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Another case of he said, he said.

this makes me want to punch a hole in the wall
i love this team, but they totally fudged this entire offseason

Briere was good but the Sabres need some more forceful players or they will be eaten alive in the playoffs again.

I couldn't disgaree with French Onion more. The Sabres lost to the Senators who are not all that physical in the Eastern Conference Finals. So why would they need more "forceful players"? It really doesn't matter who said what or who didn't call who. Buffalo is not in a poistion to pay for their top talent. Drury & Briere were this season and Miller & Afinogenov & Campbell are within the next few years as well. Regier's biggest mistake was to not let Vanek go for 4 1st rounders. They are not going to be in a position to contend with the roster they have now. Buffalo is in a quasi-rebuilding stage because Miller, Campbell, and Afinogenov are up soon and not all will be back. Vanek is a $50million dollar man on a glorified AHL team.

So we lose Briere & Drury and the answer is Mike Ryan? What the hell?$?%?#(? Regier called him something like a "27 year old career minor leaguer". Having Ryan in the lineup is fine but thats the only move besides signing Vanek which a monkey would have done?

Buffalo is still a cheap team. Like Edmonton. These teams used to hide behind the excuse that larger teams were screwing them, but with a salary cap in place, it's pretty clear now that you can tell they just don't care at all about their fanbases.

Buffalo doesn't need Briere. They're got great coaching, great defense, and good goaltending. They'll find some more Vanek's and Ray's, and contend for a SC title next season.

Buffalo doesn't have great defense. They have defensemen who can score goals, get assists, and eat up money, but not play defense. Look at the shots on goal average for buffalo this past season, its pretty freaking high. They need to dump some of these defensemen who think they are wingers and get someone who actually knows how to play D. Stupidest thing Buffalo ever did? Dumping McKee to sign Spacek. Buffalo would be home to the Stanley Cup right now if management hadnt bungled another one

Nobody wants to play in Buffalo!!!
Hockey News polled 288 NHL players and Buffalo is the last place they wanted to be traded to.
(As written about by Bucky Gleason in Buffalo News 7/08/07).
Enjoy your Presidents trophy Sabres fans, and hopefully the Sabres will keep grooming players so big market teams can them steal them away from you. GO FLYERS!!!!

Bauer,
They looked weak against the Rangers and even the Islanders.

Buffalo has been playing on the cheap for too long and it's finally caught up with them. To have a gem like Briere and Drury and not trying to secure them long term is dumb.

At least they were forced to sign Vanek long term and pay him what he's worth in today's market.

Let's face it, Buffalo fans! Even if you don't like him, Kevin Lowe did you a huge favor in forcing Darcy Regier to sign your star player long term.

Think about it: You'll have Vanek in Buffalo for 7 years! You should be sending Kevin Lowe "Thank You" cards and putting him on your Christmas list.

Now you see one of many reasons I am an AVS fan! GO AVS!!!