Maybe The Media Is Changing

[Ghost of Dwight Drane]

Mike Schopp says he agrees with what Pegula said at the News.

 

:w00t::w00t::w00t::w00t::w00t::w00t::w00t::w00t::w00t:

 

Someone must really want to play tennis with Jessie Pegula.

 

And to think, the stains on the Blue Dress GR wore for OSP/LQ from '04-'09 are barely dry. ;)

[Stoner]

And to think, the stains on the Blue Dress GR wore for OSP/LQ from '04-'09 are barely dry. ;)

 

Wonder when GR's contract as flagship station runs out?

 

The tenor of their coverage of Pegula is that they are trying to get on his good side.

[LabattBlue]

Wonder when GR's contract as flagship station runs out?

 

The tenor of their coverage of Pegula is that they are trying to get on his good side.

Consider the source, but according to the wiki page linked below, the agreement runs out in 2012. I don't know if this means after the 11-12 season?

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WGR

[Ghost of Dwight Drane]

Wonder when GR's contract as flagship station runs out?

 

The tenor of their coverage of Pegula is that they are trying to get on his good side.

 

I still say 80% of Pegula is better than what we had......but that 20% may effect 90% of production.

 

 

Pound for pound, the Buffalo media has been much too soft on the Sabres. Much like any other media though, if you want to get down to the truth and intelligent discussion.....you have to go looking. Most of the public doesn't care or doesn't want to see what goes on in the kitchen. They just want their yummies!

[ROC Sabres]

I still say 80% of Pegula is better than what we had......but that 20% may effect 90% of production.

 

 

Pound for pound, the Buffalo media has been much too soft on the Sabres. Much like any other media though, if you want to get down to the truth and intelligent discussion.....you have to go looking. Most of the public doesn't care or doesn't want to see what goes on in the kitchen. They just want their yummies!

Is that like sex panther. 60% of the time it works all the time?

 

I get what you are saying it's just weird to read it that way.

[Ghost of Dwight Drane]

Is that like sex panther. 60% of the time it works all the time?

 

I get what you are saying it's just weird to read it that way.

 

Yeah...and I hate to say it.

 

Having a positive attitude is great, and his pockets can cure some of the ills of the franchise....but in reality he is leaving the actual product in the hands of the exact same people it has been. An extra $4 million to spend up to the cap just netted you Boyes....who by the looks of it was brought in to rekindle Connolly just enough to be able to justify signing him another 2 years for $6+ million. And sure he can hire more scouts...who will be under the vaunted leadership of Mr Regier. After that it's just a bunch of Disney feel-good stuff.

 

You can repaint and buy new appliances for your Amherst home....but if the foundation is sinking, it just makes you feel a little cozier as your equity goes down the tubes.

[nfreeman]

Yeah...and I hate to say it.

 

Having a positive attitude is great, and his pockets can cure some of the ills of the franchise....but in reality he is leaving the actual product in the hands of the exact same people it has been. An extra $4 million to spend up to the cap just netted you Boyes....who by the looks of it was brought in to rekindle Connolly just enough to be able to justify signing him another 2 years for $6+ million. And sure he can hire more scouts...who will be under the vaunted leadership of Mr Regier. After that it's just a bunch of Disney feel-good stuff.

 

You can repaint and buy new appliances for your Amherst home....but if the foundation is sinking, it just makes you feel a little cozier as your equity goes down the tubes.

 

"...of the exact same people it has been...and removing the constraints under which they previously were required to operate and the executive orders relating to personnel decisions that they were previously forced to carry out."

 

That's better.

 

Also, I assume you don't really think they brought in Boyes just to rekindle TC? Or that TC is really going to get an extension? FWIW, TC was asked on Monday whether the Sabres had discussed an extension with him and he said no.

[Ghost of Dwight Drane]

"...of the exact same people it has been...and removing the constraints under which they previously were required to operate and the executive orders relating to personnel decisions that they were previously forced to carry out."

 

That's better.

