nfreeman

Well, I posted in the other thread that I thought this was crazy, and I am still quite skeptical. I have a hard time believing that leadership/positivity/communication/culture will overcome the handicaps he will face due to lack of familiarity with opposing NHL coaches, players and tactics. It's also hard to ignore the undeniable fact that JB appears to have whiffed on a non-negligible number of major decisions during his short tenure. But but but... They really are dying for someone to muscle them out of the idiotic-tank-induced loserville quicksand that they stupidly jumped into -- and this is more of a mental challenge than a physical one. Maybe Mr. Positive Attitude/Culture/etc. is the guy. And RK seems like a guy who could be smart enough and big-picture enough to figure out and implement best practices across a range of areas -- analytics, nutrition, matchups, etc. And knowledgeable hockey people do seem quite impressed with him. And maybe fortune does favor the bold. And maybe if you hire 5 coaches eventually you stumble into the right one. Now please find us a goalie JB and don't be wrong on RK either.

Whoa. That is pretty horrible stuff. Has it been confirmed that Keefe was one of the guys who testified on Frost's behalf? That article didn't name the players who did so. Seconded.

Am I the only one who thinks this is nucking futs? The guy's total NHL experience consists of 1 season -- 2012-13! -- with the Oilers, in which his record was 19-29. Since 2013, his only hockey coaching experience of any kind was coaching Team Europe in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. He's been running a GD soccer team -- which finished 17th in a 20-team league last year and 16th this year. I have no reason to doubt that he's a smart, talented guy, but still. This is an irrational fascination with the latest exotic flavor-of-the-month. I will be amazed if JB puts what are probably his remaining NHL GM eggs in this basket.

No doubt. My point is simply that despite all the vague allusions in this thread, there is zero information in any of the articles posted (other than a reference in the anonymous reddit post to rumors about parties with young girls) about Keefe’s involvement with Frost’s misdeeds.

Sophie Turner (Sansa) is starring in the next X-Men movie.

I agree with the poster upthread who said it was too long to copy entirely into a post here. Here is the link to the reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/hockey/comments/4vyd9y/wayback_wednesday_brampton_boys_the_four_horsemen/ And here is the only unsavory detail about Frost I saw: This is yet another article that really sheds zero light on what exactly Keefe allegedly did with Frost.

Correct -- NP providing a link to the reddit post. (Sorry -- I deleted the entire text box as it was the only way to delete the article.)

Please delete the text of the article -- we can't copy entire articles on this board. You can copy a couple of excerpts -- I would suggest the ones that relate to Keefe directly. You can unlock once that is done. thanks.

No thank you. For anyone who wants this guy: can you explain why?

Thanks @Thorny. Unfortunately that article, in a major failing, didn’t say why he refused to shake the commissioner’s hand. And we still have zero information about any involvement with Frost’s misdeeds, despite multiple vague allusions upthread.

Locked until the OP fixes the title.

Does anyone have any specifics on what Keefe’s involvement/regrettable conduct was? I clicked on 2 of the links up thread and didn’t see anything. (I’m not a big fan of Gare Joyce’s work, by the way, and his piece did nothing to improve my opinion of it.) if you’ve got something informative, pls post a link.

Do you think the next episode opens with the archers immediately firing on Dany, Tyrion, etc in a continuation of the last scene from E4? That would be interesting but I doubt it.

I don't see any reason to come into a optimism thread and foul the punch bowl.

My prediction: Dany does not become the mad queen. Nevertheless, Sansa's machinations get Dany killed (with that result perhaps not being specifically intended by Sansa) and we are left with the possibility, as the show concludes, that Sansa has gone over to the dark side.

Another shot at Harrington from Vogl? If so, (i) Harrington really must've been a peach to be around and (ii) this doesn't reflect well on Vogl either.

Well, it seems pretty likely that MacL turned them down in favor of LA.

Yes! I'm in. My personal causes for optimism: - I think whomever JB hires as coach will probably do a better job than Howie. - If they get better coaching and better goaltending, those 2 factors by themselves will have a huge impact. - Eichel isn't yet what we all wanted, and certainly was not worth the stupid tank, but on many nights is a thrilling and borderline-elite player. It would not be at all surprising if he blossomed into a top-5 forward this year. - Dahlin had a great rookie year and could become one of the best players in the NHL at any moment. - Skinner was a great pickup and it's still fairly likely that they re-sign him. - Reino had a great 1st half before fading in the 2nd half and showed that his great 2nd half from the prior season wasn't a fluke. It's reasonable to think that he'll show greater consistency as he matures. - One of the other young Swedes (Pilut, Olofsson, Ullmark and Nylander) is likely to develop into a good contributor this year. - There's a good possibility that Montour establishes himself as a very good top-3 defenseman, and perhaps Dahlin's partner. - There will be a decent amount of roster turnover -- JB could bring in someone who proves to be a difference-maker. Go Sabres.

@Huckleberry — why would the iron bank not want Cersei in power? They’ve already had a profitable transaction with her.

The coaching conversation got me thinking about what needs to happen for this team to climb out of the basement. Here's what I came up with: Mission Critical Items -- i.e. the Sabres need substantial improvement in ALL of these just to get to playoff bubble status. If one of them fails, they are dead again. Goaltending Coaching D-zone play Secondary Needs -- i.e. in addition to the mission critical items, they need most of these. Leadership/consistent focus and determination from Jack, Reino, Dahlin and their other top guys Secondary scoring -- i.e. a few of Sheary, KO, TT, Olofsson, Mittsie, Nylander, CJ Smith and ERod to become consistent producers Dahlin continues meteoric development and is pretty close to a star #1 defenseman Re-sign Skinner Montour proves out as a strong top-3 defenseman Risto either steps up his play or is traded for an unquestionably good player who delivers on the ice The above moves plus some others clear the gloom around the franchise and restore the players' confidence in the organization, so that they are less likely to go to pieces the first time adversity hits. ******* It's a lot to ask for, but at the same time each of the items by itself seems reasonably possible. The problem is that the likelihood of most of them hitting is low. And that's the hole that JB has dug for himself via spotty decision-making in his 1st 2 years of running the show.

I listened to the interview that @WildCard mentioned above -- it was with Dobber Hockey's (which is a fantasy site) Finnish correspondent. FWIW, he raved about the FNG -- said he was a very gifted offensive player who plays a complete game -- e.g. he led his team in PK minutes in addition to the scoring categories. I agree with @dudacek that it makes sense to keep taking shots like these -- sooner or later one will hit.

Ryan Lambert, who covers the NHL for Yahoo, was on with Schopp and Bulldog yesterday. https://wgr550.radio.com/media/audio-channel/05-08-ryan-lambert-yahoo-sports-schopp-and-bulldog FWIW, Lambert said, among other things, that most NHL observers think MacL used the Sabres to get a better deal out of LA, and that he thinks the Sabres' job isn't super-attractive due to years of suckitude. My impression is that Lambert isn't as plugged-in as Friedman or some others, but he's not a bozo either.

I feel a bloodbath coming on next episode.

Well, there is some truth to your point about KO, but 2016 was a pretty skinny year for UFAs, and the Sabres seemed poised for an upswing at that point. Since then, they've backslid in year 2 of DDB, gotten GMTM and DDB fired, finished DFL under Howie, then run for the bus at New Year's and gotten Howie canned. The best UFAs may not go to the best organizations, but I think they tend to avoid the teams that stink every year.

I agree that location and $$ are very important, but I think winning organization is just as important. When was the last time an elite UFA went to a lousy organization?