Ghost of Dwight Drane

Alex.....I'll take 3 AM Aspiration for $500............

I'm surprised he didn't do it after the 2nd goal....... Thankful for that 4th goal at the end.....that could have been a series swinger, putting in the new goalie then scoring in the last minute for Pitt. Bos was +160 Sat and +170 today........if they can hang in there, I lay off game 3 assuming the league needs to sell some Crosby jerseys, then come back on Bos in game 4. Pitt has firepower though.....but I said that pulling Fleury then benching him against the Isles was a very weak move for a team that had supposed Cup aspirations......now he's dangled against the wolves. If this game ends 7-3, it could be a cluster-f for Pitt.

Thank you....my little rodent friend! Fleury Watch........

You are right.....things have been nasty at times in the past. The lockout was the best thing that happened to this place

Anyway....not a big deal. Just using it in context as to the rabidity (is that a word?) of the fan base in certain contexts.

I understand. I think if I respected my own team, I would feel more ill will towards them. The Sabres are at least moving in that direction. Cruel woman....

That is a good point. He however won multiple Cups as a coach and then executive. He missed the playoffs his FIRST 4 years.....but the team has made it 7 of the past 8, winning 5 series, and 3 the past 2 years. It is easier to forgive someone who is already a Hall of Fame coach and executive when they start slow. Darcy and Lindy had the majority of their success their first 4 years.....getting a team that just won in the playoffs with a backup goalie and who had been to the playoffs 9 of the past 10 years....as opposed to Sather who had a team that missed the previous 3 years. After their first 4 years....Darcy and Lindy made it to the playoffs in 4 of 11 seasons, and won a total of 4 series. The lack of early success in Sather's case was expected. The early success for Ruff especially, and Regier to a lesser extent, earned them a free pass for quite a while, even though the team was in good shape when they came in. The fans are not all in love with Sather, that's for sure. They will roast Lindy though if he goes in and gets off to a slow start. How many people here have threatened to show up to your house while giving out the address, or told you to go kill yourself?

Oh Man.......God Bless.

You know how you can root for them? Pick them to win before the playoffs start, then gamble! I respect Boston. They way they are built, the way they play. Heck....they had their best offensive player and goalie just go poof, in Savard and Thomas, yet still have managed to win a Cup and be a contender each year through it. Imagine what the Sabres would look like if Vanek and Miller were not around. I can't hate someone for being smart, good looking, and successful. We handed them our lunch money.......

No....the only radio station in town garners the majority of their revenue off the team and carries team sponsored shows. The Buffalo News, the only paper in town, has 1 dedicated hockey writer, 1 part time hockey writer, 1 columnist who focuses on hockey, and 1 coumnist who is best suited to ask relevant questions and see through smoke and mirrors, but he pegs hockey as the lowest of the 4 major sports. Then you have a few also-rans from small places that may have decent thoughts, but little exposure. I would have loved to debate Larry Quinn or Ted Black, any place, any time. Sometimes it takes the proper questions, research, and delivery, to expose what is really going on. We as a city have a pool of a half dozen guys that we rely on to do that. When it gets fiesty at all...the team doesn't hold a press conference, or hides the owner, or spews 2 hours of radio a day with a message they want to be heard. Look at how long it took the vibe of this board to pretty much come to concensus that this team does not have the ability to compete at the higher levels. Through the past 7 years, for the first 5, those who "spoke ill" of the team were personally attacked, and ganged up upon. Lord forbid you questioned the abilities of the head coach as being anything but "elite"...... There is 0% chance in my opinion that Ruff and Regier would have lasted so long in NY. I don't think Ruff goes there because the team probably doesn't want him. If he somehow ends up there, the team just fired a guy who won 3 playoff series in the past 2 years. I don't think Ruff is going to thrive under that sort of pressure when the citizenry doesn't have built up goodwill and swallow most of what they are told.

WGR really licked the Sabres boots for a while....Hamilton was the first to really get critical over there a few years ago, and then it seemed once the Bills signed on for the radio contract, the rest of the guys could speak a tad more freely. The guys who do the post game show were always pretty fair, even going back to Riter. Vogl and Harrington treated the team with kid gloves until a few years ago as well. Sully is Sully, but isn't on the scene. I mean, come'on...the team BANNED him from the arena at one point. If he had the passion for hockey he has for baseball or bball...he may have hounded the team over the years more and gotten more answers. Bucky is ok, but the problem here is the News writers roll over when crapped on. Golisano and Quinn went into hiding........Pegula is in hiding, but at least Black is out there. Guys in NY would never stand for that.....if they didn't get the answers from the coach or GM, and the owners went on lockdown...they would be BBQ'ing the team in the paper every day....not just once a week on Sunday. The good thing is, Schopp seems to finally have had it with Darcy. Someday I hope he whiskeys up and really drills the weasel during an interview when he starts massaging comments and numbers to excuse things off. He's been more confrontational with him the past 2 years, but I mean...really give it to the guy live and not 30 minutes later when Darcy is back sipping his toddy in the office.

