Ghost of Dwight Drane

He shaves his chest and has his own personal purple towels in the locker room. (don't ask) I am not convinced he is healthy after coming back too early from a serious knee injury in '10-'11 When he was young, he was hungry and a bit fiesty...especially on the wing with a guy like Drury. When expected to be the man though, he has disappointed. I figured we would have to give you the throw-in with Roy for Ott knowing what a gritty guy he is. But I guess that's why these 2 teams have played a total of 13 playoff games the past 9 combined seasons. Not too many peanuts in the Crackerjack box.

That should be the mantra of all 18 skaters on all 30 teams. That's why it was such a joke.

They will sign. We Are Penn St! There has to be a way to launder a few beachfront houses to the Lydman family in Finland....right? I don't think you've watched the Rangers enough.

I think you just showed how far away the Sabres are from being a top team in the league. If you offered me Hagelin, Dubinsky and DelZotto for Ennis, Hodgson and Myers.....I would call that a slight improvement. Maybe it's because those guys get to play for NY, but all 3 outplay our guys right now. You didn't even mention Richards, Gaborik or Lundqvist........now I am depressed. No McNabb we start talking him.....might as well talk about Myers for Getzlaf. I wouldn't be opposed to Ennis-Roy-Myers for Ryan-Getzlaf-Lydman

Which is why it is out of character and probably close to worthless. If you put him in after something happens...too late. If he is a stand alone move, really only 1 guy to worry about. There is some size and possible attitude on this team if they are allowed to and encouraged to play that way. Weber, Regehr, McCormick and Foligno are viable guys in a confrontation with some skill. Vanek, Stafford, Myers, Lieno....all have some stature and probably could play bigger if surrounded by guys who know how to play big and go after it. McNabb is hanging around too. I think kaleta may be gone depending on who else is brought in. If you bring in say Doan and Ott for grit and leadership, and Lindy allows a more aggressive style of physical play....all of a sudden 1/2 your team is "capable" of playing that style. It just seems guys we have seen a flash of real gumption with like McCormick and Weber, have regressed into the system their 2nd year. That is why it will be interesting to see how Foligno responds if the lineup is the same and he makes a few real gaffes and Lindy gets on his case. I'm afraid he is a -5 in 10 games away from reverting to "the system".

The went all-in for the draft on size up front. Don't be surprised if Scott was an edict from Pegula. "Let's get the best fighter out there." It seems out of character for this team, and hopefully there is more transition to come. It's a work in progress so I can't get uptight yet. And sure....it will be nice to see a Sabre win a fight more than once every 60 games. Does anyone really trust Ruff to have him in the lineup though? I'd say over/under games for Scott in Buffalo next year is 25.

You don't stop anything from happening if this is the only addition. Say he was on the team at the time of Lucic. Play still happens....Ruff sends out Scott/Kaleta/McCormick next shift....Bruins counter with Chara/Campbell/Thornton to make it a fair fight.....guys get misconducts.....rest of the game you are left with Roy/Pominville/Ennis/Vanek/Lieno/Boyes/Gerbe/Stafford/Gaustad and say Regehr on the backend.....and the Bruins have Siedenberg/Boychuk/McQuaid in back to crush any of the forwards left every time they enter the zone, and pests like Marchand up front who would love nothing more than to see chaos ensue and pick on the Sabres skill guys. There are probably 10-12 teams in the NHL that if you gave them the choice of matchups in a 20-20 bench clearing brawl with the Sabres last year.....they could probably come out on top in 15-20 of the individual matchups. Look at the Kings.....yikes. Their closest thing to a creampuff up front is Carter...and he's 6' taking on a Roy or Ennis or Hodgson. That type of grit comes into play in regular hockey 1 on 1 battles for possession as well as playoffs where the grind goes on day after day with hits galore and no recovery time. Scott alone means nothing.....yet....

Interesting thought process....I'd love if they ditched the instigator rule. I'm more along the lines worried this signing was what Darcy usually does by not valuing skill guys with grit. They field a guy or two on the 4th line who may fight, and feel the need has been addressed. It's too early to say that is what it is....but history might suggest it.

The ONLY constrain for Mr Pegula is the Salary Cap. His goal is stated as winning Stanley Cups. With upfront money being paid out, he is spending $90 million a year. If a player is not playing to or exceeding his salary cap number production wise....if money is truly no object, he should be burried. End of story. You then take that cap space and try it again. I would think he would rather spend $120 million to win a Cup than $90 million to miss the playoffs. If there is no way to accomplish this, then my folly, but the fact that he is a $1 million guy a year removed from acquiring him, that is a waste of $3 million in cap space. How much counts against the cap if you buy him out? How much if you send him to the minors? How much if you buy Elmira and force him to play there of give him a $2 million "relocation fee"? Boyes was an example of a poor return on an asset if your only goal is to win the Stanley Cup and your only constraint is the salary cap. heck....Lieno, Vanek, Roy, Stafford, and Miller may be as well. If your point is to argue he wasn't a $4 million player when brough in....then Darcy is an idiot up front. If he was, then there is merit in saying Ruff is bad. Anything less than burrying him is a bad move if we are to believe things are different under Pegula. There should be a new mindset if Pegula is serious. You can't hit on every guy, but I would ask....who IS outplaying their salary cap number for the Sabres going into this year?

Bottom line.......a guy is now making 25% the $$ the Sabres were paying him just 3 months ago. That's like paying $200K for a house in February 2011....and selling it today for $50K. The efficient move should have been to bury him in Rochester or buy him out. His massive dropoff either shows a deficciency in management....or a misuse by the coach. When you use an example like this, and Pegula's money is no object, these are concrete examples of failure. You can't defend it.

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He is the type of player I envision Darcy coveting......which is why you should all say No. He's a larger Derek Roy when it comes to skillset, but has the on-ice passion of Jochen Hecht. At least Roy enjoys scoring goals, flops around, and gives a few Jersey Shore poses. If they brought in him and Semin, I would feel bad for everyone who stuck with this team to this point. They can't be this stupid.....can they?

Ah...yes...too many Caesars lead to a scissors. Seems to be the theme

Scissors?

We're having our own July 1st party. F Darcy! Free '07 President's Trophy T-shirt for the best Tallinder Haiku

In honor of Jason Pominville, I only eat "Chicken of the C" :thumbsup:

Speaking of which.......is anyone else concerned that his wife is featured in Charlie Sheen's new sitcom.....which just happened to set an all-time cable record for viewers during the pilot? Mama won't be moving to Buffalo anytime soon......and I won't speculate on the rest. You don't need to jump down too many rabbit holes to know what happens in Hollywood. I've heard rumors....but I'm willing to auction off the opportunity to perform the DNA swab

Excuse my posts...I ran out of beer...moved onto some Clamato...now am on a bottle of merlot.

I think it's time we bring Dom back.....and the whole family.....

Don't all 3 of you guys flush at once.....I need some pressure to water the lawn.

No...you'll be running by 8 tonight.

Nash and Ryan are not my idea of what this team needs. Doan and Ott, and ship leopold and Sekera and Roy out to let McNabb and Weber fill minutes.....sure Calling it now....Pyatt gets $2 million per

Like Myers and Foligno.....to unite the Foligno brothers in Ohio?

Put him on 3rd/4th and use him on PP2 and for shootouts. For a million.....worth a shot for someone else.