LTS

People are going to critique. For me the truth of your words will be realized in the actions of the Sabres. If you put up a track record of being right then people will accept what you say. I'll be curious to see how it plays out and thanks for joining. Those without inside sources don't quite get having to protect some of that information and especially true if there is a business or personal relationship at stake. People inside any organization need to talk outside the organization once in awhile and it's not always to the media.

I'll readily admit I am not a stats guy, but CF% is not purely a single player metric correct? It accounts for the teams shots for and against while he was on the ice? Worth noting in his high TOI a lot of it was PP time so that might skew the CF%? Or is it just 5 on 5? Still, no output.. in a league where we talk about how close a lot of talent is (and Jumbo Joe is a great talent) it's hard to sell the argument that a 37 year old with a torn MCL and ACL is better than ANYONE else you could put in the lineup... if that's the case someone better get some depth.

Joe Thornton played with a torn MCL and ACL. -> http://www.bardown.com/you-won-t-believe-the-injuries-joe-thornton-played-through-in-the-playoffs-1.732888 Everyone will talk about how tough he is.. I'd argue that he killed his team. I guess being down 2-0 in the series they figured they couldn't get any worse. I don't know about that. No way I would put him in... Let's see Joe's stat lines were. Game 6: 0G/0A - 22:01 TOI - 4 Giveaways - 0 Takeaways Game 5: 0G/1A - 22:08 TOI - 2 Giveaways - 0 Takeaways Game 4: 0G/1A - 14:43 TOI - 2 Giveaways - 1 Takeaway (San Jose scored 7 goals this game) Game 3: 0G/0A - 16:27 TOI - 1 Giveaway - 0 Takeaways He didn't play in Games 1 and 2.

Thank you for sharing your knowledge on Islam, you would certainly have a better understanding. I think in some ways I was trying to say that there are sects of religions that would prefer their people to remain under educated so that they may more easily advance their particular interpretation of a religion (even if it is their own interpretation and not even a sect). As for Pegula, I agree and believe he has stated as such. So as a devout Christian which describes him? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christian_denominations Anyway... let's talk hockey. :) Because I don't know. And I know they don't all believe the same things. :)

I'll say a little but I'm not going hunting for crap to debate your position. Kim is largely known as understanding people and a relationship builder. Terry is very much a business person. Together they could actually be a good match as a leadership team. Most owners don't have experience, so your experience mantra falls flat from a sports owner perspective. Management experience? There are people in this world who have the ability to succeed without failing first. It happens. Should I have had a few failed marriages before I got it right? I mean, I was engaged before I left college and have been married over 20 years now. Rather than speaking of specific accomplishments and judging her for her actual abilities you are creating a story based on pure speculation "just a plaything for Kim". If, at age 22, she was undecided on her life and she wandered the world a bit, so what? A lot of people do that. So she meets a guy, they fall in love, they've been married for quite some time now. How does any of that support that she is only married for the money and has no abilities whatsoever? If you are frustrated with the teams that's cool, but I urge you to rethink your position statement.

I am not a season ticket holder. I live in Rochester and have kids who keep me busy most evenings so there is no value in the investment for me. I absolutely know that if I were a STH right now I would be going through a heavy debate as to whether I would want to keep my tickets. However, I would look at players under contract on this roster and I would most likely keep them. However, I would accept that by doing so I am accepting the Sabres current path of mediocrity and that I am hoping for a better product. Do you accept that by keeping your tickets you are also supporting the current franchise situation which may be described as mediocre? I love beer. So I should be the GM. It may be disingenuous but it may also be borne of their own personal experience. Better to ask them why they are the victim right? If they are being false it will come out in their responses. Let me just say this about this ridiculous religious talk. Every religion has a variety of disciplines that have beliefs that are not in alignment. There are sects of each religion that favor ideals that conflict with the science establishment. Those that favor the mysticism aspects of the religion and argue what is promoted by scientists. Using those specific parameters and applying them to every sect of the religion is ignorant and disrespectful. It shows an unwillingness to understand the person you with whom you are communicating. It does nothing to further a conversation and as such has no business being used in a FORUM which is designed to promote communication. For me, Pegula speaking of a Christian faith person is his shorthand of describing some set of ideals he wants his employee to have. Most of us use shorthand all the time... most of could use multiple sentences to describe the current front office situation of the Sabres... others would call it a ----show. Short hand at its finest.

Watching some of it they said it's USA Hockey's 4th championship this year. CAn't remember all of them.. two were women's championships (U18 and Worlds?). Still, pretty amazing to think how USA Hockey has grown over the past 10 years...

You are supporting my point and here's how. First, the bolded could not happen unless people were still buying the season tickets right? So if 1000 fans give up their tickets but there are still 1000 people willing to buy those season tickets then nothing has changed other than a waiting list potentially being down 1000 names. What's worse is that those people who were to buy those tickets at that point in time would be knowingly buying them when the team is mediocre and as such they are supporting mediocrity. The fear of missing out factor I get, but that's what management banks on. As such, they don't have to be successful on the ice to be successful at the bank. Second, if you don't choose to give up the tickets you are still supporting the mediocrity. Clearly you don't want it as a fan but any expenditure in support of the team is still accepting that mediocrity. Where's the tipping point? Well it's different for each fan but as you said, if they hold onto tickets with the thought that next year will be better management is still winning.

