JohnC

The female president of the HOA in my development asked if I would serve to be the sergeant-at-arms. I said I preferred not to. She told me that if I didn't volunteer to serve that she would kick me in the nuts over and over until I said yes. I immediately said yes. 😀

My brother recently had a claim with GEICO. When it came to the car rental coverage that he thought he had they simply finked out and told him that he didn't have the coverage. The insurance industry in general are scammers.

I have had two back operations so I know what you are going through. The key to live a life of no pain is to stay in shape and be aware of what you can and can't physically do. When I had my first operation I was told by my department that they wouldn't be able to keep me on. I told them to give me the time to rehab and then make a judgment on my ability to perform my duties. I got to the point that I was working out three hours a day to get to the fit point. (Not suggesting you need to do what I did.) A healthy lifestyle change adjusting to your back condition will do more for you than pills will do for you. Swimming and biking, stationary or are great activities for people with back issues. Good luck.

Iconic feat in wrestling.

What's so dismaying about this owner is the unwillingness to have serious hockey people run the franchise. For the most part, he has clung to second-rate organizational structure staffed by many second-rate hockey people. There is an ingrained stubbornness to TP that is hard to penetrate. The hiring of KA to be his GM was bad enough. But keeping him in that position after 6 yrs is beyond odd. Most people are willing to give some forbearance to a new owner in the learning-curve phase after buying the team. However, when you are in your 15th year of ownership and still haven't demonstrated a much better understanding of the business you bought into, then how much can there be left? Is adding Jarmo to the staff a good sign that he is willing to get away from his insular approach to ownership? I'm not sure because I don't know how much influence he or even Karmonos has. It's become such a drag to watch this same self-sabotaging behavior continue to exist within this failed franchise.

Not signing him when his contract was running out and he was willing to sign an extension was a clear sign that being fiscally tight was how this franchise was going to be operated.

It’s going to be an interesting camp. There are so many different approaches to take in constructing the lines. What is apparent in this Roslovic discussion is that by bringing in another second/third line player it offers a lot more options when putting together lines. KA needs to bring in another forward before camp begins.

If acquired, let him compete in camp and determine whatever role he earns.

We all don’t know what the full story is about his disgruntlement because we are not insiders. What we do know is that he was determined to get out and had a contract status where he was going to be a UFA in another season. So he was dealt. I thought the return was fair and the added players should be contributors. It’s not a surprise that even well run franchises have some players who prefer a change of workplaces for a variety of reasons. It’s part of the work landscape. I have no ill-will towards him. I preferred to keep him but it didn’t work out that way. So be it. My attention is now on Kesserling and Doan.

My stance is not incongruent with how I view the state of the team. I simply have a different view on some of the young players that many others do. I'm very high on Power, Quinn and Benson, especially when it comes to their potential. I'm not referring to long-term potential as I am to their play in the near future, including next season. That's the source of the disagreement. I believe these players are not the source of failure but rather the source of our future (near future) success.

I wonder what his relationship was with the other players, especially the veteran players like Zucker and Tuch? Did they try to counsel him on the importance of playing a more responsible defensive game? There was a game on TV in which Rob Ray commented on a play where the other team scored. The Sabres were stuck in the defensive zone with the opposition controlling the puck. Peterka was nowhere near the forward he was supposed to be covering. He was off wide along the sideboard when the player went to the net and put in a rebound shot. Rob Ray replayed that play a couple of time and pointedly noted that the scorer was his responsibility. I liked JJP and wanted him to stay a Sabre. And from what I read so did the GM. However, he was determined to get out, as have a number of our better players. It just seems that persistent losing can be dispiriting causing more players to want a change of scenery.

I have a dramatically different take on the area hockey market. It is a fertile hockey market that has been laid to waste by an owner who has crushed its potential due to hideous incompetency. The fan base has steadily been shrinking because of his foolish stewardship for a generation. Fans who are unwilling to spend money on a lackluster team/product are the ones who are showing good judgment.

If you believe I’m a supporter of KA, you have grossly misread my posts about him. I’m almost as contemptuous of him as I am of the big boat owner.

