Where will this team be

[plenzmd1]

the roof being Darcy and Lindy walking.

 

As much chit as darcy takes on here and in general, I really think his hands have been tied by ownership. I believe he has done an unbelievable job keeping this team competitive. I also think a lot of teams would love to have him, especially if they do not squeeze the strings so tight.

 

I also tihnk Lindy might have had enough. His comments after Briere and Drury left lead me to believe he was blindsided by BOTH leaving, and then add in Soupy and I thin he may have reached the breaking point. Any non playoff team would love Lindy.

 

I know he bleeds the Blue and Gold, but at some point he might be tmpted NO?

 

This team is in danger of becoming the Tampa Rays if these guys leave. I know they have contracts, but if they want to leave, can you really keep them here?

[ORSabre]

No, you can't keep them here, but maybe if you trade them by the deadline you can get some prospects...

[Done]

If Darcy walked, I would respect him much more. If he really is that good, I would think he can't stand being trumped by Quinn and wants to move on. That would be a clear sign to me that he isn't in it biding his time just for a paycheck.

 

Lindy might want a year off to recharge. He hasn't had many players he could trust and has been over-coaching. Systems don't win games, players do. It takes intelligent and gutsy guys to have some freedom to work within some boundaries, but if you need to beat a system into them, they aren't going to get the job done. It's hockey, not computer programing.

 

If either of them leave, you are probably going to end up with a Donahoe/Mularkey situation where another powerless guy steps in. Someone sincere needs to get a hold of Golisano and tell him there are other options out there instead of handing the keys over to Quinn.

[ExiledInIllinois]

If Darcy walked, I would respect him much more. If he really is that good, I would think he can't stand being trumped by Quinn and wants to move on. That would be a clear sign to me that he isn't in it biding his time just for a paycheck.

 

Lindy might want a year off to recharge. He hasn't had many players he could trust and has been over-coaching. Systems don't win games, players do. It takes intelligent and gutsy guys to have some freedom to work within some boundaries, but if you need to beat a system into them, they aren't going to get the job done. It's hockey, not computer programing.

 

If either of them leave, you are probably going to end up with a Donahoe/Mularkey situation where another powerless guy steps in. Someone sincere needs to get a hold of Golisano and tell him there are other options out there instead of handing the keys over to Quinn.

 

Maybe TG is reading this post! ??

 

x2 ThumbsUp!

[Claude Balls]

If this team can't wake up enough to go out and play their best for Lindy, who the hell else will make them play any better? I say no one. If Lindy leaves, I see quite a bit of W's going with him that this team could get with him as coach.

[ExiledInIllinois]

If this team can't wake up enough to go out and play their best for Lindy, who the hell else will make them play any better? I say no one. If Lindy leaves, I see quite a bit of W's going with him that this team could get with him as coach.

 

Maybe... I still contend coaching in hockey is 70% if not more of the equation.

[Claude Balls]

Maybe... I still contend coaching in hockey is 70% if not more of the equation.

The only coaches that would have made this team better, would have been 2 new assts. The PP and D were both brutal. I don't think any other HC could have gotten more out this team than LR did.

[apuszczalowski]

the roof being Darcy and Lindy walking.

 

As much chit as darcy takes on here and in general, I really think his hands have been tied by ownership. I believe he has done an unbelievable job keeping this team competitive. I also think a lot of teams would love to have him, especially if they do not squeeze the strings so tight.

 

I also tihnk Lindy might have had enough. His comments after Briere and Drury left lead me to believe he was blindsided by BOTH leaving, and then add in Soupy and I thin he may have reached the breaking point. Any non playoff team would love Lindy.

 

I know he bleeds the Blue and Gold, but at some point he might be tmpted NO?

 

This team is in danger of becoming the Tampa Rays if these guys leave. I know they have contracts, but if they want to leave, can you really keep them here?

On the Bus??

 

Darcy takes Chit on this board? you must have been reading a different board, all the guy gets here is praise from atleast 80-90% of the posters here.

Larry Quinn = BAD

Darcy = Great, but he's hand tied

 

How do we know this? How do we know that Quinn is tying Darcy's hands? Can you then say John Fergussen Jr. in Toronto is good? He was hand tied by ownership. You can't say that everything bad that has happened to this team is Quinns fault, and that whenever something good happens its because Darcy is great and knows what he's doing. Its either Quinn runs the show, and Darcy is his puppet (meaning that the good and bad moves are blamed on Quinn) or Darcy just isn't as great as the people here think and that its just an excuse by the fans thinking that Quinn is meddling.

 

Have you ever heard players that have left bad mouth Quinn saying that it was his fault that they couldn't stay in Buffalo? or that he had a hand in negotiating? Whenever you hear them talk about negotiating its always just them talking about Darcy.

 

And if you are going to compare them to a baseball team, I wouldn't use the Rays, they are actually looking to be a great young team now. I'd compare them more to the oakland A's, shipping out FA's once they reach their prime and want a big contract.

