JohnC

Just a few quick impressions on this game. A word that describes how the the Sabres played in this game is dogged. Their stickwork was excellent. And this is the best I have seen them blocking shots. Olofsson is starting to play with more confidence. If he can get his game back it is like adding another good player to the roster. I liked the play of Cozens. He has a bulldog style of game with little flash to it. Finesse is one word that doesn't apply to his game. I thought all the defensive pairings played well. Bryson played better than I expected. He can motor. Under Granato Skinner has been resuscitated. He can skate, shows grit, shoot, pass and more than anyone else exhibit passion. We have a genuine first line. I'm going to be patient with Mitts because he has been out so much. If he can get back to the form that he had when Granato took over last year it would be big boost for this team. The most consistent player on this team is Okposo. He is admirable. Anderson is not a workhorse goalie. When he is not overused, he plays well. In the first two periods you can see the offensive potency of the Leafs. The brand of play is not going to work in the playoffs where it is a tighter and tougher game. I enjoyed this game. In the grand scheme of things does it mean much. Not really. But after watching a game like this you do get a glimmer of hope.

Sandy Duncan may be a little more cutesy but this oldster prefers the genuine original. 🥰

Once the football stadium financing issues are decided the arena issues should then be addressed. According to the Buff News there should be announcement on the football stadium very soon.

Mary Martin in Peter Pan struck a chord with me. I guess you can call it youthful indiscretion. 😁

The answer would be useful if asked where is the nearest bathroom.

Is that an unattractive guy or girl? 🥰

I don't know what is true or not about an outside buyer. What I do know for sure is that Golisano at the press conference to announce the sale said he was offered more money for the Sabres but declined it because he wanted assurances the team would stay in Buffalo. I distinctly remember that Hamilton was most frequently where the team would have been relocated if Golisano accepted the highest offer. As I said in a prior post the commissioner was against the move. And there were reports that Toronto was against a relocation to Hamilton because they considered it an encroachment on its territory. Whatever the real story is the person who should be thanked is Golisano. He made money on the sale but he could have made more. He made a good profit but he wasn't rapacious in his dealings.

You are greedy. If the Sabres added one Tuch- like player I would be thrilled. That one addition could solidify another line. If we added two Tuch-like players I would be in a state of ecstasy.

I have researched the price that Pegula paid. There are different accounts. The figure that is repeated is $175 M plus the debt of $14 M for a total of $189 M. That is less than what Balsillie offered. Golisano should be thanked for being the person most responsible for keeping the franchise in Buffalo. And it should be noted that the often vilified commissioner was insistent that the franchise stayed in Buffalo.

When Golisano sold the franchise to Pegula he made the claim that he was offered more money from someone who was likely to move the franchise. The rumor was that it was someone who wanted to move the team to Hamilton. I don't know if the rumors that are starting to swirl have any merit to them. I hope not. I don't have much regard for how the Pegulas have run the franchise. However, I really don't want them to sell. As @GASabresIUFANnoted it's way past time to stick with a plan and ride it out.

Let me get this straight. Jemal took over the tallest building in western NY that was virtually vacant for more than a decade. At the time no one else had any interest in taking on that challenging project. He built up the area around the mostly empty building in order to get more economic activity around the building. He then restores the building and fills it up with tenants that includes a banking operation, stores, other businesses and apartments. So your main criticism of this grand and complicated project is that you don't find it aesthetically pleasing. Do you know what is less aesthetic than his completed project? An empty building with little activity around it. On this topic we simply disagree. You stated your position very well. However, I respectfully but strenuously disagree with your take as you do with my take. It's pointless to continue going back and forth on this topic.

What do you think we can get for him? A third round pick?

I'm not sure the relevancy of Croce to the Jemal discussion. As it turns out Jemal bought the Statler from the Croce estate. He is currently in the process of remodeling the former white elephant of a building. If you have any criticisms of any of Jemal projects, I would like to hear them. You may not think that he is an asset to the community but I do.

I agree with you that because how his finances are structured he would be an unlikely candidate to buy a hockey franchise. And I don't think that his particular business acumen/experience translates to owning a hockey franchise. I suspect as @Brawndostated that if there is a relationship between Pegula and him it relates to some real estate holdings that he is interested in that the Pegulas' own.

You are right that for the most part he doesn't put up his own money but rather he gets financed by banks and other financial entities. That's how most developers finance their projects. One of the reasons that he has such access to money is that his projects are successful resulting in the loans being paid in a timely manner. Or to put it in simple terms: He is credit worthy.

