Richards a Ranger

[SDS]

Brad Richards is soooo two hours ago.

[spndnchz]

Something (I don't think) anyone has mentioned about his agent this morning. Richards looked at trading his rights but decided not to: because he didn't want the team he signed with being down a 2nd rounder at the trade deadline. Said it could mean the difference between a cup or no cup.

 

Looking out for his new team. I like that. (I guess when it benefits me and not Detroit).

[Ghost of Dwight Drane]

I was proposing bringing in Morrison+ for Briere far earlier in the year. Just out of curiosity so I can follow you, are you upset that they didn't trade Briere away and get something for him or are you upset that they didn't 'go for it.' I'm not certain how the 2 concepts full mesh w/ each other.

 

Nobody here is disputing that making a deal the prior year (when possible, Drury couldn't have been done in '05) would have been better in most cases, that is an interesting strawman. (Heck, I believe they SHOULD have given Briere & McKee 3 year deals in '05.) But the Sabres were not about to ink any long term deals back in '05.

 

And I am not "defensive" about Darcy, though you could probably state that I am "defensive" about getting the chronology correct. ;)

 

I suggested earlier in the year they should trade Drury and Campbell in an attempt to get Phaneuff and Regehr because we had way too many flamers on the backend.

 

I am upset that they KNOWINGLY DID NOT TAKE A SHOT at the Cup when it was obvious the team was about to break up. Drury was a huge asset and you could have brought in just as big assets that may have been around long term. If you decide not to move him, and you know this is your last year to do something, then for the love of God, don't surrender your free cap space and pull a pure cowardly move. Even if you don't add to the team...Regier neutered himself....which was nothing new.

 

I know Drury couldn't be done in '05. If you want to act like a broad and nitpick a detail while avoiding the moral of the story...then I guess i have to break it down in slow fashion.

 

Briere would have accepted 5 years 25 million starting in '06-07 and be under contract until '10-'11. He was offered that deal a year later. He ended up with close to 50 million. He left and the Sabres ended up with nothing.

 

Dumont would have accepted 3 years at 7 million (I might be off 500K?) starting in '05-'06 and be under contract until '08-'09. After playing out a year in Nash, he signed a much bigger deal. He left and the Sabres ended up with nothing.

 

Drury would have accepted 4 years 22 million and was willing to, until the Sabres held back the contract for 2 weeks as the Sabres went on a tear, led by Drury, and were off to the races. Regier had 2 weeks to fish out other potential free agents numbers and had a number on Drury in case he was working on a trade. Drury had nothing but the chance to get injured or get cold. He rightfully told the Sabres to go F themselves. He would have been signed from '07-'08 until '10-'11. He left and the Sabres ended up with nothing.

 

McKee would have accepted 4 years for 10 million starting in '05-'06 and would have been under contract until '08-'09. He left and the Sabres ended up with nothing.

 

Campbell would have accepted 5 years for 25 million starting in '07-'08 and would have been under contract until '11-'12. At least the Sabres got Bernier and a pick.

 

Vanek was signed to a vulture offer sheet. The Sabres matched, giving up 4 first round picks that have turned out to be monsters..and overpaid a consensus 1-2 million per.

 

 

 

In 2007/2008 and 2008/2009 seasons, you could have had Briere, Dumont, Drury, Campbell and McKee all under contract for a total of $20 million each season. Instead you had Connolly, Afinogenov, Kotalik, Hecht, Kalinin and Tallinder signed for the same amount.

 

 

I hate that you are making me rehash this on such a nice night. The Son of Sam found Christ while he was in jail. That doesn't mean he didn't kill all of those people.

[bunomatic]

All these agents really want their players to go to market.

That's how they make bank.

 

Don't think for a second that Morris was suggesting he's been hard done by....he's leveraging an imaginary market position that doesn't really exist for another 2 days.

This

[Taro T]

I suggested earlier in the year they should trade Drury and Campbell in an attempt to get Phaneuff and Regehr because we had way too many flamers on the backend.

 

I am upset that they KNOWINGLY DID NOT TAKE A SHOT at the Cup when it was obvious the team was about to break up. Drury was a huge asset and you could have brought in just as big assets that may have been around long term. If you decide not to move him, and you know this is your last year to do something, then for the love of God, don't surrender your free cap space and pull a pure cowardly move. Even if you don't add to the team...Regier neutered himself....which was nothing new.

