MBHockey13 Posted January 22, 2015 Report Share Posted January 22, 2015 http://espn.go.com/nhl/story/_/id/12209280/nhl-accused-tanking-buffalo-sabres-insist-part-rebuild I'm sure a lot of you have already seen this. Both Murray and Black know we "get" it. ""'Tanking,' I think, has become a shorthand for 'rebuilding,'" said Ted Black, Sabres president. "We're rebuilding. Every game, I talked to 25 or 30 season-ticket holders; we have a reception for them, it's an open question and answer session. And they get it, they get the plan."" "Murray, for one, thinks the Sabres can turn this around sooner rather than later. "I'm optimistic that we can do it quicker than some people think," the Sabres GM said. "It won't be forever," Black said of the rebuild. "But it's not a quick fix. It requires patience. And fans and society in general today isn't wired for patience and deliberation. I think our fans are exceptionally smart with a very high hockey IQ. I think they've seen the consequences of rebuilding a little bit, but at the same time going for it. Those worlds don't mesh together. I think they understand the methodology. I think they have giant faith in Terry's commitment."" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
respk Posted January 22, 2015 Report Share Posted January 22, 2015 I liked this article. He took an unbiased and balanced tact towards the topic and wrote a "news worthy" article. He reported the facts and pretty much left the decision of whether tanking is right or wrong up to the reader. Too bad we can't get the same from the local yokels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eleven Posted January 22, 2015 Report Share Posted January 22, 2015 I liked this article. He took an unbiased and balanced tact towards the topic and wrote a "news worthy" article. He reported the facts and pretty much left the decision of whether tanking is right or wrong up to the reader. Too bad we can't get the same from the local yokels. I liked it, too, for the same reasons you state. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBHockey13 Posted January 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2015 I agree. LeBrun is pretty good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WildCard Posted January 22, 2015 Report Share Posted January 22, 2015 "It won't be forever," Black said of the rebuild For some reason this made me laugh :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spndnchz Posted January 22, 2015 Report Share Posted January 22, 2015 Running high on tank threads so for every new one that opens we'll be closing another... I read that this morning. Good stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Claude_Verret Posted January 22, 2015 Report Share Posted January 22, 2015 Good stuff. I love the Academy of Hockey concept. On my flight back to Raleigh on Monday there was a young team from Colorado on my plane that had just played there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brawndo Posted January 22, 2015 Report Share Posted January 22, 2015 This executive must be talking about EDM. "If I had my way, no team could ever draft first overall in back-to-back years, maybe not even more than once every three years," a different Western Conference team executive said. "They were already talking openly about McDavid in November. I'm sorry, but that's just wrong. We're supposed to be competing." Because the Sabres have not drafted first overall since 1987 and much to my chagrin I do not expect them to draft first overall this year either. However back to back second overalls would be fine by me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PASabreFan Posted January 22, 2015 Report Share Posted January 22, 2015 This executive must be talking about EDM. Is opening talking about McDavid worse than hosting McDavid for a presser and then a game? Running high on tank threads so for every new one that opens we'll be closing another... I read that this morning. Good stuff. We had this discussion over the summer I think. I thought the consensus was that more threads would be useful. I like that this article didn't get buried in the same old same old tank thread(s). For some reason this made me laugh :lol: Ted's a pod. He used to answer the question of whether the Sabres were better off than when Terry took over by saying, "Well, sure, we're that many days closer to winning the Cup." He's just weird. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
... Posted January 22, 2015 Report Share Posted January 22, 2015 OMG, the BEST part of that article is Murray, Gionta and Gorges talking about culture change. The latter two totally get their roles and understand what's going on. The second best part is how Black and Murray are positioning what's going on, and it's reasonable and agreeable (well, Black ventures into marketing/PR territory, but that's expected). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PASabreFan Posted January 22, 2015 Report Share Posted January 22, 2015 Yeah, it's a good piece (minus more typos than you'd expect). But the opening fell flat for me. I don't see how Terry should get credit for the totality of the revitalization downtown. What did he have to do with Canalside, the new ice there, the other hotels? From what I've heard, the uptick in the city has more to do with the medical sector than anything else. The waterfront, IMHO, is more of a community psyche kind of issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
