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What if they had somebody like that weenie that NBC brought out on FNiA late in the season to run through every team's chances of making the playoffs and how they change with each other win/loss earlier in the day? They could have the weenie talking about how x ball getting popped affects each team's chances as now a proverbial truck ton of tickets can no longer be winners. And then do it again after the next ball and again after that one. Then interview the GMs that still have a chance after 3 have popped. Talk to the Arizona GM about how much it stinks that once again they won't be winning the lottery as all their 200 different number combinations somehow didn't have all 3 balls already grabbed included in their mix. And then after the final number is drawn have a large flashing logo of the winning team overhead with some Rip Taylor wannabe running around throwing confetti at the GM of that team like he was the winner of the $1.98 Beauty Contest. It could be so horrific and kitschy you wouldn't be able to look away. A ratings triumph.

Or steer into it. Either would be better and honestly an over the top ####show might actually be entertaining in a warped way.

Love Okposo as a person and for what he's meant to this team. But see him as being the corpse of Pominville next year if he comes back. Would rather have a 4th line of Kulich/Krebs/Rousek if they aren't bringing any other forwards in from the outside. (Place Girgensons in in place of Kulich initially if that is making that line too young.) And could very well expect to see both Girgensons and Okposo gone based on Adams comments about the team being even younger next year than they were this year. Simply knocking Anderson off the roster doesn't make it younger than it was last October especially if the 4D that comes in is in the 27-28 yo range.

Didn't believe he was saying Granato isn't good at developing talent. He is. But he was saying we don't know if Granato is capable of being more well rounded than that. If he can be more well rounded (and he very well may be) it would be a snub to simply label him a development guy.

And it might go a long way towards preventing the next lynch mob from forming if not only the lawyer that brought this so impactfully into the public eye faced consequences but those leading the lynch mob as well also faced consequences for their role in the matter. Can think of at least one, and probably several, media personalities that were all in before having even gotten to the end of the lawyer's press release and leading the frenzy. Were that (those) person(s) to lose their job(s) perhaps the next time accusations such as this arise again (and they'll arise again) they could be actually discussed in a rational way before the target of the indignation receives the tar and feathering prior to anybody outside those that were there in the moment actually having a clue as to what actually happened. Sometimes the tar and feathering is deserved; but often and seemingly in this case it wasn't and isn't. Pretty sure it's way too much to ask for though.

In order to get there, FLA will have vanquished Boston, Toronto, likely Carolina, and then likely either Vegas or Edmonton and possibly Dallas. Considering who will have to get left in their wake, let's go Swamp Cats! And that will make not finding 2 more points somewhere within 82 games all that much harder to take. (Even though the 2 points would've flipped them into Carolina's bracket and not Boston's)

In an ideal world, yes. But, don't forget they were getting absolutely pilloried for having had the audacity to have drafted him. EVERYTHING about the team was only about the punter. That their own due dilligence resulted in the same conclusion that the prosecutor's came to didn't matter. They made a decision based on the hellstorm that was being rained down upon them. As @Eleven said, they were never going to stop being asked about him as long as he was on the team. It isn't right, but until there are repercussions for wildly unfounded accusations, there will be future wildly unfounded accusations. (Not saying her & her lawyer's accusations were unfounded, but they sure seem to be if the yahoo article is even close to accurate.) And the team bowed to the public pressure because the distraction very likely could've cost them wins.

Good point. Added an edit warning of such in the original post. Thanks.

Probably should put this in the 2022 Bills thread because it isn't likely that Araiza ends up a Bill again, but apparently the prosecutors in SD have dropped all charges against him and the others that were accused of sexual crimes last year by the same girl. EDIT: The article cited in the tweet includes some explicit language of a depiction of the events of that evening.

The only draft since the Sabres decided to tank that would've been better to get 1st overall in '18 with Dahlin was the '15 draft where McDavid went 1st overall. Am not complaining about winning that one. (Not complaining about winning Power's lottery either, but there likely were better 1st overalls than in his year.) Hopefully the next time the Sabres end up in the top 3 of the draft is when they trade a stud that no longer fits into the big picture for a couple of #1's and one of them pops.

You'd need to hope for another Loaf goalie getting injured. Matt Murray is on TO's playoff roster.

IF the Sabres won the lottery and moved up to 3 (or if any of the teams between 12 and 16 won) presumably they'd stay at 3 (or their new draft position were it one of the other longshots that won) when the winner of the 2nd lottery gets chosen, right? So, the team that had been 2nd overall would then fall to 4 if neither of the bottom 2 teams wins that second lottery, right? One additional Q, if that team that wins the 2nd lottery is close enough to the 1st overall pick to get there would they get the 1st overall or just 2nd overall. Expecting it's just 2nd overall but don't know that for certain.

