GDT: Buffalo Sabres @ Columbus Blue Jackets, Thursday 4/10 7pm MSG, ESPN +

[LGR4GM]

 

[Thorner]

Concept of Josh Norris’ existence 

[Mr Peabody]

2 hours ago, Pimlach said:

Big city - not. 

Middle of Ohio - so. 

No other pro teams - ok,  but none needed with The Ohio State University there. 

 

Why doesn't Rob Ray like going there?  

Not sure.  There is (was) a great sports bar near the entrance to the arena.  My wife and I went there for the next to last game in 2015 when Sabres needed to lose to guarantee 1st or 2nd in the Eichel draft.  Met a friend and his wife and he and my wife got into an Irish car bomb contest and we never made it into the game. We fit in the BJ fans screaming for the Jackets to win.  Actually I nice city. 

[Pimlach]

4 minutes ago, Believer said:

Columbus OH 2.2M population projected to grow to 2.5M by 2050.

Buff/Niag/Cheek 1.2M population with similar modest growth by 2050.

I am just picking on Columbus for fun.  I like Columbus as a place, but it is Ohio State University for sports.   

It is not really a hockey town, just as Cleveland was not.   Sure the city has a lot of square miles and they can pull people from lots of places, and they can sell 18,000 tickets for their only professional sports team.   If that is the criteria then we will have 40 teams soon enough.  

The NHL is ruining the league for greed, they are already expanded past the NBA.   Soon they will have have a team in Houston (7 million people), then another attempt at Atlanta (6 Million people), and on and on.   

[Doohickie]

1 hour ago, Pimlach said:

Square miles are not the best and only way to measure a city.  Jacksonville, FL is huge in square miles and so it Sitka, Alaska.  Should the NHL move there too?  

Who said anything about square miles?  I was referring to population.

It just seems odd for someone from Buffalo wondering why Columbus deserves a hockey team.  It's a good sized city on its own, and only a couple of hours from several other cities (Cincinnati, Dayton, Cleveland) which would naturally support a hockey team in their state.  They're 6th in average attendance in the NHL.

[Doohickie]

2 hours ago, Pimlach said:

I don't know any real dedicated hockey fans there.

and yet they're 6th in the NHL in attendance per game with a non-playoff team.  They clearly deserve a team.

2 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

Is this an ESPN+ exclusive game?

Nope.  Regular.

[Pimlach]

Just now, Doohickie said:

Who said anything about square miles?  I was referring to population.

It just seems odd for someone from Buffalo wondering why Columbus deserves a hockey team.  It's a good sized city on its own, and only a couple of hours from several other cities (Cincinnati, Dayton, Cleveland) which would naturally support a hockey team in their state.  They're 6th in average attendance in the NHL.

It seems odd because you miss the point.  I am not wondering anything,  I flat out think that putting a team there was not necessary.  Especially if Seattle, Vegas, Houston, and maybe Atlanta (yet again) were in the NHL's long term plan.  I think expansion has gone to far. 

But, happy they are drawing and I hope they can avoid a prolonged playoff drought. 

 

 

 

[SwampD]

2 hours ago, Doohickie said:

14th largest US city?  Biggest city in Ohio?  Three times the population of Buffalo?  Fans from all over Ohio, a state that supports two NFL teams and THE Ohio State University? 

They probably have a much bigger fan base that the Sabres.  Odd question to ask from a Sabres fan.

So a city three times the size of Buffalo isn't.... big?  They have nearly a million people.  If you count the metro areas, Columbus is still nearly 2X Buffalo-Niagara.

Except for some fringe areas near Detroit and Pittsburgh, the whole state is going to support the franchise, and pretty much the entire state is within about a 2 hour drive from the arena.

Plus, What the hell else is there to do in Ohio?!

[Thorner]

15 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

Who said anything about square miles?  I was referring to population.

It just seems odd for someone from Buffalo wondering why Columbus deserves a hockey team.  It's a good sized city on its own, and only a couple of hours from several other cities (Cincinnati, Dayton, Cleveland) which would naturally support a hockey team in their state.  They're 6th in average attendance in the NHL.

What’s the Sabres drought measured in square miles? 

2 minutes ago, SwampD said:

Plus, What the hell else is there to do in Ohio?!

Just like Idaho, most don’t know Ohio is a palindrome 

[SwampD]

3 minutes ago, Thorner said:

What’s the Sabres drought measured in square miles? 

Just like Idaho, most don’t know Ohio is a palindrome 

Madam, I'm in Ohio.

F$#%!

[Doohickie]

29 minutes ago, Believer said:

Columbus OH 2.2M population projected to grow to 2.5M by 2050.

Buff/Niag/Cheek 1.2M population with similar modest growth by 2050.

All the criticism @Pimlach throws at Columbus are great reasons why Buffalo shouldn't have an NHL team.

For that matter, Plano, Texas is bigger than Buffalo, even if you break it off from Dallas.  And the county it's in (Collin County, TX) has more population than Erie and Niagara combined.  And they probably have a bigger corporate base than Buffalo too.

• Toyota Motor North America
• Pizza Hut
• Frito-Lay
• JCPenney
• Ericsson North America

[Doohickie]

8 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

I am not wondering anything,  I flat out think that putting a team there was not necessary.

It's not "necessary" to have the NHL at all.  In any city.  But to criticize a city that has top 20% attendance with a non-playoff team just makes no sense. 

