DarthEbriate

With the added caveat that all 7 have the opportunity for #1.

I'm especially concerned that JBot sees Kahun, Mitts, and Cozens all playing center in Buffalo next season because he has MoJo and Lazar as capable supports. Now -- in 2022-23, maybe it does go Eichel, Cozens, Kahun, Mitts and we're just flying up and down the ice. But always in motion is the future.

Agreed on not sending him back down, just pointing out that the option is still there in the event he's not ready or we somehow sign/acquire sufficient forwards to keep him off the roster. I think Cozens would have gotten his 9 games last year if he hadn't broken his thumb.

Cozens gets nine games to show he's up for it (now, will he be a center or a winger to start?) And if he's not ready for the speed, then yes, he gets to ride the WHL buses again next season like Reinhart's first season (and Reinhart had a solid full rookie season the next year mostly on ROR's wing). The main issue is if we have players in place to allow Cozens to play to his capability in the NHL season (2C being the most critical missing piece). If there's no buffer and he's the default 2C or 3C... then yes, everyone suffers: Cozens, franchise, and fans.

And that's the real trick isn't it? And it'll cost us something extra. Ten thousand. All in advance. If Cozens isn't ready, and we stunt his growth as a result of not having the adequate protections (re: 2C + legit 3/4C like Larsson) to ease his role, then he'll be into the AHL the following season and the team will be two more years down the Eichel path with nothing to show for it, and that's when it will start to get very problematic. Because if you flip JBot then you're bringing in another GM with a 3-year grace period to build their roster. And that's when you start looking at moving the pieces of value who have never won anything (for example, Eichel = Taylor Hall).

PP goal Ward on the rebound from Holzinger. Then, on the next PP (Nichol keeps drawing penalties), Holzinger takes the faceoff and then backs off to play point. Interesting

My first job was working at a restaurant when Red Dog was still very new. We had both Red Dog and Bad Frog available. I thought that that was a pretty solid selection of names. Whoa! That's a Baby Barry Trotz behind the bench.

Nice. Hope they load onto Amerks youtube as well for future enjoyment.

We're all still yelling Nooooooooo at that trade. We've even digitally added in the Nooooo for the folks who didn't yell No the first time. But what's worse is he had 2 full years to address that mistake while we had promising starts to seasons---and the unraveling of the backup plans---and still did nothing. That's the real failure. It's one thing to make one bad decision (whether forced by ownership or not), it's another to ignore the mistake for 2 years running. And Marcus Johansson is a solid NHL-caliber player, but he's not a center. Edit: Wouldn't it be nice to see Eichel grow into his own superstar level, as he has. And have ROR as the Swiss Army Knife 2C. And to have a tenacious 3C in Angry Larry to keep them both rested. And then --- you can have anyone play 4C. Want a rookie to get groomed? No problem. Want an energy-only guy? No problem. Strength down the middle taken care of. (It's one thing learned from watching those 1998-99 and 2005-06 teams in these old games. They had an abundance of centers. Maybe not a bunch of 1A/1B options like Eichel and ROR, but a whole bunch of 2s.)

JBot has failed in many things, and succeeded (overall minor league replenishment; lottery luck) in others. But the most important thing is fielding a competitive roster. And each of the last two seasons the team has started fast and then lost the "planned 2C" -- in 18-19 Berglund retired, despite having already been demoted to a 4W; and in 19-20, Mitts was demoted to the AHL. In both cases, that left a gaping hole in the lineup that JBot chose to ignore. He had resources (RHD, picks, prospects) to move for an interim or permanent 2C. He chose to ignore it both seasons, and we slowly deteriorated each time. That's egregious. You don't have to trade a Cozens to get a stop-gap 2C with one year remaining. But instead he did nothing for the 2C. Instead, he got Montour in 2019 and Frolik in 2020.

In my experience there's no such thing as luck. Just change the justification line-by-line. Full, left, right. Whatever.

5 in the top 10, yes. But the highest after Cozens is #6, and Ruotsalainen was in Dev Camp last year and he was ... forgettable? Agreed: Mitts has potential. By golly, I'm gonna play my Downtown auf Deutsch when he scores in a Sabres playoff game some day, darngummet. Unknown: Thompson, injuries will determine his future. Weissbach, maybe, but he had the opportunity to lead/carry a young Badgers squad and was good but not great.

