MattPie

It could have just been the pieces not falling into place with trades and whatnot, and deadlines from other offers. We'll probably never know. For instance, STL offers what they did to Ott, with July 10 being the day that offer is taken off the table. Ott is waiting on Murray if there's some trade in the works. Since that trade hasn't happened Ott tells Murray he needs to take STL's offer. It's just like any other job interview process.

I always have hope for another Snow-job on the Island.

That's OK, being Americans most of us know nothing about your country. Other than Beer and Mussels.

We already have. I'm sure it predates it, but let's call it the NcNabb Effect (NME). Young kid on D throws a few checks and suddenly he's the next Scott Stevens (but cleaner).

Je suis Inigo Montoya, tu as tué mon père.

Sure thing, what do you like.

Hodgson + Ennis + NYI 1st for Kane!

I was so hoping to find out the BC Lions (CFL) had gone to a bunch of Grey Cup games but never won it all. But they have, twice. In 1994, surprisingly enough, against the "Baltimore CFLers".

The Hipsterfication of America. I've seen several yutes lately wearing dark mid-height socks and "athletic" sandals. I wish those kids would get off my lawn.

Yeah, it's just Buffalo. It's not like the guys here in Philly on the radio said during the recent Giroux arrest, "Damn, why couldn't this have been Crosby."

As soon as you cross the Mason Dixon, that becomes the norm. I have to switch into "It's OK to pass on the right" mode as soon as I hit Maryland.

I'm not sure how socks relate in this case the staff infections, but dark socks are a "thing" these days. Get with the times, man!

It's a fix. The Brazilians were going to burn the place down whether they won the final or lost it (hi Vancouver!), but hopefully losing in the semis will keep the mayhem to a minimum.

We'll be living with it no matter what since we have no input on how the Pegulas run the team. Why worry about it? As fans (except for Stafford who reads the board religiously) we only ever have two courses of action: watch or don't watch. Everyone has to make their own decision where the line is on that one.

Fair enough. I figure that those 1st-rounders are a 50% hit rate and the 2nd rounders are more like 25% (I don't even know if I'd go that far) so of the 20 we're only going to see 7 really good players, and I think we have at least 7 holes in the line-up to fill. :)

I see it this way: the prospect and pick (at best the StL 1st) that go out for this 20-30 goal scorer will be locked up for at least 6-7 years as long as the Sabres do all the basic qualifying offers and whatnot. I'm not buying that trading away 4-5 years (after they establish in the NHL) of two probably good players for (as you admit) not many more wins this year and (hopefully) chemistry with the younger players is worth the trade. It's mortgaging the future for some (?) success today.

I'd say a Moulson-equivalent is about the best we're going to get back in a trade. Do we need more of that type of player for the next 2-3 years? I doubt a player with 4+ years on his contract gets traded unless the contract is a bad one. In 2-3 years, ideally 3 of the 5 high picks we've taken make the NHL. Unless we've traded 1-2 of the more promising prospects away for Moulson-equivalent.

I'm not in the least bit surprised. I have no idea who is coming up in any draft other than the NHL (NFL, MLB, NBA), why would the residents of Erie be any different?

I hear Garth Snow is working out a deal to trade a pick for negotiating rights.

I always took that as gallows humor, but I may be projecting my own feelings onto those posts. All last year, I'd be mildly happy if they won, and just kind of neutral if they lost. It's actually somewhat nice in an odd way, none of the post-loss hangover that I'd get when a Sabres loss mattered (most of the previous 5-6 years). If anything, GDTs weren't very cluttered last year because there were so few posters. :)

I'm thinking your sarcasm meter is misaligned. Or at least that's how I read it, understated humour from our overseas friend. :)

No one has suggested the team and coaching staff are actually tanking, as in throwing games. Ted Nolan walks in on day 1 and says, "We all know the situation we're in. We're not expected to be good. We're not expected to win. But we're going to work our ###### off and play hard. Let the wins and losses fall where they may.". Is this really so hard to understand? Bolded: No, it can't. The last time it happened was the special case of the Sedins. If I read right, Joe Thornton is the only player that was picked #1 that has been traded during the salary cap era, and no team has actually traded the pick itself. If you get the #1 overall, you make the pick.

The poll could have done with a "somewhat" option, or something less than "pissed".

Hurting his feelings it is then.