LaFontaine is one of my heroes, but to suggest he's ready for that job is prosperous. Homie's write. He walked on Long Island. He's been coaching 16 year olds. Not ready.

Ditto, Housley. Coaching a tournament team of 18 year olds is completely different than pros. Housley was a great offensive defenseman and one of the softest players in the history of the organization. No thank you.
- PassionBucket16

While I agree with the experience part, how "soft" a guy was in his playing days shouldn't matter. The question should always be: does the guy have the administrative abilities to put a winning team together? Wayne Gretzky was just short of a disaster as a coach in Phoenix (payroll is not an excuse; coaches like Tippett came in and did much better under equally turbulent circumstances), yet he was the greatest player the game has ever seen. A former player's athletic abilities and his administrative abilities should always be mutually exclusive when considering him as a candidate.

The after hours club might be the worst bunch of hacks around. You could pull 4 guys from this thread and have a better conversation than those idiots.
- BigStew

PJ Stock is a tool

He played hockey in the NHL for 15-16 years at a very high level. He is connected, knows the in's and outs of the league. I can go on, but I disagree with your assumption. But that's ok bufffan19, we can agree to disagree.
- Irish 14

See my above post. A player's athletic abilities and his administrative abilities are completely different.

Hey Lindy!


Yes Marty?

See my above post. A player's athletic abilities and his administrative abilities are completely different.
- buffalofan19

Maybe for some it's true? But not for all. It's your opinion, I respect that. Just disagree when it comes to LaFontaine. He has the make up of a leader.

Has he won a cup in his career as a player or a coach? Another Buffalo guy who didn't win.
- buffalofan19

This suggestion that somebody is disqualified from being a success unless they already have their name on the Cup is just dumb. Cunneyworth has all the attributes and experience required to be a great head coach, and has seen the best and the worst of three organizations. He would be a great hire.

Maybe for some it's true? But not for all. It's your opinion, I respect that. Just disagree when it comes to LaFontaine.
- Irish 14

Why is LaFontaine an exception to the rule? Because he was a folk hero here? It certainly isn't the long list of championships he won in the NHL.

Crosby. Malkin. Eric Staal. Kopitar. Giroux. Stamkos. Toews. Datsyuk. Tavares. Spezza. Backes. Sedin.

Not sure Lecavalier is top 10. I'm not disagreeing with you on his quality of play. What I originally wrote is they can't move him because of his cap hit. $54 mill cap next year and he's nearly $8 mill of that. I think if they could remove that cap hit for the next 7 years, they'd do it immediately.
- PassionBucket16

Thornton, Pavelski, Kesler... Omg Lecavelier isn't even top 25....

Couture, Benn, plekanec, Richards, carter, Staal... The list is so long before Vinny is even a consideration.

Why is LaFontaine an exception to the rule? Because he was a folk hero here? It certainly isn't the long list of championships he won in the NHL.
- buffalofan19

Nope, no folk hero concept here. Just what he represents as a person and what he can bring to an organization. If your fine with Darcy, just move on!

...unless he waits til season's end and tries for Dallas Eakins from Marlies

This suggestion that somebody is disqualified from being a success unless they already have their name on the Cup is just dumb. Cunneyworth has all the attributes and experience required to be a great head coach, and has seen the best and the worst of three organizations. He would be a great hire.
- Der Kaiser

No, I disqualify him because he has ties to this organization. He's fully capable of being having a successful coaching/management career. However, he wouldn't be a fit everywhere. Very few people can mesh in just about any circumstance. If it came down to Cunneyworth and someone with equal ability but he has never been employed by the organization, I'm taking the guy without the previous ties in a heartbeat. His vision is much less likely to be clouded by misguided loyalties.

Nope, no folk hero concept here. Just what he represents as a person and what he can bring to an organization. If your fine with Darcy, just move on!
- Irish 14

I'm not fine with Darcy. To me, Darcy is like putting anti-freeze in an empty gas tank. It doesn't get you very far. However, LaFontaine would be like putting motor oil in it instead. Neither option gets you where you need to be.

PJ Stock is a tool
- PassionBucket16

Massive tool.

While I agree with the experience part, how "soft" a guy was in his playing days shouldn't matter. The question should always be: does the guy have the administrative abilities to put a winning team together? Wayne Gretzky was just short of a disaster as a coach in Phoenix (payroll is not an excuse; coaches like Tippett came in and did much better under equally turbulent circumstances), yet he was the greatest player the game has ever seen. A former player's athletic abilities and his administrative abilities should always be mutually exclusive when considering him as a candidate.
- buffalofan19

I loved the way Housley had that WJC team playing. It can be a really tough task to get a group of kids to come together and be cohesive that quickly. Just look at Team Canada this year. It was loaded with talent and because the Coach had no clue what he was doing, they didn't even medal.

I'd love to see him involved here in some way. However, the fact that he has no coaching experience at even the AHL level is a bit concerning.

No, I disqualify him because he has ties to this organization. He's fully capable of being having a successful coaching/management career. However, he wouldn't be a fit everywhere. Very few people can mesh in just about any circumstance. If it came down to Cunneyworth and someone with equal ability but he has never been employed by the organization, I'm taking the guy without the previous ties in a heartbeat. His vision is much less likely to be clouded by misguided loyalties.
- buffalofan19

I would actually disqualify him because of the trainwreck that the Canadiens were under him last year. That definitely put a lot of question marks in my head about him.

