Ghost of Dwight Drane

Rangers -200 Buffalo +170

Well, from what I can tell, the decision happened recently. Battista is such a big Penn St guy that you would think he would have wanted to see through the program a little longer than just cutting the ribbon on the new arena. He seemed fairly well liked at the school and there was talk of him as the AD sooner than later. My guess is that Pegula went down there for the first game at his Penn St arena at the height of Sabres' fans disenchantment. 2 weeks ago we didn't know how bad this team really was, and shock was setting in for some with anger coming in spades and the Fire Darcy chants coming out, and Ted Black on the radio sounding like he was on an all night bender and then had to talk at a wake. I'm HOPING....Pegula was shocked a bit by the dismal performance as well, and finally could see that the disenchantment about Regier was more than from a few Negative Nancys, but pretty much a mandate to ax him now from the entire fanbase. I can see him talking to Battista, venting even, and while I am sure Battista was always an option for Pegula at some point....he really needs him now to help him sort things out. The quick exit for Battista in the middle of hockey season and days after opening the arena doors, along with the Vanek trade seemingly greenlighted by Pegula in the past few weeks.....this gives me hope that maybe Pegula is reassessing his position on things. I can hope.

It's all the same man...it's all the same.... If he had to do it again, he probably would have hired Benson through East as well. I can't wait to hear what Battista has to say about Ed Kilgore! And I have no clue if Battista will have a huge role on the hockey/hockey side....and even from afar I wish he could have talked some sense into Pegula about Regier if he felt that someone else could do better....but he probably had no clue of Regier's history. I don't know. All I can say is that as much as the Penn St. cult mentality gives me the cooties....Battista is a fine hire on merit, and has enough jack-of-all-trade skills and Pegula's trust that just maybe we get a GM transition going.

Hey! Joe Ba's in Buffalo! Granted, Pegula and Joe Ba pile the kids in the same stationwagon for a Sunday trip to the beach....but he actually makes sense to hire. There is something to be encouraged about here if it doesn't backfire....Battista is a good mix of business, hockey, common sense, and used car salesman. He is qualified for a position like this, and maybe even can help the fans out. He seems to have a high tempo common sense about him, which on one hand oozes out car salesman, but at the same time, he has some street smarts and honesty creeps into his comments all the time. He's as much of a good ol' boy Penn Stater as anyone, and runs the exact same lower level circles as Benson. He however took the Second Mile/Sandusky thing head on...and was unapologetic for seeing the good things about his dealings with some of the guilty people and organizations, while at the same time chastised the bad actions and apologized for not seeing things sooner. That was solid. This is where I see this as a positive. Darcy.....you can't BS a BS'r. I can see Battista hanging around for a few months, scoping out Darcy, and having the actual balls to puff on a cigar with scotch in hand and tell Pegula.."This Darcy character ain't gonna get it done." Battista thinks big and has pulled off some projects in his time, and he says about 5x as many words as Darcy in the same period of time. I can see him taking command of a situation, and not being too impressed with Regier. I have heard a bunch of Battista's interviews and it seems he has a good feel for the intangibles of teambuilding and leadership. Now....where this can backfire is if Pegula ends up putting Battista in as GM himself. I don't think they are that crazy, and Battista has enough common sense I would hope to push for an experienced NHL level guy. But between pushing Darcy out, overseeing some of the things with Black (I'd be a tad nervous if I were him as well, but not as much as Darcy), and doing deals on the Harbor Center front....Battista can make himself a hero. I don't think he sees any idea as too big, and even though he is buddy buddy with Pegula like Benson, he actually has played, coached, built a program, and run operations. God Bless us all....I need a drink......

He's too fat!

Sure... How come these details don't get released at the time of the trade? That's a pretty key point. If the Islanders are on the upswing and just miss the playoffs this year, and the west continues their domination over the east, NY could very well have the 8th-10th pick in 2014. There is a HUGE difference between getting the #9 in 2014 or the #23 in 2015....which is a very possible outcome. BINGO!!! What happens if Snow sees the Isles as a coinflip to even get into the playoffs at the deadline, they trade Vanek, recoup a 1st and 2nd in 2014....then get to defer their pick to 2015? Did Snow get Snowed then? This bit of info is a huge piece that was left out. The Islanders have tons of options now. If they are in it solidly...keep plugging and you gave up a #15-20. If something goes bad, they just moved up a year on a 1st and 2nd round draft pick. Yes Moulson is in there as well....but who knows what happens there. I'm assuming he is worth a 2nd if traded give or take. By the way...the Isles are 1 point out of having the #7 pick today......

Or...they do well and you just traded Vanek for the 28th and 58th picks 2 years from now......

And the RPM's of the neck and tongue from some, orderly decelerate as they process what this means.....

Yeah, sorry...vague is all I have. The reason I had a feeling Vanek was on the move the other day was because of Lupul believe it or not. It started with him and I put together the only thing that made sense was that Vanek was ready to go. People made good points that Lupul has a limited NTC, so that right there may have nixed the doings. With LA...all I have is that it is LA. We know the Sabres have sniffed on Stoll before. A trade that could make sense is Ehrhoff and Ott for Voynov the 23yo Dman and Stoll, with a pick or two involved. That's less than a $2 million increase for LA. Or maybe just 1 of those guys...who knows....Voynov looks like a guy in Darcy's wheelhouse though.

