DHawerchuk10

I concur with your assessment. With respect to the Sabres, I am not sure if I would have made different decisions quite frankly. I was not fully onboard with the tank either, but as you said, it was easily defensible. For folks so willing to draw and quarter Pegula, what decisions would you have made differently since the tank, and what decisions would you want him to make going forward to improve the team? I keep hearing that he is too meddlesome, care to offer some recent examples? It appears he learned from his earlier mistakes, and set out to hire qualified hockey folks. Perhaps those hockey folks aren't as qualified as many of us thought, but were you honestly against these hirings upon announcement?

My "unpopular" opinion stems from the fact that when the this happens, 90% of the time (or at least this is my perception), the play was more flukey than anything else (puck flipped up at the last second, etc.) I understand your counter argument is that the defensive player has to be more careful, and thus this carefulness leads to more offense (which is rational), but I personally think the rule is just chinsy. The one time I really wanted this called was when Darius Kaspiritis grabbed the puck with this glove and threw it into the crowd during Game 7 of '01 playoffs, and of course it wasn't. Why can't we go back to those division names by the way? These division names based on region are nonsense. I am probably the only one who is pedantic enough to care, but when someone knows who was in the Smythe division, this grants them instant credibility in my book.

-The automatic "delay of game" penalty for a puck shot over the glass in the defensive zone should be abolished. -The "jumping into the glass" celebration is stupid and unoriginal. -Thomas Vanek isn't lazy. -In retrospect, John Gurtler doesn't seem so bad. -Visiting Sabre fans are 2nd only to Visiting Leaf fans in obnoxiousness -The Sabre team that had the best chance to win the Cup who didn't make it to the Finals was the '01 team, and not the '06 team -Tim Murray didn't get enough back in trades for our high draft picks/prospects -Ted Nolan is a better coach for this team than Dan Bylsma -I would still hate Patrick Kane even if he played for the Sabres

Kind of strange to think 2/3rds of those guys actually were on the same team together for a little over half a season. In any event, for my money, there weren't too many that were better than Ramsey back in the 80's. He perfected the open ice hip check, and used to block a ton of shots before that became "a thing". And what a moustache!

Yeah, what a jerk!

I've never been so tired after a game due to the emotional toll it took to make it through to the end.

Sean mcmorrow broke Neil's leg in 2002.

The indifference represented by the quote is quite humorous.

Why not do a Sabre specific song ala "Jump, Shout" or "Rock 'em Sabres"? Its the lameness that makes it good. Look at the Bills Shout song. That is a freaking marketing jingle from like 1988, but who amongst us doesn't get fired up when hearing it?

Excellent articulation of the concerns. I also agree with many things north buffalo has said. Just to add to this, I am not sure where all this trust in Tim Murray comes from. The blind Tim Murray fanboys are really starting to irk me. By all means, shower him with praises if we make major improvements next year, but the praise isn't warranted yet. My fear is that Murray is committing the same mistakes Darcy did, but from the opposite side of the spectrum. As some have said, the real skill of a gm is team building and not winning trades. However, it has to be questioned if he put all of our eggs in one basket. If Kane busts or oreilly doesn't sign, this will be a huge catastrophe in my opinion. Time will certainly tell, and I hope the risks, while present don't play out. Although not a huge o'reilly fan, I definitely like the idea of using him to shelter eichel and Reinhart.

1. Yes 2. Bylsma. I'm sick of shorthand. 3. 4 years 4. 20% 5. Canada

I keep reading Sprong has some baggage. But in all the write-ups, they never say what the baggage is. Anybody know? Is he a prima donna or did he kill a man?

Out of curiosity.... For anybody who put in for draft tickets next month, has anybody heard back from the Panthers yet? I put in for them in January by filling out that online form and haven't heard a thing yet.

touché.

The frequent and sometimes inappropriate us of the word "hyperbole".

Going to away games has jaded my view. No longer can I view fellow Sabre fans as generally "very knowledgable" without having a lengthy conversation with them. Perhaps I have had just bad luck over the years, but the fans I run into at away games are some of the most obnoxious, unknowledgeable hockey fans I have ever met judging from their behavior towards other fans. Its as if these fans have taken their queue from visiting Leaf fans from years gone by. Unfortunately, I have seen this same attitude bleed into home games. As has been mentioned before, it could be the luck of the draw in terms of where I am seated, but I feel this has happened far too regularly than to be chalked up as bad luck.

