Bottom line...playoffs!

[LabattBlue]

IF the Sabres miss the playoffs this season, they will have missed them 5 out of the last 7 seasons. To put it in perspective, there has been no comparable stretch in their 38 year history. I know they made it to the 3rd round in the 2 playoff years, but that is now a distant memory and the suck factor before and after those 2 seasons has just been incredible.

[Two or less]

They gotta make trades. First get rid of Max. I don't even care anymore. Package him with a 3rd round pick and send him away for a 6th rounder.

 

Some players i'd be looking at if i was Darcy Regier are- Antropov, Gionta and Comrie.

 

Antropov may be too good for our blood, but i heard Devils may trade Gionta. He's a UFA after the season and i think we can get him as a rental. Devils need defense. Maybe trading one of our defenders?

 

Comrie is now hurt but skating. Get rid of Max, get a winger, and see what happens. In a month, if Comrie plays well, i'd get him to center the 2nd line with Pommer and MacArthur.

 

These guys are free agents after the season. They wouldn't cost too much. Devils are broke and want to get rid of payroll.

[LabattBlue]

They gotta make trades. First get rid of Max. I don't even care anymore. Package him with a 3rd round pick and send him away for a 6th rounder.

:lol:

[Two or less]

Maybe even for Erik Cole? Edmonton seems to be tired of him. Max and 4th for Cole?

 

Darcy needs to do something. Max was at his worse tonight. Just horrible.

[SDS]

Maybe even for Erik Cole? Edmonton seems to be tired of him. Max and 4th for Cole?

 

Darcy needs to do something. Max was at his worse tonight. Just horrible.

 

I think there is too much emphasis on "who needs to go" in our discussions. It is not who needs to go, but who needs to be brought in. As far as I can tell, we are stocked with a lot of decent to very good hockey players, but the combination isn't a winning one. It's not because of who is there, but because of who isn't. Subtracting any of these guys doesn't make you a winner. It is who fills in their place that can turn these close losses into wins.

[carpandean]

In order to make the playoffs, you need to earn roughly 57% of available points. After earning 87.5% of available points in the first 8 games, here's some depressing numbers that they've "earned":

 

50% of available points for the season (woo! Still a "500" team.)

32% in the last 17 games (not so great after that hot start)

27% in the last 13 games (going down?)

20% in the last 10 games (is there a bottom floor in this building?)

 

and just to be cruel:

0% in the last 3 games

[SabresFan526]

Well, the columnists in Denver, specifically, Adrian Dater seem to be clamoring for Max. I have no idea why, but for some reason the Avalanche (or their proxies in the Denver Post) seem to be enamored with Max. If I'm Darcy, I'd take whatever Colorado is willing to give and cut your losses with Max at this point. Here's a link to his blog:

 

http://blogs.denverpost.com/avs/2008/11/30...ions-random-bs/

 

I don't get it, but if we can send him to Denver, I'd be happy. I'd take anything in return, draft picks, whatever. I heard a rumor about Svatos, but we already have Tin Man Connolly and don't need another one although I'd imagine Svatos would be an upgrade over Max, but I don't watch enough Avs hockey to say for sure. And, I'm not sure Brett Clark is someone I'd want in Buffalo, maybe in Portland, but not in Buffalo. Oh well, take it for what it's worth.

[Two or less]

Trade Max (and whatever picks) for Brett Clark.

 

Then try to trade Tallinder ASAP.

[Claude Balls]

Maybe even for Erik Cole? Edmonton seems to be tired of him. Max and 4th for Cole?

 

Darcy needs to do something. Max was at his worse tonight. Just horrible.

Damn, what the hell are you vying for, the Sabres to have a player from every city in upstate NY on the team? Kaleta from Buffalo and Tin Man from Syracuse already. Now you want Cole from Oswego and Gionta from Rochester. :P

 

What this team needs is players and a coach who actually WANT to win and will do whatever need be on the ice to get those wins. This team is full of a bunch of pathetic underachievers and even Lindy acted like he just didn't give a crap when talking to Sylvester after the game tonight. And now I am starting to not give a crap. :angry:

[carpandean]

Damn, what the hell are you vying for, the Sabres to have a player from every city in upstate NY on the team? Kaleta from Buffalo and Tin Man from Syracuse already. Now you want Cole from Oswego and Gionta from Rochester. :P

Don't forget Todd Marchant, he's from Buffalo.*

 

 

 

 

* I only remember this because I was looking at the Ducks situation with so many UFA's at the end of the season and a fair number of veteran centers. Unfortunately, most of the ones that they'd part with aren't enough of playmakers to think about, though I have heard that they aren't happy with Brendan Morrison's play. He was a decent center in Vancouver before his knee injury last year. Maybe he just needs a different system.

[nfreeman]

I think there is too much emphasis on "who needs to go" in our discussions. It is not who needs to go, but who needs to be brought in. As far as I can tell, we are stocked with a lot of decent to very good hockey players, but the combination isn't a winning one. It's not because of who is there, but because of who isn't. Subtracting any of these guys doesn't make you a winner. It is who fills in their place that can turn these close losses into wins.

excellent post.

 

I think there is too much emphasis on "who needs to go" in our discussions. It is not who needs to go, but who needs to be brought in. As far as I can tell, we are stocked with a lot of decent to very good hockey players, but the combination isn't a winning one. It's not because of who is there, but because of who isn't. Subtracting any of these guys doesn't make you a winner. It is who fills in their place that can turn these close losses into wins.

excellent post, but not sure I needed to read it twice.

