Spun Posted August 11, 2006 Posted August 11, 2006 The Sabres finally have one good year. Instead of sustaining what got them where they are, they dump a number of their scouts relying instead on video. I think the Sabres should have continued the scouting as it was. Isn't it the scouts who first noticed these no name players who just challenged for the conference finals? I appreciate the resignings of the list of players who went through or up to arbitration. I think the Sabres management recognize the importance of keeping the core of the team together. I also think the management understands that preserving this core will continue success on the ice and sales at the ticket office. However, isn't relying on video a recipe for returning to the losing ways of the past? There will be continued turnover. A small market team needs that scouting edge to remain competitive on and off the ice. http://buffalonews.com/editorial/20060810/1009001.asp
UConn James Posted August 11, 2006 Posted August 11, 2006 Hey, no scouting department worked for the Bengals in the '90s.... O-hhhh!!!! There are lots of things videotape does not show.
Alaska Darin Posted August 11, 2006 Posted August 11, 2006 This bothers me alot. I equate it to intelligence gathering. Having Signal Intelligence (Satellites) is great, but Human Intelligence (boots on the ground) is generally MUCH more reliable. Having both TOGETHER, is the best.
shrader Posted August 11, 2006 Posted August 11, 2006 The one thing that's not clear in that article is whether or not they are still sending out scouts. My guess is that they're using the video to initially narrow down a list of teams/games that they will send someone to. I can see some use for a system like that, but who knows if that's actually what they're doing or not. A better written article would help clear that up.
smokinandjokin Posted August 11, 2006 Posted August 11, 2006 When the NHL was locked out, it was well publicized that Darcy, Lindy, and all of the Sabres scouts watched thousands of hours of video. They became extremely familiar with every single NHL player on every single team. They put together a grading system that essentially ranked every single NHL player. The Numminen signing stemmed from these video sessions- they said the guy never made a mistake. Perhaps that experience led them to the conclusion that they can be very successful in scouting players via video. Given their offseason spending, I will give them the benefit of the doubt that they really believe this system works, and it's not just the organization being frugal and minimizing scout's salaries, travel, etc. Another point is that it's easy to collect video footage of NHL players and NHL games. I would imagine the availability and quality of video drops when you are talking about Juniors and European/Russian leagues.
Taro T Posted August 11, 2006 Posted August 11, 2006 This bothers me alot. I equate it to intelligence gathering. Having Signal Intelligence (Satellites) is great, but Human Intelligence (boots on the ground) is generally MUCH more reliable. Having both TOGETHER, is the best. 740754[/snapback] Agreed. I think using video to make your travelling scouts much more efficient is an excellent idea. I think using video to reduce the size of your scouting department is a terrible idea. Hopefully, the department does function as well as it did in the past, but I'd much prefer the goal to be IMPROVING the function. Can you imagine how much it would mean to the organization to be able to go from the current effectiveness (typically 2-3 NHLers per draft, which given the crapshoot the draft is, is reasonable) up to 4 NHLers per draft or go from the current 0-1 studs per draft up to getting 1 top line or a #1/2 D man out of each draft? Oh well, most true innovators are laughed at initially. I can only hope that that is the case in this instance, but I fear the people laughing are onto something.
smokinandjokin Posted August 11, 2006 Posted August 11, 2006 "Moneyball" Sabres style. 740851[/snapback] That's funny you say that, Darcy just made this quote in the Buffalo News: "We don't have the ability as we did in the past to create our own individual salary structure," Regier said. "I don't reference them as "Sabre dollars' anymore. They're "NHL dollars' because we are directly linked through arbitration to all signings, good and bad in the league. "We still have Ryan Miller to sign, Dmitri Kalinin to sign. This new system is about choices. If you have some success, you're not going to be able to keep all your players. You'll have to spin some off." That 'Sabre dollars' quote cracked me up. They definitely tried to have their own little independent financial world...similar to Moneyball.
LabattBlue Posted August 11, 2006 Posted August 11, 2006 That's funny you say that, Darcy just made this quote in the Buffalo News:That 'Sabre dollars' quote cracked me up. They definitely tried to have their own little independent financial world...similar to Moneyball. 740934[/snapback] Are "Sabres dollars" and "Sabres bucks"(which can be used for concessions and the gift shop) one in the same?
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