BillsFan4

https://theathletic.com/1034335/2019/06/18/lebrun-notebook-after-some-time-to-reflect-lightning-gm-julien-brisebois-sees-no-reason-to-alter-course/ It better be a hell of a package if we trade Ristolainen. Botterill has to know he can’t lose another trade like the ROR one. And with ROR there were extenuating circumstances (coming off s down season where his on ice effort was questionable, his year end comments, the huge $7.5M bonus due and the way his contract was structured, the team feeling they had to move ROR after his comments, etc). None of that stuff applies to a Risto. So there’s no excuse for him to lose a Risto trade. Im trying to give Botterill the benefit of the doubt on that ROR trade, since IMO it was his only real bad trade. Loved the skinner deal, and liked the Scandella, Sheary and Beaulieu trades at the time. But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t at least a little nervous about what the rerun might be...

Wow. Just... Jets cut their own throat, unless they know for sure Trouba has his sights set on UFA with a very specific destination in mind (Detroit? His hometown team).

Poink was an undrafted college free agent they signed in 2017. He’s ok. A 3rd pairing guy (maybe a #4 at best, but I see some people saying he may not have even made the Rangers team this season. Yikes!) And the pick is Winnipeg’s that they traded the NYR to rent Hayes for a couple months (his right were already traded to Philly...lol) There mist be issues with Trouba’s next contract or something. He’s been notoriously hard to negotiate with. That’s my best guess anyway. Seems like a terrible return for Winnipeg. If he signs long term in NY shortly, then I have no clue what Winnipeg was doing. Edit - I’m reading a lot of people saying he’s a 3rd pair defenseman

That’s it? Better be a damn good prospect. Edit - I’m usually never one of those guys who, after a player is traded, says “we couldn’t have beat that?”. But.... We couldn’t beat That?!

wonder if that’s what they’ll look like?

McKenzie’s final rankings. Always look forward to his list every year. I put a more weight into his rankings than others because it’s a consolidated rankings that comes from a bunch of actual NHL scouts and other draft experts. @K-9 @JohnC they really hype up Caufield. Not sure what that means, or if it means anything... lol

Here’s another link to that Ryan Jankowski interview it some quotes - https://wgr550.radio.com/articles/news/sabres-jankowski-knows-theyll-get-good-player-no-7 He says they see the draft as 1-2, then 3-10 as the next group. (so they see a drop off after the top 10. Some say it’s after pick 7, others after pick 10 and others after pick 12. Interesting to hear the Sabres view it as a top 10). He also said that they will go best player available, regardless of position or organizational need. He said the team could be much different by the time that player gets there in 2-3 years. Makes sense to me. Glad to head that Podkolzin is not off their board (like he almost definitely would have been with Tim Murray). The kid makes an impact in all 3 zones. He’s been a clutch player for his team(s) and even when he’s off his game he still makes an impact with his effort level and 200ft play. The kid competes every shift (that I e watched, anyway) like he’s in a heated playoff series. It’s really impressive IMO. I’ll be happy with any one of a handful of guys at 7, which is nice since I have no clue what order these guys will go in. This year is hard to predict. We know the top 2 (Hughes and Kakko) and the next 2 are most likely Turcotte and Byram (though Colorado could go with a forward since they drafted Makar at #3 a couple years ago). Then I think either Zegras, Dach or Cozens will be the next pick. #6 I have no clue which way Detroit goes (Byram for sure if he’s on the board). Then it’s buffalo’s pick... I’d be happy with a lot of guys at #7. The more I watch all these kids, the more I like them all. Even guys like Boldy and Krebs (who looks kind of like a Turcotte-lite). Both have a lot of skill and compete their asses off every shift.

Not all that interested in Vesey unless it comes somewhat cheap. He’s not a guy you give up any major asset(s) for. Especially since he’s a UFA after this season and he already refused to sign here once (not that long ago). If they grab him for something cheap (like a 4th + b/c prospect), then I’d be happy to have him. Glad to hear they are being aggressive, but at the same time it kind of scares me a little.... No more terrible trades please!

I got that impression too. and Maybe I’m misinterpreting, but I also thought Dreger made it sounds like none of the top free agents have interest in coming here.

FWIW He has numerous examples of teams not selecting a player, or almost not selecting a player, over a phone call on his twitter feed.

Thanks for sharing that interview John. I forgot he was on today. I always look forward to listening to his Friday segments on WGR. Smart move by the Sabres giving him the assistant coach tag so he could use the out clause in his Carolina contract.

From what I remember, Marino loved putting up big passing numbers and pretty much demanded it.

They make the Bales hire official and add Don Granato. Granato was originally hired by Joel Quenneville in Chicago, and stuck around when Q was fired. He and Chicago mutually parted ways this offseason. heres a little info on him from when Chicago hired him- https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/blackhawks/ct-blackhawks-don-granato-assistant-20170615-story.html I believe in his time with the USNTDP he coached Eichel, Thompson, Fitzgerald (not sure who else) https://www.nbcsports.com/chicago/chicago-blackhawks/don-granato-thrilled-be-working-calm-q-again

Love this

I son’t watch much basketball, but I had to turn this game on. It’s just unreal how the Warriors just keep hanging in there even after all these key injuries.

https://www.buffalobills.com/news/how-veterans-and-alumni-play-a-key-role-in-rookie-development-for-the-bills Interesting read. I like that McDermott is always trying to find ways to get better. It makes me think of what Art Rooney said “hire the smartest coach you can find and then give him the time and resources he needs to succeed”. IMO McDermott comes off as the type of coach you want to give the time to figure things out.

