LTS

As I look back on things... I wonder how much influence Patrick had on the entire process. Interesting history note if you begin looking at it. Patrick of course was the GM in Pittsburgh. He then worked with Sawyer and then ultimately for Sawyer and was not renewed by Sawyer. He ends up in Buffalo and of course Sawyer is a consultant to Pegula (just as he was to Lemieux). The Pittsburgh ties are mind boggling.. and I wonder how much the Sabres suffered through some different factions from the Pittsburgh days as they sorted through their front office items. Of course it's still on going...

My 14 year old son did 3 last week.... so if they don't beat him I must have an NHL prospect in my house, eh?

I don't doubt the time zone differences play a factor as well.

I don't doubt any of that information. I also think the market is ripe for someone to invent the new watchdog. At the same time, the biggest problem is that people, as a whole, really don't want to be bothered with it. We're largely sheep who want to live our lives and so long as government is not too egregious we're not going to complain. Every once in awhile, one of the greedy ones screws up and gets put out as the sacrificial lamb. I'm most definitely included in that mix of people. I just live with the assumption that I did not get into the circle of real estate developers/lawyer/politician/business man that is going to see me gain that lifestyle. At the same time, I'm happy enough. What does it all mean? I don't know. There are some days when I feel like I would prefer to spend my time tearing government apart. At the same time, it doesn't pay and I have a lifestyle I have obtained that I am not willing to give up. So, open the gates and pull me into the pen so I can be sheared I suppose.

We touched on the lack of secondary scoring during the season last year. The real question is, who are the top 6 and bottom 6 on the roster? Clear top 6 - Eichel, ROR, Reinhart Clear Middle 6 - Okposo, Rodrigues, MIttlestadt, Baptiste Clear Bottom 6 - Bailey, Girgensons, Larsson, Pominville, Wilson Frankly, what I think will happen is that your top player will see playing time with players who are not your traditional top 6 players. If you bring up the BC line... Eichel - Rodrigues - O'Regan are you effectively making 2 other players top 6 even though normally they are not? ROR - Reinhart - Wilson also seemed to work really well, this bringing up a bottom level guy. They'll need to find a good UFA pick up for the top 6 if they are interested in the faster turnaround (JvR?) otherwise they will have to hope that a few forwards make the jump. Baptiste seems like he might be able to get into the top 6 as a complimentary player. Nylander is the X factor. If he can slot into a top 6 line and be productive it'll be a huge boost for the Sabres. Of course, he might not be around either. If they were targeting second level scoring only in the UFA market I would look at: James van Riemsdyk - currently $4.2M Paul Stastny - $7M James Neal - $5M David Perron - $3.7M Riley Nash - $900k <---- I would target him, having played good minutes with top forwards in Boston Michael Grabner - $1.6M Blake Comeau - $2.4M I don't see any of those players being top 6 players in their next deals. If they are, the team they are going to is going to have problems.

All the conspiracies aside... those two columnists have been blasted on here by the same people who routinely blast the teams that the columnists were being TOO negative about. It's a funny thing, when things suck, no one wants to be reminded of just how bad it sucks. Having those two blowhards writing their columns wasn't going to endear them to people. The real heart of the matter is that print journalism is dead, as it should be. Paper cannot match the real-time information feed that is the Internet. Different sources of news should rise... the big problem now is knowing which source of news is really a legitimate news source. In my opinion, the author throwing in the PSE tie is merely to give people something to talk about. Until I read that line I felt like I was reading an article by a person who was simultaneously happy that a place he used to work was suffering while at the same time taking shots at the person in charge for being a jackhole to the employees (aka "friends") he still has in the news room. A sort of roundabout way for those employees to make their feelings known about their boss without actively saying it. Throw in the PSE thoughts to see if you can't get someone to investigate if it really happened, or even better, simply overreact to that information and potentially take action without investigation.

There are only a few pertinent questions to be asked of Mr. Dahlin.... First, do you know how to say "I'm coming for you Buffalo" in Swedish? Second, do you know how to make phat pannys? Third, can you bring MODO with you? Okay, we're done here.

If there is a need for the information there will be a source to obtain it from. It may take time to balance out, but it will happen. Newspapers should be dead. Digital news can be created by many people and over time the various digital news sources will see themselves combine and create larger entities. This is how things work. The real question will be how the Sabres grant access to the team in the wake of these kinds of events.

