JohnC

I assume that the revenue will be divided among all the 31 teams. The league desperately needed these post season games to get some of the nationalTV revenue back that would have been lost if the play completely stopped. Make no mistake with or without the revenue because of the lost fan and local TV revenue many teams will be financially stressed, including the Sabres.

Bill, In most DWI cases the ticket for whatever driving violation is the basis/probable cause for the stop. The next part of the sequence/process after the stop might be the smell of alcohol on the individual, slurring of voice, blood shot eyes which would then give you the basis to do a sobriety check which might include walking a line or repeating part of the alphabet etc. Then if the subject failed you would then request a breathalyzer test administered by a certified police technician. If the subject declined the breath test (which is his/her right) then the driver's license would automatically be suspended. That's how it is in done in DC. I'm not disagreeing with you because as you point out the summonses would be included in the arrest package. And as you point out issuing the tickets would be the starting point in the DWI process. In DC if you didn't issue a ticket for a traffic violation to give you the probable cause for the stop and you arrested the person on a DWI charge the case would be thrown out because there wasn't a probable cause for a stop. To be clear I'm talking about the court system in DC.

https://www.ketv.com/article/marine-corps-veteran-explains-tradition-of-leaving-different-coins-at-grave-sites/32646264

If the security was called in to respond of an "inappropriate" contact complaint they would make a report that included the patient's statement. And they would talk to the staff and others who were involved with the patient. If in this circumstance they (the responding security staff) didn't record some form of an incident report that included the complainant's statement and statement of others then they should be fired for malfeasance, nonfeasance, negligence and gross incompetence. As far as staving off a lawsuit I don't understand your point. Who said that it would? As I said in prior comments you can't control how the parties respond after the fact with respect to their legal options. That is obviously out of your control. What you can do is exercise good judgment when dealing with the issue at hand. And without question a report should have been made about this incident on the airplane. The both of us are talking past one another and not adding much to the discussion. We are at the stage of going in nonproductive circles. There isn't much that I can add to what I have stated.

Any complaint made that someone without consent grabbed your sausage on a flight absolutely should and would get written up! And especially if the staff had to respond by moving people. With respect to your question of would the documenting of the incident forestall the filing of a lawsuit, don't get silly. Of course it wouldn't have. People do what they want to do. What it would have done is officially note how they responded to the incident. And in this case it certainly have been helpful in responding to maybe a baseless or not lawsuit. The documenting of the incident would have better protected the interest of the airline and staff, not hurt it. You don't think that in a hospital setting if a patient made a complaint about an inappropriate touching by another patient or staff member that the incident wouldn't be documented? You don't think that in a school setting if a student made a complaint about an inappropriate touching by another student or staff member it wouldn't be documented? What you don't understand is that your informal and incomplete response (not documenting) to this type of incident makes the company and staff more legally vulnerable.

Assuming that we don't get one of the top two picks in the draft I would not be adverse to packaging the pick to get a young second line forward. We already have some young players such as Kahun, Cozens, Tage? and Mittelstadt? who hopefully are ready to contribute. The future is now because the battered and worn out fans deserve better. And so does Jack! I want to stress that I don't want a deal that is made out of desperation that ends up being damaging like the ROR deal. If a fair value deal can't be made then it is better to just continue to bide one's time and wait for a more favorable/equitable trade proposal.

You missed the point. By not at the minimum documenting the incident the airline staff put the company in a vulnerable position.

If a woman who was a professional athlete or simply a fit woman who could kick most men's asses was on the receiving end of another passenger who grabbed their breasts and other private part what would be the response? The issue isn't who could beat up who but the transgressive behavior in of itself. My position is that at the minimum the flight staff should have more aggressively responded, made notifications and documented the incident. By doing that they also protect themselves and the company from the person transgressed who later made the claim that the staff didn't adequately respond.

