mjd1001

I wish Dahlin would sign for 8 years for under 10m of course, but whatever he is going to get, het gets, just lock him up. Power, I STILL would be open to a bridge deal, providing Dahlin is locked up long term.

I'm not concerned yet. As others have said, lets see where things are after 10 games.

I'm feeling really good about the Bills right now, more than I thought I would. Sure, they could lose this week, and if they have a major injury again that can change, but after the Miami game, I don't think there is a team that they cannot beat. If, IF Buffalo plays their best game and any other team plays their best game, right now I think Buffalo wins those games against anyone else. Of course the issue like always is...how often does Buffalo play their best. Its like Josh Allen vs Mahomes. Take both of them playing their best game and I think Allen is just as good, maybe better...BUT the issue is Mahomes plays closer to his ceiling more often. After Buffalo, I think its San Francisco, then KC, then Philly, Baltimore, Dallas, and Miami as the teams I would be the most worried about giving the Bills problems in a matchup (in that order). Seattle, Cleveland, Detroit and even Jacksonville are 2 steps behind but they might still give the Bills trouble. A healthy Josh Allen just gives the bills at worst a 50-50 shot against any team (and likely more than that) on any given week.

If I'm not mistaken, the Arena in Buffalo is a year or two older. Of course in Toronto it gets more use, but still highlights places like Philly, Boston, Toronto....that have an Arena built about the same time as in Buffalo are getting or have already gotten huge renovations. In Toronto, it has already undergone some lesser renovations, but this is a big one. Scotiabank Arena announced on Thursday that it will be getting a multimillion-dollar face-lift. The staggering $350 million investment and multi-phase renovation — titled the Scotiabank Arena Venue Reimagination Project — will feature capital improvements to almost all areas within the venue. Upgrades will be brought to concourses, suites, premium clubs, retail spaces, food and beverage offerings, and state-of-the-art technological innovations will also be introduced. full article here: https://www.blogto.com/city/2023/10/scotiabank-arena-350-million-dollar-transformation/ Also in Calgary in the last few days.... Deal struck between Calgary and Alberta for new $800M arena for Calgary Flames A preliminary deal announced in April for a new $1.2-billion event centre and entertainment district near the city’s downtown, including a new rink for the Flames, has been finalized, Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek said Thursday. The project plan includes plazas and gathering places, bars, restaurants and retail shops with the main event centre hosting the NHL team along with other sports, concerts and events. full article here: https://www.nationalobserver.com/2023/10/06/news/deal-calgary-alberta-800m-arena-calgary-flames

How one online betting site sees things: https://www.covers.com/nhl/team-point-totals-odds-bets I looked specifically at the division and the east. As far as where they see teams finishing with over/under points: Toronto 106.5, Boston 101.5, Florida 99.5, Tampa 93.5, Ottawa 92.5, Buffalo 92.5, Detroit 85.5, Montreal 70.5 So they have Buffalo tied for 5th/6th in the division with Ottawa. In the Metro division they see: Carolina 109.5, New Jersey 105.5, Rangers 103.5, Pittsburgh 97.5, Islanders 92.5, Washington 83.5, Philly 75.5, Columbus 72.5. So if the Oddsmakers have it correct, Toronto, Boston, Florida, Carolina, NJ, and the Rangers are in as division top 3 teams....Pittsburgh and Tampa get the wild cards. Ottawa, Buffalo, and the Islanders are then all tied for fighting for the 9th spot but out of the playoffs.

Just as in recent years Buffalo and Josh Allen seem to do very well against Miami, the opposite can be said about their performances against Jacksonville.

I like a large part of the next 8 months. I know we don't get this in Jan or Feb, but 40's early in the morning, 50's for daytime highs...light jacket weather...my absolute favorite! You just don't get that from June to August here, or ANYTIME of the year in many of the southern climates that so many other people who live there convince themself are better than up north.

This doesn't happen everywhere, but I'll share an interesting story of what I encountered when we were on vacation a few years ago. Small cute village, lots of shops everywhere. We get there on a Tuesday morning (I think, it was mid-week) to go to a cute little bakery. Its not that crowded. There are handicapped parking spots ( alot of them), another spot for 'our law enforcement partners', one for 'employee of the month' and then one for 'expectant mother parking'. Every single one of them was empty, and the first spot we found was a good 100 feet farther away. Sure, the walk wasn't that bad and sometimes I'll park farther away because I would rather have the long walk other than someone banging into the car, but I thought this was excessive.

