When should we expect those posts damning Regier?

[Kristian]

The Regier quote that sticks in my mind from the presser is when he got a little choked up and said the one thing that will drive you out of this business is the emotional impact of losing. Well, damn, how many years can the guy take it!? In a non-bizarro world, five, eight, 10 or 13 straight years of feeling that way in one city would cause someone else to put you out of your misery. I don't think Darcy has any fear of losing his job. This is one of the few places in professional sports, in the history of professional sports, where a guy -- two guys, him and Ruff, actually -- are given the keys to the house and told to leave when they're ready. Just put the key back under the placemat, it's a safe neighborhood. It's really not a healthy situation, not when you have two guys who don't have enough self-respect, or respect for the Sabres community, to leave home and test their wings. C-o-m-f-o-r-t-a-b-l-e.

 

It sticks to my mind as well, simply because where else in this league are you allowed to even get to a point in which you talk about how the emotional effect of losing will drive you out of this business?

 

Fatc is, Regier would've been canned pre-lockout anywhere else.

 

The one thing that'll drive you of of this business is losing, he's right about that, but it sure as ###### isn't the emotional effect that gets you, it's the lack of results.

 

Or at least it is anywhere else...... :wallbash:

[deluca67]

It sticks to my mind as well, simply because where else in this league are you allowed to even get to a point in which you talk about how the emotional effect of losing will drive you out of this business?

 

Fatc is, Regier would've been canned pre-lockout anywhere else.

 

The one thing that'll drive you of of this business is losing, he's right about that, but it sure as ###### isn't the emotional effect that gets you, it's the lack of results.

 

Or at least it is anywhere else...... :wallbash:

It feels sometimes that Status Quo is sitting back on their laurels. The problem is they have no accomplishments to sit back on. Get used to it people, I am going to be using the name of Lou Lamoriello a lot this season. He is a General Manager with actual accomplishments. If anyone could afford to sit back on his laurels it would be him. Did he? Hell No! He goes out and signs the #1 offensive player available and the #1 defenseman available in free agency. He added Tallinder who many on this board claimed was the Sabres second best defenseman behind Myers and a quality center in Jason Arnott. The fact the Sabres feel they have earned some free pass and that many fans are willing to give them one is insane to me.

[carpandean]

I said that I'd wait and I have. Now, I can say that Darcy has once again failed to address any key needs of the team or, at least, failed to address them in a significant way. I won't say that Leopold and Morrisonn are worse than Tallinder and Lydman, but I can't say much more than they are different. Both are younger, which is good, and Leopold is a little more offensive than Hank or Toni, but other than that, neither is a significant improvement in general or on the PP in particular. Niedermayer is a decent third-line center, probably better suited for the role than Kennedy was, and brings SC experience, but as our only real move at forward (other than bringing up Ennis), he's not a big enough change. I don't think that any of Darcy's moves were bad (the PR side of the Kennedy situation aside), but none can be considered significant. This team will be as it has been since 2007, a middle of the pack team that can ride a hot streak by Miller to a decent regular season finish or an injury to a "just missed" spot. I expect them to be back in the 5-11 pack this season and won't be surprised if they just make or just miss the playoffs. I would be surprised if they do much in the offseason.

 

That said, once the season starts, I'll be cheering for them wholeheartedly. Of course, with a couple of exceptions, I'm doing it at home watching them on my big screen, so Darcy won't see me.

[darksabre]

I said that I'd wait and I have. Now, I can say that Darcy has once again failed to address any key needs of the team or, at least, failed to address them in a significant way. I won't say that Leopold and Morrisonn are worse than Tallinder and Lydman, but I can't say much more than they are different. Both are younger, which is good, and Leopold is a little more offensive than Hank or Toni, but other than that, neither is a significant improvement in general or on the PP in particular. Niedermayer is a decent third-line center, probably better suited for the role than Kennedy was, and brings SC experience, but as our only real move at forward (other than bringing up Ennis), he's not a big enough change. I don't think that any of Darcy's moves were bad (the PR side of the Kennedy situation aside), but none can be considered significant. This team will be as it has been since 2007, a middle of the pack team that can ride a hot streak by Miller to a decent regular season finish or an injury to a "just missed" spot. I expect them to be back in the 5-11 pack this season and won't be surprised if they just make or just miss the playoffs. I would be surprised if they do much in the offseason.

 

That said, once the season starts, I'll be cheering for them wholeheartedly. Of course, with a couple of exceptions, I'm doing it at home watching them on my big screen, so Darcy won't see me.

