If this team is uncoachable (as the title claims) then why blame Lindy? Is it his fault if this team is unchoachable? Really?

I know I'm being pig-headed. Lindy is not the GM; he can only coach what/who he is given. If this mess of players is uncoachable they lay it on Darcy's head. But taking it a step further, why are they not coachable? What is the root of the evil? If you have ever tried to get dandilions out of your yard then you understand getting to the root. Without killing/removing the root the dang weed just keeps coming back. So who amongst the players is the root of the trouble?

The root would be someone that Lindy is not able to deal with effectively. Who would that be? How about a player that is entrenched. This guy is golden. The GM is convinced that this guy is necessary to the team and he is telling Lindy to deal with him. Who is it?

I know that I'm working from an unpopular angle- but at least its a different one! Work with me, people. Consider it a mental exercise.

Sabretooth!!!!

How do we know these players are uncoachable? They have all had prior success under other coaches, and other teams prior to the past few seasons here. They're not responding to their current coach; but communication is a two way street.

Now Lindy's a nice enough man, says the right things, and is well liked in the Buffalo area. That's a given.

Let's talk reality based on how professional sports teams work.

Coaches take the job knowing they are responsible for their teams performance. They know the job is not a lifelong appointment.

That time for a new voice occurred here four seasons back. The team has been brittle. It's not a few players becoming bad seeds all a sudden; it's not Miller getting hit by Lucic, it's a culmination of events and factors. It is the holes in this teams composition, management, coach, and psyche finally catching up to the point of no return.

The only thing you can change to try and reverse fortunes is a coaching change. The team is more important than any one player; or several players for that matter. The team is more important than the coach.

Terry Pegula, and the fans need to accept this. It's time to move on.

If anyone feels it is vital to keep Lindy at this point; then they're not real Sabres fans - they're Lindy Ruff fans.

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"I'll rap you with my cane; you pencil necked geek!!"

-Bowler, imitating Freddy Blassie, at the very first M & G.

Howie Hodge said:
"If anyone feels it is vital to keep Lindy at this point; then they're not real Sabres fans - they're Lindy Ruff fans."

Dang, I'm glad you cleared that up for me! All these years I thought I was an honest-to-goodness Sabres fan. LOL

I happen to feel that Lindy is preferable to Darcy. I am also cautious enough that *I* would not drop a coach (who may or may not be the problem) with no one waiting in the wings. And if you are going to dump Lindy then you should dump his staff as well.

BTW I am going with the spirit of the thread title- that the team is uncoachable.

I don't think Lindy Ruff should be the fall guy for this season, but he's certainly accountable for his part. Having said that, this season is weakened their job security and it's nearing desperation in my opinion.

I think that a new management regime should begin with a new GM. Find and hire the best guy, and have him decide what to do with Ruff, the trainer, the hot dog venders, and whoever else he wants to bring in. The real key is finding a brilliant young GM.

The only way I would keep Regier around is if he does something brilliant at the trade deadline and or draft day. The team is his until July 1st, but after that I don't know.

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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

Let's make it clear that I'm not basing just this season on my negative opinion of Lindy or Darcy. I have had a negative opinion of them over the past five years.

Poor Management results in poor performances.

We won't start winning regularly until they're both gone.

You make as many excuses as you like for these two; the proof is in the product.

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"I'll rap you with my cane; you pencil necked geek!!"

-Bowler, imitating Freddy Blassie, at the very first M & G.

15 years of winning nothing. A poor team the last five. I think we might be seeing a pattern here; n'est pas?

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"I'll rap you with my cane; you pencil necked geek!!"

-Bowler, imitating Freddy Blassie, at the very first M & G.

That's a flawed and tired argument, which ignores the fact that he's also done a lot of good with mediocre teams through the years, even if they didn't win the cup, including the past 2 years. So, what you're saying essentially is that if he had won the cup in '05-'06, there would be a stronger argument for keeping him now, 6 years later?

If you fire him, you do it because of what's happening now, not because of what he has failed to accomplish in the past.

Funny how when Golisano leaves Darcy goes on a signing and trading spree?

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

I think Howie is just pointing out the fact that Lindy hasn't really done much to. With the job security that Lindy and Darcy both have had we should at least be making the playoffs every year.

And obviously if Lindy or Darcy are fired they will be fired because failed to produce a winning team. Lindy's lost his players, him and his whole staff should be let go. And Darcy pretty much put us up against the cap for awhile with those 3 acquisitions last summer; which really doesn't provide us to improve for awhile signings wise. Draft wise top 3 picks would be nice stock up like the Pens and Blackhawks have done in the past....

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"If you want to know what I've been doing lately, I've been driving around from Tim Horton's to Tim Horton's, rolling up the rim. Haven't won anything yet. Thanks." - Lindy Ruff

Wait, Darcy spending money isn't a good thing to you? We unload a LOT of salary in the offseason and we're not pushed against the cap at this point. We're fine in those regards.

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

Why is that funny? We all know that the purse strings have been thrown away but just because he spent to the cap doesn't mean he spent wisely. I'm not down playing the signings but if you're signing high dollar players you damn well know that they will work in your coaches system and with the current players.

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We needed a PP QB. Ehrhoff was the answer, and he's doing decent.
We needed a stone wall D man. Regher was the answer, and we got him for a steal. He's doing decent.
Boyes was iffy, but we only spent a 2nd on him and his contract is up this year, and can be trade bait this year.
Leino was the only bad one, yet he was the only answer available to our center issue. That didn't work out, but he promised to be a center. Either way, if he gets it going, he'll be a good addition.

Darcy's done alright. It's certainly not his fault we suck.

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

Honestly I think we have a good team. Let me put it this way. If a stage coach driver loses the reigns and the whole thing goes to hell in a hand basket, do you shoot the horses or find a new driver? We have some great talent here and I think that our best chance of turning things around for future seasons is to get a new driver. And I've seen the arguments that Lindy is some god amongst coaches but, really? Yeah the guy had some great seasons but he's also had long stretches of bed shitting. The only reason the guy wasn't fired a long time ago is because hockey fans are ridiculously loyal to former players, Buffalo especially. We love the idea of a former player being our coach and it makes a lot of people gloss over reality. In almost every other system, for any other team he would have been fired a long time ago for this crap salad we see game in and game out. I want a winning hockey team on that ice way more than I want to see Lindy's angry face every night. He's had way more rope given to him than any other coach and how much longer can the guy keep standing behind a losing team before he hangs himself? In almost every other market we wouldn't be having this discussion. We'd be calling for his head.

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Don't forget about the 4 year, $16 million dollar deal they signed offensive powerhouse Drew Stafford too. Also, what part of my post said ANY of those were bad signings???? I'm just saying that they do not seem to be fitting in with Lindy's systems since they haven't produced as expected. I'm curious to your explanation as to why these signings are not producing like they have in the past?

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Why are our core players not producing like... Say... Last year???

I'll underline the answer for you.

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

I definitely agree with you on that one but with Stafford it really doesn't matter. He's never produced like he did last season

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Yeah, he's never produced like last season. But I think we all agree, he has skill and talent, right? We've seen what he could do. I think he just needs to get smarter, and I think Darcy thought Stafford learned how to use that talent, but I guess not.

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

Does anybody remember 2005-2006 when this mgr and coach caught lightening in a bottle? The Sabres were picked to be somewhere on the bottom with several rejects and unproven rookies. This year they have come full circle-- high hopes turn into crappy results. Maybe things will improve after the break.