nfreeman

BTW, it's becoming pretty clear that the hockey gods, still PO'd about Peca, Black Sunday and the tank, decided to finally send us the One, but broke his wrist last summer and dispatched the plague this year to make us suffer a bit more before our deliverance.

Skinner and Rammer. I understand why many will vote for Vanek, and he certainly was a gifted goalscorer. But there was something seriously wrong with him that resulted in SEVEN teams not wanting to keep him around after he left Buffalo, and two teams (one of which was his Olympic team) publicly throwing him under the bus. Skinner has his own issues, and had a down year this year, but is also a terrific goalscorer and I believe he will bounce back. As for the checker, Rammer's resume is unparalleled. Grier was my 2nd choice.

I think you guys are right that they will work something out, and that the impact will probably be spread through the next few seasons. However, I do think the solution will be designed such that the players end up eating their half of the revenue hit.

Here's an article about a potentially meaningful German study that seeks to nail down the fatality rate for those infected with the virus: https://reason.com/2020/04/09/preliminary-german-study-shows-a-covid-19-infection-fatality-rate-of-about-0-4-percent/

Stereotypical how? I said he came in way out of shape and was suspended for drug use. Are those not indicators of irresponsibility?

You guys are probably right, but it's not certain. What is certain is that the players are only getting 50% of revenues, and that one year's cap is directly tied to the previous year's revenues. Maybe there are buyouts, or maybe there is an across-the-board salary cut as in 2005, or some combination of those and other adjustments, but revenues are probably going to take a major hit, and the players are going to eat half of it.

The point is that you are railing against "filthy rich owners" like they are the ones forcing this to happen here, when the reality is that if it happens, it will be because all 3 constituencies -- owners, players and fans -- want it to happen. And while you may not want to watch hockey in August, I think you'll be in a small minority within the hockey fan population.

Good thread. I'd like to lock up VO for 6 years. I think Montour would be UFA after your proposed 2-year deal, so I don't think that would make sense for the Sabres. I would think they will want to sign him for 4 or 5 years, and he'll probably get in the $4.5MM per year range (he's currently making $3.4MM per year). I don't think Kahun will get close to $10MM. I'd guess more like 2 years x $2MM per year. One huge variable is next year's cap. There is a very good likelihood that it drops quite a bit from this year -- so it could be, say, $68MM instead of $80MM. That would obviously affect the numbers above and have many other consequences as well.

Uh-oh. Now you've done it. Fire and brimstone incoming. I agree with you though that Strome is faster than Reino and I too would trade Miller plus something else for him. He just turned 23, he's a center with good size and very good hands and he's certainly good enough to be the Sabres #2C based on their current roster.

Again: the players will be 100% involved in the decision as to whether or not to play, and they will get 50% of the money. This is about the players as much as it is about the owners -- not to mention the fans, who are/will be dying for some hockey to watch.

Well, YMMV, but IMHO having 8 kids at age 26 with no job for most of his adult life, other than a limited stint as a HS assistant football coach, is evidence of an irresponsible mindset.

Former Bills RB Karlos Williams, who has 8 kids and lost his NFL job due to being overweight and then getting suspended for drug use, in the Athletic today, on Doug Whaley: https://theathletic.com/1733713/2020/04/09/as-karlos-williams-prepares-to-return-to-football-hes-holding-nothing-back/

I have concluded that it was because Scotty determined that Rico would never be the same after his knee injury. Scotty was right about that -- after the trade, Rico only played 4 games over 2 seasons for the Kings. Regardless, I never forgave Scotty.

God bless you too @SDS

I'll say it: I do not like pretzels.

I am so sorry Swamp. God bless you and your family.

Me too, and it’s even cooler when you check it on google maps.

I apologize if I’ve asked previously, but how far north? I’m always amazed at how far north Hudson Bay is. But I know Ontarians generally don’t mean that far north when they say “Norrh Ontario.”

Moved a couple of political posts to the politics club. Keep them there, please.

