LTS

After carefully reading all the responses in this thread I've just one thing left to say... HItler.

Strange, I seem to still see hitting in hockey. You can bitch about the rules all you want, but they are the rules. It's that simple. Having a child who was just concussed playing hockey and has been the recipient of the EXACT SAME thing Kaleta just did to Richards I can tell you that when I saw it last night I thought Kaleta should be gone for 10. I don't care if Richards is injured or not. Could it have been a harder hit? Sure. Does it matter when the player reaching for the puck doesn't expect a hit from behind? No. Richards is playing the game according to the rules. He's going for a puck and the intention is to stretch forward to get it on the stick and then pull himself back up. At the point in time he reaches Kaleta hits him. Richards is leaning forward already and is unable to respond in time to the hit. The fact that Richards did not miss a shift is definitely why Kaleta is not getting more than 5 games. I don't care if he's practicing or not today. As for Richards, he's now just shown up a referee who made a call based upon the length of time he was laying there on the ice. Whether he was "stung" or not I can guarantee you that he could have gotten up and not embellished it half as much as he did. He's not likely to get some favorable calls in the future. Players have to live with that. Referees see video of where a player will jerk his head back to draw a high-sticking call. The next time they see the player they are bound to remember it and I am sure that makes them less likely to rule in that player's favor. Bottom line... it was a dirty, illegal hit and Kaleta, being a repeat offender will suffer. What's worse is that when he comes back he'll likely start getting the 20 foot glide charging calls that we saw last year.

Perhaps it stems from having a larger ice surface to play on and thus using the stick becomes increasingly important as getting your body to a point on the ice is more difficult? I'm not sure how they call stick infractions in the European leagues either.

I would disagree with d4rksabre. I think Rohrbach's beers have gone downhill over the pat 4-5 years. Right now most of their beers show signs of flaws in the brewing process and a willingness to use inferior ingredients. There used to be a time when I thought Rohrbach;s beers were some of the best in Rochester but that day has sadly gone by the wayside for me. But, to each their own. It's worth trying if nothing else. You can always visit the brewery (just outside the public market) or the restaurant/brewpub to get a sampler and test more of them out.

I'll give you that. :)

How he performed as a coach is in no way indicative of how he performed as a human being. Is it so wrong to show a little compassion for people who try their hardest and are unable to achieve their goal? It's certainly a lot easier to root for those people than people who sit around on message boards all day and pretend to be the coach of the team. He did the job, he took the heat. Sure it comes with the territory but it doesn't make it any less impactful on his life. He handled his departure and his time here with class. He might not have achieved the goals we all wanted but even with the losing team he never let things get away from him and for that we can still respect him. Respect is something we don't get enough of in this world. Instead we get a lot of this kind of crap. He's a professional coach, screw him, they get fired all the time. People in my position get fired a lot too, I'm not going to feel any better about it. Getting fired is confirmation that you weren't able to do the job and if you have even a modest sense of self-worth you'll not feel good about it. People are idiots. Most people speak in hyperbole and extremes. It's easier to just say "Fire the bum" than actually be intellectual about it. I thought he needed to go as well, but I wasn't happy about it. He put a lot of time into the team as a player and a coach and I'd be far happier to have him succeed than to have him fired. But when it was clear that the former was not going to happen I begrudgingly accepted the latter.

The thing is.. if ROR continues an upward climb and develops into a tough-nosed, workaholic leader on the ice is it so bad? What is the fascination with Myers? I'm curious how much worse we think McNabb would be from Myers. He's 1 inch shorter, has shown a willingness to hit. He's scoring at slightly better than .5pts per game (given a noted slow start too). He's the top scoring D on the Amerks and would be in the Top 10 on most AHL clubs (they make it difficult to pull stats). He's a plus player. I would say he can't skate like Myers, but looking at Myers skate right now do we really care? The Sabres are loaded with puck moving D. I mentioned in another thread that if Pominville's calming demeanor has anything to do with the lack of attitude this team has then perhaps this wouldn't be the worst trade ever. But straight up? Wow. That might be painful.