 

I know Drury couldn't be done in '05. If you want to act like a broad and nitpick a detail while avoiding the moral of the story...then I guess i have to break it down in slow fashion.

 

Briere would have accepted 5 years 25 million starting in '06-07 and be under contract until '10-'11. He was offered that deal a year later. He ended up with close to 50 million. He left and the Sabres ended up with nothing.

 

Dumont would have accepted 3 years at 7 million (I might be off 500K?) starting in '05-'06 and be under contract until '08-'09. After playing out a year in Nash, he signed a much bigger deal. He left and the Sabres ended up with nothing.

 

Drury would have accepted 4 years 22 million and was willing to, until the Sabres held back the contract for 2 weeks as the Sabres went on a tear, led by Drury, and were off to the races. Regier had 2 weeks to fish out other potential free agents numbers and had a number on Drury in case he was working on a trade. Drury had nothing but the chance to get injured or get cold. He rightfully told the Sabres to go F themselves. He would have been signed from '07-'08 until '10-'11. He left and the Sabres ended up with nothing.

 

McKee would have accepted 4 years for 10 million starting in '05-'06 and would have been under contract until '08-'09. He left and the Sabres ended up with nothing.

 

Campbell would have accepted 5 years for 25 million starting in '07-'08 and would have been under contract until '11-'12. At least the Sabres got Bernier and a pick.

 

Vanek was signed to a vulture offer sheet. The Sabres matched, giving up 4 first round picks that have turned out to be monsters..and overpaid a consensus 1-2 million per.

 

 

 

In 2007/2008 and 2008/2009 seasons, you could have had Briere, Dumont, Drury, Campbell and McKee all under contract for a total of $20 million each season. Instead you had Connolly, Afinogenov, Kotalik, Hecht, Kalinin and Tallinder signed for the same amount.

 

 

I hate that you are making me rehash this on such a nice night. The Son of Sam found Christ while he was in jail. That doesn't mean he didn't kill all of those people.

Except they DID take a shot at the Stanley Cup in '07 (they obviously didn't take a good enough shot as they didn't win it, but they did take a shot). Had they decided not to take a shot, Briere would have been gone at the deadline.

 

I still am not certain how DR was to expect CD to leave at the end of that season as he'd been told by CD that he'd negotiate a new deal as soon as the season was over. DR had negotiated 1 deal in good faith, he believed what CD was telling him. In hindsight he shouldn't have believed him, but I don't blame him for that and he definitely isn't the reason the dead wasn't consumated back in October.

 

There is no way the Sabres were going to move Drury during '07 as he was the captain they were planning on keeping.

 

It's late and I'm out of here. Have a good night.

[Buffalo Sports Man]

My problem with the "Richards" situation (and it's grown since I wrote a blog where I was fired up about the possibilities of it) is that the price could be driven up too high by the market. I think that the NY Post story (8 Years/50-55 Mil) was leaked to get blood in the water for a feeding frenzy. There is the Toronto/NYR/Philly/Buffalo rumors, but there's always the chance that someone weird is going to take a crack at him. I don't want to overpay for him on the second or third when the possibility of someone a little bit younger and cheaper that allows us to fill many holes instead of one.

 

All that being said, if at this time next week we're up Brad Richards and Christian Ehrhoff, you'll need a sandblaster to peel the smile off my face.

[Ghost of Dwight Drane]

Except they DID take a shot at the Stanley Cup in '07 (they obviously didn't take a good enough shot as they didn't win it, but they did take a shot). Had they decided not to take a shot, Briere would have been gone at the deadline.

 

I still am not certain how DR was to expect CD to leave at the end of that season as he'd been told by CD that he'd negotiate a new deal as soon as the season was over. DR had negotiated 1 deal in good faith, he believed what CD was telling him. In hindsight he shouldn't have believed him, but I don't blame him for that and he definitely isn't the reason the dead wasn't consumated back in October.

 

There is no way the Sabres were going to move Drury during '07 as he was the captain they were planning on keeping.

 

It's late and I'm out of here. Have a good night.

 

The Buffalo Sabres were 100% to blame in the Drury situation. If you want to say Golisano....fine, but Drury had zero leverage in accepting a contract that should have been written up in 2 hours, not 2+ weeks. The Sabres found out what Drury's number was. Darcy could have used that information to a) Use Drury as trade bait with assurance as to the $ going forward b) Found out loose numbers on other pending UFA and decide if they really wanted him to be the guy or if someone more appealing was out there c) wait for the Sabres to go on a cold streak and then threaten second thoughts. Not only that...Drury could have been injured over the course of those 7 games.

