Fire darcy

[sabres11]

People are blaming Ruff for the mess we have on the ice, but they need to start blaming Darcy. Ruff can only coach up to the talent level our players have. Coaching is not going to make Roy a number 1 Center. That is Darcys job to go get one. But instead, Darcy will ask Boyes to change positions and then ask Leino to change. Both suck at center so why are we blaming Ruff. What Ruffs job is, is to devise a scheme that the players he has can live up to and his defensive scheme is the best he can do with the talent he has. If Darcy gave us Getzlov, Spezza and a bunch of scorers, Ruff's scheme would be a wide open attack. So blame Darcy for this failure.

In the 2003 NHL draft, Darcy was very vocal and he was talking the whole time about drafting Zherdev. But Columbus got him first and Vanek fell in our laps. Zherdev sucks Vanak is good, Do we give Darcy credit for that draft?
When we drafted Myers, Darcy said he wants Shenn. Toronto picked him first and Myers fell in our laps. Do we give him credit for that. People think our farm system is sooooo good, but if they actually looked around the league, half the league has way beeter prospects then what we have. Sure Adam, Ennis won their AHL Rookie of the Year award, but in the NHL for their rookie year, none of them were even close to winning the real Rookie of the year award. Darcy is to blame for the stupid signing of Erhoff, for keeping Boyes, bringing in Leino and as a result, were almost in last place for our division with nearly half the season gone.

How can you guys blame Ruff, when Erhoff gets every single shot blocked and when they are not blocked, they dont even hit the net. How is that Ruffs fault? Look throughout the last five years, has Darcy brought in anyone at the trade dead line that could actually help this team? Is that Ruffs fault to? Letting both Briere and Drury walk, Ruff's Fault. Not signing Brian Cambell to the 6 year 24 million dollar contract his agent wanted, then letting him play, and play himself to a 7 million per year contract. Again Ruffs Fault? How about choosing Curtis Brown over JP Dumont, was that on Ruff or Darcy. The list goes on and on over Darcys tenure here and he needs to get fired. Have a real GM come in here and bring in actual TALENT.

[Bullseyed]

People are blaming Ruff for the mess we have on the ice, but they need to start blaming Darcy.

I want to start by noting that overall your post makes no sense. At several points I thought you were posting sarcastically and were actually trying to point out what a good job Darcy has done. That being said, I'll now break down what you said into digestible pieces, along the lines of whether what you say supports your theory or not.

Ruff can only coach up to the talent level our players have.

This is true. However, the on paper level of talent on this team indicates that this team should be one of the best teams the Sabres have ever had. The issue seems to be that a lot of the new players we brought in are not playing well together, especially on defense. This is either a time issue or a coaching issue.

Coaching is not going to make Roy a number 1 Center. That is Darcys job to go get one. But instead, Darcy will ask Boyes to change positions and then ask Leino to change. Both suck at center so why are we blaming Ruff. What Ruffs job is, is to devise a scheme that the players he has can live up to and his defensive scheme is the best he can do with the talent he has. If Darcy gave us Getzlov, Spezza and a bunch of scorers, Ruff's scheme would be a wide open attack. So blame Darcy for this failure.

And what magical device are you using to determine that those players are available? WHY HASN'T DARCY TRADED FOR CROSBY AND STAMKOS RAGE RAGE RAGE. You're being childish.

In the 2003 NHL draft, Darcy was very vocal and he was talking the whole time about drafting Zherdev. But Columbus got him first and Vanek fell in our laps. Zherdev sucks Vanak is good, Do we give Darcy credit for that draft?
When we drafted Myers, Darcy said he wants Shenn. Toronto picked him first and Myers fell in our laps. Do we give him credit for that.

So he adapts to non-best-case scenarios and ends up getting us more value than plan A would have provided? That would make him either very good or very lucky. I guess you're trying to suggest that he is lucky, even though your statements do not properly formulate and defend that position. If he is routinely lucky as you seem to be suggesting, how exactly do we differentiate that from skill? Perhaps he talked about taking those players so that other GMs would take them? Maybe it was all tradecraft and not luck at all.

