dejeanneret Posted April 12, 2015 Report Share Posted April 12, 2015 (edited) A great piece that focuses on the debate of "tanking". Some of what was done by Eddie Johnston reminded me of what the Sabres did this year, including juggling talent with the AHL and trading starters for picks or a player that didn't play until the next season. Really interesting to hear from Lou Angotti, who was the Penguins head coach at the time, as well as Tom McVie, who coached the Devils which was the team they were racing against for Lemieux but New Jersey "won too many games" and lost out. McVie admits the fans in NJ never forgave hm for that. I remember Ted Nolan admitting in a press conference earlier in the season that who dresses and who starts is something that was discussed with TM and was a group decision. Sounds reminiscent of what happened in Pittsburgh in 84. BTW, Johnston is looked upon as a genius, and a GM who saved a franchise from leaving in the mid 80s. In fact, it was Lemieux who ended up saving the team out of bankruptcy and through his leadership in the front office led them to the cup with Sid the Kid. So in essence, the tank of the Penguins in 84 saved the franchise twice. I wonder how much Lemieux applied from what the Penguins did in 84 to get him in order to secure Sidney Crosby??? Obviously the Sabres aren't in the same financial situation that Pittsburgh was. But the desperation for a franchise player in order to raise the team from the depths of losing is identical. Final note, Nolan played with Lemieux in 85-86 the year he scored 48 goals and 141 points that season. I'm sure he witnessed first hand how much a single player means to a franchise. Edited April 12, 2015 by dejeanneret Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoss Posted April 12, 2015 Report Share Posted April 12, 2015 Posted this in the Around the NHL thread but definitely thought it deserved its own thread... Wonder if we'll see guys from our organization come out and admit so clearly that this was a tank in 30 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabres Fan in NS Posted April 12, 2015 Report Share Posted April 12, 2015 I can't believe that I just wasted about 10 minutes of my life watching this. I am disgusted by what Sabres management did this season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny DangerFace Posted April 12, 2015 Report Share Posted April 12, 2015 I can't believe that I just wasted about 10 minutes of my life watching this. I am disgusted by what Sabres management did this season. You should have finished it, they end up getting a superstar! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabres Fan in NS Posted April 12, 2015 Report Share Posted April 12, 2015 You should have finished it, they end up getting a superstar! I'm fully aware of who they ended up drafting. And I know he directly lead to two Cups. So? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pi2000 Posted April 12, 2015 Report Share Posted April 12, 2015 You could say the same about ARI and TOR. In fact if you look at the last 2 months of the season, ARI and TOR were hands down tanking worse than BUF did at any point over the past 2 seasons. ARI missed the playoffs by just two points last season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoss Posted April 12, 2015 Report Share Posted April 12, 2015 You should have finished it, they end up getting a superstar! :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny DangerFace Posted April 12, 2015 Report Share Posted April 12, 2015 I'm fully aware of who they ended up drafting. And I know he directly lead to two Cups. So? That is what matters. The NJ fans didn't hold their pride up high Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darksabre Posted April 12, 2015 Report Share Posted April 12, 2015 That is what matters. The NJ fans didn't hold their pride up high How many Cups did the Devils win while Mario was playing for the Penguins? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoss Posted April 12, 2015 Report Share Posted April 12, 2015 How many Cups did the Devils win while Mario was playing for the Penguins? One in his first stint and one in his second. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny DangerFace Posted April 12, 2015 Report Share Posted April 12, 2015 How many Cups did the Devils win while Mario was playing for the Penguins? Ha, im not saying its the only way nor was that even my point. I'm just saying after that draft there weren't NJ fans saying they were glad they didn't get the 1st overall pick because of integrity, they were pissed they didn't get it. Anyways, I understand those who think tanking is wrong, I just don't believe it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dudacek Posted April 12, 2015 Report Share Posted April 12, 2015 So, after watching that, my question is: How many of those stupid Ted Nolan coaching decisions this year were Teddy playing Angotti? And if that is the case, how can we, in good conscience, fire him? