DarthEbriate

I think it's one time his height was truly a disadvantage, his reach didn't extend around that defender. If he'd had a few more inches he could've gotten the shot past before Vejmelka slid over. WOOO! KOZAK! Keep it on the board.

The best I can reason is that Hayton went into the crease of his own accord first, and that just negates any other determination afterward. That reasoning will be proven wrong later in the game and season.

Ha. You've got to be kidding me. If that was Benson's goal, I'd understand it being overturned. But come on, scoring will go down 10% leaguewide if that's interference. It's as bad as NFL catches were for a few years there.

A desperation challenge in the opening minutes? That interference is all on Power. Keep it on the board. Give them the PP.

There is not enough of the light blue on their uniform. The white and black is so very drab.

A new franchise, a new broadcast team to try out on ESPN+. It's the little things the Sabres give us.

I will laugh when Joker skates with the Cup this year after logging 15:00/game in the Final as an injury fill-in 6D. And I'll be very happy for Henri (unless the losing team in the Final is the Sabres... but, the odds of the Sabres successfully winning the Eastern Conference are app... Shut up!).

A game at 10 AM? But I was going into the Freddy Station to pick up some power converters mozzarella to make a veggie lasagna.

Ol' D'Ebriate needs to get out of his racing car and hunt down the plant pieces box. There's some palm fronds in there somewhere....

^ Guilty pleasure band, but only in the right mood/time/place. They're not in that upper echelon, but they have a good sound for their time. So wholesome, so winsome. EXCEPT their "Revolution 9" wannabe track. Oh my. You want Revolution 9, but even less interesting? </Music Thread aside>

What oh what is Pegula going to do when Adams decides he doesn't want to be here?

Good. Of the named names from NYR, I'd rather have Kreider for... Kozak and a 3rd, for example, than Trouba.

Off-topic, but if @Thorner or anyone is keen to spend time in an alternate-reality comedy prequel trilogy, I highly recommend the live stage reading collaborations between the George Lucas Talk Show and Star Wars Minute podcasts (shameless plug for SWM). The final one should be posted within a few weeks after some editing. The have beautiful interpretations, lots of laughs, and include a bunch of actors/comedians you know. Haley Joel Osment (who auditioned for kid Anakin back in 1997-98) plays Anakin. Go to YouTube and search The Naboo Movie / The Great Kamino Kaper / Mustafar Takes L.A. It is probably the best non-Andor Star Wars since the Rey/Kylo arc of Last Jedi or the first 40 minutes of The Force Awakens... depending on your preferred approach.

Yes to the purple, but Minnesota really, really, should've gone with something that looked like an unpronounceable glyph that combined the signs of Mars hockey sticks and Venus.

Maybe, just maybe, Darth Pegulas the Wise watched the presser and thought to himself, "Self... I need a new apprentice." We can only hope. Edit: And the next apprentice is actually a qualified journey-level GM.

And for them to claim Trouba off waivers (if waived rather than traded) would get them back into cap compliance from the Gaudreau death. Trouba can still probably hack it as a 3rd pairing guy for a bit.

We are watching a prequel trilogy on repeat. There's a story in there somewhere, but it was hastily written out and is basically only a first draft to make some executives some cash, not of its own artistic merit or a carnal need to craft said story. The fans/players will pay the price for their lack of vision... and execution, because there's little of merit there to execute upon.

One note about Jerry Jones: he is not a meddling owner. He is the owner, president, and GM of the Cowboys and has been since right after he purchased the team. Aside: The only times his teams have ever been "great" are when he had excellent coaches (Jimmy Johnson, Bill Parcells) telling him what they needed AND when he had the benefit of a desperate Vikings GM and that absolutely wild Herschel Walker trade, plus Aikman #1 overall to build upon. The rest of the time, his teams have been buoyed up to "good" by average-to-above-average QB play from the injured-corpse of Aikman, Romo, Prescott. Otherwise, he's just a below-average-to-average level GM who has benefitted from extended periods of ineptitude by NYG and Washington within his own division.

It started before that, before even 7/1/07. It began when the cash-strapped organization decided not to negotiate with, and sign, its two best players before the season began, as though their pricetag(s) would somehow be lower if either got to free agency. The removal of two first-line wingers (who play center, too) and your team's heart-and-soul means loss of playoff revenue, lack of guidance for a young core, and the path to needing to suffer in the first place. Trade Afinogenov at his height, get the core together -- and you can probably still match Vanek (or, having both Briere and Drury, go get those 4 #1s). Later, the commitment to tanking was just another step in the anti-win direction. That's the thing about the Sith. Always two there are. No more, no less.

And have been for quite some time.

Get goalied by the (tied for) best record in the league: OK, yeah, that happens. Lost in OT, hey, loser point. Lose the back end of a back-to-back on the road: understandable. Lose to the Avalanche: sure, I can see that. Lose to the (tied for) best record in the league in OT: yep, that's something that happens. Ahh, but string them all together, put 4 of 5 them at home, [edit: I forgot, and blow a 4-goal lead in on one of the non-OTL games] and it's very, very disheartening. The most sobering is still this: Sabres vs. the "non-SC contender" East teams: PIT, CLB, DET, NYI, OTT, MTL, PHI: 2-6-1. Bad against remotes is one thing, bad against bottom feeders? That's something else.

Good kill. Now, close out the period with a lead.

Good pass, Benson!

Tage and Byram leg-on-leg collusion leads to a couple turnovers and a shot on goal.

Looks fine, right?