 

Also, I assume you don't really think they brought in Boyes just to rekindle TC? Or that TC is really going to get an extension? FWIW, TC was asked on Monday whether the Sabres had discussed an extension with him and he said no.

 

Yeah....they were $4 million under the cap. The added a $4 million player and let Rivet, who wasn't playing, go.

 

We've heard 35 times in the past few days from them that Boyes played with Connolly in juniors and the team is better with Connolly on it. So yes, there is a real chance they extend him.

[Realist]

Yeah....they were $4 million under the cap. The added a $4 million player and let Rivet, who wasn't playing, go.

 

We've heard 35 times in the past few days from them that Boyes played with Connolly in juniors and the team is better with Connolly on it. So yes, there is a real chance they extend him.

 

Do you realize how long ago they were in juniors together? I hardly think that matters anymore.

[Ghost of Dwight Drane]

Do you realize how long ago they were in juniors together? I hardly think that matters anymore.

 

Tell that to "He ain't goin nowhere" x2. It came out of their mouth.

[deluca67]

And you still love the Phil Kessle trade? Granted most of what I've seen of Boyes was his first years with Boston.

 

But you have a curious sense of valuation.

 

Boyes is a much better playmaker than Kessle. He can't skate like Kessle, but still, mjuch sounder defensively....a mid-second rounder is more than fair.

How old are each of the players?

[deluca67]

"...of the exact same people it has been...and removing the constraints under which they previously were required to operate and the executive orders relating to personnel decisions that they were previously forced to carry out."

 

That's better.

 

Also, I assume you don't really think they brought in Boyes just to rekindle TC? Or that TC is really going to get an extension? FWIW, TC was asked on Monday whether the Sabres had discussed an extension with him and he said no.

Bull$hit! How many general managers would love to have $56 million in constraints. The amount of money spent was never the problem. How it was mis managed by Regier is the problem. It's Pegula's money. I just wonder how many millions he will allow Regier to waste before he wakes up.

[hockeyhound]

What do you think Bucky meant by "change"? I have a feeling you're reading too much into it.

 

I'll promise you this. Bucky, Jerry and Mike Harrington aren't buying what Terry tried to sell at that meeting.

 

Bucky's article:

 

Anyone who cares or plays for this team needs to change their thinking. That goes for the media, too. Year after year, potential deals were disregarded based on the Sabres' history of accomplishing little or nothing. Pegula makes you believe anything is possible and every player is available. At the very least, there's a sense the Sabres are willing to give it a whirl.

 

 

I guess I took the article at face value.

 

It seemed to me to be a departure from the usual doom and gloom.

[Ghost of Dwight Drane]

Bull$hit! How many general managers would love to have $56 million in constraints. The amount of money spent was never the problem. How it was mis managed by Regier is the problem. It's Pegula's money. I just wonder how many millions he will allow Regier to waste before he wakes up.

 

Sadly....we will hear the same things from the same people. They can say that about us, but we've been right.

 

Remember Lindy before the season? In a matter of 8 weeks he went from..."This is a Stanley Cup Team!"..to.."This is a Playoff Team!"..to..."I never said this was a playoff team!".

 

If they somehow slip into the playoffs...it will be a moral victory and nearly everyone will feel satisfied.

 

I wanted Genghis Khan from Pegula......we got Chaka Khan......

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_muorzMQ7xA&feature=related

[hockeyhound]

i hafta say, when i read that particular part of the column, i thought to myself: what business does a journalist (columnist, whatever) have lumping himself and his colleagues in with those who care or play for this team? it struck me as deeply misguided, and a complete cave to the new owner's silly finger-wagging.

 

what i had thought gleason (or someone at the news) would write is something to this effect: mr. pegula admonished the media for being overly negative and contributing to the 'quit' that many have perceived in this team of late. while everyone who follows this team, whether as a fan or a writer, would do well to take a proverbial look in the mirror and ask whether they're being irrationally negative about the team, my message to mr. pegula is simple: provide the fans with a team that they can embrace and be proud of and everything else -- including the tone of the media's coverage -- will take care of itself.

