Sabres ticket prices are going up!

[tom webster]

I doubt you seriously want to compare the Sabres roster to the Caps. The only thing the Sabres would have in their favor is goaltending.

 

 

Not at all. Just making a point at how fickle success in the playoffs can be. A bounce here or there changes the entire argument.

[Billfold100]

If you rip apart everybody, you are bound to be right eventually.

+1

[nfreeman]

I'm still hesitant to throw Campbell in that same group. Yes, he could have been had for much cheaper than he wound up signing for, but I'm not convinced it ever would have been worth it. If anything, the key mistake would probably be not finding someone to replace his role.

 

But yes, the massive overhaul is obviously not going to happen and it isn't really necessary. Moving one or two of those guys from the core could go a very long way towards this team's future. There is a lot of potential with this current batch of young guys. If they progress it is not nearly the end of the world that has been painted on this board.

I agree on your big-picture view. On Soupy, though, IMHO he was well worth keeping for the $5MM x 5 years he wanted. He's not Pronger or Chara, but he's still a terrific player. He was tied for 2nd in ice time this year for the best team in the NHL. He was also 2nd in scoring among their defensemen despite missing 14 games with injury. The Sabres' power play is dying for a guy like him. Letting him go was a complete CF -- especially because they ended up offering him the same contract he wanted just before the deadline -- when it was too late.

 

 

I know he pretty much already said this, but I haven't seen him rip anyone that didn't deserve it.

Briere.

 

-Anyway, there's obviously different types of potential we're talking about here. You have your top end guys like Myers and Miller (hate to call that potential, but it's definitely a positive from the team prospective).

-I don't know how you overlook the fact that Ennis may very well have been the best player over the course of this series. That's a lot from a 20 year old with essentially no NHL time under his belt.

-I'd like to think that Kennedy learned from his Recchi manhandling. If he did, he will be an asset to this team.

-People like to whine about them, but there is still plenty of hope from the Butler/Sekera combo. Sekera's time is limited, but Butler will just be entering his third season of professional hockey.

-You've always seemed to be pretty pro-Mike Weber. Who knows where that one goes, but we'll see.

-As shocking as it might seem, I'm willing to see what happens with Gerbe, though I still think his best values is as trade bait.

-The current glut of defensive prospects is a positive as well. Those will be valuable trading chips over the next two years.

-Vanek's still Vanek. It won't take much of a bounce back there to put up close to 40.

I agree on this list and would add Kaleta.

 

I think that's a really good point. They are also going to have to move some pieces if they want to have more success in the playoffs. They are built like the '05-'07 Sabres. They had the same in-season hype with the same post-season success (actually a little less due to the difference in goaltending).

Quite a bit less -- 1 series win as opposed to 4.

 

We haven't liked the results from the past three seasons. We are then told to be hopeful because there is a lot of potential in the pipeline. Yet that potential isn't really any better than every other team's potential and doesn't make us any better than them. How exactly is that not the same black hole we've been in.

 

The only thing that will make me care about the Sabres as much as I want to next season will be a monster deal for a center and a monster deal for a D man. In other words, blowing it up. Minor trades and "potential" just don't cut it for me anymore.

I too am getting good and tired of waiting for the potential to develop. They should've brought in an impact player from outside the organization last year and didn't do so. It sounds like they realize they need to do so this year -- we'll see. However, I don't agree that the potential in their system is the same as every other team's -- there are plenty of teams who are regarded as having a dearth of good prospects in their systems (e.g. the Rangers).

[Stoner]

we won the division

 

we won the division

 

we won the division

 

we won the division

 

we won the division

 

we won the division

 

we won the division

 

drunk yet?

 

I think so. You're beautiful.

[shrader]

I think so. You're beautiful.

 

I do not envy you the headache you will have when you awake. But for now, rest well and dream of large women.

[carpandean]

I do not envy you the headache you will have when you awake. But for now, rest well and dream of large women.

Inconceivable!

[billsrcursed]

a) and I should have responded to this from your first post, Deluca was hardly a one-man wrecking crew when it comes to Connolly, but whatever.

b) if you agree that they should blow up a team that won the division last year, there isn't much left to say.

 

Pertaining to b.), I think there's quite a gap between blowing up the roster (which I have NEVER said) and not being happy with the on-ice product.

 

I'm speaking in terms of going to the finals. If you feel we're only 1 or 2 guys away from achieving that, then great. But I disagree. It doesn't mean I want the whole thing blasted, just that I feel we need some "adjustments" made to our roster.

 

Personally, I'm more on the same level as DarkSabre, I'm finding it difficult rooting for some of these guys, that's all. I think we need some help with our top 6 and we need better D-men. If Butler and Sekera (who I'm a fan of, BTW) show improvements next year and we can improve our PP, then we're talking.

 

Like I said, I'm not doom and gloom, but fans have every right to be upset with some of these guys, from GM down to Lalime and most in between.

[deluca67]

Not at all. Just making a point at how fickle success in the playoffs can be. A bounce here or there changes the entire argument.

Are you Jeremy White?

 

The argument is different for every team. You can't relate a team like the Caps to the Sabres. The Caps are built with quality forwards and a decent blueline and little goaltending. The Sabres are the opposite, they have goaltending and not much of anything else. When Barry Melrose says the Caps "were not built for the playoffs" it doesn't mean every team that loses is not built for the playoffs as White tried to play it. The Pens had a solid playoff team and lost. The Sabres did not and lost. You can't break down their failures the same way. It's exactly what the Sabres try to do to excuses away their failings. Like when they said they are one of many teams that didn't land Kovi when the truth is they are one team that didn't even try.

[tom webster]

Are you Jeremy White?

 

The argument is different for every team. You can't relate a team like the Caps to the Sabres. The Caps are built with quality forwards and a decent blueline and little goaltending. The Sabres are the opposite, they have goaltending and not much of anything else. When Barry Melrose says the Caps "were not built for the playoffs" it doesn't mean every team that loses is not built for the playoffs as White tried to play it. The Pens had a solid playoff team and lost. The Sabres did not and lost. You can't break down their failures the same way. It's exactly what the Sabres try to do to excuses away their failings. Like when they said they are one of many teams that didn't land Kovi when the truth is they are one team that didn't even try.

 

 

Again, while I agree with some of your points, the point "not much else" is completely inaccurate. If you put Backstrom and Ovechkin on the Sabres, they would be as good as anyone. They have players that form a solid 3 through 12 forwards and while they may not have the physicality you like, the defense would be more then adequate if the margin for error wasn't quite so little.

The Sabres lost because they don't have that difference maker upfront. Not because they weren't tough enough, not because they didn't want it enough. If Torres hits the open net in game 2 they go up 3 to 0, win that series and who knows?

 

And by the way, I know most teams can say the same thing which is what makes it difficult to acquire those type of players. And I agree with you that there is little reason to believe that Darcy can find those players, but I do believe he will try this year.