Taro T

What people keep forgetting is that through pretty much the entirety of the era from MMArena opening through THE lockout, attendance was always poor in the fall but picked up after the Bills season ended & we got into "hockey weather" and then from February through the end of their run the attendance ranged from good to sold out building. The difference between then & now is, poor attendance was 12-14k (though even that was gained during the criminals' era by freebie seat giveaways goosing attendance) on a weeknight vs the Thrashers or Whalers or the like and now it is 4-8k on a weeknight. Really expecting poor attendance at the beginning of next year will be in the 10-12k range on those poor draw opponent weeknight games rather than as bad as last year or even this year. But like the old days, they should be selling out or getting reasonably close to sellouts in October on weekends. Even that Cane game that people were decrying the poor attendance was 2/3's full which is a big improvement over weeknight non-name opponents this past October. (And, yes, the Canes are very good, but the casual fans still don't give a rat's rear end about them. We're the ones that find them a good team to watch & measure the Sabres progress against.) IF the team is as good as this kid expects them to be next season, by mid-January they'll be selling out nearly every night & '24-'25 could see close to Slug Era attendance.

Could see Jost getting either 2 or 3 years. He really could be the Sabres version of Boston's Paille. A guy that rounds out the bottom of the roster that had a good pedigree but couldn't live up to 1st round expectations w/ the club that drafted him. And that's his floor here. Who knows what happens if Granato works his misfit hockey whisperer magic on him. His ceiling could be legit middle 6 200' player. But can't see Girgensons getting 3 at this point. Expect you're right that his will be a 2 year deal.

The 1st game the Sabres played after Pat LaFontaine was signed, the Sabres were the best team in the league. That sugar high was short lived. The Sabres had the misfortune of facing SJ right after they acquired Thornton. They were unstoppable that night. Let's wait a week or 2 before anointing the Aisles. They're still a flawed team w/ a goalie that hides a lot of warts. Not convinced that the improvement isn't a sugar high. It might be real, but until there is some sustained improved play won't expect it is.

Can't see the Sabres making a trade for him. Can't really see him replacing Okposo's role next year. (Assuming Okposo wants to move on at that point.) Realize this is s little crazy, considering Kane is a future HoFer, but don't really see a space on this roster that he upgrades enough to get rid of up & coming youth for his veteran presence for 1-2 years. Meaning don't see them signing I'm as a FA either.

You've disliked that deal from the day it was signed. We aren't going to see eye to eye on it. But did want to add, that just like Thompson's deal was as team friendly as it is because it was signed before he'd established last season wasn't a fluke & Cozens ceiling is still very much in question (it'll be high, but how high is still very much in question), Samuelsson's deal was signed before he was established as a 1st pairing D and would've been more expensive waiting to find out for certain he is. Pretty sure you can have the last word on this.

The guys who make their teams WIN are the guys who get paid. The Sabres wouldn't pay for Peca's intangibles. The Aisles would & did. The Sabres wouldn't pay for McKee's intangibles. The Blues would & did. Am very happy that the Sabres were finally willing to pay for the intangibles that Samuelsson brings. Pretty sure the rest of the guys, including Cozens & Dahlin, are pleased about it too.

And defensive defensemen don't get paid on their PPG. Jay McKee left town because he got an offer for $4 MM/yr. Losing him was a huge blow. Yes, Samuelsson hadn't established himself as an absolute fixture on the top pairing, but he certainly had shown signs he could fit in there. Thought it was a smart deal at the time it was announced & haven't seen anything since to change that opinion. Suggested a while back that defensive D contracts should be viewed on a $/minue basis rather than a $/point basis. On that, the contract is a steal. The intangibles of how it affects other players on this team's deals is simply icing on the cake.

But, did signing Samuelsson & doing right by him help factor into Cozens accepting the deal he did? (Don't know if it did or didn't, thus the question.) These guys REALLY like being a part of what's being built here. Does doing right by their teammates & seeing management walk the walk, not just talk it but actually live it, make these guys realize this is the right place for them to be & they want to do their part (w/in reason) to keep the band together? Personally liked the Samuelsson deal. He was the only player in the system when he signed the deal w/ his skill set. (Pretty sure Lyubushkin hadn't yet been signed & he is a significantly different player still.)

Really don't see prices going down. Golisano dropped them a bit when he took over, but that was pre-revenue sharing and the salary cap. Could see an early renewal policy like they had this year which let STHers lock in the new season at the current season's prices. (And the team makes out as they collect interest on the early payments.) But they won't even let "Sabre Bucks" carry over into the next season anymore. (Used to be able to save them for up to 3 years and then use them on something nice. Thought they liked that too as they had use of the money w/ no interest due the STHers for an extended time. Guess, they didn't like the minor hit to the books that they saw when non-renewing ticket holders finally got around to buying something w/ them.)

On the broadcast they said that 1 of the 2 teams plating this coming Monday won't be playing this weekend before the next Beanpot game which is apparently rather unusual. So your guess seems to be spot on.

