Vanek a franchise player

[Sebo]

I am actually a canuck. Quite the opposite kind of team compared to the sabres. But there is hope for you! I promise you that vanek will be a franchise player. In the next couple of years you can build a team around him.

 

Some may state that he will have to adjust to nhl level but don't forget that he has already prooved his qualities in last years world championship in prague.

 

Another good thing is that he scores when it counts...he is a playoff performer and is a good bet to score decisive goals...

 

 

So don't be worried...this guy will fix it soon... (although I would love to see him in vancouver :D )

 

I am also looking forward to the calder race...crosby, ovechkin, vanek or whoever?

[VanekDrury]

I think a lot of people overlook Vanek on the roster. He's the next big thing for this team since Hasek.

[shrader]

The only thing I have to say about Vanek is that he seems to have a scoring touch in the HSBC Arena. He's put up very good numbers in the few games he's played in the building. Hopefully that carries over the the NHL level.

[Guest Kristian]

A franchise player?

 

While that should put me in a somewhat good mood, one soon remembers that this team is The Sabres : Home of The Three Stooges.

 

Ruff CAN'T work with youngsters. Just as he can't work with veterans, and no James Patrick doesn't count.

 

Chances of anyone, least of all a talented forward, developing into anything here, are roughly the same as this team's chances of playing post-season hockey next year - SQUAT, ZERO, NOT HAPPENING.

 

But for arguments sake, should Vanek become a true star, then what's the point of being excited? As long as Regier is in charge, he'll end up "trading" him to Detroit for a bag of used pucks and free parking at The Joe.

[Guest Guest]

I am actually a canuck. Quite the opposite kind of team compared to the sabres. But there is hope for you! I promise you that vanek will be a franchise player. In the next couple of years you can build a team around him.

 

Some may state that he will have to adjust to nhl level but don't forget that he has already prooved his qualities in last years world championship in prague.

 

Another good thing is that he scores when it counts...he is a playoff performer and is a good bet to score decisive goals...

 

 

So don't be worried...this guy will fix it soon... (although I would love to see him in vancouver :D )

 

I am also looking forward to the calder race...crosby, ovechkin, vanek or whoever?

Until his contract is up and he is moved.

[Guest Guest]

For the first time he'll at least have to "come back" to the red line!!...can't score one and give up two and win the game......

[Guest Colonel Forbin]

I can be as sarcastic as the next person but it seems that almost everyone that replies to these messages boards is big time negative toward the Sabres.....

I mean are you fans or do you just like to bitch and complain?

 

I've been a Sabres fan for ~25 years.....I can't wait to see how Vanek pans out.

Franchise....i don;t know ...but i'm thinkin 20 goals is not impossible.....

Miroslav who?....and i liked Satan. Maybe it'll rain goals for the rafters of the HSBC. lol.

[IKnowPhysics]

I can be as sarcastic as the next person but it seems that almost everyone that replies to these messages boards is big time negative toward the Sabres.....

No, some of us actually enjoy watching the Sabres.

[Sebo]

hey..he even scored against canada...

 

 

25.04.2004

Austria - Canada 2:2 (1:0 1:0 0:2)

Prag, Sazka-Arena, Attendance: 13.000

Tore: A. Lakos (16.), Vanek (24.) bzw. Cooke (51.), Heatley (56.)

[Saber61]

But for arguments sake, should Vanek become a true star, then what's the point of being excited? As long as Regier is in charge, he'll end up "trading" him to Detroit for a bag of used pucks and free parking at The Joe.

AMEN!!! I think we can all safely put money on that fact. Were like a farm that grows, trains, and builds players into decent good all around players some even stars then just sells them off for peanuts... wtf?!?!?!

[deluca67]

No, some of us actually enjoy watching the Sabres.

You "enjoy" three years and a probable 4th without a playoff team?

 

You should raise your standards a little.

[IKnowPhysics]

I stick by my team no matter how much over .500 they take a season without earning a spot in the playoffs.

[deluca67]

I stick by my team no matter how much over .500 they take a season without earning a spot in the playoffs.

Don't confuse loyalty to the Franchise with discontent with those in charge. All who post here do so because of their love of the Franchise. For some it's been 30+ years. Where we part ways is the expectations and need for accountability. Some, like yourself, believe that should be NO accountability for poor performance. That it is perfectly acceptable to continue to miss the playoffs knowing what a financial hit to the franchise that is. Others, like myself, believe in accountability. If you don't have accountability at the top then you can not expect it through the ranks.

