shrader

I'm not so sure that this type of player actually exists, the guy who doesn't have all that development to gain by spending time in the minors. Obviously there are the elites of the world, but it's a very short list. Mitts and Thompson aren't anywhere near it. I'm sure with Mitts some promises were made when he signed, so that is what it is. Sadly, he's probably the one who could probably use a decent stretch of controlling play down at that level.

I love doing the missions in games like this, but yet I find myself so easily distracted by all the side stuff in this one. I'm currently early in chapter 4 and every time I'm ready to knock off a bunch of missions, I discover some new challenge that completely distracts me.

Making the team better today and making them better for the future are not mutually exclusive.

I'd love to know why it's better for some but not for others. Nylander at 20 is better off in the AHL while Mittelstadt (also 20) and Thompson (21) are better off in the NHL. I don't mean to claim that Nylander should be here now, but that explanation really doesn't add up to me. If anything, he should be the most familiar with the Sabre system (and I don't mean that stench of losing) of the three.

But we all know they're not going to do this. These ideas may as well be residing as safely in dreamland as those old "Roy for Malkin" style trade proposals that were always thrown out there by a few select winners over on sabrespace. So far, this current group management group has shown no interest in making even the most minor of shake ups. John wants to keep talking about "follow the plan, follow the plan". I don't understand why that plan wouldn't call from giving more than just a 3 or 4 game shot to a Smith or Nylander type. It's not that hard to make that happen. No one's claiming Elie if you waive him. Hell, if you want to sit out Pilut, send him down for a day or two to make room for a fresh blood forward call up. It's not happening now while they're on the road, but they really need to do something like this after the break. And how much of Jack's window do you want to throw away? If we're counting on these 3 upcoming first round picks to fill these big hole in the lineup, Jack is at least 25-26 once they're even close to making it into the lineup. Just look at Nylander's career path. That's much closer to what you should expect from a prospect as opposed to Mittlestadt stepping in after one year... and even still with very marginal results.

So you're suggesting that Wetteland and Clemens had a little fling back in the day?

Plans need to adapt over time though based on results. They appeared to be ahead of schedule for a while, but apparently that was a mirage. They could get back to that with a little kick start to secondary scoring and once Eichel returns to form post-injury. You don't plan for any of that, but you need to react on the fly. Was Berglund bailing early part of the plan? Of course not, but you need to react to it. I think it's safe to assume based on that contract that the plan involved him being around for a bit. But hey, if they did plan on that, well then that's some incredible foresight. And as a side note, only in Buffalo could both Berglund and Vontae Davis happen in the same year.

Is his name Gavin by any chance?

My concern is that we're not seeing team growth as a whole. What we thought was growth has turned out to be just a couple guys standing on their toes for a few weeks. It goes right back to why I wanted to see them add an additional center to this roster. The stench of losing is still all over this team and I'm starting to wonder if certain people can ever wash it off and if the newbies will settle into it as well.

They apparently do this in all their games, slowly letting the mystery solve itself over time and updates. It's great for those people who like to dig around and play forever, but I never have the time/interest to see it all play out.

I did the same thing to the trapper really early when trying to sell him a legendary pelt. L2 + R2 + forgetting you have a gun in hand = bullet to the face of the trapper

I'm actually kind of glad they've quit. At least they've made my choice to bail for a while an easy one. They have to string together at least 3 wins in a row before I'm going to waste any time on them. The sad part though is that as the trade deadline approaches, they really don't have anyone to sell. Maybe you can pull a 3rd round pick from a defensive starved team for Scandella. Beyond that, there's just Skinner if they don't think he'll re-sign. They badly need a shake up post-all star break. And I don't even mean a trade, but they at least need to give a shot to an Amerk or two just to mix things up. The problem is, they don't really have the roster flexibility to do it thanks to carrying dead weight like Hunwick. They're not going to move him out since he's got a trade condition tied to him. After that, there's Elie. There is no one else they're going to move off the big club to make room for a call up. I know people will suggest a few names, but it isn't going to happen. They're not waiving anyone. People will love this one, but the only other guy they'll send down in order to recall a forward is Pilut.

Mans it definitely helps on those missions where you have to flee from the law.

I won’t go as far as making him the #1, but Ullmark definitely needs to be given a bigger share of the workload than he’s currently getting. Hutton consistently gives up those fluke goals because he loses the puck when it’s behind the net. At this point, I don’t think that’s going to change with him. You better believe that the other teams are well aware of it. I understand that they want to slowly build Ullmark up, but we’ve reached the point of needing him to take his next step.

They never feel like they have any continuity or momentum to them. The defense is completely fresh. And the center ice faceoff always feels weird to me.

Made the “I hate starting the period with a powerplay” comment to the wife. Should do that more often

Way to leave the girl behind on the way into the seats

The female version of their mascot may be the scariest thing I’ve ever seen

Does anyone?

I can throw something at you from my seats, 107 row K.

You mean we don't have to look at 8 consecutive cut and pasted twitter posts? That's a shame.

Apparently the five people in Carolina were also voting for him.

If five people cheer, does it make a sound?

Unless you're Tampa. It's hard to believe that Buffalo was actually ahead of them about a month ago.

Sweet baby Jesus (don't eat this one), he's back!