Darcy on WGR

[PASabreFan]

The only thing absurd is the constant stream of excuses coming from your keyboard. First of all Regier is not talking to the actual players he is talking to the agents. Who, without first had knowledge, I can pretty much guarantee were not in their jammies drinking cocoa by 7 PM like Regier was. I'm sure Brian Burke was home and watching CSI, NOT. Regier goes about his job with no sense of urgency and it shows in the results. He has a team with countless holes to fill and all he can muster is a mid-level free agent that he ended up overpaying for. Is Leopold better than Tallinder and Lydman? Yes he is. Does he make the Sabres significantly better? No he doesn't. We have the only 9-5 GM in the NHL. It's why nothing will get done and the much needed changes will never happen.

 

In a sick way, I think LQ and DR love to try and shove it in the face of the fans and the hockey world. Last year it was Regier appearing on sabres.com in a pretaped segment on July 1. The Sabres had to clarify it wasn't happening live when some flak came their way. LQ has mocked teams that make moves on July 1. Didn't he suggest that the co-captains would stick around because they'd rather play on a winning team than go for the money? They don't change coaches, they don't make a splash in FA, they don't make major trades, they don't make trades in season and they don't make major moves at the deadline. They do do video scouting though.

 

Such arrogance. They really think they know what they're doing and everyone else is wrong.

[SwampD]

In a sick way, I think LQ and DR love to try and shove it in the face of the fans and the hockey world. Last year it was Regier appearing on sabres.com in a pretaped segment on July 1. The Sabres had to clarify it wasn't happening live when some flak came their way. LQ has mocked teams that make moves on July 1. Didn't he suggest that the co-captains would stick around because they'd rather play on a winning team than go for the money? They don't change coaches, they don't make a splash in FA, they don't make major trades, they don't make trades in season and they don't make major moves at the deadline. They do do video scouting though.

 

Such arrogance. They really think they know what they're doing and everyone else is wrong.

You said do do.

[darksabre]

The ESPN story is stamped 12:05 a.m., so I can see why there could be some confusion.

 

How kind of you to welcome a new poster so graciously. Don't want no dissent here. Gotta maintain the purity of the SabreSpace gene pool. No outsiders! We keep it in the family.

 

Please, for a first post that was the equivalent of spelling your name wrong on the SATs.

 

"It's okay honey, you'll still get into Harvard because President PA thinks you're unique."

[shrader]

Please, for a first post that was the equivalent of spelling your name wrong on the SATs.

 

"It's okay honey, you'll still get into Harvard because President PA thinks you're unique."

 

And don't forget the username. That was a clear attempt at rubbing it in my face that failed miserably.

[Bullwinkle]

I think Darcy's real goal is to rid the team of non-North Americans. Get rid of a Swede and a Finn and bring in an American. I suspect Hecht, Vanek, and Sekera are the next to go. We've already stopped drafting Europeans & Russians. :D :D

 

 

Astute observation. This explains their apparent stupidity in not picking up Kulikov in last year's entry draft.

 

They may dump Hecht and Sekera but I don't know how they will be able to get rid of Vanek's huge contract unless he turns into a 40 goal scorer.

[PASabreFan]

You said do do.

 

First you write it, then you...

[TheChimp]

Astute observation. This explains their apparent stupidity in not picking up Kulikov in last year's entry draft.

 

They may dump Hecht and Sekera but I don't know how they will be able to get rid of Vanek's huge contract unless he turns into a 40 goal scorer.

Token Euro? :P

[SwampD]

Astute observation. This explains their apparent stupidity in not picking up Kulikov in last year's entry draft.

 

They may dump Hecht and Sekera but I don't know how they will be able to get rid of Vanek's huge contract unless he turns into a 40 goal scorer.

You mean,.. like,..again?

[nfreeman]

Which Regier has failed miserably at.

