Ghost of Dwight Drane

That's great stuff! We took an honor society trip in high school and it was between Washington, Philly, and Boston. I argued the case for Boston, we ended up going there, and my teacher who was in charge of the trip called me out that the only reason I did it was sports related. It was....we'd be there for games 3+4 of the opening round of the playoffs. Sadly the Sabres opened in Boston and Mayday happened as 10 of us were in my hotel room....and I swear to the Baby Jesus....we went into the housekeeping closet and ran through the hotel with brooms.

Thank you. I am the first to admit I know 10x as much about the Sabres, their history, and their actions compared to other teams and their people. I think the majority of us for the most part have opinions outside Buffalo, but it is hard to really know the league like we do the team we regularly follow. I truly think Bylsma is the guy to win you Stanley Cups. He would fit in here great, but really anywhere he will probably have success that gives you silverware. Maybe this interview will peak TrueBlue's interest in Bylsma. Here is a quote: "There are some analytic aspects of the game that I'm looking at and delving into what the numbers mean, what the analytics mean," Bylsma said. "There are certain aspects of how some teams play that I want to dissect and breakdown." He probably won't like what he reads after that...nor will the fancystat fellas........ but it is here....from a guy who played, and coaches at the highest level. http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=738574

Go Rangers

You must not like Provolone or Fritos either?

A few side notes.... The last youtube in the OP may not be clear. This was Bylsma's first year right before the playoffs. He challenged Crosby to a shootout contest and the loser had to fix and hand out Gatorade to everyone. There is other video of this and Bylsma won, be it 100% on the up and up, or not. The point being, either the head coach or the trumpeted greatest player of a generation would end up being humbled to the point of serving the whole team. I'm sure there are plenty of shennanigans every team does, but that's some pretty good stuff considering who was involved. On Babcock......I have done some research as well. In EVERY article or video I have seen, he says the exact same thing. "Maximize Potential". What does "Maximize Potential" mean? Does it mean try as hard as you can? Does it mean be as efficient as you can? What really is someone's potential? People like to say Terry Pegula is obviously a great buisnessman because he has $4 billion. Terry himself says at a certain point he was broke and had to borrow money from his family to start his own business while in his 30's. "If I ever have more than 2 nickles to rub together, I'll buy the Buffalo Sabres". At that point in time had Pegula maximized his potential? How many people would say the most efficient move and having maximized your potential would be to have to borrow $7,500 from the people closest to you in order to take a flyer on starting a company when you are broke? Wouldn't the efficient thing to do be to keep at your regular job, work hard and do what you are told, and slowly build year after year? Pegula didn't do that. He didn't think safe and efficient.....he thought big, and it worked. Is Tim Murray maximizing every trade to make sure he is the sure winner, or does he look at the big prize? Is Rex Ryan safe and efficient? Has he maximized his potential? Or do we not know yet? Look at the players on the Sabres right now. What is, "maximizing their potential", and how do you let them do it? Do they seem like the type that would work their way through middle management for 20 years and be "efficient"? Or would they say "F' It !!!", and take a shot? I've got pictures of a guy with bricks of Benjamins on a Vegas tower, A 6' 5" 230lb defenseman on the beach with his hot girlfriend when he should have been at practice, a Latvian center that could be the feature at Club Marcella, and a teenage generational player chugging beer for the camera. I have all the respect in the world for conservative hard work and efficiency. In fact, that's the best course of action many times, and for most people. I'm just sick of putting the quarter in the slot in the back room of a Times Square newstand year after year....just to watch the metal door go up and down...or to settle for the soccer mom. It's time to take that good hearted crazy broad out for martinis and lobster and do this thing for real. You may end up crushed at the end, but you will never regret taking the chance... or the ride......

Under previous request from our fearless leader SDS to start more specific threads instead of taking others off topic or mixing generalities, I felt it was worth starting this thread. If anyone wants to breakdown any of the other potential coaching candidates, I would LOVE to see them in other threads. I don't know much about a guy like DeBoer, but X likes him and Murray likes him so I would be interested to see if anyone could make a case.

Head to Head '08 Bylsma Wins Stanley Cup 40 points in 25 regular season games Babcock Loses Stanley Cup 112 points in 82 games Bylsma +1 '09 Bylsma Loses in conference semis 101 points Babcock loses in conference semis 102 points Babcock +1 '10 Bylsma Loses in conference quarters 106 points Babcock loses in conference semis 104 points Babcock +4 '11 Bylsma loses in conference quarters 108 points Babcock loses in conference quarters 102 points Bylsma +1 '12 Bylsma loses in conference finals 72 points Babcock loses in conference semis 56 points Bylsma +5 '13 Bylsma loses in conference semis 109 points Babcock loses in conference quarters 93 points Bylsma +6 Bylsma outfinished Babcock 4 out of 6 years in the playoffs in regard to draft pick positioning for a little more than 1 pick worse. Blysma outfinished Babcock in playoff performance 3-2-1 Blysma outfinished Babcock in the regular season 5 out of 6 times I thank everyone for continuing to bring up valid points of concern. I will do my best to look into them.

