mjd1001

Maybe, maybe not, but it doesn't change the fact that Austin had a shorter, but actually higher 'peak'. I'm not trying to diminish Hogan, the WWE would likely not have gained popularity without him. However, they were already gaining popularity by the time he came around (making the production more family friendly/moving to Saturday morning and saturday niight broadcasts, etc.) and they had plenty of other stars to market that were very popular (Savage, Andre the Giant, Jesse Ventura, Roddy Piper, Brett Hart, Ultimate Warrior, and others.) Hogan was the biggest star of the 80s, but the world of wrestling was going to grow with our without him, the question is simply 'how fast'?

I don't think their drafting, especially in the first round, has been awful. Yeah, they could have made some better picks, but that is true with anyone. Its not like year after year they have been picking a player who turns out to be a bust AND in the next guy or two there is someone THAT much better. And even if there was/is someone that turns out to be better, a lot of that might be just as much development once you draft them than the wrong pick. They Nylander pick was really the only first round pick that ended up being really bad compared to what else was out there.

Apologies to anyone who is a police officer if you are offended by this (My father, uncle, and cousin were/are all officers) but there is an HOA issue at my in-laws house in Florida. They have a pretty strict HOA. The board members walk around the neighborhood once per month, write a list of 'violations' and send them out (weeds visible on your front lawn, moss/mold on the roof, not cleaning spiderwebs off of lights on the house, etc.) Once you get a notice, you have a short period of time (until they do the next walk) and if you don't fix the issues, you are fined. Well, there is ONE person in the neighborbood who is a police officer, and apparently that person never has to correct anything. More weeds on the lawn than any other house in the neighborhood, and even broken roof tiles/shingles (they have those ceramic-looking rounded ones.) They give out a newsletter and at the end of the year that they stuff in your mailbox, they somehow note who in the neighborhood has received notices (yes, they do that as a way of shaming neighbors I guess...I have seen a copy of it), and the person who is the police officer, and of course the board members of the HOA never receive any warnings or fines.

I go back and forth on this. As a kid in the 1980s, I loved it. Early to mid 90's, totally stopped watching it and thought it was one of the worst things to watch. Late 90's and early 2000's, I was watching it every single Monday night and Thursday, almost without fail and probably my favorite thing to watch. Since then? I have turned in on 5-10 times in the past 5 years or so and Just can't get into it at all. I have gone from superfan to not caring, back to superfan and now find no appeal in it. BTW, I understand the appeal of Hulk Hogan and his longevity probably puts him over the top as the most popular, but I think SC Steve Austin, during his peak, was possibly as popular or more so than Hogan at his peak....at least in the arena. Hogan probably had more action figures and saturday morning cartoons that broadened his appeal, but being in the arena to see both of them wrestle, it was deafening when Austin came out, more so than Hogan...and people acted even more crazy when the 'glass shattering' happened compared to the first few notes of 'I am a real American'.

I was driving south on Rt 93 Between Lockport and Akron this morning (most country roads), pretty much doing the speed limit. I noticed a Truck in my rear view mirror about 1/2 mile back gaining on me quickly...in short order right behind me and tailgating badly (White Ford F150, not sure of the year but pretty new with a guy older than me driving it). After tailgating for a good mile, he finally decided to pass, gunned it, I could hear the engine redlining. After he got in front of me by maybe 20 carlengths, he then proceeded to do the speed limit or one or 2 mph less (I actually caught up with him) for the next few miles until he turned off right before Akron. Guy was going at least 10-15mph over the speed limit to catch me, tailgated, then once he pass me slowed down for the rest of his trip. Not sure what to make of that one.

I wish it wasn't the last game of the season they are wearing them. I think it should be the Miami game. Traditionally biggest rival, and the team they probably had the most big games against that they won while wearing them in that era.

To me I think it works something like this.. Ruff and Adams talk to each other frequently when Terry isn't around. But whenever Terry wants to show up... Then everyone has to talk to him and go through him. Ruff May report to Adams, but if Terry gives Lindy a call, then Lindy has to tell Terry everything he wants before Adams hears it.

