...

I heard they made an offer, but it's only good on weekends.

"The Sabres, who are never dull...at least you can say that about them this season..."

For the lack of talent, you have to appreciate the all-in effort here in the third.

Best post in at least a week.

Weber is a nice guy, but his instincts suck.

They have to; they sold their souls to the Bills. It's sickening.

Who said anything about not being competitive? The rebuild relies on getting the right players together on the same roster. That alone will take years.

Give it a few years. Wishful thinking.

What does Rolston have over Nolan that makes this comparison worthwhile?

Yes, these are marvelous. Might I offer up an alternate for the less enthusiastic among us?

What does that matter? The longer the rebuild takes, the more job security. That doesn't make sense. I DON'T think Nolan is pondering whether or not he wants to coach the Sabres, I DO think Nolan is pondering whether he wants to coach in the NHL.

Ba-boom-ching. c.h.i.n.k. is censored? What are we, 14 years old in the 1970s?

This is no more factual than any other speculation out there. If you're getting this from WGR, Parker doesn't have anyone "on the inside" who knows any more about this than we do, or, at least, who will give him the facts. This is obviously high level, well above the players and coaches, and none of those people are going to give Parker or any goofball at WGR more than a "hello" and the company line. I think if the PLF episode didn't happen, Nolan would probably be ecstatic to have a 3 year NHL contract. We do know that the contract offer has been on the table for a little bit (Murray is quoted as saying "we're working on it" nearly two weeks ago, and subsequent comments allude to the offer having been made [well] before the Miller trade). I submit this indicates whatever the issue was, was present long before the Miller trade and Nolan, perhaps, was waiting to see how it played out.

...or the NHL.

They may throw flowers at your feet.

It would certainly help to explain moments of poor judgment and reckless behavior.

Computers, laptops, tablets, cell phones. Let's see: loaded front office; loaded coffers; new, highly regarded and aggressive GM, tons of cap room...who in the world would want to upset that apple cart? And before the trade deadline?

The trade was Friday. They were done with the trade and made the proper official announcements. They had Ott and Miller tributes for the game. I would call that prepared. Murray could have told the crew that there probably won't be further trades until Monday at the earliest, everyone get their rest, because Monday - Wednesday will be tough. I have all of your phone numbers in case I need you. Are they supposed to be neurotic, sitting on pins and needles for a week straight? Where's the confidence in being like that? They had a plan, someone outside of the plan shat all over it.

Meddlliiinggg...

Has anyone asked if an extra forward is traveling with them?

Come on, don't ignore what I wrote. They were caught off guard. Black was at his kid's hockey game, they probably had to gather the big boys from where ever they were to figure out how to respond. The dragging response absolutely indicates this. They probably had a plan, but SOMEONE ELSE started the story, the leak was from an unexpected source, and it happened well out of the boundaries of whatever plan they may have had with whatever parties were involved. That can happen to any organization. And, you know what, I'm actually thankful for it. Because this means Pegula will probably be a lot more willing to approve offer sheets.

Did you not read the tags for this thread?

Not if they had no say in the matter. Assuming the leaks did not come from the Sabres, then the Sabres were not in control of the story. Perhaps the Sabres had planned for PLF to leave after the deadline, saying "PLF feels his job is accomplished and that the team is in good hands with TM and CP. PLF has decided that the he would only get in the way of any further advancement of the organization. Since his former job at the NHL has not been filled, the NHL is welcoming him back so PLF can return to NYC, which he misses." But, apparently someone jumped the gun, and they were only able to use part of what they had prepared for after the deadline.

All he says in the video is that he wanted to go there with Battista. If Battista was PLF's VP, I'm sorry, I don't see how that indicates anything other than a President taking his VP along for business; an incredibly unremarkable, mundane and common occurrence. On the Sabres' website, he is listed above GM as well. I don't know, did Black misspeak? Did Black try and deceive? I don't like Black, but I'm having a problem with the ever-growing web of probable mis-deeds. If I believed the premise that there was some sort of internal "power struggle" then perhaps I could respect these new threads of silky connivers. I do not buy the "power struggle" premise. I can not believe Pegula would go through all of the past three years and not learn from his mistakes - that he bought the Sabres to help facilitate his progression to Emperor of the World. I think he was happy to have PLF here over-seeing development of the team itself after learning he can't do it without a "hockey guy". I can see him, or any executive, being numb to executive level politics, but I think any sane business person will be extremely careful not to further damage an already damaged organization like the Sabres are. Battista is a hockey person, it's clear. I also can accept that it is likely he's being groomed to ascend the ladder further, but presently he has no NHL experience. If PLF was out before the big trade, and that seems likely based on the timeline the Sabres have provided, perhaps they rearranged the hierarchy and put Battista under Murray. That could have happened as early as last Wednesday. That would then make Black's comments accurate. So, to summarize, I think the premises are flawed: there is no evidence to suggest Pegula is meddling via his "inner circle". Pegula has proven to be patient, why would he back-peddle only months into his new outlook on owning a team when it took him years to get rid of Regier? I think the "power struggle" is a smokescreen. I think Nolan is suffering from shell-shock. The guy, in about four months, went from doing nothing special, to coaching a NHL team, coaching an outsider Olympic team into a respectable finish, to losing more-than-likely some of his favored/best players, to seeing his buddy resign in shame and a cloud of mystery, to having to decide whether he wants to commit long-term to this whirl-wind lifestyle. I would look like Nolan after all of that, if I would have stuck around this long, to be honest. I think this entire drama, is that, a drama that had to occur because of years of prior neglect and denial. It's all just happening at once now. Which actually works in favor of the organization: the more the demons that are exorcised, and the quicker that happens, the better.