nfreeman

Not sure if your point is that if Levi plays 25-30 games, the Sabres are hosed -- if that was your point, I don't agree. I think Levi and UPL are both going to be very good this year, and goaltending will at last be a pillar for the Sabres. Get ready to be happy, crabby old man.

I generally agree with this, but the following scenario is pretty plausible IMHO: - Mule or other starting D suffers a 2-month injury - Bryson backslides to his 2022-23 form, which was largely not NHL-caliber - Gilbert is game, and well-liked by his teammates and the fan base, but not good enough to play every night If something like that happens, the door is open for Ryan J, and I think he's good enough to grab the opportunity.

I'm excluding Levi because he is pretty likely to play 25-30 games in the NHL, and Benson because he's pretty much graduated from "prospect" status. Unlike years past, it doesn't seem like the Sabres have any of the prospects penciled into the NHL lineup for this coming season. So in order to have an impact at the NHL level, someone is going to need to have a huge camp or, more likely, make the most of an injury-created opportunity when it arises. Check out this thread for some excellent SabreSpace breakdowns of the current prospect pool: prospect threadski I went with Ryan Johnson, on the theory that he's more likely to get an injury-related opportunity than any of the forwards, plus he has a decent amount of NHL experience and I liked what I saw from him last year. If it's a forward, I'll go with Whole Lotta Rosen, who tied for first in scoring on the Amerks and has played there for 2 full seasons now, so he knows their system well and they know him well. I also get the impression that while Kulich is physically stronger, Rosen has more overall game.

The guys on the team might get out of shape during the summer, but it's good to know some SabreSpacers remain razor sharp.

So my wife and I watched "Ripley" on Netflix. It was quite good, although more of an artsy slow burn than a pulsating thriller. It's based on a series of novels about an American grifter who moves to Europe in the 1950s. There was a movie starring Matt Damon, Jude Law and the late, great Philip Seymour Hoffman about 15 years ago based on the 1st novel. Also, @LabattBlue and others might be interested in the Netflix's show fantastic cinematography -- nearly the entire series is set in Italy. The other interesting item about the show is that it stars a certain former Sabre's twin brother:

@dudacek -- great series of threads, as always. I'm not sure how this got merged with the Skinner thread and I don't think I have the ability to undo it -- sorry. As for the substance, here are my 2 cents: - I don't think Skinner was unloaded to save cash, although I am dismayed at the prospect of the Sabres being a low-payroll team yet again. Even if cheapness isn't the reason for the low payroll, the Sabres need to improve their reputation around the league, and having a low payroll has the exact opposite effect. - Anyway, I think Skinner was unloaded because Lindy, and possibly KA, determined that he was a net negative and that if they are going to be serious about winning, he needed to go. - Overall, IMHO the big picture is that the Sabres are a young team who last year were dying for a real coach and instead took advantage of having a substitute teacher and goofed around all year. Now they have a real coach. I expect Lindy to have a huge impact. They are not going to come out and mail it in at home any longer. It's just not going to happen. Their focus and intensity is going to be much, much better and more consistent. - I also expect the new bottom 6 to play a much tougher, harder game than their predecessors did, and for their work to energize the crowd and the rest of the team. That, combined with resurgent offensive firepower from TT, Tuch, Cozens and Quinn and continued growth from JJP, will eliminate the blah mediocrity that characterized the team last year. So, like in every offseason during this whole misbegotten era -- I'm optimistic!

As an optimist, I gave the moves the high grade, but of course it's much too soon to tell. I don't think KA could've gotten more for Mitts or for Savoie. I also think it's reasonably likely that both Byram and McLeod will play large roles on the Sabres next season and play well in doing so. Either way, though, KA needs both of them to be good and to contribute to a major improvement in team performance. If either of them stinks, and the guy the Sabres traded for him excels on his new team, it will inevitably reflect poorly on KA.

Yes except that IMHO he did take a huge step that season — from afterthought to legit top 2 center — and then another one in the playoffs to NHL star — and with a beautiful game to boot. I’d also put forward that the great Richard Martin’s career, although he’d already achieved stardom, was cruelly cut short by a knee injury suffered in an arguably dirty play in a collision with Mike Palmateer, a goalie for the Leafs.

I just finished Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese. I thought it was great. Highly recommended, especially for the healthcare professionals here.

Yes indeed. You can't put it all on rookies and 2nd- and 3rd-year guys.

