Marvelo

OT - I went shopping for hockey equipment yesterday...they were selling game-used equipment by the LA KIngs at a local Play it Again Sports...I noticed a couple things, besides how expensive it was for game used equipment. First I couldn't believe some of the curves on the sticks of professional players. The curves were huge, especially the Ovechkin. The league must really be desperate for goals to allow hooks like these. Second, browsing the helmets...sure it was a small sample size, but all the helmets were either small or medium. I might say with a fair amount of accuracy that most if not a majority of players in the NHL have small to medium sized heads. Certainly not too many big melons, which would probably get fair amounts of concussions.

I've had at least five or six concussions. If you see the sterling quality of my posts go down, you know why.

Unfortunately, Rick Martin was discovered to have CTE after his death. He only had one concussion during his career, a violent collision which left his leg convulsing in the air. He had 14 fights in his whole career. CTE was previously assumed to only have been for fighters but looking at Martin, maybe they all get it to some degree. How CTE shows up later in life for light head trauma victims, as opposed to heavy head trauma victims, has a slower-developing but equally tragic effect with dementia/ptsd. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/sports/hockey/rick-martin-had-disease-related-to-brain-trauma.html

Again it's wait and see whether Lehner can stay healthy this season. If he stays healthy, he should switch to a regular size stick during the shootout, and not the mini stick he uses during the games. Can't hurt with his shootout record. I think a short leash looks good on Lehner. Glad Botterill has taken off the rose colored glasses on this guy.

McGinn had some true chemistry on our club...I don't think he has scored that much since...On the Sabres, he was agressive and seemed happy. But he overvalued himself. Some players get lost when they've been traded to the wrong team or traded too much. Arizona has been on the verge of moving for years...They always seem like a generic team with no focus. Maybe his bad season or two might lead to a price drop.

I for one am not counting on Okposo at all and frankly I see Girgensons on the 4th line as a waste of a #1 draft pick.

If McGinn was going for a decent salary, I think he'd be a solid re-acquisition. Otherwise, no thanks.

yep,

Funny thing about Conor Sheary...He was just an anonymous 5'8 175 lb. college player at UMass Amherst. He started dating Mike Sullivan's neice. Then they got engaged. Then Sullivan brought him to Wilkes-Barre and then to Pittsburgh when he was hired midseason. Two years, two Stanley Cups. End of story?

Looking up Pouiliot, I was surprised that he seems to be on a different team every year...I wonder why he has not stuck, if it's some personality thing or is he just inconsistent...Seems like a solid 15-19 goal man...

agreed.

Foligno + Ennis = No loss,

If you read Imlach's book "Heaven and Hell in the NHL" you'll find out why Dudley left, why McNabb demanded a trade, the reasoning behind trying to rehab Jacques Richard's career and the goaltending fiascos played out year after year. Plus all of the other dramas with Schoenfeld, Ramsay, Gare, Rick Martin, and others. Stuff I never knew and was fascinated to read about. We shouldn't forget that the Knoxes appointed Imlach in 1970 and he had a heart attack in 72 and had to step down as coach...

The Rigas and Golisano regimes had immediate success, even if they built off the previous regimes. The erratic Pegulas have been an epic failure so far but not from a lack of trying. The others just didn't have to build a team from the ashes like the Pegulas did.

LOL, Steering the ox.

Great link. You can look up the trades by Imlach (most of his trades from 77 on were for cash), Regier, Bowman, Meehan (who pulled off the Hasek, Mogilny Hawerchuk and Lafontaine deals) and the rest, which is fascinating. ..Lots of hockey failure came through Buffalo on those trades through the years..and a few shining examples of success too. I was reading "Heaven and Hell in the NHL," Punch Imlach's book, a great read that covers his tenure with the Sabres, He said the '74-75 team should have won the cup but for the goaltending and then stalled after that. FF to '99 and the Sabres had the Stars goalie beat but not so much for the rest of the team. I believe that Punch got lucky that he won the lottery on Perreault instead of getting a Dale Tallon. The fact that Tim Murray didn't get Connor McDavid (although Eichel is no Dale Tallon) and Ekblad may have ruined his regime. I did not like how he was given such a short leash but what's done is done. Being lucky helps. The great enabler/preventer is ownership. They all choked in the clutch along with the GMs. None of the GMs, management or owners could really put it together at the end for a Cup so I wouldn't call any of them great, at least not while they were with the Sabres.

Ukko Luukko.

I just don't see Lindy as second banana to anyone so soon after being head coach for 20 years. On the other hand, maybe he just needs to burrow himself into the NYR organization and get a cushy job upstairs.

not a good idea.

Should have picked Tippett.

Knights 1st year coUld possibly the best 1st year of any expansion franchise ever. They look stacked. Sabres 1st sqUad in 1970 was sad.

Friend or not, he should have been tar and feathered for designing that horrible pit stain.

So long to the pit stain, a point of embarrassment for many seasons. I wonder who's the jag that came up with that idea?

Owen Tippett is my #1 pick if he's available.

I don't know how many of you were around when the Sabres went to the Cup Finals in '74-75 but this year's finals reminded me very much of that series so long ago. First Pit went up 2-0 in the series and so did the Flyers over the Sabres, who tied it up 2-2 at home. Then Pit like Phi pulled ahead 3-2, all home wins to this point for both series. Game 5 was a blowout in both series for the eventual winners. Then both the Penguins and Flyers pulled it out in the final game 2-0, scoring done by two pluggers. Both the Pens and Flyers paraded the Stanley Cup on enemy ice while Buf and Nash had to host it. For Parent, it was the second of two straight Conn Smyth. He was the first to ever do this. This year's win over the blue and gold Nashville Predators was also the second of two straight Conn Smyths for Crosby. It was also the second straight Stanley Cup win for both the Pennsylvania-based Pens and Flyers