I don’t recall which year it was but they did a feature on him during the Olympics and they showed his apartment , they commented on how he actually had a kitchen with a stove and refrigerator because of his stature in USSR.
Roster/Rumors/Speculation/Trade Talk - 2023-24: Hotel California
- Thread starter PK Cronin
- Start date
-
Work is still on-going to rebuild the site styling and features. Please report any issues you may experience so we can look into it. Click Here for Updates
- Status
Don't kid yourself. We're closer to a rebuild than a Stanley Cup.
Sheva7
Work Hahd Play Smaht
- Oct 11, 2011
- 3,422
- 452
When it comes to winning a cup, you're probably right.
But with regards to being a contender, I think it's 50/50 right now. We're firmly entrenched in no-mans land at the moment. Things could really go either way imo.
This upcoming season is going to be a decisive one.
YearlyLottery
The Pooch Report
Oh dude idgaf. Trust me. Plenty of times we are all wrong. I always find it comical though when someone acts as if others are crazy for their takes when you've had plenty in the past (Pulock/Berube pop up).
No man’s land is the worst place to be.
His Berube/LA Kings goalie factory one was an all-timer.
I dont get the fascination of a rebuild, it rarely works. If we are on the outside of the playoffs at the deadline move the UFAs, and a couple of the older players if we get offers.
Id be fine with a retool, where we get a few extra first round picks over the next couple of years, but a total teardown makes no sense. The Sabres have been rebuilding for 10+years, the Oilers would still be rebuilding without Mcdavid.
Keep the core of Dobson, Sorokin, Pelech, Romanov, Pulock, and Barzal.
Not only will I NOT be attending that game, I won’t even watch the pre-game jerk off session, should there be one.Hey buddy, we will celebrate his 1,000th game this season! Suck it haters! Haha. I'll spring for tickets for @Bones45 so I can give him shit about it all game.
Cal Ripken is laughing his ass off.
It's not a fascination with it. It's a matter of having a disjointed group of forwards-a bunch of 2nd and 3rd liners with a little too much age on them and not enough in the pipeline to replace them. We MUST keep draft picks and hit on our 1st rounders. If we don't we will be the Metro Division's impersonation of the St Louis Blues. A team that is rarely good enough, and once in a while gets carried deep into the playoffs by a hot goalie. Not a recipe for long term success.
When teams like the Sabres, the Oilers, and the Islanders 20 years ago had endless walks through the desert, the primary reason was incompetent owners. We are not those Islanders anymore. I trust our owners to hire the next GM to take the Islanders to contender status every year.
Mike C
Registered User
Nothing to fear! He's getting traded for cap space so we can bring in some free agents
Mike C
Registered User
SI
Registered User
- Feb 16, 2013
- 7,998
- 4,247
Not according to the market look at the players making between 7 and 9. Brady Tkachuk scored a contract 8+, Josh Norris just under 8. With an expected big rise in the cap in 2 seasons I hope it lands between 8 and 9.
Let’s hope he has a big year… just turned 25 he is now entering his prime years.
Look back over their last 10 years. That Cup was a one-off. You should want better than that.
I know that teams can catch lightning in a bottle and win a championship. Personally, I’d rather have the Penguins’ success or the Lightning’s success and always be in the conversation for a Cup, rather than “Let’s just get in because then we can make some noise.”
What was Ledecky supposed to say? “I’m firing him”
I’m pretty sure that in private he’s not happy with Lou this summer.
Mike C
Registered User
SI
Registered User
- Feb 16, 2013
- 7,998
- 4,247
After the last 30-35 years - I’d rather have this - I want this team to win another cup - be a competitive team for many years. I just want this team to win and be relevant.
Anyone would prefer dynasty over NOT dynasty. If you’re asking would you rather be the Blues or the Sabres. I’d rather be the Blues. We have spent enough years as the Sabres in a constant rebuild looking at the next top pick as the saviour.
Appreciate what you have and what you have is a competitive team, who have an identity as one of the toughest teams to play against, with a future vezina goalie, with one of the best shutdown pairs in the league, a future Norris RHD in Dobson, and one of the most exciting young C’s in the league. And those are pieces you can build on as the other parts get older.
PWJunior
Stay safe!
I'm not sure what else he's supposed to do there. Either he negs the move to fire Barry and fires Lou or he goes along with Lou's recommendation. Its one or the other really.
I happen to have about 20 minutes of face to face with Ledecky earlier this summer at an outing. His take was "Look - I hired Lou to be the hockey guy for this team, I have to take his advice. But, he's going to be looking for an extension after this season and we'll have to see how this season goes. Its a big year."
He was making it known that Lou is pretty much on the hot seat.
Mike C
Registered User
Excellent to hear!
Guess he could have not said anything or did what Lou did when asked about an extension for Barry at the deadline and said "Lou is our GM right now"
Not saying he SHOULD have taken that path but guess he COULD have
Thanks for the info, gives me some hope that they aren't turning a blind eye.
Mike C
Registered User
Absolutely true!
And we've been saying as much for weeks here, a conclusion we've all been coming to even if we're basically coming from two different directions (i.e. closer to competing or closer to rebuilding - with different views on what exactly "retooling" is).
Yes and no.
Based on last season, with all its extraneous circumstances, we are indeed in no-man's land.
Based on the three seasons beforehand, we certainly aren't "firmly entrenched" in it. By no means.
I say that meaning that last season could prove to be little more than a blip on the map; a bump in the road.
Almost every player of that success is still here and in the case of the U27 players, they are all more mature and have now tasted how quickly the success can slip away.
Management's answer to what happened last season was minimal, but very telling. Its determination is that our Hall of Fame coach was indeed a roadblock towards further success. A very good, long-time assistant who has been interviewed by at least one other team for the head coaching job now gets his shot.
Management's other determination is that the two oldest defensemen were holding back our transition game, perhaps considerably, and simply slowing down the team too much. This was remedied with the acquisition of Romanov and a dogfight for the final top six spot between Aho, Cholowski, and Salo. All are far younger and much more agile than either Greene or Chara.
Those are our changes. That's what management is investing in as the key to getting back on track.
Thus making this season absolutely decisive - not just so much for the direction of this team on whole, but certainly for the current management.
That's Lou's MO, for certain.
And even scarier is what someone else recently posted about what Lou will do if this team is 9th or 10th in the East when the trade deadline arrives.
Scary stuff for anyone worried about that 23 1st and the very few legitimate prospects this team actually has.
- Status
