nfreeman

Well, he was pretty definitive that he's going to wait until Aug. 15. To me that means the Sabres' chances of getting him just took a major hit and are now well below 50/50.

Welcome YSE!

If they get 5 Ws out of the 11 OTLs, that's a 5-point improvement, not 10, right? They need to be a few games over DeLuca .500 to make the playoffs -- e.g. 44-31-7.

It is strange that he did that -- and he mentioned Vesey twice in a short answer about playoff expectations -- unless he is highly confident that the Sabres are going to sign him. I completely agree with the bolded -- the Sabres didn't get the opponents' A games most nights. Hopefully that will change because the Sabres will be good enough to require it, but it will make it tougher to get wins.

Ooooooooooohhhhh. THAT just happened.

Great breakdown, sir. I do, although I can see Nelson supplanting Franson (but probably not as of opening night).

Jeez. One arrest with a briefcase filled with pills and cash, one cheesy goatee, and all of a sudden he's a bad manager?

I thought this too, but then I kinda moved towards thinking it might've been more a message to the team -- i.e. something like "we want Vesey but let's not act like he's our only option in the top 6 -- we've got Nylander too."

There is zero possibility that anyone other than Gionta will be the captain this season.

First bolded point: I don't think any well-run NHL franchise would assume that Vesey, with zero NHL experience, was going to be a difference-maker for a playoff run. So they wouldn't have based any deadline decisions on the assumption that Vesey was coming. I also don't think Vesey would've had much value at the deadline -- again, he had no NHL experience and was about to become a UFA. Second bolded point: why would he do this? He's finishing up a strong senior year and knows he's going to be a UFA and in demand. What purpose would it serve to lead on the Preds? I think it's much more likely that the agent told the Preds that Vesey liked them and was leaning towards signing there but wasn't sure and that the Preds should not base any decisions on Vesey being there -- and that, as dudacek says, they heard what they wanted to hear.

He can be a good GM and still spin the company line when needed. It's pretty much part of the job. I've never met him and I'd guess you haven't either. We have no idea whatsoever whether he'd be above a bit of corporate spin.

Pi -- you are free to choose to believe the Predators' version of events, but Vesey and his agent have repeatedly denied that version and offered a different one. You can't just state the Predators' version as undisputed fact.

Did GMTM try to sign him? I don't recall seeing that, but I could've easily missed it. As I've mentioned before, I liked Schaller and saw him as a solid 4th-line option.

This is a variation on something someone already mentioned upthread, but I would definitely eliminate most of the canned music that plays during stoppages and replace it with some combination of organ-initiated chants (e.g. "Let's go Buffalo") and nothing a-tall. And none of the canned music can be stuff that plays at 20 other sports arenas -- it's gotta be original. The red alternate jersey (I have a sweet Stu Barnes model) would be the only goathead-era jersey that is permitted for throwback games -- maybe once or twice per year. $20-per-ticket student section in the nosebleeds for every home game. If you get busted at the game for getting too sauced and getting in a fight/throwing up/passing out/other similar behavior, you get a choice of 2 nights in jail or 2 12-hour days picking up litter and repainting graffiti. Someone senior from the GM's office would do one hour per day online Q&A with fans via live chat or similar setup. Major blowout celebration outside the arena/on waterfront with free food and drinks each time we win the Cup. Most importantly, I would give my undercover moles at SabreSpace a big raise, and let them use the black helicopters and the mind control machines whenever they want. Game on!

OK, but that's a he-said, she-said situation, right? i.e. the video (which I've now watched) simply shows her describing what happened -- not what actually happened. My point is not that she was lying -- it's just that the video doesn't show what happened.

I haven't seen the video, but my understanding is that the filming started after he was shot. If that's the case, how could we know that it played out as Swamp described?

Is this what happened? Has this been proven to have occurred in any of these cases?

I'm officially all in on "Preacher."

Letang flashes the crazy from time to time.

This is fair, and I think was similar to akm's point. DWI is a serious matter. But Kane was accused of choking a woman and trying to force her into his car (with the implication that he presumably was going to do something else once he got her into the car). That's a pretty awful scenario. (NB as I've posted previously I am pretty skeptical about the truth of the accusations, but again we don't have any facts.)

I think this assumption is where your argument falls apart. Until we have more facts we just don't know which was worse -- and most here feel that if Kane did indeed do what he's accused of doing, then what he did was worse.

Good to see ya MODO!! Got any intel for us on Nylander?

whoa. pretty sweet stuff there. and he's fast. i hope he's in Rochester this year.

I think it's important to judge each of these situations on its own merits (or sad lack thereof). For example, the Ferguson shooting -- in which there was substantial evidence to justify the shooting -- was a completely different situation from the strangulation of Eric Garner in NYC -- which was demonstrably unjustified and terrible. I generally have a ton of sympathy for the police, who are doing a very difficult and dangerous job -- but we can't pretend that there aren't police who cross the line. FWIW, I thought the video of Alton Sterling getting shot is pretty inconclusive -- but the witness statement from the store owner, who was right there and unequivocal about the shooting being unnecessary, is pretty compelling IMHO.

I recall a fairly substantial amount of psychodrama on this very board regarding the streaming/threatened non-streaming of last year's scrimmage.