nfreeman

I finished “the Irishman” on Netflix last night. Broke it into 2 sittings. I don’t disagree with those upthread who thought it was slow but I still really enjoyed it. If you want the opposite end of the pace spectrum, “6 Underground” on Netflix is a pretty good albeit dumb new action thriller with Ryan Reynolds and directed by Michael Bay.

Very nice.

As between the following 2 outcomes, which do you think is more likely? - Washout - consistent 40-point NHL scorer

Well, I suppose those residing in the world of sane humans who hoped that "the refs" giving the Bills, in their last drive vs the Ravens, the benefit of two personal fouls and a long phantom PI call would put to rest these nonsensical conspiracy theories will continue to be disappointed. How about this: the Pats won because they got better play out of their QB and their defense than the Bills did.

As I was saying, Allen is awesome!

Allen is struggling.

Well, they needed a win, and they got one, at home against a bottom-dweller, despite starting poorly. Montour had the least ice time of all the Dmen, with 11. Erod had the least among the forwards, with 6. 3 games under DeLuca .500. They need to string together some wins, including on the road, and show up from the opening faceoff if they are going to do so, especially in the home-and-home vs Boston next week.

Crap. Allen missed Knox in the end zone, and it's 3 points instead of 7.

Today certainly has strong "Buffalo sports debacle" possibilities. But also a non-negligible chance at a glorious win.

I generally agree with this, but IMHO the real question is whether they should give Reino a big contract after this season. It will probably take $7.5MM or so x 7 years to keep him. Giving him that kind of contract means you’re married to him as one of your top 4 guys that you’re building the team around — because you only have room for about 4 contracts like that. It’s a tricky situation. I don’t think Reino is good enough for that kind of commitment, but I don’t want to unload him for lesser pieces either.

Indeed. I don't like the idea of starting over with a new GM yet again, and I like a number of things that JB has done, but he has to be accountable for the results. If they don't end the season within shouting distance of the playoffs, it will be hard to justify keeping him, and it will be totally valid to include in the analysis his huge misses on goaltending, draft picks, his first coach, roster construction, the ROR trade, etc. At a minimum there should be someone else there to contribute to the decision-making.

Well, they've looked freaking terrible for the last 2 games and no one could really be surprised if they are at the beginning of another stretch of, say, 10 losses in 12 games -- which, if it happens, will effectively end the season. What have we learned about JB in the last few weeks? - The first guy he drafted -- Mitts -- has fallen off the table and is looking more like a complete bust than a future NHL #2 center. - The first goalie he brought in -- Hutton -- has also fallen off the table, has lost his last 11 starts and has given up 5 or more goals in 5 of his last 7 starts. This is no surprise, as Hutton was terrible in the 2nd half of last season and has never been a starter, but no goalie was brought in over the summer. - The first big contract he gave out -- Skinner -- hasn't quite fallen off the table but certainly hasn't produced much lately, with 1 goal and 2 assists in his last 10 games. - The only respectable forward he brought in from outside the organization -- Johansson -- has fallen off the table after a good start and has been completely ineffective, with 1 goal in his last 20 games. - The concerns virtually everyone raised going into the season -- i.e. too many NHL defensemen and not enough NHL forwards -- have proven out, with the Sabres getting very little 2ndary scoring, dressing 11 forwards and 7 defensemen many nights, good NHL defensemen being healthy-scratched every night, and one of those healthy scratches demanding a trade. I continue to think that TP needs to bring in an experienced hockey czar with a real track record and no ties to JB or the Penguins to oversee and evaluate JB.

4 games under DeLuca .500 and fading fast. They are still in the playoffs if the season ended today, but only 1 pt ahead of TB and Toronto and 2 ahead of Florida for #3 in the Atlantic. If any of those 3 passes them -- which is almost certain to occur -- then they would need a WC spot, and they are currently 4 pts behind Philly for the last WC. And THAT is why no one should feel comfortable about going, say, 3-3-3 in a 9-game stretch because it's a ".500" pace, or about "getting points in 7 out of 9 games" or other similarly useless achievement.

Sweeeeeeeet!

Yes -- it's a good perk. (I also get center ice via Verizon.) If you have a roku or other streaming device, you can get all the games via the NHL app. Alternatively, you can just watch them on a computer. You have to dig around a bit for the "link to cable provider" page (or something like that), but it's there.

If you get it through Verizon, you get the online package free -- and the online package usually has both feeds available for previous games.

What were the #s before this year — ie the period I was referring to, in multiple posts?

No one is going to take KO unless the Sabres either pay through the nose in picks/prospects/other sweeteners, or take back an equally bad contract in the deal, or some combination of both.

I mostly agree, although I think Johansson has been greatly diminished since his injury. I think there is something wrong with MoJo's shoulder or ribs or something that is impairing his puck control. In any case he hasn't been nearly as good at setting up Skinner as he was pre-injury. But Skinner needs to be better in any case.

Settle down young fella. I've watched the games just like (presumably) you have -- so I don't think anyone should start throwing around words like "dishonest" and "just glanced at the box scores." As for what seems to be your core point -- you are right that since the original assertion related to "every time Jack has played the Leafs," it is correct to include the games from Jack's rookie year. I don't expect that anyone would really be interested in debating whether Jack was best before Matthews arrived, but if one wants to be a stickler, there you go. IMHO the real issue is whether Jack has been better than Matthews, which is how I interpreted the original assertion. And while I agree that you unleashed a torrent of verbiage in support of your position, I don't think you "unequivocally" demonstrated anything other than an unwillingness to face the reality that Matthews has been better -- as he was again last night.

Fantastic.

The Leafs clearly have more talent at forward (and I sure hope no one is going to point to last night’s game as an example of Eichel outplaying Matthews) and in net. But the Sabres can beat the Leafs when the Sabres bring their A game. Unfortunately, that’s not what the Sabres brought last night. Not even close, and highly disappointing.

It wasn’t just which guy got to play on McD’s line. Matthews has a much bigger role, and played much better, than Eichel in that tournament.

So I guess Mitts' 1st game in Rochester is tomorrow night (Wed).

Until this season, Matthews was the better player. Last year, Matthews had 37 goals and 73 pts in 67 games and was the best player on a playoff team, while Eichel had 28 goals and 82 pts in 77 games, and captained his team to yet another terrible and underachieving season. At least 26 NHL GMs would've taken Matthews over Eichel. They are both outstanding skaters. Eichel is a better playmaker and passer, but Matthews has until this year, and probably still is, a better goalscorer, which is the most important skill there is. Eichel is also a better 2-way player, but that wasn't the case until this year, and there is no reason Matthews can't catch up there. Including Barkov and Draisaitl in your list above is nuts IMHO. That is indeed what I was thinking of. An objective coaching staff trying to win games (with a bunch of big-name NHL coaches -- Todd McLellan, Jon Cooper, Peter DeBoer and Dave Tippett) preferred Matthews to Eichel. Does it really matter? No, but it's another data point as to which guy was considered better in prior years.