Campy Posted August 24, 2005 Posted August 24, 2005 http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20050...?tbd1047009.asp Sullivan should read his own paper. There was a story in Sunday's edition that said the Sabres have a bad reputation among NHL players, thanks to their treatment of Hasek, Peca, Andrychuk, and Lafontaine. Further, it seems most NHL insiders consider Regier, Quinn, and Ruff a pack of a--holes. If this is true, it's no wonder the Sables haven't signed anyone...noone wants to play for them! PTR 415844[/snapback] That article you mention was much ado about nothing. A few aging, bitter, and/or overpaid pseudo-stars aren't happy with Regier or Ruff? Well boo-hoo and cry me a river. There are former players from every team in the league that have less than flattering things to say about their former team. For that matter, the same can be said for any employer - including yours and mine. I know it's fashionable to bash the Sabres' brass, but not only does it not change a thing, it represents a stunningly myopic perception of the new NHL IMO.
jad1 Posted August 24, 2005 Posted August 24, 2005 That article you mention was much ado about nothing. A few aging, bitter, and/or overpaid pseudo-stars aren't happy with Regier or Ruff? Well boo-hoo and cry me a river. There are former players from every team in the league that have less than flattering things to say about their former team. For that matter, the same can be said for any employer - including yours and mine. I know it's fashionable to bash the Sabres' brass, but not only does it not change a thing, it represents a stunningly myopic perception of the new NHL IMO. 416305[/snapback] I wouldn't say that these guys are "aging, bitter, and/or overpaid pseudo-stars." When a guy goes from the fourth line/healthy scratch on the Sabres to captain of the Stanley Cup champions, something isn't right. Regier has made some nice trades for the Sabres, but lately the team has not produced, and the only thing the fans are given are excuses. It's hard to believe that a young team looking for leadership would run a guy like Koslov out of town, who ended up becoming a captain of a young team. The strike was really time for Regier to justify his inactivity in the previous years. With the new salary cap and structure, he could claim that he was preparing the Sabres for when the when the cost of talent leveled out. Yet, he has done nothing other than letting two contributors in Satan and Zhitnik leave, gaining nothing in return. Again, you have to wonder why he didn't move these two guys at the trading deadline in '04, if he knew there was no chance that he would keep them. So while the Sabres do have some good talent on the forward lines, there's no Peca, no May, no Hasek, no Ray, on the team. The guys who provide the heart of the team. There are no physical defensemen. There are, however, 3 goaltenders, again. So the question is how does the team win fans back when the team's plan is to make no moves in the FA free-for-all, in which other small market teams like Ottawa and Pittsburgh are big players? How about changing the uniforms to blue and gold? That's a cheap and easy way to generate some buzz around the team. But Regier again sat on his ass all last year, and did not submit the uniform changes to the league. Do-nothing Darcy has no more excuses. The Rigas' are in jail; the team is owned by a billionaire; the league has a salary cap. Yet his procratination in all facets of his job has sucked the excitment of the NHL's return right out of Buffalo. It's time for this guy to go.
Kevbeau Posted August 24, 2005 Posted August 24, 2005 Not only do Darcy and Larry treat the players like crap, they treat the rest of their staff like crap. They systematically force out anyone who doesn't kiss their ass and their management skills are suspect at best. Rumor has it then when they sat down to decide on the teams structure prior to the new CBA, Don Luce wasn't involved (VP of Player Development I believe), but their new twenty-something capologist got center seat. Maybe the capologist guy is sharp, I don't know yet, but I'd rather have Luce building the team. I love the Sabres, moreso than the Bills, but I'd rather have them fold then to watch these Jokers run them into the ground.
Marv Levy Posted August 24, 2005 Posted August 24, 2005 Funny, I thought Sullivan only knew about basketball!! Thats all he ever seems to care about anyway.
Sound_n_Fury Posted August 24, 2005 Posted August 24, 2005 Maybe the capologist guy is sharp, I don't know yet, but I'd rather have Luce building the team. 416658[/snapback] Sarcasm on, right?
BillnutinHouston Posted August 25, 2005 Posted August 25, 2005 And there are people here who think Golisano will be the Bills' savior once Ralph goes to the big football game in the sky.... More like, he'll run the team into the ground by just maintaining the status quo like he's doing now with the Sabres. 416095[/snapback] Don't be so sure. The economics of the NFL are far different from the NHL. To say Golisano's strategy with the Bills would be the same as his strategy for the Sabres is simplistic and ignores the shrewdness that brought Golisano his millions (billions?)
My Friends Call Me Tebucky Posted August 25, 2005 Posted August 25, 2005 The Sabres shouldn't be trashed for passing on human pylon Derian Hatcher for 4 million, or not trying to sign a man with no organs and looks more like a wolf than a hockey player for 5 million. Nor should they be condemned for letting the inconsistent Satan go...considering his ice time, he had the potential to score 45 every year with his talent, but instead was a perennial 25-35 man. He'd lost his motivation in Buffalo, time to move on. At the price the Isles paid, Zhitnik should have been kept...he's not nearly as replaceable as Satan and he was more important to their team. But he was a UFA and he had to want to stay. Apparently, he didn't. The vast majority of players who B word about Ruff and the team don't understand that the Sabres, under the old system, weren't a team that could really afford to have 40 or 50 goal scorers. They'd be gone within 2 seasons. Ruff was a defenseman...their style was defensive. For the most part, it's worked. Sure, they started playing better last year after Ruff loosened the reigns a little bit. But overall, during the Ruff-Regier era, they've been better served to try to win 2-1 games. That's why people like Kozlov, Satan, Audette, Gilmour, Andreychuk, etc. have had negative things to say upon leaving the organization. The only one of those guys who was ever interested in backchecking was Gilmour, and that was 10-15 years ago. You don't see defensemen in Buffalo complaining so much. Woolley did, but he was a Paul Coffey wannabe- rarely paid attention to his own end, and when he did, you wished he hadn't. My point is, in the past, the Sabres system has been defensively oriented primarily because of economics (and a slightly lesser part because of Dominik Hasek). They could never afford to pay a team full of Paul Kariyas, but could have some on-ice success and stay afloat financially by building a team around a bunch of 1.5 million a year solid but unspectacular defenseman than three or four 5 million a year forwards. It was the proper way of thinking at the time...if it wasn't, Buffalo would not have a hockey team anymore. Their failure to make the playoffs the last three years hasn't been a result of a lack of star power on offense, but more because of some terrible clutch goaltending by Martin Biron and a propensity to think the hockey season starts halfway through January, not early October. Ruff's biggest fault is that he can't get the teams' head out of it's own ass for the season's first 3 months of any given season- if that weren't the case, Sullivan would never have had an article to write. The frustrations and complaints of offense-only forwards mean nothing to me.
Formerly Allan in MD Posted August 25, 2005 Posted August 25, 2005 What surprised me is Sullivan's going after Golisano. 415797[/snapback] Someone needs to go after him. He supposedly is a billionaire who appears to be more interested in spending money on politics rather than pucks. Plus he apparently knows very little about hockey and has basically given his quite mediocre management team free reign (to do nothing). Someone who has some vision and smarts needs to get the owner's ear. By the way, to be repetitive and get my shots in every time I can, Lindy will likely kill the offensive instincts of Vanek and Roy, and once again grope around in the dark to figure out how to execute the power play.
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