musichunch

I saw this with the Pat Kane thread. These conversations get infiltrated and go from regular hockey fans and people talking, to turning into quasi-legalese, where everybody all of a sudden needs to be careful of what they say. Very smart strategy I must say. But I'm not playing your game. The Pat Kane incident was something completely different the entire time, so this Evander Kane incident is either the same thing, or it's what it obviously seems like to any normal person not blinded by their fandom or employed by the NHL: A D-Bag cokehead on an ego trip who likes to beat women. With that, I'll check out, and leave the marketing reps to carry on with their jobs of fooling the fanbase and ensuring they will buy new jerseys and tickets. I'll be back next time Evander Kane screws up, which he will.

Yes, because facts revealed at trial are the truth. Give me a break.

Thank you. I thought I was going crazy. A Sabres player is accused of violence towards women for the 2nd time in a year, with apparent video evidence, and I'm the bad guy. Being literally told to "shut up".

I see we're running out of counter arguments. There's a term for those trying to pretend Evander Kane might be innocent. It's called "wishful thinking". And for some of you in this thread it's called "PR Damage Control".

What's awful? How we all have to be "reminded" we don't have all the facts unless a videotape is released or someone admits to it. Like the Sabres would allow either of those things to ever happen.

Witness statements - Check Reports of Video - Check Charges Pending - Check Prior Reports of Abuse Towards Women - Check Previous Locker Room Issues With Teammates - Check Aggressive and Fearless Play On The Ice - Check Great Fighter - Check Consensus D-Bag on Instagram - Check Prefers Chippewa to Other City Areas - Check Yes, we better wait for the "facts" to come out.

Blame the alcohol, not Evander is the new spin. Blame the bomb, not the terrorist.

Not sure if this has been posted yet, but ouch: http://sabres.buffalonews.com/2016/07/07/evander-kane-will-face-non-criminal-charges-for-buffalo-bar-incidents/

Haha. Vague for a reason. I'll let others read between the lines. It's not often a big NY free agent bolts for a low-key place like Buffalo on the 1st day of free agency. Or a Montreal veteran waives a NTC to come to the worst team in the league.

I like this signing. But Okposo is here for the same reason Gorges is. And Robert Woods for that matter. And I should probably add Derek Roy to that alumni list.

It's better than most, I'll give you that. As for the employees, it's their job to sway public opinion in a positive direction. Those doing their hardest to defend Kane in this thread are your first clue as to who's who. Not all of them, probably. But then again maybe. I think it's fair to say that a reasonable person would be a little annoyed at Kane at this point, not making excuses for him. If posters are exerting a lot of energy in defending him, I'd say it's pretty suspicious. If they are trying to spin this in a positive light, that's even more curious. So no, it's not OK. These people act as though they are fans, but are employed to influence your opinions. They are not fans and they are not your friends. I'm frankly disgusted by them and they know who they are, and they hate me equally. Many use multiple accounts, and even reply and agree with each other. I saw it a couple times in this thread. I won't call them out in order to avoid a firestorm. But I assure you this is the status quo on every sports board. I think I'm going to make it a tradition to come back to this board every time Kane gets in trouble to kick the posters/PR reps who called me racist in the gut a bit.

The worst if you work for the marketing department of the Sabres. I wish I could agree with you more so that I can be one of the "best" posters on here.

Lot of denial on here about Kane. Some of the posters here work for the Sabres so I understand them trying to sweep this under the rug, but I'm surprised at how much fans will cover their eyes and plug their ears for some guy with no connection to the area that gets paid to play here. Kane frequents Chippewa because he's a douchebag and he fits in with the other Chippewa douchebags. That's the same reason he gets into these situations. How many Sabres have you seen out at night but never seen them getting into trouble? Why is Kane a magnet for this? And Hoss, what girl "panics" after a sexual encounter so loud that it requires the police to be called? Give me a break. Now that I've figured out what the Patrick Kane incident last year really was, I have no respect for the "legal insiders" on this board.

You know my posting history. You know I'm not an idiot. If I said something like that, it is for a reason. If anybody is intrigued, PM me. I'll be glad to let the cat out of the bag.

A professional GM does not say what he said, unless he was told to say it. With the recent concussion reports all over the news the last few days, someone from the NFL told him to say it. I think it's pretty obvious that the NFL and mainstream media WANT you talking about football and concussions. Why? I'm not sure yet. It's misdirection from something. Probably from the idea that all the games are fixed. Or that NFL teams are not owned by who you think owns them. And that the admin of SabreSpace and TBD is not who you think he is.