The one project that he took on that impressed me is the Bidwell/Elmwood project. A faction of the community was at war with the developer who wanted to take on a sizeable project in that community. The project was hopelessly stalled because of the conflict between the community (faction of it) and the developer. Jemal came in and took over the project. He met with the resisters and modified the project by scaling it down to get their approval. The project got completed to everyone's satisfaction. This is the type of developer you want working in your community.

No thanks to what? To the many building projects in western NY he has successfully completed? He has transformed many vacant and non-functioning buildings and restored them to hubs of economic activity. And you find that problematic? He got convicted for making illegal political contributions. He got caught and paid for it. And now he is one of the main participants in working to transform a lagging region. And because of his past indiscretion are you saying he should be disqualified from rebuilding the community he has chosen to work in? That makes absolutely no sense.

The projects he gets involved in end up being completed. The Seneca One project was a dead zone for a generation. Now it is an employment hub. He bought the Police HQs location in downtown. He restored it to fully occupied apartments. He took over a mostly empty Statler Building and is now steadily restoring it bringing back some business activity for a building that was coming apart and being a public danger. The Bidwell/Elwood project was a multi-year stalled project because of some community resistance. He took over the project and worked with the community to satisfy their complaints. He did it by listening to them and then scaling the project down to satisfy their concerns. Jemal is a developer who pays his contractors and provides jobs. He doesn't get entangled in legal wranglings because he does things in a complicated and high stakes business the right way. Why do you think bankers fund his projects? Because he pays off his loans! And this is a guy you compare to Madoff!

I have the opposite view of him than you do. The projects that he gets involved in are projects that he completes. I don't know anything about the City Hall condo proposal. But what I can say is that his Seneca One Project was masterfully done. This outsider has been an asset to western NY.

Douglas Jamel's approach in his development business is to surround himself with top shelf people. He has a number of projects going in a different cities. He handles his numerous projects by putting competent people from his staff and quality outside contractors to manage his myriad projects. He is good at juggling projects because he relies on quality staffing inside and outside his company.

I do. When you take on a contract for a player who was not going to be on the roster for the sole purpose of reaching the cap floor what does that tell you about the organization's intention to assemble a competitive roster? Look at the paltry money spent to address the goalie position? You don't have to be a MENSA member to figure out that this was from a competitive standpoint a deliberate throwaway year.

Every project that he has gotten involved in the Buffalo area has been successfully followed through. The Seneca One project was a large and complicated project. When he took over this white elephant that was dormant for years he stated in advance what his plans were for it. It took time but he steadily moved forward with the implementation of his plans and in the end this long time barren and unused landscape became a center of economic and social activity. The downtown police HQ was successfully turned into apartments. I have no clue whether he is interested in buying the Sabres or Pegulas have any interest in selling the franchise. But what I can say is that Douglas Jemal is a serious and accomplished developer. This outsider has been a tremendous asset to Western NY.

With respect to the highlighted section the needs that you list that should and could be addressed this offseason are doable. Considering our grand cap room and the abundant draft capital this franchise has for the next two years this franchise has the wherewithal to address the need list that you noted. And all that can be done and still stay within the strategy of mostly building through the draft. I also apologize for my repetitive responses. But my juices get activated because I strongly believe that systemic losing is corrosive to the players and the organization. Just ask yourself when was the last time that this franchise played meaningful games entering the last third part of the season? This year the Sabres had no impacting games after the first dozen games. And that is sad.

I believe that a rebuild was/is necessary. That doesn't mean that I fully go along with how it is done. There is no doubt that the primary method revolves around the strategy of drafting and developing. I'm fine with that. However, that doesn't mean that there aren't other avenues alongside the drafting strategy that could be used to accelerate the pace of the reconstruction. It has become apparent to me from a competitive standpoint that this was a throwaway year. That was made abundantly clear when the organization took on a hefty contract for a player they had no intention of keeping for the purpose of using it as a write-off to get to the cap floor. This offseason, the franchise has a copious amount of cap space and an excess in draft capital for the next couple of years. Will some of those assets be judiciously used to upgrade the roster and put our young players in a better position to succeed? If it doesn't I will be very disappointed. It's time for this rickety organization to exhibit a greater degree of urgency to becoming more competitive. It's time! The vanishing fanbase deserve better.

Absolutely not. Peterka is going to be a Sabre next season and hopefully will eventually be a legitimate first or second line player for us. For a variety of reasons ROR does not fit in with what this organization is attempting to build. And the biggest obstacle is his age and how he fits in with what is being constructed here.