Hired: Tim Murray, GM and Craig Patrick, Advisor

[That Aud Smell]

WNY fear and loathing of the wealthy.

He"s from PA.

He's in PA; he's of WNY, though.

[Stoner]

He"s from PA.

 

We'z even mo po. Still all Appalachia though.

 

It's certainly hard to argue now with the proposition that DR should've been canned immediately. Of course, wouldn't that have been a "meddling owner" kind of move?

 

Goodness, no. That's one of the few legitimate hands-on hockey decisions the owner has to make. Who's going to run my team?

[apuszczalowski]

I know Murray has already said any player can be traded, but I have a feeling he'll trade a player(s) that may be considered a jaw dropper. This trade could be huge and highly unexpected. It'll involve a team(s)/player(s) that has rarely been mentioned. I'm think a trade involving 3 teams. It'd have many scratching their heads saying to themselves, "Didn't think of that one." It' just a feeling I have. There is a lot to follow in the hockey world and the excitement surrounding it makes it all the better.

Enroth and Leino for Crosby and Fleury, E5!

 

We'z even mo po. Still all Appalachia though.

 

 

 

Goodness, no. That's one of the few legitimate hands-on hockey decisions the owner has to make. Who's going to run my team?

isn't that supposed to be guys like Black? DR is below him and reports to him in most cases?

[Stoner]

isn't that supposed to be guys like Black? DR is below him and reports to him in most cases?

 

Black and Darcy were parallel figures. Black runs the business side; Darcy ran the hockey side. Ted said at that presser he wasn't Darcy's boss. I think the misconception may have arisen from Ted going on WGR and speaking on hockey matters. A mistake, IMHO.

Edited February 18, 2014 by PASabreFan

[bunomatic]

I seem to remember when Black was first hired people on the board saying its a great hire because look what he was a part of in Pittsburgh. Well the business side will naturally pick up as the on ice product gets better so essentially Black had absolutely nada to do with the success that happened in Pittsburgh if he had nothing to do with the hockey side of the business. Yes/no ?

[Hoss]

I seem to remember when Black was first hired people on the board saying its a great hire because look what he was a part of in Pittsburgh. Well the business side will naturally pick up as the on ice product gets better so essentially Black had absolutely nada to do with the success that happened in Pittsburgh if he had nothing to do with the hockey side of the business. Yes/no ?

 

It's like Russ Brandon. Some don't see that Team President and President of Football/Hockey Ops are two different roles.

[inkman]

Enroth and Leino for Crosby and Fleury, E5!

Hey had Leino and Stafford on the trade block in NHL13 and the Bruins offered me Chara. I nearly fell out of my chair trying to hit the excecute trade button. Then I moved him to Anaheim for Cogloanio, Palmieri and a 1st. Won the cup and was fired two seasons later. Now I'm the GM of Edmonton. :)

[apuszczalowski]

Hey had Leino and Stafford on the trade block in NHL13 and the Bruins offered me Chara. I nearly fell out of my chair trying to hit the excecute trade button. Then I moved him to Anaheim for Cogloanio, Palmieri and a 1st. Won the cup and was fired two seasons later. Now I'm the GM of Edmonton. :)

Well if it worked in NHL '13, might have to bump that up to an E8!

[inkman]

Well if it worked in NHL '13, might have to bump that up to an E8!

I know it's jus a video game but Nugent-Hopkins, Eberle and Hall are light years better than any Sabre player. Playing with them makes my pants tight.

[apuszczalowski]

I know it's jus a video game but Nugent-Hopkins, Eberle and Hall are light years better than any Sabre player. Playing with them makes my pants tight.

Its not just in the video game........

Problem is that aside from those guys, theres not much else on that team that could be considered better then what the Sabres currently have

[LTS]

I know it's jus a video game but Nugent-Hopkins, Eberle and Hall are light years better than any Sabre player. Playing with them makes my pants tight.

 

My created pro at ranking 73 performs better than them as well. So.. you know.. it's a game. :)

[apuszczalowski]

I have a question for everyone, it seems like there is alot of excitement over this new management team in place and alot of people here feeling that the have some great minds in place to turn this team around.

My question is, besides being a great Sabre player and a fan favourite, what has Lafontaine done in a management position since he stopped playing to make people believe he is a great hockey mind or someone who can be in charge to turn this team around? I ask this seriously, he worked in the Islanders front office for a short time, but what did he do there that would make people believe he is someone who can turn a franchise around?