[dante23x]

They gotta make trades. First get rid of Max. I don't even care anymore. Package him with a 3rd round pick and send him away for a 6th rounder.

 

:thumbsup:

 

I laughed out loud right at my desk. The sad thing about the Max situation is that Sabre fans would probably be ecstatic about that deal. :wallbash:

[dante23x]

I think there is too much emphasis on "who needs to go" in our discussions. It is not who needs to go, but who needs to be brought in. As far as I can tell, we are stocked with a lot of decent to very good hockey players, but the combination isn't a winning one. It's not because of who is there, but because of who isn't. Subtracting any of these guys doesn't make you a winner. It is who fills in their place that can turn these close losses into wins.

 

In my opinion that Sabres have more holes than not. Its tough to just go around the league and assemble a list of players. What the Sabres need first is help on defense. They need someone (2 guys at least) back there who plays tough and can clear the front of the net. They also need a puck carrying defenseman, someone with some legit offensive skill and a shot that actually hits the net. On offense we lack star talent in our young players. Pominville is better with good players around him but you don't want to count on him to lead the offense. I think Stafford could be a good on a line with a real #1, playmaking center which the Sabres do not have. Roy has good moves and can score but he's not a playmaking center. We need power forwards who can do more then just hit and fight. Gaustad tries but he's better on the 4th line not the powerplay. Hecht is average at best who is likely to give 15 goals a season and is a decent two way player. The last thing we need is leadership. I don't know what Rivet does as captain I don't ever hear him talk to the media or anything. He needs to take the reins, hold people accountable, and start cracking heads. Ruff is doing that now, i.e. his ripping on Miller from last night's game. The players need to do that too. If they can't bring in new players, dump the garbage we have and lets see what we got in Portland.

[carpandean]

I don't know what Rivet does as captain I don't ever hear him talk to the media or anything. He needs to take the reins, hold people accountable, and start cracking heads.

He does talk to the media quite a bit. The interviews are up on SabresTV. However, he usually comes off as a nice guy. The closest thing to calling out the team that he's said was after the Nashville game. He said something along the lines of "it was unacceptable hockey." We'll see if he's able to do anything about it when he gets back in the lineup.

[tom webster]

Jochen Hecht 2 goals, -4, 42 % face offs

Max 1 goal -10

Tim Connolly 6 games

Gaustad 2 goals although he is a robust 55% on face offs

Paille 2 goals

 

Total Payroll $13.4 million with a $13.125 cap hit

 

These are the guys we had to keep and I am here to tell you that when looking back, only Gaustad's contract may be considered anything but a mistake. TG better get used to the taste of that microphone. Maybe he can see if his Monica will pull a Monica Lewinsky with it!

[darksabre]

Don't forget Todd Marchant, he's from Buffalo.*

* I only remember this because I was looking at the Ducks situation with so many UFA's at the end of the season and a fair number of veteran centers. Unfortunately, most of the ones that they'd part with aren't enough of playmakers to think about, though I have heard that they aren't happy with Brendan Morrison's play. He was a decent center in Vancouver before his knee injury last year. Maybe he just needs a different system.

 

And Kevyn Adams. He grew up in Clarence. Still lives in Bemus Point.

[carpandean]

Jochen Hecht 2 goals, -4, 42 % face offs

Max 1 goal -10

Tim Connolly 6 games

Gaustad 2 goals although he is a robust 55% on face offs

Paille 2 goals

 

Total Payroll $13.4 million with a $13.125 cap hit

 

These are the guys we had to keep and I am here to tell you that when looking back, only Gaustad's contract may be considered anything but a mistake. TG better get used to the taste of that microphone. Maybe he can see if his Monica will pull a Monica Lewinsky with it!

Max and Tim are definitely the biggest mistakes. Timmy has enough skill to fill one of our biggest holes, but not the body. For the games that he's in the press box (most of the past three seasons), he's actually less useful than a bag of pucks, because a bag of pucks wouldn't have a big salary and we wouldn't be saying "when he's healthy ..." about a bag of pucks. Max just has too many flaws in his game to take advantage of the skills that he does have. This puts him in the press box, too, where again it would be better to have another bag of pucks. That $6.233 million in cap and $7 million in salary is totally wasted. As I've said elsewhere, at the very least, we need another top-six center and another top-six winger. These guys are "filling" those spots right now. Replace them (hypothetically speaking) with players worth those contracts and I doubt we'd even be talking about the rest of these contracts.

 

Hecht and Gaustad are being asked to play roles for which they are not fit. Hecht should be, at best, a #6 forward, playing on the wing of a real center and real winger (Pominville is good enough.) He can contribute something to a line with two real forwards. Otherwise, he is a good checking line player that contributes a lot on the PK. He may be a little overpaid for that role, but when he's counted on for just that, he is very good at it. Gaustad is a decent third/fourth-line center, who can (though, does it inconsistently) play a physical game, can contribute some offense (not top-line offense, but decent for third/fourth) and, as you noticed, is quite capable on faceoffs (was at 59% last year, which is very high; for reference, Zigomanis leads the league this year at 63%.)

 

Paille is on a pretty inexpensive short-term contract that gives him the opportunity to prove himself worth the contract that some people seemed to think he deserved last year. If he doesn't prove himself, then Darcy may actually look smart on that one. He showed enough last year to think that he was worth take a small chance on.