I disagree about Kaleta, unless you have a way to replace him. AS for Ruff, I been saying it for months, exactly what Howie just did. The record speaks for itself. Like the Bills needing to bring in A talent, the Sabres are in the same boat. Ruff, without hiw Career here, would not have the name he has now and he only has that based on his tenure at this point.

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Sabres Fan since Day One!!!

Sorry Sky if I misunderstood, but your first post isn't real clear. Don't you have an accountant to review your posts?

I love this entire argument that completely ignores multiple seasons with the franchise being run by the NHL and on the verge of folding, plus the 4 consecutive years of making the playoffs when they first took over.

Keep up the great work!!

To be 100% clear, I'm not opposed to Ruff or Regier moving on if it makes sense to do so. But if you're going to forth a half baked, cherry picked argument about playoff appearances. I'll speak up.

Ruff and Regier have made the playoffs 8 times in 14 seasons. Two of those seasons the team was either being run by a bankrupt owner, or under league control.

Don't muddle the facts.

If you say we can't blame at least missing the playoffs this season on injuries you're obviously not seeing OUR WHOLE FUCKING TEAM + SOME ROOKIES - POMINVILLE HAD GOTTEN HURT, SOME PLAYERS TWICE.

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

Meh, it's whatever. We won't have the money to sign UFA's this year anyways.

Parise would be a pipe dream and is staying in NJ anyways. They will have the money for him.

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Agreed! Getting pretty sick of the whining myself.

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This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it.
--Emerson

I don't ming a little whining. It's understandable being that they're eliminated; plus I know I've been guilty of it myself.

I just get annoyed with disingenuous arguments.

Using that argument, I could make a case that the reason they made the playoffs four years in a row is they had Dominik Hasek, and a group of character players left over from John Mucklers regime.

The facts are empirical. You can defend them all you want. You can't change them.

As for your condescending comments; I'm not even going to respond. Not worth my time.

And I've never been a supporter of Ruff or Regier over the last five or six years. I expressed my dissatisfaction with them both years ago.

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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.

The facts are facts. 8 times in 15 seasons. Two seasons where no coach or GM combination would have made the playoffs because the franchise was dead broke.

Cherry pick all you want. Your argument is weak.

(And let's be honest, after all the crap that's come out of your mouth about me over the last years, I think you can handle a little condescension.)

I'm no apologist for Regier, but c'mon man. Last year everbody's griping about the need for a stronger D, so he aggressively signs Ehrhoff and Regehr. Then he locks up Myers for and Stafford after a breakout year. Then he signs a guy (Leino) that most thought was a solid pick for some offense. This year, he trades a mediocre Goose for a #1, and acquires a highly regarded rookie center (Hodgson) and a solid depth defenseman (Sulzer).

Anyone who can argue that since Pegula got here Darcy showing signs of sitting on his hands oughta get their head examined. Why would you be surprised to see him act? He's already acted majorly at least TWICE since Pegula bought the team. Darcy ain't the problem - he's giving the team every opportunity to succeed. It's up to the players and coaches to play up to their potential. Lindy, Miller, Roy, Leino, Boyes, Stafford, and Vanek sucking for a good part of the season - plus the injuries - is why they crashed. Not Darcy.

i have no problem with regier. as far as im concerned he did his job. ruff, on the other hand, can gtfo.

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Check out my website: http://www.artistzero.com

"That wasn't very nice...I do believe you killed my hat."

Driver of the FIRE LINDY RUFF Bandwagon since 2008.

I've always been about 80% satisfied with Regier...no real complaints aside from some wasted 2nd rd picks in bad trade deadline deals. I've really turned around on Ruff though. I'm not going to call for his firing because it's probably not going to happen anyway. I don't know of a no-brainer option out there to replace him anyway. But when you finish real strong, add good players, and come out looking like shit for four months, even before the injuries piled up...that's the coaches fault.

They had good results for about ten games, but even then and after they played some very sloppy defense in some games (Carolina, TB, Columbus, Boston). It wasn't until Dec that Miller, Ennis, Boyes, and Kaleta were all missing games. Then it was Myers, Hecht, Ehrhoff, etc and the roof caved in.

It's awfully curious to me how Ruff called out Regehr in that tirade yesterday. He seemed to call out Vanek also (no surprise) as a veteran that missed a scoring chance, even though Ennis screwed up an odd-man chance as well. The bad timing of that tirade with no apparent recognition of his own role in the whole debacle really brings down my opinion of Ruff. How would you feel about next season if you were on the team right now? Would you want to get right at it or hope for another lock-out?

Using the bankrupt years and the "run by the NHL" argument would be viable if it was a year or two ago, but that is water that has run far under the bridge. Sports is about "what have you done for me lately" which is what makes Howie's post the more relevant.

