The Ehrhoff Curse

[OverPowerYou]

Christian Ehrhoff had 7 years left on his deal in 2014 when he was bought out. He is on the payroll until 2028. Maybe this explains the ineptitude and the seemingly brainwashed status quo attitude of Sabres management. Year after year there are free agent signings and trades to be made both incoming and outgoing yet they are never made. We are often sold false hope that the young guys and the draft are the future. 
 

Maybe Darcy Regier had a crystal ball. Maybe the suffering ends in 2028 and it was just a lot longer than we imagined? Darcy made that comment in April of 2013. Maybe it’s a 15 year spell that he cast? 

Edited January 26 by OverPowerYou

[Pimlach]

34 minutes ago, OverPowerYou said:

Christian Ehrhoff had 7 years left on his deal in 2014 when he was bought out. He is on the payroll until 2028. Maybe this explains the ineptitude and the seemingly brainwashed status quo attitude of Sabres management. Year after year there are free agent signings and trades to be made both incoming and outgoing yet they are never made. We are often sold false hope that the young guys and the draft are the future. 
 

Maybe Darcy Regier had a crystal ball. Maybe the suffering ends in 2028 and it was just a lot longer than we imagined? Darcy made that comment in April of 2013. Maybe it’s a 15 year spell that he cast? 

[Getpucksdeep]

37 minutes ago, OverPowerYou said:

Christian Ehrhoff had 7 years left on his deal in 2014 when he was bought out. He is on the payroll until 2028. Maybe this explains the ineptitude and the seemingly brainwashed status quo attitude of Sabres management. Year after year there are free agent signings and trades to be made both incoming and outgoing yet they are never made. We are often sold false hope that the young guys and the draft are the future. 
 

Maybe Darcy Regier had a crystal ball. Maybe the suffering ends in 2028 and it was just a lot longer than we imagined? Darcy made that comment in April of 2013. Maybe it’s a 15 year spell that he cast? 

How does this (erhoff) compare to other teams?   Exceptional case or pretty common?  

[bob_sauve28]

Is there any evidence that Erhoff dabbled in the occult? Or was the curse instituted by some other being, perhaps a dissatisfied fan who took up black magic and issued this curse out of the spit and bile of his or her black soul? 

 

We should hire an exorcist! 

 

[Night Train]

12 minutes ago, bob_sauve28 said:

We should hire an exorcist! 

 

Why ?  Oh wait...here comes KA..

 

[Sabres Fan in NS]

I think you may be on to something here.

This is as reasonalbe a take as any other out there.

What do you think cursed the Bills to lose every playoff game against the Chiefs.  Maybe Buffalo Bill was not the greatest dude ever ??

[Buffalonill]

It started when we lost both captains

[Stoner]

28 minutes ago, Buffalonill said:

It started when we lost both captains

Not to go all Thorny here, but what's the statue of limitations on that? The Sabres were 90ish point teams that missed the playoffs the two seasons after the loss of the co captains. Then they were returned to the playoffs two years in a row, winning the division one of those years.

Everyone knows what the fateful day was.

Does anyone think Darcy was the driving force behind the Ehrhoff move?

[Doohicksie]

[Taro T]

3 hours ago, PASabreFan said:

Not to go all Thorny here, but what's the statue of limitations on that? The Sabres were 90ish point teams that missed the playoffs the two seasons after the loss of the co captains. Then they were returned to the playoffs two years in a row, winning the division one of those years.

Everyone knows what the fateful day was.

Does anyone think Darcy was the driving force behind the Ehrhoff move?

Which Ehrhoff move?  Bringing him in or punting him?

Bringing him in was clearly not Regier's call (or if it was his call, it was heartily endorsed by the boss who loved Ehrhoff).

Cutting him was likely Regier's Murray's call as doubt that anyone above him in a non-hockey department role would've said the Sabres needed to buy him out rather than trade him due to the monstrous cap penalty that would've been incurred when Christian finally retired with time remaining on the original deal.  Doubt they would've fully understood the repercussions of what a trade likely would've meant about 1 year ago.

Or, are you referring to the broader concept of who came up with the plan that would bring on "suffering?"

Edited January 26 by Taro T
Thanks Porous for the reminder on the timing of events.

[Pimlach]

Dwelling on this doesn’t help anything.  All the responsible parties are long gone.  
 

Need to move forward.  

[Porous Five Hole]

I could be wrong, but I strongly remember Tim Murray being the one who bought out Ehrhoff.  

[Taro T]

56 minutes ago, Porous Five Hole said:

I could be wrong, but I strongly remember Tim Murray being the one who bought out Ehrhoff.  

Good call.  He went in the summer of '14.  A few months after Regier was sent packing.

[Stoner]

3 hours ago, Taro T said:

Which Ehrhoff move?  Bringing him in or punting him?

Bringing him in was clearly not Regier's call (or if it was his call, it was heartily endorsed by the boss who loved Ehrhoff).

Cutting him was likely Regier's Murray's call as doubt that anyone above him in a non-hockey department role would've said the Sabres needed to buy him out rather than trade him due to the monstrous cap penalty that would've been incurred when Christian finally retired with time remaining on the original deal.  Doubt they would've fully understood the repercussions of what a trade likely would've meant about 1 year ago.

