LTS

It's never about just the talent of the players that can be in the lineup. This is one aspect that has to be taken into account. Until a team is a near absolute lock to challenge for the Cup (not just make the playoffs) a good GM isn't planning to win this year at the expense of any future years. Burning contracts reduces roster flexibility. And roster flexibility is the real key to all of this. If the situation was like the AHL then it would be a no brainer. But it's not and that will more than likely lead the team to send both Benson and Savoie back to Wenatchee. Simply put, if either of them are kept past 9 games then there is no other spot for them. If they struggle, the team is handcuffed on what they can do. No ability to trade for someone and send the struggling player to the AHL. The team has to be damn sure the player can contribute and contribute for a full 82 game + playoff season. Benson looks good now, but what does he look like in February after the grind of the NHL? I just don't see a team with the stated goal of making the playoffs limiting its ability to move proven NHL roster pieces around. And I think Benson is fantastic, I think if he could be sent down to the AHL then I would put him on this roster until Quinn returns or he begins to struggle. I love how he sees the ice and anticipates the play. But.. the business wins in the end.

Love Pizza PLant. Go there almost every time before a game. Great beer selection and love PODs. Johnny Ryan uses pure cane sugar versus HFCS... I don't drink any of the stuff any more but I avoid HFCS at all opportunities. See above!

It's admirable, but once "American" cars began being primarily built outside of the United States I began looking for cars that were mostly built within the United States. I'd rather see the money go to support the team on the floor versus the team in the office.

Every hit? Good thing the Sabres are not playing at home given their stingy statisticians!

I'll give you my opinion about the lines in the GDT on 10/12/23. Might as well speculate on the Powerball numbers at this point. 🙂

Yeah, I bought a PC instead because they get better deals. but, I never buy cutting edge anyway.. it's far too expensive. I have been toying with building a racing rig, full seat frame and everything. But.. common sense keeps winning out. 🙂

Liquid cooling has been around awhile. It replaces the thermal fan you would normally use and that creates a much quieter setup. Sure it's great for heat dissipation as well, but the silence (and often the LED bling) are the primary reasons people choose it. I didn't build a PC the last time I upgraded because of the cost of video cards. I've been considering an upgrade but, just don't need it these days.

They'll need to rely on upping the STH count, and the team is not good enough for that, not yet. That's when your almost die hard fans justify buying in for the season. That's when they can feel confident that a Tuesday night game in January will sell on the resale market except... Factor in an crap economy, an ever increasing cost of attending a game, a lower tier arena experience, and I think people are content to sit at home and watch the game.

Tage is big, but I am sure splitting him in half will half serious impacts to his game. 🙂 Let's just leave it to hockey here. Hockey is a sport that routinely sees kids at a very young age going off and living away from their families for an extended period of time. Our friend's daughter has been at prep school since 14 playing hockey. These kids are going to play hockey for a good part of the day and then get an education. They are being banged up and are playing against bigger individuals. If Zach Benson were in college his year, he'd be playing against 22 year olds who are bigger and stronger. Overall, I'm can't recall if a team can have Benson play a few games, then send him down, and bring him back again to play a few more. If that's possible then I suspect that if they feel Benson can contribute immediately they'll send him back to Wenatchee while they work a trade that opens up a roster spot and then recall him. Having him sitting in the press box while working a trade is a clear indication the Sabres think he's ready and it could impact value. I won't prognosticate more. I need to see him in an NHL game against a full NHL squad.

I'll take phrases inkman likes to hear for $500 Alex. No watching the game for me tonight... oh well. I'm saving my money for as long as I can before I make a decision on how I will watch the Sabres this season.

Not sure. I expected it to be blacked out.. but I'm not complaining!

I'm in Rochester and watching on ESPN+. I don't like Edwards, but I've never heard him sound like this. He sounds like he is suffering a medical condition. I'm not even trying to be sparky. I'm actually concerned for him.

It was a great show.

So you only get 2 games with the Sabres commentators unless you choose to only listen to the game and the game against Boston you have to suffer the biggest jackwad in hockey announcing... Only 1 MSG produced game and we wonder why MSG sucks so bad at broadcasting hockey.

I'd put him on the team.. just for that photo.

Going to see Peter Gabriel tonight in Buffalo. Wanted to head in early but had meetings. All meetings have now been canceled (not of my own doing). Yep. This is my kind of Friday.

Well... great. This is going to get confusing. 🙂 Glad you came back.

