Honeymoon in Hockey Hell officially over

[Campy]

Jerry Sullivan and Bucky Gleason are 2 hack jobs. Gleason was busting Pegula's balls for not saying anything about the Penn State scandal. Whoop-Dee-Freaking-Doo Bucky!!

 

Pegula said when he bought the Sabres, he felt the team could win the Cup in 3 years. Well, this was year one, not year three. Does everyone have a right to be pissed off that the Sabres missed the playoffs? Absolutely. But you can't be pissed at Pegula for trying. The previous owners, especially Golisano have been cheap. They wanted to either break even, or make a profit. Golisano did not want to sign players to long-term contracts (see Tallinder & Lydman). Pegula on the other hand said there would be no financial mandates on the team, so he gave Regier a green light to spend big. This was Regier's first time as Sabres GM to go after high-profile players. All of his offseason moves have looked good, except for one: Ville Leino. But, Regier traded for Hodgson & Sulzer, and got a 1st rounder for Gaustad. Now the Sabres have 2 1st round draft picks, and two 2nd round picks.

 

Are Pegula, Black and Regier going to be perfect with every decision they make? No. Pegula & Ruff have every right to judge their coach & GM from the start of their tenure, not the past 15 years. If the Sabres don't improve, and don't get closer their goal of winning the cup in three years, do you think the love fest Pegula has with Ruff & Regier will continue at the end of those 3 years? I highly doubt it. Pegula didn't become a Billionaire by accident, so give the guy some time. Hell, we've given Ralph Wilson 50+ years, he's proven to be a meddling owner, but yet Buffalo fans still support the team.

 

No matter what, even if the Sabres & Bills win championships, people will still have something to complain about. Yeah, we won but...

Could not agree more. :thumbsup:

[That Aud Smell]

I just kind of find it funny that the NEWS got scooped by a heads up AP reporter, and then by Sully's second employer. :lol:

 

i know it. and it arguably provides additional context for that sit-down that pegula had with TBN's editorial board in february 2011.

 

at the time, the event made him seem weirdly naive.

 

in light of these events, though, it appears that he knows exactly what he's doing with TBN -- that he knows how to sting an entity that he neither likes nor trusts.

[calti]

Jerry Sullivan and Bucky Gleason are 2 hack jobs. Gleason was busting Pegula's balls for not saying anything about the Penn State scandal. Whoop-Dee-Freaking-Doo Bucky!!

 

Pegula said when he bought the Sabres, he felt the team could win the Cup in 3 years. Well, this was year one, not year three. Does everyone have a right to be pissed off that the Sabres missed the playoffs? Absolutely. But you can't be pissed at Pegula for trying. The previous owners, especially Golisano have been cheap. They wanted to either break even, or make a profit. Golisano did not want to sign players to long-term contracts (see Tallinder & Lydman). Pegula on the other hand said there would be no financial mandates on the team, so he gave Regier a green light to spend big. This was Regier's first time as Sabres GM to go after high-profile players. All of his offseason moves have looked good, except for one: Ville Leino. But, Regier traded for Hodgson & Sulzer, and got a 1st rounder for Gaustad. Now the Sabres have 2 1st round draft picks, and two 2nd round picks.

 

Are Pegula, Black and Regier going to be perfect with every decision they make? No. Pegula & Ruff have every right to judge their coach & GM from the start of their tenure, not the past 15 years. If the Sabres don't improve, and don't get closer their goal of winning the cup in three years, do you think the love fest Pegula has with Ruff & Regier will continue at the end of those 3 years? I highly doubt it. Pegula didn't become a Billionaire by accident, so give the guy some time. Hell, we've given Ralph Wilson 50+ years, he's proven to be a meddling owner, but yet Buffalo fans still support the team.

 

No matter what, even if the Sabres & Bills win championships, people will still have something to complain about. Yeah, we won but...

 

well said.

and PS--Sullivan did a great job with that article.Got just the results he wanted.-Attention-responses etc.

[deluca67]

Trust me. It wouldn't make us feel any better.

 

PTR

This is complete bullsh!t. Trust me.

