RangerDave

He also seems like the type who cares less about maximizing his dollar worth and more about maximizing his enjoyment of playing the game. (...removes rose-colored glasses...)

You are in a tough spot. But thank you for looking out for those in need of help, both 2-legged and 4-legged. You are doing work that will be rewarded. We have 2 cats. We would love to have a dog, too, but the area we live in is not well suited for it. I will pray for you and your new extended family. 🙏

We have been very pleased with Vanguard. We have most of our money in target-date index funds, with a target date of about 10-15 years after our expected retirement date. This gives us more stock exposure a little later, since we expect our retirement to last 20 - 30 years. Always invest long term. Vanguard has very low fees, but also offers advisor help if desired. **Disclaimer** I am not a vulture, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express one time....

True, but the CBA ends and some point. At that point, everything can change. My question is: would this work? What are the downfalls?

I've often wondered if it is possible to have every (or most) players play on incentive laden contracts? That way, the player doesn't get underpaid for a big year and the team doesn't get fleeced after signing a one-year wonder. Seems fair to both sides. It may be difficult to quantify every players contributions (things like leadership, taking faceoffs in certain zones, playing against top competition, etc.) But if you give a player a base salary which would be negotiated by both sides to account for those things and then pay the player extra for goals, assists, +/-, FO%, and all those other fancy stats, could that work? And, of course, what position they play (W, C, D, G). Maybe even throw in some team incentives like winning percentage, goals against, goals for, etc. Can pay be earned on metrics? It happens in other professions like salespeople. Crazy idea, I know, but I've often wondered if it could work.

He is physical. Good, we need that. How does he compare with Rasmus Ristolainen? He was physical. Is this guy better, worse, or the same as Risto was for us?

I don't know. Could be a way for the team to bond together.

I'm not an expert with stats or contracts. However, I feel like Tage is right on schedule in his development and has earned a contract at least equal to a Top 50 NHL forward. He may regress; he may get better. That is the nature of professional sports. Signing him now to a 5-6 year contract is likely to be a bargain for the team. Even if it is not, I don't think $7m/year is likely to be a drag on the team. We have lots of cap room now and I don't see us getting into a bind in the next 6 years unless we go crazy in free agency. My guess is that in 6 years, he is going to command a much larger salary. Plus, it is good team chemistry to reward good team players.

Thanks for the education. (Although the 30's was, like, 90 years ago and it has just begun to be legalized for recreational use in the last 10 or so years. I'm pretty sure white kids have been using it for longer than that. 😵 I always heard it was "hip" among the jazz crowd, whether black or white.)

I've heard others say this as well. What are the racial and policing reasons?

First, I don't drink or smoke cigarettes, so I'd be fine if they were both gone. Second, a person drinking, in moderation, next to me does not affect my enjoyment of life. A person smoking skunkweed next to me adversely affects my enjoyment of life. Smoking cigarettes is banned in many places for that same reason. If people only smoked dope in their own homes, I would not care. However, they do not. I do believe that the federal government made a mistake in classifying marijuana as a Schedule I drug, meaning it could not have any possible medical use. This prohibited researchers from determining the legitimate ways that THC may be beneficial to people who are ill.

Yep, I am sure I am in the minority with this nowadays. I know many people enjoy these things. I also know some people's lives are hurt by these things.

I have always disliked the attention that fantasy football gets. I want to see the scores of the other games, but they always spend so much time on individual player stats to please the fantasy football players. I see gambling the same way. Any attention on that means less attention to the game. I also see legalized gambling, legalized marijuana, legalized other things as the "slippery slope" that will lead to a bad period of history. Some may think the government should not be involved in banning "immoral" things. That may be so. However, there are reasons these types of things have been illegal. I believe they eventually contribute to the decay of society. 🐴 (This is my high horse which I am now dismounting. Now, get off of my lawn!)

I don't know the players personally, so I don't know who deserves the A's. I've heard great things from their teammates about the leadership that Kyle and Zemgus have showed this year. I also hope and think that Tuch will be a great leader. I just hope they give the C and the A's to people who deserve them and who will serve the team well. We've all learned not to just give a captaincy to a player because he is a skilled player or is the highest paid.

Taro Tsujimoto!

I believe the first part. However, I don't think he was ruined by the lousy acquisitions. If he didn't have Masshole tendencies to begin with, he would've gravitated to the "good guy" acquisitions like Gionta rather than the "bad boys" you mention. I have played on teams and stayed away from those who were not good influences on me. Eichel could have done the same. Eichel, being able to be influenced by these guys, showed what underlying character he really had.

The thing I noticed with each of the interviews is that every player is smiling! How different is that this year?

My wife and I would have loved to attend the game last night. However, we had long-standing tickets to see "Spamalot". In the play, they did make a great reference. Toward the end, they finally find the "grail" under the seat of one of the crowd. They bring her up on stage and thank her for helping to find the grail. They tell her that her name will be remembered forever, alongside the names of Josh Allen and the "incomparable Rick Jeanneret." The crowd applauded when he mentioned RJ!

True. It's just a shame that the product he was announcing has been so diminished over the last decade. Fans only seeing/hearing RJ over that time may not be able to truly appreciate how special he is when the game he is calling matters and is exciting. We got only a glimpse of that toward the end of this season.

Sadly, I don't speak gibberish.

For the purposes of our future draft pick, I will submit that Dallas did not cheat so much as the refs blew the call. Therefore, I can root for Dallas with a clear conscience (for this game only...)

In my opinion, Skinner is FAR from being a Marchand. I detest Marchand. I like Skinner. And it's not because he plays for the Sabres. There are plenty of Sabres I didn't care for because they were like Marchand. Players like Barnaby and Kaleta. Skinner is not in their company. I see it as Skinner being competitive and vocal. I don't see him as someone who is making an idiot of himself. Time could prove me wrong, but Skinner is not an idiot to me. He is having fun and playing hockey the "right way", just with a lot of passion. And by "right way", I mean his focus is on hockey skills like skating, passing and scoring, not on pestering the opponents to the point of exasperation. That is just a by-product of his competitiveness.

I don't know whether it was the French Connection, or the 74/75 playoff run to the Stanley Cup finals that really made me take notice. Probably both. Perreault, with his end-to-end rushes, was a thing of beauty. The games against the Flyers were epic, especially the "fog game".

The Sabres have been playing much more entertaining, and successful, hockey lately? What do you think has caused the most improvement? Most likely, it is all of these factors, but what do you think has been the biggest cause?

Soccer has a rule specifically against "ungentlemanly conduct", but of course they don't carry sticks. Many players, however, are very emotional and let the world know when they are unhappy. I can't recall a time when a player was issued a yellow card for the equivalent of smashing a kick. Maybe kicking the ball back into the net after they are scored against? Just not the same without an implement (stick, club, racquet or bat) to attempt to break.