There is no designed playoff system that would have satisfied everyone. The proposed system is as fair as any other proposed system. I understand why some Buffalo fans believe that they were shortchanged. I'm not one of them. Quite the contrary. From a point standpoint the Sabres undeniably underperformed. There was one four game western road trip where they came away with zero points. If you can't eke out a point or two on an extended road trip then you don't deserve a playoff spot. But that wasn't the worst of our uninspired play in the season. There was a 10 game or so homestand that included some weak teams. The results were less than mediocre. My point is that we had our chances to put ourselves in a good position for a serious playoff run, yet we didn't seize the opportunity. That's on us!

The below link is a column by Jourdon LaBarber writing for Sabres.com. It's about Arttu Ruotsalainen who had a successful season in Finland. I'm not sure he will make the NHL roster right away. He more likely will start off playing in Rochester in order to acclimate to the smaller NHL rinks. Playing in Rochester certainly benefited Olofsson in transitioning to the NHL game. And hopefully this scenario will work out for Arttu. https://www.nhl.com/sabres/news/buffalo-sabres-prospect-rewind-arttu-ruotsalainen/c-317003272

The negotiation wrestling match is as much over the length of the contract as it is over the aggregate amount. Zak prefers a shorter deal so when his current deal expires he will be able to negotiate a bigger deal with the assumption that the salary cap goes up. He is counting on still being in his prime when his preferred shorter deal expires. Jerry and the Cowboys want to wrap up a longer deal so that they won't have to renegotiate a new deal when the cap is assumed to be higher. There has always been an assumption that revenues and the cap will go up. However, with this pandemic and economic cataclysm happening the assumption that the revenue and cap will automatically go up is now called into question. The point that I'm making here is that Dak might be miscalculating where the market will be in the future and when TV revenues and even attendance revenue could conceivably be dramatically down. The point that I'm making here is that considering the scale of the money being fought over it might be in his best interest to lock in for the longer term than the shorter term when the economics of the business could be substantially changed for the worse.

Both of us are responding to a written story that isn't necessarily a complete reflection of what actually happened. I am comfortable in my position that based on the story that both of us are responding to that documented reports should have been made of the complaint and incident/s. Now that there is a legal response by the complainant those reports would have been useful as a response. So based on what should have been an obvious and basic response I strenuously disagree with your position.

This is not a complicated case. Was a report made by the crew? Was the pilot informed of the commotion? I assume he/she was. Was security at the arrival airport notified in order to interview those involved? I don't know what you disagree with. Assuming the story as written is true the woman's behavior without question crossed the legal line. Grabbing someone's sausage without consent is an illegal act! That doesn't always mean that there is an arrest but in this case it should have led to a report and interviews post flight. Both of us don't have the full story. But from the story that was given it does appear to me that the crew didn't do what was required in dealing with this sausage grabbing incident.

You didn't carefully read my response. You ended up making assumptions not on what I said but what you thought I said. I said if this story is true as described by the complaining party that he was grabbed and groped then that it certainly called for some attendant action. The story indicates that the staff didn't respond to the complaint. Do I know if the claimant's story accurately reflected what happened? I don't know. My response was if true then I would agree that the staff was lax in its response. And if true this behavior as described definitely crossed the line toward not only inappropriate conduct but to the level of illegal conduct. The way this story was described it called for some action by the security personnel when the plane landed. The security staff would then interview the parties involved and make a report and a determination as to whether to proceed further or not.

There are federal laws associated with unruly behavior on a flight. Not only should the crew members attended to the matter in the air they should have made notifications while in the air to have the FAA police or security officials meet the flight when it arrived. If the flight crew moved her twice during the flight then clearly her behavior crossed the legal line. Without question she should have been detained upon arrival.

If the story is true that the person/s being harassed by the woman who was drunk and high complained to the flight attendant then that airline employee/s was derelict in doing their job/s. Acting obnoxious is one thing that can get you in trouble on a flight. But when you put your hands on someone on their privates then that is behavior that should have been directly addressed on the flight and after the flight with an official response. This aberrant behavior by the woman is the type of behavior that attendants are trained to deal with. I agree with you that the victim should have taken another seat but what is most troubling is that assuming the story is accurate then the passive response by the airline staff was grossly negligent.

