Kruppstahl

Just caught wind of this now! Immediate reaction was "My God that's terrible!" And those white gloves....Jesus that's bad.

Paul Hamilton had a little piece today on Ralph. Not sure who else caught this. I am convinced Ralph is a good guy, will work very hard to be successful, and means well. I just have zero confidence it's going to work. https://wgr550.radio.com/articles/news/sabres-new-coach-ralph-krueger-still-listening-fans

"Culture" is a greatly over-used word these days. I think it matters very little as compared to, for example, having a bunch of really good players. Having said that, if there is a "culture" in Buffalo of all the players, starting with Eichel and moving down, not really giving a crap about what they are doing for a living, not putting in their best effort, and being content to drive a Mercedes SUV and bring in the big bucks while being a garbage hockey team, I agree that is a problem and has to be changed. But good players winning games changes everything automatically.

Too bad Botterill wasn't thinking in those terms with ROR! It will be really interesting to see what value Risto brings. May not be quite what you all are expecting.

I always used GRAF gloves and loved them, but my playing day experiences are very dated now. I wanted something that was very flexible and allowed my hand to make a fist and then open up with almost no resistance, and had super thin palms with great stick feel. Your son should focus on what he likes and what works for him. It's like picking out a guitar or a bicycle; you can't pick the spec that your favorite player/rider likes. You have to pick what works for you.

I like it when they are on those networks. It means I can actually watch them in HDTV. It's usually low def on NHL Center Ice, where it looks like I'm watching a video tape from 1986 that has been recorded and re-recorded over 75 times. It's absolutely shocking to me that the NHL allows their product to be shown in this manner, in 2019. But then again, who ever said the NHL was well run?

Table 1 with RJ is the obvious choice; I can listen to his stories all day long. Second choice is easily Table 10. The stories would be equally good (though not as varied or going back as far) and I have no doubt I'd be laughing with tears flowing soon enough. It also helps that at Table 10 I can lean over and talk to Dom at Table 9! Who would probably be one of the most entertaining guys in the room. You have to remember, the guy is insane, and maybe the best goalie of all time to boot.

It's ridiculous that his ass can't be released without salary cap implications. McCabe started out very promising, then slumped. Then he made a comeback. He's serviceable. Still waiting for the team to actually be improved.

Hiring a coach by itself does not move this team forward. The idea is to hire a good, effective coach, and I highly doubt we did that. Re-signing Skinner is the only meter-moving change that has occurred with this franchise this off-season which will directly impact the coming season. None of our draft selections, for example, will be around next year. Another really bad start to the season and, if we are lucky, the coach and GM will both go at the same time, as was the case with GMTM and Bylsma. Here's the rub: firing people doesn't help if we don't hire good people to replace the bad. Hey, maybe we'll come out of the gates storming and finish with 110 points! I guess it could happen.

These starting salary figures sound about right. Ullmark asking for way more than he is going to get, and the Sabres low balling him. They'll meet somewhere in the middle. Ullmark is not the answer going forward, so honestly, who cares?

I've already been there for quite a while. This organization has an enormously tough row to hoe this off-season, but not much has happened thus far, and I have no faith in Botterill to get the job done in the first place. With Bills training camp in place now, this is much more of a football time of year for me, though I'm not really following the Bills lately either.

Anyone ever notice that your average NHL franchise is run by kind of dumb people?

Nice to see we are top 4 in something. Oh wait a minute.

You can't do better than Highland Park 12 year, especially for the price.

I was going to write something snarky along the lines of the bolded. LOL. The future always looks bright for all fans of all teams, especially the further out you move it.