Jsixspd

In that second part - 11:00 to 13:00 - I felt like he almost took credit for GMTM being hired. I also got the distinct impression that GMTM isn't his boss - that he's Terry's "guy", and that Battista is supposed to be the guy who gets things turned around for "Terry". That could make for a bad dynamic in the office. In terms of building the on-ice product, the chain of command should be GM>>>everybody else. Emphasis on the word "Could". We'll see how it plays out. I should look at how other successful franchises like Chicago, Boston, Detroit, etc, are structured internally. Do they have their own Battistas floating around, overlapping the GM's role?

As long as Battista clearly realizes that his department is subordinate to GMTM, and that his responsibility is to find talent to feed the leads to GMTM for further evaluation/disposition, I'm fine with the above. But if he starts making decisions, or "going to Terry" because he doesn't like what GMTM decides about a prospect, well that would be real trouble right there. Hope that doesn't happen. It seemed to me from the interview that much of what Battista will be focused on, is as liaison between the Sabres organization and college hockey, and trying to identify young and upcoming talent early. That would be a good thing, as long as he doesn't butt heads with GMTM.

Ahhh, ok, thanks for the clarification! What a bastard. Washington Post has an interesting article - apparently the NBA turned a blind eye to this guy's appalling statements and actions for years. They just couldn't keep the lid on it any longer, but it seems as if they should have taken action years ago. http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2014/04/28/why-the-world-finally-noticed-donald-sterlings-appalling-history/

My average, not cheating, was 230-240

Yeah, I think we need to save our outrage for when it's needed. If GMTM gets pressured or pushed into doing things he disagrees with, or ends up leaving the organization early, then let it fly.

I wonder if the latency (ping) of the internet connection has any effect? Or cordless vs wireless mouse? You can also anticipate it. I got a 33 ms by guessing when to click.

Sterling, Sterling's wife, and the "alleged" girlfriend - seem like terrible people. There are no heroes in this tale. Charities should have kept Sterling's donations though. Imperfect and flawed people can still do some good, and if the money is put to good use, that's really all that matters.

Nice to see the Rangers eliminate Filthydelphia.

I am not convinced that Pegula would choose for the best of the team over "the old boys network "

LOL! I wished I'd saved the link - but I was reading some sports article (might have been one of the St. Louis papers or news stations) that referred to Miller as the "Emo/Sad goalie" lmao!!!!!

Man, Ryan Miller isn't helping his case in St. Louis with a quote like this http://www.stlouisga...quote-mr-miller Smacks of apathy and "oh well, these things happen" at least on the surface, and maybe a dose of his wife's priorities are more important than hockey thrown in? So now he can go to his wife's sister's wedding. I seem to recall an awful lot of complaining by fans about how Miller's California girlfriend (now wife) was adversely affecting his game play. Maybe the wife had already said something chidingly to him - "Oh great, you're in the playoffs - now we can't go to my sister's wedding" ? ;)

Emphasis on the "Blues" - ;)

I gotta admit though - I was rooting for the Bruins over Vancouver. Tim Thomas played crazy good in the Cup series. And as much as I dislike Boston and Boston fans, even they didn't go on a collective rioting rampage after losing to Chicago last year, as did the Vancouver fans when they lost to Boston.

haha!!! I usually never read articles at ESPN's website - I go there for checking schedules, scores, and the box score for games. But there were several headlines at ESPN hockey about Miller's deficiencies, and that he's not good for the Blues. As if the Blues fans weren't already wound up enough against Miller, I'm sure that doesn't help the situation.

It was from that Trending Buffalo article - not sure where it was taken. I'll buy the lockout press conference explanation. It isn't just St. Louis fans pointing fingers at Miller's goal tending in the playoffs as a big factor in the series loss. Another article from ESPN - this one is an analysis of the Chicago/St Louis series, and the author, Scott Powers, states his number one observation is that Corey Crawford outplayed Ryan Miller, and that may have been the difference in the series. Crawford's SVG% in the 4 games Chicago won was .955, whereas in those same 4 games, Miller's was only .887. I added it up - we can talk about poor St. Louis offense but.... St. Louis outshot Chicago by 215 to 186 shots on goal, or 16% more shots in the series . In that last game, St Louis was superior in almost every stat except goals! Shots - 36 to 27 in favor of St. Louis PIM - Chicago with 12 vs 6 for St. Louis Hits - 43 to 22 Giveways - fewer at 5 vs 7 Takeaways - 5 vs 2 Faceoffs won - the only stat St. Louis was worse in, just barely - 34 to 35. ESPN writer may have a point - at least in Game 6, perhaps the big difference WAS elite goal-tending by Crawford? 1. Blackhawks goaltender Corey Crawford outplayed Blues goaltender Ryan Miller, and that may have been the difference in the series. These teams were so even that only one shot attempt separated them in 5-on-5 situations with the game tied or within a goal throughout the entire series, according to extraskater.com. The Blackhawks had 235 shot attempts and the Blues had 234. What it came down to was Crawford stepped up. After allowing eight goals in the first two games, Crawford gave up just six over the last four games. He also stopped 126 of 132 shots for a .955 save percentage in the span. Miller gave up 13 goals and stopped 102 of 115 shots for a .887 save percentage in the final four games. http://espn.go.com/b...=espnapi_public

Ryan needs a friend http://www.trendingbuffalo.com/life/digital-finds/ryan-miller-seeking-a-new-home-and-perhaps-a-friend/

:lol: hahaha, I forgot all about that!!!!

Ott makes sense. Ott would only cost a fraction of what Miller would be asking. He's a fan favorite, and would add some entertainment to an otherwise like dreary 2014-15 Tank Which Is Not A Tank season.

haha! Well, as we know the goal by Anaheim stood. However, if the Sabres had scored in a similar fashion, the official(s) probably would have waived it off, claiming they "intended" to blow the whistle because the puck wasn't "visible".

Maybe Miller could return in the role as special executive assistant to Batista?

ESPN hasn't updated Miller's stats for this 6 game post-season, but I calculated it Overall, a 3.17 GAA and a 0.897 SVG%. That would put him solidly in the bottom half of goalies who've played in the playoffs this year. That's also a distinct drop from his previous post-season average of 2.52 GAA and 0.918 SVG%. in his 4 post-seasons with Buffalo. Whether it's statistically meaningful with only 6 games this season for a data source- I'm not sure.

I wonder if Tim Murray will be answering any calls from St. Louis tomorrow? If caller ID shows a St. Louis area code, he'll probably just let it go to voice mail, or let his Sexcretary screen for him. Like a car salesman who avoids calls from a customer who bought a lemon. LOL

The entire Chicago organization should get props. ESPN is leading the charge - the feature headline at the ESPN NHL page reads; The Blackhawks took advantage of poor play by Ryan Miller to bounce the Blues in a big way Yep, great coach! Chicago is just a solid organization, top to bottom. I've said for several years that we should be using them as a model for building for the future. Oh, and also in the sub-headline for the Blackhawk win - Craig Custance - "Blues should let Miller sign elsewhere " http://insider.espn.go.com/blog/craig-custance/post?id=2450 I would be astonished if Miller is still there in the fall.

I hope he comes back to Buffalo.