Although this probably the minority view, I agree with pretty much everything you said. The arena atmosphere has been deteriorating for many years now. It got better during 05-06, but then fell to pieces at times the following year in my view (although it returned briefly for the '07 playoffs). So although performance certainly has an impact, its not the only factor. Something like this is very hard to articulate, because it is a matter of perception. In my opinion, the arena atmosphere is plagued by a large contingent of fans who haven't necessarily followed the team since they were kids. Again, this is perception as I haven't done a double blind study researching this. I merely have to go back to my high school days for evidence. I was one of the few who would wear their Sabre Jersey to school (heck, I was known as the "Sabres guy" for most of my time there as if wearing a jersey regularly and talking about the team was a novelty). Flash forward a few years, and everybody I went to school with now identifies themselves as a hardcore fan. This is almost an affront to me. Its like the people who espouse science on everything, but they failed every science class they ever took. There is a certain entitlement attitude associated with many Buffalo fans, as if being from Buffalo makes you instantly knowledgeable and better than other teams fans, because "hey, you are from Buffalo, and that is what Buffalo is all about". Unfortunately this knowledge/dedication takes decades to develop no matter where you are from. The passion required to make the arena atmosphere like Winnipeg extends out of these many years of dedication. Call me an elitist, but it appears a large contingent of Sabre fans want to short circuit the process, call themselves hardcore after a couple years, and don't realize what many of us have really invested, and therefore their passion is limited. I have babbled on long enough. But this is an interesting topic of discussion, as during the past year this "feeling" became even more palpable.

I've been critical of Murray, but people are taking his "disappointment" way out of context. It is right and appropriate to say you are disappointed in not drafting first. That is just common sense. Not sure why people equate that to disappointment in Eichel. I didn't hear that at all. I'm sure if Murray had another chance, he would have just given the sterile, canned GM answer.

It is interesting how kids of the original Star Wars (now adults) view the prequel, versus kids of the prequel generation. My nephew loves the prequels a lot more than the originals, which is blasphemy to me. Although, I have to admit, I viewed the prequels favorably for a view years before I couldn't live with lying to myself anymore. The only one really worth watching is Episode 3. I am pretty elitist when it comes to Star Wars, and view it as "my movie". So there is a strong desire to have Abrams placate folks of my generation. I could care less if my kids like it or not. Its all about me this time! There are few things in this world I generally like...Star Wars and Sabres are the big two.

Yeah, totally freakin amazing. Chills were running right down the spine. I felt like I was a kid again.

Were you around in the 90's or lived in Buffalo for a long period of time? If not, that is your explanation for why you "don't get it". People love him because they can identify with his principles, and they'd like to think those principles represent Buffalo. You may not care about that sort of thing, but respect the fact other people do.

I think that is the extreme, but I certainly am skeptical of Murray, and moves like this certainly don't endear him to me even if it was inevitable (as I liked Ted Nolan). With that put aside, a rational opinion of Murray hinges on how you think we made out on the Kane trade, and how "pro Tank" you were. If you liked that deal and were pro-Tank, it is natural why you don't understand the dislike for Murray. If not, what has Murray done that has any value to date? I personally don't care for the Kane trade, and was "Switzerland" with the whole tanking thing (I'd be lying if I said I didn't want a top pick, but I have serious misgivings about the toll it took on the "culture" both from a fan and team perspective. I am downright starting to loathe a certain portion of the fanbase...but that is a whole different topic). Adding the Nolan firing, is just another thing I am not crazy about. I don't think its terribly fair to judge Murray thus far (although I thought the same about Nolan as well), but my skepticism/distrust will only grow if there isn't some appreciable growth on this team next year. I am aware my view is in the extreme minority, but its important to know the reasons why everyone isn't in on the Tim Murray love fest...even if you don't agree with those reasons.

Good work! This is great!

I want him back for no other reason than it will piss off the contingent of Sabre fans I want to strangle right now. :wallbash: The young guys are really starting to play well, and are really one of the reasons why this race to the bottom is even close, along with goaltending. I think Nolan and his staff have to be credited with that to some extent. Personally, I think the bright spots have been so obscured by the overall horrid record and obsession with the draft, that it makes it almost impossible to truly judge Nolan's performance.

I don't think that view is "hippy" at all. It is very sensible. I was one of the outliers when it came to "standardized" testing in that I never really did well on them. I found the way they asked the questions as indirect, and the solution choices were even more confusing (i.e. choice B greater than choice A, but less than choice C). My way of thinking/learning is very direct, and done by experimentation and repetition. Finding patterns is key for me at first, especially when trying to grasp complicated theories. When forced to learn a certain way, I do poorly. I can't imagine what would have become of me with common core.