People think our farm system is sooooo good, but if they actually looked around the league, half the league has way beeter prospects then what we have. Sure Adam, Ennis won their AHL Rookie of the Year award, but in the NHL for their rookie year, none of them were even close to winning the real Rookie of the year award.

Ennis was in what, third for rookie of the year in the NHL? Myers won it outright. Adam was in contention for it early on this year, but has fallen behind since he was taken off the top line. Nearly every team in the league wants Kassian, which has been a sticking point in many potential trades. Darcy will not trade Kassian, and most teams will not entertain a trade with Buffalo that does not include Kassian.

Darcy is to blame for the stupid signing of Erhoff, for keeping Boyes, bringing in Leino and as a result, were almost in last place for our division with nearly half the season gone.

Grammar issues aside, your criticism of Erhoff doesn't really stand up. He is the highest scoring defenseman on the team. He is a -6, but if you discount the 4 goals that have gone in off his legs you'd have him at a -2. He has 39 blocked shots, which puts him 3rd on the team. However, his role in the Ruff system is to be a canon shot at the point which generates rebounds, not to be a defensive-defenseman. This shows in his 74 shots, which is 4th on the team. He has 5 powerplay points.

You can't blame Darcy for "keeping Boyes" because that assumes anyone would take him. We are still partially responsible for his salary if we send him to the minors or waive him, so it would actually hurt the team to do so.

Bringing in Leino cannot really be called a failure yet. Overpayment is probably likely, but Leino is one of those players who sleeps all year and comes alive in the playoffs. He wasn't going to be our first line center, maybe second, but probably 3rd. He had other offers that the Sabres had to beat to get him. The market was tight and there were very few options to help us win this year. Signing him was better than trading for someone else who could have been a bust too. This way all we are out for is his salary. I think the Leino signing is an indication that we intended to move him to a top two line wing eventually.

How can you guys blame Ruff, when Erhoff gets every single shot blocked and when they are not blocked, they dont even hit the net. How is that Ruffs fault?

These statements make no sense and are verifiably false. A few moments ago you rail on Erhoff for being a bad signing, then say he is blocking every shot on the ice? His shot block count is third amongst D-men on the team, but isn't particularly good. The downside of Erhoff so far this year is that he cost us 4 games by deflecting shots off his legs and into the net. Far better to have that happen than Sekera repeatedly turning over the puck in the crease like he did against Philly in the playoffs last year.

Look throughout the last five years, has Darcy brought in anyone at the trade dead line that could actually help this team? Is that Ruffs fault to?

He has brought in players that should help, but didn't pan out. The ones who are no longer in Buffalo have had success elsewhere. Not every player fits on every team. Darcy is supposed to assess that, but it can't be perfect.

Letting both Briere and Drury walk, Ruff's Fault. Not signing Brian Cambell to the 6 year 24 million dollar contract his agent wanted, then letting him play, and play himself to a 7 million per year contract. Again Ruffs Fault? How about choosing Curtis Brown over JP Dumont, was that on Ruff or Darcy. The list goes on and on over Darcys tenure here and he needs to get fired. Have a real GM come in here and bring in actual TALENT.

Briere, Drury and Campbell were ownership issues not GM issues. We could not afford to pay them. Drury said he wouldn't sign unless Briere signed, Briere demanded too much money. Drury never had a good season after that, Briere has done well in Philly, but we would have ended up trading some of the wingers we currently have to keep space for him.

The team is one of the more talented teams in hockey, but for whatever reason hasn't played up to their on paper value. Either the pieces don't quite fit, or there is some kind of issue in the locker room. Nothing that can be expected here, unless you want to blow up the roster and made some below value trades for the sake of change. Then we'll need even more time for the new players to get used to playing together.

