LTS

Season started tonight... tomorrow is tomorrow and it's not like a GM ever shaded reality before. I mean, honestly, who's going to ride Botteril for stringing them along on THIS issue? See above, It's a done deal. That would be the way to do it. Because everyone will be all a buzz about who has what in the warm up skate.... perfect entertainment. If the Sabres don't do that at this point I'll actually be disappointed. Anything less than announcing him as the C when he is introduced tomorrow for the start of the game and I will not have a drink for the entire game... But if they do announce him as the C.... hoo boy.

This whole thread.. lots of great comments and all I could find to quote was this.... I probably don't even have to say what went through my head.

Well, it is a big deal, but it's not like anyone should have been nervous about it. I said it in the thread when so many were panicking. It was a done deal. The time to announce it was at the start of the season and no need before then. Create anticipation and worry and then allow Sabres fans who are nervous nellies to have their massive release just before the season starts. The only thing left is to announce him as C at the start of the game.... It's pretty textbook. So, yes, it's a big deal, but at the same time I never doubted he was going to sign for 8 years.. the amount was not my concern at all.. it was going to be for a ton of money. (it still was right to pin it). I really do think they enjoy playing together.

So.. based on a comment in another thread... Wonder if Eichel took less (as being reported) with the concept that they could use some of that money to sign Kane?

That was me... way too easy to call IMO. Pominville has experience as a C in Buffalo and can provide mentorship to Jack. ROR is the A only because he's not Jack Eichel.

You are overthinking it. Most people I work with don't have marketable skills, they have marketable experience. The path in life is never a straight line and it's never a one step journey.

So... this is perfectly scripted. This deal has been done, which is why there was very little talk about it. There's no need to announce it until the most opportune time to do it. You want to set up the buzz for your season? Announce the signing right before the start and then settle the debate on the "C" by announcing him the day of the first game. It works and I think it's a great contract. As critical as I am of Jack at times... I do believe he will become one of the best players to have ever worn the Sabres logo. Things are going in the right direction and as a Sabres fan, I'm extremely excited.

I don't know about that. He knows when to goof around.. how many of the players really like doing the media thing? I'm pretty sure he's got the requisite intensity when required. I still think he has to learn more as a player but I think he's quite serious about the game. If you are looking for Ivan Drago for captain.. not sure you are gonna get it.

You better know how to ignore this topic on here then. If the signing indeed does not occur until May this will easily surpass the longest SabreSpace thread... it might set a Cal Ripken like record.

The other thing about stress is alluded to by Sabre Dance. Stress really can manifest itself in any number of ways. It's not just digestive, etc. Without any real evidence I firmly believe that stress is behind a large majority of our healthcare issues. We all live under the constant threat of violence. We are a less tolerant society thanks to social media and the ability to see and hear contrarian views (intelligently or not). We are busier than ever and we occupy ourselves with more things. More work, more activities, more everything. We need to relax, a lot. The American way of life is to work yourself into an early grave. work hard, play hard.. except most don't get enough play or it's the wrong kind that doesn't relieve stress. We go on vacation and then pack the schedule full and when we get back we say "I need a vacation from my vacation." It's all wrong. Anyway... Change your perspective... it's not easy, but it's required.

I recently dropped Time Warner because it was just too expensive. Of course we are now Spectrum. I had switched to Spectrum and kept basic cable because it was easy enough. Strangely, NBCSN was still available. Okay.. cool. I had planned on buying NHL.tv and I have a corporate connection that puts me outside the Rochester market. Spectrum came back and offered me a lower price for expanded basic cable than I had for just internet and basic... so I took it. Now I have MSG and NBCSN so I am good (no NHL Network). Might be a thing you can do if you have the ability to play the Spectrum game. But it's definitely not worh of it otherwise. MSG is still not streamable via Spectrum or any other means than MSG>Go and that does not include the SAbres as far as I know. It's a joke.

I love the changes I've seen. The execution of those changes is coming along but the defensive pressure system is awesome. They are making a point of using the D to keep pucks in the zone and the forwards are coming back hard as back support if the puck gets by the D. That was never the case before. In the Islanders game I look at the number of off-sides calls they forced the Islanders into and it shows their willingness to hold the blue line entry and pressure the puck and take away the possession entry. In short.. I like what I see.

