A Buffalo Sabres Dynasty! (Using EHM 07)

[Gosens6]

First a little info. For those of you who don't know i live in Buffalo New York. I've grown up around the Sabres all my life but, have never been a huge fan. I've wished them success each season but each season we all know, they come up short. The fans here in Buffalo still love them no matter what and IMO, we are the new hockey town USA. Trust me, you would have to live here to realize it.

Now, the game i'm using, Eastside Hockey Manager AKA EHM is a text based sim hockey game, everything about the real aspects of hockey are present here. From the draft to free agency, to players coming from and to europe. From the AHL to the ECHL to the Russian super leauges they are all here. So expect to see your favorite players from your favorite leauges making the NHL at some point, or some of your favorite players jumping ship to Europe!, should be a fun wild ride!.

One more thing, this will be a first person point of view interactice dynasty. What that means is almost every update i post will be through the eyes of my character, the new GM of the Sabres, Jim Darcy. And i want you, the fellow OS members to have a roll too. I want some of you guys to be my advisors, some of you to be the media and others to be the fans!. Voice your opinions of the moves i've made. (one big one so far!). The moves that i don't make, or the moves you think i should make!.

All and all it should be a great time and just one more thing!..

LETS GO BUFFALO!!!

[SabresKings3623]

Re: A Buffalo Sabres Dynasty! (Using EHM 07)

Awesome, I'm from Buffalo too man, and love the Sabres. I've been a lifelong fan as well. I'll definetley follow this and help you out in any way possible.

[Gosens6]

Re: A Buffalo Sabres Dynasty! (Using EHM 07)

From the diary of Jim Darcy.....

Day one...

"I arrived in Buffalo, fresh faced GM in the NHL. After spending most of my time coaching overseas, I've found it to be a lifelong dream come true to be able to manage an actual NHL team. A team with so much history, a team that has come close so many times but never reached greatness, but i sure intended to get them there.

From Grant Fuhr to Dominek Hasek, from Pat Lafontaine to Tim Connolly. The Sabres have had many great players in there history but could never get over that hump. I still remember that fateful game of the 99 Cup Finals where you know who's foot was clearly in the crease, yet the refs still awarded the goal and the Cup to Dallas. That broke many fans in Buffalo's hearts, and it's still talked about to this day.

From not keeping key players on the roster, Satan, Zhitnik, Hasek, Grier, Drury, Briere. The Sabres have always seemed to be all about cheapness than winning. But in my stay, in my reign as GM that's all about to change.

I browsed HSBC arena for awhile, from all the concession stands to the great Sabres store, anyone who has'nt been is in for a real treat if they ever visit, and the ice, is absolutely stunning. I envisioned the team i will put together, skating out there together, winning together, becoming a family.

After browsing a bit more, i snuggled into my neat little office. I looked over my NHL and AHL roster and realized we are loaded with talent. Ryan Miller in net, Thomas Vanek, Derek Roy, Jason Pominville, Drew Stafford, Pat Kaleta and the list goes on and on. However i see a few names on this list that i may be looking to move soon, most notably Maxim Afinegenov and Teppo Numminen. While Max may be flashy, he can't put the puck in the net, and lets face it, Numminen is uo there in years. So, my first official business as Sabres GM has begun!"




Any suggestions from readers out there?, should i put these two players on the block?, or wait a few months and see if they pan out and up there value?, what do you the readers think i should do?

[Gosens6]

Re: A Buffalo Sabres Dynasty! (Using EHM 07)

Awesome, I'm from Buffalo too man, and love the Sabres. I've been a lifelong fan as well. I'll definetley follow this and help you out in any way possible.

Great!, it's good too know i have another buffalonian on board lol!.

Any suggestions or comments would be great because as i said, you the members can be apart of this just as much as i am...

[Gosens6]

Re: A Buffalo Sabres Dynasty! (Using EHM 07)

From the diary of Jim Darcy..

Day 2...

"My second day as the new Sabres Gm was spent touring some of the city of Buffalo. It's a very beautiful city with lots of history, but i spent most of my day inside the HSBC arena. Coach Lindy Ruff and owner Tom Golisano decided to give me a tour of the arena and called an emergency player meeting so i could meet my new team.

The arena is great, i'd see it a few times on TV but have never actually been inside. The sabres store is a sight to see. Sabres memorabilla, NHL stuff, it's just a place any die hard NHL fan would love to visit. Then it was time to go to the ice to meet the players. When i stepped out onto the ice the players were already doing warmups and skating around. Ruff blew the whistle and the players lined up in front of us.

