thewookie1

I think this whole thing is part business, part legacy, and part personal. Business: -Buying Sabres gives him a far easier route to buying the Bills -Bills make a ton of money, Sabres will lose money but nothing back breaking -Diverification of his assets -Brings him into direct contact with other wealthy individuals he may not of met before Personal -Sabres were his favorite team/ Bills are practically a bonus -He seems to be a genuine type of guy and fan thus wants the team to not only stay but thrive -Sabres/Bills have some of the most loyal fans in their respective sports, why wouldn't you want that behind you -He and his wife may honestly like the idea of helping revitalize a Rust Belt City next to her home city Legacy -Wants to be remembered for something great (Fracking has a negative image presently)

He's a wookiee

I think RJ is more shell shocked than anything when it comes to Eichel. He just instantly wows us, partially because he's great and partially because we've had too little of that for the past two years. Honestly aside from a few highlight reel goals involving Girgs and Ennis what has RJ got to get all giddy over?

Great game, its these types of games I've certainly missed; where we always seemed in control or at very least neutral. Eichel's goal was spectacular, when the puck was sitting there I was thinking, I wish a dman was there and then within a blink Eichel had it, out muscled a guy and came down and made a beautiful shot just inside the far post. Moulson and O'Reilly helped one another getting their firsts of the season. Risto looked big and played big including that nice goal. Weber is better as a 3rd pairing guy for certain. Franson + Gorges would make a high end D-man, sadly they are two different players.

Was that against SJ or am I thinking the year prior? Maybe Toronto? Either way it was mid to late November I believe.

I wouldn't be surprised if one of their core is traded regardless. McDavid will need a bigger winger or he'll be eventually pummeled in the playoffs. He may outmaneuver his attacker 99.9% of the time, but that one that does hit could be catastrophic. For example Crosby's concussions. Drasaitl possibly could be that guy, but then they'll have quite the one dimensional second line with Yakopov-RNH-Eberle. Might I trade 1 for 1 of the group, sure, but come playoff time straight up I'd take the Sabres 5 over the Oilers 5. Since our 5 are far better built for the grind of the playoffs. Also, young defense wise we certainly have had a better result thus far. Risto>Nurse Shultz is better offensively, but less physical than Bogosian Other comparisons would be out of my knowledge to give.

The bolded part is horse hockey, Edmonton has been at it for years trying to rebuild and while it is true they lacked D and a goalie, their largest problem wasn't that, it was their sheer lack of vets to teach the kids, and all their earlier picks were practically clones. Reinhart doesn't match up with Eichel while RNH, Hall, Eberle, and Yakopov + Gagne are extremely similar in body type and style. The first two can play in their own zone though. Our new core has far more variety and will actually play in the defensive end. We have at least 1 vs their 0 young, high end D-men. (In comparison to the Oilers in Year 3) Did I like the Zadorov deal, not so much, but we still have Pysyk, McCabe, and Guhle. To say we are completely bare on D prospects is like saying a glass of water is empty when its still half full.

I second this

Ghosts of who I wonder. Also it seems as if Rob Ray is a better interviewer/personality while Andrew Peters sounded not half bad as a color man. Ironic they have the other's seemingly better spot. In regards to the Eichel interview, I love the quote mentioned by LGR. I also liked how he mentioned that his family rooted for us to lose the lottery. Remember, Eichel may have gone back to college had he been drafted by Arizona.

After 45 seconds, the effect is no more different than that of a missed penalty that would of stopped play.

The challenge was a travesty due to it being not in anyway effecting the goal. They definitely need to change it with time in mind. If the offside doesn't directly cause the goal then it shouldn't be baring on the play's result. The 3rd period though was fun to watch and made the whole game worth it. After the disallowed goal, Kane made the hilarious play on the forecheck when he literally stiff armed a D-man off the puck and took it behind the net and nearly scored again.

Wild, damn impressive with the video + new audio LET'S GO BUFFALO! Its almost time boys and girls for the Sabres enter the next phase, the next chapter if you will. Our first opponent happens to be our GMs former employer, so let's thank them by giving them all expenses paid pucks behind their goalie. I heard that's a solid way to show your appreciation.

Honestly I get the feeling we may destroy Ottawa in the 1st game then look average against Tampa. Remember unlike Ottawa our team has a huge chip on its shoulder, the crowd will be into it and thus triggering the offense to light it up.

Girgensons, he'd have a hattrick of these then.

