Ghost of Dwight Drane

Can someone do this with Darcy holding Pegula???

I used to fly all the time, so I have a ton of "celebrity" encounters from that alone. While sipping G+T's with 11 was a favorite, plenty of neat hockey ones as well. Sat next to Kerry Fraser on a flight up north for the holidays. He was such a pleasant guy and we talked the whole way about hockey. I give him credit...he called Tampa winning the Stanley Cup. Remember, this is in November or December. I whiffed on my assessments however. I was opining on how I thought Kalinin was one of the best 4 on 4 players in the league and thought he could be something really good. I gave him the obligatory hair shot...he had glasses on and told him I would have never recognized him except for the hair. Then said the glasses explain it all. He was a good egg. Flew with Bret Hedican once. He got a call from his wife right before takeoff...who happens to be Kristi Yamaguchi. After 2 minutes of Yes Dears and eyerolls, he hung up and gave the 1000 yard stare. Another really nice guy. Favorite flying story ever....sat next to Ki Jana Carter on a flight into the wee hours of September 11, 2001. He was headed home to FL for his birthday bash on off time. Another pleasant guy. Talked tons of football, he broke out EA golf on the computer...get in at almost 2AM. Of course you know what happened a few hours later. About a year or so later, I am standing against the wall of a gate at the airport to board, and who comes over to say hello, but Ki Jana Carter. I'm an easy guy to identify, but was amazed he saw me out of the blue. He remembered that flight like I did and we exchanged a WTF moment on how lucky we were not to get caught in the chaos.

He could have just been on the radar in case enough eggs were collected for him. Maybe after the Vanek, Miller and whoever else deals....you are sitting on 5 firsts and 4 seconds the next 2 years. At the time, Grigorenko wasn't a disaster in waiting.... who is to say you don't offer 3 #1's, 2 #2's, Grigs/Girgs, Foligno and Ristolainen??? Or replace some parts with Hodgson and Myers if they need NHL young guys. Anything is possible....and if Darcy could make that trade knowing and with Pegula's understanding they are going to stink the next 3 years no matter what....you could do an awful lot of convincing knowing that in 3 years your centers will consist of Stamkos/McDavid/Hodgson/Girgensons. I'm just trying to go through the thought process. In reality I have no idea what they were thinking or how serious talks ever got. I am just saying dollars to donuts that it was being bandied about at the very least. I didn't want to say it a few months ago because even I thought it was crazy. I have confirmation that a few of the accounts are live now. I hope for F's sake that the Sabres have set up some dummy accounts so that idiots like myself can't get an idea what may be going on. It's not good enough to not use a picture or use an alias or combos of ambiguous stuff, because who you follow and who follows you gives it away.

I wasn't told...it was the same path that led me to see Vanek was about to be dealt. I speculated 24 hours before the Sabres were about to move him and they were talking to the Leafs with Lupul involved. Two days after the trade, word came out the Sabres talked to the Leafs from the talking heads. That let me know I was on the right track. The crumbs were left by a member of the organization. Multiple times by multiple members there have been links to Stamkos. It first started last year. I really think the Sabres and Lightning have been talking on and off for a year about a lot of scenarios. Miller was on the table last deadline, and the Sabres would have loved to get Drouin from what I was seeing. Stamkos was again on the radar at the time the Sabres were shopping Vanek hard, and one of only a few. Since that time, I am more confident in clues I have seen since Gibby got his Twitter degree and started tweeting for the Olympics. It just cemented the 2 Degrees of Kevin Bacon stuff I was using to put things together, his being one of the half dozen dead accounts out there at the time. I agree that there would have to be a barnburner of an offer to pry Stamkos away....but remember, Darcy was trying to hang onto his job for as long as possible. If he had Pegula sold on tanking and could land Stamkos while giving up enough to make sure next year was a tank as well...he has his 2 superstar centers and placates Pegula and possibly the fans for the next few years. As a fallback they were looking at Drouin. While it doesn't seem Stamkos would ever be traded, and I'm sure Tampa wasn't the one who brought the name up or has ever shopped him, there is no reason they wouldn't have moved him for an overwhelming package and no reason the Sabres would be hesitant to give up a king's ransom given their admission they were to outright suffer the next few years. Like I said, I'm sure there is no such ongoing talk, and who knows how serious it was. Darcy was also looking at Bobby Ryan for years and never pulled a trigger. Not the same caliber, but interest doesn't always equal eventual deal. I am far less concerned about tracking the thought process of the organization now as we are no longer an occupied state.

