Taro T

Why can't we have nice things?

Great question. We know Granato was available as he came to Buffalo when Krueger did. Maybe Montour is willing to sign an extension playing the uptempo game that Granato pushes. If he stays, maybe Ullmark and Reinhart sign long term deals and Eichel is willing to work through the Sabres growth phase. The team would still need outside leadership brought in at that time (Eichel might someday be captain material, but in hindsight he certainly wasn't at that time) but maybe it could've worked. The whole thing would've moved a lot of other pieces around. (They likely don't fall to dead last with getting the prize of Power, but maybe they still will the lottery with much lowered odds of winning. Tuch doesn't come in a big return for Eichel, but maybe Adams can pry him from Vegas for something much less substantial anyway. They'd still have Mittelstadt and Cozens to round out the C spine.) Pretty sure they'd've been able to give this year's Swamp Cats (minus Sam and Montour but probably still without Levi too as he might've played his senior year to get out of the Bobrovsky Knight log jam (oops, guess that's not quite as formidible a tandem as originally thought). Would be interesting to see how that group would've matched up this round with the Canes.

They might very well have. Too early to say for certain on the Sabres side of the Reinhart trade, but it sure does look encouraging at this point.

The limit is on AHL vets. Teams need to dress at least 12 skaters with fewer than 260 NHL/Euro Elite league (such as SHL/KHL/etc.) prior to the start of the regular season and 1 other player can have up to 319 NHL/Euro Elite games prior to the start of the regular season. The AHL (unlike the now defunct IHL which died while former Sabres President Doug Moss was running the league) is a development league so they limit how many vets can dress any given night. An AHL roster can have more vets than that, but effectively only 5 skaters can be true vets and 1 more can have nearly that status on any given game night.

Still wonder how different the path would've been had Reinhart also been on a LT deal when Adams was taking over. If Eichel knew his buddy wouldn't be able to bolt in a year (or 2, depending on whether we're talking about the 1st time Eichel said 'if you're rebuilding, maybe you should trade me' or after the debacle post-Covid season), would he have been more receptive to the changes that were coming? The die has been cast and those guys are gone, but said back then that with the right additions/changes THAT team could've become contenders themselves. The success that Reinhart & Montour and Eichel are having lends credence to that. Especially if O'Reilly had been given the leadership reins rather than getting punted. At least this team is likeable and seems poised to finally break the streak (and 5 years sooner than the Bills broke theirs). Not expecting Florida to be able to get past the Canes, but that should be a great series. On paper, Vegas should be able to beat the winner of Dallas / Seattle but expect Dallas will make it 2 expansion teams in a row they eliminate if they can get past the 1st one.

Just means he gets to go through 2 handshake lines in 1 week, both times as the guy right ahead of the coaches from the loser line.

Helped that with Illitch being willing to open his wallet wide for UFA's in the capless NHL that they didn't need to trade away much of their youth to stay in the mix every year. That and finding late round gems from Scandanavia and Russia really let them develop their kids the right way.

How mad at you does your former boss need to be to be so petty as to not let you sit in the seat on the plane home that he'd already paid for you to sit in after he cans your butt?

Figure out why he was told to find his own way back to Florida from Montreal after being canned by the Swamp Cats and you will likely find your answer.

It was this weekend.

For those going to the game; If going to the Dinosaur, you can order take out and then sit at the picnic tables outside. You'll get the food a LOT quicker. (Pretty sure you can take drinks outside, but haven't tried that in a long time so not positive about that.) But that still might be slow w/ the PGA in town. The golf course is only 15-20 minutes away from downtown.

And remember, Lombardi left San Jose after '03 and then went to the Kings. They had some pretty good goalies selected there after that as well.

Was referring to their efforts from the '90's when they were drafting 1 or 2 every year which after they developed allowed them to ride Nabakov and trade away guys like Kiprusoff & Toskala for what this kid had remembered as big hauls. (Though looking back on the Kiprusoff trade, he didn't net the "big haul" but rather just a 2nd rounder. Not bad converting a 5th round pick into a 2nd rounder a few years later, but had thought he netted a bigger return. Ooops.) Thanks for looking into it. 🍻

@Pimlach mentioned Filly as the "City of Brotherly Love." Pretty sure that was before they started throwing batteries at Santa. City of Brotherly Hate is a more apt moniker.

Flower City (which is an off-shoot of Flour City). Can't be Flour City with no mills though. So, on to "Flower City."

