28 replies to this topic

[Vanek-Man]

Rewind back to July 1st, 2011 when Terry Pegula send a army to Brad Richards' agents office in Ontario. Teams camped out with hopes to have a chance to speak with Richards and his agent. It all seemed pretty chaotic. Nobody to this day even knows if we spoke to them, and if so, for how long? The madness which ended with the famous butttweet "so no richards" by one of the Pegula daughters. Pegula and Black have been committed to making Buffalo a destination for players to come play. From better locker rooms, to treating players like gods, to helping their families with anything and everything, to commitment to winning, and so and so. They somehow got Robyn Regehr to waive his no-trade clause to come to Buffalo.

According to Pierre LeBrun, the NHL is adopting a NBA free agent rule, where from the end of the draft until June 30th, teams can meet and speak with upcoming free agents. This gives us (and any team interested) a chance to sell any upcoming free agent on coming to Buffalo. No more stakeouts at players' agent offices, but players can come, visit with our management and owner, and be sold on the team and city.

If the money is right (cap reasons), who wouldn't want to play for Pegula? Just a thought, but i feel like this could really help us lure some top notch free agents.

Quote

UFA FREE AGENCY INTERVIEW PERIOD
Similar to the NBA, the NHL has instituted a free-agency interview period prior to the actual signing period. UFAs will be able to meet and interview with potential clubs from the day after the NHL draft until June 30, prior to the July 1 opening of free agency.

What’s interesting about this is that I don’t think you’ll have a Zach Parise/Ryan Suter situation where you wait all the way to July 4 to sign with a team. Instead, their decisions will be made by June 30 for the most part, you would have to assume.

Link- http://espn.go.com/b...ore-cba-details

Edited by Vanek-Man, 09 January 2013 - 03:32 AM.

[Sabres Fan In NS]

It could help, but any other team would be able to do the same.

So, until the culture really changes and Buffalo becomes a *go to* destination for UFAs this will not really be an advantage to the Sabres, IMO.

Would it have made a difference in the Richards example you sited.  No.  Again, IMO.

Edited by Sabres Fan In NS, 09 January 2013 - 07:59 AM.

[ThirtyEight]

This rule will also really help the players make a decision - always surprised me how many big names signed new contracts on day 1, having never properly seen the city/rink (bar for the 12 hours they are there on away games)

[Claude_Verret]

It can only help.  The perception of Buffalo as a destination around the league is much worse than reality.

[Taro T]

Vanek-Man, on 09 January 2013 - 03:30 AM, said:

Rewind back to July 1st, 2011 when Terry Pegula send a army to Brad Richards' agents office in Ontario. Teams camped out with hopes to have a chance to speak with Richards and his agent. It all seemed pretty chaotic. Nobody to this day even knows if we spoke to them, and if so, for how long? The madness which ended with the famous butttweet "so no richards" by one of the Pegula daughters. Pegula and Black have been committed to making Buffalo a destination for players to come play. From better locker rooms, to treating players like gods, to helping their families with anything and everything, to commitment to winning, and so and so. They somehow got Robyn Regehr to waive his no-trade clause to come to Buffalo.

According to Pierre LeBrun, the NHL is adopting a NBA free agent rule, where from the end of the draft until June 30th, teams can meet and speak with upcoming free agents. This gives us (and any team interested) a chance to sell any upcoming free agent on coming to Buffalo. No more stakeouts at players' agent offices, but players can come, visit with our management and owner, and be sold on the team and city.

If the money is right (cap reasons), who wouldn't want to play for Pegula? Just a thought, but i feel like this could really help us lure some top notch free agents.



Link- http://espn.go.com/b...ore-cba-details

It'll either be neutral to the Sabres or, more likely, be a plus for the Sabres.  Pegula getting to wine & dine 'em bringing in a whole lot of retired NHLers (not just retired Sabres) that live in the area can only help the team & area.

Plus, having players roaming around town in June sure beats having them riding the Kensington from the airport to the rink in February.

[apuszczalowski]

Taro T, on 09 January 2013 - 10:28 AM, said:

It'll either be neutral to the Sabres or, more likely, be a plus for the Sabres.  Pegula getting to wine & dine 'em bringing in a whole lot of retired NHLers (not just retired Sabres) that live in the area can only help the team & area.

