Well, at least they’re not half-assing it. They’re not just bad, they’re horrifying.
If I were the GM of the Sabres, I would fire Lindy Ruff. Not because I think he’s a bad coach, but because he’s obviously a bad coach for this particular team, and this is the team we have signed for the next four years.
The Willful Caboose 
To me, the fact that this is the team you have signed for four years would argue for firing the GM, not the coach. But maybe I’m underestimating Darcy’s quiet genius…
A casual fan like yourself would want to fire the coach. I bet you think Pominville has been good, right?
Well Sam, I guess I was assuming, since I am now the GM of the Sabres that Darcy Regier is already fired. :P But yes, he probably needs to go too. But I’m being pragmatic here. I want this team to CHANGE. I don’t really see how firing the GM changes the team. We’re still stuck with these players who are still tuning Lindy out. I think Darcy put the nail in Lindy’s coffin when he signed Tim Connolly to two more years at $4.5 million. Taking TImmy off the books was his opportunity to change the culture of the team. He did not take it. So, we no longer get to change the culture of the team by switching out the core players.
Heh, Barf.
Just cutting to the quick. I appreciate that.
Thanks, Erin. It was surprisingly hard to write….I think Lindy should be fired.
Katebits, ur a tewl. Ur making me cry. :(
Aw, Barfie. Don’t cry. It’s just hockey!
Kate, you have a troll infestation. That’s worse than mold. Bleach ’em. Or at least teach them to spell.
This game hurt. I was all excited when Pommers had a goal and an assist. It seems everytime they show a glimmer of hope, it fades. Only by fades I mean they take that glimmer and bash it to hell with a sledgehammer. Then poke it with a stick.
I still think ur kewl
mcguffers, if Katebits ignores the mold-trolls, she can join my mold-ignorers facebook group! (It’s also a FIRE LINDY! facebook group, but we rope people in by appealing to their mold-ignoring sides.)
Lindy is a good coach, one of the best in the business. It’s Reiger who’s got to go. Give Lindy the dual title of Coach/GM. It’s been done before, and I bet he’ll change the culture of the room almost instantaneously. Ruff was a really intense and tough player when he played. I refuse to believe that he approves of half of these soft guys (*cough, pansies, *cough) that Reiger is responsible for bringing in. Ruff can’t teach intensity and passion — it’s innate, or something like that.
Fire Reiger, and promote Lindy to Supreme Dictator.
Aw, thanks mcguffer. I think that second troll was the ookies making fun of the first troll. That’s how seriously we take trolls around here. :P We take a moldy situation and then cover it in blue cheese dressing to confuse everyone.
This game was BRU-tal, and yet totally, totally predictable. You’re absolutely right, hope is like the kiss of death for this team. I have to admit, at no point tonight did I think they were going to win. The Thrasher game really put me on guard. No lead is safe. Whatever is ailing these guys it feels deep seated and systemic.
We take a moldy situation and then cover it in blue cheese dressing to confuse everyone.
And then wrap it in club sauce, baby!
spavery, I really think that Darcy takes Lindy’s opinion very very seriously. I doubt there is a single recently signed player on the Sabres right now that Lindy didn’t expressly approve of. Darcy didn’t “bring these guys in,” he and Lindy raised them. And anyway, I’m not saying Darcy shouldn’t take his lumps too. Fire him as well. All I’m saying is that from this point forward, in my opinion the easiest, most effective way to change the culture of this team is to get a new head coach.
How would making Lindy the GM change anything? We’d still have the same players and the same contracts.
Eh, what do I know? All I know is that half the teams ahead of us in the Eastern Conference fired their coaches this season.
I definitely do NOT want to sound like I’m defending Regier. I just want the Sabres to stop sucking. If I were the GM, I’d fire Lindy.
I think that second troll was the ookies making fun of the first troll.
those sneaky bastards! I can’t believe I fell for that! If they had just used Schnookie’s icon like the Crickets did, I totally would have caught that.
So wait, is there really not a facebook group for Mold-troll ignorers? Cause I was all set to set up an account!
mcguffer, :^::::::::::::::::: I will START a mold troll ignorers Facebook page, just for us!
If they had just used Schnookie’s icon like the Crickets did, I totally would have caught that.
