LTS

Must be randomized questions? I was not asked about potato bugs...

I think I just messed this up in another thread. Failed. Took the dialogue quiz.. Buffalo/Rochester (lived in:21 years / lived in: ~20 years) and Detroit (never) are my closest cities. I'd adopted some of my wife's influence (she's downstate) and half of my family is from Indiana so my father had some influence on me. Years ago I would bet heavily that would have read more like Buffalo, Detroit, Indianapolis.

When playing with Benn and Seguin the odds are good that you'll have some success. I believe Luke Adam looked pretty solid between Vanek and Pominville. I struggle to see how John Scott prevents anything. No one has to fight him, at all, ever. He can choose to take a run at someone as retribution but he'll pay the price through ejection and suspension. I understand the perception that he prevents certain things from happening, but I don't see it. Lucic could have given Weber a solid thumping the other night but it was not in his best interests to do it. Lucic is not going to fight John Scott, ever. That was discussed ad nauseum when the Sabres first acquired Scott. I'll be surprised if anyone other than an identified fighter goes up against John Scott ever again. So, the next best response is to have him deliver some kind of thundering hit. Again, not going to happen. Sure, if he gets close enough to someone he might impact them but it's not going to be the freight-training that Lucic can provide. Scott simply does not have that speed, even after 180 feet of skating. To think Scott, being in the lineup, could jump the boards and attack someone is ludicrous. Beside the automatic 10 game suspension I am sure the league would throw some more at him. He might not see the ice for half a season. Ultimately Scott has to either become a serviceable hockey player who can fight if needed or he'll be out of the league soon. He's actually made a few plays this year but he's going to have to improve more to be a factor.

So, there's actually a good reason they could be saying Baldimore. When speaking into a microphone it is generally a good idea to try and avoid the hard consonant sounds. It tends to create a pop in the sound that is displeasing to the ear. You know it when people say "P" words. I have lots of things that bother me but I know I am not perfect. When typing I will sometimes mistype "it's" simply because I think my autonomic system is typing without any input from the brain. Of course that's not true, but it feels that way. My most annoying mispronunciation? jewlery. I hate it. I hate it even more when the spokesperson for a Jewlery store says jewlery. It drives me absolutely nuts. There are others, but I try and be tolerant these days.

Okay.. I'll give you that one. But it's a conditional 6th round pick. The conditions? If the Oilers can't draft a Pavel Datsyuk in the 6th round. :) Besides.. that Datsyuk guy is always injured. :P

There's no downside to this trade, especially with the Cody^2 being out with injuries right now. Let's say his game isn't quite right. Sure, he might leave if you send him down to Rochester, but if he doesn't he'd fill in for Armia/Adam right?

Agreed. Regardless of the comments on legality, etc. that hit knocked him good and to not undergo proper tests is just ridiculous. Moreover, concussion symptoms do not always set in immediately and can take days. This is exactly why testing is needed. Of course the one major symptom is loss of memory regarding the event that caused the concussion. If he really has no symptoms and no concussion then great, but to not be tested just proves that athletes are their own worst enemy and will continue to play despite their own safety.

