nfreeman

Bad karma here. Posts like this lead to ankle sprains for Eichel and concussions for Dahlin.

So probably Hutton in net tonight, eh?

But the refs!

On a positive note: Thurman is my all-time favorite Buffalo Bill.

About 10 years ago I was in the upper deck at the Ralph for an early season game. I was with a large group and we were about 3 rows from the top. If you've ever sat up there, you know (i) it's quite a few stairs to climb and (ii) the higher you go, the more sauced everyone is. So, it's a hot sunny day, we're into the 2nd half, the game stinks as usual and people are taking comfort where they can find it. Up the stairs, here comes, boozily and unsteadily, a woman with her hands full: in her left hand, one of those flimsy cardboard trays with 2 beers and a plate of nachos, and in her right hand...a baby. Not a toddler. An infant. Definitely less than 3 months old and maybe less than 2 months. No baby carrier or sling. No 2 arms holding the baby securely either. Just a pretty new and very vulnerable baby kinda folded over her forearm like a dishtowel as she clambered drunkenly up a bunch of stairs holding food and beer in her other hand. No hat or other sun protection on the baby either. Sure enough, she stumbles and the people around us watching this train wreck all gasp. She lurches as she tries not to wipe out. The beer sloshes. The nachos don't move. The baby comes perilously close to the concrete stairs. She regains her balance and makes it to her seat without further incident. Everyone breathes a sigh of relief. I sure hope that woman learned a few things about parenting from that incident, but I'm skeptical.

I’m looking forward to the first “I’d give him a 4-year x $5MM per year extension” post in this thread.

That was a really exciting game. CBJ is a very good, fast team. And Panarin is an elite scorer. I thought CBJ had more scoring chances overall, but the Sabres went toe-to-toe with them on quite a few occasions and Ullmark played well despite giving up 5. I sure would've liked to have seen some more OT hockey. Still: you have to like coming back again down 2 in the 3rd period on the road against an upper echelon team.

Who said anything about soft Swedes? And Byfuglien would be great in the SHL or in any other league.

Prima Donna is 2 words, you [swedish word for hoser].

Excellent work again JSB.

Bumpity bump!

3 years????!!!! Love the optimism, but...

Skinner is a maniac.

Flagg -- I think you know that for those who are either trusting management on the ROR decision or at least giving them the benefit of the doubt, ROR's issues weren't his interviews. It was the overall effect his presence had on his teammates. The interviews were just the manifestation of those issues that were most visible to outsiders (ie us). Sometimes at work, an employee can be good at making his/her numbers, but no one wants to work with him/her or be around him/her, and the overall effect is to drag down the company's performance. That employee isn't "good at his/her job" -- because part of the job is not to drag down those around you. Again, I respect your statistical analysis (apparently more than you respect my metaphysical speculation, but that's OK). But I think it has its limitations.

Flagg -- I get your point. It's not unreasonable. But it's also not just about the numbers. It's pretty clear that there were major problems with the team's mental makeup over the past few seasons. The guys who run hockey teams for a living were in much better positions than we are to evaluate those problems and to come up with solutions. One of those solutions was to ship ROR out. So far, the combined effect of the various solutions they implemented has been a pronounced improvement in the team. Would this improvement have occurred anyway if they had kept ROR but implemented all of the other solutions? Maybe, maybe not. We'll never know. But the team is unquestionably faster and better, and they seem to like each other more. And (trigger warning!) it can't be ignored that STL is 2-7 and DFL in their division.

I mentioned this in another thread, but I think it's deserving of its own thread. I think this line is playing great. So far they are doing everything you'd want a true checking line to do -- they are getting matched up against the opposition's top line (and it seems like Howie has them starting most periods in order to get these matchups), bearing the burden of defensive-zone faceoffs, backchecking very effectively and frequently forcing possession in the other team's offensive zone with good forechecking -- thus killing the shifts of the opponents' top lines. I'm also pleasantly surprised in that Howie putting this line together seems to have rescued the careers of Zemgus and Larsson (whom I and I think many others were ready to move on from over the summer). It's also rescued Berglund from new-whipping-boy status, at least in my book. Last night this line got essentially the same amount of ES ice time as the Sheary-Sobotka-Reino line and more than the ERod-Mitts-KO line. If TT, Nylander, CJ Smith or Olofsson is going to force his way into the lineup, it doesn't look like -- at least for now -- that it will come at the expense of anyone on this line. I can't remember the last time the Sabres had a checking line that was this good -- probably during the Peca era?

OK -- just googled it and watched the video. Outstanding.

There’s an outbreak of TMI on this board.

Let’s keep our pants on here. We all like Pommer, but he is on his last legs. Any decision about bringing him back should be made at the end of the season. It’s not like a bunch of teams are going to be pursuing him.

That was another win of the sort that a team gets when it has heart. I thought Berglund had his best game as a Sabre. His line is the best classic checking line I can remember the Sabres having in a long time. For that matter all 4 lines seem to be clicking pretty well. I thought Nelson was kinda shaky. I think we’ll se Beaulieu next game. Scandy also sub-par tonight. I also thought Mitts was not great on the PP, which led to KO getting his spot on that last one. Excellent game from McCabe and another solid one from Bogo. Columbus will be a step up in class — let’s see if they do better than they did against Vegas and SJ. Go Sabres.

Is it wrong to really really want to be 6-4 and not 5-5?

TMI, but I chuckled. Casey or Reino scoring would be nice.

Well, I suppose it depends on how you look at the debate. If it's "who had the best 11-year run?" -- it's MJ (or Bill Russell, but that was before my time). OTOH, it's certainly legitimate to think that even though MJ or Russell had the best 11-year run, Lebron could, if he keeps it up, including in the playoffs, have the best 18-year run, even if he didn't have an 11-year stretch that was as good as MJ's or Russell's -- and that you'd rather have the guy who had the 18-year run on your team than the guy who only gave you 11 years. In any case though we have to remember that no one got to have Lebron on his team for Lebron's entire career, since he jumped around a few times, while Bulls fans got the full 11 years with their guy without seeing him bail on them for another team. As for GS, it's certainly possible that one or both of Klay and KD leave, but I think it's more likely that both stay. I will be very surprised if KD joins the Knicks, who are a terrible organization, or really any team that isn't an immediate title contender once he joins. Of course, if KD and Leonard were both to join the Nets, that would be pretty sweet indeed.

Well, I would love for either Leonard or Butler to end up with Lebron, as I think that, combined with growth from the Lakers' kids, would present a true threat to GS.

@Hoss -- I don't think it's a tossup. First, it's pretty clear that Pippin's trade demand was about the Benjamins: - from an AP article at the time of Pippen's trade demand: https://www.apnews.com/2374445c97f79986cccb9bd8608a1bc1 - from a Chicago Tribune article at the time: http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1997-11-25/sports/9711250244_1_scottie-pippen-bulls-phil-jackson Second, it's also pretty clear that Kyrie was sick of being the 2nd banana to Lebron, and wanted to be top dog on his own team: - from a podcast with Bill Simmons and David Griffin, Cleveland's former GM: https://www.theringer.com/the-bill-simmons-podcast/2018/5/9/17337792/david-griffin-bill-simmons-podcast-kyrie-irving-lebron-james - from a lengthy espn feature on Kyrie: http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/21941260/nba-playing-lebron-winning-nba-title-kyrie-irving-decided-move-question-why Now, it's quite possible that Kyrie is simply a nut case, and that his departure should not reflect badly on Lebron. But it's hard to overlook the fact that neither Butler nor Leonard has listed the Lakers -- but both have listed the Clippers! -- in their list of preferred destinations.