"Double Meat For The Sabres Offseason"
….that's it. - Octavarium, NY • 35 Years Old • Male
Sabres 2012: Avoiding The Edge of a Cliff
Posted 6:59 PM ET | Comments 14
Much has been made about the Sabres' 11'-12' season. It was perceived to be their best one since 06'-07'. Except in that year, the Sabres exceeded expectations. They won The President's Trophy, making them the best team in the league, according to the score sheet. Columnists, bloggers, and other media folks alike had correctly predicted a certain degree of dominance by the Blue and Gold. The Sabres had returning stars Chris Drury and Danny Briere as a premier scoring duo, along with the extremely talented Thomas Vanek, Jason Pominville, and Derek Roy as a very powerful second line of scoring. Adding to that, the roster was complimented with quality scoring talents in Drew Stafford, Max Afinogenov, Clarke MacArthur, Tim Connolly, and Jochen Hecht. Ryan Miller was just beginning to show that he was an elite top 5 goalie in the league. Our defensive core was strong to say the least, led by Brian Campbell and Teppo Numminen. We were a fantastic team, on paper and on the ice. We came very close to the cup that year, and with a lot of bad luck and injuries, we were knocked out. We had a great season, just like everyone said we would.
Times have changed since that year. The Sabres have been an above average team since letting their TWO best players in Drury and Briere walk. Ever since letting them go, this team has been trying to establish a new identity. We had been consumed in status quo mediocrity for years, until new owner Terry Pegula came in and promised to spend as much money as possible to bring the team back to the top. But money doesn't always buy success. Perennial spenders, like the Flames, Leafs, Canucks, Canadiens, and Penguins were either knocked out of the first round of the playoffs, or didn't even make them. Toronto hasn't been to the playoffs in 8 years. Then you look at teams like the Coyotes, the Blues, and the Panthers. Teams that sometimes need help in reaching the cap FLOOR. Coyotes make it to the finals, Panthers make their first playoff appearance in 12 years, and the Blues go into the playoffs as one of the top teams in the league. It's less about money and more about how the coaches USE their talent. The Blues and Panthers had new coaches this year, and they stunned the league. Phoenix, with coach Tippett, went all the way to the conference finals with a 40 year old as their highest scorer. Of course, money can certainly lure attractive free agents with plenty of skill. But if that skill doesn't mesh with the chemistry of your team, you're going to have one huge albatross contract on your books for years to come.
The 2011-12 season brought huge contracts, huge expectations, new ownership, and plenty of fans ready to escape the hole of average and excel into the elite group of teams into the league, and get to the second round of the playoffs for the first time in five years. After 82 games, what was expected of this team and what actually happened couldn't be more far apart. Huge new contracts under performed along with the rest of the team, almost every player on the team was injured for some period of time, and once again, we finished just short of a playoff spot. With an unheard of amount of injuries, and a giant mid season losing streak, the team couldn't dig itself out of the massive hole it dug itself. At one point, the Sabres reached last place in the conference by the time the all star break came around. Morale was at an all time low. There was no motivation, no passion on the ice. The city of Buffalo was screaming for GM Darcy Regier and coach Lindy Ruff to be replaced. Although the team went on a fantastic run to finish the season, they still finished in 9th, one spot short of a playoff spot. Darcy made some great trades at the deadline to bring in a young gifted center and Cody Hodgson, and a very under rated, simple and steady defenseman in Alex Sulzer. Trading Gaustad for a first round pick was ingenious in itself. No one believed it could be done, yet Darcy pulled it off.
To avoid the cliff this year, some changes of the core should be made, and even though Terry Pegula has said many times he won't have his coach fired, I think it should be heavily considered. He's been here since 1997-98, and our core of players has been around since 2005, minus Drury and Briere. Roy, Pommer, Stafford, Hecht, and the recently traded Gaustad have been here too long as a group, and need to be split, starting with Derek Roy. We need a coach who can properly utilize the talents on this team and not use guys like Brad Boyes as a fourth line center, and Jochen Hecht as a first line center. Coaching changes did wonders this year alone for teams that include New Jersey (cup finalist), Los Angeles (cup winner), Florida (first playoff berth ever), St Louis (complete turnaround from last year), and Ottawa (see St Louis). Changes don't always work, like with Washington (essentially stayed the same), Toronto (got worse), and Anaheim, who actually did better but dug a hole too deep to escape. Maybe it's time for Buffalo to follow the same course of action, and bring in a new coach to more properly utilize the talents on this team like Phoenix, St Louis, Florida, Ottawa, and all the other discussed franchises have done. Maybe guys like Ville Leino can play up to his enormous 4.5 mil contract, or Vanek can score more than 60 points a season like he's paid to do. And hopefully if we do sign a few free agents on July 1st, we spend our money more wisely. My next blogs will cover the draft of 2012, and the free agent market and how Buffalo can make some crafty pickups.
