The St. Louis Blues were like Sabres
The St. Louis Blues were ousted by the defending Stanley Cup Champs in six games. In addition to former Sabre Ryan Miller, who was a 2014 trade deadline acquisition by St. Louis, three other former Sabres were on that team: Steve Ott, Jordan Leopold and Derek Roy.
There's a possibility that none will there next season. Miller, Ott and Roy are all UFA's while Leopold has one more year remaining on his contract that pays him $2.5M.
Although Leopold probably will be back, at least until the trade deadline, he really didn't do much of anything in his bottom-pairing role. He's an average player with average size and average skating ability that doesn't add a specific quality to the team. Vanilla, just like in Buffalo.
As for the others, Roy was a healthy scratch for two games and invisible for the four he played in. In typical fashion, when the heat was turned up, Roy folded. Which was exactly what he did for the Sabres.
Ott was the player that he is--a third line pest--which was fine until the final game when he got smoked by the highly skilled Hawks. Too many penalties and the injury to David Backes had him on the ice way too often throughout the series. It shows just how little talent Buffalo had when they were using Ott in a top-six role.
Although he could be back, Ott might better serve himself with a third-line role on a better team at a discount to his $3.2M salary or in a larger role on a lesser team for more money.
Showing posts with label larry robinson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label larry robinson. Show all posts
Thursday, May 1, 2014
Friday, February 22, 2013
Who is in charge of the Buffalo Sabres hockey operations?
Terry Pegula is the owner of the Buffalo Sabres. He has a lot of money. He bought the team as a fan and it was a welcome change for the team and the fans of Buffalo as he released the financial chains.
He wants to win. He wants to win as an owner and as a fan. And he's put his money where his mouth was.
That part is in place.
One of the golden rules of managing a business is hiring people who are smarter than yourself, which was pretty easy for Pegula. He walked into the F'N Center with no knowledge about running a sports team. That being said, he did hire some quality individuals who worked for quality organizations.
He laid out his team:
Team President, Ted Black--Black is a PR/media guy, and he's damn good at it. He was vice president of the Pittsburgh Penguins from 1999-2008 and helped Mario Lemieux rebuild the franchise. After that he was senior vice president and general manager of FSN Pittsburgh. Ted is not in charge of the hockey operations, and he'll let everyone know that during his weekly show on WGR when fans inundate him with personnel questions. Black is also alternate governor for the team.
Chief Development Officer, Cliff Benson--Benson is a CPA and attorney. He was at Pegula's side when the latter donated $88M to start up Penn State's Div-1 hockey program. He was there when Pegula bought the Sabres. Benson's main job is overseeing development outside of hockey operations as well as charitable works. He's a community relations kinda guy.
Senior Advisor, Ken Sawyer--Sawyer is the guy who advises Pegula on organizational decisions concerning the hockey operations. He worked for the NHL as a CFO for 14 years. He was with the Penguins with Lemieux in 1999 as one of his senior executives for 11 years. He's the guy who can get the big things done especially when dealing with the league.
Senior Vice President/Director of Hockey Operations--____________________
General Manager--Darcy Regier
There's the hole that Pegula really needs to invest in, with both a quality hire and a good amount of money to lure someone to Buffalo.
Apparently Regier has been in charge of that.
Yikes. Not a very good track record, especially in giving the team an identity. Make no mistake, if he's told to get something done, he'll be able to do it, as evidenced by the last two years of transactions.
But to ask him to define this team? It will be in his image and likeness. And he's a guy who could not compete in the NHL. He's had an affinity for soft-but-skilled players and puck-moving defensemen and knows nothing about grit and toughness.
He has not been able to identify and aquire hockey players. Real hockey players. Thick-skinned professionals who will not be denied at any point in the period, game or season. Guys who don't "want to win" (because all players want to win,) but guys who hate to lose.
How many of those players have been with the franchise post Chris Drury/Daniel Briere? Not many. As of right now the best of those is Ryan Miller. Steve Ott is like that. Patrick Kaleta, Nathan Gerbe even Thomas Vanek and Robyn Regehr, in a subtle way, all hate to lose.
Regier's core from the past six seasons and his acquisitions?
Not so much.
So, Terry, as the Lindy Ruff era officially came to a close, perhaps a look at your organization would be a place, THE place, to start your drive to the Stanley Cup.
