TrueBlueGED

They do suck. Grean beans should not be chosen over asparagus as a side for steak. Also, I do out jar sauce on pasta...but importantly, I'm not going to sit here pretending it's better than homemade sauce. It's worse, I know that. I'm just lazy and generally hate cooking.

Just so we're clear, I never meant to insinuate I thought Ruff was somehow doing a bad job. Pointing out a flaw is not the same as saying he sucks. Oh, and Liger, watch it. You're this close to your "We don't need Ryan O'Reilly because we have Zemgus Girgensons" being immortalized in my sig.

Your car opinions now join my movie opinions and Eleven's food opinions in the Sabrespace Hall of Shame. Congratulations!

Love it. Not really related, but if there's one thing I hate it's seeing a sports car being driven by an ancient person who is afraid to go over 30 mph.

Why does Frank Reich have any credibility as a team executive? To me, digging into the names of past Bills is the antithesis of establishing credibility for the franchise.

Well, this is a poorly constructed argument. For starters, O'Reilly is locked in for 7 years...are we really worried what 1 year, 8 years into the future, could mean for then-33 O'Reilly? That aside, Risto wouldn't be taking money away at all, unless you believe we'd lose one of those players because we're paying Risto. Even if Risto's contract hit the worst case scenario, it's still not costing us our best players--it'd be our depth that would take a hit. That's not something to ignore, but throwing out names like Eichel and Reinhart when we're talking about probably a ~$2 million marginal difference in contract is pretty weak. What is Risto worth right now on a 3 year bridge? $3.5 million (which is under market value due to RFA)? Long term, ~$5.5-6 million? That $2-2.5 million difference means nothing for the next two seasons So let's say a bridge saves us $6 million total over the next three years relative to a long-term deal. If he regresses and he's only worth say $4 million (considering inflation) at the end of it, great, we're not locked in long term for $5.5 million. So he signs a 5-year, $20 million contract. Over the course of that plus the bridge, we've saved a total of $12 million for an average of $1.7M per year. But...now bear with me, as I know such optimism is against your nature...what if he gets better? What if in 3 years he's more like a $7 million player? Coming off a bridge, we'd be responsible for the full market value, costing over the next 4 years $6 million over signing him to $5.5m x8 right now, effectively wiping out all savings during the bridge years. A bridge deal saves more now at the possible expense of paying more later, while a long term deal costs more now at the potential benefit of saving more later. The dollars over the life of the contract work out about the same, but not all dollars are equal--when we spend those dollars is important. A $1.5 million annual savings three years from now is much more valuable than an annual savings of the exact same amount right now, because our young stars are still on their ELCs. The back half of the contract is when Eichel, Reinhart, et al. are going to be due big raises and that's when we should want to be getting Risto below market value. Yes, there's risk with a long-term deal in that we're overpaying if he regresses...but what you seem to ignore is that there's also risk to a bridge deal if he progresses. It really comes down to whether you think he's more likely to regress or progress, because the overall value of the money over the next 8 years is going to be about equal under an average outcome. The worst case scenario hurts more if you go long term, but the best case scenario is even better with a long-term deal. Vice-versa for going bridge: the worst case outcome is mitigated, but the best case outcome (Risto becomes a legit #1) is considerably more costly. So I ask again, do you think he is more likely to progress or regress? Answer that, and you have your answer, as the rest is just noise.

Well, we have to pay him no matter what. If he's a net negative to the team on the ice, there's no reason to keep putting him on the ice. In fact, playing him in that scenario makes it a worse use of money than paying him to sit in the box or go to Rochester.

Well, it's intuitive to want that to happen...but I don't think it's intuitive to keep trying to force it when it becomes clear it's not happening. Difference between a good coach (of which there are many) and a great coach (of which there are few): the good ones adapt the pieces to their system, the great ones adapt their system to the pieces. It's the functional definition of cutting your nose to spite your face. You can want your car to accelerate like a Corvette all you want, but if it doesn't, it does neither you nor the car any good to toss a stick of dynamite under the hood instead of just using it for what it is.

