Three biggest blunders in organizational history
- Thread starter jBuds
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SuperNintendoChalmrs
Registered User
I'll throw one out there that doesn't talked about at all... If they could have found a way to keep Rick Dudley on the team after the 74-75 season and not watch him head over to the WHA. Can't fault him as he ended up getting a good contract there.
Not a "top 3 blunder" but he would have been an asset on the team still. And trading his linemate Peter McNab wasn't a very smart idea.
Not a "top 3 blunder" but he would have been an asset on the team still. And trading his linemate Peter McNab wasn't a very smart idea.
kirby11
Registered User
Ones that come to mind from recent history:
Co-caps debacle.
Marek Zagrapen.
Not trading Connolly/Max when their value had peaked around 08-09.
I don't think these are the three biggest, but I can't really comment on some of the earlier ones.
Co-caps debacle.
Marek Zagrapen.
Not trading Connolly/Max when their value had peaked around 08-09.
I don't think these are the three biggest, but I can't really comment on some of the earlier ones.
Jim Bob
RIP RJ
CatsforReinhart
Registered User
You guys may want to refresh your memories.
1) Hasek had yet to emerge as the goalie we know him as. That season his save % was .896 to Fuhr's .891. The following season is when Hasek started to be what we know him as now.
2) Lafontaine and Mogilny were both injured and done for the year in Game #3 of that series. Mogilny broke his leg and Lafontaine injured his knee. That game, one could argue, changed the fortunes of the franchise since those two only played 38gms together after that due to injuries. Had they not been injured and had a couple more seasons playing at the level. Then add in Hasek coming into his own……… What could have been.
But the odds we would have won the Cup without LaFontaine/Mogilny would have been pretty long. Its pretty ridiculous to argue simply playing Hasek wins us a Cup with those two out.
Maybe reread my post....I said IF Hasek was the real deal..Also Hindsight being 20/20 those injuries never happen if Hasek is in net because it is a different outcome...ahh but that is a whole different subject.
Losing Briere and Drury was bad, but I think the worst part was that Darcy was not summarily fired that day. So that, to me was the biggest blunder.
Blunder #2 came shortly after, when we could have started the tank in grand style by swapping Vanek for those four #1 picks. By then, there was no pretending that the Sabres were a contender anymore. We would be a powerhouse team by now with those picks.
Blunder #3; I'm not so sure about. Although I have been a fan since the '80s, I never really followed the front office moves until the internet era. So I will go with another recent one that is not a far-reaching disaster like the other two, but just seems so inexplicably stupid:
The Sekera trade. He was so young, so cheap, and so good. WHY???
Blunder #2 came shortly after, when we could have started the tank in grand style by swapping Vanek for those four #1 picks. By then, there was no pretending that the Sabres were a contender anymore. We would be a powerhouse team by now with those picks.
Blunder #3; I'm not so sure about. Although I have been a fan since the '80s, I never really followed the front office moves until the internet era. So I will go with another recent one that is not a far-reaching disaster like the other two, but just seems so inexplicably stupid:
The Sekera trade. He was so young, so cheap, and so good. WHY???
ZZamboni
Puttin' on the Foil
La Cosa Nostra
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This makes absolutely zero sense. Golisano a blunder ?
Back in 2003 there was no magical Pegula around. If it wasn't for Tom Golisano bye bye Buffalo Sabres, they'd be in Hamilton or Seattle/Portland. Oh it's also funny that under Golisano the best 2 year run in franchise history happened but supposedly Golisano owning the team was a bad thing And funny you mention 23/48, First of all the Chris Drury trade would have NEVER happened in the first place WITHOUT Golisano. And you must have forgotten 06-07 when we had zero cap room and spent to the cap.
Wisent42
Registered User
While I don't agree that this is a top three blunder, not even close, that deal looks bad in hindsight. Sekera was supposed to be one of those guys to build around, instead he was traided for McPain and a 2nd round. Compher better be worth it...
Yet at the time it happened, I could see the logic. Management obviously had their mind set on Compher and McBain was a upcoming RFA who had shown what he was capable of before. If he had redeemed himself coming to Buffalo and either re-signed or been traded for more pieces, that trade would have been a steal. That didn't happen, but you can't win them all. I didn't like it at the time and I still don't, but I wouldn't call it a blunder. It's a trade that can't be truly evaluated for yet a few years.
I'll date myself but Peter McNab. We picked up Savard and gave McNab to Bruins. McNab was the second line guy we could have used behind Perreault throughout the 1970s. I think it cost us dearly
This sums it up for me.
That, and believing that Doug Janik, Nathan Paetsch and Jeff Jillson qualified as "defensive depth" leading up to the 05-06 playoffs. We should have won the Cup that year.
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brian_griffin
"Eric Cartman?"
I always felt McNabb for Savard was pretty much a wash. Savard was a better defensive / all situations player, IMO. (I always liked his vampire smile when leaning over for faceoffs.)
brian_griffin
"Eric Cartman?"
I always considered Ramsay-Luce-Gare the Sabres 2nd line, even though they had the checking / shadowing assignment against Shutt-Lemaire-LaFleur, Bucyk-Ratelle-Cashman, Hodge-Esposito-Gilbert, MacLeish-Clarke-Barber, and ???-Sittler-MacDonald.
'74-75 I started following the Sabres. Without going to hockeyDB site...
