mjd1001

Ottawa says no. I'm not saying its not a package that has potential upside. If Cozens gets hot and Quiin turns into what most on this forum that he would be just 2 months ago, it would be a good deal for Ottawa. So why does Ottawa say no? They are likely to get a much better package (with a guy/guys who are ACTUALLY producing now and aren't 'projects') from someone else. I'm not sure there is a new rumor that he 'wants out'. As far as a trade wanting him, I think that rumor came form last season, and I'm pretty sure that was a lot more 'smoke' and not as much 'fire' anyway.

Rossi and Cozens seem to be opposite type players in many ways: Cozens is 6'3" and 210. Rossi is 5'9" and 180. Cozens is fast (usually in the top 20-25 percentile in terms of top speed), Rossi is not (metrics have him in the bottom 50% of skating speed) Cozens is, frankly a bad shooter. (Career 10% and dropping, hasn't shot in double digits since 2022-23) Rossi is a pretty good shooter (14% this year, 12.6% last year) Cozens likes to take his shots a bit farther out (he works a lot more than average from the dots to the top of the circle). Rossi works from the dots in to the goal crease for a greater percentage of his shots. Cozens is VERY hot and cold. (between this year and last year he has had 5 different streaks of 8 games or more without a goal) Rossi is more consistent scoring (Between this year and last year, he only had 1 streak of 8 games or more without a goal) In terms of size, style, and consistency, they are really really different.

capwages doesn't update right away all the time when there is movement. They are pretty quick, but I noticed sometimes up to a half day. With that said, their format is SOOO close to what capfriendly was.....I just use capwages all time. I didn't know about thestanleycap.com, so I'll check that one out

If the Bills or the Sabres left Buffalo, would I watch less of the NHL and NFL? Probably less, but not a lot less. But that might not be a bad thing for me. Instead of watching what is often times a 'bad' team out of obligation because they are from the area that I am from...instead I might just pick and choose to watch the better teams play. The higher scoring teams play. The players I find exciting play. So I do not want them to move, but if they did move, as a 'sports' fan there might be almost as many 'pluses' as 'minuses' for me personally.

Interesting article here: https://www.hockeypatrol.com/nhl-team/toronto-maple-leafs/are-the-maple-leafs-actually-better-without-auston-matthews-the-shocking-reasons-behind-the-debate Again, very small sample size, but they author puts up some videos and makes some points to support his point of view. Some items of note: Watching Mitch Marner play without Matthews has been a revelation, to say the least. He's controlling the offense more, he's playing incredible defense (proving those critics wrong) and has been riding an 8-game point streak and leads the team with 20. Marner seems to have a bit more patience without Matthews and doesn't look like he's trying to force an extra pass or not taking shots in favor of letting Matthews score. For example, his goal against Montreal on Saturday: (embedded video) Marner took the puck into the zone and passed it to David Kampf, who patiently waited for Marner to reposition himself for the easy goal. If Matthews were in Kampf's position, Marner would have more than likely passed it, cycled around, and waited to make more passes. Letting Matthews pass a bit more isn't a bad thing, and getting both McMann and Robertson on a hot streak can only lead to benefits, and could pay off huge come playoff time.

There you go, gave you one immediately above in case you were missing it.

Yeah, 'sales' can be your friend. When I shop, I rarely buy stuff that isn't on sale, especially when those items go on sale on a regular basis and there is a big difference in price. When you shop every week, you start to understand the trends. When something we use is on sale, I stock up on a bunch of them and it gets stored in the pantry, basement, or back of the freezer. I can't imagine shopping for groceries any other way. Yet, our daughter and her boyfriend....they just buy whatever they want regardless of the price. If they had a bag or doritos every week, they simply buy one per week. The week they are on sale, do they buy more? Nope, its like they don't even look at prices at all, they look at what they want and in the cart it goes.

I agree. A win for your team is what you want, but a hard fought Defensive game with low scoring....for me that isn't entertaining. I'll have fun analyzing defensive positioning or how a goalie handles angles with relation to his D-men on a rush against when watching replays or after the game. When I'm just watching, I want scoring.

