thewookie1

I don't see one trade out of #1 since 1999 with the whole Sedin twins fenagle

Well Green helps us theoretically by hurting Ottawa. I was worried they might hire a better coach

Seeing as your the one who endlessly has a fit when I have anything to say negatively about Eichel or Vegas; I'm not entirely sure how I'm to blame. Eichel was my favorite player when he was here, I went to bat for him with my family over him and was disappointed in the team results we achieved. But when he asked for a trade he became a traitor to me and thus family members felt vindicated by their misgivings being correct in some regards. I am first and foremost a fan of the Buffalo Sabres; which means depending on how you went about your departure matters greatly to my continued interest. Reinhart got strung along yet still didn't take it out against the team or city. Thus far Mitts has done much of the same. As such my only hang up is wanting them not to score against us in matchups. Eichel on the other hand demanded his way out, and then later went after the fans which is an immediate trigger-point. Had he been merely traded away without requesting it; he'd still be one of my favorites. It all comes down to the how.

You've got some messed up priorities then my friend. Cheering for a player who asked to leave the team you are supposedly a fan of to succeed in order to spite fans of the team you supposedly are a fan of is screwed up in so many ways.

No, I'll give them a 4th for him at 50% but I'm not giving them anything to help them clear cap.

If anything it creates a general hope for the future but doesn't excuse his inability to make the Sabres better in the mean time.

Am I not surprised he chose to play Playoffs Game 1 over Game 82, not in the slightest. I have issues with reports of his return not appearing until after Game 82. It feels contrived to think it just kind of magically happened that after the season ended he was suddenly healthy enough to play after radio silence for nearly 2 months. Occam's razor would say something smells funny about a player who seems to leave for indefinite periods prior to the deadline only to comeback each time at Game 1's timing. It just feels fishy for it to happen three consecutive years prior to the deadline. Especially this year since he had no other injuries the entire season. I'm not saying he didn't get hurt; I'm saying that the timings of his returns are overly suspicious. 21-22 Feb. 9, 2022 - Mark Stone has an injury to his back. The expected duration is unknown. March 21st - Deadline Day Apr. 11, 2022 - Mark Stone's undisclosed injury status has been updated. The expected duration is game-time decision. Apr. 12, 2022 - Mark Stone is cleared to play. Missed Playoffs 22-23 Feb. 1, 2023 - Mark Stone's back injury status has been updated. The expected duration is indefinite. March 3rd - Deadline Day Apr. 15, 2023 - Mark Stone's back injury status has been updated. The expected duration is day to day. Apr. 17, 2023 - Mark Stone is cleared to play. Won Stanley Cup 23-24 Feb. 21, 2024 - Mark Stone has an injury to his upper body. The expected duration is week to week. (Interesting since the NHL stated indefinite) March 8th - Deadline Day Apr. 22, 2024 - Mark Stone is cleared to play. Lost in 1st Round LTIR was done differently by Chicago Chicago lost Kane for 21 games in 14-15 and used the LTIR saving of 6.3mil to acquire Kimmo Timonen (2mil) and Antoine Vermette (3.75mil) Tampa's LTIR abuse was effectively 1 year 20-21 Vegas has done it 3 years straight and seem poised to do so for the foreseeable future But yes, I am angry with the league as a whole. I have to admit, I get a kick out of your dogged disdain for my dislike of Vegas and/or Eichel. This isn't the Vegas boards; I have zero requirements to like Vegas in any manner. Until we make the playoffs Eichel will annoy me in some manner solely because he asked to leave. I couldn't care less if his reasoning may have been legitimate; I'm a fan of the Sabres and he asked to leave my favorite team. No, I'd almost guarantee that Stone sat out longer than he technically had to; otherwise he has the most unusual body as he can heal exactly at the right time to play in the playoffs. If there wasn't a cap compliance issue, I'd imagine he'd of been back sooner. Effectively I can't see the doctor's signing off on his play exactly after Game 82; odds would dictate otherwise. They very likely delayed getting the clearance at very least. Kevyn is overly dogmatic on this; I'm just meaning in general. The vast majority of teams are built primarily through the draft with a combo of trades and signings to bolster the ranks. While not steadfast in all their loyalties; most teams will hang onto fan favorite long time players beyond their expiration date for better or worse. Vegas gives no credence to friendships or loyalty and is thoroughly ruthless with roster moves. While impressive, it aligns too much with eventually causing mercenary teams with no steady roster being a norm.

