Neo

Schony, Hajt, Carrier, McIntosh, Korab, Fogolin ? I googled! Revised best guess.

Schoney, Hajt, Carrier, Terbenche, Korab, Fogolin my best guess!

Paul Terbenche?

Do you have the same memory as me? He was a forty plus goal guy as a Leaf rumored, if i remember correctly, to be coming Buffalo’s way. Instead, he went to Chicago for a few years, THEN to Buffalo.

Rick Vaive ....

I’ve written enough about the energy hockey games brought back in the day. I’ve pointed to the source, as best I can. I loved it. However, I no longer miss fighting. Again, without rehashing, watching boys expose themselves to chronic health risk for my entertainment ... well, I can’t go there as a dad and grandad. I winced when KO dropped his gloves against the Rangers. “No, Kyle, not for any of us at home or on the ice.”

One, awesome. Those are some great schools. Two, Go Gators! Two of my four went there and the business world is filled with its alums here in Florida. I’m not aware of a school where the kids are happier with their choice during and after. There may be one or two, but I’m not aware of them. Tampa is a “Go Gators” town. Now, with UofR and VT and others on that list, I’d be foolish suggest any single choice. I’m not. What it’s not foolish to suggest is that you’ve got one smart, disciplined, achievement oriented son! That ain’t luck ...

Oh, if only I had an airplane ticket and a MAGA hat!

Can they skate?

I’ve had the same thought. Perhaps there’s a “scheme” this talent would be more successful in, today, but HCPH/GMJB are ignoring that. Instead, they’re running the scheme they see better players in, waiting for them to develop. I know, your thought with my words. It helps me think. Remember “Hoosiers”? For the record ... I do that with my team and have had wonderful results and God awful results. While struggling, the mantra is “aspirational, people.”. The key HERE is not to lose the room during the struggles. Lastly, isn’t this what a GM with a plan would do?

I will be in the house! It’s been a long, long, time!

This place is getting angry. It’s been that way for years, now. Same ol’, same ol’. Accordingly, I’m for cutting Dudacek. #noonebetterbetakingmeseriously

That, too! Be right back, contemplating my navel ...

Ah, heroes... the banished element, the sanitized plague. We spend a good deal of time talking about why today’s gameday experience isn’t the same as yesterday’s and lamenting the loss of fun, excitement and passion. Naturally, we look at “them”. The owners built cavernous barns that lack intimacy. Ticket, food and parking prices result in too many Chet and Muffys, and not enough Stans from Cheektowaga. Scoring is down and we don’t win often enough. If only the kids would win more, Camelot would return. We miss the mark looking through a telescope, examining the exterior. I suggest a microscope, and exploration of the interior. Sabres games are different because the fans are different. The fans are different because their world is. Gone are the archetypal heroes, singleminded men who went into battle night after night, for OUR cause. There is no OUR cause. Yesterday, we looked for heroes to emulate. Gone are the villains of the eight game series. Gone, resultingly, are the good guys and, perhaps, a common belief in what “good” is. Today, we look for heroes to destroy. Transistor radio allowed me to absorb. Twitter, Instagram, and 24/7 techno media allow me to attack. As to emulate? “Trope!”, we say, “I’m too busy with ME to admire them!”. Next comes the anti hero, anti community, self absorption and self important screed of the self possessed. Hell, look at the question, itself. “Why aren’t THEY giving me what I want”? The archetype and collective unconscious of mankind is under stress, if not attack. Its replacement, morally equivalent different identities, will never provide singular events in the community way events of fifty years ago provided them. The NHL’s critical business issue: how to sell to a buyer no longer interested in what was sold, yesterday. The strategy I see: speed, skill, AV equipment and fancier hot dogs. I’m not sure I have a better plan for today’s consumer. Now, we can and should debate each and every element of “what’s different” and “are we glad it is?”. At the same time, we have to acknowledge we’re different buyers when looking for yesterday’s products. There are certainly good and bad results. The Aud isn’t gone because its outsides crumbled. The Aud is gone because its insides died. Whether you believe the insides rotted away, were killed, or were reborn is up to you. Good stuff for a beer or whiskey, there.

Life, joys and regrets ... I never told Mr. Hill what a memorable part of my youth he was. Lucky is the man aware of the impressions he makes. Most of you know what The Aud meant to me and my fellow old timers. I’ll not revisit some of my prior posts. I do want to acknowledge and celebrate Mr. Hill. He was no small part of the joyful experience a Sabres ticket brought to me as a boy. And, as we know, boyhood joys are the forever joys that are as rich, today, as they were yesterday. Taro Says: Sabres defense need support; wear Hannu Virta Bra.

Eleven was having dinner.

I know, winnng trades, and all ... but I have great respect for Darcy’s accomplishments. He dressed Nordstrom on a JC Penny* budget. * with a nod to JC Penny before anyone’s elitist alarm sounds.

Decline it ... yuk,yuk,yuk ...

What a dynamic Kane and Byfuglien must’ve been. Big men with menace as part of their DNA, brought together in the testosterone gumbo of high stress professional sports, and asked to perform as part of a cohesive unit.

Deal, if i get to pick the seven names.

Val James update ... I Googlied. Val’s debut was March 20, against the Bruins in Buffalo. No stats except a two minute minor. March 28, in Boston. Seven minutes ... and now, to YouTube!

A fight! That I didn’t remember. I also remember “televised home game”.

Val James stirred memories. I BELIEVE (my brain celebrated its 57th birthday, along with other parts of me, eight months ago), his first game with the Sabres was against the Bruins. The Bruins had this way of pushing the Sabres around, you see, nearly forty years ago. Hard for youngsters to believe, I suppose. In any event, James took the ice, perhaps midway through the 2nd period. The Bruins laughed. No one went near James, but the laughter hurt more than any beat down received without James. In any event, certainly not Val’s fault. Do any other old timers remember the Bruins game with ol’ Val? I worked late, tonight, and missed the interview. I would’ve like to see it, content irrelevant. He’s occupied a nook or cranny in my head since Reagan’s first term. He’s a reminder of youth, the passage of time, what’s changed, and what remains ever so same.