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[deluca67]

Maybe it's Miller who is waiting because he knows this will get him more money. I'm not being an apologist, but everyone plays the money game, not jost our FO.

I agree, it's because Miller knows the Sabres will sit back do nothing and let other teams and goalies inflate the marketplace. It's almost as if the Sabres want the market place to get so high they have an excuse not to sign Miller.

[apuszczalowski]

It's the same F**king thing. Why the hell do wait till July 1st to even start negotiations. The Sabres ran the risk of having the price of goaltending go up which it did. Regier has to learn you can't continue to let other teams negotiate the price of your players. It going to cost this team Miller and maybe even Pominville who both at this time should already have contracts. I have no faith that the Sabres will be able to get either one done let alone both.

According to the FO, I believe its because they want to play by the rules, or atleast the way they interpret the rules

[FGD59]

No I think it comes back to the same crushing answer: Galisano has given Darcy a budget and that budget does is not enough to make the moves this team needs; so they remain in purgatory. Compounding this is their apparent inability to read the market. The talent drain they experienced the last 2 years left them no choice but to overspead wisely for Orpik. Instead we get a guy, Lalime, who is likely to be little improvement over Tebaut (sp?).

 

I was surprised so many people focused on the lack of effort as last year's great failing. Yeah they could have worked harder, but that would have not done much to correct Miller's letting what seemed like 1 softie a game. No this team simply doesn't have the talent and size to do much better. How many times last year did the other team turn a game in their favor by taking the body and Buffalo was unable to respond? How many times was Buffalo able to get physical to turn a game around or win a 1 goal game?

 

Other teams go into the corners or the slot knowing they only have to focus on the play, because Buffalo lacks the size and hitting ability to make them pay the price. It looked to me that is why our defensemen were so injured and beat up. They tried to be physical and wore themseleves out or simply got pounded and so our puck possession just fell apart.

 

The Power Play and Shootouts? It looked to me that the guys who florished and created match up problems as 3RD and 4TH line players don't have the juice to be 1ST and 2ND liners.

 

With no meaningful free agent signing trades are the only thing left and what do they have? Not enough on their active roster to get real talent and a team that depends so much on the draft prospects and draft choices trades those at its peril.

 

So before someone tells me to find another team. Slams me for being negative. Asks me who I would have signed, Marshal some facts instead, make an argument why any optimiasm is warrented? The only things I can think of are the

signings of Gerbe, Kennedy et al and having an AHL team to ourselves. Those are good things, but they do nothing to help the 08-09 squad raise its talent level, because unless the youngest guys take a quantum leap age wieghs too heavily on Lyndamen and Talinder and rest of the D.

[R_Dudley]

Nice analogy...the country's economic woes built on shady subprime lending and a slumping dollar is completely comparable to a closed hybrid capitalist-socialist economic system where teams are required to spend X dollars but cannot exceed Y dollars. :thumbdown:

 

........ Is signing a Brooks Orpik to a $4M contract going to destroy this team's finances? Is picking up a UFA center at $4-5M per going to push us back into bankruptcy? No and no.

 

Not many rational people are asking the Sabres to spend like drunken socialites with their hubby's platinum card (or like the Rags.) Most just want to see some semblance of an attempt to improve this team. And it's real tough to see that when guys that would help the team sign reasonable contracts elsewhere while our GM sits on the sidelines whining about the marketplace.

 

Before the anti-negativity police come in and jump all over my post - I know, it's only July 3. I know we're planning on throwing away assets in trades to make the team better. It's just frustrating as hell to watch us be non-players in FA for the second straight season, especially coming off a non-playoff year.

 

Bingo nicely said and Deluca and FGD59 also make real valid points.

 

Guess thats' why we have this board to vent our frustration. I hope the thought police don't crush that because since we cannot really change what the FO is doing our only alternatives are to;

 

Vent , pick another team or switch to a differnt sport.... TENNIS anyone :blink:

[Bmwolf21]

Bingo nicely said and Deluca and FGD59 also make real valid points.

