May Day 10

I have said it before.... but I think that in the next 10-20 years we see a dominant European league form/take hold that can compete with the NHL compensation levels, while holding an advantage in attracting/retaining European talent. Perhaps 5-10 years after that, we could see inter-league/inter-continent play, along with cool things like mid-season "Cup" tournaments and such. There could be a final series of each champion, who knows. This thing could/should evolve into a true global league The only advantage the NHL/hockey has over the other 3 major North American leagues and sports is that it is truly an international game (yes, Im aware of baseball's popularity in latin america, japan, and korea)... The IIHF World Championships work on a neat relegation/promotion system with 4-8 tiers. The lowest tier has teams from Turkey and South Africa... and a new lowest tier is added for next year with Kuwait and Malaysia. The NHL games played in Europe are all well and good.... but Im not sure it really accomplishes much. The NHL has been on this European initiative since the mid 90s and has just sat on the fence.

Whaley's Privy

Im thinking we could be seeing some tangible stadium details (such as location and renderings) come out in the next 6 months to a year. The timing of the current lease along with the amount of time it takes for posturing, politicking, construction etc, puts it in line with the process starts soon.

What is going on with Russia? I haven't paid close attention... but are all their high end draft eligible players signing into the KHL early? Or are they being surpassed by everyone?

For me: Richie Lucas Mike Williams (seems to be the 'father' of the drought. Gentle giant). John McCargo (poster child for a generation of screw ups) Torrell Troupe (due to the Gronk factor) Ronnie Harmon (due to the drop) Bryce Brown Dick Jauron Russ Brandon ("builders", or should we call them "wreckers" for this?)

I think they care.... but mostly an ego thing. Other hockey programs have really gotten on with it. Sweden, USA, and Finland most notably. The one thing that may concern them are players who may elect to play in US NCAA or USHL as opposed to CHL... as well as American (or Euro) born players who choose the US program over CHL. I'm not sure what that number is and what the trends show. Top end of the draft though.. often it is cyclical. As of now, next year's (2020) is dominated by hockey canada, something like 4 of the top 5 and 7 out of 10, 11 out of 20, while like 2/20 are in the USDP

Its a ridiculous philosophy and I have never heard of any other GM having issues with this. I do see US hockey players/NCAA holding the team ransom and timing out their signing period to essentially become a UFA.... or, leverage their position to be fast tracked to the NHL and also burn a year of their ELC for the final week of the season. (Vesey, Cal Peterson, Mittelstadt (the latter), Hayes, Butcher, Kerfoot) Basically, you draft a CHL player and if they don't flesh out, they are relegated to ECHL or AHL FA land. CHL provides the rigors that most closely resemble an NHL season and is still the optimal incubator for NHL talent (although the gap is closing). The next CBA needs to address the NCAA loopholes with players, especially late-bloomers becoming UFAs, and also the UFA derby that occurs with UDFA NCAA players. There should be a supplemental draft or something.

Im sure that they will be fine. And one (or two or three) weak links in 32 is much easier to deal with and make whole than hundreds of weak links of 1,800 players Plus, the ownership side is fighting for the biggest share of the revenue pie and to keep costs down. If the players win and we have an uncapped league in a wild west environment, it gets much, much worse for the Mark Davises and Mike Browns of the league. They would happily sit out and/or resort to replacement players to maintain the current owner-juggernaut structure.

He either is making it up, or his friend is pretending to be more important/involved than he/she really is He has been wrong much more than correct. I also get skeptical in situations like this when rumors involve dollar amount and term specifics (or trade returns and such). There are probably a very small number of people who are in the know. Botterill, Skinner, his agent, T and K Pegula (and they might just know a budgetary price range), and maybe 1 or 2 sabres employees and a few of Skinner's inner circle. Everything seems extremely tight lipped

I like the train horn. When I play Madden and I hear it, it really dredges up memories of being at the game. I like the 'tone' of our horn as well. Overall, I don't think the presentation is bad. Not a whole lot of frills. Fan emphasis and focus on the game. Bells and whistles make people complacent

True. Ever since the at&t merger/monopoly I called to try the typical game and was completely stonewalled with $10 off my bill that just went up by $60 after my promotions. I went further to cancel and they were happy to do that.

