Curt

A mediocre first liner is a pretty good player. So you are saying that Sam is somewhere around the 10-20th best RW in the league? That’s pretty good, and something that I can agree with.

Since this is a fire Botterill thread, can we bring up some possible options for his replacement? It makes for more interesting discussion than FIRE BOTTS!!!!! IMO If we are smart enough to know Botterill is terrible, we should be smart enough to have some potential plans for after he is fired.

No! Really? He’s good, but no, not that good. Crosby?

Leave him down there. We are sick of seeing his pudgy face. End of discussion. ?

I do have some mixed emotions about it. On one hand, yes, seeing other people fight is entertaining. But on the other hand, I don’t think it should be something that we encourage as part of a game. I acknowledge that it’s bound to happen occasionally when guys are really playing hard and emotions run high, but I also think that the league should take a tougher stance against it. I wouldn’t mind seeing game misconducts for fighting, or suspensions for fighting X number of times in a season. In the game above, for example: Something happens, the goalie snaps and starts throwing, everyone on the ice grabs another guy, some throw, some just hold on. Ok, fine, but there is no need for Talbot to come all the way from the other end just looking to get into it.

It was not looking albatross-ish. Was anyone actually saying that at the time? O’Reilly was great and his contract was fine as far as term and AAV goes.

He played forward as a child some I believe. I have no doubt that he is talented enough to make the transition semi successfully with a great deal of effort, but why? Why would you do that? Also Dahlin would have to actually want to do it.

Because both parties agree to terminate. Byflygynnnnn (sic?) is agreeing to give up all the money he is owed. He is technically in breach of contract. Pretty similar to the berglund situation.

Some people are definitely on the precipice of something here.

I think this is the real question. I’m inclined to believe that there has been true skill improvement. He hasn’t really had fluky goals going in.

Sorry. I just think he needs longer. Take it slow with him. Let him stay there. Let him go to the playoffs with that team. Let him deal with that pressure. Even if he is dominant in Rochester at the end of the month.

Disagree. We saw him struggle in Buffalo for the majority of a year and a half. Two month in Rochester is not going to magically fix him. At least I doubt it. Reevaluate at training camp 2020-21.

I’m a fan of hockey played with passion and enthusiasm. You can have that without fights, or with very very few of them at least. The reaction that I’m responding to here was NOT “what a passionate, hard fought game, I love that kind of hockey!” The reaction that I’m responding to WAS “Goalie fight! That’s so awesome!”

You get that from time to time, but it’s relatively rare, especially for the highest level guys. Just as boxing the quality of Ali Frazier is relatively rare. I’ve seen a lot of snoozfest boxing matches too.

Yeah, sure, but a brawl isn’t emotionally charged, physical hockey. It’s a bunch of guys on ice skates trying to punch each other without falling on their ass.

Does a brawl automatically make it a good hockey game? If I feel like I need to see fights I’ll watch UFC.

Why would he get a hefty contract? He isn’t putting up big numbers. It also depends on what you consider a hefty contract I suppose.

This talk about the Islanders and their style of play brings a question to my mind. Might it be a wise NHL strategy to develop a team that is defense first focused? For no other reason that the fact that the salaries that players can get are often based largely on their point production. In this way, a team can have more good players who fit their system, and keep the team together for longer under the cap, because good defense first players are generally paid less than good offense first players. This is essentially what the Isles are doing. Doesn’t make for the most exciting hockey but it’s an economical approach.

Did they trade a star D to avoid paying them? I feel like if they had a good player that they wanted to keep, they would probably pay them what they were worth.

You know which other Pen’s teams could definitely make a run in the playoffs? The ones that won back to back cups. Were those teams not balanced? Were they too small? Were they not tough enough? So, are you saying the roster that they built when Botterill was there was unbalanced and inferior to what they have now, even though they won back to back cups at the end of Botterill‘s time there?

Is this question: How long should this take? Or, How long do we feel like it will take? The answer to those questions is probably very different for most. I believe it is possible to start a string of playoff appearances next season, but I don’t have any real confidence that it will actually happen. The team isn’t that far away, but I have lost faith that the required combination of luck and quality moves come to pass.

So, the Senate impeachment hearings look like they are going to be wrapping up soon. Trump’s lawyers and Senate Republicans agree that there is no need to hear from witnesses because they already have enough proof that he is guilty of the things he is accused of. However, that’s not going to be enough to have him removed from office, of course. So the legacy of these impeachment proceedings will be a dark smudge on Trump’s reputation and display of the ineffectiveness of the legislative branch in checking the power of the executive branch.

People keep saying that Buffalo has no one with any value to trade. I don’t see how that’s true. Risto, Montour and a bunch of D prospects (Pilot, Borgen, Samuelsson, Laksonen, Johnson and others). For forwards: Mittelstadt, Thompson, Asplund, Pekar, Davidsson. Even Reinhart COULD be traded, but almost definitely won’t. They also have picks to move. Now, not all these players have tons of value, but good, quality players get traded every season for a grab bag return of pieces and parts. That’s probably more common than straight up good player for good player trades. Buffalo has the ability to trade for good players.

Agree. It’s definitely been slow.

What are all these things you speak of? All I’ve seen is that guy who called in an epic rant and this song. Wats all this other stuff about?