[sabres11]

I want to start by noting that overall your post makes no sense. At several points I thought you were posting sarcastically and were actually trying to point out what a good job Darcy has done. That being said, I'll now break down what you said into digestible pieces, along the lines of whether what you say supports your theory or not.



This is true. However, the on paper level of talent on this team indicates that this team should be one of the best teams the Sabres have ever had. The issue seems to be that a lot of the new players we brought in are not playing well together, especially on defense. This is either a time issue or a coaching issue.



And what magical device are you using to determine that those players are available? WHY HASN'T DARCY TRADED FOR CROSBY AND STAMKOS RAGE RAGE RAGE. You're being childish.



So he adapts to non-best-case scenarios and ends up getting us more value than plan A would have provided? That would make him either very good or very lucky. I guess you're trying to suggest that he is lucky, even though your statements do not properly formulate and defend that position. If he is routinely lucky as you seem to be suggesting, how exactly do we differentiate that from skill? Perhaps he talked about taking those players so that other GMs would take them? Maybe it was all tradecraft and not luck at all.



Ennis was in what, third for rookie of the year in the NHL? Myers won it outright. Adam was in contention for it early on this year, but has fallen behind since he was taken off the top line. Nearly every team in the league wants Kassian, which has been a sticking point in many potential trades. Darcy will not trade Kassian, and most teams will not entertain a trade with Buffalo that does not include Kassian.




Grammar issues aside, your criticism of Erhoff doesn't really stand up. He is the highest scoring defenseman on the team. He is a -6, but if you discount the 4 goals that have gone in off his legs you'd have him at a -2. He has 39 blocked shots, which puts him 3rd on the team. However, his role in the Ruff system is to be a canon shot at the point which generates rebounds, not to be a defensive-defenseman. This shows in his 74 shots, which is 4th on the team. He has 5 powerplay points.

You can't blame Darcy for "keeping Boyes" because that assumes anyone would take him. We are still partially responsible for his salary if we send him to the minors or waive him, so it would actually hurt the team to do so.

Bringing in Leino cannot really be called a failure yet. Overpayment is probably likely, but Leino is one of those players who sleeps all year and comes alive in the playoffs. He wasn't going to be our first line center, maybe second, but probably 3rd. He had other offers that the Sabres had to beat to get him. The market was tight and there were very few options to help us win this year. Signing him was better than trading for someone else who could have been a bust too. This way all we are out for is his salary. I think the Leino signing is an indication that we intended to move him to a top two line wing eventually.



These statements make no sense and are verifiably false. A few moments ago you rail on Erhoff for being a bad signing, then say he is blocking every shot on the ice? His shot block count is third amongst D-men on the team, but isn't particularly good. The downside of Erhoff so far this year is that he cost us 4 games by deflecting shots off his legs and into the net. Far better to have that happen than Sekera repeatedly turning over the puck in the crease like he did against Philly in the playoffs last year.



He has brought in players that should help, but didn't pan out. The ones who are no longer in Buffalo have had success elsewhere. Not every player fits on every team. Darcy is supposed to assess that, but it can't be perfect.



Briere, Drury and Campbell were ownership issues not GM issues. We could not afford to pay them. Drury said he wouldn't sign unless Briere signed, Briere demanded too much money. Drury never had a good season after that, Briere has done well in Philly, but we would have ended up trading some of the wingers we currently have to keep space for him.

The team is one of the more talented teams in hockey, but for whatever reason hasn't played up to their on paper value. Either the pieces don't quite fit, or there is some kind of issue in the locker room. Nothing that can be expected here, unless you want to blow up the roster and made some below value trades for the sake of change. Then we'll need even more time for the new players to get used to playing together.

Your 1st point is horrible. On paper this team looks better then what they are? We have missed the playoffs, four out of the last 8-years and if you look at our rosters and compare them from recent years, we have lost good players and not signed any good ones in return. So on paper, this team is a crappy team.

