Taro T

Liked the Drury trade, but didn't love it. Because had always liked Reinprecht and was pretty happy when the Sabres announced they'd traded for HIM. And then they immediately go and send him to Calgary. Definitely a mixed feelings trade as would've preferred somebody else going out the door on that one. But it worked out very well until that fateful day.

True, but didn't know anything about Robert at the time and Shack was a character. Ended up ecstatic about the trade, but at the time wasn't overly psyched about it.

Yes, it was. But had you read the fine print, this thread is for players that CAME to the Sabres via trade, not players that left. So, the bringing in of Tuch would fit the bill (if in fact that was what you were really happy with).

2 more great ones. Was surprised Darcy was able to get Barnes for Barnaby. Always liked Barnes as a Swamp Cat and a Pen.

The Sabres traded FOR Eichel? Interesting.

Good f'n call.

We have a pretty cool thread about who we hated to see go out the door the most from the Sabres through the years. But who were your favorite guys brought in via trade. Mine were: LaFontaine. Couldn't stand Turgeon and absolutely thought LaFontaine was one of the top 5 players in the entire league. That they pulled that one off was incredible. Hasek. Had Chicago played him rather than Belfour against the Pens, they might've been Stanley Cup champs. Killer pedigree, just could never get the dinosaurs coaching him to give him a break. Didn't expect him to be the best goalie of all time when the trade was made, but DID expect him to be an all-star caliber goalie. Hawerchuk. Couldn't stand Housely and thought Ducks was at least a top 30 player in the league and possibly top 10. Absolutely loved that one. Briere. Thought he was really good as a power play specialist in Arizona. Never impressed by Gratton. Loved the thought of what he MIGHT become in Buffalo. At a minimum, they needed somebody that could help the PP. And Briere would do that. Anything beyond that would be (and was) gravy. Zhitnik. Thought he was LA's 2nd best D-man and thought his ceiling would be way closer to Rob Blake's than it actually was. Plus, he had one of the, if not the, best hockey names of all-time. (Lame reason to love a trade, but still loved it. Still regret never getting a Zhitnik sweater.) So who were you stoked to see play in a Sabres uni after watching them play for somebody else?

LaFontaine SHOULD've been the Hart winner on the Island the year that Bourque and Messier nearly tied for that honor. The games he was out, the Aisles lost and they won most of the games he played. There probably was never a more glaring instance of how "valuable" to a team a guy was. And the Sabres got him for Turgeon (yes, there were other pieces out the door and coming back to make the whole thing balance) but it really was as far as pieces that truly mattered Pete for Patty. That, bringing in Hasek, bringing in Hawerchuk, bringing in Zhitnik (the best hockey name ever and he was a Sabre), and bringing in Briere were my 5 favorite trades in their entire history. (MHO. Clearly YMV. 😉) Hillier was nothing. But Wood was good. And McLlwain was a bigger loss than Hogue. Hogue was a whiny primadonna that had the audacity to actually accuse the Sabres of having an anti-French Canadian bias. Yes, the team that has drafted 2 forwards 1st overall in their entire history and coincidentally both of them were French Canadians, the team whose most famous line ever was the FRENCH Connection, the team that traded away their captain to obtain Joclyn Guevremont, the team that overpaid for Real (Buddy) Cloutier, yes THAT team was run by people who hated French Canadians and played in a city full of anti-French Canadian bigots. Go #### yourself Benoit.

