Taro T

Like Krebs. Really like Peterka. But if one of them and UPL could bring Hellebucyk to Buffalo, pull the trigger Mr. Adams. UPL MIGHT become a good NHLer, but he has very little trade value and his leaving does little to deplete the team's assets. Losing Krebs hurts. He could become a Gilmour-lite player (expect he can bring the 200' game and edge that Doug brought, but will score only about 75% of what Doug did (even prorated for differences in eras). Peterka could really become a great goal scorer for this team but offense is what the Sabres have in Spades. Losing ONE piece of that to lock down the goaltending this season and POSSIBLY into the future is worth it. Especially when Adams team seems to be finally getting the draft right in a way the Sabres have not been able to do in 40 or so years, you can give up A piece that hurts to fill a hole that needs to be filled.

Really thought that when he signed Hall indicated that he would've been good with a longer term contract but that Adams only offered the 1 year deal. (Which fit in very well with the notion that the Pegulas didn't want to have any LT contracts handed out coming out of Covid due to so much uncertainty with revenues (not just with the Sabres but also the crowdless Bills and their other holdings). It also fit in well with the idea that Adams believed keeping the band together and taking 1 more kick at the can was the wrong way to proceed; but except for not upgrading the goaltending, he did make what seemed to be a very good faith effort to give that a chance to succeed if it were going to do so.)

We REALLY need to get that 'huh' reaction brought back. None of the others seems to fit for this one.

Belfour was 'meh' the 1st 3-1/2 games. After Zhow-ey Zhou-no wasted a glorious near open net 1 timer chance by firing it into the desperate Belfour rather than the 60% open net he only gave up 1 more goal in the next 9 or so periods. IIRC Satan just getting back from being out several games after getting hit in the ankle by a Zhitnik slapper also helped build Ol' Bats in His Belfour's confidence to all world proportions shortly after Zhou-no's wasted opportunity by not finishing on an A-1 opportunity (though not nearly as glorious as Zhow-ey's had been).

Absolutely. And it's why these guys that were such a part of the "losing culture" in Buffalo can now be successful in their next stop. There's a reason these guys were 2nd overall draft picks. They're really good hockey players. But this sport isn't like basketball where a single stud player can turn the tide seemingly on his own. (Though Hasek sure did come close. Maybe someday they'll finish game 6 and if somebody scores again for him we can find out if he can get them that last game they need beyond that one. 😉)

They really did try to take their role as the "neutral" broadcasters of that game very seriously. Jack Edwards could've learned a thing or 2 from them the handful of times heard him doing a national broadcast rather than that abomination of a broadcast NESN puts out. Not to turn this into a bash Jack Edwards thread, but at least Brickley could adjust when he was doing national games and was actually pretty good in that role. Edwards, not so much.

Yes, he did. He's a very good player. But he isn't going to take a team and put it on his back. He can just play his role and be very successful at it in the South Florida Swamps.

Would actually say the in-game footage was of comparable quality. The production beyond in-game footage was significantly better than that of the typical AHL.tv broadcast. And not just because we didn't hear Don Stevens yacking away with some intern when we can only hear Don's side of the exchange.

Genny.

Realize they likely will expand. REALLY hate the idea of expanding beyond 32 teams. Hate the idea of seeing another fanbase lose its team; but don't really see how they keep up the charade there more than 1 or 2 seasons tops. Unless they figure out a realistic plan to give the team a home in the desert this year, can't see it going on any longer. And hopefully this is used as a case study for future teams considering building a rink away from the local major population center to see just how horribly bad a decision that is. Yes, the land is cheap. There is a reason for that. Toronto could get away with moving to the far outskirts of Missisaugua; Chicago could probably move to Naperville; Detroit could probably move as far as East Lansing and still fill the barn. But a team with no established roots and playing a niche sport in the city its ostentibly based out of shouldn't be making it hard for the majority of its local fan base to actually travel to see the team play in person.

Disappointing news. Was hoping that only 1 of Okposo and Girgensons would be back and it would be Z coming back as he has more left in the tank IMHO. Have wanted a strong PKing 4C brought in. With Savoie's limitation of not having Ra-cha-cha as an option and Rousek having earned a legit shot at making the big club, don't see that vet 4C being brought in. Expect Okposo will be fine (maybe even good) into November, but don't see it lasting the whole season. Afraid he will be the defensive forward version of the Corpse of Pominville that last year. Maybe that's all Okposo plans on being around for, but just can't see him going for a Perreault-esque walking away mid-season.

Let's add Karmanos and Ventura to that "out" list ASAP. Botterill would be a great fit for that job.

And expecting all the games this series will be on MSG as they said during the broadcast that Hershey's Fox 43 (the TV channel showing the game in Hershey) will be showing all the games this series.

Can't see DTv bothering to put the games on the Channel Guide if they aren't going to be shown, but stranger things have happened. Game 5 is not showing on DTv's channel guide yet. Should the team losing tonight get a W will recheck the Channel Guide to see if it gets added. Based on the attendance last round, even with weeknight games can't see the games not selling out even if they are available on local cable/satellite TV. So, the Amerks shouldn't have the old Bill Wirtz 'No Home Games on TV" disease.

