nfreeman

FWIW, I think Stamkos would only come to the Sabres if they offer the most cash. If he wants to win, he'll stay in TB, and if he wants to go home, he'll go to Toronto -- which will almost certainly offer the most cash anyway. And while I would love to add Stamkos, I'm not interested if it means they have to unload Kane, ROR or Reinhart for cap reasons (Eichel is of course inconceivable). And no one is going to take Moulson. However, I'm not sure that one of those guys would need to be unloaded. The Canadian dollar will probably rebound at some point in the next couple of years, which will increase the cap again.

Ask yo momma about that.

IMHO this is unjustified and unnecessary race-baiting. Exactly. Plenty of times (speaking for myself, of course, although I'm comfortable that the same is true for everyone here). But that guy could easily have killed someone. Also -- it wasn't TBN that fired him -- it was his employer.

See, everyone thinks I'm the mean one, but others are much more dangerous.

You wouldn't trade McGinn plus a #3 for a #1? I think the bleach fumes may be affecting you...

The Sabres aren't going to get a #1 for any of their rentals unless they include at least a #3.

How do we know this? I agree that if he wants to win, he should stay in TB -- but the fact that he hasn't signed yet would tend to support the view that it's more about the Benjamins than about winning.

But Phaneuf is still a real NHL player. He plays over 22 min per game, is on a 40-pt pace, produces a respectable number of SOG and hits, and still serves as an intimidator on D. Moulson, OTOH, would not be in the NHL at this point if not for his contract.

Exactly. And I'm trying to work here.

When I was a kid, Mal Davis was the prospect I wanted to make the show and hit it big. His wrist shot was incredible -- it seemed like whenever he got it off in the high slot he'd bury it in the top corner.

The wings at the Gate are indeed awesome. Still, this post contained an alarmingly high level of TMI.

Well, in the 10 games since Lehner's return, he's started 6 and CJ has started 4, so it hasn't seemed that clear-cut.

Is Lehner confirmed? He seems to be moving into the #1 slot but has still been mostly alternating with CJ.

When your in-laws sound like the guys in "Good Will Hunting" you pick up a few things.

Byfuglien re-signs for 5 years, $38MM -- making those of us who predicted $7.5MM or so per year look pretty clevah indeed.

I will be amazed if someone does this.

$4MM x 4 years is too much, IMHO. I'd probably max out at $3.5MM x 3 years.

I appreciate the partisan support here gentlemen. Still, Marchand is past Risto, who has no stick (which of course is another part of the story), Risto puts one hand on Marchand's hip and another on his leg and pulls Marchand back to him, at which point Risto shoves him. I don't think the shove was a penalty, but the pull-back was.

Well, if that had been Eichel streaking in and getting grabbed by a Bruins defenseman, would anyone here have felt a PS was not justified (leaving the McGinn non-call out of it)?

Here's a somewhat contrary view: I liked the PS call. I thought Risto grabbed Marchand with both hands, pulled him back and then shoved him -- and if Risto hadn't done so, Marchand would've had an unimpeded breakaway. A PS is supposed to be called when the defender commits a foul to break up an unimpeded breakaway -- so it was the right call IMHO. Having said that, I also think the McGinn play should've resulted in a PS. Separately: - That was a great hockey game. - Lehner is looking more and more like the real deal. He's playing great and I loved the way he was breathing fire after the game. - As for whether he should've made the save on Marchand -- there's a reason Kotalik scored pretty much every time in the shootout on the high backhand: it's pretty freaking hard to do, and it's pretty freaking hard to stop. - As noted upthread, Larsson-Kane-Gionta has become a heckuva 3rd line. They seem to hem the opposition in on the forecheck better than any other Sabres' line. They also have increased the general Sabres-watching entertainment factor, as each of the top 3 lines is legitimately interesting now. - Moulson got another shot to play with good scorers, taking Foligno's spot with Eichel and Zemgus, and did zero with it. - I liked Bogo-Pysyk again. - Boston was the better team and had many more scoring chances than the Sabres, but the Sabres got very good goaltending and a few fortunate breaks to stay in it -- and they didn't give up or shrink a-tall from the physical game. They have heart and maybe now they have goaltending; they need more finish. All in all, I was encouraged and thoroughly enjoyed the game.

I watched the first 5 seasons and then bailed. It was pretty good, although I think I read that it went downhill. I thought the actress that played Dexter's sister was terrific.

So my wife and I sprung for Showtime in order to binge-watch "Homeland." We're 4 episodes into season 1 and so far it's pretty good, although not quite as good as "The Americans" IMHO.

Nice write up. Thanks. Do AHL games typically have 1 ref?

I'd like to see Lehner make a bid for "unquestioned #1" status tonight.

Your points are all reasonable in the abstract. However: 1 and 2 - The anecdotal evidence is consistent with no presumption of innocence -- which is why many of these colleges are losing lawsuits. Are you aware of anecdotal evidence that is consistent with a presumption of innocence? 3 -- The NR article I posted was co-authored by a Democrat who, unfathomably, voted for Obama twice and donated to his campaign -- and was targeted more at Congressional Republicans (including, unfortunately, Rubio) for rolling over on this issue.