Very possible. My point on the VPN was that the very popular VPN providers all have well known exit points. It would be the easiest thing on Earth for any streaming provider to block those VPN providers. I would be absolutely shocked if they did not already have the technology. I have the technology at my house since I am a product manager for a device that can recognize over 2800 network based applications and with a few clicks manage traffic associated with them. It would be less than 15 seconds for me to block the top 25 VPN providers in the world. If they do begin blocking (and some have) then you'll be forced into people who want to capitalize on the desperate consumer and those who will not think twice because "hey, they have a really polished website so they must be trustworthy".

There was a time from 1998-2000 where I learned all I ever wanted about stress. The circumstances of how and why really aren't important because stress comes from ANYTHING and is different for everyone. It's not always the obvious influences either. My father's side of the family has had a long history with "intestinal/digestive" issues. For awhile I was under the assumption that it was some kind of genetic situation and that it would be something I had to live with for the rest of my life. I knew I didn't like my job, I had to focus on daily budgeting of money, and the early years of marriage were tough (this all was happening when I was 24-26). In any event, feeling consistently tired out, unmotivated, and mostly like I was sick all the time with stomach issues really wore on me. At the time I had no idea that the stress was THAT bad. I didn't have the experience in life to know better. So, while I could recognize job dissatisfaction and some of the relationship stuff the daily budgeting i had lived with for awhile. I was lucky enough to finally switch jobs into something that was more rewarding. My income level really didn't change but essentially the future path was brighter and it changed things. A few years later I realized I was no longer experiencing those same health issues despite having now purchased a house, had a child, and had more day to day stress in my life. What I feel I learned (and to this day it's held true for me) is that the obvious stress is easy for us to deal with. We can see things like lack of income, crappy job, and bad relationships. We can deal with those things because they are easy to understand. What I didn't realize was how worthless my crappy job made me feel and because of that I felt like I was not worth being married to and that my wife would be better off with someone else. I created new, complex stressors, that really screwed with my health. I firmly believe it's a perspective thing. We stay micro-focused on so many things in this world that we fail to see the big picture. To use the tree metaphor, when you live in the forest you are really only concerned with the trees around you. If you see them dying you may feel despair. You may not know that there is more forest that is thriving and that you only need to move yourself there. If the forest is dying you may need to find a new forest. For me the realization is that where you are, now, is not the entirety of life. I'm still stressed at times. I never let myself be defined by it anymore. I constantly battle with things in this world, in this country, in my job, etc. I constantly ask myself if changing my reality would solve the problem. I think that's the key. When I was 24-26 I was buried in the reality of what I was experiencing without knowing what else was out there. I felt trapped. Sure, I knew there were other things but I didn't have the understanding to know what those other things actually meant. My advice? Take a break, completely unplug and get away. Go do something completely different, even if for a few days, to get yourself an understanding of what else is possible. If you are truly committed to your current existence you need to find a balance. If you need a daily balance I would suggest meditation. Change everything you can without changing the core of what you need to get through, etc. Change what you drink, what you read, who you talk to, etc. Deliberately find different things to experience so your mind begins realizing different opportunities. Do you stay home every night? Just go to a coffee shop, get a tea (or cold brew coffee, hot coffee is too acidic) and watch people. FInd a free concert to go to... it doesn't matter how good it is, you'll likely enjoy the experience. And keep posting here... because I think we all have some insight into what has happened in our lives. Oh, I should also add.. yes I was married at 23. Engaged at 21. And despite those rough early years I am still married to the same person and it's the greatest thing in my life.

This doesn't dismiss the illegality of what you are doing. It violates the terms of service of your agreement. It is actually quite easy to stop people from spoofing their locations. They can block VPN services like many streaming services have started doing. Your exit points on a VPN service are well known. Certainly other VPN services can pop up but at some point the average user is going to have to ask themselves if they actually trust the company they are using to create the VPN tunnel. After all you are connecting your PC to their network and opening the front door. Moreover, if you have to install a client from them you'll have no insight into what the client is actually doing on your PC. Sure it's providing a VPN tunnel but is it also scanning file information, data transferred when outside the tunnel, etc.? All of that would be very easy to do and it won't pop up on any malware scanner because it's not big enough to cause a problem until someone actually digs into the application. Just food for thought... it's really no different than the people who give rights to those stupid apps on Facebook to post what their cartoon character would be and then end up surprised that their information is all over the place.

