JohnC

You and I are in accord. The Sabres are in a losing spell. But even during this frustrating period for the most part I didn't come away not believing that this team wasn't giving effort. In watching this game I can't come away and say the opposition was better. These were two evenly matched teams with both of them playing hard. We have offensive limitations that is becoming more evident as the season advances. The one goal games that we previously won have turned into one goal games that we are now losing. The margin of error is small. As you stated the hope is that young players such as Mitts and Tage will continue to get better. I won't be surprised that there will be some player movement from Rochester to Buffalo. I'm somewhat frustrated but I'm not discouraged. The below WGR link is a three minute segment from Housley after the game. His analysis is reasonable and realistic. https://wgr550.radio.com/media/audio-channel/12-31-phil-housley-post-game

What's obvious is obvious. We just don't have enough scorers other than what's on the first line. Does Botterill go out and use his future assets to bring in a rental or another scorer who is at best an adequate upgrade? After listening to Botterill I don't get the sense that he desires using his chips for a rental to help us this year. I do see him willing to make a deal for a more productive upcoming player who will still be around in the near future. The problem is that teams don't usually give up their better younger players unless they get at least an equal return to better balance out their roster. We have to look at this season in perspective. Compared to our dismal situation last year this team has made a quantum leap forward. If we use the ten game winning streak as our base-line then our current struggles reflect a disappointment mostly because our expectations were unrealistically raised. What I see this staff do is maybe tinker a little bit by bringing in some Rochester players but mostly staying the course. I'm okay with that. I still see this team fighting for a playoff spot up to the end of the season.

It would take a number #1 pick and additional high picks this year and next to get a deal done for this high cost and volatile player. No thank you. I'm not dismissing his talent because he is one of the best receivers in the game. It's well known that McDermott preaches team first. Antonio is not singing from the same choir book. The best approach is to keep building the roster with your own draft picks and judicious selection of players from the free agent market who are not caught up in their own diva act. On the other hand I would be very interested in taking his cousin, Hollywood Brown, a speed receiver from Oklahoma with a second round pick if he was still on the board.

The Islanders are as much of a surprise team as are the Sabres. Coach Trotz has done a terrific job joining a team that lost its best player in free agency. They got a little younger and faster and the new coach brought this team some structure. A good case can be made for him for Coach of the Year.

The roster spot for DA is not wasted. If Allen is injured you will need a backup. When McCarron was dealt the team was placed in a very precarious position. It's not worth going into the McCarron saga again other than having only two qbs on the roster can put you in a very difficult situation. If DA is beneficial in Allen's development (and I believe that it is the case) then it is worth keeping him. If Allen was an accomplished veteran qb I could understand not carrying the extra qb on the active roster. But that is not the case here.

Beane acknowledged that he made a mistake in not having a veteran qb on the roster right from the start. And McBeane openly admitted that the AJ McCarron experiment didn't work out. Consequently, not having that veteran presence not only hurt us on the field but it also hurt Allen's development which should have been a priority. Whether DA as a player is more of a glorified qb coach who cares? If he helps with the development of Allen then whatever he is paid is worth it. He will then have served a useful purpose as a longshot backup and more importantly as a mentor. When all is said and done this season has been very productive in that Josh Allen got playing time and that he was surrounded by veteran qbs who accepted their roles as mentors to the raw rookie. And it became evident that the instruction the veterans provided Josh was taken to heart by the receptive rookie. Without a doubt it showed on the field.

The plastic surgeon was off his game. The right boob is bigger than the left boob.

Kirby, Congratulations. I hope you don't think that I am prying but I'm curious about your insurance. In your area is your flood insurance bought through a private insurer or is it bought through a government flood insurance program? In New Orleans is there a flood zone or is the region considered a flood zone? Good luck with the house. And don't forget that you were born a Yankee so don't let the Confederates get away with harassing you. ?

Limeaid, I don't want to get into your personal medical situation because it is your personal information. But the big issue is your current health status and more importantly your prognosis. If the doctor/s you are seeing believe that in due time you will return to a full employment status then your options are different than if a prognosis is inconclusive and involves more long term disability. Then your situation is more precarious because of HR's more punitive stance. It seems your boss is empathetic and supportive to your situation. It also seems that your doctor/s are willing to be supportive in your case. So you have allies there. Try to work through your boss and let him be your interlocuter with HR. Be careful not to make this a combative situation with HR because it has the ability to write up the conflict in such a way that puts your job in jeopardy. As I stated in a prior post the worst thing you can do is be an outwardly disgruntled employee in which the company's easiest solution would be to send you packing and make your future employment options very difficult. The more important you are to the company the more likely it is to stand up for your interest. I know that this type of lingering situation can create an omnipresent stress that can take the joy out of one's daily life. If you can get a reasonable (compromise) solution to your situation don't be afraid to take it instead of waiting for a perfect solution that may not come. I wish you the best. Good luck!

