Marvin

At some point, good business needs to override sentiment.

Is Zemgus staying?

In general, as in we over-valued them, or this season, as in this season was an aberration?

HCDG as Pinky: What will we do for the rest of the season, Brain? GMKA as Brain: What we try to do at the end of every season -- draft 8th.

I am open to other suggestions. However, I wonder if Terry is open to them, whereas I could see him working with Ruff.

With Mittelstadt, we could in theory have rolled out a trio of 2Cs with 3 roughly equal lines and tried to win that way.

I don't think of any of Winnipeg's forwards as elite. They beat you with balance and overwhelm the bottom of your roster.

I think that Lindy's best coaching job in Buffalo was getting the 2010-1 team to the playoffs. The team has numerous long-term injuries to key players, but they rose from the depths to squeak into the playoffs and, had Pominville and Connolly not got injured, would have got to the 2nd round.

Mittelstadt won.

This is where that Skinner contract money and term are killers. I would rather have Mittelstadt on this roster next year.

So now we are targeting 14 years and counting.

And goalkeeping has been a chronic problem for Ruff's teams after Buffalo. IMHO, Ruff's system requires a good read-and-react goalie. That is a strength of both 6K and Levi. I suspect that he would be successful with this roster.

Also, with UPL raising his game and Devon Levi in the wings, we can cover one of the weaknesses of the system Ruff runs: it relies on the read-and-react skills of the goaltender more than others. That is one of their strengths

The GM failed at his job, so the coach paid for it. Something that would apply to Donnie Meatballs if he were fired.

"The race may not go to the swift, nor the battle to the strong -- but that is the way you should bet." I don't expect it, but I will root for it.

I would prefer a deeper defence so that his minutes could drop below 24.

This is 3 years running where they have significantly improved their results in the second half. Whoever is coaching next year needs to get this team playing consistently from day 1. Meanwhile, GMKA must work with the coach over the summer to find the right combination of players, player types, and player experience to keep lulls in play brief.

Much as I am enjoying this, these two facts temper my enthusiasm.

Conclusions: 1. UPL has emerged as the #1 goalkeeper in the organisation. 2. Things could really improve with the proper changes to the roster 3. Running the team back 100% was a blunder. Experienced GMs would not have made this mistake. 4. Preseason was not used enough to get the team to gel. Experienced coaches would not have made this mistake.

Cheap shots and attempts to injure will end when it becomes disadvantageous for players to perform those acts. Until then, intimidation via attempted beheading will be a part of the game. Management and the players must account for this in their own ways.

For some reason, in my head, I hear Sir Alec Guinness saying this like, "use the force, Luke."

I ran into him shopping. 5' 10" or even a hair less seemed more likely. Memory fades...

It is rough out there. Friends and former co-workers have been pounding the pavement for months in Atlanta, Dallas, and other growing southern cities and have not found work yet. In their specialities, they are better than I am at them, so I am worried about myself if my time comes in Rust Belt Buffalo.

We have potentially 4 players who could use retention.ll

Thinking about the Riviera?