Pirates cancel preseason game

[wildcat48]

Yet another preseason game cancel by the Pirates

Published on: 29th September, 2010 by Chris Roy

 

For the second time in less than a month, the Portland Pirates have been forced to cancel a “potential” preseason game this season.

 

The Pirates announced today that they’ve canceled their only home preseason game, which was to be held at Portland Ice Arena on Saturday, against the Manchester Monarchs.

 

The reason is due to a lack of players who will be in Portland in time for the game as the Buffalo Sabres, Portland’s NHL parent club, is taking extended looks at several players in camp.

 

Link>>>>

[R_Dudley]

Yet another preseason game cancel by the Pirates

Published on: 29th September, 2010 by Chris Roy

 

 

 

Link>>>>

 

Wow that sux for pirate fans. I read a few comments from the faithful and it sounds like some folks there are not happy with the Sabres affiliation and it appears due to the same GM some of us Sabres faithful are also a bit frustrated by. Sorry indictment of his approach to things across organizations and team workings. :thumbdown:

[wonderbread]

Not to sound harsh but they need to suck it up. Portland signed the affiliation agreement. Buffalo stocks them with good AHL'ers. And Duds not really an indictment on Darcy his primary goal is to have his team ready and figure out who needs to go where. They should look at it as their players getting NHL experience.

[bunomatic]

I agree with wonderbread on this one. Darcys got to do whats best for the sabres. Thats all that matters to me and as much as I feel for pirates fans they've got to realize that the teams going to be pretty stocked this year because of the picks the parent club has made over the past few years at the draft table.

[nobody]

You would think the Pirates organization would know by now not to set up the home game so early. Save it for the end.

[deluca67]

You would think the Pirates organization would know by now not to set up the home game so early. Save it for the end.

Do players have to be officially "assigned" to Portland before they can play? Seems like a good chance to get some younger players time before sending them back to junior.

[deluca67]

Not to sound harsh but they need to suck it up. Portland signed the affiliation agreement. Buffalo stocks them with good AHL'ers. And Duds not really an indictment on Darcy his primary goal is to have his team ready and figure out who needs to go where. They should look at it as their players getting NHL experience.

If that is the case I hope the Sabres man-up and reimburse Portland for the lost revenue. I sure they will find it hard to even schedule preseason games next year. This is yet another embarrassment for Regier.

[korab rules]

This is such typical Darcy. Damn everyone else in the world, he's going to take his sweet time and do it his way. I'll bet the owners of the Portland team who just lost thousands of dollars in revenue waiting for Darcy to make up his freaking mind know how briere and drury felt.

[deluca67]

You would think the Pirates organization would know by now not to set up the home game so early. Save it for the end.

You would think that the Pirates and Sabres would both be involved in the scheduling? Regier has plenty of downtime in off-season so it shouldn't be a problem.

[billsrcursed]

If that is the case I hope the Sabres man-up and reimburse Portland for the lost revenue. I sure they will find it hard to even schedule preseason games next year. This is yet another embarrassment for Regier.

Not really. This isn't something that's unique to Buffalo/Portland.

 

We have these conversations every year about Portland fans being upset because their players are called up to the "bigs". This is no different. The affiliation is a two-way street; they get better players, and the Sabres own them.

 

Their anger should be geared toward whoever scheduled these games, not the Sabres.

[deluca67]

Not really. This isn't something that's unique to Buffalo/Portland.

 

We have these conversations every year about Portland fans being upset because their players are called up to the "bigs". This is no different. The affiliation is a two-way street; they get better players, and the Sabres own them.

Their anger should be geared toward whoever scheduled these games, not the Sabres.

That is such a typical Regier cop-out. Regier is the General Manager, what happens in Portland should fall under his list of responsibilities. Well, so are trades and free agency and we all know how he ignores those.

[Sterling Archer]

Yeah. This seems like a bit of unnecessary whining. Didn't they win the Calder Cup year before last with the talent Buffalo provided? It seems kind of petty to cry about a preseason game in the AHL. I mean when they are winning, you don't here anything but this brings on a reaction.

[korab rules]

Didn't they win the Calder Cup year before last with the talent Buffalo provided?

Ummmmm, no.

[Sterling Archer]

Ummmmm, no.

