Taro T

Which works for A game. It's tough to go to ~20 weeknight games doing that. But will be at this one. Taking the old man. Might be his only game of the year.

Read that as repping your Canes hat on 1st glance. Huh? Wut? Definitely need coffee. And, you think weeknight games are tough, at least you don't have close to a 90 minute drive in.

That's OK. Barkov is. 😠

A player's max salary can only be 20% of the total cap, so he couldn't get $20, but $16 & change would be allowable. They'd need to trust Cozens implicitly because they can't have a subsequent deal finalized until January 1. Surely the league would fuss, but it would just be something they'd "correct" w/ the next CBA. Liking where this is heading.

Regurgitation...

Very interesting idea. The question is how do the other guys due deals now & next year view that deal? Also, why do that for somebody else's player? Why not give that style deal to Cozens as an example.

As have said before, if the Sabres land him will believe it was the right move. But am mildly concerned that right at the point the team is becoming relevant mainly due to chemistry and EVERY player reaching the top 20% of their potential at this stage of their career that they might bring on a big name big $ guy right before they're going to start paying their own guys and that that might mess up that chemistry/ magic that they're currently riding. It could be a great move and on paper it sure does look it (depending, obviously on what gets moved for him). But Vegas thought they were making the team that went to the finals their 1st season better by bringing in big $ big names & it seems the more big names they bring the lesser the sum seems to be. We've been in the woods 11 years. We're seeing what seems to be the edge of the forest. Just have concerns that BIG changes could muck it up & send us off on a separate direction. Again, IMHO Adams has earned a degree of trust, and if he makes a move or 2 will trust that it/they is/are good. But still would be surprised if he actually does make a big move now.

And he hadn't been at their summer camp recovering from an injury. That could've been a big part of not making the team. That, & Canada iced a rather old squad this year. Also a strike against him.

Rosen, this year's 1st, & another guy (Weisbach perhaps?) for roughly 110 games + however many playoff games this year & next of a guy that will simply walk after the '24 playoffs are done? You seem to be channeling your inner Tim Murray w/ that one. IMHO the only way they bring him in is if they have at least a mid-term (4 years) deal ready to be signed. The Snarks aren't going to just let him go cheaply & the Sabres aren't going to convert LT assets into a 1 year & change deal.

So close to a very excellent post. (Didn't get the Tony Danza reference. Was it something about following up Taxi w/ Who's the Boss or something about his time as a talk show host? And, no, that's not why it ws only close.) The guy was a great hockey player but seems to have had more warts than most. Hopefully his story can be yet another basis of an admonition to not treat athletes or other entertainers as heroes simply because they are more coordinated &/or stronger &/or more graceful &/or quicker than the average person. Look to the rest of what makes them who they are before going there. (And really that can be said about most anyone; not just those seeking the spotlight.) And, back to (presumably) PA's point, people by definition are flawed. Those that revel in watching others get shredded by the Jacobins aught to be careful lest they find their own actions & thoughts to be the next target. Hope Hull may RIP. The hockey world lost a great player. But won't be celebrating his accomplishments.

Realize the league year isn't over, but the Bills season is & this is for next season anyhow. Walton must have serious Walton Bucks, as Payton will be the Donkeys new HC. Apparently NO gets the 1st Denver got in the Chubb trade (IIRC, SF's pick originally) & a '24 2nd rounder. Guess Denver thinks draft picks are overrated.

Really doubt Adams would give him the sort of contract he'd want as there are guys in house that have deserved the raise for what they've done here. The other Q that we don't know is would Meier be all in for ending up in Buffalo. The players that are here genuinely want to be here. Giving Meier Skinner money could be an issue. That said, am firmly in the camp that if Adams trades for him it'll be a good move. If he doesn't get him, am OK with it because he either didn't want to be here or the price (either in assets or $'s) was deemed too high.

He was but got called back up sometime around the WJCs. Guess this last stint was no more impressive than his previous ones. Too bad. Would've been a good story.

He probably wrote the general sentiments but somebody then edited it for him. Just like every other memo / letter that comes from the corporate world. Doubt writing the letter was his idea, but expect he was a willing writer & the sentiments are genuine. And doubt the person or people that pushed for this were thrilled w/ seeing Asplund & Bryson included among those that have been here through a lot of trials & tribulations. It was a nice letter. Hopefully it worked as intended.

Pretty sure they started them in '16-'17.

