Let the autopsy begin...

[Sabre Dance]

So, the season is over for the Sabres. Where do they go from here? Who goes, who stays? Let's hear it...

[darksabre]

Too little too late. They forgot the heart and didn't add it in until it couldn't help.

 

I'm optimistic however, about next year.

[JohnRobertEichel]

Too little too late. They forgot the heart and didn't add it in until it couldn't help.

 

I'm optimistic however, about next year.

 

Why?

[Cereal]

Why?

 

Midget Circus!

[BfloSabresFan]

Too little too late. They forgot the heart and didn't add it in until it couldn't help.

 

I'm optimistic however, about next year.

 

Sabres needed more then heart. They got bullied and couldn't get timely scoring.

[darksabre]

Why?

 

Because I liked what I saw from a lot of our call ups and young players. If the Sabres can shed some dead weight we can start forming a new core like Colorado has.

 

And why not be optimistic? If you're counting them out already, then why be a fan?

[matter2003]

So, the season is over for the Sabres. Where do they go from here? Who goes, who stays? Let's hear it...

 

They lost the battle of special teams 5-0 in the series...simple as that. Couldn't score on PP and couldn't stop a putrid offensively challenged Boston team on the PP enough. If they play the Bruins even or limit it to +1 or +2 for Boston, they likely would have already won the series or at the very least be heading back to Buffalo for game 7...

[Derrico]

Why?

 

Because Miller is locked up and let's face it, he was a main reason that we won the division. Also, our best skater on the team was a rookie in Myers IMO. Let's hope he doesn't run into the sophmore slump, but obviously he has shown that he's a franchise D. Vanek, like him or hate him this season, had an off year and is still a 40 goal scorer who we have locked up. There is optimism, however, management MUST bring in some bigger, tougher veterans to compliment our core. By the way, I know he's small but Ennis showed a ton of talent and skill.

[deluca67]

A Slugalo rots from the head down. Until you get rid of the Quinn/Regier abomination nothing significant will ever be done.

 

I can't wait to see how much of the immediate anger and disappointment is dowsed once the Mighty Quinn flashes the new jersey in front of you to distract you from the product.

[theend]

A Slugalo rots from the head down. Until you get rid of the Quinn/Regier abomination nothing significant will ever be done.

 

I can't wait to see how much of the immediate anger and disappointment is dowsed once the Mighty Quinn flashes the new jersey in front of you to distract you from the product.

 

That's exactly why I feel they won't change anything at the top. With the new jerseys, the 40th anniversary...the last thing they want to do is bring in a whole new GM and/or Coach because of the uncertainty of the results. They don't want the anniversary ruined by a bomb.*

 

*This does not reflect my own viewpoint right now - it's just probably the truth. I'm very open to change in management/coaching (so long as it's well thought out).

[bob_sauve28]

power play was a flop

[Taro T]

No idea who they will bring in or let go, but in my perfect world they bring in a top line center w/ a leadership pedigree (willing to have one that's a bit long in the tooth if necessary), bring in an assistant coach that can run a powerplay, and bring back 1/2 of Tallyman, bring back Grier (I'd rather keep him 1 year too long, than not long enough), bring back Ellis (or Mair, but not both, and my preference is Ellis), and bring in 1 D-man that is rock solid in his own end (Volchenkov is my preference, but there are others that will fill the bill).

 

Trade Stafford while he has legit trade value. Before people start in w/ "he has NO trade value", I'd just like to remind you that at least 4 different teams gave up good $ & players for Chris Gratton. Big guys who show flashes of scoring and flashes of being gritty are just too friggin' hard for guys w/ egos the size of Charo to pass up, especially when they KNOW they could get him to bring it all the time.

 

I don't give a rat's rear end who the back up is. If Miller goes down, so does the quest for Lord Stanley's Chalice.

[sabills]

We need new blood. get rid of the old, bring up a couple of the Portland guys (I was going to say young, but I want McCormick up here), and a few outsiders from trades and free agency, and let a couple guys go. The pickups don't even need to be huge guys(either way you want to take that), I think you just need a new culture.