Swagger. Perhaps it is Pominville's laid back attitude that causes it. Perhaps he calms everyone too much. This team will win when the good players are doing what Gerbe did last night with Phaneuf. Whether that is possible given the current load of players is not something I will address. If every player had Gerbe's heart and determination we'd be a Stanley Cup champion. Note I said his heart and determination, not his ability win hockey games, because that's not there right now. At least he looks like he wants to play. I haven't seen Foligno hit anything since he laid out that monstrous tackle on Grigorenko.

I'm fine with it. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. At this point ROR could go the same route. If Myers turns out to be a superstar so be it. I think Myers has some health issues he's gotta grow through and when he does that he might be better. You could see it last night during an extended shift.. his had the least energy left on the ice. He could barely move. Perhaps there's more than just being a really big guy with insane metabolism... who knows.. but he's definitely got an issue there. I'd like him to get a mean streak.. but then I want that from most of the Sabres right now.

That Press Conference was Ruff at his best... Nothing... but... Class. All the best to him.

Because he has made moves that are working. Other than Leino, and I can't comment on him because he's not playing, what are the bad moves he's made since TP took over? They acquired Ehrhoff who has been their best defender. He acquired Regehr who added grit to a soft defensive core. He may be aging but it was better than what we had. He launched Gaustad, who pretty much everyone on this board was in favor of parting with, for a 1st rounder. He acquired Hodgson for a kid who was underachieving in Buffalo. Hodgson's worked out pretty well so far. He acquired Grigorenko and Girgensons who we all seem kind of high on. You want to blast him for things that happened before TP took over, you can but like anything it was a different environment then. We don't know everything that happened. Is Regier the perfect GM? Of course not, but I think he gets a chance to finish the season and see what he can make happen. I think there's more involvement in his day to day business than we know about and I think that the trade market really does suck and that's why nothing is moving yet. Giving away players is stupid.. if he did that we'd be blasting him anyway. Guess you are going to be a very sad and angry person for a long time. I suppose it would have been better for Pegula to sit down at that table and say "I'm the new owner. Buffalo has been a mediocre town and we won't do anything to change it. I hope we win a Cup soon, I'll try really hard but you guys should be used to losing by now. You clearly don't get process. You clearly let emotions get the better of you. Everything I am seeing speaks to a guy who has a plan on what he is trying to accomplish. He had certain expectations about how that would come together and like any plan there are changes along the way. Letting the GM use the coach as a scape goat is a bit of a reach isn't it? Regier is obviously being evaluated as well but he's not the one who has to get through to the players right now. The coach is the one who has to do that. Firing your coach after a long practice can speak to them having very good deliberations over other moves that could have been made. There's planning and succession that has to occur before you can make the decision. Do you expect them to fire Ruff and THEN go figure out who is going to coach? No, likely they had to make a decision based upon the night before. They had to figure out who would succeed Ruff on an interim basis. They had to contact that person, discreetly, and ask if that person would be interested. Given the release of McCormick and the firing of Ruff my guess is that morning they were talking to Rolston about his thoughts on the roster. He said something like the team has too many stone hands and not enough scoring ability. Bring up Porter to help add some offensive talent to the team and perhaps I will be interested. They could then begin to make the right moves to complete the situation. If you fire the coach before the practice who leads the practice? Is it even productive? If Ruff is suddenly not there and Rolston is not interested in the job what do you do? I'm welcoming responses to those questions. If you want to blast them for being a joke then you should have a better method of handling it available for discussion. Because he has made moves that are working. Other than Leino, and I can't comment on him because he's not playing, what are the bad moves he's made since TP took over? They acquired Ehrhoff who has been their best defender. He acquired Regehr who added grit to a soft defensive core. He may be aging but it was better than what we had. He launched Gaustad, who pretty much everyone on this board was in favor of parting with, for a 1st rounder. He acquired Hodgson for a kid who was underachieving in Buffalo. Hodgson's worked out pretty well so far. He acquired Grigorenko and Girgensons who we all seem kind of high on. You want to blast him for things that happened before TP took over, you can but like anything it was a different environment then. We don't know everything that happened. Is Regier the perfect GM? Of course not, but I think he gets a chance to finish the season and see what he can make happen. I think there's more involvement in his day to day business than we know about and I think that the trade market really does suck and that's why nothing is moving yet. Giving away players is stupid.. if he did that we'd be blasting him anyway. Guess you are going to be a very sad and angry person for a long time. I suppose it would have been better for Pegula to sit down at that table and say "I'm the new owner. Buffalo has been a mediocre town and we won't do anything to change it. I hope we win a Cup soon, I'll try really hard but you guys should be used to losing by now. You clearly don't get process. You clearly let emotions get the better of you. Everything I am seeing speaks to a guy who has a plan on what he is trying to accomplish. He had certain expectations about how that would come together and like any plan there are changes along the way. Letting the GM use the coach as a scape goat is a bit of a reach isn't it? Regier is obviously being evaluated as well but he's not the one who has to get through to the players right now. The coach is the one who has to do that. Firing your coach after a long practice can speak to them having very good deliberations over other moves that could have been made. There's planning and succession that has to occur before you can make the decision. Do you expect them to fire Ruff and THEN go figure out who is going to coach? No, likely they had to make a decision based upon the night before. They had to figure out who would succeed Ruff on an interim basis. They had to contact that person, discreetly, and ask if that person would be interested. Given the release of McCormick and the firing of Ruff my guess is that morning they were talking to Rolston about his thoughts on the roster. He said something like the team has too many stone hands and not enough scoring ability. Bring up Porter to help add some offensive talent to the team and perhaps I will be interested. They could then begin to make the right moves to complete the situation. If you fire the coach before the practice who leads the practice? Is it even productive? If Ruff is suddenly not there and Rolston is not interested in the job what do you do? I'm welcoming responses to those questions. If you want to blast them for being a joke then you should have a better method of handling it available for discussion.

