Taro T

Game is airing for free on FloTV's YouTube channel.

Why necessarily a FORMER Sabre? Why not a CURRENT Sabre? Maybe THIS is the REAL reason Jacob Bryson was re-signed. Not to spend his game days in the press box, but rather to spend his game days in that area NEXT to the bench. He should have very good insights into what the team is doing as he'll be helping the equipment bring the sticks back into the dressing room after the game and he'll be practicing with the regulars the next day. On the rare days that he's an injury fill-in imagine how much better his reports to Dan Dunleavy will be. 4D chess indeed Mr. Adams.

Sadly, believe @SwampD nailed it.

Not sure that Lamiorello (if he were to come here) is the right guy for the PoHO. But bringing someone in of his stature does do one thing for the organization. It gives the team (and more specifically ownership) the greenlight to make wholesale changes. A refrain we keep hearing is that Adams still has a job because of 2 reasons: 1 Pegula likes and trusts him; but also because 2. Pegula has a reputation for being too quick to fire people and then make significant course corrections from there. Well, if Lou were the one to say "wtf are you doing with this guy as the GM, and wtf are you doing with Forton as the Associate GM, and wtf is Nightengale doing here, ...; then it isn't "Pegula is off making changes willy nilly again" it's Pegula is listening to a HoF executive (if Lou isn't in the HoF as a builder, he certainly will be when he finally retires and becomes eligible) and finally heeding good advice. THAT's the biggest thing that ANY potential PoHO or Senior Advisor or whatever you want to call it brings to the or-gan-eye-zay-shun. Regardless of whether he technically reports to Adams or Pegula; don't think for a moment a guy like that would be afraid of going around Adams any more than Adams was afraid to go around Botterill. So, though Lou isn't my 1st choice, would love to see him come in because he brings credibility to the team. If not today, then by mid-season or next off-season at the latest. Because either that blind squirrel finally finds his nut and Lou doesn't HAVE to say punt anybody (though he still mght), or the blind squirrel fails once again to land the nut and Lou is there to help ownership make the "no brainer" decision. Either way - victory. (Small as it may be; and personally will take a small W now and hope it's the beginning of a streak.)

While technically true, the same GM from the past 5 years is still on the job. So ...

Nope. He was fulltime TV PbP guy. Rick took over occassionally while Ted was still employed but when he was too sick to call the game. When Ted finally retired, Gurtler was his fulltime replacement. And if you dialed 1-800-333-PUCK to hear how the Sabres did the night before you'd get a canned recap of some of his calls. But if you clicked through to a human to ask which Satellite Feed the Sabres game would be on, he would often be the person answering. Talked to him quite a few times when that 800 # was a thing.

To the bolded: you a veddy funny man Mr. Dudacek!

Really doubt Biron wants that job. In his current gig he only has to travel 3 or 4 times per year. Take on Ray's current job and he's on the road for a couple of months aggregate. Are his kids old enough that he doesn't mind being away from family that long?

He's not wrong.

He was horrible as a hockey pbp guy, but is VERY good in that same role with the Bandits. Good for him.

So, you're saying the Sabres S&C coach is the job he's custom made for. 😉

Beane also has surrounded himself with a lot of people that have significant experience in FO roles, some even having been GMs before. (The names keep changing every year, so not positive if there are currently any former GMs under him, but there oftentimes are.) And McDermott has not been afraid to hire people like Frazier who have HCing experience in the past (and others like Kromer and Brady who are very highly regarded). Adams has Karmanos who has Ventura (but he also has Forton and Nightengale) and now Ruff at coach, but Ruff has a merry band of misfits under him as well. Nowhere near the same level of support. Always thought that was a byproduct of EEE. If it isn't (and it's now sounding increasingly like it isn't) well, Houston, we have a problem.

Well, shoot isn't QUITE the right word, but they could and likely would drop the wooden gun on their foot, break a metatarsal and also catch a splinter carrying the tetanus bacterium, and, well, the end result is they would've been better off just shooting a hole in the darn foot.

And to be clear, they very well may be planning on and actually effecting additional changes that do matter. But after sitting at status quo (seemingly, heck they even changed out the HC last year but by only changing Ellis' role within the coaching staff that THAT felt like status quo (especially in hindsight)) for so long; will believe the major change is happening when it has actually happened. 😉

Well, basically, what you've described is Samuelsson about 6 years ago. Definitely don't want to see him rushed and want him to be partnered up with a vet when starting out to let him get acclimated the right way. But, not convinced that vet is currently on the team. (And see finding a partner to break him and Johnson in at the NHL level as a MUCH less pressing issue than finally getting the top 4D right.)

