tom webster

That is a very good point.

The minute I saw him on waivers I knew you’d be posting. At least we can laugh about it now. I always forget this JBOT disaster when I’m listing his mistakes in judgement.

I remember Sam scoring over 60 goals before he was 22. I remember thinking how his hockey IQ compensated for his less then elite speed and then seeing how his work ethic improved his skating.

Never said anything about "a proven, great coach." His hiring was almost universally praised. Writers and reporters in Canada were shocked that Buffalo was able to lure him. He far from failed in his one year in Edmonton and it was his choice to leave for Europe. Poor player usage is an opinion I don' share. Like a lot of coaches he spent his first year laying the foundation for his preferred system. I know Jack and KO and Hall love Ralph, and are excited about the veteran presence on this year's team. Hopefully Jeff buys in because it will be near impossible to move him. As far as apple and oranges, not quite. There is one "expert" holding on to the belief that Casey may still be a top prospect, and he may be one of those outliers who develops slower. It happens although most impact players show some signs of greatness much earlier. More then likely, if he can accept a lesser role, he can be a useful third liner. Hope not. I hope he's like Max Pacioretty who exploded in his fourth year in the NHL. There are a lot more "experts" that believe RK is a quality coach, but that also does not mean they are right. There were people that thought that Dick Jauron would win a Super Bowl, people that still think that Doug Marrone is a quality coach. What you learn after forty five years of following, nobody really knows anything. It is what makes sports great, you get to watch it play out and when you get something right occasionally, you brag to your friends.

It’s funny, you want to believe the “experts” who you think still believe in Casey, but you don’t want to believe the same “experts” when they rate RK one of the top coaches in the game.

He is not a great skater. He’s quick in short space but he is definitely average at best in straight line.

The ROR trade was a deal he backed down and the Skinner contract is another example. He had a price and he let Skinner’s agent convince him he was wrong.

While I agree to an extent, the question becomes do you want a JBOT type deal where you get a goalie at any cost or do you want a deal where you decide how much you want to pay and refuse to overpay? The other team has to agree to the deal.

This.

Corey Crawford retirement bad news for Sabres.

Did not say he is “the” one guy, just one guy. Definitely one of few with a national stage. I wonder how much of it goes back to him listing him a can’t miss star.

He is one guy who refuses to give up on Casey.

Let’s not forget, Hall was willing to sign a long term deal. It was the Sabres who preferred one year. I think this gets done sooner rather then later.

The baseball reserve clause was in place fir close to one hundred years. However, I don’t necessarily disagree with the first two paragraphs. However, look how much has changed in the last few years with regard to what most hockey lifers felt was so vital to success. As far as the AHL, hockey players that can’t make the NHL aren’t just going to disappear, the business model will just change. All you have to do for proof that these things are not a figment of my imagination is look at the evolving relationship Major League Baseball teams and their minor leagues.

I have had several conversations regarding this but the main point is that the prevailing opinion from those that have studied this a lot more in depth then myself is that while there will always be a player or two that uses the AHL to develop their game, the cost of running these operations outweighs the benefits. There really is no way to judge if it’s a correct assumption or not until it’s fully implemented, if ever, but a guy like Cozens, would his career arc not be the same if he spent a year practicing, working out and eating with the team while playing a game or two per week until he was ready for more?

I’m on record as saying I don’t think playing in the AHL does anything for his development. I believe that being part of the taxi squad and playing when they feel they can use him will result in the same, if not better development path. I also believe that like scouting, teams will start to realize that teams will realize they don’t need farm teams to develop talent and a careful cost/benefit analysis will result in a change to this taxi squad model.

Not sure I like the analogy. I’m referring to happenings while person is in charge of that department. I guess some people might say the child is in charge but I think you know what I mean.

I defer to you and others when it comes to prospects. The others tell me he could be a 3.

One of the rules I live by, you can’t blame someone for all the bad if you don’t give them credit for all the good. I respect those that disagree, but that’s how I evaluate everything.

Now this surprises me. I thought you hated the Johnson pick.

I know you hate this response but it’s still incomplete and like it or not, he gets credit for Dahlin.

I know the feelings towards JBOT and I agree he had his shortcomings but looking at his three drafts, I’ll wager that no team has as many potential NHL’ers left as Buffalo. They probably missed on a couple of forwards but they could end up with two goalies and five defenseman that will be assets of one grade or another besides a number one defenseman and a number two center. One disclaimer, I don’t usually believe the GM has much to do with the draft but I know a lot of you evaluate him that way.

Getting Thurman one hundred yards was merely a by product. The plan was to keep the receivers in front of them and then pound them when they caught it.

I hear completely opposite opinion from people close to RaKu. Some people just connect differently.

As I’ve said before, if Casey develops into a legit asset, this team becomes very deep and a lot better then people are expecting.