I post I usually make every year....updated from this January (last time I posted it) A simplified version: The odds of winning a stanley cup are pretty simple. 32 teams in the league, 14 times the cup is awarded. VERY Simple odds are 43.7% a team will win a cup in a 14 year period. 1 in 2.28. Odds of missing the playoffs 14 years in a row? Simple odds are .0045%. Or 1 in about 22,000. Odds of missing 15 years in a row? About 1 in 44,000. Slightly more detail: A lot of things can determine your odds for making/missing the playoffs. For example, the Bills drought...much of it was contributed to by Brady being in the division, but in Hockey its different. Statistically, you can say you have a 50% chance of making or missing the playoffs in a given year. For any time, after 2 years, the 'odds' are 25% you miss both years, 25% you make it both years, and 50% chance you miss one year and make it the next...and so on and so on. Now, with expansion, the odds change slightly. It hasn't always been EXACTLY 50%, sometime you had a BETTER chance (beginning of the drought, 8 of 15 teams in the conference made the playoffs, so your odds to make it were even better than they are now. So, what are the pure statistical odds that any hockey team would take a 12 year period and not make the playoffs even once? 0.018% chance. Or, in other words, a 1 in 5,531 chance that, over the last 12 years, any team in the Sabres division/conference would not make the playoffs one time. If you 'simulated' an average team through 12 seasons, 5,531 times, only ONE of those times, on average, would a team miss 12 years in a row. Chances of missing 14 years in a row? 1 in about 22,100. Or 0.0045% If you could find a sportsbook to give you odds that ANY team, starting today, would miss the playoffs for the next 14 years.....you would likely win about $2 million dollars on a $100 bet. Chances of missing 15 years in a row? About 1 in 44,250, Or 0.00225%. Odds on a $100 bet that would happen for any given team, probably pay out about $4 million on a $100 bet. So yes, they made the decision to tank, but again, those are the numbers for ANY team with a few years of 8 out of 15 teams making the playoffs and most other years 8 or 16 making it. If anything, you could say 'tanking' would make it hard to miss that many years in a row, as while tanking would assure you would miss the first couple of years, the 'elite talent' you get from tanking makes it even harder to miss in the 'middle' years. Hockey Heaven? The sole reason for them existing is to win the Stanley cup? You would think that even if you TRIED to be that bad it would be hard to do so. That can't be all bad luck..or it can't be a new owner 'learning curve', there has to be a whole lot of ineptitude in there.

We live about 1/4 mile from the River here in Niagara county, take a walk down the street and we can see Canada. We really don't even think of crossing the border anymore. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad? I don't know, just I don't feel like dealing with any potential aggrevation....so until things clear up quite a bit, we probably won't be going to toronto/the falls/NOTL anytime soon.

Maybe, but I think the opposite. Despite not many more points, I thought last year was Krebs best season by far regarding his overall game, and he even got better as the season went on.

Its been about a decade now, but I could swear on the talk shows out of toronto, the same people who would talk about the Sabres tanking and say it was embarrassing, they should be punished (draft picks taken away, etc), and yet the very next year, would heap praise on Toronto for doing it to get matthews, saying how smart of an organization they were.

Honest question, is that person Pegula? or Adams...in your opinion?

You may be correct, but to me I look at him as a 'unit', him and Tage. As I posted a week or two ago, as a combo, the two of them meshed so well they were one of the most dangerous combos in the league. It wasn't just 2-3 games, in almost 20 games together, when they were on the ice they scored goals at a greater pace than Draisaitl/McDavid and Matthews/Marner. Now, can you EXPECT that level of production to continue? Probably not, but I don't think its unreasonable to think it can tale a step back and still be really good. In 352 minutes played together, when they were on the ice even strength, the Sabres scored a goal about every 12.5 minutes. That is super, super productive. Again, since it wasn't over 20 minutes, or even 80-100, it was over 352 minutes (not a small sample size), I think it would be silly to not see where that combo can go this year. For comparison, Draisaitl/McDavid scored a goal together on the ice ES last year in just over 400 minutes once every 13.1 minutes..and their career numbers together are close to once every 14 minutes.

In terms of taste in movies and shows, I think I might have you beat. There are a couple exceptions, but when me and my wife watch a show or go to a movie... Especially movies.... frequently ones that are highly rated We just look at each other and say... Really? That was average at best if not bad. Then there are a whole list of movies that have very poor ratings, definitely some of the worst rated movies.... or ones that do terrible at the box office, and we like them a lot. Again, not 100% at a time, but it probably happens more often than it doesn't.

Kinda sounds like something we talked about on this board...I think a few years ago. There are really 2 ways many of us enjoy a season as a fan of a team: Winning the Championship, or beating expectations. Only 1 team wins the championship, so that leaves the 2nd...beating expectations. With the Bills, the ONLY way to beat expectations is to win the title, and there is no way they can even do that until the night of the Superbowl.

I'm the same. I have mentioned it before, but growing up I was a bigger Bills fan. From the time I was about 10 years old I had season tickets (with my father) and then when I got to my teens I started going with friends until I was in my middle-to-late 20's. Never missed a Bills game. Hardly ever missed ANY NFL game on tv. Played the video games, knew the roster, watched the draft, etc. I'm not sure why, but right about the the time the Bills drafted Allen, my love for the Bills and the NFL started going down. No particular reason, no 'political stand' or anything like that. But I'm at the point with the NFL, and the Bills, that I just don't care anymore. Last year I hardly watched any games (maybe 2-3 full games and parts of 2-3 more games), and this year, I doubt I'll even watch any unless I am home and have absolutely zero to do.

