PerreaultForever

Of course it's better than 13 years of not being in the playoffs at all, but why not get it right and enjoy the possibility of actually winning in the playoffs? I think that'd be better.

The thing for me, and it has been for a while, is I am afraid we might become the Leafs and we will be forced to endure a decade of playoff failure even if we do get regular season good. I am hoping Ruff will have a say in fashioning this roster into a team that can win in the playoffs, not just get there. Leafs struggle mightily when there is less open ice. Bruins taking away time and space and the usual Leafs struggle. It was hilarious to watch how many times the frustrated Leafs were looking to refs, gesturing and begging for non existent penalties because they weren't getting their way or weren't able to do what they wanted. Even the HNIC guys called them out on it and said "just play". We don't want to be them.

Best not to drink that Oleato crap from Starbucks then.

Maybe a suspension but maybe not. Kind of hard to justify leaving your feet when you're that tall but it was only called a minor. Evander Kane with the Gordie Howe hat trick.

Well idk, but maybe he wants to play nice since he's back in town? Wipe the slate clean? In any event he did name check him so maybe he was in fact saying Sabres need a tough guy/fighter.

Absolutely. I mean sure, he might have lied and only wanted Ruff, but it's also not hard to get up to 10 phone calls in pretty fast. So maybe little white lies as they say.

I was thinking today maybe all we need to make the playoffs would be to sign Lindholm in free agency and add a couple bottom end tough guys and if UPL stays the same that might be enough with Ruff in charge. A tough D man (Zadorov?) would be additionally good but maybe Samuelsson plays healthy(ish) and that too is enough to get us over the hump. It's not that hard to do, but it has to be done.

The details never come out in these things either. So what does "tried to hire" really mean? Could mean they called him up and he said "I want a 5 year deal" or "I want X (huge) amount of dollars" and KA replied "let me get back to you" and that was it. So would that be "tried"? Or would it be Adams turning to Terry and saying "you wont' believe what this guy asked for" with an eye roll.

My own purely speculative view is that they fully planned to go ahead with Granato for one more year until Ruff was fired by New Jersey. When that happened Terry and Kevyn got together and it was "new plan". The rest is spin, optics, marketing, and PR BS. I also think Ruff will get a say in personnel and other moves going forward. This will be his last coaching job and he will be bumped into a senior advisory role when it ends. The only question obviously is will it end successfully or not.

I would guess a lot hinges on what happens with Stamkos at this point.

Florida a much more passive team in this game so far. Absence of Bennett and Lomberg making a huge difference. Or it's Kyle's fault 🙂

Okay I'd agree with that. I would do it too. I want every hole on this roster filled. No more waiting.

I don't really think that is true, which is why the top teams trade them away at deadlines so often and there are very very few trades for first round picks at the draft. So I guess you can say they are overvalued by those that have them, but that also means you won't get a deal for them either.

You can google anything these days. Olive oil is a big part of both the Mediterranean Diet and the Longevity Diet and both have held up to numerous studies as the healthiest for long life. Just saying.

Why? Unless the forward is, as I said, old or flawed, who would want to give up a proven pro for a maybe someday? I guess maybe if there's a team with serious cap issues (and nobody to put on LTIR following a cup win) they might look at it but otherwise I can't see it. Most teams are not in perpetual rebuild like the Sabres have been.

You'll miss.

I don't see Benson becoming Marchand or Marchand-like but he could be Danny Briere. As for next year, I am hoping Ruff starts camp as early as possible and makes it a clean slate for all players under contract regardless of age or stature. Earn it and it's yours for as long as you can hold on to it. That should be the standard applied equally to all.

wtf? where'd you get this from?

shenanigans

Depends on what you are after and which team you are talking to. Probably easy to swap that pick for a bottom 6 guy if a team wants a new direction or wants to get younger. Otherwise I think if you look at the 4 firsts for a star forward idea you discount it down from there. Unless he is old or flawed you won't get a 2C for one first round pick that's for sure.

I've heard him repeat a few things several times and it amounts to 1)lots of talent here that he is excited to work with but 2)there is a LOT of work to do meaning this team is a shitshow and needs to learn how to play proper hockey. But ultimately I think he took the job because he feels the things this team needs he can in fact teach them.

my big ass fingers hit send before I was finished, which it is now if you look back. Patience grasshopper. It was seconds.

Absolutely and hold me to whatever it is you plan to hold me to so to be clear, and quote this too if you like for posturingarity as well, it's clear to me that everything about Tuch as the next captain makes sense and it's the right choice. Doesn't mean they will make the right choice, but it's the right choice and should be made. But ROR was the right choice and they blew that one and gave it to an immature Eichel so, it is the Sabres. I hope they get it right this time.

I think there's a good chance the Islanders hate themselves.

Of course they don't, but they are also constructed more carefully than you think and they are designed to convey what the team wants to convey. So then you can say they ask Tuch to be there why? They want him as the face of the franchise? The boyhood fan story made good? etc. So why wouldn't they want that as the captain as well??? To want the first part but not the last part would make no sense to me - but then it is the Sabres. Did he? Did he take his big ass house with him (leave Benson the keys?) Why would a grown man rush home to mommy and daddy as soon as the season ended? If he did, maybe that's a good reason not to be captain right there.