mjd1001

When he's ready to come back in January, he practices with the Sabres for a week or two, then goes to Rochester to play for 2 weeks to get re-acclimated to the speed of the game. He comes back to Buffalo in late Jan/ early Feb, starts out very slowly, but is almost back up to speed by the end of the year. Plays 30 games, 7-10 goals, 15 assists. Better play at the end of the year then when he first comes back.

If he's healthy, similar production as last year. 10 goals, 30 points. 4th liner that gets a day off occasionally (once or twice per month), and if the rest of the team gets hammered with injuries, he can still function on a 2nd Power play unit (not ideal but he wouldn't be out of place)

At the moment, I see Clifton as a pretty good 5/6 guy, and an acceptable 2nd pair guy. Someone who can thrive on 14-16 minutes per game. I HOPE he is more than that, if only slightly so. I want to see him be a guy that you can trust at 20 minutes per game.

I don't like missing the college football games (I watch some, but not a lot) and I do not like missing the F1 race last week, but putting emotion of the moment aside, I agree with you. We have been in this grey area the last few years of what is on streaming, what requires a cable package..what is changing year to year..etc. If they got to the point where Spectrum did not carry sports, but I could get my basic cable programming from them for an affordable price AND then pick and choose what streaming I want for sports, I'm all for that. The problem right now is some live sports still aren't streaming. The industry needs to decide where it is going and then just get there.

I hated missing my favorite F1 race of the year last weekend from Monza. We aren't there yet, but maybe this is what gets us to a cable tv package with no sports for those that don't want it...and streaming for just about any sport you want. Of course, you need to get ALL the live stuff to streaming (not there yet), and without the entire cable customer base to support the sports, those sports streaming packages may be more expensive overall (people who want sports pay MORE than now, those who don't pay a bit less than they do now) here is an article that discusses this: www.yahoo.com/entertainment/charter-ceo-chris-winfrey-reports-165235682.html Some highlights: Charter CEO Chris Winfrey indicated that little progress has been made in the week-long carriage fight with Disney and said a leaner, ESPN-free TV bundle “could stick” with price-sensitive Spectrum customers. Winfrey reinforced his conviction that Charter is committed to pursuing a permanent shift away from the traditional cable TV business if a Disney renewal is not reached. In recent times, Charter’s management team viewed the company’s broadband business as a supplement to its video offering, Winfrey said. Now, “it’s on the verge of flipping,” with the video side “becoming a liability.” Ultimately, in Winfrey’s view, “it’s going to be Disney that decides” the outcome. The “alternative world” without ESPN and other Disney content would yield “a smaller base of customers” but a more loyal one, Winfrey said. On a broader level, the cable industry veteran acknowledged, a smaller bundle would represent a significant milestone. “I don’t think it’s good for the entire video ecosystem,” he said of a Disney-free Spectrum offering.

It does when it is a proxy for the general view who are the best D-men in the league. If now what are the metrics we can use? Where does Dahlin rank among the top D-men in the league?

But is it? I mean enough for a 40% increase in salary? A forward with Thompsons quality....Thompson's value to this team is in terms of goal scoring. I went to NHL.com and looked at scoring per 60. Last year Thompson was 10th in the league. Over the past 2 seasons he is 5th in the league. Goals per game played? He's 11th. And that is with him playing injured for a good part of the last quarter of the season. If he is healthy and progresses even a tiny little bit, he can/should be in the top 10, if not top 5 in scoring in the league next year. D-men. Scoring isn't as important to a D-men as a forward, so I wasn't sure what metric to use so I just looked at Norris voting. Dahlin finished 8th last year. The previous year he was out of the top 15. Now personally, I think Dahlin is more important overall to the team than Thompson, but I think it is close. But as a forward/center/goal scorer Thompson right now probably ranks in the top 10 in the league (or very close to it) and an argument can be made Dahlin is in the same area when you rank D-men. AND the Top forwards in the league make more than the top D-men do.

Don't exaggerate to make your point. Dahlin averaged just over 25 minutes per game, in the NHL, that is WORLD away from 30 minutes. 2nd, it just doesn't really matter. top D-men almost ALWAYS play more minutes than the top forwards, that is the nature of the position. The best D-men in the league play. Karlsson, Dahlin, Makar, Doughty, Josi, Fox...all averaged about 25 minutes per game. McDavid, McKinnon, Draisatl, Pastrnak, Robertson, Hughes, Matthews...averaged between 18-22 minutes per game. Top forwards, on average DO average 20% less ice time, but the top forwards around the league do NOT get paid that much less (or less at all) than the top D-men.

