Neo

Ramsay - Luce - Gare Second only to the French Connection.

Better said.

Win, and there is a crowd.

Best JBot move ... Scandella or Pouliet? Also ... great to see the poor bastards having fun.

I like Pasta’s analysis AND mörk’s. I think an “either/or” would’ve worked better than the “neither”, my astute grasp of the obvious acknowledged.

I believe he hates to lose. I have hope he’ll discover that’s not differentiating.

Any league with a Walleye entry is all right in my book.

Acknowledged: Asking Jack to take $8 million x 8 years wouldn’t have gotten a signature.

I think “the percentage of team” and the “percentage of primary” concepts leave me unswayed. Sure, he’s doing more than other Sabres. That’s not the hope I had for him. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not shipping him out or calling him a bust, but I’m wishing we were $2 million or so under $10 million per.

I think you’re right. I hope you’re right. I trust you’re right. I’d say it this way. He seems more careful. He seems more patient. We’ll see if he’s smarter. JBot’s a cruise ship in a harbor full of speed boats. GMTM was a speed boat, and I enjoyed the thrill for quite some time.

I should’ve gone with Ingrid Bergman. I could’ve gender identified with, you know, the most beautiful woman to have ever drawn breath.

I think I blew it!

Wow .. Sabres Gil beating Detroit’s Gordy!

Bingo cubed.

You complete me ...

That was funny.

I have some thoughts on all the trade talk. Actually, I have questions. 1). Kane: His situation is a classic UFA and contract management one. He’s uniquely valuable as he is. If you can keep him for fair contract value, you do. If you can’t, you move him in a way that maximizes his value. Whether that’s picks, prospects, or NHL ready talent will be seen. JBot will show his hand if and when we see a return. By that, I mean whether the trade is for talent, today, or pipeline, tomorrow. I won’t be surprised by picks and pipeline. 2). Names: I’m looking at the RORs, Sams, Ristos, Okposos ... and some group of bottom six players. I’m not sure what you do, here. Swapping for similar value and talent is a real crapshoot. Veterans out, veterans in, similar category of veteran. This is churn trading. I’ve heard the “send a message” arguement. I’m just not sure what message it sends. Isn’t it as likely to say “coast and you get new life elsewhere” just as it to say “oh, boy, they’re serious”? What attitude does a veteran coming here bring? What does he adopt when he’s traded to a perennial bottom 5 team? This is risky business. I’m inclined to adopt the Darcy “you’d better win the trade” algorithm with this group. 3). Contracts: anything that helps with cap space for an underachiever helps. That’ll be expensive. 4). Jack: I am not in the trade Jack category. I am, however, underwhelmed relative to the contract. Trade him? No. Do I think we’ll regret $10 million per for five years? Yes. Would I listen because of that? Yes. He’s certainly no bargain at this cost in the eyes of other GMs.

Nor does it mean it’s a bad idea. Let’s also stop assuming something nefarious or damaging was taking place. I believe that’s the line of thought I raised my hand against. How about this, forgetting “allowed”. I’d expect my President to talk to anyone in the organization about anything, including hockey, wherever they meet one another. Anything else would be weird. This doesn’t mean he controls hockey operations. Worrying when he “appears” is weird. There, no “allowed”,

He’s allowed to talk to him about hockey. It’d weird if he wasn’t allowed. It’d be unimaginable if he wasn’t allowed. Like sitcom unimaginable. This isn’t “control of hockey ops”. By, like, miles and miles.

I won’t beat a dead horse, which I certainly do from time to time, but, in order to see if there’s some common ground, I can realistically imagine ... “Jack, I know these are some tough times, but we’re as happy with you today as we were the day we picked you.” I’m good with that. I can’t imagine .... “Jack, we’ve ordered you some shorter sticks to see if we can’t goose your shooting percentage up to 10% or 11%.” I wouldn’t be good with that. Maybe I’m naive, but I’d bet it was closer to the former than the latter.

It wasn’t about marketing. He is allowed to talk about other things. I’ll bet he’s allowed to talk about whatever he wants, like my boss.

I think it’s naive to think there are doors in any organization that don’t open. I’m head of sales. I talk to finance every day. Maintenance, too. Senior people do it more than me. They stroll around. Most managers “head” something. Heading something, leading something, overseeing something, etc. doesn’t mean you don’t walk around, inquire, and give opinion elsewhere. The appropriate boss listens and makes his/her decisions. “Thanks!” This is a far cry from Russ making hockey decisions. I wonder if we’d complain if JBot were seen in Russ’s office. “Hey, I thought JBot was HOCKEY Operations!” They’re a team. It’d be weird if someone said “stay out of my office.” Can Russ talk to a player in the hallway? Must he avert his eyes? Perhaps there’s a guard that segregates Ops and Biz. We might all want them to be better, but I’ll take them talking and visiting over them being segregated and cloistered any day. Now, cameras make some suspicious of the timing. I have no knowledge, or comment, there. But I’m not upset. Slow news day.

Russ Brandon citing ... yawn. I hear he has his own parking space. If I have any conclusion about Brandon talking to Eichel it’s the following. If a talk puts Eichel’s performance in jeopardy, the problem is probably Jack.

Interesting question. It’s occured to me. I’d pencil Gil in for a 30G / 40A year IF he had wingers. Teams work, or grind, to goals today. Gil flew to them.

The Aud Key Bank / HSBC Boston Garden TD Garden Maple Leaf Gardens Madison Square Garden Capital Center The Joe in Detroit Amalie Arena Favorites - the old school Aud and Maple Leaf Gardens. Honorable mention to Boston Garden and The Joe. Least favorites - Key Bank and Capital Center (a new and an old). Hard to believe KBC is middle aged.