Why are people acting shocked that Ruff got a 7 year extension from an owner that said he wasn't going anywhere?
That doesn't surprise me at all.
The question now is how in love with the Rochester Core is Pegula (and to some extent Black) and when do they put pressure on Regier to start moving guys out?
Regier is a good soldier. If Pegula and Black tell him to start moving guys out, he will.
Good:
-Stafford in the 1st half of the game. I thought that his intensity was better than I've seen in a while. Cutting to the net, physical play.
-Gerbe showing some heart
-Meyers looked good
-Vanek is ill and not injured
-Regehr's hit on Kadri. Done with such authority
Bad:
-McNabb on Grabovski's goal. He went out of position to hit Grabovski, the hit was soft, and there was no one to close enough to cover for him. I love the way that this kid hits, but he's bound to get burned on occasion.
-One sided calls. The leafs weren't as disciplined as the box score would indicate. Nothing over the top, but there were a couple of obvious non-calls.
Ugly:
-Look ma, no goals Part II
-Komisarek's reaction to being hit with an invisible high stick. W in T holy F was all that flailing about for?
-Ugly = 103.3 stating that Vanek and Regehr were intentionally given food poisoning.
-Uglier = if it's true
-I just don't want to watch this team anymore. They don't win, score, hit, or fight. At this point, I'm just not interested at all.
I didn't care when I had lost the stream. The sabres are so boring to watch at the moment. This is a feeling I've never had before;
There is just nothing special or exciting or entertaining there.
And it won't get better soon. We won't see new players or a major change. This is what I read out of that ridiclous seven year contract for Ruff.
.....
I think I won't watch the next game. I'm sick of seeing a "no show" with no goals for us......
I am usually not such a bandwagoner type of fan, but it's a special situation. In the end this Sabres team dictates our biorhythm... and clearly, at this point in time staying up doesn't pay off at all.
Which means that I'll cut live hockey a bit and will watch more archived games on the next day...
Why are people acting shocked that Ruff got a 7 year extension from an owner that said he wasn't going anywhere?
That doesn't surprise me at all.
The question now is how in love with the Rochester Core is Pegula (and to some extent Black) and when do they put pressure on Regier to start moving guys out?
Regier is a good soldier. If Pegula and Black tell him to start moving guys out, he will.
Why are people acting shocked? No one is acting shocked. They actually are shocked.
Has any coach in pro sports ever been handed a contract of 7 years?? It's pure lunacy if true.
Especially for a coach that has resided over a team that has always fallen short of a championship.
Faceoffs? No
Physical play? No
Defensive play? No
Pking? No
Offense? Yes, for this year.
Feel free to enlighten me as to what he isn't doing that makes him so bad.
He's been a non-factor physically and mediocre defensively. Down the stretch last year, he was a force on the cycle. He's just been a warm body this season.
On top of that, his lack of skating and hands means that he can't fill in for a top six center the way other pivots can.
I'd rather have someone who can skate and consistently apply pressure (Brodziak, Kelly), even if they don't actually hit as much than Gaustad's inconsistent, lumbering frame.
I'll flesh it out. What does Gaustad bring that a journeyman like Steckel wouldn't.
Leadership? Yeah, we're really seeing him whip the effort out of the other guys.
Toughness? Oh right, he was finally guilted into taking his lumps against Lucic 2 weeks after we needed him.
Faceoffs? The two draws I noticed him against Steckel he got owned.
Penalty Killing? How many guys do you need? It ain't rocket science.
Everything about Gaustad at this point says "journeyman" and that's sad because at one point he looked like might because a poor man's Joel Otto and a player who could be part of a winning core. I'm tired of Regier overpaying inferior core players and/or journeymen because they're our core or our journeymen. You can always get a Bob Sweeney or an Eric Belanger or even a David Steckel.
He's been a non-factor physically and mediocre defensively. Down the stretch last year, he was a force on the cycle. He's just been a warm body this season.
He's having a tough year to be sure. But to say he sucks or is bad is a knee jerk reaction to a tough year.
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On top of that, his lack of skating and hands means that he can't fill in for a top six center the way other pivots can.
That is the case for most bottom 6 centers. Thats why they are bottom 6 centers. Plus if he had the capability to fill in in the top 6 and had hands he would have a much larger cap hit than 2.3mil.