Your assumption is that Leino is not a bust and you think he will get better. Well thats the key, you THINK he will get better. He has sucked for three months, so the safe assumption is, that this signing was a very bad move. And dont pretend like you know all about Leino, by saying he is one of these streaky players, because before he signed with Buffalo, you had no clue who he is. But im sure you will say now that you were his biggest fan.

Erhoff sucks, plain and simple. If you actually are making up excuses for why he is -6, then thats proof enough that you are an absolute cheerleader and not really watching the games. Blocked shots every single game. shotsmissing the net completely. HAve you ever noticed that the last 4 shorthanded goals were because of his lack of ability to either skate backwards or turn and skate forward fast enough. Watch the games! and I didnt say he is blocking shots on the ice, I said his shots are being blocked.

As for the Drury and Briere situation. Darcy knew he can only keep one. Darcy told Drury and Briere both, that that particular person was the one the Sabres wanted and to hold on while he prepared an offer. THEN Briere and Drury talked and found out that Darcy made the same speech to the two of them and they got pissed and they both split and we got nothing. Drury and Briere both said that Darcy was not being honest with either of them once free agency was approaching. But again if your a cheerleader, Im sure you forgot all of this and will point blame at the owner. To say that Drury would only stay if Briere stays is completely a lie on your part, because if that was true, they would have both signed with the same team if playing together ment that much to them. And as I said, the summer before Cambells free agency, his agent said 6 years 24 million. which we defiently could have afforded. Darcy said NAW we will wait to see what happens during the year. And what happened? HE played great and his value went through the roof.

And as for keeping Boyes, he has a 4.1 million dollar contract. We didnt need to trade him, we could have ate his salary and the cap hit would have been pennies. Boyes was a no-show last year, no-show in the playoffs, and a no-show this season, despite a 2 game stretch just before he got hurt.

Darcy is not as good as you think. We have missed the playoffs 4 out of the last 8 years and we missed them because of not enough talent, not because of lousy coaching. Put down the pompoms and watch the game.

[sabres11]

And just a reminder, this is a sports site. not English 101. Whenever someone corrects or says something about another persons grammer, they do look like the biggest tool in the world.

[Bullseyed]

And just a reminder, this is a sports site. not English 101. Whenever someone corrects or says something about another persons grammer, they do look like the biggest tool in the world.

And when you cannot spell grammar properly, we know that you failed the second grade and your opinions are not worth reading.

[bart98]

The problem with Buffalo (in short) is there is no chemistry... Look down the street and the same is evident with the Bills! But the main difference here is that the Sabres have talent and the Bills really don't! So that goes back to chemistry. Maybe even leadership. Maybe even the head office (IE Darcy)...

When a team can't internally build chemistry- then the front office better!

[Rochesta]

Both of them need to leave. For what it's worth, you have my personal guarantee that Ruff will never win a cup as a coach and Darcy will never win a cup as a GM. There's really no point to keeping them around. They've had what, forever now to prove that they know what to do. They've proven the opposite. Ruff's teams will always show a lack of heart and physicality during the season and will always choke in the post-season, and Darcy will constantly prove that he does not know how to obtain players who actually put pucks in the net. How many seasons do we need to see this play out before we realize what we have here.

[Rochesta]

The problem with Buffalo (in short) is there is no chemistry... Look down the street and the same is evident with the Bills! But the main difference here is that the Sabres have talent and the Bills really don't! So that goes back to chemistry. Maybe even leadership. Maybe even the head office (IE Darcy)...

Chemistry is an issue, but they flat out don't have scoring talent. The young players from Rochester may be showing some heart, but they score less often than a Vulcan. I like Gerbe's passion but he never scores, ever. And Pominville and Roy were just never talented. Somehow they grifted Darcy into thinking that they were anything other than common players. Vanek would score more often had he some decent associates, but he does not.

