That Aud Smell

I haven’t listened yet, but the fact that Twitter is largely clowning on the WGR guys leads me to being more on the side of the WGR hosts.

it was a good save. but far from spectacular. cozens' having a below-average NHL wrist shot is one of the flaws in his game.

There's just nothing like it. I'm a big Bills fan. STH since 2020 (the Allen effect). But my fan experience with the playoffs is so different with the Bills than it is (or was) with the Sabres. With the Bills, home playoff games occur right in the teeth of winter. Prior to those playoff games, I've found myself a bit stadium weary from cold (or otherwise unpleasant) home games in November, December (and, honestly, the whole season (it takes energy to devote a day to a game)). Of course, once I'm in my seat for the playoff game, I'm amped up and ready to go. But I've had to give myself a few pep talks over the years in the days and hours leading up to those playoff games. There's part of me that just dreads slogging out to the stadium in January. With the Sabres (and the NHL), the vibe is so, so different. Winter's over. Warm, sunny days are vibe- and mood-boosters. Whether I'm at the arena, in the plaza, or at a bar with opened garage door windows and a crowd spilling out onto the street, the vibe leading up to and then surrounding a Sabres playoff game is just pure anxious joy. And if you're really lucky, you'll see Ken Hitchcock taking a walk around the Erie Basin Marina during your lunch break and you'll scream "EFF YOU, HITCH!" and get a friendly middle finger in return. I miss that stuff so much.

I give that mufugger so much credit for being such a principled dude -- and being loud about it too.

It’s good stuff. Subtle! I appreciate it.

Great clip. I still don't follow. Pete Guelli = Willi Cicci?

I thought there were several intriguing tidbits in Lance Lysowski's article - especially the item about how core young vets resented Adams' reliance on Benson as an 18 year-old NHL regular. That said, I struggled to get through the thing. The piece desperately needed a strong editor's hand.

what makes you say that?

Guelli did a long stint in the NBA with Charlotte.

Ha! It also seems possible that they didn't ask for permission from the Flyers (and, thinking on it some more, maybe they didn't need to ("fair use")?).

I don't keep up with C-suite titles. "Chief commercial officer" appears to be a new term for "chief business officer" or something like that. I presume that the new CCO will have all things business in their "portfolio."

the quality on that ad is delightfully bad.

I hovered my mouse (*ahem*) over that gif and saw its file name - outstanding.

At some point, I stopped counting the plays where he just did some small thing that showed good anticipation. He's gonna be one of those guys -- steady throughout the year and then coming through big in big moments. I just hope that happens with the Sabres. On the other hand, seeing Samuelsson play live? Woof. With him too, I stopped counting the forced, panicked dumb-dumb plays. (Same goes for Bryson, but, given his term and salary, that's not as big a problem.)

I think it was a roughly even split? It's hard to say, though, because the Sabres were shut out. It's the scoring of a goal that gives you a sense of who's there supporting one team or the other. Those in our group were laughing at ourselves, as we all agreed that we were engaged in a covert mission of international diplomacy -- smiling and being friendly with those who appeared to have crossed the border to see the Leafs play.

I went to the game last night. I thought the Sabres played reasonably well. I thought the Leafs goalie was just terrific - great positioning, totally in control. That said, I also thought it was a fairly friendly affair. A few hits, but, in general, not a lot of heaviness to the game. I guess that's to be expected -- the Sabres are out of it, the Leafs are probably tapering as they approach the playoffs. The thing I enjoyed most: Watching how smart Benson plays the game. That guy's hockey IQ is probably the highest on the team. That said, he's not a regular top-6 forward (at this point in his career) on a playoff hockey team.

Poverty franchise.

This clarifies my initial confusion and introduces new confusion. I like it! Also, I really like Power and think he's gonna be a good one. The error in word choice was clearly mine -- "weirdly" weirdly made sense in my head -- but evidently it just caused confusion. I would have done better just to say "sadly."

Dammit - I don't quite follow. You cracking wise? The kid's struggled some on the back end, but, Lord, can he skate, pass, and shoot that biscuit.

Chad D on Twitter is inferring as much.

I'm waiting on a thorough treatment of the border crossing data here in Erie/Niagara. I've seen things informally reported that it's way down when compared with this time over the past few years (post-COVID, anyway). "Went down to Buffalo for a hockey game. And sure gas is cheap, but you can't even get all-dressed chips in that sh1t hole." Let alone a Coffee Crisp bar!

This is true. Which brings me back to having a sad over Owen Power reportedly being out in the ~6+ month range.

Even absent the recent developments in U.S. foreign policy, this has been a franchise teetering on the edge for a while now. Add the local effects of that policy to the mix and I very much view our Buffalo Sabres as confronting an urgent existential threat.