Taro T

Cliff Schmautz

The Liger has been enamored of the Kings RHD prospects for quite some time. Not sure if that's still the case now that IIRC 1 of them got traded in that 3 way Provorov deal.

Trying to confirm a guy was pretty sure had played with the Bisons but turned out to be wrong, accidentally found out 1 of the correct answers. Won't give his name, but will give the clues that he was a Bison from '61-'64 and went to the Phlyers after an early '70's stint with the Sabres.

Potvin might fit as well. (Speaking of the Dog, brought up memories of the Cat.) But not sure that he ever played for any good teams.

Still not sure what the #'s in the bars represent. Am guessing it is games played, but not positive of that. And the top guys only having NHLe's of ~25 points seems low. (And if it's goals instead of points in what he's looking at, it seems high.)

No he isn't. Because Hasek not only thrived on bad teams but very good teams as well. Herron was very good in doomed efforts for the Scouts and Pens. He pretty much single handedly got Montreal knocked out of the playoffs by Minnesota in '80.

That may be, but the overall piece had way too little alliteration to be Irv's lead story.

Wow. What a bad call. Get why the ref thought it was a trip, but no, that was not a trip. Of course, if the Swamp Cats find a way to kill the penalty off and actually win this game, it could carry them right to 3 more wins in those last 4 games. They'll definitely feel they beat the Kin-ig-hits AND the refs tonight. And if they give up the next goal, they're toast. Can't realistically see them winning 4 in a row.

The numbers don't seem to actually be NHLe, not quite sure what they are representing, but yeah, cool that 2 of the top 3 are Sabres. Still would rather have had the guy at 4 on that list had there been some way for him to slide a smidge. Jiricek is going to be a good one.

Really sad that he passed. Tom Jolls seemed to be one of the good guys. And saw a lot of his weather broadcasts. But never really watched him much as Commander Tom. We were usually either playing after school or watching reruns on Channel 29. But watched Rocketship 7 with Dave Thomas in the morning often before school.

Nowhere near enough alliteration to be an Irv lede.

Been saying that most of this off-season. As soon as they're out of the "likely NHLer" picks should be looking to grab the top Russian goalie prospect available. Especially now that there are a bunch of Russians in the pipeline, grabbing a Russian goalie prospect would seem to be a solid option.

Yeah, could be totally off on the evaluation of Levi, but he just really seems like he's going to be the real deal. Hellebucyk could give the team Vezina quality goaltending for the next 3-4 years. Starting 2 years from now, Levi could be doing that for the following decade. There's also the issue of if the Sabres were to trade Levi for Hellebucyk, they are once again putting all their goaltending eggs in one single basket. That has been a very poor plan for this team ever since Miller moved to St. Louis.

FOUR male players is the max allowable to be inducted in any given year based upon the current induction criterion. There are at minimum 736 players in the NHL in a single season now that there are 32 teams. That sure does seem like they're getting awfully close to 0.5% of the players playing in the NHL getting into the HHOF. Considering only how many players play in international leagues at the highest levels; yeah, they're getting towards the "hall of top 1% of players ever to put on skates." 😉

To a degree, yes. Still there are some goalies that are really good fits for bad teams - they can steal a game or 5 but they don't necessarily elevate their play when they're playing for a good team. Whether that be because they need to be "into" the action to get into their groove or they can't handle the pressure of not consistently seeing shots and then facing high danger shots because there had to be a breakdown for them to see any shots. Denis Herron being the poster boy from the past for that. Not coming up with a modern day equivalent ottomh, though there has to be some that fit that same bill.

PLAYING ABILITY is the very 1st criterion. If being a "great" player isn't implied by that, then what's the point of the HoF at all?

Yes, "at some point" Adams will need to move on from some of these guys. But as long as he isn't giving guys NMC's, he'll be able to do so when he actually HAS to make those decisions. Dumping Mittelstadt in 1 year is likely cutting him loose BEFORE somebody is actually replacing / improving on his role on the Sabres. If Dahlin really does come in at $10x8 then Adams is looking at at least $5MM minimum in excess cap space from just Thompson, Cozens, and Dahlin. That right there pretty much locks Mittelstadt up for 4-5 more years without messing up the money available for any of the other kids. The cap is going up a lot w/in the 1st 2 seasons that Dahlin, Mittelstadt, and Power would be on new deals. Provided there is no NMC or a limited NMC, Mittelstadt (and pretty much anybody else) is more tradable by having a 4-5 year deal than by having a 2-3 year deal. We're getting to the point where we get to see how well Adams plan of having guys that want to be here and play with the other kids they came up with actually translates into real results as far as cap management goes. And the early returns (especially if the rumors that started this thread are correct) are very favorable in that light.

Possibly. Of course, Mittelstadt might just be one of the guys that Adams said he'd be able to keep in the fold if Dahlin did leave money on the table. (And if he takes $80 over 8 years, he definitely is leaving money on the table.) Mitts and Dahls were roommates for a while and they seem to still be good friends. Pretty sure it's those middle 6 guys that this deal ends up making affordable. Though you and many here expect Mitts gone sooner than later, personally expect he's here for 4-5 more years and then we'll see what happens. He likely becomes an odd man out at that point in time, but that's so far off and so many things can change between now and then. Management likes him and they've talked up his leadership in the past. (Doubt he ends up wearing a letter, but he is one of the guys that they like. That makes a difference.)

Josh Allen's Madden 24 covers:

Losing Krebs for Hellebucyk in that proposed package would be painful, but would do that every single day and twice on Sunday even without the guaranteed contract extension in hand. (Not every player that gets traded during his final contract year ends up walking at the end of the year. Sabres would still have 5 months of regular season before the trade deadline to figure out if/how Helly fits into their midterm/LT plans.) Would not offer Krebs in a package for Hart. Would reluctantly include 13OA for him but expect Adams could come up with a legit package for him that doesn't include 13OA. Might mean Olofsson, Filly's 2nd, and maybe Murray; but can see Hart costing less than 13OA + or Krebs +.

The gold standard was Savard, Lapointe, and Laperriere and then it got even better when Robinson took Laperriere's spot in that triumverate.

Today was running day for getting ready for a stint in the big charity hockey game at the end of the month, but bailed on it. Will probably Nordic Trac after dinner.

😄 What did you decide an hour later to give the 'no' reaction to? The agreement that facts should be used in discussions? Olofsson not getting benched until after Greenway arrived? The Sabres go to PP1 being 26, 72, 89, 53, & 24? Or, playing nearly a full season with a bum wrist might actually lower a guy's career S%? This could be good. 😉

And one for @Randall Flagg So expect 1 or 2 more restructures this summer.

FYI.