All players staying healthy for 80 games minimum is assumed Kane/Ennis 60+ Moulson/Eichel/O'Reilly 50+ Girgensons 40+ Larsson&Legwand combined/Reinhart(if he gets at least 70 games)/Franson/Gionta/Mcginn 30+ Foligno/Risto/Bogo/Pysyk 20+ Deslauries 15 to 25 pts

If there's any team I'd question being above us is maybe Philly, Boston and Colorado. Colorado solely because what I've seen of them in the preseason has been seriously ugly. Boston is 1 injury on D from having a D no better than ours or even worse and a far older top 6. Philly is typically just a wild card thus I have no evidence to support them being better or worse than us.

I'd partially disagree in light of it having about a 50% success rate. For every Sweden there's a Greece. I'd also like to point out that part of the reason European nations can fund so many programs is due to their lack of military and many other foreign affair fees. The US funds about half the UN and a 1/3rd of the IMF. We also have a larger military in part because we must support our many allies around the world which benefits Europe directly. Not to mention we literally rebuilt Europe on our dime, granted it had long term benefits to us as well. Thus I'd guess Europe would be negatively effected by the US trying to be more European since suddenly the money would start drying up. After all theres only so many rich people you can gouge for utterly useless programs that they'll never admit to being a waste. (Yes there are many good programs, but until anyone can convince me the incompetent government is better at managing itself than individual people then I can't agree with socialism on any level. As they say, Capitalism has the haves and have-nots while Socialism just has everyone be a have, but a far smaller have. The average for Capitalism is far more effective, more inline with human nature, and fosters ingenuity. Is it perfect, God no, but it certainly beats anything else. In terms t the foreign affairs thing, as the whole Syrian crisis has shown, when we fail to step up as the leader, others fill the vacuum. The primary fillers being both rivals and partially enemies to the US. Oddly I will admit to having some Socialist ideas, but more in ground floor services and less in taking care of everyone from cradle to grave. For instance I'd eliminate most loopoles in the tax code. For instance: Here's our tax codes..... 10% Up to $9,225 15% $9,226 to $37,450 25% $37,451 to $90,750 28% $90,751 to $189,300 33% $189,301 to $411,500 35% $411,501 to $413,200 39.6% $413,201 or more I would make the tax rates closer to their actual effective rate. 10% Up to $9,225 15% $9,226 to $37,450 25% $37,451 to $90,750 28% $90,751 to $189,300 33% $189,301 to $411,500 38% $411,501 to $1mil 43% $1mil plus However the last two brackets would have some choice in where the 5/10% over 33% goes. That money would then be divided among an assortment of programs and intiatives. Programs would have a minimum % required while intiatives can be ignored completely. So lets say its split 30/20, each program gets a min of 1%. If you're big on supporting special needs, you can give them a larger amount of the total. If you don't wish to fund any intiatives the money will be split even among the programs. With this technological world we live in this should all be possible. Not to mention, then it would at least lessen the feeling that you're funding things you don't believe in and they still get some control over that money.

In theory lets say both make it to the playoffs as the 3rd in their respective divisions, who does better? I'd say Buffalo partially due to East vs West competition is lesser, but mainly due to the Sabres being built far more geared to the playoffs than the Oilers.

If this happens, all we need is average play from our D and goalie for us to have a good shot at the playoffs.

I remember a while back saying Gionta might have one of those last hurrah type of seasons that great players sometimes have when they are older. I could easiy see him, if he ends up on the 2nd line, putting up 50 to 60 points if he can stay healthy. The guy was an near-elite goal scoring talent is his prime so while he's certainly not elite anymore, the skill set is still there just used up a bit more.

Yup, well done. With that in mind I'd give Girgs credit for his bright spot in the dark room category. Mike Weber gets the "I went through a tank, and all I got was this shirt" award.

Well that might be true, but I think while the Junior schedule is more grueling, paradoxically college players tend to be more ready made for NHL competition since they had time to train and likely played older players. So Eichel will very likely have an impressive start to the season, McDavid will likely have a better end to the season. That being said they'll both be great overall over the course of the season. I'd also take a guess that Eichel may have more goals on the season while McDavid would have more assists.

In his mind he was swearing up a storm about his wife and shoes

I do certainly hope though we light up a Leaf outside their goalie ;)

Even if it was a clean hit, seemed borderline to me, if someone challenges you to a fight after a big hit then you shouldn't let the refs protect you.