So, that's my hockey heaven right there. I would love to sit with some real inside people and just listen to them talk about the game and the business. Outstanding.

Don Cherry?

It was clear that Murray was not a good communicator. He may be to the point when he is asked about things but he clearly does not want to take the time to engage in small talk. The year prior to Bylsma he spoke of not communicating with Nolan. He said straightaway that they don't talk. Why? Nolan wasn't a systems guy. I think Murray is a strategy guy, he lives for it. It's probably why he loves Bylsma. They both only want to talk about hockey and strategies of hockey. They aren't relationship builders. So it's not a surprise if he didn't communicate with Pegula because he would be tied up with football AND he doesn't know hockey. Murray is a great talent evaluator but I think it's becoming clear his best work is going to be sitting in the upper areas of a rink with his laptop/clipboard. He said himself he didn't get to scout enough this year. It would seem that running an organization that requires him to pay attention to details that he simply was not good at. Bylsma clearly couldn't communicate with players and was only focused on strategy, game planning, etc. I'm not concerned about Pegula. This is as I expected. I've stated it elsewhere... he's learning to be an owner. Hopefully the 3rd time is the charm.

Why is the NHL not named in this lawsuit? Ultimately can't this boil down to a workers compensation issue? He's an employee who is injured on the job. Maybe there is a workers compensation case as well? I don't know. It's ugly.

I don't see that. He said the Pegulas will oversee the process. Of course they will, they are the owners. It doesn't mean they will run the process. I am a product manager, I oversee a lot of things, but I don't do them. I just make sure they get done according to my vision. The Pegulas can begin overseeing the process by bringing in someone to RUN the process.

It was interesting but near the end it began to feel like a Candian guy protecting a fellow Canadian hockey guy from being scrutinized too hard. It's simply not accurate. He may not be doing what you like, but he's not failing. If the teams are making money, the seats are full, then he's doing his job. If the fans truly cared about the teams performance then why do fans keep signing up to see these teams play? If the fans were holding the team (and through it, it's leadership) accountable then they should be staying home and not watching the product. The fans themselves accept mediocrity, or worse. This isn't a surprise as this is a prevailing attitude in society, not just sports. If you want to call a distinction, perhaps you say that the people who keep showing up each game are not really fans. They are just consumers of the product. They don't care enough about the team because it's the social experience they want. There are a large number of people who want to just tailgate and get drunk each Sunday and the ticket to the game is the price of admission for them. It's how they reset their work week. The Sabres are STILL capping season ticket sales. Who's buying those tickets? Do we call them fans or consumers? I don't know. I'll accept that people who are willing to post on a forum are a bit more fanatical than others but I don't buy for a moment that PSE is not successful right now. The fans want the team to win, they expect to have a winning product, but they don't care enough to take the actions that would force PSE to actually follow through on that. There's a difference between being successful and winning. Yes, I saw the comment that by winning they could earn more money and because they aren't winning they are failing. Not winning does not immediately equate to failing. They are winning, just not as much as they could be. They probably want to win more too but HOW they want to go about it might not align with HOW they want to run their business, at least right now.

It may well be that Pegula kicked the tires on Julien and perhaps that's how the media found out. If Murray didn't want to make the jump then you can bet that it might have pushed things towards this point.

Alternate theory time: Pegula to Murray: "It says Jack isn't going to sign with us if Bylsma is around." Murray: "Who cares, I can get rid of Dan but I need to move Jack. He's ripping the locker room apart. He's not a team player. He's only concerned with himself. He'll kill any coach we bring in." Pegula: "Whoa TImmy. We can't get rid of Jack. The fans will revolt." Murray: "Well, if I'm GM, I'm moving him." Pegula: "I guess we can fix that." ANyway.... ramble on.

Isn't that what every owner does?

No. Not ready.

I don't agree with Murray getting the boot. Can't control it however. It certainly creates a bigger gap to overcome for me to want to watch this team next year. The next move is the owners now. Pegula has to do something that says to me he knows what he's doing. He has to bring in someone who the players can respect. The talent and contracts are set up well on the team. This could get good or it could get real bad real fast.

It's got legs... TSN picked it up and posted it. If nothing else the PR department is going to be busy.

There's no doubt about that and frankly I love that aspect of things.

Do you think he says just so you know or do you think he just rolls it in as jsick? The press conferences would be better. That much is certain!

Because Buffalo? :blink:

Let's see what I can think of here. It is hard to say what the overall best games are... but I can certainly list my favorites over time. NHL 93 - there was no end to the amount of time spent on a college dorm room playing that game on Sega Genesis. Bard's Tale - I played so much of that on my Apple //c. Age of Empires - the original from Microsoft was so much fun. Borderlands 2 - I shudder to think how much of my life has been spent playing that game. Battlefield 2: Bad Company - just an all around exceptional game in single player and multiplayer. Diablo III - I would have listed the original Diablo but the 640x480 resolution was past its prime when it launched... Half-Life 2 - the crowbar! Doom - the original is the best. Ultima 4 - Iolo the Bard. Counter-Strike - the early days.. oh I played that game. Team Fortress 2 King's Quest - I played them all but probably 3 the most. I could probably throw in a few others here or there but that's about it. The games that really occupied my time more than anything.

One whole playoff game. That's the equivalent of 3-5 regular season games in NHL math.