Pimlach

The drop in crossings is real, but your projection that the agents are doing egregious things and making people not want to cross is not a real factor. Asking questions is their job. Even the blog/article that you posted and the many comments to that article say that. Certainly they might ask more questions today than they did in 1975 or even 2005, the world is a different place. Crossing are down because of these tangible reasons: 1. Trump's rhetoric on annexing the 51 state - this understandable by most normal people. Canadian pride is strong. 2. Tariffs - the tariffs on Canada will hurt jobs and an already bad economy. This would be reason #1 if not for Trumps foolish comments, which piss off Canadians more than the tariff itself. 3. The exchange rate - Why would someone cross a boarder to buy goods and services with today's exchange rate? T The rate is $0.73 cents as I type. Canadian snowbirds are leaving Florida in droves, they were before the tariffs, and they still are now. Vacationing and paying a 27% premium on everything is not for everyone. This is math. I cross that boarder several times a year and I do not have NY or Ontario plates. I had a passport that looked like a stamp collection. I get asked questions on both sides of the boarder - this is just not a problem for a normal and well adjusted individual.

Apparently Terry became a Sabres fan after Dudley went to the WHA.

Thanks for the correction, it was Christmas.

Correct. I saw that first hand in Lewiston at Art Park in July. The show was poorly attended and the couple sitting behind us, who are Canadian, told me that Canadians were not coming over very much. On the topic of extra questions. I had Saudi stamps on an old passport. My old company did a lot of business with them. Those stamps caused me "extra questions" some of the time when entering the US. Since the work was DoD and I could not say much, that brought on more extra questions. I was happy when that passport expired.

Thought police? Read the article and the comments. From what I can tell there is nothing unusual happening. But the media can make it sound like it is. Extra questions? I had no problems and they asked "extra questions", so what, they were harmless and for clarity. None of my friends and family have had problems, the Canadian people who actually crossed and commented in the article had no problems. Answer the questions, don't lie, if you have nothing to hide then you will not have a problem. Questions about past trips are normal when people travel to certain locations - Middle East, China, Russia, Israel, Iran, and others - those stamps in your passport will drive more questions, especially entering into the US and not just from Canada, but from any entry point. That has been happening for decades.

I crossed the boarder in Niagara falls twice this summer. Had no problems either way. I was questioned more coming back into the US but nothing unusual. No doubt that Canadians coming over has reduced. I would expect that for Bills and Sabres games that the Boarder Agents will expedite the process and not drill into "past trips". That seems silly unless the person crossing sets a flag. If the team is actually good (not likely) and a legitimate contender for post season then some of them will come. If they are the same as last year then they probably won't. The product on the ice will still be a determining factor.

At what point did the slow start and the travel to Europe become an excuse? They recovered and moved into a playoff position for a short time, and then they completely fell apart, lost 13 in a row (or something like that), and made no moves to stop the bleeding. They were dead by US Thanksgiving Christmas once again. They had a strong finish when the backup goalie got hot and they were playing with no pressure on them. They have the exact same coaches so they are probably not any better coached. - They might better understand what the coaches want. - They might see more young players mature and get better. - They might have a few players step up and lead better. edit: fixed error

Well the Big Boat Guy did have enough insight to interview Zito, and he made the final two. Terry was swayed by Boterill's pedigree (NCAA champ, former Sabres, etc.) and the Pittsburgh connection. Would Terry have let Zito be who he is? Zito hired Dudley when he first got to Florida, would Terry have let that happen? Boterill had no senior advisors on his staff. Terry plays that role. Prior to Boterill, Terry had a bloated top end in his organization (Terry, LaFontaine, Murray, Black, Patrick, Batista, ...). My point is that Duds was right there in WNY and might have been a helpful asset in the FO. Moving forward, we have Lindy and Adams both in the last year of their contracts.

Almost had Zito. Terry hired Boterill instead, he listened to the Pittsburgers. Dudley has been our backyard the whole time. https://www.buffalohockeybeat.com/after-winning-second-stanley-cup-with-panthers-sabres-legend-rick-dudley-has-no-plans-to-retire/

I’m here. I don’t blame any of the players. They have been an incompetent organization for a long time. Agree. Losing Tuch will kill a significant portion of the fan base. Terry Pegula is a really lousy hockey owner. I hope I can outlast him.

Would he be better off playing at 18 and 19 in Juniors or in the NHL is the question at hand. It is an argument that either side cant really prove. Depends on the player and the team he is playing for. McDavid and Eichel could make the jump at 18. Reinhart didn't, Tage didn't, very few 18 year old players make that jump. Benson did it but did he get enough ice time and play in enough situations that maximized his development at 18? My opinion is that Adams blew it by not bringing in more veterans that would keep Benson in Juniors for at least another year. Benson making the team at 18 was more about how terrible the Sabres roster depth was. Benson does not have the skills of McDavid/Eichel. I say this and yet I still like Benson a lot. I don't think Benson will get hurt by being rushed because his mindset won't allow it. I can't say that about most 18 year olds.

Yea, I said Rapp is decent, not good. He is not fast, he hits hard. Reckless? I am not sure he is reckless but he is a big drop from Poyer. The Bills are counting on more from Bishop than he has shown, he is a big key to the season.

I am very concerned about the Bills secondary. Taylor Rapp is decent at on safety. Damar Hamlin is not, he is slow and he is a bad tackler. The young kid, Cole Bishop, did not look very good either. They were counting on Bishop in year 2 and so far this gamble could turn into a problem. This group is a long way from the Hyde and Poyer duo. One CB spot is solid with Christian Benford, but the other spot is not. The rookie Maxwell Hairston is injured and he did not have much of a camp, Tre White is also out injured, so we have J'Marcus Ingram and Dane Jackson. They will get targeted a lot, but so will Hairston and White for that matter. The nickel spot is very solid with Taron Johnson backed up by Cam Lewis. Overall they lack experience and a top tier NFL starting caliber players.