The task of Sawyer and yourself is to hire the best hockey mind in the hockey operations business. One with a proven background of winning the Stanely Cup.
None of us outside the NHL circle know who's available, but a very good candidate may be Larry Robinson.
Robinson has had success everywhere he's gone. He started his career in one of the greatest organization in the NHL--the Montreal Canadians--who had one of the greatest coaches of all time in Scotty Bowman and was a major part of one of the greatest dynasties in NHL history--"The Flying Frenchmen" of the '70's. He won six Stanley Cups as a player.
His coaching resume' has him winning three Stanley Cups with the New Jersey Devils as both an assistant and as head coach.
Presently he's an assistant with the San Jose' Sharks. One of the reasons he went to the west coast, apparently, was to be close to his grandkids.
*shrugs*
It's been said that he was willing to take an assistant coach with the Canadians, but there was no opening, so the east coast is not out of the question.
Regardless of whether or not the team would want him or whether or not he'd come to Buffalo, Terry Pegula needs to fill that gaping hole in his organization.
Especially if their de facto Ops-guy, Darcy Regier, is no longer with the team come season's end.
He wants to win. He wants to win as an owner and as a fan. And he's put his money where his mouth was.
That part is in place.
One of the golden rules of managing a business is hiring people who are smarter than yourself, which was pretty easy for Pegula. He walked into the F'N Center with no knowledge about running a sports team. That being said, he did hire some quality individuals who worked for quality organizations.
He laid out his team:
Team President, Ted Black--Black is a PR/media guy, and he's damn good at it. He was vice president of the Pittsburgh Penguins from 1999-2008 and helped Mario Lemieux rebuild the franchise. After that he was senior vice president and general manager of FSN Pittsburgh. Ted is not in charge of the hockey operations, and he'll let everyone know that during his weekly show on WGR when fans inundate him with personnel questions. Black is also alternate governor for the team.
Chief Development Officer, Cliff Benson--Benson is a CPA and attorney. He was at Pegula's side when the latter donated $88M to start up Penn State's Div-1 hockey program. He was there when Pegula bought the Sabres. Benson's main job is overseeing development outside of hockey operations as well as charitable works. He's a community relations kinda guy.
Senior Advisor, Ken Sawyer--Sawyer is the guy who advises Pegula on organizational decisions concerning the hockey operations. He worked for the NHL as a CFO for 14 years. He was with the Penguins with Lemieux in 1999 as one of his senior executives for 11 years. He's the guy who can get the big things done especially when dealing with the league.
Senior Vice President/Director of Hockey Operations--____________________
General Manager--Darcy Regier
There's the hole that Pegula really needs to invest in, with both a quality hire and a good amount of money to lure someone to Buffalo.
Apparently Regier has been in charge of that.
Yikes. Not a very good track record, especially in giving the team an identity. Make no mistake, if he's told to get something done, he'll be able to do it, as evidenced by the last two years of transactions.
But to ask him to define this team? It will be in his image and likeness. And he's a guy who could not compete in the NHL. He's had an affinity for soft-but-skilled players and puck-moving defensemen and knows nothing about grit and toughness.
He has not been able to identify and aquire hockey players. Real hockey players. Thick-skinned professionals who will not be denied at any point in the period, game or season. Guys who don't "want to win" (because all players want to win,) but guys who hate to lose.
How many of those players have been with the franchise post Chris Drury/Daniel Briere? Not many. As of right now the best of those is Ryan Miller. Steve Ott is like that. Patrick Kaleta, Nathan Gerbe even Thomas Vanek and Robyn Regehr, in a subtle way, all hate to lose.
Regier's core from the past six seasons and his acquisitions?
Not so much.
So, Terry, as the Lindy Ruff era officially came to a close, perhaps a look at your organization would be a place, THE place, to start your drive to the Stanley Cup.
The task of Sawyer and yourself is to hire the best hockey mind in the hockey operations business. One with a proven background of winning the Stanely Cup.
None of us outside the NHL circle know who's available, but a very good candidate may be Larry Robinson.
Robinson has had success everywhere he's gone. He started his career in one of the greatest organization in the NHL--the Montreal Canadians--who had one of the greatest coaches of all time in Scotty Bowman and was a major part of one of the greatest dynasties in NHL history--"The Flying Frenchmen" of the '70's. He won six Stanley Cups as a player.
