Pimlach

Middle 6 guy with a strong work ethic and a two way game. He will play hard and make no excuses, just like his Dad. The Sabres Embedded video made him a key part of the trade. They have high hopes. He is an RFA next season.

The NHL schedule is demanding - their are practices, home games, extensive travel (especially out west), road games, and there is a need for rest - I doubt golf is a common thing during the season, even in the winter. Sure, maybe they get out a few times a season but golf is not a major factor. The hockey season coincides with the best weather in Vegas - warm sunny weather in late fall, all winter, and early spring is certainly a factor. Summer's are rough in the desert, I know from experience and my wife hated it and our kids stayed inside too much for our liking. Players pick Vegas first and foremost because the team wins, the owner is committed to winning and built a winning culture, and the Front Office has demonstrated to be among the finest in the NHL. Next, there the no state income tax, with is attractive. I am sure many of the younger players could be attracted to the big presentation that is their home games, and the nightlife which is hard for most cities to compete with. Buffalo is opposite of Vegas in every one of these factors. They can control the team culture, the Ownership's commitment to winning, the quality of the people in the FO, the facilities and the game day experience. They fail at all of it.

Sure, you can party there but Golf? You can’t golf there in the summer, it’s ungodly hot and $hitty, most of the players are probably elsewhere. The hockey season is fall, winter, spring - no time for golf.

His first season he had a very bad start, it didn't help that pucks were bouncing off of him and going into the net or that he fell down twice in key situations. In the John Scott interview he said had trouble learning Granato's "system" and playing on the left side with EJ on his right. He played pretty well after a few months and turned around his +/- from something like a -9 to a +12. I was hopeful for him in year two but his performance under Lindy was another mixed bag and his TOI was cut by the end of the season. Adams didn't want to pay out $3.3M for another year of Clifton. It took a 2nd round pick to get out of it. I did like Clifton's toughness and he made no excuses and held himself accountable in the interview. He came to Buffalo thinking he could help them take the next step but they needed (and still need) much more than a 3rd line defender to fix all the team weaknesses.

He costs $1.1M less though.

Yup, the PK forwards seemed better than the PK defenseman last season. They still did not acquire a 'stay at home" solid defenseman that they lack unless Kesselring or Timmons can play that role. We will see what they bring soon enough.

<sarcasm on> What? They are 16th of the league in cap remaining, that is a major step forward in their commitment. <sarcasm off> They can make one more decent sized move if the opportunity arises.

He got a bit more than I expected but Adams avoided arbitration. You tell us, are you outraged?

Certain kinds of talent has been ignored. Goaltending has largely been ignored with hopes that the two young goalies (UPL and Levi) can carry the load. Defense, especially team defense, has been a big problem. The Power Play was figured out by the rest of the league back in the middle of the 91 point season. Hard to believe they got worse under Lindy/Appert. And of course experienced players, which often add to a teams mental toughness, they have needed more of them in the past. So the question remains - did they address these areas adequately? We shall see. Replacing JJPs 28 goals is not the biggest problem that they have.

I liked it as a kid but once I hit the 7th grade I had enough.

RIP Chuck. His jazz music stunningly hit the pop charts in 1977 and got a lot of air time. It was refreshing change for me personally and it opened new doors. There was a time when my music consumption was >90% rock/pop. After hearing this record I started to listen to jazz and I used to regularly see Spyro Gyra perform live at the original Tralfamadore Cafe in Buffalo. My record collection took on a new and more diverse direction. While Chuck's jazz music may never be called influential from a pure jazz perspective, it actually was for me. Chuck's hit record took me to artists like George Benson, Chick Corea, Weather Report and jazz/rock fusion. After awhile I explored all forms of jazz going back to Charlie Parker, Miles and Coltrane, Brubeck, etc.

Not really a complaint but just thinking and maybe thinking too much. Add human greed plus human badness plus AI and it is a scary world our grandkids to grown up in.

Yes, hiring Jarmo is a step in the right direction. He brings in very good experience as a Scouting Direct and as a GM. He brings in a fresh perspective and respect from the league. Whether he gets to make an impact or whether he stays is TBD. The bigger question is should he be working for Adams? Seems to me like it should be the other way around. Jarmo is the GM and Adams is on his staff learning from him - of course that will not happen since Adams has been at the helm for 5+ years now.

In other words, you have to try to be this bad.

There are so many reasons for the losing. To me this kind of disfunction starts at the top - Terry and Kim were way over their heads and never trusted anyone qualified to run the team. They tanked and built a confusing and bloated organization right from the start, they hired bad GMs, then they leaned it down too far and continued to hire unqualified people in key positions. The player trades, the drafts, the poor contracts, the losing - it’s all a result of what has happening at the top. PS EDIT: I should not say never trusted. They did hire Black, LaFontaine, Murray, Patrick, Batista, etc., during the tank years. This proved to be a bloated and dysfunctional organization, led by Terry.