nfreeman

Good stuff here sir. Keep it coming please. But did you mean "high panic threshold" or perhaps "low panic frequency?" i.e. doesn't panic easily? I would guess so. In any case I like this summary of OP's game and would just add: - He probably won't develop a real edge, but he needs more overall sturdiness. This will almost certainly come with age. - On offense, this currently manifests in a pretty weak shot. He doesn't have either a good slapper or a good wrister. I think this too will come with age. He has the hands, the feet and the brains. - He's had a few games this year that made me think he can become a great player. - I think Byram is going to stay with Dahlin, and that this will create a coveted #4 spot with Power to be competed over by Ryan Johnson, the 2 Russian D prospects, and Bryson over the next couple of years.

Well done Sabres and well done SabreSpace. 1 over DeLuca .500 and coming home. Good goaltending and good coaching make such a huge difference. Krebs is playing the best of his career. I think his goal was the most skilled offensive play I’ve ever seen from him. That was probably the best game of the season from both Cozens and Quinn. Kulich looks more comfortable and aggressive to me than he did earlier in the season. Dahlin has his offensive mojo back but still isn’t playing smart, winning hockey like a captain should. And he and BB are meshing pretty well. Clifton isn’t a star but he is giving them good value and plays with heart. JJP has been very quiet lately. Next up they are home vs Minny, which is tied for 2nd in the NHL with 30 pts, then home vs Vancouver, which is tied with the Sabres with 23 pts, then at the Islanders (which I’ll be attending with a hearty squad of 6 Sabres fans). Go Sabres.

Well, sure, but this isn’t every team. This team has richly earned the unserious label.

It's also worth noting IMHO that their PP, PK and goaltending are all cooking. And TT is on close to a 60-goal season pace.

This is freaking gold. An early holiday gift. Thank you good sir. Yes, but it was 2 tragic decisions. The first was the dismantling of the great 2005-06 team, which culminated in firing Lindy. Then the abomination you are referring to. I'm glad you're back, but this is really begging for a big honking red X.

We all know this, but the Sabres have won 6 out of 8 and are now at DeLuca .500, which is a real and important thing. Here comes a test of their mental toughness, as they start another game about 20 hours after the end of their previous game, this one against a team they can beat if they bring it. Will they be pleased with themselves, take their foot off the gas and reveal themselves again to be not serious people? Or will they come out like a serious, hungry team?

I thought the same thing last night. Quinn was pretty aggressive and decisive last night in creating offense. His wrister, which is his money-maker, is still off kilter though. Still I think he's on the right track back to being an effective player. I'd be pretty happy to tune in tonight and see TT and UPL playing. OTOH, this is probably the right call if it was any kind of muscle strain or similar.

Anora was excellent and very funny.

I vote no sale for 2 reasons: - I don't think TP will move the team under any circumstances -- and I think any sale increases that likelihood from zero to at least 50%. Others may be OK with that outcome, which is their right. I am not OK with it. - I think TP has tried and will continue to try to make the Sabres a contender. The 2nd reason is the tricky one, as it's hard to reconcile that belief with the unavoidable fact of the Sabres being among the lowest-payroll teams for the past few years. I do expect that to end as early as this summer, as I expect more fat extensions to go to guys like JJP, Byram and even Quinn if and when he starts to play better (which I think he will). I also think that if Lindy gets them into the playoffs, which is reasonably likely, the Sabres will cease to be viewed as a NFW by free agents and will spend to bring in a couple of the right guys. I also don't expect TP ever to let a key piece leave because he doesn't want to pay him, which, as many here will recall, has not been the case under previous owners.

I didn't see a minute of this one, but I woke up to learn that UPL shone and the Sabres are 1 under DeLuca .500, with 2 winnable games coming up this weekend vs Anaheim and SJ. They've now won 5 of 7 since that 3-game losing streak. It's hard to be confident that they will show up and play hard in both of their next 2, but still -- they could return from this roadie above .500 and looking like a semi-real team for the first time in a long, long time.

You're right about the rules and that the PE investors don't have control -- but they will still have the ear of the controlling owners and will certainly try to convince them. These are skilled, articulate professionals who create presentations and financial models for a living and they are going to be constantly banging the drum on this. I could be wrong, but I think the 10% limit is the total permitted PE ownership for each team -- so there wouldn't be a few different 10% PE investors.

$560MM and climbing! I still can't believe TP agreed to fund all overruns -- although I seem to remember that he fired the guy who negotiated the deal with the state not too long after the deal was signed -- maybe that was the reason. As for the "will the team leave" discussion -- I'd guess we're safe on that for as long as TP owns the team, and after that for as long as the team is good -- but when winter comes, as it always does, the risk will escalate precipitously. If the team stinks, that stadium will be half-empty for the games in the 2nd half of the season and it will produce 75% less revenue than stadiums in bigger markets produce. The PE investors will be smart, persuasive and insistent about moving the team, and there will be plenty of buyers interested in writing a huge check if they can move it to Toronto or other big market. Nothing lasts forever.

