nfreeman

I agree that it shouldn't be needed, but it will probably be pretty effective.

@dudacek— what a great OP. I can absolutely see this scenario playing out. Certainly it’s true that: - Jack has been superhuman at hockey his entire life. - Jack is well familiar with hockey injuries and overcoming them. - Jack was unable to do so this year for the 1st time in his life. - Jack knows spinal injuries are a scary and uncertain thing. - Jack loved RK but saw him unable to right the ship. - This was a difficult, lonely and sad year for everyone, and much worse than that for many people. That’s a pretty combustible brew of ingredients. It wo

Barry Sanders was one of the most exciting players I’ve seen in any sport.

I think this is what it comes down to -- Jack wants the surgery, and the question is who bears the $50MM risk of a bad outcome. It's pretty reasonable IMHO for the Sabres not to want to bear that risk if 2 doctors, including the Colorado specialist who isn't affiliated with the Sabres, are advising against it.

As a related point, I've been kinda wondering whether Jack's primary goal was to force the Sabres to consent to the surgery, not to force a trade -- i.e. maybe he's OK with staying here (although he'd doubtless be fine with a trade to a good team), but no matter what he wants to quit screwing around, have the surgery and get in shape for next season.

He was asked this in the presser he called a couple of weeks before firing RK.

I found it kinda interesting that Reino wore a Bills hat during his presser and Eichel wore a plain black hat -- i.e. neither wore a Sabres hat. They both want out.

Well, I just watched the full 24-minute presser. There is no doubt in my mind that Eichel wants out (no kidding!) and is completely sideways with KA. I also think it's not impossible that after a cooling-off period, if the Sabres take positive steps (credible coach and FO moves, goaltending, extension for Reino, etc.), the relationship could be repaired and he could stay. But I think it's more likely that KA has decided -- as many GMs have done and will do so again -- that if Eichel doesn't want to be here, it will be better for the team to move him out. So I think it's more likely

Probably true, but these jobs are few and far between. I think they could bring in quality people if they are determined to do so. And doing so might just help them convince some of these players to stick around.

If there was ever a time to bring in an experienced HC and an experienced senior hockey czar, each with a successful track record, with the goal of restoring some credibility to the franchise, I think it’s now.

I have been saying for a while now that Sam’s demeanor is consistent with that of a guy who is counting the days until he can GTFO of here. As others have noted upthread, who can blame him? He might be waiting to see what moves the Sabres make this summer, and what kind of offer they give him, which would be the prudent move, but he might have made up his mind already.

I would like them to bring both guys back, but I think there is less than a 50% likelihood that both are back, and over 50% that both are gone. If Linus gets a respectable offer from a contending team like the Leafs to be their #1, he is gone unless the Sabres give him a fat long-term contract. OTOH, it's possible that no one is willing to give him more than a 2-year deal, and the Sabres might get him to stay with a 5-year deal. As for McCabe, he's not expected back from his injury until a couple of months into the season, innit? So anything could happen there.

I thought both ROR and Kane were good players, the best players involved in their respective trades and good players to add, although poor leaders. The price was too high for Kane IMHO but fairly reasonable for ROR. The McNabb trade was terrible. It's also fair to hold TM accountable for not knowing Lehner better -- this is consistent with @dudacek's horse trader theory. I generally agree that TM gave away good draft picks like a drunken sailor and this was partially responsible for the cupboard being bare in Rochester. Overall, between lousy on-ice accomplishments an

I think the team is dying for a coach who understands the NHL game well enough to get more offensive production out of a group that sure seems capable of much more than the rock-bottom scoring they’ve been delivering, AND who will demand that the team play with passion and stick up fiercely for each other.

Well, I appreciate your response, but here's what you said: The unavoidable implication is that my "news exposure" is driven by an agenda, either the publisher's or my own (or both). So I agree that you didn't imply that I was anti-vax, but I think you did imply something pejorative about my news sources and perhaps about my interest in learning the facts as opposed to consuming/promoting an agenda. For example, if I had responded to your post with "We have less understanding of these vaccines than your news exposure wants you to believe" -- I would not expect you to respond favo