apuszczalowski

Not that I don't think its Botterill, but theres a chance that an announcement wasn't made because the NHL does not allow big announcements from teams while series are going on because they don't want it taking away from the playoffs and make teams wait til after all the series are over or til after the Cup is awarded. Like I said above, the NHL may not allow announcements to be made yet

This is very true, and I learned it with goalie skates, there only a couple places I will ever take my skates to get sharpened because of it One time I took my goalie skates to get sharpened before a game. Knowing they need to be done differently then regualr skates, I asked if they did them. The sharpener said no problem they do them and took my skates and started to sharpen them. A few minutes later he tells me it might be a while they were bad and whomever did them before didn't do them correctly. So I get them back and that night step onto the ice and almost end up flat on my face because I couldn't move in them, they were like my feet were locked on rails. I couldn't move side to side, only front to back. I went to another place where the guy doing them played goalie also a few days later and he fixed them for me.

I believe it's the nhl that makes teams wait til a round or the playoffs are over to make announcements because they don't want things over shadowing the games being played. I remember this from previous seasons.

Does the NHL have a block on hirings or interviews if your team is currently in the playoffs like the NFL does? If so, expect someone from outside a playoff team (The Kings AGM, The guy from Columbus, or someone else)

Briere did, he even came out and said a few days before FA that he wanted to stay but was not made an offer. They were spending their time negotiating with Drury who had every intention of testing the market in hopes of getting a deal with his beloved Rangers, Can't blame Briere for not staying when he wasn't made a serious offer. At the last minute they threw a desperation deal at him hoping to salvage something from that mess

I don't see an issue with teams that sell off assetts at the deadline and throw in the towel then. I don't think the league has a problem with teams out of playoff contention by the March deadline spending the last few weeks just riding out the year for picks. Thats what most teams that people bring up as 'tanking' have done. The Coyotes didn't go into the season before the McDavid Draft trying to be the worst team, and before the matthews draft the Leafs didn't go into the season trying to be the worst. They may have been working to rebuild, but they went into the season looking to win games. In Buffalo the intention was that they go into the season with a "McDavid or Bust" attitude and made it known they wanted that #1 spot. I can not recall any team that has ever done that before, and even Murray wasn't trying to deny it. Theres a difference between tanking (intentionally putting together a bad team hoping to get the #1 pick) and rebuilding What the NHL needs to do is just make it so there is no guarantee that if you finish dead last, or 1st place out of the playoffs that you are guaranteed the #1 pick. Why not just give all teams out of the playoffs the same odds at it? or take out the rule about only being able to drop back a certain number of spots? Make the whole thing a lottery draw for the order

he never wanted to be here, it was all about getting to his boyhood dream of being with the Rangers. Luckily he played well here and lived with the situation but when it came time to get to pick for himself he was always as good as gone.

No, he didn't over react TM has done nothing special, any idiot can dismantle a team and make them a complete joke/embarassment to get a high pick. Otherwise he was a collosal failure who spent the rest of the time over paying in FA and in trades to build a roster that still couldn't get any better results on the ice.

there's plenty of other options to rebuild then just tank to get the #1 overall. And if the carrot wasn't McDavid I almost guarantee few would have been on board with it. The key to rebuilding isn't getting and collecting a bunch of low picks, it's having a damn good hockey department making the decisions and finding the talent everywhere, whether it be free agency, all rounds of the draft, Europe,college free agents, etc. That's what the Sabres have been missing, someone who can find the hidden gems and assemble a good team. It's why it took so long for Edmonton to get back to where they are now, it's why the Leafs are the new young darlings of the league. They now have management teams who are able to make the moves to build a good team. Trading Hall for Larson looms much better now for the Pokers then it did when it happened. Think the leafs sniff the playoffs without Babcock and Lamorello on board? Anyone can bottom a team out and draft in the top spots, but not everyone can turn that team around and make it a success.

the difference would be that Chicago wasn't trying to lose to get better, they were just trying to turn a profit no matter the results. It didn't matter to them if they finished in the middle or bottom of the league, as long as they made a profit, almost similar to what many thought of the TG ownership era Sabres. Wins and losses weren't the goals, staying out of the red was.

but none of those were actual tanks. A tank is when you intentionally throw a season or 2 going into it with the goal of losing and getting the #1 overall pick. What those teams did was a basic rebuild. Chicago was a bad team with poor management that didn't want to spend the money and it wasn't until the son took over and put proper hockey guys in place did they successfully rebuild. Kings and Bruins were just straight rebuilds. Getting the #1 pick (or high picks) in the draft doesn't mean a team is or has tanked.