Barfie’s smarter than the crickets — he used a different browser to log in. Unrelatedly, I wonder if Barfie is related to Blobby…
GREAT, that’s JUST what I need, Blobby’s deadbeat brother BARFIE! He makes Blobby look like a prince by comparison.
He makes Blobby look like a prince by comparison.
You bet he does. I mean, at least Blobby sometimes brings you flowers after you’ve kicked him out. Barfie’s a monster.
Blobby always brings flowers. He’s really can be such a sweetie.
I will START a mold troll ignorers Facebook page, just for us!
Awesome! I’ll go take a picture of myself in the bathroom mirror looking all emo for my profile pic!
Unrelatedly, I wonder if Barfie is related to Blobby…
Wouldn’t it be cute if they were twins and their parents dressed them alike?
I totally agree that Darcy doesn’t deserve all the blame for the current roster. I think he ultimately makes all the final personnel decisions but Lindy clearly has input and I have a hard time seeing Darcy signing anyone that Lindy really, really has a problem with. They’re in this mess together.
Kate, if you start posting twice a day instead of once a day, I might start seeing you as less of a casual fan. Just for the record.
They’re in this mess together.
Word. This team is their Frankenstein monster. They raised it together. I’m only making a point of suggesting Lindy should be fired because I think it would have the biggest impact on the team.
Sigh. TWICE a day is what it takes to be a real fan?! Dude, posting twice a day about the Sabres is some serious drudgery. I think I’d want to be certified as a mega-fan if I did that.
I’m going to be different and say fire your GM. And sign an ancient indecisive Swede! It has done absolute wonders for the Canucks :D
I’m sorry to see the sabres torturing their fans like this…
That said, if the Sabres do fire Lindy (instead of faking to kill him), I hope Gainey jumps on him and forces him to sign a gazillion years contract in Montreal…
Grrrreg, I’m sure Lindy would do wonders for the Habs. He’s a great coach, but I do believe that there is a reason it’s unusual for a coach to have such a long tenure with a team. It’s not good for the team and it’s not good for the coach. I don’t recommend the gazillion year contract. You should start with three years and then go from there. :)
Fire Lindy and replace him with who? (or is it whom?)
Is there a coach as good as him out there? Sure it might shake these guys up but then again right now I’m not sure they are shakable! (I would not be sorry to see the GM go though.)
I’m leaning towards a cleaning of house this summer. The Sabres have a few ufa and rfa that should go. I would only try to keep Spacek and I think that might not be possible.
Thanks for your comment, Sue!
I’d replace Lindy with James Patrick. I don’t think this team is currently being well coached, so I guess I’m not really worried about trying to find someone “as good”. They’re lazy, they don’t play hard, they’re disorganized, and there is no leadership ANYWHERE. I’m not really blaming Lindy for any of this, but he’s sure not fixing it either. This is his team. These are his players. I just think it’s become obvious that his message has gotten stale in the locker room.
The only players whose salaries are worth talking about in terms of taking off the books are Spacek and Afinogenov. Obviously Max is gone, but I agree, Spacek should probably be re-signed. He’ll need a bit of a raise I’m sure. Other than that, we have a handful of RFAs who will also need raises. Staffy, Sekera, and possibly MacArthur.
I just don’t think there are too many options to significantly change the locker room this summer. This core of players is here to stay, and they are signed to longterm, difficult to move, contracts. The coach of the Buffalo Sabres has to make it work with these guys.
What about Randy Cunnyworth? He knew all these players when they were still young and hopeful.
I’m done for this year. I could understand losing a close game in OT or a shootout if they’d played with heart. But to be outshot 36-13? See you in September.
The complaint from Rochester fans when Cunneyworth was there was that he wasn’t a great in-game coach. Great at development, but not so much at the during-the-game stuff. I don’t feel that’s what you want from an NHL head coach.
As for firing the coach, maybe it would work although it’s kind of a moot point since it’s not happening. But I think if you have this lineup and a new coach for the full season next year than you pretty much get the same results. I think the makeup of the team is fundamentally flawed. You can get guys to play out of character for part of a season, but over the course of 82 games that’s not going to be the case. And the Sabres right now simply can’t win consistently without players playing out of character..