 

 

I would have to agree with you in that it was a risky move to admonish the media; however, if the shoe fits then wear it.

 

As members of the media they have sharp swords that they are all to willing to cut people with.

 

A little criticisim occasionally keeps us grounded.

 

It just seems like they can dish it out but they can't take it.

[deluca67]

Sadly....we will hear the same things from the same people. They can say that about us, but we've been right.

 

Remember Lindy before the season? In a matter of 8 weeks he went from..."This is a Stanley Cup Team!"..to.."This is a Playoff Team!"..to..."I never said this was a playoff team!".

 

If they somehow slip into the playoffs...it will be a moral victory and nearly everyone will feel satisfied.

 

I wanted Genghis Khan from Pegula......we got Chaka Khan......

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_muorzMQ7xA&feature=related

It seems like "constraints" is the new buzz word. Like "team toughness" and "compete." No GM under "constraints" would be allowed to sign players like Connolly, Pominville, Gaustad and Hecht to the contracts they have.

 

If anything, this GM needed to be under greater "constraints."

[hockeyhound]

My guess is you are somehow related to the Sabres organization. Let me clue y ou in... the media will never change... oh maybe you can brow beat them for a little while to buy some time now that there is new ownership.

 

But if the organization doesn't make good decisions a la Darcy's ineptitude during past and this TD then the media revert to being negative very quickly. I worked in the political arena for far to long not to understand this and it is not much different in sports. The media follows, it does not lead. So the turn around the coverage to a more positive, it has to be from within... the team has to perform. Then the media will blow as much smoke up the Sabres backside as you can handle.

 

From an organization standpoint the focus needs to be not on the media but on correcting the ills of the team. I will give DR a little benefit of the doubt only because this is the first time he has had the handcuffs off and I am not sure he knows what to do with that fact. That being said his history indicates that even when he has had some flexibility at the TD he hasn't lived up the options. So I remain very skeptical.

 

Boyes was a nice add, but the dead weight remains for this season. We shall see over the summer what really happens with what the new ownership can do with this team. Go Sabres... I hope but until shown, that and a roof over my head is all I have right now.

 

I never really intended for the thread to be all that intense.

 

I think I was taken back by the tone of Bucky's article. I guess it seemed to be different then what I was used to seeing.

 

I also saw a recent video clip were Bucky is being interviewed. That was a first for me also.

 

I'm not related to the organization; however, my father spent 30+ years at the Buffalo News.

[nfreeman]

Yeah....they were $4 million under the cap. The added a $4 million player and let Rivet, who wasn't playing, go.

 

We've heard 35 times in the past few days from them that Boyes played with Connolly in juniors and the team is better with Connolly on it. So yes, there is a real chance they extend him.

Well, they let a $3.5MM player go in Rivet but they are paying half his salary -- so they unloaded a prorated $1.75MM salary and picked up a prorated $4.5MM salary ($4MM cap hit; $4.5MM actual cash) as well as a $4MM commitment for next season. You may or may not like the player, but that is a materially bigger commitment than TG would have made. That's just the truth.

 

Bull$hit! How many general managers would love to have $56 million in constraints. The amount of money spent was never the problem. How it was mis managed by Regier is the problem. It's Pegula's money. I just wonder how many millions he will allow Regier to waste before he wakes up.

Except that neither you nor I nor anyone else here knows whether it was DR who did the mismanaging. It's quite plausible to me that many or all of the directives to let Drury, Briere, Dumont and Soupy (and Kennedy for that matter) go, and to extend Max, Kotalik, TC, Pommer and Hecht came from TG and LQ. Again, we don't know, and no amount of repeating that it was DR will change that fact.

 

TP is in a much better position than we are to know exactly what was DR's call and what wasn't, and I would expect that he asked those questions. He's a smart and very successful guy who went through a lengthy due diligence process, analyzed the situation with two other experienced NHL executives, and made a decision. You don't agree with it, and that is fine (and not unreasonable either), but you might at least consider the possibility that TP has information that you don't.

