TrueBlueGED

I saw Venom last week. It wasn't good, in any artistic cinematic sense, but I was entertained. Entertainingly bad, if you will. Tom Hardy remains awesome.

Can we go back to people chest-thumping about Allen after preseason game #2, or the ball washing of Doug Marrone? These are opinions that need to be re-visited!

I don't think it's unreasonable to think that Anderson needed more than a week to pick up the offense. But seriously, Peterman better be cut tomorrow.

UB continues to roll in conference. Didn't even play well, and still won by 18.

Don't you mean thank you Tim Murray? ?

I love the idea of Skinner and Mittlestadt together. I have no idea who I'd want on the other wing, though. There's nobody on the roster I like there to balance it out.

You've met Woody, right? I'd imagine the doctor work is just a front and he's actually a hair model.

This only holds if Botterill is good at it, which we have about as much evidence for as Housley being a good coach. I fully believe in your ability to fabricate numbers quickly to support your dislike of Allen. You can do it!

"The Leafs aren't far ahead of the Sabres on paper." - LTS, somewhere, clinging to his bad argument ???

This is your fault.

Agreed. And for all the stuff about the Warriors being crowned...they were very possibly a Chris Paul injury away from not even making the Finals.

"I don't watch basketball. Now let me tell you what's wrong with the sport."

You're probably not wrong ?

MODOOOOOOOOOOOO This is the first game this season I can watch in its entirety. I'm pretty pumped.

Didn't we once try and start a Sabrespace version of old takes exposed? It didn't get any traction. Either people take the idea of being wrong on the internet too seriously, or it's too much work to dig up the old takes. Probably more of the latter.

I think Jerry Hughes and McCoy have to be in the conversation, but I'm not really going to argue against White.

Peters is the best Bill of the post-Kelly era. I don't even think it's especially close.

We can't verify, but we're not exactly going in blind either. Recent history matters. Yes, it's a new season, but we shouldn't exactly ignore the last two when the Leafs roster is almost identical (while adding Tavares, which isn't exactly a trivial improvement). The Sabres made significant turnover and are certainly looking better than the last couple of season, but they had 43 points to make up in the standings. They can be notably improved and still significantly behind.

Agreed. He's never going to be the guy were thinking and/or hoping he'd become. But he's a useful 4th liner who can chip in on the PK.

A scant possibility of what may or may not happen 7 months from now isn't evidence, though. When the Leafs are the same team while adding one of the best players in the league, their recent seasons shouldn't be tossed aside just because it's a new season. Etc etc. It's a bad argument to say the Leafs aren't far ahead of the Sabres' rebuild.

Making the playoffs, by definition, is competing for the Cup. Now I know what you're saying, you might not think they can make a deep run as constructed, but they took a very good Boston team to 7 last year. It isn't like they make it and get swept while looking out of their league. But all of that is really besides the point. You're arguing that they aren't very far ahead of the Sabres. That's a really untenable position when the evidence is brought to bare. They are competing in the playoffs while we're drafting #1 overall. And for all the talk about their defense, they gave up fewer goals than the Caps last year. The Caps gave up 7 more goals, scored 18 fewer...and won the Cup. It's a hard sell to say the Leafs aren't good enough defensively when they allowed less and scored more than the team that actually won. And not for nothin, but the Leafs gave up 48 fewer goals than the Sabres last year. So again if your argument hinges on the their defensive capability, they're still significantly ahead.

I agree with this. I really don't think he's an NHL player right now. That doesn't mean I think he's played horribly, but I think we all want him to be a legitimate contributor, and that might be something he can better develop getting big AHL minutes than down the NHL depth chart.

This is what I'm pointing out. For someone preaching the long game and sustainability, you are oddly focused on 4 games. Toronto has made the playoffs two years in a row, and added one of the best players in the game. They have one of the best coaches in the game. We're still trying to figure out whether Housley is an NHL coach, let alone a great one. Two years ago they had 95 points and a +9 goal differential. Not great, but a heck of a lot better than that year's Sabres of a -36 goal differential and 78 points. Last year the Leafs were +45 in goal differential and had 105 points. The Sabres? 62 points and a -81 goal differential. It's fair to question the sustainability once all of their young stars get paid, or whether they can score their way to a Cup, but the notion that we don't know that they're far ahead in the rebuild is complete lunacy, and yes, puts you firmly in some form of denial.

Why? At this time last year they were....*drum roll*.... 3-1 with 25 goals scored. They finished the year with the 7th most points in the league. It's amazing how many people are still in denial about how good the Leafs are.

In before "morning skate isn't a practice."