 

Here's a question.......what if the 2008 Buffalo Bills agreed to a giant contract extension with Trent Edwards after their 4-0 or 5-1 start, and instead of sending the contract right over, pulled it and waited for 10% of the games to be played? What do you think would have happened? Would they gleefully hand over tens of millions to a guy who was just seriously concussed and now the team is 5-3? Would they stall one more week...two more....and watch things spiral out of control? Do you think they would hand him that contract still?

 

The Sabres agreed to a deal, then watched Drury lead them to a continued torrid pace. Drury got lucky and wasn't hurt, and didn't have his play tail off....but I just showed you a scenario with the Bills which was very plausible.

 

 

And as far as not going for it.....

 

Darcy Regier came out and said Tim Connolly and Max Afinogenov would be back during the regular season....just days after Max had been diagnosed with a broken wrist by team doctors lasting possibly 2 weeks into the playoffs. Connolly hadn't played a game in 10 months.

 

By doing so he voided any chance at using their salary to pick up assets at the deadline against their cap numbers. Once the playoffs started THERE WAS NO CAP!! You could have traded for Roberts and Guerin on a team that badly needed grit. But you see....Darcy knew Briere at a minimum would be gone, and possibly Drury as well. He needed to fill those spots the next year on the cheap and couldn't give up the Pailles, MacArthurs, Paetchs, etc. At least not then...when the team was on the verge of a championship with just a nice addition of grit.

 

Darcy came out with that statement with the sole purpose of neutering himself and removing any possibility of a big deal. This would placate the fans just long enough for them to forget about it come July 1st when all hell would break loose.

 

Darcy was right. Connolly and Afinigenov did come back in the regular season...for a grand total of 3 games. Afinigenov was scratched in the playoffs shortly after.

 

 

I'm sorry, but status quo is not going for it. They had one shot at that point and they knew it. And anyone that wants to play the "well you don't want Darcy to massage the numbers and cheat do you?" card should go look at how everyone is jumping up and down to structure Richard's number frontloaded so your new center can F the league's cap structure. It's called being smart.

 

Hey.....I'm excited about what looks to be a true awakening of the franchise these next few days. If some of the stuff that has been rumored keeps happening at this pace, even I will have to bow down and ballwash Pegula. But Darcy was just as responsible for the past as any other person you want to name. Regehr was a great start. Erhoff is a little spooky unless Sekera is gone. But I still wouldn't be shocked to see Darcy show up at ECMC with chest pain from a panic attack after all this.

[Buffalo Sports Man]

The Buffalo Sabres were 100% to blame in the Drury situation. If you want to say Golisano....fine, but Drury had zero leverage in accepting a contract that should have been written up in 2 hours, not 2+ weeks. The Sabres found out what Drury's number was. Darcy could have used that information to a) Use Drury as trade bait with assurance as to the $ going forward b) Found out loose numbers on other pending UFA and decide if they really wanted him to be the guy or if someone more appealing was out there c) wait for the Sabres to go on a cold streak and then threaten second thoughts. Not only that...Drury could have been injured over the course of those 7 games.

 

Here's a question.......what if the 2008 Buffalo Bills agreed to a giant contract extension with Trent Edwards after their 4-0 or 5-1 start, and instead of sending the contract right over, pulled it and waited for 10% of the games to be played? What do you think would have happened? Would they gleefully hand over tens of millions to a guy who was just seriously concussed and now the team is 5-3? Would they stall one more week...two more....and watch things spiral out of control? Do you think they would hand him that contract still?

 

The Sabres agreed to a deal, then watched Drury lead them to a continued torrid pace. Drury got lucky and wasn't hurt, and didn't have his play tail off....but I just showed you a scenario with the Bills which was very plausible.

 

 

And as far as not going for it.....

 

Darcy Regier came out and said Tim Connolly and Max Afinogenov would be back during the regular season....just days after Max had been diagnosed with a broken wrist by team doctors lasting possibly 2 weeks into the playoffs. Connolly hadn't played a game in 10 months.