Ads are absolutley out of hand online. Youtube. Most videos now, multiple ads. You load a video and just want to skip forward..doesn't matter, you missed that ad we are going to make you watch it. Websites on the computer. You load the site and wait for the ads to load. 3-4 seconds later 5-6 ads load...so now its ok to click on the link you want? No way. Just as you think its safe, you click on that link you want and an ad opens RIGHT where you click and you load the ad. Now desperate to close the ad, you look for the little tiny 'x' to close it on that pop up, and at the moment you click it it moves because another ad loads on the page of the ad, and another pop up now opens. Even on my phone. I find an article I want to read, and you wait for the 2-4 ads to load, and then scroll down. Same as above, new ads load as you are scrolling and it takes you to those pages. Or how about the article that loads where 1/3 of the page is taken by an ad...then about 10 seconds later more ads load...until LITERALLY 80% of the screen is taken up by ads and I'm trying to read the article on less than 1 inch of space on my phone for the actual article. I've said it before...but when I am hammered with ads the ONLY thing I remember about the ads is to remember the name of the company and make sure I do NOT support them. I guess most ad companies and execs only know how to make money with the strategy of 'all gas, no brakes', shove our ads in front of people so much that eventually they will give in and buy from us!

So basically, IF he hits his ceiling (a big 'IF'), the prototype modern NHL D-man who you want on your team that isn't a 'star' but a top 4 guy.

Speaking of Johnson, I still don't know exactly what type of player he is/could be. A lot of people have spoken in generalities...or restated his scouting profile from the draft. But... What are his strengths? Weaknesses? Is he a good skater/fast skater? Is he good positionally? Or does he need a lot of improvement there. Does he hit a lot, or is he a guy more concerned about positioning and will not make some hits to maintain positioning? Win more battles on the boards/for loose pucks? How is his first pass out of the zone. Is he a guy who's PROBABLY ceiling is closer to a 5goal, 20 assist guy or a 15 goal, 40 assist guy. After reading about him and reading the discussions about him, I really don't know his strengths and weaknesses, his ceiling, etc.

Or you could bring up Jimmy Vesey, who they had a chance to sign but didn't. (A guy who scores about 13 goals per 82 games). Or remember out of college how Casey Nelson was a hyped prospect? How about Will Butcher choosing the Devils (originally) over the Sabres and people being upset over that a few years ago? There have been others of course.... But, it is the exception, not the rule, that a guy that you drafted (or is a free agent) coming out of college after a good college career that is available to any team turns out to be a great player. The Sabres signed Johnson this year, he elected to stay here, lets hope he is one of the good ones.

I would have liked it if they had given up less, but again, its just preseason. I think you can tell more about a hockey team from preseason than you can about an NFL team, but that isn't saying much. 90% of what this team will be we won't know from preseason. In the NHL, sometime you get seasons where you can't even tell how good a team is once the regular season starts, it can take 20+ games. So, while your point should be brought up and how they are playing on the back end is something to take notice of (and certainly talk about), I'm not too worried yet...if they are at the bottom of the league in goals around in December, then we have a big issue.

Me too. Don't buy them that much at the supermarket because they are a bit expensive, but I always viewed Johnny Ryan as a premium product. As a kid I liked cream soda, then sometime near my 20th birthday I kinda wondered what I was thinking as a kid because I thought cream soda was awful. But Johnny Ryan Cream soda, a whole different ballgame. One of the best 'treat' drinks I can have.

Personally, I think the team is thinking Rapp is better than Hamlin in the Defensive backfield. All the usual existing CB's on the 53 man get their playing time bumped up and Elam fills out the 53. Then you look for a free agent at each position unless you are pretty high on one of your existing practice squad guys. My guess is there probably isn't anyone out there who is a free agent who they think is better that what is on their roster. So I'm pretty sure they will just elevate from within, and any signings will be for 'security' in case of further injuries, and not to play on a regular basis. Unless of course, we get to the point where a team is clearly 'done' this year and wants to start unloading pieces for middle round picks.

I'm not going to say that I am not watching the NFL because of the whole Taylor Swift thing because that isn't true. What I will say is I was always a huge NFL and Bills fan. Watched every single NFL game I could growing up. I rooted for the Bills more than all my other favorite teams combined in every other sport just about. But that has changed. now I care about the Sabres 2x more than the Bills. Why? I haven't been able to figure out exactly why but a big factor is how the NFL is always there, I can't get away from it it seems. Its in your face. It's overhyped. I realize that is what probably brings in more casual fans and a lot more money. For me though, its just too much. This whole Taylor Swift thing is just another step in that direction.

