Cascade Youth

Ten year extensions for everyone.

I am in my 40s and it really feels like the Sabres will suck for the rest of my life.

Team looks flaccid yet again. Zero aggression, passive and disinterested as they watch the game like fans in the stands.

10 year extensions for everyone. The unseen hand of progress.

Most sports teams are owned by family offices. If you’ve ever worked with or for a family office you understand how dysfunctional they are. The Pegulas are nice people who have absolutely no idea what they’re doing. They just extended the entire Sabres regime simply for not embarrassing them to the level of their predecessors. They are clueless. The good news is the odds are stacked in their favor - it’s nearly impossible to be this bad for this long and odds are good that simply staying the course should do it. But man, they are really bad at running a business.

Most likeable Sabres team in about 17 years. EDIT: see ⬇️⬇️⬇️

Couple of points I’ll add (did not see the third bc of streaming issues): Quinn looked way more lively and engaged. He’s a slow starter as we know but maybe the lightbulb is going on. Dahlin has been the best player on the ice most games this season. Why are they so bad at faceoffs? Amazing they had such a big shot advantage with such a big face off disadvantage.

Krebs has no business being on the PP unit and frankly might need more seasoning in Rochester. He is WEAK.

https://theathletic.com/3684711/2022/10/14/nhl-teams-players-contract-trends/?source=user_shared_article

But both teams were playing fast and aggressively. That’s a rivalry we should start getting used to. More than anything I’m just glad that the Sabres continue to play WATCHABLE hockey. They’re not gonna win every night with the way they play and with all of the youth but they’re playing fast, they seem to have a plan on offense at all times (defense not as much, yet), and man do they have energy. I will watch that brand of hockey any day.

Again, from my untrained eye, he seemed to learn to use his elite reach to create spacing for himself, allowing him to shoot more frequently. The position change obviously helped by giving him space-creating opportunities.

Tage also creates his own shots by using his elite length and reach.

Here is a more data-driven (sort of) analysis (paywall): https://theathletic.com/3559089/2022/09/02/nhl-contracts-shooting-percentage-tage-thompson/?source=user_shared_article

I appreciate what you're saying but it's not nearly that simple. Often, a non-core poster makes a point and it's completely ignored, and then a few posts later the same point is made by a core poster and it's engaged with, promoted, etc. Whom should I report for that kind of thing? It basically happened in this thread - one poster is responded to with, in essence, "Shut up you troll," despite the fact that several other core posters made the same or similar points later on in this thread, without the vitriolic response. Only part of that can be explained by the differences in presentation. I get that this is a community, folks have longstanding relationships, many of you attend each others' backyard barbecues, etc. That's great. But more of a balance between a closed community and a welcoming forum would be appreciated by this poster in particular.

Agreed and at the end of the day they have to trust their internal evaluations - if they’re wrong, they’re going to be accountable and they know that. They think Tage can sustain last year’s level of production and they’re putting their money where their mouths are. After years of searching for a 2C let’s hope they’re right.

Man. I don’t agree with his takes but he is NOT trolling. He’s making arguments, maybe they’re bad ones, but it’s not incendiary drivel. This place is tough for outsiders. I get that there are about 20 of you “core” posters who are on here regularly but frankly it’s really not a friendly place for the rest of us. The shunning that goes on here if you’re not a regular screen name - it’s frustrating and maybe warrants some self-reflection. I dunno, maybe you all like it this way but as an outsider/lurker, the air is a bit stale in here - it’s basically the same posters making the same points in every thread - some of it is very insightful and that’s why I come back, but as I said it’s really not a welcoming place. I really hope it doesn’t become an obscure sub-Reddit but there are days where it is trending that way.

Have to give them credit for developing him and staying patient. There were moments along the way where it didn’t look like he was ever gonna figure it out.

He had to torpedo his plea deal in order for Slippin’ Jimmy to defeat Saul.

How does this stuff still happen in 2022?

Yeah I agree. She was the one driving the anti-Howard crusade and it was never really made clear why she hated Howard to such a degree, and now the script is flipped and she’s the one feeling remorse.

Unhappiness about what though - contrasted with the color scenes of Jessie asking who Lalo is, and Saul saying “he’s no one” - maybe he wants to be known, he doesn’t want to be buried in some random cemetery (the grave in the desert image), but rather, wants to be recognized as an accomplished criminal? Maybe he was secretly delighted that the police are still after him but bummed that his trail had gone cold? Or again, does he secretly want to be punished like Dostoevsky’s criminal? The black and white = good/evil, law/order etc.?

So does Gene WANT to be caught? Like Raskolnikov?

In an age of bloated Marvel extravagance, BCS is the greatest Origin Story of them all. A show that truly rewards patience, cares for its characters and its audience, and calibrates its pacing like no other television show ever has. To be able to build up so much suspense over multiple seasons where the audience ALREADY KNOWS THE OUTCOME is a master feat of show-making. Just an incredible, near-flawless television experience.

You're JUST NOW getting an EZ Pass? Who are you people?!

Scientists are still studying the side effects of long-haul mediocrity.