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrueBlueGED Posted April 12, 2015 Report Share Posted April 12, 2015 So, after watching that, my question is: How many of those stupid Ted Nolan coaching decisions this year were Teddy playing Angotti? And if that is the case, how can we, in good conscience, fire him? Nolan's coaching decisions were so in line with his personality, approach, and history, that I have an extraordinarily difficult time believing they were deliberate attempts to lose. Even if they were him trying to lose, the answer to your question is simple: Murray doesn't think he's good enough or the right guy to build the team with going forward. I don't see why it has to be any more complicated than that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dudacek Posted April 12, 2015 Report Share Posted April 12, 2015 You're a cold man. ZFG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trettioåtta Posted April 12, 2015 Report Share Posted April 12, 2015 I can't believe that I just wasted about 10 minutes of my life watching this. I am disgusted by what Sabres management did this season. You realise we did nothing like this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabres Fan in NS Posted April 12, 2015 Report Share Posted April 12, 2015 You realise we did nothing like this? You're kidding, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trettioåtta Posted April 12, 2015 Report Share Posted April 12, 2015 (edited) You're kidding, right? We didn't trade our best player for no return. We didn't start a goalie who has another job and is a part time hockey player We didn't trade our key players because they were 'too productive' We didn't guarantee we get McDavid Also, we signed some big name free agents...they just didn't work out well The way our team played, Nolan clearly wasn't in on the Tank - e.g. player selection for the PK/PP Secondly, on another level. Why is it wrong to Tank? You should play the system to the best of your ability. Both in game and out. I don't see how this isn't dissimilar to having a player take a player out of th play without getting an interference call. If the NHL doesn't want teams who are miles from the playoffs turning their attention to the draft then they should make the lottery completely even. Alternatively, there was a proposal that once eliminated from the playoffs, it was the team that won the most points that drafts first - basically giving bad teams a head start, but still rewarding winning Edited April 12, 2015 by ThirtyEight Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabres Fan in NS Posted April 12, 2015 Report Share Posted April 12, 2015 The tank is over. I said I would not talk about it any longer. I regret posting in this thread. NS out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WildCard Posted April 12, 2015 Report Share Posted April 12, 2015 Good clip, thanks for posting it. That Pens tank was brutal, but a little similar to ours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrueBlueGED Posted April 12, 2015 Report Share Posted April 12, 2015 You're a cold man. ZFG Have to be! If you're not, things like passing on using a compliance buyout on Mike Richards only to use a regular buyout on him a season later happen. I couldn't be so cut throat in reality, but somebody has to do it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taro T Posted April 12, 2015 Report Share Posted April 12, 2015 How many Cups did the Devils win while Mario was playing for the Penguins?Pretty sure the same # as Super Mario won. Which fan base saw entertaining hockey and which watched (winning) paint dry? Which would you prefer to watch? So, after watching that, my question is: How many of those stupid Ted Nolan coaching decisions this year were Teddy playing Angotti? And if that is the case, how can we, in good conscience, fire him? Through 68 games, the Sabres had 20 pp goals and were giving guys like Weber pp time and notgiving guys like Hodgson pp time. Through the next 14 they got 10 more pp goals even though IIRC they had at least 2 games w/ 0 pp's. They also were putting together what would appear on paper to be their best 2 pp lines. Not sure why the philosophy of using the pp as a reward to guys working hard changed to giving players that might actually score on the pp time, but that decision combined w/ a weaker slate of opponents kept this race 'entertaining.' Would be very interested in hearing why that changed when it did. The answer could be as simple as embarrassment at being outscored on the pp by 30 other entities (29 teams & Ovie) and playing against Ovie that game. And to answer your Q, it really seemed like TN was trying to win every game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smj Posted April 12, 2015 Report Share Posted April 12, 2015 I can't believe that I just wasted about 10 minutes of my life watching this. I am disgusted by what Sabres management did this season. They didn't do anything other than trade some players not under contract and make one big trade to try and get a goal scorer (Staffford wasn't one). The Penguins brought up some scrub to play goal the last 8 games didn't they? The Sabres kept trotting out Linback. The team gave full effort so there is nothing to be disgusted about! If you want to be disgusted be disgusted with Regier who was, for the most part, an awful GM and started the tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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