Stoner

I was just there. I found nothing to bitch about and I love to bitch. And they still let 10s of thousands sit up there. Posturing, I'd say.

This needs to stop. There wasn't anything wrong with the stadium and there isn't anything wrong with the arena that some modest owner funded improvements wouldn't fix.

I think they took the TV out of your hospital room.

In looking up seasons for the Best Finishes thread, I saw mention of Danny Gare beating the Islanders in Game 2 at the Aud in OT to give the Sabres a 2-0 lead in the series. I'll be damned if I remember that one. And... there are no videos of it anywhere to even jog my memory. I recall the spring of 75 like it was this morning (I'd say yesterday, but my memory ain't what it used to be). I went to my first games at the Aud in the spring of 78, including a playoff game, and my recollection of that Pens series in 79 is vivid. In between are special memories, but so many gaps, especially, for some reason, the playoffs of 76 and 77. (I don't remember Luce vs. St. Louis in OT, either.) For you, are there any empty spots?

With four wins, the Sabres would go 12-5-3 in their final 20 games for 27 points. Best 20-game finishes (I'll admit to scanning the record book right quick and so have only about a 90% confidence I got this perfectly): 75-76: 13-4-3 ties (29 points) 10-11: 13-4-3 (29 points) 79-80: 10-2-8 ties (oh, sister!; 28 points) 74-75: 12-5-3 ties (27 points) 21-22: 12-5-3 (27 points) 11-12: 12-5-3 (27 points) (89-90, 00-01 and 06-07 finished with 26 points) What did strong finishes mean? The 76 team, a year out from making the final, barely escaped the Blues in a best of three preliminary round and fell to the upstart Islanders in the quarterfinals. The 11 team was, of course, the last Sabres team to make the playoffs, and somehow choked on a glorious likelihood of knocking out Philly. The 80 team went on a long run, losing again to the Islanders, this time in the semifinal round, in Bowman's first spring as head coach — recalled for Lindy going after Billy Smith in the decisive game on LI. 75, you know what happened. In 12, the Sabres' heroic run came up short of a playoff berth. Of the 26ers, oh what might have been had Lemieux gotten vertigo or Gilmour some desire. As for the following October and any carryover from the spring, I haven't gotten that far in my study. Others can opine. One thing I realized is that my skepticism of strong finishes in the last 10 years doesn't seem to be based on much — there haven't been any strong finishes since 2012, really. Of course I am defining a strong finish somewhat broadly. I'm pretty sure some of the recent finishes had people dreaming of autumn, and not just for the cool temps and colorful leaves. I'm not sure there's any precedent for the place this franchise finds itself. People can point to 03-04, but it wasn't a particularly impressive ending to the season, the last quarter anyway. These Sabres might be in uncharted waters. An odd footnote is that the 92-93 Sabres lost their last seven games before sweeping the Bs!

Has either guy played in a big game?

Mary Chesnut.

It worked out OK for Ben Franklin.

See, that's good. But don't explain it. Stick with me sonny.

Smart play by Dahlin on the can of corn.

There it is. Thanks for being honest. I just asked a question. He sure was playing like his hockey IQ was 81.

See, it's not that difficult.

Anywho was that going to be the right call on the PS?

Ah, Bach.

I don't get it! Der.

Words matter. Who wanted to trade Dahlin for a fraction of his worth?

No there isn't. And stop acting like there weren't good reasons for skeptical Dahlin threads last fall.

When you're older you'll understand. Keep playin with memes.

You understand plenty.

Thankfully your grandma didn't.

Next season there will be a standard GDT subject line format. I wish SDS would create a template or something. This is a serious, big boy hockey board.

Wild and woolly.

Rick can still hit some notes.

Sometimes I think it's all random — the nature of a sport played on ice with big bodies in the way, a sliding vulcanized rubber disk, boards and glass keeping the puck in play, goal posts, and the my God, the Gods, the Hockey Gods. It's basically why I reject fancy stats and analytics. So much about the sport is not discrete, measurable. It's the beauty of it. There's no E-4 or QB rating, nor should there be.