LTS

I was very busy yesterday so if I missed the discussion in a thread, let me know. Not a lot of chatter on the Skills Competition, that I get. But I am surprised this forum wasn't all over the uniforms... https://www.nhl.com/sabres/news/sabres-skills-challenge-recap-jeff-skinner-rasmus-ristolainen/c-303620666 Risto registering 107.5mph slapper? Now.. the uniforms... I really... really like these.

Not a fan of these at all. Forcing us to choose younger people doesn't mean the younger people will be better. Some will lack the experience on how to handle situations. The problem, in my opinion isn't age, it's the machine and the US general population that allows it to persist. If you limit the ages I think you'll get politicians who are more apt to want to set themselves up for life once they are forced to leave office. More corruption, guarantees of consulting gigs, and other jobs after they have to leave office. Term limits, in my opinion, are band-aids to the real problem and at some point someone is going to get really upset when a "GOOD" politician is forced to leave office because of it. It will happen. You'll have Senator X forced to not run and the options will be terrible. The bottom line is that the US population has to become more involved. I think it might actually happen given some of the tendencies of the younger population these days. I just hope that it continues and forces changes. We have the ability to change government and limit terms. We have to use those abilities. Unfortunately, at some point people fall into the trap of becoming more invested in their own lives and just feel that the government will continue to suck. I admitted in the other thread that I am at that point. I want to see change, but I'm burned out. Admittedly there appear to be some good changes elected into power this year in some areas. I had no control over those (not in NYS). I hope there is more of that in the future.

I would step in to say. Arguing Hilary's qualifications should not be done while arguing Trump's. We objectively have no idea how she would have been as President and it doesn't matter at this point when debating how Trump is doing. You can feel that Obama was horrible, but that's not pertinent to Trump other than potentially discussing comparisons on how they handled similar situations. If Obama was a bad President it doesn't make Trump a good one. They could all be horrible. They might all just be politicians in a system that makes them all be horrible because that's what is rewarded. Between Trump's direction federally and NYS's direction I am just prepping myself to be as mobile as possible. Lots of bad combinations resulting in economical situations that are not aligned with my life. I've literally stopped reading or paying attention to the federal government. I've been pushed past the point that I can tolerate. The wins by Democrats virtually assured us of one of the most contentious times in US history as it pertains to governmental operations. I had little faith in the first two years, I have next to none in the next two. It's off to a whiz bang start already. I'm not blaming Democrats here, I am blaming everyone. You have a blowhard in the Oval Office who forces others to play by similar hardball rules and we're seeing what happens when no one wants to give up anything in exchange for moving forward.

I see you! I think there's a signing or trade for a long-term high-value player. I think that comes in the off-season. There's probably a move to bring in even more youth, not just through trades. Depending on how the 1sts play out, if there are 3 this year I would expect 1 to get moved for a player who might be a few years along in development, just to even out the ages and progression. I don't see a 1-2 year contract player coming in who is set for a significant role on the team. (ie. 2C, etc.). The goal would be to promote youth and grow. I have faith in this management group. Even Housley's perplexing line-up decisions are done for a reason I think. It's the most confidence I have had in the team in a long time.

I believe that. Queen has many excellent songs, but overall the albums also have clunkers. Mind you I don't know that I could tell you the songs on each one anymore. I basically just playlist the songs I want to hear and stop thinking about albums these days. Also, having "compilation" albums is a bit of a help, but i would exclude those.... if I had to think about my list.. which I figure I should... Porcupine Tree - The Incident (Steven Wilson is incredible and has a ton of great songs, but this one concept album I think captures so many facets of his talent it's what I would pick) Pink Floyd - The Wall (it's probably not their greatest, but the impact it had on me is why it ranks in my top 5) Miles Davis - ***** Brew (put this on and float away) REM - Fables of the Reconstruction (and torn with Murmur or Reckoning) Metallica - Master of Puppets (although I'm torn between this and ...And Justice For All or Ride the Lightning) There are others.... The problem with Peter Gabriel is that, like Queen, there are some songs on each album that I just don't like and other songs that I think are some of the best things I could ever listen to so it kind of averages it down. This is true for others as well I think

Yes.. in fact.

Sorry you felt that was a sanctimonious beat-down.

Well, your responses leave nothing to discuss. Excellent.

Peter Gabriel is one of my music icons...

He's not officially gone as he can appeal still if i followed the whole process discussion properly. He had 90 days? Moreover, you can't just sign a player in the middle of the season. You have to trade. The money makes things possible, but it doesn't just open up the gates and allow you to do what you want. Giving up assets to get something else may be in the mix. It may be more in the mix, but it's still not in the mix to the point that they are going to deviate from the course just to satisfy a need to make the playoffs this year at the expense of the future.

