Doohicksie

We've got tickets to see Suzy Bogguss two weeks from Saturday. She's a country artist that had some good songs/hits out in the 90s; we have one of her CDs. Pretty relaxed country, lots of steel guitar. One thing that made me decided to get tickets is that she's playing a small venue, fewer than 200 seats, so it should be a good chance to see the musicians up close. This was one her bigger hits, a remake of an old Judy Collins song:

Actually that's not much different from north Texas. I think we squeaked out 80 yesterday. We've had several fronts bringing rain and cooling temps, and nice days in between. Probably the nicest spring in a decade. The last two weekends were bizarre: Friday, beautiful weather; Saturday, RAIN; Sunday, beautiful weather. It was so rainy and stormy that the first of those two Saturdays they canceled the Fort Worth Art Festival (which is a major event, hundreds of artists, huge crowds). April is probably the nicest month in north Texas. Kind of like Buffalo summer- highs in the 70s and 80s, and the spring rains make everything green. By the end of May it will be very dry.

Pressure the puck when the other team has it or when it's loose. Play sound positional defense. Counterstrike when the opportunity arises. Crash the freakin' net. I think Granato's system didn't do step 1 nearly enough, but when they did they looked very good. You mean Samuelsson?

Watching the game tonight I had the same exact thought. I think the Sabres could play that style right now... if only they were asked to. Stars even the series with VGK 2-2. They played a perfect third period to close it out. Roope Hintz blocked a shot and while still wincing took a 3/4 court shot and hit nothing but net.

I actually get a grounding satisfaction from tending my lawn and garden. This weekend I removed some bushes that died during the Great Freeze and replaced them with hydrangeas flanked by Chocolate Chip bugleweed.

Evan Rodrigues has more playoff goals than Tage Thompson. Panthers are clearly better.

You need to use your toes too for the math to work out.

Maybe time to move on from Appert too then.

I don't think a workout coach is gonna keep him from getting injured from blocking shots.

Interesting question. Of course there are those RFAs that sign for less than their qualifying offer. I bet he ends up on an NHL roster next year somewhere. Yes. 123%

It will be interesting to see which defensemen Lindy prefers. There could well be a shakeup in the pecking order. I think our 7-8 Ds (Johnson, Bryson) are actually pretty good and perhaps to get the right mix of puck moving, toughness, and solid D play, one or both of those guys could end up in the top six based on Lindy's system. (anticipating several puke emojis here)

That's precisely part of the reason I'm not keen on the trade to acquire Byram: I'm not sure there as a hole there to fill. Johnson may well turn out to be that player we need on defense, but the fact that Mitts was traded for Byram will inflate Byram's perceived value to the team, not because he's better, but because he costed more to acquire.

In the Mitts discussion, people have argued that Byram >>> Ryan Johnson. I'm not sure I agree. I think Johnson will emerge this season as a top 4 defender. His game coming out of college was mature. He doesn't make a lot of mistakes but he definitely gets the puck out of the zone and up ice. And I still think that Byram may turn out to be more like Risto than people want to admit. For both these players I'm looking forward to how Lindy deploys them. Maybe he can get them to both be top shelf players.

I guess that's my argument against the trade: I'm not sure Byram filled an urgent need on the roster. What I see in him is a player who could possibly a good piece but also is subject to inconsistent play. But the trade *did* create an urgent need on the roster. I think we're much worse off with Byram than we were with Mitts. I'm not saying Byram is a bust or anything. But I'm saying I don't think there is a clear hole that he is filling, but the absence of Mitts creates a big hole in the forward ranks. I also realize the die was cast when Tage and Cozens got their contracts. I think signing those two and making Casey the odd man out was a mistake. I think Casey had made the case that he was a versatile player that could play anywhere in the Top Nine. I don't think you can say the same for Cozens or Tage. While in general I think Kevyn's approach to roster building is sound, I think in this case he messed up.

My wife's cousin in Ardmore, OK, is in a neighborhood that got hit by a tornado yesterday. Their house is okay, but a block over...

News flash: NS likes 'em skinny.

It's spelled Doohickie.

On the Sabres he would be the 1B C. Cozens at his current level would be 3C behind Tage and Mitts. There was no reason to move him at all. Just pay him. But Kevyn didn't want to admit that he made a mistake anointing Tage and Cozens to the top two centers. In fact if Casey commands $7 million or more it proves my point.

Right. And who was expendable? Why? Byram, because he just wasn't playing up to that level.

Mitts has improved every season. So Cozens is better than Mitts was in the past. I'm talking about Mitts NOW. He's flat out better than Cozens. We kept him through his lean years and traded him in his gravy years.

I think you're underestimating Johnson there. Have I seen Byram play top notch defense? Yes. Does he do it consistently? No. (And that, by the way, is why the Avs moved him.) Does he make too many bone-headed plays? Yes.

And that was the first mistake. He's at least 2C material; he's played 1C with no dropoff on the top line. If anything, paying Cozens to be 2C was the mistake; he's still a "potential" 2C. Mitts is the real deal.

Oh yeah? Go on the Avs forum. They were glad to be rid of him and his inconsistency.

The trade was made and now the Sabres have a Mitts sized hole in the forward ranks and maybe....? an improvement on defense. Makes no sense.