Regardless of coaching they can make changes to the team itself and if they’re going to improve they need to do so. The Sabres have plenty of tradeable contracts. They need to make some hard decisions because the team as currently constituted isn’t going to be a particularly good team no matter who coaches them. The question, to me, is whether or not they’re capable of making those decisions.
Which contracts do you see as moveable, Meg? I think Roy, Tallinder and Lydman are probably moveable, but other than that… I dunno. I guess I personally think this crew is underachieving and that a lot more can be gotten out of them. I disagree pretty strongly that it’s a safe assumption a full season with a different coach would produce the same results.
I would trade Hank and Toni before I traded Roy. Roy’s playing to his contract and clicks with most of the team. Bad commercial acting and questionable fashion choices aside, I wouldn’t get rid of him. Hank may need a change of scenery (sorry, Heather) and we probably could get something decent for him and either Clarke MacArthur or Danny Paille.
Connolly is moveable as long as he’s healthy. Sabres fans didn’t like that contract, but it’s less than the going rate for a player with his kind of offensive skill and it’s only for two years. There are teams with deeper pockets than the Sabres for whom that would barely be a risk. MacArthur and Paille could be moved, I’d bet. Stafford is definitely moveable. So is Sekera. I’m not advocating moving any particular player because I don’t know what deals would be on the table, but none of these guys are so fantastic that they should be untouchable if there’s something available that would improve the team. And that’s what I meant about hard decisions.
The Sabres are easily one of the smallest teams in the league and for the most part they’re soft, soft, soft. Up front they can muster what, a fairly physical though not particularly big fourth line plus Paul Gaustad hitting in the top 9? And Lydman is their most physical defenseman? That’s just not enough. Yes, they’ve got skill that’s underachieving, but part of the reason those players are underachieving is because they’re part of a bad mix. As a result they’re either physically outplayed or asked to do things they can’t really do because there’s no one else on the team who can. This team needs to get grittier or they’re not going to win.
I’m sorry, Kate, I feel like that last comment from me sounds super-cranky and negative and I really didn’t mean it that way. @@@@@@@@@@@@@
Thanks for the response Kate.
I was reading something on the Buffalo news site and remembered that Lindy has one year left in his contract after this year, so maybe he will go. After I wrote my previous response I remembered that Jim Schoenfeld is with NYR as an assistant. Maybe they could get him. From what I’ve heard he can do some yelling (or maybe that’s just at referees!).
I would agree that there is no way that Roy is moveable. He’s a soft player, but at least he plays with intensity & passion. He has the balls to complain to the officials. He’s emotional, and he’s worth the contract he signed. Pominville is the guy who needs to go. Trade him away. I’m sorry, Katebits, but usually the hockey players who remind you of cute puppies are not the kind of hockey players who end up hoisting a Stanley Cup! Hockey champions usually resemble ogres. Furthermore, if he says in press conference one more time that “it’s definitely frustrating” to lose, he might need to be kenneled!
Too: cut Paille, and cut McArthur, cut Peters, and bring in an enforcer who can actually handle playing six minutes a night. Completely overhaul the defence, and bring up that 6’7 defenseman. We can start from there…
Oh, no worries Meg! I LOVE this debate! I was just in a rehearsal, so I couldn’t respond right away.
I have to say, I think the players you mentioned are all periphery players, and I believe the real problem with this group is the core. Pominville, Roy, Connolly, Hecht, even Vanek do not play as a cohesive unit, and I think they are ALL display sub-standard effort. If the problem was addressed on a player level, I really believe one of those guys would need to go. Granted, it’s only been a few weeks, but swapping out Kotalik for Moore certainly hasn’t paid off in any significant way. I think the move would need to be bigger than any of the players you mentioned.
But on a tangent, and having nothing to do with anything you just said…
A HUGE reason why I wrote this post, and why I continue to argue for firing Lindy has nothing to do with hockey. I think the fact that the sports media, and the blogosphere, and the fans are NOT arguing more vehemently for Lindy to be fired is….weird. I understand why Lindy is such a beloved figure here, I get it. I do. I love him too. But the way we as a community think about this is outside of the way that every other team in the league thinks about coaching. Which would be fine if the Sabres were winning the Cup every few years, but that’s not happening either!
