Darcy's defense

[Pullup Champ]

All craziness aside...

 

What is happening in the NHL is pure stupidity. Teams are getting right back at it with over spending. Is 34 year old Adam Foote worth $4.6M ? By the time his contract ends, he'll be 37-38 and a shell of his last year's banner year, and Columbus will still be held in check by his salary.

MEANWHILE.... back at the Sabres ranch....

 

Darcy's patience pays off as we have a solid core of players no one else can approach because they hit the CAP early....

 

Would anyone like Teppo Numminen? What about Ray Whitney? Of course Aaron Miller? What about Al MacInnis in a Sabre uniform? Juri Slegr? Brisebois is out there... I hate Scott Stevens, but he would look nice along side Jillson as a mentor...

 

There are so many players that will be available after the rush... and they won't

raise your ticket prices to the sky!

 

The man has a plan. If he came out and said "I am cheap and I will wait until all the teams have spent their wad", do you think anyone would want to play here?

or should he say "we wanted to find the perfect players for our core"?

 

I will go to see them, even if they keep what they have now. I like hockey.

I am not hung up on players like a "puck bunny".

 

Drop your golves if you think I am full of sh#t...

let's mix it up...

 

(isn't it better to talk hockey? )

[PTS]

Bottom line is Miro Satan was worth $3.8m and Alexei was worth $3.5m.

 

The Sabres are definitely worse of a team today than they were three days ago when there was a chance of those two returning.

 

We don't find a better value than Miro and Alex and this team won't spend big bucks for the top tier players.

 

What's are cap at right now? $20 million?

[gwpom]

I do not disagree with you. And let's hope that's exactly how it comes down.... rather than the sinking feeling that we'll end up with nobody worth a pile of wings when all is said and done. It's most likely Darcy's reputation of being "Mr. Do Nothing" that's really at play here. And you are very correct about the craziness going on right now, and yes, it could play well into the Sabres hands.

 

But it would still be nice to see something happening.

 

Oh well.... Go Bills.

[Pullup Champ]

Bottom line is Miro Satan was worth $3.8m and Alexei was worth $3.5m.

 

The Sabres are definitely worse of a team today than they were three days ago when there was a chance of those two returning.

 

We don't find a better value than Miro and Alex and this team won't spend big bucks for the top tier players.

 

What's are cap at right now? $20 million?

Would you rather have 2 players at 7.3?

 

or 3-4 players brought in for that amount so we can drop

Tiny Timmy Connelly? Maybe keep Rory down in Roch?

Or any other slug we have on the roster?

[PTS]

Would you rather have 2 players at 7.3?

 

or 3-4 players brought in for that amount so we can drop

Tiny Timmy Connelly? Maybe keep Rory down in Roch?

Or any other slug we have on the roster?

I rather have to stars that 3 or 4 average guys and here's why.

 

Look at our roster. We're filled with decent players, we don't have room for 3 or 4 more decent players because we've have to sit 3 or 4 decent players. We need a stud on defense and a very good player up top.

[Guest Guest]

Is this a "plan" or is this incompetence? The Sabres yearly eggshell walk has gotten old. You have a billionaire owner who apparently knows little about hockey and has placed his trust in Regier, who has never won anything, and Ruff, who is as timid, and possibly as incompetent, a coach as they come.

 

The bottom line may be dollars and cents but when it comes time to sell tickets, people want to feel somewhat optimistic. That only will come with some confidence building moves.

 

I am not suggesting that you do something just for the sake of doing something. But with all the talent floating around out there, the sidelines is not the place to be at this point in time.

[Rayzor32]

 

Would anyone like Teppo Numminen? What about Ray Whitney? Of course Aaron Miller? What about Al MacInnis in a Sabre uniform? Juri Slegr? Brisebois is out there... I hate Scott Stevens, but he would look nice along side Jillson as a mentor...

Yes it's great to be talking hockey again, and yes the owners & GMs are a bunch of morons/sheep (great column today by Bucky in the BUF News about that), but the ship seems to be sailing for top line blueliners - if we wait much longer, we'll be out of options...as for forwards, we need one at the most, and I'm sure we can pick up a bargain after the first week of this feeding frenzy - several good wingers are still out there, but this run on defensemen scares me...

 

If we could land Numminen or Slegr, I wouldn't be thrilled, but I'd be sort of satisfied...Not sure what we'd have to give up to get Miller from LA, but I'm not buying tickets just because the guy grew up here, so that logic's a bit flawed on Quinn's part (maybe his family will buy a couple season ticket packages)..and I see no reason why Stevens or MacInnis would spend their final seasons with a 7th/8th/9th place team that has a chance at making the quarterfinals at best..

