Taro T
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Posts posted by Taro T
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Agreed. Although I think they just got caught up in Crosby fever like the rest of the NHL powers that be. "What, people might NOT want to pay premium prices to the Sabres play the team that was the worst in the NHL last time out, even on a Monday, during Bills season? You've got to be kidding me. Heck it's CROSBY, (Note: a guy who one week ago had as many career points in the NHL as I did). Of course they'll come." "Brilliant!"
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It's pretty easy to get women to like hockey. Just take them to some games (alone) and spend time explaining the game. My wife had never been and is now nearly as die hard as I am (though she's more a Rangers' fan than Sabres because her first real season watching the game was 1994 and she really liked watching the Captain).
Just get CI and start flipping back and forth between a Sabres game and a Rangers game. When she sees how the Rangers games have the same pace as the "old" NHL, she should be willing to see the light.
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In the past, I would have agreed with you. I used to put the odds of keeping up the obstruction calls at below 5%. This year, I'd put it more like 55%. There are several major differences to the landscape this year than in years past.
#1 - The anticipated increase in goal scoring associated with an obstruction crackdown won't result in a corresponding increase in payroll. There is a salary cap. If the 2nd tier of scorers were 30 goal scorers before and they were worth say $3MM/yr, having the entire lot of them go up to 40 goal scorers won't increase their value. Under the old arbitration system combined with no salary cap, cracking down on obstruction would have sent payrolls through the roof.
#2 - Management and players are both on record as stating they want the crackdown. In the past, you'd have sporadic endorsement of it, but not nearly as much as you are seeing this year. The league actually made public a video showing what they are now going to call. If they go back to not calling these plays, they will look even more foolish than they have in years past.
#3 - Although TV wanted higher scoring, they did not want longer games. Additional powerplays result in additional play stoppages and longer broadcasts. This year, although you still get the longer stoppages to get a guy to the box due to the penalty call and more of them because of the increased number of calls, you have fewer offsides stoppages due to the tag up offsides, and you have fewer icings as the linesmen now have discretion to wave off icing on plays they believe were passes. Additionally, the icee cannot change players, which reduces the length of time for icing delays.
#4 - They just nuked the last season. They are looking for ways to get fans interested again. With all the other changes the league has implemented, they seem to have more of a "think outside the box" mentality. Increasing the speed of the game is one way to do this, and calling obstruction is the best way to increase the speed of the play.
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I think you are absolutely right. Ever since I heard about HDTV being in development I've thought it was custom made for hockey. Now hopefully in a year or two I'll be able to afford an HDTV set.
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This is a product of their tiered pricing system where the game last night was classified as a "gold" game with the cheapest ticket being $40. I can see where they can call the Toronto games "gold" games(they will all sell out no matter what the price), but Pittsburgh on a Monday night in the middle of football season was obviously a mistake on the Sabres part.
I think that is a major part of it. I also think this is a byproduct of the last few years, where Sabres tickets in October have been a hard sell. In the past, the intensity has not been there on the ice in a lot of rinks in October and people don't want to waste their money on "meaningless" games that the players don't seem to be interested in either.
I think the last part of the cause of the small crowd is that people haven't had a chance to see how much the game is improved now that obstruction type penalties are actually being called. Once people start watching the games I expect that the fever will come back. Let's face it. Pens-Buffalo in October of '03 would not have been nearly as fast paced nor as exciting.
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I think he's always coached the style his talent could win with. The problem in Buffalo has pretty much always been the same - not enough talented players with size.
Now size isn't as big an issue and 3 out of 4 times the Sabres were clearly superior to their opponents. The should have beaten Pittsburgh by about 5 goals last night but Fluery played well and the Swords' shots were about an inch off all night. I think I counted 4 posts in the second period alone.
I look for the hitting to pickup as the season continues and teams begin to realize it's one of the few ways to slow down the constant rushes.
Depends on whether the league keeps up calling the interferences. You hit a guy without the puck and you should be in the box for interference. You can hit the guy with the puck, but you can't hit what you can't catch. The Sabres have speed, even the D has speed.
I hope they keep calling the games the way they have been because the game is really opened up and a lot more exciting. The Isles game was great fun to be at and the Pens game seemed to have a playoff feel to it (at least that's what I thought watching it on the tube). I can't remember the last time I saw a game in October that was really exciting.
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I agree Campy, but imagine this same team with one Big Time goal scorer. Somebody like Kariya, a proven scorer who could be very dangerous with the new rules, signed for $4.5 mil a season.
I whole-heartedly agree, rolling four lines is the way to go, but 40-goal scorers will have their share of game-winners in that bunch (okay, maybe not Satan.)