Statistics aren't always giving you 100% of the story, but they can paint a pretty good picture. As far as playoff production goes: Draisaitl: 23% MORE points per game in the playoffs than in the regular season. McDavid: 4% MORE points per game in the playoffs than in the regular season (and that regular season total is very high to start with) McKinnon: 12% MORE points per game in the playoffs than in the regular season Kucherov: 6% LESS points per game in the playoffs than in the regular season. Matthews: 24% LESS points per game in the playoffs than in the regular season. And its not just points. Goals scored is down 35% in the playoffs vs the regular season. Add to that the fact that his team, over 60+ games, has a better record (point percentage) when he doesn't play vs when he does play...and you have yourself a VERY talented, very good player that has something major missing.

Not that Matthews is a bad player at all, but its not just this year....Through his entire career, the team has actaully played better in games that he has missed than in games that he has played. The last numbers I saw is that the team plays at a nearly 110 point pace when he doesn't play, and that is with over 60 games of a sample size. I'm not sure if that included this years numbers or not..but if it didn't then those point totals would be even higher. Some if it is luck. Some of it is 'small sample size'. But over his career that sample size is growing and it keeps going the same way. It could simply be without him in the lineup, maybe other guys who are 'damned good players' step up and take more of a leadership role in the room (which HE steps into when he is in the room) or other guys feel 'more free' on the ice to 'play their game' vs when Matthews is there and a lot of things are deferred to him or have to run through him? Again, I'd much rather have him than not, but maybe his impact on the team in a posisitve way is a tad bit less in reality than his stats would make you belelive.

Which is why many of us think 'culture' is over-rated. Yes, if you have a TOXIC culture its bad and that is possible. But if you don't have that, then a lot of times a 'good' culture is there simply because you are winning. I know if I'm playing on a team that is winning, or working for a company that is doing really, REALLY well, that will cover up for a lot of 'bad' things going on. When you are losing, or your company is failing, the little things that can add up to a 'bad culture' no longer are getting swept under the rug.

Supervisors/bosses at work who lie and HR depts that cover up for them. I have this constant battle with my boss at work. The bottom line is this: Give me my schedule BEFORE the morning I have to travel to a location, Be on time when you say you are going to meet me, and when YOU are running late, do not tell me to 'clock out' while I wait for you (because the company cannot afford to pay me to do no work), go 'grab a coffee or something' and wait for her. So this has been going on the better part of 2 years. I have text messages and call logs (not recordings but proof we have talked). But whenever HR gets involved I tell them what is going on and their response is usally "We already talked to your supervisor and that is not what she said" to which I follow up with "I have proof, text messages that I can forward to you" and they respond "No, thats not necessary" I used to be in a similar supervisor position years ago. I stepped down, because I didn't think the money was worth the aggravation. Now the current supervisor cannot be on time to save her life (our scheduled conference calls have us waiting usually anywhere form 2-10 minutes for her to show up) and when she does something wrong and you call her out on it, she just accuses you of lying.

People who want Adams gone can best make their argument that its the GM's fault for the organizations woes currently. Lots of stuff out there about Pegula being involed in on-ice decisions, quotes and stories about him wanting to fire Botts because "the pegulas" weren't having their input taken into consideration enough by the hockey department. Pegula meddles, its likely every decision has to be run by him and he has major input in the bigger ones, and even suggests stuff. But yeah, if you want to blame Adams, it doesn't really support your case to look at the history of what Pegula has done to this franchise.

This is in another thread, but if you promote from within, are you getting anything different at all? All indications are that Adams is not the dictator of hockey decisions. Every trade, every scouting session, every draft pick is really a 'group think' project. Adams (if he does have any power below Pegula) is not much more than the tie-breaking vote. If Adams is gone but his spot is just taken by one of the people below him, I don't see anything changing.

If I understand you correctly....I like your point. Many people look at a young player and say "he is better than what we have right now as our 10th forward so play him now!". To me I'd rather not do that. Even though you might THINK you need him now, I'd rather look at a young player and say "what development path makes him the best player in 2-3 years from now".

