NHL 2012 Playoffs Thread

[TrueBlueGED]

LA was the highest scoring team in the league post deadline. They were a middle of the road team that made the right moves to put them among the top teams. They are most definitely not the same team they were for the first 2/3's of the season.

 

I believe they were even the 3rd seed at one point in the final week of the season. Sure they ended up 8, but it's not like #8 was all they ever had a shot at.

 

 

You had 2 teams in Philly and LA that were loaded with skill and size.....LA had a little more size/skill ratio though and Philly was a little more skill/size. The trade worked to even it out for them. Columbus was the buffer.

 

The point being, almost any strong locker room can handle some skill player prima-donna types if they have bold, unquestioned character in there. Roy and Stafford could easily go to another team and win a cup as 2nd/3rd liners. In Buffalo though, THEY are the leaders and their style seems to define the team. There aren't bold leaders, leading in that room.

 

That's why I don't want to see the Sabres go after Nash. They aren't ready for a player like him. The leadership and character void at the top of the lineup has gone on now for so long.....that is why I clammor for change at GM and coach. It has to be the philosophy. I would much rather have taken a step back in the skill department like a Phoenix or Winnipeg, and build through tough, big bodied, hard-nosed players and bring in a true captain type to setlle things down. When an identity is cemented, THEN you go after your skill guys.

 

I just see the Sabres as a hamster in a wheel. This post-season is just another sobering reminder. I can only hope and pray Pegula has been watching every minute and possibly re-evaluating if a 100% healthy Sabres team even had a chance in hell. If he falls for the Darcy "See, a 8 and a 6 seed"......then the eventual rebuilding process will be longer and more painful than even I expected.

 

I absolutely agree that guys like Roy/Stafford could be valuable pieces on a championship team...but if they're the key cogs, that just doesn't work. I also don't think it's as simple as getting leadership first and then adding skill later (not even sure that's the approach I'd want to take, but that's a different conversation). If you can add a legitimate leader, do it. If you can add a legitimate skill player, do it. If you get both in the same body, even better. But most of the time it doesn't work out so neatly. Basically the goal should be to get better (note: better does not necessarily mean more talented) through every transaction regardless of whether it's a skill guy or a tough leader...just add the best piece available at a given time and things should work out. For example, just because you can't go out and add a leader at a given point in time doesn't mean you should bypass adding a more highly talented player because it would be "out of order" so to speak.

 

I don't want Nash, but for a different reason. Simply I don't think putting $15 million in 2 wingers (Vanek+Nash) is a good way to build a championship team.

[deluca67]

As I asked earlier, what did Regier give up for Briere and Drury to come to Buffalo? I guess my browser isn't working either.

They gave up more then they received when Drury and Briere left.. They gave up a really good defensemen in Warrener as well as Keith Ballard who has gone on to be a pretty decent NHL defensemen.

 

I'm also going to add Steve Begin to that list. A gritty role playing forward.

[Sabre Dance]

Misfiring implies that they spent the whole season sputtering along. Which they did not. They were a good team all year. Now they're even better.

 

Of course, changing their coach mid-stream had no effect on their current success... :rolleyes:

[darksabre]

 

 

Of course, changing their coach mid-stream had no effect on their current success... :rolleyes:

 

I won't argue that at all. Bringing in Sutter was a great move.

[Guest Sloth]

They gave up more then they received when Drury and Briere left.. They gave up a really good defensemen in Warrener as well as Keith Ballard who has gone on to be a pretty decent NHL defensemen.

 

I'm also going to add Steve Begin to that list. A gritty role playing forward.

 

Darcy traded Chris Gratton for Danny Briere. Are you kidding me? Darcy got the far better end of that deal. Rhett Warrener was a decent defenseman, but he was also injury prone and provided little point production. 17 points in his best year w/ Calgary. Darcy got Chris Drury for the guy. Darcy got the better end of another deal. You can complain about the certain deals or no deals Darcy has made. I know you'll throw in the bit about how he lost Briere and Drury. Everyone is going to mess up. You can try to complain about Ehrhoff or Regehr, but they have been major additions to the defense. Also look at the upcoming players Darcy has in the system. Pysyk, McNabb, Brennan, etc... Don't forget Adam. Sure the guy fell a part, but you don't just lose your game out right. I'm quite confident he'll bounce back. As for Cody Hodgson, he has a lot of potential. Darcy did what he had to. Buffalo needed a center for upcoming seasons. Sure, he gave up Kassian, but the guy has turn into a complete wuss in the NHL. Foligno is the real deal. The guy plays hard every shift and he is not afraid to deliver hits and protect his teammates. Kassian lost, if ever had one, his "physical" style of play.

Bash Darcy all you want, but the guy is putting a team together that will eventually contend. As the Sabres organization has said, this was his "first year" w/ the Sabres. If things don't progress, he'll be given a pink slip. Be patient. Darcy has never had the resources he has now.

[That Aud Smell]

If you could dump it in past the trap and not get impeded trying to enter the zone and win a race for the puck, it would help negate the trap in and of itself. That rule is already on the books as we both know and it's called interference. Holding players up is as much a part of an effective trap as blocking the passing lanes. Taking that away would pull teams out of the trap. Two minutes for interference would be a deterrent.

