LTS

Eleven - You've got to do what you've got to do to enjoy life. However, I would encourage you to stick around as I believe you bring immense value to the board. Despite the musings of some and how they want to approach things I would hope that you could overlook that. A lot of people enjoy your contributions and would hate to see them go away because of a few who might behave a certain way. We're all guilty of being sucked into and commenting on things that don't sit well with us and absolutely knowing (even if its after the fact) that we should not have done it. Let's all work on being better about it without "going away". You took the time to make the excellent post on your thoughts. You care about this place and you shouldn't let a few negative things get in the way of continuing to contribute. Don't let the negative win. I think the issue is, and I am speaking for me, is not WHAT is brought up but more HOW it is brought up. I think PA has contributed a lot to the conversations around here as well, but I find myself turned off by how it is stated. And I don't want to single out PA here (although he was the subject) but I think that sentiment really holds true about a lot of us here (myself included). For me it's about HOW we are addressing each other and working towards an understanding that's the problem. It's not just here, on this forum either. It's an epidemic across the Internet as we spend less time interacting personally and we increase our digital conversation we begin to move away from the empathy you get when you see a persons face. What we don't always realize is that we aren't just anonymous avatars but rather we are community who share a common interest and even though we don't see each other we do interact with each other on a daily basis (or whatever frequency you visit). Earlier this season there was a massive interest in getting a group of people who were interested together and attend an actual game together. People spent good money for that experience (me included) and I feel like that says a lot about where we are as a community. The politics of this country have turned many against each other. I know family members who are no longer talking to each other because of it. The Sabres are playing horrible hockey and we, as fans, are frustrated. However, we have to be better than the politicians, the media, the Sabres front-office, and the NHL.... why allow those things to tear apart what is still a great place to have a discussion on the sport and team we root for (and some other things here and there?) I'm not going all kumbaya here... you don't have to love each other, hell you don't have to respect each other, but if we can find a way to ignore the negativity and keep building in a positive way this place will get back to things like Storm Cloud and Kittens or whatever it was and we'll have a generally good time having a difference of opinion and even learning a few things as we go. The challenge is on us to make this place better and we do that by making ourselves better. Are we up to it?

Agreed.. on both counts! Had Prairie Christmas Bomb yesterday. WHOA... 13% and I felt every bit of it. It drinks more boozy than World Wide Stout does at 18%. It's really good though.

Eichel has been a mess the past few games. I stated in another thread. He should be benched period. He absolutely did not skate back hard on a goal and called himself out for it. However, on the power play he was a mess. He's lost and he needs to wake up. He keeps assuming he's going to carry the puck through people and it's not happening. He's turned the puck over a lot lately and that puts his teammates in a bad spot. Last night I would have benched him seeing some of his stupid plays.

I don't think it's non-sense anymore. I was firmly in the camp to support Bylsma earlier in the season but there is clearly a problem on this team right now. The lack of effort and desire to play is noticeable and that stinks of a locker room issue. I've watched a few games straight now where Eichel skates down the wall and throws a backhand pass into the middle where there are no Sabres. He looks checked out. You can argue that professionals should be above that but it doesn't work that way. When your work environment is horrible it's horrible. Millions of dollars doesn't change having to show up at a rink each day and deal with the frustration. It only helps in the off-season. Something is wrong on this team and I can't say I don't think it's the coach anymore. There is a LOT of talent on this team even if you want to say the defense is lacking. They are a hell of a lot better than they are playing. They are a mess in their defensive zone. Their breakouts are too scripted and slow (for the most part) and their D zone coverage is terrible. Hopefully this break helps a bit... but if this continues you have to start making changes and I think Kane and Bylsma are the first to go.

Hah. Nice.

It's perhaps my most favorite beer of all time. But I don't need to drive to Amherst. I actually have the recipe for the beer. I'm good friends with the guy who built the recipe and brews the beer.

Last night was sad. They do need to offload players and bring some of the young guys up but it won't happen this season. Oh well.. perhaps I watch tonight to start and if they are stinking up the joint I'll move onto something else.

I could suggest a multitude of beers that under 5% alcohol if you are so inclined. You'll never go back to bottling... that's pure hell.

I'm interested... if it fits into my schedule. I'll pluck out my Skype account when I figure it out again. :)

Ever since he switched sticks (assuming he stayed with the Bauer over the Warrior) his game has been on fire. :)

Which Wegmans? I might go buy the rest. :)

I understand why you say it looks bad. However, couldn't it be that's the entire problem? Rather than a group of people working to understand why actions were taken the assumptions based on perceptions began flying around. The spillover is on those who choose to do it. I find that immature. This ideology that somehow people are entitled to voice their opinion whenever and wherever they damn please bothers me. Fundamentally that may be true but it doesn't come without consequences and it's disrespectful to bring your beef into the lives of others by bringing your cause out of its sandbox and into someone else's. Yep.. you said it. And that's when it began to impact my enjoyment of the forum. Here's the thing. People are really busy and it's a busy time of the year. You want an explanation and you might even go so far as to say "they are the Mods and they NEED to do this" but that's not true. Perhaps they COULD have done that and perhaps it WOULD have helped. One step further, a thread is created that explains what is going on. Then that thread becomes the focus point for the reaction of the members. It breaks down into the debate and name calling and the end result is that nothing has changed. Or perhaps they post it and lock it.. and then people who feel they MUST comment on things will do so in other threads (like they are now). It might be that it would have satiated your concerns but only served to annoy and irritate others. Is it also not plausible to think that perhaps the members of this forum, especially those who have been around a long time, placed a little faith into the mod staff and the operators and just go along for the ride? It seems to me that the political thread gets closed and suddenly the accusations are flying like monkeys in the Wizard of Oz. The mods have run this place for a LONG time and there's a certain level of faith they should be given when making decisions on how to operate the forum for the benefit of its members. However, it seems that no one really wanted to put faith in them... instead they began accusing everyone of political silencing, etc. One could argue that both sides (as has been said) are complicit in the escalation of the negativity surrounding this situation but perhaps at this point it's time to go back to what matters and let a little faith get you through. Perhaps we can get back to having fun....