Which is why I said I see why it is called charging (I think I said that, I did revise my post a few times.) I understand the call, I disagree with how the rule is written. Checking is violent, period. So if that's the case many hits are charging. The usual barometer of charging is whether or not the player was still striding to maintain speed or accelerate at the time of the hit. In this case Wilson takes strides but they are not power strides. They maintain his momentum to be certain, but he had speed. I would reference Campbell on Umberger. If you watch the video, Campbell had vacated the zone but came back from the far side of the rink. He was striding up until about 4 feet from Umberger at which point he unloaded on him in one of the more violent hits we've ever seen. Is it because 35 feet of travel before that wasn't enough? How does Wilson hit with 50% less momentum? He would have to actively engage in a stopping motion to reduce his speed that much before the hit. I also think that if Schenn was on the boards Wilson might have actually hit the boards in front of Schenn with the same amount of force but not actually contacting Schenn. This happens constantly. Players only need to slow up another player and slamming the boards in front of them or behind them gives the other player pause for thought. Once Wilson had to go around Simmonds I think the timing was thrown off and this was the outcome. I still say that if he doesn't hit Schenn there he'd hear about it on the bench. Coaches are driving these players to play that way as well. Read about Scotty Parker being bullied by Bob Hartley so he would fight on the ice when he didn't want to. Players don't control everything. Just to chime in.. only because I've been on the same side as Ghost here. I do play hockey. It's an unfortunate play in my opinion. I'll bet money that if Simmonds isn't in the path then Wilson would have cut off Schenn rather than drill him. If this was center ice he would have still destroyed Schenn. The results could still be the same. Again, see Campbell v. Umberger referenced above. I expect them to behave just like most people who are offered a lot of money. They see the immediate gratification and refuse to acknowledge long term impacts. When it comes to big money entertainment the likelihood to be short-sighted increases. Look at the number of musical artists who have signed their lives away for the hopes of a few years of living the rock star dream. Everyone starts out playing a game. However, in the day and age, once a child shows a hint at perhaps being able to achieve more they immediately begin having everything thrown at them. This is only going to strengthen the idea that what they are doing is good. No one is going to tell them otherwise, the dream is too strong. We, as fans, can see it easier because we aren't consumed by that dream. Bottom line this is going to be a suspension because the NHL needs it to be. They referees needed to call a major penalty because they are under scrutiny as well. That said, I look at Engelland's hit on Abdelkader as being much worse because he deliberately targeted the head. Wilson hits Schenn shoulder to shoulder... the speed and distance from the boards are obviously a concern but the circumstance of the play are important (at least for me). I understand the counter opinions here. It's the gray area (although not by the way the charging rule is written).

I get the charging call, but this is a game of hockey and circumstances should be taken into account on why a player is coming in with top speed. Watching the video here is what I see: At the :56 mark there is a replay showing the view blue line in.. There are 5 Flyers in the frame, 1 Capital on the boards and Wilson entering the zone. You would imagine that this means the Caps just had a line change. So, Wilson SHOULD be skating as hard as he can to get into the corner to provide support. When he enters the zone the Capitals have possession of the puck. Wilson takes 2 strides after entering the zone before Schenn picks up the puck. Wilson changes course at the face off dot to intercept Schenn who appears to be heading behind the net. At that point in time :57 in the video, Wilson takes a stride to maneuver around Simmonds. He takes one more stride to accelerate from a direction change. At this point :58 he is at the bottom of the face off circle and Schenn is a step below the icing line. Wilson begins gliding at that point, lines his shoulder up for a perfect check and Schenn begins to turn. Even if Schenn did not see Wilson you can hear his teammates yelling "Watch Out". So right when that was said, he turned slightly. As in the picture above you can see that Wilson makes contact with Schenn' shoulder. Of course he hits the boards because he turned to put himself in a bad position to absorb a hit. He gets himself clobbered. It's bound to get called but a player needs to get into the zone at top speed to get into the play. Is he supposed to stop or not hit a player (especially when it's not from behind) just because he happened to be coming into the play fast. This is far different than a player who clearly targets a player from a distance and plows him. Wilson was originally aimed for the play along the boards and changes with the change in puck possession. If Schenn is against the boards he probably shrugs this off and keeps playing. Oh well.. he'll be suspended I am certain but from what I see he made a hockey play. His speed was up but the alternative was to STOP and let Schenn go. If he does that then he's sitting on the bench.

He was vicious in that fight. His constant left jabs and then uncorking a few rights. It was pretty cool. Overall there was some seriously bad officiating. The game was entertaining to watch and thanks to dressing properly I wasn't even the slightest bit cold. I never sat down (the benefits of being in the last row). I was warmer standing as it didn't tighten up the clothing. I'm glad I was there.. it ended properly and at the time I was certain they did not score in time to tie the game.

I think I am in 203 or 204. Forget now. I'm sure it will be tough. I'll make it through. I still kick myself for not going to the Winter Classic in Buffalo. this is how I live with that decision.

I'll be there! Can't wait to freeze my arse off.

Exactly. Crystal malt... ugh. It has its place... but when used heavily the flavor reminds me of Tootsie Rolls.

