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I think next year could be considered year #2. I don't think playoffs are that far away to be honest with you. I think they can make it to the playoffs by year #3.

While I agree the Sabres haven't had a stud #1 center in quite a while, I wouldn't say they've been thin from 2007-present. While Connolly wasn't necessarily a fan favorite, him and Roy did put up some decent numbers with Gaustad running the 3rd line..... until Connolly's last year. The center problems came about when the need to trade the core was paramount. Then came the draft.

Absolutely. In fact I don't even thing that whole line was the reason we missed the playoffs. I'll say this team missed the playoffs because of Stafford and Myers, period. Roy's production was replaced with Hodgson. We traded grit for scoring, than traded scoring for grit. It evened out. In fact Ott had more goals this year than Roy (Roy missed 6 games). Between Kassian-Roy and Ott-Hodgson, the Sabres actually improved their scoring. It's the rest that failed.

I completely agree that this team needed more centers to start the year. I also accepted the fact that what Darcy did during the offseason was geared mor towards the future than the present. Which is part of the reason why I don't think a rebuild will take that long because he's already gotten the ball rolling. Remember, we don't look at overall numbers. We need advanced stats to prove our point. How many goals did BFLO score against division opponents on Thursdays? :P I'll admit when I screw up.

Two years ago this team needed toughness and centers. Darcy addressed both of those. This years failures stem from pre-Pegula. I still fail to see what he's done to warrant such disdain from the fans and media. At this point I'll go for 'Everybody needs a whipping boy' for $600, Alex.

You're right, you're right. I screwed up looking at ESPN. I didn't think that sounded right. Either way, they were hardly bottom of the league and by drafting two centers and trading for Hodgson I still can't figure out where people think scoring wasn't addressed. Since trading for a #1 center was out of the question.

So Darcy is getting thrown under the bus and backed over repeatedly because of a 3rd line center? Really? In case you hadn't noticed, Hecht was one of if not the best defensive forward on this team. His line rarely scored, and he only put up 6..... how do you think he managed to lead the team in +/-?

He got tough guys, and scoring has improved three consecutive seasons. I'm pretty sure bringing in Hodgson and drafting two 1st round centers was a pretty good step towards talent. Maybe that's just me. Next. Do you really think it's fair to criticize him for what he did (or didn't do) before Pegula when he had to rely on promoting through the ranks because he couldn't spend any money?

But, they were OK with the fact that this team was going to be low on centers this year as opposed to trading half the team to get a proven #1 center. In fact, even more were OK with Ennis being a center this year. Hecht plays center. Thsi team had more than one center................. Don't tell me that, I'm not the one using an incorrect analogy. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Regardless, it's quite besides the point. So I'll ask again, the center situation to start the season is really justification to dismiss Darcy? What do you have to base that on?

Your analogy is inaccurate because centers and forwards are often interchangeable. Unlike pitchers, they are not interchangeable with anybody else on the team. Are you saying Darcy needs a vasectomy?

Talbot doesn't bring very much to the table. As far as Myers......... there's that pesky hindsight thing again. That's like saying would a hockey GM start the season with one goaltender.

Considering he drafted two fo them, and had at least two others who could play center............... that's your justification for his dismissal? Weren't fans OK that this years team probably wouldn't make the playoffs so we could have two more centers developing for the future without trading half the team for an immediate #1? This goes for everybody, it's only the fourth time in the last day that I've addressed it with one attempt at a answer.

Ah OK. I agree with you on that. Didn't make any sense to keep Grig here if he wasn't going to see more than 7 minutes a game. Not sure how much blame Darcy deserves for that though. If I were a GM I would have communicated to my coach that I didn't want to keep him up unless he played. Either way, the coach gets the blame for that. What do you have to base that on? Darcy was never given free reign until Pegula came around and he's never been in a position to rebuild a team. What exactly has he done to prove he's not capable?

And if we didn't keep that center, this forum would be bitching that we could have made the playoffs had we had that center in the lineup (not knowing it didn't work). Hindsight............................................ Go back to last year, many people were willing to accept being poor this year because of the fact Darcy drafted TWO centers in the first round of the draft which made the future look bright. You didn't mention winning, I DID. It was a relevant point to contradict what you said.