Went to 1 game. Noticed that Novikov hadn't been noticed at all, late in the 2nd, so made of point of watching him play. The reason he hadn't been noticed is he didn't carry the puck at all. All he did was shut down darn near every single rush the opponent made. He really looks like he'll be a good one. And would expect he'll be an injury call up pretty often this year. That said, would like his to start the year in Rochester.

Well, that's the thing. Yes, Dahlin could very well be better with a more traditional defensive D partner in the mold that Samuelsson is SUPPOSED to be. BUT he and Byram WERE really good together. Keep that pairing with Dahlin now actually in his prime and Byram FINALLY just about there as well. (Only 2 years of Byram here, but when you throw in all the years of Mittelstadt developing it makes for a really friggin' long time in the "growing pains" department.) Sure, look for the defensive guy that can fully unleash Ras, but while you're looking, run with what was working. That's 24-26 minutes a night that's fairly well locked down. If Power recovers and improves as he gets closer to his prime, that's another 23 minutes a night. So, you're looking at finding 34 minutes of ice time between your 4 and 5 D and 13 minutes a night from your 6 IF there are no PPs at all. Get 3 PPs and you've shaved nearly 6 minutes off how much the bottom 3 need to play. Maybe Bernard-Docker is your 4. He might be, he might not be; didn't see enough of him to say for certain. But figure out who should be the Power partner and then you need to add one or TWO low cost veterans that are actually useful (and the league is FULL of 3rd pairing guys; pretty much everybody ELSE can find them each year) and let Johnson and Novikov be the true 7 & 8 (with Bryson & whomever holding the press box spots and covering for a game or 2 until you can get the kids into town when injuries hit) and they SHOULD be able to play 13 or so minutes without killing you. The team CAN NOT afford to have Dahlin out. But the rest are replaceable; it's just when Byram or Power are out you're giving your bottom 3 more minutes than you want. BUT none of THAT matters as the team sure does seem h*ll bent on getting rid of Byram. So, they don't just need to find Power's partner (presuming it isn't B-D) but also, and more importantly, need to find Dahlin's primary partner. (And with the minutes he eats, he isn't just riding one guy.) So, friggin' frustrating.

Doesn't top Dyngus Day, but hanging out in the hammock w/ the pet listening to Yes while waiting for the bats to start doing their thing. Doesn't get too much better than this. And they're now flying around doing their thing,

Is Mike Commodore available? (Let the punches to the proverbial 'nads of the fanbase continue until morale improves. Or something to that effect. 😉 )

Yeah, Sobotka MIGHT've been trying to quit too. He was just too bad of a player by the time he got to Buffalo for anyone to be able to tell.

The mountains, the glaciers, the U, and the M are about the only things that stand out. Guess the eye might be a flint arrow head from somebody hunting the mammoth. They should've put a tiny sasquatch in one of the features to mess with Yeti. (Oh, yeah, won't let us use the trademark in a different field, well, #### you, we're gonna mess with Big Foot (and screw with Jack Links too, just because we can).

When the 2 are actually in their prime they could be great complements for each other.

No thank you. Then the Loafs are where the Canes were in '06 - a serious injury run for the opponent away from the Finals to which they then may be a goalie injury away from their first trophy since '67. Screw THAT. Let them lose the next 2 so they have no inkling of a possibility of ending one of the few (or the only at this point, unless you give credit the SJ for all their misses dating back to '67 for their long journey back to the Bay area; and personally don't give Dallas credit for a win, but they were AWARDED one, and most people count that (mistakenly) as having won one) SC droughts longer than the Sabres and Nucks droughts.

Bandits host the Rush on Friday night in Game 1 of the Finals. Halifax had a 2 goal lead with less than a minute left looking to tie the series at 1-1. But Saskatchewan scored with about 40 seconds left and got the ball on the faceoff. Halifax's goalie made the stop with about 16 seconds left. So, game over, right? Wrong. They turned the ball over on a serious stick check trying to get the ball over the midfield stripe just before the 8 second clock expired. About 5 seconds later the game was tied. Halifax then took a boarding major 1-1/2 minutes into OT and the Rush only needed 10 seconds to make them pay for that mistake. Had been hoping the MD 20-20's would win tonight to force the Rush to play an extra game before meeting the Bandits. Saskatchewan won the last time the 2 teams met in the Finals. So, pay 'em back for that and get the 3-peat. Let's GO BAN-DITS!!!!

It was and it was controversial as it was the 1st "major" NA sports league championship trophy to be sponsored by & named for a corporate advertiser. WHA was ahead of its time in that regard.