I would love to see this current team with one Go-To Guy, and I don't think Golisano would have had to break the bank to do it. But we'll see. They keep saying they have a plan, and they will be well-positioned for next year's free agents, so we'll have to trust them for now. I like the way the team is playing and I like the results. Even in the loss, I liked the way they played.
The team right now has very good chemistry. Several players were quoted as being glad that Satan was gone.
I don't think anyone on the team (possible exception being Drury) makes over $3MM. How would bringing a high priced guy in affect the team chemistry? I agree with Campy, set it up to be able to roll 4 lines and hope one of them can get the big goal you need.
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I don't know if the Sabres get any public money, but I know whatever they get is a lot less than it would have been had Hamister gotten the team. When Golisano threw his hat into the ring for the team, he basically said he did it because he wanted to keep an asset in WNY and he felt the taxpayer shouldn't have to subsidize the bid to keep it in WNY.
Hammister was going to have the City build a large parking garage for the team and a few other things he wanted. When Golisano's bid was chosen instead of his, he took his football (Arena league, that is) and left town.
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He had issues w/ scoring at the beginning of the season last year for the Amerks, but by the time the season was over he had 42. Give him time, he'll find the net.
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I wouldn't include JD Hill on the list. I also would bump Lofton off and move Rashad much lower because their best work came elsewhere. If they stay on the list, I don't know why Darryl Lamonica isn't on the list.
I would add Biscuit and Talley.
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That game was frickin' awesome! Though the OLN coverage (or the Crosby Show) was terrible.
How many Sabres shots went off the cross bar! Fleury was standing on his head, but he could not withstand what must have been about 40 shots on goal. Sabres win with 20 seconds left in overtime.
Great game! We don't need scores like, 6-5. We just need action like last night. I was on the edge of my seat all night.
Agreed. With the pace, it felt like a playoff game.
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Berger got a slap on the wrists? I didn't think he even got that much. It isn't REALLY a problem ACCIDENTALLY putting classified information in your socks, is it? Clearly he would NEVER think of doing anything unseemly to those document.
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The EVEN better news is that they got a guy with NHL experience should one of the 2 winners of the goalie sweepstakes gets hurt. The Amerks would have been ok with Pelletier and Stirling. This trade keeps the SABRES from crashing if the injury bug strikes.
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http://www.mightyducks.com/images/200503/98.f.jpg
That jersey is black. I guess they can use it since there is black in the background of their logo, but still, that's a bit of a stretch.
Sorry, I thought it was that dark maroon. But yeah, because of the black in their logo they can go with it.
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I was thinking the same thing about third jerseys, but then there's that ugly Atlanta 3rd jersey. I've never paid too much attention to their regular jerseys. Is that blue actually in them? The Anahiem 3rd jersey is another one where the color doesn't seem right.
edit: The blue is in the Atlanta jerseys. It's about as sublte as the red eye in the old sabres jerseys. As for Anahiem, I don't see how that jersey fits into their color scheme.
I'm not sure what you're referring to about the Anaheim jerseys. The ugly maroon is their base color from their home jersey and the silver and white show up in the home logo.
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No, it isn't, just as it wasn't enough to prove it when they skated out in them two years ago. Just having the players wear those jerseys once does not delineate that those are the "official" jerseys versus the "throwback" jerseys. Again, that's all I'm saying...they'll likely say something after the game to confirm/deny if they do skate out in throwback style jerseys, but until then it could simply be players wearing throwbacks...
Unless of course I'm missing something with respect to the NHL rules on throw-backs...
The Sabres got special approval from the league to wear the b/g that one time. If they come out in b/g this time, while the possibility exists that it may be another 1 time thing, it WON'T be a 3rd jersey. Color scheme for 3rds have to use team's uniform/logo colors. The Sabres currently do not have blue in the color scheme, although they have been adding a gold border around the shatanic goat head in their brochures / etc.
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And the cocaine crisis in his nuclear family. Jeb is so tainted it's not even funny and "It's a private matter and we wish the best for them blah blah blah" doesn't calm the nerves of people who see he can't even be a leader and role model in his own family. If they run him, they will lose.
Then there's the whole, My state can't incarcerate or even keep track of our child rapists and sexual predadors. The case where they had video of the guy leading the girl off... he used a handgun in the commission of his previous crime. Five year mandatory term. MANDATORY. He walked in three. That's some nice governing there.
I think that's been said before about members of that family and to date the Dem's are 1-3 on the prediction.
While I don't know nearly enough about him right now to vote for or against Jeb and there are other Republicans I'd like to see run, I would not write him off just yet.
The Sabres Game was Great!
in The Stadium Wall Archives
Posted
I wasn't going to go there!
