nfreeman

Excellent work again JSB.

Bumpity bump!

3 years????!!!! Love the optimism, but...

Skinner is a maniac.

Flagg -- I think you know that for those who are either trusting management on the ROR decision or at least giving them the benefit of the doubt, ROR's issues weren't his interviews. It was the overall effect his presence had on his teammates. The interviews were just the manifestation of those issues that were most visible to outsiders (ie us). Sometimes at work, an employee can be good at making his/her numbers, but no one wants to work with him/her or be around him/her, and the overall effect is to drag down the company's performance. That employee isn't "good at his/her job" -- because part of the job is not to drag down those around you. Again, I respect your statistical analysis (apparently more than you respect my metaphysical speculation, but that's OK). But I think it has its limitations.

Flagg -- I get your point. It's not unreasonable. But it's also not just about the numbers. It's pretty clear that there were major problems with the team's mental makeup over the past few seasons. The guys who run hockey teams for a living were in much better positions than we are to evaluate those problems and to come up with solutions. One of those solutions was to ship ROR out. So far, the combined effect of the various solutions they implemented has been a pronounced improvement in the team. Would this improvement have occurred anyway if they had kept ROR but implemented all of the other solutions? Maybe, maybe not. We'll never know. But the team is unquestionably faster and better, and they seem to like each other more. And (trigger warning!) it can't be ignored that STL is 2-7 and DFL in their division.

I mentioned this in another thread, but I think it's deserving of its own thread. I think this line is playing great. So far they are doing everything you'd want a true checking line to do -- they are getting matched up against the opposition's top line (and it seems like Howie has them starting most periods in order to get these matchups), bearing the burden of defensive-zone faceoffs, backchecking very effectively and frequently forcing possession in the other team's offensive zone with good forechecking -- thus killing the shifts of the opponents' top lines. I'm also pleasantly surprised in that Howie putting this line together seems to have rescued the careers of Zemgus and Larsson (whom I and I think many others were ready to move on from over the summer). It's also rescued Berglund from new-whipping-boy status, at least in my book. Last night this line got essentially the same amount of ES ice time as the Sheary-Sobotka-Reino line and more than the ERod-Mitts-KO line. If TT, Nylander, CJ Smith or Olofsson is going to force his way into the lineup, it doesn't look like -- at least for now -- that it will come at the expense of anyone on this line. I can't remember the last time the Sabres had a checking line that was this good -- probably during the Peca era?

OK -- just googled it and watched the video. Outstanding.

There’s an outbreak of TMI on this board.

Let’s keep our pants on here. We all like Pommer, but he is on his last legs. Any decision about bringing him back should be made at the end of the season. It’s not like a bunch of teams are going to be pursuing him.

That was another win of the sort that a team gets when it has heart. I thought Berglund had his best game as a Sabre. His line is the best classic checking line I can remember the Sabres having in a long time. For that matter all 4 lines seem to be clicking pretty well. I thought Nelson was kinda shaky. I think we’ll se Beaulieu next game. Scandy also sub-par tonight. I also thought Mitts was not great on the PP, which led to KO getting his spot on that last one. Excellent game from McCabe and another solid one from Bogo. Columbus will be a step up in class — let’s see if they do better than they did against Vegas and SJ. Go Sabres.

Is it wrong to really really want to be 6-4 and not 5-5?

TMI, but I chuckled. Casey or Reino scoring would be nice.

Well, I suppose it depends on how you look at the debate. If it's "who had the best 11-year run?" -- it's MJ (or Bill Russell, but that was before my time). OTOH, it's certainly legitimate to think that even though MJ or Russell had the best 11-year run, Lebron could, if he keeps it up, including in the playoffs, have the best 18-year run, even if he didn't have an 11-year stretch that was as good as MJ's or Russell's -- and that you'd rather have the guy who had the 18-year run on your team than the guy who only gave you 11 years. In any case though we have to remember that no one got to have Lebron on his team for Lebron's entire career, since he jumped around a few times, while Bulls fans got the full 11 years with their guy without seeing him bail on them for another team. As for GS, it's certainly possible that one or both of Klay and KD leave, but I think it's more likely that both stay. I will be very surprised if KD joins the Knicks, who are a terrible organization, or really any team that isn't an immediate title contender once he joins. Of course, if KD and Leonard were both to join the Nets, that would be pretty sweet indeed.

Well, I would love for either Leonard or Butler to end up with Lebron, as I think that, combined with growth from the Lakers' kids, would present a true threat to GS.

@Hoss -- I don't think it's a tossup. First, it's pretty clear that Pippin's trade demand was about the Benjamins: - from an AP article at the time of Pippen's trade demand: https://www.apnews.com/2374445c97f79986cccb9bd8608a1bc1 - from a Chicago Tribune article at the time: http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1997-11-25/sports/9711250244_1_scottie-pippen-bulls-phil-jackson Second, it's also pretty clear that Kyrie was sick of being the 2nd banana to Lebron, and wanted to be top dog on his own team: - from a podcast with Bill Simmons and David Griffin, Cleveland's former GM: https://www.theringer.com/the-bill-simmons-podcast/2018/5/9/17337792/david-griffin-bill-simmons-podcast-kyrie-irving-lebron-james - from a lengthy espn feature on Kyrie: http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/21941260/nba-playing-lebron-winning-nba-title-kyrie-irving-decided-move-question-why Now, it's quite possible that Kyrie is simply a nut case, and that his departure should not reflect badly on Lebron. But it's hard to overlook the fact that neither Butler nor Leonard has listed the Lakers -- but both have listed the Clippers! -- in their list of preferred destinations.

IIRC, Pippen's trade demand was over his contract, not over dissatisfaction with being MJ's teammate. I also think he's gone both ways on the MJ/Lebron issue.

Someone reported it over the weekend and I didn’t read the report or the thread until last night. Good decision. Those 3-4 pages were not the board’s finest hour.

So my wife and I watched "Game Night," which is in the rotation on HBO. Pretty enjoyable comedy/thriller with a really good cast (Jason Bateman, Rachel McAdams, Kyle Chandler, Jesse Plemons). Solid B-plus for a home watch.

Jordan was the better scorer, the better shooter and the better defender. He was also more clutch, more determined and more competitive. The idea of him losing in the finals to an inferior team, like Lebron and the Heat lost to Dallas, was simply inconceivable. The idea of his team being a bottom-echelon defensive team, like Cleveland was last year and the Lakers appear to be this year, was also inconceivable. I also don't agree that Lebron is the better athlete. He's bigger and stronger, but Jordan was quicker and a better leaper. Finally, although I admire Lebron, and think he's probably a better guy to hang out with than Jordan was, there is something about him that other great players seem to find off-putting. No one ever left Jordan the way Kyrie left Lebron, and it looks like Butler and Leonard aren't interested in playing with Lebron either.

For the record: JJ50's hands were not clean in that recent bit of psychodrama (and I'm not referring to the OP about Eichel and Trocheck, but rather to a couple of obnoxious posts by him that followed), but Sabel's posts, plus a few others, were much worse and were way out of line.

OK, but to keep it logical, we should only revisit after back-to-back good wins that bring the Sabres above DeLuca .500 in which Skinner scores 4 goals.

When I saw this thread, for a minute my hopes jumped that XB had returned. If anyone knows him and can lure him back, please do so. *This post has been brought to you by the Matt Ellis of the mod team.

Negative.

Aren't those the same lines that we saw in the last 2 games? Also: I think the "Practice Report" threads are great.