 

Sadly....we will hear the same things from the same people. They can say that about us, but we've been right.

Yes, you've been right about some things, and you've been wrong too -- just like DeLuca, and me, and most of the other posters here.

 

It seems like "constraints" is the new buzz word. Like "team toughness" and "compete." No GM under "constraints" would be allowed to sign players like Connolly, Pominville, Gaustad and Hecht to the contracts they have.

 

If anything, this GM needed to be under greater "constraints."

So...other teams don't have contracts they regret? Your man Burke has fairly well crapped the bed in Toronto, innit?

[deluca67]

Well, they let a $3.5MM player go in Rivet but they are paying half his salary -- so they unloaded a prorated $1.75MM salary and picked up a prorated $4.5MM salary ($4MM cap hit; $4.5MM actual cash) as well as a $4MM commitment for next season. You may or may not like the player, but that is a materially bigger commitment than TG would have made. That's just the truth.

 

 

Except that neither you nor I nor anyone else here knows whether it was DR who did the mismanaging. It's quite plausible to me that many or all of the directives to let Drury, Briere, Dumont and Soupy (and Kennedy for that matter) go, and to extend Max, Kotalik, TC, Pommer and Hecht came from TG and LQ. Again, we don't know, and no amount of repeating that it was DR will change that fact.

 

TP is in a much better position than we are to know exactly what was DR's call and what wasn't, and I would expect that he asked those questions. He's a smart and very successful guy who went through a lengthy due diligence process, analyzed the situation with two other experienced NHL executives, and made a decision. You don't agree with it, and that is fine (and not unreasonable either), but you might at least consider the possibility that TP has information that you don't.

 

 

Yes, you've been right about some things, and you've been wrong too -- just like DeLuca, and me, and most of the other posters here.

 

 

So...other teams don't have contracts they regret? Your man Burke has fairly well crapped the bed in Toronto, innit?

I always get a laugh when the defense of Regier is that he wasn't a "bad" GM it is that isn't A GM at all.

 

Burke? Crapped the bed? That is too funny.

[Ghost of Dwight Drane]

Well, they let a $3.5MM player go in Rivet but they are paying half his salary -- so they unloaded a prorated $1.75MM salary and picked up a prorated $4.5MM salary ($4MM cap hit; $4.5MM actual cash) as well as a $4MM commitment for next season. You may or may not like the player, but that is a materially bigger commitment than TG would have made. That's just the truth.

 

 

Except that neither you nor I nor anyone else here knows whether it was DR who did the mismanaging. It's quite plausible to me that many or all of the directives to let Drury, Briere, Dumont and Soupy (and Kennedy for that matter) go, and to extend Max, Kotalik, TC, Pommer and Hecht came from TG and LQ. Again, we don't know, and no amount of repeating that it was DR will change that fact.

 

TP is in a much better position than we are to know exactly what was DR's call and what wasn't, and I would expect that he asked those questions. He's a smart and very successful guy who went through a lengthy due diligence process, analyzed the situation with two other experienced NHL executives, and made a decision. You don't agree with it, and that is fine (and not unreasonable either), but you might at least consider the possibility that TP has information that you don't.

 

 

Yes, you've been right about some things, and you've been wrong too -- just like DeLuca, and me, and most of the other posters here.

 

 

So...other teams don't have contracts they regret? Your man Burke has fairly well crapped the bed in Toronto, innit?

 

Point 1: Rivet was going to be paid $850K to sit in the pressbox. Now the Sabres pay him $425k to sit in Columbus' pressbox. Boyes is $1M and change this year so really it is a cash outlay of Net+600K at the trade deadline. Yet we had trumpets a blarin' telling us this is a giant new era. Sure Boyes is signed for next year, but we are also off the hook for just that on Connolly if they so choose. The deal itself I am fine with in terms of value. Of all the years though to "take a stab at it", this may have been the wrong year given the price teams would have been willing to pay for our pending free agents. You probably could have shipped out Stafford, Connolly, Montador and Grier and collected enough picks to send to Edmonton for Penner AND Hemsky.