Plus, having players roaming around town in June sure beats having them riding the Kensington from the airport to the rink in February.

but the player would have to be interested in coming here first, witht eh old way, the player was already sitting in an office/room with his agents meeting with team representatives. They may sit down with the Sabres and listen because the Sabres representatives showed up to meet them, but may not be intereseted in flying out to Buffalo to meet with the team in the new system. Basically it could go from "Sure, lets meet with the Sabres guys since they are here anyways" to "I'm not wasting my time flying out to meet the guys in Buffalo, I'm not really interested from what I have seen of that place already".

As for TP being able to wine and dine with them along with former Sabres alum, do you not think almost any other team in the league could do (and already do) the same?

[Taro T]

apuszczalowski, on 09 January 2013 - 11:44 AM, said:

but the player would have to be interested in coming here first, witht eh old way, the player was already sitting in an office/room with his agents meeting with team representatives. They may sit down with the Sabres and listen because the Sabres representatives showed up to meet them, but may not be intereseted in flying out to Buffalo to meet with the team in the new system. Basically it could go from "Sure, lets meet with the Sabres guys since they are here anyways" to "I'm not wasting my time flying out to meet the guys in Buffalo, I'm not really interested from what I have seen of that place already".

As for TP being able to wine and dine with them along with former Sabres alum, do you not think almost any other team in the league could do (and already do) the same?

Not to the level that TP & crew would do.

How many HOFers (among other NHLers) that have never played / been part of the Blues live in St. Louis, or the Jackets/Columbus, etc?  Buffalo can be a good place to live, especially if you have ties to Ontario.

Again, I said that the change might end up only neutral for the Sabres, but it definitely won't hurt them, and I expect it will help their recruiting efforts.

[apuszczalowski]

Taro T, on 09 January 2013 - 12:02 PM, said:

Not to the level that TP & crew would do.

How many HOFers (among other NHLers) that have never played / been part of the Blues live in St. Louis, or the Jackets/Columbus, etc?  Buffalo can be a good place to live, especially if you have ties to Ontario.

Again, I said that the change might end up only neutral for the Sabres, but it definitely won't hurt them, and I expect it will help their recruiting efforts.

I'm sure the Blues have many that might still live in the area
As for the Blue jackets, they are a relatively new team, do they even have any Alumni yet? Their first ever draft pick, Rostislav Klesla is still playing in the NHL today

[Taro T]

apuszczalowski, on 09 January 2013 - 12:51 PM, said:

I'm sure the Blues have many that might still live in the area
As for the Blue jackets, they are a relatively new team, do they even have any Alumni yet? Their first ever draft pick, Rostislav Klesla is still playing in the NHL today

What HOFers that have NEVER played in St. Louis are living there today?

A lot of HOFers that never played in Buffalo have lived / live in Buffalo after their careers are over.

[apuszczalowski]

Taro T, on 09 January 2013 - 01:00 PM, said:

What HOFers that have NEVER played in St. Louis are living there today?

A lot of HOFers that never played in Buffalo have lived / live in Buffalo after their careers are over.

I don't live near and have never really followed St. Louis so I don't know, but if you go with that logic, the only teams that I do know that have former NHL players still living in the area after retirement are Buffalo and Toronto.

Do you know for a fact that the St. Louis area has no HOF players that never played in St. Louis living there?

[Taro T]

apuszczalowski, on 09 January 2013 - 01:46 PM, said:

I don't live near and have never really followed St. Louis so I don't know, but if you go with that logic, the only teams that I do know that have former NHL players still living in the area after retirement are Buffalo and Toronto.

Do you know for a fact that the St. Louis area has no HOF players that never played in St. Louis living there?

You are bringing this far off tangent.

[apuszczalowski]

Taro T, on 09 January 2013 - 02:14 PM, said:

You are bringing this far off tangent.

You brought up the question of St. Louis and having HOF players not tied to the Blues living there
How many players without ties to playing for the Sabres, or without previous roots to the WNY area have decided to just move here?

[Eleven]

apuszczalowski, on 09 January 2013 - 02:18 PM, said:

You brought up the question of St. Louis and having HOF players not tied to the Blues living there
How many players without ties to playing for the Sabres, or without previous roots to the WNY area have decided to just move here?

