HockeyRhetoric

I’m building a small compendium around This Zebra Doesn’t Have Stripes . This is an issue that I’ve decided deserves greater attention. The following post was meant to appear at a later date but I think it’s probably more appropriate now given the discussion that has taken place recently on this particular topic. This is part two of what, once completed, will probably end up being a four or five part series.

* * *

I’ve mentioned the names of a few reporters and columnists while using the HockeyRhetoric handle and after each time I remember regretting the decision. Words like amateurish and disrespectful would float around in my head. I couldn’t figure out what to do. I’ve since been able to rationalize the fact that creating content with an emphasis on causality and then assigning credit/blame is not necessarily the right or wrong way to go about examining sports, it’s just one way. I shouldn’t get angry at the people with jobs to uphold the standard practice. They’re responsible for fulfilling just one perspective in what I and many other like-minded people have long since felt to be an incomplete branch of the media. » Read the rest of this entry «

I think we can all agree that the Sabres have had poor production from their backup goaltenders ever since Martin Biron was traded in the 2006-2007 season. It’s been a flaw in this team for quite some time now. The Sabres give away too many points when their starter is resting. I do think some people are nostalgic for what Biron offered — a dynamic, likable personality and a decent win-loss record. What he did for this team in the past however has no bearing on what he might have been able to do for the Sabres in the 2010-2011 year. » Read the rest of this entry «

I advocated for the Sabres to walk away from either Lydman or Tallinder or both if the players were unwilling to sign a contract with a term of just one or two years. I expected that both would insist upon longer deals considering the point they’ve each reached in their careers and so I expected, as many others did, that both would sign elsewhere. Honestly, I’m glad because I don’t think either player is talented enough to build a championship team around and that’s essentially what a team like the Sabres would be admitting if they re-signed a player like Lydman or Tallinder, both past the age of thirty, to a three or four year contract. » Read the rest of this entry «