I said his demeanor. Reread. He looks bored 90% of the time. Don't misread my post then authoritatively label it wrong based on your misinterpretation. You can't have it both ways. You want him to be this competitive player then expect him to be fine with his "lesser" rookie teammates scoring as many goals as him? What? You want him to be a fake class act at age 19? Some sort of Coach K? It's human nature. You don't need to be Cristiano Ronaldo in that case, you just need to be a normal human being. The player you see and the player I see are two different people. I was looking at rookie stats from last year. Eichel would have finished 4th behind Stone, Gaudreau, and Forsberg even with the extra game projections. Isn't he supposed to be better than all 3? He's barely in the argument for the Calder. Most people would vote the defenseman from the Flyers over him. The fact that I can't even make a minor critique while praising him is pathetic. He's going to be a great player, but he's not perfect. And he's not a perfect human being. Sorry to be negative but some posters seem more interested in protecting millionaire teenagers they don't know than having a realistic conversation.

I've been hearing about this Eichel competitiveness all year but hadn't really seen it. I was beginning to think it was all newspaper fluff. I still feel like his demeanor is very Stafford-ish. But today I saw it. After Fasching scored they showed Eichel next to him on the bench and Eichel looked peeved. Then after Reinhart scored, the next shift Eichel had a shot stopped and wouldn't even look at Reinhart afterwards. I thought "good!". Reinhart is one goal behind the Chosen One. It's time to step it up. He has nobody to blame but himself. Then he goes out there and scores a goal scorer's goal. Clutch, pretty, and on cue. That's some competitiveness right there. Very impressed.

I missed that. I did notice Girgs standing up for Risto during the same game. Girgs is no chump, but I'd like to rewatch what happened during the Neil plays. I would be very disappointed in him to let Neil get away with cheapshots on his watch and with his knowledge. My opinion is somewhere between Blue's and Eastside's. I see the little things, but where is the production? He used to have it, but where is it now? My instinct is to blame Bylsma's system, but we also need to consider Girgs went from one of the top scoring options to #5-#6. He's being told to play a disciplined, physical, forechecking, get to the front of the net, create for your linemates type-game. He's being used like a rich man's Foligno. I don't think he is close to his potential. He's a 25-30 goal guy and potential standout playoff performer IMO. The bright side is Bylsma is teaching him to be disiplined and efficient. The worry is that he is neutering him permanently. To use a corny term, maybe some birds are not meant to be caged.

I think so too. Did anybody spot Kane standing up for Gorges? As soon as Kane gave him the stare, Neil skated away.

Has anybody ever hit or beat up Neil really good? Why does it feel like this guy always gets away with his BS?

Were they afraid to throw a punch or something?

Edmonton is a struggling Canadian team with a strong history. The NHL has already had success with the Crosby/Lemieux narrative. Arizona/Vegas could bust. Edmonton has a high number of top draft picks. It makes sense to me. Toronto is going to sell out with or without McDavid. What's the narrative if McDavid comes to Buffalo? Nobody cares about the "classy Pegulas" outside Buffalo. Sports is all about narrative, it's what brings the casual fans. "McDavid playing in Gretzky's shadow" is a sexy narrative. We'll be hearing it more and more over the next few seasons. I just can't imagine the NHL executives picking a ball out of a machine and saying "Well, nothing we can do. We need to be fair about this." It's not illegal to rig a draft lottery. What does the NHL gain with letting the lottery be truly random? Why not just lie to fans that it's real and pick a team that's not too obvious yet makes financial sense? You don't think that conversation has ever happened? Edit: Also, the NHL has experience with having a superstar in Edmonton. They know that it can work. The plan might be similar to Gretzky's or Lebron James's path. Have the superstar save the franchise, then leave to a big market team on their next contract. This way McDavid can go to NY or Toronto without making everybody suspicious.

"They're edging, about to explode" makes more sense than "they're edgy, about to explode". He was talking about the teams about to brawl. Edging has gotten popular on the internet over the last few years in the manosphere. If Brad May or somebody said it, I wouldn't care, but Rob Ray strikes me exactly the type of character to be looking at that stuff online and then letting it slip on air. Again, I think it's hilarious, no problems with it at all. But that's just my thought process.

I strongly disagree. Edmonton needed it, and they love the "recreate the dynasty" story as you saw when they gave Crosby to Pittsburgh. Give it a few years. We'll be meeting them in the Finals....and losing.

Yeah, Rob Ray is just an innocent 50 year old Canadian broadcaster. I think it was a Freudian slip. And with all the word jumbling, strange hot dog incidents, etc. I think he has a screw loose. Still love the guy though.