Pimlach

Well boys the last home opener at Rich/The Ralph/HighMark was one for the ages. Allen with 394 yards passing and 2 TDs, 30 yards rushing and 2 more TDs, and a 112 QB rating. The defense will get better, there are a few vets on the DL that are on suspension, the secondary is very young and has to get better. Great win. Bring on the Jets.

what about “drill another well”?

Last regular season opener in the former “Rich Stadium” today. I have seen some really great football games there.

Yea! On the positive side, they fixed something two years in a row now. First the scoreboard and the holey roof, now better Audio and express entry and better hot dog buns. Go Sabres!

The Bills have a good Fax machine.

My hockey team hate starts and ends with the Toronto Maple Leaves. I do respect some of their history though, like their original Imlach era, and of course the Bill Berilko story as told by Gord Downie.

RIP Ken Dryden. This seems like a good time for some Ken Dryden Fun Facts, and there are a few good ones involving the Sabres: Ken won a Stanley Cup and the Conn Symthe MVP Trophy in 1971 and he did not reach rookie status as he played only 6 NHL games that season. He is the only player to do that. On March 20, 1971, Buffalo at Montreal, so of course Punch Imlach had to start Ken's brother Dave Dryden. Montreal did not started Ken Dryden, despite Punch's cajoling to Al McNeil their coach. After the anthem Punch pulled Dave Dryden and went with Joe Daley in goal. The matchup was not to be. Then the Montreal starter Rogie Vachon went down injured, Ken came in the game. Punch immediately put Dave in net and this the only time in NHL history that a pair of brothers faced against each other as goaltenders. They finished the game with a handshake https://external-preview.redd.it/SmL4RQcRVHDmV-Qghj7IJQ5_xEGDGwfHYhOx2hxiauI.gif?width=448&format=mp4&s=fc256cc2a677af11ff375369de90ed685b220f8e The next season Ken Dryden edged out Rick Martin for Rookie of the year Calder Trophy Ken won 6 Cups and bunches of Vezina's He was multi talented guy - lawyer, HoF goalie, politician, writer, teacher, and NHL exec.

Going back to last season, the very idea that Adams and Ruff would let an unconfident kid like Cozens share an A with Tuch shows that the Sabres do not have a steady hand at the wheel. My tolerance for Adams especially, and Ruff as well, is zero.

He also led the NHL in blocked shots by a forward, and is one of the very few that sticks up for teammates. He is one of 22 forwards selected to try out for US Olympic team, so he is a respected player in the league. Letting him go would be very deflating to an already fragile team.

Zito wants to get the 3 peat. He is also going to help Team USA pick their Olympic roster so he is going to be a busy man. Agree he could take the job simply for the huge challenge. He was born in Pittsburgh, grew up in Wisconsin, went to college at Yale and played varsity hockey there. He became a lawyer to pay for that Yale education. He was a sports agent, and then a hockey front office guy, then the Florida GM. He is not a fancy guy, he is a gritty worker that relates to people. Pegula allegedly had him in his final two and he took Boterill. Seattle had him in their final two and they took Francis. If Zito ever leaves Florida it will be for huge money and complete control. Terry can do both but will he ever? Making Buffalo a Cup winner would be the biggest challenge he could tackle.

The Sabres are not the fans, the fans are not the Sabres. This is too abstract for me. The fans are much better than what has become of the Buffalo Sabres hockey organization. The fans do not deserve this, they certainly don't contribute to the losing, and most of the fans do not like the way the team has been run since Pegula took over and made his big promises. The fans have now become quick to boo, but all they have left is nostalgia - Ryan Miller Day, Rob Ray Day, RJ Day. These special nights are the season highlights under Pegula and we are running out of hero's. I can agree that the fan base has eroded significantly, and that is because the Sabres Hockey Organization has been inept for a historical 15 years and counting. The look of the Sabres FO is that they do not even seem to be trying. I am with the bold. The lowest point keeps getting lower with each losing season. I stopped buying tickets to home games, that has never happened to me in any other season no matter the circumstances.

Would I overpay for Zito? Yes. Zito is going for a 3-peat, that makes him elite in today's world, plus he is relevant right now. No second thoughts on this question.

... and Dudley as 9 or 17?

Granato's offensive approach required a goalie like Dominik Hasek to back up the lack of any semblance of team defense. Not practical. NHL teams are not clamoring to sign Granato either.

Would sure like to see Tuch signed. Then go out and sign a few more like him.

I missed commenting in this thread somehow. I must say I agree with several opinions here on what is wrong and some of the proposed changes seem logical. Bottom line is the power play production does not match the talent and that is a problem. No one says "only I can fix it". The mantra is more like "when will Terry hire a qualified NHL hockey guy to fix this". I will add that I think I could do no worse than Adams. If you thought the songs sucked you would not be a fan of the band, so no, I cannot imagine that. That generation is pretty much gone, and the one that followed it has run out of patience too.

My mom said that about me too. I hear that she told my four brothers the same thing.

She won. Pegula is 31 and I am hoping it is her time to win a Grand Slam major.

Maybe even February.

Thanks for the offer. I am having a Sabres home game ticket boycott right now. My being in Buffalo in October/November is looking highly doubtful so I will pass. If I happen to be in Buffalo when you have this I would possibly show up to dinner, then either watch the game on TV or end the boycott and get my own ticket.

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.