ska-T Palmtown

yay! found it

Am I doing something wrong? No video at the above link 😢

He passed Thurman Thomas for career rushing TDs last night, too!

To the bold, that is patently false. There *was* a time when taking on a dead contract was the thing to do ... and they did it. I feel gross "defending" the front office, but it is a simple fact. The current roster is well above the cap floor, so taking on a dead contract would be even more stupid than leaving some unused space below the cap. You too - of course they are not currently inclined to take on a dead contract to get to the cap floor that they are already well above. In general, it seems crazy to a) be mad at San Jose for getting to the cap floor (which the Sabres have also done in the past) and b) mad (?) the Sabres are not making the same move now. What an odd argument this all was.

Well something ain't quite right here. If the Sabres are 6'-3 5/8" average ... and Pitt is 16 inches shorter, that makes them (quick goat math) ... 4'-11 3/8"? Honestly, nothing beyond being, say 3" taller than another team (using averages) makes much sense. That link was so ... click-baity I had trouble finding too many real stats.

But that is only one second line winger per team, presumably the highest scoring second line wing? Add in that Meier and Conner likely outscored at least one wing on the first line of their respective teams and I find this data less than compelling. I am not say I don't agree that Benson's point production is borderline for a playoff team's second line, I just think your data is incomplete.

Your facts and figures and logic are not welcome here. Please peddle elsewhere!

I totally understood you were just playing along with the running joke, and don't begrudge you that. Heck, all opinions are welcome, right? I normally add a "not directed you" disclaimer when I just wanna pick at a point with broader SS.

Fair points, except for the last - you have been around long enough to know someone will always take exception to anything this franchise does 😁- and rightfully so, until they prove us wrong! I know I would not be as frustrated with the trades of young talent (and I am only really at a 4/10 on that - with a cap of 7/10 for anything the team does. 3 point penalty for the fourteen year drought), if they were actually the young talent, not THE talent. Two more Zucker/Tuchs and trading JJP for D help looks a helluva lot cleaner on paper.

I sense a strong contingent of SS feels that the quality of the 3 year NHL "Vets" that are penned into the line up in Buffalo are not the type that might be penned into the line up for a true playoff contender. I think there is some merit to that line of thinking. However, the Sabres regularly get rid of "fringe players" that go on to serve very nicely in appropriate roles on playoff teams. This leads back to the same old song and dance of "if it ain't the players, it must be the team" And GM and Owner own the responsibility for what the "team" is. Sigh. And before LGR gets mad - I love love love me some Zack Benson. I don't think it is a stretch to think he will get some serious Selke consideration at some point in his career. Would he have cracked the lineup of a strong playoff team 3 years ago? Probably not. But again - team failure.

Aren't "we" at SS tired of this trope? I looked at the SC roster EDM and FLA ... here is the list of terrible franchises that let players go that ended up in the SC finals: ANA, ATL/WPG, FLA (yes, two players drafted by FLA played for EDM, lol), VAN, STL, TOR, NJD, NASH, PIT, CGY, DET, DAL, BOS, CAR, ARI, BUF (oops), COL Plus it appears that SIX undrafted FA's (5 for FLA, 1 for EDM) also played. Obviously we all know E-Rod got his start in Buffalo. It just doesn't shake out that only Buffalo trades away talent. All those franchises were either "dumb enough" to trade them or "terrible enough of a destination" that they could not resign them. In the modern NHL, players move around A LOT. Every team has a handful of home grown talent and a huge helping of "cast-offs" from other teams. 4 of FLA's top 5 scorers were from other teams. Including the almighty Sam Bennett. The loaves have made the playoffs for a long time (something we, the Sabres faithful, would kill for) ... they just traded away Marner. Shrug emoji sums it up for me.

This is nothing new ... but it is beyond pathetic The average number of playoff appearances since 2000 (not counting the Covid year) is 12 (note there were no playoffs in 2005). A standard deviation is 4.2 - which means anything between 8 and 16 is still kinda (?) "normal". Vegas and Seattle are excused. So, on the low end only Buffalo, Phoenix/Utah, and Columbus are outside of a reasonable variation. At the high end, Sharks (?!), Broons, Pens, and Caps are more than a standard deviation above the average. The median is 14. Bold italic numbers are active streaks. * means if you include the Covid year, the streaks gets one longer + means if you include the Covid year, the streak reduces to 5 (or 6 for the 'Nucks). If you discount Vaygus and Seattle, the average worst streak length per team is 6 years. Discounting the two covid years, roughly 1/3 of the teams that missed the playoffs one year make it the next. This is where that stats show it is not just "odds". By the 1/3 rule, the average streak would be roughly 3 years. Which means there are a significant number of teams who drop out of the playoffs for less than 3 years, then pop back in. And, to go with that - a bunch of teams that cannot get back in within 3 years. This peaked in 2015 and 2017 when half of the teams that missed the playoffs the previous season made it in the next year. It should also be noted that the last four years, just below 70% of teams have made the playoffs in any given 3 year period - the lowest in the 2000's, but with one more team not making it - this checks out. Diving further ... since 2000 - an average of 77% of the league makes the playoffs within any given 3 year period. Since 2000, every team has made the playoffs three years in a row except ... Buffalo 😞 (Seattle, too - but c'mon) Edit: Dive Deeper? OK ... Since 2000 - an average of 84% of the league makes the playoffs in any given 4 year period. This was greater than 90% in 2010, 2015, 2019, and 2021 ... Sabres, Oilers, and Phoen-tah miss in 3 out 4 of those years. A word about straight "odds" - over a three years stretch, based solely on 1/2 the league making it (was actually more than that most of the 2000's), it should be 87.5% of teams making it. The real data is 77% (which means about 61% chance of missing each year). Similarly, for 4 years it should be 93.8%, real data is 84% - which oddly enough equates to a 63% chance of missing the playoffs. The 4 teams who managed to miss the playoffs for a staggering 10 or more years in a row obviously skew the data away from the statistical norms.

for me - it is far more of a first-world NFL problem. I am actually nervous about the Bills living up to expectations, so watching the games is WAY more gut-wrenching. Back in the days when the Bills were Cheatriots punching bag ... hang out with friends at a Bills bar, eat wings, drink beer, cheer/cry. During the Kelly days - I was still in middle school / high school so I dealt with stress better, lol. I did stay home from school the day after "wide right". But I think half the school did.

Two things: First - yeah, Salt Lake City is not exactly an upgrade on Buffalo, unless he is looking for mountains. Second: My 5 pages of JJP hockey cards really hope he tears it up out there!

Over on Reddit, they found the victim's social media and he is bragging he only has a black eye. FTR, he has a VERY punchable face.