That Aud Smell

One of my main takeaways is that, if you have enough really really (really) good skaters, you can win the whole thing with goaltending that's just okay.

I wonder if the bad Tampa ice was harder on and worse for the old, worn down team than it was for the young fresher team.

Sometimes MacKinnon looks too fast (??). Then again, he got that puck right between the wickets. Leaky as hell.

Such an interesting case study. And I wonder if Tage would resist a push to get him signed for 6 or 7 years. Maybe he wants the Reinhart route - sign a short(er) deal for potentially a small discount on his AAV. Bet on himself. If he's open to a longer-term deal, I think an annual number in a ~$6.5M range would be fair for both sides.

I’m well aware. Hence the “double quotation marks.”

I dunno. Based on the look of Matt Pegula's "ice" hats ... it may be better to "stand back."

It reminded me of Kane's SC-winning goal - except Kane knew exactly where it was. Which in turn reminds me of this classic send-up.

The what now? I had been wondering if you'd drop in. I didn't necessarily expect you to drop an iconoclastic bomb when you did.

Sorry - I didn't mean to damn with faint praise. It's a perfectly decent pop (pop punk) song. My point was just that analyzing goal songs, etc. to death when the team stinks is futile. When the team is good, there will be songs sung and those songs will live forever.

Go, Avs. This tradition they have there now is proof positive that -- the quality of the song doesn't really matter -- if the team is successful, practically any good song can become the crowd's hype anthem.

if the sabres were to trade VO as part of the deal, kane would block nobody. who else is there on RW? tuch. he'd be aces on the 2nd line. perfect fit, imo. jack quinn can be sheltered on the "third" line. okposo can keep plugging away. anyone else i'm missing? this makes sense, generally. the more jazzed i become about this idea, the more i'm in favour of the sabres throwing the 16th pick in there. why the eff not. let's go. playoffs or bust.

A post July 1 deal would be much more expensive, I reckon.

DIZZAM!

He’s probably not worth his cap hit. But I bet he’d be worth his actual salary (~$6.9M … *nice*).

A couple things: 1. I had a premonition that we haven’t heard “boo” since the press release because Terry and Kim are hoping that Kim will deliver a message via video recording as the next bit of news on her recovery. And that it’s taking some time to be ready to do that. 🤞 2. I hope that the passage of time means that she stabilized and, if necessary or advisable, was moved to a nearby major medical centre. That Boca hospital and its freely given ICU status leak did not inspire confidence.

I respect that. And I didn’t intend to pry. I do wonder why no one in the media is reporting new information on it. Like I said, maybe I need a crash course in what journo ethics prescribe in this sort of situation. As to your last point: Part of my thesis here is that if you have billions of dollars and buy a region’s most cherished institution, you surrender, in whole or in part, the anonymity you once had. To what extent you surrender it is a fair point of debate.

A prominent public figure. The fate of the Bills could ultimately be in the balance. Chief officer of a company that recently received nearly a billion dollars from the public fisc. It’s newsworthy. No one is being uncivil. There’s no new information.

“NTA” … And to think I was so magnanimous re your initial reply. I want to know something newsworthy. Something incredibly newsworthy. That’s my reason, and I’ll stick to it. ”Really wanting to know” would fall short if the matter weren’t so newsworthy and relevant to matters of public interest. But it is, on both counts. I got started on this because I didn’t like that Graham acknowledged in his tweet that he wasn’t going to push the matter because, as I read his statement, he didn’t want to be blackballed by PSE. I do see the other side of the matter — that even the most public figures may be entitled to privacy in such circumstances — a privacy that includes the press/media standing down. We’re having a discussion.

This mostly captures it - albeit imperfectly. It would probably do one of 2 things with regard a matter of public concern and interest: Dispel a gnawing fear, or tend to confirm it. Either way, I'd have some closure on the issue and hopefully move on from it.

For you it is. I haven't asked for either of those things. That's not for you to say. Well, I'm definitely being nosy. But not just nosy. Not gratuitously so. No, sir.

This is a fair counterpoint. More than fair. I think I'm being a bit of a jerk about this, tbh. But maybe not a total jackass? AITA? I just really want to know what's going on - at a high level, no details. I have a bad feeling that I can't shake about (1) her health and, following on that, (2) the Bills being in WNY long-term. (The Sabres' fate here isn't as tied to the Pegulas, I don't think.)

I'm not sure how my feelings got implicated. This is my opinion. My opinion is based on certain facts, as outlined above. Underlying my opinion here: If you buy the Bills (our Bills)** and secure $850M in public money to benefit the club and you project to be the sole owner of the Bills in the latter stages of your life ... well, you are sacrificing the sort of anonymity that just about everyone enjoys if and when their health takes a turn for the worse. You're a public figure. ** No offence to the Sabres, but I'm limiting it to the Bills, as their appeal is so much more far-reaching. Nowhere did I say it was a conspiracy. A generalized failure, sure. But - setting aside the deep dive disclaimer - I'm open to someone learned in the ways of J-ethics to edumacate me on why journos are ethically obliged not to make a story of a leading public figure's health.