mjd1001

Mulder's boss was named Skinner

I think there wasn't much doubt among many of us this would be primarily a 'losing' season. Whether it is a long season depends on what you want from it. If you are all about Wins and Losses, this is likely to be a LONG season. However, if you are looking for that 1 or maybe 2 games a month that surprise you in a positive way....or more importantly looking for occasional flashes from some of the young guys (even if they aren't happening on a regular basis and are happening in otherwise ugly losses), then the season may not be so long. Or, and this may be the biggest thing....if the 2nd half of the season is better than the first have (even if still with a losing record), or the last 20 games of the season are better than any other 20 game stretch, this might actually be an enjoyable season to follow.

Yeah, they are, but almost all cities are the same. Try listening to a Bruins broadcast, I don't say this lightly it is almost un-listenable to if you aren't a fan of the Bruins. Pittsburgh has a pretty hard broadcast to listen to also. Even the Sabres are really homer-ish to an outsider. On more than one occasion in the past few years I have had friends over from out of town with a Sabres game on TV and they quickly commented on how much of a homer Rick is. You are playing to your audience. Most fans don't want to hear the truth all the time, they WANT to hear how good their team is or that their team is 'better'.

Ok, I know someone else in another thread told me his 'real' name is John, not Jack, but is that really true? If so, what is the point of using it if just about everyone knows him as Jack? I don't 'live' on these forums, so everytime I see "john" it takes me a few seconds to realize who we are talking about.

I can vote yes or no, but the reasons I would have nothing to do with the choices you gave after the answers.

That might not even be possible anymore. Even if he had Surgery this week...the Olympics are what....just over 4 months away? Between rehab from surgery and just time to get in 'hockey shape' and practice with teammates, the Olympics are quickly becoming an impossibility also. I thought the olympics would be a big push/incentive for him to get something done. No one in the NHL got to play in 2018, if he misses 2022, his next chance won't be until 2026. He'll be what, 29 or 30 by then?

I know the insurance angle has been discussed, but it seems like the conversation quickly moves away from it, and people get entrenched in their positions of either being 100% for the team or 100% for Jack. Reading through this thread, it just seems a lot of people don't understand the insurance angle or I just ignoring it. The insurance angle I brought up again because it simply might be this is at a stalemate with absolutely no resolution at all in the near or far future.... unless either Jack decides to get the surgery the team wants, or the team is willing to risk all that money with no insurance just for the right to trade him for future assets. Until one side gives in and a very very big way, this could go no place forever. It's not Adam's fault, it's not other teams fault for not giving up enough, it is the situation. Jack has to give in, or the sabres have to risk a lot of money that's uninsured. I could see the sabres just moving forward and treating Jack as an asset that had a career ending injury or someone who retired... Rather than putting themself on the hook for the remainder of his contract if it won't be insured by letting him get a surgery that he wants and not the team doctors. And that would be more of an ownership call than a GM call. From the team's point of view regarding insurance, letting Jack get his choice of surgery is taking on a lot of risk and getting very little reward, especially when the CBA that the players negotiated has it the other way around and the teams have negotiated the right for protection. And as far as spell checking the team name, I'm on a phone using voice to text. I didn't have time to go back and manually edit every time the team name was spelled out.

Here is something that I think some people may know but no one's really talking about... And it's not a definite it's a what if but I think the following is likely: Eichel wants his surgery. The sabres want a different surgery. Is one surgery better than the other? Maybe. But what we do know is the surgery that the sabres want has been performed a lot more, the one Eichel wants has been used less often on hockey players. Now if the surgery the sabres want fails, he still is compensated in his contract because the team agreed to it. If Jack gets his own surgery and the sabres don't approve of it, it seems like a sticking point is Jack wants the sabres to approve of that because if they do and the surgery fails he still guaranteed his contract. From the sabres point of view that doesn't make sense nor does it for most other teams... Why? To guarantee the greater portion of the 80 million dollar contract... There's insurance involved. What we don't know but is likely that... Is whoever ensures the contracts, they may be the ones who are ultimately making these decisions. The insurance company may say to the sabers or to any NHL team... If he gets a surgery that we know has been done in the past we will insure that contract, but if he does something that the insurance company thinks is not as common or experimental, they may not be providing insurance, putting all of the onus on the team. That may not be only the reason the sabers don't want to do this, but why no other NHL team wants to trade for him now. They either want him to get the same surgery the sabres do because it will be more likely to be insured if it fails, or they want the sabres or Eichel to take the risk and see the results. The lack of a trade may not be on Adams or him asking too much. It might be about which surgery he gets, how it's going to pay for his contract if it fails regarding insurance, and who was going to take on that risk... Jack, Buffalo, or any other team that makes a deal for him.

Who is John? By context, I assume you mean Eichel?

So I tried to convince myself last week that I was just going to view the Sabres as a team they way they are without Eichel. I was going to pretend he didn't even exist. They are who they are, with Dahlin and some high draft picks. IF/When Eichel gets traded I'll think about it then, but for now I'm looking at the team as if he is/was never Sabres property. However, I just can't stock checking out this thread.

Veteran guy. I'd rather see the young players in the lineup....but if things start to go really bad or there are a lot of injuries, he is ready to move right into the lineup.

I am hoping he can be a long term 2nd pair guy down the road. With that said, nothing wrong with him starting in Rochester and getting a lot of minutes down there.