We have the location advantage and if Marner won't waive for anywhere else it doesn't matter about the market. Remember the Leafs GM traded Tkachuk for Huberdeau and Weegar

I don't think Tuch even has an inkling of a chance of getting traded.

My guess is still 7x7mil since I do think the Sabres keep him if they could have got him a 6mil or less.

Sadly just found out Tavares can't get bought out because he'd be a 10.5mil dead cap

The one thing that could make it work is if Toronto feels desperate to make a change. Marner has a full NMC and a buyout leaves them with a 10.5 mil dead cap next year. A large number of teams would want assurances of an extension and/or need Toronto to retain half. All of which is mute if Marner, or rather his father, plays hard ball since he's from Toronto. Without much effort, Marner can effectively screw the Leafs by rejecting any trade and just walking to UFA at next year's end. It's that sort of power that could create a scenario in which he accepts 1 year in Buffalo and Toronto acquires Skinner to fill the hole and "save face." One additional note, they won't be buying out Tavares either for the same reason.

Eh, I’m certainly not sad but it doesn’t have much baring since he’s already won a Cup. Perhaps we’ll get lucky and Tavares will get bought out and sign a cheap deal here to be our 3C for a year or two and want vengeance on his hometown team. 🙂

Not quite over my hatred on Eichel for being a traitor but is no longer quite as a burning sensation. As Perrault said though, it’s the 3 straight years of him getting hurt within a week of each other just prior to the deadline only to return for Game 1. The first time they missed the playoffs entirely but seemed to find a trick to it because they’ve repeated twice since. If he’s still in rough shape, don’t play him. If he’s healthy enough to play game 1 and score the opening goal then I think it’s pretty safe to assume he could play Game 82 only 3 days or so prior. I don’t get the whole big mad comment; this is a Sabres forum not somewhere I should feel the need to respect a team that doesn’t just exploit loopholes but likely does unspeakable acts to loopholes. It wouldn’t matter if Eichel weren’t on the Golden Knights; I’d still loathe their abuse of the rules as well as their destruction of traditional team building principles

I'd like us to be a winner too but the Leafs failure is certainly a nice dose of happiness in this trying time. Happy the cap cheaters in Vegas lost. Honestly, I honestly can say I hated what they did this year almost more than Eichel winning the Cup in large part due to how Stone miraculously recovered from it exactly on time. I'm sorry, but I have a hard time believing he had a lacerated spleen in late February and could play a high contact sport by mid-April with doctor's approval. He had 61 days of recover which while is with the 3-12 week recovery time, about 8 weeks; seems highly suspicious he was magically healed exactly after the LTIR issues were no longer a concern. Either they purposely misled people claiming he was done for the season as was reported by the NHL or they held him out of play multiple to avoid the cap compliance issues. Especially since he did this exact same thing the previous two years. Fans around the league deserve an explanation to Stone's uncanny injuries or the LTIR loophole must be limited or eliminated in its entirety.

I both agree and disagree; it is certainly similar to the NHL's playoff lack of penalties but it feels as if it takes a whole further level in what is effectively thuggery on the ice. The typical AHL hockey is somewhat akin to NHL playoffs relatively due to the refs not being as competent as a baseline but also a degree of leeway is given due to the lesser players. Essentially the best way to describe it would NHL Regular Season: Touch his hands with your stick and its a penalty when seen frequently in most cases NHL Playoffs/AHL Reg: Touch his hands with your stick while in a scoring situation (like on a scoring chance) and its a penalty when seen usually AHL Playoffs: You likely can practically hook the opposing player's shirt off and it can be seen but still not called.

