You may not like the fact that the Buffalo Sabres have beaten the Arizona Coyotes and Toronto Maple Leafs in consecutive games. The Sabres held a six point lead on the Coyotes in the McEichel standings on Sunday. A regulation loss tro the Desert Dogs would have moved Buffalo to an eight game “lead… in the race for Connor McDavid and Jack Eichel. However, two consecutive wins have reduced the Buffalo “lead… to just two measly points. You should give credit to Sabres GM Tim Murray and head coach Ted Nolan for shrouding their intentions to finish last in the standings in order to bag one of the two trophy bucks at the top of the NHL Draft. Publicly, Murray and Nolan are saying the right things and conveying the message that their blue collar, hard-working team is working as hard as they can and competing between the whistles. Murray and Nolan know their audience which is comprised mainly of working stiffs who have to pull their jeans and work boots on one leg at a time. Murray tips his cap to Sabres fans who have endured two seasons of suffering. Nolan is equally as empathetic and usually offers a sincere “pardon our dust as we rebuild you team into a winner… answer when asked about the fortunes of his 2014-15 Sabres.
No one knows what goes on behind the closed doors of the offices of Murray, Nolan and the Sabres locker room. One concludes that Murray and Nolan aren’t dumb. They hear the consternation and the anxiety in the voices of their fans. They know what their fan base is saying about them. They also are mindful of what the NHL is saying about them. Two weeks ago in Edmonton, NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly went on record as saying that he felt confident in saying that the NHL is not concerned about the allegations that the Sabres, Coyotes and Oilers are deliberately tanking in order to dive to the 30th place in the NHL standings in order to win the 20% chance of selecting McDavid in the April 18 NHL Draft Lottery. The 30th place team is guaranteed to select Eichel second overall. Daly said that he has heard the chatter and the bitchin in the kitchen created largely by envious NHL team execs and their respective media hordes accusing Buffalo, Arizona and Edmonton of pulling the chute and quitting on their fan bases. The NHL sees no reason to be concerned.
Murray and Nolan are cognizant of the negativity and the vitriol being hurled their way by their upset fans and the glass-half-empty media. They deserve credit for not cracking under pressure and spilling their jelly beans about what is really happening inside their organization right now. You’ll notice that Murray took a back pedal from his recent comments that appeared in the NY Times last Sunday. Murray said that he finds himself thinking about McDavid far too often. Initially, Murray’s comments painted him as a bit of a fan and admirer of McDavid which seemingly dumped gas on the fire of “See, he’s tanking on purpose to get McDavid… battle cries. Wednesday afternoon on WGR radio in Buffalo, Murray took time to explain his NY Times comments and those comments that he made Monday night during an Ottawa 67’s intermission report interview. Murray took great pains to praise not only McDavid but Jack Eichel, saying both players are excellent talents. Murray also said “If you can’t hit the curveball, you can’t play in the pros…. What he meant by that is if the Sabres select third overall in the NHL Draft, he would be fine selecting Erie Otters power center, OHL scoring champion and Connor McDavid bunker mate Dylan Strome with the third overall pick in the draft. Murray was being diplomatic and pragmatic. His point was simple: if we don’t select McDavid or Eichel, we will select another great player. Outwardly, that is what Murray is saying. Inwardly, Murray wants McDavid or Eichel. He and his management team, scouts, coaches and players are five games away from landing one of the top prizes in the NHL draft. Who cares if you lose a couple of games and give the house some of it’s money back in terms of the two losses in a row to Arizona and Toronto. When you play with the house’s money, the house always takes it’s money back. Murray has played his hand perfectly. The Sabres have fi difficult opponents to finish this season against in Chicago, NY Islanders, Carolina, Columbus and Pittsburgh. Murray likes his chances.
On Wednesday afternoon and across the country, Arizona Coyotes GM Don Maloney literally spilled his jelly beans in a live radio interview that he and his Coyotes are and have been in full quit mode in pursuit of their ultimate prize: Connor McDavid.
Frankly, I’m shocked that Maloney, a respected NHL exec and popular former NHL player, would have the brass and audacity to spew on the record that:
“There’s a tremendous prize, a reward, for being poor,… said Maloney, who you will hear for yourself was laughing when he answered the question. “And we are doing a good job being poor.…
Proud of being poor? Yes. Maloney and his notorious assistant general manager Darcy Regier (ie: The King Of Pain & Suffering…) are now gloating publicly about the rich rewards that he and his owner will take possession of after the next five games have been tanked by his team.
Gloating while tanking?
The term “integrity of the game… has been hurled around Buffalo media more than rock salt was distributed on ice covered Western New York roads this winter. Murray’s greatest detractors and critics have accused him of trading Tyler Myers, Drew Stafford, Jhonas Enroth, Michal Neuvirth, Chris Stewart, Torrey Mitchell and Brian Flynn all in the name of losing on purpose. If that were the case, why is Nolan getting maximum effort out of a nightly lineup that features Anders Lindback, Phil Varone, Tyson Strachan, Zac Dalpe, Andrej Meszaros, Matt Ellis? Say what you want about Nolan, the guy knows how to squeeze blood from a stone, which is exactly what he has been doing since the March 3 NHL trade deadline. Nolan is coaching up all players in his lineup and is getting max effort from each and every one of them. Can Coyotes head coach Dave Tippett say the same thing?
Save it, pal.
I have gotten the impression that Maloney has gotten far too cozy with his friends and former bosses at the NHL. Who do you think ran and managed the day to day operations of the Coyotes for years while they were mired in bankruptcy? Who do you think Regier answered to after the Rigas family sent the Sabres into bankruptcy? The National Hockey League, of course. Maloney and Regier were good soldiers and made the most of many terrible days while their respective Arizona and Buffalo teams were stuck in the mud of their individual bankruptcies. Now, it appears that both execs have emerged unscathed. Didn’t Daly say two weeks ago that he was not concerned about the optics of outright, egregious tanking for the sake of landing McDavid or Eichel? How did Daly react when he heard one of his colleagues in Maloney cackling about being rewarded for icing a losing team night after night in the name of McEichel? Maloney’s comments don’t jerk with the very integrity of the game? Some would say that Maloney and the Dogs are laughing in the face of their fans and their peers while committing to tanking on purpose. Are the Coyotes above reproach?
How is that good for the NHL’s business?
Now more than ever, fans of should all be cheering for any team, BUT the Arizona Coyotes to miss out on both McDavid and Eichel.