 

 

Yeah. I just realized that. I'm now trying to establish how that became common knowledge in my head.

[billsrcursed]

That is such a typical Regier cop-out. Regier is the General Manager, what happens in Portland should fall under his list of responsibilities. Well, so are trades and free agency and we all know how he ignores those.

 

Is Regier somehow involved in the Pirates' pre-season scheduling?

 

Serious question.

[deluca67]

Is Regier somehow involved in the Pirates' pre-season scheduling?

 

Serious question.

Is he not responsible for filling their roster? How can he not be involved in the schedule? To answer my own question I will look to the rest of the off-season.

[eball]

Seriously? Whining about not playing a preseason game? Let's not forget what's important here -- the NHL franchise. Portland is fortunate to have a minor league team, and with that comes a good bit of uncertainty about the roster. It does seem as though the level of communication could have been better, though.

[shrader]

Do players have to be officially "assigned" to Portland before they can play? Seems like a good chance to get some younger players time before sending them back to junior.

 

None of those junior players can go anywhere near the AHL until they're old enough.

[nobody]

None of those junior players can go anywhere near the AHL until they're old enough.

 

 

Aren't there cases where NHL teams have split squads and play multiple games in one night? Maybe there used to be if there isn't anymore? Then you could have all of the JR players and others who will be sent to the AHL play games in Portland.

[Derrico]

If that is the case I hope the Sabres man-up and reimburse Portland for the lost revenue. I sure they will find it hard to even schedule preseason games next year. This is yet another embarrassment for Regier.

 

Hahahha, your negativity towards management used to irk (is that even a word?) me a bit but now I just find it funny. You're grasping at straws if you're taking shots at Darcy because he's still evaluating players that might make the SABRES. I feel bad for Portland fans to an extent but Darcy's job is to put the best team on the ice in Buffalo. If he's taking his time on evaluating these guys then so be it. Saying that, I was confused why they scheduled all of the Sabres preseason games so late (the leafs had played four before our first one). Either way, there's no way that this is embarrassing for Darcy.

[cpabob]

As always, there is more to the story.

 

Sounds like the Pirates could have fielded a squad but chose not to for monetary (or maybe competitive) considerations.

[BetweenThePipes00]

Vogl sheds a little light here ... http://blogs.buffalonews.com/sabres/2010/09/sabres-not-to-blame-for-pirates-cancellation.html ...

While it certainly would have been nice for Portland to have more of their "regulars," they have to take some blame if they do not want to fill out the roster. Its' no different than when the Bisons used to sign a veteran or two in addition to whatever prospects the Indians gave them to make sure they would be competitive. the parent club's priority has to always be the parent club. The Sabres are already paying most, if not all, of their players for the regular season. If the farm club wants to make some money on a preseason game, it should be willing to fill in the gaps if necessary. As for the fans who missed a preseason game ... well ... the Pirates were middle of the pack in attandance last season in the AHL and drew below the league average. I am sure they can get a ticket to a real game soon.

[shrader]

It's interesting to see Schiestel getting an extended look in the preseason. I wouldn't have expected that for him.

[Eleven]

Hahahha, your negativity towards management used to irk (is that even a word?) me a bit but now I just find it funny. You're grasping at straws if you're taking shots at Darcy because he's still evaluating players that might make the SABRES. I feel bad for Portland fans to an extent but Darcy's job is to put the best team on the ice in Buffalo. If he's taking his time on evaluating these guys then so be it. Saying that, I was confused why they scheduled all of the Sabres preseason games so late (the leafs had played four before our first one). Either way, there's no way that this is embarrassing for Darcy.

 

At least this time, the hostility towards Regier (I understand the sentiments, but feel that they are more properly directed at Quinn) might have some basis in fact: I believe that Regier is also the GM of the Pirates, meaning that his job also is to put a team on the ice there.

[shrader]

At least this time, the hostility towards Regier (I understand the sentiments, but feel that they are more properly directed at Quinn) might have some basis in fact: I believe that Regier is also the GM of the Pirates, meaning that his job also is to put a team on the ice there.

 

Wildcat will have to correct me if I'm wrong, but Regier's only control over that roster involves players on NHL contracts. Over the last two years, any time Portland was trying to find a couple ECHL guys, I remember those Maine Hockey Journal stories mentioning that Dineen was the guy looking over those players.