This is a team that has defeated Boston twice. They have the ability to play the game. They just need to do it. I think it's safe to say that they are all playing for their jobs right now.

The Amerks have been a pretty good team this year. I've only seen two games but they certainly move the puck well and skate hard for him. I'm hoping for the best at this point.

1-2 shifts.. it appeared the lines got put back to normal after one of the power plays. I dunno. I think bringing up Porter they are looking for more offense. They are also evaluating another player in the organization that was brought in. Might as well do it now. He's a guy who has NHL experience. I wouldn't be surprised if they ended up with lines like: Vanek-Hodgson-Pominville Foligno-Porter-Ennis (or Ennis-Porter) Stafford-Grigorenko-Ott Kaleta-(Hecht/Gerbe)-Scott

So here's my thought on Rolston. He's a DR hire as well. So, if you are putting the entire DR system on trial for the remainder of the season you might as well bring him up to coach the Sabres. At the same time, not firing Regier leads me to believe that he has bought himself enough time through recent moves. There's most likely player moves in the works and time will tell if he can pull off the moves required to move the Sabres in the right direction. If not, he'll be gone. I'm sure his moves will now have a level of oversight to them. What I urge all fans to remember is that almost every single one of us said that Ruff would never be gone without Regier.. there are possibilities to be had. Clearly the impossible can happen. It's a change with what I suspect is a plan for the remainder of this shortened season.

I think the reason you are looking for is that a team does not have to assign the player to the AHL affiliate. There are teams that float a player on waivers just to see if there's interest. If he clears they sometimes don't send him down to the AHL team or anywhere else for that matter. Sometimes they bring him back, etc. Anything is possible there. It could be a situation where perhaps they know a team is interested and that team would have to make a move to clear a spot for McCormick. Since the Sabres are at the bottom of the standings they are most likely to be first in waiver claims.

Exactly what I try and get at all the time. We make assumptions about things but clearly this wasn't just a single reaction. It had been coming. Sure the comments of others in the organization were leading us down that road over the past few weeks but they are pretty tight lipped. I bet you've never changed your mind before or made a mistake right? Blow it at your ass. Look, the guy stuck with a group because he thought they could get it done. He made prudent evaluations and finally a change is being made. You don't get to the top by being an emotional roller coaster, unless you are a true one of a kind talent. You have to have patience to see what transpires. I'm happy Lindy is gone, it will finally lead us down the road of finding out where the problem with this team lies. I'm not happy for Lindy to be fired except that it probably does relieve a lot of stress he had. I hope the best for the guy and I think it's an absolute joke for any of us to be jumping up and down on him at this point in time. We were right to critique his coaching, he's not the coach anymore. Let's just let the guy do his thing and hope the best for him. I also don't think Regier is going anywhere. I think the roster has improved since the change in ownership. I'm betting there's more change to come.

