K-9

Are these ESPN announcers the regular play by play announcers for the Islanders?

ESPN wasted no time washing the Isles’ nutsacks the entire pregame. Not even trying to hide their favoritism.

Looks like I’m forced to make a retraction. Apologies, Meatballs.

It occurs to me that every time Donny G says there’s a good chance an injured player will play, he’s full of crap.

Lundell deserves a stick shoved down his throat for what he did to Dahlin last time we played them.

I’ll see what I can dig up, but I got my initial info from the Pew Research Center. If you want, just google “What percentage of Americans want a theocracy” and you’ll find info as well. To be fair, there are religious groups pushing back on this movement as well. What I’m most concerned about is the inherent blindness to the threat. To wit, even though they admit it’s against the Constitution, it’s still ok. I mean, WTF? Anyway, I hope even this little bit hasn’t disrupted the thread. My apologies to the forum if it has.

You know what line is much thinner? It’s the line between intolerance/exclusivity and condemning that lifestyle. Especially when we see this condemnation come in the form of actually being codified into law as we are currently seeing in some states. I cannot agree more with your last sentence. Like Gandhi advised, let’s be the change we wanna see.

If nothing else, perhaps it’s just to let a marginalized community know they are welcomed, without judgement, without fear. I don’t think that’s a small thing in a world where in some countries these people can be jailed or put to death simply for being who they are. Or in our own country where 47% of those polled are in favor of a theocratic government (let that marinate a bit) and there are states proposing or passing laws to stigmatize and marginalize them in schools and other venues. How about banning books, punishing discussion, or not even letting them exhibit pictures of their partners on their desks at work? I wonder what comes next in these states. Will they be forced to wear rainbow colored stars everywhere they go? Will they be rounded up and made to live only in certain places? I’m sure many here will scoff at my post and see that as an overreaction to the issue. Fine. But history always repeats itself when we don’t take a stand and let it be known that this kind of hatred cannot be tolerated in a free society.

Just to be clear, I’m not saying one way or the other what position they “need to go”, I’m merely saying given what’s occurred to this point in the offseason the signs point to a need position on defense. But like I said, if a blue chip offensive player should fall or Beane likes one enough to trade up to get, then I could see an offensive player being the pick. A lot can happen between now and the draft, though.

Every positional group on offense, with the exception of TE, has been addressed to this point in free agency. Unless a blue chip offensive stud falls to us at 27 or Beane feels one is worth trading up to get, then I gotta believe our first pick will be defense, specifically MLB, specifically Jack Campbell if he’s there. He just seems like a McD type of player and we have a huge hole to fill now that Edmunds has left for the Bears. Certainly a lot can happen between now and the draft, but the tea leaves are easy to read at this point.

Do we have any work visa specialists in the house? I ask because my cursory research on the subject indicates a processing time for the P-1A visa for athletes of 3-6 months, but if you want to pay a premium that can be shortened to 15 days. If that’s the case, then it’s no surprise that Levi hasn’t been issued the visa yet.

Perhaps I confused “practicing with the team” with “working on the ice after practice” which he has been doing. Thanks for the clarification. And I didn’t read anything into your post about casting aspersions; just busting your chops a bit.

You have no desire to cast aspersions, but went ahead and did so anyway. 😂 Does it occur to anyone concerned about the delay that it may not matter at all to the Sabres or Levi? That, since it was gonna be well over a week since he played by the time the immigration paperwork was processed, that they’d prefer some practices under his belt before playing him in the meantime? This is as much of a non issue as can be.

I’m not, either. But with all the pitchforks out about owners that won’t spend money, an inept GM, clueless coaching, etc., I just wanna be clear that this isn’t added to their list of lynchable offenses.

Since the delay in signing him was Levi’s decision and totally out of their control, it’s not even a minor screw up by the Sabres.

I appreciate the input. The reason I asked in the first place is because a couple of posts suggested the Sabres somehow screwed up here when they actually have zero control over the process. Perhaps is was sarcasm, but it’s worth clarifying none the less.

Regarding the immigration issue, can anyone here tell me how and in what way the Sabres can influence the speed of the process one way or the other?

Teams lost hundreds of millions of dollars during the pandemic alone. As I mentioned previously, there is a reason why the NHL and 20 teams, including the Sabres, filed suit against five insurance companies to recoup those lost revenues.

As you imply, there are better times to invest heavily than others. This core is not at the point where adding a piece or two puts them over the top and makes them legit contenders. But they will be soon. As to the Pegulas not spending money? That’s a complete croc. Terry threw money around like it was going out of style and it didn’t get us anywhere. If he wasn't gonna wise up on his own, then the pandemic losses did it for him. There’s a reason why the Sabres, the league, and 19 other teams filed suit against those five insurance companies to recoup some of those pandemic losses. There’s a reason why he implemented the austerity measures and fired JBotts for not complying. But after surviving the pandemic he wasted little time in ramping back up to rebuilding a robust scouting and analytics department, not to mention the willingness to extend several key players as well.

Maybe won’t

Sure, but will he accept invitations to speak at colleges?

FFS! Every important movement for change in this country’s history was a result of a “woke” extreme leftist movement at the time. Starting with those extremists who founded it in the first place. MTG, Tucker Carlson, and the other crazed wingnuts on the far right would do well to remember that. Then again, that would require MTG and the rest of her ilk to actually open a book and learn something.