ska-T Palmtown

I think the "disdain" is for the absolute bonkers idea that a young man taking a poolside vacay pic during the frickin' offseason makes him too much of a "good vibes" "chill bro" to be a captain. It is just plain silly. Silly, I tell you! A quick search of google images will turn up a relaxing vacay pic of pretty much every "worthy" captain out there. If someone were to say "I don't think Cozzie deserves the 'C' because his play is still a touch inconsistent for my tastes.", that is a respectable reason. Not, gee - he sure seems to have a good time on his insta-tok or he doesn't look like an NFL linebacker when he takes his shirt off (yeah, that last one is for the "he needs to eat 30 chicken breasts a day and put on 15 lbs of pure shredded muscle by next year" crowd)

Rando thought - and apologies if someone has already said it somewhere else ... is it at all possible that the players were also talking about internal locker room leadership when they talked about someone pushing them harder? KO was gone - maybe they were saying "gee, he sure was a swell guy, but what we really needed was a real arse-kicker to flip tables during intermissions if we were not crushing the opponent"? I dunno, just some musings.

You can consider me de-baffled on your original point. 🙂 And I was not so much directing at you, just using your post as a launch point for the discussion. I still find it odd how generally (not just you) there is more sentiment of disappointment around what Benson did versus what Quinner or Peterks did the year before. I suspect it is because the season was so disappointing (an 18-yr old throwing in 30 points on a playoff team sounds better than doing it for some middling organization stumbling through the dark valley of no playoffs) and typically if an 18 year old makes an NHL team, it is because they are McDavid/Eichel/Bedard and they are scoring like first line players. I think if the Sabres had been solidly in a WC spot all year and made the playoffs, Benson's season would have been seen as an indication of how strong the lineup was (dang, they did that AND had an 18 yr old) instead of the glaring weakness it was. ("It" being the fact an 18 yr old could crack the roster, not any slight on his tenacious play, dogged determination, or satisfactory point output). The concept of Benson making the team being far worse than his actual play.

It would be amazing if Benny could throw in 25+ goals next year, but if he continues his strong play and ups his numbers even modestly (10-15 more points?), I'd still be thrilled. If he wants to put up 100 points, I won't complain either! 🤣

No notes.

This sorta baffles me ... he was nearly as productive (11-19-30 in 71 games) as Quinn (14-23-37 in 75) Peterka (12-20-32 in 77) when he was 18 while they were 20/21 and people (not everyone, I know) had trouble hiding their boners after the Quinn/Peterka rookie years ...

I have a co-worker in Portland (also originally from Buffalo). He went to game 2 in the series and said it was very noticeable each and every time Our Boy Savoie was on the ice. He said even the Portland crowd buzzed a little when he was out there. Look out, Rochester! We got another one for ya!

I was thinking camp and then The Roc ...

I hope he can come in with his skill and add some of Benson's dogged determination - that would be super nice.

This 'Guy' sure looks like a member of the Chill Bros Club: "Most righteous new contract, fellow Chill Broski!"

They are tied with Vancouver at "three years behind" the Loaves. Great thing about that stat, it will likely remain at three years until the Sabres win a cup, lol

I sort of get this, while I also don't. I haven't seen any evidence that giving Skinny 9 million pegula bucks prevented the Sabres from doing anything. This season would probably be the first where if he is not "earning" his $9M that we could say "coulda spent that money elsewhere." ahem ... casey. (the absurd concept of someone doing almost anything that is actually *worth* $9M is probably a very lonely thread all on its own).

Didn't all the teams make the playoffs for like ... the first 50 years? Not that it makes our sitch any better.

It was interesting that someone pointed out that Afinogenov played for a long time under Lindy, he was also not know for back checking or the like.

Man, that really sucks to hear about Kim - she was young and had such an amazing trajectory. I don't even know what else to say.

Am i jinxing the whole thing if I grab a couple ZB rookie cards off of EBay? 🤣

Haha - this has been my biggest life lesson in the year or so I have actually been posting (after lurking in the shadows for 10+ years). 🙂

Honest question for the folks on the board who know more about actual development: I keep reading that Benson's skating is not great (good, but not great) and he could use a harder/quicker shot ... a player can still work on their skating and shooting at 18/19 yrs old, right?? I mean I read about players who get drafted with "flaws" that they work on and correct. Given his apparent work ethic, I would not be shocked at all (atol) if he came back with improvements in those two areas next fall.

can we get t-shirts??

You weren't making $1.44M right before you retired? 🤣

Either Wright got 'credit' for the non-existent Covid year or his 'exceptional status' came with a loophole? He also played in the OHL, so I am not sure if their agreement with the NHL is different? Those smarter than me (low bar) have been pretty adamant the Benny cannot take his jets to the AHL this year.

Yeah, game exemption thing was pulled sideways fresh outta my bum and I regret adding to any confusion now. I shall sit in the corner of shame for 3 mins.

Right after the post where @LGR4GM confirms (again) that Benson cannot go to the AHL next year ...

cheekbones?

Yeah - totally not intending to lay that stuff squarely at your feet, most just replying to your replies to my replies to keep the convo going - I enjoy your perspectives and thoughts. You are definitely correct - each pro sport has countless high profile examples of athletes flaming out for what are likely work ethic issues. I tried to cover that with my previous statements, but there are probably some of those types that end up sticking around at the higher levels. I would *guess* that those cases continue to become more rare as the athletic abilities of these players keeps increasing year after year. But, that could be my idealization. I might also be still processing my grief from such a scheisse-storm of a season and have not accepted that maybe there are some of these deep-rooted issues?