 

By doing so he voided any chance at using their salary to pick up assets at the deadline against their cap numbers. Once the playoffs started THERE WAS NO CAP!! You could have traded for Roberts and Guerin on a team that badly needed grit. But you see....Darcy knew Briere at a minimum would be gone, and possibly Drury as well. He needed to fill those spots the next year on the cheap and couldn't give up the Pailles, MacArthurs, Paetchs, etc. At least not then...when the team was on the verge of a championship with just a nice addition of grit.

 

Darcy came out with that statement with the sole purpose of neutering himself and removing any possibility of a big deal. This would placate the fans just long enough for them to forget about it come July 1st when all hell would break loose.

 

Darcy was right. Connolly and Afinigenov did come back in the regular season...for a grand total of 3 games. Afinigenov was scratched in the playoffs shortly after.

 

 

I'm sorry, but status quo is not going for it. They had one shot at that point and they knew it. And anyone that wants to play the "well you don't want Darcy to massage the numbers and cheat do you?" card should go look at how everyone is jumping up and down to structure Richard's number frontloaded so your new center can F the league's cap structure. It's called being smart.

 

Hey.....I'm excited about what looks to be a true awakening of the franchise these next few days. If some of the stuff that has been rumored keeps happening at this pace, even I will have to bow down and ballwash Pegula. But Darcy was just as responsible for the past as any other person you want to name. Regehr was a great start. Erhoff is a little spooky unless Sekera is gone. But I still wouldn't be shocked to see Darcy show up at ECMC with chest pain from a panic attack after all this.

Paul Hamilton told a story the other day about how during the Rangers series a major writer (I want to say it was LeBrun) walked up to him in the press box at MSG and asked him how he felt about covering the team that was going to win the Stanley Cup. Whatever issues there were with the contract that lead to it being blown up (Golisano, Quinn, what have you) the Sabres were still the President's Trophy winners and had a legitimate chance to go all the way.

 

Now, as for Drury, Regier was under the impression that Drury wanted to stay, was going to talk to them after the season and was going to give the Sabres every opportunity to match contracts. The latter part of that for a certainty was reported widely. So, Darcy saw what was happening and said "Okay, we could trade Danny away now and get pieces or we can make a run for the cup, knowing it will be a minor re-build after that, maybe a season or two when we have to replace Briere." The Sabres had more than enough talent to do it. They won the first two series on talent alone and couldn't turn it on for Ottawa after coasting for the last two months of the season.

 

And then the bomb went off. Drury negotiated (or lack of negotiated) in bad faith because he was pissed off at how Danny was treated. The Sabres offered to match and were declined. End of story.

 

And when the Sabres were weak Kevin Lowe struck. The rest is history.

 

There are way too many different conditions to put the blame on any one person (as inclined as I am to put it on Larry Quinn and the ownership group for making Darcy play the game in a particular way financially).

 

Regardless, this is the Brad Richards thread, and it is my belief that the Hockey Heaven era is slowly going to get rid of the bad rep that the Sabres started to grow after July 07. And if the rest of the league thinks that Darcy is one of the top executives and has such a keen hockey mind, I'm not going to pile on when it seems like he and the rest of the staff are all doing so much good stuff right now.

[Bullwinkle]

Paul Hamilton told a story the other day about how during the Rangers series a major writer (I want to say it was LeBrun) walked up to him in the press box at MSG and asked him how he felt about covering the team that was going to win the Stanley Cup. Whatever issues there were with the contract that lead to it being blown up (Golisano, Quinn, what have you) the Sabres were still the President's Trophy winners and had a legitimate chance to go all the way.

 

Now, as for Drury, Regier was under the impression that Drury wanted to stay, was going to talk to them after the season and was going to give the Sabres every opportunity to match contracts. The latter part of that for a certainty was reported widely. So, Darcy saw what was happening and said "Okay, we could trade Danny away now and get pieces or we can make a run for the cup, knowing it will be a minor re-build after that, maybe a season or two when we have to replace Briere." The Sabres had more than enough talent to do it. They won the first two series on talent alone and couldn't turn it on for Ottawa after coasting for the last two months of the season.

 

And then the bomb went off. Drury negotiated (or lack of negotiated) in bad faith because he was pissed off at how Danny was treated. The Sabres offered to match and were declined. End of story.

 

And when the Sabres were weak Kevin Lowe struck. The rest is history.

 

There are way too many different conditions to put the blame on any one person (as inclined as I am to put it on Larry Quinn and the ownership group for making Darcy play the game in a particular way financially).

