LTS

Or maybe Babcock really isn't that great? It's possible. While the media can blast him and everyone else the fact remains that the Leafs are struggling right now. Andersen called out his team last night. There are issues up North.

Really? So, it's every coaches fault? I mean Housley hasn't even had a chance for a player to leave Buffalo and you are blaming him. Bylsma had a few players leave from under him, which ones are lighting up the league right now? Is it a prospect who needed time to develop and might have developed in Buffalo anyway? Is it a veteran who was paired with someone who made them better? How many players over the past 5 years has anyone on this forum wished to have back? I'd probably only put Vanek in that conversation and the dude was good when he was here. C'mon, people think it's one or the other in politics, why can't it be true in hockey? Having the best odds is about all you can ask for... every other team has lesser odds of getting the #1 pick (except Arizona). Just the way it goes. Okay, onto other things.. It's interesting watching the dynamics of this forum and the frustration of the group of people on here at what is happening with the Sabres. There was a lot of hope and desire that some trades might have been made over the last break and when it didn't happen it feels like everyone grew even more frustrated. Why? Because they know the current team, can't win. No one can pinpoint why, everyone has an opinion, and if anyone disagrees then it starts a virtual holy war. I would imagine its the same way in the locker room right now. This team is frustrated because they aren't winning. They all have a really good idea of what needs to change, but they are powerless to change it. They all probably hoped that a trade or two would occur to remove some of the problems from the team and bring in some new blood. Kane had his opportunities last night but he's not going to go barreling into a corner and break something like he did last year. His best interest is to stay healthy and get traded (he knows he will be traded) and make a splash on the new team for the rest of the season and into the playoffs. This would maximize his UFA deal. Lehner knows he's going to be traded or that at the very least it is unlikely he will be on this team next year. He has less control over his contract situation but he's not going to be interested in killing himself for a group of guys who do not feel the same way. There are others on the team who probably feel similarly. Overall, it is clear that the team is anything but a team. I don't think the defense likes Lehner very much because they feel like he's overplaying the puck and causing situations that shouldn't exist. I am sure Lehner feels similarly about the D because they are allowing shooters in on net and when there are crease battles no one is interested in clearing bodies. If a goaltender and D do not have each others backs then you will lose. Both will look bad and both are to blame. Lehner's best games are when he controls his body and his movments. We've talked about that before. He had his moments this year when he was playing a "quiet" game. He probably feels he has to bail out his team so he's being overaggressive and that's costing him. At the same time, he's solely responsible for the hole over his glove. That's the first place every player is looking to shoot on him and many goals are going in. Lehner has to fix this problem. I've no faith in the Sabres goalie coach at the moment though. He should be helping him fix this and it's clear that both goaltenders have had issues. Johnson has played better elsewhere and even in Buffalo. The goalie coach has a lot to do with the small things that need to be worked out. The D is bad. We should all just accept this. Nelson has a long way to go. He can't handle the speed of the NHL. McCabe is still learning and he has his good days and bad. Risto and Scandella are good but I see them giving up a lot of space on the ice at times and certainly allowing shots on net. I'm not sure Risto really likes Lehner very much. The D is a problem.. but we have known the D is a problem. Is it better than last year? Absolutely... but it's nowhere near fixed. Until it is, you will have issues on the back end. On a team that's losing and going nowhere and where they expect as many as 8-9 players to be potentially be traded (Lehner, Falk, Gorges, Pouliot, Kane, ROR, Reinhart, Girgensons, Larsson) you can't expect too much enthusiasm in the locker room. I don't want to hear professional this and that crap. If you've ever worked in a company where you know people are going to be let go you know what morale is like. You know what kind of effort many people put in during that time period. Uncertainty drives a lack of effort because everyone wants to see where things are going. Be honest, if Botterill flubs the trades in the eyes of the remaining players how motivated do you think Eichel will be? Is it his fault? Well, you can blame him for signing a long term contract sure, but he put his faith in the ownership and management to help turn the team around. If they demonstrate they can't then every player will want to get off the team. Just like every employee wants to leave a company that is failing. This is the nature of the situation of the Sabres. I don't suspect they will get better after the trades are made since no trades will be made with the sole purpose of being to improve the team this year.

That's a beauty.

Fancy stats!

Trade him! His value is peaking.

Embellishment? Cross check the referee and see if he embellished. WTF.

Except Zegmus. Whoever he is.

And Lehner gives up a goal in his sweet spot.

I've got my opinion of Nelson. No bueno.

Am I watching a Sabres game?

Yesh! Okposo. Nice puck movement.

Are Zibanejaf and Gorges related? I know they aren't. But they look like it.

Aww, that's too bad. There are some really bad ones though.

