Marvelo

We'll see in the upcoming weeks what the market is for soft players.

I'd love to see Miller gone. I'm sick of him. He should just shut up. Since when has he become the voice of the Lord in the dressing room? He just keeps yapping to the media and can't back it up with his play anymore. He hasn't been able to do so for a long time and his act is stale. I'm ticked off with his comments on Kaleta. A teammate should never throw another teammate under the bus to the media. That's pure division. To me, Kaleta said nothing wrong. He's a competitive guy and he's p'oed watching his teammates float and not being able to try to add some of his Buffalo-bred piss and vinegar. I support Kaleta here.

I for one am glad we're tanking. It's about time. I'm just worried who is going to be making our personnel decisions. Darcy had his chance and he came up with a bunch of lazy defective players. He should be fired tomorrow.

My observations: Miller isn't worth 6.25 million, not even close. Vanek wanted to leave back when he got the offer sheet from Edmonton. Now even moreso. Ehrhoff is really an ordinary d-man. I don't know what the big deal about him was. I'd put Enroth in there next game I'd trade Ennis...I've lost faith in his ability to penetrate. He's slick but he's too small and gets pushed to the side. Ditto Pominville. He's lost it. Drew Stafford -2. Steve Ott -- new Captain.

I'd love to see John Tavares come back with Myers and a package (or perhaps Miller or Pominville) in exchange.

I don't know why this team is programmed to play only 1 or 2 good periods a game, game in game out. The high priced players seem to put out the least effort and make the dumbest mistakes too. These guys are supposed to be professionals.

A ton of comments on Gringo's demotion tells the story: http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=418266

I'm surprised they didn't give Gringo a 6 year contract for $48 million instead.

Dunno. But it does indicate that a stable lineup helps success. More from Elliotte:

Another thing, we can't stay healthy. whether we're unlucky or weak or a bunch of bandaid boys, whatever it is, we're at the bottom of the league as far as players staying healthy. It seems to be that way for the last couple of seasons. (from Elliotte Friedman:)

I see the Sabres rounding into form but only too late. I think they were unprepared to commit to a season. I think they thought this season would be canceled. The chemistry isn't there because DR Frankensteined the team together. DR changed his philosophy with the new owners and made mistakes when the financial horizon was opened up for him. It seems TP personally hand-picked several players and overpaid to bribe them to come to Buffalo. Problem is if you bribe these mercenaries, a lack of heart comes through pretty quick. Ruff was trying to reinvent himself, probably under the heavy hand of management but he already lost his team last year...and in the process lost his voice. The players already tuned him out before the season started and he twisted in the wind like the fragile minded team DR built. Several bad mega-buck trades have backfired on us and made us a laughingstock in the NHL. Our players and management were not only unprepared, but the core is a flawed, coddled bunch devoid of leadership. It's a freakish type of team typified by the extremes of Myers, a skating giraffe, and Gerbe, the ferocious anklebiter. They are weak down the middle and can't control the middle of the ice. They don't pass well, which is so basic and panic easily...they struggle to just even get the puck out of their own end. A modern hockey player is a seamless combination of size, speed, skill and agressiveness. Too many of our players maybe have one or two of those qualities but don't have the package and it seems many of these players don't mesh well. However, I see Rolston as a steadying influence and think when he gets his new Rochester core playing for him and banishes the old ineffective and selfish players, the team will do well. We need a metamorphisis from the Vanek-Pomer-Stafford era to the Foligno-Brennan-types so we can have more of a hard-hitting lunch bucket crew that represents the city.

Flynn's path to the NHL has been hard. He hasn't had things handed to him like it seems many of our pampered players. Maybe the sandpaper has done him good and he ends up a Randy Burridge. Good for Flynn.

It isn't as good as the way they saluted the German fans but it'll do. It's been a tough season to watch. The fans have become very cynical with what's happened to the Sabres who have become high-priced spoilers at best. On the other hand Tortorella on audio isn't the whole story. You have to see him sweat, disrespect Sam Rosen and his eyes bug out: It's worth the price of admission: http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2013/03/12/tortorella-on-sabres-loss-that-team-was-ripe-to-be-beaten/

He sounds kinda like Milt Ellis.

is it just me or did the Sabres change the PA announcer?

With the nice locker room, statues etc. I think TP's put the cart before the horse. And then he got the wrong horses. He tried to create a Cloud Nine that we can all exist happily together on and win multiple Cups. But it's a dreamland he's created, a fairy tale, populated by players who are made of cotton candy. One of the Sabres biggest faults over the last five years or so is "The Long Mistake." Over and over again they've committed to the wrong guys. Unfortunately TP is a babe in the woods in hockey and there's a huge learning curve for the guy. He (and us as fans) is now getting raped repeatedly by the rest of the league. I hope TP can smarten up and install a management team that knows the nuts and bolts of putting a good hockey club together this off-season. I really think the Sabres were unprepared to commit to this season. I think they pretty much thought that the entire season was going to be canceled and they got caught with their pants down.

Miller and Vanek for Tavares.

Maybe it's not the worst talent-wise but I think this is the softest, most fragile minded team in Sabres history. I'm not sure where to start with a rebuild...There are so many holes and the parts don't fit together. It seems many games that the guys are just meeting for the first time right before the game. Blowing it up might not achieve the desired result...I think Pegula is part of the problem.

No one. That's sports. Wait til next year. Ask the Cubs fans.

Just. Not. Good. Enough.

Depends on what your definition of crack is. Like what you're smokin'.

I think you're right. Darcy might have a feel for individual players. At times, he makes brilliant pickups. But I don't think he has a vision of how to put together a successful team. The players haven't fit together and it seems we go from GM to GM without a team personality. I think Muckler at the end had the chemistry right.

Problem is maybe to you and me, he's a kid but he's supposed to be a mature player by now. What is he, 27? I don't know if Lindy retarded his game, like so many others (I wince thinking about the time where he cracked rookie Luke Adam in the head with his stick -- what other coach would do that?) but Stafford should be ramping up as a player because he's at that age. Yet he shows the same maddening inconsistency and failure to assume the role of a scorer. And it may be frustrating as h -e double hockeysticks to see him go elsewhere and thrive. But I'm betting against it because to me he's not a serious hockey player and doesn't have the inner drive to excel.

The mouse potatoes should boo him off the ice.

I was listening to the Devils radio broadcast on the road and after it was all over, they referred to Elias as one of the "honest Devils players." I thought to name some honest Sabres players and although there are some, there are some crucial dishonest players that have to be weeded out.