Do you believe that either Quinn, Kulich, Power or Benson will be traded before the season starts? I don’t.

It’s not about hope. It’s simply that we have different judgments on players.

Helenius is not off- limits for me. I’m not dooming anything. If one believes that the young players you listed will be better players next season and thereafter (as I do), why would I want to see them dealt?

Absolutely yes he was on my no trade list. No secret about that. But go back to my post saying why that it didn’t play out the way I and even the GM wanted it to.

The Peterka situation was completely different from the players mentioned. JJP made it clear to the organization that he wanted to get the freak out of this ghetto franchise. He was not going to sign a new contract and was going to allow his contract to run for another year so he could be an UFA. The GM publicly stated that he wanted to keep him. The player essentially said F no! Once traded he quickly signed a new contract with Utah. In my view, the GM handled the situation reasonably well.

I understand your position but with respect to the young players named I still strongly say no. And, it is sad to say that even if our young players were dealt the return would not be adequate because good players have little desire to come to this shunned franchise. This is a sad and pathetic situation to be in.

If you trade Quinn he will be a 30 goal scorer for the receiving team. He is a “Hell No” player for me, and so is Power. If NOBODY on a losing roster is immune from being traded, does that mean Dahlin is also a candidate to be traded? Please don’t go crazy on me due to pent up frustrations. 🙃

Not open to trading Quinn, Kulich or Power. These three players are ironclad do not move players for me. That is not to say that I won’t consider other high end prospects and draft picks as currency to get more immediate help.

I wasn't suggesting the return wouldn't be immediately helpful. However, I still disagree. I just believe that these two players have a lot of upsides that would turn into production. Especially for Quinn, I see him producing next season. And with Kulich, I see a lot of potential that will be realized soon.

It would be a mistake to deal Kulich and/or Quinn for veteran players. If that should happen this would be another repeat tormenting scene where the players that were in our system and developed here ended up thriving wearing someone's jersey. The two players that you listed are players that we are counting on to make enough improvement where they will be positive contributors to this team. It seems to me that they have shown enough potential where we should stick with them. At least for these two players I would stay the course.

When you read these accounts of how the operation functions or may not function it just demonstrates how this is such a third-rate operation. There is little clear line of authority or even internal communication system. The lack of organizational structure is so obvious that whether one is talking about a sports franchise or any enterprise for that matter, the outcome is going result in failure. This is a Pegula designed organization. The hiring of a GM had no order or process to it other than it was an owner hiring. To say the least he made an odd selection. The same goes for the hiring of Ruff to be the HC. There was no genuine coaching search. The hiring process was a charade that was obvious to everyone. It was a nostalgic hiring by the inscrutable owner. (I'm not debating the issue whether Ruff was a good hire or not. I'm focusing on the fraudulent process.) If you ask me what is the role and influence of Karmonos, Jarmo and even Ruff relative to the GM, my response is I don't know? There seems to be no clear lines of authority. On top of that layer of confusion is an owner who presides over this hollow structure and interjects his thoughts whenever he desires to. For him, it's just about what he wants to do i.e. acting on his whimsical thoughts. Any franchise in any sport that is operated in the same disorderly way the Sabres are run is going to be a failure. This is a Terry Pegula failed production. It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone.

I don't see KA making any other moves of significance. He's placed his bet on the young players that include Quinn, Kulich, Benson, Power and even Samuelsson. His biggest gamble is betting on UPL as his goalie. A couple of years ago, he showed promise; while last year he developed a lot of bad habits and regressed. For the most part, KA has not deviated too much from counting on the players within the system. He's also made a few good deals, such as for McCleod, Zucker and Greenway to better round out the roster. In my view, the blue line is improved so that might be a factor in UPL playing better. Will the Sabres make the playoffs? I think that it is attainable if the blue line unit and our big goalie play consistently solid for the season. Am I confident about the upcoming season? Anyone who fairly evaluates this roster can't be fully confident about the upcoming season. However, if the two things fall into place regarding the goaltending and blueline unit play better, then at least we should be in the playoff race for most of the season. I'm aware that I'm being squishy in my prognostication but that's how I see things playing out.