I think there are examples of him failing at this, but the Tallinder/Lydman situation is not one of them, and we have no idea whether not signing the 2 forwards he referred to was a failure to make the right call on what they were worth. My point was simply that bailing out of a bidding contest for a UFA when the price in his judgment exceeds the value is not "failing to get the job done." It's what the job requires.

 

While we are in disagreement about how much needs to be done, I agree with this. On the whole point of Tallinder and Lydman he pretty much admitted that the cap going up increased their value which can be interpreted as I guess the price they asked for wasn't out of line. Another case of this organization mis-reading the market.

 

Also, why did none of our esteemed media ask Darcy why he didn't want to give 3 years to Lydman becaus eof all of our prospects and yet gave 3 yeas to Leopold. To me this signing was just another knee jerk reaction.

The market value for Lydman and Tallinder being higher than DR wanted to go isn't the same thing as DR "mis-reading the market."

 

As for being a knee-jerk reaction, I don't agree at all. I think DR 100% expected to lose Tallinder and Lydman and wanted to replace them with one guy from the organization and one veteran from outside. He most likely had a price in mind for the outside guy pretty close to what he gave Leopold and a list of guys that he would go after, in order of preference.

 

I truly believe that Darcy expected Lydman to be a Sabre and Leopold was a panic move. Regier again was not prepared for what the day was going to bring. I just can't get over the fact that NJ is paying Volchenkov $4.25 and the Sabres will be paying Leopold $3 mill and Rivet $3.5 mil. For a team that preaches fiscal responsibility they are really bad it.

Bottom line is that Volchenkov doesn't fit in with the Sabres' approach either on-ice (ie they favor mobile defensemen who can skate and pass over stay-at-home bangers) or off-ice (they are leery of Russians, especially of bringing in just one).

 

They had studied Leopold late last year and had them on their radar for FA. Leopold's agent had looked at a number of teams where he might fit and Sabres were one of them. By the time they could talk on July 1 both sides were well informed about the other and they made a deal. Hardly knee jerk.

+1

 

While I believe it was a reactionery move, let me be clear. Darcy is a very smart hockey man and very good at the administration and research aspects of the job. Off course they study guys like Leopold and others. That doesn't mean that it wasn't a reactionery move. I truly believe that there plan was to bring Lydman back and sign a Paul Martin type player. The fact that they didn't doesn;t speak to their desire but rather to their ability. He cannot sell people on why they should want to come here. In my humble opinion his two greatest faults are understanding the marketplace and the fine art of persuasion.

I haven't seen any indications of mis-reading the marketplace in quite a while, although I guess we disagree as to whether Tallinder/Lydman was one of them.

 

I think Darcy's real goal is to rid the team of non-North Americans. Get rid of a Swede and a Finn and bring in an American. I suspect Hecht, Vanek, and Sekera are the next to go. We've already stopped drafting Europeans & Russians. :D :D

I think there is more than a little truth in this.

 

No job has gotten done. Sorry.

This is a fair perspective but it is not supported by the decision to let Tallinder & Lydman go.

 

 

[PASabreFan]

This is a fair perspective but it is not supported by the decision to let Tallinder & Lydman go.

These are damn good NHL defensemen. If they are replaced by some scrub from the minors who's been trying to crack an NHL lineup for a couple of years and some bottom of the barrel free agent, the Sabres' blueline will have suffered a hit.

 

I don't know why, but I keep torturing myself by holding the organization's feet to the fire on their insistence that they are desperately trying to win a Cup for the hockey fans of Buffalo.

[Danny_Briere]

To understand Darcy is to understand the nature of Golisano's organization. Their stated goal is to win the Cup, of course.

 

Their actual goal is to make money by putting people in the seats. Remember Eddie Shack? We didn't trade for him so that we could win the Cup. We traded for him because he is The Entertainer. And entertain he certainly did...I loved watching him. There was a change in focus after the popularity of the Sabres was established in Buffalo, which is why we traded The Entertainer for Robert (a truly one-sided trade if there ever was one). But that dream died in 1975.

 

Fast forward to today.