His coaching resume' has him winning three Stanley Cups with the New Jersey Devils as both an assistant and as head coach.
Presently he's an assistant with the San Jose' Sharks. One of the reasons he went to the west coast, apparently, was to be close to his grandkids.
*shrugs*
It's been said that he was willing to take an assistant coach with the Canadians, but there was no opening, so the east coast is not out of the question.
Regardless of whether or not the team would want him or whether or not he'd come to Buffalo, Terry Pegula needs to fill that gaping hole in his organization.
Especially if their de facto Ops-guy, Darcy Regier, is no longer with the team come season's end.
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
There's more than one Devil worth pursuing this off-season
He stood 6'4", weighed in at 225 lbs.
He was the 20th overall selection in the 1971 NHL draft and was passed over three times by the team that drafted him--Montreal.
Larry Robinson patrolled the blueline for the Canadians for 17 seasons. He was a part of six Stanley Cup Championships for Montreal, has a Conn Smythe Trophy to his resume', and won the Norris Trophy twice.
The big, strong blueliner was surprisingly mobile and could put up points. In Game 2 of the 1973 playoffs, the rookie defenseman with all of 36 games under his belt launched a slapshot from the blueline in OT to beat Philadelphia and even the second round series at one game apiece. The Canadians beat the Flyers and then Chicago to take home the Stanley Cup that season.
According to habseyesontheprize, it was after that OT game-winner that Robinson got his nickname, "Big Bird." Unaccustomed to scoring big goals, Robinson's flapping-arms celebration made him look like the Sesame Street character.
Robinson had said he was not thrilled with the nickname, maybe that's why he went after legendary Flyers' tough-guy, Dave Schultz in a donnybrook between the teams. Not really, he was merely defending a teammate who was an unwilling partner for Schultz.
Yeah, hockey fans know of the Hall of Famer, so why would one put this Habs legend on a Sabres blog?
The New Jersey Devils, being down 3-0 in the Stanley Cup Finals, look to be toast and the off-season is drawing near.
All eyes are on Devils unrestricted free agent Zach Parise who will be highly coveted come July 1, if New Jersey can't re-sign him.
That's fine, but when you look at the Sabres and what they have on the back-end, namely 6'8" Tyler Myers and upcoming 6'5" Brayden McNabb, it might not be a bad idea to entertain the idea of courting Robinson, who is presently an assistant coach with the Devils, for a position on the Sabres coaching staff.
In addition to his six Stanley Cups as a player, Robinson has three more as a coach for the Devils--two as an assistant (1995, 2003) and one as their head coach in 2000.
So where would he fit in with the Sabres coaching staff presently locked in?
Assistant coach James Patrick has been doing a fine job working with the defense. But a case could be made that certain defenseman have had their growth stunted, or they've leveled off before they've reached their potential.
Tyler Myers joined the Sabres one year after he was drafted and proceeded to win the Calder Trophy in the 2009-10 season. Since then his numbers have dropped and he struggled for half-seasons the following two years.
A fluid skater with a nice set of hands, Myers also had an edge to him as shown in the 2011 playoff series versus the Flyers. But that edge seems to have evaporated. His confidence level fluctuates as well leaving him looking like a rookie during many games--too many games for a defenseman who has the potential to be in the Norris Trophy mix.
Methinks that Larry Robinson, a player with similar attributes could help his game immensely.
Robinson could also have a positive effect upon rookie Brayden McNabb, as well as every other defenseman in the system.
Where talking nine Stanley Cup Championships. Nine rings that range from the "Flying Frenchman" of the mid-late 70's Canadians to the Devils trap teams of the mid-90's/early 2000's.
Logistics would dictate a difficult path to landing the Hall of Famer, and it is more of a dream scenario for the Sabres than anything else. But with Terry Pegula in place as owner, nothing is outside the realm of possibility.
Back in 2009 after being out of coaching for a couple of years, there was speculation that Robinson was in line to take over the Canadians head coaching spot, a rumor he dismissed.
When asked if he was interested in a coaching position, the Devils special assignment coach said, "I wouldn't say I'm itching, but you know what? When you're in hockey this long, I don't think you ever lose the itch. But I don't know if I'd want to get back into head coaching or not. Maybe assistant coaching. Who knows?"
Sure enough, he was back as an assistant with the Devils.