:) Actually, both he and Babcock were 11:4 according to Schopp. In all honesty.....like I have said, Babcock is a better version of Lindy, and 99% of what we have heard the past 2 weeks is about him and nobody else. I think I have seen luke Richardson's name mentioned 2 times here....and wasn't he the media slam dunk a few months ago? We just went through 2 decades of Lindy Ruff hockey without a Cup. Mike Babcock had 1 Cup in his entire career and is 52. If you are really planning on developing young players who can relate to their coach and don't expect to be a yearly contender to actually win a Cup until 3-5 years from now....If you think you are going to go on a 10 year run of greatness, Babcock will be 67 at the end of it. I'm the last guy to dismiss age, but when you throw realistic expectations on top of player skillset and personality, and relative accomplishments between the two.......................... That's why I listed the median. The trade gets tossed. Wouldn't Bylsma have a worst #1 draft pick by definition because he has a better playoff series record than Babcock?

I nominate this for the title of the 2014-15 Buffalo Sabres Highlight DVD. It's a progressive world out there..... Not only does it taste good on pizza, but if you don't eat the pizza in the first hour, the crust gets rough and it helps from scratching your throat.

He only became the fastest coach to 250 wins in NHL history and is 44 years old. Not Bowman, not Blake, not Arbor, not Punch, and certainly not a 52 year old Babcock who has a worse playoff record than Bylsma and who lost to Bylsma in the Cup.....it's Bylsma If he's just another guy, and has historic success because of good players....Then here's an offer to Terry Pegula......save yourself $50 million and put X or Taro behind the bench and they can tell the #1 and #2 drafted forwards in 2 consecutive years...."Hey Jack, Samson......just go whirl around there for 60 minutes and win me a Stanley Cup!" The Penguins top draft choices the 6 years Bylsma was coach were..... '08 #120 '09 #30 '10 #20 '11 #23 '12 #8 '13 #44 Now......I could pull up a few dozen of your old posts so we can see what you said the odds of getting any meaningful production out of guys taken in that range or below....but I think that would be overkill. For "Just a guy"......he sure left his team in a tough spot. And if you think he is just a guy......he won the cup with this group on defense: Letang (21 years old) Gonchar (35) Orpik (28) Hal Gil (34) Scuderi (30) Eaton (32) Those were his top 6 guys......and he won the Stanley Cup Compare those guys to Ristolainen (20) Bogosian (24) Zadorov (20) Gorges (30) Weber (27) Pysyk (23) Do you think there is any huge talent and skill set difference between those 2 groups? I don't know about you, but to me they look like the EXACT same group, except the Sabres have more upside going forward. And for all of the complaining I see about the NHL being boring and in the playoffs it is grinding hockey and no scoring.......what makes you think Babcock can get more out of this group under those circumstances? Is the NHL suddenly going to call 30 penalties a game again and move to an Olympic sized ice surface? Crosby (21) Malkin (22) .......Eichel (19) Reinhart (20) Kunitz (20) Stall (29).......Kane (23) Girgensons (21) Satan (34) Fedotenko (30).......Ennis (25) Moulson (31) Talbot (25) Tyler Kennedy (22) Craid Adams (32) Cooke (30) Dupuis (30)........Foligno (23) Larsson (22) Gionta (36) Deslauries (24) Hodgson (25) Go right down the line and tell me that is not close to the exact same skillset and potential? The only thing missing for Buffalo is a Bill Guerin, and sadly, a Marc-Andre Fleury....who many think is average at best here anyway.. It's the exact same team but younger....has the potential to be as lethal on the offensive side....and has more grit to go with their skill by a tiny bit in combination. Now you can say he is just another guy....but the facts are: Bylsma won 250 games quicker than ANY coach in the history of the NHL, and did it at 38-43 years old....and is still on the experience of 1 NHL job, and only 5 months in the AHL, while still not in his prime. Bylsma, because of his success, was rewarded with an AVERAGE FIRST DRAFT PICK of #40 and a median of #27 in his 6 years as coach. Bylsma won a Cup with a heavy dose of hard working veterans who were limited in their offensive potential, and a handful of elite talented players 22 or younger. I can't think of any coach who has had more success, works harder, combines knowledge, hard work, and levity, and is nowhere near his prime. I don't know about anyone else, but I would LOVE to want to find a way to carve out $2000 a year to give to Terry Pegula because I am excited to be down at the arena and pregame at his dining establishment. I am begging for someone to come in that represents the personality of this city, and who can ice a group of players I can be proud of and actually have the ability to win. For nearly a decade, I have sadly found more utility in watching Three's Company and Barney Miller on Antenna TV with my dog, a 6 pack, and my sanity. Dan Bylsma.....Tim Murray.....and this roster.....just may be enough to stop me from being the Mr. Roper of the Buffalo Sabres Fanbase.