Americans are naturally bitter people, so they like hoppy beers. They also like bigger and bigger, more and more, so they want hoppier beers. :) C'est la vie. I can't win them all. I'd much prefer to gravitate away from IPAs for other reasons. There are a lot of truly fantastic IPAs. They can be used to really show off the capabilities and profiles of a hop. They can also be thrown in with reckless abandon. Brewing a balanced, functional IPA is far from what most breweries turn out. That does ruin it. I'm all over the place. The only style of beer I don't particularly like (besides the American Adjunct Lager) is the California Common Ale (aka Steam beer). Just don't particularly like the styles.

Let me know when it's out. I'm betting it won't suck. On another note.. I had Founder's Sweet Repute this past Friday. It's a Wheat Wine aged in some maple bourbon barrels. It was absolutely incredible. If you've had a wheat wine before this is worth every penny. $18 for a 750ml. At 12% we're talking typical wine prices and you can and SHOULD drink it like a wine. Terrapin makes Gamma Ray, another great wheat wine.

Feel free to ship me a case :) Holy crap.

Moo Hoo is good stuff. Also a big fan of WnB Stout, formerly Wake n Bake Stout. The Gamma Ray is also amazing. Big fan of Terrapin.

They are unlikely to get a lottery pick for Vanek. Unless some bottom level team believes they will sign Vanek in the off-season they are not about to trade for him as a rental. The only takers are playoff teams and thus out of the lottery.

Bah.. so the Sabres are bad. They have an excuse. The Leafs are still awesome at collapsing. They have no excuse. And bite me if I am supposed to be miserable because the Sabres are bad.. that's THEIR problem. I only have to choose to watch the game or not.

Defensive scoring is so heavily influenced by the ability of the forwards to be in position to screen, deflect, and bury rebounds. This team is not good at this at the moment. In fact, the forwards get so little respect that teams don't feel the need to collapse their wingers down as far as the Sabres do to help cover the low areas. This leaves less time for the defense to maneuver and make plays at the blueline. That said, Pysyk makes routinely smart plays. He's rarely out of position. He gets his shot through the first pair of legs. He's going to turn out far better than we think at this point I believe.

Yes, there were quite a few people calling for that change. And there were others who were not... the threads from last two years certainly demonstrate the battle of the Storm Cloud and the Kittens. I don't disagree with your commentary on the banners. I think your point actually underscores the entire problem. The team showed success and yet showed failure. So, given that history with that coach it takes a bit of time to recognize that fit hit the shan. They looked at 2006 and said.. why not again? We have the pieces. Look at Pominville now.. thriving away in Minnesota. Perhaps the introduction of Pegula gave the core hope that Regier would be gone but when it didn't happen they decided to stop playing as hard. Ruff lost them.. eventually all the pieces were changed for something new. Good discussion. :)

The right time is always some time. It's easy to say when it is especially when events unfold in a manner that support your theory. However, at the time the decisions are being made there are a multitude of possible endings and it's not so cut and dry. This franchise has been through hell over the past two decades. It suffered the loss of its founding family, it suffered through a scandalous and criminal leadership, it was rescued from bankruptcy by an investor who rebuilt the team to viability but wasn't quite willing to let the contracts commit his money too long term. It was bought buy a long time fan of the team who is known for his dedication to his people. Leadership isn't firing someone every time there is a mistake. Sometimes you see something in someone and you hope they can find it too. So you bring in people to help them and give them guidance. In the end, it's a few too many bad decisions and you end up in this situation. And sometimes it's works out. I think it's insane to think there was no plan. There was plan to win with the core they had. Unfortunately it seems that all 3 components weren't a good fit. So this is the aftermath. All of what has come before is gone and they start again. They do it because that's all they can do. Unless everyone wants to them quit trying.

Regier studied under the most famous of Islander GMs.. I hear he's available in case they need a change.

Wait the Avs didn't respond to their goalie getting steamrolled? Oh.. wait. They wouldn't have.. it was the Wild goalie getting steamrolled. :) Still, the lack of insane response by the Wild can only be attributed to one thing.. Pominville has clearly made the Wild a soft team unable to respond to opponents steamrolling their goaltender. I hope every goalie in the league takes a shot at Kadri for that.

Yea... 16 years ago.. Google did not exist. Netscape Navigator was the browser of choice 56Kbps was the top speed for internet access (on dial-up!) Steve Jobs had just rejoined Apple The NHL website looked like this: http://web.archive.org/web/19970620032311/http://www.nhl.com/ The only sad thing? The new GM will still have to know how to operate a fax machine.