LTS

Yea, so he said he wanted to be treated like a first rounder. He thought he was. So what? His central scouting ranking was 28, on others he was between 26 and around 50. That's 1st to 2nd round. He went with the first pick in the second round. What does any of that have to do with a mistake being made? What are your claims of loyalty and integrity based upon? Offering Nolan a 3 year contract and firing him after 1? Let's finally put this to bed shall we? Everyone on the planet knew the Sabres were going to be basement dwellers this season. The GM needed a coach and Pat LaFontaine provided that option when he brought in Ted Nolan. Nolan was a washed up NHL coach who was relegated to making waves with the Latvian National Team. His name does not come up in coaching vacancy rumors. He's out of the league. Ted Nolan is an interim coach. He needs a deal. He wants a chance to show, through a season, that perhaps he can coach in the NHL. He knows that no other team is going to call him (they haven't for years) so he's got one option. The Buffalo Sabres who are going to finish in the bottom 3 in 2015. They agree on a 3 year deal. How did that happen? We don't know, Ted asked for 3 as a condition of putting up with this season? Perhaps Murray offered 3 as a way to say, hey, you are here for 1 but we'll hook you up. Pegula certainly was on board for paying a little extra to a coach whom fans loved. It lessened the pain of losing.. for awhile. If you thought Ted Nolan was going to be here longer, hell, if he thought he was going to be here longer, then why did his assistant coaches (other than Irbe) only get 1 year contracts? See, in the end, this was always a 1 year deal because no other real coach was going to sign on to the Buffalo Sabres for a year of losing. Now.. if this doesn't change your mind then I am not sure what will. Everyone knew it was a 1 year deal, so there's no breaking of loyalty when he was let go. You ignore that Murray did not throw Nolan under the bus in the press conference. You ignore that the Sabres organization, via Tim Murray, offered Nolan a 3 for 1 deal. How is that cold and heartless? As for integrity? I'm still trying to find a statement where Murray said something a did something different. I don't think it's there.

Why do you blame Murray for LaFontaine? LaFontaine hired Murray. I'd blame Pegula and a few others for LaFontaine. The guy hired a GM and then was upset he didn't get to make the hockey decisions (as far as we know). Murray is a decision maker and that's 100% better than someone who waffles and wants consensus. He's confident in what he is doing. Thus, ZFG. He's doing his job and part of that job requirement is not that you have to paint rainbows for people. His statements are extraordinarily calculated and they are natural. This means he thinks this way, all the time. Call him Vulcan-esque if you will. You hang onto this "mistake" on Lemieux. There's no evidence supporting the theory. He drafted someone and used that as an asset to obtain someone else. A cold calculated decision says my path goes left, your path goes right. I'm going to ship you off to somewhere along your path and not on mine. There's no mistake there. It's reality. If your hanging onto "he should have known". Perhaps he did and he didn't care? Perhaps he looked at Lemieux as an asset he could draft right at the beginning of the 2nd round and send off to another team. Perhaps he never wanted him here but just wanted to use that pick for that purpose. You don't know it, we don't know it. Your presumption does not make it fact. Benoit and Meszaros were perfect signings. Veteran defenseman with whom he had a prior relationship. They are offered 1 year deals to try and salvage their careers and perhaps earn another year in the NHL. At the same time they eat up slots allowing Murray to keep his D in the minors a little longer. Not a mistake.. calculated. Hell, even Bucky Gleason admitted how great of a talent evaluator Murray is.. think about it. He did just enough to keep it close without being ridiculous. He had just enough talent to fail. Stop looking for problems and enjoy life a little more.

The Jesus?

Where are you going with all of this? As I stated in the other thread.. as of last Thursday, a large contingent of Sabre fans were 100% convinced that Buffalo was not going to finish 30th. You want to hate. Hate away I suppose. I mean for what it's worth.. if you are trying to rebuild a team and you don't have the talent you need at the moment you pretty much have to care about draft position. It's as though everyone wanted the Sabres to trade away all the prospects and get some talent in here now to win.... for a year. I'm not sure how much more insanity I can stand.

Unless he decides to drill another well.

No worries.. thanks. I shall not use that story again. :)

Tanking... it's a nuanced term right? I mean they weren't intentionally losing. They made hockey moves that rebuilt for the future. If tanking is stripping your team down to rebuild it properly by making moves that other teams make every season then yes.. they tanked. But they didn't intentionally lose. They didn't bench players (as far as we know) because they were over performing. I mean.. the team was going to suck because there was no point in going out and trying get high-end talent to fill in the gaps until you had some talent drafted and developed for the roster and the next few years. This team will have finished last two straight seasons. Now we get to see if the team becomes Edmonton or if they become Colorado/NYI/Florida. You seriously love to paint everything so negative. It's amazing. I'm ignoring the football because it's irrelevant. But Murray? The guy was in line for a GM job and he got one. He's cold and calculated and now that's a bad thing. If he made decisions on emotion you'd slam him for that? What do you want from someone? Kane hasn't done ANYTHING wrong yet and you've posterized him as a problem. It's kind of unbelievable. Why bother hating so much all the time? It can't be good for your health. Sylvester is an idiot. There's no point in tearing down Nolan. Hell, Murray would have the most insight on that and he's not doing it. The situation is plainly obvious. Murray needed a coach for a team that would suck. He offered Nolan a 3 for 1 contract, get paid for 3, work only 1. Nolan took the job because it can't hurt him in any way. His alternative was the luxurious Latvian National Program. Nolan is not a bad guy as far as I know. He's just not a great hockey coach for this situation. End of story. Move on. There's no need to place blame all the time. Sometimes... things just are. (not saying you are placing blame, I'm talking about Sylvester...)