Well, I was lucky enough to be at the stadium today. What an incredible day. One great play after another, on both sides of the ball. I think every seat was occupied until the very end. And JA's TD run to put the game away, especially against that defense and that team, was one of the best football plays I've ever seen live. That was legit Michael Jordan beating the Cavs in game 5 at the buzzer stuff. Also, I freaking love the Ralph, warts and all. Go Bills.

Respectfully, you guys are missing the most important points about Hollins: - He doesn't wear shoes. - He doesn't use elevators -- not out of a phobia, but because he doesn't want to rise to a level that he hasn't earned. - He doesn't use silverware when he eats. He's an authentic free spirit, and I'd guess that everyone likes him and he makes the vibe in the room better.

So Joki is just a permanent healthy scratch now? In a contract year? Trade request incoming.

I think there were very few FAs last summer who both were good enough to be difference-makers in a playoff quest and were willing to come here. So I think it's pretty uncertain whether just spending more last summer would've given them a better chance at making the playoffs. If Lindy is able to fully right the ship, get them into the playoffs and get them to play a smart, tough, professional game, then the home games will be fun and raucous and next summer they'll be a much more desirable destination and have many more options in FA and trade. We'll have to see, if that happens, whether TP is willing to spend on a pricey acquisition. I also think it's at least 50/50 that Quinn turns things around in the next month or so, has a really strong 2nd half and makes it clear that he's good enough for a big contract. I could also see them keeping one or both of Greenway and Zucker next year at more or less their current salaries.

Geez. Thanks for letting us know SDS. God bless him and his family.

I agree with the broader point about not spending to the cap, but not with these examples. As noted upthread, Byram was more expensive than Mitts when acquired and almost certainly on his next contract as well (and I expect the Sabres to keep him). And neither Vegas nor Florida was going to give up one of their expensive stars in the Eichel/Reino trades. OTOH, all of this is fair. Still, if Lindy gets them into the playoffs this year, I expect them to give fat extensions to JJP and Byram, and possibly Quinn if he removes head from rectum, and perhaps sign a solid FA, and overall get much closer to the cap.

Exactly the info I was looking for. And if it wasn't clear what a hopeless Sabres optimist I am...I just started UPL today in fantasy over Jake Oettinger (although to be fair, Dallas is in Winnipeg, which has won 13 of 14 to start the season). Come on Sabres. Give those fans a good show so they come back for more.

I'm not optimistic yet, but they have 4 winnable games in the next 8 days (Flames, Habs, Blues and Flyers). If they win 3 of those, they'll have won 5 out of 6 and gotten back to DeLuca .500 -- after most of us were ready to leave them for dead yet again (and deservedly so, to be sure). And Dahlin, UPL, Cozens and Quinn are looking much better, Benson is back and looking pretty good and a number of guys are playing with some fire in the belly...

Just for yuks, I'll point out that the longest field goal record, at 63 yards, was held for over 40 years by Tom Dempsey, who made the kick while playing for the Saints but who finished his career with the Bills. Dempsey was born with no fingers on his right hand and no toes on his right foot, which was his kicking foot. His kicking shoe was squared off in a pretty striking manner.

Well, I'm not throwing Lindy over and I still have enough optimism about the players that I'm not willing to trade them for an average roster. So that leaves TP and KA. I think the Sabres have unquestionably gotten below-average GM'ing from KA. For TP, I think it comes down to whether you think the average owner is substantially more likely than TP is to move the team or sell it to someone who will. If the question assumes that the average owner is the same as TP on this point or better (i.e. less likely than TP to move the team or sell it to a pirate) -- then the answer has to be trading TP for the average owner, since the team has utterly fallen off the table on his watch. If the question makes no assumptions about the average owner on this point, then I'll keep TP and trade KA, because my biggest ownership issue by far is franchise security, and #2 is willingness to spend to keep good players, and I have no doubts about TP in these areas, whereas I think the average owner would be much more suspect than TP on these. YMMV, of course.

I think you're right, and I think Lindy likes Cozens, and I would be pretty surprised if he were scratched. I was just offering up an example of a bold statement.

Gilbert and Kulich in for... Samuelsson and Quinn? Or maybe a much louder statement: Bryson, Gilbert, Kulich and Benson in for Byram, Samuelsson, Quinn and Cozens? Either way -- they played one of their worst games of the season last night, then had to travel and play a road game tonight against a motivated opponent. If they lose tonight they are 4 and 8 and the season is already slipping away -- because teams that end up 4 games below DeLuca .500 don't make the playoffs or draw good crowds for home games. Nor do they deserve them.

Loser teams give up a goal right after they score one, and loser teams take dumb penalties while trailing with 10 min left in the game. The stink of losing is still well soaked into this team.