They had a Ramis day on one of the documentary channels only a few weeks ago. They did the makings of Caddyshack and Vacation that I watched and then gave up. I wonder if it was a little tribute knowing he was in rough shape? He just seemed like a down to earth guy that didn't let success turn him into a DB.

The Sabres have had talks with Tampa both last year and this year on Stamkos. This was under the old management however. I highly doubt he is a target now. My opinion is that it was Darcy trying to tide Pegula over with a true franchise player for a year, then trying to get lucky with the #1 pick this year and/or next year. It would have been brilliant on his part to keep his job secure. I have no idea what was talked about in return, but I am confident that he was coveted and it wasn't an untouchable situation for Tampa. Thank God it never happened. I am not joking. In the same breath, the Sabres were talking to LA also. This was pre-Moulson. They must have interest in other Sabres, or at least did. In X's theory....I can see LA being a big trade partner for a combo deal.

He also did the first Vacation with Chevy Chase.

Carolina -130 Buffalo +110 Given the few games in February, the monthly requirement is waived.....

Gibby must have been sipping the Duty Free vodkies from Sochi and felt bad for the old friend.... This is almost like the report on the Bills....do the Old Guard sources get the scoop, or will Ted and Bob Mac counter with the details 45 minutes before the trade???.....

Horrible news. What an all-around talent and manager. He had the perfect balance of letting guys do their thing while keeping their egos in check.

Thanks....I guess I shouldn't use hockeyfights as a resource.....

If it was Hartford...those are the only 2. Northstars?

He was in the box though in the clip going to the next faceoff.....the only other Whaler possibility was Mark Hunter...but that was on a Sunday....

Pretty sure I told this one when he passed, but my dad was a Buffalo cop and used to get detailed at the Aud. In pregame warmups, the guys would wait until he had his back to them in the corner, then fire slapshots at his head to get him to jump. Rick Martin one day gave him a stick autographed by the whole team for the entertainment. I wasn't born yet, so of course he gave it away. My Bills stories are 100x better than any Sabres stories however.

At 42 seconds they show the faceoff...

Or...their dads have gambling issues......

You'd think Darcy would have bootlegged him a copy to save a few bucks? Absolutely. I've said it many times here...don't confuse skewing someone for how they perform their multi-million dollar job for skewing them as people 95% of the time.

Looks like the Griswald Family Truckster behind it....

Never knew his real name was Miles.....

That ain't rust.....

I make a pot of Folgers Columbian for 75 cents and it tastes just as well for 1/20 the price....

If you aren't a cynic, you probably don't want to know what goes on with these guys. One of my best Uncle Vito stories ever is when I was informed from a firsthand party that an All-Star pitcher was curled up in a ball in his hotel with a bottle of rum, 4 hours from his start, because a girl he was "dating" had called him in the process of "dating" another HOF athlete. Sound effects and all.... He went out and got shelled for 7 runs in the first few innings.....

Roenick?

If Sweden loses to Finland, I am putting out a Jim Cantore, "Severe Tallinder Warning" for the duration of the visit. This includes metro Sochi and vicinity. Residents can expect 4 to 6 inches an hour, low visibility, treacherous travel conditions due to sticky surfaces, and possible blackouts. Expect multiple pressure systems coming from the south, and in a worst case scenario, convergence with a fast moving system up north. In this model run, a total of 14-20 inches can be expected....

On your drive from Buffalo to Boston, Saratoga Springs is 45 minutes out of the way. You could spend a couple of hours at the track as they race every day but Tuesday. Downtown is hopping then with food, booze, shops.