My expectations for the team are to make the playoffs or it's a failed season. Now, if they don't am I going to get up on a soapbox and complain about how much they suck and infer I will not longer be a fan? Not a chance. In the end it's still hockey and just a sport. However, as a fan, I have expectations. They will be met or not be met. Bottom line, any sports is merely entertainment and while it can add value to my life when things go well I don't let it take value from my life if they don't. I might not get as much value but in no way am I letting a sports team make my life miserable. I have enough other things going on in life attempting to do so... things that have far more immediate impact that a W/L record.

I think this just speaks to an issue that many forums face. The balance of new topics versus combined conversations. As was mentioned up the thread. The new topic projecting each players 2023-24 output works in much the same way. There are a variety of topics that tend to proliferate out into new threads. Overall, I don't think it's much of an issue but I still maintain a function to "Ignore topic" would be fantastic to have. This makes it easier to flag those conversations you are not interested in. Even cooler could be the ability to ignore topic with <flag>, so that you could just say I don't want to see threads flagged "prospects" for example. A lot of administrative overhead.. and certainly takes governance.. until then I think it's just BAU.

I would imagine it would really depend on how the question was asked, etc. right? If I explained what I was doing and allowed people to volunteer to share photos it would be different then demanding it. And frankly.. I said it early on. If anyone was to demand I share my phone I would tell them to F off. Feel free to fire me and let's see where that goes in the courts. As I said above.. "Turn on Airplay and share your phone" the answer is No.. we're done here. Every person needs to have that willpower. As for the bolded, this isn't so much a Babcock thing.. but I would advise people that if there is information you are not comfortable sharing with the public your phone is one of the last places it should be. I know people view them as "personal" devices.. but they aren't.. not even close.

I definitely read the whole thing. I think anyone who puts that much effort and thought into something should be rewarded with people reading it. I was wondering how many on here would not read the whole thing. Today's TL;DR society is painful. I'm not implicating you, although you willingly admit to tapping out. But as a culture we tend to not want to read longer commentary and just want things distilled down. Unfortunately that often leads to incomplete pictures and understanding. My bottom line on Trotter? Nothing to do with his lawsuit, but if you think working for the league will allow you to report freely on the league (his employer) he really needed a wake up call. His efforts would be far better rewarded being outside of that control.

This is an excellent point. The Sabres forwards and in many cases were out of position in the defensive zone. Many times I watched Tuch or Thompson overcommit. I watched Cozens not recognizing the changing coverage of the ice. Ideally you don't want players out of position (duh?) but a player who has a tendency to play out of position will cause other players to try and compensate and they won't always agree in how that should be done... thus you get 1,2, or 3 additional players out of position.. and open ice.. and goals scored against you. The Sabres have to tighten up the coverage and discipline in their zone.. no single player can resolve that.

Was it though? I think people can choose to believe it might be true or might not be true.. but did they it was not true or just unlikely? It didn't read that way to me. I think questioning the validity of the claim it was said should be allowed just as claiming it was said is allowed. The only thing that matters is the truth. But, you've associated their questioning with political ideology. I'm not entirely certain how that fits unless you are insinuating that people of a certain political party are racist, by definition. I'm quite certain it's not true because I know members of multiple political parties who are not (not high ranking, but it means it's not an absolute). So, if you are casting allegations of political leanings and therefore implying associated racism, are you not also engaging in the same behavior your chastising others for? This is some good information. This is a good clarification. If it's a meeting of 40 NFL employees, and the NFL is in the lawsuit, then anyone who wants to keep their job is not going to speak up publicly at this time. Employees can answer to the investigators, but speaking out on a corporate lawsuit to the public while you are an employee is most assuredly going to end up in you being fired. And yet both statements are absolutely ignorant. Hopefully they hire the people who investigate Gruden. That seemed to unearth all kinds of stuff. If the reports are credible or if they are true? Credible is a subjective measure. Just curious more than anything. If the statements are true I'd 100% remove myself from involvement with all things Pegula until he was removed. If the statements are proven true I would hope that players would 100% refuse to play until he was gone.. and that's from ALL his sports franchises. If I worked for the organizations and it were proven true I would provide just enough time for him to announce he's leaving and that replacement ownership will be sought after. If it didn't happen soon enough, I would leave. No way in hell I would work for a known racist. Overall, the best bet in this thread is to not opine on the validity or lackthereof regarding the complaint. Racism is an emotional topic (as it should be) and speculation on what is true or not will more often than not lead to regrettable interactions. It's one thing to get fired up over facts, quite another to begin casting aspersions over speculation. I think we all agree that we don't know the truth, but we want to know. That's the key here. I want to know.

I am not familiar with this Trotter complaint against the NFL. Never heard of it. Disgusting comments without a doubt. Naturally need to determine if they were actually said.

How does a player not tell him to F off?