More than a few.  Marcel Dionne is probably the most visible / notable.

[Taro T]

apuszczalowski, on 09 January 2013 - 02:18 PM, said:

You brought up the question of St. Louis and having HOF players not tied to the Blues living there
How many players without ties to playing for the Sabres, or without previous roots to the WNY area have decided to just move here?

There are a lot of them.  Dionne and Sittler just to name 2 off the bat.

[thesportsbuff]

Anyway, as the OP brought up, I think it gives the Sabres an advantage. Not "advantage" in the sense that Buffalo would be the only team benefitting from this, but the Brad Richards situation was a perfect example. If you are one that truly believes the Pegula family could sell free agents on Buffalo if given the chance, then here is their chance, for every top name free agent.

Brad Richards locked himself a room on July 1st and made teams wait in line to meet with him. Meanwhile, other teams were contacting all of the other big fish while these GMs are standing in line waiting for a player they might not even get. Under the new CBA, all these teams would be able to meet with him privately on their time and give him their pitch. Whether or not we'd actually be able to lure a free agent to Buffalo through these interviews is a different question, but certainly it would give us a better chance to at least be able to get our name in the discussion.

[PromoTheRobot]

Claude_Verret, on 09 January 2013 - 08:28 AM, said:

It can only help.  The perception of Buffalo as a destination around the league is much worse than reality.

I'd be willing to bet the new hotel/rink project, spiffing up the area around Canalside, is all part of making Buffalo looking like it has a pulse to prospective free agents.

PTR

[Vanek-Man]

thesportsbuff, on 09 January 2013 - 07:01 PM, said:

Anyway, as the OP brought up, I think it gives the Sabres an advantage. Not "advantage" in the sense that Buffalo would be the only team benefitting from this, but the Brad Richards situation was a perfect example. If you are one that truly believes the Pegula family could sell free agents on Buffalo if given the chance, then here is their chance, for every top name free agent.

Brad Richards locked himself a room on July 1st and made teams wait in line to meet with him. Meanwhile, other teams were contacting all of the other big fish while these GMs are standing in line waiting for a player they might not even get. Under the new CBA, all these teams would be able to meet with him privately on their time and give him their pitch. Whether or not we'd actually be able to lure a free agent to Buffalo through these interviews is a different question, but certainly it would give us a better chance to at least be able to get our name in the discussion.

Exactly. Thanks for getting back on topic and for understanding my point. Seems it was missed.

[IKnowPhysics]

You know what it would do?  It would make watching TSN on July 1st not un-######-bearable to watch like it has been the last 5+ years.  Players might have their minds made up in time for the signing period, and hopefully the whole thing'd be over in about 4 hours.  That's better TV than watching a small army of Canadian peckerheads staring at an unringing phone like it's got tits and speculating for 1056 straight hours.

[gregkash]

It can only help. People who might not have otherwise given buffalo a second thought now have the time to at least meet and get to know the city a little.

[Corp000085]

I've been to the barber and had my hair cut with Marcel Dionne, Lindy Ruff, Rick Martin, and Larry Playfair, at the same time.  There's the current team, dozens of alumni, plus a few scattered former NHLers who didn't play for the Sabres.  Buffalo is a destination for NHL players particularly because it is close to Canada.  If the money is there, Buffalo has the intangibles for these guys.

[LGR4GM]

IKnowPhysics, on 10 January 2013 - 03:01 AM, said:

You know what it would do?  It would make watching TSN on July 1st not un-######-bearable to watch like it has been the last 5+ years.  Players might have their minds made up in time for the signing period, and hopefully the whole thing'd be over in about 4 hours.  That's better TV than watching a small army of Canadian peckerheads staring at an unringing phone like it's got tits and speculating for 1056 straight hours.

lmao

[Eleven]

IKnowPhysics, on 10 January 2013 - 03:01 AM, said:

You know what it would do?  It would make watching TSN on July 1st not un-######-bearable to watch like it has been the last 5+ years.  Players might have their minds made up in time for the signing period, and hopefully the whole thing'd be over in about 4 hours.  That's better TV than watching a small army of Canadian peckerheads staring at an unringing phone like it's got tits and speculating for 1056 straight hours.

