Swedesessed

Great post above and one thing that you can say about many great shows that we have seen over the years, usually the ending isn't that great. Very hard to end a show on a perfect note. Breaking Bad to me was one of the best endings, show was 5 years, and they wrapped it up beautifully. But its rare. I'm not expecting the world here from GOT, I look at the entire body of work and the masterpiece it was and is.

I told my wife that Arya could kill The Night King and even though I called it it was still a great and powerful scene. Bravo Game Of Thrones again!

As far as Botterill being on the hot seat after this year, what do some of you think point wise is acceptable to keep him? Would another 12-14 point improvement like this past season be enough to keep JBot? Or is it playoffs or bust? I am thinking Option #1 if you look at the East here are the teams on the surface who are obviously better or in much better shape for the playoffs: Tampa Bay Boston Montreal Washington Columbus NY Islanders Carolina Florida That is already 8 teams. Throw the Flyers in there because I do believe the AV hire for Philly will springboard them higher.

Can this off-season get off to a worse start for the Buffalo Sabres? I hope UPL makes a full recovery!

I do agree that is what the league wants and that the talent gap is closer because of the hard cap (which I loathe by the way) but doesn't this kind of make the regular season look even more meaningless? These leagues need to put more emphasis and importance on the regular season somehow and I think giving the highest seed more home games works toward accomplishing this. Unless Boston or San Jose get the SCF, or if the league gets a Carolina vs Dallas final, I cringe at what the ratings will look like.

First time ever in major sports history where all 4 division winners have been eliminated in the 1st round. IMO not a good look for the NHL. Was thinking about something randomly and wanted to get your insights and opinions: Is it really fair that in a case of a a 8 seed vs a 1 seed and a 4 vs a 5 seed: The 5 and 8 seed can both have 3 home games in a 7 game series? To enhance the regular season, when a team gets a 1 seed I would give that team more home games (Example: 6 home games for the 1 seed and 1 for the 8 seed), why should an 8 seed be given the same games as a 5? Give more rewards to the top seed for having a great season

This would be a GREAT hire!! In 2009!

If Vegas had a 1 goal lead or was tied I would say its comparable, at the time of the bad call Vegas had a 3 goal lead, even with a 5 min major, to give up 4 goals is horrendous. Also the Vegas coach, when it was 3-2 boom timeout should have been taken he waited until 3-3 when it was too late.

Vegas whining about a bad call? Sabres fans for almost 50 years: Hold my beers Your franchise gets the tax breaks for the cap, a massive MASSIVE assist from the league to help springboard the building of a franchise that will have success for many years. You had a 3-0 lead: Yes the call was bad but where oh WHERE is the PK? I feel zero sympathy for Vegas as I wish the Sabres can fold, come back as the Sabres, incorporate in Nevada, and have the league helps us like they helped their beloved Golden Knights.

I think Terry is an owner that has great intentions and his 'heart is in the right place' I truly believe Terry wants to go right by Buffalo and provide the fans with a great product and win because he genuinely cares about the city and the teams that he owns. But as we know, caring and being a fan just isn't enough. Sabres need a President at the top to oversee everything top to bottom. I still think JBot is the right man for this job and wish we hired this kind of GM back in 2014 and THEN hired a guy like GMTM now after the rebuild went successful. We had it reverse.

A 2019-2020 Mittelstadt stat line of 18g 27a in the 40's point range is very reasonable, but the key is whom are you surrounding him with. Sometimes teams can ruin prospects by not giving them the tools around them to succeed.

The hype of Episode 1 was as high as I can ever remember feeling for any Season Premiere of any show, so it is natural that it let us down a bit. One thing to keep in mind is how rare great shows end well: Breaking Bad to me was one of the few that nailed the ending almost flawlessly. Ill reserve judgement on Episode 1 to see how it sets up Episode 2,3 etc.

Alain Vigneault?

Agree. If the Sabres are able to get McLellan behind the bench is a solid move that on the surface can be worth 5-10 points in the standings on its own. But without proper upgrades to secondary scoring lines, tweaks on defense, ans stability in net, we can forget the playoffs.

Also, I recall the year of the McDavid lottery is when the NHL was so eager to change the percentages. I would bet thousands that if New York and Chicago were tanking that year and not Buffalo and Edmonton, the league would not been as eager to make those quick changes. Between the crease rule for No Goal and the Sabres tanking for McDavid, it amazes me how fast the league works when something could benefit a franchise like Buffalo. 'Suddenly', they are prompt and quick!

Perhaps but the Sabres were the favorites to win that year. A broken clock is right twice a day. Lost 2 spots this year Lost 2 spots in Matthews lottery Lost max spots (1) in McDavid lottery Lost max spots (1) in Ekbald lottery Have the Sabres EVER moved up in a lottery like franchises like New Jersey, Chicago, and Edmonton do routinely?

The sooner most of us realize that Gary Bettman and his cronies want the worst for the Buffalo Sabres, the better off we will all be. I've come to accept it for what it is. For the Sabres to be great, it will take efforts to get over hurdles that other franchises do not face.

If 2 of the 'NBC 6' (Rangers, Red Wings, Blackhawks, Flyers, Penguins or Bruins) kept winning the lottery, they would applaud the system. Funny how it works isn't it?

Damn you beat me to it ?

For those that want Babs as the coach, can you say overrated? I think he is a good coach but not great. TM is an above average hire, the Edmonton stint stained him a bit, but that wasn't all his fault. Bottom line: Until the Sabres get better secondary scoring, and resolve the goalie issue once and for all, the coach won't have a massive impact.

I really am on board with the Sheldon Keefe mentions, Would be a great outside the box hire for the Buffalo Sabres.

How? Bergeron and Marchand are true stars of the game and not stat padders, Pasternak is amazing (even though the Ruins are 8-2 without him oddly enough) Great organization, good defense, good goaltending and good coaching. Basically in a nutshell, they have everything Buffalo does not have.

Kavanaugh had a temper tantrum similar to Clarence Thomas and BOTH got into the Supreme Court. White privilege is overrated. Power and Money Privilege is very underrated.

While we at it, let's just ban GDT as well and limit posters to one Fire Phil post a month.

I agree. Analytics have a place in hockey, does it mean it is the end all that be all to analyze a player? No. Does it provide data that could show drastic differences in two players where the naked eye might suggest otherwise and can be used to better the team? Sure. Why cant knowing the sport and analytics just all get along?