FanboySlayer*
Guest
We all remember when the franchise's soul was ripped apart by the departures of Drury and Briere. The young core we were left to pin our hopes on included Vanek, Roy, Pominville, Connoly, Stafford, Campbell, Gaustad, Paille, MacArthur and Miller in goal. As hard as it was to take losing the heart and soul of the team that young core which remained did have lots of promise and looking at the stats from the 2006-2007 many had already broken through as young stars - Vanek with 43 goals and 84 points, Pominville with 34 goals and 68 points, Roy 21 goals and 63 points, Campbell 48 points, Stafford projected to a full season 26 goals and 54 points.
And now with what looks like a back to square one rebuild underway, possibly going into next season minus Pominville, Vanek and Miller, what is the next 'core' to put our hopes in?
It's Myers, Hodgson, Ennis, Foligno and a bunch of kids with little or no professional experience and some not even drafted yet. Myers we already know is suspect character/maturity wise, came in unprepared out of shape and gets very down on himself, doesn't like pressure. Hodgson was not liked in the room in Vancouver, there were the stories of his hockey dad father pushing management for more ice time and a bigger role in his kid's rookie season on a team filled with veterans. Also talk of Cody just not fitting in socially - he's a daddy's boy who prefers chess to boozing and carousing. If he was your son you'd be fine and maybe proud of that - in the culture of hockey, that is a 'square peg'. Ennis, there was talk about him a couple months ago, regarding dedication/preparation, I forget Paul Hamilton's words but they were not flattering to Ennis. Hamilton is around the team as much as anybody in the media. Grigorenko fell to 12th in the draft because of doubts about his character and dedication. Armia will be a kid from Europe on his own in North America for the first time, sure to be growing pains on and off the ice. With the dearth of talent on the Sabres young players will be force fed to play in the NHL. Not the best situation for young players, a small number of those thrive who get thrown in the deep end young but most are worse for it.
What this team needs to do in the off season is trade some of the picks for NHL veterans and get others through free agency, you can't have a room full of kids, you need older players who will demand and command respect and you need some real 'dirtbags', who aren't afraid to make things unpleasant for the kids if need be, put a little fear into them. This was a major problem I believe with the last 'core' - they were allowed to create their own culture and it was a culture of softness and comfort with little accountability and expectations. Poor Lindy, the grumpy Dad barking into the wind as the grass remained unmown, the garbage bags piling up in the garage, and the grades remained C's for the underachievers.
The more I think about it the more I realize that Vanek has to go, there's not a chance he re-signs here after next season with the youth movement underway. We need to get as full value as we can for him and that means before next season begins.
There's no turning back now in my opinion. The option to hang on to Miller and Vanek another year hoping they both re-sign is too risky, even if they play for us next year and under a new coach or even Rolston some kids come in and contribute well, Myers reclaims some of his potential and the Sabres were to make the playoffs - I still think Vanek and Miller leave without us getting anything in return. Can't afford that, making the playoffs and a first round exit isn't worth that risk.
Regier can't survive this, please tell me I'm right. If this team was a publically traded stock it would be worth about 4 dollars now from 30 dollars a couple of years ago. The stockholders would demand the CEO had to go and he'd be gone.
And now with what looks like a back to square one rebuild underway, possibly going into next season minus Pominville, Vanek and Miller, what is the next 'core' to put our hopes in?
It's Myers, Hodgson, Ennis, Foligno and a bunch of kids with little or no professional experience and some not even drafted yet. Myers we already know is suspect character/maturity wise, came in unprepared out of shape and gets very down on himself, doesn't like pressure. Hodgson was not liked in the room in Vancouver, there were the stories of his hockey dad father pushing management for more ice time and a bigger role in his kid's rookie season on a team filled with veterans. Also talk of Cody just not fitting in socially - he's a daddy's boy who prefers chess to boozing and carousing. If he was your son you'd be fine and maybe proud of that - in the culture of hockey, that is a 'square peg'. Ennis, there was talk about him a couple months ago, regarding dedication/preparation, I forget Paul Hamilton's words but they were not flattering to Ennis. Hamilton is around the team as much as anybody in the media. Grigorenko fell to 12th in the draft because of doubts about his character and dedication. Armia will be a kid from Europe on his own in North America for the first time, sure to be growing pains on and off the ice. With the dearth of talent on the Sabres young players will be force fed to play in the NHL. Not the best situation for young players, a small number of those thrive who get thrown in the deep end young but most are worse for it.
What this team needs to do in the off season is trade some of the picks for NHL veterans and get others through free agency, you can't have a room full of kids, you need older players who will demand and command respect and you need some real 'dirtbags', who aren't afraid to make things unpleasant for the kids if need be, put a little fear into them. This was a major problem I believe with the last 'core' - they were allowed to create their own culture and it was a culture of softness and comfort with little accountability and expectations. Poor Lindy, the grumpy Dad barking into the wind as the grass remained unmown, the garbage bags piling up in the garage, and the grades remained C's for the underachievers.
The more I think about it the more I realize that Vanek has to go, there's not a chance he re-signs here after next season with the youth movement underway. We need to get as full value as we can for him and that means before next season begins.
There's no turning back now in my opinion. The option to hang on to Miller and Vanek another year hoping they both re-sign is too risky, even if they play for us next year and under a new coach or even Rolston some kids come in and contribute well, Myers reclaims some of his potential and the Sabres were to make the playoffs - I still think Vanek and Miller leave without us getting anything in return. Can't afford that, making the playoffs and a first round exit isn't worth that risk.
Regier can't survive this, please tell me I'm right. If this team was a publically traded stock it would be worth about 4 dollars now from 30 dollars a couple of years ago. The stockholders would demand the CEO had to go and he'd be gone.