Early candidate for quote of the year, there.

[apuszczalowski]

thesportsbuff, on 09 January 2013 - 07:01 PM, said:

Anyway, as the OP brought up, I think it gives the Sabres an advantage. Not "advantage" in the sense that Buffalo would be the only team benefitting from this, but the Brad Richards situation was a perfect example. If you are one that truly believes the Pegula family could sell free agents on Buffalo if given the chance, then here is their chance, for every top name free agent.

Brad Richards locked himself a room on July 1st and made teams wait in line to meet with him. Meanwhile, other teams were contacting all of the other big fish while these GMs are standing in line waiting for a player they might not even get. Under the new CBA, all these teams would be able to meet with him privately on their time and give him their pitch. Whether or not we'd actually be able to lure a free agent to Buffalo through these interviews is a different question, but certainly it would give us a better chance to at least be able to get our name in the discussion.

But how is it an advantage at all when it gives the other teams in the league the exact same "advantage"? My argument is that the old way may give the Sabres an advantage because now a player will have to decide that Buffalo is a place they are interested in enough that they will take the time to fly out to Buffalo and meet with the team representatives. Would Brad Richards have taken the time and  flown out to Buffalo to meet with the team at their place if he isn't really interested in them in the first place? If he is in a room and teams line up to visit and speak with him, he is more likely to sit down for a bit and meet with a team he might not have on his list because its another option and they are already there.

The only thing this new rule will do is make July 1st a bit busier for the sports stations because deals/signings will be announced quicker cause deals will already have been agreed to in principle prior to that time. It also will allow teams to meet with more FAs because they won't be focused on meeting with someone while others have the chance to sign elsewhere

IKnowPhysics, on 10 January 2013 - 03:01 AM, said:

You know what it would do?  It would make watching TSN on July 1st not un-######-bearable to watch like it has been the last 5+ years.  Players might have their minds made up in time for the signing period, and hopefully the whole thing'd be over in about 4 hours.  That's better TV than watching a small army of Canadian peckerheads staring at an unringing phone like it's got tits and speculating for 1056 straight hours.

I think the coverage of the Trade deadline was much worse then the coverage of the opening of Free Agency......

[sizzlemeister]

apuszczalowski, on 10 January 2013 - 12:05 PM, said:

But how is it an advantage at all when it gives the other teams in the league the exact same "advantage"?

With all due respect, I think the idea of an "advantage" here is not being correctly understood by all parties.  I think it might be safer to consider it "an advantage in spite of itself" or "a leveling of the playing field".  In other words, I can see the ability to woo players before Free Agency begins as an advantage for Buffalo because it gives the Sabres organization the chance to neutralize the Buffalo area's reputation.

LA, NY, TO, Montreal, Phoenix, Vancouver, even Dallas and that ilk, don't have reputations that work against them, but some place like Buffalo, or Saint Paul or whatever, simply can't escape the reputation they have whether warranted or not.

Having time to address any negative impressions a prospective player may have will give Buffalo an advantage against itself. I would really consider it more of leveling of the playing field, myself, rather than any advantage.

It's really only an advantage if one thinks/believes/knows that Terry Pegula and crew have far-and-away the best recruiting machine in the league.  I have no opinion on that.

Edited by sizzlemeister, 10 January 2013 - 03:06 PM.

[Spndnchz]

I think it's only an advantage if you have a good hockey team.  One that made it into the playoffs and at least went a couple rounds.  Promises only go so far.

[Vanek-Man]

Spndnchz, on 10 January 2013 - 04:02 PM, said:

I think it's only an advantage if you have a good hockey team.  One that made it into the playoffs and at least went a couple rounds.  Promises only go so far.

Is that what Mario Williams said... ?

[IKnowPhysics]

What that might look like, so we're on the same page:

[IKnowPhysics]

Nailed it.

[R_dudly]

IKnowPhysics, on 10 January 2013 - 06:40 PM, said:

What that might look like, so we're on the same page:

IKnowPhysics, on 10 January 2013 - 06:40 PM, said:

What that might look like, so we're on the same page:

Spectacular !

Best quote and image of the year.