need to figure out if we'll need a reservation or not.)

There was only ONE AWARDING of the Stanley Cup audacious enough to warrant deserving to have an asterisk next to it. And that was the final time a Stanley Cup was awarded in the 20th century. What a truly tragic way to exit the past millenium.

Absolutely believe there is a no relocation clause that the Sabres operate under. The problem is, if they were to ever declare bankruptcy there is a very good chance that clause would be voided.

Are you referring to mentioning that he may call in the Army if local police and the National Guard aren't called in / able to restore order? If so, am absolutely hoping that the police & NG can restore order. It would be a travesty to have active soldiers taking up arms against American citizens on our soil. Considering that due to the COVID crisis that all 50 states have declared states of emergency, not sure that calling in the Army would be illegal. REALLY hoping that statement of his was him doing his normal negotiation by stating something excessive to get the people he's negotiating with (in this case governors and mayors with cities in crisis) to do what needs to be done. And what needs to be done is allow the peaceful protests to continue but to absolutely stop the rioters from destroying property & injuring and killing people. Can think of very few worse things to have happen than to have the Army deployed.

The Hitler photo was photoshopped.

Toe Blake.

And maybe having Okposo & Simmonds swapping out for each other keeps them both useful as they both get long in the tooth. Not thrilled with it. But pretty sure we're getting it whether we want it or not.

You are forgetting Johansson. Also, hopefully you are forgetting the 2C that Ristolainen (or other D-man) is the centerpiece of the package that turns into aforementioned 2C. If somehow they don't make a trade for a 2C, would prefer to see Kahun-Johansson-Olofsson making up the 2nd line with Skinner going back to Eichel & Reinhart's line as my guess is the 2 lines overall will have more chemistry than if J & V are swapped on the LW. (And also will be 100% on board the dump Botterill bandwagon.)

Umm, actually, as Okposo is completely untradable and only works on the Larsson line, no, actually, that doesn't sound like a good idea. Fully expecting to see Simmonds back next season. Truly hating that thought.

They sounded like he wanted out, came around to liking the way Kreuger does things & would like to be a part of them, but realizes that for whatever reason he is destined to remain in hockey purgatory so he fully expects to be the guy that gets sent out of town to finally get the ship moving in the right direction here.

I'd be curious to see if, should it come to pass that he eventually becomes the Team President (or EVP of hockey operations should K Pegula not want to relinquish the title) if he would decide to remain the HC for a season or 2. It would be nearly unprecedented in the modern era, but perhaps it could work before he tries of holding 2 jobs. Simply don't have faith that the owners can pick a quality GM without someone knowledgable that holds their best interests advising them through the process. Should he be bumped up to that role, he would be in position to give them guidance that they could trust. (Nothing against the NHL execs helpingbthem with the search, but they don't necessarily have T&K's best interests as their guiding reasoning.) But, if he remains solely as the coach, he wouldn't necessarily be as good of an advisor as he'd be recommending the hiring of a guy who could fire him. My biggest reason for not being on the "fire Botterill now" bandwagon; the fear of them ending up in a worse position after firing him is palpable.

As of today at 1PM the 5 regions of NYS that entered Phase 1 2 weeks ago are officially in Phase 2. (Will finally be able to get a hair cut. Yea!!!!) As all the other areas that entered Phase 1 already are still meeting the criteria, presumably they will get released to Phase 2 at the governor's press conference following their reaching that status. (The results get reviewed upon fulfillment of 2 weeks good data by 2 international experts (don't recall their names but they are on the website)). NYC is on track to enter Phase 1 on June 8. Presumably, if there are no setbacks, those regions entering Phase 2 today will be allowed to enter Phase 3 in 2 weeks. While in Phase 2, restaurants aren't allowed to seat patrons, even outdoors, but the governor & the guy that was on the dais with him said they were looking into allowing that for places where it makes sense & can be done in a social distancing manner. So, for NYC or Albany, little chance when they reach that point; places like where Weave, Woody, or yours truly live, very likely with limitations. So, it's a good Friday.

So, if Botterill realizes he'll get more for trading O'Reilly later, then it would be the Pegulas driving the trade that happens before the bonus is due. Right...? So we agree on MY point. How about proving the idea was Botterill's in the 1st place.

That doesn't make sense. What would O'Reilly have done in Botterill's eyes to make him such a cancer on the team to be worth moving off the roster without eating his $7.5MM bonus? The Pegulas could cite: Timmy Ho's, Cal's fostering Alex, & ROR being Murray's pet acquisition as reasons THEY wanted him gone without paying another dime. (His mopey locker clean out interview being the final straw on top of Murray being the GM that was canned in no small part due (per rumors) his tone & demeanor to 1 of the owners & his having brought the Kane fiascos to town as well.) (And, IMHO, the locker clean out story was simply a red herring.) There was NO indication that Botts wanted O'Reilly gone at ALL costs. Which is what trading him when he did ended up. There was that ownership might want him gone.

So, your contention is that Botterill wanted to move O'Reilly to improve the club even in the off-season though he KNEW that even considering to move him then that he would not be able to pay him the $7.5MM he was due on July 1 which would necessarily lower his trade value? So, the Pegulas were ok with keeping him, but if he moved it had to be before they paid him a nickel. Is that really your contention?

You want proof that the Pegulas affected the trade. There's a heck of a lot more evidence of that than them not having effected it. As soon as you prove the latter, we can worry about the former. My realization that there are exactly 3 people who know for certain the truth to both allows me to defer to you to prove your contention 1st.

You're just being petulant now. Please show me where any of the posts you take issue with indicate we should celebrate in any way his accomplishments.

And you showing he was being shopped (via rumors) doesn't prove the owners didn't say they wanted him gone. He embarrassed them with his trip to the Timmy's "drive though" and ticked them off with getting his big bro set up as a great foster brother to the new shiny toy. Really don't know which came 1st, the Pegulas saying get him out of here or Botterill saying he could be a major trade piece to retool. But, looking at the circumstances of the trade & the pitiful return they got, there's no way Botterill said "I'll submarine the team to save Terry $7.5MM." And again, the onus is on you 1st & we have Randall's quote of Botterill that the strength of the team was the C spine.