[Allan in MD]

Is this a "plan" or is this incompetence? The Sabres yearly eggshell walk has gotten old. You have a billionaire owner who apparently knows little about hockey and has placed his trust in Regier, who has never won anything, and Ruff, who is as timid, and possibly as incompetent, a coach as they come.

 

The bottom line may be dollars and cents but when it comes time to sell tickets, people want to feel somewhat optimistic. That only will come with some confidence building moves.

 

I am not suggesting that you do something just for the sake of doing something. But with all the talent floating around out there, the sidelines is not the place to be at this point in time.

Thought I'd put my name on my message.

[Pullup Champ]

Thought I'd put my name on my message.

Allan - Welcome back! We've missed you!

[Guest Guest]

owners & GMs are a bunch of morons/sheep (great column today by Bucky in the BUF News about that), but the ship seems to be sailing for top line blueliners

Interesting to note that the morons are in the playoffs every year (except the Rangers, of course) and the Sabres are out of the playoffs every year.

 

Now with the new CBA the Sabres are supposed to be on a level playing field? Did anyone tell Regier free agency has started?

 

Its like a fantasy league and every time its Buffalo's turn to select they pass!

 

When they had chances to trade Satan and Zhitnik what did they do? You couldn't have screwed up the handling of those two players any worse than what just happened. They got nothing for their top offensive and defensive players! That's the bottom line - but they saved money.

 

Don't forget how well they handled Peca and Hasek also.

[LabattBlue]

 

When they had chances to trade Satan and Zhitnik what did they do? You couldn't have screwed up the handling of those two players any worse than what just happened. They got nothing for their top offensive and defensive players! That's the bottom line - but they saved money.

 

Don't forget how well they handled Peca and Hasek also.

Golisano is an innocent bystander(who happens to be very rich), who signs checks when Quinn asks him to. Which leads to the problem....Quinn is at the top of the food chain when it comes to hockey decisions and his background is a construction project manager who likes to play in alumni hockey games.

[Guest the swami]

Here is what is really dangerous - players around the league see that the Sabres are more interested in saving money than competing for the Cup.

 

Look what Jarome Iginla of Calgary said today: ""I truly believe a lot of players, when they're free agents, look at where they can have a legitimate chance to win."

 

Maybe the players around the league know the history of the Sabres - any big time players with decent contracts get sent packing and they call someone up from Rochester and miss the playoffs again.

 

Free agency is looking like a disaster, but maybe Darcy can get a couple trades.

 

Biron may be expendable. Or maybe Satan and Zhitnik. Oops! I forgot - the Sabres got squat for these two. I hope they find a job at a decent salary somewhere.

[Pullup Champ]

Would anyone like Teppo Numminen? What about Ray Whitney? Of course Aaron Miller? What about Al MacInnis in a Sabre uniform? Juri Slegr? Brisebois is out there... I hate Scott Stevens, but he would look nice along side Jillson as a mentor...

 

 

(isn't it better to talk hockey? )

"Would anyone like Teppo Numminen? What about Ray Whitney? Of course Aaron Miller?"

 

....called it!

[Campy]

You have a billionaire owner who apparently knows little about hockey and has placed his trust in Regier, who has never won anything, and Ruff, who is as timid, and possibly as incompetent, a coach as they come.

I disagree with this on two levels. My opinion of Lindy Ruff is that he's anything but timid or incompetent. If you look at how relatively well this team has played during his tenure, he's shown that he knows how to coach, especially given the dearth of talent on the roster. And timid? Where in the world does that come from? I don't think there's anything remotely timid about Lindy Ruff. He's demonstrated time and time again throught his playing days and his coaching days that he doesn't shy away from much.

 

Also, I think that it's somewhat naive to think that Darcy is calling the shots. Perhaps my memory is somewhat flawed, but I seem to remember that Sabres did better without Quinn than with him, and he's the person that Galisono has entrusted to manage the Sabres, not Darcy.

 

I am not suggesting that you do something just for the sake of doing something.

You and I can certainly agree on that!

[Campy]

"Would anyone like Teppo Numminen? What about Ray Whitney? Of course Aaron Miller?"

 

....called it!

Good call on that. And great sig too. ;)

[Guest hockey maven]

Here is what is really dangerous - players around the league see that the Sabres are more interested in saving money than competing for the Cup.

 

Look what Jarome Iginla of Calgary said today: ""I truly believe a lot of players, when they're free agents, look at where they can have a legitimate chance to win."

 

Maybe the players around the league know the history of the Sabres - any big time players with decent contracts get sent packing and they call someone up from Rochester and miss the playoffs again.