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I'd rather have someone who can skate and consistently apply pressure (Brodziak, Kelly), even if they don't actually hit as much than Gaustad's inconsistent, lumbering frame
The old grass is greener arguement. If we had either of those guys we would be in the same position we are now. Kelly is also not any better as a defensive center. In his Ottawa days Vermette/Fisher were the guys that did the heavy lifting and in Boston their top two centers handle it. Whereas Goose has to do it here because we have no other options. Thats managements fault not Goose's
I didn't want to make a new thread for this, but is it unrealistic to think Vanek/Regehr were spotted in Toronto and an unruly Leafs fan/cook tained their food?
I'd order in anonymously if I ever played in the NHL on the road.
Gaustad is/ was terrible. Career 4th liner with zero career playoff goals. If we re-sign him it will be such a joke, we Need new players not keeping the same garbage scrubs we already have.
Why are people acting shocked? No one is acting shocked. They actually are shocked.
Has any coach in pro sports ever been handed a contract of 7 years?? It's pure lunacy if true.
Especially for a coach that has resided over a team that has always fallen short of a championship.
Its mega ****** to hear but I wouldn't at all be surprised. I've said for quite a while that IMHO Pegula bought into the belief that the only issue with this team was with ownership. That's why when he bought the team he made a lot of promises. He felt that top tier ownership spending lots of coin was likely all that was needed to bring a cup to Buffalo. He bought into Lindy and Darcy from day 1. Signing Leino for 6 years, Ehrhoff for 10 years, and knowing how much he adores Lindy? 7 years seems right about on par with what he and his partners dished out last season. He wanted to take care of Lindy; the only way he knows how. Firm commitment. No more 2 year contract B.S. He really believes that Lindy is not the problem and honestly, IMO this is only the beginning.
Last edited by S319R11S16: 01-11-2012 at 11:35 AM.
Faceoffs? Loses every single clutch one he needs to win seemingly.
Loses every clutch one....seemingly.
Translation, you hate Goose so you always noticed when he loses them. But when he wins them its taken for granted and goes unnoticed. Its awfully hard to be on the best faceoff men in the league while simultaneously losing every big faceoff.
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Physical play? Right..? Guy pretty much never fights or hits unless he is absolutely forced to (Lucic after he pretty much was embarrassed).
He is a consistant hitter and is always battling along the walls and in front of the net. Thats called physical play. He will never be a consistant big hitter due to his skating and frame (6'5" 212lbs is hardly a stout build). But he will still get in the occassional big hit.
As for not fighting, what? He is in 4-6 fights every year. I love how everyone has already forgotten him going after Allen after he crumpled one of our forwards (whose name escapes me) earlier in the season. He ended up fighting Gleason instead since Allen turtled and Gleason stepped in. Goose pounded the piss out of him and Gleason is no slouch as a fighter. He also fought Matt Bradley and bloodied him. Then he fought Lucic.
The Lucic thing with Goose has gotten blown WAY out of proportion. He was the furthest player from the play and last on the scene. Could he have done more to push through everyone to force a fight with Lucic? Probably. But its not like he was standing right there like Vanek and Sekera were when Miller got hit and did nothing. When they played again he fought Lucic and I;m pretty sure if he was where Vanek was on that play he would have fought Lucic. But he wasn't. No one was harder on Goose about that incident than he was on himself. He atoned for it in the next game. My question is why wasn't the only guy on the roster paid to fight (McCormick) not ripped apart not doing anything later. Its the reason he is on the roster.
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Pking? Okay he's decent he seems too slow at times and gets caught out of position.
He's one of the best PKers on the team and his faceoff ability is a big part of that.
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And offense? You can't be serious, perhaps by the leagues current standard and Terry Pegula's standard of overpaying bad coaches and players Guastad deserves 2.3 million but let's face facts he should be making a million tops for what he does. He's a nice forth line center nothing more. The next extension they will announce is Paul Gaustad at 3 years 12 million. Why not?
Another poster not understanding that 12+g and 30+ points a normal offensive output of a 3rd line center. Its certainly far more than a 4th line center would put up.
At the end of the day he gets paid 2.3mil because he can do a lot of different things.
Translation, you hate Goose so you noticed when he loses them but take it for granted when he wins them.