 

Regardless, this is the Brad Richards thread, and it is my belief that the Hockey Heaven era is slowly going to get rid of the bad rep that the Sabres started to grow after July 07. And if the rest of the league thinks that Darcy is one of the top executives and has such a keen hockey mind, I'm not going to pile on when it seems like he and the rest of the staff are all doing so much good stuff right now.

 

One factor that no one has mentioned...Drury always wanted to play for the Rangers. It was a childhood dream of his. So I think he wanted out. Briere was the one I didn't want to leave. I valued him more than Drury.

 

Regarding the Richards Derby - one thing NY has in its favor is that Tortorella & Richards worked well together in Tampa. I think that connection will be a strong pull towards NY, so don't be surprised.

[Taro T]

The Buffalo Sabres were 100% to blame in the Drury situation. If you want to say Golisano....fine, but Drury had zero leverage in accepting a contract that should have been written up in 2 hours, not 2+ weeks. The Sabres found out what Drury's number was. Darcy could have used that information to a) Use Drury as trade bait with assurance as to the $ going forward b) Found out loose numbers on other pending UFA and decide if they really wanted him to be the guy or if someone more appealing was out there c) wait for the Sabres to go on a cold streak and then threaten second thoughts. Not only that...Drury could have been injured over the course of those 7 games.

:huh:

 

The contract was drawn up and agreed to by all parties involved but 1. The contract sat on TG's desk. CD decided to back out of the deal after TG sat on it.

Here's a question.......what if the 2008 Buffalo Bills agreed to a giant contract extension with Trent Edwards after their 4-0 or 5-1 start, and instead of sending the contract right over, pulled it and waited for 10% of the games to be played? What do you think would have happened? Would they gleefully hand over tens of millions to a guy who was just seriously concussed and now the team is 5-3? Would they stall one more week...two more....and watch things spiral out of control? Do you think they would hand him that contract still?

 

The Sabres agreed to a deal, then watched Drury lead them to a continued torrid pace. Drury got lucky and wasn't hurt, and didn't have his play tail off....but I just showed you a scenario with the Bills which was very plausible.

The Sabres DIDN'T agree to a deal w/ CD - DR agreed to a deal w/ him. The boss sat on it too long and ticked CD off. So CD backed out of the deal.

 

And CD DID get injured - Chris Neil, Ottawa, Stafford, Emery, etc. Fortunately it wasn't career or life threatening, but he did get injured out in the limbo of playing out his contract.

 

I'm not certain what is being argued here. The SABRES (not DR, the Sabres) clearly botched the Drury situation; that was obvious back in '06.

 

And as far as not going for it.....

 

Darcy Regier came out and said Tim Connolly and Max Afinogenov would be back during the regular season....just days after Max had been diagnosed with a broken wrist by team doctors lasting possibly 2 weeks into the playoffs. Connolly hadn't played a game in 10 months.

 

By doing so he voided any chance at using their salary to pick up assets at the deadline against their cap numbers. Once the playoffs started THERE WAS NO CAP!! You could have traded for Roberts and Guerin on a team that badly needed grit. But you see....Darcy knew Briere at a minimum would be gone, and possibly Drury as well. He needed to fill those spots the next year on the cheap and couldn't give up the Pailles, MacArthurs, Paetchs, etc. At least not then...when the team was on the verge of a championship with just a nice addition of grit.

 

Darcy came out with that statement with the sole purpose of neutering himself and removing any possibility of a big deal. This would placate the fans just long enough for them to forget about it come July 1st when all hell would break loose.

 

Darcy was right. Connolly and Afinigenov did come back in the regular season...for a grand total of 3 games. Afinigenov was scratched in the playoffs shortly after.

 

I don't see the conspiracy in the deadline moves that you do, but that's fine.

 

I'm sorry, but status quo is not going for it. They had one shot at that point and they knew it. And anyone that wants to play the "well you don't want Darcy to massage the numbers and cheat do you?" card should go look at how everyone is jumping up and down to structure Richard's number frontloaded so your new center can F the league's cap structure. It's called being smart.

Please show me any posts of mine that suggested that DR shouldn't work the salary cap to his advantage. I'm not sure who that was directed at, but if it was meant for here, it's going in the wrong direction.

 

DR didn't keep "status quo" - he brought in Zubrus. He also expected that he could re-sign CD which would've kept the Sabres in the mix, it wasn't a 'one shot only and they were full aware of it at the time.' By the logic above, the 'Nucks didn't "go for it" this year as they didn't bring in a truckload of players at the trade deadline. The only deal I can think of that they made was for Lapierre.