In short, it's rebuild time. We need to trade Vanek, Miller, Roy, and Pominville for picks or young SCORING players. We'll never win a cup scoring 1 or 2 goals every night. And that's all this group will ever muster.

[sabres11]

Both of them need to leave. For what it's worth, you have my personal guarantee that Ruff will never win a cup as a coach and Darcy will never win a cup as a GM. There's really no point to keeping them around. They've had what, forever now to prove that they know what to do. They've proven the opposite. Ruff's teams will always show a lack of heart and physicality during the season and will always choke in the post-season, and Darcy will constantly prove that he does not know how to obtain players who actually put pucks in the net. How many seasons do we need to see this play out before we realize what we have here.

Ruff at least deserves a fighting chance here. He was on the brink with Drury and Briere. The system was well played and they had that fire to come back when trailing late in the 3rd, but Darcy let them walk. Now Ruff is stuck with Roy, Gausted, Pominville, Hecht, Sykera, Grangnani, Stafford. All of these players are average at best. Every single one of them could have been upgraded throughout the years by Darcy, but he falls in love with his players too much. The Only upside that either of these guys have are their salaries and Ruff is stuck with 3/4 of a roster filled with average players.

If Darcy got fired, we are guarenteed that a new GM would get rid of these average players and sign better players. If Ruff got fired, how are we better? I have watched every single game, Its not like Ruff is being outcoached and were loosing. No matter who was behind the bench, Miller is going to let in that 100 yard slap shot against Pitt.

[Rochesta]

Ruff has a fighting chance with this team here and now. He's led them into a nose dive.

Furthermore, all of the young stars on this team have stopped developing. All the players who looked like young stars have turned into Drew Stafford.

But I agree, Darcy needs to go first and foremost. He's got the highest payroll in the NHL to work with and he's built an 11th place squad.

[sabres11]

Ruff has a fighting chance with this team here and now. He's led them into a nose dive.

Furthermore, all of the young stars on this team have stopped developing. All the players who looked like young stars have turned into Drew Stafford.

But I agree, Darcy needs to go first and foremost. He's got the highest payroll in the NHL to work with and he's built an 11th place squad.

I still believe that if Darcy didnt fall in love with some of our supposed "core players" too much, Ruff may have had more talent in return and some of our 1goal losses turn into 1 goal wins or at least 1 point for overtime.

Last week alone, go to the WGR audio vault this past month and listen to Darcy and Ruff, in two different interviews, talk about Stafford. Darcy is in love with him and talks about that, while Ruffs talks about his consistency and lack of it. Ruff is pretty much saying we can do better with someone replacing him, but Darcy, Who is in charge of bringing in players, loves him and pretty much says he is not going anywhere. The same conflicting assesments are heard when these two are discussing other players.

This is why we cant blame Ruff. If Darcy is going to say that Pominville, Gausted, Hecht, Roy, Stafford are our Core and untradeable, then Ruff is doomed, because these guys suck.

[Leninthebuff]

For what it is worth Darcy and Lindy have been together for what 14-15 yrs we haven't won anything I think it's time one or both go, if I had to pick one I'd say goodbye to Darcy. The whole situation has gotten stale as much as everyone wants to see a change in players I think a change in leadership is also needed. Just my 2 cents

[jymie]

Look at Ottawa, they are doing very well this year after unloading all the high priced under achievers they had last year. Maybe it's time the Sabres did the same thing this year. Bryan Murray is looking like a genius up there right now.

[sabres11]

For what it is worth Darcy and Lindy have been together for what 14-15 yrs we haven't won anything I think it's time one or both go, if I had to pick one I'd say goodbye to Darcy. The whole situation has gotten stale as much as everyone wants to see a change in players I think a change in leadership is also needed. Just my 2 cents

Every year, only one coach wins the Stanley Cup, the 29 others fail. So we cant say just because we havent won the Cup yet Lindy sucks. Look at Darcy's history of trade deadline moves and that sums up everything right there. Lindy isnt being given the tools to get the job done.