 

Golisano is a business man first and a hockey man twentieth. He is focused on the bottom line. To me (and I've been saying this until I'm blue in the face) that was the reason they let a blue chipper like Kulikov go last year and grabbed Zack "The Thug" Kassian. Just like with Shack, entertainment value. Everyone likes to watch a fight.

 

It reminds me a bit of the Roman Empire. When they were in hard economic times the authorities decided to spend what limited money they had on entertainment for the coliseum rather than on bread. If you feed them, they'll just be hungry again. But if you entertain them, they'll be satisfied for weeks. I've already compared this practice to the Bills' acquisition of T.O. in another post. Again, purely for entertainment, not results.

 

Darcy is an extension of this policy. It is only when the audience is assured can the venture out and pick up a serious player. They did this when they had Briere & Drury. But after losing them both due to Quinn's Neanderthal policies, they went back to massaging the fan base, which had turned against them. BTW Myers was part of that too - a 6'6" d-man? What an attraction! Fortunately for us he also turned out to be a damned good player to boot.

 

So you can blame Darcy if you want...he's hardly the go-getter like the leadership in Boston, Philly or Chicago, but he's just the guy Golisano wants.

[nfreeman]

These are damn good NHL defensemen. If they are replaced by some scrub from the minors who's been trying to crack an NHL lineup for a couple of years and some bottom of the barrel free agent, the Sabres' blueline will have suffered a hit.

 

I don't know why, but I keep torturing myself by holding the organization's feet to the fire on their insistence that they are desperately trying to win a Cup for the hockey fans of Buffalo.

I think both were decent, not damn good, and that Leopold will be better than each of them.

 

The reason to let them go was to use the cash to address other needs, specifically forward. If they don't do so I will be PO'd. But neither of them was that good. And all good teams let veteran players go when they become overpriced and replace them with prospects that have been groomed over time.

[tom webster]

I think there are examples of him failing at this, but the Tallinder/Lydman situation is not one of them, and we have no idea whether not signing the 2 forwards he referred to was a failure to make the right call on what they were worth. My point was simply that bailing out of a bidding contest for a UFA when the price in his judgment exceeds the value is not "failing to get the job done." It's what the job requires.

 

 

The market value for Lydman and Tallinder being higher than DR wanted to go isn't the same thing as DR "mis-reading the market."

 

As for being a knee-jerk reaction, I don't agree at all. I think DR 100% expected to lose Tallinder and Lydman and wanted to replace them with one guy from the organization and one veteran from outside. He most likely had a price in mind for the outside guy pretty close to what he gave Leopold and a list of guys that he would go after, in order of preference.

 

 

Bottom line is that Volchenkov doesn't fit in with the Sabres' approach either on-ice (ie they favor mobile defensemen who can skate and pass over stay-at-home bangers) or off-ice (they are leery of Russians, especially of bringing in just one).

 

 

+1

 

 

I haven't seen any indications of mis-reading the marketplace in quite a while, although I guess we disagree as to whether Tallinder/Lydman was one of them.

 

 

I think there is more than a little truth in this.

 

 

This is a fair perspective but it is not supported by the decision to let Tallinder & Lydman go.

 

 

Darcy said in his presser that he thought he could keep Lydmann. He said the last week in June that the cap going up increased the price that Lydmann and Tallinder would get.

The interpolation being that if he wanted to keep Lydman he should have got the deal done earlier when there was still uncertainty about the cap.

Finally, while I like Leopold, I think they overpaid. He was Pittsburgh's scrap piece.

[nfreeman]

Darcy said in his presser that he thought he could keep Lydmann. He said the last week in June that the cap going up increased the price that Lydmann and Tallinder would get.

The interpolation being that if he wanted to keep Lydman he should have got the deal done earlier when there was still uncertainty about the cap.

Finally, while I like Leopold, I think they overpaid. He was Pittsburgh's scrap piece.

The press conference last night (July 1)? I didn't hear him say that. I heard him say that he was interested in keeping Lydman, but not at the terms he was able to get elsewhere.

