apuszczalowski

But, But, Edmonton will be good one day, and then it will be proof that bottoming out is better then just making the playoffs! I believe they have drafted #1 overall the last 3 years in a row. In the last 12 years, only 2 teams drafting #1 overall have won the cup. Pittsburgh did it after they picked Fleury #1, then in a draft that was modified due to the strike were gifted Crosby #1 overall after getting to take Malkin at #2 the year before. The other team was the Blackhawks when they picked Kane #1 overall. The other teams in the last 12 years to draft #1 overall, Islanders (2x's), Thrashers (Now Jets 2x's), Blue jackets (once), Capitals (Once), Blues (Once), Lightning (Once) and Oilers (3x's). Of those teams The Islanders have made the playoffs 4 times, (only once since 2003-04) never making it past the Quarter finals, and finishing no higher then 4th in their division only 3 times in the last 19 years Thrashers and Blue Jackets have only qualified for the playoffs once in that time frame and have yet to win a playof game (both teams were swept in the quarterfinals) The Blues made it past the quarter finals 3 times (once into the conference finals in 2000-01), but since the #1 overall pick have made the playoffs 2 times and last year was the first time they have won a playoff game since) The Capitals have only missed the playoffs 4 times since 2000, and have only finished lower then second in their division 3 times in that time period (from 2003-07) The Lightning last won a cup before the first lockout and have only made the playoffs once since drafting #1 overall in '08 (they made the conference finals in 2010-11 then missed the playoffs the next year (They have missed the playoffs 6 times since 2000) The Oilers have not made the playoffs since they made the Cup finals the year after the lockout, and have only made the playoffs one other time since 2000, and have never finished higher then 3rd in their division over that time frame So after looking over stats from the last 12 years, only 2 teams have won the cup after "bottoming out" for the #1 overall pick, most have stayed as bottom feeders Its gotta be a little of both, if it was just good scouting, they wouldn't have let those players drop so far prior to taking them if someone knew what they would eventually become.

This si exactly what I am seeing too much of from the Sabres, and one of the problems with the defence right now, they leave too many guys wide open to just stand near the net by themselves. I would say almost half the Goals scored on this team are by players who get to just stand in front of the net all day til the puck gets to them, usually from a rebound. Then, when itsa the Sabres turn to do that in the other end, no one can get in front of the net and the other team just collapse 3-4 guys in front of their goalie and force the Sabres to shoot through them. I watched most of this game last night with the wife, We have come to the conclusion if babies can learn from hearing things in the womb, our daughters first words are going to be right as she is born and will be "Shoot It! F**K!"

i wasn't taking a shot at you with that comment, that line went with teh rest of what I said before it about needing to know every little detail of what goes on to fuel conspiracy What I do find interesting about it is that there are some here who would tell us that Ruff doesn't like Vanek or that he would limit his ice time when this shows that he is trying to get him out more

They must lead Mutinys very differently in Austria then hereUsually you want to play real bad to try and make the coach look much worse (See Ovie as an example), guess in Austria they try and be the best player in the league to get the coach fired? has an Austrian Mutiny ever worked before?

Actually, its even easier to evaluate what was more important to their cup run, just look at the performance of their goaltender during the season and cup run and it should clear up if the C or Winger were more important...........

Happens to me here and on the Bills board So we can blame you for it happening to us? Maybe we can call it "sizzlemeisting""crap, the board is Sizzlemeisting my post again!"

i was once like you, thinking it was Regiers fault, but I had been corrected many times here by others that Quinn and Golisano are the reason why.

Because in todays world with the internet, social media, and 24hr sports news stations we need all the fuel we can get to feed our tantrums and to come up with more conspiracy theories to be outraged at someone. Did you hear, Vanek is against Ruff and is openly trying to have him fired, he refuses to play for him anymore!

I believe thats still all on Quinn from what I have been told............ I'm not going to argue with you on that, the biggest issue has never been that they were let go, but that they were never replaced. Quinn and Golisano just filled their spot with guys already in thier system Both were signed as FAs by their current teams (Ducks and Devils)

After losing most of the starting defencemen on this team due to injury, the last one just before game 7 due to a staph infection.

IIRC, thats exactly what Pegula had said whe he took over, that he wasn't going to evaluate anyones performance prior to him taking over and that he was giving them a clean slate to see what they could do because of the belief they were shackled and handcuffed by the previous ownership.

