Ghost of Dwight Drane

I think a Sabre is going to be destroyed Saturday. I'm not saying this to be a smartass. Vancouver is eating up Kassian and loving it. There is pressure on him, and he will send the home fans bonkers if he does his thing against Buffalo. Hodgson needs to keep his head up. I really can't see anyone on the Sabres fighting him but Weber or Regehr. He probably knows Kaleta will try and draw a penalty. He's going to go with someone.....and if it's Kaleta....he's going to slaughter him. It's funny reading the Vancouver board. They are a lot like here....they have Kassian on the Sedin line after tonight.

I'm going with "Code Blue" It sort of goes with the franchise right now.

Well....those 4 players equal 25% of the salary cap.......so maybe it isn't such a stretch to question a recent deal from the same GM that signed all...that.....GARBAGE? And if that is garbage....what is Hecht and Boyes at another $7 million and change? Over 1/3 of your current roster is Garbage in that case.

That's how I view them....maybe not idiots, but not good enough. Their trackrecord is public. Until they are gone, I have no recourse or proof that they can't get it done, because "they always have another season to get it done." And another.....and another....and another........ Again Labatt....I'm not knocking Hodgson......I am saying everyone is trying to glorify him and at the same time villify Kassian who is younger and actually started out better than Hodgson. Feel free to get excited about him as a player. As a team, you could put Gretzky in his prime on the Sabres and he probably would get knocked unconcious. By the way....Hamilton says Miller is going apesh!t over Gaustad leaving and thinks he will be off his game.

Did you see the "C" on Roy in Kitchener or the "C" on Kassian in Peterborough? other captains of Canadian junior medal winning teams.......Dan Paille and Cory Sarich Whole lotta overpriced "fish" on the Sabres. What little beef we had was cut in half.

I am disappointed that we gave up what we did and did not pick up a leader. All I am saying is that the lack of toughness and leadership is what has doomed this team more than lack of centers or talent. We have an $80 million payroll for the love of god! Why did this season go down in flames? Lack of center talent? That's what I am saying. Again, I told d4rksabre that Vancouver was our best shot at getting a real center. They were "topheavy" at center as I put it. I wished it would have been Roy/Gaustad/Stafford/Leopold involved for Kesler.....and the reason they would even think about moving Kesler was because they were so deep and had a guy like Hodgson. I said Darcy did well on Gaustad. I am just surprised how seemingly a total disaster of a season and 5 year track record of failure is forgiven by a good % because of one deal where we may have given up our most needed asset.

Great post. There are plenty here who aren't jumping on him. I am responding to the pocket of posters that jump down my throat. I've asked them to show me once where I said it was a bad deal or that Hodgson is a bad player.

Again....find me one time where I say Hodgson is a bad player or the trade was horrible.

Where can you find time on ice stats without going through each boxscore? You funny.... :P Don't make me pull out the.... "But he got to play with the Sedins"........or "He only scored because he had the worst defense pairing on the other team matchup with him".........

Where do I say it is a bad trade? I am talking about people bashing Kassian......at the same time the same people have been feeding me excuses for Myers not developing his physical game "as of yet"

What am I ranting against? I am ranting against POSTERS.....not a trade made. You are the one pigenholing. Find one post I made where I said it was a horrible trade.....go ahead.

Let's see what Ruff does with Hodgson's "potential"

It's all potential. Kassian was a captain in juniors, played international winning medals.....and Central Scouting had him as the toughest guy out there, comparing his skill set to Neely and Tkachuk. That's the point. I am not talking down Hodgson. I in fact said that Vancouver made the most sense as a trade partner for a center the night before the trade. I am talking of the need to bash a kid as he's out the door to make yourself feel good. The tragic flaws on this team are still there. Hodgson could score 90 points next season and if a Shane Doan or an Iginla aren't brought in...it won't matter. That's always been my point, and once again at least for the next 4 months...we are still there.