Man... if he doesn't do at least one I suspect people's minds will explode on here. I've got my poncho on already.

Your first point is true and while any team could have taken Moulson they would have had to take the salary, which he's not worth. A team MIGHT have taken him if they could get him on their terms. By buying him out and making him an UFA the Sabres are allowing him to choose any options that might come to him. All that aside, you are missing my point. The question was "Why would the Sabres buy him out?". The answer is being given. It makes no real difference if you agree with it or not. The question was not "What is your opinion of the Sabres buying out Moulson?" If it were, then your response would be germane to the discussion. I understand your viewpoint. I don't agree with it, but that's not relevant either. The fact is, and it's been stated on here, it's been stated by talking heads, people in the business, and so on. There is a value in treating a player "right". Moulson is not the first to have received this treatment and he won't be the last. It doesn't just happen in hockey and it's not isolated to sports either. Doing right by people has value and shows what kind of person/organization you/they are.

That's why you are not in the Sabres front office. That said, we are discussing what and why the Sabres are doing what they do.. not what you would do. Your propensity for being nice is not really critical to determining why the Sabres would do something.

It gives him the freedom to pursue whatever he'd like to do... which reflects well on the Sabres front office.

Clearly he's full of ####, but not horse#### or bull####. Does anyone care if he sells his property? I wouldn't.

If Kessel ended up in Buffalo I would buy stock in Sahlens or Wardzynskis.

You can read a lot into what she said. She specifically mentions Rochester as well. Frankly, it would be my suspicion that PSE would look to build a sports complex that would replace the football stadium and two hockey rinks. I would imagine that they might even find a way for some cost savings by combining some facilities. It's a lot of money to maintain parking lots for football stadiums that get barely any use throughout the year. If they are truly thinking of anything, a combined facility might be in the realm of possibilities. Moreover, it would be something unique that would stand out. The plans for anything would be finalized in the next year I would imagine with time to build it so both teams could potentially start their seasons in the new complexes at the same time. The question of course... how much will cost tax payers?

Josie.. you are insanely talented.

Nice!

There are all kinds of controls around handling of the geese. https://www.dec.ny.gov/animals/7003.html Of course he could do what MCC does. They have dog statues on their softball field and it keeps the birds from landing there... easy solution.

If they are anything like our gaming sessions it's always "One more game...." repeated 8 times and the next thing you know it's 2am. :) Of course I'm not looking for a large NHL contract...

Go Caps! My wife has a cousin who lives in that area and is a fan (they were at one point STH for the Caps, not sure if they still are). Be nice to see their kids cheering a win by their team. Also, it helps all the Knights haters feel better about themselves. :)

Hmmm.. sounds good to me.

You don't have to care at all. It's your choice, it always is. I think the point you are missing is that there's a world of difference between a little good-natured ribbing and being a complete jackhole. Being happy for someone doesn't have to equate to you throwing them a party. I have friends who are fans of other teams I personally can't stand but when their teams win I don't go up to them and tell them to F off. Are all your friends only fans of the team you root for? Do you not have friends who root for another team? I despise the Bruins but I was happy for friends of mine from Boston who got to celebrate their winning. From the way you are coming across, at least to me, you'd punch your friend in the face for being happy about his team winning and telling you about it. If that's how you want to be perceived then congratulations, you've succeeded.

I'd say this is exactly the reason he's there. They had to know that Tavares had little confidence in the leadership of the organization. Lamoriello at least brings a level of competence. Whether it's enough remains to be seen.

I think what might be missed is that the shooting percentage is a byproduct of both being told to shoot more as well as where they are shooting from. The Sabres, over the season, changed their shots to get them more inside and as a result saw a trend up in shooting percentage. Earlier they were shooting from anywhere and in many cases not often enough. At least that's how I read it. Eichel, I think, takes a lot of shots because he feels he has to take a lot of shots, good or bad. Remember when he'd pass and everyone was losing their mind? It's a balance.. really I want a guy like Eichel shooting when he thinks he has the shot and passing when he thinks someone else has it. He has the ability to do that. Someone like Kane definitely did not.. he was a shoot first mentality. I perceive Eichel as being able to balance the two but when he's being forced into one or the other he's not playing his game. And yea, we certainly need some people who can pot the puck. You get the bottom 6 forwards putting in 4-8 more goals per year and that's 24-48 more goals scored... when losing games by 1 that makes a huge difference and I think I am being extremely conservative in the ask.