Interesting points. Leave it to Larry Quinn. The St Louis arena was built in 1994 and Buffalo's was built in 1996. In every aspect I can think of the St Louis arena is superior and it is still in great condition today. The main level corridors are wide with an open and comfortable feel, and they have more restrooms and more concessions. They also have more suites, they have more room walking room and concessions on every level. Most important is the seating is steeper, like the old Aud, so you seem to be closer to the ice even in the 300's. The place is extremely loud when the crowd gets going - I never looked at the ceilings to compare them- I attributed the loud and intimate feeling to the steeper design. We were in the first few rows of the 300's and my wife commented that it reminded her of her tickets in the Aud - that was a compliment, she loved the feel of that place and the overall experience. The last time I was there I was amazed at how much nicer it is than Keybank, especially since they were built in the same time period. Since a new arena in Buffalo is not in the near term plans they should fix up what they have.

I don't have good insight into the arena. No doubt that updates and clean up is needed on the inside. To be honest, it was never an impressive place. The design has mostly poor sightlines, the seats seem far away from the ice. The concessions and restrooms are below par. To me, only the 200 level is decent. The place has always seemed dark and dingy, and because they have sucked for so long it is usually quiet in there relative to other NHL rinks. The scoreboard is much better now. The roof was a must do and that repair was late. The bad seats - we are probably stuck with them. Better paint, better lights, being cleaner, and better concessions does not seem that hard. I don't think you will see any funding for a new arena for a very long time. There is still angst on building the new football stadium with 40% state and county tax funding.

If you want to rebuild on the same spot is that a 3 year job?

I would normally be opposed to putting it in the suburbs but until I hear the where, the how, and the why, I will reserve judgement. I like it were it is, it brings revenue to downtown, and downtown Buffalo needs attractions to get people down there, especially in the long winter months.

They have become hard to love.

I have been to enough NHL rinks to say that Buffalo's arena was poorly executed from the very start and it poor maintenance just makes it worse. Agree with dark, dingy, dusty, really bad sound, no comfort unless you are in the 200's. I'm older and I want to be comfortable. I won't sit in the 300s, unless you are in the first few rows, you are too far away and everything sucks up there. The irony is I was an Orange seat season ticket holder and loved it up there - chalk that up to youthful exuberance and a good team making the difference. The Oranges overhung the lower bowl and most seats had great sightlines. Put a good team in there and the place is tolerable. They seem to lose almost every time I go to a home game. I end up paying for me, the wife, and often a bunch of our kids, and I get little enjoyment in that place. I went to that Kings game last year, right after the disappointing Euro series with the Devils. They basically gave the game away in the third period. I haven't been back. Not sure I will go back this year either. One big positive change from my younger days of going to The Aud, at least now I have more fun being downtown before or after the game than I did in the Aud days. A problem I see down the road is were would you put a new hockey arena? The arena belongs next to the Harbor Center. How do you build new in that space?

Tuch is a two way player, he had good defensive stats and he led the league in blocked shots last season. He scored 36 goals last season, 94 in the past 3 seasons. He is certainly gritty enough for an Olympic All Star team. Why are you so negative on Tuch? He was 1 of 44 players invited for a shot at the Olympics, that alone puts him in a category that deserves more respect.

I was in the same boat with corporate life, and I was one of the exec's. I did not want to stain a good career so I moved on. Sounds like you are doing the right preparations.

15K and they are done? Here is some Dad-like advice, you probably already know this stuff but maybe you get something from it. I once bought a set of Michelin's that lasted only 20k before I took them off due to bad performance and wear. I did all the right maintenance. The guy at the dealership said they could have been dry rotting by setting in their storage for awhile so he gave me half the money back towards another set. I hope you get some compensation back for the poor performance. Good tire maintenance: - check alignment and do a front end alignment if needed every time you put new tires on. - Check inflation of tires to proper levels periodically, especially important when seasons change as external temps effect the tire pressure. This helps gas mileage and reduces the chance of bad wear. - check tire balance and rotate your tires every 12,000 miles, or every other oil change, so they wear evenly. - Make sure your shocks/struts are good, they will slowly degrade so once you get 60K to 100K miles on them. Over 100K and they are probably not doing the job to full performance but they still could be good. Problem is you get used to them, making it harder to detect when they are marginal.

Agree. Look at my list of top US born goal scorers. Thompson is right up there. Is Thompson's 2 way game any worse than Conner or Robertson or Debrincat? I say no to that. Tuch and a center like Larkin would make very good bottom 6 players for the USA. They need the right balance of top skill and gritty two way play. USA v Canada will be an amazing game.

Golisano did not like spending big money on the hockey team. He was not a spend what it takes to win guy. He saved the team for Buffalo but not with a burning desire win. His current generosity is certainly noble and greatly appreciated. Terry came in with the opposite thoughts. He was an alleged Superfan, now owner, and he said money would not hold the team back. He would “drill another well” if he had too. Unfortunately, 15 years later he still has not yet figured out the hockey business. The Pegula’s have also been very generous. The Harbor Center is awesome and it anchors Canal Side. When we were kids this area now called Canal Side was decrepit. It’s a thriving and fun place today. Buffalo’s water front is very nice and downtown is cleaned up a lot. Terry has also made a very positive impact on the community, not to mention the Bills are a legitimate NFL franchise.