 

Terry Pegula is learning you can't hydro-frack away all of the mistakes Status Quo have made over the years.

 

This is a owner who stepped in and was all too willing to celebrate this teams history. He hugged and cried over Sabres past. You can't put so much emphasis on this franchise's history than get away with ignoring 35% of it as an excuse to hang on to the Status Quo. .

 

Jerry Sullivan and Bucky Gleason are 2 hack jobs. Gleason was busting Pegula's balls for not saying anything about the Penn State scandal. Whoop-Dee-Freaking-Doo Bucky!!

 

Pegula said when he bought the Sabres, he felt the team could win the Cup in 3 years. Well, this was year one, not year three. Does everyone have a right to be pissed off that the Sabres missed the playoffs? Absolutely. But you can't be pissed at Pegula for trying. The previous owners, especially Golisano have been cheap. They wanted to either break even, or make a profit. Golisano did not want to sign players to long-term contracts (see Tallinder & Lydman). Pegula on the other hand said there would be no financial mandates on the team, so he gave Regier a green light to spend big. This was Regier's first time as Sabres GM to go after high-profile players. All of his offseason moves have looked good, except for one: Ville Leino. But, Regier traded for Hodgson & Sulzer, and got a 1st rounder for Gaustad. Now the Sabres have 2 1st round draft picks, and two 2nd round picks.

 

Are Pegula, Black and Regier going to be perfect with every decision they make? No. Pegula & Ruff have every right to judge their coach & GM from the start of their tenure, not the past 15 years. If the Sabres don't improve, and don't get closer their goal of winning the cup in three years, do you think the love fest Pegula has with Ruff & Regier will continue at the end of those 3 years? I highly doubt it. Pegula didn't become a Billionaire by accident, so give the guy some time. Hell, we've given Ralph Wilson 50+ years, he's proven to be a meddling owner, but yet Buffalo fans still support the team.

 

No matter what, even if the Sabres & Bills win championships, people will still have something to complain about. Yeah, we won but...

More bullsh!t. Someone close the barn door.

[SDS]

I think it's a little understandable for people to be disappointed or even angry;

 

Disappointed? Absolutely.

 

Angry? Get a life - it's just a game.

[deluca67]

Disappointed? Absolutely.

 

Angry? Get a life - it's just a game.

Irony at it's best.

[Robviously]

Has Buffalo ever won a cup?

Trust me. It wouldn't make us feel any better.

 

PTR

This is seriously one of the dumbest things anyone has ever written on this message board.

[I am Defecting]

This is seriously one of the dumbest things anyone has ever written on this message board.

 

Ease up, man. Sure I disagree with him too, but who do you think you are by calling him out in that way? Lindy Ruff?

[Taro T]

They have publically said they know they need to continue to make changes to get better and that they aren't happy with scratching to get into the 8th seed 2 years in a row. Its the fans that are saying they are happy with "Status Quo". But during the season, when they are sitting near the bottom of the standings, what more can they do then say they are going to continue to fight and try to scratch into 8th place? They were being realistic and could have very easily gave up on the year and try to lose it all. They said that they believed most of the struggles were due to the amount of injuries they were being hit with and not having a full healthy roster. The fans were the ones saying thats just an excuse, yet when the team was healthy again, they went on a long run that showed what they were capable of when healthy, and only struggled again when they were hit with a couple injuries to their best defencemen.

 

Who are we to say where the changes have to come from to make the team better? Everyone was ready to give Stafford away for nothing earlier this year, but when put on a line with Ennis and Foligno, he looked like the guy was playing to his potential. The same coach who everyone blames for the losing streak was the same coach who was in charge for the run they went on to get them almost back into the playoffs.

 

They have shown that they are serious about winning, its some of the fans who don't agree with their moves/methods that don't believe them cause its not what they think should be done

Nice post.

 

Ted Black has been quite vocal in stating that the team has to get better and that there will be additional changes made. I would not be surprised if Derek Roy is part of that change. I would like to have seen him gone, but if the best offer for him was a 1st rounder, that would have left the team with Leino, Adam, McCormick, Boyes, or Chewy as the 3rd center at a time that it wasn't obvious that Ennis was going to play like a top 2. (Doesn't inspire much confidence unless the tanked February / March was the plan.) Considering management has been pretty consistant in their opinion that there wasn't a dominant team in the East, it isn't too surprising that he wasn't shipped off.

