bunomatic

No you're right. Missing the playoffs 6 of the last 10 years can not be blamed on the man that built this team nor on the man who coached them. Don't get me wrong. I like Lindy Ruff. I'm sure he's a good guy but the results have been downright average or below average actually. And there's no excuse for that. The same can be said for Regier. Imo .

Add to that the Boston puke taking out Vaneks ankle in the playoffs. The list goes on.

6 of the last 10 seasons missing the playoffs sums it up for me. Take away all the excuses and the results are really quite pathetic for both Regier and Ruff. The fact that people are willing to accept those results is even more telling.

None of the moves Buttman has made in his tenure as League commissioner are what I would constitute as healthy for the game aside from the recent t.v. deal. He did have a hand in keeping the Sabres in Buffalo but on the other side he's kept the Coyotes in Phoenix for far too long. I don't think he thinks in terms of losing momentum because he sees himself as the saviour when the league eventually bounces back much like it did after the last lockout. Lets face it the mans ego is much larger than his stature. And the hardcore fans love of the game over rides any lasting bitterness over losing some games. He'll get what he wants at the expense of the p.a. and the fans.

Our pp would immediately improve. And as the article alluded Leino may turn it around. I'm all for it depending on who goes back. Don't want to give too much to the Flyers or the original signing of Briere by the Flyers becomes the gift that just keeps on giving.

Fixed that for you. ;)

Grigorenko just had a terrible giveaway at Canadas blueline with about 4 minutes remaining but recovered nicely to help out his goalie at the other end.

Flyers lose another defenceman to surgery. Andreas Lilja had a hip operation. Thats real sad. With all these teams needing help on D you'd think Darcy could create a trade where none apparently exist or in effect set the market rather than wait for the market to set itself. Maybe these teams are all waiting on the CBA ?

The who performed 3 songs to close the show ending with my generation while the fireworks went off. Another kind of weird occurance was Russel Brand singing I am the walrus which was surprisingly good.

That lead singer for the Kaiser chiefs sure sounds like Roger Daltry. Pinball wizard was spot on.

I put this in the around the n.h.l thread, oops but apparently detroit is in talks with the flames to try and trade for Jay Bouwmeester as per T.S.N.

Detroit is reportedly in talks with the flames trying to trade for Jay Bouwmeester as per T.S.N.

Mitchell of the American relay team felt a pop in his leg and ran the last 200 with a broken fibula. Amazing.

If we can pry the first round pick out of Edmonton and hope they tank we'll have a shot at Mackinnon in 2013. Make it so

Maybe you should. It is a funny clip.

#1 If Pegula and Regier are willing to give a 35 year old who has maybe 4 productive years left a 10 year contract we as fans of the Sabres are fukced. #2 circulates out of Philly every few years except the names have changed. It used to involve Brindamour and Lindros. Could have a ring of truth to it. Hockey players are human. Or it could be an urban legend type of thing that takes on a life of its own .

We need some of her type on this Sabres squad. There's nothing wrong with playing to win as evidenced by the play of both teams. Perhaps she should have been tossed. Again that falls on the officiating.

I agree. Its one of the reasons I don't watch european football. Officiating and embellishment of injuries. That being said I've really enjoyed the womans play in these olympics. They play through and don't seem to fake the injuries as much as the men do. I'm Canadian so I admit to an obvious bias when it comes to the match yesterday but I think the Canadians got jobbed. But I will add the American team is a great team and they won. Congrats to them. The fact that footballs governing body is now investigating Sinclair for her comments post game instead of investigating their own referee is laughable. Perhaps we'll have to play for the bronze without our best player ? So be it. What she said was spot on. Imo.

That 5th goal was so gretzky-esque it was sick and that 6th was icing on the cake.

Agreed on the officiating. Hand balls not called and It is so rare to see a keeper penalized for holding onto the ball too long especially in international play. Another great game on the losing side for Sinclair. She's my bro in laws cousin so I've had fun watching her game. Anyways we lost to a great team.

Its not a secret that teams employ players this way. Gillis out of Van. says they started Cody hodgson in the offensive zone and in man advantage situations as much as possible leading up to the trade with Buffalo to mask his defensive liabilities and raise his offensive profile or worth. Good coaches will coach to a players strengths. But I agree. A player shouldn't come out of the farm systems without knowing how to play defence.

I have to agree on both of the above.

I think a better analogy in this case is a guy walks up to you in the prison cafeteria and loud enough for everyone to hear announces that he's going to have you for his girl later that night . You either hit him across the throat with your dinner tray and proceed to show the entire prison population that you aren't that type of guy or you sit there and you do become his girl and the girl of every other guy in that cafeteria. Thats the type of defining moment the Sabres had in the Lucic incident. By their lack of response they let everyone know what kind of character they had and what kind of team they were going to be moving forward. Despite what some say on this board about not responding with violence ( cough..are you kidding me? ) there is a code in the game and at times in life where you absolutely have to stand up.

When they signed Kaleta I remarked now when are they going to do something that actually improves this team. I like the added grit but with Darcy its always too far in one direction. He seems to have a hard time finding the proper balance. I don't believe this is a significantly better team than the one that missed the playoffs and I'm hoping Darcy isn't relying on the perfect storm of positive outcomes this season to get us there. I sure hope he's got something in the works that pans out.

Carl Lewis ? So we're going to include dopers in the mix ? :P