DarthEbriate

Retirement game on home ice. Because... I don't know. He's been overplayed (not over the course of the season, but over the course of the last month.) There is an imbalance in the Force concept of goaltending with the Grand Ruff. What little I saw of it, Östlund and Rosén looked good on the fourth line last game. I still want Östlund to notch his first career goal this season.

Once more, unto the breach! Finish 7th, lottery jumped to pick 8th. It’s our lot in life.

Well, yes. Eventually, the current core of TNT/Dahlin/Tuch will want out or be sold as being rotten. And the only folks to remain will be ELCs. Keep this going long enough and we won’t see Benson smiling as he starts a ruckus. Because what would be the point?

It must be tough on a person to be the only one available for a job (because you listen to the boss). But to know you don’t have the skills or means to do the tasks, loathed for holding that position by your fans, being the very worst among your peers performance-wise, and not respected by said peers. That has to be exhausting.

I suppose the only question that I’d honestly want to have an answer to is “When is Pegula going to announce that EEE is over and the franchise’s purpose is back to winning a Stanley Cup?” That’s the root of everything else. Because then you can justify a POHO and a full scouting department and spending to the cap and even arena renovations in the name of increasing revenue.

It doesn't make any sense. Even if you waive him on 10/1 and he gets his higher salary while playing in Rochester, fine. But then you offer him $850k on July 1st as a quick win and everyone nods "yup, tweener, pencil him in for Rochester unless another team has a whole bunch of injuries in camp and claims him". Now, watch Adams bring back Dennis Gilbert to be the muscle on the blue line again at... 2x$1.5M or something.

On the other hand... they'll all be a year older? Pretty soon they won't be the youngest roster in the league. They'll be the third youngest.

Fun fact: Eichel and Reinhart are both essentially halfway through their playing careers.

Leenders was injured in game 1 of the semifinal series with Oshawa, and exited with the Bulldogs trailing 2-0. The Bulldogs rallied around their backup for the win and now lead the series 2 to 1. Per the Brantford Expositor https://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/sports/brantford-bulldogs-take-game-1-against-oshawa-generals "Brantford coach Jay McKee was coy on the injury. “He’s day to day,” McKee answered when asked about Leenders."

In 2011... There were only 6 Star Wars films, one Holiday Special, two Ewoks films (one with Wilford Brimley), thirteen episodes of Droids and 26 episodes of Ewoks cartoon series, one animated The Clone Wars film with three seasons of the series, and one Cartoon Network Genndy Tartakovksy Clone Wars vehicle.

We can play Imagination Questions. ++ I asked GMKA why he doesn't spend to the cap or allow his mentor (Ruff) to select his own staff. ++ I got a pogo stick!

Sheevy... you've lost another submarine tank season?

Honestly, I'm guessing it wouldn't compare to the $58M he's saved in spending under the cap since Adams took over. Always two there are: a master and an apprentice.

True. But I think even Kucherov at least goes and grabs someone to prevent them from doubling up on a teammate.

The real issue wasn't that Girgs ended up in a long-delayed "do you wanna go?" fight. It's that when Chafee was hit all 4 Lightning skaters were immediately going after Panthers, whomever they could find. It wasn't just Tuch or Krebs skating to the offender, it was everyone and it was instantaneous.

But was Pegula there to give them a rousing speech? Yup. That's already scheduled for April 2026. We did a thorough interviewing process, but we really like Appert and he provides consistency for our young players. I hope he explains how his previous statements that he is the one determining how much money is spent each season, and that if this was a "playoffs or bust" year, why he didn't take on any salary throughout the season in the short term, either to end the losing streak, or to you know... save his own job seeing as how it was playoffs or bust. Orrr --- how at the deadline he could've been the accomplice to take on cap hits to acquire additional draft collateral to package and help move up into the top 4, or whatever. With all these resources available and you in full control and playoffs or bust -- why do you take no action? Why was Reimer waived? Why does Power still not have a veteran partner? The softball questions.

With thunderous applause?

With Norris, you play him until he breaks and you hope to get at to 25-25-50 before he's lost to season-ending IR. In 2025-26, you call up Östlund. Rinse and repeat, but in 2026-27 you call up Helenius. And you hope that whoever fills in as his top-6C replacement is as good or better. You also hope he breaks before the trade deadline so that you can put him on LTIR, acquire someone with salary, and then maybe Norris is healthy and re-added for the playoffs. Note that this last item requires an owner willing to take on salary and is serious about winning, which... nevermind.

I believe there's a thread for that...

All the coaches are under contract for next season already, so probably the only way to retool the roster at this point is for the best players to start revolting. Tuch refuses to sign an extension; all the RFAs announce they don't want to be here, hunt for 1-year offer sheets and let it be known that if they're retained, they'll do the same thing again in 2026 until they reach UFA; and Dahlin requests a trade -- as a Sabres captain it's only right that he be moved to a contender. Then, sit out the season until he's moved, Peca-style.

And Adams and Appert in 2026-27.

He's not just a good goalie this year, he's one of the best goalies in the league the last two years. Minding the crease behind the Leafs and Panthers will do that to you, but make no mistake, Stolarz is good. Last year: 24-16-7-2 .925 sv% 2 SO This year: 32-20-8-3 .923 sv% 3 SO, make that 4 SO He's also riding a now 8-game winning streak.

Lose to Philly, then fire him sitting on 899.

The AHL line gets a couple good scoring chances. Östlund and Rosén both strong on the puck at times to maintain possession and make solid cross-ice passes that lead to shot attempts.

UPL's save on the replay -- the puck was going wide. It was all Luukkonen's plan. He slid past the side of the net, thereby freaking out Domi's vision -- Domi tried to go shortside, but because UPL was outside the net, the shortside was wide. Brilliant!