Weave

How many cities in Arizona are left that can't minimally support an NHL team?

The Hasek to Detroit trade cannot be beaten for worst ever. It’s not even close.

Would absolutely love if they used all that cap space to fill a hole with a major talent, but this team ain't gonna be put on the ice to win this season.

Yeah, that was no "she knows nothing about hockey". That was an opportunity to show off and mass announce an "I saw Jack" moment.

Has anyone ever seen Thorny and John posting on here at the same time? Hmmmm......

70 points is not a good season under any definition.

I'm not suggesting we made a mistake moving on from him. I just think the guy had the tool box to make an NHL career. He should do quite will in Europe I imagine.

Struck me as a guy that could readily scratch out a decent NHL career. Probably be a star in Europe.

Gawd, those are fugly.

My wife loves a good tomato sandwich. I need meat. Yeah, surprising. I know.

Didn’t bring my kayak to the lake this time. But each time I’ve fished off the dock I’ve caught crappie. Nice sized too.

Aggressive looking little bugger

I don’t know how anyone could look at that lineup and not think “worst in the league”. It is right there with our tank season rosters.

Huh. I always seem to miss the best fireworks.

Received a job offer yesterday and have another prospective employer looking to counter it. They are asking for more time to put everything together. In my field of work I have never heard of signing bonuses but they are both offering them with no strings attached. I don’t get the weird labor market we have going on right now but I am more than happy to take advantage of it. And this morning I watched the sun come up on Chautauqua Lake from the deck of the lake house we are renting this weekend.

I use Pandora very frequently. I have 7 or 8 stations that I actively manage. Everything from jazz and blues to German industrial metal.

Neither do I. I don’t think its a lack of passion. It’s a lack of something else. Its an intangible for sure, and I don’t know how to adequately describe it, so I probably won’t spend much more energy trying to elaborate or defend it.

Eichel and Sam came after. Debate Sam at center as you wish.

Lol I sure hope rational is the basis for the move. If it is emotional, we’re *****.

I don’t think it has to be that severe. Warning, not a well fleshed out theory to follow. I think it plausible (maybe even likely) that Jack loves the concept of NHL hockey alot more than he loves actual NHL hockey. He works extremely hard on his skills, game, and fitness, works plenty hard game day (aside from occasional coasting) but doesn’t embrace the deeper, darker aspects of the NHL game. Derek Roy comes to mind. Most of us remember Roy involved in a scuffle along the boards and reportedly replied with, “c’mon man, it’s just a game”. I could see Jack being a committed, world class skill version of Derek Roy. Yeah, in the context of Roys disrespect by the Sabres fanbase that is pretty heavy criticism, but it explains KAs desire to move on from him. He doesn’t have to be at a Roy level of apathy for the pro game for the team to see it as a red flag. Sure, it could be a narrative in search of a flaw. But the rational reasons for moving on from a world class talent are few.

I see Jacks response to this as symptomatic (not cause of, but a symptom of ((because I know someone won’t make that distinction))) of the reasons why KA doesn’t think Jack is a guy to build around. No, Jack may not have started this, but I suspect Jacks response to this is how Jack may generally respond to negative outcomes. And viewed from that context, I can’t say I have any sympathy. Or any other emotion for that matter. Like Watkins, he just may not be what Buffalo needs to form a cornerstone. And at his salary he absolutely needs to be a cornerstone. Frankly, I trust KA a helluva lot more than I trust the opinions of the fanbase. KA sees Jack regularly, sees the interactions, knows how a locker room should be, and has experienced what a successful team requires. He'll get my benefit of the doubt until shown otherwise. All of us are outsiders with bigger opinions of our opinions than we deserve. Mine included.

Been there, done that. Pretty sure we've been ranked #1 or near #1 in the recent past. Greta big yawn until we see how it really shakes out in 3 yrs or so.

I tend to agree. It appears to me that KA has come to the conclusion that building around Jack isn’t the path he is most comfortable with.

That wasn't blue collar. That was unqualified.