ruff overachieved with a crappy lineup

we had to fire him to realize that
- homiedclown

I won't diss on Ruff. I always said he was a great coach. He could win with a defensive team or a high scoring team, it just depended on what he had in front of him. I do think his message got stale in the locker room and that change wasn't the worst thing for either side, but as a coach he was great.

well .... let's try this one.
- Der Kaiser

oh my

I won't diss on Ruff. I always said he was a great coach. He could win with a defensive team or a high scoring team, it just depended on what he had in front of him. I do think his message got stale in the locker room and that change wasn't the worst thing for either side, but as a coach he was great.
- Zschalberg

oh I agree

the season after briere, drury walking, when they decided to move soupy
anytime in the next 2 years after that was the time to replace him


then again darcy should have taken the picks for vanek

oh I agree

the season after briere, drury walking, when they decided to move soupy
anytime in the next 2 years after that was the time to replace him


then again darcy should have taken the picks for vanek
- homiedclown

I think they both were very good especially with the cards they were dealt with ownership. Unfortunately they were a 500 team when they were able to spend and it's tough to bring in impact players without giving up your impact players.

oh I agree

the season after briere, drury walking, when they decided to move soupy
anytime in the next 2 years after that was the time to replace him


then again darcy should have taken the picks for vanek
- homiedclown

If he had done that we would have rebuilt right there. We would have gone from President's trophy to bottom 10 instead of President's trophy to just missing the playoffs. I still would have done it, but it would have been hard for fans to stomach and we would have been furious.

That being said, offer 4 1sts for a player and man we should have taken it. Edmonton wouldn't have picked 1st all those years but we still would have had good picks and could have rebuilt years ago.

Darcy takes those picks and Edmonton doesn't get Eberle, Hall, or RNH. We could have stopped so much...

oh I agree

the season after briere, drury walking, when they decided to move soupy
anytime in the next 2 years after that was the time to replace him


then again darcy should have taken the picks for vanek
- homiedclown

The retool with those picks would have been easier to endure than everything else we have gone through in the meantime.

He would have had to give a speech different than the "suffering" speech, and the fans would have gone ape poop at the time, but in the long term the franchise would have been better off.

Ticket sales, on the other hand ...

I think you are the only one here that feels that way about the Sabres. I know you said you havent watched many games. But this team is fun to watch again. The kids never give up no matter what the score. We do have some dead weight, but lines are finally starting to click. The youngs guys are getting much better each game. Next year will be very interesting. 40 point improvment? Are you nuts? I expected them to be right where they are point wise this season. We are on pace to finish about 19 points better than last year. I am happy with that. If we do the same next year we are at 91 points..... Then the following year we are up top with the big dogs. Exactly the timeline i thought it would take to make this all come together. We tore apart our complete roster and you wanted a 40 point increase? Why? Because we got ROR and Eichel? The NHL more than any other sport is all about chemistry. NFL, MLB, NBA you can plug guys in and it doesnt make to much of a difference. The 3 forwards playing together and 2 d playing together need to know a lot about the guys they play with before it "works" and this takes time. Call the fire department, put the fire out and R-E-L-A-X
- CoHo_to_B-Lo

You know I think my problem is really with the way the game is played today. It is a very boring game in which scoring 3 goals in a game is called a big offensive accomplishment. I have 2 suggestions to make the game better.... Reduce the size of the pads the goaltender can wear and make it a 5 minute penalty if a team uses the "Neutral Zone Trap". The trap has basically turned the game into a race between 2 turtles.......
So maybe it is not the Sabres per se but the way the game is played that bothers me...

I think they both were very good especially with the cards they were dealt with ownership. Unfortunately they were a 500 team when they were able to spend and it's tough to bring in impact players without giving up your impact players.
- yen6d1

Until Pegula came in and Darcy showed what he could do with an open wallet. I feel the lack of dollars was a good crutch for him to stand on. If we won it was overachieving and he looked good. If we lost it was okay because he was limited. I also think pressure from a new owner made him make drastic moves, but he still made the moves and it hurt the team

The retool with those picks would have been easier to endure than everything else we have gone through in the meantime.

He would have had to give a speech different than the "suffering" speech, and the fans would have gone ape poop at the time, but in the long term the franchise would have been better off.