The young players I will be more closely following entering the next training camp are Arttu Ruotsalainen, Tage Thompson, Casey Mittelstadt and Kahun. I expect Arttu to start off in Rochester. Kahun playing on a line with Johansson and Olofsson at the end of the abbreviated season seemed promising. In my mind they have the makeup of being a good third line with a lot of skill and skating talent. With respect to Tage and Casey if they earn roster spots it will provide a lot more line options and depth. In my view the biggest issue is still to construct a credible second-line. We are not there yet.

RJ would love to have the opportunity to bellow out RUUUUUUUTTTTTTTTTUUUUU!?

There is going to be a limited attendance for the actual wedding. So the issue is conducting a reception during this uncertain crazy pandemic time. I don't understand your characterization of one of the bride's sister as stirring the pot over concern for the elderly father and other family members. I would say that she is using good judgment about the health risk for the parent who is in the vulnerable category. And don't doubt that just because others don't publicly complain about attending a reception at this time that they are not happy about being placed in a predicament between health and family relations. And it shouldn't be forgotten that even younger and healthy attendees can be exposed to the virus. And just because your 92 year old mother is fine with everything that doesn't mean that she is less vulnerable. How would you feel if she got exposed to this pernicious virus? Your son and daughter-in-law have the opportunity to cancel the affair and get their money back. They are lucky to have an opt out. Maybe as an option the married couple can have a first year anniversary reception to celebrate their lost wedding reception? Ultimately your son and daughter-in-law will have the final say. However, I don't want to come off as judgmental or critical but the bride's sister is not being unreasonable. She is expressing her concerns not for the purpose of creating conflict but doing so out of love and concern for the family.

Attached is a column on Risto by Bill Hoppe from the Buffalo Hockey Beat. The writer points out that Risto's play improved under the guidance of Krueger who simplified his game, played him fewer minutes per game and surrounded him with more talent. Our GM has taken a lot of valid criticism for the way he has shaped the roster. But the one thing he has done well is put together a good defensive unit with a lot of young talent that includes Dahlin and Joki. The big question this offseason is whether he is going to be dealt for forward help. I'm open to him being traded assuming that we are going to get back equal value. There were stories last year that the GM was shopping him but the offers were not acceptable. http://www.buffalohockeybeat.com/sabres-succeeded-in-helping-rasmus-ristolainen-transform-game-this-season/?view=getnewpost

I don't know the terms of his contract if he does sign. The only issue that I am concerned about is how he plays. It's unlikely that the older Olofsson will make the NHL roster next year when the season starts. When all is said and done it will be his play that is the determining factor. The same line of thinking applies to Arttu.

If his signing turns out to be useful for our minor league team then it was a worthy deal. If his signing turns out not to be useful for our minor league team then what was the harm done by signing him? If the alleged deal doesn't materialize then so be it. For me the more interesting foreign player to follow and most likely the better prospect is Arttu Ruotsalainen.

We should soon find out this offseason whether this report had merit or not. Sometimes low profile players/prospect can surprise you. His younger brother is an example of that.

Nope! I make mistakes but don't intentionally fabricate. He was on last year's training camp and also developmental camp rosters. There is a good chance he can start the season in Rochester next season. https://www.diebytheblade.com/2019/9/11/20861402/buffalo-sabres-release-training-camp-roster-nhl-eichel-dahlin-ristolainen-ullmark

I wouldn't be surprised that if he demonstrated that he was good enough to make a NHL roster he would still be sent to Rochester in order to get acclimated to the NHL and its smaller surfaces. A player to watch is Arttu Ruotsalainen. He probably will be sent to Rochester and hopefully will be a player good enough to call up when necessary.