"Buffalo didn't want to pay us."

[nfreeman]

No! They didn't blow the whole thing up. The took the first steps into evolving into the team they are going to be. They had a nice run, they defined who they want the core of this team to be and they are building a solid team with young talent while being responsible financially.

 

Every franchise makes mistakes or makes decisions that in hindsight they would do differently. Even the Stanley Cup Champs will look back at this season and ask themselves what they can do better.

 

What teams can the Sabres catch? All of them. There isn't one team in the East that is far and away better than any other team. With Sekera and Weber, I expect the Sabres blue line to be stronger and tougher. I am interested to see what moves are made in the forward ranks. This should be a interesting off season for the Sabres. They should have a strong draft and they have chips to play if they want to make some changes.

 

As far as "respected national media". I put more faith into the opinions of some on this board then I do any media. Those on this board who follow the team on a daily basis are more in tune with what the Sabres are trying to do. Most modern day media tends to be lazy. They sit home and watch Center Ice and think they know what going on with the Sabres.

 

Good post. I agree that they made hockey decisions on Briere and Soupy and concluded that while they would've liked to keep both, they didn't consider them essential enough to pay what it would've cost to keep them. We can agree or disagree on whether they were right in those decisions, but I don't think they were asleep at the switch on those decisions.

 

OTOH, this post does gloss over the Drury debacle and the Vanek fiasco (ie it's impossible to know whether we could've signed Vanek for less $$ if we don't even pick up the phone and try).

 

I agree with the rest, including the preference for the posters here vs. "respected national media."

 

We will see. I've been around this game a long time and haven't seen such a dramatic fall from the top and I have seen good young talent turn into unfulfilled potential. For me the two ECF teams are now done. If management addresses this team's shortcomings and moves forward, I will be willing to concede that they knew what they were doing. Right now it looks like it could just as easily be chalked up to they messed up and don't know how to fix it.

I have heard you refer to the draft a couple of times, and while they should do well with potentially as many as 5 picks in the first two rounds, the fruits of this draft won't be felt for at least two years if not more although there is a chance for pick number six who should play almost immediately.

As for respected media, I believe that holds true for NFL analysts and some NHL writers, however, there are still the Red Fischers and the like who earn a high rate of respect.

 

Also a good post. We can dress it up all they want, but not making the playoffs this year is nothing short of a huge embarrassment.

[tom webster]

Good post. I agree that they made hockey decisions on Briere and Soupy and concluded that while they would've liked to keep both, they didn't consider them essential enough to pay what it would've cost to keep them. We can agree or disagree on whether they were right in those decisions, but I don't think they were asleep at the switch on those decisions.

 

OTOH, this post does gloss over the Drury debacle and the Vanek fiasco (ie it's impossible to know whether we could've signed Vanek for less $$ if we don't even pick up the phone and try).

 

I agree with the rest, including the preference for the posters here vs. "respected national media."

Also a good post. We can dress it up all they want, but not making the playoffs this year is nothing short of a huge embarrassment.

 

DeLuca might not like to hear it but we are not all that different. To paraphrase a great American poet;

 

We both did see it the same, we just saw it from a different point of view, tangled up in blue and gold