 

I know a majority here want DR and LR shown the front door, but it was pretty clear that wasn't going to happen. There are no other moves the team can make until after the playoffs are over. I fully expect to see either a big top 6 winger come in or a potentially top line center, perhaps both this offseason. Though people can't stand him today, Leino was pretty much the consensus for the 2nd best available forward in FA and Ehrhoff was pretty much the consensus top D man. Throw in the top physical D man to move this past off-season and on paper it was a good off-season. Of course they don't play on paper, and it took longer for the team to gel (partially due to turnover and partially due to injuries and partially because they still need 1 more physical top 6 winger and still need an upgrade at center) than we'd've liked; but bring in a couple more key pieces to the puzzle this year, let them learn to play with the rest of the squad this year; and then find the missing support pieces the following year when what SHOULD be the core hopefully is in place. (Wouldn't surprise me to see one of the things they're looking for in the '13 offseason is a faceoff specialist.) And if the Sabres could be players for that much of arguably the top talent moved last off-season, I see no reason to expect them not to be players for talent this off-season.

 

A season like this comes down to one question.

Why were the Sabres not 5 games better than their record? (99 pts instead of 89)

 

The reasons are pretty obvious to me.

 

A stretch of injuries in key areas, esp. on D.

And secondly, the forwards were just not that hard to match up against because the lines weren't balanced.

 

You could have a presser about it, or you could STFU and get better at forward/center.

Between Roy, one of Leopold / Sekera, 2 1sts, 2 2nds, a fair number of prospects, and TP's loot and willingness to spend it for all our enjoyment; they should be able to do just that.

 

Now, if the new pieces can fit in soon enough that LR can stick to the goalie rotation devised in the offseason, maybe they can see a 2nd or 3rd round series.

 

I'm definitely looking forward to the 2-3 days prior to the draft and the draft itself.

 

And not that it's here nor there, but the Strangers finished 1st in the Patrick in '92, 6th (last) in the Patrick in '93, and then won the SC in '94. ALL 3 with Mark Messier on the roster. Missing the playoffs this year doesn't mean the team isn't on the right track. It just means they weren't good enough this year, which I think everybody here knew heading into the season. (And before anyone starts criticising that as revisionist history, by not good enough, I mean not good enough to be a true contender this year, not not good enough to beat out the Otters and Caps. There weren't too many here that expected that.)

[Weave]

I'm not going to sit here this offseason and crow about Darcy and Lindy not goin' anywhere. At this point it is what it is. But I can certainly understand the frustration. Taro, you are right and it looked like last offseason was pretty badass. Yes, we brought in some big fish. And we walked away from some baggage that we hung on to too long. But at the end of the day there isn't anything we saw this past season that you can point to and definitively call progress, well nothing that couldn't successfully be argued the other way too. For many reasons they ended up taking a half-step backwards when it was said and done. And even if the did the unlikely and got into the show, I think a good argument can be made that they weren't going to fare any better than last season.

 

And therein lies the seeds of discontent. Noone really expected the Stanley Cup parade this season. But nearly all of us expected clear, apparent, tangible progress. Instead we got another season that on look back smells an awful lot like too many other seasons since Hasek's manufactured trade. Not enough talent, not enough grit, not enough self-sacrifice.

 

Personally, I'm looking forward to this offseason. While the results of this past season look an awful lot like all the others since that dark July 1, I think I see a clear path to a better, more entertaining, more successful team. Is Darcy the guy to build that team? I wish I was confident enough to say "yes". Is Lindy the right coach to lead a good team to Stanley Cup contention? I'm a little more confident of that but, only a little. Right now I am content to see a path that the team appears to be heading towards. If those two screw up the walk down the path I'll add my voice to those that are screaming in displeasure.

[Neo]

"What is the meaning of this?" Kavelerov asked weakly?

