Taro T

If we weren't in the middle of a pandemic that shut the world, and significantly impacted the owners' main cash flow sources, maybe he would've. Considering nobody knew what was coming a year down the road, am willing to cut him some slack on the 1 year deals. (And it wasn't the only 1 year deal that hurt.) Owners knew what their cash flows were short term, but if things stayed locked down they were very much in doubt LT.

Things people continually dismiss in discussing Ullmark is that the Sabres had exclusive negotiating rights to Ullmark, that he agreed that the "final" offer from the Sabres was acceptable if nobody else beat it, AND reportedly the Sabres offered to match the Boston deal. Rather than keeping some money back in his offer to Ullmark, Adams should've and could've made the Boston offer BEFORE he hit FA. If Ullmark was honest w/ Adams, and there is no reason to expect he wasn't, then at that point, the B's that were far closer to the cap than the cap floor chasing Sabres would've had to beat Buffalo's offer. People always seem to look at it from prior to the trade deadline or after the Boston offer. But Adams still could've gotten the prize by simply making his "best offer" actually his best offer. He got cute, trying to save cash when he didn't need to do so. And it burned him. To your point on the Hawks, yeah, those 2 trades were the final nail in the wheels falling off.

The primary (only?) reason to remain hopeful is that he was the best goalie in junior hockey prior to the elective double hip surgeries and all accounts regarding the surgeries say they were successful and though they have obviously bothered him he has fixed one major issue he was having since the surgeries. Last year & in the preseason, he was letting a LOT of pucks go in over his shoulder both glove & stick side. He still occasionally gives up that goal but not appreciably more than other goalies. So, he's either managed to get his butterfly back to what it was before the surgeries, has adjusted to them, or a combo. If he really can get past the mental hurdle of the hips just not feeling "right" when they do what they're supposed to, he could be a solid NHLer. This past preseason was completely ready to give up on him. But he has improved. Who knows, maybe this leg injury might be good in the long run as he has had a really awkward leg movement NOT result in a major injury. Wouldn't be at all surprised that he isn't playing shy for fear of a hip failing. On a different note, Adams believes (or at least states) that w/ the additional structure that there is at the NHL level will allow UPL to be better at the higher level as his is a more technically correct style when it is on. Hopefully he's right. But it is far from certain. IF UPL can get the low shots (especially 5 holes) under control he could be a Biron. Still want someone better ahead of him and don't have a good feel for whether he can get the hips out of his head which keeps him ceiling even lower. And, yeah, Adams does seem to have UPL in the backup role penciled in. But, though we fret that another year of subpar goaltending might mess up the team chemistry; expecting that view doesn't take into full account just how high character these players are. So, even if goaltending or injuries torpedoes next season, don't expect it'll doom the next. But it will hurt attendance tremendously & therefore profits. Hoping that causes Adams to not just come close to a deal for a real starter but actually land him.

If the Bills could go from the NFL's equivalent of Siberia to a place that a guy like Von Miller would rather play for than the defending Champs in well under 5 years, the Sabres can become a place NHLers want to be as well.

IMHO Dell remains the starter until he has a bad period which sees the Amerks down by at least 2. At that point UPL finishes the game & if he looks good he gets the next start. When UPL is on his game, he is significantly better than Dell. Problem is, he's only really been on his game the couple of weeks after Dell get sent back down early in the season. When UPL isn't on his game, Dell w/ all his flaws is the better goalie. Dell also seems to be better when he's under siege & can't handle prosperity. How many times in this playoff run did Dell give up a goal on the 1st or 2nd shot against when it came 5 minutes into the game? At least twice and pretty sure 3 times. UPL probably doesn't give up those "prosperity" goals, so the Amerks might actually be able to get a big lead w/ UPL but in a tight game he'll be more likely to give up that late critical goal than Dell.

If Peterka continues his strong play in the playoffs, he is earning getting penciled into a slot to be beaten out to not make the opening lineup. But let's see how he does versus Laval before putting that in pen. He didn't do much in the RS game that @Weave was talking about in an Amerks thread.

In the playoffs, the same could be said about R2 Rou2. Those 2, along w/ Krebs, have been the offensive drivers. Is R2 getting penned into the opening day lineup as well?

His streak was also the longest w/ a single team. Unger had played for several teams during his career and actually was dressed the night his streak ended but never took to the ice.

Could simply be a courtesy to the assistants to let them look for a new job while a new HC is being identified. If that's the case, could see some of them back. When Whaley was canned by the Bills all the scouts were released but a few stuck around. Or, it could be more nefarious. Will assume it's out of courtesy until we hear otherwise.

Seems she was a cunning linguist. So, it likely was working for her. 😉

Due to uneven schedules & also to boost playoff revenues only the bottom 2 teams in each division missed the playoffs. So, in a 7 team division like the Amerks are in 5 teams made the playoffs & 3 teams avoided "round 1." But out west w/ 9 teams, 7 got in and only the top team got a bye. In the other 2 divions, there were 5 & 6 playoff teams respectively as they are a 7 & an 8 team division.

It seems he's a bit like Ted Nolan in that his players love him and his bosses tolerate him in good times and loathe him in bad times. (Well, they loathe him in good times too, but PITAs that are winning get tolerated much better.)

And yes, the arena clock operator (though not the official timekeeper obviously) might have tried to get away w/ something. But this has been an issue ALL season long w/ watching the Amerks feed. Really doubt that every rink operator in the Eastern Conference is pulling something shifty. It's far more likely the Amerks broadcast of their own, or the other team's, rink feed has issues because it has been a noticeable problem all year long.

And yet, if you go back to the puck starting w/ 3 something left, the clock didn't start running for about 4 seconds then it skipped forward 2 seconds & another 2 and was caught up. That happens every broadcast.

Sunday Monday Home Wednesday 7PM Home Friday 7:05 PM Game 5 if necessary Sunday

Nope. Most likely 2-2-1 as it is another best of 5.

They also were saying all 3rd period that the clock operator would slow things down. Have watched about 20 games on AHLTV and pretty much EVERY game had the clock (& often the score graphics) screwed up fairly often.

And it is over. 4-2. Bring on the Rocket. (What's with all these teams having UTI's? 😉 )

Not actually. That's been a common issue w/ the broadcasts. The clock on the feed tends to start late.

MacInnis, Malone, & Holmstrom out for the puck drop. Comets ice it. Same forwards.

Jankowski from behind his own goal line. 1:01 left.

Daws to the bench. Under 2 to go. Empty netter!

Amerks starting to try to clog the neutral zone. Fairly effective for a minute or so, but the Comets got a bit of pressure. 3:05 left. Faceoff to the left of Dell. 2:22 left. Faceoff coming up to the right of Dell. After a nice rush by Quinn. Back out of thezone.

Nice rush by Peterka & Krebs. No goal, but finally getting a faceoff in the bad guys' end. 4:43 left. Jankowski, R2Rou2, & Quinn out for the faceoff. 4:00 to go.

Dell seemed shaken up by his last save. Amerks iced it to give him a breather. 5:33 left. Play starting to stay in the Amerks end.