Just want to see Risto climb his way to the top of scoring for defense on the worst scoring team in the league... that alone should earn him all the recognition he deserves. Oh.. and win... and other things.

Whaaaaaaa? That will be a massive ripple in the force. Definitely easier to fine but it is seasonal so some stores may be out of it now. Indeed!

Sometimes the timing of things is based on factors outside of ones control. Moreover, when something reaches the tipping point then its time to take action. We've seen coaches fired after a win right? Always seems counter-intuitive but it happens. I'm not defending or blaming just saying that we'd be better off with an understanding of the situation. As I see it, we've been told they will stay closed for a bit while the mods discuss what they want to do. I'm good with that. Primarily I am here to discuss hockey and I enjoy other discourse but there is no doubt that many people cannot keep the discourse at a civil level and that's when the value of the threads degrade. Some of the missing fall into the ones who grow tired of it and some are the ones who perpetuate it. Unfortunately losing many of the posters mean we lose more good than bad from each of their individual contributions.

Doh... reading fail on my part. Still cool..

More feel good moments in the NHL. 2nd oldest player ever to make NHL debut age 30.. https://www.nhl.com/news/pat-cannone-to-make-nhl-debut-at-30/c-284870344

What I remember about Babcock's Detroit teams equates to.. Lidstrom, Kronwall, Zetterberg, Datsyuk. His 2008 Stanley Cup year - add Chelios, Hossa, Draper, Brad Stuart. He had some talent there. We'll see how he does long term with the Leafs. I can see how they are exciting to watch.. I guess it's better to lose big than lose small right?

There's a relation based on the team but I wouldn't say it's relevant to the game. Here's what I would hope to see... have Foligno be your primary forechecker so that ROR can be the 2F and use his incredible stick work to gain possession. ROR is not a body banger, he's just hell on wheels when it comes to keeping the puck. We'll obviously want Moulson to find the soft area for a Jack pass, assuming Jack doesn't shoot., Okposo provides the board play and is the guy who needs to gain possession once they are in the zone. He's good at it. I don't think Eichel had that guy last year. So either Eichel carries it in or Okposo retrieves. I am definitely curious to see how this works out.

KBS is the bourbon barrel version of it (Kentucky Breakfast Stout). They had CBS on prior that's a maple and slightly smoked version of it (Canadian Breakfast Stout). KBS is usually hit or miss depending on how they've done the aging. I say hit or miss in relation to each years release but it's usually pretty good. CBS is almost always outstanding.. assuming you like those flavors. Victory at Sea gets made in a bunch of different variations as well. Strangely enough I dislike the original but the Peppermint version (which might be around now) is actually pretty good. If you like porters, and like Baltic Porters specifically, see if you can find Three Heads 2016 Baltic Porter. In my opinion it's one of the best beers on the planet. The genesis of the beer stems from when the head brewer was at Custom Brewcrafters in Rochester and developed it as one of their Signature Series releases. I still have some of hte original versions of it (over 5 years old now) and it has held up well but the 2016 release as Three Heads Baltic Porter is absolutely killer.

I wouldn't necessarily call it foolish to trade away Reinhart for the right return. If the Sabres can get a top young defenseman for him it might be worth it. The Tavares watch will be interesting. If the Sabres are progressing as they should then his UFA status could come at the right time to put it all together. This makes Reinhart even less critical down the road. It's hypothesis of course because no one knows what Tavares would do but the Sabres would have to represent a very good opportunity for him at that time and they've got Okposo and Moulson as well. It matters and the Islanders don't look like they are going to be killing it any time soon.

It would be interesting.. but his system at the same time is causing them to give up a lot of goals and hasn't done anything for them in the standings. I suppose from an entertainment point of view it could be said the games are more entertaining because there's more scoring but at the same time there are a lot of bad goals given up which usually frustrates fans as well. If the Leafs can manage to outscore their opponents on a consistent basis by maintaining their scoring pace but reducing the goals allowed then I will be more impressed. One could argue that Buffalo has their talent pool a little further along but at the same time there have been some significant injuries that impact their current record. Imagine the Leafs without Matthews for 21 games and I wonder where they would be right now. I think Babcock is a great coach, but I'm not seeing perfection on the ice yet from his team.

It shouldn't be hard to keep the talk out of here. People just need to have discipline and respect. I'll hope to catch the tail end of this one. It's school concert season so I get to listen to the youth of America squeak their way into our hearts... (truthfully it should be better tonight as these are older kids who have played for some time). Be interesting to see live how the Panthers are handling all of the front office garbage... it can't be fun for the players right now.

Had it on tap the other night at Basin Pub. I'm not a vanilla fan in beer (or blueberries) but the mix of everything together worked well enough. I wouldn't go for a full bottle but it is a well put together beer. Basin Pub was holding its 3rd annual "Night of the Stouts" This was the tap list when I got there (I tried most of them in small samples)

Generally speaking the stick tapping is a terrible idea because anyone can do it. So, responding to someone tapping their stick in a typical game play situation would be idiotic if you are the player carrying the puck. I teach my kids to do it to the opposing team and it works fairly often. I think in the OT situation it's less of a circumstance because there are only 6 players on the ice and Okposo can see 4 of them. That said... you'd rather hear Risto yelling for the pass. This is why playing with the same guys over and over again is important because you need to pick out their vocal communications more than anything. And Risto is awesome.