I always get a kick out of Mike Schopp when he bad mouths the NFL product, and then acts as if the NHL is the all world sport. Today, Paul Hamilton was on with Schopp and pretty much the two of them beat up on the Bills. Before you start sending your Sabres hate mail to me, I don't have a problem with them criticizing the Bills. But my issue with their discussion is towards the end of their interview. Schopp was yucking it up with Hamilton about how they couldn't wait for hockey season to start, as if they were kids waiting for Santa Clause on Christmas Eve. Then the two of them went on to bad mouth the NFL as a product and put over the NHL.
Look, you can be a bigger NHL fan over the NFL, but don't try and insult my intelligence by telling me the NLF product is a joke. I mean how wrong can 95.4 million people who watched last years super bowl be? Of course, WGR being the home for the Buffalo Sabres has absolutely nothing to with his stance.
I know I'm going to get some bad comments (Dale?) about my stance on the NHL. I feel some fans and media members in Buffalo act as if the NHL is the end all be all of sports, because they take pride in the fact that the sport stinks outside of Buffalo, in terms of viewership and fan interest. It's like people in Buffalo who love drinking crown royal and take pride in it because other cities don't drink it. At the end of the day, crown is disgusting, but hey it's our drink.
I'll admit, I buy the logic to a certain point. If the Sabres didn't exist in Buffalo, I wouldn't give a rats ass about the NHL. Once the Sabres get eliminated, wake me up when free agency starts, or in the Sabres case, 3 weeks after FA starts. I'll watch some NHL teams play, mainly the top tier of the league. But if you think I'm going to sit through a snooze fest between the Devils and Thrashers, you got another thing coming to you. Like I said, I'd rather see Manning vs Brady than Ovechkin vs Crosby. There's no way you can prove me wrong on the match-up.
-joe-
93.4 million viewers can't be wrong? sure they can...just turn on deal or no deal. or american idol for that matter.
ReplyDeleteeveryone is entitled to their opinion, and like schopp and hamilton i feel hockey is a better sport. why? i grew up with it since a very young age as my childhood friends father was a very memorable sabre. hockey is faster, there aren't mind-numbing stoppages in play every 15 seconds and i can go to a sabres game and be home in 20 mins as opposed to spending a whole day at the leper colony that is ralph wilson stadium watching god awful football for the past ten years from a team owned by a corpse.
i dont care if you're right about brady v. manning and ovechkin vs crosby. i know which i would enjoy more. you said yourself that you only "watch" the NHL because the sabres are in it. that being said, you just acknolwedged you're a mere casual fan and lack any basis for a good argument regarding hockey or the sabres. again..i'll point to your fight highlights. something only the thickheaded hockey fan would solely focus on. where are the sabre glory moments? where is may day? where are the hasek highlights? where is the drury goal against the rangers? you're a knucklehead when it comes to hockey.
my point is, a casual fan like you has ZERO credibility when it comes to criticizing the sport, a team, or a GM. for you to say the sabres signed nobodies is idiotic. they're only nobodies to you because again...you're a casual fan. any good fan will tell you that steve montador is a solid, stay-at-home defenseman that will smack an opponent or two in the face when needed. this is what the sabres have been missing. because this guy isnt dion phaneuf or jay bouwmeester, he's a nobody to you. thats an uninformed, nearsighted opinion on your part. same goes for mike grier. he serves his role, a role the sabres needed. but because he's not marian hossa...he's a bad signing.
i dont care that you dont like the NHL. what bothers me is these asinine, knee-jerk reactions you make about a sport you apparently think sucks and have admitted you wouldnt watch if not for the sabres.
bottom line...know what you're talking about before you make knee-jerk reactions about the sabres. i know next to nothing about football, so i dont make these uninformed analyses of the team. i just know they've been a joke with regards to the playoffs and i know that they are in danger of relocating...and, as someone who's lived in other cities, know that the bills are a punchline and not respected at all (at least in the circles i've traveled).
im happy with the sport of hockey, and some uninformed blogger who cares more about the fights than the actual game is not going to change my mind.
PS - nice pic of the igloo...i've been there several times and if you knew what you were talking about, you would know that building is sold out every night. a pic in atlanta or florida would have worked much better and wouldve shown how pathetic the game is in the south (where it doesnt belong)
first off, i follow the sabres, and bottom line after your epic story of youth, the sabres are still missing a playmaking center and defenseman..right or wrong? I'm sorry I dont enjoy the game being just an element of chance the entire time...Do you think Montador and Grier are going to help the Sabres? and all due respect deal or no deal gets like 5 million people...
ReplyDeleteso your lame ass excuse isn't credible, Tell me how many playmaking centerman we have? And all due respect I've been watching the Sabres play for 20 years, and I'm right in the fact they are missing what I told you about...tell me I'm wrong mr. grand pooba of hockey.. and if you want me to get excited about guys like gerbe and kennedy...why should i? this organization has only developed what? 3 all stars in 16 years..I want guys in here that will score..this team is going to have major issues scoring...you'll see...and your dumb opinion about teams down south is stupid...the problem is the teams down there suck...if they were like the sabres in 2005-2007...they'd be selling out...
tim connolly is your playmaking center. yeah yeah if he stays healthy, heard it before.