Exactly my point. In the other 'expection' threads I usually have a pretty strong opinion of most players. This one is different.

I was almost anticipating when someone would make this comment grabbing the low hanging fruit... Yes, its true you are on the Sabres fan site. But many of us contribute both here and at 2 bills drive. The commentary of people who like the Sabres over the Bills that are fans of both teams is the point of this thread, not just 'counting votes' of Bills vs Sabres.

Sabres. Years ago it would have been the Bills. Up until about 5 years ago it would have been the Bills. As a kid, I watched every minute of every game I could without exception. I had Bills Season tickets from the time I was 9 until I was in my mid 20's. But just in the past 2-3 years the Bills, and the NFL, just don't have the same draw to me. I've gotten bored with Football. There is very little in a game I can see that I haven't seen before. The names are different, but the action is similar, and I'm TIRED of the media coverage with the 'talking heads' throwing junk out there just to get a reaction, and the really dumb viewpoints you can't get away from coming from some media and the fans. You get that in Hockey, but not as much. I'll follow the Bills and NFL, I'll put the game on but if there is something else to do (Wife wants to go see a movie, there is an interesting Nascar race on, or maybe family is visiting), now the NFL/Bills will take a backseat to that. With the Sabres, my interest is pretty much the same now as it was when I was a kid. Maybe SLIGHTLY less now than in the past, but not that much less. On a scale of 0-100 measuring my 'fandom', When I was young it was a 95 for the Bills, an 80 for the Sabres. Now, Its closer to a 50 for the Bills/NFL, still probably a 70-75 for the Sabres. The NHL is more interesting to me in terms of the options you have to build your team. You can challenge for regular season dominance and/or a Cup run many ways. A veteran team (St. Louis of a few years ago is an example). A team with a handful of top end stars (Toronto?). A team with multiple top overall picks (Pittsburgh in the past decade). A team with few top overall picks (Boston). You can be carried to the cup in large part by D-man (Makar, Hedman), a great/hot goalie (Vasilevsky), or a top scoring superstar (Ovi, Kane, Crosby, Malkin). In the NFL, its not a GUARANTEE, but its all about the QB. Get a great QB and you are 3/4 of the way to being a top contender. The previous Superbowl winners? Mahomes, Stafford, Brady, Mahomes, Brady, Brady, Manning, Brady, R Wilson, and Nick Foles. (3 league MVPs, a first overall pick, Russell Wilson (who was GREAT for a few years) and Foles. There seems to be more variety in building a team in the NHL and that is more fun for me as a fan also. Again, short answer...Sabres.

The game is not on ESPN+ though is it? There is so much talk about this that my impression is...if you have spectrum even ESPN+ won't get you the game. You'd have to go the over-the-air antenna route (unless you want to do something like HULU Live TV, Fubo, Youtube TV or one of those other pricy options)? The antenna option can still be a problem for many of us. Buffalo and the immediate suburbs no problem, but if you live in Niagara or western Orleans county (Lewiston, Youngstown, Wilson, Newfane, Lyndonville,) you may or may not get the over-the-air signal. If you live in a very dense neighborhood or have your TV in a bad part of the house (facing the wrong direction, basement, etc) some in Niagara Falls, Albion, Medina may also have problems with an Antenna. To my knowledge, the ABC signals come either from the OTHER side of the Rochester Airport, or from the Boston Hills/Colden area in the southtowns.

I'm commenting here because I try to comment on all of these threads. Hope? A legit top 20 goalie this year. Expectations? I have ZERO idea. I wouldn't be surprised if he struggles and has to go the the AHL, just the same as I wouldn't be surprised if he is a top 10 guy in the league. I have no idea at all with him.

No expectations offensively. I'd expect a couple goals, but that isn't his role. The rest of his game? HOPE to stay healthy and play 70+ games. Expectation is to become a better penalty killer with experience and have him be a truly top 50 guy in the league in PK. Even strength, Be a good, responsible guy who minimizes mistakes and KNOWS his D-partner and where to be to allow that D-partner to play their game. Minimize mistakes.

