Bills should emulate overachieving Sabres

[YardRat]

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060521/SPORTS0103/605210358



The Bills, in their worst playoff drought in 20 years, can still learn plenty from these sizzling Sabres, who have made a Phoenix-like rise out of Chapter 11, a labor lockout, and their own sustained postseason absence to write the most inspirational chapter of their storied albeit Cup-less history.

The Sabres' run to the Eastern Conference finals against Carolina, which began with a 3-2 Buffalo win on Saturday, has struck a blow for the winning tenets of stability and chemistry, things the Bills have sorely lacked since the late 1990s.
I'd toss in frugality, too. The Sabres operate $12 million below the NHL's new $39 million cap and have adopted a policy under Golisano, the Paychex billionaire who didn't get that way by buying a fleet of Porsches, whereby the team would not disrupt locker room harmony by signing big-name free agents to fat long-term deals.
Shipping out leading scorer Miroslav Satan and defenseman Alexei Zhitnik killed the Sabres' marketing last summer. "Cheap skaters," they were called. But winning cures all.
The fans have flocked back to HSBC Arena and will pack the barn again for Games 3 and 4 against the Hurricanes this week. The Sabres have already brought in $3 million in five home playoff games, above-cost gravy for a team that three short springs ago couldn't pay its players. Season tickets for next year will be around 11,000, almost double what they were when Golisano took over. In due time, the Sabres will be spending more to keep their young, successful team together. But better to reward from within when it comes to fostering a true sense of team.


GREAT article by Roth, IMO. The Sabres success to date is the best argument so far for how Marv Levy has approached free agency and the draft, in an attempt to put the Bills back on the winning track.

[HHURRICANE]

I wrote this exact post last week and everyone said you can't make the same comparisons. I guess I need to move to Rochester from Atlanta to get my point across.

Wilson could learn something from Golisano.

[YardRat]

Maybe Roth got the idea from trolling these boards for material. :D

[Night Train]

No, no.

We should throw 50 Mil at a Guard, sign TO type players and worry ourselves to ulcers what the outside media ( who sees us play maybe twice a year ) says about us.

[Historian]

I think all professional sports teams have taken a page from the New England Patriot handbook, on how to build a winner.

As soon as a guy thinks he's more important than the team, he gets jettisoned....whether he's a big time contributor or not.

[chernobylwraiths]

I think all professional sports teams have taken a page from the New England Patriot handbook, on how to build a winner.

As soon as a guy thinks he's more important than the team, he gets jettisoned....whether he's a big time contributor or not.

I was gonna write this last week when I saw the other post. It has been New Englands "team" approach that many teams have tried to copy.

[HHURRICANE]

Maybe Roth got the idea from trolling these boards for material. :D

Yes. I believe he stole my thread from below.:madmad:

[HHURRICANE]

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<HR style="COLOR: #f3f3ff" SIZE=1><!-- / icon and title --><!-- message -->Lindy Ruff is an excellent coach. He figures out how to adjust his gameplan based on talent, depth, etc. He is a winner. He has all of his young talent playing, and playing like a team.

The Bills had an opportunity to bring in as much young talent as possible in this past draft. We reached twice and it cost us a draft pick. I think, and alot of people agree, that we could have traded down and had 2 extra players instead.

Our team flat out stunk last year. Even if Takeo had been healthy we were still going to have a losing season. We need players, lots of them. We have tried the "skill position" theory for 4 years now, and have absolutely nothing to show for it.

The Sabres have 4 solid lines. Forsberg, Alfredsson and Heatly, excellent "skill position" players, are sitting at home. The 2 players the Bills didn't get could have been the equivalent of one of the Sabres "no name" rookies.
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[justasportsfan]

Hurricane. the thing about your post from last week is that , you say we had a chance to get younger players and yet we got quite a few through FA.Some who have an advantage over rookies because they have experience. We also drafted players that can play in this system so chemistry should easily be achieved. Who cares where we reached for them?

[Jan Reimers]

I just hope we keep Levy and Jauron here long enough to let our young players grow and develop the kind of chemistry that the Sabres have.

Everyone - from Ralph on down to us loyal fans - will have to be patient enough to let this happen, because it will take a few seasons.

[Kerr]

I said it last time. It'd be good if the sabres won the cup because it would give the bills some motivation-chip on their shoulder, to not let the city's only hockey franchise to have a championship. Look at what happend with the boston red sox. The patriots started winning chamionships, don't you think that upset them?

[Meathead]

i adore what the sabres are doing this year and after following them since i was a wee lass it great to finally have it come together the way it has

but i cant shake this nagging feeling that its more a one-time flash in the pan kind of thing than it is something the sabres can replicate year after year

a lot is being said about regier being some kind of genius manager for putting the team together like this, but is it that or is it that the sabres system just happened to produce the type of players that suddenly find themselves the prototype for this "new" nhl? did the sabres really know something most everybody else didnt?

i saw again today that the sabres payroll is about two-thirds that of the nhl salary cap. two-thirds. if this team makeup is the formula for the new nhl theres absolutely no way they can continue at anything near that percentage and still be a better than average team - at best. success will produce demand and those players salaries will rise - or they’ll go elsewhere. then the sabres are back at square one unless they find a way to pay competitively

id love to think that the sabres have some type of formula to keep them competitive in this style of hockey for years to come, but my head is telling me they just had the stars align for once in their favor. i hope they manage a cup win this year because its likely they wont be able to keep the rest of the league from closing the gap rather quickly

[ddaryl]

News Flash !!!!


The Sabres are not over achieving.... there really just that good , and people are noticing.

[chernobylwraiths]

i adore what the sabres are doing this year and after following them since i was a wee lass it great to finally have it come together the way it has


Dude! I thought you were a dude, dude!