2022 Dylan Cozens wasn't all that great. Just like the other years of his career, he hurt the team more than he helped it. He was a negative player. Looking into deep stats, The Corsi of the team was CONSIDERABLY worse when he was on the ice compared to when anyone else was on the ice. Fenwick was worse with him compared to the rest of the team. Same for Shots for. Same for actual goals for (despite his 30 goal season, the team still allowed more goals when he was on the ice than when he wasn't.) Same for High danger chances. Same for high danger goals for/allowed. He had a limited impact on the PP (5 goals were the most he ever scored on it in a season, but that isn't all that great considering he was on pretty much every powerplay). He brought the PK down (they allowed goals short handed about 20% more per minute when he was on the ice vs when he wasn't). We saw 'hope' in him, and he personally scored 31 goals, but even then, his best season, he net-net hurt the team. The rest of the team, average them out, even the 4th liners and 3rd pair D-men, had better analytics, and allowed less goals, when he was off the ice rather than when he was on the ice with them.

I think the first year of a Tuch new deal would be in 2026-27, which is the year of the bigger $6.4m hit....which is an issue.

I wish we could go back a few years with car technology. Buttons and knobs please! Yeah, I have kinda gotten used to a 'touch interface' in my current car, but I do hate that I can't 'feel' things when adjusting the heat/ac (have to look) and that it hardly works when you are wearing gloves in the winter. Voice control? Please, if that works 50% of the time I'm lucky (actually it works more than that for me, but our car cannot answer or respond to my wife's voice for anything) And just today on my way home, I'm listening to the news and then it just goes blank, no sound, nothing. After trying to drive and not get in an accident while I push every part of the touchscreen, I finally get the radio back on, but every single preset station was erased. No warning. No reason why. Just happened.

That is probably what makes the most sense, and I'm good with that. In most games there are about 48-50 minutes of even strength, 5 on 5 time I would guess. Dahlin and Byram get about 20 minutes per game even strength. Hopefully Power-Kesserling combo can get 18-19 minutes even strength. That leaves, give or take 10 minutes of even strength time for the 3rd pair. Now, I'm fine with Samuelsson on the PK (I actually think he generally is pretty good on the PK), and in case of injuries/penalties, Timmins can slide up to a higher pair on a temporary basis. Of course, Injuries happen and Lindy happens (juggling lines and d-partners), but I'd be ok with the above pairings.

Not to mention, he truly is injury prone. In the past 5 years, he has missed games every year, and only averages 55 games per season. So he's injury prone, its not a big issue? yeah it is. lets say you can get 60 games out of him, that means 20-22 games you have to replace him with a lesser player....probably someone who wasn't even on the roster. I'd rather have a guy that has averaged 75 games per season over the last 5 years instead of someone who averages 25+ games missed, so I don't have to 'plug in' to my roster someone who wasn't good enough to make it to begin with for 25 games per season.

Next year is the issue with Skinner, not this upcoming year. Well, this year IS an issue. He is counting $4.4m toward the cap this year, but next year, he's going to count $6.4m. The buyout would have been much less of an issue if they would have waited one more year.

Which goes back to what I am saying...he got 1c ice time toward the end of the year, but for the whole year got 2c ice time. If you want to use traditional 'labels' and slot him in on a '3rd line', then he is getting less ice time, a LOT less than he got in the 2nd half of last year. You want to give him 16-17 minutes per game (which is still less than he got the 2nd half of last year), that is not 3rd line ice time.

I'm going to ask the same question I have been asking for a while. I don't have an answer myself and I really want to know what other people think: How much ice time do you want McLeod playing next year? -He averaged almost 17 minutes per game last year (16:50) -As the season went on, his play seemed to improve and his ice time increased even more (the last 3 months of the season his average ice time for the month was 17:23, 18:53, 19:15 per game for each month). So, nearly 17 minutes for the year, and he played better with MORE ice time later in the year when he was averaging over 18. But 3rd line centers in this league average about 14.5 minutes, MAYBE 15. So, if McLeod is going to be the 3rd line center, are we good with him getting 2, maybe 3 minutes LESS ice time per game than even last year? Especially since it seems Lindy wanted him on the ice a lot more than that, and he seemed to do pretty well handing the additional minutes?

Quinn: I'm leaning toward 35 point (slightly higher) but a defensive liability. I would have rather seen him moved for even the best available pick you could get for him rather than have him brought back. I guess He is still young enough to prove me wrong but he hurt this team badly last year. Norris: I want to lean more toward the 35 goal scorer, so that is what I am doing. I'm just not sure where he fits on the roster. I want to see Tage and Kulich stay together until that is proven to no longer work, and McLeod I want to get more than the 14.5 minutes than 3rd line centers normally get. Greenway: I don't see him as needed on this roster, and he's always seems to be hurt. If he was gone I wouldn't miss him. Samuelsson: I'm guessing I'm in the minority, but I still think he can be a good middle pair guy. Kesserling: I have Zero idea. Doan: Optimistic he can eventually be a somewhat-physical, 20 goal pest Krebs: someplace in between what you are saying. Last year I was as down on him as I am on Quinn this year, but I thought he had a pretty good year. I would not mind seeing his ice time increase, He 'hurts' this team less than Cozens did. UPL: Could be either. He WAS one of the best goalies in the league 2 years ago. He WAS one of the worst goalies in the league last year. Would not surpr`ise me if he is either of those things this year.