 

Blind Faith has nothing to do with being a Fan.

[Taro T]

Don't confuse loyalty to the Franchise with discontent with those in charge. All who post here do so because of their love of the Franchise. For some it's been 30+ years. Where we part ways is the expectations and need for accountability. Some, like yourself, believe that  should be NO accountability for poor performance. That it is perfectly acceptable to continue to miss the playoffs knowing what a financial hit to the franchise that is. Others, like myself, believe in accountability. If you don't have accountability at the top then you can not expect it through the ranks.

 

Blind Faith has nothing to do with being a Fan.

I agree that the management and players need to be accountable. Also, I am not a Darcy supporter but feel this is really the 1st season that he has had an opportunity to actually fully do his job.

 

When he was under the Rigas's, he was put in a position where he was required to play hardball with Peca which turned into a major screw up. Based upon other Rigas dealings with the cable company, I don't know that Darcy can take full blame for that one.

 

It also seems to me that Dom started wanting out of Buffalo after the Peca debacle. He held a gun to Darcy's head (trade me where I want and don't get so much in return that the team I go to is weakened or I will retire). Was he bluffing? I don't know. Even with Hasek's demands, I would like to have seen the Sabres get more for him, but not being privy to the negotiations, I don't know that he could have done better.

 

For lower level players, Darcy has made some very nice trades: Barnes for Barnaby, Briere for Gratton, Dumont (& Gilmour) for Grosek, etc. He does have a tendency to wait until the absolute last minute to make the trade, which is annoying to say the least; but maybe the trade wasn't available until the last minute. Again, I wasn't privy to the negotiations.

 

He wasn't going to be able to do anything while the Sabres were being run by the league, and it appears that Golisano wanted to get his feet wet the 1st year. But even then, he brought in Drury (at the expense of Warrener and a potential future stud defenseman). Was the Drury trade a good one? If we keep Steve Begin, I'd say it was; with us losing him, I'd say he lost that one.

 

I don't know that he could have done anything more to keep Zhitnik. Sabres gave him an offer before he became a free agent that I think was more than what he accepted from the Isles (I don't remember exact details of that one, so I may be wrong there). As for Satan, it seems pretty obvious in hind sight that he should have been signed and then traded.

 

As for drafting, again in the Rigas years, it appeared that the goal was to get a 2 way player that would not become a star so Rigas would never have to pay big money (Erik Rasmussen is the prime example of that) and try to draft the next Hasek. Since the Rigas crew left, we've actually drafted players that can score (at junior level at least) (Vanek being the prime example of that).

 

Right now, my evaluation is that Darcy is good at making low level trades and is 0 for 1 (Satan) with getting value for more valuable players. I don't know that 1 trade (or lack thereof) is enough to base an evaluation on.

 

I will wait to pass judgement on Regier based upon how the Sabres do this year and what moves he makes this season and in the next off season. Right now my expectation is that this club is somewhere between the 6th and 10th best team in the east. The club is young and fast, and IF the league really cracks down on obstruction and the goaltending during the 1st 3 months isn't awful, they could have a good season.

 

Dave.

[IKnowPhysics]

Don't confuse loyalty to the Franchise with discontent with those in charge. All who post here do so because of their love of the Franchise. For some it's been 30+ years.

I believe in accountability of management...don't confuse that with my love of watching the game.

 

The way you put it is analogous to believing in religion but hating to practice it. It's not wrong, but seemingly (not necessarily) conflicting.

[deluca67]

I believe in accountability of management...don't confuse that with my love of watching the game.

 

The way you put it is analogous to believing in religion but hating to practice it. It's not wrong, but seemingly (not necessarily) conflicting.

I disagree.

 

I believe in God. I don't believe in those who run the religion (ie.. Priests, Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell).

[deluca67]

I agree that the management and players need to be accountable. Also, I am not a Darcy supporter but feel this is really the 1st season that he has had an opportunity to actually fully do his job.

 

When he was under the Rigas's, he was put in a position where he was required to play hardball with Peca which turned into a major screw up. Based upon other Rigas dealings with the cable company, I don't know that Darcy can take full blame for that one.