 

Point 2: We've been through this before. At best, Darcy was the faceman for Quinn and Golisano, and fed the ticket buying public BS for over a decade. Did you see the US hand over Iraq to Baghdad Bob? I mean, he was just giving us the company line and wasn't responsible for what Saddam told him to do. I don't respect Regier. Either he is a poor decision maker, or someone with low self confidence when it comes to taking a risk. Probably both. I don't want that in my GM.

 

Point 3: From what I've heard so far from Pegula, it sounds like he got the dog+pony show from Gilbert, Darcy, DiPofi et al., and bought it hook line and sinker. Bank accounts don't impress me much. Character does, and i believe Pegula has it, so that is a step up. However I've met many a person with padded checkbooks that for one reason or another, can't translate that to making logical life decisions.

 

Point 4: You are correct. We're all right and wrong about things. You at least will talk points out even if you don't agree with all aspects and that is a good quality. In fact, you are more likely to concede a point than I am, so I give you credit. When it comes to DR/LR....it is a perpetual dance of ineptness. You can make excuses for them year after year until they win it. The people that have wanted them gone are left counting those years as another wasted, one after another. Patience keeps you placated while frustration builds on our part. That more than anything is the divide we sometimes see here on the board. If somehow Darcy and Lindy can win the Cup in Buffalo....I will be the first person to send Darcy a personal appology for every snarky, cynical thing I have ever said. I will shake his hand and bring him a batch of cookies...one for Ted Black as well....and thank him for his service to the community.

 

If it were up to me Michael Grosek and Trent Edwards were potential hall of famers.....so yes, I can miss with the best of them.

[Marvelo]

Sounds like the shivering media jackals are in awe of the new "Dog Whisperer"...Before with sugar packets, they had a fat and lazy owner who never walked them and let them run the house with their nasty ways. but now the new sheriff has laid down the laws and it looks like thye're falling right in line and becoming part of the pack. How heartwarming.

[Ghost of Dwight Drane]

Sounds like the shivering media jackals are in awe of the new "Dog Whisperer"...Before with sugar packets, they had a fat and lazy owner who never walked them and let them run the house with their nasty ways. but now the new sheriff has laid down the laws and it looks like thye're falling right in line and becoming part of the pack. How heartwarming.

 

 

That's a great idea for a new thread. What type of dog would (X Media Member) be?

[nfreeman]

I always get a laugh when the defense of Regier is that he wasn't a "bad" GM it is that isn't A GM at all.

 

Burke? Crapped the bed? That is too funny.

I'm glad you're having a few laughs. Let me know when you take a job that doesn't require you to take orders from anyone.

 

As for Burke, leaving aside for the moment that you are the only hockey fan in North America who doesn't think he crapped the bed on the Kessel trade, let me know when he actually improves the Leafs instead of just talking about it.

 

Point 1: Rivet was going to be paid $850K to sit in the pressbox. Now the Sabres pay him $425k to sit in Columbus' pressbox. Boyes is $1M and change this year so really it is a cash outlay of Net+600K at the trade deadline. Yet we had trumpets a blarin' telling us this is a giant new era. Sure Boyes is signed for next year, but we are also off the hook for just that on Connolly if they so choose. The deal itself I am fine with in terms of value. Of all the years though to "take a stab at it", this may have been the wrong year given the price teams would have been willing to pay for our pending free agents. You probably could have shipped out Stafford, Connolly, Montador and Grier and collected enough picks to send to Edmonton for Penner AND Hemsky.

 

Point 2: We've been through this before. At best, Darcy was the faceman for Quinn and Golisano, and fed the ticket buying public BS for over a decade. Did you see the US hand over Iraq to Baghdad Bob? I mean, he was just giving us the company line and wasn't responsible for what Saddam told him to do. I don't respect Regier. Either he is a poor decision maker, or someone with low self confidence when it comes to taking a risk. Probably both. I don't want that in my GM.

