Cullen mumbles about Darcy getting lucky with trades....................

[Mitchy moo]

Not that Scott Cullen is an authority but here's his appraisal of Regier in response to a reader's praise:

Hello Scott, I think perhaps you and Brian Burke's mother would be the only ones who would chose him as your GM of choice. I think it is time Darcy Regier gets some recognition for the way he built this team under duress. He now has an owner who is willing to spend some coin and now you see what he has done. I don't know if there is a better talent evaluator in the league. Finding Max in the third round, Miller the 6th. Stealing Briere from the Coyotes and seeing the importance a player like Drury would make on this team and going out and getting him. Also, you talk about business savvy, Darcy had to be pretty astute in the business end of things for a few years while he managed a team that was bankrupt due to the thievery of the Rigas family. Personally, Darcy Regier is the guy I want building my team. How many times has Brian Burke been fired? - Kind regards, Steve, DeKalb, Illinois

Steve,
Let's not pretend that Darcy Regier had a crystal ball and knew that the NHL would reward speed and skill the way it has. It's worked out well, but he also didn't bother claiming Briere when the Coyotes put him on waivers too. In hindsight, dealing Chris Gratton for Briere is a slam-dunk win. The deal for Drury sent Steven Reinprecht and Rhett Warrener to Calgary for Drury and Steve Begin. That doesn't really seem like a fleecing to me considering Reinprecht is a top-six forward and Warrener is a reliable defenceman who played regularly on a team that reached Game 7 of the Stanley Cup final in Calgary. The Afinogenov and Miller picks are certainly quality, but would have also been good first-round picks too had Regier decided they were better than Mika Noronen or Barrett Heisten, respectively.

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story/?ID=182377&hubname=nhl


Cullen bets on the Sabres every game, he can BS about anything but he puts his money on Buffalo. He knows 0 and admits that their success is beyond him which tells me that he couldn't see this coming. How Darcy & crew set this up is beyond him and he had no bearing on it, so F-him.

He can watch and marvel at us and what we do to canada's finest. Toronto, montreal & Ottawa can swallow our ...............

[BillsSabresB.C.T. Fan]

Re: Cullen mumbles about Darcy getting lucky with trades....................

He's patient, he waits (maybe too long sometimes) until the deal is right and then pulls the trigger he's not like the other GM's that just go out and make a trade just to make a trade. For ex: Barnaby for Stu Barnes, Gratton for Briere, Doug Gilmour and JP Dumont for Michael Grosek and a draft choice, Chris Drury for a draft choice, Hecht for a draft choice.

[SkateZilla]

Re: Cullen mumbles about Darcy getting lucky with trades....................

How Is trading Gratton for Briere Luck...? that should be stupidity on the other GMs part...

[Ebenezer]

Re: Cullen mumbles about Darcy getting lucky with trades....................

The Sabres were doing nothing since 1999 playing under the NHLs old rules...Darcy bet that the NHL would emerge with a new system and bet that that system would favor the type of teams that he HAD to construct in Buffalo because he WAS ALREADY working under a salary cap...a much more stringent cap than that eventually imposed by the league...the guy bet the house and pulled black jack...

[Meathead]

Re: Cullen mumbles about Darcy getting lucky with trades....................

if you win youre a genius and if you lose youre a moron

truth is most of what goes on in professional sports is plain dumb luck. both bellichunk and the pats sucked for quite a while before they married into success. the bills rocked for over a decade before becoming the longest running team in the afc to not make the playoffs. and bill parcells is looking pretty pedestrian the last oh ten years

do gms, coaches, and coordinators make a difference? surely. but outside of perhaps a half dozen franchises most teams have more than enough management talent to put a competitive team together

lots of hit/miss elements of sports that is outside of their control: the success percentages of the draft, injuries, a ball bouncing an inch left instead of right, and the strength of their opponents

im convinced when it is all said and done luck is the biggest factor by far that determines the success of a sports franchise. management talent is a significant advantage but even the brightest staff is in a constant struggle against luck

[Typ0]

Re: Cullen mumbles about Darcy getting lucky with trades....................

what has happened here in the last decade has got to be seen as one of if not the best sports management in the history of professional sports. This goes way back to the year we went to the cup and lost to Dallas. The following season Regier tanked the season and stood firm against Peca. At the time I thought it was a huge blunder as the team was better and we had a real shot to go all the way with Peca on the ice. But in hindsight Regier saw the lockout coming and stood fast against players that wanted to hold the franchise hostage. He then let Hasek go to breed Biron and quickly followed that up by getting Ryan Miller on the team. He saw the team through near demise and emerged with a ton of talent through the draft and some crafty trades. Darcy deserves some credit. How many GMs would have paid Peca bumping up not just that players salary but the whole teams? As a function of the lockout he saw a cap coming and now has more wealth to spread around.

[chernobylwraiths]

Re: Cullen mumbles about Darcy getting lucky with trades....................

The Sabres were doing nothing since 1999 playing under the NHLs old rules...Darcy bet that the NHL would emerge with a new system and bet that that system would favor the type of teams that he HAD to construct in Buffalo because he WAS ALREADY working under a salary cap...a much more stringent cap than that eventually imposed by the league...the guy bet the house and pulled black jack...

You've GOT to be kidding. If he was so smart maybe he would have seen that arbitrators would give out absorbidant rewards to players and maybe he wouldn't have signed everyone to a one year deal. He made some very nice moves, but let's not go overboard here.

[Mitchy moo]

Re: Cullen mumbles about Darcy getting lucky with trades....................

I think Darcy and crew have done a great job but Lindy's head and tom's money keep the train a rolling.

[SkateZilla]

Re: Cullen mumbles about Darcy getting lucky with trades....................

That and Lindy Ruff Was playing Defense First with A Fast OFFENSIVE Team for all these years.. untill last year, when He Changed to Playing an ATTACK FIRST PLAY DEFENSE LATER style

[Meathead]

Re: Cullen mumbles about Darcy getting lucky with trades....................

well he did that because thats the type of players he had and that the rules allowed

in terms of banking on the new nhl rules, i cant tell if that was just luck or a conscious decision. probably a mixture of both

but having been an amerk season tic holder for six years back in roch its nice to see the sabres finally taking advantage of their farm teams success. in the past it seemed like good amerks went to the sabres to die more often than not but it certainly isnt like that now

[SkateZilla]

Re: Cullen mumbles about Darcy getting lucky with trades....................

well he did that because thats the type of players he had and that the rules allowed

in terms of banking on the new nhl rules, i cant tell if that was just luck or a conscious decision. probably a mixture of both

but having been an amerk season tic holder for six years back in roch its nice to see the sabres finally taking advantage of their farm teams success. in the past it seemed like good amerks went to the sabres to die more often than not but it certainly isnt like that now

it was obvious since 2001 that the NHL was gonna change it to allow more scoring, 1-0, 1-1, 2-1 Games with trap vs trap came back as ****ty raitings, Re-Runs of Full house got better ratings...

[YardRat]

Re: Cullen mumbles about Darcy getting lucky with trades....................

Luck is defined as when preparation meets opportunity.