 

Peter Forsberg said after signing with Philadelphia: "I was very interested and excited. It's an organization that always shows they want to win."

 

When was the last time anyone said the Sabres had an organization that wants to win?????

[Guest Mitch]

I think Buffalo has always wanted to win but without a salary cap and tons of money to throw around it was hardly easy to "show" that they wanted to win.

 

Philly has always been in a better position and has had a few Big Named "Franchise" players - I certainly wish Buffalo would just get one like when we had Hasek, everyone went to games and watched just to watch him play. We don't really have one guy that we can say that about now.

[Guest DaFan]

Is this a "plan" or is this incompetence? The Sabres yearly eggshell walk has gotten old. You have a billionaire owner who apparently knows little about hockey and has placed his trust in Regier, who has never won anything, and Ruff, who is as timid, and possibly as incompetent, a coach as they come.

 

The bottom line may be dollars and cents but when it comes time to sell tickets, people want to feel somewhat optimistic. That only will come with some confidence building moves.

 

I am not suggesting that you do something just for the sake of doing something. But with all the talent floating around out there, the sidelines is not the place to be at this point in time.

I trust Darcy has a plan...

Just look LA got Roenick and a draft pick for future considerations. Teams are throwing money out there left and right only to see themselves go over the cap and will have dump dump dump....... Lets not panic just yet

[Guest Scott]

I hate to sound overly optimistic, especially as a Buffalo fan, but the lockout just ended and has opened up a new era. As much as I would love to win this year, I think it is wise to move slowly, not blowing our whole cap to see what happens this year. Keep in mind there are so many rule changes that at least we will have a year to see who fits, who doesn't, and possibly work out a good trade next year with a heavily salaried team. I think it is too early to be overly concerned.

[Allan in MD]

I disagree with this on two levels.  My opinion of Lindy Ruff is that he's anything but timid or incompetent.  If you look at how relatively well this team has played during his tenure, he's shown that he knows how to coach, especially given the dearth of talent on the roster.  And timid?  Where in the world does that come from?  I don't think there's anything remotely timid about Lindy Ruff.  He's demonstrated time and time again throught his playing days and his coaching days that he doesn't shy away from much.

 

Also, I think that it's somewhat naive to think that Darcy is calling the shots.  Perhaps my memory is somewhat flawed, but I seem to remember that Sabres did better without Quinn than with him, and he's the person that Galisono has entrusted to manage the Sabres, not Darcy.

 

 

You and I can certainly agree on that!

How well have they played since the "coach maker" Hasek departed???

 

Timid may be the wrong word, but Lindy has no feel for offensive hockey. Defense does win games, but offense helps. Lindy was not a timid player, I agree, but I've rarely seen the fire he showed as a player exemplified by the way his recent teams have performed on the ice, give or take a Ray, Peca, or Barnaby.

 

Also, as an example of coaching deficiencies, has anyone ever told Lindy that for a successful power play, you have to quickly move the puck; there is always someone open. This sort of basic hockey seems to have eluded Lindy. And there have been some pretty mediocre teams around the league that have had good power plays because someone new how to coach it. I know you'll say you need the right personnel. But just about every one of Lindy's teams has had no more than an average power play, though Lindy has had all sorts of personnel to work with during his tenure.

 

Are you suggesting that Darcy is merely a pawn? Than get rid of him and use the money on players. I am not letting Darcy off the hook that easily, no matter much a loser Quinn may be.

[Campy]

How well have they played since the "coach maker" Hasek departed???

 

Timid may be the wrong word, but Lindy has no feel for offensive hockey. Defense does win games, but offense helps. Lindy was not a timid player, I agree, but I've rarely seen the fire he showed as a player exemplified by the way his recent teams have performed on the ice, give or take a Ray, Peca, or Barnaby.

 

Also, as an example of coaching deficiencies, has anyone ever told Lindy that for a successful power play, you have to quickly move the puck; there is always someone open. This sort of basic hockey seems to have eluded Lindy. And there have been some pretty mediocre teams around the league that have had good power plays because someone new how to coach it. I know you'll say you need the right personnel. But just about every one of Lindy's teams has had no more than an average power play, though Lindy has had all sorts of personnel to work with during his tenure.

 

Are you suggesting that Darcy is merely a pawn? Than get rid of him and use the money on players. I am not letting Darcy off the hook that easily, no matter much a loser Quinn may be.

There is more to the man-advantage than merely passing it around the perimeter, especially with a team with limited offensive talent. There are a lot of ways to use funnels and overloads. Those grinding it out-type of plays has a better chance of success with the Sabres. They just don't have the skill players to use a positional system.