"Oh, will you stop asking that!" said Ivan angrily. "It doesn't mean anything"

He got out of bed and, holding on to his underwear with one hand, poured Kavelerov some wine.

"Let us drink a toast, Kavelerov... We've done a lot of talking about feelings. And my friend, we forgot the main one. We forgot... indifference. Isn't that right? It is. I think that indifference is the best of all possible attitudes of the human mind. Let us be indifferent, Kavelerov.

 

Perfect ... Tolstoy led me to Gogol. You have led me to Olesha.

[I am Defecting]

This is complete bullsh!t. Trust me.

 

Terry Pegula is learning you can't hydro-frack away all of the mistakes Status Quo have made over the years.

 

(Yuri Olesha here, undercover in DeLuca67's post. Can't pass up the opportunity to shed light on the nasty business that this hydro-fracking is, especially the type where you drill horizantally into our consciences, and blast them with mind-water laced with drilling fluids [secret ingredients], in order to then extract the drill, to begin pumping the mistakes of the Status Quo out of our minds. It is a dirty business with unintended consequences. Where does the used mind-water go? Will the drilling fluids pollute the mind? Don't lease your mind to anyone, before reading the fine print, it goes without saying. Just some thoughts).

 

More bullsh!t. Someone close the barn door.

[Taro T]

I'm not going to sit here this offseason and crow about Darcy and Lindy not goin' anywhere. At this point it is what it is. But I can certainly understand the frustration. Taro, you are right and it looked like last offseason was pretty badass. Yes, we brought in some big fish. And we walked away from some baggage that we hung on to too long. But at the end of the day there isn't anything we saw this past season that you can point to and definitively call progress, well nothing that couldn't successfully be argued the other way too. For many reasons they ended up taking a half-step backwards when it was said and done. And even if the did the unlikely and got into the show, I think a good argument can be made that they weren't going to fare any better than last season.

 

And therein lies the seeds of discontent. Noone really expected the Stanley Cup parade this season. But nearly all of us expected clear, apparent, tangible progress. Instead we got another season that on look back smells an awful lot like too many other seasons since Hasek's manufactured trade. Not enough talent, not enough grit, not enough self-sacrifice.

 

Personally, I'm looking forward to this offseason. While the results of this past season look an awful lot like all the others since that dark July 1, I think I see a clear path to a better, more entertaining, more successful team. Is Darcy the guy to build that team? I wish I was confident enough to say "yes". Is Lindy the right coach to lead a good team to Stanley Cup contention? I'm a little more confident of that but, only a little. Right now I am content to see a path that the team appears to be heading towards. If those two screw up the walk down the path I'll add my voice to those that are screaming in displeasure.

I can agree with everything in the bold.

 

As for the rest of that paragraph. I think DR CAN be the guy to build that team, but wouldn't state unequivocally that he will. I think LR COULD be the guy to lead the team to SC contention but would be fine with seeing a fresh face behind the bench. I think LR is an excellent playoff coach, and realize that about 10 faces from '10-'11 weren't back at the end of '11-'12 and there will be a few more new faces this coming season. Maybe there'll be enough new blood that the message will seem fresh. I expect LR will actually be on the hot seat this coming season for the 1st time in a very long time. Hopefully he reacts well to that.

 

[Edit: Was the comment about 'crowing about DR & LR being back' directed at me? If so, what part of my post was doing that?]

[Weave]

I can agree with everything in the bold.

 

As for the rest of that paragraph. I think DR CAN be the guy to build that team, but wouldn't state unequivocally that he will. I think LR COULD be the guy to lead the team to SC contention but would be fine with seeing a fresh face behind the bench. I think LR is an excellent playoff coach, and realize that about 10 faces from '10-'11 weren't back at the end of '11-'12 and there will be a few more new faces this coming season. Maybe there'll be enough new blood that the message will seem fresh. I expect LR will actually be on the hot seat this coming season for the 1st time in a very long time. Hopefully he reacts well to that.

 

My reaction to the two bolded sentences, I am willing to be patient for one more offseason with Darcy. I'm not ready to say that he can't get it done, but I can't really say I am confident he can get it done. I'd be perfectly OK with a fresh face at that position but am not ready to be up in arms about it. I guess I am a shade less confident than you overall. As for Lindy, I think you and I are on the same page with him.