 

Hey.....I'm excited about what looks to be a true awakening of the franchise these next few days. If some of the stuff that has been rumored keeps happening at this pace, even I will have to bow down and ballwash Pegula. But Darcy was just as responsible for the past as any other person you want to name. Regehr was a great start. Erhoff is a little spooky unless Sekera is gone. But I still wouldn't be shocked to see Darcy show up at ECMC with chest pain from a panic attack after all this.

:rolleyes:

[Doohickie]

Let's not get goofy...

He was kind of lazy at times, but his last year with Buffalo was a good one; he worked consistently hard throughout, and was money in the bank in shootouts. That was my attempt to paint him in a positive light. I think getting Ales back is a plus, as long as he is the same Ales that left here, not the one that was spotty earlier in his Sabres tenure.

[SDS]

He was kind of lazy at times, but his last year with Buffalo was a good one; he worked consistently hard throughout, and was money in the bank in shootouts. That was my attempt to paint him in a positive light. I think getting Ales back is a plus, as long as he is the same Ales that left here, not the one that was spotty earlier in his Sabres tenure.

 

You mean the one that is getting shifted from team to team to team because he's a human anchor?

[Doohickie]

OMG!

 

Please, use this thread to talk about Richards and what's happening NOW; I could CARE LESS what happened in '07 and who said what about it. For cripes sake, if you old biddies want to yak about it, START ANOTHER THREAD.

 

:death:

[MDFan]

OMG!

 

Please, use this thread to talk about Richards and what's happening NOW; I could CARE LESS what happened in '07 and who said what about it. For cripes sake, if you old biddies want to yak about it, START ANOTHER THREAD.

 

:death:

I agree. This has been debated to death for years and this conversation belongs somewhere else. Thank you.

[Ghost of Dwight Drane]

:huh:

 

The contract was drawn up and agreed to by all parties involved but 1. The contract sat on TG's desk. CD decided to back out of the deal after TG sat on it.

 

The Sabres DIDN'T agree to a deal w/ CD - DR agreed to a deal w/ him. The boss sat on it too long and ticked CD off. So CD backed out of the deal.

 

And CD DID get injured - Chris Neil, Ottawa, Stafford, Emery, etc. Fortunately it wasn't career or life threatening, but he did get injured out in the limbo of playing out his contract.

 

I'm not certain what is being argued here. The SABRES (not DR, the Sabres) clearly botched the Drury situation; that was obvious back in '06.

 

 

I don't see the conspiracy in the deadline moves that you do, but that's fine.

 

 

Please show me any posts of mine that suggested that DR shouldn't work the salary cap to his advantage. I'm not sure who that was directed at, but if it was meant for here, it's going in the wrong direction.

 

DR didn't keep "status quo" - he brought in Zubrus. He also expected that he could re-sign CD which would've kept the Sabres in the mix, it wasn't a 'one shot only and they were full aware of it at the time.' By the logic above, the 'Nucks didn't "go for it" this year as they didn't bring in a truckload of players at the trade deadline. The only deal I can think of that they made was for Lapierre.

 

 

:rolleyes:

 

 

So what you are saying is that Darcy Regier....the General Manager of the Buffalo Sabres....was in fact, NOT AN AGENT OF THE FRANCHISE???

 

That is what you are saying. I guess when Lindy Ruff tells me I am a healthy scratch, i should tell him to go F Himself and get on the ice...since Pegula didn't tell me himself I was a scratch.

 

So again....Darcy was 100% a pure puppet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Taro....you are really smart and I know you see what I am saying. The fact that you don't at least in some part acknowledge Regier's weakness truly leads me to question just how tied in you are to people in the organization. There are some business savy people on this board and I am sure many of them see what a dick move that is to expect Drury to smile and tapdance the rest of the way as a Sabre.

 

And if you can't see what a coward Regier is for going against his own medical team and claiming Afinigenov and Connolly would certainly be back.....then you aren't as smart as I thought. But I know you are, so again I question your motives.

 

I am more than willing to give credit when someone who I do not see as the most skilled, does something well. I am also able to admit mistakes. I expect some 16 year old fan to use terms like "Drury backed out" because they have no clue how the real world works. Come'on man.....what's the deal?

