Sabre Dance

Not that I don't find all the speculation entertaining, but with 30 teams and 30+ players per team (including spares and prospects), the number of possibilities is way too much for me. I won't make any predictions or offer any input. I'm just going to enjoy the ride....

Sorry to hear about the accident - hope everything is OK. I have had State Farm for years and when I had my accident back in '99, they were terrific. I did not have rental car coverage, but since it took so long to fix my (imported) car, they paid for it anyway... Their rates aren't too bad, either (but I do get a discount for having homeowners' with them as well...)

I believe the old goalie pads were stuffed with deer hair - the shaft of the deer hair is hollow (natural insulation so the deer don't get chilly). It also absorbs more of the force of the puck hitting the pads. You can look it up.... ;)

I'm not sure which is true, but either I attract kooky drivers like this or there are so many of them out there that I see one almost every day on my commute. I've got too many stories to relate, but I will pass along this (old) joke: Bob and Ray are driving along in Ray's car. As they approach an intersection, the traffic signal turns red. Ray floors the accelerator and blows through the red light. In disbelief, Bob turns to Ray and says, "Hey, you just ran that red light!". Ray replies, "Don't worry about it - my brother does it all the time." They continue down the road a way. At the next intersection, Ray again runs a red light. Bob calls him on it again, and again Ray says, "Hey, my brother does it all the time." At the next intersection, the light turns green as the car approaches. Ray slams on the brakes and brings the car to a screeching halt. Bob screams, "What the heck are you doing? The light is green!" Ray answers, "Yeah, but my brother might be coming the other way..." :rolleyes:

Gee whiz - it looks like Linus has no problem going to the net AND he knows how to finish. His touch on a couple of those goals was deft. If nothing else, maybe he can teach some of our boys how to aim where the goalie ain't....

I've never been on skis, so I can't offer a suggestion there, but on skates, I find that if I tighten the laces in the mid-portion of my foot (the arch) too much, my feet cramp up as soon as I stand. As suggested up-thread, tighten the laces in the bottom three eyelets really well, then just snug up the next few and finally tighten the ones at the top (the ankle portion of the boot) tight enough so your ankles don't wobble. That should help. If not, a wider skate perhaps...

Too true. What I can't understand is that the NHLPA also represents the guys who have gotten the elbow in the mush or the shoulder to the temple. How would you feel if another NHLPA member (i.e. a player from another team) gives you a concussion that puts you in a dark room for a month and the Players' Association appeals the offender's 7 game suspension? I'd be pretty pi$$ed at my "union". Well, once I could think straight again.... :blink:

We had our annual holiday luncheon at Pearl Street Grill yesterday and I tried as many of their brews as I could (and still stand up). They have such a wide range...the best was the Lord Stanley Scotch ale....well, at least of the ones I tried. So many beers, so little time.... :beer:

I hear you... I always thought it was just the locale of the delivery address that determined whether UPS (or whomever) would leave a package or stick a notice on your door. It also depends on the shipper's instructions and (I think) the judgement of the driver. UPS has a thing called "My UPS" which (for an annual fee, of course) will allow you to divert a delivery to a UPS Store or Center, a neighbor or specify a "safe" location at your home where they can leave a package. You also get delivery notifications via email. I've been signed up for a couple of years now and it works pretty well. I have a "secret" spot outside my garage which the UPS driver can access easily, but it cannot be viewed from the street. I don't often get the sticky notes on the screen door anymore.

A quick check shows that the entire Sabres' current defensive corps is in minus territory, with the exceptions of Sulzer and McNabb, who are at 0. Myers, the "offensive" defensman is a -11 and Weber is a -15. At -9, Pysyk doesn't look so bad. (Also, to be fair, the Sabre forwards are also mostly in the minus figures. It's hard to be a +1 when no one is scoring goals). Actually, the best thing you can say about Pysyk is that you don't really notice him on the ice. He doesn't make flashy plays or extended rushes in the offensive zone, but he's not out of position very often and doesn't make glaring mistakes - for the most part (well, none worse than any other Sabres' defenseman).

I don't care except I hope the USA finishes ahead of Canada.

