grinreaper

Who cares what that guy says? Might just as well ask Don Cherry what he thinks. Just don't ask him to recommend your new wardrobe.

Just dropped into the Groundhog Day Thread to catch up and caught this post. Your thoughts regarding Tortorella could have been written by me. Teams exist in different stages and the Sabres aren't rebuilding as much as they are in the "building process". Yes, Torts is OK for a team that needs to be browbeaten to find the motivation to do their best (or at least give the impression that they are doing so). Players appear to fear him and his hard nose schtick seems to be more about his ego than anything else. He's exactly the wrong kind of guy to bring about the best in and develop young players. Guys were skating on eggshells with Krueger coaching and it would be worse with Torts. Obviously Trotz is a good coach but his success has been with veteran teams with talent but ones needing discipline and strict adherence to his system. He's pretty rigid and the Sabres under his direction would not be displaying the promise of becoming an offensive juggernaut. Granato is the right guy to lead this team. The players believe in him and have bought in to the extent of being willing to prove it by running through a wall without him asking them to. Granato with his calmness and teaching abilities has shown that he himself is a perfect partner for GMKA and the right person to carry out the "building process". Players must feel like being a part of the Sabres is like being part of a big and close family. The long term contracts given out recently to Tage and Samuelson certainly made those two players happy but they were a great message sent to the rest of the team. They were a gigantic example of the team showing faith and confidence in those players. No longer was the message going to be sent that "we love you and all but only want to give you a two year bridge". This thread is like a summary of all of the different threads that eventually got around to posts that denigrated the latest management team and wanted them to toss their long term building process aside and make deals that get the Sabres to the playoffs this year. The Sabres are building in a way that they expect will soon get them to the level that will make them contenders for the Cup for an extended period of time. I don't think any of the people here desiring patience would object to moves that will bolster the defense and goaltending and improve their chances of making the playoffs this year as long as those moves don't harm the overall plan.

Wrong. Not even punctuation would help that random collection of words.

The light certainly went off in basically the whole team when Granato replaced Krueger and got the players to believe in themselves and play without looking over their shoulders, worried about displeasing Krueger. Before Granato took over TNT was JAG, Dahlin wasn't anywhere near his potential and 9 million dollar Skinner was on the 4th line. The play of many others improved too and the team started winning at a rate that was playoff worthy. Adams plan doesn't stop at just drafting good players but includes building a team and organization that is functional.

Oh, I know that. His posts illustrate that he is choosing to be an ass. Criticism won't change that.

Just one more useless post from a poster who is a preeminent useless poster. Instead of trolling why don't you trying joining in with reasonable conversation?

I could change out Mittlestadt for Thompson and the above would be what people here were posting less than 2 years ago. Rumors have it that Adams and Granato believe that Casey has as much pure talent as anyone on the team. Under those circumstances moving on from him too soon could be a major mistake.

Obviously Granato had a substantial affect on several players including TNT and Dahlin and gave them the kind of direction that allowed them to blossom. It sounds as if you are admitting that DG took what appeared to be mediocre players and turned them into highly skilled guys that are presently leading the league in goals scored.

Lindy Ruff is a good coach. My impression of him was that he wasn't locked into a specific system or approach but fashioned the teams play around the players that he had. If I recall correctly he tended to treat rookies like rookies were treated in the old days. I make no judgements regarding that since it is only my impression derived from an incident or two. He might have just been attempting to get a specific message across to a player or two that needed a sharp whack on the shins with Lindy's stick. On a side note, the recent game against the Avs in which we were playing only 5 defensemen reminded me of when Ruff was playing. He was never a "star" but was well respected by his teammates and spent time with a "C". He had a little extra value in that he was capable of playing both on the wing and as a defenseman. One would think that a smart coach would look to develop that flexibility at the right time. The jump in points that NJ has taken this year has been used here as a criticism of the Sabres for not making the same improvement. Obviously teams are different and are at varying stages in their development. The same people who make that criticism generally are showing impatience for the Sabres to make the playoffs. Making the playoffs this year would be nice but in the big picture getting bounced in the 1st or 2nd round doesn't mean much more than just quieting the people who incessantly talk about the Sabres lengthy playoff drought. i think the Sabre's real goal is to build a team capable of contending for the Cup over an extended period of time. They are in a position right now that if they wanted to overspend in money or assets they could take some shortcuts that wouldn't be consistent with their overall plans but could get them into the playoffs. Playoff games are fun and exciting but that excitement is so much more if there's a real possibility that they could make a run at the Cup.

For that team to not make the playoffs would not only be a shame but a really good example of screwing up a good balance on a team that worked well together just last year.

Good points. I think that in general people here are discounting the importance of team building in favor of personnel evaluation. Of course picking the best players is a giant part of the GM's job but those drafted players and those picked up in trades or FA need to fit the team.

Why does it not surprise me that you know what's in other people's garbage?