[Iron Crotch]

One factor that no one has mentioned...Drury always wanted to play for the Rangers. It was a childhood dream of his. So I think he wanted out. Briere was the one I didn't want to leave. I valued him more than Drury.

 

Regarding the Richards Derby - one thing NY has in its favor is that Tortorella & Richards worked well together in Tampa. I think that connection will be a strong pull towards NY, so don't be surprised.

 

This.

 

Tortorella was Richards' coach in Tampa, they won a Cup together, and reportedly they had a very good relationship. If the Rangers bring the cash (which I think they will), I see Richards signing in New York. Personally, I think we're best off targeting a physical, 3rd line center...

[Ghost of Dwight Drane]

I agree. This has been debated to death for years and this conversation belongs somewhere else. Thank you.

 

A relevant question was asked in this thread.

 

Don't worry.....Mrs. Richards won't be browsing Sabrespace.

[MDFan]

A relevant question was asked in this thread.

 

Don't worry.....Mrs. Richards won't be browsing Sabrespace.

That was hardly my worry. (in fact I am not really worried at all) It is just that the thread has been highjacked by a personal disagreement/arguement between two posters that has gone far off topic, and frankly after all the debate over the last few years, is a little boring. Just my opinion I guess - carry on.

[nfreeman]

Hey.....I'm excited about what looks to be a true awakening of the franchise these next few days. If some of the stuff that has been rumored keeps happening at this pace, even I will have to bow down and ballwash Pegula. But Darcy was just as responsible for the past as any other person you want to name. Regehr was a great start. Erhoff is a little spooky unless Sekera is gone. But I still wouldn't be shocked to see Darcy show up at ECMC with chest pain from a panic attack after all this.

 

The contract was drawn up and agreed to by all parties involved but 1. The contract sat on TG's desk. CD decided to back out of the deal after TG sat on it.

 

The Sabres DIDN'T agree to a deal w/ CD - DR agreed to a deal w/ him. The boss sat on it too long and ticked CD off. So CD backed out of the deal.

 

And CD DID get injured - Chris Neil, Ottawa, Stafford, Emery, etc. Fortunately it wasn't career or life threatening, but he did get injured out in the limbo of playing out his contract.

 

I'm not certain what is being argued here. The SABRES (not DR, the Sabres) clearly botched the Drury situation; that was obvious back in '06.

 

It seems like what's being argued is DD's stubborn refusal to countenance the possibility that he's staked out the wrong position on DR.

 

To boil it down: I don't think anyone disagrees with DD that the Sabres butchered the period between '05 and '07, and that the bad decisions early on snowballed into worse decisions later, leading to a completely disgraceful debacle. That team should've stayed in the NHL elite and should've been in the hunt every year for the Cup.

 

The disagreement lies in the question of whether the bad early decisions (or the later ones, for that matter) were DR's doing, as opposed to being forced upon him from above. Nobody here knows the truth with any certainty about most of the decisions, but what's been publicly disclosed certainly indicates that the Drury situation was 100% TG's fault. For some reason, DD is refusing to admit this. Either way, we don't know exactly what happened with the Sabres' decisions on Briere, Grier, Dumont, McKee, Soupy, etc -- except that the decisions were wrong and that an ounce of prevention would've been worth a pound of cure.

 

I am in the camp that believes that most of these poor decisions were forced on DR by LQ/TG. I certainly can't prove this, but it seems logical to me based on what's been said publicly and on DR's overall track record. Is this too generous to DR? Possibly, but he seems like a good, honorable guy to me. He's also built very good teams despite being hamstrung by ownership on a couple of different occasions. So I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

 

Now, it's also perfectly reasonable not to give him the benefit of the doubt, as DD, DeLuca, APus, and others believe. But it's pretty disingenuous to pretend, as most of DD's posts in this thread have done, that all of these decisions were DR's, and that there is no question about it.

 

Finally, the fallback position of the "DR sucks" crowd seems to be that even if the bad decisions were forced on DR from above, it's still his fault because he should've resigned if that were the case. To which I will say again: when you have a family to support and you walk away from a good job in the community where your family lives and your kids have grown up in, and you quit that job because you refuse to eat a poopy sandwich from your boss, and quitting means that you will either not be able to get a similar job, or if you do that it will require moving your family to a new city (and possibly a new country) -- let us know. Until then, don't be so brave with someone else's job.

 

Having said all that: I think even the "DR sucks" crowd is going to be happy with this offseason.