Maybe the Sabres can get lucky and catch Robinson in a position where he feels a change might be good for him.
Who knows, but it's certainly something that could and should be looked into as this present coaching staff seems to on shaky ground after missing the playoffs last season, the third time in five seasons.
He was the 20th overall selection in the 1971 NHL draft and was passed over three times by the team that drafted him--Montreal.
 |
| Larry "Big Bird" Robinson was a force on the blueline for the 70's Canadians dynasty. |
The big, strong blueliner was surprisingly mobile and could put up points. In Game 2 of the 1973 playoffs, the rookie defenseman with all of 36 games under his belt launched a slapshot from the blueline in OT to beat Philadelphia and even the second round series at one game apiece. The Canadians beat the Flyers and then Chicago to take home the Stanley Cup that season.
According to habseyesontheprize, it was after that OT game-winner that Robinson got his nickname, "Big Bird." Unaccustomed to scoring big goals, Robinson's flapping-arms celebration made him look like the Sesame Street character.
Robinson had said he was not thrilled with the nickname, maybe that's why he went after legendary Flyers' tough-guy, Dave Schultz in a donnybrook between the teams. Not really, he was merely defending a teammate who was an unwilling partner for Schultz.
Yeah, hockey fans know of the Hall of Famer, so why would one put this Habs legend on a Sabres blog?
The New Jersey Devils, being down 3-0 in the Stanley Cup Finals, look to be toast and the off-season is drawing near.
All eyes are on Devils unrestricted free agent Zach Parise who will be highly coveted come July 1, if New Jersey can't re-sign him.
That's fine, but when you look at the Sabres and what they have on the back-end, namely 6'8" Tyler Myers and upcoming 6'5" Brayden McNabb, it might not be a bad idea to entertain the idea of courting Robinson, who is presently an assistant coach with the Devils, for a position on the Sabres coaching staff.
In addition to his six Stanley Cups as a player, Robinson has three more as a coach for the Devils--two as an assistant (1995, 2003) and one as their head coach in 2000.
So where would he fit in with the Sabres coaching staff presently locked in?
Assistant coach James Patrick has been doing a fine job working with the defense. But a case could be made that certain defenseman have had their growth stunted, or they've leveled off before they've reached their potential.
Tyler Myers joined the Sabres one year after he was drafted and proceeded to win the Calder Trophy in the 2009-10 season. Since then his numbers have dropped and he struggled for half-seasons the following two years.
A fluid skater with a nice set of hands, Myers also had an edge to him as shown in the 2011 playoff series versus the Flyers. But that edge seems to have evaporated. His confidence level fluctuates as well leaving him looking like a rookie during many games--too many games for a defenseman who has the potential to be in the Norris Trophy mix.
Methinks that Larry Robinson, a player with similar attributes could help his game immensely.
Robinson could also have a positive effect upon rookie Brayden McNabb, as well as every other defenseman in the system.
Where talking nine Stanley Cup Championships. Nine rings that range from the "Flying Frenchman" of the mid-late 70's Canadians to the Devils trap teams of the mid-90's/early 2000's.
Logistics would dictate a difficult path to landing the Hall of Famer, and it is more of a dream scenario for the Sabres than anything else. But with Terry Pegula in place as owner, nothing is outside the realm of possibility.
Back in 2009 after being out of coaching for a couple of years, there was speculation that Robinson was in line to take over the Canadians head coaching spot, a rumor he dismissed.
When asked if he was interested in a coaching position, the Devils special assignment coach said, "I wouldn't say I'm itching, but you know what? When you're in hockey this long, I don't think you ever lose the itch. But I don't know if I'd want to get back into head coaching or not. Maybe assistant coaching. Who knows?"
Sure enough, he was back as an assistant with the Devils.
 |
| With the future of the Devils somewhat murky in New Jersey, what will be in Robinson's gaze for next season? |
With the Devils on the verge of being swept in the Finals, an aging Martin Brodeur ever so close to retirement, the organization struggling financially and a big, expensive decision to be made with one of their best players in Parise, there's probably some uneasiness in New Jersey.
Maybe the Sabres can get lucky and catch Robinson in a position where he feels a change might be good for him.
Who knows, but it's certainly something that could and should be looked into as this present coaching staff seems to on shaky ground after missing the playoffs last season, the third time in five seasons.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)