Sabre Dance

And we should care because....?

I never bet on the Derby (or the other Triple Crown races), but I do make a pick, usually at the last minute. I switched from hockey to the Derby just as the post parade was finishing. I picked Normandy Invasion for no apparent reason, other than the name. I was semi-shocked when the horse took the lead on the front stretch....only to wind up fourth at the wire. I guess that's why I never bet on these races.... :blink:

Slapshot III. Perhaps the Sens can hire an ambulance to circle ScotiaBank Place with the siren on before game four. One player with a smashed-up face and three more with lost teeth. Sounds like WWE, not NHL. I know the intensity goes up in the playoffs, but this is the just the first round. I hope to God no player gets paralyzed (or worse) before the season is over.

I'm sure Gryba's intent doesn't matter to Eller. His face is still smashed. As usual, the CBC talking heads blamed the victim. (What was he doing there in the middle of the ice? That was a suicide pass!) Gryba still was the one who delivered the hit. I hope to God I'm wrong, but some day a player is not going to target the head, not leave his feet, hit the guy when he has the puck and still manage to paralyze him (or worse). There'll be some hand-wringing after that one - maybe.

OK, so we know ticket prices need to go up to keep the franchise afloat. But then, we're told that the team is going to get worse before it gets better, so prepare to suffer some more. You know, the thing about using a carrot on a stick is that sooner or later the donkey loses interest.... Ooh, look! A squirrel!

This owner has asked him to build a Stanley Cup contender. In two years, the team has gotten worse. (BTW, my former screen name "Sabre Dance" has been replaced with a more appropriate one, "Suffer_enuff" based on our illustrious GM's vision for the forseeable future...)

Well, it's a few more. We already lost one play-by-play announcer waiting for the Sabres to win a Cup; I doubt RJ will want to hang around for another 3 years waiting for the team to make a run. How about my mom who, at age 90, is a bigger Sabres fan than I am? I want Ted Black and Darcy Regier to look her in the face and tell her she needs to wait just a few more seasons. Suffering? What does Darcy think we've been doing for all these years? (Especially since much of the suffering came from his incapable hands). The attitude of this organization pi$$es me off. They keep feeding us gruel and telling us we should get used to it for a while longer, but filet mignon is on the horizon. Meanwhile, we're still eating gruel. Gruel makes me puke and so does this management team.

Even if it is the truth, why, why, why would you go in front of a microphone and actually tell your fan base that your team is going to be bad for a while?? My God, do they have no marketing people in that organization? This is just horrible public relations. Add to that the timing of the ticket price hike announcement. Could that have not waited until a decision is made on the head coach? AND, if you have not decided whether to make Rolston permanent, why hold the press conference at all right now? You make up your mind about the coach, make that known and then break the news about the ticket price hike. If these guys can't even engineer a strategy to minimize the negative impact of this lousy season, how can anyone have any faith that they can put together a playoff team, let alone a Cup contender? It is truly mind-boggling.

...and that falls squarely on the front office. With an interim coach and a bullet-proof general manager, no one in the organization appears to have to live up to any kind of standard (and you can extend that to the ownership as well if you want). Change that paradigm and then see what happens....

You know, that statement is both sad and mostly true. If Messrs. Black and Pegula have anyone trolling this forum, please see the above message and realize how little faith fans have in this team anymore. We've gone the safe route for too long and have next to nothing to show for it. Be bold; take a chance. Go out and hire an impact coach and GM and let them bring in impact players. If we're going to miss the playoffs again next year, I'd rather do it with a team that plays balls out every shift.

Obviously, the locales you use the phone most frequently will have a big impact on your choice. I'm in the Buffalo Metro area and I had Sprint for years. But, their lack of 4G service locally finally forced my hand last summer. (I need 4G for work stuff). I went with AT&T as they had an online deal; I got a Galaxy IIIS for $99, no activation fee (I activated it myself over the web). I did go with a contract, as I get a discount through work. 450 minutes/months (and it rolls over), 300MB data + insurance for about $65/month. (If I need more data, I can go to 3GB/month for another ten bucks - so far 300MB has been enough, but just barely). I thought Verizon was way too expensive. I get great coverage, calls are nice and clear and the phone is great. I don't make many calls and I send even fewer text messages, so that's no big deal to me. So far, I have been very pleased. I did not check out T-Mobile or any of the smaller carriers; there may be better deals out there. I will say that I went from Sprint's 3G service to AT&T's 4G and my monthy bill went DOWN about $5/month.

The Sabres have 'em, but Pegula put electric motors on them when he re-did the locker room... :thumbsup:

The refs called it good on the ice. The best replay view was the shot looking straight at the Pens goal, with Ott's back to the camera. The rule was changed some years back - it used to be that if the stick was above crossbar height, the goal was no good no matter where on the stick the puck actually struck. Now, you can have the stick above the crossbar, but the puck must hit the stick at or below the height of the crossbar. It sure looked to me as if the puck was just about at crossbar height when Ott bunted it into the net. There was likely not enough conclusive video evidence to overturn the on-ice call, so it counted. I concur (not that my opinion means anything...)

There's nothing wrong about being optimistic and enthusastic about our favorite team. You just need to temper that with a bit of reality. ;) There is a clear talent differential between the Sabres and a team like the Penguins. But, the Sabres have won the last two meetings with them. One thing that I've noticed all season long (and yeah, last season too) is that the Sabres seem slow. Slow to react, slow skating, slow desicion-making. They have consistently been beaten to loose pucks in their own end by just about every team they face. It's all about effort.

