GDT: Avalanche @ Sabres Sunday Oct 29th- 1pm

[Taro T]

8 minutes ago, SabresBaltimore said:

For me, I first got into the Sabres as a kid when they were in the black & red. So I have a fondness for those colors and the goat. However I think the original color and logo is iconic and what the team should be using. 

 

And I'm sure the NHL wouldn't allow them to do 2 completely different uniforms full time like that. They won't let teams wear 3rd jerseys on the road either. My guess is the team is at the boundary of what the league allows because they use it as a promotion to try to get more butts in the seats.
 

It also shouldn't be necessary to swap like that. But it does seem to fire this team up. I was half-joking about them wearing goat head shirts, but hockey players (all athletes) tend to be a superstitious bunch. So much of it is the metal game. If somehow that gets the team in the right head space, so be it.

Don't believe the bolded is correct.  (It definitely wasn't in the past; haven't heard of any rule changes regarding it so am presuming it still isn't the case.)

Teams don't often wear their 3rds on the road because their 3rds are typically dark so the team can wear them at home.  And 3rd typically being dark is a big part of why the league went to darks at home.  (Very few teams had light 3rd; the Rags did with the white version of their Mike Richter facemask unis but that's the only one that immediately springs to mind (certainly there were others, just not recalling them right now).)  Equipment managers griped about having to ship/travel with 2 sets of unis when they were playing a team that wanted to wear their dark 3rds at home; so the league switched back to the way it was prior to the Sabres and 'Nucks entering the league in '70 - darks at home, lights on the road; unless both teams agree beforehand.

 

[Pimlach]

16 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

The thing is... depending on how he is with his personal finances he may never have to work again.

There are many bad hockey executives, bad coaches,  and bad players who are or were living off of Pegula's contracts  - they were nice severance packages.  After about 3 wasteful regime changes he decided he needed to watch expenses and become "efficient, effective and economic".  Then he had to lay off rank and file employees, many that were there longer than him.  

Back to Murray, all I can think of is he must not have any friends in the hockey business once his uncles retired. 

[Doohicksie]

23 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

he must not have any friends in the hockey business once his uncles retired.

And/or:  He'd work again, but only as a GM, and no team in their right mind would hire him as a GM.  I think he and JBot could both work as an Asst. GM on the contracts side of things in the NHL; they both seemed to know that aspect pretty well.

[French Collection]

8 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

And/or:  He'd work again, but only as a GM, and no team in their right mind would hire him as a GM.  I think he and JBot could both work as an Asst. GM on the contracts side of things in the NHL; they both seemed to know that aspect pretty well.

Murray’s background is scouting and he’s probably not willing to hang around junior hockey barns for the money being offered.

Probably some truth to not having tons of friends in the industry, he seemed a bit dour.

[Stoner]

1 hour ago, Doohickie said:

Closed the shop, sold the house, bought a ticket to the west coast
Now he gives them a stand-up routine in L.A.

 

https://www.youtube.com/@TMurray06/videos

 

@Sabres Fan in NS

[Pimlach]

30 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

And/or:  He'd work again, but only as a GM, and no team in their right mind would hire him as a GM.  I think he and JBot could both work as an Asst. GM on the contracts side of things in the NHL; they both seemed to know that aspect pretty well.

No way Murray wants to live the life of an NHL scout, but that is what he basically is if you take away the nepotism.  

JBot knows a lot more and is way more legit  I would say.  He is one of 7 execs reporting to Ron Francis in Seattle, he is one of the two Asst GMs.   He is not overloaded or over his head and is probably doing a fine job for them.  He was pushed into the big boy chair too soon, but he is a legit hockey exec.    I actually commend Bots for sticking to his principles, even when it cost him his job.    

[JohnC]

4 hours ago, Pimlach said:

There are many bad hockey executives, bad coaches,  and bad players who are or were living off of Pegula's contracts  - they were nice severance packages.  After about 3 wasteful regime changes he decided he needed to watch expenses and become "efficient, effective and economic".  Then he had to lay off rank and file employees, many that were there longer than him.  

Back to Murray, all I can think of is he must not have any friends in the hockey business once his uncles retired. 

It's indisputable that cost cutting was the main factor during this covid period. The cash flow during this extraordinary pandemic era was severely stressed. Ironically, the austerity movement that resulted in Botterill departing because he didn't want to be part of this business restructuring, that included the evisceration of the scouting department, is a reason why this organization has turned things around. Because of the challenging business environment, the owners had the hockey operation comprehensively examined. Apparently, it has resulted in a more analytical approach that has put this franchise on a more positive path. 

The scouting staff that was eliminated has been replaced with new staff who are more analytically attuned. There is no question that there is now greater coherency throughout the organization with everyone being on the same page. The owners learned that instead of lurching back and forth in their management approach, it made more sense to institute a plan and follow through on it. My sense is that the owners learned from their mistakes and now have a better understanding on how to oversee the franchise.  

[Kronsteen]

On 10/29/2023 at 3:26 PM, Marvin said:

Kronsteen?  As in the chess player from, "From Russia, with Love"?

Yep. 

[shrader]

I missed this game the other day. I was just trying to Google what happened with Okposo and Makar. I came across this gem.