LTS

Taylor Hall wasn't going to get to Boston if he got himself injured in Buffalo. I really think it's that simple. Once this team was going nowhere and Eichel was out there was no reason on Earth that Hall needed to exert himself. He knew the Sabres would move him. He knew he'd only okay the Bruins as the location. He came into this season knowing the odds were good of this exact situation happening and he got $8M for it. I guess that's an indictment of the franchise to a certain degree. However, the fan base was rather happy when he signed here. The thought of Hall and Eichel made many people happy and positive on the team. So it might have been an $8M investment to appease the fans that horribly backfired when Eichel went out.

You are referring No Goal right? Oh.. right, there wasn't a Game 7 at that point to qualify as the "eve" of. 🙂

I'm not surprised by this. Companies have to manage risk. People don't want to hear about it but those are facts. imagine having to pay Jeff Skinner $9M while he's out with COVID because he wouldn't get vaccinated. Our company adopted a policy of paying field techs while they were out with COVID. It was a nice gesture given that they were our front line and still entering people's homes, etc. At this point they can all be vaccinated, so they are debating how long do they continue that policy. These techs aren't well paid athletes but we have our fair share who are anti-vaccine. Got my second shot this morning. Just waiting for any impacts now! They are closing down some of the URMC sites because no one is showing up so there's no point in staffing it any longer. Both times I went I just walked in, got my shot, observed for 15, walked out. Not once was there a line.

I think at this point the only thing we need to say is there is clearly a situation here that we all wish would stop coming up in the world. Take your choice: Athlete engages in sexual misconduct (or worse) False accusation of sexual misconduct (or worse) The Internet jumps to conclusions Internet attacks each other over any comment made regarding the subject Fully expecting to be the victim of the last choice.

Or the supplies they pay for out of their own pockets?

NFTs... wow. It's not equatable to any physical item as anything physical is inherently a unique item. Even if you print 1,000,000 hockey cards, each of those cards is different in some way and will continue to differ as they age. One of those cards might have a misprint, or age differently, or the paper suddenly deteriorates to put the face of Jesus over the player, etc. No matter what happens, that one card is unique. It may even be a smaller run of say 500 cards where the limited run of those cards drives its value. (assuming no one prints another 1,000,000 after selling the first 500). Digital versions however remain 100% the same. There is nothing unique about it and if you have the file then you have the ability to create as many copies of that as you would like. 100% the same, never changing, ever. Along comes the idea that someone will pay money to own the "original" of those digital bits. Those bits might represent a tweet, a photo, it doesn't matter. By purchasing the NFT you "own" it. Only you have no rights over it. It's like paying money to commission a piece of digital art and then telling the artist just post that anywhere you'd like and let anyone use it how they want. So basically people have an NFT, which us a 100% unique digital signature (for now) and they supposedly have value because they have that signature. But they don't actually OWN the digital piece of work that the NFT represents ownership of, they just own the unique NFT that represents ownership.

I don't doubt that Thompson's really stupid penalty against the Rangers is also playing into this. It was the catalyst to the collapse in that game. Poor play and taking a stupid penalty is not going to win you favors.

Indeed. Glad he was a Sabre. He made it possible for the team to be a contender and we should all be happy with that. Happy trails Ryan.

Well... this should be interesting. But right now the Sabres cannot solve the Bruins, so it doesn't matter.

Does that include the number of times Cozens would look at the ceiling or glide to the bench for a shift change? Asking for a friend.

No matter what happens I expect overreactions everywhere.

I watch how this team is playing right now and I wish I could see Eichel in the lineup. I think the current style of play is something he would love and excel at.

If you chose to go hit for hit with the Sabres you might not even need a lighter... according to some posters around here. What's the appropriate outcome for the Toker tonight?

No two ways about it. The feat is impressive. Love seeing things like this happen. In today's game to have a career like that just speaks volumes about his ability to remain relevant to a roster.

Told you it was dark. See what you did?

Those talking heads usually don't float those stories without someone feeding them the information. The Sabres have already admitted they've taken offers. Eichel might not straight away admit to it, but if his agent is out there pushing those talking heads to float the rumors then he's driving it. We don't know. My suspicion however is that Eichel's agent is doing just that.

I think we should prepare ourselves that Jack Eichel will be traded. As good as he can be I don't know that I have a problem with it. If it ultimately puts the Sabres into a position to be perennial playoff participants I think I can live with it. I get the concept of not trading away that level of talent, but things appear to be heading towards a place where it has to happen.