The best chance at getting elite talent is by having quality, talented, knowledgeable hockey men and front office in place that don't need to play a lottery and get lucky in order to find good players. It is why it took Edmonton so long to get good while spend almost a decade drafting near the top of the draft every year. Its why Toronto is now in the playoffs so quickly after rebuilding (they were last in the playoffs 4 years ago, around the time Buffalo decided it had to tank). Detroit just snapped a 20+ year streak of being in the playoffs where they were one of the better teams in the league over that span and never drafted in the top 10. And the Sabres do not have a top 10 player in the league right now, maybe top 10 in his age group, but no one outside of Buffalo is putting Eichel in any top 10 category league wide. I don't even know if theres many that would say he is top 10 at his position......

Exactly, they never went into a season with the intention of coming out with the #1 overall pick. Their big moves were dumping kessel who was in over his head trying to carry a team and needed to be moved for assetts before the season, then at the deadline managed to find a team desperate enough to take Phaneufs contract. They still went into that season with the intention of trying to make the playoffs, and then when they were out around the deadline they sold veteran assetts to help rebuild. The problem is that people throw around the word 'tank' whenever a team is bad and rebuilding. Very few teams actually tank, that involves intentionally being bad enough to go into the season with the goal of being the worst team in the league to get the #1 overall pick. Very few teams have ever actually done that, most have just sold assetts and rebuilt while still trying to actually win games

The only reason to move Sam would be to get something really good in return. You need to give up something good to get something good. Your not going to trade no-go and get a good young defencemen. I don't think anyone is saying to trade Sam just to make a trade, it's a move to trade from a strength to help fill a weakness

It would be very buffalo like to go and fire the coach after everyone else has made their moves and hired the best guys away already. This move should have been made long ago, not after all the candidates have been picked through..... And Murray should be shown the door as well, the problem is a combination of both a GM who likes to make it look like he K owe what he's doing by acting tough,and a coach who stumbled into a cup by being handed an all star roster.

I would take Lombardi over the over hyped 'Zero ****s given' Murray. Atleast he has successfully built a winner instead of just being born into the right family....

You could always tie in the sabres with your choice of Bluejackets jersey and go Foligno (the better one)

So how do you explain the other games that they won that put them in a position to actaully control their own destiny to make the playoffs this year with 2 games remaining? They didn't make it in because Crosby missed a shot, they made it in because they have a good well coached team that is finally being built by a quality front office and coaching staff instead of a front office who wants to get lucky and win a lottery. But its all good, Murray gives 'Zero F***s', and will continue to rebuild the mess he made here while the Leafs just did what he couldn't do in a fraction of the time. If only the Sabres didn't have injuries...........

Franson, moulson, gorges,or any other player that the fans want run out of town or will be gone next season. They may already be on clearance, and assuming that since its your nephew he is fairly young he is going to outgrow the Jersey soon anyway it won't be such a waste of money. Also if the player stays and he continues to wear it, fans may pick on him and friends may beat him up so it will make him stronger and tougher when he is older.....

I'm sure theres a good chunk of fans in that arena who will chant "Thank you Sabres", only they are wearing the wrong Blue............... Funny thing was listening to the radio today all they could talk about was how this would be one of those games they would expect to lose cause the Sabres always play hard in buffalo against them........... Oooops

I dislike DB as much as most here and don't think he was ever a good coach, but I look at the players on this team just as much to blame for this mess. I'm sorry, but who are the players on this team that think they can just quit on their coach and try to get him fired? Outside of Gionta, who is one of the last guys to go against the coach, Is there anyone on this team that deserves the right to dictate who the coach should be? Guys like Sam and Jack are not Crosby, they don't have the right to decide to stop playing for their coach...

I just thought it was funny, cause while waiting to listen to any Blue Jays talk on Toronto sports radio today, I had to sit through Leafs talk and how they could get home ice and who would be the favorable matches for them (basically they want Ottawa). They mentioned Franson saying he would be willing to re-sign with them, then after a few minutes I remembered he played for the Sabres (or atleast gets paid to put on a Sabres jersey and stand on the ice with a stick, cause its hard to call what he does playing). Can't say I cared that he made the comment, cause all I could think is that I would love for him to re-sign there too......... Unfortunately they have competent management now and it wouldn't happen.........

He said he would re-sign there if they would take him, the guys on the radio did not believe the leafs would take him......... I was thinking the Sabres could gift him to the Leafs, maybe a congrats gift for making the playoffs

Maybe he noticed some fans in need of selfies?

Best part about this,the leafs didn't even really tank. They just dumped a by ch of vets at the deadline and won the draw for Matthews. Difference is that their ownership made the right moves and brought in competent coaches and front office guys instead of bringing in a GM who's biggest achievement was his last name and a coach who couldn't win more then once with Crosby malkin and the all star squad.....