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GM Tim Murray - Time for a serious conversation

Scottysabres

By Scottysabres
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LGR4GM

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Change your avatar already.

 

Interesting read. "But what do the Sabres have to show for it, exactly? An underachieving bunch of overpaid veterans and entitled kids, with an embattled head coach, a sieve of a defense and an increasingly disaffected fan base."

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GASabresIUFAN All Star

GASabresIUFAN

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Change your avatar already.

 

Interesting read. "But what do the Sabres have to show for it, exactly? An underachieving bunch of overpaid veterans and entitled kids, with an embattled head coach, a sieve of a defense and an increasingly disaffected fan base."

New Avatar ok?

 

Great quote from the column by the way.

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dudacek Hall of Famer

dudacek

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Wait a minute, Jerry Sullivan picked a moment when things were at their nadir and eloquently found the words to capture its exact misery and make everyone involved look and feel like feces?

 

It's a rare gift he has. And used in such a constructive fashion.

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Two or less First Liner

Two or less

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I'm not a Jerry Sullivan fan by any means, but he is on the right track. I like Murray but he's build a very flawed team. Everyone (me included) want Bylsma gone, and think fixing the defense will solve everything, but this team has bigger issues. We've screwed ourselves with the cap (Murray re-signed Ennis and Moulson) and this team plays with no urgency or passion on most nights. Gorges said if you need a coach to motivate you, you shouldn't be in the league. Kane said team needs swagger.

 

I'm a strong believer this team needs a new coach. And a revamped defense. But theres still a lot more that they need then just that to be successful.

 

However, i still think very highly of Murray. For whatever reason, maybe he saw an opportunity, or got a message from upper management, to speed up the rebuild. Granted the 2014 draft looks bad. But the players we drafted in 2015 and 2016 look very promising. It'll take time for those players to come up to the AHL and eventually NHL so they won't count for immediate success but theres a lot of talent that we picked. Hard workers, winners, leaders, goal-producers, you name it.

Edited by Briere48
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Thwomp! Third Liner

Thwomp!

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Wait a minute, Jerry Sullivan picked a moment when things were at their nadir and eloquently found the words to capture its exact misery and make everyone involved look and feel like feces?

 

It's a rare gift he has. And used in such a constructive fashion.

 

They should all feel and look like feces.  That's what they put on the ice afterall.  There needs to be some accountability somewhere.

 

Love the irony, though, in how you never miss a chance to immediately beat down Sullivan in the same way that you complain about him doing to others, whether he's correct or not.

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Sabel79 First Liner

Sabel79

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They should all feel and look like feces.  That's what they put on the ice afterall.  There needs to be some accountability somewhere.

 

Love the irony, though, in how you never miss a chance to immediately beat down Sullivan in the same way that you complain about him doing to others, whether he's correct or not.

Broken clock, blind squirrel, and so on.

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dudacek Hall of Famer

dudacek

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They should all feel and look like feces. That's what they put on the ice afterall. There needs to be some accountability somewhere.

 

Love the irony, though, in how you never miss a chance to immediately beat down Sullivan in the same way that you complain about him doing to others, whether he's correct or not.

There needs to be some accountability somewhere. ????

(But I am sorry if I make Jerry feel like feces. That wouldn't be nice.)

Edited by dudacek
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Samson's Flow First Liner

Samson's Flow

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Man, he had a pinata! Except once we hit it open it was just disappointment. Then he told me this is how life works, and threw me out going down I-90

The PA indoctrination is complete. Any WNYer would have said "THE I-90". Wildcard we barely knew ye...  :cry:

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Marions Piazza Top Prospect

Marions Piazza

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I'm not a Jerry Sullivan fan by any means, but he is on the right track. I like Murray but he's build a very flawed team. Everyone (me included) want Bylsma gone, and think fixing the defense will solve everything, but this team has bigger issues. We've screwed ourselves with the cap (Murray re-signed Ennis and Moulson) and this team plays with no urgency or passion on most nights. Gorges said if you need a coach to motivate you, you shouldn't be in the league. Kane said team needs swagger.

 

I'm a strong believer this team needs a new coach. And a revamped defense. But theres still a lot more that they need then just that to be successful.

