mjd1001

Everyone has their opinion, I get it. I lived on Boston 2 times my life for quite a few years. I was never a fan of the teams there but of course went to some games and was exposed to their behavior and talk shows: 1. Pats fans. As bad as everyone thinks. I have posted in this thread before I have good friends that live near Boston and my office for work is there, and there are some really great people but they turn into world class A-holes if you bring up the Pats or football. 2. Red sox fans. Almost as bad as Pats fans but not quite there. Being at a few Redsox-Yankees games in Fenway over the years and being to one Sox-Yanks game in the Bronx, I can say as bad as Red Sox fans are, Yankee fans can be a lot worse (and I was/am one of them). At both stadiums, the New Yorkers were the ruder, cruder, fight starting agitators vs the Red Sox fans in almost everything I saw. Again, living in Boston for a while many of the people there are decent people who turn into idiots when in a sports setting. However it seems that there are just more New Yorkers (NYCity) who are just plain bad people/idiots and sports brings that out of them even more. 3. Bruins. Fans I don't think are as bad as everyone makes them out to be. Slightly more annoying than average but not that bad. It can be the media/beat reporters that follow the team that are worse than the fans, and the TV/Radio broadcasters are Awful. When Dale Arnold did games he was actually pretty great, but I think most people will agree that Jack Edwards is possibly the worst, most 'homer' play by play guy in the history of sports. 4. Celtics. No problem with Celtics fans. They can be annoying as any other fanbase when they are good, but I don't think they go beyond it. As for the Leafs, Their fanbase to me is the most annoying in Hockey for sure, and it rivals Pats fans in terms of all sports. (With Yankee fans with an '*'. Yankee fans aren't that bad from around the country, it is the ones that just reside in NY city that are really bad).

I'll add to that it is about 'quantity' vs 'quality' in term of how you rank them. If you rank them in terms of 'quantity' with your cuttoff point in terms of quality being guys who are good enough to just make the NHL? Or is that 'quality' giving very little weight to guys who might make the NHL and mostly focusing on guys you think can legit be difference makers at the highest level (top 1-2 line guys or top 2 d-men?)

For me it is the other way around. Personally I always had loyalty to the player. Never wanted to see them traded. Bruce and Thurman and Andre should have been life long Bills and I blamed the franchise for not making that happen. However, that has changed a bit for myself. I think it started with the NBA..I just have gotten so tired of hearing players tell fans (through the media) how the players don't view themselves and just 'players' but they need to treat themselves as businesses. Like Kevin Durant getting a huge deal from the Nets and then one year later trying to force a trade to another contender because it is a 'business'. I know this can go both ways, but I used to always side with the players. That is changing for me. In the end, players come and go no matter what, it is the city/team that I end up rooting for the most. I don't want to see my team hold onto or give into any player 'too much' at the expense of the team.

I'm prepared to be wrong, but I think Giroux is almost done. Too many miles on the tires, the games I saw him play last year he looked to be a shadow of what he was. If he puts in 25 goals, I'll admit I am wrong but if Ottawa is planning on him in that role, I think they will be upset. The fact that both of these teams made a lot of what they think will be 'key' outside additions might be something that takes them a few weeks to 'gel'. I expect the Sabres, being what we are told is a 'tight knit group', having an advantage there.

Not really. I'm willing to go into camp and maybe the beginning of the season with what his here. If, IF something falls in your lap (you are offered a deal you cannot believe how good it is), then maybe you take that...no idea what that would look like though. Other than that, keep your flexibility. As the season develops leading up to the trade deadline, there will be injuries to other teams they want to fill...there will be teams that were hoping to compete who will not and might be willing to sell. Keep your flexibility while seeing how what you have develops.

Basically an even plus minus usually puts you in the playoff conversation. Look at the league standings over the last few years and it amazes me just how that plus/minus line is very close to the line for who makes and who doesn't make the playoffs. Dahlin playing a full season the way he played the 2nd half of last season, and MAYBE maturing to be an even slightly better play should knock 5-10 goals off (1 per month) of the goals allowed for the year (due to him controlling play, getting the puck out of the zone, and doing that for 40% of all ice time). The rest of a young D-core getting better hopefully knocks another 5 goals off (less than 1 per month isn't much to ask). Maybe another 5-10 goals off due to the forward maturing and playing better defensively (again, 1-2 per month). Can you expect better goaltending to get you another 20 goals less for the entire year? (3-4 per month less) That should be a reasonable hope. The above potentially gets you to 40 less goals allowed. Now can you get another 30 goals scored for the year? All that would make you positive in terms of goal differential for a team and that usually gets you in the 90-95 point range and into playoff contention)

The last 2 years...I can't figure out who I think is making dumber moves...Vegas or Philly. I'm still going with Philadelphia. Its not even a matter of not agreeing with their direction...I have NO IDEA what their direction is.