Actually, according to DTv, the 1st 4 games will ALL be on MSG (the regular MSG 634, not the Buffalo version 635-1). Presumably only those in the Sabres regular broadcast area will get the games, but the schedule does show the 1st 4 games all being on MSG proper. Thanks for the heads up.

And it's highly likely they would've just grabbed a guy that would never make it had they kept the pick. Aka as you imply they saw 0 value in the original pick. They managed to use the new pick to move up and THAT was value to them. Still mildly unhappy they couldn't convert some cap space from last year & this into picks in this year's draft or next year's. THOSE would also have value. But that cap space is gone, just like Johnson likely will be in 3 months.

There's a reason that baseball stayed out of the south except for spring training for 70-80 years and then almost immediately moved into a dome on its 1st foray down there. Sitting in the sun for 3-1/2 hours when it's over 95°F really us not pleasant. It's not about an advantage for the players (most of whom play college ball in the south anyhow so they're kind of used to it); it's about getting people to actually pay to sweat away a few pounds while watching paint attempt to dry.

Well, on the plus side, doesn't seem like you'll have to keep this tool for long w/ the current policy in place.

Isn't the 1st goalie that GMs & coaches couldn't see results when evaluating but rather only size/style. He has some pretty good company in Hasek in that club.

Absolutely. And this tool should expect to have a long talk w/ you or other management explaining that the next time he "gets" Covid he's bringing the results of his saliva test showing he won't be smelling anything for the next 3 months or he isn't getting back in the building. The 11 "legit" sick days in 11 months have to count for something towards finding a way to can him for cause, right?

Don't have a link to it, but heard the NFL WILL start flexing Thursday night games this season. Can only happen twice in 1 season & there needs to be at least 28 day's notice. But once again the league proves it doesn't care a rat's bippy for the fans that actually show up in the overly lavish mausoleums the owners build as tributes to themselves on the tax payers' dime.

Really need to discuss this sort of stuff with the boss when you're feeling fine to fully understand not just the company's policies but also his/her philosophy on sick day usage. Because, if you have a boss that wants you in at work every day you aren't dead or on vacation you will set yourself up for poor reviews by taking a couple of days off here or there. Conversely, if your boss WILL take it out on you for being the (perceived) reason he/she got sick, try to work from home when the allergies heat up (many hypochondriacs can't discern between hayfever & Covid) or you will set yourself up for poor reviews by NOT taking sick days. And if the boss changes, have the same discussion w/ the new one. Because the new one might not agree with the old one's policy.

Yes, teams can pull players up from a lower league for their own playoffs provided they have the rights to tishat player by way of him having a contract w/ that club or the parent club on tje NHL Trade Deadline and not having been rostered to a league higher tjan the one in question or by signing an ATO. But there are rules on player movement which sometimes allow a player to play for a club in the regular season but not in the playoffs.e.g., a FA signed on January can't play for his NHL club in the playoffs that season and a player traded after the trade deadline can play for the new club in the regular season but not in the playoffs. And though it makes sense that a draft pick that hasn't been playing in the NHL SHOULD be able to play for the AHL affiliate once his Junior team is done for the year; the NHL and many other leagues don't always do things that make sense. As mentioned in a previous post, couldn't find anything on the NHL's website, the AHL's, or the Sabres or Amerks websites stating that draft choices could be added onto the playoff roster of the AHL affiliate if they already had an NHL contract & weren't on the AHL affiliate's playoff roster. Turns out they can be, but simply reading what is actually posted implies they can't.

Did some digging, and this info is NOT on the AHL nor the Amerks website btw, but it looks like the list of eligible players to play in the AHL playoffs can come from 3 separate sources: 1. Those players on the AHL roster on the day of the trade deadline. 2. Those players on an AHL ATO with the particular squad. AND 3. Signed draft choices. Until today had never seen that 3rd category listed in any official sources. (Technically, still haven't seen that 3rd category listed in any official sources.) So, with that 3rd category included as a source of players then both Savoie and the other guy assigned to Ra-cha-cha can play for them in the playoffs if Appert and the other powers that be want them to play. Kept being very confused about how they would be allowed to play in the playoffs for Ra-cha-cha as they didn't meet the criteria to be on either of the 1st 2 lists. They are on that 3rd list. Expect that Johnson would be on that list as well were he to have signed a deal with the Sabres before the regular season ended but then didn't play for them this season, but don't know that for certain (again, haven't seen that 3rd category of playoff eligible players listed in any formal source). (And realize you know this next part, it isn't directed at your post, but is merely here for completeness.) Savoie became eligible to play in the AHL as soon as his Winnipeg Ice got eliminated from the WHL playoffs. He will not be eligible to play for the Amerks next season unless Winnipeg allows him to play for Rochester rather than the Ice (they won't do that) or until the Ice have completed their regular season and are no longer eligible to continue playing in the playoffs/Memorial Cup. Apologies for helping to perpetuate the confusion about this question about CHL players playing in the AHL playoffs.

That's what the rules seem to indicate. IF he does play for Ra-cha-cha this post season, really hope that 1 of the media guys asks either Appert or Karmanos how he was allowed to play. Because it seems he shouldn't be able to sign an ATO as he is already on an ELC with the Sabres and he was not on the Amerks roster on trade deadline day.