...

That was the best play I've seen from Mittelstadt tonight.

Damn, Thompson, great feed in front, too bad you didn't have a trailer.

I'm very encouraged by what I'm seeing. I hope this translates into the regular season.

Love the ref cam. Other stand outs, Smith and Pilut.

Oglevie, Tage, Asplund, Nylander...several others are putting in a good game, at least the second half of the first.

I almost don't care how this game ends, but right now i see that we have legit depth.

See, there you go. I didn't think to check other teams. Thanks. Whatever the reason, it's kind of amateur for them to make the assumption "everyone knows". They should at least have some sort of statement about all games on yadda yadda unless otherwise noted.

I can't believe no one finds it odd only 9 games out of the entire season are scheduled for MSG. Other than the NBCSN games, then, would someone tell me how you plan on watching the games on TV?

Great post. Intelligence-posturing is the black mark of the internet and no place is immune from it.

Are you guys comfortable with generalizations? Because we can generalize all day about all manner of topics to which at some point you'll protest. Point is, you have to judge each of the owners as individuals when making these kinds of statements. Sports teams owners are in pretty unique situations when it comes to players - the investment is high and that investment requires the player be in optimal health for it to pay off. The people I know who OWN (or owned) a company, as opposed to those who run it, are all decent-ish to very decent people who care about their employees, but that "caring" has to be balanced with the good of the business. No different than a casual acquaintance who might send condolences when a person dies, or offer a birthday wish, they care enough to do that but your relationship doesn't make or break their life. Any owner who takes an interest in their employee beyond that is going far and above and making it hard for them to mind the business properly. Anyone here ever own a business with employees? It's far less black and white and bumper-sticker friendly than being portrayed here. I can't imagine that additional level noted above about investment. I have a hard time seeing the Pegulas being happy thinking of themselves as slave owners. Ridiculous. I'm sure the cleaning staff is treated worse than the players, I wonder if the cleaning staff feels like slaves?

This is what I'm talking about.

No. I'm asking IF every game will be on MSG or NBCSN. The same is true for the schedule on MSG's site. No where that I could find does it say "games will be broadcast on MSG unless otherwise noted" or some such thing. If someone knows of a definitive statement to this effect written somewhere, I'd appreciate being pointed to it.

It's a serious question, BTW. I really think I may have missed a memo. etc.

Mods, if this topic was brought up else, please feel free to remove or move this one (although PM me so I know what happened). I can not find anywhere Sabres' games listed on MSG except for one in October, one in November, and one in December. Anyone know anything about this?

Am I mistaken or is his Twittah account gone?

I think to make a solid point, here, there needs to be some maths. My guess would be JBot already has a spreadsheet with players' current and possible (future) salaries he can play around with. He probably has offers already estimated for Samson two years hence as well as the rest of them and knows what he's getting into. We'd need to see a facsimile of that spreadsheet to know at what level player would JBot get himself into "trouble." For example, does Samson turn into a $5.5m/yr, $6.5m/yr, $8m/yr player and where is the threshold where it becomes problematic.

I think the fly in the ointment with this perspective is that JBot is not fully confident in what kind of player he has in Samson. If he gives Samson an 8/$6.5m contract and Samson winds up being Drew Stafford, then the contract becomes another albatross.

I was going to thumbs-up this comment, but the notion of me liking Bogo gave me pause. When he's healthy, the only thing I like about his game 100% is that he can get violent sometimes.

Curious as well to know why you think so.

He continues to impress. If last night was the trend, I think he actually knows how to build a team.

Far better bridge deal than I would have imagined. My belief in Samson being a team player is restored...mostly.

I have to say I'm not a fan. He really didn't stand out to me like Risto or Hutton.

I don't know about that, he was the Penguins' punching bag. Someone has to be a magnet for that stuff. I did not like them sitting back at the end, there. They should NEVER sit back. That's one thing that will bug me if I see them sitting back, ever. Always attack...be THAT team.

Skinner has Kane-esque qualities.

Is it me, or is Pittsburgh getting their elbows up on the head when they have a Sabre against the boards? Also, I hate to mention it, but Crosby, Malkin and the Pillsbury Dough Boy aren't out there.