 

As for Leopold being a scrap piece -- Pittsburgh was a Cup contender, they traded for him at the deadline, and he played more than 20 min. per game for them -- more than Orpik and Eaton. That's no Raffi Torres.

[tom webster]

The press conference last night (July 1)? I didn't hear him say that. I heard him say that he was interested in keeping Lydman, but not at the terms he was able to get elsewhere.

 

As for Leopold being a scrap piece -- Pittsburgh was a Cup contender, they traded for him at the deadline, and he played more than 20 min. per game for them -- more than Orpik and Eaton. That's no Raffi Torres.

 

Why was term a problem for Lydman but not Leopold. He said Lydman was an issue becaue it would get in the way of prospects coming up. Why doesn't the same hold true for Leopold?

 

Why did Pittsburgh feel that they would be better off with Martin amd Michalek and let Leopold go?

[gregkash]

Astute observation. This explains their apparent stupidity in not picking up Kulikov in last year's entry draft.

 

They may dump Hecht and Sekera but I don't know how they will be able to get rid of Vanek's huge contract unless he turns into a 40 goal scorer.

 

Just out of a very dubious curiosity, what two countries were playing for the gold medal at the olympics?

 

Not drafting Russians, especially, I don't have a problem with. THe KHL is a very real league with very real money in a very real country these players call home. They come to the NHL and things don't go as they planned and they bolt to KHL. No strings attached. There isn't a damn thing a team can do about it. Kassian, although he's had his problems, one of them won't be going to the KHL. Just because Kulikov worked out doesn't mean down the road it won't, and it wasn't clear if it would at the time. I mean even look at Kovalchuk, if he doesn't get what he wants from the NHL he's just gonna go to the KHL. Why would you load up on russians at this time? seems needless especailly with the talent from north america getting better and better every year.

[Kristian]

Just out of a very dubious curiosity, what two countries were playing for the gold medal at the olympics?

 

Not drafting Russians, especially, I don't have a problem with. THe KHL is a very real league with very real money in a very real country these players call home. They come to the NHL and things don't go as they planned and they bolt to KHL. No strings attached. There isn't a damn thing a team can do about it. Kassian, although he's had his problems, one of them won't be going to the KHL. Just because Kulikov worked out doesn't mean down the road it won't, and it wasn't clear if it would at the time. I mean even look at Kovalchuk, if he doesn't get what he wants from the NHL he's just gonna go to the KHL. Why would you load up on russians at this time? seems needless especailly with the talent from north america getting better and better every year.

 

Good point, I think it's reasonable to say that with the emergence of the KHL, the value of developing Russian, and to a certain extent eastern european players has decreased.

 

In the early 90's, superstars like Mogilny, Bure and Fedorov couldn't get to North America fast enough. These days, it's a different story.

[nobody]

So WGR said that Darcy made some comment during a news conference at the development camp that implied that Mair and Ellis probably would not be back with the team.

[inkman]

So WGR said that Darcy made some comment during a news conference at the development camp that implied that Mair and Ellis probably would not be back with the team.

Good riddance.

[shrader]

Good riddance.

 

Ellis would look really good in a Portland jersey.

[gregkash]

god i hate mair.

[nfreeman]

Ellis would look really good in a Portland jersey.

+1, and so would Mair.

 

god i hate mair.

Why? He was a good soldier. He did his best. He just didn't have the hands or hockey IQ to go with his feet, which were pretty quick.

[PASabreFan]

god i hate mair.

 

That would be so much more interesting with a colon.

[carpandean]

+1, and so would Mair.

I'd feel better about wearing my Mair third ... uh, I mean home ( :thumbsup: ) jersey if he's still in the system.

[darksabre]

I'd feel better about wearing my Mair third ... uh, I mean home ( :thumbsup: ) jersey if he's still in the system.

 

I'm still planning to get one regardless. He's always been one of my favorites.

 

Wouldn't mind seeing him and Ellis in Portland. They'd be a great veteran presence.