There was also an issue of a communication problem among Limeaid, his supervisor and HR. Maybe a meeting among all the parties involved would help to clarify what the best option is for this particular situation. Instead of taking a combative approach to a conflict/problem maybe there can be clear understanding and agreement as to how to move on to this situation. If HR's stance is he is a problem to be dealt with then he is going to be in a rear-guard constant state of conflict at war. This is a bad and precarious position for an employee to be in, especially in Virginia. There may be some options here that all the parties can agree to. Although sometimes a solution is not perfect for the employee it still could be acceptable enough to be satisfactory at least for now. What he needs to do is to buy enough time to get fully healthy and then make a decision about his current job. Sometimes holding on is better than letting go especially when there is no parachute or the parachute has holes in it.

The problem with going the lawyer route in a Right to Work State such as Virginia is that the legal system doesn't offer you much protection when you enter that system. When you get entangled with the long drawn out process where the process decidedly favors the corporate side you end up financially depleted and emotionally spent with the outcome predictable, a loss. If the aggrieved worker takes the perspective that he is morally right then he is going to have to face the brutal realities of the system. From the situation that the Limeaid describes he is not being treated fairly yet he is not in a position of power to right a wrong. The aggrieved party needs to not let this situation get him so demoralized that he outwardly expresses his dissatisfaction that is apparent to the company. Then he will be an employee who will be a target for releasing. The harsh and ugly reality is if an HR department wants to find an excuse to legally let you go they can find it or manufacture it. Sometimes winning the battle doesn't mean that you win the war. My advice is to do every thing to get healthy and maintain a good job record so one's options are open when another job becomes available. Being a disgruntled employee will not help where he is at and it will preclude/taint him when seeking other employment options.

I was responding to a prior post who felt that Buffalo outplayed Boston. My response was that I didn't think that we were far better as he describe it. On the other hand although they outshot us I didn't think that they outplayed us. I thought that this was an evenly played game and hard fought game. As far as they not being fully staffed I didn't factor them into this game's equation because they were not part of this game. My belief is that by the end of the season Boston will pull ahead of us and probably also Pittsburgh. I'm hoping to squeeze in to one of the last spots. That still is an open question. As you noted we need more scoring beyond our first line. It's apparent that Mittelstadt is starting to fade and not being much of a factor. My belief is that our GM has a big picture perspective beyond this season. I don't see him making any significant deals to improve the roster for a playoff push. I do see him bringing up a player or two from Rochester sometime this season to add to the mix.

The call on Risto was the right call. The non-call on the Reinhart trip was ridiculous. The replay showed that the ref was looking directly at the play. It's fortunate that Reinhart wasn't hurt on that play. I thought Hutton and Bogo played well. I didn't think that we were far better than Boston. Although they got off more shots I thought that this was an even and hard fought game. We are in a segment where we are not garnering many points but for the most part we have been playing reasonably well. The playoff quest is going to go down to the wire.

If you want to experience the exhilarating feeling of being punched in the face go up to your friend "Bill from NYC" and tell him that you are rooting for Oklahoma against his devoted Bama team and that you find Saban to be annoying and insufferable. If you do that don't bother to file an assault charge against him because he has friends in the department who will cover up for him. ?

Repeated lightning strikes was the reason for the cancellation. The explanation is in the link. http://bcheights.com/2018/12/26/boston-college-football-bowl-canceled/

He's an academic all-American majoring in Biology with a 4.oo plus GPA. So education is important to him. He also is going to have the opportunity to play with his younger brother next year so that probably also factored into his decision. By staying in another year he will be better prepared to play the position when he does get drafted. https://pac-12.com/article/2018/12/02/pac-12-announces-football-all-academic-teams

He certainly would fill a need for us with his speed and ability to stretch the field. On the other hand when he is not involved in the offense he has a history of acting out. He's not a bad character but he has a volatility that becomes evident when things are not working out the way he wants it to work out. He is good at controlling his emotions when things are going well but can't contain his emotions when he is frustrated. My sense is he is not the type of person that McDermott would bring in who has to periodically be called into the office to remind him that its more about the team than about himself. Considering what McDermott constantly espouses about the importance of filling a team with players who subordinate their interest for the team's interest he doesn't fit the clapping coach's preferred mold. Again, I want to emphasize that I'm not suggesting that he is a bad guy so much as a hyper-emotional guy when things don't go his way.