Oh, the asides! Oh, the ranges! As I learned from Parliament, not REO Speedwagon, you can tune a piano but you can't tuna fish. Of course, in trying to research who quoted whom just now, both tracks were released in 1978. I'm not doing further research. Parliament always wins.

The trouble with publishing is inconsistency. One space or two spaces, you get to choose, but you don't get to change. Not three. Five is right out.

Favre carried it through to the end of his career. Back in the day, Favre was fun, and simultaneously scary, to watch. Especially with the 4:3 aspect ratio he'd whip the ball off the screen before the camera could pan.... But often those big picks were effectively punts. 3rd and long, chuck it 40 yards downfield and hope there isn't much of a return.

Do you pronounce it A-T-M or at-M? Asking for my friend (Veers). Ah yes, the rules of word processor kerning! Apparently schools started teaching kids one space but then reverted back to two spaces? I can neither confirm nor deny the schooling, but it certainly causes me to use Find and Replace functions more frequently.

Sabres pick 8th again. // In a "2020 Redraft" article in 2026 their selection is a late 3rd-rounder // Rinse in Horsey Sauce and repeat. // Eat at Arby's

That was a great game. I have a memory of one of those super late summer nights, with about 20 kids of the block all running about in near darkness. I'm sure it was past everyone's time to come home, but the parents were like "Darkness schmarkness? Leave 'em out there." and went back to... watching 20/20 or something innocuous I'm sure.

Where's Artoo Senator Amidala when we need her? I think we would all agree that if the Sabres were in the playoffs we'd want them to win the Cup, asterisked or not. The things I don't like are changing the parameters of the playoffs or draft after playing the bulk of the season and completing the trade deadline. It's like moving a target at an archery tourney after the arrow is in flight. But before the shot is made, by all means, let everyone agree to whatever wild placement you want -- that's what makes sports sports. Let's look at Montreal. The Sabres and Habs were tied with 66 points at the trade deadline. If the Habs had known all they had to do to get a playoff round vs. (most likely) Toronto and all that revenue and coverage, was to beat Buffalo down the stretch, would they have moved Kovalchuk and Scandella? It was good asset management to move them. But Buffalo had been stagnant for months and a better choice may have been to add pieces to beat out the Sabres. Likewise, a BUF-TOR series? JBot would have had to go after more than Kahun and Simmonds if he knows he doesn't have to catch Toronto (because of wildcards), he just has to stay ahead of a middling Montreal squad.

Darth's sipping whiskey of choice for camp firesides, book readings, and Con-people-watching. Edit: Whoops -- replied rather than posted. We had signed up for a cooking lesson as an xmas gift, but it was canceled. The place is now selling their meal lessons (with the recipes). So we got a right-tasty "to go" box of pork ribs with rhubarb black pepper sauce, smoked potato salad, buttermilk coleslaw, fresh sweet rolls, and a strawberry cobbler.

I won't say happy. Rather, it would make me feel better because it's somewhat more consistent with the regular playoffs. For the record: I think they should follow the planned playoff qualification rules (16 teams, wildcards, and non-qualifiers get a lottery percentage). I don't like "altering the deal" once the season has started. If they go to 24 teams, and use a wild card layout -- then absolutely the Rangers should be in over the Sabres, just like if both teams were currently in 4th in their divisions and going after the wildcard. But, if the league wants 24 teams in, then only 7 teams should have a lottery percentage and they all should be available for #1. You either get playoffs (and revenue) or you get a lottery chance, not both.

You must do what you feel is right, of course.

That Sanderson goal. Still as pretty today.

That 98-99 team (emphasis on team, not roster) was a fantastic sum of its parts. Edit: I'm a few days behind because I have to watch these through NHL, so I'm wrapping the Boston series today. But these games were all pretty wild and fun. Very engaging.

Acrostic cheatery! Analytics are only Numbers if that's what you believe. Analytics are true Love if you wish them investigated. Your mileage may vary. Those numbers scream out "Improvement!" if only the team Could find some Secondary scoring. I thought of that one. But if I always took the easy path, I would become an agent of evil.