In addition to the other questions, the big ones IMHO (& don't follow the Nucks, so this question brought up by the way you worded your post might not even be relevant) would be is Demko the sort of goalie that needs a lot of work IN GAME & are the Sabres going to remain the sort of team that gives up a lot of chances or will they tighten up their D as the team figures out its O and as they age beyond the youngest in the league. Because if he does need a lot of work in a particular game to be good, it could be a match made in heaven at present but could become Denis Herron in Moe-ray-all a year or 2 from now. (For you younguns, Herron was an amazing goalie on really bad KC & Pittsburgh teams in the mid-late 70's. He had a bad GAA but that was because he faced a ton of shots, a lot of which were high danger. Those teams should've lost a lot worse than they did. When Dryden retired, the Habs picked him up figuring that w/ a normal workload he'd be even better. But he couldn't backstop a good team. He didn't get nearly enough work to stay sharp in game there and his time in Moe-ray-all was pretty much a failure.) No. But he might be.

Would like to have Adams inquire about it. But at the end of the day it comes down IMHO how much of an upgrade over Comtie do they consider him to be & is the difference between the 2 worth the difference in what you'd pay to get him & what you'd get back in a trade of Comrie. And remember, they (management & the players) like Comrie. He & Power were the 2 interviewees at the 1st Blue & Gold Insights this year. They don't usually ask guys they're about to jettison to sit through an hour long Q&A w/ the fans. Though will admit, nothing is static & if the team can be improved Adams should be interested. At the end of the day it is still a business.

This should be interesting. Please do. Going to go for counting partial calendar years as full years no doubt.

Had planned on going to that one. Turns out the tix were still up on Ticket Master & guess we're not going. Sold Saturday. Ooops. Will be there tomorrow though. You should see a good one. Really wanted to go to it.

EVER viewed him as a C, no. 2 years ago? Even Thompson didn't view himself as a C. Granato & Tage's mom were the last 2 holdouts. And per @Pimlach, there is at least 1 member of the Sabres coaching staff who was still in the 'he's a RW' camp as of this past training camp. It was a brilliant move. But it's not like Thompson would just be a tall Hinostroza were he a W. He'd still be a 2nd liner & maybe a 1st liner. He just wouldn't be He-Giraffe defender of all that's good and sacred & scourge of rouge enemy goalies.

Lafleur or Bossy could have that #6 slot instead of Jagr. The other 5 though are pretty much locks. And suppose Howe could be there as well, though he was on the (slow) downside by the time they expanded in '66-'67.

He also would've gotten an opportunity as a HC about a decade earlier minus the cancer diagnosis. Sabres completely lucked into him being available.

Nice propaganda video, just off on several facts. Already mentioned that Thompson didn't play for Bylsma, he was in St. Louis then. So it likely was Yeo that was the other lousy NHL coach he had. Though Thompson might have played W on the USD team, Granato is on record as having said Thompson played C back then which was what gave him the idea to try Thompson at C. And though Thompson believes in himself, he himself has said he did not see himself at C in the NHL. Granato is literally the only person that saw him there. Personally expect Thompson's breakout was due to 2 factors - getting moved back to C being 1, but the other being Thompson finally growing into his frame. Even if he were still playing W, Tage would be a very good player. He wouldn't be as good because having the boards near him does limit him to a degree, but it really only comes into play in his 1/2 of the ice as the F's do a lot of cycling offensively and don't just go straight up & down the ice. He'd still now have the toe drag & 1 timer which are huge parts of his game. (A 3rd factor is he worked his arse off, as rightfully stated in the video, & developed a quicker release to his shot. He was telegraphing his shot in earlier seasons & goalies will stop shots they expect & are square for all day at that level.) He's now strong enough not to lose the puck in traffic & that toe drag that worked at lower levels works again. But had he been playing C even 2 years ago, he wouldn't have been nearly as good as he wouldn't be winning battles & taking the puck from guys and he'd still be losing the puck when checked. Thompson was amazing in his 1st TC w/ the Sabres. He made guys look silly w/ that toe drag, but guys from his own team also weren't lining him up. Opponents did & it didn't work often even when he brought the puck away from the boards. Not taking anything away from Granato. Again, he is literally the only person that still saw Tage as a C.

You missed the point. Should've been more clear. Sorry. Was saying that Cincy fans are whining about holding calls KC got away w/. Based on the previous week's game, know that Cincy holds a lot too. So, am pretty sure Cincy got away w/ a lot of them vs KC too. Didn't watch the game closely enough to say if the refs favored KC or Cincy or neither. But expect it was neither. The unnecessary roughness call at the end was the right one. Mahomes was clearly into the white when 58 got to him and the main force of the hit came on the other side of that big white stripe. And 58 crashed hard into his own bench making the hit. It was a painfully dumb play to make & watch & really didn't care who won.

You might be interested in knowing that at last night's B&G Insights, both he & Frack (or is he Frack & the German one is Frick?) mentioned that their cardio training is almost entirely practices & games and their off-ice training is nearly exclusively strength training under the supervision of the training staff. Everybody knows the biggest thing holding these 2 back is not being man strong yet. (Though Peterka seems closer to it at this time than Quinn IMHO.)