nfreeman

Well, Drane has been gone for almost 2.5 years. And JW, before appearing in this thread, hadn't posted here in almost 2 years. As for the board -- I agree that when there is too much nastiness, it drives people away. Some posters, like XB, DeLuca, Verret, Sizzle and others have left and the board is worse for it. I will say though that I think the average # of members online at any given time has stayed pretty constant, and that we generally try to keep things civil.

If you're referring to Hoppe, that is not my recollection of events. I do not recall any abuse -- just that he was asked a few questions about possible team FA/trade targets that triggered a weird late-night meltdown.

FWIW, my mailbox was indeed full. I've now deleted some stuff and made room in case anyone needs to PM me. 11, like always, was much more of a gentleman than I was, but I too wish JW good luck in his personal and professional endeavors. I will also agree with 11 that JW could've gotten much more out of the board and given much more to the board than he did. There is a ton of knowledgeable hockey talk here. JW could've used some of the observations made and questions raised here in his work, which would've improved its quality. For our part, I think most here would've appreciated the opportunity to have an ongoing dialogue with a guy who is around the team a lot and presumably has knowledge to share. Instead, JW chose to repeatedly engage in weird, over-sensitive late-night beefing with various members. Not sure why, but there we are.

Well, I can't speak for duda, but I'd guess that by "top 4" he means someone around Scandy's level. As a related point: we should all remember that taking Pommer's contract was part of the price for getting Scandella -- so don't be surprised if we end up with another expensive white elephant as part of getting another good defenseman.

Did he really throw a temper tantrum about a couple of people here speculating as to his sources and announce his departure without ever contributing anything useful or interesting? Is it any wonder that local WNY media literally never have good inside information about either the Bills or the Sabres? It's a bunch of incompetents jealously and spitefully defending their rapidly shrinking turf.

This describes my mindset on RPO pretty well.

Chicken, yes. Potatoes, definitely. But not beef, fish or vegetables. Or desserts.

...and the MSM continues to not cover itself in glory on this board.

My son and I thought it was decent; my daughter (who loved the book) and my wife didn't like it.

LTS beat me to it. I will also note that guys like Kadri (and Marchand and Chris Neil) usually have self-preservation radar that is pretty effective -- so even though they are targeted by many guys seeking payback, it's pretty rare for them to take a big hit.

Congrats on the home-cooked PT. However: did I understand you correctly? Did you say that you got a hot tub installed at home and your employer paid for it? Nice benefit!

This. What? Not acceptable. It is part of the canon.

Since he has 26 pts in 48 games, this means he had 9 pts in his 1st 28 games -- so that is certainly an encouraging trend. Nylander-as-Eichel's-triggerman is certainly a SabreSpace thing. Very nice. It's probably not quite that bad though.

I certainly take no pleasure from being a Reino skeptic. And he is very creative and a pleasure to watch when he's dialed in. But we shouldn't pretend that his career hasn't been marked by lengthy ineffective stretches -- including a nice little 6-gamer right before the Nashville game. Or that his good play this year didn't come until well after the team suckitude/no playoffs horse had left the barn. It would be much easier to enjoy his overall greatly improved play since New Year's IF the Sabres didn't have a big decision to make on his contract staring them in the face. Can anyone say that he or she is totally confident we won't see another Stafford situation?

This is fair, but you must remember that not all assists are created equal.

Outstanding. That's what those 4 guys are supposed to deliver. Sure was. Antipin's not tall, but it was high up on his body -- between his shoulderblades at the base of the neck, resulting in major whiplash. I would guess that when his head whiplashed into the glass, he was knocked out cold and is probably concussed. Well, it's possible to appreciate assists and still understand the unavoidable truth that they aren't as precious as goals. # of times a Sabre has recorded 5 assists: 8. # of times a Sabre has scored 5 goals: 1 (Bonus points if you guess who had the 5 goals.) 2013! Yes indeed. Am I crazy, or does Casey immediately give us a 3rd line that can score? This was a FMJ reference, right? If not -- did Lav order a code red on Hartsy?

Good man.

Brutal. Good data though.

Heading out to dinner with the family and then to "ready player 1". Should be nice. And congrats on the strong career moves everyone is making in here!

I think KO was much better this season from about November until his concussion. I agree that he looks much worse since returning. His return to form pre-concussion this year, plus me not thinking that he looks as bad as you think he does, makes me think there's a reasonable possibility that he'll be a pretty decent player next year and thereafter. So I'm not quite in despair about him yet. But (i) he could suffer another concussion anytime and (ii) he certainly doesn't look like a good top-6 forward right now, which is what they need from him.

Very nice and endorsed. Good stuff here boys. I probably agree with Taro that the key point was evaluating Ullmark/CJ in the absence of Lehner, but Amerks8796 has some good points too.

Yes indeed.

I don't think KO has reached Moulson levels of ineffectiveness, and I think he adds some value, but he is nowhere near the top-6 weapon we were hoping for. Certainly if another team were willing to take him, I would trade him in a heartbeat. I think we're stuck with him though. Another great GMTM move.

This is reasonable and you are probably right. However, I keep coming back to JBott's frequent statements that "what we have isn't working" and similar expressions. It just sounds like he thinks something major is needed -- and I think the only 2 realistic candidates to be moved are Reino and Risto (JBott has said a number of times that he values ROR, no one is going to take KO, JBott isn't going to trade Eichel or Scandella) -- and Risto seems less likely than Reino.

I kinda think Casey will be ready next year, but you could certainly be right about him. There is zero possibility of KO walking away from the $30MM the Sabres owe him. Based on JBott's comments, the likelihood that ROR is traded is also very low. I'm not expecting it, but I would not be surprised if they move on from Reino. He's reverted to his terrible first-half form. If he finishes up the year in this manner, it will be 5/8 of the season in which he's looked like JAG. I agree that we can expect major turnover in the bottom 6.