I remember 7_Martin-11_Perreault-14_Robert and 10_Ramsay-20_Luce-21_Gare as getting the most minutes. After the Cup run, 13_McNab was swapped for 12_Savard, and 9_Dudley left.
Teams iced 3 lines, with 1 extra dressed foward, I think.
After the '74-75 Cup run, in the late '70s, those additional forwards besides Andre Savard included, depending on year, one or more of "older players": 17_Fred Stanfield and 8_Jim Lorentz, and "kids" 21_Brian Spencer and 25_Terry Martin (rookies in '74-75 I think), 16_Ric Seiling (rookie in '76 or '77), 19_Derek Smith (rookie in '77 or '78).
And to lesser extents those years: ??_Ron Schock (from Pittsburgh), 15_Gary MacAdam (or was it Al?), and Don Luce's brother-in-law, who also wore #15 and I think was Mike Bolland.
I might be missing someone, but if I did they probably weren't memorable. Ruff didn't come until '79 or so.
That's a tough one for me, because we don't know where Edmonton goes as an organization with a move like that. Look at how the Islanders bolstered their roster for 2015, so they don't have to surrender a top 5 pick. I bet that EDM would morgage everything, even the kitchen sink, just so they wouldn't have to surrender a top 5 pick.
Taking a team with all that talent that made the Conference Finals his first year and wound up as the worst team in the league at the end of his tenure was terrible. The way he treated his players, his ego, his gross attachment to "his" draftees, his quest to ruin Real Cloutier...
Second for me remains Larry Quinn. His first tenure saw the disintegration of Nolan/Muckler/Hasek due in large part to his meddling in on-ice and front-office decisions. His second tenure, while part of the salvaging of the team from bankruptcy, saw a continuation of poor decisions including the penny-wise and pound-foolish actions around the co-caps, as well as not finding a way to fund a depth player on defense in '06.
Third? The Peca/Hasek fiasco. Peca signed to a deal could've been the difference in the Pens series and likely a happy Hasek. Peca's rights dealt for something that could've helped in the playoffs makes for a happy Hasek. A happy Hasek does not make outrageous demands that he wants to be traded to one of two teams (Detroit or St. Louis) or he'll retire AND he wants right of refusal on the deal to make sure it does not cripple the acquiring team which in turn leads to the ********* return. In the end, they wind up with a couple prospects in Pyatt and Connolly, a disgruntled Kozlov who they spin for picks to land Hecht, and the pick used on Paille. Given the impact of all of them combined vs. Peca and Hasek... a clear loss of talent and major steps back for the team. For want of a nail...
La Cosa Nostra
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Exactly. People need to stop thinking we would have gotten Hall etc with those picks because we wouldn't have. First off, an elite goal scorer like Vanek makes the Oilers a lot better ( I remember some trolls saying that Penner was similar
) and like you said their is no chance the Oil don't try to compete and sign/trade for immediate help if they are missing their next 4 1sts. They would have tried to compete and would have likely given us 4 1sts in the 8-20 range. And the Oil were one summer removed from a cup run when they made the OS.Anyway, if the Isles pick turns into McDavid, Eichel, Hanifin, Barzal, Strome etc to go along with the 2nd and then Moulson, a legit 1st line goal scorer signed for half a decade then the return would be a lot better then 4 mid round 1sts.
As for my list, the only recent ones would be not getting Datsyuk or Zetterberg or multiple 1sts from Detroit in the Hasek trade, not trading Peca for ANYTHING during 00-01 (when we got screwed in the playoffs against Pitt and that year we owned the Devils and also beat the Avs in the reg season WITH BIRON IN NET. Aside from 05-06 that 00-01 team was a legit cup contender and I think we had a better chance at the cup that year then even 06-07.That 00-01 team was incredible and if we either had Peca or traded Peca and got a top 4 dman or a top 6 forward then the cup was ours) and drafting Zagrapan and then in 06 taking a bum like PERSSON over Nick Foligno when we were on a draft Buffalo linked guys at all costs. Made no sense not to take Nick Foligno when we were trading for guys like Kennedy etc and especially picking a bum project over him . At the draft everyone said Persson was a 2nd/3rd round prospect at best and what do ya know he was a complete bust.
Also Kriukov and Heistem are right there too. Let's see, Artemis Kriukov or Martin Havlat?
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No way it was a wash. We had a checking line. McNab would have made Sabres very dangerous offensively.
Bearbait
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- Mar 4, 2011
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maybe not the biggest blunder of all time, but for many of you, if you could have seen how the organization "developed" Housley in the early to mid 80's, it would have made your head spin.
One night he would play the blue line, next up on wing, then Bowman sat him in the press box for 2.....on and on and on that went for 5 years!.....it's a wonder he ever developed at anything really.
I've often said, Scotty Bowman was a great coach by the time he got to Pittsburgh and Detroit....mainly because he spent so many years in Buffalo screwing up on a nightly basis.
So I nominate Scotty Bowman as the biggest blunder, that guy put this franchise years behind the rest of the league for years to come, he just wasn't very good while he was here.
One night he would play the blue line, next up on wing, then Bowman sat him in the press box for 2.....on and on and on that went for 5 years!.....it's a wonder he ever developed at anything really.
I've often said, Scotty Bowman was a great coach by the time he got to Pittsburgh and Detroit....mainly because he spent so many years in Buffalo screwing up on a nightly basis.
So I nominate Scotty Bowman as the biggest blunder, that guy put this franchise years behind the rest of the league for years to come, he just wasn't very good while he was here.
