Pimlach

@Randall Flagg and others, Look at Tage's early career. Started in 2017-18, at 20 years old, on a tough veteran Blues lineup that he could not crack at that age. He played 47 games with a very limited role and sheltered, splitting time in the AHL. From all accounts the Blues were very high on him, and they also had Thomas and Kyrou in the system. Next season (18-19) he played 65 games for Buffalo. Nothing about his game indicated he should be playing 3rd line in the NHL yet. The Sabre played him to justify the ROR trade, he should have been in the AHL. He went down later in the season and he looked good there. He was looking really good in the next offseason (19-20). Reports were out that he got a lot stronger and worked hard on his shot. His reputation as a hard worker started in that off season. He unfortunately played one game and was hurt and done for the season, when he game back from injury he played in Rochester again. The next season (19-20) was the Covid season combined with playing for Ralph in his abysmal hockey/soccer system. He looked good late in the season, once Granato took over - you could see it happening for him. Summing this up as 18 goals in 145 games is true, but not the whole story. He took awhile to develop but look at the chaotic way that Buffalo handled him, the injury, Covid, and 3 head coaches between 2018 and 2020. Every player develops at a different pace and some have a few bumps along the way while others are fortunate to be drafted into a better situation, stay healthy, and are handled better. Thankfully for Buffalo, Tage fits the hard working and determined prototype, and he had a connection with Granato. Otherwise he would be scoring 45+ goals for another team right now.

Very true on the bolded. St Louis really wanted to get rid of him. He was overpaid for his contribution. He was not good for the room. He had been around for awhile, and although players liked him and he liked the town, he was not going to be a part of what they wanted to do. They had younger and more hardnosed forwards that made him expendable.

Tage was 18 or 19 when he first came to St Louis and Berglund was there. This is the first negative thing I have heard about Tage related to his time in St. Louis. Even if true, can we excuse an 18 year old kid for being perceived as arrogant? Sure we can, especially based on what we see for ourselves today. As for Berglund. He is known as a guy that did not work hard enough to achieve his talent/skill level in St Louis. He was inconsistent and he never took a leadership role. He was considered to be lazy. He was known to be an aloof guy off of the ice in St Louis, and fans were ecstatic to get rid of him and his terrible contract. Berglund gave nothing to his new team in Buffalo aside from walking away from a big contract. Which reflects on his mental state at the time. He should get ZERO credibility.

TRUE. Keep in mind had he "stiffed" the key suppliers/venders he would have been looking for new ones - spending money on proposal writing/ cost evaluations, new contracts to negotiate, possibly settling for lower quality, unfavorable schedules, higher cost, poorer relationships, unwanted change, etc. - so taking care of the supply chain was both honorable and smart business for him.

You want Boston over Toronto. Yes, it is hard to say. Maybe the Bolts will come back.

Leaves did it again. Lucky goal but they threw it at the net. Tampa in trouble.

Terrible call. He dove for the puck.

Golisano kept the franchise in Buffalo, his team got really good even though he didn’t desire it or enable it, and he proved his business savvy - bought low and sold high.

Drat

Ok Z, you brought me back to hold the fort for the Bolts. Jets just took the lead on the Eichelettes.

I’m gonna watch some Jets v Vegas

I like that the Leaves are relying on a trade deadline pick up, with no playoff experience, to play so many valuable minutes. I like like our top three defenseman over any on their roster.

Rene Robert would not agree.

McCabe playing a big role for the Leaves. Meanwhile we have Dahlin, Samuelsson, and Power. Feeling good about our team in the future. We are gonna blow both of these teams away.

I hope the Bolts keep it up. Get rid of Trono.

I think VO is going to end up ok. There will be teams that need help on the PP and more firepower overall. The guy can finish. Seems like a good guy to me. Sabres have so much high end talent and they need skills that VO does not bring. I would not be surprised to see him be an asset somewhere else.

Oh, Sarcasm ...

So you are saying ... @PASabreFan is a contrarian,

Dude, I don't think being fearless is adding an established goalie. I think that is typical and prudent. Fearless would be trying to go with Levi/UPL as the 1/2.

Loved that game.

Yes indeed. It was the Buffalo Evening News. The Courier was the morning paper (and Sunday). The days of two newspapers and only one hour of TV news - better days. Now many cities today can barely support one paper. I think the Courier died in 1982, and the Buffalo Evening News became The Buffalo News. You are still a kid 11.

I think I coined the phrase "Contrarian" for @PASabreFan , but not for being a voice of reason. He is the often the voice of the overlooked, other side of the coin, as he strives to avoid the pitfalls of groupthink. Back when I worked for a living I always sought out a person like that on my leadership teams.

Then C should mean average for all. The problem you created is that "average" does not mean "met expectations" unless you have the same expectation for all. Dahlin's expectations should have been higher as compared to Joker or even Power. Similarly, expectations for Thompson versus Krebs, or Skinner versus Quinn?

I give Dahlin an A and Power a B+.

Three more years? He should be in Rochester next year then.