PASabreFan
-
Posts
45,904 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Posts posted by PASabreFan
-
-
PA just can't see what you see. It's okay, I got you. This play from O'Reilly the other night was great.
You sick bastard. I've privately told you about my seizure disorder. And you still post this.
-
Also if anyone does think this team isn't vastly improved from last year, please raise your hand so I can put you on ignore.
The Hindenburg arrives again, but this time it touches down before exploding. Improvement, yes. Still sucks to be a passenger on it.
-
@pA: these things have a way of evening out. If this process were to continue, the goals must come. They must. THEY MUST.
Isn't that the gamblers fallacy?
-
eleven, my memory was foggy too. But I didn't google, I went to the bible of early Sabres history, Budd Bailey's History of the Buffalo Sabres. Here's the Jimmy Roberts backstory:
Bowman coached the first year as promised, 79-80, then for 80-81 his assistant Roger Neilson took over as head coach. Neilson had coached 26 games in 79-80 when Bowman was off doing GM stuff, and Neilson's 14 wins were credited to Scotty. The knock on Neilson, and it apparently went all the way to ownership, is that he coached a boring, defensive style. Perreault is quoted as saying that the defensive style cramped his own style and hurt his production. Neilson said he and Bowman fought a lot, and the players knew about it. Neilson urged the team to ignore the strife and just play. Shades of Muckler and Nolan.
Bowman traded Luce and Martin late in the 80-81 regular season, and the team was upset. They felt like they were another player or two away from contending. But according to Bailey, Luce and Martin weren't playing much anyway. The Sabres lost to the underdog Minnesota North Stars in the second round — even then the core was rotten, and Bowman, who was ZFG before anyone knew what it meant, was vindicated. After losing Game 3 in Minny, Bowman and Neilson had a huge fight in the parking lot of the Marriott, in a scene that sounds like it belongs in "Fargo." The fight was mainly over player usage and Neilson was effectively preemptively fired, his legs jammed through a wood chipper.
After thinking it over after the season, Bowman decided he wanted to hold Neilson to the last year of his three year contract, but the "powers that be" overruled him. The thinking from ownership was to "let him go." Neilson wanted to join Harry Neale in Vancouver. The suggestion was that ownership wasn't happy with "boring hockey" and wanted Bowman behind the bench. That's exactly what happened to start 81-82. After a coaching search that included the Sabres negotiating with Herb Brooks (too expensive, ownership balked), Bowman concluded he was better than anyone else out there. Think Dick Cheney's vice presidential search.
When the team started strong, Bowman stepped back and let Jimmy Roberts take over in December, after the big Gare-Schoeny trade. The team responded with a 10-game unbeaten streak. They were pushing first overall in the league. But a killer road trip tripped them up and the team started to backtrack. Bowman took over again in March, hoping to regain the team's January form. Jimmy kind of explained it away by saying he was never officially named head coach anyway.
It sounds like an absolute nightmare for all involved, even Bowman. But especially Roberts. Bowman was always hovering, a true helicopter GM. Craig Ramsay said he was disappointed in how the team played for Roberts, but explained that the players were always on edge with rumors that Bowman would be coaching again, that more big trades were coming. The Sabres got bounced in the 82 playoffs by Boston and the rebuild would really accelerate from there. Bowman was intent on starting fresh with a boatload of number one picks. Don't look, 2015, don't look.
Some fascinating side notes to all this: In December 1980 Bowman had a "done deal" with Edmonton to acquire Paul Coffey for Rick Martin. Bowman flew out there, but Edmonton balked when Coffey was named first star two games in a row. The next fall (1981), the owners of the Sabres and Canadiens negotiated a deal that would have sent Perreault to Montreal for Guy Lafleur. But Seymour nixed the deal, citing the fact that Perreault was still in great shape and Lafleur was known to be a smoker (interesting since everyone smoked back then). What a meddler Seymour sounds like! Finally, Neilson did join Neale in Vancouver as head coach Harry Neale's assistant for 81-82. Harry was suspended late in the season after a brawl with fans in Quebec, despite the fact he claimed he was never any closer than 45 and half feet from the nearest frog. Neilson took over, didn't lose, got the job full time, and took the Canucks to the final, while Neale would go on to be named GM.
Great stuff for a dreary Saturday morning!
-
Ramo's career SV% is 904. Johnson's is 910. Take that as you will.
I'd take it and flush it down the toilet. Who cares? JFC.
-
Ramo was though
Bionic?
-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMvu5EF13xA
honest question. those noises are a combined effect of the storm and the building (and maybe other structures), yes?
Yeichel!
-
Op has anything but garbage
An exaggeration on my part of course. But it's some prospects and a pick. I'm sure Tampa fans would be doing the fandango if the haul was Stamkos was all that.
-
Goalie that Calgary waived earlier this week.
Ohhhh, that Ramo. I thought you were talking about the dude from Univision.
-
Ramo is Tuttle, the best damn backup goaltender I ever saw.
WTF is Ramo?