I think all streaming is now the best option. You get ala carte for the most part, and the cost is less. The last hold-out at this point is sports and their blackout restrictions. You have internet (which you likely pay for anyways). Buy a Fire Stick Hulu Netflix Prime (which most people have) HBO Go (if you want all HBO content) Disney Now to be released in the fall if you have kids Youtube TV. I think the model of paying $300-$400 for the package is too high of a price point, and perhaps the next provider and/or NFL can use their imagination and break it up. Pay per game, per week, per team, whole season, add-ons, etc.

It is silly to think the NFLPA can withstand any lengthy work-stoppage. The NFLPA base is too big, earning windows are too small. You have a lot of guys who like to collect all sorts of expensive cars and such and, frankly, aren't great at future financial planning. They prefer to maintain their lifestyle unimpeded. Do we believe Marcel Dareus gives any care about what the rookie wage scale will be in 2025? Maybe well off guys like Brady, Brees, Gore, etc would be willing to take one for the future.... but I also have doubts those guys may essentially be willingly ending their careers by waiting out a long work stoppage. On the other side, you have 32 multi-billionaires who have revenue and interest pouring in from other ventures (and their Franchise values appreciate by the month)...

I dread when I go to the bathroom somewhere and there is a bathroom attendant.

I havent seen anything past 2.... actually I think I saw the 3rd one, but recall nothing from it. Why dont they pass the torch from Arnold to some other strong-man who is a bit more contemporary and well.... not elderly. Like The Rock or Roman Reins or something

Its a decent enough song for a 90s jukebox type of deal.... but nothing I really hold in that high regard.

I saw someone did a flying kick into the back of an elderly Schwarzenegger and he barely budged. Lol Edit: here. https://deadspin.com/man-dropkicks-arnold-schwarzenegger-screams-help-me-1834867847

I really hope so. It needs to. If things don't improve, things are going to come to a head with Eichel and Reinhart, and Dahlen will be stunted a bit.

Yet the sabres display the same issues after oreilly.

I'm actually not too low on Thompson yet. He has size and skill that cannot be learned. I dont think he is a slam dunk, but Im not counting him out either.

we have no idea if Montour will be good or not. Everyone was fist pumping about Scandella too and he is terrible. Montour apparently is not a good player with the analytics/advanced stats crowd. I hope he pans out to an above average 2nd pairing D-man. The decisions made by this team though give me little faith. Either way, I dislike the Kane and OReilly trades. IMO, Kane should have been traded in the Summer or in the Fall when he got off to the hot start. There were more buyers and it would have been proactive. Instead they waited to the deadline and their hand was forced, while the Rangers got one over by dealing Nash earlier for a better return. OReilly. Yeah, that trade has been beaten to death and goes without saying. No idea why the Sabres are continually in a mode to accept other teams' roster and cap garbage.

Shouldnt we include Guhle as well as he was traded along with that pick?

when I watched wrestling, the 24/7 hardcore belt was one of the best things going. It definitely got old after awhile, but it held up long enough And yeah, it was Crash Holly declaring he would take on all comers at any time.

I didn't care so much about the night king's backstory other than what was given. As per the books, white walkers just basically hate everything with warm blood in it and hate fire and warmth and want to extinguish it all. I didnt like how swiftly the white walkers/others were dealt with at the first human resistance. It was just too easy for a threat that was pushed as being bigger than titles. The books will almost certainly be different in that realm? They have not established that kill the white walker who made the wights and the wights die thing. In fact, there is an incident where a guy dies from a white walker, Sam kills the white walker, then the wight later comes for Sam/Gilly/baby. So we will see.

Wasnt the other three eyed raven like 1000 years old? Or was that because he was grafted to the weirwood roots?