I think Buffalo is afraid of change, and I don’t think it’s just in sports. I think we cling to romantic notions around here, and it stops us from taking the necessary steps to make improvement. It effects in every aspect of our lives in this town. I have SO many times heard people argue, “Well, what if we fire Lindy and then things get worse?” or “Nothing is really going to change anyway, so why bother even discussing it…” I believe that you have to take risks sometimes, and I think the Sabres should take a risk on a new coach.
I guess I just wanted to say, Hey, firing the coach is what is USUALLY done in this situation. It’s worked many, many times, for many, MANY teams. No, the Sabres aren’t built well, but our most obvious, easiest solution to this problem is to fire the coach, and NO ONE in the media is even SAYING it. We’re JUST NOW getting to a point where it’s acceptable to even criticize Lindy. I see absolutely NO evidence in the history of the Sabres that sticking with Lindy has paid off. Lindy has had a great run, but it is not working anymore.
I really think that Buffalo sports fandom is just a reflection of Buffalo as a whole. I see so many parallels in how we relate to our teams and how we relate to the city and to the future of Buffalo. I believe, in my heart, that it’s okay to criticize and question things. I’ve found the unspoken “Lindy is untouchable” rules to be stifling, and downright bizarre as I have written about the Sabres. I feel liberated saying, “I think Lindy should be fired.”
Lindy should NOT be untouchable, not if we want the Sabres to win. Nothing should be untouchable, not if we want things to get better.
I’m sorry, Katebits, but usually the hockey players who remind you of cute puppies are not the kind of hockey players who end up hoisting a Stanley Cup! Hockey champions usually resemble ogres. Furthermore, if he says in press conference one more time that “it’s definitely frustrating” to lose, he might need to be kenneled!
Agreed. But I don’t think Pominville is movable right now. That contract is massive, and until he proves he can play under the weight of it, no other team would touch him in my opinion.
I have to say, I think the players you mentioned are all periphery players, and I believe the real problem with this group is the core. Pominville, Roy, Connolly, Hecht, even Vanek do not play as a cohesive unit, and I think they are ALL display sub-standard effort.
Well, I did mention Connolly. :) And Stafford has been in the top 6 pretty consistently for the last couple years. I’m fine with the idea of moving Hecht or Pominville but I don’t think they’re the Sabres most tradeable commodities at present. I’m also fine with trading for a grittier guy with the skill to play in the top 6 (because it’s that easy, I know) and, say, moving Hecht down to the third line wing where I think he’d likely go back to being his usual self after this crappy year.
I will also say, though, that there are GMs all over the league who manage to get rid of bad contracts and if Darcy chose to do that he could in some cases. And the Sabres are going to have space money-wise. So they can revamp the team, but that doesn’t mean they will.
I can only speak for myself but I would say that I don’t think Lindy is beyond criticism. And he does make mistakes. Of course he does. I do think that the team could very well do better at least temporarily with a different coach (and coaching changes frequently provide only a short term boost in my view). But at the same time I know that Regier isn’t going to fire him and Quinn has already said that Regier and Ruff won’t be fired for missing the playoffs. So for me, personally, particularly because I don’t think a new coach would be a season-long solution, I enjoy hockey more if I just accept that and move on. That doesn’t mean that I don’t think other people should talk about it if that’s what they want. :D
So for me, personally, particularly because I don’t think a new coach would be a season-long solution, I enjoy hockey more if I just accept that and move on.
Well, that’s a perfectly reasonable stance to take. :D I didn’t really mean any of that last comment (after the stuff about the periphery players) to be in response to anything you’ve said here, Meg. At the end of the day, if Darcy isn’t willing to fire Lindy, and he isn’t willing to SERIOUSLY change the makeup of the team, then he should go too. I just think the fastest route to change is to fire Lindy, and I don’t think Lindy has enough upside to totally discount firing him as an option.
I agree that it is highly unlikely that anything is going to change in the coaching or management of the Sabres, but I’m really weirded out by how complacent the media and fanbase is about Lindy. I do think there is value in this conversation, and I think the fact that until this week we’ve NEVER see this conversation in blogs or in the media is a symptom of one of the things I like least about Buffalo- resistance to change.
