Hoss

My favorite cup in a movie is the one David Bowie wears in Labyrinth

I know I’m being lazy because of height but he’s likely somewhere between Tyler Myers and Victor Hedman. But Hedman is a Hall of Famer and one of the best defensemen of his era so that’s a high peg to place a prospect on. We’ll see in due time and, I imagine, in Buffalo.

There are so many combinations on what your first and third word could be and I agree with all of them. I mean, sure. Hedman is the dream of dream scenarios for Power. The chances of him getting there are incredibly low, though. But that’s the mold and that’s why Power has a lot of people excited as a prospect.

‘06 Edmonton might be a good comparison. That Carolina team had some talent across the board even though they never should’ve been there.

Hard to watch them put it all together while knowing the cap circumventing they telegraphed from before the season but at the end of the day it was legal and it’s a credit to them. This is a dynasty.

The re-addition of Star could have a big impact on the entire defense but especially the linebackers. That is if the new, more slender Star plays a similar game.

They’ve been a number one center away from contending for my entire life. Or at least that’s what the Habs fans I know say.

A lot of Sabres fans love him which makes sense because we don’t need goal scorers

There’s a cup final?

Oh certainly. I’ll take making it on this stage over being on the crew that drives to the gas station to pickup Coronas for the crew that assembles it. There’s nothing to be ashamed of if you’re Montreal but this is legitimately the first time I thought a team had no chance in a final. I almost always argue that there’s always a chance. This one felt like there was none.

They just don’t have the talent to compete at this level. And I don’t want to take anything away from Tampa, though. If they stay together and healthy there’s no reason to expect anyone other than them to win championships for several years now.

He can improve and I expect he will. Gap integrity is definitely the one area he’s average or slightly above average at so I expect that’s a big focus of his offseason. If he gets that down he goes from a damn good linebacker and great leader to great at both and likely all pro.

Montreal is the worst team to appear in a championship series/game in recent memory. The Miami Heat last year is probably second.

No, they did not.

This is the biggest myth in sports, by far. The “if you add Player X to Team X then their results improve by This Much.” That is not how any of this works and I don’t know how we have decades and decades of watching the more talented teams or even the teams with the most talent in important positions lose to teams with less talent and STILL think like this. There are so many factors that go into winning a sporting event. If you insert John Tavares into the lineup you have to consider how much better he is than the player he is replacing, what other players have to be jettisoned for salary reasons, what shots/plays he is taking away from other players that would stunt their growth (or potentially improve their development, really), what system changes the Isles make and probably most importantly: the matchup game the other team plays. You add talent to improve your chances at accomplishing your goals but it does not guarantee you anything. Especially in a sport like hockey where there are so many other players that need ice time. We’re seeing it with these NBA playoffs - so many stars injured and everyone just saying “if XXX was healthy XXX wins that series.” We simply don’t know that. Look at the Hawks-Bucks series. Hawks go into game four without Trae Young, the only player on their team even near star status. He is out and everyone, myself included, says it’s game over. Bucks at full strength should blow through them. Except the Hawks come out as a group and walk through the Bucks with ease (the Bucks best player was hurt later in the game but the Hawks were up double digits much of the game prior to that).

The Sabres will be bad. If they’re that bad it doesn’t matter if they get Shane Wright, Eichel will burn the house down demanding a trade.

I will say as much as every sign points to him being traded my gut feeling has been that it won’t happen. The Sabres are reportedly asking for the moon (as they should) and GMs in this league are incredibly trigger shy. I don’t think their current asking price or even one step below it gets answered.

I know it's been discussed but I believe this deserves its own thread. How do you take this comment? Do you believe it's more likely to mean a trade is near or they are nearing some sort of resolution on his health and a return to the team? Personally, I believe the vague details on both sides and the fact that both the GM and coach indicated a trade is a real possibility still indicates this is most definitely about a trade.

I legitimately could not give a ***** what the media says or what some knob from another city says about the team if we get players that are effective in our quest for success. Being a fan is about not being insecure about what other people say (I know the insecurity is not exclusive to Buffalo but boy is it loud here). I would absolutely rather the first than the second, though. If the Sabres were to hold Eichel out and "ruin his career" they'd never touch another meanwhile free agent or extension.

You keep saying this so I think we all know your stance but you don't ACTUALLY believe letting one of the best assets in the league just sit around and do nothing is better than getting a good package from a team you hate, right? Never mind that there's a full 0% chance of it actually happening, I'm just interested in knowing if you actually believe that insanity.

We didn't have ROR as a center when we traded Armia. Heck, we didn't have Eichel and may not have. You also just argued against ROR coming here, too ... so there's a bit of playing both sides going on here.

Well partially because the draft lottery odds make that plan nearly impossible and mostly because Jack Eichel, myself and other fans would like burn down the arena if this were the plan. I know you’re trolling but any notion that more losing would appease Eichel is insanity.

If we’re talking about chemistry keeping Lemieux was never an option.

Yup. It's gotten a bit old by now. I imagine Beane is waiting for him to get cut which many people expect will happen.

I disagree wholeheartedly. I think this was a very good trade by a GM who knew exactly what he was doing. He also knocked the ROR trade out of the park.