That Aud Smell

Where's @Ghost of Dwight Drane with the neck measurement?!

Thompson's being injured, I've heard. And that seems like a certainty. My concern is that he's got some persisting lower back issues - remember last season? - and that his big frame, short stick, and torque and cork one-time shooting style are all putting him on track for a career shortened or compromised by back issues. The coaching and management, agreed 100%. Question though: Cozens injured? This I have not heard.

Maybe the guy on the far right isn't a Sabre? He looks familiar. I infer that this is a group that was on the Canada World Juniors team together.

I think that's Byram, Cozens, Krebs, and ... Quinn? It's not Levi.

The bolded is key here, IMO. People who perform professionally need to manage their energy outputs. Wrt the musician angle, which I think is very apt: As a younger fella (and even a few times as an older guy), I have seen a band perform 4 or more times on a single tour -- often in quick succession (not a Deadhead, but something like that). And it's absolutely true. A performer's level of energy will vary from night to night. It's the mark of true professionals when every show you see from a band has a certain level of baseline excellence. There's a band we saw in New England, two upstate New York shows (including one at Artpark), and then Cleveland a few years back. And we all agreed: That Artpark show was special. They were really bringing it (for reasons unknown). This is a weird take. If we're being honest with ourselves, this is true for all of us in all facets of our lives. To varying degrees, I'm sure. Am I always being the best husband I can be? Always giving 100%? NFW. Sometimes, I'm just killing it. Sometimes, I'm far less than I should be, or could be. And then there's a lot of in between. When I go to worship my God, am I always as tuned in as I should be? Sometimes, I have a wonderful experience and come out re-energized by my faith. Sometimes, I keep wanting to check a soccer score on my phone (English Premier League, no doubt). They're making a solid point. This is the only way, I think, for people who professionally exert themselves in a performative way that is physically and emotionally draining. There's a reason that the touring bands of days gone by (and probably still many now) manage(d) themselves with drugs to get them up and then drugs to get them down. It's damn difficult to do on your own, if you're laying it all out at every single show. They need to learn how to manage their energy -- otherwise, they end up tearing their bodies down with cocaine and codeine pills.

What's this (or any) team need with three ostensible studs on D? I really thought the roster building idea was: Dahlin, Power, and then figure out the rest on D. If this guy bounces back and earns a big(ger) contract, are the Sabres going to give it to him? Just seems like odd roster construction. Unless ...

Having seen the photo of Byram with several current Sabres and their girlfriends, I will say: This trade might reinforce my concern that there’s too many of the same kind of guy on the team. Good vibes only.

what is this about? you keep saying it.

I don't know offhand who my favourite Bills are, but Tre is in the top-5.

Tre White released.

Yep. $5.7M saved in cap space. Credit to him - he played every game last season. The guy was heart and soul. He'll be missed. Some coaches get a reputation for developing "system quarterbacks." McDermott seems capable of developing system safeties and maybe even system linebackers (I think about how Bernard and Dodson came in this year and were effective). He'll need to work some magic next season - that's for sure.

No. Full stop. And it's not even close.

His game - as it evolved - was one of the few in the Sabre forward ranks that I could see becoming really well-suited to playoff hockey.

I would. I have. I did!

Get ready to see Mittelstadt thrive in a playoff setting.

Eh? Seems to me that the team's decision to sign Thompson and Cozens to 1A/1B centre money signaled that the team wasn't fully sold on Mittelstadt.

I've given up trying to understand those JFresh player cards.

Lol ...

ALL THE LEFT HAND D. ALL OF 'EM!!

Adams is in this constant loop of bringing in young NHLers. Which tracks with the fact that he has a development coach as his HC.

Yo. Seriously?!

I no longer think about pro athletes' salaries when thinking about things like performance, on-ice success, etc. Pro athletes are phenomenal physical specimens who do incredibly difficult things in a competitive, contact environment. Are there loafers and prima donnas among them? Sure. Just as there are with any team in any business setting -- although I'd venture that there might be proportionally fewer loafers and prima donnas in the pro athlete ranks. The more I live, the more I think that the distribution of kinds of people in populations (loafers, prima donnas, as*holes, saints, grinders, leaders, goofballs) is more or less consistent across people of all sorts. And as a wise man once said: "It doesn't take all kinds ... but we got all kinds."

This is tough, but fair.

Is anyone saying he is? A lot of nice things can be said about the guy. But I certainly won't remember him as a great Sabres captain. That comes with the territory when the team stunk throughout your time as captain.