Taro T

You can't build anything that's foolPROOF. Foolresistant is possible, but a determined fool will defeat the best of engineering/design in almost all cases.

I responded back to your similar questions over on TSR.

This is a great move. My only qualm with it is, why didn't Darcy pick him up last year when he could have been obtained from Chicago for a minor leaguer or at the deadline from Edmonton for Biron? Oh well, water under the bridge. It still is a very good pickup. It looks like the Sabres will be expecting Kalinin to pick up the physical role on the D as there isn't a Jay McKee-type player in the Sabres top 6. Of course, McKee was more about blocking shots and getting position on people this past season than laying guys out. But it would still be nice to think that the Sabres had someone on the blueline who can and will play physical when necessary.

Rory, Janik, and a handful of other older Ra-cha-cha boys are the only UFA's left in Buffalo's system. The Sabres made qualifying offers to all RFA's in system other than Leighton and McMorrow. So in order for them to lose anyone else this off-season a team would have to make an offer that the Sabres aren't willing to match and also be willing to lose up to 4 1st rounders for that player. The Sabres have far more leverage with the RFA's than they did with the UFA's (with whom they had absolutely no leverage). Most of the RFA's will qualify for arbitration. Any that want to go that route must file for it by 5:00 PM tomorrow.

I was trying to cut the guy some slack because Carolina was the team that kept an injury depleted Sabres team out of the Finals. You are correct about those other teams not doing anything to substantially improve either. Until Florida gets a real goalie, they should be added into that mix as well.

How exactly did Carolina take a step forward?

But he only signed with Buffalo because the Sabres paid 2x more than anybody else that wanted him because nobody wants to play in Buffalo and the team stinks and they will be lucky to finish 12th and, and, and ....

Close, he's the team president. It makes sense that it was the Blues to make the IMO very overly generous offer to him, because Davidson clearly was a fan of McKee's and had stated that he expected McKee to be courted by several teams.

Happy B-day. Hope what's left of it is a good one.

I've thought that it would make an excellent CC ever since the Mmarena went up.

Where in Heaven's name is God going to find a lawyer? The other guy's got a lot of them though.

As long as it's not the police blotter they're showing up on, more power to them.

I wouldn't have made that trade either, but my guess is they knew they could not get Luongo to sign long term and felt that IF getting out of Vancouver could get the punk's game back, it was a worthwile trade. If the punk doesn't come around, there is probably somebody else out there (Bobby Clarke?) that thinks he could get the punk's game back. So Florida will likely get something in return in worst case.

He may or may not be losing it, but you did in fact post what he claims you did.

That IS catchy. Surely the other reports of his demise are greatly exaggerated. Too bad it sounds like it will be a long while before you can sneak a keyboard under the door for him.

So they were serious when they started advertising their new XPS systems as the "nemesis"?

God forbid Government do anything efficiently. The law says they can take 45 days. Darn it, I want them drinking coffee for the next 2 weeks and sitting on their hands. How dare they perform a function in only 2/3's the allotted time. Translated: thank you for bothering me, now go f' off.

Of course, after the elections are over, then you can't get anything done because you have a "lame duck" Congress even though 90+% of them are likely coming back. Then in '07, you don't have to get anything done because there is no urgency as the sitting Congress critters have 2 years to get stuff done and you really don't want to rush things. Then in '08, you can't get anything done because it's an election year and no Congress critter wants to take a stand on an issue. I forget, when does the cycle end?

It's already been voted on. It was voted on when the regular season ended. That's how they know who the top 3 vote getters are.