At one point at a Sabres game in the late 90's I remember yelling during a power play.. Peca had spent far too long with the puck and had done nothing with it.. so I yelled at him to "Shoot the tuna". Normally I don't yell things.. could have been an alcohol thing.. people around me were amused.. it's a point in time reference. If you understand why I yelled that.. bravo.

At least there is something to talk about... I'm curious.. Let's say you wanted to make a trade that involved a player who is currently on IR. Would you need to put him back on your roster in order to make that trade? If so, would you have to clear a roster spot in order to do that? Not asking why anyone WOULD do it... but just eliminating the possibility that the Sabres are trading Leino and he needs to be on the active roster in order to do that and that McCormick is the least likely player to be plucked off waivers in the Sabres opinion? Thanks, I'll hang up and listen. :)

Basic hockey.. this isn't interpreting the post-season call up rule. I said the same thing.. perfect timing to pull them up. Regardless of Pominville's goal this team is awful. Miller faces a ton of shots because no one stops the other team from shooting. Oh well.. back to the game.

When I read the changes I thought two things.. First, someone might be getting showcased? Brennan in for someone to look at? Is Kaleta getting looked at? Brennan and Kaleta for someone? Just saying. If they are showcasing then perhaps they keep Stafford in the lineup rather than scratch him just in case they need to shuffle the lines mid-game. Don't you love when people make hockey comments and don't bother to understand what they are saying first? Christ... I think I saw a comment similar to this one multiple times in the thread debating if he should be kept.. people kept suggesting the Amerks.. ugh... drives me nuts.

No worries. I just tossed my hat in the ring. Here's why I am hesitant. Because the prospects don't come with the potential $5m price tag yet. If his cap hit was $3.5 I might be singing a different tune but at $5m and a decent length you are diving in deep for a guy who might not fit. We're talking a change from a team with more skilled forward help to a team with less skilled forward help. A team from the West to a team in the East. There are a lot of variables that could negatively impact his overall performance once he lands in Buffalo. I think he's good. But locking up $5m now with a lower cap next season and uncertainty if the cap will grow like it did in the past leaves me hesitant to deal out too much for a guy who I wish had 1 more year to justify $5m. Of course if this was last year I would pull the trigger as well. But no way would I give up anyone on the top line. We finally have a line that is producing and we want to blow it up. ROR isn't replacing that. Start at Line 2 and move down the list. This is why D is easy to give up. I wouldn't go for Armia, they'll need his scoring in a few years. I'm hesitant because I feel like the Sabres are finally drafting and developing decent players. I'm willing to wait rather than blow things up. I'd alsmot prefer to do Stafford and Sekera. :)

He wants fans to be pissed. This keeps the Sabres relevant which is what he said he wants. He only worries if the fans go silent. He wants to have a winning team more, but as he's said he's not running hockey operations so I don't discuss him when it comes to the quality of the product on the ice. Fans say a bunch of stupid, stupid things. You only need to listen to WGR for a minute or two to understand that. I just fail to see why anyone would let something like this get in the way of civility to other people or to play a major role in your life. It seems unhealthy. Changes have been made, they've just not been the changes you might have wanted. I don't know why people are so hell bent to indicate that changes have not been made. If you are referring specifically to R&R then I understand where you are coming from, but I don't want to assume.

If O'Reilly's name was Staal and we know as much as we did about him as we do now I think I would still feel the same way. That's the biggest problem. I think if ROR has one more season under his belt he's either signed or traded already (assuming it was a decent season). The problem is the unknown and that makes assessing trade value difficult. The Avs are content to let him sit out of the league for now but at some point they will need to address it. At some point the stalemate will break.. I wouldn't be surprised if the Avs convince some other team to offer ROR a sheet that the Avs find more acceptable just to see if he signs it... he Avs would match and the game is over. At this point, I'm in favor of getting him. If it involves trading Sekera I'm fine with that but the prospect list is something I would be skeptical about..

Sure, but why attack each other at such a ridiculous level. I get that the more nothing changes the less people have to talk about so they begin reaching even further and further to find justifications for their predicament. The further the reach the more insane someone might sound I suppose. Different philosophies I suppose.. I prefer to take the wins and let them increase my happiness and forget the losses.. they are what they are. Indeed.