Was going to give the post the "thumbs up" but as a respectable (former) Buffalonian cannot give the "thumbs up" if it might be misconstrued as advocating for pineapple on pizza. 😉

Fair enough. But do Belgians do weird things to their pizza like the French do? By weird things mean stuff like putting a sunny side up egg on top of a pizza. If the answer is 'yes,' will likely take the recommendation for vending machine pizza with a grain of salt. 😉 🍻

Presuming Adams doesn't upgrade the goaltending from what it is currently the question becomes which do you want for the backup role; do you want the guy with the higher floor but lower (and likely significantly lower) ceiling or do you want the younger guy that still MAY be improving who has the significantly lower floor but higher ceiling. Personally, am with you and would rather have the guy with the higher floor. The idea being that he should be primarily getting the easier starts so him not giving up the horrible 5 hole goal that starts a rally against is more important than him not giving up the blocker side goal that is considered a "good" goal even though he'll give up more of those than an actual good goalie would. Want the backup that doesn't give up the killer goal. And weak stuff going in along the ice (whether post or 5 hole) seems more frequently to be a killer than a misplayed glove save (which the other guy has happen too often also). Comrie almost never gives up that goal along the ice.

Not sure why, but your post reminded of this gem.

That's good. But Starseed is better. MHO. YMMV. And the title track from that album is probably this kid's favorite:

Might actually try to see that one in the theatre.

LaPaloma's in Alden IMHO was the best. The crust was absolutely perfect. Light, airy, with a crsipness at the bottom and slightly sweet. Complemented the sauce and cheese so well. If they used cup and char pepperoni the whole thing would've been perfect. Santino's in Elma is excellent too.

Can a slow goalie be good? Sure. Ben Bishop comes to mind. Does an athletic goalie have an advantage? Absolutely. 😉

Dayum, guess everything really IS bigger in Texas.

It really IS ok to say that Adams has done a very good job at F, appears to be putting D on a similar footing (helps having 50 minutes/game of #1 OA picks still on an upward trajectory), and needs to have had a rookie hit big to say that he hasn't yutzed up the G for a 4th year (barring additional moves that might happen later this summer) out of 4.

Murray will make $250k in the AHL. Won't be the highest paid Amerk, but nothing to sneeze at.

Do his parents count?

And the length of the ELC is determined by the age of the player when he signs the ELC. Younger guys sign 3 year ELCs and the term shortens to 2 year and then 1 based upon his age at signing.

If an 18 or 19 year old signs an ELC but doesn't play in at least 10 NHL games, his contract will "slide" out another year. Meaning the team still has the player on an ELC for 3 more years. (So basically, unless the kid was a VERY high end prospect, should an 18 yo sign a contract the team has him on that deal for 5 years, and the team has a 19 yo on that deal for 4 years.) (And that 9 games is the total # of games the player can play in the NHL while still having his contract slide. Once he plays in a 10th game it no longer slides that year.) Puckpedia and CapFriendly both typically have the details of the ELC contracts including potential bonus payments. Though IIRC they don't typically have the conditions to be met to earn the bonuses. (The conditions that can be used to earn bonuses are laid out in the CBA and the max that can be earned is also spelled out but except for $'s for leaguewide awards which don't count against a team's cap the exact amounts earned for meeting those conditions are determined by the team and the player.) There isn't really a "standard rookie contract." There is the ELC contract that is from 1 - 3 years in length that most all players sign to enter the NHL. But after that expires except for some limitations on eligibility for a 1 way or a 2 way contract and arbitration/RFA/UFA rights ALL players sign the same "standard player contract." The length of term is anywhere from 1 - 8 years and the pay scale runs anywhere from the league min to the league max with limitations on how much the salary can vary from year to year (with the cap hit being a constant which is the total value of the contract divided by the length of the contract). Except in rare occassions there are no performance bonuses allowed but there can be signing bonuses which simply adjust when exactly the player gets his money in a particular year.

Adams also gets along with a LOT of people around the league. Being known (or at minimum believed) to be both good at your job AND a good person who's easy to get along with tend to make it pretty easy to find another job when the time comes to look for another one. And if the Sabres make the playoffs under Granato would be very surprised if he doesn't land another HCing job when it's time for him to look for another one too.

Elevation too. Changes in air pressure from sea level to mile high effect how stuff rises/bakes & boils too.

They were real good live back in the day. Hopefully they still are.