On paper, it appears Buffalo fell behind both Ottawa and Detroit. On paper. I think you can flip a coin (or two or 3, have a coin flipping tournament to see what order these teams will finish in). But I'll make the case for Buffalo: -Sabres don't really have any key pieces that are aging and can have that 'fall off the cliff' year. Neither do the Red Wings. Ottawa, I really don't like the Giroux signing, I think he won't add as much to that team as others thing. The Sabres have Okposo, but you could also say Perron is in the same situation (but any falloffin Perron is more important because if his expected production) -All 3 teams have some young prospects in their lineup, but the Sabres have the most that played for them last year that will this year. Why is that a plus for the Sabres? USUALLY those guys progress year to year at this age. Stats may or may not show it, but it is reasonable to expect that Dahlin, Power, Samuelsson will all be better plays this year than they were last year, and that also goes for a few guys up front. All of these teams SHOULD be better because younger players get better as time goes on, but that applies to the Sabres with more guys than the other teams.

Vegas had to know when they were dealing for Eichel what it might cost them going forward in terms of cap compliance. They surely had to know this coming season they were going to take a step back. If that is the case you would think the deal was done primarily for last year....but I don't think anyone had full confidence they would be getting 'fully healthy' Eichel back right away. It is puzzling why they made that deal.

I'm think the only way VO gets moved is if Peterka and/or Quinn are having seasons at the high end of expectations, along with few injuries up front. As far as Comrie, what are we all expecting, and what do you want to happen with him 'coming through'. If he can provide you a save percentage of about .910 and play 50 games, I think a good expectation is this team is right around where you think (87-90 points), plus or minus a few from that range.

Would put my money on team Blue for sure if they played against each other. Too much experience vs team gold.

6 feet tall, listed as either 185 or 190. 2nd round draft pick so at some point he was viewed with a lot of talent. His scouting report from his draft year I just read said he is a great skater with outstanding top end speed for a blueliner.

After seeing the small sample size the last year or two, I feel more confident with Houser in a Sabres uniform rather than Subban.

Comrie is not the prototype of the modern NHL goalie who is 6'3 or more and 200+ lbs. He comes in listed at 6'1 and 175.....More of a Ryan Miller/Devon Levi type frame.

So Anderson, Subban, Comrie, UPL, MAYBE Tokarski or one nother guy...bring them to camp and let them battle it out in camp and in preseason. It might be UPL, it might be Comrie..whoever comes out on top is with the big club. I'm fine with that.

Don't know much about him. Read a little in the past couple minutes. Fine with the signing as a bottom 2 guy or 7th-8th guy.

I think you are only looking to move him at the deadline IF Mitts takes that long-awaited big step AND Quinn and/or Peterka look like they are legit NHL scorers. And if those things happen you might want to move Olofsson in that case.

I don't think any of the moves they made lately make them much better or much worse than they were last year. I think in Toronto, they think the team is good enough to 'compete' for a cup if they can past the first round....but their moves so far are not much more than replacing non-core pieces from last year with different non-core pieces.

Low cost training camp competition.

Trochek, 7 years is way too much I agree. BUT, if they think the team is a cup contender for the next couple years and he will be a piece to help them stay in that contender status, I guess you do the move now and deal with the back half of that contract later.

I see a reason for them not doing that....who is the goalie upgrade that is available now?

Good deal for Toronto. SOME NHL experience, young, still some potential. Hes not going to carry them this year, but a good guy for a backup.

6.5 per year? WAY too much for what he will bring at this point in his career.

I think people expect a bit too much from Samsonov, but that deal and how it fits under Toronto's cap...it is a good deal for them.

I think he is done. Not DONE done, but he certainly is done being an impact player. 34 years old, 1000+ games played. Lots of wear and tear and several injuries. He had that one 100 point season, but for his career he is a 20-25 goal, 65-70 point guy. He's had a great career, but I'm interested in the terms because I just don't think he has much left.