LTS

See.. this is where there is a huge problem. If they had just called it Little Caesars Coliseum it would have been easier to tolerate in my opinion.

You have to admit that seeing the thread title and then choosing to click in here just to post this comment seems like a waste of your time and energy given that you hate these stupid comparisons.

But there's no football in St. Louis anymore so they should be all aboard the NHL train. Also learned in this thread. Napolean was taller than Nathan Gerbe.

Meh. Every great player gets shutdown once in awhile. Teams deploy a new strategy on defending and sometimes it is effective. A few games down and then to figure out a way around it is what talent is all about. Sure, it's nice to not ever be shut down but that rarely happens.

At the moment, playoff hockey is the only hockey we have... so we take what we can get, no??

For what it's worth... I do blind tastings with guys who have been professional brewers for 15+ years and people who have passed Cicerone exams, etc. They are often fooled too. The brain's bias is amazing when it comes to telling you whether or not you like a beer. In our blind tastings only 1 person knows what beer was even brought to the tasting. So, for everyone else it's the entire gamut of the style that could be in the glass.

That moment when eating lunch AND reading Sabrespace has its downside. Wish I was between bites on that... A quote from James Neal's article on The Players' Tribune: http://www.theplayerstribune.com/james-neal-predators-sniper/

In response to the underlined. I would guarantee its happened to you. I mean I know that's rather absolute but I know it's happened to me and I feel like I have a pretty good take on these things. For what it's worth it goes both ways as well. I can tell you a story of two beers in Rochester. One is an IPA and one is a Scotch Ale. The IPA started out strong. It used some "registered" hops and it really gained a following. The same beer today is made with completely different hops and the grain bill has changed. It has happened over the past 7 years and many people I know still don't think anything is different about it. The Scotch Ale is even more intriguing. It started out as one of my favorite beers. Over the past 10-12 years it had generally declined (in my opinion). I stopped drinking it. I found out that the grain bill had changed significantly including the supplier of the malts. People still drinking it, happy as clams. The beer is back now. The grain bill has reverted to close what was the original bill, some process changes occurred, and most importantly they changed suppliers again and the beer is solid. But sadly, there is another beer, a porter, that I was holding onto. I loved the beer until the one day the change was made and I finally walked away from it. I came to find out the recipe had been altered 6 times in the prior 5 years and I was none the wiser until the 6th alteration. Sigh. (I still don't drink that beer).

Honestly... I completely dislike hearing the term craft beer anymore. I hear it all the time on commercials and it drives me up a wall. The lines will be blurred, just like anything else. Is Boston Beer Co. a craft brewer? Well, in order to not undermine their message the Brewer's Associate rewrote the barrel limit to keep Sam Adams in the mix. Why? Because their market growth numbers would have declined significantly losing the 2 million bbls they produced. Look at the supermarket. There are handmade breads and artisan breads and they are all made the same exact way as the regular breads. The terms are meaningless. Lots to talk about here. I want to specifically address "mouth feel". You can offset a thinning of the body in many ways. The assumption here is that a big brewer is going to come in and ruin the beer. They aren't going to just make wholesale changes however. What they will do, assuming the economics of the beer make sense, is to slowly integrate the lesser quality grains so the perception of change is mitigated. After that, it's really a question of whether people like the "revised" recipe or not. If they do then really, what harm was there? People still like it. There are beers I used to like that I won't drink anymore. My tastes have changed. A few years back Simcoe was the hop du jour. The worst part of Simcoe is that its a registered hop and so only comes from one place. Great marketing and the Yakima company that "created" it did very well. The hops were in HUGE demand and people loved it. The problem was no supply so brewer's were locking in long contracts on the hops just to be able to provide that profile. Other brewers who were left out or could not afford the contracted rates had to make immediate changes to their hop profiles. Of course other hop growers were also looking for hop varieties that would mimic Simcoe. Beer recipes changed overnight and in many cases people still didn't know. Year over year every beer is different. It has to be. The chemistry that goes into trying to replicate a recipe perfectly would be so time consuming that it would render a beer too expensive. It might not even be achievable. Just balancing the Alpha Acids in a hop release is hard. There's the betas, the grain bill changes, etc.

The angst over offsides is amusing. Late to the game on it I know. Offsides is a definitive point on the ice so there really isn't a lot of room for debate. The replay sucks but offsides is offsides. There was some banter about icing and the red line being definitive. The generally accepted practice on icing is that the point the puck leaves the stick must be the red line or beyond. So, while a shot/pass can appear to occur behind the red line the follow through assumes the puck is still in contact with the stick (as it rolls down the blade) and so as long as the stick ends up in the air over the red line there is no icing called. The difference between icing and offsides right now? Well, offside requires the skate to be on the ice and therefore it is easy to see where it is in relation to the blue line. Icing allows the puck to be in the air and thus creates a problem of judging location relative to the red line. We never worried about skates on the ice before because the game was never stopped for 5 minutes to review. Could you make icing more accurate? Absolutely. Add a review for that as well. I don't think we'd go for that however. Now.. as for playoff hockey. I'm shocked Nashville is up 2-0. It's about the only series that has me scratching my head. The rest were all conceivable but Florida should be better than this.

