LTS

Meh. It's simple really. I'm going to watch. Even Episodes 1-3 had their moments even if most of it was garbage. I'm not going out at midnight to see it.. but I will see it. It will happen. I loved the trailer. They are trying very hard to keep things a secret. Interesting use of lines from the movie that are not aligned with the scene it appears in. I hope it's everything a person could want. It will do well just because it's Star Wars but I am hoping that for me it has more connection. I was 4 when the first film came out and it was a large part of my childhood. By default I am already emotionally invested in it.

If I am Terry Pegula (or Russ Brandon) and I walk into that arena tonight (if I'm not in London) and I see a multitude of Leaf sweaters sitting in my arena I would set out to find each season ticket holder who sold their seats and not allow them to renew next year. If owning tickets came with one single policy ... Thou shall not sell to a Leafs fan. It would be worth it. The house better be decidedly Buffalo.

We're going again this year. It was a most amazing experience. This year I am one of the coaches so I get the dorm experience as well!

Indeed.. I hope this as well. Well, he was the Asst. GM. But that said, he traded for Ben Bishop when Anderson was injured. They already had Lehner in the system. They moved Bishop to Tampa for very little (Conacher and a 4th) at the trade deadline the following year. I would imagine the thought being that Lehner was their goalie of the future as he started the following season. The concussion is what made everything else goofy at that point. The goalie situation went even more goofy in Ottawa after Murray came to Buffalo. But Brian Murray said that Lehner was movable once they acquired O'Connor. I would imagine, that if Tim Murray had the same in the Bishop handling then he must believe that Lehner was a better fit long term than Bishop.

I choose to look at what we have more data on for my projections. Tim Murray has a solid track record of identifying talent. For now I am willing to go with his opinion on Lehner.

Now you know.

The ability to start the play out of the zone is all on the defense. However, the forwards have a huge say in that. If you recall last year the opposing teams had no fear of the forwards and so they would play a heavy forecheck. The forwards were slow with the puck so even if the forecheck was beaten by the D the forward was collapsed on before he could leave the zone. Look at this year. They have the forwards higher in the zone. The speed of the breakout is much faster and as such the opposition D is leaving the blue line earlier to not get caught. All of this opens up the ice and allows the Sabres D man a bit more space to make the plays needed. Once that happens you need the D man who hits that pass or skates it out himself. But without the open ice the best D man is going nowhere.

The Sabres out shot the Lightning 16-3 in the first period. They out shot a team that is favored to be in the SCF mix again this year. When was the last time the Sabres had a +13 in shot differential in a single period... hell in a whole game? I'm happy. This team wasn't supposed to be a playoff team. it was supposed to improve dramatically and then next year continue that momentum. So... away we go. For those who still can't get on board.. think of this perspective. The next time you watch a game listen for the phrase "but not out". You won't hear it as much anymore. Be happy about that.

Appreciate the insight on the season ticket sales. It'll be interesting to see where it goes. I'm not doubting that ownership has a short time frame to turn it around (1 year?).

Well.. that's just worse if you ask me. If he owns everything happening in the arena then you'd think he'd want as many people in there as possible. The cost of putting a fan in a seat has to be minimal in a venue like that. A few extra security guards, a few extra ushers, a few extra people to clean up. An empty seat generates zero revenue, in ticket sales or concessions. Fair or not, you need butts in the seats. With no one there it has to be hard to even keep the team break even. If people don't start showing up the NHL will put pressure on them to move as it looks horrible for the league to have highlights of a team with empty seats everywhere.

Meh.. Wegmans has started to annoy me. Too much operational efficiency leading to decisions being made that I don't like. Sometimes you just have to give'em the damn pickle. Had a sub from Wegmans the other day.. it was awful. Our local supermarket does so much better. It's got a lot of upside but I rarely shop there anymore... just not as huge a fan as I was in the past. I still abhor Tops though.

You are still hanging onto it. As for the rest of the fans who you guarantee they either understand that when you buy a sports team you don't come out and say "Hell, Let me see what I can do with this thing.". If they don't they will probably be happy chasing laser pointer lights around the room too. If you are seriously anchored on meaningless sports speak then perhaps you should take a step back. "Hi, I'm Terry Pegula. I bought the Sabres because I'd like to blow some money and have some fun. Don't really care if we win. Let's just put on a show for the fans." Oh.. are you hanging on the "sole reason for existence" wording? What are hockey teams operated for? Perhaps he was a bit overzealous in saying the "sole reason" but really, that is why a hockey team exists. It exists to win the Stanley Cup. The rest of it is a by product of its existence. We could probably get fairly philosophical on that but why? It's sports speak. Terry Pegula bought a hockey team. He made real estate investments. All of them to help him make more money, satisfy some level of ego, and put his family on solid ground for the future. Buffalo was a great place for him to invest. He had history with the city. His wife had history with Rochester. It's great marketing and it tells a story. We all love stories. When he bought the team he made some decisions on how to proceed. Those didn't work. BFD. He's taken another role now and things appear to be turning around. Will they turn completely? Who knows... all I know is that the center of the hockey universe hasn't won a Stanley Cup since before the Sabres existed so it's safe to say that all the "other" stuff doesn't mean anything when it comes to winning the cup. I dunno.. why are we still talking about Pegula? What's the point? What point am I supposed to concede? I'm confused at this point.