[Taro T]

My reaction to the two bolded sentences, I am willing to be patient for one more offseason with Darcy. I'm not ready to say that he can't get it done, but I can't really say I am confident he can get it done. I'd be perfectly OK with a fresh face at that position but am not ready to be up in arms about it. I guess I am a shade less confident than you overall. As for Lindy, I think you and I are on the same page with him.

If the Sabres don't come out of this off-season with a top 6 winger and another center I will be extremely disappointed. They have more than enough pieces available to make that happen.

[Weave]

If the Sabres don't come out of this off-season with a top 6 winger and another center I will be extremely disappointed. They have more than enough pieces available to make that happen.

 

I may have my sights set a little differently than yours but yeah, top 6 winger and another center are on my list too. If they zero in on a tough top 6 winger and a physical center capable of playing 15+ minutes a game I think this team can go places.

[TrueBlueGED]

My reaction to the two bolded sentences, I am willing to be patient for one more offseason with Darcy. I'm not ready to say that he can't get it done, but I can't really say I am confident he can get it done. I'd be perfectly OK with a fresh face at that position but am not ready to be up in arms about it. I guess I am a shade less confident than you overall. As for Lindy, I think you and I are on the same page with him.

If the Sabres don't come out of this off-season with a top 6 winger and another center I will be extremely disappointed. They have more than enough pieces available to make that happen.

 

To me, this offseason is a massive referendum on Regier. It's easy to throw a bunch of Pegula's money around at UFAs and re-up your own important RFAs. Reconstructing the forward ranks through the trade market is much more difficult, and is the true test of a quality GM in my opinion. I agree we have good trade assets and the ability to make upgrades, but whether Regier can leverage those assets properly remains to be seen. In order to placate me I'm going to need to see significant roster improvements among the forwards (or at least changes to make the lineup more balanced and playoff-caliber) and I need to see Ruff utilize the improvements well. If there aren't tangible improvements in the results by this time next year, I'll probably be pitchfork shopping.

[Taro T]

I may have my sights set a little differently than yours but yeah, top 6 winger and another center are on my list too. If they zero in on a tough top 6 winger and a physical center capable of playing 15+ minutes a game I think this team can go places.

Considering I want to see Roy gone and don't see Hodgson nor Ennis as the prototypical 3rd line center (yeah, I know that's where he played in Van-City but he was being 2 serious studs) I actually would be quite pleased with a physical center that has some leadership qualities.

 

A true top center would still be on my wish list, but Hodgson and Ennis both growing into legit #2 centers and strong support on the next line and a bunch of guys that could fill in for a short stint in an injury induced pinch and I'd be good w/ following the Boston model (which is actually the '06 Sabres model).

[Robviously]

I can agree with everything in the bold.

 

As for the rest of that paragraph. I think DR CAN be the guy to build that team, but wouldn't state unequivocally that he will. I think LR COULD be the guy to lead the team to SC contention but would be fine with seeing a fresh face behind the bench. I think LR is an excellent playoff coach, and realize that about 10 faces from '10-'11 weren't back at the end of '11-'12 and there will be a few more new faces this coming season. Maybe there'll be enough new blood that the message will seem fresh. I expect LR will actually be on the hot seat this coming season for the 1st time in a very long time. Hopefully he reacts well to that.

I agree with the stuff Weave said that you didn't bold. Regier has been the GM for 15 years and if you asked me to choose a few words to describe the teams he builds, I don't even know what I'd go with. Indifferent? Inconsistent? Fragile? Worse, I don't even know what type of team he wants to build. Since Black Sunday, I haven't been able to identify any plan to win the Stanley Cup. The team seemed to take a shift towards drafting bigger, tougher players in the 2009 draft but that was a one-time thing. The trade for Hodgson was the first time in years I thought we might be trying to build something. Of course, the trade deadline was still bizarre in that we had a half-assed fire sale: trading Gaustad (but no one else) for draft picks.