 

It also seems to me that Dom started wanting out of Buffalo after the Peca debacle. He held a gun to Darcy's head (trade me where I want and don't get so much in return that the team I go to is weakened or I will retire). Was he bluffing? I don't know. Even with Hasek's demands, I would like to have seen the Sabres get more for him, but not being privy to the negotiations, I don't know that he could have done better.

 

For lower level players, Darcy has made some very nice trades: Barnes for Barnaby, Briere for Gratton, Dumont (& Gilmour) for Grosek, etc. He does have a tendency to wait until the absolute last minute to make the trade, which is annoying to say the least; but maybe the trade wasn't available until the last minute. Again, I wasn't privy to the negotiations.

 

He wasn't going to be able to do anything while the Sabres were being run by the league, and it appears that Golisano wanted to get his feet wet the 1st year. But even then, he brought in Drury (at the expense of Warrener and a potential future stud defenseman). Was the Drury trade a good one? If we keep Steve Begin, I'd say it was; with us losing him, I'd say he lost that one.

 

I don't know that he could have done anything more to keep Zhitnik. Sabres gave him an offer before he became a free agent that I think was more than what he accepted from the Isles (I don't remember exact details of that one, so I may be wrong there). As for Satan, it seems pretty obvious in hind sight that he should have been signed and then traded.

 

As for drafting, again in the Rigas years, it appeared that the goal was to get a 2 way player that would not become a star so Rigas would never have to pay big money (Erik Rasmussen is the prime example of that) and try to draft the next Hasek. Since the Rigas crew left, we've actually drafted players that can score (at junior level at least) (Vanek being the prime example of that).

 

Right now, my evaluation is that Darcy is good at making low level trades and is 0 for 1 (Satan) with getting value for more valuable players. I don't know that 1 trade (or lack thereof) is enough to base an evaluation on.

 

I will wait to pass judgement on Regier based upon how the Sabres do this year and what moves he makes this season and in the next off season. Right now my expectation is that this club is somewhere between the 6th and 10th best team in the east. The club is young and fast, and IF the league really cracks down on obstruction and the goaltending during the 1st 3 months isn't awful, they could have a good season.

 

Dave.

Lets say this is year one for Darcy. Shouldn't he be on a series of one year deals. This is a system I hear is tailor made for him. If so? There should be no reason not to make the playoffs. This is his team. He had chances to make changes and chose not to. If this team fails to make the playoffs he should be fired. No excuses, no exceptions. If they miss out by one point on the final day? He's gone. That's fair and that would give fans like myself a sense of accountability.

 

One year. To make it or to hang himself. He doesn't deserve anything more or less.

[Guest Repster]

Lets say this is year one for Darcy. Shouldn't he be on a series of one year deals. This is a system I hear is tailor made for him. If so? There should be no reason not to make the playoffs. This is his team. He had chances to make changes and chose not to. If this team fails to make the playoffs he should be fired. No excuses, no exceptions. If they miss out by one point on the final day? He's gone. That's fair and that would give fans like myself a sense of accountability.

 

One year. To make it or to hang himself. He doesn't deserve anything more or less.

Unfortunately, I still don't think this is year one for Darcy. The new CBA was supposed to allow the Sabres to compete on a more even playing field compared to other teams in terms of being able to get free agents. Did Darcy say that the team's own cap is going to be $27-29 million? No. The guy who makes that decision is named Tom Golisano. He is not going to lose money - period. So we are still not competing on an even playing field compared to teams that have $10 million more to play with. If we would have won the Sidney Crosby sweepstakes, the arena would be sold out every night, and with Tom knowing that he had a higher level of revenue, we would have had a free agent period like Pittsburgh, but we didn't so we are still stuck being small market Buffalo. If the negotiated CBA would have had a $32-34 million cap, the team would be competing on a more even playing field. But these scenarios did not materialize, and I believe that Golisano was one of those that felt the settlement wasn't good enough for true parity amongst all teams. So, I still believe Darcy is working with his hands tied. I like having hockey here, but it's most likely always going to be a team that will be fighting to make the playoffs unless league revenues are lower than projected this year and the year after that. If this happens, the teams that have signed the good players to long term deals for lots of money will be over the lower cap and will be forced to salary dump to teams like Buffalo. That's our only hope now to get the playing field more even.

