Marvin

The anchor as a primary logo probably doesn't work for an ice skating team. Patient zero for the affliction of team nicknames without plurals would be the Dallas Tornado of the NASL from 1967-81. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dallas_Tornado As such, I am glad we avoided something stupid like the Seattle Rain. As we are at the next "once in a century" epidemic, I am glad they did not go with the Seattle Metropolitans.

We know that there will be no AHL next year. So how will line-ups be handled? Will teams have 30 players in the NHL and everyone else in Europe? How will 2-way contracts work? How about player development for those not really ready for prime-time?

To slightly misquote Ford Prefect from the radio show, "The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy", Fit the Third: if I had a head like Botterill's, I could have endless fun beating it against a wall. He cleared out some cap...and promptly wasted it on Frolik, Simmonds, etc. He clearly thought that he could build the team by dumpster diving, by overloading on defencemen, and a dearth of natural centres. This is inexcusably, mind-bogglingly bad roster construction. The Sabres' performance during his tenure was unacceptable by any measure. The worst part was there was promise in the last two seasons that he flat out squandered by not acquiring a 2C (particularly 2 years ago, with 3 x 1st round picks).

IMHO, any plan that expects Cozens to be in the NHL next season or the year after is fatally flawed. There is no good reason to assume that he can make the transition to a complete season of the NHL grind without a couple of years in the minors. If he does, great, we have options. Signing 3 guys who are all clear 3C's at those prices for 2 seasons is preferable to expecting Cozens to be a 2C in the next 2 years. Ice 4 NHL lines next season. Have a line worth of NHL-ready propects handy.

Amen. I don't want people with no loyalty to the area to turn the area into a coronavirus hot spot or a political football.

I am surprised Dylan Strome isn't an option.

Do you know what is sad about GMTM and JBot? Their respective fanbases were bent out of shape because we got them -- many saw them as heir-apparents to their GM's. Both, particularly JBot, were highly regarded in league circles at the time.

Whoa. I work with his sister and she said he liked being here. This is a worse fester-clock than we think.

I was as far anyone knew. I started at Academy. If I am wrong, I apologise. The teachers helping the kids beat me up certainly talked like I was the first.

It was a dodgy arrangement like this that resulted in the legendary draft pick of Taro Tsujimoto. Now we get to experience what Punch Imlach, Paul Weiland, et al. went through that year.

You just made me cry. I would have traded 2 of our firsts 2 years ago for a guy like him. We would have been in a far better position to make the playoffs these last 2 years.

Welcome back, all you long-absent people! I know everyone is as glad as I am to see you posting.

Do you know where your children are? ? Fun fact: Jim Carrey credits his portrayal of Bruce Nolan from "Bruce Almightly" on Don Polec. Don Polec said that this is closest he gets to immortality.

Some guy posted that McKee was going to the hospital on another site shortly after game 6. After the high of that win, I came positively unglued. Speaking of which... I hated the puck-over-the-glass penalty before that penalty (treat it like icing, duh), but I have HATED it ever since. I gotta admit - it was so close I could almost taste the difference in my wings and pizza. Showing my age here. With about 5 minutes left in the 3rd, a stickless Ed Van Impe gloved the puck out of the crease with Rick Martin bearing down on it. If they call the penalty, I think he scores and the dam breaks and the Sabres force game 7. Hell, if they enforced the blasted rules, the Sabres would have blown the Flyers out. And now you know why the back-sliding to the clutch-and-grab angers me more than most.

Thanks for the compliment, @dudacek. ?

As I stated elsewhere, the 1974-5 team had a weakness in goal. Roger Crozier's various ailments limited him to 23 games, a 17-2-1 record, and a 0.905 save percentage. Gary Bromley was noticeably worse with a 0.873 save percentage. Those Sabres won by running teams out of the rink. This is also why the Sabres got Gerry Desjardins -- only for him to turn in one of the worst performances in the Stanley Cup Final ever. At the time, no Sabres fan feared the Canadiens the way we feared the Flyers and Bruins. With the beginning of the hook-and-hold, we correctly believed that the Sabres' speed and skill would be neutralised by the bigger, rougher, less skilled teams -- we had seen them clutch-and-grab their way to the Finals the year before. Even so, the Sabres were in a 3-way tie for 1st overall with the Flyers and Habs; the Flyers got #1 on tie-breaks. In that day, there were clearly 5 teams that were way better than everyone else: Buffalo, Boston, Montreal, Philadelphia. LA in 1974-5, and Lung Oisland for 1976-80. The Chicago Black Hawks were no slouches either in the first round. Had Crozier been able to play a little more, it is reasonable to assume that the Sabres would have been 1st overall. That meant drawing an up-and-coming Islanders team that the Sabres had handled easily during the season. Meanwhile, the Flyers were more terrified of the Canadiens than they were of the Sabres. Assuming both series go to form, the Sabres would have faced the Canadiens in the Finals with home ice advantage. Sabres in 6. You need this kind of information to analyse the Sabres teams from 1973-85 (no, that;s not a typo). Excellence was expected; we kept losing to very good teams, but we always had hope that "we're gonna win that Cup."

In chronological order: Yvan Cornoyer Borje Salming Cam Neely Mark Tinordi Jarome Iginla Lots of other options: Jean Ratelle, Rod Langway, Larry Robinson, Lanny MacDonald, Marcel Dionne, Mark Howe, Adam Oates, Trevor Linden, Eric Nesterenko, Steve Yzerman, and so on.

When I think "ye olde blue and golde", I think of the original, which is royal with what looked like a tint of cobalt. I also preferred the thinner strips on the uniform and the socks from the original uniform. Maybe because those teams were so much fun to watch.

They won't do that. They saw what a fiasco that made the NBA draft back in the day.

Who's that little old man? He belongs to Paul.

Don't be sad. (Don't be sad.) Just Meatloafing around.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wr-kn0JG5p4

Cirelli is an RFA, correct? How much do we need to offer him to have him not demand a trade?

If Lundell is the top idea for us at #8, I want that pick traded immediately. Having said that: When I have heard the Zemgus comparison to Lundell, it was with the caveat, "what Zemgus Girgensons would have been had the Sabres not rushed him" -- a middle-6 Centre.

Obviously. But without it, Henrique would be my expected average return. #8 might get you someone on the level of Dylan Strome. JMO.