The 8th place Oilers also made it to the Finals the year after the lockout and may have had a different outcome if they didn't lose their starting goalie in Game 1.......... Yup, that method has worked wonders for the Oilers, same for the Islanders too.............

You also can't say that Drury and Briere would have had the same careers since leaving Buffalo that they had if they stayed. Drury might still be playing, and maybe Briere would have worked as a #1 centre here. The Flyers have had plenty of other options that he wasn't needed in that role there, and drury is out because of injuries. And as i was corrected before here, Black Sunday wasn't Regiers fault, that was Quinn and Golisano who take the blame.

While Kessler and the team play dressup for a photo shoot, apparent their GM Gillis is causing a stir showing up at other teams games, possibly scouting deals for Luongo? McPhee in Washington wasn't too happy that Gillis was at teh Pens/Caps game yesterday and that it started a Luongo to the Caps rumor....... http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=415236

C'mon, you can cherry pick 11 forwrads off of any other team in the league to make 5 goals to compare them to Kassian also, right? Probably about 70-80% of the people here While I agree that the team has suffered since Quinn made those horrible moves to let Drury and Briere leave, I disagree about the full rebuild part. They pretty much replaced the guys they lost with young players in their system, which is what usually happens when teams rebuild. Had they went out and tried to fill those spots with veteran FAs, then I would say its not a rebuild. I would say teh issue with this team is that whomever is the scape goat GM has been in permanent rebuild mode that when they let a veteran player go, they just replace inhouse, and up until probably Regher, Ehrhoff and Ott, they very rarely traded for veterans that were more then a rental at the deadline, most of the players they pickup were guys they hoped were diamonds in the rough that have yet to develop

Carolina also has another Staal added to its roster, along with SeminWashington still has one of the best offensive players in the league who has yet to break out this season like he has the ability too (Plus the rumors that Vancouver is trying to deal Luongo there) Of course all the credit will go to the new coaches though for turning them around.........

yeah, cause the reason they lost to the Canes in teh conference finals was due to coaching.....

The thing with alot of those teams is that they have either had some of the best talent but were underachieving (Pittsburgh), or the team tried other thing first to make changes before changing the coach. I don't think theres anyone here that will say that the Sabres are in the Pittsburgh situation and are underachieving with talent the level of Staal, Malkin and Crosby or that they have tried making some big roster changes like LA did last year getting Carter and Richards, or the Blues getting Halak

Exactly, you had to give up something good to get something good, I think the basis of most people arguements here is that Regier (or is it Ruff who is taking all the Regier blame now that Quinns gone?) shouldn't have this team in a position where it has to give up Kassian to try and get this team a Centre. The Sabres were desperate for a Centre and because of it, the only choice was to deal away something of top quality to get something of top quality.

If Ruff is responsible for the Vanek of today, i would say that its well worth it, Vanek is finally looking like an elite NHL talent now

well, I wouldn't put him in the role of GM or player evaluation/scouting, but he knows the game and what goes on with running a team and the business side of hockey. I consider him a "hockey guy" because he understands teh game and follows it, and he has been around it doing this job prior to being here. He isn't Quinn, or just some guy who has never been part of the head off of an NHL team before

Or you can tell that guy that you just extended to get to work and make this team better. I know, the easier move is to use the coach as the scape goat, fire him and hope that something magical happens and guys like Stafford turn into NHL players.

I'm not saying that either, if its working and your bringing in players through the draft while making moves to improve your team elsewhere thats fine, the issue I have is with constantly sticking with guys because you drafted them and not changing over the roster when it isn't working. The last tiem Regier made a move to bring in a top 6 forward to this team would have been Briere and Drury, every since they left (no fault of Regier though) its been lets let the guys here replace them.

Sorry, yes, thats what i meant, that was a typo How many teams truly have a "hockey Guy" in charge of the stuff Ted Black is doing? I really don't think Black is doing a bad job and with his previous experience I would say he is a hockey guy

I never said that, I have been saying for years that the problem has been the guy in charge of assembling the roster, but everyone always has an excuse for him (Handcuffed by Quinn/TG, Ruff has just as much input on the roster, give him time to let the young guys develop). 2 moves were made to change the roster this offseason (3 if you count making an 18 year old rookie your saviour) and those were signing a goon/fighter and trading away a guy who was your #1 centre for a gritty 3rd liner.