 

One thing I know is that I don't want Ruff gone. I told myself I wouldn't make excuses for him this time around, but he's just exactly what I want in a coach. Tough, straight forward, and with a chin like a son of a bitch. He's the Bill Cowher of the NHL.

[PASabreFan]

We need new blood. get rid of the old, bring up a couple of the Portland guys (I was going to say young, but I want McCormick up here), and a few outsiders from trades and free agency, and let a couple guys go. The pickups don't even need to be huge guys(either way you want to take that), I think you just need a new culture.

 

One thing I know is that I don't want Ruff gone. I told myself I wouldn't make excuses for him this time around, but he's just exactly what I want in a coach. Tough, straight forward, and with a chin like a son of a bitch. He's the Bill Cowher of the NHL.

 

I'll channel Mike Schopp here. What makes Lindy so tough? The scars? The gruff voice? What exactly? Why don't his teams reflect his toughness, if he is so tough?

 

This is the biggest load of baloney, but precisely why he's loved in Buffalo. It drives me a bit batty.

[Robviously]

I'll channel Mike Schopp here. What makes Lindy so tough? The scars? The gruff voice? What exactly? Why don't his teams reflect his toughness, if he is so tough?

 

This is the biggest load of baloney, but precisely why he's loved in Buffalo. It drives me a bit batty.

The constant whining about the refs? Is that tough?

[deluca67]

I'll channel Mike Schopp here. What makes Lindy so tough? The scars? The gruff voice? What exactly? Why don't his teams reflect his toughness, if he is so tough?

 

This is the biggest load of baloney, but precisely why he's loved in Buffalo. It drives me a bit batty.

His toughness persona started when he beat up Billy Smith. Wait, he never threw a punch.

[stenbaro]

power play was a flop

ya think???LOL

[BuffalOhio]

power play was a flop

 

And has been since the departure of Scott Arniel.

[darksabre]

And has been since the departure of Scott Arniel.

 

Which, at this point, is looking like a bigger gaff than even the Drury/Briere fiasco.

[TheChimp]

Trade Roy, Connolly, Gaustad because we can. Their regular season numbers would actually be impressive to any GM out West, for their salaries. Use all the picks we have in the upcoming draft if need be, packaged with these guys, and get strong defensive help, a better backup goalie, and some veteran presence in return. But get RID of them all before they have a chance to speed up in their slow swirl around the bowl and become untradeable.

 

Mair can replace Goose at C on the Checking Line. Sure, he might be a downgrade at faceoffs, but I'm willing to live with that, as he's better than Gaustad in every other facet of the game and costs less than half the cash. I never would have said this at the beginning of the season, but Mair stepped up BIGTIME the latter half of the season, and his playoffs made my jaw drop, so no way do I keep Goose if I can trade him and slip Mair into his spot.

 

Kennedy can replace Connolly at 2nd Line Center. He might take at least a full season to start racking up the assists that Connolly had (and maybe not), but as far as goals, he'll EASILY top Connolly by mid-season, and he is a worker, a true blue collar player. No more of Connolly's "lack of conditioning" excuses. Talk about a locker room cancer. Man, I had high hopes for this guy. Others tried to tell me. I didn't listen. Woops.

 

Ennis, although some will laugh their ###### off at me for this, I want to put in Roy's spot, between Vanek and Pominville on the Top Scoring Line, because from what he has already shown, game in and game out, I'd be willing to gamble on Ennis surpassing Roy's production by the end of next season, and from there, I see him a Briere/St. Louis kind of player, a true playmaker. Plus, like Kennedy above, his work ethic tops Roy's by a ###### MILE. Not one diving penalty in his entire repertoire, either.

 

Grier needs to be signed long-term. The line of Hecht-Mair-Grier can be a TERRIFIC Checking Line.