That's the kind of thing that tried to say a lot but means little. The bite is centered on what Broward County gets if the Panthers leave. For a whole $86 million in money it doesn't sound like much. I would think the NHL could afford to move the Panthers. It's a joke really. That kind of attendance is an absolute joke. I feel for any player who has to play there, other than the weather of course.

It's good to see everyone's enjoyment of the team has taken a downturn. You know what has taken hold in this forum? The culture of loosing. Holy crap.. enjoy the improvement and enjoy the ability to actually be competitive.

You know him as Mr. Perkins.

So Foligno leads the team in assists and is tied at the top in points (3) and his assists have been to 3 different players. He's fine. He's right where he needs to be, doing the things he needs to do. The team is still getting used to each other and there are times when you can see what it will be. There are other times when it really hurts. Florida appeared to be doing quite the interesting play for zone entry on the PP. I'd love to see a more overhead view to confirm but the RW player appeared to enter the neutral zone from the offensive zone and receive a pass from the rushing attacker. This routinely forced a Sabre to move to cover and then they would pass back to one or another attacker for zone entry. That attacker was moving at an angle so as to create coverage confusion. It certainly led to Gorges penalty but they did it a few times quite successfully. As far as I am concerned.. if you are Dan Bylsma and you want the puck in the attacking zone by carrying it over the line you give it to Risto or Eichel. Both of them do a great job of carrying the puck in. Still lots to improve upon but at no time does it appear they are outmatched... its still just not all on the same page. Ennis might be trying a bit TOO hard.

There's all kinds of debating evidence on it. I've even found articles on USA Hockey sites that reference there may be SOME benefit. However, in the coaching certification tests you very clearly do not get the question right unless you choose the option that says "No evidence that mouthguards reduce concussion" or something similar. Very strange.. I think there's a lot to it. It might be relevant in that one situation but at the same time I don't think a mouthguard is going to reduce the sudden jerk of the head so much as it will keep the teeth from mashing together and being forced out. You'd think that the reduced force that saves the teeth would somehow also benefit the brain...

I don't quite understand what appears to be surprise to people here. He had money and Buffalo was a great place to invest it. There are insanely loyal fans. The value of the franchise was low. it offered an opportunity to build in a sport that the city loves. He knew that Bills would be for sale one day and depending on how well the Sabres moves were received he might be able to buy them. There's zero doubt in my mind that the Bills will be playing in downtown Buffalo within 10 years. He has taken his money and invested it, wisely, in resources that will allow him to earn additional money while also giving him significant real estate resources. He has placed himself into the conversation of USA Hockey and turned Buffalo into a highly respected hockey development center. He has also helped drive additional business development in a city that had been turning around. None of this is a surprise. He's a business man and he's doing business things. He has savvy business people with him to help him along the way. At the moment no one's losing here...

They know better.

You seem more angry lately... or less tolerant. Something... have you been hanging around with Eleven more? :) You win. I'm done. Also.. first game where I should see the entire thing. YAY!

Indeed!

Well done!

Subbed the other night and had the pure joy of playing a bunch of McQuaid hockey graduates in a D league level game. I mean, if they really belong at that level McQuaid must suck at hockey. But anyway.. scored a shortie after driving into the zone and then laying it back to my forward who covered the rush. Managed to deflect it with my skate while busting butt back to cover D. So imagine me skating away from the goal and having the other team spend a few minutes trying to convince the ref that I kicked the puck into the net (from the high slot no less). Sorry, the shutout was gone. Also.. play at your own level.. and the trash talking.. holy cow... So yea.. point of the story? The beer after the game tasted good.

This picture is classic. I used to run a group of web developers and when they were waiting for content from the marketing group and thing began taking awhile they would use this picture as a placeholder for all graphics. So I just had a good chuckle. USA Hockey will be happy to tell you that mouthguards are not proven to reduce concussion. They are there as protection for the teeth, not the brain. Drilled into me during USA Hockey Coaches Training.

Blaming Lehner's conditioning for him catching a rut and spraining an ankle is like blaming a person's weight as the reason they got hit by a bus. You know.. if you get close enough to Van Gogh's paintings you can critique every stroke he every made. You also won't appreciate his painting.