 

Guess thats' why we have this board to vent our frustration. I hope the thought police don't crush that because since we cannot really change what the FO is doing our only alternatives are to;

 

Vent , pick another team or switch to a differnt sport.... TENNIS anyone :blink:

I don't want to come off as a constant FO basher, nor as a whiner or petulant child who wants his way NOW NOW NOW. I just find it frustrating as hell to watch other teams get aggressive, make moves to free cap space and then go after the guys they want, etc., while we talk about "working the phones" and walk away with nothing to show for it.

 

Personally, what I wanted to see was a scaled-down version of what Tampa did - not so much in the moves they made, but that they decided as an organization that last year was unacceptable and they were going to do something to get their team back on track ASAP, not sitting around waiting for the market to play out and see what's left.

 

I don't know, maybe I'm dead wrong and Darcy is going to shock the hell out of me sometime next month with a huge deal that puts us back in the playoff hunt, but right now it looks like more of the same from last year and I'm scared to death we're going to take essentially the same non-PO qualifying roster into next season.

[apuszczalowski]

I don't want to come off as a constant FO basher, nor as a whiner or petulant child who wants his way NOW NOW NOW. I just find it frustrating as hell to watch other teams get aggressive, make moves to free cap space and then go after the guys they want, etc., while we talk about "working the phones" and walk away with nothing to show for it.

 

Personally, what I wanted to see was a scaled-down version of what Tampa did - not so much in the moves they made, but that they decided as an organization that last year was unacceptable and they were going to do something to get their team back on track ASAP, not sitting around waiting for the market to play out and see what's left.

 

I don't know, maybe I'm dead wrong and Darcy is going to shock the hell out of me sometime next month with a huge deal that puts us back in the playoff hunt, but right now it looks like more of the same from last year and I'm scared to death we're going to take essentially the same non-PO qualifying roster into next season.

Obviously you didn't hear about how he has has prelimenary discussions with Jason Smith. SC here they come!

[djwilli3]

According to the FO, I believe its because they want to play by the rules, or atleast the way they interpret the rules

 

Clearly, either they are reading them wrong, or everyone else in the league is reading them wrong. I'm going to put this one on our front office. The fact is, this "strategy" cost us Briere and Drury last off season and if they aren't going to be any smarter than that next year, Miller will be in Detroit and Pominville will be gone too. This FO has managed in just over a year to take us from the best team in the league point wise and a SC contender to a middle of the pack lucky to make the playoffs team. They don't seem to be doing anything to prevent that from happening or getting worse again this year. They haven't brought in any new talent or leadership. They've let Bernier go for next to nothing. They don't even tender an offer to a solid D-man in the FA period and now we know that they are slacking on negotiating with Miller and Pominville. You'll hear the same excuse next year when those two are gone. "Well, they just wanted too much money and we couldn't afford to keep them." Same Sh-t different day.

[apuszczalowski]

Clearly, either they are reading them wrong, or everyone else in the league is reading them wrong. I'm going to put this one on our front office. The fact is, this "strategy" cost us Briere and Drury last off season and if they aren't going to be any smarter than that next year, Miller will be in Detroit and Pominville will be gone too. This FO has managed in just over a year to take us from the best team in the league point wise and a SC contender to a middle of the pack lucky to make the playoffs team. They don't seem to be doing anything to prevent that from happening or getting worse again this year. They haven't brought in any new talent or leadership. They've let Bernier go for next to nothing. They don't even tender an offer to a solid D-man in the FA period and now we know that they are slacking on negotiating with Miller and Pominville. You'll hear the same excuse next year when those two are gone. "Well, they just wanted too much money and we couldn't afford to keep them." Same Sh-t different day.

Buddy, your preaching to the choir, I have been one of the biggest critics here of the front office ask around, thats how I'm known here

 

I'm just not going to rant or complain, i just set my standards low so that when they do do something good or big, I'm pleasantly surprised.

 

As for the CBA, they way its been interpreted and obviously its correct since so many teams have done it and not been penalised for it, is that they can talk contract all they want, but nothing can be finalised and made official until after July 1st, the start of their final contract year. Darcy had said earlier that he was following the rules and wa going to start negotiations with JP and Miller after July 1st