Here's a fun article when Bylsma was 25 games into his coaching career. Note that Bylsma PLAYED for Babcock in Anaheim. Bylsma went to Babcock to tell him they should switch their meetings to the morning so special teams had more time to digest the game plan. Babcock thought the players were too dull for that and would forget. Oh, and Babcock said that Bylsma was born to be a coach and will be as long as he wants. http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/playoffs/2009/news?id=4077577

He's the fastest coach to 200.....and 250 wins in NHL history, and he just did that. Development? You can't have it both ways. You can't say a guy is all about riding the coattails of Crosby and Malkin, yet they were 21 and 22 and out of the playoffs when Bylsma took over.....then went on to win the Cup, and over the next 5 years played less than 200 games together. Maybe his name has been quiet because he was collecting the remaining contract while having part time Team USA (oh the horror!), and analyst gigs?

Thanks. It felt like just talking about him as a positive option wasn't helping much. Sometimes you have to see it.

Would you like me to write 8 paragraphs about him in the general coaching thread? It doesn't matter what we think, it's what Tim Murray (I hope) thinks, or Terry Pegula. There is a 2 part series following him during daily prep and practice. The videos are much longer. I think X might like as most of it is him watching and distributing film, talking about individual players with his assistants, and going through strategy for specific games. He gets as specific as to what side locks when, why they are doing it different that night, getting back on transition, etc. He talks so fast that those players must be very prepared......

So I see they have Perry's Ice Cream down in Carolina.......

I'm the last one to get offended, but that was so out of character for that place....and not even covert. Do the columnists get to title their stuff? I find it crazy if they trust someone to give their opinion, then micromanage what that opinion is called. Thanks for learnen me everyone.

You get a guy like Nolan writing a letter praising the city and the people and at least being cordial to the team. Chan Gailey calls a press conference, starts to cry, says how much he loves the fans and the guys. Lindy did interviews and is one of us, as much as his coaching frustrated me. Seriously.....and the thing is, someone might say, "well the fans said bad stuff about him".....well, Darcy always said he never read or listened to any stuff....so he sort of boxes himself into the Weasel Corner. At least Tim Murray admits he is all over the internet and dial checking things out.

Instead of focusing on the concerns of who I feel is an extremely overrated, yet very good candidate in Mike Babcock.......I present to you my perfect choice for the talent, age, and personality of this team. The fastest coach to win 250 games in NHL history.......and he was fired a few weeks later....... Stanley Cup....X's and O's.....Relaxed yet Intense...... NSFW http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpgKZc86G1w http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CursOYIj9EU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxfV872txSY

In order to calm those concerned, I will submit an alternate headline. We can only hope this fight happens in the future.... "Swollen Clitsome Takes a Licking From Deslauries" BUFFALO, NY - "It was a right fist that made the biggest impact at the FNC last night.........." See.....this is what happens when I try to be nice and give the benefit of the doubt. 3 minutes later the Baby Jesus reminds me to keep with my eyes and soul test.......

Ok....not sure if that's the case, but given what the alternatives are, I will leave it to chance.

You know....I went back and you are right. Sorry to be so snarky. You couldn't believe he would actually have done that. Still.....the day I try to make a penny off this place......throw me out for good. The closest I have come is using Carp's charts as a tool.

There have been a few solid tweets from members here the past few days. I'm sorry to say i don't read any on a regular basis so I can't give an opinion. I just happened to stumble into 2 of them while looking at something else.....and I remembered your name from when you first joined here and you made it a point to promote your endeavours. Hey....you're just an abitious kid networking.....i can understand that.

Yes they have....yes they have...... And it's squarely on the fans of the Patriots to contribute money to an owner that has brought them rings, trophies, and a reason to order 2 buckets of wings and a pony keg for pretty much every weekend in January and into February since he got there. I agree the idea is cheeseball.....but Buffalo fans calling them out for it is like Marcel Dareus looking at Vince Wilfork and going, "pffft....look how fat that guy is"......

Are you saying that Harrington didn't write it, or that it is not considered a headline?

Sabres season ticket holders just spent $80 million the past 2 seasons on a team who openly marketed the fact that they wanted to finish in last place, while not being able to give their tickets away for free many nights. I think thanking ol' Bobby with an obvious social media attempt at fame that probably won't come anywhere close to the total, in thanks for a decade of championship sports, isn't the worst thing in the world.