nfreeman

Early season irrational exuberance on SabreSpace notwithstanding, I don't see how anyone could not choose McDavid out of these 4.

You could probably express your opinion here without calling those who disagree with you "naive."

It was a 10-year period that included 6 years after his owner ripped the heart out of his team through cheapness and incompetence -- which, BTW, was the 2nd time an owner did that to Lindy's team during his tenure. I agree with your 2nd point though -- I don't think it was a dishonorable move by Darcy to fire Lindy. Those are the rules of the road. Oh, yes. Certainly during my adult life. Unforgettable. I don't think so, because both of them wanted and obtained jobs after being fired by the Sabres -- and generally speaking the coach/GM's new salary is netted against the one being paid by the team that fired him.

Welcome to the board. I disagree with pretty much everything in this post. First, Darcy was terrible at drafting forwards, and average at drafting other positions. Second, Lindy got the Sabres to the final 4 twice after 2003.

Mean Girls was pretty good.

This is the right call for Winnipeg. Byfuglien is a difference-maker and periodic force of nature, and Ladd is JAG.

Thank heaven (and WC). I'd like to hear more about the Spanish teacher. That place is awesome. Have fun.

Great goal, but atrocious defense.

This. I thought he should've been fired a couple of years before he was, and he undeniably built a lousy team during the last 5-6 years of his tenure here, but I also thought he was a good guy and a gentleman.

Correct. Just a bunch of temper tantrums.

He was joking you hoser. I'd guess $7.5MM per year and I wouldn't be shocked if it gets to $8MM. I was listening to a hockey podcast hosted by a pretty knowledgeable Kings fan recently and he said the working assumption is that Lucic is gone and that the Kings aren't going to try to keep him (for cap reasons -- they like his play but can't afford to keep him).

I will ask again: what is the support for this claim?

Well, the people who are interested in this topic are the ones who are in this thread. I think SDS' point is that trolling can have the opposite effect -- i.e. turn people off to the point they stop coming to the board. How so? Please be specific.

I don't think he's a troll, full stop, but I do think (as I mentioned upthread) that he from time to time engages in trolling. Abso-freaking-lutely.

I agree. What are these questionable actions? Well, you're assuming away the issue here, innit? SDS (and I, FWIW) thought the OP wasn't a real opinion -- just trolling. Now, you and others may disagree with this assessment, and I think it's perfectly fine to discuss whether or not the OP's concerns are justified, but I don't agree with characterizing SDS' or chz's responses to the OP as any kind of stifling of dissent. As to the first bolded part: what are these actions? Please be specific. As to the 2nd: getting rid of trolls is, by definition, a good thing. Also: I don't see how anyone could read any thread on this board and infer a push towards conformity. The last paragraph is nonsense.

OK, thanks. If that's the implication -- it's been 5 years of the Pegulas throwing money at the franchise. I don't see how anyone could question their support.

The notion that the Sabres have not been "supported" by the Pegulas is ridiculous on its face. Please cite a single example of the Pegulas' lack of support.

You're both right. IMHO, PAFan is a great poster here who is very funny, has a strong sense of history and generally adds a lot of value. I missed him greatly when he went into exile a few years ago. However, notwithstanding Aud Smell's dead-on observation as to the utility of provacateurs in forums like this one, I think PAFan from time to time not only treads the fine line between interesting provocation and trolling, but smashes through it entirely. He seems to be afflicted by the fear and loathing of the wealthy, and broader ignorance of and hostility toward the private sector, that has led WNY's economy to ruin in the last few generations -- and it leads to a relentless campaign against Golisano/Pegula/Lindy/Miller/whoever the latest rich dude in the spotlight is that is often based on thin air and frequently tiresome. This thread was baseless trolling, IMHO, and SDS was 100% right to describe as such.

Nonsense. I think what this actually represents is another bad side effect of the tank. The team has been freaking awful for what seems like forever, despite signs of life and 3 highly promising new players (4 if Lehner is included), they are still flirting with last place and attending to a game still costs a lot of money in a crappy economy. It is entirely natural for demand to be reduced -- frankly it's a freaking miracle that they've sold as many tickets as they have -- and it's just as natural for the team to try to sell tickets in Ontario. It's not a sinister plot by a nefarious, meddling billionaire taking a break from raping the earth in order to steal from you and/or pimp out your birthright. It's a sports team trying to sell tickets. You'd rather TP just take the loss than sell to Leafs fans because, hey, it's not your money! Let us know when your outrage reaches the point where you reach into your pocket -- not someone else's -- and, say, buy 2 season tickets and give them to charity to keep them out of the hands of Leafs fans.

Dude -- you cannot talk like this here.

Ah yes. A familiar refrain: "I want XYZ, and I want someone else to pay for it, because he can afford it. And I want to criticize him endlessly for not giving me what I want, right now."

I've heard that, due to orders coming from "up high," the bacon served in the breakfast buffet has been changed from hearty thick cut to applewood smoked slab. That blasted meddler TP! When will it end?

There were a few seasons where Max was just a thrilling player to watch.

fixed it for ya, hoser.

Here's a question: my wife and I are considering starting "Lost" as our new Netflix binge-watch. I've never seen a single episode. Does anyone have any opinions on it? Thanks.