... Posted January 22, 2015 Report Share Posted January 22, 2015 Yeah, it's a good piece (minus more typos than you'd expect). But the opening fell flat for me. I don't see how Terry should get credit for the totality of the revitalization downtown. What did he have to do with Canalside, the new ice there, the other hotels? From what I've heard, the uptick in the city has more to do with the medical sector than anything else. The waterfront, IMHO, is more of a community psyche kind of issue. The nature of the article, sports/Black/Pegula/Sabres, dictates that they'll allow Black to give Terry credit for being a linch pin in reviving downtown. I suppose it's not factually inaccurate to suggest that, but there definitely are more linch pins than just the Pegula empire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IKnowPhysics Posted January 22, 2015 Report Share Posted January 22, 2015 OMG, the BEST part of that article is Murray, Gionta and Gorges talking about culture change. The latter two totally get their roles and understand what's going on. The second best part is how Black and Murray are positioning what's going on, and it's reasonable and agreeable (well, Black ventures into marketing/PR territory, but that's expected). Agreed. There will likely be no way to prove that we're tanking. That's part of the genius of Murray, Black, and in a major way, Regier. Who doesn't do the Vanek trade if you're a Buffalo GM? Or the Miller trade. Or sell Pominville high. There goes the core. There go the wins. Here come the draft picks. Bringing McDavid in with the Otters to play is over the top hilarity circus show ######, but still not in the realm of league reprimand. They've got all of the plausible deniability they need. And the league changed the draft odds, just to ###### with us anyways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spndnchz Posted January 22, 2015 Report Share Posted January 22, 2015 Yeah, it's a good piece (minus more typos than you'd expect). But the opening fell flat for me. I don't see how Terry should get credit for the totality of the revitalization downtown. What did he have to do with Canalside, the new ice there, the other hotels? From what I've heard, the uptick in the city has more to do with the medical sector than anything else. The waterfront, IMHO, is more of a community psyche kind of issue. Yeah, HarborCenter is a big piece of Canalside but Canalside was there long before they started building. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBHockey13 Posted January 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2015 Terry is a huge part, along with the medical corridor, stuff actually happening at Canalside, and the general increased pride in downtown, of the revitalization of downtown Buffalo. Before Pegula, we generally had the feeling that the Sabres would be forever stuck in neutral, and just doing enough to maybe make the playoffs with the hope they get lucky on hitting with a Hasek or a Miller in a draft and then riding him and his team of second, third, and fourth liners into a playoff round or two. We'd never be a player in free agency - we'd never be able to keep any talent we developed ourselves before they were poached by a higher-value team in free agency - and we'd go cheap on everything including our scouting department. In one afternoon, and one statement, Pegula changed that - and has put his money and his efforts where his mouth is. Now, we feel anything is possible - the Sabres are never moving, the Bills are never moving, we'll eventually be top-tier franchises in both leagues, with the money and drawing power of anyone - in world-class facilities, all situated in a well-developed and integrated area in the core of the city and the Western New York region. He's helped to make Buffalo become a choice - not just for sports, but for people looking to be where the action is. And Terry and Kim do everything with tact and grace and humility. Just wait until that new Bills stadium is downtown - it will be phenomenal. We can joke, but that area will be named Pegulaville for real eventually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jsixspd Posted January 22, 2015 Report Share Posted January 22, 2015 Running high on tank threads so for every new one that opens we'll be closing another... . Personally, I'd rather see the older, information rich topics left open and close the new, less established topics, but that's you folks decision. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PASabreFan Posted January 22, 2015 Report Share Posted January 22, 2015 Terry is a huge part, along with the medical corridor, stuff actually happening at Canalside, and the general increased pride in downtown, of the revitalization of downtown Buffalo. Before Pegula, we generally had the feeling that the Sabres would be forever stuck in neutral, and just doing enough to maybe make the playoffs with the hope they get lucky on hitting with a Hasek or a Miller in a draft and then riding him and his team of second, third, and fourth liners into a playoff round or two. We'd never be a player in free agency - we'd never be able to keep any talent we developed ourselves before they were poached by a higher-value team in free agency - and we'd go cheap on everything including our scouting department. In one afternoon, and one statement, Pegula changed that - and has put his money and his efforts where his mouth is. Now, we feel anything is possible - the Sabres are never moving, the Bills are never moving, we'll eventually be top-tier franchises in both leagues, with