 

So we agree that timid is not the right word. But the reality is that the players play. Players who go half speed don't help the team (Satan, Delmore, Connely) and need to be moved out and replaced with guys who will. But OK, let's blame the coach. :blink:

 

As far as Reigier, I'm not suggesting anything. I'm saying that Quinn is ultimately calling the shots. Darcy can't pull the trigger on anything without having it cleared by his boss - probably very similar to most people's jobs. I don't see how this makes most people pawns anymore than I'm claiming Darcy's a pawn.

 

Personally, I'm not Quinn's biggest fan. If he were to back off and let Darcy do his job, the Sabres would be better off. And I don't care if it's Punch-almighty himself, you can't make chicken salad out of chicken crap.

[Rabbit151]

The Sabres losing tradition is only a recent phenomenon. Up until a few years ago, believe it or not, the Sabres were one of the top teams for regular season winning percentage since they came into the league.

 

I was watching a re-run of the 92 play-offs, they had Lafontaine, Mogilny, Hawerchuk, Andreychuk to name a few. They had the ability to attract winners. Then came the new CBA, and the NHL turned into a joke with it's spending and the Sabres were left behind.

 

It's nice on one hand that we have a diligent, cautious GM. On the other hand, it would be nice to stop this new, developing reputation as a loser franchise by getting active in the Free-Agent market and bringing in some players.

 

In this new NHL climate, as some of you pointed out, it's important that players feel they have a chance to win. Buffalo management has not only sent the message that they are not willing to compete on the highest level, to their fans. They have also sent that message to the players around the league.

[gregkash]

This is my first post but I've been a fan my whole life.

 

Let's face it, the Sabres are a complacent franchise.. we freaked out when Joe Juneau was brought in for the playoff run cuz that was a big deal to us. Lately our franchise has been pretty much the same core.. maybe one mediocre person brought in at the trade deadline.

 

And sure this young group of people with lots of potential might have a magical season like '97 or '00 but really, they don't have the skills to compete for any real shot at the cup. Darcy needs to do something.. ANYTHING that can bring a new face.. something refreshing to this franchise.

 

We don't have an identity... at all.. what are we? a Power team? A Tough team? A finesse team? We're barely a team.

 

I'm not saying let's go out and spend 7.4M on a guy for 5 years. But we need something to rally around. And that needs to be this year, so Darcy better have a plan. We have excellent trade material in young prospects and 3 starting Caliber goalies.. let's use it instead of sending one down to Rochester to keep warm.

[Allan in MD]

This is my first post but I've been a fan my whole life.

 

Let's face it, the Sabres are a complacent franchise.. we freaked out when Joe Juneau was brought in for the playoff run cuz that was a big deal to us. Lately our franchise has been pretty much the same core.. maybe one mediocre person brought in at the trade deadline.

 

And sure this young group of people with lots of potential might have a magical season like '97 or '00 but really, they don't have the skills to compete for any real shot at the cup. Darcy needs to do something.. ANYTHING that can bring a new face.. something refreshing to this franchise.

 

We don't have an identity... at all.. what are we? a Power team? A Tough team? A finesse team? We're barely a team.

 

I'm not saying let's go out and spend 7.4M on a guy for 5 years. But we need something to rally around. And that needs to be this year, so Darcy better have a plan. We have excellent trade material in young prospects and 3 starting Caliber goalies.. let's use it instead of sending one down to Rochester to keep warm.

We should move a goalie. But there is, obviously, a real problem here. I'd love to see Biron at the Exit sign. However, I'm not certain you can get much for him. His history is there for all to see. So you'll likely do better moving Mika or Miller. But how do you make that call, at this point in time, without risking a major mistake.

 

How do you handle this when you really need to do something sooner rather than letter, when the iron may have cooled on Mika and/or Miller? And of course, we are talking about the Sabres, where the word "lucky" is a foreign concept.

[gregkash]

We should move a goalie.  But there is, obviously, a real problem here.  I'd love to see Biron at the Exit sign.  However, I'm not certain you can get much for him.  His history is there for all to see.  So you'll likely do better moving Mika or Miller.  But how do you make that call, at this point in time, without risking a major mistake.

 

How do you handle this when you really need to do something sooner rather than letter, when the iron may have cooled on Mika and/or Miller?  And of course, we are talking about the Sabres, where the word "lucky" is a foreign concept.

All I know is Tampa is out a goalie and loads of talent I would like.

 

Same with Colorado

 

Same with LA

 

a lot of teams actually

 

and to answer your question i'd move Biron... but if not him then Noronen.