LTS

Except for Girgensons. Unless he could get monumental returns for that kid there is no way he's up for trade. Personally I would accept getting rid of Nolan first (although Nolan may be influencing Girgensons level of play at the moment) before I would consider moving Girgensons. He just has.. it. His chemistry with Moulson seems to be pretty good too. I love these moves. At least it removes questions from the franchise and now allows us to begin evaluating real moves. We're going to see what can happen within the next month when people are moved or not.

Do you have a spray bottle with Starsan solution in it? If not you are really doing yourself a disservice. If you do, just spray the lid areas and your hands and check the beer. what yeast are you using? if it's been 65-70 the whole time you should be fine, but it's possible that the yeast is bad.

You know it's bad when you are pining for the offensive capabilities of Adam Mair.

Yep. There's nothing that prevents the Sabres from talking to their players who are currently under contract. They simply get the contract that the player wants and tell them that they are willing to pay. However, because they respect their position as an impending UFA and what they have done for the team they would be willing to trade them as a rental to a high-contending team for a shot at the Cup. There's always the risk but I'm certain the Sabres could pay Ott and Miller a premium based on their willingness to do it. Of course Ott and Miller would have to know what the trade would bring back to Buffalo. I think it's more of a chance with Ott than MIller, but Miller has been here forever and by all appearances the teams he'd be most interested in joining are not seeking goaltending.

Unless Ott, who seems to be a stand up guy, has told the Sabres he will re-sign with them in the off season. It makes sense right? If you want to play on a team and you want that team to improve then why not tell the team you'll take a trade that will bring talent back the other way. Then you turn around and sign back with that team and boom and you're improved. It doesn't happen often, but it does happen.

I understand the perception here but at the same time as the Sabres signed Scott the league also has changed quite a bit as well. I just don't think it's as great as we want it to be. Is it there at some level? It's really hard to say. Again, as for the instigator, it's irrelevant. Scott can instigate all day long. If Lucic turtles then Scott is left to decide whether or not he should throw a punch at a guy who is not responding. There's no way he's going to do it. He gets penalties for guys skating into him. I can only imagine what he ends up with for destroying a guy who isn't defending himself.

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.