He is a consistant hitter and is always battling along the walls and in front of the net. Thats called physical play. He will never be a consistant big hitter due to his skating and frame (6'5" 212lbs is hardly a stout build). But he will still get in the occassional big hit.
As for not fighting, what? He is in 4-6 fights every year. I love how everyone has already forgotten him going after Allen after he crumpled one of our forwards (whose name escapes me) earlier in the season. He ended up fighting Gleason instead since Allen turtled and Gleason stepped in. Goose pounded the piss out of him. He also fought Matt Bradley and bloodied him. The he fought Lucic.
The Lucic thing with Goose has gotten blown WAY out of proportion. He was the furthest player from the play and last on the scene. Could he have done more to push through everyone to force a fight with Lucic. Probably. But its not like he was standing right there like Vanek and Sekera were when Miller got hit and did nothing. When they played again he fought Lucic. No one was harder on Goose about that incident than he was on himself. My question is why wasn't the only guy on the roster paid to fight (McCormick) not ripped apart not doing anything later. Its the reason he is on the roster.
He's one of the best PKers on the team and his faceoff ability is a big part of that.
Another poster not understanding that 12+g and 30+ points a normal offensive output of a 3rd line center. Its certainly far more than a 4th line center would put up.
At the end of the day he gets paid 2.3mil becasue he can do a lot of different things.
There are worse contracts on this roster and McCormick is one of them.
He's having a tough year to be sure. But to say he sucks or is bad is a knee jerk reaction to a tough year.
I don't think he's bad, just inconsistent enough at everything but faceoffs to not have a part on a team without a stacked top six. He was bad for most of 09/10, half of last season and most of this year as well.
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That is the case for most bottom 6 centers. Thats why they are bottom 6 centers. Plus if he had the capability to fill in in the top 6 and had hands he would have a much larger cap hit than 2.3mil.
It's the combination of skating and hands that's frustrating though. If he had good offensive instincts, while lacking the speed to do things at the NHL level, that would be one thing, but he can't keep up with scorers and can't facilitate them the off times he has time to make moves either.
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The old grass is greener arguement. If we had either of those guys we would be in the same position we are now. Kelly is also not any better as a defensive center. In his Ottawa days Vermette/Fisher were the guys that did the heavy lifting and in Boston their top two centers handle it. Whereas Goose has to do it here because we have no other options. Thats managements fault not Goose's
Disagree. Kelly would still give us a more consistent forechecking presence than Gaustad, even with less physicality. He's simply got a better motor than Goose. We'd be much better if we could get some consistent contribution, even in terms of puck possession from the bottom six. Gaustad hasn't been particularly consistent in any facet of his game besides faceoffs this season, and the team can't afford a bottom six pivot with that kind of variation in his game.
Goose is probably overpaid by a little bit, but as JJ points out, he's a nice utility player to have. I think people are just disappointed that he didn't develop into the power player they thought he could, scoring a lot of dirty goals in the paint and knocking more guys on their butts. A little over a year ago, many on this board were pumping him as the next captain, the heart and soul of the Sabres for the rest of his career, and a nearly untouchable player. I knew at the time that this was getting too carried away with Goose, just as I know now that people are being too hard on him.
At the end of the day, Goose has very little to do with our current inability to score goals. Please look to guys like Roy, Ennis, Stafford, Leino and Boyes for that problem.
I don't think he's bad, just inconsistent enough at everything but faceoffs to not have a part on a team without a stacked top six. He was bad for most of 09/10, half of last season and most of this year as well.
It's the combination of skating and hands that's frustrating though. If he had good offensive instincts, while lacking the speed to do things at the NHL level, that would be one thing, but he can't keep up with scorers and can't facilitate them the off times he has time to make moves either.
Disagree. Kelly would still give us a more consistent forechecking presence than Gaustad, even with less physicality. He's simply got a better motor than Goose. We'd be much better if we could get some consistent contribution, even in terms of puck possession from the bottom six. Gaustad hasn't been particularly consistent in any facet of his game besides faceoffs this season, and the team can't afford a bottom six pivot with that kind of variation in his game.
THIS. watching the leafs game yesterday, it looked like gerbe-ellis-mccormick (and leino? i feel like he was with gerbe a lot too) were the only ones on this team that could actually establish a forecheck. we absolutely suck at applying pressure offensively on a regular basis.
.....
