...

I wish the Sabres had a player with 22 goals. Yeesh.

Varone looks itty-bitty out there.

Moulson is extra flaky tonight.

OMG. After being hemmed in their own zone, what a lucky break.

Moulson, CARRY THE PUCK, you twit. Church.

“My mandate here is to get better...” See, I thought his mandate was to win Buffalo a Cup or two. I'm confused. :ph34r:

I think, perhaps, the Miller "situation" will be dictated, in part, by what happens in Sochi. If Miller wins a gold, not only does his value go up, but he also wins a championship. Maybe for Miller, a gold in the Olympics would be enough for him to stick around Buffalo and shoot for a Cup with the team he is loyal to. He also earns a nice contract. If he doesn't win a gold, then he may want to wind up on a contender and get his championship that way. He may be willing to accept less of a contract to ensure he gets placed on a contending team.

The one thing I don't like, although I understand the position he's in, is that it sounds to me like he doesn't have any of the guys on the roster, or even in the system, pegged as a new core. We've all thrown around names by now, but I have my idea of who should be essentially un-movable. As a fan, there are players I've grown to like. Although I want to win a Cup, I would like to "know" the roster that wins it for us. There's nothing saying that won't be the case at the time, but right now I get the impression that Murray would like to completely strip down the team and rebuild from scratch.

This guy, Trevor Noah, is funny as hell: It may be NSFW.

I think even the speculative posts should just forget about including the likes of Grigs and Zadorov. I don't think the Sabres are going to give up the young'ns any time soon.

I brought up Draisaitl a while ago and it pleases me to see he has climbed the rankings. I like, especially, that he "plays equally strong on both his forehand and backhand." That is something I have noticed a lot, lately, where players take too much time trying to turn around for the shot rather than just attempt a backhand. This and face-offs should be something every player works on religiously over the summer. There's no reason to be deficient in these skills. Anyway, what number is the projected drop-off for this draft?

...and risk USA/Canada relations? Never!

He may have been advised by his agent that they could force the hand of the NHL if he makes a deal out of it. He may even have been advised by the Sabres that they could force the hand of the NHL if he makes a deal out of it. Considering the circumstances, I suppose, if the above is true, that it was worth the try. He's obviously confident, and is pretty dead set on the NHL, so perhaps he thinks that whatever PR damage is done now, will be forgotten once he starts scoring goals.

I've been meditating on this a little lately. I can't see how they possibly think any of Zemgus Girgensons, Tyler Myers or Rasmus Ristolainen would be on the market. I consider Myers, Girgs, and, realistically, Hodgson, part of the new core. I would like Miller and Ott to stick around to help the young guys transition for another season or two, at least. Moulson, I think, should be traded for someone young with upside. I could see Stafford being traded for a small return just to move him somewhere else, maybe using that pick (assuming it's a pick) and someone like Ennis for a Hodgson/Kassian style trade. I guess, other than the five I mentioned initially, I think anyone is up on the block, and I'd rather see a lot more warm bodies in return than just picks...unless it's a 2015 first rounder.

Okay, get out your tin-foil hats, because I'm going to lay a doozy on y'all: It's commonly known that the Sabres TV ratings, even when they're mediocre, are among the tops in the league. When the Sabres do well, their ratings shoot up, especially outside the market. Pegula is building his hockey kingdom downtown and will certainly be one of the USA's premier hockey facilities when complete. Pegula, finally, has figured out he had to assemble an all-star front office to manage his team, and, I think it's undeniable that he has done so. The NHL being what it is, political and bureaucratic, what if, with all of the above elements coming together, what if the NHL decides to "help" the Sabres along? The Sabres now have a FO filled with individuals with political clout, and that clout combined could be quite persuasive. The TV numbers, the facilities and all the attention/money that will bring in. All of this might very well overwhelm the NHL to the point where they feel they "have" to help the Sabres along and, if the cards line up at the drafts, the first picks "just happen to fall their way"? Anyone else think this is possible, let alone likely? To me, it depends on how truly political the NHL is internally, and if it's as political as I think it may be, then I can see something like this unfolding. You would also have to believe that the draft drawing can be fixed, which I certainly do, AND that the NHL would do something like that, which I'm not certain of, unless, again, the politics are such that they would.

I think Regier said he had the list before he was canned; that Miller is supposed to submit the list at the beginning of each season.

Not to mention that TM told Simon et al that they're looking at the next TWO drafts to help rebuild the team, so, why not have Nolan around for those years? He can work on finding his ideal coach over the time and land his first choice when the time is right.

Going to be an interesting off-season, that's fer shure.

This is where I'm (still) at. I think a lot of us "Team Stormcloud" folks turned a corner when Regier was fired and PLF was brought it. To me, these moves today just about cement the fact that we can trust Pegula as an owner...even if he's a little slow on the uptake.

Perfect!

Looks like you have "multi-quote" down pretty well.

I don't know if anyone else picked this up, but I think it's significant if the news is from someone at the presser: Steve Lloyd ‏@TSNSteveLloyd 2h Don't look for Luke Richardson to join Tim Murray in Buffalo. Hearing that Ted Nolan will likely get an extension. #Sens #Sabres

Beauty, it's official, now let the wild speculation on what's going to happen with the team and UFA's roll on! As other's have noted, this new HOCKEY leadership group, on paper, looks like it can become the best in the league. Pegula is certainly making up for the years he kept Regier on...anyone doubt the guy is a fan? These kind of FO moves are the sort that fans throw out on message boards as fantasy moves. It's real for the Sabres...I hope they live up to the expectations.

I remember when our first dog died a couple of years ago now...I found that more difficult to handle in the immediate short-term than the death of a person. Now she's a tchotchke under the TV, which we refer to now and again as "she was a great dog...". The pain wore off quickly...here's hoping that's true for you, Doohickie.

Canada did their part in the war, especially their part in taking the beach. I have no problems with the Canadians, other than that they demand a bias from the refs when playing against an American team.