Curt

Very interesting. I honestly thought that Botterill would be safe because he had sold Pegula on a slow rebuild. Obviously that is just a feeling that I’ve had. We’ll see how this unfolds. I’m one of those people. I’ve got no spin. I thought Botterill would probably be safe, maybe that’s not the case. We’ll see. I’m not much of a Botterill apologists. I liked his overall stated plan when he came on, but the execution has certainly been mixed and the results haven’t been good.

I understand the frustration with the team in general, but Dahlin is the best D his age on the planet, and the best D his age we have seen in many years.

He isn’t at the top of the hockey department now even, but in the end, Terry is at the top of everything. It’s unavoidable, he’s the owner.

The guys who at times have been benched and had their ice time cut include Skinner and Dahlin, so I don’t really think that what you are saying rings true.

But Ralph HAS benched guys, cut their ice time, demoted them down the lineup. That’s the thing.

I can’t understand these statements about Ralph being a “soft” “cupcake pzy” (cute) “pat on the back” coach. Has he not regularly benched players? Cut their mins? Demoted them? Do people need to see a total melt down throwing things on the bench to think a guy isn’t a big pushover?

Yes, almost every other 1st round prospect is 6+ months older than Byfield. He is one of the youngest player in the whole draft.

I still think the skating is just fine, but...........Yes, like I said, I was also disappointed in the defensive play in this game at least. However, very few 17 year olds play a complete 200 ft game, and even fewer of those guys have the offensive talent to be difference makers. The defensive side is something that the majority of draft prospects need to round out. Even NHL stars, Eichel is great, but if you watch him even today, his main focus isn’t defense and it shows. There are no perfect players. I would like to see more effort there though. This is one reason that I like Rossi so much. He is really committed to defense as well as offense. Byfield has been the consensus #2, but I think that Rossi is not far off. I wouldn’t have him ranked any lower than #4. I think it’s Lafrenierre at the top, then Byfield, Rossi, and Stutzle very close together at 2-3-4.

@Scottysabres and I were discussing Byfield’s skating. I think it’s fine, especially for his size, Scotty doesn’t like it as much. In addition to previous video I’ve watched a while ago, I just watched this shift by shift video from a game in February: Its actually a rather poor game from Byfield, but I really just wanted to watch the skating. I honestly thought the skating looked ok. His top speed and maneuverability seem at least average. He often lacks much burst, but I think that could definitely improve with just putting on leg strength over the next couple years. He is a big boy and extra young for a draft eligible. I didn’t think his skating caused him to fall behind the play. I did see him being late to get back on D a few times, but was the result of floating in the neutral zone an extra couple seconds hoping to get sprung the other way instead of hustling back. I honestly was a bit disappointed in the defensive hustle from him. He is just a young 17 though, and operating as the top offensive player on the top line of a good CHL team, so I can cut him a little slack for trying to manufacture offense instead of focusing on defense. So I didn’t see real skating concerns, just a lack of emphasis on defense. What does everyone else think about Byfield’s skating?

Sorry, I thought you had said you watched video on the Sudbury team site, and I wasn’t seeing any there, but you didn’t actually say that. I’ve got a little more to say on the subject, but I’m going over to the more appropriate 2020 Draft Prospects thread.

Could you be so kind as to send a link to the page with the video you were watching? I’m not going to watch 4 HRs, but I’d like to take a look.

1) Byfield 2) His speed is ok, his agility is pretty good. Neither is a weakness, for a player of any size. For a player of his size, both are well above average. He is not an explosive skater with high acceleration, true. However, big long legged players often don’t appear to get going as fast because of their long strides. Small guys with quick short strides always look like they get going faster. All this is to say that I think you are exaggerating any weakness in Byfield’s skating.

If you bought a car dealership, then, yes, you would be the boss. You would be able to go in and demand that things are done your way, even if you don’t have a clue what you are talking about. Seems like a decent analogy for TP to me. OR you could hire competent people, go back to whatever else you do, and check up on them once every week or two to make sure everything is going ok. Which is what I think you are getting at.

Yeah, you asked everyone, lol. I do understand what you mean. Any good boss can appreciate people challenging them. However, if you challenge them, but they insist on a particular course of action, your option are limited, because in the end they are the boss. Have you ever challenged your boss, but your boss says: no, I feel it’s really important to do it this way, and for these reasons? Did you then say that you respectfully disagree, or did you tell them to stay the hell out of your way? Im assuming you still are employed, so it’s probably closer to the first thing.

Actually, yeah, they do. They gave out a Stanley Cup and everything. Yeah, sure, because that’s what everyone tells their boss on their first day of work.

I also remember it being a question of which Sam would be the pick.

I don’t think he would. Not because he doesn’t have money, but because the Sabres probably take in less money than the average NHL team. I doubt Pegula would operate the team at a loss. He may be a sports fan, but I doubt he would lose millions on the team per year. That would be a rather expensive hobby.

No problem, just wondering if I was missing something.

Minnesota??? Please explain why you think someone from there would be preferable.

I would be very interested in Gillis and Hextall.

I was being completely sarcastic. I know Pegula has money, but I doubt he is willing to blindly dump his own money into the Sabres to the point that he isn’t making a profit. I haven’t seen a lot of examples of him doing so in the areas he is allowed to.

Just clarifying, 2 in the US have now died, and there seems to be a possibly community spread outbreak in Washington State. UPDATE: Its now 6 and definitely spreading in Washington State.

Say no more, I’m convinced.

Could you elaborate on what the actual accounts were?

He has been GM for Team Europe and he is President of the Slovak IHF. What is so creepy about him? That’s news to me.