Winston

Whereabouts do you live in Rochester, Ink? Maybe I've read it before on here, but I don't recall. Sucks about the stings, but neat that your son is a trooper. I think I know plenty of adults that would be been crying much longer!

I enjoyed a kolsch flavored with orange and vanilla beans the other day. It's called the Creamsikolsch, which I got a kick out of. It was something new. Big flavor for a very drinkable, summer beer. 4.9Abv, it went down easy. Glad I wasn't in the mood for an IPA and ordered it. Probably wouldn't have if it weren't for the name, either!

Sure does! The other day I biked to work, just in 80 degrees, but the humidity was high. Just 3.5 miles was enough to work up quite the uncomfortable sweat that I didn't enjoy under the dress clothes I changed into. Then it rained on the way home. The big beefy tires on the x caliber are awesome. But man do they kick up a ton of water! All in all, wasn't the most successful first attempt at biking to work. But I'll do it a lot more in the fall when this heat and humidity breaks.

Ha, you know what, I really have no idea why I never went to a Cuse game growing up in Rochester. I guess just because they were pretty bad all this years, although that sure as hell never kept me from the Bills! The best Cuse season I recall was a Doug Marrone-lead Pinstripe Bowl win. Enough said, I guess. But I still should have made it out to one. I only made it to one basketball game in the Dome even though I followed them much more. Even without going, Cuse was big-time to me. They were New York state's OSU. Or what UB is trying to become/not trying to become/still really trying to become.

As I've mentioned before, I recently moved to Columbus so my fiancée can pursue her PhD at OSU. Being the giant sports fan that I am, it's not hard to jump on the OSU bandwagon. Except it's not even a bandwagon, it's a way of life down here. Today was the first game, and I got season tickets through her student account. Holy cow, what an atmosphere. Before this game, UB was the only college football game I had attended. The Shoe jumps right over UB and blows the Ralph right out of the water. 107,000+ in attendance today. And that's almost how many points they scored haha.. 77-10 over Bowling Green. BG has pretty much run the MAC these last few years while I've been at UB, so this was quite the statement that I'm in a whole new world now. They just dismantled them with ease despite losing 15 starters from last year. Nuts, man. B1G football is legit, and fans young and old lose their minds over it. After today's game, the OSU student soon to be my wife started teasing me and telling me "you're welcome" for finally giving me a winning team to root for. (She's right) but I obviously responded with confidence, stating that BOTH the Bills and Sabres will make the playoffs this year. Now she's trying to get me to put something down on that statement...

I'll fill in a missing goal: Eat less ice cream!! That's the thing that stuck with me the most from the Eichel-Moulson BB&G episode.. Matt's epic stash of frozen treats!

I'm going to the USA-Canada pre-tournament game in Columbus on Friday the 9th. Obviously rooting for US, but will spend more time marveling at Canada's studs. Then making the trip to Toronto for the Team NA-Finland game on Sunday the 18th. I hope Eichel and the young guns put on a show and dominate. But I wouldn't mind seeing Risto lay out McDavid once or twice! Btw, very cool post, Flagg. I think Murray's emergence this postseason really changed the look of Team North America. I think he should get the start, although Gibson could make a case.

I love me some Jack Eichel! But there's more to it than that. I'm not an avid collector by any means, but I like to pick up some Bills and Sabres cards here and there. My avatar is a pretty rare Eichel rookie card. It's part of a Parkhurst rookie insert set by Upper Deck that has three parts (green-blue-green). Last year my dad hunted down all three and gave them to me as a gift. Red is the rarest, so I chose that one for my avatar. Seemed like a good combo: my favorite player, and a nice representation of how the Sabres are a family bonding thing for me. Not to get all sappy in this thread or anything... Here's all three:

You recommended it way back, and I obviously took that to heart! I shopped around a bunch, checked out a few different brands like Trek, Specialized, even State Bicycle Co's new mountain bike. Found a locally owned Trek shop that had an incredible selection and even better customer service. Considering all the features, the original price point, and the sale they were running, the X Caliber 8 was too good a deal to pass up. I've only logged 15 miles so far, but it was great. Very smooth ride for a frame so big sitting on 29" wheels. I think it's going to be the perfect fitness bike for me. Enough resistance to increase my workout over a road bike, but not so much that I'm killing my legs trying to log 25+ milers. Now to decide if I want to bike to work and change or not... It's only 3 miles, so it's the dress clothes and briefcase that are stopping me, not the distance.

Finally got around to buying a new bike down here in Columbus. First day out exploring, chose to stick mostly to campus. It's easy to rack up 10+ miles just on sidewalks and streets around OSU. Just gigantic. I didn't think anything would dwarf UB, but OSU does a great job of it. Here's a shot in front of The Shoe. Hopefully my new toy helps get me in shape before the wedding :unsure:

Too far away to be worth it, perhaps. My fiancée and I lived in Buffalo. She was accepted to UConn for grad school, but we declined to move there because it was too far away. I post this from Columbus, OH where we moved for her to attend grad school... Equally far away, but OSU's program smokes UConn's program and we like Columbus way more than Hartford. Might be worth the distance to move to Chicago and play with 3-time cup winners. Detroit, not so much.

