Kelly the Dog

We all would have asked, "What were they?!" Tell us. Was it the Miller trade? PLF wanted to keep Miller and Murray didn't! What the hell is wrong with Nolan?! Why doesnt he take that extension offer?! Something is ###### up about this. There is something they are not telling us. If they were just philosophical differences, why didnt he wait until after the deadline?! It would have been the same thing.

Let's take what actually happened behind closed doors out of the equation. Regardless of what happened, regardless of who was the bad guy(s), in reality, the ONLY thing the team can, should, or would say, is that Pat LaFontaine resigned to take his old job. Sure, it's somewhat transparent. Sure, most discerning fans would know that it's likely not true. Sure, for ONCE we would love for anyone in the public eye to just be honest. But it would be stupid for the team to say anything other than PLF resigned, and there is no bad blood. There is nothing else they could say.

So the crazy bounces off skates into the net were not the curse of the Sabres it was Miller's fault all along!

If that were the case, however, Pat LaFontaine would have said that he is resigning from the team for serious personal reasons and the team, and the press, and PLF, would not have acted like this.

Why do they need more than Craig Patrick, Tim Murray and Ted Nolan, on the hockey side of things? If CP leaves, then a guy may be needed. I really couldn't think of many important jobs that PLF even could do once he hired those three guys. It may be different if Patrick hadn't seen it all and Murray been around for 20 years.

Is there any way you can imagine a wife, kids, or family as a whole, after a few months of him on the job, knowing the business that he is in, demanding PLF back in NY yesterday instead of 4-5 days later? That, to me, is absurd. Even if it were possible, he would just go there and announce that he is leaving a week later. And fake being ill, like the flu story.

In the presser they said this happened days ago. It probably blew up in their faces yesterday. In between that time, PLF could have said to the NHL, if I quit or get fired, can I get my job back, and it may have been an easy answer for them to say yes. He would then have more ammo to press the issue.

Of course. It's the only reasonable explanation of what happened, combined with the timing. It's possible, of course, this isn't what happened. But I would bet that it did, and I can't think of another reasonable scenario if it didn't.

"You can't do that!" "Of course I can! I just did!" "If you insist on doing that you're fired!" "You can't fire me, I quit!" "You can't quit now! Think of how it will look!" "Either I do this my way or I am gone!" "Buh-bye. You're fired. We'll announce it as you resigned." Sometimes there is very little need for flies or walls, although I'm sure we would like to know what it was that he thought he could do that he couldn't do.

Like everything, IMO, there usually isn't one reason or answer but a multitude. It could very well be that he realized he didn't have much to do anymore, outside of meddling into his GMs affairs. BUT, that said, if that were true, it wouldn't have come out like this. So there simply HAS to be more. A huge fight over power, combined with already doing the important elements of his job, combined with the ability to go back to the league and do what he was doing, are likely all factors. The timing, however, makes it blatantly obvious that there was very bad blood first and foremost.

Since when are you demanding puff piece answers out of GMs at Sabres press conferences that don't really answer the context or subtext of the question?

When you think about it, it screams that PLF didn't listen to the owner and that is why he is gone.

I took that as the blowup happened before that trade, and it kept getting worse, and exploded yesterday. One of them, I think Black, said that this started a few days ago.

I totally agree with this, with the key phrase being "type of person." From the persona he creates, there is no way he would do this in this manner if it were simply being pissed over a trade or even Nolan. There is no way he would do this now if he quit over a power struggle with the inner circle. That is why the only thing that makes logical sense to me is that he is not that type of person, and he was fired for something relatively intolerable when everyone started yelling at each other. Even the evil inner circle, especially guys like Ted Black, are very concerned over appearances. If they were going to just fire him for whatever reason, they wouldn't do it now. It was ugly, and Pat didn't like it. The fact it happened when it did makes me think he wasn't the good guy in this. That's just conjecture of course. Ultimately, however, if Patrick, Murray, and Nolan stay on, Patty did a great job and there really wasn't much else for him to do. If they fail, he was the one that hired them all.

Unless you're the owner of the team, you can't hire a GM and say he has power and then not let him make his first deal by over-ruling him. He said himself that he cannot evaluate prospects. I doubt he has scouted Stewart all that closely rather than Carrier. And doesn't know what will happen with Halak and Stewart now. That can't be it, IMO.

The Sabres confirmed it in their official statement on the resignation. If Nolan were to quit just because he thought that LaFontaine was not treated well, it's hard to imagine him getting another NHL job. I would even imagine that PLF would tell him to stay on, if only because the jobs are so hard to find.

Why wouldn't you? I would consider him one of the main circle jerks. Sorry, I couldn't resist that. I actually like Ted Black, more than all of the other guys, although I don't know much about Batista.

That is actually good news. If true. It all makes sense if PLF was the problem. I'm not certain at all that is the case. But that is the only thing that makes sense.

In this kind of bar fight, and that's really what it is, there is almost always one guy who is the bad guy. It doesn't really matter who wins or walks away or acts tougher. There is almost always one guy who was the main reason the dumb war broke out and got out of hand in the first place. It could be Murray, it could be PLF, it could be Pegula. Fans and posters are going to have an opinion about which one was the bad guy in this particular donnybrook. To me, it's easiest to see PLF as that guy, followed by Pegula (which if it were him, he is choosing Murray over Pat), and then Murray.

My take after all that has transpired, all that we heard, know, and all of the rumors is this: If PLF was the stand-up guy he portrays himself to be and comes across as, this wouldn't have happened today. Even if it was all about the Miller and Nolan circumstances, and I have very good reason to believe that had little to do with it. If that were the case, he would have resigned after the deadline and crafted the story differently and more positively for all parties. IF, however, PLF was the meddler or micromanager, and got in a power struggle with Murray or Pegula, things like today happen.

It's not out of the realm of possibility, but it's hard to imagine that they would lowball him, and almost want him to not accept the offer and quit in order for them to save face with the fans and players who liked Ted Nolan. There aren't a lot of NHL jobs out there. Even with the job he did if he walks away, who is going to hire him? They may not offer him a lot but I doubt it will be peanuts just to make themselves look good when he declines it and says it's an embarrassment.

I like Murray, too. A lot, although there isn't a lot to go on yet. Given the choice of Murray without LaFontaine versus LaFontaine without Murray, I think I would have to see who PLF would hire instead. But Murray has the makings of a really good GM and that is going to get us a lot further and a lot quicker to where we want to be than LaFontaine. If all PLF did was hire Murray and Patrick, and Murray turns out to be our guy, Patty would have left his mark.

The Sabres said that Patrick is staying on in his position, but who knows for how long.

I could change my mind when more info comes out but to me, this looks poorly on LaFontaine. If he had a beef with Murray or Pegula and wanted to take a stand, fine. If he wanted Nolan to stay on as coach and would resign if that didn't happen, fine. But to do it after the trade and with 4-5 days before the deadline isn't the right time to take a stand on that, even if he wanted to say after he resigned next week that he wasn't directly involved in the trade discussions.

It would be hard for me to believe that this wasn't over Nolan, but why now? Even if it was and they couldn't get over their differences LaFontaine should have stayed on through the deadline.