MBHockey13

She has a pretty fierce resting bitch face.

That could be a good move. It's a shame the Isles pick the year we have their pick to all of a sudden be great. Now Snow looks like he knows what he's doing - which, um, maybe he did all along... No way he trades it if it was another top 5 unless he had 2 & 5 and wanted 1.

:thumbsup:

I think that is why there is so much reluctance to draft Russians. You're afraid they won't want to develop their game in the AHL and will head off to the KHL and then you may or may not ever see them in your team's uniform. Plus, you have no control over their development. With the collapsing ruble maybe that won't be as much of an issue but honestly - would Grigs take another contract here and play another year or two with the Amerks - and that is IF he passes through waivers?

I was thinking about how guys like Vanek and Pominville and Roy and Ennis and others matured into the organization. I don't remember sweating their development in the minors as much as we do these days. Of course, we are much more in desperate need of talent, and obsessing about our prospect's development is all we really have. But there is nothing wrong with guys spending a few years in the minors. It's usually the best thing for them. I'm sure the fans in Detroit or Chicago aren't worried about what every prospect in their system is doing and how a bad week or a good week reflects on their future with the club. I'm as obsessive as anyone but I'm worried we'll all drive ourselves crazy as our prospect pool develops. Lots of these guys are still a few years away from making an impact and it definitely isn't easy to be patient when we're as horrible as we are. We really need to get McDavid / Eichel and bask in their wonderfulness next season. Maybe GMTM gets a couple of skilled vets on short-term contracts to take some of the pressure off so some of these younger guys like Grigs and Baptiste and Bailey and Fasching and Compher, etc. can develop at the correct pace.

I'm surprised no one has posted this yet. Matthew Coller has a great article about Grigorenko today. Pretty much explains it all. http://www.wgr550.com/What-does-the-future-hold-for-Mikhail-Grigorenko-/21146506

Yeah, Guy LaFleur sucked. Gerry Desjardins wasn't anything either.

Here's the other thing - you can be angry at the Sabres and Pegula - I would't agree with your anger, but go for it - but being angry with GMTM for our current state makes absolutely no sense. He's barely been the GM for more than a year. He inherited this situation. He didn't trade Vanek. He didn't trade Pominville. He traded Miller and Ott but they were both going to leave anyway - at least Miller was. The Sabres were already the worst team in the league when he got here. He really didn't have a choice other than to finish the rebuild and then build the team back up. Like I said, he talked about how he could go ahead and just get a bunch of players in here and gun for 8th place. Lots of teams do that. Look at Florida. Look at TORONTO. But he's doing what is best for the long-term success of the franchise. I'm glad he does what he thinks is best and doesn't listen to the few who want to win now and not worry about the future. Luckily, most fans are on board with what he's doing. I guarantee the same fans whining about GMTM now are going to be right on the Sabres bandwagon when they're carrying the Cup down Delaware Avenue. And they'll STILL probably be complaining.

:wub:

Yeah - exactly the reason for my hesitation ha ha...

If I still lived in Buffalo I could. But I guess great minds think alike?

I can't help but think of the famous Stanford Marshmallow Experiment when I view the two groups of Sabres fans - the groups that are patient and on board with the short term pain for the long term goal of consistent excellence, and the other group who want to do everything to win now even if it denies us a realistic chance at the Cup and could set us back years. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_marshmallow_experiment "The Stanford marshmallow experiment[1] was a series of studies on delayed gratification in the late 1960s and early 1970s led by psychologist Walter Mischel, then a professor at Stanford University. In these studies, a child was offered a choice between one small reward provided immediately or two small rewards if they waited for a short period, approximately 15 minutes, during which the tester left the room and then returned. (The reward was sometimes a marshmallow, but often a cookie or a pretzel.) In follow-up studies, the researchers found that children who were able to wait longer for the preferred rewards tended to have better life outcomes, as measured by SAT scores,[2] educational attainment,[3] body mass index (BMI),[4] and other life measures.[5]" For the record, I'm on board with waiting for that second marshmallow.