 

apropos of what 2456 was talking about (and what others picked up on (some of it is below)), it appears that the league is rightly concerned with how they've become the new/old NHL. so says dreger at TSN: Will likely be a mtng in Aug including coaches,gm's,players and officials to discuss re-set of standard of hooking, holding, int calls.

 

https://twitter.com/DarrenDreger/status/207925744255516672

 

 

But the thing is, it was like that ALWAYS in the playoffs before the lockout, and 18 months after. That's what's great about the playoffs......it's a war. (And for those who hate analogies like that, it's a non-gendered, non-sexually oriented struggle for superiority).

 

That is why it has been easy to sit back and scaffaw at the construct and strategy of the Sabres. For 1.2% of the history of the NHL, Darcy had a team that could win big in the playoffs.

 

re: ghost's allusion to war: at times, these playoffs evoked WWI, which was fought inch by bloody inch, in knee-deep mud.

 

Dwight, for the record, what the Kings are doing to the Coyotes is what I consider to be galloping away from the competition

 

sounds like the league wants to let the horses ride again.

[darksabre]

The Devils had many opportunists to bury the puck and missed. The Devils lost the previous two Game 1s.

 

Making excuses for failure huh?

[Ghost of Dwight Drane]

Making excuses for failure huh?

 

This place is like Harvard for learning how to do so. I guess DeLuca has had a little bit of Ivy League rub off on him over the past 15 years.

[darksabre]

This place is like Harvard for learning how to do so. I guess DeLuca has had a little bit of Ivy League rub off on him over the past 15 years.

 

Making excuses for DeLuca, huh?

[Ghost of Dwight Drane]

Making excuses for DeLuca, huh?

 

I hereby suggest you change your name to: d4rksabrePhD

 

I would enroll in your class on proper discourse in a social community, treating people with respect, not derailing other's conversations with baiting language, witholding vulgarity, and focusing on positives.

 

Hmnnnnnnn..........much like DeLuca, it seems I may have already learned a thing or two from you as well.

 

Seriously man....I hope you are ok. I think everyone here likes you, including myself. You can be a smart alec, but you are smart and are capable of thinking for yourself. I don't understand why you seem so hung up on certain things. You have the potential to be a much better positive example than I do. Maybe it's time you started to impliment the concept instead of being able to regurgitate the concept of civility.

[SwampD]

I hereby suggest you change your name to: d4rksabrePhD

 

I would enroll in your class on proper discourse in a social community, treating people with respect, not derailing other's conversations with baiting language, witholding vulgarity, and focusing on positives.

 

Hmnnnnnnn..........much like DeLuca, it seems I may have already learned a thing or two from you as well.

 

Seriously man....I hope you are ok. I think everyone here likes you, including myself. You can be a smart alec, but you are smart and are capable of thinking for yourself. I don't understand why you seem so hung up on certain things. You have the potential to be a much better positive example than I do. Maybe it's time you started to impliment the concept instead of being able to regurgitate the concept of civility.

He told us in the other thread. Schools out so he doesn't get a chance to argue as much. He's just keeping up with his studies here over the summer.

[darksabre]

I hereby suggest you change your name to: d4rksabrePhD

 

I would enroll in your class on proper discourse in a social community, treating people with respect, not derailing other's conversations with baiting language, witholding vulgarity, and focusing on positives.

 

Hmnnnnnnn..........much like DeLuca, it seems I may have already learned a thing or two from you as well.

 

Seriously man....I hope you are ok. I think everyone here likes you, including myself. You can be a smart alec, but you are smart and are capable of thinking for yourself. I don't understand why you seem so hung up on certain things. You have the potential to be a much better positive example than I do. Maybe it's time you started to impliment the concept instead of being able to regurgitate the concept of civility.

 

Oh man, derailing conversations with baiting language. Please, lecture me on that.

 

Hypocrites everywhere.

[LastPommerFan]

Also, the Complaint Thursday thread is still locked, so all the bitching is gonna spill out into other threads.

[Ghost of Dwight Drane]

Oh man, derailing conversations with baiting language. Please, lecture me on that.

 

Hypocrites everywhere.

 

Maybe you aren't as sharp in the world of irony as I have given you credit for.

 

I listened to you and others. I am perceived as a "negative force" on "your community". I am type cast here by some, and I have come to accept that. There are still dozens of posters who understand my point of view on the team and who enjoy engaging in conversation. I would hope some look at debating with me on some issues as a challenge, and when the tone is such, I appreciate it even though I don't agree with their viewpoints. I think it's obvious not everyone holds your apparent disdain for someone that is able to hold up a mirror and reflect the true merits of the Buffalo Sabres organization.