I missed that to be certain.

I think when you have respect for a coach and trust his ability you probably treat him differently. Just because Murray talk to Nolan doesn't mean he doesn't talk to anyone. If he doesn't value what Nolan has to say about player moves why bother talking to him then? If he's going out to hire the coach he's not going to pick someone he can't work with. Don't try and shoe horn everything into the existing scenario. I expect the list is two with and outside shot at 3. Babcock, Richardson, and Bylsma (outside shot). I also think it's in that order and it should be. Babcock is a proven winning coach in the NHL and Internationally. Every team will be vying for him (of those who are looking for a coach, and I suspect that those who have a coach might kick the tires).

I could have sworn last week most of the people on this board didn't expect the Sabres to finish 30th and now when Murray says it people want to slam him for lying? He didn't say they wouldn't suck. Last Thursday night people were calling for riots in Buffalo because the team was going to ruin the run to 30th. Also, Ted Nolan coached this team last season. He chose to sign a 3 year deal knowing what this season would bring. He signed up for this entire situation. There's no arguing that. Everyone in the NHL and this entire board knew full well who was going to be moved from the roster before the end of the season. It's not a surprise at all that it happened. What am I missing that warrants a defense of Ted Nolan and saying he was screwed by the GM? The GM offered him a contract, he signed it and the GM had an entire year to evaluate Nolan. Murray said he was partially to blame for the lack of communication. Murray didn't want Nolan but he wasn't going to get any coach to come in and fill that position so he took his best option. Nolan knew it too. How can anyone think otherwise? These guys know the business better than any of us. They know what is going on. Next up.. draft lottery.

I must have missed the other reasons then.

It can be a cold biz. Then you read stories where the CBJ GM trades Leopold to the Wild for a bag of pucks just so he can be close to home with his family. It ain't always so bad. Frankly I think Murray will be deemed one of the best GMs in the league. He is the cold biz. He's about as calculating as I have seen. The Church of ZFG. The real work of Murray is about to begin and I look at the Ducks as an example of what he can accomplish.

Haha. Nice. :beer:

I just bought 120 proof bourbon for tonight.

I hope they win and in the ensuing chaos and mass carnage all of the people who have suspended normal logical function eradicate themselves from the gene pool. That sound elitist at all? It's not meant to.

C'mon man.. entertain the thought. You'd be unhappy if someone just dismissed you. Granted I'm happy you did so with a clip like that, but still. What else is there to talk about?

Wait.. so guys can skate freely around the ice and now it becomes unbearable to watch? Cherry picking is a strategy. It could also mean that the defenders now play a guy on the cherry picker. This then means you have 4 v 4 in the offensive area. So..... why not?

Drunk it is! No need to call me out specifically though. Curious what the off-season / trade deadline deal Murray might have promised the Blue Jackets next year for them to start Bobrovsky. I'll trade you Marcus Foligno for a 4th round pick in 2016 if you start Bobbo tonight.

So this year.. Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, Montreal, and possibly Ottawa are all in the playoffs? Canada is happy. Here's a thought for flow.. why even have offsides? Just go wherever the hell you feel like it, when you feel like it. No reason to artificially make the ice area smaller by restricting where players can go.

It's strange isn't it? As all the equipment improved, the training improved, the skill of players improved the overall game itself did not. Better sticks create harder shots. Better skates create faster players. Better training creates faster and stronger players. These necessitate protective equipment changes. Players no longer fear puck or body. Goalies still forced to stand there and take the shots so they want protection (really, 108mph?!) Game over. As much as I hate to say it, I think the only way to improve the game is to increase the rink size (that;s some money right there) AND the net size. Another thought that popped into my head.. what if the crease size increased? If players were all forced to stand a little further from the net then perhaps there would be more space for shots to get through? I have to think about that one. While it sounded nice I am going to guess there are serious problems with that idea. :)

But a 100% chance of having two picks in the top 14. :) The avg goals scored in the CBJ vs. Laffs was 2.5. That's not too bad! :)

In youth hockey they learn it because coaches allow it and because its easier to glide to a point than to stop and restart. So, by gliding by they can circle back into a position without having to use all that energy to stop and start. It's the wrong way to play hockey, but they do it. We worked very hard to get the kids to crash the net on any shot. The problem then became once they were there they didn't want to begin skating again.. (a coach's work is never done!) At higher levels going to the net usually means you are going to get popped. Some players don't like that. Those players suck.

I don't want the Pens to miss because I don't want Edmonton having another shot at #1. I want the Pens to make it and the Isles to miss.. because that means the Sabres have an extra shot at #1. While I dislike the Penguins immensely.. I have to root for them because it's better for the Sabres.

I'll be wearing my Coyotes sweater tonight. Old school original, but I'm wearing it.

I'm getting wrecked no matter what anyone does.