This will be his 3rd season. Situational variables don't force you to have a guy who isn't winning for that long. I think it's clearly a case of Miller wanting him.

His Sv% and GAA were middle of the pack compared to other backups.

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Proud LGBTQQ Individual

So do we get rid of the 18 skaters and replace them with guys who will support him?? I find this argument ridiculous.

FOR WHATEVER REASON, he's NOT winning games in Buffalo. With this in mind, I wish we'd try an alternative.

And when there are no alternatives due to whatever reasons, then what? Cuz that's the circumstance the Sabres were in.

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mechaphil

..and who's fault is that. Not sure what your argument is. If they were STUCK in this situation, they shouldn't have allowed themselves to be. It's like saying how can ya blame the drunk driver for crashing, as drunk as he was.

OK, just for shits. Name me off every goaltender who hit free agency this off-season.

In fact, I'll help:
Nabokov - price tag too high, went to Russia
Ellis - wanted starting minutes
Nittymaki - fancies himself a starter, got Nabokov's old job
Hedberg - getting old, went to arguably-superior team (Devils)
Mason - got mid-range starter's money in Atlanta
Halak - signed a good pay-day in St. Louis
Niemi - elected to go to salary arbitration
Leighton - re-signed with the Flyers
Biron - signed with the Rangers immediately into free agency
Theodore - price tag is too high, unsigned
Turco - price tag is too high, unsigned

What's the common thread among all those goaltenders? They've all got either 1) more money than the Sabres were looking to spend on a back-up with Enroth waiting in the wings and/or 2) a longer term than the Sabres were willing to hand out again with Enroth waiting in the wings.

How blind are you to see that no matter what Darcy may have said or offered, players chose to play elsewhere? It's the same thing with losing Lydman - it wasn't the money, it was the term. Or with Tallinder, it maybe was about the money. For whatever reason, no else wanted to come here and they obviously weren't pleased with how Enroth looked on the first couple of days into dev. camp cuz they signed Lalime on Wednesday. Jesus.

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mechaphil

I already stated I thought they got him because Miller wanted him, not because of Darcy's never ending 'bad luck'. I just felt your logic is flawed. Lalime can't win here, and if we needed to trade for a goalie, pay a bit more for a goalie, offer him playing time, or let Enroth have his chance to lose(a loss is a loss either way), then so be it. To let this guy play the "hands were tied" card AGAIN is unacceptable to me(if your ok with it, then fine). Hell, Lalime should have been gone a long time ago, much less re-signed.

So you'd rather a young goaltender with limited NHL experience ride the pine and end up taking a loss (cuz a loss is a loss either way) instead of an aging veteran on his way out? Ya ok.

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mechaphil

The thing is we don't know the young guy WON'T win, but we're 95% sure that Lalime will lose. Loss is a loss was worst case scenario. If you wanna change the topic to 'ruin his development', which is sure to happen soon, it's time for this kids shot to get some starts. He'll be 23 next summer. Oh ya, did I mention trades?

hang on here. hold on. too me, goaltending is your most valuable position. i want a back up who can play long stretches and not have the team bottom out if miller is injured. thats just the formula i always want to be followed. easier said then done, i know. lalime may have been the sabres best option at this point in the summer, but i felt darcy should have tried to upgrade the back end. maybe he did, maybe he didnt, i dont know. i wasnt there. but i wish that formula was followed. but thats my formula, and im just a jabroni with an internet connection.

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With a goalie making over 6 mil and now in a stage of starting 65 games a year, there is no justification to pay a back-up over 1 mil a season. There are six teams paying two goalies over 1 mil...

NJ - just signed Hedberg to 1.5 mil because Broduer is about done his worload needs to be reduced
Tor - Gustavsson at 1.350 mil because he's actually the starter while over-paid Giggy splits time
StL - Conklin at 1.3 was getting good minutes but now they have Halak
Col - Budaj at 1.250 mil was also getting good minutes until Anderson was signed last summer
Bos - Rask at 1.250 mil is the real starter while Thomas eats cap space
Fla - Clemmensen at 1.200 mil playing behind Vokoun

Only Florida is a scenario where an established starter was playing well and the team decided to bolster it's back-up position anyway. Broduer clearly is wearing down, Gustavsson was signed before Giggy, same for Conklin and Budaj, and Thomas is being shopped. The rest of the league doesn't put more than 4-5 million into it's goalie position, but Darcy should spend more than 7 million??? Why spend more than 1 mil on a back-up that won't play more than 17 games, especially when the real problem is the play in front of him?!? I get it that people just don't like Lalime, but there's not a better option for under 1 mil, and there usually isn't no matter what off-season it is.

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"I can't really hear what Jeremy says, because I got my two Stanley Cup Rings plugging my ears...." -Patrick Roy in reference to Jeremy Roenick's trash talking

1980, thank you. Thank you so much for that.

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mechaphil

Lol...no problem fellas.

i have no problem paying a backup 2 million. we cant assume miller will play 65-70 games, because i dont want to lose a season if he gets hurt. thats my issue. lalime wont get this team to the playoffs if he plays more then 20 games. but at this point in time, this is the NHL landscape.

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His name is Jhonas...

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"She's like plan C after an 18 pack"

Squanto 7/27/2010

And he's certainly not ready for the NHL yet, IMO

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mechaphil

IF he had to be called up though, I'd feel totally comfortable playing him atleast 1/2 the time, if something God forbid did happen to Miller.

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"She's like plan C after an 18 pack"

Squanto 7/27/2010

Prior performance does not dictate future results.

Oh, yea I can jive with that

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mechaphil