Taro T

Agreed. The ref has to wait until there isn't a scoring chance. The Otters did not have control of the puck.

What, did Concepcion get snubbed again? Grrrrr.

Agreed that Briere wasn't "truly" elite. But w/ 3 lines worth of borderline 1st/2nd lines and playing with a completely new enforcement of obstruction calls he sure did get "elite" results. Am probably in the minority here, but believe that besides Miller those 2 post-lockout teams only had 2 elite players & neither started the year as elite & both got derailed by injuries before they were universally viewed as elite - Tallinder & Connolly. Their playoff games elevated off the charts prior to each breaking & ending up good but not great upon return.

Umm, 1 minor quibble w/ your very interesting story. By going into that season w/ only Hutton & Ullmark, he DID help submarine that season. Personally, don't believe it was intentional. He did come close to a deal for a goalie on at least 3 different fronts, so he did try. But ultimately, he failed & between Eichel never being healthy & Ullmark breaking, not having another goalie ensured the team would sink to the bottom of the pool.

If they take the 1 EP, as we've seen, the way Mahomes was clicking, the game almost certainly ends up in OT where the team winning the toss has been 10-1 in the playoffs since the format change in '10 or '12 (pretty sure playoffs changed in '12, maybe that's backwards). So, there's close to a 50/50 chance of winning. Probably slightly over as the Chefs chance of a FG is <100% but also w/ a ridiculously small chance of a TD. If they go for 2, it's essentially 4th & goal from the 2. The Bills have been nearly unstoppable on 4th down down the stretch. The Sanders drop in the end zone in the game in Cheats land is the only miss that immediately springs to mind. So, now there's, what, a 2/3's (maybe better?) chance of being up by 4. The Chefs chances of getting a TD 75 yards away in only 3 plays is small. So, there's now roughly a 67%-70% chance of winning if the Bills go for 2 (67% chance of having close to 100% chance of winning & a 33% chance of having a slightly non zero % chance of winning failing the 2 pointer, figure what, a 10% chance of stopping a FG drive, maybe only 5%?). That seems a lot better than just over a 50% chance of winning - 5-10% of winning in regulation & 50% in OT.

As @Randall Flagg explained, the league rotates all the non-division games. So that this round of AFC East vs AFC North has AFCE 1 at AFCW 1 and AFCE 1 home to AFCS 1. In 3 years, those will be flipped. Bills were at Chiefs last year as part of the AFCE vs AFCW full division rotation. In 2023 KC will be in Buffalo for that rotation. Vegas will be the other AFCW team the Bills host that year w/ visits to Denver & LA Lite. Bills were at Chiefs this year because w/ this cycle of AFCE vs AFCS, AFCE 1 hosted AFCN 1 (Steelers) & traveled to AFCW 1 Chefs). That will flip in '24. So, IF Buffalo & KC keep winning their divisions, Buffalo will host the next 3 RS matchups.

Rinks are too wide (especially Olympic rinks) to try to have 3 overlapping without essentially having a circular ice surface. W/ only 2 overlapping, it's not just a circle w/ weird little chunks removed at the individual rink corners. And, could use 3 brackets w/ your idea w/ the highest scoring 2nd place team becoming the 4th in the medal game.

They play that on a Chinese Checkers style rink? 😉 Wouldn't that be something, having 2 rinks laid out crossing each other w/ 4 teams on the ice and teams can score on any of the other 3 teams' nets.

Personally, am shocked that yours truly ISN'T ticked about the game, the coinflip, nor the reffing. The refs let both sides play. They did give KC 1 extra kick at the can in the red zone that MIGHT have been the difference, but probably not. Was actually glad the refs let them play and the game wasn't reffed by Boger, Hocculi's kid, or any of the other over officious jerks that populate this league's officiating crews. It was an INCREDIBLE game in which the 2 best QBs in the league (yes, even better than the ancient guys in the other conference at this point or Lamar, Justin, Joe, or Tua (snicker) in the Junior Conference) refused to let their team lose. They both made 2 very good (though not great) D's look like UB's D. Disappointed in the result? Absolutely. Mad? Not a chance. It was too good of a show & the Bills will be back. They'll all have chips on their shoulders. 2022 could be a really special season. Can't wait.

You keep putting Mittelstadt in as a bottom 6 or even 4th C. Definitely don't see 2C's better than him today on this roster & likely not in the future either. My 2 cents.

Not blaming the loss on the coin flip, but THAT was the only difference between these 2 teams. These teams were dead even through 15 minutes, 30 minutes, & again at 60 minutes. Give Allen another crack at it in OT & they're likely dead even through 75 minutes as well. Neither QB was going to be stopped once it mattered. Watching it "live" (well, actually about 30 minutes delayed to avoid the scourge of commercials) wondered if McDermott would go for 2 to force KC to go the full field in 13 seconds. In hindsight ...

