Porous Five Hole

It’s either Nick Foligno or Brian Gionta. Nick has played over 1200 nhl games is impressive. But I agree with Inkman..Jeep had almost 600 points, won a cup, and was the captain of the frickin Canadians. The only other American to ever do that was Chris Chelios.

Rosen with two more tonight in the Amerks 4-1 win. Another three game winning streak.

I saw a Sabres post on Facebook titled, “Before Rob Ray is inducted into the Sabres Hall of Fame tonight, Terry Pegula unveiled his name in our hockey hallway. Forever enshrined with the Sabres greats.” So my guess is the team knows Terry will be a distraction and will show this on the video board. But that’s pure speculation on my part. It would be weird if the owner wasn’t there, but it also would not surprise me.

Do you think Quinn won’t figure it out?

He could have earned 5MM dollars between the rest of this year and next year by reporting to Springfield Mass to play in the AHL, and he noped right out of that. That’s a luxury you can afford when you’ve made 55MM in your career. If I were him, I wouldn’t want to live minor league life either.

I don’t hate Doug lol If my commentary offended, I am happy to edit it out. Just let me know.

The significance is Doug sang the anthem for a long time. It’s nostalgic just like Rob Ray’s career. Doug is a local guy who likes performing & is passionate in his religious beliefs. I’ll let him tell you: http://www.anthemguy.com He’s just your average “nut” who overdoses on orange juice. This guy is a real hoot!

Honestly this is message board and twitter culture. And you got a whole lot of people who don’t watch the Canucks, don’t look at advanced stats, and do not know anything about this 26 year old player who is averaging a point per game since the day he entered the league. He was a superstar when he got 102 points and finished 7th in the Selke. I do not see red flags all over the place. It’s the knee. That’s it for me. Miller has the reputation for being a pain to deal with, not EP. Vancouver would prefer to move Miller in a second—but he has a full no move clause. So extracting any kind of value, you have to move EP.

Rosen with two more goals for 20 in 41 games played. He’s looked good. Amerks win 7-4.

It isn’t a huge bet, it’s a medial opinion. He has knee tendinitis in one knee and it has plagued him since January 2024. It’s why his speed bursts are way down since then. From my reading, tendinitis CAN be chronic, but it also can resolve itself. Test cases in the NBA with this diagnosis showed nearly all injured players returned to their previous athletic levels after a 12M period with normal rest/rehab and not surgery. If the Sabres can make a deal and the team doctors sign off, I’ll be the first guy to buy an EP40 jersey.

I’ve had three. First one was the Cuse in 2003. I watched the Big East tourney and then March Madness, but not a ton during the year. I knew the starting five, but I was not dialed in like a super fan. The second was the Red Sox in 04 and it was different. I watched over 100 games that year and every minute of playoff baseball. The greatest comeback in sports history. I was living in Tampa FL with my parents at the time. After the Sox went up 3-0 in the WS, I bought a plane ticket “home” to ROC for the next morning. I watched game four here, then drove to Boston the next day so I could be in town for the parade. The WS parade was the best day of my life. Three million people breathing a collective sigh of relief at the same time. Shaking off a curse and doing it dramatically. I cannot get through a video or DVD recap of the 04 season without tearing up. Hugging a drunk at the bar or hugging a homeless person on the sidewalk. It didn’t matter. The Cask & Flagon blasting Boston band Aerosmith’s Dream On. People dancing on tables. People chanting Let’s Go Red Sawx” on the subway like they were at Fenway. Just incredible. If we can count minor league pro sports, I watched the Amerks win game seven of the Calder Cup in person as a teenager in 1995. The War Memorial was shaking. No video board or cell phone to distract you. Chanting and Pom Pom's. All about the game and the place was jammed. Steve Shields, Dane Jackson, Scottie Nichol, Scott Metcalf, Rumun Ndur, Dixon Ward, Brian Holzinger, Doug Houda, Craig Charron, Dan Frawley. Great memories! The building went in for a renovation that summer, so my cousin (season ticket holder) tipped his seat cushion off the chair and took it home with him for some reason.