I'm not sure anyone was amped up about the return for ROR. I think most people fell on the side of gone with the best deal possible or they should have kept him. The return was the return. He's not helping his current team and this team is better. The reasons debated and it boils down to we all know nothing about what was going on. We can act on the results and the results have been positive for Buffalo and negative for St. Louis. I don't care anymore about it. The Berglund factor goes into it. The Sabres would be better, in theory, if he were on the roster. He had a role and he was fulfilling it rather well. For some reason he decided to give up millions of dollars and drop off the face of the Earth. There's a fairly large difference in saying "He can suck it." as opposed to letting the dude piss you off because you are watching the Sabres. I guess people want to carry the hate around. They need to hate someone, something. I don't know.

It's a good post with a lot of good thought. It's just not going to happen. It's not what this season was about and it never was. It was about growing the team and resetting the culture to prepare for the following season. The early success certainly upped the fans excitement level and expectations. Going in on trying to upgrade the team this year would be foolish in my opinion. I am confident that if there is a good deal out there that aligns with the plan they have for this team they will take it. However, I don't think there's going to be a move that attempts to salvage a playoff spot just to make the playoffs. the move will have to align with the plan for next year, not just this year. What I am happy about is seeing what this team can do, but never expected to see them do it throughout the season. Tempered enthusiasm and expectations.

The part about Americans is unnecessary? Why do you feel that way? Americans are known for needing things bigger, larger, better than ever. They live in a world of being marketed to 24x7x365 about the newest shiniest features they absolutely have to have. I didn't think that was actually in question with regards to our society.

Well, that's how i feel about it. I didn't watch the Winter Classic this year. I had better things to do and I don't like the Bruins. I also don't need all the pomp and circumstance, but most Americans do. I just want to see a hockey game played. I don't care if it's inside or outside as long as the product is not harmed. For me it's the over the top media garbage that ruins it more than the location.

If he's out Saturday to Sunday?

What many Canadian fans, and certainly Hockey Canada, are not accepting is that they are no longer the de facto gold standard for hockey in the world. The game has grown internationally and the player development systems have adapted to produce higher talented players. Hockey Canada has been clinging to old school development ideas for the past decade while they watch other countries float to the top. The US fans are certainly the same way and I would imagine would be just as bad if these things happened in American Football or basketball. I would imagine at one point it was like that for baseball, but the baseball in the US fell to the NFL and NBA so it distracted the US fan. Canada doesn't have that replacement sport. They have hockey. I admire the passion and knowledge of many Canadian fans. I've met some amazing fans from Canada who are so integrated into all hockey levels. But the actions portrayed at International events is an insult to the fans I am referring to. It's an insult to good Canadians. Unfortunately they are the face of their country at these events and it reflects poorly on all Canadians because of it.

I realize you are overstating things on purpose. But exactly how many outdoor games are there this year? I don't even know. The only reason I care is because it's relevant to this discussion. Overall though, the NHL is hardly alone in this. The NFL used to have two games on Thanksgiving. It used to play national games 2 days a week. It used to have less teams in the playoffs, and so on. College football has Bowl Games for teams that are .500. Pretty soon the NBA will have basketball all Christmas Day (maybe they do, I honestly can't even tell you 50% of the basketball teams that exist). Point is.. it's a business and if the initiative makes money, it stays. There are not enough fans who dislike the outdoor games for them to stop having them. How do you define what "the fans want?" Again, if they are drawing large crowds and an above average TV rating for the product, doesn't it indicate they are having success?

And now it's time for a SS autocorrect.. All Skinner should now be Skynyrd... ?

Hell, I am not even sure I want my kid attending a college these days, and he's not even remotely funny.

Yeah, just rip the dude without knowing the story. Good call. It may turn out that he's all sour grapes, but why assume it? The fact that there's little to no news about him makes me think that there is indeed something going on. Even better, you are actually pissed off about it? Wow.

Which fans? There are a lot of fans who do want this game, even if they are the lowest common denominator. There were 70k+ tickets/fans at the game. That's a success, even if no one watches it on TV. We are all dying...

Isn't that all anyone does or is supposed to do? Try their best at whatever they are selected to try their best at? The amount of perfection demanded by those who will never be perfect is astounding. But it's okay, because they aren't hockey players, or CEOs, or garbage collectors, or, or, or.... it's not their job. Of course they aren't perfect at their job, but that's not important.

I was commenting on the assertion of "We all agreed", not who would start the thread. I feel fairly confident that we've never all agreed, on anything here. ?

This has literally never happened on this forum.

As I predicted, I was too busy eating and drinking to pay attention to the game. I'm glad about that. Next.