LTS

Wasn't PSE dissolved last year? Is it just produced by the Sabres org or whatever organization they split PSE into or is there still a PSE that owns things?

It's simple. If I answer no that poll right now then I log off the forum and free up my calendar from watching or talking about this team. So I have to answer yes.

Unless Swayman said he wouldn't consider signing until Ullmark was gone. At which point Swayman then pulled his antics. I'm not here to say how or what happened other than to open the possibility that Boston was acting honestly and the player boned them. Of course Boston could have just dealt Ullmark and then hoped Swayman would sign. I'm not as much interested in who did who wrong here so much as I am getting full on the popcorn I can't stop eating.

As I said going into this week. The Bills had played suspect level teams and the Ravens, while starting slow, had found their mojo. It went how I expected it to go on the Baltimore side. I'm not sure I expected the offense to be as bad as it was, but it was. Yeah, hopefully they learn. Or, they're just not that good. Their defense is not a good match for Baltimore's offense, especially with the legitimate rushing threat of Henry.

When I get back to work tomorrow I expect to hear a lot more about the impacts to people in my company. We have a large group of employees in the Spartnaburg/Greenville area and it's just south of Asheville/Busick areas in NC that got hammered. Most of them had no power early Friday morning and it only got worse. We also have quite a few people in the Charlotte area and while many had no power I had yet to hear about the same impacts. I had not realized that the storm had increased in strength so much. Finally getting up to watching the news, etc. and seeing the damage. Earlier I spoke about the rain to snow ratio and talked about 13" of rain.... 30" of rain would be 300" of snow. 25 feet of snow... I know we can imagine a lot of snow if you've been in the snow belts, but 25 feet?

I'm not saying this to support any kind of stereotyping, etc. However, unless you know what the cheerleader does when not cheering, I'm not sure you can assert it's not the same thing. 🙂 For you? I am envisioning "Flow".

I'm confused. The last time the Sabres fans collectively chanted the team got mad and would not salute the crowd. Do we want to fire the coach already?

Get to see my son play college hockey today. .. granted only club, but he had basically quit hockey after HS opting instead for club baseball when he was at Bonaventure. Now he's at Fisher and his buddies got him to play. I love hockey so much more than baseball.

or... not. This will be like an all-star game.

Will Keeso be mic'ed up so everyone can hear his chirping? NSFW then... I'll show up to support the Jims. 🙂

100%. Moreover, A's or not on the sweaters, those players were clearly providing leadership on the team and would continue to do so. Getting a letter is a reflection of what they already do. With regards to work ethic, there's no saying that these players didn't have a problem with how things were last year. But, they had a coach they had to work with and we already have heard how Ruff operates things more stringently than Granato did. I would imagine having a coach letting little things go would make it rather difficult for the leaders on the team. Of course it's speculation, but I have a similar situation where I work right now. My boss is all over the place and talks a big game but when it matters he forgets stuff and people get away with putting out a poor product. I also manage people under him. I am routinely fighting his leadership to try and make sure people are not taking the easy way out. I don't always win. Let's just see what a coach with a more detail oriented attitude and a new leadership group can do with this team.

I love Sabretooth. Always have. Gritty became a favorite right away. He was amazing in his Abbott Elementary episode.

I work with quite a few people in Florida, GA, and South Carolina. One employee was mandatory evacuation in St. Peterburg and had already seen the flooding begin. Crazy stuff and I am sure what I will hear today will make yesterday seem tame. They were also talking about two more storms following close behind. I suppose the positive is that these aren't higher category storms. Still, the amount of rain that falls in these lower category storms is a bit unbelievable. They talk about rain:snow ratio as 1:10. I can't imagine the 130" of snow that would have equated to when I was down in Tampa during Debbie. We are intimately familiar with 77" of snow at Orchard Park... add another 53"? Hooooo.

I have to imagine Samuelsson is as wacky as hell in the room. My son is probably the foremost expert on Sabres Players' Instagram and he loves Samuelsson's account. He's witty as hell. He's probably pretty good at de-escalating tensions while still maintaining a standard of play. Yep. Goofy glue is important. I'm happy with the choice. I think he'll mature even more into the role as he is still quite young. But there's no denying his passion. He also has that awkward humor about him that just... works. It's a smart marketing move to use Buffalo's most favorite athlete to introduce him. Allen is the embodiment of all fans championship hopes right now. Using him certainly elevates the message. It doesn't change their ability to succeed on the ice, but if Dahlin can become the Sabres' Allen... I think we'll all be happy.

It does. It's happened to me and certainly others have acknowledged it over time on here. I took pretty much a year away from the forum entirely. It's not easy to realize it but when you do and you can make the changes it really helps. Good on you for recognizing it and taking strides. I seem to have conflicts when all these pre-season games keep happening to I have the luxury of not having to decide if I will watch it. I'm ready for the season, especially now that the captains have been named.