Or, are you referring to the broader concept of who came up with the plan that would bring on "suffering?"

To your question, bringing him in. I weasily used the word "move" bc I couldn't remember if he came via trade or signing. If only a technology existed that would allow us to research such things. Spoiler alert: it was a trade and sign. No wonder my addled brain was confused.

[Stoner]

And as for suffering, Darcy might have been on board with a rebuild, but he said the owner would determine the extent of it. I am very skeptical that Darcy actually got fired. I don't think his idea of suffering lined up at all with what Terry and Pitt Crew had in mind.

[R_Dudley]

True Dat, TP brought his Penn State and Penguins connections with him. They likely had some influence on what happened with Pat LaFontaine.   

[PerreaultForever]

7 hours ago, OverPowerYou said:

Christian Ehrhoff had 7 years left on his deal in 2014 when he was bought out. He is on the payroll until 2028. Maybe this explains the ineptitude and the seemingly brainwashed status quo attitude of Sabres management. Year after year there are free agent signings and trades to be made both incoming and outgoing yet they are never made. We are often sold false hope that the young guys and the draft are the future. 
 

Maybe Darcy Regier had a crystal ball. Maybe the suffering ends in 2028 and it was just a lot longer than we imagined? Darcy made that comment in April of 2013. Maybe it’s a 15 year spell that he cast? 

If the implied suggestion is that Pegula will not pay for free agents because of the Ehrhoff mistake it's clearly false as we signed Hall and Skinner to big money deals. Arguably both mistakes, but the money was spent. If they shifted to not signing any more big money deals voluntarily it's because of those deals and not Ehrhoff. 

If the implication is some sort of German voodoo curse, JJ Peterka should have cancelled it. If not, I guess our next coach has to be Uwe Krupp. 

 

[clink]

So, our misery has breached the metaphysical threshold 

 

Splendid 😃

[DarthEbriate]

The Concept of Ehrhoff will be with you... always.

[Sabres Fan in NS]

20 hours ago, DarthEbriate said:

The Concept of Ehrhoff will be with you... always.

Best UFA D available at the time.  TP loved playing with his shiny new toy.  The rest is history or a curse depending on your vantage point.

Edited January 27 by Sabres Fan in NS

[Thorner]

On 1/26/2024 at 8:42 AM, PASabreFan said:

Not to go all Thorny here, but what's the statue of limitations on that? The Sabres were 90ish point teams that missed the playoffs the two seasons after the loss of the co captains. Then they were returned to the playoffs two years in a row, winning the division one of those years.

Everyone knows what the fateful day was.

Does anyone think Darcy was the driving force behind the Ehrhoff move?

Why not? All the kids are doing it 

On 1/26/2024 at 8:42 AM, PASabreFan said:

Not to go all Thorny here, but what's the statue of limitations on that? The Sabres were 90ish point teams that missed the playoffs the two seasons after the loss of the co captains. Then they were returned to the playoffs two years in a row, winning the division one of those years.

Everyone knows what the fateful day was.

Does anyone think Darcy was the driving force behind the Ehrhoff move?

It’s absolutely true though and you are right. Just because we can observe a series of poor choices since, doesn’t mean any of them necessarily needed to be made 

They were a playoff team in 2010. It’s not like the literal universe after that was like “oh, you lost your co-captains, this can’t continue.” Same thing with the tank: we’ve been free to the extent of having the ability to make choices that would get us in the playoffs several times over

but the issue is that the decision to tank was a symptom. It’s not cause and effect. But because there’s a common denominator involved in the original decisions, it makes sense they’d make poor decisions moving forward. 

Edited January 27 by Thorny

[DarthEbriate]

7 hours ago, Sabres Fan in NS said:

Best UFA D available at the time.  TP loved playing with his shiny new toy.  The rest his history or a curse depending on your vantage point.

From a certain point of view... It was a good signing and good annual cap hit for a PP1-capable guy (and 2nd-pairing overall). He was far and away their best defenseman at the time. Curse those front-loaded deals and the League punishing teams for doing what was legal. The League made a good player untradeable and unretirable.

Edited January 27 by DarthEbriate

[SwampD]

On 1/26/2024 at 8:38 AM, Getpucksdeep said:

How does this (erhoff) compare to other teams?   Exceptional case or pretty common?  

Not sure of every team, but two fun standouts are Rick DiPietro getting paid $1.5 million per year until 28-29 (last game Feb 19, 2013), and Ilya Kovalchuk getting $4 million per until the end of next season.

[PromoTheRobot]

On 1/26/2024 at 7:59 AM, OverPowerYou said:

Christian Ehrhoff had 7 years left on his deal in 2014 when he was bought out. He is on the payroll until 2028. Maybe this explains the ineptitude and the seemingly brainwashed status quo attitude of Sabres management. Year after year there are free agent signings and trades to be made both incoming and outgoing yet they are never made. We are often sold false hope that the young guys and the draft are the future. 
 

Maybe Darcy Regier had a crystal ball. Maybe the suffering ends in 2028 and it was just a lot longer than we imagined? Darcy made that comment in April of 2013. Maybe it’s a 15 year spell that he cast? 

Yes. That's it. You solved the mystery.