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/11/20/cnbc-official-nhl-team-valuations-2024.html Toronto $4 Billon, Rangers$3.5b, Montreal $3.1b, Kings $2.85b, Bruins $2.75 most valuable teams. Least Valuable? Columbus at $1b. Sabres are 3rd least valuable at $1.15 Top teams (top 4) all at over $300m in revenue per year. Buffalo listed at $169m in revenue. EBIDTA, 3 teams showed a loss (Columbus, Utah, San Jose). Buffalo was a small positive there at $15.8m. Top teams all over $100m EBIDTA, Edmonton actually tops in the league at $156m Sabres have one of the lowest debt ratios at 4%.

I still remember living it for that half season. pretty vividly. How many games did they actually play for the Sabres? couldn't have been more than 40 though.

The flawed assumption is that Pegula will hire a good GM. I think he wants a GM that will allow him to have 'his say'. As was posted last week, there are several articles, and even direct quotes from the Pegulas that the primary reason they fired Botts is because the hockey dept headed by him wasn't 'listening' to the Pegulas as much as they wanted. So...you hire Adams who is basically the mouthpiece for them. Was Botts a good GM? I don't know, but the primary reason he was fired is that the Pegulas thought they were being 'shut out' of hockey decisions by him. They said that directly.

I dont' think thats it. Terry hired a good GM for the Bills sure, but has he hired so many bad GM's in a row for the Sabres? Or is it that he wants to kinda 'play GM himself' to an extent with the Sabres and keeps screwing it up? I think it is more of the latter. What?

If you are referring to the difference between the success of the Bills and the Sabres, I don't really think so: -There are more layers and complexity between the owner and the roster in the NFL than in the NHL. 'meddling' is a bit harder in the NFL (to have as much of an impact) -Josh Allen. Without him I doubt this bills team would be in the playoffs all these years. But a great QB you (or your staff) stumbles upon can do that in the NFL. In the NHL, unless your last name is Hasek and you are in your prime, one 'lucky' or 'random' draft pick turning into a star doesn't grant you that same level of success. -The Bills are his 'shiny new toy' compared to the Sabres. He gets more attention from them, and right now they are doing better, so its a lot easier for him to want to cut costs with the Sabres and try to 'do things on the cheap' than it would be with the Bills.

And a move to Toronto probably makes them a LOT more valuable than the median/average NFL team.

There is a case to be made that a 'non fan' owner who 'kinda wants to win but only to make money' might be the best owner. They are less likely to meddle. They are more likely to hire the best people the run the team and stay out of their way. When things go bad, they are more likely to not be 'too close' to the team or the players (as a fan) and just want to make changes to get things better. None of this "I'm an owner and I LOVE hockey and I know a lot about it, listen to me!" or none of this "So and so as a player or coach is the kind a player coach I like so lets give them a longer chance". I don't know if this has ever happened (probably not) but if a guy bought your favorite team and said the following: -I'm not a huge fan of the sport but I want to own a pro sports team so here I am -I'm love money and want to make money, but I know the way to make the MOST money is to have long playoff runs -I'm going to hire the best people for the job, and if they don't do the job I will evaluate them with ruthless, efficient honesty How many of us would rather have a 'fan' like Pegula over an owner like that? There are some teams that are run by/with 'corporate efficiency', some with good results, some with bad :Atlanta Braves, Maple Leafs and Blue Jays, but would that really be worse than what we have here now in the Sabres?

I guess a good vibe: As mad, frustrated as I was by the loss the other day, time going by helps. I've 'kinda' forgoton about it and I'm just ready for the next game...thinking like usual there is close to a 50-50 chance of me seeing them win, and that is all I expect when I tune in to watch them.

I get it, I can understand your point of view. If going to the game was the only way I could see it (no high def TV at home) then I would think the KBC would be fine. I just found personally...I can watch and follow the game better at home now than I could in the past vs going to the game.

A big mistake by Boston finally? Elias Lindholm -He has 2 goals through 20 games for Boston so far (8 goal, 36 point pace per 82) -Last year he had a total of 15 goals and 29 assists, and was a -14 for the year. -hasn't scored more than 22 goals in a season since 2021-22, when he started the year at 25 years old. -He is going to be 30 in a couple weeks. He is in the first year of a $7.75 million dollar per year deal that goes for 7 more years. -So far this year he has been an anchor (a bad one) for Boston. His deal will run out when he is 37 years old. He is getting paid more than Tage, and already is beyond his 'statistical' peak.