the money and drawing power of anyone - in world-class facilities, all situated in a well-developed and integrated area in the core of the city and the Western New York region. He's helped to make Buffalo become a choice - not just for sports, but for people looking to be where the action is. And Terry and Kim do everything with tact and grace and humility. Just wait until that new Bills stadium is downtown - it will be phenomenal. We can joke, but that area will be named Pegulaville for real eventually. Well, that's one way of looking at it. :) You've got some real good historical revisionism in there. Stuck in neutral? I never felt that way about the Sabres until the core of Ruff/Regier/Miller etc. was left to fester. Before that, going back to the LaFontaine trade, I felt like the team, even with its small-market handicaps, kept trying and moving forward and even surging at time. Cups could have come in 93, 98, 99, 01, 06, 07. Golisano was not a bum. Murray can't hold a candle, whatever that means, to work that Gerry Meehan, John Muckler and, yes, Darcy Regier did for the Sabres. Meh. What's the point. I'm not going to change your mind. Feel free to repost this when the Sabres franchise is top-tier. I'll give you this. The Sabres have not been stuck in neutral under Pegula. The beep beep beep must be from all the construction vehicles. As for Kim, nice job with the Hasek ceremony. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBHockey13 Posted January 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2015 Well, that's one way of looking at it. :) You've got some real good historical revisionism in there. Stuck in neutral? I never felt that way about the Sabres until the core of Ruff/Regier/Miller etc. was left to fester. Before that, going back to the LaFontaine trade, I felt like the team, even with its small-market handicaps, kept trying and moving forward and even surging at time. Cups could have come in 93, 98, 99, 01, 06, 07. Golisano was not a bum. Murray can't hold a candle, whatever that means, to work that Gerry Meehan, John Muckler and, yes, Darcy Regier did for the Sabres. Meh. What's the point. I'm not going to change your mind. Feel free to repost this when the Sabres franchise is top-tier. I'll give you this. The Sabres have not been stuck in neutral under Pegula. The beep beep beep must be from all the construction vehicles. As for Kim, nice job with the Hasek ceremony. No, I agree, when you put it that way. Scouting using video tapes and trading for guys like Bob Corkum was going to take us to the promised land. Golisano saved the Sabres from moving and helped right the ship after a few tenuous years - and I will be forever grateful. But Golisano wasn't the Knox Brothers, and he isn't Pegula. He's also not the Regas's or the NHL owning the team, so I'll give you that. And honestly - it doesn't matter if you buy the Bills and the Sabres and build Harborcenter - if you screw up a jersey retirement ceremony, you really haven't done anything, have you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IKnowPhysics Posted January 22, 2015 Report Share Posted January 22, 2015 Haha http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_burn_centers_in_the_United_States Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PASabreFan Posted January 22, 2015 Report Share Posted January 22, 2015 No, I agree, when you put it that way. Scouting using video tapes and trading for guys like Bob Corkum was going to take us to the promised land. Golisano saved the Sabres from moving and helped right the ship after a few tenuous years - and I will be forever grateful. But Golisano wasn't the Knox Brothers, and he isn't Pegula. He's also not the Regas's or the NHL owning the team, so I'll give you that. And honestly - it doesn't matter if you buy the Bills and the Sabres and build Harborcenter - if you screw up a jersey retirement ceremony, you really haven't done anything, have you? You are correct, sir. Golisano is not Pegula. If owners are judged by winning, there's a huge chasm between the two. All we have with Terry is some promise of future success. Easy. It's really that simple. Until the Sabres are contenders again, I'm not going to crown Terry's ass. I wouldn't be so quick to joke away the ceremony failure. These are involved owners, and it's said by Ted Black to be a distinct advantage. If that's all the game Kim has, it doesn't bode well in other areas, does it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bunomatic Posted January 23, 2015 Report Share Posted January 23, 2015 As others have said perhaps Dom wanted low key ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taro T Posted January 23, 2015 Report Share Posted January 23, 2015 As others have said perhaps Dom wanted low key ? And, either way, it should be easy enough to find out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PASabreFan Posted January 23, 2015 Report Share Posted January 23, 2015 And, either way, it should be easy enough to find out. If he wanted low-key, wouldn't "unnamed sources" have spoken out by now to that effect, given the backlash? Low-key doesn't have to mean uninspired. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LTS Posted January 23, 2015 Report Share Posted January 23, 2015 It's really that simple. Until the Sabres are contenders again, I'm not going to crown Terry's ass. So, is that where you think Terry's head is? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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