[X. Benedict]

I have a question for everyone, it seems like there is alot of excitement over this new management team in place and alot of people here feeling that the have some great minds in place to turn this team around.

My question is, besides being a great Sabre player and a fan favourite, what has Lafontaine done in a management position since he stopped playing to make people believe he is a great hockey mind or someone who can be in charge to turn this team around? I ask this seriously, he worked in the Islanders front office for a short time, but what did he do there that would make people believe he is someone who can turn a franchise around?

There is nothing he has done besides hiring Murray, Patrick, and bringing in Nolan.- that may sound obvious - but it takes a certain amount of wisdom to know your limitations. Patty could be the GM, but humble enough not to think just anyone, including himself, would be great at it.

 

 

[Johnny DangerFace]

I have a question for everyone, it seems like there is alot of excitement over this new management team in place and alot of people here feeling that the have some great minds in place to turn this team around.

My question is, besides being a great Sabre player and a fan favourite, what has Lafontaine done in a management position since he stopped playing to make people believe he is a great hockey mind or someone who can be in charge to turn this team around? I ask this seriously, he worked in the Islanders front office for a short time, but what did he do there that would make people believe he is someone who can turn a franchise around?

 

He hired the guy you should be asking those questions about!

[Sabres Fan in NS]

Patty also worked for the NHL in Daly's office for a time, just before re-joining the Sabres, IIRC.

 

He said that in that short time he has gotten to know a lot of people.

 

His first three hires are about the best we could hope for at this time.

 

So, I think Patty's doing alright and will continue to do so.

[Doohicksie]

Looking back.

 

XGMTM is thoroughly reviled now, but in the beginning we quite liked him.

[That Aud Smell]

Looking back.

 

XGMTM is thoroughly reviled now, but in the beginning we quite liked him.

 

There was a lot to like in his demeanor.

 

There was not a lot to like in his roster-building and franchise architecture.

 

The former was evident right away, and was naturally celebrated. The latter took some time to emerge, and was rightly decried.

[Derrico]

We were a couple of years removed from Darcy Regier and 'suffering'. I think a doorknob would have been exciting this fanbase. The sad part of this thread is seeing so many names that are not around anymore :(

[Radar]

There was a lot to like in his demeanor.

 

There was not a lot to like in his roster-building and franchise architecture.

 

The former was evident right away, and was naturally celebrated. The latter took some time to emerge, and was rightly decried.

This post nailed it.

[inkman]

Looking back.

 

XGMTM is thoroughly reviled now, but in the beginning we quite liked him.

Still like him. I think history will show he wasn't the franchise destroyer many have made him out to be.

[Doohicksie]

I think he spent assets too freely on players that just didn't fulfill their promise.  Had they met (his) expectations, it might have accelerated the rebuild, but the didn't, and the result was an empty cupboard which set the rebuild back further. 

 

Maybe it was worth the shot, but it failed pretty badly.  But now we get Dahlin, so it's all good.  I just wouldn't want XGMTM in charge of the re-rebuild.

[darksabre]

I like how I was more excited about Patrick.

[nfreeman]

Still like him. I think history will show he wasn't the franchise destroyer many have made him out to be.

 

This could happen, but the Sabres will need to become a good team pretty soon, and for a number of GMTM's draft picks to prove out as better-than-JAG-to-very-good players.  E.g:

 

- 2 of Guhle, Borgen and Fitzgerald become top-4 defensemen

 

- Nylander and Pu become top-6 forwards

 

- Reino becomes a consistently productive player who shows up when it counts

 

-

[Doohicksie]

Still like him. I think history will show he wasn't the franchise destroyer many have made him out to be.

Do you think he should have been given more time?  Or was TPegs right to fire him?

[StuckinFL]

Do you think he should have been given more time? Or was TPegs right to fire him?

I think if he had been given more time he would have built a much better roster than what we had. I think he was fired at the height of his mistakes and it would have gotten better, not as good as JBots will do, but we would have been much better.

 

That being said, the way that he ran the organization had to be stopped immediately before even more damage could be done. The compartmentalization and lack of leadership coming from him was going to allow others flaws to do deeper harm throughout the organization. I think too many things were going wrong from top to bottom and he was overwhelmed with problems that he ignored for too long to be able to fix them before thing got much much worse.