LTS

Not sure of SCF. I should have explained "buried" better. My memory was telling me that Calgary was never very successful while he was there. Although I now recall them being in the Finals in 2004. Still, the guy has proven himself a class act in the NHL and players like that deserve any shot they can get.

Even after a few beers... this is the most I've ever commented on a GDT.. or any thread for that matter. :) I guess my thing with Leino is that losing him isn't as big a concern for me as dealing with the other issues that the Sabres have. That said, I'm not crying if he's gone (which is why I kept speculating he was traded!). Buffalo has always had a soft spot for hack guitarists.. that could be the problem too. ######.. no one has said what RR had to say in his presser... since DirecTV cut the broadcast off quickly I'm kind of in the dark and I really, really want to know what he said about Leino.

I'm not in on Rolston. I don't think they guy is a fit either. Sure the team sucks but right now I think everyone in from the "hockey operations" side is leaving this team in the off season. I think trades at the deadline are going to be handled by committee. The entire chemistry is wrong and Rolston isn't fixing it. Rolston was a DR hire in Rochester. It was a simple evaluation of DR's ability to judge coaching talent. The Sabres brought him up to see if it was Ruff. Clearly it's not just Ruff and now Rolston will pay as well. It's life. I think RR has gotten more out of this team but right now most players on that team are trying to make plans for traveling next week. They are not fully focused on hockey. Every player knows there are moves coming and that in the position the Sabres are in it won't be the kind of moves that make the team stronger right now. The Sabres probably need to flip 50% of this roster right now.

I was just giving you a hard time on that. :) The strength of Leino is the patience his shows with the puck. He doesn't just turn it over and run away. He plays strong on the puck as well. He's got really good stick handling and control. One could argue that paired with some scorers there might be benefits. But this Sabres team is so absolutely awful that there's barely a chance for anyone to shine through. Also apologize for calling you clueless, that was unwarranted. I'll blame the bomber of Hop Stoopid. Now that I'm onto a bomber of Too Kind I feel different about things. :P

Fine with that as well.. Regehr deserves a shot. I think Regehr will move for 2 months to a team that has potential to win. People can play up the family aspects all they want but for a guy who was buried in Calgary and then ended up in a bad situation in Buffalo 2 months for possible success would be worth the hardship.

Aye. Because the Sabres are so good overall right? I'm not saying Leino is spectacular but he's certainly better than 50% of the Sabres roster. Well, last season he was clearly misused and didn't mesh with Ruff. This year he was injured, so.... it's pretty hard to judge him. I think he's in line for a buyout depending on what happens between now and next season. If they can't get enough talent in then they can wait and buy him out next year if he doesn't show up. I've no problem if they buy him out. I just wouldn't say he's one of the worst signings ever.

######... on DirecTV I'm losing the feed now so no postgame? FUGGLES!!!!!! Actually there are no fuggles in the beer I am drinking... but anyway.

What the hell did you do use Word to respond to that? You are clearly clueless. Regardless of your opinion on his "signing quality" he's still far better than 50% of the Sabres roster. So what does that say to you? If the WORST SIGNING IN NHL HISTORY is better than 50% of the team that signed him? Just curious. Frankly I just think he's a perfectly good player put on a bad team. By the way.... Rick DiPietro is the worst signing in the NHL.. ever. I know you said "one of the worst".

This just in.. Buffalo Sabres sued by Dyson for infringing on their patent of never losing suckage. I need another three beers...

A corpse wouldn't have laid on the ice as well as Miller did on that last attempt. Bring on RR and his comments on Leino... they should just let the players coach themselves the rest of the season. It's clear the morons behind the bench have no clue.

Well.. then DR believes he has a deal.. perhaps he's trading with Feaster? :) All I can think of right now is this:

So Leo has a goal and an assist in the last two.. he's playing for a trade. Nicely done.. I still think Leino is on the move... if RR just benched him for the game then RR should be fired.. unless Leino said something to RR in the locker room. Something like.. "This team is a bunch of !$!$#! and you are the !#!$%!@ leader." I can't wait for the post-game presser.