Ruff is Torts on Prozac. You will get much of the same downside with less upside. The Rangers just didn't take a step forward with the young kids. They bought in and all played hard last year, but when the progression stops, you start paying attention to the annoying stuff more. It's a momentum game in that regard...especially with younger players. I still say one little move backfired, and that was letting a guy like Rupp go. While he was not any offensive help, he's the kind of union foreman in the lockerroom that could have kept the ship in the water. He was to Callahan sort of like Grier to Drury. Once the doubt crept into the room, it was hard to stop. They trusted that the kids would step up, and they didn't. That's probably why you heard Torts complain so much late....it was his own self-loathing for being stuck in the situation. Interesting you say his stubborness is why he got fired......that's just the reason I love him. I'm sure Sather didn't want to fire him but he knew the momentum had stopped. Fair enough. He won a cup with a young LaCavalier, St. Louis, and Richards....so it's not like he hasn't gotten skill guys to buy-in before. I would love Ruff to go to the Rangers....it would be fun seeing the sh!tstorm that happens when a city doesn't coddle it's hockey personalities and there is more than 1 objective media member not worried about Twitter followers. For Lindy's own health I hope he doesn't go there, but it could be a funny sideshow.

You can tell a lot about a person by how they take care of animals.....Jake was a fat and happy cat!

Hope is Fun!

I am only replying to other posts. I think Lindy is a gruff, good soul. I wish him the best. He's seen a lot. There aren't a lot of good options out there right now. The 2 best don't seem to be a fit in my opinion. Tampa would have been a good one.

Not done yet..... Jameison was supposed to be a done deal..... Although there is so much hanky-panky with the NHL trying to keep these guys in Phoenix, if I was the Arizona AG, I may want to take a look at things.......

1) Although Gillis wasn't behind every move.......the Sabres have failed to develop and/or enhance a 15-20 goal scorer who also could provide physical cover and/or is fiesty the past 8 years 2) In the past 7 years as the Sabres have foundered, the Canucks have picked up a half dozen of afformentioned big-bodied, talented forwards from the Sabres either through multiple trades or free agency 3) If you feel above and beyond that a single prototype of a player coming from a specific organisation is worth targeting over the rest of the 29 teams in the league, then would you not find it a logical conclusion that Vancouver has perhaps identified a flaw in the previous organisation that they feel they can exploit? 4) If the same coach was in charge of those targeted players, and you felt they had more ability than was shown and went out of your way compared to the rest of the entire league to acquire said players, would it not be a stretch to deduce that the acquiring organisation would not perhaps be doing cartwheels to acquire the recently released coach from the organisation that they have continued to exploit for the better part of a decade? There you go. 1/2 billable hour......... Again....what odds would you like me to give you? http://blogs.buffalonews.com/sabres/2013/05/want-to-bet-lindy-ruff-will-end-up-in-vancouver-you-can.html 2-1 here........

Grant Clitsome.......

OK...Lindy is 2/1 to coach the Canucks in Vegas......what odds would you like me to give you?

Point being.....you don't constantly pluck underpriced and misidentified collectibles from the same garage sale year after year, then hire that person to run your pawn shop.

Yeah....that's why Lindy is in tough. The top 2 openings are of teams that 1) Took every power forward off the Sabres roster that failed to thrive under Ruff (Pyatt, Bernier, Torres, Mancari, Kassian)...and the other just had a coach that was a more concentrated version of Ruff, at least personality-wise. I do think that behind closed doors, Torts is more of a philosopher/general, and Lindy is more a teacher.

So you still think Ruff ends up in NY? I think the rest of the league knows what the deal is. A 38 year old Lindy may have been a good fit. Dallas or Bust. And I did not bag on Ruff.....I responded to those who gloated directly at me and wanted to compare a GM who has Cup rings on both his hands from coaching and managing, and a coach who has won a Cup while winning 3 playoff series in the past 12 months, to Darcy and Lindy. I would love to see Torts coach the US olympic team. He'd be perfect for them.

Maybe Ted Black will SnapChat him?

Ummm.....Kunitz, Iginla, Morrow, Cook, Neal, Orpik, Dupris, Murray, Adams, Engelland, Glass.....even Letang and Kennedy will play the body. Throw in two franchise centers and that's pretty much the whole team! Chicago is maybe the "softest" of the 4 teams.....and that is pretty funny saying that. Oh, and I believe all 4 teams have an assistant coach with previous head coaching experience. I still think the goalie switch so early in the playoffs will backfire. You can't expect Fleury and the team to feel good if they have to go back to him. I think Boston pulls it out.

Brush your teeth with whiskey....and you solve both your problems! You probably don't want to do the etc. with whiskey though. ;)