They do still play music during the play but it isn't done for the entirety of the game. Probably only 60% or so. But the PA announcer will be talking throughout trying to get the crowd to do the right chant / cheer. After a Vinc save: "What's he got?" "NOTHING." At random times: "Da, da, da, dah, dah, daaaaah" "Score (or charge)." After a Smith goal: "Goal by #92 the GREEEAAAT DAHNE Smith" "woof, woof, woof, woof, woof." Etc. Bandits finally got healthy before the end of the regular season and they destroyed a Georgia team that had an outside shot at the playoffs in their last game of the RS and they've just been tearing through their rivals in the playoffs. They never trailed once in their 1st 2 games and weren't tied beyond 4-4 in the 2nd and in last night's game, don't believe they ever trailed (though they might have been down 4-3; missed TO's Hamilton's 4th goal and not sure if it came right before or after the Bandit's 4th but they opened it up right after that. Vinc is an absolute wall and the transition and offense are clicking big time. They should fairly easily beat whichever team comes out of the West; but the Mammoth have given them fits this year and last year in the playoffs. The Mammoth goalie is big and comes very high off his goal line and their D take away passes. The Bandits tend to get beat to the loose balls after the save. And then the Mammoth clean up on the PP. But if the Bandits and Vinc stay on their game the way they have been; don't know that Colorado will be able to keep the formula working for them. And they might not get past Calgary who had a much better RS record. Hoping the extra week off gives the Bandits both time to figure out how to finally beat Colorado's D (presume they'll win as they're the tougher matchup for the Bandits) and to get the 2 remaining Robinson brothers that are out injured back heathy. If they come back, the entire team will be healthy for the 1st time all year.

Not that it matters, but does anybody know why the Friday thread was opened and then (apparently) immediately relocked?

YOUR Buffalo BAN-DITS begin their attempt to defend their Eastern Conference Crown tonight in Banditland vs the Toronto Hamilton Rock at 7:30PM. Game is ESPN+ only in the States. Game 2 will be in Hamilton on Saturday at 7PM. Another ESPN+ only game. Game 3, if necessary, will be next Saturday at 7:30 in Banditland. Also only ESPN+. Team has been rolling the last 2 weeks and are as healthy as they've been all season. The MMArena should be rocking. Let's Go BAN-DITS!!!

Good. Didn't like the idea of having to not like the guy because he was a part owner of the Otters.

And Marco Scandella arguably made Henri Jokiharju look like the best D-man on the entire roster. Chemistry is sooooo important at D and would love to see Power get a Scandella.

And unless you really are high on a particular prospect that slipped to the 3rd round, if no Russian goalies have been taken by the time you're on the clock, grab the best 1 that's there. Russia seems to be a goalie factory lately.

Personally want a goalie at least 3 of every 5 years and typically 3 of every 4. Am fine with drafting college players provided they are the best available at their slot and that they aren't being chosen because the GM has a bias against other sources of prospects. But you know they don't sign all their skater prospects, too, right? Especially for the skaters drafted beyond the 3rd round, the only time most of them will ever get to wear the NHL team's sweater is when they're introduced to the media or during the team's prospects camp. San Jose used excess goalie prospects to keep their competitive window open for a very long time. Florida won game three in OT a few nights ago courtesy of what they got for a 1st rounder last year and a goaltending prospect they'd selected in the 7th round recently. How many other prospects drafted in the 7th round would've been a key piece of landing that guy? Goalies also can be loaned out to other franchises if you have too many in your own organization. From Kolzig through to Binnington, teams find places for guys they need to get playing time for. Drafting a lot of guys has pros and cons just like anything else, but personally don't believe you can ever truly have too many A grade goalie prospects, just like you can't have too many grade A D prospects nor too many grade A Center prospects.

True to the bolded. But the NFL will still possibly move games from Sunday to Thursday on a 2-3 week whim this year and even if the Gints owner wins the fight this year about not allowing that; it's coming. This is a TV driven league - they don't care about the people in the stands nearly as much as they used to do.

Mildly surprised by the Jones choice, but the job of team presidient is different than that of GM. He's more in charge of building the relationships of the team with outside parties. What better choice for that role than someone that is generally viewed as being likeable (even though he's a former Phlyer) and has many powerful friends/contacts within and outside of the NHL? Pretty sure the size of his contacts list is more important for his new role than how well he can identify which 17 year old is going to become the next Gagne or Giroux. (Briere needs to have that latter skill (and because of who he works for, hopefully he doesn't have that one down particularly well).)

Grier too.