No one's hoping for a lock-out, but it's rare, if ever, that Ruff shoulders any responsibility. A Coaches job is to teach and motivate his players. He does neither. He misses obvious line combinations, has not kept up with the way the game is played now and anything else I would say, has been said over and over

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Sabres Fan since Day One!!!

Ennis is not a rookie.

Roy doesn't need a swift kick in the jimmy he needs to be on the next flight out of Buffalo.

Gerbe will bounce back next year. He's been playing hurt most of the year and most guys can barely do what this 5'5" guy can do physically.

Kaleta should be let go. We all seen what happened with last years "unsung hero."

Hecht and Boyes will be gone July 1st.

Sekera or Leopold + Weber can be replaced easily by Mcnabb and Brennan. Brennan should be up there in talent soon. We're just spending waaaay to much on obsolete defenseman. I'd prefer to get rid of Sekera because he turns the puck over a lot in which case ends up being a goal for the opposition and that he's got anpther 2 or 3 years left on his contract.

Sulzer is a must sign. Him and Ehrhoff together were our best D pairing down the stretch.

Our two 1st rounders... We gottta get a center. A true #1. And with one of these draft picks maybe both we + Roy we can get our much needed Center in the picture.

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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

Uh, not really. When the thrust of your argument is discussion playoff appearances over their tenure, the bankruptcy years are certainly relevant to the discussion.

This wasn't a 'what have you done for me lately' discussion. It was a 'what have you done the entire time you were here' discussion.

OH snap.

Well, I feel their playoff results shouldn't be TOO overlooked because of scandal. I mean they weren't really a team that spent on free agents anyways. They still did all the drafting, too. While I'll agree the whole ordeal may have been very taxing on them mentally, it didn't(shouldn't have) effected the roster in any horrible manner. If Rigas-gate happened now, and we had to dismantle, it'd be a totally different thing. I also don't consider a roughly 50% playoff rate very successful. Almost 50% of the teams get in every year. My personal opinion is these guys have had several good rosters to have their shot. Let someone else try to rebuild this time.

As for players, i like Nathan Gerbe. He's quick, he's feisty, and he carries a MASSIVE work effort with him. If he has a role as a 3rd liner here, then booyah. If they want him to be a solid top 6, then nah.

You guys won't like Parros. He hardly ever hits, and only fights the 'good fight'(which he's not all that great at anyways). He's Anaheim's fan favorite, but there's just no use for him anymore. I love Georgie too, but he doesn't bring the intensity I want in a 4th line guy.

I'd LOVE for us to figure out a way to get Parise. Great hockey player, but not sure I'll be able to endure posts like, "another midget" when the guy is posting 35 goals.

I don't want Stoll unless he'd be replacing Roy on the 3rd line.

Here's a natural progression; Oh, they just need to gel, oh there's too many injuries, oh, we need something different. While injuries were an issue, we weren't great(as a club) when we were healthy, because Miller saved our bacon. If the goal is Stanley Cup, then getting Leino back 2 weeks sooner isn't going to get us there. The club needs some changes. Whether they be management, top 6 forward, or top 4 D, I don't know, but what we got isn't going to have us challenging any time soon(and they does take into account the rookies coming up(getting better/worse), just like it has the last 10 years).

My only bash is going to LR, and it's an old, stupid argument, but I do honestly fear putting these rookies in his hands. I really do.

They operated on a shoestring budget with player payroll barely over $30M. Players and staff were getting payroll checks late, and from different banks all the time. Normal day to day supplies ran out regularly and took days to be replenished. Layoffs happened, and staffing was at a bare minimum.

It was not an environment where anyone could succeed.

Regier did his job well. Since Pegula has taken over, he has taken some risks, but he has signed good players and fleeced teams in trades. Ruff... Guy needs out IMHO.

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

I'm sure any other coach would've had the same results bud. Yes it was hard for players and coaches to do the hockey thing in that environment. But 14 Seasons and no cup? The next highest tenured coach is Trotz and I'm 100% sure he's made the playoffs more than Ruff while being in one of the best divisions and the best conference in the league. Plus he started from scratch and he made his team a team to watch every year.

Ruff's had a long time yes it's nice to keep this longest tenured coaching streak alive but for how much longer? If this keeps up or grand childeren will see Ruff with a white mustache and a cane coaching the future Sabres.

Your argument is purely keep him because he did alright when the Sabres were almost on the out but really that's not even an argument it's just pure sympathy. Ya he did alright without money but once good ol billionaire Pegula tookover he shit the bed for about 75% of the season. I'd give him one more year just because of the injuries and this run we had but after that if we don't see the 2nd round we should be looking at other options.

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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