It wasn't a secret that Carolina was looking for an out from him. They were shopping a player with a no-trade or partial no-trade clause. His contract was expiring and he was going to be a free agent. The team wasn't looking to secure him with a bonanza contract. That was evident for quite awhile to all the parties involved. Because of the trade clause in his contract he was to a degree determining where he was most likely going to go to. This trade was not a surprise to Skinner. In fact, he had a say where he was going to be dealt because he provided the list of the locations he was willing to be dealt to. In this case it is futile to argue who was the responsible party for the trade because it became evident to the player what his standing was with the organization. It's like a relationship that runs it course and there is nothing left in the tank to resurrect the exhausted relationship. It's not so much whose fault it was or why, it just is. The Skinner scenario was very similar to the Kane scenario. All the parties knew what the outcome was generally going to be before the trade was made. There is little oddity to it because it is a common occurrence in the hockey business.

Another obvious person who is a beneficiary of Skinner's shooting skills is Reinhart. Because he is first and foremost a passer the presence of Skinner has elevated his point production and put him in a better position to garner a rich contract when his bridge deal ends. The point that is being made by you and others is that getting the right fit of player on a unit has a tremendous repercussion for the rest of the line or defensive pairing. Another player that has made a major difference and didn't cost us anything is Bogo. I'm not arguing that he is our best defenseman but because he is now healthy and is added to the top two pairing mix it has increased the effectiveness of the top two pairings and upgraded the lower pairings. And if you add Pilut to the group (who also didn't cost us any assets) the defensive corps has been dramatically upgraded from being a previous liability to being an anchoring part of the team. (As I have stated before I don't see Pilut being send back down to Rochester. I like him a lot. He is a Housley type of defenseman. ) What a difference a year makes!

I have a slightly different take. The Hurricanes wanted to make the transition from the old to the new culture. Why keep on a player that doesn't want to be there and get closer to his free agency year where his trade value is limited (as you noted)? Why start a season with a lingering issue (not necessarily a problem) when you can start it fresh? Even with Skinner's departure that doesn't mean that Carolina can't keep their options open to make a deal for another scorer. Maybe not someone who is as accomplished as Skinner but sometimes you are limited through no fault of your own because of the circumstances you are confronted with. If Skinner expressed a desire to play on the west coast would the Sabres have dealt for him? Considering what they gave up for him I think they still would have made the deal with the hope that playing on the Sabres and with Jack would better position themselves to sign a deal with them. These type of situations which to force transactions happen all the time in hockey. We had a similar situation with Evander Kane. We got what we could for him which wasn't much other than improve our cap situation. With respect to William Nylander next year either he or one of the sharp shooters on the Maple Leafs may be moved because of the cap stress when they negotiate with a number of their young and talented players entering their contract years. That's going to be interesting to see how they handle that situation. I think they might still move Nylander and try to get back a good defenseman and balance out their roster for the playoffs.

You give an accurate depiction of the Skinner situation in Carolina. But the situation in Carolina is a common situation in the league. If you don't believe that your player is willing to sign a contract with you, regardless what you are offering, when he is entering his free agency year then you have little choice but to deal him for the best deal you can get. Even if it is an imbalanced deal you have make a deal or lose him for nothing. Skinner was not going to sign a contract with Carolina because he wanted out and he wanted to be closer to Toronto where his family was. (As you noted). It certainly has worked out well for the Sabres and for him. It is probable that he will sign with us but there are no guarantees about that.

As we all get older we become more aware of the vicissitudes and cycles of life. Some people are subjected to more setbacks than seem to be fair. Even with the losses there are blessings from those who are now lost but in life provided happiness and memories that can never be taken away. I'm sure you cherish those wonderful memories. There are many people who don't come close to having those blessings in their life or sometimes they don't have the positive perspective to recognize what they have until it is too late. I'm sure you are one of those good people who appreciated what you had when you had it and after you had it.

I agree with you that Eichel is instrumental in Skinner's goal production. But there is a flip side to that point: Skinner is allowing Eichel's talents to be better utilized. Without a finisher such as Skinner Eichel's production would not be nearly so great. I'm not arguing which player is more important to whom as I am stating that each player enhances the other to the benefit of the team. As like youI don't like those long term 8 year deals because of the high incidence of injuries and future reduced production. But those extended contracts are part of the business model whether one likes it or not. If that's what it takes to secure him then so be it. All teams are subjected to those same lengthy contracts for the top players. As a scorer it is fair to categorize him as one of the top players in the league.

It must be difficult during the holidays remembering your wife and loss. The one thing I remember the most from your posts was your posting of a clip of your daughter performing on stage. She was terrific. You are blessed. Wishing you the best for the holidays.

You need to re-read what I wrote instead of assuming and misinterpreting what I wrote . I posed the question, not made a declaration about what happened with this situation. I don't know what the full story is. None of us do. Where I do voice my opinion on the issue of losing him because of cutting his salary when it wasn't necessary to do so. Assuming that there weren't other side issues we could have easily kept him with his original contract. The issue that I am considering is by instigating his departure because of a salary cut did it hurt us? I would say yes. Is there a back story regarding this player? Maybe. But before the salary cut he was undoubtedly one of the better players on the line. Last year, our OL was horrible.