Ghost of Dwight Drane

That's an ironic follow up comment....

We've been agreeing on too many things lately....maybe it is WWIII? Watch China and Japan. If the US issues a terse memo to Putin as he gobbles up land like pacman, China has been playing games and am sure they wouldn't mind reclaiming a little land of their own.....

Thank you for that. I was just about to say that I was a little disappointed that Lafontaine would sign such an agreement and take money.....but now I have the vision of Patty going out in a blaze of glory by jumping up onto the conference table after Pegula suggests we trade for every player who has a family member that went to Penn State, whipping out Lil' 16, and dousing everyone at the table but Murray! You just made my day!! Way to go Patty!!!

Understood. We have all talked about this before. My allegiance is with the city of Buffalo and more importantly, it's people. To me, the Sabres represent the people of this city and are a major civic asset in many ways. The jersey to me means zero. It is the people that are involved representing me and my city I care about. When there was talk about the Bills signing Michael Vick, I had decided to dump my season tickets if they did. Kids and animals....everything else is fair game to a point. Dom could drink all he wants, and if someone had action on the side and were married...not proud of it, but not the end of the world for an athlete. I do understand you emotion and passion.

Good post. Wawrow can clarify if he logs on again. Not too concerned. He's actually a bright guy who can speak PAnese, which is why I highly doubt it was about Miller. The whole thing is just sad with the Sabres. Bottom line, it's the owner's team and he can do what he wants. I even LIKE Battista and guess was one of a handful who knew who he was when he came in. I'm just back to the hopeless pit in my stomach of far too long that went away for a few months.

I have no inside sources. I just have done some old fashioned groundwork over the years. I may have also been blessed to not be tied down with other obligations and had the experience necessary to understand some things. I'm not always right, that's for sure....but I WANT all these guys to be great. I would like nothing more than to be excited about their capabilities as pros and people. It just doesn't always happen....and while Pat Lafontaine may not be an angelic figure 100% of the time, you have to go on history, experience and your gut. I was pretty quiet day 1 because I had no clue. I saw and heard spin from secondary sources and it didn't jive. Everyone is hearing this and that. If I didn't lay this exact scenario out a few months ago and say it was a real possibility, I would have been shocked. You had to see it coming as a possibility given those involved.....

:) I would go through a wall for Chan Gailey and take a bullet for that guy....same for Ted Nolan. I think a lot of people have a "good gut" on this board. I also think sometimes the need to preserve the image of something important to them gets in the way of what the gut says.

If we want to talk about behind closed doors....there is a whole nittany of th....I mean litany of things we can discuss..... I know who I trust.

Correct...which I am implying and predicting Tim Murray is the type of guy who can't deal with that situation...or should I say, WON'T!

Mark this now....if this had zero to do with Tim Murray, which is logical and even sources sympathetic to Lafontaine are stating....then Tim Murray will be gone within 2 years. There is NO way he can handle this structure, especially now that any buffer between himself and ownership is gone. He said himself, he's been on the road 4 of his first 6 weeks. He is in his glory, scouting, learning his guys, making a plan, and working the phones. He can hide in his work and location so far. He's not going to make it. If he swallows his pride, he's going to have a stroke. Mark it....he thinks he can use this as a stepping stone at worst, but he's not gonna make it....and I like him.

Uh huh..... His sources say my reign just may be over.....why, did I say Miller wasn't going to be traded? I was legitimately scared that Larry Quinn was about to be hired by Harbor Center. I call out plenty of people, nobody in a high professional position feels the need to join a fan board and make their first post a veiled threat at 3AM....then the most dysfunctional day in team history, which is saying something....starts a few hours later with ZERO public knowledge or reference. Is this a Union thing?

Conspiracy Theorist!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'd call it a DP...wouldn't you?

Ok...Weave...Freeman.....really? That was about being right about the fact Ryan Miller got traded? The odds on Miller getting traded were 1-20. Lafontaine said himself he was listening to deals for Miller and would trade him before Murray got on. Now if Wawrow is in your bourbon sipping club Weave, I understand....and I have no shame in calling him out for the articles written during the Larry Quinn reign. I also have no shame in calling out Ronan Tynan. In all due respect Weave, you didn't know who "Gibby" was. The Sabres Minister of Propaganda was even referenced to as "Gibby" by Pegula in his first day on the job. My jab at the Miller article was more the fact the pomp and circumstances behind Michael Gilbert being on the PR staff of the USA Olympic team had been well publicized. It was also a stereotypical Russian vodka joke tied in. It also referenced the new favored Sabres leaker Bob McKenzie by getting nostalgic and saying Gibby gave Wawrow that hot tip from Russia. The sad thing is, Gibby had a twitter account with followers that used to be a good source of info. Now his 72 followers are in the thousands. Oh well......