 

As for Ruff, I don't know if he's too harsh or not harsh enough or what. I don't think I could describe his "system" or tell you what I don't like about it. But I do know his teams have been soft both physically and mentally the last few years. You could blame the players but Ruff and Regier are tied at the hip so if he didn't have the right players, he would have communicated that to Regier and identified the players he wants/needs. His playoff record speaks for itself but I can't ignore how frustrating the last 5 years have been.

 

At this point I'm less optimistic than ever that the Ruff/Regier team is ever going to win the Stanley Cup.

[Taro T]

To me, this offseason is a massive referendum on Regier. It's easy to throw a bunch of Pegula's money around at UFAs and re-up your own important RFAs. Reconstructing the forward ranks through the trade market is much more difficult, and is the true test of a quality GM in my opinion. I agree we have good trade assets and the ability to make upgrades, but whether Regier can leverage those assets properly remains to be seen. In order to placate me I'm going to need to see significant roster improvements among the forwards (or at least changes to make the lineup more balanced and playoff-caliber) and I need to see Ruff utilize the improvements well. If there aren't tangible improvements in the results by this time next year, I'll probably be pitchfork shopping.

That is correct.

[Weave]

Considering I want to see Roy gone and don't see Hodgson nor Ennis as the prototypical 3rd line center (yeah, I know that's where he played in Van-City but he was being 2 serious studs) I actually would be quite pleased with a physical center that has some leadership qualities.

 

A true top center would still be on my wish list, but Hodgson and Ennis both growing into legit #2 centers and strong support on the next line and a bunch of guys that could fill in for a short stint in an injury induced pinch and I'd be good w/ following the Boston model (which is actually the '06 Sabres model).

 

Maybe we should move this convo to the '12-'13 roster thread? :D

 

Yeah, that's why I am talking about seeing a clear path forward. I think I see a cast of 6 or 7 forwards that I think can be useful on a good playoff team. I'd like to see 2 more added this offseason, specifically to Vanek's line and the 3rd line. I'm not worried about the grinders (as long as we have them).

 

I liked what Black had to say about adding toughness. But I don;t want to see a heavyweight added and call it a day. That isn't the kind of toughness we need. We need the kind of toughness that gets a regular shift and PP/SH time.

 

I haven't commented yet about Black's WGR interview so I will say this, I was disappointed to hear Black mention that the discontent is still leftover angst from the Drury/Briere debacle. For me the discontent today has nothing to do with Drury/Briere and everything to do with a lack of progress over the last couple of seasons. I really hope that the organization isn't thinking that Drury/Briere is still the issue. It is not.

[Robviously]

I haven't commented yet about Black's WGR interview so I will say this, I was disappointed to hear Black mention that the discontent is still leftover angst from the Drury/Briere debacle. For me the discontent today has nothing to do with Drury/Briere and everything to do with a lack of progress over the last couple of seasons. I really hope that the organization isn't thinking that Drury/Briere is still the issue. It is not.

It's both. Nobody is moving on from Black Sunday because the Sabres have never given the fans a reason to move on. Mike Schopp was on the radio yesterday pointing out that Briere has as many playoff goals for the Flyers since 2007 as the entire Sabres franchise has since 2007. Brutal. The Sabres imploded on July 1st, 2007, and we're still waiting for the day we can be confident they're back on track to win something someday.

 

I actually hated the part where Ted Black said he "didn't know and didn't care" about what happened in 2007. He should know and should care, because it matters. it's not like Golisano didn't give Regier money to spend. We spent it on the wrong players.

[Weave]

It's both. Nobody is moving on from Black Sunday because the Sabres have never given the fans a reason to move on. Mike Schopp was on the radio yesterday pointing out that Briere has as many playoff goals for the Flyers since 2007 as the entire Sabres franchise has since 2007. Brutal. The Sabres imploded on July 1st, 2007, and we're still waiting for the day we can be confident they're back on track to win something someday.

 

I actually hated the part where Ted Black said he "didn't know and didn't care" about what happened in 2007. He should know and should care, because it matters. it's not like Golisano didn't give Regier money to spend. We spent it on the wrong players.