Much of the reduction in health costs is coming from providers (i.e. hospitals, etc.) cutting costs on their own. In at least one hospital I know of, RNs on nursing floors work 12 hour shifts, not 8. That means you can get by with two RNs per 24 hour shift instead of three, cutting nursing personnel costs by a third. Hospitals have found other cost-cutting measures like this just so they can stay afloat. I found it particularly astonishing that his excuse for smoking crack was that he was in a drunken stupor. And he doesn't really even think he did anything wrong. AND, by simply apologizing, the public should forgive him and let him get back to work. Try something like that with your boss at work and see how far it gets you. (But, boss - I was only asleep at my desk because of that third martini I had at lunch! I'm sorry....can I go back to sleep now?)

a la George Costanza, it'd be great if someone could figure out how to merge hockey and sex - it would give a whole new meaning to the word "stickhandling". a-HEM! ;)

Hi, weave - I'm glad that the news was positive and I really don't want to harsh your mellow, but nodes can swell for a number of reasons. Lymph nodes are the bodies trash collectors. They grab the odd junk floating around the body, like bacteria, cell fragments and (unfortunately) rogue cancer cells. Please do have your wife follow through with her GP - chances are that the swelling is due to a low-grade infection or some such, but there is always the remote possibility that it could be something more ominous. With her family history, it is always good to double- and even triple-check. (My aunt had breast cancer, got surgery + radiation + chemo and lived cancer-free for 22 years. Then a couple of weeks after a "normal" mammogram, they discovered a tumor in her remaining breast which had already spread.) Don't take anything for granted and get a second opinion if necessary. (Can you tell I work in cancer research?) All the best to you both....we'll keep good thoughts.

...and so begins the transmutation of the NHL team that hardly works into the Hardest Working Team in Hockey . By the way, although I am doing a good job of controlling my emotions right now, I am officially stoked. Woo Hoo! :clapping: :clapping: :clapping: :clapping: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Awesome view...

There's a lot of that going around... Last season I donated quite a few Sabres' items to Goodwill (including two really nice caps that I had just bought a couple years' previous). I'm clinging to my vintage white Sabre's jersey, but I haven't worn it for a long time. It's going to be a long, long season....

I saw "Rush" yesterday - terrific movie! Even if you know nothing about Formula One racing, it is still a great story. That Ron Howard is an excellent director; Opie done good! :clapping:

Shrader - I hope things go well for your family members. Sending good thoughts... ubkev - sorry to hear about the pup. I'm always amazed at how resilient dogs are when they've been injured. I guess it's the wolf DNA. My complaint today is... getting older. I was introduced to a very attractive young women yesterday by a mutual friend. She looked about 21 or 22 to me, but I later learned she just turned 30. Not that I would have had a chance with a woman who looked that good even when I was in my 30's, but it's even worse that A) I have less than a zero percent chance of getting a date at this juncture of my life and B) at nearly double her age, I am officially now a dirty old man. I feel soiled.....I think I need to take a shower. A cold one.

"Holmgren? Darcy here...you guys need a goalie? Have I got a deal for you!" BTW, I hesitate to point this out as it is so early in the season, but...the Maple Leafs are in first place in the league. Wow, how times have changed...

If the "rebuild" (or whatever) takes long enough, there may be more longtime Sabres alums (players and staff) gone before the promised winning of the Cup comes to be. I'll probably be retired and living in South Carolina by then. (6 years from now for anyone keeping score).

...and my favorite (which he used often when referring to Rob Ray scoring a goal), "Even a blind pig finds an acorn now and then." I will miss Roby.

Reebok uses the xiphoid process to attach the iliac crest to its hockey jerseys. (You might not think that's very funny, but I am cracking up at myself right now.... :lol: )

Modell would not have been able to relocate the Browns to Baltimore if the Irsays had not snuck the Colts out of town with their own sweetheart deal with Indianapolis some years before. There's plenty of greed to go around.There have been plenty of other NFL teams that have moved for basically the same reason: Raiders from Oakland --> LA --> Oakland, Cardinals from Chicago to St. Louis to Arizona, Rams from LA to St. Louis. I don't like it any more than you do, but it is an unfortunate fact of life in pro sports these days.