 

Point 3: From what I've heard so far from Pegula, it sounds like he got the dog+pony show from Gilbert, Darcy, DiPofi et al., and bought it hook line and sinker. Bank accounts don't impress me much. Character does, and i believe Pegula has it, so that is a step up. However I've met many a person with padded checkbooks that for one reason or another, can't translate that to making logical life decisions.

 

Point 4: You are correct. We're all right and wrong about things. You at least will talk points out even if you don't agree with all aspects and that is a good quality. In fact, you are more likely to concede a point than I am, so I give you credit. When it comes to DR/LR....it is a perpetual dance of ineptness. You can make excuses for them year after year until they win it. The people that have wanted them gone are left counting those years as another wasted, one after another. Patience keeps you placated while frustration builds on our part. That more than anything is the divide we sometimes see here on the board. If somehow Darcy and Lindy can win the Cup in Buffalo....I will be the first person to send Darcy a personal appology for every snarky, cynical thing I have ever said. I will shake his hand and bring him a batch of cookies...one for Ted Black as well....and thank him for his service to the community.

 

If it were up to me Michael Grosek and Trent Edwards were potential hall of famers.....so yes, I can miss with the best of them.

Well said. Perhaps the next 6 months will convince one of us to modify our views on DR/LR.

[Stoner]

 

As for Burke, leaving aside for the moment that you are the only hockey fan in North America who doesn't think he crapped the bed on the Kessel trade, let me know when he actually improves the Leafs instead of just talking about it.

 

 

The Leafs, who are two points behind the Sabres?

[tom webster]

Point 1: Rivet was going to be paid $850K to sit in the pressbox. Now the Sabres pay him $425k to sit in Columbus' pressbox. Boyes is $1M and change this year so really it is a cash outlay of Net+600K at the trade deadline. Yet we had trumpets a blarin' telling us this is a giant new era. Sure Boyes is signed for next year, but we are also off the hook for just that on Connolly if they so choose. The deal itself I am fine with in terms of value. Of all the years though to "take a stab at it", this may have been the wrong year given the price teams would have been willing to pay for our pending free agents. You probably could have shipped out Stafford, Connolly, Montador and Grier and collected enough picks to send to Edmonton for Penner AND Hemsky.Point 2: We've been through this before. At best, Darcy was the faceman for Quinn and Golisano, and fed the ticket buying public BS for over a decade. Did you see the US hand over Iraq to Baghdad Bob? I mean, he was just giving us the company line and wasn't responsible for what Saddam told him to do. I don't respect Regier. Either he is a poor decision maker, or someone with low self confidence when it comes to taking a risk. Probably both. I don't want that in my GM.

 

Point 3: From what I've heard so far from Pegula, it sounds like he got the dog+pony show from Gilbert, Darcy, DiPofi et al., and bought it hook line and sinker. Bank accounts don't impress me much. Character does, and i believe Pegula has it, so that is a step up. However I've met many a person with padded checkbooks that for one reason or another, can't translate that to making logical life decisions.

 

Point 4: You are correct. We're all right and wrong about things. You at least will talk points out even if you don't agree with all aspects and that is a good quality. In fact, you are more likely to concede a point than I am, so I give you credit. When it comes to DR/LR....it is a perpetual dance of ineptness. You can make excuses for them year after year until they win it. The people that have wanted them gone are left counting those years as another wasted, one after another. Patience keeps you placated while frustration builds on our part. That more than anything is the divide we sometimes see here on the board. If somehow Darcy and Lindy can win the Cup in Buffalo....I will be the first person to send Darcy a personal appology for every snarky, cynical thing I have ever said. I will shake his hand and bring him a batch of cookies...one for Ted Black as well....and thank him for his service to the community.

 

If it were up to me Michael Grosek and Trent Edwards were potential hall of famers.....so yes, I can miss with the best of them.

 

 

While I don't completely disagree with the rest, that line is garbage. LA gave up what amounts to two #1 draft choices and a conditional 3rd for Penner alone.