Ticket sales, on the other hand ...
- Der Kaiser

this team has sucked for the last 8 years, and can't get much lower than the last 3 seasons

You know I think my problem is really with the way the game is played today. It is a very boring game in which scoring 3 goals in a game is called a big offensive accomplishment. I have 2 suggestions to make the game better.... Reduce the size of the pads the goaltender can wear and make it a 5 minute penalty if a team uses the "Neutral Zone Trap". The trap has basically turned the game into a race between 2 turtles.......
So maybe it is not the Sabres per se but the way the game is played that bothers me...
- rapperray

How would you enforce/write this? What would be a trap and what wouldn't? Not to mention you're saying a team can't play a certain way because it's too effective. Change the rule to make it harder, I wouldn't make a penalty because they do it.

this team has sucked for the last 8 years, and can't get much lower than the last 3 seasons
- homiedclown

That was the plan though and I think most were on board. If you had told me this plan back in 2007 I would have freaked out. I agree it would have been the right thing to do, I also understand why it wasn't done.

this team has sucked for the last 8 years, and can't get much lower than the last 3 seasons
- homiedclown

This team is on its way to being very good. It's whether they can make another big move or hit a home run in the draft that will make them great or not. I question how easy it will be.

However lately, Kane and Reinhart are really starting to find there places in this lineup.

Replace Moulson and possibly Bogo with better options and we should be a playoff team next year

I think they both were very good especially with the cards they were dealt with ownership. Unfortunately they were a 500 team when they were able to spend and it's tough to bring in impact players without giving up your impact players.
- yen6d1

we had 7 impact players

briere, walked
drury, walked
soupy, refused to pay market value and had to trade him
miller
vanek
roy
pommer


IMO it comes down to talent analysis

roy, pommer, vanek, max, fragile tim

they were fine guys as the second or 3rd option, but did not have the drive to be front line players in the nhl, except for pommer

let jp walk and go all in on kotalik and hecht
pay a 4th line player, goose, third line money

grab second pair d men, spacek, lydman, and expect them to be 24 minute guys


oh and ignore the back up goalie position for 3 plus years


(frank) YOU DARCY

This team is on its way to being very good. It's whether they can make another big move or hit a home run in the draft that will make them great or not. I question how easy it will be.

However lately, Kane and Reinhart are really starting to find there places in this lineup.

Replace Moulson and possibly Bogo with better options and we should be a playoff team next year
- sbroads24

3 more moves from being very good

and murray can't blunder those moves


otherwise we may be the next sens, fringe playoff team for 4 years

bogo needs to get his head out of his ass, or go asap

This team is on its way to being very good. It's whether they can make another big move or hit a home run in the draft that will make them great or not. I question how easy it will be.

However lately, Kane and Reinhart are really starting to find there places in this lineup.

Replace Moulson and possibly Bogo with better options and we should be a playoff team next year
- sbroads24

How would you enforce/write this? What would be a trap and what wouldn't? Not to mention you're saying a team can't play a certain way because it's too effective. Change the rule to make it harder, I wouldn't make a penalty because they do it.
- Zschalberg

The NBA has effectively eliminated the "Zone Defense"...

This team is on its way to being very good. It's whether they can make another big move or hit a home run in the draft that will make them great or not. I question how easy it will be.

However lately, Kane and Reinhart are really starting to find there places in this lineup.

Replace Moulson and possibly Bogo with better options and we should be a playoff team next year
- sbroads24

I so hope that Tampa resigns Stamkos.

It will be great to watch dreams com crashing down.

Ehrhoff on waivers? We may have made the right move to buy him out.....

Ehrhoff on waivers? We may have made the right move to buy him out.....
- Lilroot9

Pick him up to replace Franson...

Eichel not at practice

3 more moves from being very good

and murray can't blunder those moves


otherwise we may be the next sens, fringe playoff team for 4 years
- homiedclown

I have high confidence with Murray;
- Reinhart pick proving to be very good, more room for development but performance projections based on this season seems to be relatively high
- Eichel pick is solid, no brainer.
- there are other draft picks like Guhle that look promising, but time will tell
- ROR / McGinn trade looks very solid
- Kane / Bogo trade is OK...Kane showing promise in another all around player, Bogo the jury is out, but seems to be shifting towards he is a 4/5 D rather than 2/3.
- Lehner Trade - too early to tell, but 5 great games (Save% over .930) 1 stinker

His history with the Sabres to date is far more positive than not.
Moulson signing is the only negative move so far...hopefully he can mitigate that somehow
Yes, still more work to be done...but I like what I have seen so far.
Personally I see him packaging 2nd round Picks with Assets (McGinn, Ennis, etc.) at the trade deadline to acquire higher picks...maybe another 1st rounder at the draft...then make another solid UFA signing

Ehrhoff on waivers? We may have made the right move to buy him out.....
- Lilroot9

the retirement penalty of his contract left us in a rough spot bc the length was hard for other teams to take via trade and even if he was traded we'd have a cap penalty if he retired early. Fell into the injury bug in pit and looks to be about done.
GMTM said he didnt want players that didnt want to play here..this one worked out

Sabres have 1 home win since dec17. I do not envy the Sabres season ticket holder.
- Buffalo--Sabres

They knew what they were signing up for. They'll also be the ones with the front row seat watching the Sabres kick ass in the playoffs soon.