[Taro T]

Lets say this is year one for Darcy. Shouldn't he be on a series of one year deals. This is a system I hear is tailor made for him. If so? There should be no reason not to make the playoffs. This is his team. He had chances to make changes and chose not to. If this team fails to make the playoffs he should be fired. No excuses, no exceptions. If they miss out by one point on the final day? He's gone. That's fair and that would give fans like myself a sense of accountability. 

 

One year. To make it or to hang himself. He doesn't deserve anything more or less.

I don't think he should be strictly evaluated on the results of this one year, unless the Sabres significantly over or underachieve this year. Most people when they come in to a new situation are given 3 or 4 year deals to turn things around. Because Darcy is not "new" but is in a new situation, I think he should be evaluated on the results of the next 2 years.

 

If he makes the playoffs this year and then misses next year, unless there are MAJOR extenuating circumstances; then he should be gone.

 

If he misses this year and then makes them next year, unless there are major extenuating circumstances; then he should probably be back. If they squeak in with the 8th seed and go out in 5, I would probably still punt him.

 

I do not think he should get an extension at the end of this year unless they win the division or make an extended playoff run; and even then I would only give him one extra year. He should have to earn any job security he gets from here out.

 

It would not surprise me though to see Darcy gone if they miss the playoffs this year. I just would give him the next 2 to turn the Sabres around.

 

Also, one fear I have is, if they do punt Regier, they don't have a hockey man running the show. I can easily envision Larry Quinn choosing someone even worse than Regier. I do not see that as a valid reason to keep Regier if he doesn't produce, but it is one additional thing that could go wrong. Remember, Quinn is the guy who fired Muckler.

 

Dave.

[Taro T]

Unfortunately, I still don't think this is year one for Darcy.  The new CBA was supposed to allow the Sabres to compete on a more even playing field compared to other teams in terms of being able to get free agents.  Did Darcy say that the team's own cap is going to be $27-29 million?  No.  The guy who makes that decision is named Tom Golisano.  He is not going to lose money - period.  So we are still not competing on an even playing field compared to teams that have $10 million more to play with.  If we would have won the Sidney Crosby sweepstakes, the arena would be sold out every night, and with Tom knowing that he had a higher level of revenue, we would have had a free agent period like Pittsburgh, but we didn't so we are still stuck being small market Buffalo.  If the negotiated CBA would have had a $32-34 million cap, the team would be competing on a more even playing field.  But these scenarios did not materialize, and I believe that Golisano was one of those that felt the settlement wasn't good enough for true parity amongst all teams.  So, I still believe Darcy is working with his hands tied.  I like having hockey here, but it's most likely always going to be a team that will be fighting to make the playoffs unless league revenues are lower than projected this year and the year after that.  If this happens, the teams that have signed the good players to long term deals for lots of money will be over the lower cap and will be forced to salary dump to teams like Buffalo.  That's our only hope now to get the playing field more even.

Agreed that winning the Crosby sweepstakes would have totally altered the salary and revenue structure of this team.

 

However, the team has to deal with the hand it has been given. That being said, and knowing the Sabres will have one of the smaller payrolls in the league for the forseeable future, the team can still compete.

 

The Sabres set the model in the late 90's and teams like Carolina, Anaheim, Calgary, and even Tampa Bay have shown it can work, at least for 1 hit wonders. The model is have GREAT goaltending, and young (hopefully talented) relatively inexpensive skaters who are willing to bust their butts.

 

Do the Sabres have great goaltending now? That is extremely doubtful. Will it evolve into great in the near future? That's the $29MM question. But with a salary cap in place to keep Detroit, Dallas, St. Louis, Boston, and Philadelphia from buying the best players (notice, the high spending Rangers were not included in this list), the Sabres have a better chance to add the 1 or 2 pieces (and the Sabres will never add more than 1 or 2, unless it is through the draft) to the puzzle that will be necessary to build a champion AFTER the goaltending is in place.

 

My 2 cents.

 

Dave.

[Sebo]

I told you that he is the guy for game winners, tiers, overtime or shootout goals...

[deluca67]

I told you that he is the guy for game winners, tiers, overtime or shootout goals...

Don't mess the undies just yet. It's just one preseason game.

 

Thing to get more excited about would be the crowd and the people spending money downtown.

 

This City needs the Sabres to do well so people will spend the money to go downtown.