Quite honestly the Amerks are an oddity in the AHL since they are very much akin to what the AHL is supposed to be, a developmental league. A lot of youngsters (19 to 26) with NHL aspirations and a few vets to shepherd them along. During the regular season it works for the most part because player are constantly getting sent down/called up and thus keeps teams developing primarily. The AHL playoffs are a different animal altogether. Whereas the NHL becomes less likely to make calls than usual but still generally resembles normal NHL play. The AHL playoffs turn into a no holds bar cage match and the Amerks aren’t exactly equipped to dominate a competition where skills mean less than how good you might be at playing dirty. This series has been much like the Bears series last year. A team of career AHLers and tweeners with a couple youngsters versus Rochester’s team of youngsters led by a few career AHLers and tweeners. As such they get bullied year round but whereas in the regular season they can use their speed and skill as well as PP to fight back; the playoffs practically let teams wrestle which is both absurd and unfair to the Amerks and multiple similar teams. A fast player can’t skate away if the opposing player can trip him without penalty. It’s why teams like the Hershey Bears are always near the top of the league; half of them are lifers that know this is their Stanley Cup and the other half are either being called up or developed for a future call up. When their NHL teams are eliminated, suddenly their teams play max experience allowed and while typically less refined in skill have a lot of pent up anger at the youngsters on the opposing side. Add to that refs that pretend to be blind and you get the Amerks struggles because they are more rule abiding and meant for the NHL versus pure AHL success.

I want to believe they used the play we did against them last year to tie it with Tuch one timing it off the boards. Even if it’s a common ish play lol

Frankly the guy doesn't belong in the league with his attitude

I wouldn't, to me a guy like Savoie isn't available for a 1 year rental. I'd trade lesser 1st round prospects but not Savoie in this case specifically. Additionally I'm not an Ehlers fan to be perfectly honest; he's hurt and or ineffective for long stretches and wouldn't bring any new element to the roster.

Boston hatred comes from a myriad of things as well as being in our division forever. The Patriots hate also festered the disdain. Philly hate originally came from the Cup Finals in 1975 but was reignited in the late 90's when we met them in the playoffs and then ran into them over and over again after; including our most recent one. Toronto hate tends to be from two primary factors, distance and their fans. Toronto fans have frequently taken over our seats due to the ever famous example of fans paying off their seasons with the selling of both Leafs game. Which obviously means Sabres fans are gouging Leafs fans and also showing a certain degree of the wealth disparity between the two cities. The fans that don't sell are made aggravated by their presence because unlike the vast majority of away fans; Leaf fans inhabit a very particular type which tends to be loud, proud and arrogant. I have always described them as Patriots fans without anything to back up their claims. Although the Sabres have beaten up Toronto far more often; their fans always return and claim superiority regardless of circumstances. They also have the habit of stark mood swings depending on results that make any other fanbase look tame and in control. Plus they deem themselves the Hockey Mecca of the world and the media seems to reinforce it quite often.

Rough game for everyone but Levi

Frankly the Russians make the Israeli settling of disputed land look like a child taking over a sandbox. Stalin wanted full on Russification in the Soviet Union and sought out ways to eliminate or disperse local populaces in the millions and replaced them with Russian Communist communities. Ukraine being a prime example as well as all three Baltic States, parts of historical Finland, and the Caucuses region. And that’s not even touching on the vast region of Siberia or the Far Eastern reaches of the Russian State. How the hell did we get multiple Baltic people/ descendants on this board lol It’s not like a giant population in comparison to the world.

I love the tiny bit of Romania they had.

Silinger, Salinger wrote the Catcher in the Rye