[Pimlach]

7 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

All the criticism @Pimlach throws at Columbus are great reasons why Buffalo shouldn't have an NHL team.

For that matter, Plano, Texas is bigger than Buffalo, even if you break it off from Dallas.  And the county it's in (Collin County, TX) has more population than Erie and Niagara combined.  And they probably have a bigger corporate base than Buffalo too.

• Toyota Motor North America
• Pizza Hut
• Frito-Lay
• JCPenney
• Ericsson North America

Pull the team from Dallas too.  

[Stads]

3 hours ago, PromoTheRobot said:

They are going to win 10 in a row to finish the season and end up picking 13th 

Regardless of where it is, I want that picked moved as part of a package for something to help right now. We have too much "potential" already

[Pimlach]

4 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

It's not "necessary" to have the NHL at all.  In any city.  But to criticize a city that has top 20% attendance with a non-playoff team just makes no sense. 

How many times can I say I am just having fun picking on Columbus?  Are you going to take the bait all day?  

Yes, the NHL was at least smart enough to pick a market were they are the only professional team in town, and likely to stay that way.  They could survive a playoff drought for awhile.  

Which is exactly what hurt the Cleveland Barrons.  They were a bad team and could not compete with the other 3 major sports franchises.  Because hockey in Ohio is not as important as football and baseball and basketball are.  

But in the long run, and to my real point, all of these teams are going to hurt the product, and its already happened.  And you are right, Buffalo is in danger of losing its franchise to bigger markets.  Especially since they have such poor ownership that their attendance is now way down to unthinkable levels.   

When the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs start and the Buffalo/WNY TV viewership ranks near the top, while many of the big markets watch baseball and NBA playoffs, will the league care?    Probably not.   Bring on the Houston Aero's and and the Atlanta Threesomes!   

 

[Doohickie]

5 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

How many times can I say I am just having fun picking on Columbus?  Are you going to take the bait all day?  

Apparently, yeah.

Anyway, GO SABRES.  Can we agree on that?

[CallawaySabres]

1 hour ago, Weave said:

If wins matter at all, there is possibly 2 points to be made by playing the 38yr old goalie.

Why do we always give this team the wiggle room to make losing acceptable?

Because I would rather have UPL shake whatever hell he is in right now and not wait until it matters in October. They absolutely cannot gamble with goalies anymore or it's gonna be 15 years.

[PromoTheRobot]

39 minutes ago, Stads said:

Regardless of where it is, I want that picked moved as part of a package for something to help right now. We have too much "potential" already

Somebody has to want to make a deal. And not a bag of pucks for our 1st.

[dudacek]

1 hour ago, Thorner said:

Concept of Josh Norris’ existence 

He’s real. Saw him sitting next to Benny when Benny put on that player of the game vest.

He was hard to recognize under all the gauze, but I’m positive it was him. He was wearing a “I ❤️ Brady” button.

[HumanSlinky39]

4 hours ago, Pimlach said:

Big city - not. 

Middle of Ohio - so. 

No other pro teams - ok,  but none needed with The Ohio State University there. 

 

Why doesn't Rob Ray like going there?  

I'm an OSU alum and Ohio native so I feel inclined to defend C'bus because it's a great city.

Big city? Yes. Not like NYC, or Chicago but the population is now approaching 1,000,000 in the city proper which is 14th in the U.S. and when they were awarded the franchise it was the 18th largest city in the U.S. 

It's a very underrated city with a booming job market, great restaurant scene, and bustling nightlife which has contributed to it being one of the fastest growing major cities in the country.

Its central location draws fans from all over the state of Ohio, the 7th most populous state in the country.

I have a soft spot for the CBJ as an Ohio native and root for them if it doesn't conflict with the Sabres. Also, IMO, their 3rd is the best uniform in the league.

All that said, I hope we win 8-1 and Tage scores 6 goals.

Edited Thursday at 05:33 PM by HumanSlinky39

[HumanSlinky39]

2 hours ago, OverPowerYou said:

Have the blue jackets ever won a playoff series? Both them and the Minnesota wild just kind of exist…

Knocked off Presidents Trophy winner Tampa in the first round in 2019. Other than that, nada. Been a pretty poorly run organization.

[LTS]

3 hours ago, Pimlach said:

I would like to cut a 8 teams out of the NHL.  Too many teams and not enough star players.  Season too long.  

Columbus would be the first one to go. 

So would Salt Lake Utes and the Ducks of Orange County ... 

 

 

🙂

A game.. more material for everyone to argue over. They win, people are mad about them winning because of draft picks. They lose, people are mad about them losing because they need to build a winning culture.

They get blown up?  Does everyone rejoice that there couldn't be a 15th missed season?

It's April and it's snowing. I have bigger issues than the Sabres.

[Stads]

49 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Somebody has to want to make a deal. And not a bag of pucks for our 1st.

But what if they're really nice pucks? Gold plated perhaps? Dipped in cocaine potentially?

[PromoTheRobot]

I was offered free tickets to the Red Sox and Blue Jays at 4pm, so I'm going and I'll catch up with the Sabres after.

Great day for ⚾ baseball.

Edited Thursday at 08:18 PM by PromoTheRobot

[Thorner]

Just now, PromoTheRobot said:

I was offered free tickets to the Red Sox and Blue Jays at 4pm, so I'm going and I'll catch up with the Sabres after.

🧹🧹🧹🧹