When will Darcy make a move to improve the roster?

[inkman]

I'm pretty sure Tim has been stepping up th is year. He is one of our best players every game. His play making might only be equaled by Briere on this team.

[deluca67]

With the hits Peca delivered despite his size, I think you probably could make that prediction. Mind you, I most certainly did not, but, given his eroneous estimation of Francis's longevity, don't you think he may have pulled out similar logic regarding Peca?

 

The reason I loved Peca was that he did bring it every night. Hopefully Connolly can step up...

Peca was a power play plain and simple. Regier wanted to send a message to the locker room and used Peca.

[Taro T]

Youre willing to wait into next year to pass judgment on Regier??? Are you nuts, or is this Golisano posting???? 

 

The guy has this year to make it.  If the sabes fail to make the playoffs, his failure to make moves after the new contract was signed (which I could understand), coupled with his failure to make any moves during the season when the sabes were still in the hunt, should be enough rope to hang himself.

 

Sabes have to make the playoffs this year, or else he is a collosal failure and must go.

 

But at 1/4 point, his non-moves seem to be working out nicely.  Other teams will improve themselves, and if the sabes dont and fall short of a playoff seed, then he is at fault.

1st off, I am not expecting the Sabres to miss the playoffs this season. If they make the playoffs this year and miss next, most likely he should be gone. It would depend upon the circumstances, but I would expect that Golisano would get rid of him in that case.

 

If they miss the playoffs and it occurs as you described, then yes I agree that Darcy should be gone. What if the Sabres miss the playoffs and it's due to having Atlanta's goaltending situation (which isn't completely out of hand as the Sabres have already had their best 2 goalies go down), would you still punt him? I know DeLuca would, but I'm not convinced he'd keep him if the Sabres do make the playoffs. :P

 

I'm not certain why you are automatically assuming that Darcy is not going to make any moves this season. I expect that he will make several, although I don't expect to see any until near the trade deadline (trades involving goalies being the wildcard). Remember, the trade deadline is earlier than usual this year, so the league has kind of forced any trades made to have a bigger impact on the Sabres fortunes than would have occured in past seasons. In a season full of rule "changes" that finally benefit the Sabres, the league seems to have enacted an administrative rule that saves Darcy and the Sabres from himself. :lol:

 

Considering that this season is something completely new and different for all the GM's and considering the screwed up situation that has been Sabres ownership over the bulk of Darcy's tenure and considering Darcy appears to have assembled a team that can compete with all but the elite of the league even though it has been injury depleted (they've at various times through just the 1st quarter of the season been without their best 2 goalies, at least 3 of their top defensemen, their top forward and several other forwards), I am willing to most likely hold judgement on Darcy until after this season is completed and the Sabres are positioning for next year. There are circumstances where I would pass judgement on him this season (you've described 1 scenario that fits the bill, there are others as well), but I don't expect them to come to fruition.

 

Finally, not that this next point should matter in whether Darcy is retained or given a pink slip, but keep in mind the fact that the person that hired Darcy in the 1st place is the managing partner of the new ownership group. That guy is a politician / real estate guy, he is NOT a hockey man. What possible reason is there to assume that he will bring in a Lou Lamoriello and not a Gord Stellick? I can't think of any.

[Knightrider]

Peca was a power play plain and simple. Regier wanted to send a message to the locker room and used Peca.

That may be true, but with the bankruptcy looming on the horizon, I have tended to lay the Peca fiasco on the ownership. Remember, it was Rigas who promised to bring in the talent to win it all. Knowing how Peca wore his heart on his sleeve, I think it was as much about the dishonesty of Rigas as it was about the money he was looking for. It was Peca and Rigas who were oil and water... I think Regier was forced Rigas to "lockout" Peca to save salary, too. Why not? Rigas (not Regier) was able to stick it to a guy who called him out on his dishonesty, and he was able to keep the money that would have been due to Peca.

 

The only knock I have on Regier was that he should have resigned during the Peca debacle.

 

A similar thing happened with Patty. When he went down, that was a huge savings that Muckler didn't need to purge. When he was ready to return, they weren't financially prepared. That was just as embarassing (maybe more) as the Peca saga, only the team did better in his absence. Other leadership had stepped up to fill the void left by Patty.

[BRH]

Not to worry, fans. Darcy will get Bob Corkum at the deadline and all will be fine.

[Knightrider]

Not to worry, fans. Darcy will get Bob Corkum at the deadline and all will be fine.

If the Swordsmen are in the hunt and he pulls only that type trade, and I'm TB who wants to be governor, Darcy'd be gone before the end of the season...

[DR HOLLIDAY]

Peca was doing great for the Islanders until he took a cheap shot from Darcy Tucker in the playoffs and took out his knee.......... :angry:

 

New-York Islanders NHL 80 25 35 60

 

He also played great for team Canada in the Olympics that year.