A player sure. I am speaking specifically about the decisions on Hall. Those were the mistake. There are players who have NMCs and no one mentions them because they play well enough that no one would consider moving them anyway. In this case Hall was able to get Buffalo to agree to a one year deal that very predictably had a shot at him being moved at the trade deadline. He gets the NMC and knows he can force Buffalo to send him to Boston, where he wanted to go the whole time. So he gets paid good money to tolerate Buffalo for awhile and ends up in Boston for a playoff run. Boston may have the money to keep him next year, but of course he's gotta prove himself worth the investment. Either way, Buffalo was a fool for bringing him in with those conditions. I don't think we expected things to go off the rails this much and I suppose there was a possibility that Hall was so good in Buffalo he'd re-sign. I never thought for a moment he would be in Buffalo next year. I had hoped he'd at least pull in a first rounder. But it's water under the bridge... the Hall era is over and along with it Krueger and I'm ready to just enjoy this team right now who at least plays like they care.

Allowing them to do it? No, not as a matter of practice. It's going to happen though and when it does you have to go with it. I still think Adams was probably forced into Hall and also forced into the deal by Krueger. Others could disagree... we'll never know. My whole point was what you have to allow for the possibilities. Which only proves that the decisions that led up to this point were not good. But who knows how it all came together... Bottom line, Hall was a mistake. Krueger was a mistake. Let's just bundle those mistakes together and shove them into the garbage can of the past and not discuss them any more. Things happen...

I'm there. This is a team where Reinhart, Ristolainen, and Dahlin are the "stars" of the franchise. They are playing like this right now. It really just works for me. There's something to what this staff is achieving right now. What? What more?

I saw this as well. There are moments in hockey that transcend my pettiness. First games, first goals, and something like this. The kid (god I am old now) has been hanging around for years in the game and tonight he finally won a game and he honors his father demonstrating how long he's carried that baggage. I can't not be happy for him. Granted it helps that he did it with the Sabres and on a night like this. I was going other things tonight and had the game streaming on the side. Here's what I know... my son came down barreling downstairs a few times and asking me "Did you see that?", "Are you watching?"... I'm at a point where I can draw energy from his excitement. Just let the team keep this up. No way I can complain at the moment. It might not be everything it needs to be in the long term, but for this season it's what fans and players need.

Well you, as a fan, get to be emotional about it. The GM has to manage those relationships. If Adams goes around operating like the players opinions don't matter it will only make his job that much harder. It's a business without a doubt, but you treat your employees poorly and they leave and you get a reputation as a person or organization to avoid because they don't care about you. What happens to the players on the team if they don't like the GM? They stop playing. If the team doesn't care about them then why should they care about the team? Because they are getting paid? They get paid either way. Sure, they want to win, but if they believe they can't win with the Sabres then they'll mail it in, collect the paycheck and pray they get traded, anywhere. Every pending UFA will opt to leave, if they are a valued asset elsewhere, and the Sabres will continue to be left with players who only choose to be in Buffalo because it's better than not being in the NHL. I fail to see how ignoring the players ends up in a good place.

I also think it's a valid point. The thing to also consider is that perhaps the team would be happier of Taylor Hall were not around. I think we've some indication that Adams was willing to move him elsewhere and that Hall was going to block anything. I am sure teammates also look at that kind of selfishness and draw conclusions. Sure, Hall has that right, and I suppose if he had made a difference to the team they might support it more but basically I look at Hall as a guy who used his relationship with a coach that is no longer here to get an $8M deal and then do nothing. He then further held that over the organizations head. As a teammate I'd want that turd blossom off the team regardless. The other potential aspect is as Tom says.. players might be put off by that hardball approach. Granted I think it's fair to say it would only be returning the favor to Hall who was clearly playing his own game. Bottom line, I wrap this all up and put it behind me at this point. The book on Adams will be written going into next season. He's hiring the front office, he's hiring the coach, he's overseeing all of the inputs. Given the influencing ability many attributed to Krueger last year I'm still holding off final judgment of Adams. That said, he better damn well knock it out of the park at this point.

Given how much people have believed that Krueger was calling the shots and he was a Pegula darling does it make sense to allow for the possibility that perhaps Adams didn't want to provide an NTC to Hall but was forced to do so?

It will be interesting how the Sabres players play against Hall. If they didn't like him you can see them going out of their way to make his life miserable on the ice. Whereas, if they did, they'll just play it more normal. I would think anyway. I know I would do that. But either way.. it'll be interesting to see what happens.