If I have GMKA pegged correctly any moves that he makes will have to adhere to his overall plan. Contrary to what some may think here, adding or jettisoning players could fit into that plan. His steps seem to have started out by cleaning house of anyone that he didn't see part of the Sabre's future whether it be because of desire to be here, style of play, contract specifics or taking up a needed roster space for younger players with more potential. I think as much as it can that stage is behind him. He's now evaluating what he has in the system and may have even formed opinions on some or most of the players that he feels might be core or long term parts of the team. My guess is that he feels the 1st line is set, the 2nd line looks set but he needs more than 30 games from Quinn and Peterka to feel confident with them. The 3rd and 4th lines have capable NHL players that can certainly fill those roles until younger players can beat them out. With high draft picks in the AHL, Juniors and College, the Sabres look like they have an abundance of forwards with the likelihood that more than enough will make the big team. As discussed here over and over the big GM type decisions that are of the more pressing kind have to do with bolstering the defense and goaltending. I'm betting that his evaluation regarding the forwards needs to be complete enough in order to use any of those that aren't going to be core team members as trade bait. I doubt that Adams will enter the free agent market in the offseason unless it's for solid, veteran D-Men and a goaltender that will not keep Levi or Portillo from getting NHL playing time if so deserved. GMKA & HCDG would love to make the playoffs (and further of course) if in doing so doesn't force them out of their plan. They've made so much progress which I don't think they even expected this soon, that if they can find a way to shore up the defense and cut down the goals against the team is in a great position to make a legitimate push for the playoffs this year. I also believe that the plan is not to just make the playoffs and hope the team gets hot but to build a team and organization capable of contending for the Cup for an extended period of time. Sticking to the plan gives the Sabres the best chance to build a team that will end up skating around a rink with the Cup raised while sacrificing the plan in order to enjoy the instant gratification of a playoff round or two falls woefully short of what I've been hoping for since first seeing Gilbert Perreault make a rink long magical rush through and around 5 opposing players to score a goal. The playoffs are nice and all but I've seen a lot of playoff games. Yes, they were often exciting but I want to see how it feels when the Sabres win the Cup.

Always trying to outsmart me, especially when Mom was around. It just so happens that I do know who Wishbone was. For your information Wishbone was in many episodes (not one) of "Rawhide" and played the grumpy cook.

As mentioned earlier, Josh was taken 7th after Beane moved up with several moves to get there including trading away a starting Left Tackle to Cincinnati. The media, which seemed to reflect the evaluations of many in the NFL thought that he had accuracy issues that probably couldn't be fixed. Allen was considered raw and at best a project. Beane and McDermott did their homework and felt that he was the QB with the highest ceiling in the draft. Prior to the draft he played for Wyoming for two years without any real competition. Anyway, there were no plans to start him in his rookie year but Peterman couldn't perform in games like he could in practice and Allen ended up starting. Josh struggled but had his moments and showed flashes of ability. He improved some in his second year and then blossomed in his third year with great stats and received reluctant acclaim from around the league. As I think you were alluding to above, just the different ways the NFL and NHL are set up from their drafts to how their players are developed cannot be compared. Drafted NFL players are expected to make the gameday roster or practice squad immediately and their training or development is mostly focused on the team's specific schemes. I'm not saying that they don't often need some help in the basics but they are already considered pro level football players. NHL players of course are drafted at a much younger age and their potential is a big part of their draft value. From my experience, I've heard a lot of comments regarding young, highly drafted NHL players that get the opportunity to play against established NHL players that the young ones need to put on muscle and learn to play against men. That may be true to some degree with young NFL players but they are older and have been going through weight programs since high school and throughout college. Anyway, draft age means something completely different when comparing players from the two sports. Real age is not a perfect comparison but is probably in the ballpark.

I Googled Donald Quixote and came up with nothing other than a suggestion to try Donald Coyote. Also, something about "Road Runner". You're making me work too hard for an alter ego.

Depends on what you read. My book was written by Galileo and accompanied by Queen.

UPL was given tapes on how Lehner handled the shootout and didn't hear that "this is what you shouldn't do".

One answer would be "moisture".

Before wracking my brain over a riddle containing a wrong word please tell me if the bolded is the word you really wanted or if you've been taking writing lessons from a Toilet Brush.

Must be something in the air in Buffalo. The Bills were devastated on defense earlier this year and the Sabres seem to have caught the bug---more than once.

Mom liked me best! Don't try to tell me that she couldn't tell us apart and that was why she like me better. I have a secret birthmark, but I'll be damned if I'm going to let a self proclaimed Toilet Brush see it.

You make a good point but how many of our young players can we expect to actually reach Tage's ceiling? It's rather odd in a way but in most instances the knowledgeable fans here are much more aware of the abilities and potential of the young guys on the team than most of the so called national experts. We generally like our guys. As far as our evaluations go, they need to be tempered with the fact that we are also homers. Tage is showing that he is elite. Tuch is showing that when on a line with top players he is not out of place and is worthy of #1 line status. The whole 2nd line and 3-4 of our defensemen have the fanbase salivating. The rest of the league isn't going to get overly excited by players who haven't put up more games than what these guys have. Any other team is going to choose Tage for his high floor and ceiling and marvel at his long term team friendly contract. The first choice would be between him and of course Dahlin who is the kind of defenseman that is just not easy to find and one worthy of building a team around.

When you add 2 and 2 together do you always end up with a total different than 4? I've been around here most likely longer than you've been alive and a Sabre's fan much longer than that. There are many posters here who I don't always agree with but I respect what they have to say because they have a thought process behind their opinions. In other words, they are capable of making a case that could change my mind and get me to agree with their position(s). They are what I would characterize as true Sabre's fans that want the same results that I do but just may differ concerning the path to get there. You on the other hand post nothing but attempts to incite and troll other members here. I'll get along with all true Sabre fans at this place whether we agree or not. I don't need to have multiple screen names like you use to back up your ridiculous posts and give you "likes". Anyway, this place is inhabited by way too many members who have been around long enough and seen enough clowns that think their schtick is something new to fall for your amateurish troll attempts. So, no I'm not also "Thorny". I've been "Grinreaper" here since before Chris Gratton was traded for Danny Briere.

I think he's here under both of those screen names. He needs all the "likes" he can get.