Yeah, super happy for STL fans. They were the team that had been in the NHL the longest without a Cup win. Now Buffalo and Vancouver are... lol. A couple cool celebration videos - https://globalnews.ca/video/5385110/fans-celebrate-after-st-louis-blues-win-first-ever-stanley-cup

The main criteria for the lady bang is the number of penalty minutes you take in a season. It usually goes to one of the players (who play top 6/top 4 roles on their team) with the least amount of penalty minutes. Maybe I shouldn’t have said it’s meaningless. But it’s not an award given for being one of the best players in the NHL. Like the year ROf won in (2013) he was 33rd in the NHL in points, 29th in goals, 56th in assists. He wasn’t even top 20 in any category (with a quick glance) https://www.hockey-reference.com/leagues/NHL_2014_leaders.html And I never once said ROR wasn’t any good. Even in his last season here he was still a good player for us. But it was still nothing like his 1st year here, or this year in STL, when everyone was saying “is this guy too good to be true?”. In ROR’s first year here he was unreal, just like in STL this year. Anyone you put on his line he had producing (even Nic Deslauriers). He was our best player in 2015, without a doubt. He was not that same player last year. I still never wanted to trade him. Even after the comments. I was pretty outspoken about that. I said the only way I was ok with trading him is if we got a return we couldn’t refuse. That didn’t happen. I hated the return from day 1. But I tried my best to look at it as a futures trade and not judge it until we knew where the 1st fell at the very least. My main point is that I just don’t buy this narrative that ROR was blameless in getting shipped out of buffalo. Botterill got a crap return but ROR played a large role in getting traded. In Botterill’s only year with ROR in Buffalo, he did not get to see the player we all saw in 2015-16. He got to see a player that was a shell of his former self. If you want to say he was beaten down by the losing, I’d say that was very likely. But whatever the reason, he just wasn’t the same driven to win player he was when he first got here. I also don’t buy that he didn’t want to leave (as I explained above). And for someone one who supposedly didn’t want to get traded, he sure was super excited when it happened (and in every interview afterwards). He seemed glad to be out of Buffalo, and even talked about how he was never equipped to be a leader here (the whole reason it was reported he wanted out of Colorado - to go be a real leader, and main guy, on a team).

i wasn’t taking about just point totals. As Lurker said, he played over 200 minutes more than any other forward. He should put up points with that many minutes and that much opportunity (at 5v5 and on the PP). I was talking about his effort on the ice on a shift by shift basis. I am talking about him dogging it on the backcheck. I am talking about him standing there doing nothing in the d zone while his man stands open in front of the net. I am talking about him no longer staying after practice like he did in his first season(s) here. I am talking about him being much less driven than he was in year 1 here, and kind of checked out mentally. Theres a lot more to hockey than just point totals. ROR even basically implied that he wasn’t giving his full effort in his year end comments. If you think the ROR buffalo had last year is the same ROR we had year 1, or that STL had this year, then I really don’t know what to say, except that you need to go back and rewatch some games from last year vs year 1 (or this year in STL). Oh, BTW, finishing 2nd in voting for the lady bang means nothing in regards to his performance on the ice. That is awarded to the guy who takes the least penalties (“most gentlemanly conduct”). And being 11th in Selke voting isn’t very impressive either. You’re not even considered a finalist for the Selke unless you finish top 3 in voting. Now, this year in STL, finishing top 3 for the Selke (and likely winning it) is impressive. The highest he ever was in voting during his time in buffalo was 11th. Agreed. You don’t say that stuff to the media if you really want to stay. You would say it behind closed doors to teammates, coaches and the GM. If he really wanted to make a differences here, that’s how he would have done it IMO. There is absolutely no reason to air that out in the media. And he had days to think about what he would say. It wasn’t some heat of the moment thing. It was calculated.

https://wgr550.radio.com/media/audio-channel/06-13-sabres-forward-jeff-skinner-instigators Jeff Skinner on The Instigators. This one’s actually worth listening to (IMO).

Wow. I can’t believe she actually had the nerve to ask you to pay for the ring. I can only imagine what your answer was... I know I would’ve had a whole lot of fun with that one! lol

Someone needs to ask Jason Botterill at his next presser “do you feel that you deserve your name on the Blues Stanley Cup? After all you did hand them the Conn Smythe winner and regular season team MVP for a couple cap dumps and a bag of pucks” Mike Harrington, where ya at? ?

Agreed. The ROR we had year 3 was nothing like the ROR we had year 1, or the ROR STL has this year. His end of the year presser just sealed the deal and hurt his trade value. ROR quit on us last year. Watching him play in STL this year should make that very clear to everyone.

So does Jason Botterill’s name get put on the Cup? He played a crucial role on STL winning. ROR is going to win the Conn Smythe trophy. ? For sure. Super happy for Blues fans. I was amazed when I saw those pictures of the crowds watching the games outdoors in STL. STL fans definitely deserve this. Not real crazy about watching ROR lift the Cup though.