If we summarize the last 10 years, more stars/quasi-stars have left Buffalo via FA then have entered it. I don't know why that is.

What I do know is that everybody wants to be a part of a winner. Winning is sexy. It's awesome. So once the Sabres get over the hump and get their very first Cup, things will change. Agents, and their clients will look too the city of Buffalo and they will imagine themselves fitting in on the team.

Sometimes, you have to win it with your home grown talent to prove to the outsiders that you can do it.

The Sabres got closer to their dream this summer, mgmt improved an already good hockey club. The upcoming regular season should be another good one, but I think everybody is ready for more. I think the young players want it badly, and I think the veteran guys want to get them there too.

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"I love that you know how to do that." Cheryl/Carol/Crystal

"And I love that I have an erection that doesn't involve homeless people." Kreiger

I like that assessment. If you actually look at our roster we have some really good players. They just need to be ready to play and ready to win. We've got our franchise defenseman in Myers, some good talent up front that has vital experience in the playoffs as top talent. We signed some good support players in Niedermayer, Leopold, and Morrisonn. And, of courdse, our Vezina winning, Olympic MVP, goaltender. Let's not lose sight of the fact that this team, who most predicted would finish outside of the playoff pictures, won their division and got to the 100 point mark. Now this team has had slight upgrades, which obviously helped last year (see Montador and Grier), plus the further development of our homegrown talent and the emergence of new talents (Ennis). This team can go further than they did last year. Maybe they can win it all, maybe not. We shall see. But, as x-pensfan said, once we start winning more, people will want to sign with this team. To sum it all up, I think we're going to start seeing deeper playoff runs from this team in the coming years.

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Rest in Peace Nani. 10/3/10

Gerbacity



"Grier coming in over the line. He leaves it to Gaustad. The shot. THEY SCOOOREE!! RING UP ANOTHER ONE FOR THE GOOSE!!! HONK IF YA HEAR THE GOOSE!! 3-0 BUFFALO!"

There is more than one definition of 'star' anyhow. Some would call a 'star' the guy who has flair and fills seats, and some would call him the super-talented player who can put you over the top. You can trade for a guy who has flair(often wasting assets), but you have to draft the guys who are untouchable, key players. This team may well already have 3 stars on it, and we didn't have to give up any assets to do it. They were all drafted and raised in our system. I give Regier FULL props for this. My main knock on him is not being able to put us over the top.

On a side note, if D.R. fails to re-sign our newest star, I may have to cut off his dingo balls(if he has any).


On another side note, I agree with you rocker, x-pens hits another homer. This guy is the clear favorite to win the Junkie Calder Trophy as most talented new poster.

That's not entirely accurate...I'm sure if Miller became a free agent, it's not like Detroit would have completely passed up the opportunity to look into signing him. Plus, right around when Ryan signed his extension, his dad insinuated to me that the Wings were interested in him. But I mean, most teams would be interested when a top goalie hits the market.

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"Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Hockey Night in Buffalo

when i was working for the griffins, holland stopped by and said that howard was their guy. they had groomed howard and he was their guy. they also signed daniel larsson at that time to back up howard (larssons fucking GOOD!) he didnt say it to me, i just heard about it afterward. the red wings couldnt have been interested. tampering. if the wings even contacted a family member or anything? bam! tampering charges.

ill be honest, i dont think the red wings had even a wrinkle of interest. thats what i kept hearing.

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I heard the Red Wings would have been very interested in Miller, as per one of their scouts who lives in my area.

Even with Howard, that shouldn't be too crazy for anyone here to believe. We're talking about one of the best players in the modern day NHL.

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Wheelhouse

when miller signed that deal, he wasnt coming off a good year. he was coming off his worst. the rumour of a "sign and trade" was brought up in the detroit news. however, the red wings were. A. against the cap B. had howard in the wings. C. had just resigned osgood to an extension so he could mentor howard. D. had just drafted prized prospect thomas mccollum. (who sucks now) and E. were just coming off a stanley cup winning season.

pretend miller didnt resign. detroit would have not been able to obtain him. would they had liked to? that i dont know. but as far as the realm of it happening? or detroit actually thinking about it as a realistic option? not a chance. and thats what ive heard from people around the organization.

it was never going to happen. miller didnt want to go to detroit it sounds (that part, working for the organization wasnt going to help me out any.) and detroit was never considering it. i can not stress this enough. it was never ever a viable option.

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What does that have to do with what the team itself has done?

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Sabres Hockey: Commitment to Mediocrity

Having interest in a player and being willing to pay him what he wants are two different things.

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Sabres Hockey: Commitment to Mediocrity

The approach the Sabres take to building a team is similiar to that of the Nashville Predators where they don't add big name UFAs to the mix, they develop from within, and they lose homegrown talent and need to replace them with their own prospects.

There is more than one way to build a team.

Even a team like the Red Wings that have money have built their core through the draft and not really gone after the big name UFAs except on rare occasion like the one year deal with Hossa and the signing of hometown D Brian Rafalski.

But the bulk of their "Big Guns" were drafted by the Red Wings and they've kept the team together.

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Sabres Hockey: Commitment to Mediocrity

That's true, looks at the Caps. They have a HUGE superstar which were drafted by the Caps and majority of the rest of the team have been brought up through their system....with a little tweeking here and there.

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Caps = San Jose of the East.

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Revenge is sweet... Revenge is best served cold... Revenge is ice cream.

Caps haven't failed enough to earn that title...one, maybe two more, choke-jobs.

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mechaphil

I actually think that if the Caps choke again in the playoffs, Bruce Boudreau's job will be in jeopardy.

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Revenge is sweet... Revenge is best served cold... Revenge is ice cream.

If they choke in the playoffs again, I would go one further and say he just up and gets fired.

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mechaphil

The fact some FA's don't want to come here isn't because we haven't won a cup. They go to Vancouver. It's that our city appears to other cities as a dump. It has a bad rep, even though some players say it's awesome.

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"Counting all the assholes in the room, I'm definitely not alone!" ~ Michael Poulsen, Volbeat, Still Standing.

Had Miller been a free agent, the Red Wings would have made a serious run at signing him.

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Wheelhouse

With what money?

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"Call a cop he robbed Delmore blind!!!"
Rick Jeanerette after Marty Biron's diving save back in 2000.

"I'm going to go to the spa and have a hot tub and massage and relax," Miller said. "That's it, and it's back to work tomorrow." Ryan Miller after clinching the North East division.

The money they would have made available. Teams do that sometimes.

I heard this straight from the mouth of ONE OF THEIR SCOUTS.

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Wheelhouse

What team with goalie troubles WOULDN'T make a run at Miller if he was an FA?

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"Counting all the assholes in the room, I'm definitely not alone!" ~ Michael Poulsen, Volbeat, Still Standing.