swiper
03-06-2014, 05:31 AM
Murray’s trade day intensity is refreshing
By Bucky Gleason (bgleason@buffnews.com)| News Sports Reporter
Tim Murray was still coming down from an adrenaline high after wrapping up his first NHL trade deadline Wednesday when he was asked about the day. You would have thought the Sabres’ general manager was a skydiver who walked away without a scratch after his parachute failed to open.“It was exhilarating,” Murray said. “It was fast and furious. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy 90 percent of it.”
No matter what Murray accomplished in the annual swap meet, it was exactly what people needed to hear. He was a refreshing change from Darcy Regier, who numerous times over the years looked like he was near tears after trading his players. His lips would quiver as he braced for questions about why he didn’t accomplish enough.
After a while, there was a sense Regier was too attached to his players or petrified to make a mistake. You wondered how many potential deals slipped away because he was hesitant or scared to say goodbye. Murray showed nothing of the sort a few hours after trading a good prospect in Brayden McNabb to the Los Angeles Kings.
In fact, it was the opposite.
Sure, there were scouts in the room making a case for McNabb. He’s a big, physical kid who someday could develop into a top-tier defenseman for the Kings. And so what if he does? Murray was too upbeat about what forwards Hudson Fasching and Nicolas Deslauriers could bring to Buffalo than what was walking out the door.
Murray liked the deal, so he made the deal. “I wish him the best,” Murray said of McNabb. “Obviously, that team liked him and wanted him. He’s leaving. I’m not going to worry about what he becomes and what he does. … He obviously helped bring us what we believe are two very good young players, so God bless him. If he becomes a really good player in L.A., it won’t bother me one bit.”
And that was it. No fuss. No muss. No worries. Time for a beer.
“We make lots of mistakes,” Murray said. “But if you get paralyzed because you might make a mistake, then you’ll never make a deal. You do your homework, you scout, you do all the background work that you can do, and then you make the deal. I’m by these two guys now. I’m ready for the next thing. Today is over.”
And tomorrow is waiting.
Sorry, but if you’re looking for approval, or disapproval, of the trades Murray made Wednesday, you came to the wrong place.
On Hudson Fasching and Nicolas Deslauriers:
For now, they’re just names, the way Miroslav Satan and Michael Peca were just names when they showed up after getting traded to Buffalo. The community was wild over Mikhail Grigorenko and barely made a peep about Zemgus Girgensons, only to find the latter was miles ahead of the former. If you’re a Sabres fan, you can take comfort knowing Murray’s strength is identifying young players and projecting their potential. Draft picks generally don’t arouse the fan base. Even eternal optimists in Buffalo are jittery about the unknown. They need to see tangible results. They’re left hoping Murray knows what he’s doing. And that, my friends, amounts to an upgrade.
I’m sure people will grouse about the Sabres getting worse Wednesday. In the short term, that’s probably true. In less than a week, they had their franchise goalie, their captain, the player they received for Thomas Vanek and their president of hockey operations walk out the door. When the franchise isn’t in transition, it’s in an uproar.
http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/sabres-nhl-columns/murray8217s-trade-day-intensity-is-refreshing-20140305
By Bucky Gleason (bgleason@buffnews.com)| News Sports Reporter
Tim Murray was still coming down from an adrenaline high after wrapping up his first NHL trade deadline Wednesday when he was asked about the day. You would have thought the Sabres’ general manager was a skydiver who walked away without a scratch after his parachute failed to open.“It was exhilarating,” Murray said. “It was fast and furious. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy 90 percent of it.”
No matter what Murray accomplished in the annual swap meet, it was exactly what people needed to hear. He was a refreshing change from Darcy Regier, who numerous times over the years looked like he was near tears after trading his players. His lips would quiver as he braced for questions about why he didn’t accomplish enough.
After a while, there was a sense Regier was too attached to his players or petrified to make a mistake. You wondered how many potential deals slipped away because he was hesitant or scared to say goodbye. Murray showed nothing of the sort a few hours after trading a good prospect in Brayden McNabb to the Los Angeles Kings.
In fact, it was the opposite.
Sure, there were scouts in the room making a case for McNabb. He’s a big, physical kid who someday could develop into a top-tier defenseman for the Kings. And so what if he does? Murray was too upbeat about what forwards Hudson Fasching and Nicolas Deslauriers could bring to Buffalo than what was walking out the door.
Murray liked the deal, so he made the deal. “I wish him the best,” Murray said of McNabb. “Obviously, that team liked him and wanted him. He’s leaving. I’m not going to worry about what he becomes and what he does. … He obviously helped bring us what we believe are two very good young players, so God bless him. If he becomes a really good player in L.A., it won’t bother me one bit.”
And that was it. No fuss. No muss. No worries. Time for a beer.
“We make lots of mistakes,” Murray said. “But if you get paralyzed because you might make a mistake, then you’ll never make a deal. You do your homework, you scout, you do all the background work that you can do, and then you make the deal. I’m by these two guys now. I’m ready for the next thing. Today is over.”
And tomorrow is waiting.
Sorry, but if you’re looking for approval, or disapproval, of the trades Murray made Wednesday, you came to the wrong place.
On Hudson Fasching and Nicolas Deslauriers:
For now, they’re just names, the way Miroslav Satan and Michael Peca were just names when they showed up after getting traded to Buffalo. The community was wild over Mikhail Grigorenko and barely made a peep about Zemgus Girgensons, only to find the latter was miles ahead of the former. If you’re a Sabres fan, you can take comfort knowing Murray’s strength is identifying young players and projecting their potential. Draft picks generally don’t arouse the fan base. Even eternal optimists in Buffalo are jittery about the unknown. They need to see tangible results. They’re left hoping Murray knows what he’s doing. And that, my friends, amounts to an upgrade.
I’m sure people will grouse about the Sabres getting worse Wednesday. In the short term, that’s probably true. In less than a week, they had their franchise goalie, their captain, the player they received for Thomas Vanek and their president of hockey operations walk out the door. When the franchise isn’t in transition, it’s in an uproar.
http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/sabres-nhl-columns/murray8217s-trade-day-intensity-is-refreshing-20140305