Well. The New England IPA hasn't totally died out. Granted it's being adapted with the tropical IPA and other styles.

Game on!

People bitch about not liking the "dark" beers because they are "heavy". They'll gladly knock down a 7.6% IPA that has more malt in it than a 5.5% stout and declare it's not as heavy. That said, I think the message you are taking is a bit too personal. The bar owner is going to cater to what can turn over the fastest on the taps and for a long time that was IPA. It's still commonly IPA. Most beer bars are also going to overcharge for everything. The sports bar I was in this past weekend was in our Comfort Inn (Pittsburgh). The pints of beer were basically capped at $4. The selection wasn't great but for some of the beers it would still be $2 more at a beer bar. Rochester Ice Center (Thomas Creek) has Triphammer IPA on for $4/pint. Scottsville Ice Rink had Sierra Nevada Celebration at $4. Again, many places are going to have those for a minimum of $5.50 and up. Granted it's still no $2 Labatt or $1.50 Genny...

So it's not your thing. But that doesn't mean it's not a thing right? For a lot of people drinking a Genny Light brings the same level of excitement as IPAs do to you. I'll have water before Genny Light because I like the flavor better. I'll drink a regular Genny, but it won't take much competition before I switch elsewhere. It's my preference. There aren't a lot of good foreign extra stouts. Guinness makes one.. I'm not a huge fan but I like it better than the regular than the flagship. Best one I ever had was a limited release from Otter Creek called OtterMon. I made one once and I thought it was excellent. 7% alcohol but dry and light bodied. Technically Big Head Todd from Three Heads is a foreign extra stout but I don't think the body is light enough on it to really qualify it into that style as opposed to a regular stout.

Sure.. they have to get someone to take one of their two current random goalies off their roster however. Goalies that are currently sucking up $7.8M of cap space. Granted they rid themselves of Halak net year but they still have $3.3M invested in Greiss. Unless you can continually sign goalies to 1 year contracts you can't just keep signing random goalies and hope one of them is good enough to get your team to the playoffs. You'll eventually run out of roster/contract spots. So you have to apply at least a modicum of thought and evaluation to who you sign.

There are no rules about it. You drink it like you would drink Genny Light. Clearly you're throwing some kind of shade at some concept of beer snobbery but I'm not sure why. Beer is beer. Drink whatever you want. An IPA will be a heavier beer and have a higher alcohol content. If the intent, as you indicated, is to have beer on a hot day then the Session IPA is an alternative and nothing more. Session IPA is a style, just like your macro beer is an American Adjunct Lager. They have style names and that doesn't mean anything regarding being pretentious etc. If you want a stronger beer that's designed for hotter weather then check out the Foreign Extra Stout style. They have a higher alcohol volume but reduce their overall body by using turbinado sugar (usually) to help drive up the alcohol content. If you aren't interested in alternatives then have a nice day.

I had pastrami or corned beef.. not sure which. It just wasn't anything amazing.. You know.. why not a nice fried SPAM sandwich. :P

There are plenty of beer alternatives to consume. A good Hefe should run around or under 5% abv and be refreshing. Berliner Weisse. The session IPAs.. some pilsners as well. There are a few rice beers that would fit the bill as well. Indeed.. the prevailing wisdom is that Guinness is carbed at about 1.5-2.0 whereas many others will be carbed up at 2.2-2.5. Guinness is also not pure CO2 as it has the nitrogen blend to give it the creaminess. Of course, most beer is overcarbed in the can or bottle to help it sustain shelf-life. Ideally if you pour the beer out and you do so with enough violence you will release a decent amount of the carbonation and get it back to the 2.2 level or so you probably would prefer it at. I would agree, on All Day. But the session IPA concept in and of itself is not. There are some very good session IPAs. Founders knew it had a good thing in the popularity of the beer and I think when they went to the canning of it and putting out 15 packs, etc. that the volumes required them to reduce the quality just enough that it doesn't really resonate with me anymore.

I'm a fan of Okposo. I would like to get more out of him and I am sure he'd like that as well. If this team weren't so crappy at scoring I am sure we would see more out of him. He's not going to generate a ton of offense but I think he can help offense if there's enough around him.

Not even. At least Drouin plays in the NHL and when he was sent to the AHL he wasn't scratched (as far as I know) He's had time to mature. He's going to realize at age 27 what he threw away just to be a brash and flashy idiot who only likes to do things his way. I mean.. John Tavares couldn't get him straightened out. I bet the Islanders would love to have more than a random goalie right now. They are lighting it up but battling for a playoff spot because their two goaltenders are JAGs and suck.

regardless of all the crap... I'd rather have a game to talk about... so at least there's that.

Did I read that the new facility is in Niagara Falls? I could just ask the people I know who work there I suppose. :)