Winds of Change

[Canadian Sabres]

The Sabres lose again this time 2-1 over the Winnipeg Jets which has finally got me to my breaking point, the Sabres need to change! or just tank the rest of the season and get a top 5 draft pick its a lock shortened season who the hell cares!!

If the Sabres arent gonna smarten up and turn this thing around just tank already .

Anyway now that that is out of the way.....

Everyone is screaming for a coaching/gm change and personally I am getting to the point where I am agreeing, the waiting for them to fix things is over its time to bring in a new crew with fresh ideas on how to help Mr Pegula execute his plan to winning a stanley cup..

Its time for the Winds of Change to blow..

GM - To replace Darcy Regier who would you get? In essence the first thing that comes to mind would be recently revoked of GM duties Brain Burke because of his track record of getting really good players for basically guys with slighty average talented players (nikals hagman) mind you he did ship off Luke Schenn for JVR but really who won that trade? the Flyers needed a D-man to fill Prongers void because he really probably isnt coming back anytime soon and JVR has worked wonders so far in Toronto (8G 3 A = 11pts and a +4 rating) through 16 games.

Coach - Your following include Craig Mctavish and Guy Carbonneau, Marc Crawford. My personal prefernce is Mactavish of the 3 as his season with Oilers in their cup run in 06 speaks for its self i'm sure he would love to put together a team that will just crush the Hurricanes every time they faceoff against them.. Mactavish who with the 8th seeded Oilers trounced through the Redwings(4-2), The Sharks(4-2) and at the time the Mighty Ducks (4-1) by which he employed the trap system which helped neutralize most of their top tier offense juggernauts.

HAVE YOUR SAY!

Who should replace Darcy and Lindy?

[flyerrod]

I did not think Ruff was going to survive last year and yet he did. I do think he has "lost the room" and the Sabres need to get someone in there who the players won't tune out. I always liked McTavish as a player and think he connected with the players as a coach. If I were to hire him as the coach I would talk with him on who he wants to work with as a gm. Terry Pegula will have people lining up to come work for him. He is a hockey fan's dream as an owner as he supports the community as well as the team. It would not surprise me if Mr. Pegula will move Lindy Ruff into scouting and create another place for Darcy Regier within the Sabres. The guy is a class act. Hockey needs more owners like him.

[yave1964]

I will always have a soft spot for Ruff, one of my kids dated his niece, and she got him to get an autographed Ryan Miller jersey which I would wear with pride if I could ever get my wife to take the damn thing off......

But to hockey, it is time for a new broom to sweep out the old in Buffalo. After too long you start to defend your bad decisions by holding on to players too long, Stafford comes to mind. He was a hot rumor last year, going to Detroit and about a half dozen other places near the deadline but they never pulled the trigger because he was overvalued. Now he is -5 with 1 goal in 17 games and is untradeable unless you want to give him away. Too many guys who came up through the organization who have underachieved but because Regier drafted them he holds them too long, because they are his kids. You got to know when to fold em.

The Ryan Miller/Enroth situation is a good case in point. Enroth a couple of seasons ago looked like a world beater, went 9-2 and whispers started about whether it was time for Miller to be traded and what he could bring. Even last year though Enroth watched his record slip he had a decent save percentage and goals against, but no deal was made. Now Enroth is looking horrible in net, messed up from being part time and all the politics and has little value, and Miller has to stay. Two years ago Enroth could have fetched someone to help the team, a second/third line forward, a top four blueliner, Miller could have brought more. By waiting too long the value of both has dropped and a strength has turned into a weakness.

Now I am not saying the team needs to turn in to a Keenan type of club with 50 players a year, but new blood is needed to properly judge the talent here, and make the tough decisions that the current regime wont/cant make.

Burke and Mactavish would be a fine combo, Jacques Lemaire would really be the ideal fit for this team if anyone could talk him in to giving it one more try.A quirky pick of mine would be Scott Niedermayer who is an assistant this year in Anaheim, if anyone could get the most out of Tyler Myers it would be him.

[Pegulaville26]

Last night was the first time in his post game press conference that I have ever heard Ruff seem defeated. He had no answers and was not his usual defensive self. I think even Ruff knows that his time is up and it's not working anymore. I wouldn't mind if Regier stays however if he will not let Lindy go then he needs to go too. The Sabres downfall for years have ben falling in love with their own players and afraid to try new things. Enroth and Stafford could have been moved within the last 2 years for good pieces and both players have no value now. Hecht is another example of the organization not being able to move on. When his contract expired after last season it should have never been discussed to bring him back. At 35 he has not value and a concussion history. Hecht taking a roster spot slows the development of Grigorneko because he has to sit when all goes bad Ruff goes to what he knows best. Brayden McNabb, Luke Adam, and Brian Flynn all sit in Rochester and could be helpful to this team. Sabres need to put the for sale sign up on the front lawn and starting trading pieces to maximize on value (Pominville, Sulzer, Leopold, and Regher). I have no problem with any of those players I listed as far as performance, but all have value now. Regher likely will not be moved because I think Pegula promised him of that when they brought him over from the Flames, but the other three I have no problem seeing them moved to bring in pieces. Pommer can be used in perhaps a Ryan O' Reilly trade.

New coach ideas: Ron Rolston, Dallas Eakins, Tony Granato