Wow. The Sabres have played in a number of games that had as much meaning off the ice as on - the Sabres/Soviet Wings game in '76, the first game at MSG after 9/11 and then last night. I was anxious all day yesterday wondering what the mood would be like in the Garden, how the players would react, etc. The fans singing the anthem at the top of their lungs, well that just gave me chills and a rather large lump in the throat. Although the Bruins are more talented player-for-player than the Sabres, the boys toughed it out. The game was very entertaining and in the end the result seems to have worked out for all concerned. The Sabres got the two points they needed, the Bruins clinched a playoff spot and the teams united at the end (if only for a few minutes) to salute the city of Boston and their fans. Rarely do things work out exactly right, but this one came pretty close.

I'd be willing to bet that Dan Paille goes to church every Sunday and lights candles in thanks for the day when the Sabres sent him off to the Bruins. He really doesn't play much better than he did here in Buffalo, but his "supporting cast" carried him to a Stanley Cup. It's not a good sign for our team when they trade away decent players and every one of them went to a team higher than us in the standings. Good for the players, though... :blink:

To quote the well-known sage, Homer Simpson, "It's funny 'cause it's true!" :lol:

I don't know if it is a "Lindy holdover" or what, but I've never seen a team that, upon gaining posession of the puck, keeps wanting to pass it back behind the goal line and "set up" their rush so often. Yes, there are times you want to do this (a shift change), but it gives the Sabres' opponent time to set up their defense. So often, the Sabres' "rush" ends with an opposing player taking the puck away from the Sabre in the neutral zone or going over the blue line. Then they go right back into the Sabres' end. The better teams in the league are constantly pushing the puck up the ice and into the offensive zone. You know when the Penguins gain posession, you'd better get back on defense and in a hurry. On-target passing is a huge component of that.

This. You can't just look at individual trades and judge the job a GM does by saying he won (or lost) that trade. The GM is just one role of many in a hockey club. All of the parts have to work in symmetry in order for the end result to be good. If you have a group of mediocre players save for one superstar, your team will still likely not do well. Every player has their role, as does each coach, scout, GM and yes, owner. Everyone has got to be on the same page, all pulling in the same direction. I think one of the reasons that recent Sabre teams have played so pooly is that they don't have a clear direction; an identity. Are they a rough, physical team? (Philly, Boston) An offensive juggernaut? (Pittsburgh) A tough defensive team? (Jersey) That is perhaps the issue with Regier. He is focusing too much on individual pieces and not enough on the team as a whole. If you have a blueprint in mind for what you want your team to be, then you can go get the pieces you need to make it so. That being said, I think Regier gets a B- for these trades. I think there were more deals out there to be had (or maybe better), but for fear of "losing" the trade, they weren't made. The ones he made were OK; now lets see what is done before the draft and in the summer....

Anyone have any experience with Glenmorangie single malt? I tried scotch very early in my drinking "career" and decided it wasn't for me. However, after seeing an ad for Glenmorangie in Golf Digest, I went to their web site (which is pretty neat - glenmorangie.com). They produce a number of different whiskies of various age and maturation type. They also have videos posted ("Tasting Master Class") where the fellow who makes the whisky guides you through a tasting. There are some other neat things on the site as well. So, I bought a bottle and tried a wee dram last night - I think I still wouldn't call myself a Scotch drinker, but this stuff is gooood. (Plus it is an "unadvertised special" at Premier). Let me know what you think...

I never said Miller would be traded as a backup (I don't think he would agree to that), but wherever he goes, I think that's how it's going to work out (unless he has an epiphany and his play goes back up to Olympic level). He's shown he has trouble playing a full season as a starter with only a few games off. Maybe "backup" isn't the right descriptor; a two goalie system with Miller and whomever sharing the load. Miller gets some rest so he can perform at the end of the season and the other goalie gets to watch Miller and learn (Miller can't stop him from doing that even if he's not actively teaching the guy...)

Miller is more likely to go than Vanek. There are going to be a couple of vacancies in goal next season plus no one wants to take on Luongo's contract so count him out of going anywhere. Miller would make a solid backup for some young goaltending stud. He could help coach him along and play 20-25% of the team's games. Vanek will likely start the season as a Sabre, but if the team doesn't do well through the first part of the season (and at this point, how well they do next season is very much up in the air), he can still be traded for assets.

Note to Ted Black and TPegs: If Darcy is a goner after the season, please consider this as my application for the GM position. I will work cheap and will guarantee a Cup-contending team within three years.....

Just for the fun of it, when watching the game tonight, notice the little things that they do in their building to make the pre-game more exciting....spotlights scanning the crowd, rowdy music, stuff flashing up on the scoreboard... There hasn't been much of that at the FNC lately (not that there's a lot to "celebrate"). They know how to get the crowd pumped for a game. Us, not so much lately.

Well, that's OK if the player your scouts have ID'd as their choice is IN this year's draft. It's entirely possible that DR and the scouts have their eye on someone who won't be eligible until the 2014 draft. OR, Darcy is collecting picks to use as currency in other trades. The traditional player-for-player trade is no longer the norm. Until this whole thing shakes out, we won't know what the Sabres FO has in mind. For Regehr, he gets to go somewhere warm, plays for the defending Cup champs and current contender and is re-united with the coach that took the Flames to the Finals in '04. Not too shabby.