They had just about as many high quality chances as you could ever want tonight. Just no luck. Where Montreal got perfect deflections and bounces on half their goals Buffalo had the exact opposite.
Rob Lowe couldn't have scored in Buffalo tonight.I find it a little odd that two of the guys who attended the analytics hoe-down are citing "puck luck." What, they weren't carrying their lucky rabbits feet in their pants? Kane forgot to throw salt over his shoulder before the opening faceoff? Come on. Maybe, just maybe, for one more era of Sabres hockey, we have guys who just aren't good at finishing (Yeichel was asked to leave the room before this rant began Jack will be fine.) Maybe now that the fancystats seem to indicate the goals should be coming, the lack of goals can be explained by something other than they forgot to sacrifice the squirrel at the morning skate again: gnarled, link sausages for fingers, the wanting to sit down, the wanting to rest.
I was thinking about luck last night. Why is it bad luck for a player to hit the post, or good luck for the goalie? When a placekicker hits the upright, we don't say, "Oh, nice kick, just a bit unlucky." We say, "You suck! Die! Go back to soccer!"
"The goalie got lucky there." I don't know. Lucky maybe that some dude with no hands couldn't bury one, but leave the iron out of it. You can even give the goalie credit sometimes for taking everything else away, forcing a shot to the outside.
-
Another "here's our garbage, can we have an elite player" thread.
-
Oh! Just terrible luck! And Frenchie refs!
Losers' laments.
What I hated to see was Gus pez dispensing his head back and cursing the hockey gods after he missed that shot off the right wing. That's not Girgensons to me, that's a Vanek move. Keep your eyes on the road and your hands upon the wheel.
Franson drifting out of his own zone while his team changed on that one power play was hilarious. I kept hitting the fast forward button on the remote.
-
Eichel with the double spin-o-rama attempt :lol:
The most interesting hockey player in the world, again.
-
Vanek was an average 1st liner constantly forced into the role of being our best player. It's also clear that his tools are elite, so some expected elite production.
I wouldn't disagree with that. His production was pretty close to elite though. People wanted him to "hustle" more and not be so "lazy" and to "be a leader." /farley
-
A ton of people seem to buy tickets just so they can sell them in the after market. I can understand if you've owned seasoned tickets for years, move away temporarily for school or work, and plan to return to the area but that doesn't seem to be the case for the majority. Maybe if the people who fancy themselves amateur scalpers would simply not renew their season tickets all the people who sit on the waiting list for years would actually be able to get season tickets and the arena wouldn't sounds like a library or half filled with fans of the opposing team. It's like a Neo wet dream (no offense intended Neo), everyone is like a tiny venture capitalist trying to take advantage of the emerging market that is the Buffalo Sabres post tank. If that's how you want to play it, that's fine, it's perfectly legal (I assume) and all that but just like in the stock market, sometimes you are going to bust that way.
Very well said!
-
Because you risk becoming predictable to, and more easily defensed by opponents, especially those who see you a lot. You also risk missing better (more readily available) scoring opportunities. Lots of reasons, really.
Your alternate universe where Vanek stays in Buffalo and accumulates a number-retirement-worthy amount of points is one I am glad we avoided.
If Danny Gare's up there, how many points does it take to qualify? Vanek had 517 points as a Sabres (including playoffs) and Gare had 544. Vanek played in 73 more games. It's close.
Your statement seems to oddly confirm the notion that Vanek's production didn't matter much to fans. Something else soured them (you) on him.
-
Seven and eleven.
-
I'd be curious to see how many teams are putting their color guy down in between the benches like Ray is. I feel like it hurts the chemistry between two announcers.
I don't know why an analyst would want to be at ice level. Hell, I'd put the coach up top, too.
-
-
A future line pair for Dan Bylsma!
-
he's among the best in the game at that technique. while he was with the sabres, there were times i felt he relied on that move too much.
Semantics, I suppose, but why not rely on something you're really good at? Vanek had ungodly talent and, had he stayed, surely would have ended with career numbers in Buffalo that easily would have qualified him for number retirement status (damning with faint praise in Buffalo). He could have been one of the all time greats. People didn't hate him for his talent, they hated his body language, his attitude, his Vanek Face. He wasn't rah rah and wasn't going to be a leader, or be physical... a near death-sentence in Buffalo, where everyone gets up early, grabs their lunch pail and walks uphill both ways to work at the factory.
-
Good news is, Condon will make his 2nd career start over Price vs. the Sabres tomorrow night. Condon made 20/21 saves against the Senators in his first and only NHL start
I don't consider this good news. I want to see the best goalie in the game. I want Eichel to see him. I hate the idea that we're still the lousy team that can't score that the opposition plays its backup against.
-
I'd take Harry Neale back over Rob. Discuss.
-
Well if we ever get together for drinks we have something to talk about besides the Sabres, eh?
Yup. Think John would get us our drinks for free?
GDT: NJ @ Buffalo, 7:00 pm edt, 10/24/2015
in The Aud Club
Posted
Why are you so grumpy today?