 

And I bet Lindy was pissed that DB and CD left, that just made his job even harder and they basically said to him "here, we let your 2 best guys go and brought you no replacement for them, go and repeat the success you just had with them"

 

Lindy would be snapped up in an instant if he was let go, right now I think Darcy would have a really hard time finding a job. After last season he would have been snapped up really quickly, but right now, its looking like the media and the league is not seeing him as such a great GM after letting his winning team fall apart and looking like they are going to miss the playoffs

[frisky]

Outside of the on-ice hockey issues, I hope that this year is a learning year for the ownership, ie TG, in terms of what it takes to stay "competitive". At this point, they are not even fulfilling that goal. I suppose that would depend on exactly what is meant by competitive. If they mean it to be competing for a chance to play in the playoffs then I would guess they are "competitive." But, I think most everyone else assumes that it means, that they would at least be a team with a chance to compete for the Cup in the playoffs. They won't get to their dubious break even point of getting to the 2nd round. I think depending on what lessons they learn, the Sabres could be setting themselves up for a Bills type death spiral but that the pessimist in me. Honeymoon is over, it's time for the ugly times.

[LabattBlue]

On the Bus??

 

Darcy takes Chit on this board? you must have been reading a different board, all the guy gets here is praise from atleast 80-90% of the posters here.

Larry Quinn = BAD

Darcy = Great, but he's hand tied

 

How do we know this? How do we know that Quinn is tying Darcy's hands? Can you then say John Fergussen Jr. in Toronto is good? He was hand tied by ownership. You can't say that everything bad that has happened to this team is Quinns fault, and that whenever something good happens its because Darcy is great and knows what he's doing. Its either Quinn runs the show, and Darcy is his puppet (meaning that the good and bad moves are blamed on Quinn) or Darcy just isn't as great as the people here think and that its just an excuse by the fans thinking that Quinn is meddling.

 

Have you ever heard players that have left bad mouth Quinn saying that it was his fault that they couldn't stay in Buffalo? or that he had a hand in negotiating? Whenever you hear them talk about negotiating its always just them talking about Darcy.

 

And if you are going to compare them to a baseball team, I wouldn't use the Rays, they are actually looking to be a great young team now. I'd compare them more to the oakland A's, shipping out FA's once they reach their prime and want a big contract.

 

And I bet Lindy was pissed that DB and CD left, that just made his job even harder and they basically said to him "here, we let your 2 best guys go and brought you no replacement for them, go and repeat the success you just had with them"

 

Lindy would be snapped up in an instant if he was let go, right now I think Darcy would have a really hard time finding a job. After last season he would have been snapped up really quickly, but right now, its looking like the media and the league is not seeing him as such a great GM after letting his winning team fall apart and looking like they are going to miss the playoffs

I'm on the fence with DR. I believe his hands are tied financially, but as long as he stays within the cap number given to him by the powers that be, he should be able to move players in and out as he sees fit. He could have done it in the offseason and he could have done it at the trade deadline. Instead...

 

What did they lose...Briere, Drury, Conklin & Zubrus(and Campbell at the deadline)

What did they get...Bernier, Tbo, Vanek and his joke of a contract, Pratt , a #1 pick and a bunch of former Amerks.

 

This is why they are on the outside looking in this morning.

[apuszczalowski]

I'm on the fence with DR. I believe his hands are tied financially, but as long as he stays within the cap number given to him by the powers that be, he should be able to move players in and out as he sees fit. He could have done it in the offseason and he could have done it at the trade deadline. Instead...

 

What did they lose...Briere, Drury, Conklin & Zubrus(and Campbell at the deadline)

What did they get...Bernier, Tbo, Vanek and his joke of a contract, Pratt , a #1 pick and a bunch of former Amerks.

 

This is why they are on the outside looking in this morning.

Exactly, and yet some seem content with that

 

None of the players they lost really make me mad, its looking at what they got in comparison that makes me angry with management, and it wasn't just this offseason. The players they get in return for their losses are no comparisons to the losses (although at the start of the year, T-Bo did look better then Conklin, although I did think Conklin could be a decent backup at best). How do you expect to be a winning team when you see them losing top players and not trying to get adequate replacements for them to add to your rising stars? Would Vaneks season have been as disapointing (and its only disapointing because it doesn't reflect the money spent on him, and improvement from last year) if he had top level player playing on the team with him to take some of the pressure off of him to do everything?

 

I just get the feeling that there is no urgency in the FO to win it all if they are making money. They are content just making money and building for the future.

[jrsarkov]

everyone is acting is if we lost last night; come on. we are still in it. i know i had a nightmare after the game that we gave up 5 unanswered, but that was only a dream. whhheewwww- now that would be bad.

[Done]

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) -- Sabres executive Larry Quinn had one last piece of advice to offer as the team's co-captains, Chris Drury and Daniel Briere, gathered in Los Angeles to prepare for the start of NHL free agency.

 

Landing the most lucrative contract does not necessarily guarantee anyone playing for a winner, the Sabres managing partner said Saturday.

 

"I think you have to ask yourself, 'Do you want to win?' Free agents who went for all the money last year didn't win, with one exception, Scott Niedermayer," Quinn said, referring to the Ducks captain who won a Stanley Cup in his first season with Anaheim. "There's a lot of situations where it didn't help the player in a competitive situation, because it affects the team's ability to have players around him."

 

It's a philosophy the Sabres are sticking to, unwilling to upset their payroll structure with top-heavy salaries. And it's a key reason the team that won a league-leading and franchise-record 53 games last season finds itself bracing to lose its two top leaders once free agency opens Sunday.

 

Briere, who traveled to L.A. this week to be with his agent, has already announced he'll test the market. Drury, who makes his offseason home in Southern California, is prepared to follow. He and the Sabres have declined to discuss the status of negotiations.

 

Briere and Drury head a small group of top-tier players eligible for free agency this summer, and both centers are projected to command better than $6 million-a-year contract offers.

[Done]

Somebody should make a 41 cent investment, and mail that article to Golisano.