musichunch

What bugs me most is that the worst team should always have the 1st overall pick. We weren't just unlucky with missing out on McDavid, I'd say we were screwed out of it. How can you trust a corporation to NOT mess around with the draft lottery winner? Do you trust them to have integrity when they have the ability to decide where the best player in 10-25 years is going to be playing? Edit: Looking at the graph, McDavid's numbers are very Messi-like.

Thinking back, Lehner may have done what he did to stand up for himself getting run over earlier in the game. I just remember Risto doing a bunch of pansy schoolgirl cross checks to the player that ran Lehner over. Then everybody pushes each other a little and it's over. So we're a bit more physical than the Lucic/Miller thing, but nothing special. I see your point a little better now.

I don't want to speak for Eleven, but in my experience, playing with anger is a major distraction. It's clouds the mind and knocks you off-balance. What someone says and what he does are two different things. Like I said in my last post, he allowed a goal 30 seconds after that scrum.

I find Ray to be the most insightful guy on the Sabres broadcasting team since Robitaille and Blessing were together. When he's down there on the ice, he has a feel for what's going on that I see very few on TV have. Despite no longer playing hockey, he can tap into the flow of the game like he's still playing. He does however seem to have a minor screw loose, but other than that is very lucid. That whole "they're edging, about to explode" line last night was inappropriate for television and I'm pretty sure I know where he got it from. I mean I don't care that he said it, but a guy on TV should have the filter and sharpness to know that he should probably find something else to say. Those are the kind of things I mean when I think he has a small screw loose. You take the good with the bad I guess.

All I know is that Lehner allowed a goal 27 seconds after that scrum. Small sample size, I know, but I'll be keeping an eye on it. I like him a lot, but I feel his issues are mental. The only thing stopping him from being an elite goalie is himself. Hopefully he figures out his problem and straightens it out.

I feel like half his goals are unassisted or solo efforts. Maybe the stats will back that up? I just didn't want a "nobody really cares" narrative to be thrown out there. Because I care. Musichunch cares.

Zadarov didn't have a sexual assault investigation hovering over him. Nor was he kicked off his previous team by his teammates. But let's ignore that elephant in the room. Go Buffalo!

What can I say? This guy is a magnet for trouble.

Whatever. You guys still think professional sports is a fair playing field. No point in arguing with you.

How do you know it's legitimate? Because they told you it is. If Pegula wants to give Stamkos and extra $10M in a bank account in the Caymen Islands in exchange for a "pay cut", then he will. My point is, if we want Stamkos and he wants to be here, he will be here.

I said "and we will". And frankly, I would sacrifice Reinhart for if we had to, but I don't think we will have to. I don't think salary caps are as honest as they make them out to be. I think stuff goes on behind the scenes. We'll get Stamkos if we want him and he truly wants to be here. I don't see the point in speculating 3-4 years ahead with contracts and salary cap. How much did Girg's contract numbers go down after this season? You never know. Eichel might tear his ACL next year and never be the same. Imagine we pass on Stamkos and he becomes a 60 goal scorer again and Eichel retires at 26.

In 3-4 years Eichel, Reinhart, Risto, McCabe, Psysk, Fasching, Bailey, Baptiste and Girgs will be established NHL players and will solve a lot of our plethora of issues. Let's not forget starting a bunch of developing 18 and 19 year olds is one of the reasons we suck.

If we find a way to fit Reinhart, Eichel, ROR and Risto (and we will) then I don't see any problems with it. This team sucks right now. We're overpaying at least 5 or 6 players who are providing very little. I don't care about losing Kane obviously. I also think Bogosian is overrated. Gionta is old. Moulson has quit. Gorges is getting old. I can't stand Franson. That's 20M right there. I just don't see what's so sacred on this crappy Sabres team that we can't take a risk to bring in one of the best goal scorers in ages who's having a down year.

Nobody stays 8 or 9 years on those big contracts. He would be gone or traded by the time he's 31 or 32.

I don't want Stamkos here in order to be a team captain. That's for O'Reilly, Girgs, or Eichel one day. Guy was the #1 or #2 goal scorer in the league in his 2nd-5th years in the league. On pace for a 600 goal career. Then he breaks his leg. Comes back and scores 43 goals. This year he's on pace for 30 and fans of the worst team in the league for the past 3 years are saying "thanks but no thanks". Whatever. His 43 goals during his "decline" at age 25 would be tied with Vanek as the best goal output by a Sabres player in 20-25 years. No thank you.

He just turned 26. I don't know what you're arguing. Of course goal scorers decline after 30. Every great scorer has the past 50 years. Very few exceptions.

Don't try too hard to declare yourself a winner. Did he slow down because he's lazy and unmotivated in Tampa? Or because his leg injury has completely changed him physically? You seem to be saying the latter. I suspect it's the former.

It wasn't just a usage problem with Ovechkin back then. He wasn't motivated and it was obvious. Just like Stamkos now. And of course he's not the same player he was, he's 5 years older.

Let's not act like he's 32. I'll take the leg injury into consideration. But it could be mental as much as physical. I don't see him straining too hard out there. In the 5 or so games I've seen him play this year he was circling around looking for a snipe all game.

He doesn't need to show anything and he knows it. Yeah, one was a lockout year and the other one he played 37 games. Let's not make Stamkos look like a chump. People completely gave up on Ovechkin. They were talking about him in the past tense. How many times do you need to say "buy low, sell high" before people listen.

Really? 60 goals dude. 60. He's in the middle of a down year. Unhappy in Tampa in his last contract year. 50 goals next year and everybody will be back on the Stamkos train.

You take Stamkos. No question about it. He's a top 5 player of this generation. Future Hall of Famer smack dab in the middle of his prime. Potentially the best goal scorer of the decade after Ovechkin. In 4 years he will be 30, Eichel will be 23, Sam will be 24. This has a poor man's Lemieux/Jagr feel to it. Similar age difference and they won two cups in a row. Who was their Reinhart? Francis. Let's say ROR is Recchi, Risto is Coffey. The major piece we'll then be missing is the goaltender. Cut the deadweight. We're the worst team in the league BECAUSE Moulson, Franson, and Ennis are on this team taking up salary cap. Bring up some hungry kids. Let them develop. Sacrifice Kane. DO IT! Unless Stamkos's agent is pulling a Babcock. We're an attractive leverage pawn with our owner. First thing I thought of when I heard this story.

You did the NFL vs NHL analogy. I assumed that meant black vs white. I think that's a fair conclusion to make. Where is all this race card/desperate attempt stuff coming from?

I mean if guns and knives were involved, I can see how people would throw out stereotypes. But a bare knuckle club fight with two groups of guys ending with somebody getting kicked in the ribs. If that's not America I don't know what is. Yeah let's pretend the NFL isn't 70% black.

No worries.