He MIGHT be the most important guy to this team, but the issue with 10.5m, if its true, is the fact that it is SO much more than Cozens and Tage. You can justify that number by saying he is a #1 overall guy, he gets the most ice time, you can say he might be/is more important to the team than the other 2, its signed a year later, its not much more than they gave Eichel and this is years later...etc. BUT it would still be almost 50% higher than Tage and that seems like a big jump from him.

Seriously, is this real or not? I know some of the responses are real, but is there any truth behind this thread? If not, this should be listed as a parody thread or some kind of joke because seriously there are a few of us that don't know if any of the posts are real.

I totally agree. I like the Black and Red better. And I grew up with the Blue and Gold...started watching my first Sabres games in the late 70s. If it were possible, I'd like a 50-50 split between them.

Maybe that is his overall strength, and possibly why it was so apparent when he deviated from it. In games I watched against Edmonton, Toronto, and Boston that I remember, he wasn't as patient as usual. As I said in my original post, he seemed to get rid of the puck quickly and often blindly throw it around the boards in ways he didn't do in games against 'lesser' teams.

They are not rebuilding, but my point is they should be. They will not in large part because of the investments they've made in Judge and Cole. Were going to disagree Because I don't agree that they're gonna contend for a World Series title anytime soon. it's possible. I just don't see it. To me, the best case scenario with this current roster and some moderate tweaking would be to get them back to contending in the division and hopefully making the playoffs. But not being a favorite for the World Series. I think that's the best case scenario. However, if they were to go through a legitimate rebuild, they could probably be closer to the yankees of the late 90s and early 2000s, where they are year in and year out a favorite, with the assets and the money they have to get to that point. If I were a hardcore Yankees fan, that is 100% What I want them to do, not just tweaking and moderate changes.

Stay healthy the whole year, hopefully with his ice time being brought down slightly so he doesn't get injured or wear down at the end of the year, and to play as and be recognized as a top five defensement in the league

I don't think i'm there yet with him as being as good as others think, at least not yet. Hes good, he shows signs of being great, but I think hes going to still need a couple of years to elevate to the level of a top 50 D-man in the league. Specific expectations? Offensive production numbers slightly better than last year, but more importantly, less tentative with the puck when playing elite competition. Last year I thought physically he had the tools, but when playing against the better teams, he was very quick to pass the puck away to someone else... Or just to chip it up on the boards when a better Play may have presented itself with a slight bit more patience.

We really need camp to open and the season to get here. I browse the forums every day really looking for something new to talk about. I read the title of this thread and just ignored it until I found I had nothing to do but finally open it. As far as the topic, I was OK with the Greenway trade when it happened, but from what I saw of him, his play really just seemed to be the most boring, non-descript, easy to not even notice him of anyone I have seen in a while. I'm hoping it was just a small sample size and he plays much better, but its not even that I have low expectations for him...as a player I really feel nothing at all (no expectations at all, Kinda forgot he was even on the team when thinking of the projected lineup.)

I was a big Yankees fan growing up, and a big MLB fan overall. I hardly watch any MLB games anymore, i 'casually' follow the season through the standings and highlights, and honestly I really don't care for the Yankees anymore. More of an 'indifference' which I still can't figure out because they used to be my favorite team as a kid. With that said, this is a time they should strip this down and rebuild. Yes, I know, they have some big name players signed to long term deals. But this team isn't going anywhere, and even when they were in the playoffs over the last 3-5 years I never found them that likeable. Instead of saying how much money they have, so they don't have to 'rebuild', but 'retool' instead, take the other route. Because of how much money they have, they should be able to get the best/highest paid scouts, they can bid for the best/highest paid development coaches. A full rebuild may not be quicker than anyone else but if they deploy those resources the right way, it should be more of a 'sure thing' than anyone else if they have a fully loaded scouting and coaching staff. I'd find the team more likeable if the majority of the team was YOUNG, and home grown. I never liked trading for or signing the high priced mercenaries. If it takes 3-5 years before you are good again, so be it. The Yankees and their fans aren't better than anyone else and don't have a birthright to have their rebuilds happen instantly anymore than any other fanbase.

8-12 goals, one of the, if not the best forward killing penalties. A group of people criticizing him and wishing he would get replaced with a 'young guy' because they don't know, or at least don't appreciate the fact he is, in his all around game, above average for a 4th liner.

20 goals, 65-70 total points. I want/expect a little more progression in his game and if he shows that I think that is where he ends up.