pi2000

What was the Dracy/Ruff logic? You need more than 2 years to show significant progress after back to back 50 point seasons. You can't compare them to the Leafs because they never bottomed out that hard, and they got luck winning the Matthews lottery. You think they're a playoff team without Matthews?

He said that yesterday... before the mess TP created today.

Can WGR get Eichel, his agent and Paul Hamilton on a conference call this afternoon to discuss the recent firings?

I think Murray knew he was gone when the season ended. If you go back and listen to some of his quotes, he sounds like a guy who knew his time was up. My guess is TP gave him an ultimatum to show progress every season and they took a step back, so he's gone... kinda like Rex knowing he was gone before the Jets game. That would seem typical of an owner who ran a large successful company... set goals with hard deadlines and if they're not met, then next man up gets a shot until they find the right guy. I just don't think that works very well in pro sports where you need some stability and patience especially when completely overhauling the roster and dealing with injuries, etc...

Lemme guess who told him... Paul Hamilton? sorry to disappoint :)

done. you terry. I played with Kevyn over the summers while he was at Miami. Good smart kid, can't vouch for his managerial skills however. I lost what little faith I had left in the Pegulas to do anything responsible for either of these franchises. Back-to-back 52, 54 point seasons to get a franchise player.... and you fire the GM after only 2 seasons after they improved by 30 points and had some sense of direction. Now everything is de-stabilized. You think Eichel will be more willing to sign an extension now? Hahahahahahaha... actually it's sad. I could see him wanting to get as far away from this mess of a franchise as possible first chance he gets... which might not be for a while, but the dysfunction is palpable. I'm not as disappointed about the Bylsma firing as I am about GMTM. I liked the direction he had this team going, he had clear vision of their weaknesses and what he needed to do to fix them... I would've liked to see what he did this summer to address the defense and navigate the expansion draft. Now, we'll never know.... and we're now veiled in a cloud of uncertainty.

I'm still at a loss for what motivated Paul Hamilton (an employee of the Sabres) to post that story about Eichel yesterday. Maybe somebody gave him intentionally false information to trigger the Bylsma/Murray firings..... but for what reason? And to put the franchise player in the spotlight in a negative way, when clearly Eichel didn't say any of those things seems disingenuous at best. Maybe him and Eichel despise each other, you can tell by the way Jack rolls his eyes at every PHAM question. That said, maybe it's Paul Hamilton who's the man behind the curtain running the entire operation... the new Batista.

I can't even

He's not getting fired this week. If he does, I'll change my avatar to Auston Matthews ;) Is it really tragically flawed? Or is it so possible that you just blew your mind and your head is spinning like a top?

fixed. I realize it's an unpopular opinion, but he won't be the first (nor the last) highly touted player to flame out after signing a mega-deal.

Why would he wait to can him? He would've been gone the day after the season ended if he was going to get fired. If my GM needs to have a talk with the owner before firing the coach, then I'm not sure he's man enough for the job. And how long would that conversation really last... it only takes a 5-min conversation to tell him you want to relieve Bylsma of his duties and go another direction. If the owner disagrees, then too bad... he hired you to be GM, he should let you do your job. That said, I'm firmly confident Murray has the authority to fire Bylsma on his own and would've done so after the season ended if that was the direction he wants to take. Ultimately, TM will be judged on the team's record over his tenure... and he should have authority to manipulate the players/coaches however, whenever he wants to get that done.

I still believe this is the best Auston Matthews we'll ever see. His first 2 years will be fantastic... he'll sign his mega-deal and pack it in... because money matters to him...more than team, more than education, more than character.

fixed Pegula is not firing Bylsma... unless Murray absolutely convinces him otherwise. I did listen to it... didn't get the impression he was firing Bylsma unless he himself was fired... and then the writings on the wall at that point.

This is Matthews' peak, he's reached physical maturity at a young age, he's been two steps ahead of everyone physically at every level he's played, until now.... this is his peak, it's all down hill from here... and wait until he signs his mega-deal... bye bye birdie.