Yeah, this news sucks. He was fun to watch these past two years, especially seeing him come into his own and fill the void after the Shannon Evans drama. To make matters worse, the top school he's reportedly considering is Michigan. I just graduated from UB and moved to Columbus so my fiancee can start school at OSU. Leaving UB for my new enemy, no bueno.

Guess it depends on what NY wants in return and what the Sabres do with some extensions. If NY wants an expiring contract and a prospect, sending Franson + prospect should sneak us under unless Risto signs for higher than expected. But I'm tired, my math may be off, and there are obviously many moving parts like how much salary NY would eat, if they want NHL-ready players or prospects/picks, if we pay Risto now or bridge him... So that's all the thought I'll give it for tonight haha

Acquiring Nash makes a ton of sense to me. I think the general consensus is that we should be a fringe playoff team next year and could make some noise in two years. Will we probably get bounced in the first round next year if we make it? Yeah, but it'll be exciting. I can only imagine how valuable the experience will be for the young guys though. Give Eichel a 30 goal scorer, and maybe we're a 6 or 7 seed instead of an 8. Maybe we push a series to 7 games or even win a series in an upset instead of being bounced in 5. Now consider two years down the road.. That's when we should start being taken seriously. Maybe our legit title window is years 4-10 for Jack and Sam. If you can extend that window just one year in either direction without suffering longterm consequences, you absolutely do it. Nash could crash and burn, and I don't think it would set this team back. We aren't going to be big players in FA next year because we won't hamstring ourselves before cashing checks to the young guns, so I'm not torn up about whatever portion of his cap hit we'd take on. If he works out though, then we've strengthened our chances while he's here, and we've gained experience for after he's done. It's so hard to win a cup. Even if Jack turns generational, Sam turns elite, ROR wins mutliple Selkes, Riso becomes a bonafide #1, etc., it is so, so hard. I want as many shots at a cup as possible. Give me a lottery ticket that doesn't hurt my chances of retaining my core, and extend that window one season sooner, all while getting that core slightly more prepared for said playoff runs down the road. Edit: Now if we trade for Nash/equivalent before Vessey Day, then we run the risk of pushing him somewhere with that top 6 spot more likely. But let's keep his name out of this thread as much as possible. There's enough drama in his own thread :P

I would post on SabreSpace just to watch all of you wet your pants :P

Nylander's three penalty/shoot out goals: https://twitter.com/BuffaloSabres/status/751853032531308545 https://twitter.com/BuffaloSabres/status/751855002025619457 https://twitter.com/BuffaloSabres/status/751856034902339584

For everyone's viewing pleasure:

Agreed, the penalty shot/chase thing is perfect for a game like this. Very exciting and discourages taking penalties. Special teams would be sloppy with young guys that don't play together much. It's a nice alternative.

Wowwww, Nylander on the penalty shot with a sweet finish. As advertised!

I really like the gold sweaters. It's a good look with the blue pants IMO. Wouldn't mind a gold alternate that looks just like these, all gold with the grey pits. Probably many people that shy away from gold because of how awful the gold front/blue back ones from a couple years ago were. But I like the 100% gold.

This sequence of goals really got me fired up: Jack's backwards kick finds Zemgus in front of the net, who calmly picks the corner. Then 1:13 later, Eichel to Girgy again. This time a beautiful saucer pass on a 2-on-1. I just loved the way that Z put the brakes on there and flipped the puck backhanded while seemingly off-balance.

My dad told me that the Sabres signed Justin Falk, but he did so verbally, so Falk and Faulk were indistinguishable. The moment of joy was so brief before the confusion set in. Then I clarified that the "u" was missing, and boy does that "u" ever make a difference. I knew Faulk was locked up longterm and everything, but the first thought was an excited "no way!!" Guess I'm subconsciously glass-half-full. Which is saying something for a Buffalo sports fan...

At $6M AAV, I'm pumped to be adding Okposo. I was very leery of the "Buffalo all in" rumors, thinking we might overpay in the $7-8M range. At the end of the day, KO was the biggest fish on the open market once Stamkos re-signed. To add a top line RW without losing any assets is huge. If the deal is front loaded to coincide with the ELCs/future pay raises of our young core, that's just icing on the cake.

My friend ran into Eichel at Encore on the night of the draft. He was there with.... ROR, our future captain and untradeable asset. Not that it even needs to be said. But if Eichel and/or Samson were at a bar or club with Kane, it's a pretty moot point.

Some food for thought.. $8.5M isn't crippling by any means, but now TB might have some very good players that price their way out of town in the next few years. Maybe we struck out on Stamkos (well, didn't really step to bat), but perhaps we can reap future benefits when others hit the market, like some combination of the Triplets. Especially after they extend Hedman next year...