I think for hes still good for 10-15 goals per 82 games. Toughness, leadership/great guy in the room. Is $4m a little bit much for someone who misses a lot of games and probably is at most a 15 goal scorer? Yes, but its also not going to break your cap.

It is a 'must win' for the fan base. If the Bills lose, much of the fan base will think/feel: -Miami has passed us, they beat us at home, we are 2 games plus a tiebreaker behind them in the division, they look bad against the Bengals with a healthy Burrow, they struggle with the Jets, and we still have to go to KC every year. No chance this team gets deep in the playoffs. If the Bills win: -They are still tops in the division, after beating the much-hyped Dolphins and being 3-1, they could very well be the best team in the league, I can't see them being outclassed by ANYONE. The truth will likely, as it almost always in, be better than the perception if they lose, and a bit lower than the perception if they win. The other things fan bases hardly ever do is realize teams DO get better OR worse as the season progresses. 90% (or more) comments or conversations I hear about a sports team just assume whatever path a team is on today will continue until the end of the year...that is rarely true.

I bought madden a few years ago, I don't play many games but I took the plunge after not having it for about a decade. I wanted to see how accurate the gameplay was. So I took some time and...I didn't "sim" the season but I let it run in the background to have the CPU actually play the CPU to see how close the stats were. It wasn't even close. Some QBs that had ratings in the 70's outperformed QBs with ratings in the 90's. The best rated Defenses in the game would often have 40+ points scored on them by average offenses. The Best pash rushing DE's in the league might go the first 4-5 games of the season with a sack, but someone I barely hears of before with ratings in the 70's would have 3 sacks in a game. Again, I know you can 'sim' games and their 'sim' engine gives you decent stats, but the whole point I tried this is to see the actual gameplay engine, so know that if I played a game the engine and the stats would give me realistic results. It wasn't close.

Saw both Barbie and Oppenheimer at the theater...not on the same day like others not even on the same weekend. Both were a little less than I hoped from the Hype. Barbie was just below average to me. Not awful, I wasn't the intended audience, but even if I put myself in the shoes of the intended audience, nothing special here. Below average plot, no acting that stood out as good. The thing that got me was in a lot of the reviews, they spoke about how it shows women can feel 'empowered', to me it was a hollow message because they ended up treating the guys in the movie just as bad as women feel they are treated sometime. Oppenheimer. It was good, but I didn't get great. It seemed like an above average, above budget documentary I would have seen at home. Good, again, but I didn't walk out of the theater thinking I saw one of the best movies ever.

Would Tampa be interested in UPL (They have 2 goalies that basically have never played in the NHL AND Jonas Johanson), and if so would KA be willing to trade him in the division?

I follow the team on this board all the time and I watch most of the game, but to a certain extent I am closer to a casual fan than a Die-hard (don't own much merch, if the team is bad I'll watch half the games and find something else to do instead, etc). I'm pretty happy watching the games at home. To get me to go to a game, it has to be a Fri, Sat, or Sunday game. I don't need the best seats but I don't want to be in the 300's or behind the net. So I'm kinda-picky-but-not-too-picky. I just looked at a couple of options for 2 tickets, don't care about the opponent. For me to go to one game, 2 tix with feels are approaching $300. Not including of course parking and any food or drink I could get there. I love that people enjoy going to the games and I want the place to be full....but after seeing that I'll stop complaining about MSG plus for $30 or month or upping my cable package from the basic tier to get the one with MSG on it for about $30-$40 more per month. If I paid $400 to see a Sabres game for 2 of us (tix plus parking and something to eat, either at the arena or just before the game), and I saw a game they lost and only scored a goal or two..I'd be beside myself for a while.

Not a particular song, but the entire musical score for "The Dark Knight" and also "Star Trek: Wrath of Khan" totally fit the movies they were in.

Nothing this camp/preseason has changed my mind on goaltending. Don't go get a high priced guy or even another mid-priced vet that may require more than 1 year (if you get a low-to-mid priced guy willing to take a 1 year deal he likely won't be much better than what you have). That money can be used/saved for elsewhere. You have 3 goalies on this roster that can make the team. Let them fight it out in camp, preseason, and practice and you take the 2 that emerge as the best 2.