tom webster

For the record, I have no idea if I’m right but what I know with one hundred percent certainty is that the game is better because people questioned the status quo and I think there is at least a little doubt that should cause people to question what’s best for a player’s development.

And what I’m saying is that I believe the three players listed might be better served playing out the season in Buffalo and that other than “that’s the way we’ve always done it” there isn’t hard evidence to the contrary.

You also don’t play around with people’s lives. You earn a promotion, you deserve to live that promotion.

Cause and effect. Good guys are likely to be good at every level. Just because a guy found success in the NHL doesn’t automatically infer that it happened as a result of some age old developmental plan that might be the last vestige of a Don Cherry belief system. No surprise that a guy that ended up successful was probably successful along the way. Isn’t it just as likely that a deep playoff run might result in a guy wearing out in next year’s playoff run? Plenty of evidence to suggest that as well.

This implies that there is an absolute correlation between success in the AHL and success in the NHL and I have seen no proof that one exists.

I’m talking more of whether winning in the AHL translates into winning in the NHL. The numbers you reference project NHL production based on AHL production. No way to know what would happen if they never played in the AHL and were just part of a practice squad of an expanded NHL roster until they were ready to play full time.

Most people around here know I put little stock into the notion that winning at the AHL level has anything to do with success at the NHL level. I’m surprised with the continued explosion of analytics that no one has done any comprehensive study showing any correlation between AHL success and NHL success.

2006 Anaheim Ducks without too much thought. I’d bet there are more.

People get all excited about every time one of their own decides not to sign. You can literally count on your hands the number of players that did this and turned out to be worth all the angst. I was literally typing the same thing. For most kids, it just isn’t going to make sense to forego the money that long. You’ll always get a couple that it works for.

Asplund and Zemgus are the kind of forwards every team needs. Ideally suited for defensive roles, they can hold their own in the top six when needed, contribute offensively and they won’t complain if circumstances dictate one game they play little, next game they seem like they are out there continuously. They are not JAG’s.

I expect the Sabres to be very good long before Portillo or Levi is NHL ready. Portillo wasn’t even considered amongst the top NCAA goalies let alone a top NHL prospect. He may end up being such but the fact remains that very few of these NCAA free agents end up being worth all the consternation. For every Adam Fox there are 10 Dan DeKeyser’s. All that being said, it’s not a slam dunk he doesn’t sign with Buffalo anyway. All in all, it doesn’t rank in the top 20 questions that I consider when I project where I think the Sabres will be in the near future.

Up to four pages for a guy who may not even be any good. Nice.

I understand that but maybe not as much as is perceived.

I know that one of the implications of this thread is that people believe they call the game different in the playoffs and penalties are not called but statistically that is incorrect. There are actually more penalties and more power plays during the playoffs.

I’m pretty sure Adams owed him one.

I know we put this to bed till next year but, as people seem to be back on the bandwagon, I do have four tickets for Flyers game, Saturday April 16th.(day before Easter)

Thanks It’s possible those picks are with 6 or 7 of each other.

That’s a question I have and maybe it was covered up thread but is there reason to believe he is available?

Darcy? Quick fix? Really? I don’t think Darcy worked liked that at all.

I do that all day. Three prospects are but the likelihood is that one turns into a Ryan Miller, one into a Martin Biron and one into Mika Noronnen. If the cap really isn’t skyrocketing till 2025/2026, Buffalo will be one of few teams that will be able to pay if said goalie id worth the extension

A) Having superstar forward doesn’t guarantee you a Cup, but not having one, based on history, makes it extremely difficult B) Drury and Briere played like superstars for those two years.

Some general managers don’t even impact the first two rounds. Every organization is set up different. Some let the scouting director run the whole show. The GM might set guide lines but rarely know specific prospects, especially, like you stated, after round 2.

Maybe I worded it poorly but no study says there is no benefit, just that the benefit doesn’t equal or exceed the investment. Nobody can say that having a team doesn’t produce any revenue. That number is somewhere between $200M and ?? but having a franchise produces some revenue over and above the discretionary funds that would be spent otherwise. Like I said, I don’t expect to change anyone’s minds and in a perfect world I would prefer no public funding but the world is less then perfect. Maybe we can debate how much less….,

Again, I understand the numbers and wish no public money went to fund any private industry but the fact remains there is tangible financial benefit to having a team here and there are obviously intangible benefits as well. Whether it’s worth $850M, that is a matter of opinion and like most opinions and most people, nothing is going to change said person’s original opinion.

I’ve always stayed out of these discussions about “insiders” but this Chad discussion is exactly the thing people don’t understand. There are people close to people that hear things. Also, believe it or not, teams discuss multiple possibilities. For instance, I was told by someone not far removed from KA that Ullmark was done. It obviously didn’t happen. Why? I have a few theories but I am not in a position to take Kevin to lunch and verify it, so I guess I lost credibility. Things are fluid. Situations arise and change on a dime. Sometimes people that you trust one hundred percent make assumptions as to where things are heading and end up wrong. I could go on and on, drop a few names and some will post that I’m making it all up, some that know me will defend me and the thread will be hijacked. I hope that doesn’t happen. Just felt the need to defend Chad.