 

I decide to finally revisit this thread so that I could finally jump on the wagon but I guess I don't have to say anything because you've done it for me, big screen and all.

 

My expectations are low.

[deluca67]

"We'd love to keep every one of our players," Lamoriello said. "We know that is impossible because we have just added an exceptional player, which is an understatement, in Ilya Kovalchuk and because of that, you have to make some moves. We haven't won in the last few years, and I don't think anyone should think we should be sitting still. We all have to be held accountable for it."

 

Need I say more?

[SwampD]

"We'd love to keep every one of our players," Lamoriello said. "We know that is impossible because we have just added an exceptional player, which is an understatement, in Ilya Kovalchuk and because of that, you have to make some moves. We haven't won in the last few years, and I don't think anyone should think we should be sitting still. We all have to be held accountable for it."

 

Need I say more?

You know what, De Luca? Calvin's right. You really do need to just stop. Everyone knows that there is just no place for a 50 goal scorer on Lindy's team. And anyone with half a brain wouldn't mortgage the next five years of just missing the playoffs to get one.

[deluca67]

You know what, De Luca? Calvin's right. You really do need to just stop. Everyone knows that there is just no place for a 50 goal scorer on Lindy's team. And anyone with half a brain wouldn't mortgage the next five years of just missing the playoffs to get one.

:clapping:

[nfreeman]

There was a lot of talent available this off-season to start building. Instead they did nothing. I can't see how anyone can be happy with that.

Can't argue with this.

 

At some point someone needs to step up as the leader of the franchise. On and off the ice.

Lindy and Miller are the leaders. For the record, that is good leadership.

 

I'd use the active voice: the Sabres discarded a promising forward...

Can't argue with this either.

 

I don't think Darcy has any fear of losing his job. This is one of the few places in professional sports, in the history of professional sports, where a guy -- two guys, him and Ruff, actually -- are given the keys to the house and told to leave when they're ready. Just put the key back under the placemat, it's a safe neighborhood. It's really not a healthy situation, not when you have two guys who don't have enough self-respect, or respect for the Sabres community, to leave home and test their wings. C-o-m-f-o-r-t-a-b-l-e.

I think if the Sabres don't make it past the 1st round this year, they're both gone, and they both know it.

 

Darcy has done nothing to improve to the point of truly competing and instead has tried to tweek his way through another offseason. Instead of adding talent to fix the problems he's made moves that are reactionary rather than proactive. Replace the departing players with players that may be of equal value but could very well be a step back depending on how things go. And hope that last years season of a perfect storm in favor of the sabres happens again. Putting this teams fortunes in the hope basket and for lack of a better word hoping everyone improves on last season is wishful thinking and I'd have to say a cowardly way to operate a franchise. Its about time the leaders of this team were agressive, not the league wallflowers they've become known as.

I agree with much of this post, especially the bolded part. I don't think though that the Sabres enjoyed a perfect storm last season -- if that were the case, they wouldn't have lost Vanek and Hecht and effectively TC for the playoffs.

 

Fatc is, Regier would've been canned pre-lockout anywhere else.

 

The one thing that'll drive you of of this business is losing, he's right about that, but it sure as ###### isn't the emotional effect that gets you, it's the lack of results.

 

Or at least it is anywhere else...... :wallbash:

Well, this isn't quite true. DR and LR have the longest tenure, but there are plenty of guys around the league who've been parked in their positions for a long time. The Nashville team has been in place forever with much less success than the Sabres. Same for Sather for the Rangers and Muckler for the Senators. I suspect if you surveyed the NHL you'd find plenty more.

 

It feels sometimes that Status Quo is sitting back on their laurels. The problem is they have no accomplishments to sit back on. Get used to it people, I am going to be using the name of Lou Lamoriello a lot this season. He is a General Manager with actual accomplishments. If anyone could afford to sit back on his laurels it would be him. Did he? Hell No! He goes out and signs the #1 offensive player available and the #1 defenseman available in free agency. He added Tallinder who many on this board claimed was the Sabres second best defenseman behind Myers and a quality center in Jason Arnott. The fact the Sabres feel they have earned some free pass and that many fans are willing to give them one is insane to me.

"We'd love to keep every one of our players," Lamoriello said. "We know that is impossible because we have just added an exceptional player, which is an understatement, in Ilya Kovalchuk and because of that, you have to make some moves. We haven't won in the last few years, and I don't think anyone should think we should be sitting still. We all have to be held accountable for it."

 

Need I say more?