 

As far as Defense goes, the only three guys I wanna see remain from this season are Myers, Rivet, and Montador. Myers for obvious reasons, and the latter two because they showed grit and leadership when it counted. We could use that, even if they become our bottom pairing because of lack of skill. Sekera and Butler, in my opinion, do not have what it takes to hang with the better forechecking teams, and both, IMO, have had enough time to show it. But they are tradeable, no doubt, especially when paired with a Roy or a Connolly.

 

Lalime should also be replaced, and seeing who I'm looking to trade, I see us being able to land a really decent guy with much better numbers to back Miller up from now on.

 

If Darcy really IS improving in his ability to judge the talent on his team and prepare for the future, he'd pretty much do what I am suggesting, even if it means a rebuilding-type season next year before the train gets back up to full speed. But that's all it would take, if that, and we'd lose lollygaggers and underachievers and have a REAL core to build off of, which is what he wanted in the first place. This will not only take some humility on his part, to realize that some of the guys he was calling his "core" a season ago were NOT who he thought they were, but also some fairly astute GMing abilities, which he has yet to show us.

[BuffaloFan32]

We knew we would be rebuilding for a couple years after we lost Briere and Drury and now we have finally returned to playoff form. The good news is that the team might actually get a little younger while still improving next year. We are a couple good centers away from becoming a dangerous team again.

 

Obviously, we lost this series because of the power play. If you want to build a team of small forwards that beat you with speed and puck skills then you have to make your opponents fear commiting penalties. Otherwise, you enable them to take away your main advantages.

[Marvelo]

The 4-1 game was the only 60 minute game the Sabres played.

 

The power play :wallbash: :wallbash: made the difference in this series. It starts from the point. There are no good pointmen in Buffalo. You need a booming and accurate shot from the point as a baseline for the pp. The Sabres penalty kill which was great during the regular season, didn't shut the Bruins down either. It seemed they got rattled with some bad penalties. And of course their record of holding a lead after the second period, so good in the regular season, was poor. They lost their composure after the second.

 

Where were our "big guns?"Derek Roy was invisible all series, which surprised me. Connolly played as though he was afraid of getting hurt. I don't know why Stafford wasn't benched the whole series. I think Torres produced more and should have played, although somehow he doesn't seem to mesh. Gaustad still hasn't scored in over 30 playoff games. Mancari would be a good replacement for him, community service or not. I don't think Hecht would have made a difference. He's older and more likely getting hurt near playoffs.

 

When Vanek went down, it took the wind out of our sails. I'd like to see as many as eight or nine players leave next year and get mainly a youth infusion with some Cup-winning free agents and another backup goalie.

 

Blow up the brat pack.

[gregkash]

Trade Roy, Connolly, Gaustad because we can. Their regular season numbers would actually be impressive to any GM out West, for their salaries. Use all the picks we have in the upcoming draft if need be, packaged with these guys, and get strong defensive help, a better backup goalie, and some veteran presence in return. But get RID of them all before they have a chance to speed up in their slow swirl around the bowl and become untradeable.

 

Mair can replace Goose at C on the Checking Line. Sure, he might be a downgrade at faceoffs, but I'm willing to live with that, as he's better than Gaustad in every other facet of the game and costs less than half the cash. I never would have said this at the beginning of the season, but Mair stepped up BIGTIME the latter half of the season, and his playoffs made my jaw drop, so no way do I keep Goose if I can trade him and slip Mair into his spot.

 

Kennedy can replace Connolly at 2nd Line Center. He might take at least a full season to start racking up the assists that Connolly had (and maybe not), but as far as goals, he'll EASILY top Connolly by mid-season, and he is a worker, a true blue collar player. No more of Connolly's "lack of conditioning" excuses. Talk about a locker room cancer. Man, I had high hopes for this guy. Others tried to tell me. I didn't listen. Woops.

 

Ennis, although some will laugh their ###### off at me for this, I want to put in Roy's spot, between Vanek and Pominville on the Top Scoring Line, because from what he has already shown, game in and game out, I'd be willing to gamble on Ennis surpassing Roy's production by the end of next season, and from there, I see him a Briere/St. Louis kind of player, a true playmaker. Plus, like Kennedy above, his work ethic tops Roy's by a ###### MILE. Not one diving penalty in his entire repertoire, either.