 

However, i still think very highly of Murray. For whatever reason, maybe he saw an opportunity, or got a message from upper management, to speed up the rebuild. Granted the 2014 draft looks bad. But the players we drafted in 2015 and 2016 look very promising. It'll take time for those players to come up to the AHL and eventually NHL so they won't count for immediate success but theres a lot of talent that we picked. Hard workers, winners, leaders, goal-producers, you name it.

It's easy to criticize those signings now, but, when they were made, they made sense.  Moulson had been a multiple 30 goal scorer and Ennis was consistently scoring 20+ goals even during the tank years.  How much blame can you really put on the GM?  COuld he foresee that his coach would put Moulson on the 4th line almost right away and get hardly any minutes over the last two years?  Moulson showed early on in this season that he could still put the puck in the net while Eichel was out.  What happened as soon as Eichel came back?  4th line minutes again.  Can you really blame the GM for Ennis either?  The kid got hurt a few times and once with a bad concussion, things out of the GM's control.  The only thing I will blame GMTM for is if he keeps Bylsma passed this summer.

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TrueBlueGED Hall of Famer

TrueBlueGED

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It's easy to criticize those signings now, but, when they were made, they made sense. Moulson had been a multiple 30 goal scorer and Ennis was consistently scoring 20+ goals even during the tank years. How much blame can you really put on the GM? COuld he foresee that his coach would put Moulson on the 4th line almost right away and get hardly any minutes over the last two years? Moulson showed early on in this season that he could still put the puck in the net while Eichel was out. What happened as soon as Eichel came back? 4th line minutes again. Can you really blame the GM for Ennis either? The kid got hurt a few times and once with a bad concussion, things out of the GM's control. The only thing I will blame GMTM for is if he keeps Bylsma passed this summer.

Ennis is just bad luck, but Moulson's decline was absolutely foreseeable. Maybe not foreseeable in year one of the deal, but he was a perfect example of a player that falls into uselessness sooner rather than later.

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Drunkard First Liner

Drunkard

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Only to play Devil's Advocate, is it possible that Moulson's Contract was in response to the league telling Murray at least make it look good?

 

Even if that somehow was the case, that's no excuse to sign a 30 year old Free Agent to a 5 year deal. Hell we could have paid him the same money over 3 years and we'd be done with him right now. Or something more reasonable like $18 million over 3 years.

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GASabresIUFAN All Star

GASabresIUFAN

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Ennis is just bad luck, but Moulson's decline was absolutely foreseeable. Maybe not foreseeable in year one of the deal, but he was a perfect example of a player that falls into uselessness sooner rather than later.

Especially when you consider that since the first lockout the need for speed has only increased with each passing year. Gorges is the same thing. NHL D are asked to do more each year. Slow physical D who add little else are going the way of the dinosaur. These trends were clear 3 years ago and it was easily foreseeable that both comtractscwould quickly become a burden rather then an asset.

 

While the extent of Ennis' injuries weren't foreseeable, injuries to small players are the norm, just ask Marc Savard. It was also foreseeable that his role might diminish as the tank and rebuild progressed and we drafted high end talent. I am a big believer in bridge contracts. Coho, and Ennis are the poster boys for bridge deals. Wouldn't the situation be vastly improved if GMTM signed him for 3 yrs 10 mill instead of the 5 for 23 he signed him for?

 

I hope GMTM signs Lehner to a 3yr 12mill bridge this off-season.

Edited by GASabresFan
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Scottysabres First Liner

Scottysabres

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Listened to the presser.

Read many comments, from this board and other sources.

 

Tim Murray takes responsibility. Great, he should. But no questions were asked that were paramount to the failure we, as fans, just witnessed this season.

 

Yes injuries had an impact, yes our depth is young or in some positions, non-existent. But in the final analysis, why did the prime roster players Murray acquired not succeed here this season? I'm talking about Bogosain, Gorges, Kulikov on defense and Moulson on offense.

Also, what of the declining play of Girgensons, Ennis and Reinhart?

 

This is your mess Murray, and while you profess to take responsibility for it, fixing it does NOT answer the questions of your talent acquisitions and re-signings that created the mess.

 

Customers want answers, no matter how painful.

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