I'll say the middle choice, but I think we might be someplace between choice 2 and 3. Not that he will be a long term bust at all, but I think on this forum the expectations for him are a bit too high/too soon with some people.

I forgot to go with the fact there are '2 teams' per game. my bad.

The most fun seasons are when the team beats expectations. As said, when there are no expectations, it can be easy to beat them. The first year out of the lockout was the best season a lot of fans had. Why? Most people expected nothing from that team, but they went all the way to the conference finals. The next year there were a ton of expectations on the team because of that...and for many the season wasn't as 'fun' as the year before because of the high expectations. Ultimate goal as a sports fans is to win the championship. Beyond that, if you can't win the championship the next best thing to happen is simply to beat expectations.

I'm not sure about this. It might only be half the games. From the ESPN plus page... Beginning with the 2021-22 season, access more than 1,000 out-of-market NHL games and 75 exclusive games per season—making ESPN+ a must-have for hockey fans. So "more than" 1000 games. Lets say it is 'about' 1000 games. If we figure every market has 31 'out of market' teams...divide 1000 by 31 and you get 'about' 32 games per team. A far cry from every game. Here is the big problem. No one knows. I have looked up every bit of info on this and there is no place that actually states EXACTLY how many games there will be, what the schedule will be or anyplace close to that. And the final thing. Even if you were 'in market', you could watch your 'in market' games a day or two late with the old NHL network. If I wanted to watch a Sabres game from a few days ago, even in Buffalo I could. BUT, there is no mention at all whether or not that will be available. So, No info on anything. No schedules. Not sure if 'in market' games can be watched on delay. Maybe only 30-40 games per team. The lack of information a month before the season starts is pretty bad.

You are SO EAGER to make your point, that you started this whole thing by responding to my post without even reading what I said. Did I ever say I wanted the team to be bad intentionally? Nope Show me were I did....you can't because I didn't. All I said was that higher draft picks are a good way to build a team. Never said to lose intentionally. Never advocated another tank. Yet you responded to my original post and took things that way. As for you, how about YOU enjoy arguing with people by assuming they said something they didn't....and make sure you always get the last word in to make your point.

Funny, I wasn't going to continue this conversation because it is YOU who just doesn't get it. Let me try one more time: -You make the point that you don't need high draft picks to be good, and you cite 'the best line in hockey' -I make the point that almost every one of the Cup winners in the past decade (or more) had very high drat picks on their roster. Your point with examples...you don't need high draft picks to have a very good line. My point with examples...the BEST teams in hockey, the cup winners mostly HAVE high draft picks. That is what you are saying, right? Your example IS Boston had a line you said was the best line in hockey a few years ago and they weren't top draft picks? And by the way, that line didn't win a cup for them in the year you cited they were good. I guess I 'dont' get it' if you are trying to build a team with one very good line. But if we are talking about having a team that can win the cup...then you don't get it. I can't make it any simpler than that.

Um What? you got that right. A few years back? I don't care if they were 'considered' the best line a few years back. They aren't anymore. Anyway, it STILL doesn't change the fact that the vast majority of cup winners (and president trophy winners) have multiple high draft picks on the team. You keep saying you don't need it, but the facts are most of the time you actually do. Is the goal of the Sabres to have 'the best line in hockey' (and arguably at that) or is it to be a cup contender/winner? I'll take the cup contender/winner.

But NOT collecting early draft talent usually means you AREN'T going to win big. And as far as Bostons top line being the best? I don't agree and many others don't agree. Let me bottom line it for you. Collecting early draft talent may not ENSURE winning, but it sure as hell gives you a better chance than teams that don't have it.

I don't even know who those players are you are referring to, and I'm not going to cherry pick a 'line' or certain players on a team. Lets keep it very simple. Take a look at the top 10 scorers in the NHL last season and see what was the position overall in the draft they were taken: 1, 3, 71, 4,10,1,1,1,7,1. So, of the top 10 scorers, 5 of them were first overall picks. 7 of them top 5 overall picks. Every single one except for 1 was a top 10 overall pick. Looks to me like high draft picks are a good place to start. Oh, and 6 of the last 8 years....8 of the last 12 years....the cup winning team had a first overall pick on it that was a major part of the team (and in most cases, several top 10 picks). EVERY single one of those teams that won the cup had at least a top 5 overall pick and in most cases more than 1 top 5 pick.

It is a given for me to say this, but it isn't just the organization, but the key thing is the fanbase needs resolution on this to move forward.

By the logic of your first line, we also can't say that Adams hasn't done anything poorly yet either. Without knowing what offers were out there, we can't say he has done poorly or well. He could be the worst GM in the league or he might be the best. We just don't have anything to go on.

I tend to think it is the best season. It gets a bad reputation with a lot of people not because of what it is...but they are thinking of how much they don't like what comes right after it. Best thing about it? doing anything outdoors in a light jacket and being comfortable doing it.

Their show had the feel of what it actually was close to being...listening in on 2 former players shooting the BS about the current team while having a bag of chips or a coffee in one of their living rooms.....with a little 'back in the good old days' when we played thrown in there. There was certainly SOME serious discussion, but more of it felt like they were trying to invite the listener into their living room. Now that isn't always a bad thing, but with a 1 hour show maybe they are looking for something a bit more professional/straight shooting.