At least you are sharp enough to figure it out. The point being, I don't care if people want to feel they have a great asset in Hodgson. I hope he is. It is the psychological NEED to feel so validated by doing something, that people have to bash Kasian....a 20yo big body.....for being some sort of failure, when in actuality his career has started out much better than Hodgson, even being a year younger. The same people that will beg us to forgive Tyler Myers for not playing physical "yet" because he needs to "grow into himself", feel the NEED to villify Kassian who is younger and has 150+ games less experience than Myers as some sort of talentless filler. Don't worry though.....we can't possibly think of moving Myers in any deal because he sure as shinola is going to be the next Chara. But Kassian? Pffffttt!!! What a loser! They guy only caved in 2 guys faces in fights and scored 3 goals in his first 6 games while it took Hodgson 29 games to score that many. People have strange psychies.......NOT ONCE did I say this was a horrible deal. Once we figured out Nashville gave a 2012 1st and Buff a 2013 4th....I said that was a good deal. All I ever have done with these deals is point out that of the Sabres 3 biggest needs......1)Heart+Toughness 2)Leadership 3)Centers.....the Sabres gained ground on one and lost ground in 2. Hodgson is a young, talented center who can play now and contribute offense while some day he may become a #1 ceneter type. Hype him all you want. A team that was seconds away from winning a Stanley Cup however feels that Kassian and Gragnani increase their chances of getting the job done right this year over Hodgson. I don't take that lightly. We went through the trade deadline last year, July 1st last year after spending $80 million in salaries, and the team took a swan dive for 3 months of the season while not making one move to try and stop the bleeding. We stand here this afternoon with the exact same core of players, minus Gaustad, and a top 3 lines in which the biggest physical threat comes from a 5'4" forward with a huge heart. I'm sure they braintrust is working on a masterplan for this July 1st where they can "almost" land Parise, or "almost" convince Nash that Buffalo isn't quite as ###### as Columbus as both a franchise and a city. Enjoy the excitement of trade day.....enjoy the freshness of a new young player to evaluate.......but instead of some people using their energy to villify a player or a poster for ruining your buzz....maybe people need to honestly evaluate where things stand and what is really being said. There are always going to be differences of opinions. That's why there are markets, be it stock, commodity, horse, or hockey player. If the people watching over some of these same posters 401k's and IRA's had the same results as the Sabres have the past 5 seasons compared to the average, or the best.....would you still be happy? All "Team Stormcloud" is are a few guys stuck in a Union pension fund...watching the administrators plunk almost every last dollar into Enron. We have no control over it....all we can do is warn and bitch.

Oh....what fun is reality? Facts: At 21 years old last year, Cody Hodgson in his 20 games with Vancouver had 1 Goal and 2 Assists At 20 years old this year, Zack Kassian in his first 6 games with Buffalo had 3 goals and 2 assists You know, those first 6 games where there were tons of injuries but guys like Paul Sczchura were winning games for the Sabres while NEVER having a practice with Lindy Ruff......

Let's just say...I'm not planning on covering any shorts after today.

It's always a great sign when a 22 year old has a "crew". How much you want to bet he breaks Kaleta's orbital bone Saturday?

That's 53 minutes of soft play still from your front 9. I like the Gaustad trade, but we still have the same lowest common denominator. No toughness or leaders in your top 9. Gaustad was probably your best case. This is the problem with waiting. Anaheim was in freefall in the middle of the year. Would you have traded Kassian, Stafford and Gragnani for Getzlaff? At the time...you probably could have gotten that deal looked at.

Thanks... Whoops! His daddy hates the coach? Uh oh!

Over 5'4" :P Sorry! I love Gerbe though. Why didn't the coach like him?

Umm...I think last night I said the Sabres best chance to get a real center was from Vancouver???? You are sort of like Matt Ellis hating on Derek Roy. What did they do? They traded away their best power forward prospect in over a decade for an aveaged sized, non-physical center. The Gaustad trade was fine. Why not Roy, Leopold, Stafford? Your core is still 95% in tact This team is actually smaller and less tough than 24 hours ago This team is still a longshot and one of 8 teams chasing the very last playoff spot You are a funny guy Korab. You should go hang out on the PPP Bills board, you'd fit in well. If it is so easy finding a power forward in this league......name the last Sabre who could score 15 goals....and WASN'T a complete Puss?

That wasn't me. I actually started a contest and you could tell what I thought the chances were of certain guys getting moved.

I'm just saying that I saw a deal with Vancouver coming. I never thought the Sabres would get rid of Kassian so early. Today is the best day of Kassian's life. Gragnani has a shot now too...unless he can't get his games in and goes UFA. The Sabres needed centers. Now they pretty much have Derek Roy, Derek Roy put on a stretching machine, and Tyler Ennis. There is talent, but has the identity of the Sabres changed after today? At least they have some picks to play around with at the draft.

I'm a little shocked by this. I'm a little sick actually. I figured Gaustad and Stafford could have gone. Maybe they view Stafford as damaged goods at this point since he has been in Buffalo for so long. For anyone that thought I was full of crap saying that Vancouver figured out Lindy's system before even Lindy could figure out his system....this is now... Pyatt Bernier Torres Mancari Kassian Pretty much any forward over 200 lbs who doesn't have 3% body fat and can't beat James Patrick at the cone drill by more than 1 second.