nfreeman

Briere scored their 2nd and 3rd goal that night. He was fantastic during those 2 great seasons. Such an unforgivable hockey sin to let him and Drury leave. The moment I was thinking of was at 52:58 of that video. It was Lydman who laid out a Hurricane, followed immediately by Kotalik's goal and the crowd reaching peak euphoria and noise levels. That was the perfect match of a thrilling team with peak RJ, plus a great coach and an adoring, raucous crowd. Taken from us far too soon, but two years of great memories.

In person: - Bills defeating KC in the 4th AFC Championship game, sitting with my best friend from childhood, with Cornelius knocking Joe Montana out of the game in Montana's last NFL game. - My son's first NHL game, coinciding with the rebirth of the Sabres in the glorious 2005-06 season -- early that season at the old Nassau Coliseum vs the Islanders, with Tim Connolly, also undergoing a rebirth, playing a beautiful brand of hockey and starting his best season as a pro, tying it up on a sweet goal with a couple of minutes left and Big Al Kotalik winning it in the SO. - Later that season: game 3 of the conf. finals, at home, vs Carolina with my brother. The Sabres won to take a 2-1 series lead and it felt like we were coming to the end of the desert (although Tallinder broke his arm in that game, the first or second in a catastrophic series of injuries on the blue line). At one point in the 2nd period, someone (maybe McKee) laid out one of the Hurricanes with a big hit, the Sabres came down right away and Kotalik blasted in a one-timer from the high slot to put the Sabres up 4-1 and the building felt like it was gonna explode. That was the loudest crowd I've ever heard at a hockey game. - Hasek and Sabres squeaking out game 4 vs Ottawa, 2-1, to complete the sweep in the 1st round of the 1999 playoffs. - 1993 NBA Eastern Conference Finals, Knicks vs Bulls, game 2: I was relatively new to NYC and got a group together to share Knicks season tickets. This was peak Michael Jordan vs Pat Riley, Pat Ewing, Charles Oakley and the brutal Knicks. With a couple of minutes left in a very close game, John Starks, a guard who was bagging groceries before Riley rescued his career, went flying down the baseline for a huge dunk and the Knicks hung on for the win. - A bunch of fantastic college basketball games.

What did he say exactly?

Season 5 of Fargo is pretty good so far. The woman from Ted Lasso is surprisingly good.

This team can't be taken seriously.

I generally am a TP defender, but I would guess that the lack of cap space deals is because TP hasn't been interested in burning more cash on the Sabres than he currently is (which I expect is a considerable amount).

Thanks for your follow-up here. I appreciate you (and everyone else here) making sure to keep it friendly. Anyway, I don't think my stance on Mitts has been "unwavering." I think he's developed into a good player -- and there was a real risk a few years ago that he would simply wash out -- and in the abstract I would like to keep him on the Sabres. The problem, of course, is the cost to do so, which unavoidably needs to be evaluated in the context of his actual value as well as the context of the Sabres' cap situation. He's a center who last year had 15 goals and 59 pts. This year he's on pace for about the same # of goals and closer to 75 pts. He just turned 25 and he's an RFA after this year. Locking up a player with that kind of profile will probably require something like 7 years x $7MM per year. When I watch Mitts, I see a good player who adds value in a supporting role, but not a player that I'd want to give that kind of contract, which is the kind of contract I think needs to be reserved for franchise cornerstones. Especially in the last couple of weeks, I still see way too much of "bad Casey" -- i.e. poor puck decisions that result in O-zone turnovers and squandered opportunities. I also think in most cases a forward who only scores 15 goals or so isn't worth that kind of contract. And we shouldn't kid ourselves about the consequences of giving Casey 7 years x $7MM -- doing so probably means you're not able to keep someone like Quinn or JJP or Benson when it's time to lock them up long-term. If Mitts would agree to, say, $5MM x 5 years? Sure -- sign him up. But I don't think that's going to happen. Since Mitts has been eligible to sign an extension for 5 months now and it hasn't happened, I'd guess that he's asking for substantially more than KA is willing to agree to. We'll see. Hopefully I'll be wrong about him and he'll make it clear that he's too good not to lock up at a high price.