Your whole post is some next level Eklund E5 type of impossible

This is a bad idea. Miller has a full no move clause. He’s not waiving it twice lol He is probably not waiving it at all.

WOW some Amerks were throwing BOMBS. Good on Tullio and Komarov.

I think your opinion of him is inaccurate. Yes he isn’t having a great year and dealing with a knee issue, but you’re not describing him fairly. EP has been a point per game player for his career and is elite defensively at age 26. It’s probably just a dream that he’s even available.

Vancouver doesn’t do this. It brings in 11 million for the 11 million they just moved out and no one thinks Cozens & Muel = EP. Protecting the pick and a maybe prospect isn’t sweet enough. It’s why I suggest unprotected the pick to get it done.

I realize there’s no comparable trade to point to and this is unconventional, but if EP isn’t currently damaged by tendinitis, my offer is Cozens + our first rounder for EP. It probably won’t happen because it just doesn’t happen, but I would do it. And the only reason Vancouver would do it is because they have to move on from either Miller or EP…and offers for Miller are not close to this. Nor would offers be close to this for EP (especially because most teams are Cap teams and they need dollar in-dollar out). Our first will be in the top five. It’s a hefty price to pay, but I’m paying it. The concept of Martone or Misa sounds nice, but that puts the Sabres 2-3 years away from that player’s arrival. I don’t want to wait that long to be good. Pettersson is the real deal and fully formed. No more relying on youth and the future. Making Tage 2C makes this team A LOT better today and that’s what I’m most concerned about. No one expected to have this asset (a top five pick) when the season started. Use it to upgrade now.

I’m halfway there with this. I’m not trading Tage. He’s our best offensive player. And I believe his offensive game is better suited in the middle. But you asked if Tage is a 1C? I thought he was, but I don’t think that any longer. I think he’s a 2C and that’s why I desperately want EP40 on this team (so long as Sabres doctors clear him of his previous tendinitis issues).

Good context. Thank you for your service!

In free agency? Perhaps we are getting lost in the weeds. My central thesis was that Pegula doesn’t have a self-imposed salary cap and KA cannot give the cap money away. It is easy to point to EEE, but is that the right thing do in 2025 given the other talking points I mentioned? I could just be playing devil’s advocate here. I don’t have any sources other than KA saying he doesn’t have any spending limitations in press conferences.

GMKA said it. You’re assuming he’s lying and I am not. We agree the state of the team is atrocious. Why is it so hard to believe no one wants Sabres money? Genuinely asking.

I was more speaking about free agency and why the Sabres are no where near the cap. But I’ll follow your rabbit hole. You cannot assume the Sabres are afraid to trade an asset for fear of losing a deal. They’ve made plenty of trades for guys (Greenway, McLeod, Byram, etc). We have it on good insiders authority that Necas and Ehlers declined extension talks if traded to Buffalo. I’m saying the Sabres money “is no good here.” I’m saying there are no self-imposed limitations and they still can’t hand it out.

I think I’m going to step into some dog poop here with a lot of posters, but I’m starting to think the Sabres literally cannot give the cap money away. When Covid hit and EEE came about, Pegula was worth about five billion dollars. Today, he’s worth $7.6 billion dollars. I know the Sabres lose money, but like who cares when you make a couple billion in net worth every five years? He’s 74 years old in March and after Kim’s thing, he’s got to be thinking of his own mortality. If you’re him, why have any limitations right now? Kevyn has indicated that he isn’t operating under any financial restrictions. What if he’s telling the truth? No one wants to come here even if the Sabres are willing to overpay? And at some point the player evaluation for the Sabres-suck-tax they have to pay just makes it a bad idea. I dunno, this Pegula nightmare has so many layers and most of them are not good.

He had 103 points last year lol We got a lot of those guys? 😀 You and I see the player differently and that’s ok. He’s got a full no-move clause, so it’s probably useless even talking about him.