JJFIVEOH

No, the point was he didn't play. You said he did. Now you're just saying that you think he sucks in order to minimize my point. But that's OK. I'll go by stats, you don't have to. Obviously the coach isn't either and that didn't work very well last year in the playoffs..... or this year for that matter.

What? http://www.washingto...Dm1lS_blog.html With Tomas Vokoun injured, Michal Neuvirth and Braden Holtby are prepared to step up for Capitals Or............... http://www.cbssports...th-groin-injury Report: Caps' Tomas Vokoun done for season, playoffs with groin injury

Actually, Vokoun got hurt. Nobody ousted him. ;)

I'd take Vokoun in a heartbeat over Fluery. He was the #1 reason they lost last year to Philly and he could very well be the #1 reason they lose early this year if they don't bench him.

Wash, rinse, repeat. http://forums.sabrespace.com/topic/21890-darcys-premise/

While it's no big secret that I am not the biggest Ryan Miller fan, I do give credit where credit is due. Miller is one of the best shootout goaltenders in the league. I don't think the amount of games that he has taken into a shootout is any of his doing, I do think he has gained BFLO a significant amount of extra points over the years. I am not a big fan of shootouts, I'm going to go out on a limb and say we probably all agree on eliminating the 3 point system, but in playing the system he has given BFLO the chance to win when it comes down to shootouts.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say the Canucks just may be one of the most overrated teams in NHL history.

It doesn't happen overnight.

I like a full season. I don't like sitting around waiting for the next season to start. If the season were shorter, it would screw the stats up in terms of milestones too.

And you know as well as I do that most of us thought the team was only a couple of players away. We both know that up until recently Darcy wasn't allowed to do anything drastic to improve the team. If a GM is going to build for the future, he's much more likely to continue down the same path he was to try and hang on to a job. If he gets an extension it shows him that Pegula is willing to give him the time and opportunity to do so. I know if I thought my job was on the line I'd make more moves to get the team to the playoffs for one year in lieu of long term success. Slow leak? :P

Rebuilding doesn't necessarily mean drafting all your new players. Maybe he finally realized what most people on here were bitching about, Lindy was the problem all along. Maybe he got that impression with this years slow start when the team was actually healthy? Just because you're rebuilding, doesn't mean he doesn't want to try to win games in the process.

He started the rebuild last year by drafting two centers. He picked up a ton of picks for this year. He rid the team of more of the 'core'. He brought in what could be the future captain. With this years draft still upcoming, what else should he have done?

Is the glass half full, or half empty?

I hate 3 point games.

http://thehockeywriters.com/20112012-nhl-season-predictions-eastern-conference/ http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/41527-The-Hockey-News-201112-NHL-predictions.html http://espn.go.com/nhl/preview2011/story/_/id/7061058/stanley-cup-awards-predictions http://bleacherreport.com/articles/761468-if-the-2011-12-nhl-season-began-tomorrow-early-predictions http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/48196-The-Hockey-News-201213-NHL-regular-season-predictions.html

Pop your bubbles and broaden your horizon. Sometimes it pays to actually listen to what the rest of the world has to say about hockey, not just your local tools. That's not surprising, the Sabres could win 3 Cups in a row and you'd still find something to bitch about. I just did a search and found 3 sites that predicted the Sabres to finish #5 in the conference, and 1 site that predicted them to take the division, in 2012. All that time you took calling me a liar you could have searched for it yourself.

I'm not going to search for any of that, don't believe me if you wish. The Sabres were predicted by much of the media to be playoff contenders this year and many picked them to take the division for the 2011-12 season after their run. Hence the reason why the media now call them one of the biggest disappointments. You're not called underachievers and a disappointment unless you were highly regarded at one point.

16 former Sabres are in the playoffs this year.

Now you're just arguing semantics. Without Vanek and Ott this team goes nowhere for the next three years. You don't just find a guy with the capability to score 40 goals, overnight. You don't find a character guy like Ott who is usually the type of player that carries a team deep into the playoffs based on his leadership. If Hodgson doesn't mesh with Vanek, you put him with another center. Vanek and Ott are key to getting this team back to the playoffs in the near future while still building for the future. You build around 3 legitimate centers, but you don't do it without Ott and Vanek. Exactly. Many people thought the Sabres might have been just around the corner from contention, including many in the media and throughout the league. At the time if Darcy didn't do what he did, there would have been some pissed off fans and we'd all be sitting back right now wondering what could have happened.

Would it make you feel better if I said build around centers and make Ott and Vanek your key players? :P

FES?

Relax. You're agruing that I said we should build off the wings, and I said no such thing. I said we need to build around Vanek and Ott, they just happen to be wingers. It's still possible to focus on the centers even though your key veterans/leaders are wingers.

As of two weeks ago the Sabres were the youngest team in the league. And that was with Hecht and Miller on the roster, the two oldest players. With those two gone, there is nobody over 30 on the team. You need to have some older skaters on the team. I think you build around the veterans while the young guys move up. You can still build positionally while making your vets the key components.

I made this post on the Leaders thread, I think it might be a relevant post here. I think Ott really wants to stay in BFLO I'm sure at 30 he doesn't want it to be a long rebuild either. But I think Ott realizes that Vanek needs to be a part of this team long term if this rebuild is going to be short term. Towards the end of the season I heard Ott make a couple of references to Vanek being 'our' leader and I'm wondering if he is implying that the Sabres need to make him a captain and that it's his team moving forward perhaps increasing his chances of wanting to stay here for the rest of his career. As far as leaders, I think character guys are just as important as leaders. Guys like John Scott need to be re-signed. He may not bring much to the table, but I think he realizes that he's not going to play every game and is OK with it. Now that guys like Ott and Scott have become established with the team, it's important that they stay here. You don't just create a character core during an offseason, it takes a season for them to gel. Not giving Ott an extension and not re-signing Scott would put this team another step back and they might be the ones to help convince Vanek to want to stay. We can still build around centers and keep these two.

I'm not going to shoot down all blame, I just don't think he deserves all the criticism he's gotten lately. Perhaps you can blame him for the Leino signing, that hasn't worked out up to this point. In his defense, it was considered one of the bigger signings that year. I think one thing I hold Darcy responsible for is overvaluing his players after he got that blank check. I didn't like the Myers contract and I didn't like the Leino contract. No. I think the rebuild will take longer if they trade Vanek. i think it will be short if Darcy can extended Ott and Vanek. He needs to build around them, in my opinion. You are seriously undervaluing some of these players. Would any team trade a first round pick for a 4th liner? Roy was routinely in the top 20 in points until his last year with BFLO, on most teams Roy is a borderline 1st, strong 2nd line center.