Marvin

Thanks. It makes sense - it looks like a dragon from a Chinese New Year.

It depends on the kind of retooling they want to do. With the perceived failures of their current core, they might want to swap out big pieces for different big pieces.

Is #8 acceptable in a package for Monahan? Any other potential C's from rebuilds whom you would be willing to move #8 for?

Toronto and New York nixed our entry in 1967. The first two years were fun only because they were new. They were better than the tank teams, albeit barely. But they played hard, Perreault was just so much fun to watch, and we had a lot of fun with a lot of hope. Tim Horton died in year 1974. The league repudiated the rules to accommodate the Flyers and then many other teams to level effects of talent even though the Habs overwhelmed it. IMHO, you can't really appreciate the good times without some bad times, even if they were brief. What happens if they miss the playoffs for a few consecutive years? Does attendance drop through the ice? That happened to the Islanders, Florida, St. Louis, etc. -- never had early lean years off the bat, so their attendance fell harder with bad times.

IMHO, the intensity was high, but the play was sloppy for most games until late this round.

Yup. The same hockey people who thought that the Sabres' last two GMs were the cream of the crop.

One thing that still baffles me is how the **** Botterill came to the conclusion that ROR was part of the problem. Remember that he was trying to trade ROR before the TDL.

That's why I'm Marvin, the Paranoid Android.

If memory serves, the Sabres have the NHL record for worst goal differential in a series they won. In 1975, they were outscored 29-21 by Montreal while winning the series in 6 games: 6-5 (OT), 4-2, 0-7, 2-8, 5-4 (OT), 4-3. Games 3 and 4 were as lopsided as the score. The Sabres had not lost to the Habs all year and did not realise that the Canadiens might not fold up and die.

Welcome to the board!

Lundell to me is the classic "Jason Botterill" pick: low ceiling but high floor. If we don't have a 2C by the draft and if he is the top C at #8, I want the pick traded for a real 2C who has a few years of team control. Unfortunately, the screw-ups of Murray with the defence and goaltending and Botterill with the forwards and goaltending have made me impatient.

Pronger and Samuelsson come to mind.

And then there's Maude.

Oh. My. God.

Cool. Just a week or so of convalescence.

I believe they have been worn in preseason games, but I would not want to be held to that. I think anything pink, particularly alligator shirts, is hideous -- especially when it is Pepto-Bismol pink.

The NHL has allowed them for breast cancer and other health-awareness type things. If the Sabres came up with a charity jersey for the United Way or Roswell Park Cancer Institute, my gut feeling is that the NHL would let it happen.

And why wasn't I? I am as picayune about grammar as it gets! ?

In case I don't find your first post, welcome to SabreSpace!

Clarification: We could have had both Vanek and Byfuglien (8th round) / Pavelski (7th tound) if we had valued them a bit differently. I would not trade Vanek for Byfuglien either.

And here I was thinking that they might try two different deals for two guys like Strome (prospect and RD) and Domi (requires #8) and use them both at C and see who works out better while slotting Skinner, Reinhart, Olofsson, Johansson, Kahun, Cozens, et al. to slot around Eichel-Strome-Domi. The 4th line is something like Asplund-Lazar-Okposo as a 4th line.

Bergeron went in the mid 2nd (#45); the Sabres first two picks were #5 and #65; we had traded away #35 to Nashville in a slew of trades that got us Jochen Hecht and Dan Paille. More to the point was missing out on Joe Pavelski (7th) and Dustin Byfuglien (8th). This kind of ex post facto wishing might look great now, but in 2005-6, we had the up-side.

A hockey trade where both teams benefit does not bother me. If the Sabres dump excess D for someone's surplus F and we get a balanced, competitive team that makes the playoffs and is a real threat to grow into a contender while the other team improves, that should be fine and dandy.

I presume the idea is that they are here and the team suddenly improves, they get the credit, and they resign here. Risky, I know.

I do. It looks about right. I would need to do an RGB check, though.