That would be awesome! I'm nobody....just found another loophole from inside the Sabres. They all leave too many breadcrumbs laying around. And again, as to not get anyone in trouble.....nobody told me that information about the Leafs. There is no deliberate leak.

OK...now that I know my source is valid after the reports of the Sabres talking to the Leafs a few days ago about Vanek....I give you this... LA Kings. Looks like talking going on. I'm assuming Ehrhoff and Ott are the main names. I guess Myers and Miller could get bandied about if something big gets cooking. Nothing imminent like the Vanek deal, but I am confident there are more than lukewarm talks going on with LA. There is also a crazy bit of info that looks to be talked about by the Sabres. I am not going to say because either it is a smokescreen, or wishful thinking on Pegula's part...because I can't see Darcy wanting to do this....although his recent remarks about using these picks as currency to acquire a player makes it a possible adventure. If an LA deal goes down in the next few weeks, then I will chat, because I can't see this thing happening anytime soon.

Ooooo.....I got me a live wire! "Testing...Testing....1..2..3....Ted...can you hear me....can you hear me Ted?"

Yes!!!!! I figured I'd comment in the appropriate thread.

He's probably worth 6 for $45....someone will give him 7 for $56 if a crap team...and 7 for $50 if good. The Sabres would have had to give him 7 for $69 if reports are correct.... That's apesh!t crazy!!!

Thank you ThirtyEight.....and when you consider salary and age as well.... I want to rub Vanek's head. Darcy gave him 40% over his value for 7 years, and offered to do it again. Unbelievable.

By definition...#1 OR #2 HAS to be true with this report. My cash is on #2. It could be both. #Blueprint was once #HockeyHeaven. All I am saying is that they ran full speed ahead with that....and if this isn't the biggest failure of that thought process, I don't know what is. I can forgive Richards, Parise, etc. for not wanting to come here....but a good family guy who has been here since a baby, and was looking at a 7 year, $70 million payday to stay here....and he didn't think twice it seems.....oooff....

At 1530. 300 on Buffalo. Lindy is distracted coming home. There are 5 or 6 guys including Miller that want to beat Lindy. A trade brings a fun atmosphere around the team for a few days. Buffalo is due to form a double bottom at some point here because I can't see them ending up with 50 points...they probably end up between 65-70. I like it.

You gotta be F'n Kidding me!!!!! Well, that proves between 1 and 3 things.... 1) Darcy is out of his mind. There are 50-100 players in skill level and age that are worth more than Vanek. 2) Pegula is really meddling. He wants Vanek at all costs and Darcy lets the hand stroke his brush. 3) Hockey Heaven was the most arrogant, ridiculous notion possible. You offer a guy who is about to hit the downslope of his career, who has known the city and team for a decade, to be the highest paid hockey player in the world.......and he doesn't even blink. Wow! It's nice to see some evidence come public.

Dallas -130 Buffalo +110

The point being....Zadorov was a mid 1st round pick in the same area that NY will most likely draft. By waiting so long to make these trades, you give up time to get these young guys in the system for a few years. They have been easing into this rebuild for a few years instead of moving everything before the draft. Put it this way....if the Sabres get another 2nd in 2014 for Moulson....and say a 2nd in 2014 and a 2nd in 2015 for Miller....Those 1st rounder in 2014, 2nd rounders in 2014, and 2 2nd rounders in 2015 could have been 3 1st rounders in 2013 give or take. You increase the amount of time it will take to have enough able bodies here to compete at a high enough level to contend. Why they do this? I don't know. Does Darcy want the headlines of the nominal number of a round? Does Darcy want to collect quantity over quality so that he has a big enough pool of picks to at least hit on a few of them so he can say.."See Terry! I drafted these guys!"? Personally, I would have moved these guys as soon as possible.

On the matter of waiting until now to make this trade..... Assuming that Vanek and Moulson weren't involved.....would you trade Zadorov and Compher to the Islanders for their 2014 1st round draft pick and 2015 2nd round draft pick?

Time value of picks.....what you just got is pretty much a 2nd and 3rd pick in the 2013 draft...not including the player.

Nope. If Graham sits, we have a fighting chance. Still haven't broken a big ST return. I got a funny feelin today is the day. In an interesting turn of events, if Gilmore can get that f'n club off, we actually can play matchup with these guys. I think McKelvin on Colston is perfect. Play Williams at CB/S hybrid and cover Watson the TE, or let him release and have Leonhard, Byrd and Alonso use their instincts while he spies Sproles. Gilmore can take the big guy. Just give them different press/zone/blitz looks and trust your DB's....... I'm more worried about the offense. Stevie looks healthy again so that helps. With Spiller out, this is Woods game to really take charge and we see if he is going to be just a nice player, or a good player going forward. If Freddy has enough gas in him and Woods can get some balls, you get a couple deep shots available. You have to hit one or two. I think the Bills hold them to under 30. Big special teams play and 1 bomb can get us to 24-28. I say Saints 27-20....but I have hope.

#TortsWinning

So you really liked that win did you?