Thorny

He was half right - he bet on Levi and another to emerge from UPL and Comrie Levi bet was, again, against massive precedent. the result was, sadly, not surprising. Sadly, hindsight need not apply

I continually remain shocked at the pushback I get on saying the Samuelsson contract was bad. It’s not enough to just look at it in a vacuum and say “well he’s ALMOST worth it and I feel bad for him so it’s ok” nahhhh. It doesn’t work like that: by the *prism of the moment* the deal looked bad - it was unprecedented. The burden of proof is on the deal to prove its worth. As you point out, it only serves to potentially sully other negotiations I will keep saying it: all these moves are only valuable *as a means to an end*. We said playoffs was the mandate this year not just because we all obviously want it after 13 years: the actually structure and growth of the team depends on it the strategies have to achieve results or EVERYONE DOUBTS THE STRATEGIES

Adams going after a goalie does make sense. If Adams consummated every deal he was supposedly after I actually think I’d agree with him quite a bit- but we have such a difference of priority which results in a different strategic willingness necessary to pay the price required to get these deals done. but he’s right: we DO still need a goalie. That’s what I preached all offseason, the Swayman effect: you need 2 guys in today’s game if you are serious about it winning. We always needs 2. Our backup goaltending is non existent right now: and adding a guy also allows us to avoid penciling in Levi for next season and that blowing up in our faces again

Could be. Could be they made their bed with their chosen core…they are happy to pay Casey as an ancillary piece, but Casey balks on the “want to be here” front due to the realization…and we know Adams will accommodate guys who don’t want to be here

“If the Sabres aren’t willing to pay Mittelstadt like they have with their other core pieces, it’s going to be a problem; he’s not going to be happy” point 3 is fairly interesting. Could be a bit of a problematic offshoot of locking up so many other guys so definitively so early. A guy who gets wind of the fact he’s not being approached in the same way could have issues

Ask not what the Sabres can do for you

It’s so simple

The WICKedly talented

I was gonna chat on sabrespace, and then I got high…🎶

Just think of: all the games in hand we’ll have, to *not* make up any ground? Wi̶TH!

Our record is pretty reflective I’d say

He’ll have to determine if Levi is ready for a full-time backup role at the NHL level. Considering his misfires in managing the position during the first half of this season, I’d imagine he’d be extra careful in not getting into a “shame on me” situation next season. If it’s Levi, great. If not, we’ll need a backup from the outside

absurd. Wrong thread, don’t care: people need to see the once affordable food champion of the people has turned its back on us

Easy solution: get even *younger* next year. No one could possibly claim it’s not an excuse, then

And buzzed when I think of PA

that’s how I picture you and @PASabreFanin my mind

I feel bad because for the most part I’m not even quoting the posters sending out the reactions. If all those posts are doing is angering certain people i’m assuredly in the wrong - as the true central benefit to this board is, again, the camaraderie. If you can’t add to that there’s no point. I can’t make the Sabres good by posting about all the stuff they’re objectively bad at: I’m sure Adams doesn’t read the board. And if he did I’m sure he wouldn’t care. I was on this tangent yesterday- we are faceless, paying customers to these people. The kinship is with the fans I clearly have a massive gripe with Adams and the Org. But if me speaking truth to power on that just pisses off the fans it’s arguably self-defeating. I post about the org and instead, the fans are who take it personally: because not all see it as the consumer-product relationship I do for some, it’s tuchy and mittsy and behind 2 stalls, and one big happy family. I see that as marketing. Others see it as a relationship

Because it does bother me. Looking back I wrote that a little awkwardly- as I said a little further on, I’m genuinely worried it’s becoming upsetting to those who’d rather use the Sabres purely as an escape. What I meant is I’m not offended by it: unfortunately it’s always the same several posters. it’s a difficult line: I want to expand on what I personally believe to be the truth but also sometimes struggle determining the value in it relative to the context of where the discussion is taking place. The sabres stopped being a place I earmarked for joy a long time ago: I don’t need that from them. Don’t count on them to fulfill that anymore. Don’t need to use them as an escape from anything. I like to engage here purely for the engagement and camaraderie. If my engagement infringes on that camaraderie: that’s a real issue to me

I’ve gotten a thumbs down or an eye roll on nearly every critical post I’ve made of this team in this thread. In most threads of late. Hank follows me around doing it. NS does it. Others too. Times have changed. The ones that are ok with never being good have had it: I suppose they have a point - it’s not getting any better and if you aren’t good with the team as is, why bother being around? The reactions don’t bother me but honestly I keep coming back to the same thing: I like the fans. If the fans would be happier around here just burying their faces in the sand I will honestly try to post less. I’m starting to feel kind of bad for telling the truth there really is more than one way to be a fan. The loveable losers thing can work. It’s not for me when it comes to the sabres but I do get it somewhat of a paradise lost situation. Better to reign in hell. I get it

It’s the general erosion of a willingness to have any sort of expectations over the course of a long 13 years. I agree it’s frustrating because it’s misplaced- it is on the franchise to provide a product worthy of the consumer. But it is understandable because we’ve been historically abnormally bad for so long. People will pay for the MCU until they don’t: but even that beloved franchise has seen their returns start to significantly diminish because of the perceived quality of the product. There will always be those that will simply take the CONTENT any way they can get, with a full smile. They are the ones that dive into every release day one. I don’t know if this sort of loyalty is comparable to loyalty to a hockey team - but both maybe might kinda sorta stem from the thinking that, if you keep your expectations low enough, you’ll forever be satisfied. You don’t have to deal with the crushing weight of disappointment if you aren’t expecting anything.

Can’t just sit around and draft and develop while twiddling your thumbs: other teams get a free 7 draft picks, every year, too. can look to make tiny relative gains year over year on that front, which is a challenge in itself, and even if you do, it’s compared against the chasm we are already behind. A manager has to actually do other things, construct a team, not essentially run a real-life version of online GM simulator video game mode.

Jets have fallen to 7th overall, after losing 4 straight. As mentioned, they are a good team. As I also mentioned, their ridiculously easy extended stretch of schedule was somewhat misleading