I don't think anyone thinks the Sabres have accomplished so much that they are beyond reproach. I think DR's analysis of his roster and what was available on the market told him that the method that was most likely to achieve success was to stay the course. I don't agree with this conclusion, and like most here, I would've spent more than DR was probably prepared to spend in order to bring in a real top-line forward, but I don't think he's sitting at home reading his admiring press clippings.

 

I said that I'd wait and I have. Now, I can say that Darcy has once again failed to address any key needs of the team or, at least, failed to address them in a significant way. I won't say that Leopold and Morrisonn are worse than Tallinder and Lydman, but I can't say much more than they are different. Both are younger, which is good, and Leopold is a little more offensive than Hank or Toni, but other than that, neither is a significant improvement in general or on the PP in particular. Niedermayer is a decent third-line center, probably better suited for the role than Kennedy was, and brings SC experience, but as our only real move at forward (other than bringing up Ennis), he's not a big enough change. I don't think that any of Darcy's moves were bad (the PR side of the Kennedy situation aside), but none can be considered significant. This team will be as it has been since 2007, a middle of the pack team that can ride a hot streak by Miller to a decent regular season finish or an injury to a "just missed" spot. I expect them to be back in the 5-11 pack this season and won't be surprised if they just make or just miss the playoffs. I would be surprised if they do much in the offseason.

 

That said, once the season starts, I'll be cheering for them wholeheartedly. Of course, with a couple of exceptions, I'm doing it at home watching them on my big screen, so Darcy won't see me.

Excellent post, as always. I am more optimistic than you are on the prediction, but yours is certainly reasonable. We are certainly left hoping that Ennis, combined with TC and Stafford being in their contract years and Vanek having a bounceback year, will cure the offense's ailments.

[theend]

Well, I said after Labor Day had come that I would join in denouncing Reiger's offseason moves if nothing further was done...and that day has arrived.

 

To be honest, I've been reticent all summer because I feel a lot of what's been going on in the back-and-forth has a very 'been there, said that' kinda vibe. Many posts, debates, and arguments just went around and around the same tired circles, so I mostly stayed away. (Not that I'm some long-time veteran of this board, I realize I'm still quite new.) But I will reply here, as I said I would, regarding this topic.

 

I thought, when I heard Regier's comments following the Boston series, that he finally realized his core wasn't going to get the job done. These past three seasons, I've chalked up our failures or meager successes not to Lindy or Darcy, but to people like Roy, Connolly, Stafford, Pominville, etc, not living up to their potential. And when I say potential, I don't just mean stats...I mean leadership. That is something sorely lacking in the skaters on this team. But with the decision to merely replace Lydman and Tallinder with players of equal-ish value, I'm not sure what Darcy thinks he's changed. I am not of the mind that he's resting on his laurels, happy to sell just a decent product on the ice...I think at this point, he's trying to ride the players he's committed to towards a Stanley Cup that's not going to come with their character. I think he's grown stubborn and insistent that his 'kids' will rise and overcome. Or, at the least, he's become too close to them and willing to forgive and forget.

 

I don't think the Kennedy decision was that offensive or problematic...but it shocked me that he would do that with Kennedy, but let Stafford and Connolly stay on. They should've been traded away for anything...even just a late-round draft pick, to free up cap space for a free agent or roster spots for the kids from Portland. Mancari and Gerbe deserve those slots right now more than those two. I recognize that Connolly contributes a decent amount of points when he's healthy...but he's just too fragile, and not just physically. His mental state isn't made for a grueling run through the playoffs - he's just too soft on the ice, like he's afraid of getting hurt. With everything he's been through, that sucks for him...but that is something that isn't going to improve. And I'm very disappointed in Darcy for not seeing that.

 

De Luca is right about the FA talent that was out there...but I would've been on board even with just promoting Mancari and Gerbe to the forward lines. At least then, I could see that Darcy recognized the weaknesses on the team and replaced them with other developing prospects to give them a shot. It probably would have dropped us in the standings (maybe even out of the playoffs)...and they might not be the answer...but at least he would have TRIED something. To stand as pat as he did all summer has me extraordinarily disappointed.

 

This has become a long post...but I'll say just one more thing - despite all of this, I am excited for the season to start. I'm excited to see Miller's encore, Myers's maturation, and Ennis's slick theatrics. And maybe, just maybe...some of these guys who need to rebound might get a little kick in the ass from their energy.

[FogBat]

Then again, I know I have no clue what the ###### I am talking about.

Thanks for removing whatever doubts we may have had about you.