LTS

Even if the Lindros type deal could be pulled off. Edmonton is not the team to do it with. If they couldn't win with the stars that they have why do we think the Sabres could? The Oilers might actually come out on top in that one. No chance I would consider the trade, not with the Oilers.

GMTM: "So, I see you are removing one of your most talented forwards in an effort to reduce the chance you score against my team. I shall counter by removing Zadarov from the lineup. This should provide ample chances for your lesser talents forwards to hit the net." The chess game of pre-game scratches begins.

Isn't that the point? :w00t:

Wow. Insanity abounds in this thread. Panic. Holy crap.. everything sucks. Please... what a non-issue.

I like the look.. the red star and everything. One thing I noticed is that when I multi-quote (perhaps when I quote as well, but I haven't tried that) the board tags no longer appear. It threw me at first thinking that the post wouldn't show up as quoted but it did. Not sure if that's a results of anything or if others see it. Keep it going.

I agree that lower skill level guys will no longer be on the ice. However, that doesn't mean the level of play improves. The All-Star game is probably not the best way of proving that however as no one really tries there. However, your point did trigger a separate thought which is National competitions are a fairly good indication of what the kind of play we would see. My only problem with using that is that we are talking about only 4-5 teams that are true powerhouses in the National arena. The NHL would not be a 6 team league again. I just think that contraction, unless massive would not improve the level of play significantly. And any major contractions would kill the sport.

They are a special kind of special I guess.

See? The new skating coach is paying off!

How many cities have managed to lose a team twice in their history? That's what I want to know.

This is the perfect kind of technology for replays between whistles and for alternate cameras for online broadcasts.

I honestly hope this is your last post on this board.

This concept of talent dilution got me thinking. What is talent dilution and how would you measure it? Let's set a few basic assumptions. 1. Perfect decision making on who makes a team. 2. There are tiers of player talent. Where those tiers break is not up for discussion, just that there are tiers. So, let's say at any given time there are 20 tiers of talent in hockey players. It is not evenly distributed as the lower tiers will absolutely be larger than the upper tiers. Let's say with 30 teams in the league, the teams are comprised of the top 10 tiers of hockey players. Let's say you contract the league such that you remove the bottom 3 tiers of hockey players. Naturally the on-ice skill level improves as the lesser skilled players are removed. However, the difference level between the top and bottom tier is also reduced. Therefore, the top tier talent should, in theory, have their overall effectiveness reduced because they won't succeed as often against higher skilled players. Overall, the teams skill level improves but so does the skill level of their competition. So, you have skilled offense, but is it negated by skilled defense and skilled goaltending? Is there an increase in scoring? Why? The same holds true for expansion. The overall skill level goes down as more players are needed. Overall each team declines in ability as does their competition. The difference between top tier and bottom tier grows and therefore there should be an increase in scoring as the top tier players should have MORE success against the lower tier players. Even if the tiers themselves grow it would take the growth of a Tier out of line with the tier below it to dramatically impact the game. For example, if the top 10 tiers are in and the skill level of the Tier 5 players improves and grows such that it is closer to 4 and further from 6 it would stand to reason that the overall trend of talent as taken an uptick. However, if this is perfectly distributed across the league, would it make a difference? In the end, no matter the number of teams you have, imperfect decision making and the randomness of humanity will still cause disparity between teams. I'm not sure how we judge talent level as completing an amazing pass should be more difficult if the player defending the pass is less likely to be out of position and more likely to intercept any given pass. If a goaltender is more likely to make a save than less likely then it would negate the effectiveness of top level shooters. All in all, shouldn't it remain relatively the same?

So, is that where you think Terry's head is?

I'd wonder if all the January stubs are like that. You'd think they use an automated system to print that feeds from a database so it would have January only entered once and if they misspelled it there it should appear on all January tickets.

So. No one questions why baseball teams have hitting and pitching coaches? I mean, they've been hitting and throwing baseballs forever. How hard is it? Sloppy habits occur and people get off track, no matter what. This will happen through sloppy preparation, injuries, aging, etc. It's kind of amazing we question a skating coach but no one thinks twice about hitting and pitching coaches who clearly should have nothing to do either.

Here's my problem with that thinking at the present time: Benoit - 1G 5A -7 TOI: 18:26 Meszaros- 1G 5A -8 TOI: 17:43 Myers- 1G 7A -10 TOI: 25:17 Zadarov - 2G 6A -11 TOI: 19:29 Weber - 1G 5A -13 TOI: 17:08 Strachan - 0G 5A -13 TOI: 18:45 Ristolainen - 3G 5A -23 TOI: 20:01 Gorges - 0G 6A -26 TOI: 22:29 Everyone gets giddy about Ristolainen but at the moment he's definitely not stopping the opposition as well as we would like him. Sure both Zadarov and Ristolainen project well and I largely agree that the Sabres probably don't need him in the future, but they need him now. I'm not all that jazzed about a guy who has played hardball his entire career and has little to show for it. He's not bailing out the Avalanche this year. They have talent. Why would I expect ROR to do anything for the Sabres who have very little talent? I think TM would be wise to keep Myers, Zadarov, and Ristolainen around for a few more years. Perhaps you get something like a Keith, Seabrook, Hjalmarsson or a Vatanen, Fowler, Lindholm situation.

I agree with this. I think there's a lack of that little bit extra effort he needs to give. I also think that some of it is the game. The Sabres by and large suck at any kind of puck possession . Players are never in a good position and I think that would create havoc for the team. You expect one thing and it doesn't happen. So be it. I do think he'll be good again. call me whatever you would like.

Didn't watch ,although my son did until he had to go to bed. My take? That's karma for a crappy ceremony for Hasek. You do that to one of the best goaltenders to ever play and you get shelled the next game.

Perhaps Moulson needs to play with Hodgson then?

No, he threw money at two defensemen he was familiar with from his days in Ottawa. A way to give them a chance and also accomplish his goals. Are either of them getting a contract when he signed them? Not really. So, he did it and if they pan out they are in line for a good contract at the end of the season (and are also trade bait). If they don't pan out.. hello #1.

I posted the Lidstrom ceremony earlier. Same kind of thing. When you have one of the best to ever play.. you honor him properly.

Warning.. I pulled these from the redwings game thread. But I wanted to address them here. You missed it. It's nice and short with no team leadership, no former players, no coaches, or anyone saying anything about the player. Here you can see for yourself how boring it was. :) See above. Also Bottom line. Great players deserve a great ceremony. If Hasek didn't want the ceremony then acknowledge that. The Sabres are bombing on the little things as well as the big things at this point. I'm not reposting my letter here. It's done. I'm done with them for awhile.

I'll pick this up in the Dom ceremony thread at this point. Displacement? Hardly. I'm blaming the entirety of the leadership. Jump over there. TV production this year is also absolutely horrible. It's a laugh. Good. NHL Network had the entire Selanne ceremony on. It was even listed as an event, on the guide, prior to the Jets and Ducks game. It wasn't some highlight on NHL Tonight.

What is Suter? Because right now his own teammate is making him look more like one of these: As for Myers I would have thought you'd chosen the 787 Dreamliner. Big, lots of hype but always breaking down and not able to get off the ground. But hey, maybe someday it will be worth the money and the #1 of the company. I'm just going to go ahead and assume that you wish you had thought of that. I'll also assume that because you didn't your argument is invalid. Because? Internet. :)

If someone could send me Mr. Blacks direct feedback link that would be cool.. but here's what I just sent the team. Well, I think I sent. After all it just took me back to the main page with no information that it was received.