Some are upset that Darcy is telling people up front that it might be a long process. Others are upset that the team wasn't completely blown up. Seems to me there is nothing he can do to make anybody happy. Can you honestly hold Darcy completely accountable for what happened pre-Pegula? When has Darcy ever had the chance to rebuild a team WHILE having the means available to do whatever he wants? Hindsighters love to criticize him for not blowing it up sooner, but anybody including GM's would have added pieces to the team the year Pegula took over. And even last year. I can't say a new GM would be better because I don't know that it wouldn't be worse. And neither does anybody else. However, it's bound to be better because a new GM would be given the opportunity that Darcy has never gotten. The biggest reason I want Darcy gone is because until he is all we're going to hear is non-stop whining about him regardless of what happens and to be honest it's gotten quite old. Between 'Darcy sucks' and 'Well we won another game to ruin our draft chances' this place got awfully monotonous over the last two months. I agree with you. People feeling the need to take completely opposing views has really watered down civilized dialogue. Seems to me it's gotten to the point where people think their voice isn't heard unless it is conflicting. I've got news for you, no developing players on a rebuilding team is going to be introduced to a positive atmosphere. If said team was winning, there wouldn't be a reason for a rebuild. The best players in the draft are often exposed to a losing atmosphere.

Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

It's been covered extensively over the last 12 pages.

Because if he plans to make it short term, by giving everybody the impression that it will be long term will make everybody happy when things go quicker than anticipated. If he never mentioned suffering, everybody will be on his ass after they don't make the playoffs again next year. Giving the impression of a worst case scenario makes things easier on everybody. And obviously I responded before reading the entire thread first. ;)

Why do people think Pegula needs to be available at all hours to answer questions? What makes people think that this is going to be a 5 year plummet into the basement? What makes people think Pegula isn't determined to turn this into a winner? Darcy hasn't really had the opportunity to rebuild, and nobody can honestly say they didn't think Sabres weren't going to be a contender with a couple of well placed moves thereby pushing the rebuild year to this point. The sky is not falling, sometimes I think people in BFLO live off of doom & gloom.

The most unfortunate thing about Darcy not getting fired is we'll never hear the end of it.

How often did Golisano make himself available to the public? Or Quinn for that matter.

Aside from the total lack of professionalism, I think Sabres fans are reading wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy too much into this press conference.

Haha, that part was funny. :lol:

I didn't include last year's playoff birth as being indicative that their rebuild was over. That is why I mentioned that they did so with a bunch of fill-ins. It is also why I implied that next year they will be playoff contenders. Which would make it s 3 year rebuild for them with nowhere to look but up. The Sabres are already at least a year ahead of what the Panthers ever had in terms of length of rebuild. I'm listening to this press conference again with somebody who didn't hear it earlier. I really don't know what to say about Harrington. Any self-respecting person would be ashamed of the nonsense he displayed at that presser. The Buffalo News should be ashamed to have him on the staff. His unprofessional behavior makes the city look bad when the rest of the nation listens to that press conference. His journalistic integrity is non-existent. Shame on you Buffalo News for continuing to keep this clown on the payroll.

But we're not talking about this year are we? We're talking about the rebuilding process (hence the reason it was brought up) from when Tallon took over. When Tallon took over, there were 18 different players on the opening day roster than the previous year. Yes, 18. Markstrom, Kulikov and Shore are the only players not drafted by Tallon. You need to work on your timeline because months after Tallon took over there was basically nothing to work with. Everything that's in place right now was done by him in one of the biggest overhauls in NHL history. And they're probably going to be playoff contenders next year. With that said, that should be enough proof that it doesn't need to take 5 years to rebuild much less 3 especially if you already have young players to build with and have prospects in the system. I may be wrong but I'm going to assume I know a tad more about the Panthers than you do. I'll say it again, I wasn't implying that anybody was a top 6 player that will be the future core of this team. I said there are players who will be a part of the lineup which is more than what the Panthers had. If you hadn't noticed yet, I was making a comparison. If you really think it's going to take a few years you are sadly mistaken. It shouldn't have to get any worse than this year, and they were in the hunt up until the last two weeks. And if you think Hodgson and Ennis aren't top 6 forwards, you need to glance over the rosters of most other NHL teams and show me where their stats aren't comparable to their top 6.