That Aud Smell

It was Harrington from late December that I had in mind: The problem here, as hard as it may be to believe, is really not palm trees or taxes. That’s just the soundbite gaffe the GM made in an otherwise legitimate answer about the Sabres needing to earn their respect to recruit players. ... what’s missed is the most important takeaway from the news conference: Adams speaks to Pegula every day. It’s well-known by those of us who cover this team but lots of you probably needed to hear that in the open. There’s your organizational red flag, the siren wailing to signify the real problem here. Pegula loves hockey and loves the Sabres. Anyone who says he doesn’t care about them because he’s now an NFL owner doesn’t understand what makes him tick. Pegula is a season-ticket holder dating more than 40 years ago. Hockey − and not football − is his first love, even though he might be two months from winning a Super Bowl and doesn’t have a snowball’s chance in Orchard Park of winning a Stanley Cup anytime soon. ... Pegula has long refused the model of having a president of hockey operations because he likes the direct line to the GM. The results say it’s a 14-year mistake he needs to rethink, even if he’s still spooked by whatever version of events you believe happened 11 years ago with Pat LaFontaine. Pegula needs more veteran hockey minds, just like his team needs more veteran players.

Hmm. There was something fairly concrete recently -- where some of the chatter here was like: "huh. well there it is." This is a fair and sober point. I get so frustrated at times - I lose sight of the forest. I recall the theory/inference -- perhaps from you @tom webster -- that the Sabres got Adams in part because Pegula felt let down/burned by following what conventional NHL wisdom advised him to do (several times) and that he wound up turning to someone he knew, liked, and trusted (a common theme for Pegula (and, if we're being honest, a lot of people)). Edit: OTOH, reading Harrington's piece -- referenced below -- reminded me of how the entire organ-eye-zayshun is (arguably) understaffed and, to the extent it is staffed, it's staffed by people with limited and dubious credentials.

It absolutely matters whether and to what extent Pegula’s involved in hockey ops. There were fairly recent reports intimating that Pegula was dug in deep on evaluating amateurs, prospects, and pro personnel. Now it’s being suggested he’s a miser who’s out to lunch. Interesting stuff — for me.

This is interesting. Where did we recently see it reported that Terry insists on staying closely involved in hockey ops?

Defensible, I suppose. Just such a weird vibe given how Pegula’s managed to destroy the Sabres franchise.

wth is going on here, man. you a PR flack or sum?

It might just be the days getting longer and the recent thaw, but I'm enjoying watching the Sabres play well - even if the odds of them getting into the playoff mix are so remote. I'll dissent from one consensus I see upthread: Samuelsson remains a boat anchor for whomever he's paired with. I started counting poor decisions and/or poor execution on his part and then just stopped -- too many to track -- especially so when things got dicey late in the third.

Sabres rolling to start the 3rd.

"every consequential moment. you always think they're gonna live forever, right? but they're not. nothing will. and that's okay. it's good. you're a winner if you feel it. you're a winner if you see it. somewhere along the way, if you see it -- for a second. and you don't have to remember forever. you never will. but if you see it for a second, man. you've won." https://www.instagram.com/reel/DGTWtQxuY6E/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== Further to my post above. Give the clip a watch. I love this young man's artistry (though he's probably not as young as I'd imagine). And, since I'm here, here's the song he's talking about. Buffalo forever.

This is a challenging thought project.

"Mike Ramsey style" for the old(er) timers. Also - are there many players who regularly block shots that way anymore? Ramsey was infamous for it. I commend you to that Reddit discussion I linked upthread. I think it's a fascinating discussion to have and there's a lot of nuance to it. It also appears to be an open question among the #fancystats crowd - at least as far as I can tell so far. Which is also fascinating in its own right. As Dom Hasek used to absolutely screech from his crease "I MUST SEE! I MUST SEE!" (I think there was a TV ad that got made that riffed on that habit of his? If memory serves, the ad featured him yelling that ... in a way that worked for the ad? It was not an ad for an optical store -- but you get the idea.) haha - there it is!

BC's inability to win that goddamned tournament is maddening.

that 4-year humanities degree continues to pay dividends, i tell ya. actually, as i think about it, it was a girlfriend from my college days who educated me to the concept. she was trained in classical music and explained how to recognize leitmotifs in a composition. years later, i recalled that teaching as the kids dove into the harry potter movies (the scores from those films are brilliant with leitmotifs for certain characters (hagrid, for example), places (the hogwarts castles), abstract concepts (harry's yearning for his parents)).

Seems like he was a leitmotif nonetheless.

i found a considered discussion of the issue in a 9 year old reddit thread.

Don't give up, man. The apparent dearth of analysis on this issue is ... weird.

God I hope so.

We're still waiting on someone linking to a good article or post that addresses how #fancystats views blocked shots. I Googled around a bit, but didn't readily find anything.

You say that now ...

As explained to me by one of my kids: "A minor" can be played on the piano with only white keys. So, in addition to being a reference to Drake's preference for underaged girls, Kendrick is dissing Drake for being far more white than black. Clever business.

And GAH - yes of course now Goonies as well.

Such a good scene! He is absolutely brilliant, as you say. I just don't catalog movie information like that - not anymore anyway. Holy smokes - I do recall The Fugitive role. I still need to watch that show.

Remember that scene in The Matrix where the guy who's betraying the rebel squad is eating a steak that he knows isn't real? Sometimes it's a bit like that. Not entirely. But a bit. Lol - not quite? I didn't know that'd stick in your craw. Sorry, man.