I am going to urge everyone to watch the men’s basketball gold medal game today at 3:30 PM. The semifinal game against Serbia on Thursday was a thrilling, fantastic game. This is almost certainly the last Olympics for LeBron, Curry and KD, each of whom can still really bring it. It’s also fascinating to see the three of them on the same team. They are playing France, which is led by the 7’4” NBA rookie of the year Victor Wembanyama, and which will be playing at home in front of a rabid, passionate crowd.

This is obnoxious. Do not communicate like this here.

Great breakdown as always @dudacek. I tend to think that Lindy will pull most of these guys towards the better scenarios you have posted. However, some disappointments are inevitable -- and I'll include in that category the likelihood of one or both of Samuelsson and Quinn, getting hurt again. Other guys (Tage, Cozens, Tuch, Dahlin, Power, UPL) are more important than those 2, but I think the Sabres need a good healthy season out of at least 1 of them to make the playoffs.

I don’t mind @dudacek’s D pairs, but I’d like Power’s partner to be a guy who brings the fire and nasty. I think Owen needs someone to inspire him a bit in that department. Cliffie didn’t seem up to that job last season, and it’s probably over Gilbert’s head, so Joki probably gets it by default. I don’t love that outcome.

Good man. This is statistically the best thing you can do for long-term health and happiness. Some free Sabrespace advice: - Pick 3 things you really care about and then let your wife have her way on everything else. - Clean up around the house. - Keep your pants on when away from home. Congrats!

Let's not gloss over the money quote from Jokinen in that article, eh?

I gotta say, this seems like a whole lotta nothing to me. He didn't refuse to be traded to the Sabres (not sure whether he had a NTC, but either way he certainly could've made it known that he didn't want to come here) -- he refused to sign an extension as part of the trade. I think Necas, like most NHL players, would've signed an extension with a new team as part of a trade, and not waited 1 more season to go to UFA, only for a huge contract -- and I think very few teams would've offered Necas a huge contract.

Awesome: family trip to the Pacific Northwest. Not awesome at all: returning to work.

I think JA is going to have a huge season. The Bills don't have a Tyreke Hill, but they low-key have a bunch of weapons in Kincaid, Cook, Shakir, Knox, Curtis Samuel, and Coleman, and I think the RB they drafted, Ray Davis, will contribute as well. JA is in the rich, meaty part of his prime and is going to spread the ball around like Joe Montana.

I was in Italy last October. We visited Rome and the Amalfi coast. Both were beautiful but I was pretty surprised at how crowded it was -- not just Rome, but all of the small towns on the Amalfi coast. I've since spoken with others who have had similar experiences in Europe -- it sounds like early fall is now almost as busy as peak summer season. So, I'd recommend going in late October (I was there in the 2nd week of October) or early November. Otherwise, each of Rome, Venice and Florence is great. I'll disagree with @Sabres Fan in NS -- I wouldn't give short shrift to Venice, which is unique and beautiful, and slower and quieter than Rome and Florence. Overall, my advice for any of the cities (and really anywhere in Europe) is that while you'll of course want to see a number of the main tourist attractions, you should also make sure, on most of the days you are there, to give yourself plenty of time to have a leisurely lunch or coffee in an outdoor cafe on a piazza (which is a big pedestrian square in an old neighborhood) that doesn't seem too tourist-trappy and soak up the atmosphere. Also: - You should adjust your expectations for the hotels -- European hotel rooms are small and crappy. - You can use uber and lyft there the same way as here. - The subway is easy to use in Rome and there is a pretty cheap express train from the airport to the city center, from which you can take the subway or an uber to your hotel. - You'll need comfortable walking shoes during the day and a pair of decent-looking shoes and some respectable shirts to go out for dinner at night. - Visa is the most popular credit card there -- you should make sure though that your visa card doesn't charge you an extra fee for overseas transactions. Enjoy.

Nice. Good job by KA.

Excellent thread, #freejame. Lots of good hockey talk in here. I agree in particular with the points that many have made about goaltending, how the team responds to Lindy, and improved power-play. Those are the three biggest considerations, IMHO. But many other factors mentioned in here are likely also to play a role. And, as seemingly has been the case for years now, a significant number of things will need to go right for them. Still, I think they will be much better this year, that Lindy and UPL will both deliver, and that overall it will be much more fun to watch the team.

15-26-41.

There you go again, swinging that big red X in a reckless, wanton and destructive manner. Will no one think of the children?