Because it was leaked??? He "had the flu". He already took a vacation.....the Sabres took too long to get on damage control and a resolution needed to be shown, as sloppily done as it was. I just received this classified information..... A tape was slipped under my door......I believe what we have here is "Spike" Lafontaine, "Chester" Battista, and "Sylvester" Black.....

He was different behind closed doors to those who have only known Darcy Regier for the past 2 decades.....You have a guy with confidence in his ability, pride, and principles. If the radar goes off, he goes. That's why I would laugh at the people who would defend Darcy with, "Well of course he will let his painting hand be held...there are only 30 of these jobs in the world!" Guess what, some people still have gumption.

Sure....sure....his first post, calling out a random fan at 3AM is to gloat about something that was about as in depth as saying, "The sun will rise in the east tomorrow"..... Yep.... I was flattered though.....and I give him credit for admitting he follows what I say. That's more than anyone else has admitted in public.

You think he's taking a victory lap for predicting Ryan Miller would get traded, along with 96% of the town???????? At 3AM??????

Yes....how many here have logged 80-100 hour work weeks, especially when a project or key date is involved? So...who crapped on the plan then? Who would leak it and why? We had a 0.13 veiled proclamation by their AP writer at 3 AM here.....maybe someone should ask him?

Sorry TW...I didn't mean to insult you. I'm talking about the kill shots coming out of GR and people saying Lafontaine has a history of concussions and is not rational, etc. Then the pile on seemed to start about him bailing now.... I am totally up for open discussion, like I told TruBlue....heck yeah, take everything into account. Sorry for the confusion.

Sizzle....they traded away the Face of their Franchise the past decade and their Captain less than 24 hours previous. This wasn't Labor Day weekend. Am I to believe marketing, press, and operations were all sucking Pina Coladas in Key West the past few days? If so, they are more clueless than we have ever given them credit for.

It's fine to entertain those thoughts. They should be. Millbank posted the story of the Islanders. Can you name a more dysfunctional hockey franchise since that happened? If you can....I bet I know who may be in contention!!! Is it Lafontaine's fault he happened to have passionate ties to both franchise he played for and felt he could be of great help in righting the ship of a place he cared about? He didn't just leave the Detroit Red Wings.

What had they prepared? The story ran unchecked with speculation for a full day and no details were given in a grumpy presser. If this was something in the pipeline, it would have been much more clean. The Sabre sympathetic rumblings didn't come out until much later...and after alumni, and other potential sympathetic avenues had already heard from reputable people that it was ugly and not the case. If you are solid, squash it fast, or don't ever let there need to be anything squashed at all. To me it sounds as if there was an elaborate story concocted from a partial truth that would never have escalated to a point of no return, and to which was easily explainable. I am trying not to do that here myself with the Sabres organization, but I know who I trust. If there is a rational explanation for all this, then so be it...maybe we will eventually get some of it....but the fact that I laid out the exact scenario as to what could have happened a few months ago has me not too thrilled right now.

I responded to this in the Battista thread. Lafontaine didn't bring this public. He was down with "the flu". He still hasn't said anything because I am assuming he is classy enough to let the Sabres play out the trade deadline without further distraction. I think it is very sad how people are portraying Lafontaine in order to give the team an out. All these major players have a well played out public history except for Murray and Battista. I get the feeling Murray just wants to do his job. I think Lafontaine deserves the benefit of the doubt given his history and Ted Nolan's reactions. Yes, Lafontaine left once before....because a qualified hockey guy was fired against his will, and the reign of Wang/Snow was set up. Was he wrong? He was a huge part of both organizations prior. I'm sure many here would take a job with the Sabres and look past some red flags out of passion. If the same scenario is presented to you in Columbus and you have questions....maybe not.

I have no idea if Battista was directly involved with Lafontaine leaving. I also hope that Patty is being patient and allowing the trade deadline to pass before making any public comment. That seems to me what a guy of his magnitude would do. If he pulls a Darcy and bolts town with nary a thank you and goes into hiding, then I will have to re-evaluate my views. For now, I have seen all the major players in action for a multitude of years and scenarios, and it is easy for me to believe there is more than meets the eye. There are a few stories rumbling where it makes the Sabres look to be noble in this and Lafontaine goofed. I don't buy it for a second, because they would have had weeks if not months to prepare for the fallout. The uncertainty and chaos involved with this and the delayed reaction as well as vagueness from the parties involved lead me to believe that is not the case. Any mickeymouse group could have planned and presented an amicable departure. Pat will be fine. He led a potential ownership group in a possible spearhead to buy a team. That's why I don't believe for 1 second he bailed to go to a protected league job. If he bailed, it was for moral reasons more than likely, and Nolan's reaction the past few days supports that as well.