Well, I don't think the NHL or anyone else is saying that they're going to do this, regardless of the status of the pandemic. They're just looking into the feasibility of various options. Will those options inevitably involve weighing health risks against a big pile of cash? Yes indeedly -- but that is no different from the calculation that any other business will find itself having to make.

Why? What if holding a no-fans playoff tournament in a couple of neutral sites over the summer would net the NHL, say, $200MM in TV money, of which half goes to the players? What's wrong with them wanting to do that, or at least looking into the feasibility of doing so?

Regarding the "class warfare" discussion upthread -- since the players get half the revenues, they have the same incentive to resume the season in some fashion that the owners do. Regarding increased ticket/TV pricing -- there is NFW that this will happen. Everyone will have lost a huge percentage of their disposable income.

Rico and Gare. Gare wasn't a power forward, but he was as tough as scoring forwards get, he was pretty fast, he could score in a number of different ways and he played with fire. He would've given Lucic immediate dental surgery after Lucic hit Miller. He was exactly the kind of guy who helps you win a playoff series against those MFs.

My wife and I finished binging season 3 of "Ozark" this weekend. It's as good as the prior 2 seasons IMHO -- solid B to B-plus crime noir show.

From early on in the magical 2005-'06 season: Posted November 23, 2005 OK, here is my report from NYC after attending tonight's game: great win for the sabres. We came out flat and got dominated in the 1st period. Understandable given that we were starting our 3rd string goalie (yes, I am officially giving that status to Marty), were missing our best player (no info on Briere but he wasn't playing, that's for sure), lost a shootout last night after being ahead in regulation with 4 minutes left and had to travel today. Even so, we got it together and took it to them in the 2nd and dominated the 3rd and OT. The D was pretty solid -- looks like we dressed 7 defensemen since Briere couldn't go. Pyatt's stock is rising, as he took Briere's spot on the top line with Connolly (who led all forwards in ice time) and Kotalik. Connolly again was not as aggressive as I'd like in the offensive end but still solid, esp. on the PK. Glad to have Max back. He just makes things happen. the goals will start to come for him. Same for Vanek and Roy, although Roy needs a little more muscle and feistiness to his game -- like Max has. Kotalik is officially our most dangerous goal scorer or at least is tied with Briere for that honor. One Kotalik item I've noticed in the past couple of games is that he is now playing the right point on the PP, instead of the left, where he scored all those goals with the big slapper. I really liked him on the left, but Lindy knows what he's doing. I'll say it again: LINDY KNOWS WHAT HE'S DOING. If the Sabres weren't a well-coached team they would've gone into the tank when down 3-1 in this game (on the road, 2nd game of back-to-back, lost in shootout previous night, etc.). Instead we pulled it together and are now 3 games over .500 and have won 4 out of 6 plus gotten a point in one of the 2 we didn't win -- all after losing our goalie and promptly going 1 and 5. BTW, Miro Satan flashed back to his last 3 years as a Sabre, playing 24 minutes and recording ZERO shots on goal. He was completely invisible -- and at $4 million per year (which is I think what he's making), that's $50K the Isles paid him for punching the clock tonight. Notice they didn't bother putting him in the shootout (although he might have been the 3rd shooter had they gotten that far). Speaking of which, Marty obviously deserves a lot of credit for stoning 2 good players in the shootout, esp. after getting abused last night (which was putting him in an unfair situation). Finally, I'll say that I really like the Nassau Coliseum. It's an older, smaller arena, very reminiscent of the Aud, the Boston Garden and the other small bandboxes. Easy to get to, relatively inexpensive (parking was $6.50 and we walked up to the box office and got $95 face value tickets -- about 15-20 rows behind the goal with a great view -- for $38 on a "student" discount for my 5-year old son) and the seats are close to the action. I'll definitely go back there and would recommend it to anyone in the NYC area. Go Sabres. Time to take it up a notch and beat those smelly Habs.