[shrader]

OMG!

 

Please, use this thread to talk about Richards and what's happening NOW; I could CARE LESS what happened in '07 and who said what about it. For cripes sake, if you old biddies want to yak about it, START ANOTHER THREAD.

 

:death:

 

I'd start a thread for it titled "Nothing About Brad Richards" but then chz might whip me.... wait, maybe I should start that thread.

[CallawaySabres]

That was hardly my worry. (in fact I am not really worried at all) It is just that the thread has been highjacked by a personal disagreement/arguement between two posters that has gone far off topic, and frankly after all the debate over the last few years, is a little boring. Just my opinion I guess - carry on.

 

Totally agree, enough garbage about stuff that happened 5 years ago...Richards news only

[DumbPuck]

Let's rename every thread on here "All About Stuff" then we can all be surprised when we click a topic to see what it is about. "YAY it's like it's my birthday every time I click!"

[Doohickie]

...and, sorry for the big fonts. They're littler now.

[Taro T]

So what you are saying is that Darcy Regier....the General Manager of the Buffalo Sabres....was in fact, NOT AN AGENT OF THE FRANCHISE???

 

That is what you are saying. I guess when Lindy Ruff tells me I am a healthy scratch, i should tell him to go F Himself and get on the ice...since Pegula didn't tell me himself I was a scratch.

 

So again....Darcy was 100% a pure puppet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Taro....you are really smart and I know you see what I am saying. The fact that you don't at least in some part acknowledge Regier's weakness truly leads me to question just how tied in you are to people in the organization. There are some business savy people on this board and I am sure many of them see what a dick move that is to expect Drury to smile and tapdance the rest of the way as a Sabre.

 

And if you can't see what a coward Regier is for going against his own medical team and claiming Afinigenov and Connolly would certainly be back.....then you aren't as smart as I thought. But I know you are, so again I question your motives.

 

I am more than willing to give credit when someone who I do not see as the most skilled, does something well. I am also able to admit mistakes. I expect some 16 year old fan to use terms like "Drury backed out" because they have no clue how the real world works. Come'on man.....what's the deal?

Clearly DR was and is an agent of the Buffalo Sabres. He had significant constraints on what he could do, that's obvious and it does not make him a puppet any more than Muckler was a puppet when he was told to slash payroll. I'm looking forward to seeing what he can do now that he has far fewer constraints. I think he could be successful. Heck, he might even be successful enough to bring Brad Richards to town. I just don't have a good hunch either way as to whether it'll happen so I guess I'd say it's 50/50, but I know for fact it wouldn't have happened w/ the old crew above him. You are far better than I at playing bookmaker, what do you see as the odds of BR wearing B&G this season?

 

OK, I'll grant you the semantics about 10/06; Drury didn't back out, he walked away from the deal because TG's actions soured him on the deal and he saw evidence that his friend was right 3 months earlier.

 

DR may have been too naive to realize that though CD said he'd negotiate in good faith after the season was over there wouldn't be any negotiations. I don't believe that CD did lie about the negotiations as I don't believe that anyone expected a top line center slot to open up on the Strangers back in that winter, and that is the only place that I expect Drury would go to. (Though he'd have made the Sabres pay an arm & a leg to stay. I'm certain that DR was well aware of that when CD asked him to table the offer that FINALLY OFFICIALLY came to him well after they'd agreed to the deal.)

 

Regier has definitely made mistakes through the years (trading FOR Gratton being 1 of the biggest). Expecting the salary cap to go down in '06 was also incorrect, although he was nowhere near the only person that thought the cap would go down and I'm certain that TG was convinced of it as well. Considering how big the Sabres bet was in that direction (and you know darn well that TG was seriously down w/ that call), it's actually impressive that he got as much of the team back together in '06 as he did. And had Dumont's arbitration hearing been earlier on the schedule I expect he would have been in the fold and somebody else would have been the odd man out (Kotalik perhaps?).

 

And again, I've seen enough from DR in the past to believe he may be able to get the job done w/ the new ownership. I don't know that he will get it done and I don't think the events of this past week are enough to state that he will either, though they are encouraging signs. If he lands Richards and Ehrhoff and doesn't throw $10MM/yr at Richards and $6.5MM/yr at Ehrhoff that will be even more encouraging.

[spndnchz]

...and, sorry for the big fonts. They're littler now.

 

Sometimes a bigger, um, font, is necessary.