They weren't just missing Jack. They were without Kane, ROR, Ennis, Kulikov, Bogosian, and Okposo missed some games early on IIRC. They had a very tankerous lineup. Correct. They can't defend... anywhere on the ice. Part of that is youth, and part of that is the fact their 3rd line is composed of 1st line has-beens from the tank years. They're not defensively skilled players. I have hope because GMTM is aware of this and hopefully will take steps to address it this offseason... and it's not just fixing the defense... it's fixing the bottom 6 so we don't need to put ROR out on the ice every d-zone draw, PP1 and triple shift him at the end of close games. They need to take steps to address this weakness and their possession numbers will drastically improve.... WITH BYLSMA!

....and BUF got Ryan Miller (and Rhett Warrener) from FLA for Mike Wilson, who was acquired from VAN as part of the Peca/Mogilny trade. Mogilny was acquired from the Rangers for Paul Cyr and a round 10 pick. Cyr's rights were acquired from CGY for Don Edwards, and Richie Dunn. You're also missing some pieces to the Miller puzzle. In return for Miller and Ott, BUF acquired Halak, Stewart, Carrier, 2015 1st and 2016 3rd. Halak went to WSH for Neuvirth and Klesla. Neuvirth went to NYI for Chad Johnson and 2016 3rd. Johnson signed with CGY as a FA and the 2016 3rd went to PIT for Bylsma. Stewart went to MIN for a 2017 2nd round pick. Carrier is still on the roster, duh. The 2015 1st went to WPG in the Myers/Kane deal. WPG selected D Jack Roslovic with the 25th overall pick. He's played 1 NHL game in his career. The 2016 3rd went to FLA as part of the Kulikov/Pysyk deal. FLA select D Linus Nassen with the 89th overall pick. So Don Edwards and Richie Dunn ultimately gave BUF Bylsma, a 2017 2nd, Carrier, parts of Kane, Bogosian, Kasdorff, and Kulikov

They lost something like 10 of their first 21 games by 1 goal... it's not like they were getting blown out of the building. They were playing a certain way because personnel dictated as much. What are you gonna do? Open it up and play run and gun without your top 3 scorers? That would've been dumb and got him fired. Also, folks seem to forget that even though BUF started scoring more when Eichel rejoined the lineup, they also gave up almost one extra goal per game. So imagine giving up that extra goal per game and not having Eichel, Kane and ROR for long stretches.... they might not have won a single game and they'd have no shot at the playoffs come mid-Dec. The strategy was to tread water, keep within shooting distance of a playoff spot until Eichel returned... and they did just that. The problem was after he came back they did start scoring more, but they couldn't score enough to overcome their lack of defense.. which was exposed in the second half of the season.

Any of you anti-Bylsmites getting nervous yet? If he was gonna get shitcanned, it would've already happened... don't ya think?

The Leafs didn't tank. They got lucky and won the lottery, and won the Babcock sweepstakes.... because that's where Babcock wanted to go all along, it wasn't about money or roster. The Leafs lowest point total the past 5 years was 68 points. Meanwhile BUF put up back to back seasons of 52 and 54 points, which, naturally, will take longer to recover from. Just because the Leafs got lucky and won the lottery without tanking, doesn't mean BUF's tank strategy was a failure.

He's battling alcohol addiction. He's got it turned around after flaming out in MTL and the car wreck. Good on him for taking control of his life. It's nice to see him having some success.

This argument a losing battle.... I've tried. They'll say they won because of Crosby, Malkin and Letang. And they'll say they lost because of Bylsma.

Tenniginia?

It used to be 1-16, with 1 playing 16 and so forth, best two teams meet in the Finals That was fun, they should go back to that... anybody remember when BUF played VAN in the first round and then I think CHI or MIN in the second round?

I used CF% to build my bracket but looking only at the last 35 games of the season Also used scoring chances for % (over the same time period) as a function to break "ties" where both teams had somewhat similar CF%'s and to predict # of games.

That's great for rivalries, but I'd rather the 4 best teams meet up in the conference finals, rather than the 1st round. That is, if the goal is such that the best teams meet in the Finals, right?