At this point.. if RR is still just benching Leino I think he's an idiot. I don't care what Leino said to the referee he's worth more on the ice. Since I don't think RR is that big of an idiot I'm sticking with... Leino has been traded. I know no one here would believe it.. either that or he's injured.. but I don't see that.

Pominville is going to LA.. unless they want Stafford or Leino. Perhaps his between the legs pass was enough to convince them? I realize it's Feaster on Sunday but can we stop talking about the Feaster Bunny already? He laid an egg, I'm not sure why anyone is surprised.

This Leino thing is interesting... he was on the bench but not on the ice in that period. Either his hip is bothering him or perhaps he's part of some trade discussion and they've pulled him from the ice? I love rumor mongering.

Stafford... pull him now and trade him!

Has Leino touched the ice since his penalty? Sekera goal.

Pittsburgh is going all in to be sure but they are going to have to move people either in the offseason or next year to keep that team intact. $32.4m committed to Malkin, Crosby, Neal, Martin, and Fleury next year. They've got 10 players who are either RFA/UFA next season. Kunitz, Malkin, Orpik, Letang, Niskanen Sutter, all in the last year of their contracts next year. Someone is going to have to budge. It's a good move on their part. I see them moving Malkin, Orpik, or Letang next year to get back a draft pick or two / prospects they gave up this year. Still, I'll be real curious to see how Pittsburgh does over the next 2-3 years. It could be mortgaging the future for now. Something I guess we Sabre fans wouldn't mind at this point. Win once, lose for another 6-8 years? I'm still convinced that Pominville ends up in LA, especially now that they missed on Iginla. I think the Sabres target Bernier. Does MIller move? Hard to say.. either now or later.

You can find information all over the net about aging beer. There are lots of great examples and styles. On my 40th a few weeks ago we had a 2006 Braggot, a 2008 Stock Ale, and a few other nicely aged beers. You can age a Double IPA if you want. They begin to take on a barleywine like flavor as the floral aspects of the hops gives way to the bitterness. Barleywines are some of the most notably aged beers, many of them being aged (if bottled properly) an easy 10 years. Imperial Stouts as mentioned above are also commonly aged. They'll lose carbonation over time and take on interesting characteristics. When beers have been aged on oak, or brewed with chocolate that will also tend to mature over time as well. As long as you keep the beer out of light, at a constant temperature (preferably 55 degrees to 48 degrees) you should be okay. At one of the recent Belgium Comes to Cooperstown events Ommegang did a vertical tasting of Three Philosophers. I believe they had samples from 2002-2011 so you could taste each and see how they developed over time. Stone brewed the 1.1.1 - 12.12.12 series specifically for the purpose of aging those beers until the 12.12.12. date. So if you think about the 1.1.1 brewed in 2001 was intended to be consumed 11 years later. JW Lees Harvest Ales routinely are aged for long years. I had a 1999 version last year. It was fantastic. it takes on a very liquor like characteristic at a lower alcohol rate of course. The problem with aging is that any substandard conditions or even a bottling defect could mean you end up with vinegar or a number of interesting side effects from aging. It happens.

I say this about faceoffs mattering. Statistically, air travel is the safest form of travel. However, if everyone doesn't do their job right then the outcome of the statistically improbably occurrence of a crash is very bad. Same with a faceoff. Generally, if everyone does their job, it doesn't matter.. but when someone doesn't... boom. Now... what about trades?

I'd have to dig out the bottles I've had a few beers from up there. Had Lagunitas Sucks last night after my hockey game... very nice.

Let's be honest... trading away pieces for long term improvement is not at all the same as tanking is it? If DR can move players at the deadline, like Pominville, Stafford, and more then I am all for it. If that means they don't win this year that's fine. That's not tanking, that's presumably getting solid future prospects for the future. Perhaps it's a fine line.

I understand your viewpoint. I won't agree, but I understand it. The underlying problem is a lack of faith in the people running the show, really the GM. If you lack faith in the owner you should probably just quit being a fan because he's probably not going anywhere. I don't know if Regier can cut it as a GM. I have to give him credit for putting together a competitive team at times. I've seen two offseasons and 1 trade deadline where it appears he's done a good job. I don't think anyone predicted the lack of heart this Sabres team has now would be so bad. I don't think anyone predicted that Pominville would quickly become one of the faces of that lack of effort. Perhaps some moves confounded us, take Stafford for example since he's another favorite whipping boy. I think Stafford is a capable player. I believe that he's soured on Buffalo and the situation and that put elsewhere he will be back to the standout season he had a few years ago. There was optimism ending last year that Stafford had found his way. It's clear that didn't pan out but now it's up to the GM to move him. It's a matter of what he can get for him. Given his ability to flip players and our willingness, as fans, to let him go for nothing I'm thinking DR has a very low bar to get over for our approval. Too many moving parts to try and blame it on any one thing. One bad person in the locker room, or a coach that turns the team off and it can lead to a divided locker room and a team that is not focused. You can't always control that but I think the Sabres are moving in the right direction by bringing in a guy like Ott who seems to have taken over control of the locker room. I just don't feel fooled.. I suppose I never would based on the simple fact that it's sports so I don't get too crazy over it. But I think there is evidence to support the building of the team in the right direction. I'm really looking forward to this trade deadline to see what happens. If the Sabres tank the trade deadline then I'll probably change my stance on things a bit.

Yea, which means he's capable when surrounded by talent but not capable of carrying a team. That's better than not being capable regardless of the talent around you.

I'm not equating failure to failure. I'm stating that having top picks does not beget success as some would propose. I think it's absolutely impossible to provide statistical analysis on that. My goal was simply to say that it's impossible to tell. The Sabres have had talent as well to build a team around but either through the incompetence of the GM, the owner, or something else it never happened. We've already begun questioning ownership here. You've brought up Yzerman, Charles Wang. If we have incompetent leadership the plan falls apart right? So, we need a new GM at a minimum. Now strangely enough I recall seeing a lot of people in the "Keep 5" thread throwing Hodgson's name in there. I'm pretty sure the incomptent GM was the guy who acquired Hodgson. Is he "top talent" I don't know, but he seems to be a pretty strong player that might do even better if those other holes were filled. Which brings me to Colorado... who has Stastny, Duchesne, and Landeskog, O'Reilly, McGinn, Parenteau, Erik Johnson (top 5 pick), and they seem to still be sucking as well. If the team is tanking why would Regier get fired? I presume it's because they are losing but wouldn't it be completely illogical to judge the man on the job he's doing if you have your team tanking? Of course I don't think what's trying to be said is that they lose on purpose.. so that brings up the next question. Since they aren't losing on purpose, people must want them to lose based upon their lack of ability against the league. If that is the case, how is that not rooting against the team? After all, the only logical statement is that you hope, the team as it is comprised today, is not good enough to make the playoffs. In fact, it's worse than that. It's not that they don't make the playoffs it's that they are so bad they get a top 3 pick. So, you are hoping that every other team they play is better so that the Sabres lose. You want them to lose. So, if that's the case, when they are suddenly good, and you are rooting for the exact opposite scenario, you know, the other team to lose. Can I then say you are rooting for that team? Seems a bit hinky to me. I see where people try and justify this as some long term plan. It's okay to root for them to lose now so they can be successful later by getting a top pick this year. Except they might not get better next year because we've already seen comments that a top pick doesn't turn the team around overnight like the NFL. Okay, so next year they aren't much better, they finish 10th in the standings. The year after that they finish 9th. Okay, so now we are questioning if the top pick from this year is going to help the team. We are wondering what the next trade will be to get that team over the hump. Then we find out the guy was a bust, start it over. Kind of feels like the past 16 years doesn't it? So, in some sick twisted way are people really rooting for the status quo? Except you know for that one top 3 pick that might pan out or not. It just doesn't work for me. It's completely illogical to hope that your team sucks. It's the antithesis of being a fan. I hope the Flyers suck and for me to sit there and in the same sentence say that I hope the Sabres suck.. well I just can't do it.