I think Benson is a lock and Mitts is pretty iffy due to the likely cost to keep him (which I think is inflated relative to his actual value).

OK, but that doesn't answer the question as to whether you think they made an offer. The key point I and others have made is that it seems pretty certain that the Sabres made him an offer, which he rejected in favor of another team's offer -- most likely because he thinks the Wings are a better team than the Sabres. Do you disagree with that point? Do you think they made him an offer or not?

So do you think the Sabres made a one-year offer?

Well, I phrased mine as a guess, so there was no certainty implied, at least as to a 2-year offer. However, I think based on the reports from credible NHL reporters and KA's own words, it's almost certain that the Sabres made an offer and that Kane chose Detroit because he felt more confident about them making the playoffs than about the Sabres doing so. I don't think it's reasonable to interpret those reports and statements otherwise.

What's the basis for your apparent certainty that it didn't happen?

Sorry but this sounds like classic jilted fan backlash. I’d guess the Sabres offered a 2-year deal and Kane passed because, having watched them play this year and fail to show up for at least 40% of their games (including 65% of their home games), he concluded that the Sabres aren’t a real team and aren’t worthy of his last few years in the NHL.

Dude.

Good.

I think you mean "herself," and I beg to differ:

Well, Kane is #42 all-time in scoring, he's won 3 Cups and a Conn Smythe and he had 92 pts 2 seasons ago before his injury. When a guy like that joins a new team during the season as a FA, it's noteworthy. If the bolded assumptions are correct, then I agree that this is a loss to the FO. It's not a huge loss, and will be forgotten quickly if Kane is cooked, but for now it sure looks like Kane decided that the Red Wings are simply in better shape than the Sabres are, and likely by a significant margin.

Awesome. Let the record reflect that UPL outplayed Shesterkin tonight. I haven’t like Mitts’ game for a couple of weeks now, but he stepped up tonight in minutes 55-59. Cozens is working hard but still squeezing the stick and making too many cute passes. JJP and Benson are the real deal. Tuch is leading the way right now. All the dmen played pretty well. Good for DM for getting them to turn the page and come out with some heart and determination tonight. Go Sabres.

A lot of coaches didn't win big until they did -- and a lot of coaching changes haven't improved their teams. Remember what happened when the Sabres replaced Lindy with some young hotshot? McD has made some mistakes and has had some bad luck. He's still got them in the playoffs every year, has won a ton of games, home and away, against quality opponents and the players still believe in him. Jalen Hurts, before yesterday, had won 16 out of his last 17 home games, in which he produced 42 TDs. Philly is the best team in the NFL and they still needed a very unlikely long FG in a heavy rain, a brain lock by Gabe Davis and a questionable non-fumble call to get to OT. The Bills are where they are because the offense was freaking terrible for a solid 6 weeks after they beat Miami. Then they fired Dorsey -- for whom JA pushed hard to get the OC job -- and the offense looks transformed. Given the injuries and the schedule, it may be too little, too late. But I'm not throwing the baby out with the bath water.

Well, I went to that debacle of a game in Newark on Sat. night and am not going to spend probably 3x more to go to MSG tonight. I'll probably watch the game, but it's not a certainty. I'm starting to feel like I felt in about year 14 of the Bills' playoff drought -- like until they make some fundamental changes, they aren't going to be a real NHL team, and it's just not worth the time or the missed opportunities to do other, more enjoyable things. The key difference, and the reason that I'm not already out the door, is that the Bills weren't trying, but I think the Sabres still are. That Bills game last night sure didn't help.

I do not want them to fire McD, but this is well said and could very well be true. I remember thinking last night during the game, when they showed McD on the sidelines in the 2nd half, that he didn't look loose and confident -- just the opposite. We'll see. The good news is that JA was terrific, and the offense looked great, for most of the game, so it doesn't appear that the post-Dorsey improvement was a one-game mirage.

...remember that the Bills have a chance to give us a classic Buffalo sports debacle weekend tomorrow!

Levi in. At least he might look good.

Sheesh. I really picked a good one. this is another nail in the “DG isn’t the right guy” coffin IMHO.