tom webster

OK, that's probably still too soon but I am ashamed to admit I laughed

Just wondering, did Julien smash Lucic on the head with an oak tree?

Once Zherdev was taken, it would have been pretty hard to screw up that pick especially after the frozen four in Buffalo that year.

Kaleta is a much more valued player then you give him credit for. HIs penalty killing alone makes him a bargain.

This is the biggest contradiction about him. Most of the message board seems to think he is aloof and doesn't care enough about hockey. Those close to him believe that his biggest problem is that he cares too much and is too hard on himself. I just can't stand to watch him anymore but I think he is likely to and up one of the most successful ex-Sabres since, I don't know, maybe Andreychuk? and I'm alright with that.

I need to say this for the record. I have no problem replacing Miller if the right replacement is in place. You have made some pretty persuasive arguments for replacing him, and while I disagree with them, I am not 100% sure you and others like you aren't right. In my opinion, any highly sought after replacement GM and coach is more likely to come here because of him then not, but again I see the counter argument. What diminishes your rant, again in my opinion is some of the things your side of the argument post as fact. That he is not well liked by his teammates or he is treated with kid gloves or his personality is the problem. This is all garbage. Anyone who has had even the most casual interaction with any of them players knows this to be false and is again refuted by the number of times the players have voted him their team mvp or have come to his defense when the need arises. And then to blame yesterday's first two goals on him, that's ridiculous. Deflections happen all the time and yes some of them get stopped but some of them don't . You can blame them all you want for what happened after that but don't diminish your argument with urban myths or something your friend told you his friend read about. Carry on and see for the next edition of Tom Webster's off season contest. Hope Trueblue enjoyed the tickets. Sorry you ended up with the Devils game. Did you boo?

Seriously?

Nill might be all that but history has shown that some guys are just better at being support staff. Picking anyone that has never done it is as much a crap shoot as the draft. You have ot hope that TP, TB and KS have some good connections that can point them in the right direction.

This is where I'm at as well. This team needs a big, physical center at number three, especially if they keep trying to keep Ennis there but even with a one, two of Hodgson and Grigo.

Bryan Murray?

I think the plan may be to lower expectations and then deliver more.

Why can't this be a quick turn around? This team got absolutely nothing from Stafford and Leino and worse then nothing from Myers and yet finds itself about 5 wins out of a solid playoff slot. If all these kids are as good as most on this board seem to think they are, why should it take more then two years?

I swear that some of you watch the Sabres in a vacuum. Do you realize that only 4 players scored over 40 goals last year? Vanek is an elite talent entering what should be the prime of his career and should definitely be part of a quick rebuid if he wants to be. That being said, I think he wants out so my guess is next year we be talking about how if only the Sabres had a couple of veteran 30 goal scorers we could challenge for the division.

As much abuse as Howson took, it is mostly his acquisitions fighting for a playoff spot.

Would that be 5x 5 years?

Yeah, I didn't phrase that right. I was trying to reflect the point of his diminished production. Thanks for clarifiying.

Let's see. 1) Player leading his draft class and points playing mostly first line minutes with third line talent 2) Player struggling to stay in league, mostly uninterested in playing the role he was heralded for, now playing mostly fourth line minutes. I'll take player one, Alex

Put Scott on defense, let's close it out with 9 straight losses.

I may be in the minority, but I don't think it has to be a long rebuild. I get a sense that all that is happening now at One Seymour Knox Plaza is a lowering of expectations. My one fear is that all they think they did wrong was raise expectations. If they are fooling themselves, long rebuild. If they are honest, it can happen quick. One last question, is it alright with Ms. Ott that my 12 year old daughter booed and laughed at them yesterday? Or would she like to tell her to f-off too?

You can draw whatever conclusions you want but so far all Kassian has showed is that his backbone stiffens when he feels he has the edge physically but he wants no part of anyone that is his equal physically.

I can see why he would go there but I would think he could pick a date when the parent club wasn't playing and I can think of a couple of very good reasons to be in Buffalo yesterday. Maybe it fits his MO "too" perfectly.

Since they can't do much of anything till end of April, don't you find that a little odd?

Since he can't sign an extension for 90 days, you may want to revise your time line.

Seriously, that was what all the fuss was about?

Under the old CBA, Teams out of the playoffs could make trades once the regular season ended. Did they close that loophole?