As of this posting, I think Nelson makes it for 6/7D (though like Dudacek, I hope for somebody else to be brought in), Carrier picks up a forward spot (most developed of our forward prospects, getting to the point where we have to know one way or the other on him), and....lord save us all...Cal O'Reilly makes the team to center the 4th line (though I hope and pray hourly that we get a real NHL 4th line center). I fully expect Fasching/Bailey to get a look this year due to injuries and/or earning a callup. Kane-O'Reilly-Okposo Ennis-Eichel-Reinhart Foligno-Larsson-Gionta Carrier-O'Reilly-Girgensons Deslauriers

It's so intuitively obvious, isn't it? Coaches must be amongst the most stubborn creatures to ever roam the Earth.

As fun as it would be, I have no idea how we could have even a sliver of hope of icing a Cup caliber blue line without Risto in the fold. Another wicked stretch pass from Eichel to Gaudreau.

Breaking news: old man hates fun :p Draglikepull ‏@draglikepull 9m9 minutes ago Add "Finland's hockey team" to the list of things Millennials have ruined. :worthy: :worthy: :worthy:

Yes. But it's a hella-fun gimmick I have nearly zero complaints with. I mean, sports should be fun, right?

Don't think Jack got as much on the initial shot as he wanted. Might've had it in that case.

Although I still think the team's weaknesses will show against Canada...this team might be the clear 2nd best in the tournament.

Gonna go with one for each team here. Atlantic: Buffalo: Ristolainen tops 50 points while putting to bed any questions about him being a #1. Garners some Norris consideration (...from Sabres fans). Boston: Finishes 6th in the division, prompting large-scale organizational changes. Detroit: The streak ends. Tampa: Kucherov scores more goals than Stamkos. Florida: Barkov wins the Selke. Montreal: Finishes with 100+ points with narratives crediting the leadership swap of Subban-Weber (when reality says it was just having a healthy Price). Toronto: Auston Matthews spontaneously combusts and takes the entire ACC with it. Okay, maybe not so much a prediction as a dream. Metropolitan: Carolina: Elias Lindolm leads the team in scoring. Columbus Blue Jackets: Torts gets fired before the season is over. New Jersey: Is not the lowest scoring team in the league. NYI: Miss the playoffs. NYR: Are merely a bubble playoff team. Eek in as a wildcard. Philly: I don't care. Burn in hell. Pittsburgh: Pick up where they left off, win the Presidents Trophy. Washington: Ovechkin fails to hit 50 for the firs time since the shortened season. Central: Chicago: Hossa finally looks legitimately old. Colorado: Not sure exactly how bold this is, but MacKinnon scores 70+ Dallas: Somebody gives them competent goaltending. Minnesota: Miss the playoffs. Nashville: Wins the division. St. Louis: Drops off significantly, only making the playoffs as a wildcard. Winnipeg: Laine gets 35 goals. Pacific: Anaheim: Realize they made a colossal error hiring Carlyle and miss the playoffs. Arizona: Makes the play....okay, fine, almost make the playoffs. Calgary: Back in the playoffs baby! (I'm almost certainly going to regret this one). Edmonton: McDavid leads the league in scoring and the Oilers make the playoffs. Okay so that's two for one team, sue me. LA: Dean Lombardi finds a way to make their cap situation worse. San Jose: Joe Thornton gets 20 goals. Vancouver: Wins the Carrion Hockey League.

Me too! Anyone know if there are plans to use them in the NHL this year?

Pekka Rinne is trash.

Johnny Gaudreau: the new generation's Theo Fleury? What a fun player.

Risto's play on MacKinnon :wub:

I noticed that too! Someone, somewhere, is going to interpret that as lack of compete.

Breaking news: Barkov is good.

Oh man, I didn't realize it was Risto who missed the check on Matthews for that goal. Such a range of emotions on that thing: Risto flub, Toronto loser great move, Eichel scores. How should I feel? :lol: Ha! Nice.

Nice pinch by Risto there. And man, this is fun. Down Goes Brown ‏@DownGoesBrown 1m1 minute ago We're calling that McDavid/Eichel/Matthews powerplay line The Tanks, right?

On a more serious note, I remain sad that Matthews is in Toronto. What a zone entry. The door. It's over there.