The Bills were bad and they had some absolute head scratchingly bad picks like Maybin. But a lot of their draft picks during the drought did pan out but they refused to pay market rate for them after their initial contracts so they either traded them for a pittance or simply let them walk. Not keeping any of your good players beyond their 1st contract is a great way to always have to refill the same holes you filled 3 years prior.

Interesting. Always figured it referred to the number of 40-ish divorcees in the area.

The AHL TV does auto renew unless you specifically tell it not to; but had thought that was just for the regular season version. Had to pay extra for the playoffs last year and also this year. And for us, we had to sign up for it again this year for the playoffs before we could watch. Maybe you got lucky and they forgot to change the tag for your account in their database so they think that you paid even though you didn't. Hope so.

And we'll get at least 8 games for that $30. That decision is looking better and better. 😉

They do. But they also have their biases and oftentimes want to support a certain narrative. Just like with reporting on other fields, the reporting will give you an idea of what's going on, but if you aren't privy to primary sources you won't get much more than an idea of what's going on. But it's also like an extension of the old adage. Those that can, do. Those that can't, teach. Those that can't do that, report. And those that can't even do that become "journalists."

He's been on a lot of the NHL's awards shows and pretty sure he's performed at the ASG too.

Coaches are hired to be fired. Nearly every single one eventually gets canned. That said, Gallant will land on his feet somewhere. He's an excellent coach. He also pisses his bosses off, so his stay at his next stop will be about 2-3 years. Which is right about the same time that Granato's seat could be getting hot if the Sabres haven't started being contenders and not just getting into the dance.

Was tied up all day and then went to the game last night so didn't have a chance to post a reminder the Bandits were playing last night. They crushed the Kin-ig-hit Hawks 20-8 and will be playing whoever won in Hamilton starting Friday night. That'll be a best of 3. Expecting the game will be on ESPNU, but if not it will be on ESPN+. Good crowd (the place was full except for the 300's below both goal lines which were nearly empty) and good energy. Unlike last year when the Bandits steamrolled almost everybody then played very tight games at the end of the year and the playoffs, this team had a lot of injuries and won a lot of tight games throughout the regular season but have now rolled over their opponents 2 weeks in a row. The opponent for the best of 3 will be tougher, but the Bandits are the healthiest they've been all year and Vinc looks like he's 10 years younger than he is. Bandits were up 3-0 through 1, then the Kin-ig-hit Hawks tied it at 3 on a natural hattie by Cerrone and then tied it again at 4. Then Buffalo scored the next 4 to lead 8-4 at the half. Ra-cha-cha made it 8-6 and then Buffalo decided to run away with it. It was 20-7 with about 6 minutes left when Vinc was pulled. His backup played well only giving up 1 more. Friday should be a fun one, but will be too busy to go to the game. Let's go BAN-DITS!

Never said he was going to go later than the top 10. Said the only issue with his being unpolished is he went to a team known for being a QB wasteland for nearly 2 full decades. As you said, there were other "can't miss prospects" in that draft and yet only 2 of them out of 5 didn't. And 1 of the 2 that didn't miss barely stayed in the 1st round. Josh Allen absolutely could've been derailed had he gone 3rd overall as the Jest are even better at ruining prospects and picking the wrong ones than the Bills were for the 1st 16 years of the 21st century. Maybe going 1st overall would've been a killer too. The team that most rivals the NY Jest for Jetsiness is the Cleveland Browns.

IMHO, the issue with Allen getting drafted by the Bills is the kid was VERY raw (supremely skilled and prototypical size and arm strength) and Buffalo had NO, None, Zip, Nada track record developing QBs. McDermott was known for his defense and Daboll was a question too as to whether he was a product of the Cheatriots and Bama's talent. Had he been drafted by an offensive guru like KC's Reid, would absolutely have expected him to become a great QB. But that's not the team that Allen went to. Allen went to one where Tyrod Taylor was their best QB in the previous 15 years. It wasn't just that Allen was unpolished but he was unpolished and heading to a team that was known for being a Lions/ Jest class joke.

Carolina was Buffalo's kryptonite this year. (The last game between the 2 not withstanding.) Joisey is essentially Buffalo 1 more year advanced on their progress. Joisey matches up MUCH better against the Rags than the Canes. And this is a league that matchups really matter.

Well, the Canadian media are some of their biggest fans. HNIC has become a fluffing fest for them and here stateside TNT gives us Bissonnette for our viewing displeasure.

Provided injuries to the top 6 aren't too long term, the ability to send guys down to Ra-cha-cha without clearing waivers is overrated because guys like Bryson and Clague likely aren't getting taken in the day or 2 before the season starts and then they have 30 days &/or 10 games dressed on the parent club before they need to clear waivers again if they get called up. Especially if the Sabres only keep 2 goalies in Buffalo and add another 6D type (to go with the 4D we hope they bring in) then there will be 8D on the Sabres roster. How bad do injuries need to be to get your #9 10 games of action (especially when he's just marginally better than #10)?