I'm not sure why I'm responding to this post, but here goes anyway. As I am certain you are aware, a lot of the "hatred" of the Pats stems from their "fans" not giving a rat's butt about them until 2001 and them now being as obnoxious as any Cowboy or Fish fan could ever hope to be. I won't attempt to speak for other Sabres fans, but my "bitterness" stems from 2 sources. 1. You will never convince me that the Sabres, when healthy, weren't a better team than your "beloved" Canes. To know that the injury depleted Sabres were less than 20 minutes away from being favorites in the Finals is tough to deal with. Had the Oilers won, I could at least have that bit of doubt in my mind as to whether or not the Sabres could have gotten it done. Right now, there is no doubt. 2. The other source of bitterness is dealing with the "Caniacs". Your team just won the Stanley Cup and you are too concerned about what some Sabres fans are venting. Congratulations on seeing your team win the SC. I desperately hope that I get that same opportunity in my lifetime. I can honestly say that I wouldn't be taking pot shots at the fans of one of the teams the Sabres beat along the road that same night. You appear to be one of the "true Caniacs" that was there back in January and back prior to the lockout as well. With that being the case, and finding yourself at the moment in time that I have dreamed about, why in the world are you worried about what Sabres fans are saying? The biggest "shot" I have seen Caniacs take is that they don't "deserve" a championship. (The redneck stuff, to me is the same as all the the WNY economy sucks and the weather stinks stuff - people taking pot shots not worth responding to.) To me, at least until I read your post, that was a bunch of hooey. While I wanted to see Edmonton win (for reason #1 above primarily and for other reasons as well), it wasn't because their fans "deserve" it more. No fan "deserves" a winner any more than a fan "deserves" a loser (well, other than a Phlyers fan, of course ). After reading your post, I'm starting to believe the people that said Carolina fans don't deserve a win might just be right. Like I said at the top of the post, I don't know why I am posting this, as you weren't rude and I don't know why this bothers me.

Grier is on record as saying he won't sign with the Sabres until after he has tested free agency, but I wouldn't say that he is definitely gone. He is not a goal scorer so I will be surprised to see some team giving him a huge raise over what Buffalo paid him this year ($1.364MM). He'll probably get offers in the $1.5-1.6MM range, which I think Buffalo would match. He loves playing with his old college buddy Drury, so if the offers are similar I could see him re-signing with the Sabres. If the Sabres lose out, I'd expect it to be because some other team offered him a 4 year deal and the Sabres were only willing to commit to 2-3 years. (He's 31 and with the physical style he plays, I could see durability issues when he's 34-35.)

No, winning the game that officially kept TO out of the playoffs would help make it as sweet; but in order to beat TO in the playoffs, they have to make the playoffs. Also, this ride (from the day the league annouced it was reopening for business right through to the horrid last 20 minutes) was a blast all season long. For the 1st time I can think of, there wasn't a guy in the "healthy" lineup that I couldn't stand. This team did not have a Smehlik. (Rory and Peters don't count as they were (supposed to be) bit players that attempted to do what they were asked to do with the limited talents they possessed.) The year the team did beat TO wasn't nearly as enjoyable (overall, although it had its moments, like the TO series and Game 4 vs Dallas) because of the Barnaby circus, the 2nd half slump, and the awarding of that big silver cup to Dallas. Even if the Sabres pulled it off in '99 (and I'm still waiting for them to finish Game 6 to this day), the overall journey wouldn't have been more enjoyable. Although I would be able to die a happy man, having seen my Sabres hoist THE Cup.

Assuming the bulk of the team comes back and the few changes in the roster don't adversely affect the magic this team had. I'm sure I will look at it the way you do in a few months, but right now I'm nauseous thinking about what might have been if the Sabres had been able to limit the injury bug to just the top forward and 1/2 of the defense rather than 2/3's of it. The Sabres were ~18 minutes away from being favored in the Finals (for the 1st time ever). They are now ~4 roster changes, 82 games, and who knows what else away from being one of 16 with a dream. They will definitely be back in the playoffs, and if Darcy can keep the team intact may be able to build on this season. But it will be hard for this team to get much closer than they did this time and it will be impossible for the ride to be more fun than this season was. (Even if the final destination is better, the ride cannot be sweeter than this one was.)

Well, that's it. Canes empty netter. Boy does that stink.

Is there any possibility that when an Oiler comes into the Canes zone with the puck that he will take a friggin' shot? You can't win when you don't even try to put the puck on net.