With how much the cap will be increasing over the life of the deal (the entire deal will be in post-shutdown cap recapture) and how Dahlin is showing signs that that generational label wasn't as crazy as it looked 2 years ago, $12/ x8 seems like the correct amount. But Dahlin seems to really like it here & Adams has been straight up with the players & both seem to want to keep the band together, so expect him to sign for less. Guessing $10.5-11/ for 7 years but am hoping they get him locked up for 8 years.

Have said before, pretty sure it was simply a function of the contract being due during the covid era. And with all the uncertainty that brought, the 2 sides couldn't find a LT deal that made sense to both sides. And, you're right, it will cost them money in the LT but because they have several other reasonable to both sides deals they'll be able to afford his bankbreaking deal.

Malkin & Tavares are 1st liners that play on the 2nd line often because their teams are better playing a lesser player on the wing of the top line. Backstrom is a 1st liner that plays there quite a bit. And to be concerned that a player (not named McDavid) can't double what he did at 20 years old seems rather skittish. (Not the ideal word there, but wasn't coming up w/ a better one.)

Elite & 2nd line seem contradictory terms. Is he elite RIGHT NOW? No. Is he a 2C right now? Yes. Is he still crazy young with a great possibility of being a 1C? Yes. The only disappointing part of this deal is that it isn't 8 years,

Only 7 years? 😞 Great job, Mr. Adams. Another key piece locked up at a reasonable deal for a long time. Awesome.

Sad that she likely won't be the same as prior to her injury. Glad that we now know what happened. Didn't ask publicly for the information, but again am glad we have it. The family did & does have the right to privacy. But sports teams aren't like normal businesses. The term fan is short for fanatic & those of us that waste so many of our few precious hours on this Earth opining & obsessing about something so seemingly insignificant in the grand scheme like the travails of a sports team are pretty much by definition fanatics. We live & breathe this team & many of us also live & breathe the Bills & Bandits too. (And we like the Amerks, some here even live & breathe them too. We won't get into the Kin-ig-hit Hawks.) As we do live & breathe these teams (and let's face it, millions more live and breathe their direct competitors) and we really do love the teams & by extention those associated with the teams, there is an anxiety that many feel from not knowing what is happening. Supporting a small market's franchises we've all dealt with multiple rumors of our favorite teams relocating & some local teams have pulled up stakes never to return. Not knowing whether someone that many fans end up loving as if they were our own family members will be / is OK & the subsequent uncertainty that carries with it for so many ancillary items is stressful in its own way. They don't owe us updates, but because of that weird relationship fanatics have with the object of their fandom, it is good that those entrusted with the stewardship of the object(s) of our obsession have finally gotten to a point where they were comfortable sharing this with us. The news isn't particularly good, but knowing is somehow settling. A sincere thank you to Jessica Pegula for that. That's great that Kelly had learned CPR so recently. Seems that decision literally saved her mother's life & helped make whatever recovery she has more complete than it would've been had she miraculously lasted until the paramedics got to her without the intervening CPR. Hopefully many of us that haven't learned it or learned it years ago & might have forgotten much will now get around to actually getting certified. Hopefully Kim Pegula will continue to improve as her recovery progresses. Fortunately for her, they can afford the best specialists and treatments that there are. If you're inclined to pray, hopefully you'll do so for her continued recovery. Can imagine what they're going through, but can't imagine how surreal it is when one goes through something like this publicly. One thing they have going for them because of their status as public figures is there are literally millions of people pulling for her and wishing her a full recovery. That can't hurt any and could even be beneficial.

Doesn't matter. Get to 98-99 & all will be fine. Need to find 4 points over an 0.600 pace to do so. Doable but very challenging. The best things in life often are.

When the Mittelstadt line was being listed as the 2nd line they were getting a lot of the 3rd pairing du jour (as a big part of that was during the injured D stretch) & not much of Dahlin. When they got bumped down, Cozens line inherited that pairing usage. With Granato doing a lot of simple line rotation, it isn't like he matches lines a lot but he does to a degree. (Particularly on the 1st rotation of the game & then usually of the other periods.) But he does have significantly difference deployments in 5 man units as you noted.

Nice analysis. Hoping you're right and that whole crew is on the verge of breaking out. Personally view it in simpler terms. (Which by definition misses a fair amount of nuance.) They've gotten tougher matchups since Mittelstat's line got bumped & eventually converted to Jost's line. They'll break through soon, as they get a smidge better. But getting Jost's line treated as the 2 could be the difference between the Kids breaking out and truly tearing it up.

Don't see why. Can't come up w/ a single major disaster ottomh in the last 60 years that the world didn't unite to offer assistance. The afflicted country might turn down the offer, but it always gets made.

That thin blue line around the neck in the photo of Dahlin is actually he top of the collar. So, the collar isn't completely white.

Holy Mother of God, this day just keeps getting better & better. 😉

Day-um. On the bright side, you now know it isn't some degenerative disease and with your background & connections any work you need done will be by somebody you will know is top notch. And, there're gonna have to shave your head to fix that, right? Whoo, hoo, there's hope yet. 😉

Yes he did! THIS is how we DO it. This is how we do it.

Sorry. Only 1 guy has a 40 inch waist. There is only ONE true husky amongst them all. 😉