 

What I find perplexing is that while you clamour for a positive outlook for "your community", all I seem to see from you the past few months is snarky comments, even when nobody said a blessed thing about a subject, crudeness in talking at posters, and preaching about having a supposed positive attitude. If you want to be a leader in "your community", I suggest you maybe take a moment and reflect on your own actions. I have found myself focusing on good hockey the past 2 months and what is possible in an efficient and effort layden system. My only smart alec comments have been to attempt to shine a light on the irony of original statements.....like the one you just made to DeLuca. I also find it ironic that many of the same people who call critical thinkers such as myself "not real fans", abandon this place quicker than the appointment book of Dr. Corasanti.

 

It's too bad some people over the years have been so hurt by the truth I and others have spoken about their beloved hockey heroes, that they are "driven crazy" by certain posters, and feel the need to insult, mock, or deride anything said by them.....even when they are nowhere to be found in a topic. If this truly is "your community", and you fancy yourself a leader, maybe it's time you let go of the fact that some people just don't have the bubbly, tingly hope that you posess about the Buffalo Sabres. You make a mockery of yourself by tring to portray these posters as some sort of disgusting, vile person who loves misery. I can't speak for others, but I myself so much hate misery that when I sense a projection of it, I try to make it better. Which is why even though you may not be too fond of me at this point, I am putting in my 2 cents....for whatever it's worth.

 

I hope the business of life has just distracted your usually sharp perception ability.

[nobody]

 

I listened to you and others. I am perceived as a "negative force" on "your community". I am type cast here by some, and I have come to accept that.

 

But you have such a cute avatar - so it is OK. :)

[Ghost of Dwight Drane]

But you have such a cute avatar - so it is OK. :)

 

Thanks :wub:

 

d4rk is the man.......he handled it with class

[Marvelo]

btw, It's going to be a Kings-Rangers finals with the Kings taking it in 6.

 

Not bad for May 4. The Kings fired Terry Murray and replaced him with Sutter in December. What a novel idea! If the Sabres were the Kings, Bob Pulford would still be coaching.

[TrueBlueGED]

Not bad for May 4. The Kings fired Terry Murray and replaced him with Sutter in December. What a novel idea! If the Sabres were the Kings, Bob Pulford would still be coaching.

 

Dean Lombardi (via Pierre LeBrun I believe) wanted to make sure Terry Murray and the former GM (name escapes me at the moment) got thanks and credit for their contributions in building the team. He knows it wasn't as simple as just changing the coach.

[SwampD]

Dean Lombardi (via Pierre LeBrun I believe) wanted to make sure Terry Murray and the former GM (name escapes me at the moment) got thanks and credit for their contributions in building the team. He knows it wasn't as simple as just changing the coach.

...the cosmic ballet goes on...

[apuszczalowski]

Dean Lombardi (via Pierre LeBrun I believe) wanted to make sure Terry Murray and the former GM (name escapes me at the moment) got thanks and credit for their contributions in building the team. He knows it wasn't as simple as just changing the coach.

Blasphamy, the Kings won the Stanley Cup because they changed coaches mid season.

Sutter came in and took a rag tag team of nobodies and barely made the playoffs, then went on to turn it on and dominate in the playoffs til they won the cup

[darksabre]

Blasphamy, the Kings won the Stanley Cup because they changed coaches mid season.

Sutter came in and took a rag tag team of nobodies and barely made the playoffs, then went on to turn it on and dominate in the playoffs til they won the cup

 

Rag-tag team of nobodies? Are you high?

[Sabres Fan in NS]

Rag-tag team of nobodies? Are you high?

 

Just a hunch, but I think you better change your sarcasm meter batteries.

[darksabre]

 

 

Just a hunch, but I think you better change your sarcasm meter batteries.

 

If that's so then my bad, but I read it a few times and can't make up or down of it haha

[dEnnis the Menace]

Just a hunch, but I think you better change your sarcasm meter batteries.

If that's so then my bad, but I read it a few times and can't make up or down of it haha

 

Our Novia Scotian friend is right I believe. That smells of sarcasm to me.

 

In other news, I need the NHL/Dustin Brown to tell me when the cup will be in Ithaca, as I will be taking the day to make sure that I get to see it :angel:

[apuszczalowski]

Our Novia Scotian friend is right I believe. That smells of sarcasm to me.

 

In other news, I need the NHL/Dustin Brown to tell me when the cup will be in Ithaca, as I will be taking the day to make sure that I get to see it :angel:

Sarcasim?

Noooooooooooooooooo, Never would i say anything Sarcastic :angel:

 

You don't need to replace just the batteries in your meter, you should probably throw it out and get a brand new one

 

To explain why I made the sarcastic comment, many here would use the coaching change as fuel to the argument that a coaching change will make a huge difference and turn teams into contenders (but will then shoot down anyone who says you just need to get into the playoffs, no matter the position cause anything can happen, because the Kings 'weren't your average 8th seed"). Much like the coaching change in Pittsburgh a few seasons ago that brought in Bylsma, the Kings and pens had alot of established talent on their teams and were just underachieving or not playing to 100%, the coaching change may have lit a spark under them. A team lacking the kind of talent on the roster that the Kings and Pens had (even the Devils had some great established talent that underperformed last year and showed up this year in the playoffs) can sometimes just need a shake up to get it going. It doesn't always work out that way with teams whos talent isn't quite at the same level