Times have changed since that year. The Sabres have been an above average team since letting their TWO best players in Drury and Briere walk. Ever since letting them go, this team has been trying to establish a new identity. We had been consumed in status quo mediocrity for years, until new owner Terry Pegula came in and promised to spend as much money as possible to bring the team back to the top. But money doesn't always buy success. Perennial spenders, like the Flames, Leafs, Canucks, Canadiens, and Penguins were either knocked out of the first round of the playoffs, or didn't even make them. Toronto hasn't been to the playoffs in 8 years. Then you look at teams like the Coyotes, the Blues, and the Panthers. Teams that sometimes need help in reaching the cap FLOOR. Coyotes make it to the finals, Panthers make their first playoff appearance in 12 years, and the Blues go into the playoffs as one of the top teams in the league. It's less about money and more about how the coaches USE their talent. The Blues and Panthers had new coaches this year, and they stunned the league. Phoenix, with coach Tippett, went all the way to the conference finals with a 40 year old as their highest scorer. Of course, money can certainly lure attractive free agents with plenty of skill. But if that skill doesn't mesh with the chemistry of your team, you're going to have one huge albatross contract on your books for years to come.
The 2011-12 season brought huge contracts, huge expectations, new ownership, and plenty of fans ready to escape the hole of average and excel into the elite group of teams into the league, and get to the second round of the playoffs for the first time in five years. After 82 games, what was expected of this team and what actually happened couldn't be more far apart. Huge new contracts under performed along with the rest of the team, almost every player on the team was injured for some period of time, and once again, we finished just short of a playoff spot. With an unheard of amount of injuries, and a giant mid season losing streak, the team couldn't dig itself out of the massive hole it dug itself. At one point, the Sabres reached last place in the conference by the time the all star break came around. Morale was at an all time low. There was no motivation, no passion on the ice. The city of Buffalo was screaming for GM Darcy Regier and coach Lindy Ruff to be replaced. Although the team went on a fantastic run to finish the season, they still finished in 9th, one spot short of a playoff spot. Darcy made some great trades at the deadline to bring in a young gifted center and Cody Hodgson, and a very under rated, simple and steady defenseman in Alex Sulzer. Trading Gaustad for a first round pick was ingenious in itself. No one believed it could be done, yet Darcy pulled it off.
To avoid the cliff this year, some changes of the core should be made, and even though Terry Pegula has said many times he won't have his coach fired, I think it should be heavily considered. He's been here since 1997-98, and our core of players has been around since 2005, minus Drury and Briere. Roy, Pommer, Stafford, Hecht, and the recently traded Gaustad have been here too long as a group, and need to be split, starting with Derek Roy. We need a coach who can properly utilize the talents on this team and not use guys like Brad Boyes as a fourth line center, and Jochen Hecht as a first line center. Coaching changes did wonders this year alone for teams that include New Jersey (cup finalist), Los Angeles (cup winner), Florida (first playoff berth ever), St Louis (complete turnaround from last year), and Ottawa (see St Louis). Changes don't always work, like with Washington (essentially stayed the same), Toronto (got worse), and Anaheim, who actually did better but dug a hole too deep to escape. Maybe it's time for Buffalo to follow the same course of action, and bring in a new coach to more properly utilize the talents on this team like Phoenix, St Louis, Florida, Ottawa, and all the other discussed franchises have done. Maybe guys like Ville Leino can play up to his enormous 4.5 mil contract, or Vanek can score more than 60 points a season like he's paid to do. And hopefully if we do sign a few free agents on July 1st, we spend our money more wisely. My next blogs will cover the draft of 2012, and the free agent market and how Buffalo can make some crafty pickups.
You need to do a little research... Florida has made the playoffs before and made it the stanley cup finals.. Phoenix only made it to the western conf. finals, just to be clear...
IM sorry but this may one of the worst articles ever written.
Message Posted
Yea, great thing about being a blogger is that im not a journalist that has to fact check. Whipped this up in about twenty minutes. Yea, knew PHX only made conf finals, kinda what I meant. Florida part,m that's on me. Thanks for input.
20 mins sounds about right
Ya...noMaybe we should just limit bloggers per team. Not just anyone who's a fan but not very good, one these statements are false and we have another in Drum just voicing all whiney info and attacking others all the time even though no one cares about the whining...I actually actually enjoy Garth's insight and grandiose delusions and Kevin's spot on insight. Let's leave the Sabres blogging to these two.I do agree with taco though. Get rid of Ruff, but than again who cares what I say too
if you want to type something in 20 minutes without fact checking maybe you should get a livejournal...
This is the worst blog I have ever written. Take the extra ten minutes to write this so that you don't make the egregious error of saying that "The Sabres finished in 9th place yet again." We haven't finished in 9th place since 2004.
This is the worst blog I have ever read****. Take the extra ten minutes to write this so that you don't make the egregious error of saying that "The Sabres finished in 9th place yet again." We haven't finished in 9th place since 2004.
I did not read this.
Alrite haters, fixed some errors.
Hey everyone, instead of sticking pins in an error two, his points are well made. He basically is saying money does not guarantee championships, or even winning teams. He is basically saying what many feel, change at the top may be necessary. I personally like what Regier has done, and as Taco stated, a change in coach is probably needed. And since none of you really touched on that, you must agree with Taco. Good job Taco.