 

OK, maybe it's just me that's moved on. :P

 

Teams turn over in the FA age. I am OK with Briere not being here. I am NOT Ok with the team continuing to flounder though. We've had, what? 5 seasons to replace him? That is where my discontent lies, not in Briere/Drury, but in the complete inability for this team to retool. One more offseason. That is how long I am willing to be patient.

 

[Edit: Was the comment about 'crowing about DR & LR being back' directed at me? If so, what part of my post was doing that?]

 

Heh. Just saw this edit. No, it wasn't directed at you. It was just an intro for my thought.

[Taro T]

Maybe we should move this convo to the '12-'13 roster thread? :D

 

Yeah, that's why I am talking about seeing a clear path forward. I think I see a cast of 6 or 7 forwards that I think can be useful on a good playoff team. I'd like to see 2 more added this offseason, specifically to Vanek's line and the 3rd line. I'm not worried about the grinders (as long as we have them).

 

I liked what Black had to say about adding toughness. But I don;t want to see a heavyweight added and call it a day. That isn't the kind of toughness we need. We need the kind of toughness that gets a regular shift and PP/SH time.

 

I haven't commented yet about Black's WGR interview so I will say this, I was disappointed to hear Black mention that the discontent is still leftover angst from the Drury/Briere debacle. For me the discontent today has nothing to do with Drury/Briere and everything to do with a lack of progress over the last couple of seasons. I really hope that the organization isn't thinking that Drury/Briere is still the issue. It is not.

They need a true power forward to play on Vanek's line and they need a real center for the 3rd line. Absolutely.

 

I only heard about 15 minutes of the Black interview. What I heard about toughness, I thought was about getting nastiness on the top lines and getting more of a Red Wings style 4th line than a return of the likes of Eric Boulton and Andrew Peters. For FAR too long, the Sabres top 3 lines have been way too willing to say 'thank you sir may I have another' rather than give someone a facewash.

 

Considering Black wasn't here for the 7/1/7 massacre but he does read boards like this (or at minimum has a staffer relay stuff back to him), I could see where he'd think there's still leftover angst from that day. There is. But that is a VERY small portion of the current discontent. The bulk of it stems from this past season being a step back. Though I would state that the D is significantly better today than it was 1 year ago and the forwards are better today than 1 year ago, so though they took the step back they're facing the right direction. They have pieces today that SHOULD be able to be parlayed into filling the holes that remain. They didn't have enough of those pieces a year ago to fill all the holes.

 

People don't believe that they are on the right track because the end results were so similar to what has been the end result since 7/1/7. I think they are on the right track, but that opinion could take a serious hit this summer. I don't expect it will, but if the roster today is essentially what we see on October 5ish, then I will doubt it a lot. Black's been a pretty straight shooter to date, he says they'll make changes; until I see that there weren't changes, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.

[Weave]

... Though I would state that the D is significantly better today than it was 1 year ago and the forwards are better today than 1 year ago, so though they took the step back they're facing the right direction.

 

It sure seems like that is the case, doesn't it? But yet, here we are watching other teams play in April. This is why I stated a few posts ago that good arguments can be made that we aren't really any better than a year ago. We had one more goal against last season than the previous season and almost 30 fewer goals for. Yeah, it *SEEMS* that the defense is improved and that the forwards are better but we sure didn't get overall team performance that reflects it. We still had too much borderline NHL talent on the ice at forward. And we still got inconsistent performance from our highest profile defenseman, and too often the team went as Myers went.

 

I say that not to go negative, but rather to set up my counterpoint. I'm not sure the forwards are better than '10-11, but what I see as an improvement in the forward situation is, I see an obvious source for improvement in the offseason now. Last offseason I thought, man, where do we start? Going into this offseason we didn't have any more success from the forwards but I see a group that has smaller holes to fill. What was "where do we start?" is now, "OK let's get a winger for Thomas and another center". That is how I see the improvements right now.

 

As for the "D". I like our top 4. Our bottom two and the depth guys disappointed when injuries hit. They have to get better. Myers and Ehrhoff will get hurt playing all those minutes. It is inevitable.