I couldn't find the interview, but a while ago GMTM said that if the rebuild was just about making the playoffs, he could go out in free agency and sign a bunch of veterans and make the playoffs in seventh or eighth place every year. But that isn't what he's doing. He's building a team that will compete for the top of the league and the Stanley Cup year after year. You can't do that overnight. That is what makes this rebuild so painful, but so tremendously exciting for the educated and true Sabres fan. We've lived with being "just good enough" for almost our entire hockey lives. Yeah. we made the Stanley Cup Finals in 1999, but without Hasek that team had no place being in the Finals. We've never had a Chicago or a Detroit or a Pittsburgh or Los Angeles type hockey team that gets talked about year after year as one of the most likely teams to win it all. That is what this is about. I look forward to the day where THE SABRES are the team everyone fears, and other fans keep wondering where we keep getting this great talent that we can plug into our lineup and keep winning, and where hockey free agents put Buffalo at the top of their list of destinations because of our culture and our successes. We've always been also-rans. This isn't about just making it - this is about being THE TEAM. I'd rather wait for the ultimate result than be impatient and reactionary and unreasonable and demand successes NOW. I have full trust in Tim Murray and I know we're doing the rebuild the correct way. And I suspect we'll be close to making the playoffs next year as a result of our young players replacing bad ones, adding McEichel and Reinhart and Kane, and a few smart free-agent signings and moves from GMTM this offseason. But I don't expect the President's Trophy - YET. Neither does GMTM. So, AGAIN, what GMTM meant by his quote was IF we don't make the playoffs next year - and without a more than 40 point leap in the standings in one year, we won't - then we'll have a chance at a top 1, 2, or 3 pick. That is all. And if you don't like it, root for the Lightning or some other team with worse fans.

"GMTM sucks...he's over his head...he wants lottery picks every year...we'll never get better...another GM would have us competing for the President's Trophy next year...I did very poorly on the reading comprehension section of my SAT's...wah wah wah"

Amen. Murray will be happy if we make the playoffs next year, but there's no guarantee we do. I'm sure we'll show improvement, but you don't go from DFL two years in a row to a great team, despite what the Islanders did. I'm sure he'll get us some more pieces in the offseason, but I don't expect him to go nuts to get us to squeak into 8th place when that's not the long-term goal. Murray is saying it's basically a win-win - if we make the playoffs, great, and if we don't, then we have a chance for the 1, 2, or 3 pick. Murray can't talk enough for me. I always enjoy what I hear. If you don't like it, then stop reading about it. Maybe cheer on the Lightning or something.

Hey Farva, who plays in that old stadium with all the drunk fans and the murderer on the wall?

The Oilers are already losing 4 - 0 and the second period just started. I'm really worried now. They are taking this tanking thing to a whole new level.

With the Isles moving to Brooklyn next year the Isles are going to be the hot "new" thing for a while... Figures the Isles go from a bottom-dweller to a top team the year we have their first rounder.

Coke - Thank God. Can't wait until Pegula switches the Bills to Coke like he did with the Amerks.

Good job! You'll love it!

Wait until we start arguing about D'Amigo versus Dalpe.

GMTM might have to start telling Nolan who to play, even if he hasn't before. I wouldn't worry about what Nolan might say after he leaves Buffalo - that's why you give him one of those non-disclosure agreements you gave Patty. It seems they aren't too worried about letting Hackett leave for nothing at the end of the year. They have to play him to keep his rights.

At least we know it's not the Bills. Unless it's a pick in 2016. Please no...

Good reads. Based on this, Bradford is exactly what I DON'T want in a Bills QB - a dinker and dunker. That is one of my biggest complaints about EJ, just like it was about Captain Checkdown Edwards - they never throw the deep ball. You have to at least TRY.

According to the New York Daily News, the Jets are trading for Fitzpatrick. It will reunite him with Chan Gailey. http://fantasynews.cbssports.com/fantasyfootball/update/25102371/report-texans-on-verge-of-trading-ryan-fitzpatrick-to-the-jets I wonder if they go get Stevie and even C.J.