[Sabresince70]

With Dumont and Briere's injuries we may need a forward (and one for the top 2 lines) long before the deadline. There may be holes that need filled just to stay above water until (if) Dumont and Briere return. A Corkum type deal won't cut it. I hope Miller comes back healthy and shakes the rust off quick so that our extra goalie can bring in whatever it is we need most. If both forwards can come back healthy, then a d-man is certainly the way to go. I just don't want to have to rely on Peters taking regular shifts on nights when his type player isn't needed (I told myself I wouldn't refer to him as "goon").

 

I believe Guastad and Mair can provide respectable amounts of muscle without losing large amounts of production, and I hope Pominville and Roy can be steady 2/3 line forwards. But would we be real comfortable with Max, Ales, Drury and Hecht being our top veteran forwards? Vanek will (I hope) fall into form as the season goes, but I'd love an experienced true top 6 forward (Briere would be fine if healthy) in March and April.

 

Oh - and this is not a put down on any of the forwards that I mentioned - Just think that Briere and Dumont would be hard to replace from the Roc. Roy, Pominville etc would be more than atiquit to replace Grier or Mair.

[deluca67]

That may be true, but with the bankruptcy looming on the horizon, I have tended to lay the Peca fiasco on the ownership. Remember, it was Rigas who promised to bring in the talent to win it all. Knowing how Peca wore his heart on his sleeve, I think it was as much about the dishonesty of Rigas as it was about the money he was looking for. It was Peca and Rigas who were oil and water... I think Regier was forced Rigas to "lockout" Peca to save salary, too. Why not? Rigas (not Regier) was able to stick it to a guy who called him out on his dishonesty, and he was able to keep the money that would have been due to Peca.

 

The only knock I have on Regier was that he should have resigned during the Peca debacle.

 

A similar thing happened with Patty. When he went down, that was a huge savings that Muckler didn't need to purge. When he was ready to return, they weren't financially prepared. That was just as embarassing (maybe more) as the Peca saga, only the team did better in his absence. Other leadership had stepped up to fill the void left by Patty.

I think your timeline is a bit off. The Peca thing happened before the Rigas family was caught. The was no BK on the horizon at that point.

 

Patty was a different story. Every time he went on the ice he was at a higher risk then most players of getting injured.

[Knightrider]

I think your timeline is a bit off. The Peca thing happened before the Rigas family was caught. The was no BK on the horizon at that point.

I think it may not have been public, but the bk was coming none the less. Those types of things don't sneak up on you. Rigas would have been the one who would know first. The fact that no one was brought in shows his duplicity...

[deluca67]

I think it may not have been public, but the bk was coming none the less. Those types of things don't sneak up on you. Rigas would have been the one who would know first. The fact that no one was brought in shows his duplicity...

The BK was a result of the stock dropping after the arrests. If the Rigas family doesn't get caught then they still would own the team today.

 

Remeber the stock was high at that point because they had inflated the subscription numbers which was part of what the "fraud" charge was about.

[Saber61]

If the Swordsmen are in the hunt and he pulls only that type trade, and I'm TB who wants to be governor, Darcy'd be gone before the end of the season...

agreed.... but i think direction comes from up above around golisano... are we forgetting that Quinn makes a lot of the decisions too? or does he?

[mrjsbu96]

Any idea on how many of the Sabres draft picks under Regier the team signed? It doesn't seem like they sign many.

 

 

I can't back this up with any numbers, but I highly doubt there are many teams/GM's in the league that DO sign a high number of their own draft picks. The NHL draft is much like MLB in that regard. You are selecting kids that are still making their way through juniors.

[Jim Bob]

Any idea on how many of the Sabres draft picks under Regier the team signed? It doesn't seem like they sign many.

I don't think the Sabres are letting any more prospects go than any other team around the league.

 

No team signs every one of their draftees unless it's a team that almost has to because they've traded away a lot of draft picks ala Detroit or the Rangers in the recent past.

 

The only recent guy the Sabres have let walk that has even made the NHL is Zigomanis I believe. And he was a guy that they wanted to sign.

 

There have been one or two other guys that have turned out to be decent NHL role players (like Shane Hnidy) , but that's about it.

[shrader]

No data, but the only 2 that I can think of that they WANTED to sign but couldn't / didn't were Heisten and Zigomanis.

Heisten was intent on using the Van Ryn loophole. Once he left Maine for juniors, I'm willing to bet that they never bothered to talk to him again.

[Taro T]

Heisten was intent on using the Van Ryn loophole.  Once he left Maine for juniors, I'm willing to bet that they never bothered to talk to him again.

They still tried to sign him, but there was slim to no possibility that they would be successful given the team's salary structure at the time. In hindsight, it was a good thing the Sabres didn't consider giving him what he wanted. He was another low scoring forward drafted much higher than he should have been under the criminals' leadership. He had a strong season in the WHL after leaving Maine which caused the Rangers to sign him (lucky them), but even in his one season in Junior he didn't score many goals.

[deluca67]

I can't back this up with any numbers, but I highly doubt there are many teams/GM's in the league that DO sign a high number of their own draft picks. The NHL draft is much like MLB in that regard. You are selecting kids that are still making their way through juniors.

Isn't the point being that since the Sabres can't spend the money they need to hit a higher % of draft picks then other teams? Regier has said it himself. The Sabres have a smaller margin of error when it comes to prospects.