I think someone would take Pominville, contract and all, if they needed him and if the Sabres really shopped him. This year has been an outlier in his career and he’s still been mostly good defensively, the last few games excepted. Five million is a lot of money but it’s not superstar money. It stands out on our roster but on many rosters it wouldn’t. The only contract that I think is absolutely unmovable is Vanek and maybe Miller although again, his contract is not unreasonable for a mostly very good starting goalie. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in the last few years, it’s never underestimate NHL GMs :P I do think however it would require the Sabres actively shopping guys, making it known that they’re available.
I dunno, his cap hit is 5.3 for the next five years. He’s got 15 goals this season. But you’re right, Heather, GMs are inestimably dumb. Heh.
all this casual-fan talk is making my head hurt. please send more pictures of different meats, fuzzy animals and battlestar galactica characters soon.
a casual fan like you WOULD say that, piece of etc.
I dunno, his cap hit is 5.3 for the next five years. He’s got 15 goals this season. But you’re right, Heather, GMs are inestimably dumb. Heh.
Pominville’s had a crappy year but I do agree that there would be GMs who would be willing to take him on anyway because his previous two years were so good.
Kate, I can definitely understand the aversion-to-change frustration. It’s definitely not one of the things I miss about Buffalo. And likewise, my view is probably affected by the fact that I’m not in Buffalo and am fairly out of the loop in that sense.
Kate, seriously. We’ve had the same coach for over a decade. I don’t think I can learn another name :P
Well, how about we just call the next guy “Lindy” too? Or, we could call him, “Lindy II”. :P
We’ve had the same coach for over a decade.
Over a decade is a long time but not super-long. I know there was a lot of behind-the-scenes conflict and drama behind the change, but the team and the city survived when the change from Nolan to Ruff was made. It’s not like the team has never had a coaching change. Kate, you’re so right that it’s just downright bizarre that no one’s talking about this.
Not only did the team survive, THEY MADE IT TO THE FINALS THE NEXT YEAR.
I feel a lot better now that I’ve switched on WGR (I’m not sure that sentence has ever been uttered in the history of the earth). Mike Schopp is loudly challenging the “Lindy is a perfect coach” notion. He’s been edging towards it all week, but he seems to have landed on it today. Phew. I feel less insane just hearing it from someone in the media.
I think Pommers may be in the same boat the Vanek was in last year. Both of them signed huge deals and had frustrating seasons in the year immediately after. I only hope Pommers pulls out of it next year the same way that Vanek did this year.
I was thinking about Ruff going to the Canadiens on my way home, but Grrreg beat me to it :) I was actually kind of hoping that the Canadiens and Sabres did a bit of trading (player wise)this season, but that didn’t happen. I think Max would be a good linemate for Kovalev, and I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it before, but I’d like to see Komisarek in a Sabres uniform. Even trading Lalime and Halak might have been helpful seeing that both Price and Halak are having a hot moment, so we could have one of them, while Price got some older, wiser experience behind him (I guess?).
I think Buffalo ownership should get their share of the blame too if they really do tie Darcy’s hands in regard to seriously improving the team. I don’t know how much truth there is to that, but I think the Buffalo braintrust has made a number of missteps in the past couple of years which have brought the Sabres to their current state.
1. Briere/Drury fiasco of course
2. The Campbell trade (I don’t have any problem with trading Campbell but then they promptly shipped Bernier out for I don’t even remember who so I think they could have done better with that)
3. Not trading Afinogenov when I think a trade would be best for both parties
4. Connely signing (I know there is disagreement on this one)
5. Numinnem controversy at the beginning of the year (I know they all made up but when you combine this with the exodus of top level players it sends a message to potential free agents that you are more concerned with the bottom line than winning).
The trend these days is for teams to lock up their own top players for long terms which the Sabres have really only voluntarily done with Miller since with Vanek, they basically had a gun to their head.
6. Name a new captain already, Rivet is obviously not getting it done.
End of rant, I agree with Kate that nobody should be untouchable at this point.
What about Tom Renney? He worked pretty well for the Rangers. He lead his team to the playoffs every year since the lockout. Plus, he is one of the more respected coaches in the NHL. I think he could work some magic on the Sabres. Just a thought.