ReplyDeletethey need another defenseman? ok...like who? dare i say tyler myers might join the team? or would that just be too much wishful thinking? they have 8 or 9 D if you want to count myers. a trade is near impossible. if you've been reading up on the NHL (which im sure you havent) its almost impossible to make trades with the salary cap. so good luck moving tallinder.
nowhere did i mention anything about gerbe or kennedy. gerbe will be lucky to make the team. kennedy might have a shot at contributing, but gerbe is just not impressive, i dont care how "big his heart is". hope im wrong.
why do you think they'll have issue scoring? they've been in the top ten 3 out of the past 4 years. they were like 12th last year. scoring is not their issue. the fact that you think that is just....i dunno, bad. they lacked competitiveness and accountability, not scoring. so thickheaded.
3 all stars is 16 years? ok lets go back in time to 1993 (16 years ago, no need to get a calculator). all stars from the sabres include mogilny, lafontaine, hasek, zhitnik, satan, brian campbell, thomas vanek, ryan miller, and briere if you want to throw him in there (he was never an all star until he played for buffalo). so i dont know where you're getting three from.
the teams down south suck? other than atlanta, florida, and phoenix, who are you talking about? dallas, tampa, anaheim have all won a cup, and san jose isnt too shabby. carolina won a cup and los angeles is on the upswing. soooo i fail to see where you're coming from. the teams dont suck, the markets do. but what i think doesnt matter because "my dumb opinion is stupid"...nice one joe, are we 7? i wouldve liked dickhead or douchebag more.
the sabres still sell out now btw...just like the igloo, which you wanted to depict as empty to make your case stronger.
Why would this years team have trouble scoring? Last years didn't. Only 5 teams in the east had more goals, only 4 in the west. They are clearly in the top half of the league when it comes to scoring. 250 goals is pretty good... You think their pickups and lack of re-signings (goodbye Peters and Afinogenov) are going to seriously drop that level? Do you really think Spacek was providing all their offense? Uh... yeah... I don't think so. I'm pretty sure they will be fine putting pucks in the net, again.
ReplyDeleteI realize you weren't asking me but right now I would say they have two play making centers, Roy and Connolly. They don't need another center at this point. Also, yes I think Grier and Montador were both good pickups. Excellent pickups really, though Grier is a bit risky as he was injured for part of last season, so time will tell. He will at least bring some much needed passion to the locker room, which I think is what they are lacking most.
I'm not sure why you need Gerbe or Kennedy to be a star, can't one of them just make the team and have a good rookie season? Wouldn't that be enough? I think it would. They aren't lacking in offense. Buffalo does that all the time, heck, half their team is like that. That is a good thing. I don't know why people forget about the team aspect of sports when it comes to trading. Just because you can get the best winger in the world on your team doesn't mean it will make the team better. Teams have to play as a team. Teams get better as teams.
Are you kidding me on Connoly? he is the most overrated player the last decade...his career high in goals is 17 for god sakes..he's never been healtshy and hes completely overpaid..
ReplyDeleteas far as mentioning Lafontaine, Hasek and zhithnick..last i checked those guys were trades, not draft picks...campbell vanek and miller have been the only allstars who have been home growned..as far play making defenseman the Sabres had the least goals from the blue line..so like i said..playmaking defenseman.. as far as goals per game..buffalo was ranked 15th..so your top 10 or whatever you stated was wrong.
The Sabres since the lockout have made exactly 2 trades (zubrius and dominic moore) being the major ones, unless you wanna call getting Jilson a good trade.
and just to back up my trades and your idiotic teams cant trade because of the cap theory..I just googled pittsburgh Penguins trades..compare and contrast will you?
2005-06 Deadline: March 9
March 9: Penguins traded Ric Jackman to Florida for Petr Taticek
March 9: Penguins traded Mark Recchi to Carolina for Niklas Nordgren, Krystofer Kolanso and Hurricanes' 2nd-round pick in 2007 draft
March 9: Penguins traded Cory Cross to Detroit for Red Wings' 4th-round pick in 2007 draft (Alex Grant)
2006-07 Deadline: February 27
Feb. 27: Penguins acquired Gary Roberts from Florida for Noah Welch
Feb. 27: Penguins acquired Georges Laraque from Phoenix for Dan Carcillo and Pittsburgh's 3rd-round pick in 2008 draft
Feb. 27: Penguins acquired Joel Kwiatkowski from Florida for Panthers' 4th-round pick in 2007 draft (previously required)
Feb. 27; Penguins traded Dominic Moore to Minnesota for Wild's 3rd-round pick in 2007 draft (Casey Pierro-Zabotel)
Feb. 27; Penguins acquired Nolan Schaefer from San Jose for Pittsburgh's 7th-round pick in 2007 draft
2007-08 Deadline: February 26
Feb. 28: Penguins acquired Marian Hossa and Pascal Dupuis from Atlanta for Colby Armstrong, Erik Christensen, Angelo Esposito and Pittsburgh's 1st-round pick in 2008 draft
dale..if your seriously going to call me out and tell me to grow up,you should do the same, your first 3 posts you've sent to me you ended it by calling me a douche bag...so kettle? black?
sorry for the spelling, was kind of in a hurry...but thanks for reading
ReplyDeleteDirty Dale's my hero!