Any chance we can see Jankowski or Tuch take Bjork's spot on the Mittelstadt line?

2 weeks in a row, we witnessed a "once in a lifetime game." It's good to have "Wrong" Josh. Just hoping he doesn't end up Mahomes' Manning. Don't expect he will. And, could actually see this team taking a page from the '71 & '72 Fishies book. The way '71 ended got that team focused to the point of not overlooking nor underestimating any opponent the following year. Overlooking Jacksonville cost this team the ability to FINALLY host a Mahomes Allen battle. Really don't see them repeating that mistake.

Wonder if Addison being fully healthy would've made a difference? He got close to Mahomes a lot early but could never get him. Bring him down or slow him up enough for somebody else to get him down short of the sticks that 1st drive & who knows.

Spread was 6. Ab - so - friggin - lute - ly.

What a ####ing football game. The 2 best teams in the league went head to head and needed extra time to separate them. IMHO, the one play McDermott should've handled differently was the 4th & a 1/2 yard at his own 34. Allen & the O have been pretty much automatic on 4th down since the 2nd 1/2 in Tampa. Go for it. They only gained 15 yards on the punt; Mahomes is too good to worry about a few extra yards. He can drive it the whole field. So can Allen. Darn coin flip.

Agree. But doubt the Pegulas will hold him to measurable improvement to keep his job after next season. Hope that's an incorrect assumption. Hope you're right about the improvement. Agree that Adams should not be solely graded next year on making the playoffs. But not as convinced as you and others are that there will be measurable improvement. Because am not convinced that they will get NHL quality goaltending next year. Hoping that expectation is off, but until they have 2 NHLers performing at that level won't believe they have them. And, broken record here, really believe they need & deserve NHL GTing next year. (Personally, believe they deserved it this year & last as well too. Until they have it, we're still waiting for Adams to get it for a 1st time. He needs to get it for a 1st time.)

NS was the lead singer for Smashing Pumpkins? Sweet. 😉

No. But am of the opinion that every position grouping should be getting improved every season if possible. Having 2 more Mulligans, which he very likely does have, means he may very well be willing to ride what he has in net for at least 1 more season. And, again IMHO, that would be a huge mistake. The possibility of getting Bedard or the Russian stud or the other guy isn't worth having these kids go through the motions once more when giving them NHL quality GTing will enable them to actually measurably track their progress. If they miss the playoffs next year (as they likely will) but have a Rags-like luck in the lottery, so be it; grab the kid that projects out the best and don't look back. But enough w/ not giving any legit backstoppers w/ the inevitable bottom 4 finish. If they luck into a stud, cool. But don't set the kids up for failure. It'll grow old. These kids are busting their butts & deserve to get support from management. A real goalie will only block the kids if he'd do something he won't do - namely give a LT NMC contract to 1. And, if he does get 2 more passes, that'll have been 4 years w/ no expectations. Who in this world gets that long to learn/ grow into ANY job?

Primarily because he's a disaster in his own end. They already have that roster slot covered in spades.

After getting 5 of the last 8 points, only 17 points out of a playoff spot.

Still ticked about that KO return. Would've won the quarter in a $100/square pool w/out it. Going for 2 cost a chance at one of the satellites, too. Grrrrr.

Easily. (And sadly.)

Murray's huge downfall was he didn't realize these players weren't horses where all that matters is the raw physical attributes and how they individually mesh w/ the other horses doesn't matter 1 flying ####. Adams definitely has a plan. Just hoping his cup winning experience with a very young goalie playing over his head & a journeyman also playing over his head doesn't color his perception of how to implement that plan too greatly. Because that plan of "goalies are interchangable" never would've worked without that squad only losing 1 player throughout the entire cup run & that player getting replaced by Eric Cole who was finally healthy for the final game; all while his opponents lost a Captain to a high stick to his eye, a center finally playing the way he was supposed to do when drafted & then traded for along w/ 4 D, and then lastly a starting goalie. THAT sort of luck might be seen at most twice in a lifetime, and it's already happened once; he being the beneficiary of it twice has astronomical odds against happening. Truthfully, he's playing like a guy w/ a ridiculously long leash.

And the concern for this kid is might that potential candy store be enticing enough for Adams to be OK heading into next season w/ UPL backed up by Tokarski w/ Levi developing in Ra-cha-cha. If those guys play at an NHL quality level he wins, & if they don't, well he still wins but we all lose.