See my above post. A player's athletic abilities and his administrative abilities are completely different.
- buffalofan19

Not disputing your stance on having someone who has done the job before but I think you would be shocked at how inept most NHL teams are in managing their hockey operations.

I loved the way Housley had that WJC team playing. It can be a really tough task to get a group of kids to come together and be cohesive that quickly. Just look at Team Canada this year. It was loaded with talent and because the Coach had no clue what he was doing, they didn't even medal.

I'd love to see him involved here in some way. However, the fact that he has no coaching experience at even the AHL level is a bit concerning.
- HonkFortheGoose

I think Housley will end up being a successful coach, general manager, or both in either the AHL or the NHL. However, I don't believe that it will happen for a while. The guy has been coaching high school for the most part. He needs to gain experience. Getting your message through to men versus getting it through to boys, which is what he's been doing, is a completely different world, and isn't learned overnight. The same goes for LaFontaine.

No, I disqualify him because he has ties to this organization. He's fully capable of being having a successful coaching/management career. However, he wouldn't be a fit everywhere. Very few people can mesh in just about any circumstance. If it came down to Cunneyworth and someone with equal ability but he has never been employed by the organization, I'm taking the guy without the previous ties in a heartbeat. His vision is much less likely to be clouded by misguided loyalties.
- buffalofan19

He's had exactly as much time in his career in other organizations as he has with the Sabres. All his time with "this" organization was under different ownership. He knows what works, and what doesn't, both with the Sabres and with others.

You're cutting off your nose to spite your face.

Not disputing your stance on having someone who has done the job before but I think you would be shocked at how inept most NHL teams are in managing their hockey operations.
- BigStew

The Sabres don't have a monopoly on the issues they are facing. I understand that. The problem is that the game is constantly evolving, and many people are too set in their ways to realize that. The amount of reactive managers far outnumbers the amount of proactive ones.

I think Housley will end up being a successful coach, general manager, or both in either the AHL or the NHL. However, I don't believe that it will happen for a while. The guy has been coaching high school for the most part. He needs to gain experience. Getting your message through to men versus getting it through to boys, which is what he's been doing, is a completely different world, and isn't learned overnight. The same goes for LaFontaine.
- buffalofan19

Based on his success with the Jr team, I think he could probably go to an AHL team and would still be able to get his message across. The guys on the Jr team are between 18 and 20. The AHL guys, for the most part, are 20 and up. Obviously there are vets on every AHL team, but it would give him the experience that he would need with the older players as well.

I would think he's a few years off, but I certainly wouldn't mind bringing him into the fold somehow.

He's had exactly as much time in his career in other organizations as he has with the Sabres. All his time with "this" organization was under different ownership. He knows what works, and what doesn't, both with the Sabres and with others.

You're cutting off your nose to spite your face.
- Der Kaiser

You're refusing to think outside the box. Why is it that the first candidate on people's tongues are people that have played here before: Dudley, LaFontaine, Housley, Cunneyworth? How come somebody who doesn't have any ties to the Buffalo Sabres is rarely ever mentioned? We're so obsessed around here with "keeping our own" that we're blinded from considering what it really takes to win championships in this town. This organization has been around for 40+ years and has never won a cup. And yet most people refuse to believe that recycling the same people over and over again has anything to do with the lack of success. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over again and expecting a different result. That's exactly what is going on here.

You're refusing to think outside the box. Why is it that the first candidate on people's tongues are people that have played here before: Dudley, LaFontaine, Housley, Cunneyworth? How come somebody who doesn't have any ties to the Buffalo Sabres is rarely ever mentioned? We're so obsessed around here with "keeping our own" that we're blinded from considering what it really takes to win championships in this town. This organization has been around for 40+ years and has never won a cup. And yet most people refuse to believe that recycling the same people over and over again has anything to do with the lack of success. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over again and expecting a different result. That's exactly what is going on here.
- buffalofan19

Who are you proposing? Rather than simply repeating "that idea won't work," tell us what will.

You're refusing to think outside the box. Why is it that the first candidate on people's tongues are people that have played here before: Dudley, LaFontaine, Housley, Cunneyworth? How come somebody who doesn't have any ties to the Buffalo Sabres is rarely ever mentioned? We're so obsessed around here with "keeping our own" that we're blinded from considering what it really takes to win championships in this town. This organization has been around for 40+ years and has never won a cup. And yet most people refuse to believe that recycling the same people over and over again has anything to do with the lack of success. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over again and expecting a different result. That's exactly what is going on here.
- buffalofan19

To be fair, it's been the ruff and regier show for close to 20 years. They haven't exactly recycled their own.

You're refusing to think outside the box. Why is it that the first candidate on people's tongues are people that have played here before: Dudley, LaFontaine, Housley, Cunneyworth? How come somebody who doesn't have any ties to the Buffalo Sabres is rarely ever mentioned? We're so obsessed around here with "keeping our own" that we're blinded from considering what it really takes to win championships in this town. This organization has been around for 40+ years and has never won a cup. And yet most people refuse to believe that recycling the same people over and over again has anything to do with the lack of success. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over again and expecting a different result. That's exactly what is going on here.
- buffalofan19

I actually really liked Dineen. I thought they held onto Ruff for too long and that Dineen should have been promoted to coach here. Other than coaching for us in Portland, he had no ties to this team whatsoever. He just happened to be the coach in Portland when they took over the affiliation there and they decided to keep him. What he did with that Florida team last year was nothing short of a miracle. Not quite sure why they're having such a hard time this year though. May be because of injuries, but it's a bit concerning from a coaching standpoint too.

so do we still suck?