ReplyDeletewhat stats are you looking at that puts the sabres at 15th in scoring? according to NHL.com, they were 12th last season. in 07-08 they were 4th, 06-07 they weer 1st, and 05-06 they were 5th. where are you getting 15th from?
ReplyDeleteas for the pens trades, the majority of these are minor moves that you would be all over darcy for. i'd love to see your reaction to the sabres trading for joel kwiatkowski (another nobody!) save hossa, roberts, guerin...the majority of trades are negligible. about on par with acquiring dominic moore and dainus zubrus.
as far as growing up...what i meant was, id rather you call me a douchebag or dickhead than being told "my dumb opinion is stupid"...i mean really with that?
connolly is not over rated. you want over rated? than lets talk patrick marleau and nik zherdev. in ters of pure skill, connolly is right up there with the best of them. his production has obviously been hindered by injuries, but when he's healthy, he's a gem (ill reference the 2006 playoffs).
lastly, concerning goal scoring by defensemen...if you recall, the sabres sometimes like to use 1, sometimes 2 forwards on the point during the powerplay. that would obviously hinder the production of d scoring. not an excuse, but its a fact. regardless...defenseman scoring is a concern. i have a hard time envisioning andrej sekera putting up numbers.
oh please a gem?? Tinny Tim is the roscoe parrish of our team...sure he has the highlight real goals but when push comes to shove the dude disappears and can't stay healthy, and don't give me the Ottawa series!? he played on the what? 4th line? of course he would be a great 4th line centerman...but you put him on the first or second line forget it...and who ever thought about giving a guy a raise after only playing 33% of team games over a 3 year stretch... He's overrated.. by far...and to make the assertion that he's incredible over a 5 game series...guys like Connolly and roy DON'T have the clutch performances when it comes to getting game winning goals like drury and briere did...can you tell me any big goals the two of them have scored playoffs or regular season?
ReplyDeleteThe fact that darcy reiger came out and said the resigning of tinny Tim was better than any trade during the deadline was an absolute joke that insulted my intelligence...and when you have to put pommer or tinny tim at the point on pp that what do you do during even strength time periods?
and with your scoring, your right they were 12th...but you said it yourself they've been dropping..so what makes you think they can keep up...you keep hoping that guys like roy and tinny tim will be the next drury and briere..not goin to happen
still cant get over briere and drury? i dont blame you. i would be upset too if two guys in contract years left for the big money and then failed to live up to their deals. i can only imagine your reaction if the sabres kept them and performed like they've been. how many games has briere missed since signing with philly? you talk about connolly having injury issues....
ReplyDeletespeaking of catch 22s...i can only imagine your brilliant reaction if the sabres did not sign connolly. you'd be the first one claiming darcy is cheap, he doesnt sign his players, blah blah blah. youre a typical buffalonian who wont let any GM win no matter what.
and yes...roy can score, he actually outscored drury last year, and briere. pominville (who had an off year) did the same too. statistically, they are not the next drury and briere...they're better (minus the little league world series greatness).
clutch??? how have they (drury and briere) been clutch recently? what big goals have they scored since the 06-07 playoffs? im just trying to see where they've been so clutch since theyve left. im dying to know because i didnt see it. if you havent noticed by now...im calling you out to prove me wrong. both drury and briere have not been the same players since theyve left...prove me wrong.
sure I'll prove you wrong...your the typical fan who takes pride in Drury and Briere not living up to their deals...but bottom line, both teams have made the playoffs the last 2 years and have won playoff series...while the Sabres can't even get in the playoffs...and as far as overpaying...read the buffalo news..they had a deal in place for drury but Golisano/Quinn got cold feet because they were to busy planning some stupid party in plaza function...they waited way too long to get deals done...had they been proactive in the summer of 2006 they would of had each player for fricken 4.5 million...and at that money, i'd take them over pommer and Hecht.. the fact of the matter is whether drury or briere never get 30 goals again, the Sabres never replaced them..period...look at the roster, their expecation was Tinny Tim and roy replacing them...but they haven't come close, not to mention who the hell would replace them on the 3rd lines? Your logic is flaud and your love for the Sabres has blinded you...I'm not blinded by the Bills...as far as Tinny tim is concerend,...the 4.5 million could of been spent on someone a lot better than Tinny Tim...but hey, the sabres got you at hello and you'll keep drinking the kool-aid
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