I absolutely believe this 100% and you know why? This is a common occurrence among all brewers. The hop varietals and strengths are constantly changing based on contracts, growing seasons, etc. There are beers that were once brewed predominantly with CTZ that now use completely different hops. The grain bills change as well. The end result? Most people never notice. They keep on drinking it. The argument is that the quality will go down hill. My point was there is no proof the quality has gone down hill. Brewing with corn and rice does not equate to a crappy beer. In fact, Budweiser is a quality product it just produces a flavor profile I do not like. However, I have had really great beers that use corn and rice in their grain bills. Especially rice. The "5 point plan" is pure FUD. It's not a new argument and its based on this merger deal. So now SAB Miller ABinbev will be able to crush the craft market? Nothing in that merger does ANYTHING to the craft market that could not have already been done. There are changes in the craft marketplace to help offset the perceived impacts of the macro breweries coming into the market. Some are obvious and others are less so. I saw a reference to Kim Jordan (New Belgium owner) earlier today but I did not pull the article down. The gist was talking of partnerships and regional craft brewers using extra capacity to brew "partner" brands to reduce distribution costs and turn out more volume without building out. In addition, they could co-op into pricing agreements that allow them to compete at the price level, not just the quality level. I should also add that I've never considered Goose Island IPA to be anything spectacular. It probably could use a little lighter body. :)

There is zero evidence to support this statement. It's a tired argument that comes up every time a craft brewer chooses to sell.

Analytics... it's not just for puck possession anymore.

That's like measuring with your pants on right?

If I am recalling correctly there was a period of time last year when Gionta was out of the lineup and the Sabres were that much worse. So I think there was impact last year as well. Not as much as this year because they were playing him in the wrong role.

This continues to just be too cool. For what it's worth I think each season should have its own tower and they can stand next to each other. :) Hearing the growth in exposure of this makes me happy...

I cannot disagree. That said I think Keith's actions were worse than Kadri's overall... maybe not by much. However, Kadri should have been already suspended too.

It's very obvious. There are hockey plays, even normal penalties, that occur that result in an injury. Then there are plays that have no hockey value that result in injury. Sitting on your butt and swinging a stick at someone's head it not a hockey play. Cross-checking a guy in the head is not a hockey play. Let's not pretend they are that hard to tell apart. You may get a few well disguised "intent to injure" situations, but the vast majority are quite clear.

Sure, I get that aspect. But really, there are penalties for the hits, etc. So, call the penalties and let the union handle their own messes. It's easy now for everyone to blame the NHL but the reality is that the players are out there destroying each other. If it were all on their own union to resolve the issues there might be a bit more traction. I dunno, wishful thinking. Long term thinking on another subject... Does the NHL/NFL adopt a style of play where hitting is outlawed or do they go down the path of establishing a rule that says once a player suffers a concussion they will no longer be allowed to play in the league? Can the NHL/NFL establish a waiver of responsibility with the players that basically states: "Participation in this league may result in head trauma injuries that may lead to long-term consequences.. blah blah blah. The league is not responsible for the any head trauma suffered by players, etc." I mean.. at some point scale has to tip and it's either there's no hitting or no responsibility because you can't keep suing a league for getting hit when choosing to play in a league that has hitting.

BOOOOM! That was was huge and you can even hear Wilson's skates beginning to grab the ice... just a great opportunistic hit. The fact that ANYONE went after him is a joke. Clean shot. Open ice.. head down..

I'm watching the crocheting championship on DIY tonight. I can't take any more of this stupid team, with their stupid coach, putting out stupid lines, with stupid players, all brought in by a stupid GM, playing for a stupid owner, who can't doing stupid things. Nah.. just kidding. I'll miss the beginning but can't wait to get home and watch the game. Hockey season is almost over for the Sabres and I'm sad. People usually complain about how long a hockey season is. "It never ends. It goes on forever!" For those who love hockey that's one of the best things about it. How many times do people say "Oh I wish I could have <this> every day of my life." Yea.. well that's like hockey. Go Sabres. And if you think the team is stupid.. well YOU'RE STUPID. :)

A team built with prospect that are ALL the same age and will hit contract milestones at ALL the same time is not how you build a team. The benefit of having all of those prospects is the ability to move them in deals that obtain players that are a few years further along in their development and even out the influx of talent with the outflow of talent. Picking up players like Lehner, ROR, Kane, and Bogo rebuilt the 23-26 year old contingent of the roster that was sorely missing. if the Sabres only had their prospects at this point they would have a ton of players that were 19-22. There is such a thing as being TOO young. Kane has served a great role for the Sabres. Bogo was required because you can't move Myers and Zadarov without getting back a D player to fill the roster. I'd love to hear what you would have done to move the Sabres forward.

It's a good point. That's some deluded thinking though right? So, hey, you need to compensate player X for his head trauma and also NOT suspend player Y for doing it. Heh.

Hey.. for those who might know. Is there a reason the NHLPA could not be in charge of decided suspensions, etc? let's talk about the Keith incident.. it's an incident between two members of the NHLPA union. Shouldn't the union be in charge of disciplining their own? I dunno.. it's an interesting thought exercise I guess.. (at least for me)

Mike has said that he was in some kind of bad relationship on the Blue Monk situation and it forced him to close to save him the headache. He's going to look to bring something like it back but not sure when or where yet.