Well, he did intentionally block a shot on the PK. Granted he better learn to take that straight on or it'll be a short season for him. I don't know if he was trying to avoid injury. His moves were very much Eichel moves. Act with arrogance that you can put the puck somewhere and 35% of the time it works and looks amazing and 65% of the time it looks like a really stupid move. He's got potential, he needs the desire. He can talk to the talk but until he plays the same way I'm still not sold on him. I want to like him... he has everything he needs to absolutely dominate the game except the burning desire to do so.

Well, here's the thing on time value of assets. If McNabb did nothing but plug a roster spot then his value is JAG. If Fasching, even this much later, makes a meaningful impact then clearly he's got the upper hand. The time value of money assumes that a dollar today can grow in value if invested, etc. blah blah. However, it's not guaranteed and its overly simplified. You know, all things being equal and crap. My rebuttal would be, having a roster player is having a roster player and they could have obtained anyone to plug that hole and probably ended up with the same results over the past 4 seasons. Fasching has yet to prove anything as well. It could all be a wash in the end.

No worries. I am sure I will attend in one form or another. The effort you put into doing this is more than generous. I know I could not commit within the timeline that you needed. AS you indicated, there are other ways to get there.

It's not just guys like Friedman. It's everyone. Being in the media only enhances the audience size but you can pop in any schmuck's social media feed and watch that person post something ignorant and thoughtless and see people jump on the bandwagon or be swayed. "Had a horrible time at ______ place tonight. Asked for X and they wouldn't give it to me. Gave me attitude about it. Never going back there." And you'll see people just jump in on that. I've witnessed that kind of stupidity at the airport recently. The person at the counter was berating.. absolutely berating the ticket agent who, in my opinion, deserved a medal for how he handled things. They didn't get their way (they shouldn't have in my opinion) and then I overhear them at their seat. I'm putting this $#@$^! on Facebook. Completely misrepresenting what actually happened I am sure. Just like trolls on threads seeing who can get the most response without trying to have any integrity. It's the world we live in and the world a lot of people demand unfortunately. We are an short attention span society and unless you are churning out new content, regardless of the value, people forget about you. We measure value in quantity these days... we wouldn't know quality if it hit us in the face. I blame the digitalization of everything. It's easier to create 100 tweets and hope 1 sticks... no real loss. Back when you could only communicate in print form you couldn't afford to be wrong 100 times.

I do feel somewhat bad posting this... only because I like to think I am not judgmental and let everyone do what they want in their lives that makes them happy. But at the same time I am a human and when the pile needs another body I am compelled to jump on.

Damn Europeans and their date notation... :) I'm in... can't wait.

Yep. This is just a show to try and solidify the Leafs position. Of course, when the NHL finds he's injured it will make Lupul look even worse for putting that cheating comment out there as people will believe that because the NHL stepped in he must really be injured.

People on here said he liked the C right?

They mentioned on one of the broadcasts that Housley went to the players and straight up asked them who they thought they would play best with. I can't say that Bylsma never did that but I don't recall that ever being brought up. It was mentioned that he really didn't talk to players except to coach them. You have to think that if enough players are there telling him the same thing and it make sense then he's going to rely on that feedback and then see where it goes. It seems to be going somewhere!

Jack's magic is that ridiculously stupid shot. He shoots out of his end on a cannon... begins glide mode and then because his hands are so good he basically just flips the puck over the goalie to score. My take on it is that where almost every player is going to rip a hard wrister on something like that he's throwing the equivalent of a change up. The goalie expects the fast shot and the next thing you know there's this floater sailing by you because you reacted to something that was never there. Changing the direction/speed of the shot at the last second makes a big difference. Man that was beautiful.. And I will keep saying it.. Eichel's game is like Jagr's game.