MBHockey13

No one is still up watching this game? It's pretty awesome. Go Blackhawks!

:thumbsup:

They were worth the trip to Buffalo for my sixth time. Center floor row 17.

I wonder if our search for a coach for Rochester will be as exciting... Can you imagine if we get Jeff Blashill for the Amerks? We have a lot of third round picks! :P

Exactly. He'll discuss players more with Babcock and he'll also be more interested in getting the type of players Babcock wants to play his game. I don't think it was already any different from Murray's philosophy in building a team. I am sure he could care less about who Nolan wanted for the future. He knew he was a goner.

Hamilton's on WGR now.

I thought the same thing. But I definitely wish him well and would love for him to have a lot of success in juniors.

This is pretty good.

http://blogs.theprovince.com/2015/05/18/whl-giants-speaking-to-ted-nolan-about-their-vacant-head-coaching-job-worked-in-junior-in-2005-06/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter "According to various sources, the Vancouver Giants have talked to Ted Nolan about their vacant coaching job. It’s early stages, and Nolan, 57, could easily end up back in the NHL or elsewhere in pro. He did coach in junior as recently as 2005-06, though, when he guided the Moncton Wildcats to the QMJHL regular season championship. The Wildcats also hosted the Memorial Cup national tournament that spring, where, oddly enough, their opponents included the Giants, the WHL champions from that season. Nolan parlayed that one season with Moncton into a job with the New York Islanders the next season. He had been out of the NHL since 1996-97. An NHL source I spoke to Monday said that Nolan is “interested,” in the Giants job. The Giants went with two coaches with extensive pro resumes last season, first with Troy Ward and then Claude Noel. The team struggled, finishing with five fewer wins than it had in 2013-14 and missing the playoffs, and one of the issues seemed to be whether Ward and Noel meshed with their young charges. Ward hadn’t worked in junior since 1994-95, Noel since 1989-90. Nolan was fired by the Sabres on April 11. The Sabres (23-51-8) finished last in the NHL, but there’s been plenty of suggestion that they had put together a substandard roster in a bid to win the rights to draft Connor McDavid. It’s difficult to get hard info on coaching salaries, but the consensus seems to be that an NHL head coaching gig starts in the $700,000 range. A major junior job is usually in the $100,000 range. Noel still had a year left on his Winnipeg Jets’ contract, and, as the story goes, he kept getting that money when he joined the Giants after Ward was let go. Vancouver, in turn, paid Winnipeg the equivalent of a WHL coaching wage. There were reports that Nolan signed a three-year extension with Buffalo in March, 2014. The Giants are staying quiet about their coaching search this year. Last May, they let Don Hay out of the last year of his contract to coach the rival Kamloops Blazers, Hay’s hometown team and the first WHL club he had worked with. They courted various replacements, including Travis Green, Tim Hunter and Steve Hamilton. They eventually inked a deal with Ward, the former bench boss of the AHL’s Abbotsford Heat, in July."

What I mean is there were people saying GMTM wouldn't share power with LaFontaine because of his ego, and that makes him a bad guy because Patty left. Same thing with Nolan - about how Murray wasn't running down and asking Ted's opinion about who to call up and who to trade. Ted alluded to it himself. So, people said he wouldn't be open to working with any coach if he didn't still have 100% power. I only think that's because it was Nolan. I can't believe that Tim wouldn't consult Babcock. It's my opinion but based on what I saw in GMTM's press conference and from what I've seen I think Babcock was always Murray's guy. 99% on board?

Murray and Terry Pegula met with Mike Babcock. They have a relationship. He hired Babcock in Anaheim. It's not like Terry is going over GMTM's head. http://sabres.buffalonews.com/2015/04/12/sabres-murray-searching-for-perfect-fit-after-firing-nolan-as-coach/ "In Tim Murray's perfect world, the Sabres' general manager would be good buddies with his coach. They would respect each other, chat often and agree on how personnel decisions should be made. Murray didn't have that with Ted Nolan, so the GM is looking for a new coach. Buffalo fired Nolan on Sunday, one day after the Sabres finished their second straight last-place season. There is no timetable for hiring a replacement. "We both said it's too bad it didn't work out," Murray said in First Niagara Center. "Is it chemistry? Maybe it's just chemistry. Maybe it's just two different personalities. You need chemistry on the ice, and you need chemistry off the ice. "You have to find a perfect fit to be really successful, and maybe it just wasn't a perfect fit.""

Really? 1. LaFontaine 2. Nolan

GMTM is 100% on board with getting Babcock. He'd also be fine with being part of a team running the Sabres. He's already comfortable with Babcock. This narrative that Tim Murray is a megalomaniac who must exert 100% control with an iron fist is just some nonsense invented by the same few suspects on this board.

I heard Babcock would have already signed already if it wasn't for Battista. I also heard Battista is the reason Jack Eichel is going to spend the next three years at Boston University.

I think I remember him being the one who was breaking the news about that. https://twitter.com/realkyper/status/439904142338043904

I meant that they are saying Anaheim really won the trade now. I'd have to look to see what people thought of the trade then. Bobby Ryan was a #2 overall pick and was considered one of the best young wingers in the game.

I'm not sure that's the case. I've heard a bunch of talk about how much Silfverberg is exceeding expectations. In fact, people are thinking Anaheim has really won that trade big time.

Awww...Lance Diamond sighting. R.I.P.

I agree. There is no shame in losing because the guy decided he was happy where he was and his family was comfortable where they lived, no matter what the price. Just think - back in the Golisano days, we wouldn't even be anywhere near this discussion.

All I know is I have hope because I'm blown away by Tyler Johnson - who's almost like Martin St. Louis 2.0. Of course, Cory Conacher was an undrafted undersize free agent, too. I wonder where Rodrigues will fall on the Conacher - Flynn - Johnson - St. Louis spectrum. I think it also depends on whether the coach gives him a shot back on Eichel's wing. How about if Reinhart starts in Rochester, and they play Rodrigues with him, and maybe Carrier or Baptiste, and they develop some great chemistry?

She's a pretty well known writer in hockey circles. She was on WGR550 last week. She definitely has a lot of credibility. I think a couple of reasons we hadn't heard much of Blashill until recently: 1. He's coaching in the AHL 2. We haven't been looking for a coach (though Rolston should have NEVER been the automatic choice) 3. Detroit has had Blashill under contract and were paying him pretty well to stay in Grand Rapids. They also weren't allowing other teams to talk to him. So, he hasn't been in discussions about coaching vacancies until now. If Babcock leaves, he goes to Detroit. If Babcock stays, then I would also prefer Blashill. I know Blashill isn't an "established" NHL coach, but sometimes you already know what you have with the others and this guy has won wherever he goes, and he can DEFINITELY develop young players. In some ways, he might be better for the Sabres than Babcock. I know Richardson is in the mix, and I'd be fine if he ends up being the choice. I'm going to support whomever gets the job 100% until they prove me wrong. But I'd take Blashill over anyone other than Babcock.

36. Weber's Horseradish Mustard and Miller's Horseradish and Sahlen's Hot Dogs.

That's pretty good. :wub: