Marvin

I don't ****ing believe this.

I plan on using 2020 as my catch-all profanity. So instead of saying that, "the Sabres' fecenine performance since the last lock-out schtupped our attitudes, gosh darn it," I would say, "the Sabres' 2020-type performance since the last lock out 2020-ed our attitudes, 2020 it."

First, welcome to SabreSpace. Second, no, none of use think Eklund is legitimate.

I wonder if teams will endeavour to have their sponsors blend in passably with their colour scheme. Your argument is why I believe that the conference schedule should be balanced (15 other teams x 4 games) while the out-of-conference games are 1 per team with the remaining 6 (or however many, depending on schedule length) spread out for whatever reason (e.g., Toronto, Montreal, and Ottawa always have 2 games against Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary, and Vancouver; Chicago plays Detroit, Toronto, Montreal, Boston, and the Rangers twice each year).

I apologise for the political jab. That was unnecessary.

Anyone else notice 8 of the last 10 on the road? With the inflexibility of Governor Cuomo, the Sabres could have their home ice advantage diluted because they will face fans on the road more often than have us behind them at home.

Goaltending.

I hope so. Our division is brutal.

I guess I need to sharpen my pointy head.

If they keep the season at 82 games, then this works with level scheduling. Schedule 1: 2 conferences x 4 divisions / conference x 4 teams / division. 16 teams outside of conference x 1 game / team + 12 teams in conference outside the division x 4 games / team + 3 teams in division x 6 games / team = 16 + 48 +18 = 82. Schedule 2: 2 conferences x 2 division / conference x 2 groups / division x 4 teams / group 16 teams outside of conference x 2 games / team + 8 teams in conference outside of division x 2 games / team + 4 teams in division outside of group x 4 games / team + 3 teams in division x 6 games / team = 32 + 16 + 16 + 18 = 82

Carnac, the Magnificent!

https://theahl.com/2020-21-start-date-moved-feb-5

Just musing: I am very thankful to Josh Allen that when I think of Bills QB's wearing #17, I no longer conjure up Gary Marangi.

I've been explaining to my nieces and nephews that this is what 1988-96 felt like. You just believed they would go out there and win somehow.

Why? Given the usual tone on some topics from some posters, I can see how you interpreted the discussion here.

Oh, good. The end of my withdrawal symptoms.

I think they will want teams to socially distance. IMHO, teams should have players socially distance and wear masks on team flights and then have 1 player per room in the hotel to slow the spread of any infection. Maybe team meals should be where the air is getting pulled upward from the table. Honestly, this goes hand-in-hand with the 30 player teams with 10 Preston Ridlehubers. As for scheduling, let us work backwards. The Olympics begin on Friday 23 July 2021. So the playoffs have to end by, say, Saturday 17 July. We assume 8 weeks for a normal set of playoffs. That backs us up to 23 May. 56 games in the normal density of an 82 game season is 17-18 weeks (a shade over 3 games each week; this would include 1 "off" week.). That backs up to at most 17 January. You can have the off-week or off-half-week to be at the end of the season. I also project a lot of "double headers", where teams play 2 games in 24-48 hours each time. So you could arrange a lot of "dead spots" in each team's schedule to postpone a set of games when there needs to be. For reference, if the season were 48 games, then the season could take 14-15 weeks. This puts the start of the season at 14 February at the latest if there is no "off" week. That seems chancy.

I say this about Australian Ruled Football. Thanks for the reference. Sadly, there is a lot of truth to this. Honestly, I find traditions like this invigourating. It's like the handshake at the end of a playoff series in the NHL. Let me turn this around: how do you think other countries reacted to the early Gatorade baths? They thought it was nuts.

This is where I am. I would expect us to make the playoffs if we had the normal alignments. With the divisions as projected without non-divisional play, we have to hope that a couple of teams drop off as well as our major questions (goaltending beyond Ullmark, scoring depth, and the defencive jumble) have to be answered positively.

People are on fire in this thread. 😆

Wow. You are right -- it is really that tiresome.

Just wondering -- considering the 2 week isolation protocol, is it not unrealistic to expect trades between Canadian and American teams?

Every top school in every Power 5 conference has at least one case of academic fraud which I know of where I personally know the person who was forced to accede it. Granted my information is old and that, I imagine, many institutions probably cleaned up at least a bit after the UNC scandal, but I know that you are incontrovertibly wrong.

Trust me -- that is not a problem at UM.

This can not be understated. The boosters at Big 10 schools have way too much sway over the big sports teams and the academics. (I would bet it is just as bad in other major conferences.) Moreover,UM's pride in its football programme is as over-the-top as UNC's about its basketball programme.