IKnowPhysics

I enjoyed this. Thank you.

As mentioned, Pegula does a preamble, either before the start of the draft or before our pick. GMTM names that tune in four notes, "Buffalo selects ______ ______." I also predict record high decibels during the traditional booing of Bettman.

Why not Zoidberg? Why not Zoidberg.

Hooray for life experiences. I usually pass on the cruises. I never pass on the scotch. Welcome to the addiction. You've had some of the better, easy-to-find entry-level scotches. Glad you liked them. Next up, try the Macallan 12. It's a great Speyside. Smooth. Slightly sweet. It's a couple bucks more than what you've had so far, but it's not expensive (in terms of $cotch) and it's not that hard to find. If you like that, try anything from Oban (a highland). If you're looking to put hair on your peaches, namely by Scotching with peat and/or smoke, try an islay, namely Lagavulin or Laphroaig or Ardbeg. Early on, don't feel compelled to dump $ into a bottle of something that's super aged (18+ years). Find out what traits/styles you like first, then head up the age/money scale later. I go neat all the time, but to each their own; neat let's me figure out what I like and don't like without pulling any punches. And I wasn't considering having a dram tonight, but after jotting this down, I definitely will. For anyone interested: Oban 14 Carribbean Cask.

I'm down with Keller. Corey Pronman has him ranked at four: If he's there, we take him at 8.

This happened a few times, yes. But don't undervalue the work of the player agent to determine the client's value among prospective teams during the season then advise him to turn down the offer. This is what happened with McKee. Ancient history: http://www.semissourian.com/story/1158825.html IIRC, few teams were signing players to contract extensions a year before the contracts were up. And it was Regier that declined to negotiate during the season because he thought it was a distraction for players.

I like Jay. It was no secret that McKee was a key part of, maybe the key part of, a very good Sabres defense during an era when shutdown defense pairs ruled the ice. But at the time of his departure, the Sabres were willing to sign McKee to about $2M per season. The St Louis Blues, desperate for defensemen after parting ways with Chris Pronger which caused them to win only 21 games that year, doubled that offer to $4M and stretched it to four years. The same $4M salary that Ottawa gave Jason Spezza after his put up 90 points in 68 games. Just about everyone in Buffalo was sad to see Jay go, but happy that the Sabres hadn't signed him to a bloated $16M contract. And what happened? The Blues bought him out after his third year because, even after player salaries inflated after the lockout, he wasn't worth it. The new NHL needed mobile, puck handling defensemen. So curse Larry and Tom for lots of things, but don't feel bad because they passed up on a contract that the rest of the league laughed at.

Won't be a charge for Saturday (but still ticketed). Likely won't be a charge for the viewing party at Canalside Friday.

NEXT CHAPTER ALL THE THINGS. /s Can we call it the Key Hole?

This is a way to inject planned obsolescence into licensed apparel. Not only will you have to put up with teams changing logos/colors, wearing throwbacks/thirds/anniversary/holiday jerseys, now your two year old jersey won't have the correct advertiser on the chest. That's a nice jersey you got there, it looks just like my new one, except my new one has the Labatt and Tim Hortons logos all over it, not the First Niagara and Univera logos. Teams will eat up the sponsorship money. Teams will eat up the apparel money. This won't be soccer. NHL and NHL team sponsors aren't going to sign long term contracts. It will be deplorable, and we will be telling our kids about the days before the uniforms were ruined.

Is the full video anywhere? Sabres.com only has the 1-on-1 post interviews and the stream link to nhl.com no longer works.

You were all thinking Hody Codgson, but don't forget this happened with ROR too. ROR apologized.

One could argue that O'Reilly's perseverance was stumbling in the early offseason, then embracing his new role on a new team that had substantially invested in him, and him quickly and diligently maturing to properly exceed expectations in that role. Assuming he's not still a up and that was a one-time ordeal he has/had to overcome, it's not far from a decent redemption story. I don't know if I buy this romance, but O'Reilly's been playing well and stories are that he's become a leader, which is an indication that he's not planning on going to the drive thru at Ted's Hotdogs.

So I was gonna play the name game too, and comment something like "Montezuma Pittsford" or some other nonsense. Then it crossed my mind that there's a lot of Native American town names in NY that might be funny sounding, like "Tonawanda Wawayanda," or whatever. I then remembered that Clarence "Screaming Buffalo" Swamptown was the character from slapshot who was Native American looking. The thing is, there is no "Swamptown" in NY. But what I did learn from dicking around on wikipedia, is that the actor that played Clarence "Screaming Buffalo" Swamptown is Joe Nolan, former hockey player and uncle to Ted Nolan. I didn't know this. And they joke in Slapshot that he'd been suspended for life, but in real life he had been suspended for life. He "eventually came back to the Eastern Hockey League as a linesman who was respected by players." They got some weird stuff on that internet.

16 teams go to the tournament (6 conference playoff winners and 10 at large teams). The 10 at large teams are selected "objectively" by math that mimics the USCHO PairWise Rankings. Michigan won the Big Ten tournament and was the only Big Ten team to make the tournament. Minnesota had a slightly better Big Ten regular season record than Michigan (1 point in 20GP), but had a considerably worse PWR after factoring in out-of-conference play, and didn't make the cut off. Cornell and Michigan Tech, both on the edge of the required PWR to make the tournament, were bumped by RIT and Ferris State, winners of their respective conference tournaments.

Noticed that the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority has been been the primary sponsor of the NHL's Road Warrior highlights. Is there any doubt left about expansion/move to LV?

That still holds up in our favor pretty good, especially remembering the contemporary context of a too-crowded blue line and packed defenseman pipeline. I like Fasching's chances. He's not elite. He's probably not top line on a contender. But when we (finally again) ice a team that has four lines that score, he'll be a big reason why.

Didn't watch it yet. Did he say "edging" or "edgy?" And if he did say "edging," did he mean "edgy?" He jumbles a bit sometimes.

Webcam for the DC bald eagle nest. They've got two eggs and one's supposed to hatch soon. http://www.eagles.org/dceaglecam/

Off by at least 0.001264489267349618680213759577635.

Novel application of some old physics combined with some interesting new electronics. One could electronically record where all of their team's players are at all times on the home ice. It'll be interesting to see if the Ducks are capable of reducing all of that data. Not a bad way to start though.

The one that plays more games. Likely Eichel.

Edmonton Oilers 2017-2025.

I was sad to see the news, but I was sooo happy to see them at Dodger Stadium in September. Also saw Rush at the Forum in August. Might be the last tours for those two greats. Heh. "Oh , I only have a $20. Guess I'm carrying four pounds of change around."