nfreeman

Well, it's entirely in TG's interest to tout the no-move clause and it's also in the interest of LQ and local politicians -- who are good candidates for being JW's other sources (assuming there were any). If @john wawrow read the contract himself and saw the clause, I'd love for him to say so here. Otherwise I'm quite skeptical.

My inclination is to blame goaltending first, coaching 2nd and defensive execution third.

I'm going to urge anyone who wants to discuss Jake Fromm's comments to do so in a new thread, preferably in the politics club, so we don't have a replay of the poopstorm from a few days ago.

Bump. My complaint: I was back in NYC for a couple of days this week for the first time in nearly 3 months. NYC is flawed, like everything else, but I love it. And it felt like it's taken some body blows. FU, Wuhan flu.

I freaking love cheeseburgers.

My confidence comes from living on the planet earth and being familiar with how things generally happen. Tell me: if you had to bet your house one way or the other — ie either that the commitment to stay in Buffalo is ironclad and unconditional, or that there are loopholes — which way would you bet?

@Brawndo — there isn’t much detail in that piece. Until I see the agreement, I will continue to be confident that while lip service is probably paid to keeping the team in Buffalo, there are various conditions relating to economic results (among others) that leave the commitment fairly toothless.

Again: notwithstanding Larry Quinn's claims, none of us has any idea whether this is true.

I've been binging "The Expanse" on Amazon Prime -- I'm about halfway through season 2 so far. Pretty good sci-fi/outer space action thriller, with some Game of Thrones-style machiavellian plotting, if that's your cup of tea. So far it's a solid B-plus.

Wonderful. Time to wrap this up.

Well, I think there are only a handful of NFL coaches with as much authority as McD, and none with as much as the dark lord Belichick. However, I can't think of any NHL coaches who are similarly situated, so I agree that it would be pretty unusual if RK were to take on that kind of role.

I think this is in the ballpark with the Bills' model -- i.e. I think McD's role is pretty similar to this.

But if the 3-season period started in 17-18, didn’t that period just expire?

Hold the phone. It has been accepted SabreSpace canon for at least 6 months that TT has to clear waivers next year, and that accordingly he will almost certainly be in Buffalo and not Rochester. I have not learned the waiver rules and may never do so. If @Brawndo says it, I am inclined to believe it. Does anyone want to dispute his truth?

back bacon and toast, hold the toast, eh?

Yes, but Chad's point (which echoes what a number of posters here have said) is valid: JB didn't take over a terrible cap situation, and he hasn't created a great cap situation. He took over an OK cap situation, and he's managed it into...an OK cap situation. There is certainly nothing about the Sabres' cap situation, either when JB took over or now, that excuses the team's performance under JB.

I don’t see any possible way Pilut is top 4 on the Sabres next year.

I feel like the viral marketer’s evil doppelgänger has joined and is blasting away at the castles made of sand.

This raises an interesting (IMHO) question: how badly would the Sabres have to start next season for TP to pull the trigger? Darcy was fired in 2013 after 20 games (in which the Sabres were 4-15-1). I think it's pretty clear TP doesn't want to fire JB, and I think the main reason is that he wants the organization to be perceived as stable and professional. But if they get off to a terrible start, and the arena is empty, and whoever is there is booing -- it could easily happen again. And at that point, TP will richly deserve to be criticized for not having pulled the trigger now.

She could also be referring to TP influencing/demanding that Howie be the 1st coach, or that ROR be traded, or many other "meddling"-type moves that have been speculated about here many times. And as @Thorny points out, there's no reason to think the long-term prospects of the team will be made clear this year. If the team stinks again, JB will be fired, and, as before, everything will hinge on whether they find the right guy next time.

And the cold ring of truth tightens its grip on our collective guts. I might not get Center Ice next season.

Yuck.

So yesterday was a beautiful, sunny, breezy day around here. I took my daughter to an ice cream stand that is somewhat of a local institution (it's affiliated with a local dairy farm), has been closed for the past 2-3 years, and somehow reopened about a month ago in what I took as a sign that the people are resilient and are going to come back from this GD pandemic. It's the kind of place where you line up outside, order at the window, pick up your food (they also have burgers, fries and similar grub) at a different window and then sit at various picnic tables and benches that are scattered around the property. There is no indoor area that is accessible to the public. Yesterday, there were about 10 people in 2 different outdoor lines, with social distancing stickers on the pavement to keep everyone appropriately separated. In that situation, I would not generally wear a mask, as the risk of infecting anyone or getting infected while outdoors and socially distanced is, as I understand it, minute. Everyone there -- in line or waiting on the side for his/her food -- was wearing a mask. I wore mine so as not to cause anyone any agita, but it seemed kinda silly to me.

If this is true, it's another firing offense for JB. If Calgary was ready to go on that alleged deal, JB should've accepted immediately. IMHO -- and I say this not to express skepticism on your source -- by all means, please keep posting this kind of thing if you think it's credible -- it sounds way too Sabres-friendly to have been real. Here, too, JB should've sweetened the offer to get the deal closed.

This seems a bit overstated, innit?