I am not being argumentative just for the hell of it.I t is your opinion. Everyone can have one. Everyone can choose how much merit they want to give the opinion and ultimately disagree. So be it. My goal was to determine what made someone an effective center first and foremost. Secondary was an attempt to quantify how to achieve a top 15 ranking on something other than opinion. Any discussion based on pure opinion generally ends up with everyone being right.. unless someone wants to change their mind. That's okay, that's the point of subjectivity. I was attempting to measure of objectivity. Another way to look at it is to compile a list of centers and then determine if there are 15 of them you would put on your team before Thompson. So I'll attempt that: MacKinnon, McDavid, Matthews, Draisaitl, Crosby, Point, Stamkos, Barkov, Hughes, Kopitar, Eichel (despite my personal feelings), Johnston, Eriksson Ek, Bedard, Kyrou are all centers I would consider taking over Thompson. Others in consideration: Larkin, ROR, Jarvis, Aho, Suzuki, Pettersson. I have nothing against Thompson, I just think the one's I have listed I have more faith in. Could be the inconsistency of Buffalo versus other teams and I want to be wrong. Can't read it as I don't have a NYT subscription.

A notably different, albeit probably quite interesting, experience.

No one said Ruff was trying to create new lines. Where do you get that assertion from? You asked why JJP and TNT were playing if Tuch was not. The response was that it allowed Krebs to be seen in a top 6 role, in this case on the top line. This is a perfectly logical explanation and somehow you end up back to your above post. You acknowledge the point about Krebs, "you guess". He is an unknown entity. That's the whole point. They need to determine if he's taken the next step or not and they are trying to see his performance with a top line assignment. If it doesn't matter to you then why so many posts about the Sabres? Why the comment about "get used to the sound of Ruff;s voice?" You are hunting around constantly looking to discredit the Sabres at every turn. In many cases it's a real stretch.

There's no "gotcha" here. My initial post asked, "What metrics do you define a CENTER by?". In my initial post I noted that relative to his OWN TEAM Thompson was not the top C. He was behind Krebs and Mitts in +/- tied with Girgensons,and Kulich at -1. He was 5th in FOW% on his own team. I also called out the win % in specific situations as well. He was not at the top. If you are simply evaluating by metrics that are attributable to any FORWARD then you aren't rating him as a CENTER, but as a FORWARD. Even then, he's not top 15. Since you want to dismiss what I've done, pray tell, what metrics would you like to use to define a CENTER so we can pull them and see where TNT ranks? You know a ton about analytics, so I'm looking forward to the insight. Yes, I could go back further but I see no need. You are referring to shooting percentage, is that a CENTER stat or a PLAYER stat? You could say his shooting percentage is higher as a CENTER than WING, but that doesn't make him a TOP 15 CENTER in the league, it just makes his production better at CENTER than WING. As for him being a complete player, great. What specific CENTER metric are you referring to? Is he a more complete player than many of the names on the list I would put above him? Everyone keeps telling me about what kind of PLAYER Thompson is... once again, look at the topic, read the question.... "Is Tage Thompson a top 15 center in the NHL?" That's the question I keep answering. Why everyone else seems to be defending Thompson as a good player is beyond me, I acknowledged that straight away. I acknowledged he's a pretty good forward who has shown he can be score at a high rate. It does not mean he is a good center. So, all I am asking everyone refuting things is to tell us why "Is Tage Thompson a top 15 center in the NHL?"

Last season stats: 162nd in FOW%. Of the top 162, there were 18 players in the top 162 that had 100 face-offs or less. Even if you exclude them, Tage is just inside the 1op 150 players in FOW% 31st in goals 70th in assists 52nd in total points 95th in +/- 44th in TOI/GP. What metrics is anyone looking at that says Tage Thompson is worth this consideration? He is tied for 1st in height at 6'6, with Nick Bjugstad, Michael Rasmussen, and Aliaksei Protas though!

It was a great win. The play calling was smart to go through the air against a team missing its top 3 DBs. The defense had a pretty easy night against an offense that could not execute. Playing a team with the most dropped passes over the past few years. The Jags are broken. Miami is an overrated team and once they lost Tua they lost all shots at being successful. The Cardinals were the best team they played so far and even they aren't looking so spectacular. The upcoming games against Baltimore and Houston will prove a lot. I have confidence but I think the defense will be tested more than it has the past two weeks. The offense will have to execute like it has been.

I would imagine that playing Krebs with JJP and TNT is to see his ability to play in the top 6. If they take out JJP and TNT then they cannot accomplish that right? He's be playing with Kulich and Rosen? The Quinn-Cozens-Benson line was not missing anyone so that line kept its chemistry and Krebs slotted in above. This not only gives them information about Krebs in the top 6 with the team but it also provides a little context in how he fits in overall in a top 6 for other teams who might have an interest. There's nothing odd about the stacked line-up as they said they would be doing this the whole pre-season.

He's got the IDGAF mindset... perhaps at the same level as Mike Ramsey checking Wayne Gretzky in an All-Star game. Love it.

Very true and important context to add. It speaks to the depths of how "money" is handled in this world. There's so much more and not just with financial institutions. They say follow the money, but it takes a pretty serious level of knowledge to attempt to do so.

That's a lot of will power. The price of those things have skyrocketed over the past 5 years or so right? No small achievement to hold out until you had it all ready to go! Enjoy.