 

Grier needs to be signed long-term. The line of Hecht-Mair-Grier can be a TERRIFIC Checking Line.

 

As far as Defense goes, the only three guys I wanna see remain from this season are Myers, Rivet, and Montador. Myers for obvious reasons, and the latter two because they showed grit and leadership when it counted. We could use that, even if they become our bottom pairing because of lack of skill. Sekera and Butler, in my opinion, do not have what it takes to hang with the better forechecking teams, and both, IMO, have had enough time to show it. But they are tradeable, no doubt, especially when paired with a Roy or a Connolly.

 

Lalime should also be replaced, and seeing who I'm looking to trade, I see us being able to land a really decent guy with much better numbers to back Miller up from now on.

 

If Darcy really IS improving in his ability to judge the talent on his team and prepare for the future, he'd pretty much do what I am suggesting, even if it means a rebuilding-type season next year before the train gets back up to full speed. But that's all it would take, if that, and we'd lose lollygaggers and underachievers and have a REAL core to build off of, which is what he wanted in the first place. This will not only take some humility on his part, to realize that some of the guys he was calling his "core" a season ago were NOT who he thought they were, but also some fairly astute GMing abilities, which he has yet to show us.

 

So just so I got you right.. like i don't want to misinterpret this... you say trade our top 3 centers, replace them with no one, and then hope that kennedy, ennis, and mair somehow make up that difference in their 2nd, 1st and HE STILL HAS NO SKILL year in the league.

 

Then because you're not done. Nope, you want to trade or let go 3 defenceman. Including every single Olympian on Defense, But you want to keep Captain Does Nothing and Steve Full Monty in the penalty box.

 

Oh, and you said you wanted to trade all our picks in the draft with the players we're trading already.

 

I'd like to give you a standing ovation. We won the division. Lost a series. That doesn't mean you blow it up like a moron. That means you're close and you tweak. What is wrong with you? In what fantasy world do you live in where you think this is even remotely possible?

[R_Dudley]

Because I liked what I saw from a lot of our call ups and young players. If the Sabres can shed some dead weight we can start forming a new core like Colorado has.

 

And why not be optimistic? If you're counting them out already, then why be a fan?

+1

 

No idea who they will bring in or let go, but in my perfect world they bring in a top line center w/ a leadership pedigree (willing to have one that's a bit long in the tooth if necessary), bring in an assistant coach that can run a powerplay, and bring back 1/2 of Tallyman, bring back Grier (I'd rather keep him 1 year too long, than not long enough), bring back Ellis (or Mair, but not both, and my preference is Ellis), and bring in 1 D-man that is rock solid in his own end (Volchenkov is my preference, but there are others that will fill the bill).

 

Trade Stafford

 

I don't give a rat's rear end who the back up is. If Miller goes down, so does the quest for Lord Stanley's Chalice.

+2

 

Thanks for saving me the typing

[static70]

Vanek - Roy - ?

Ennis - ? - Pomminstein

Kennedy - ? - Grier

Ellis - Gaustad - Kaleta

 

Myers - ?

Rivet - Sekera

Montador - ?

 

Miller

?

 

 

You want Vanek and Roy to really pump up their numbers, give them a RWer worth a dam.

You want Pomminstein to be more consistant and send help for Ennis to thrive, get a franchise centerman.

Still need a 3rd line centerman, I can't watch when Goose is on the 3rd line, scoring goes down, even though face off wins go up. Goose is and always will be a 4th line center.

 

Say good bye to Tallinder and Lydman. Say hello to Weber for sure, maybe Gragnani as well.

Butler sucks, sophmore slump my bummy, this kid just plain sucks, good bye now.

Sekera is a question mark.

Both Montador and Rivet have 1 more season on their contracts, Keep Montador, good bye Rivet.