I walked from one to the next, from Miller to Vanek to Connolly i introduced myself. I could tell some of the players were a bit hesitant to accept me as there new GM but others were optomistive and willing to accept it.

After the meeting coach Ruff and i had asked a few players to stick around. Before this meeting we had discussed and chosen the captain and alternates for the season. We felt that swapping captains last season really hurt chemistry, and we decided on some Sabres that i think the fans would approve of and would really be leaders of this team.

CAPTAIN

Tim Connolly


Both coach Ruff and I decided that Connolly is a loved Sabre by the fans and players alike. When healthy he can put up stats with the NHL's elite, and hopefully he can prove it this year..

ALTERNATES

Jochen Hecht and Ales Kotalik

Hecht and Kotalik. Two Sabre veterans and leaders from day one. These two guys were no brainers in my decision but i had to convince coach Ruff that Kotalik was ready for this responsibility. Hopefully my decision pans out over the season.

Meetings were over, players were dismissed and i headed to my office, i had lots of GM decisions to make, and they would rock the foundation of Sabre history from this day forward!...."

[SabresKings3623]

Re: A Buffalo Sabres Dynasty! (Using EHM 07)

Interesting choices for captains, this'll be interesting. I like seeing Timmy C with a letter on his jersey

[Gosens6]

Re: A Buffalo Sabres Dynasty! (Using EHM 07)

From the diary of Jim Darcy...

Day 3...

"Day 3 of my Sabres day was an already historic one. i opened up my computer and found a nice welcome email from my board of advisors, which read....

"Welcome to the Buffalo Sabres, founded in 1970, we play our home games at the 18,690 capacity HSBC Arena in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres play in the Northeast Division of the NHL. The rivalry with the Leafs is intense. The fans are passionate about it and expect top performance.

The organization has yet to win a Stanley Cup but have made 2 finals appearances, 1999 being the most recent occasion. Our current head coach is Lindy Ruff. Ryan Miller, Maxin Afinogenov and Jochen Hecht are amongst the best players on the team. Jhonas Enroth, Drew Stafford and Andrej Sekera are amongst our highly rated group of prospects and should form a core for years to come."

After reading this letter it was time to get down to business. After making a few calls, two official trades were made in my beginning reign as Sabres GM.

First up was Teppo Numminen, Who has promptly been traded to the St. Loius Blues...

I gave up Teppo Numminen and a 2008 5th round draft pick to the Blues for D.J. King, Matt Walker and Jeff Woywitka. I felt that Teppo was getting to up there in age and i felt he would only be here for this season and i felt we could get aloit younger with this move, and we did. So i feel pretty accomplished.

Second move was getting rid of Max Afinegenov. While he's flash and spectacular he can barely find the net, and his injury problems are too much. So i decided to ship him to the team that gave the best offer of many, the Detroit Red Wings. It seems that maybe i made the best team in the NHL even better.

I gave up Maxim Afinogenov to the Wings for Jiri Hudler and Tomas Kopecky along with the rights to Logan Pyatt. Once again we got a bit younger, and i feel the nucleus on our team will be alot better with this trade.

We're only three days into my reign as GM and i've already rocked the Sabre foundation to it's core, All i can say is, what next!??"

[SabresKings3623]

Re: A Buffalo Sabres Dynasty! (Using EHM 07)

nice trades man, you got a good deal for Max

[Gosens6]

Re: A Buffalo Sabres Dynasty! (Using EHM 07)

From the diary of Jim Darcy...

Sept. 13th...

"Sept. 13th, Sabres training camp is about to start, since the two trades that i made when my tenure first began, no activity to report as of now. Training camp starts tommorow, and there are 42 players expected to be attending camp, with 10 tryout players...."

Sept. 15th...

Training camp is up to speed!, fitness evaluations took place today and apparently reporting in the best shape were defensemen Brian Campbell and Jaroslav Spacek!, hopefully this is good news for the Sabres as there defense has been there downfall the past few years!

Sept. 19th..

Training camp is in full swing and i've already terminated a few of the tryout opportunities of some players who weren't performing up to par. Thomas Vanek, Ales Kotalik and Adam Mair have been performing the best so far. And today the NHL Season Preview has come out!. Top teams listed below. Concern is also building over the fact that Jiri Hudler is struggling signifigantly in camp.

Coming in at Number 1 is the Detriot Red Wings with the acquisation of Max making them the top dog this year. The Sabres come in at number 23 in the leauge after giving away our leader at defense and the flashy Afinogenov, we have to prove something to the hockey world this year!

[Gosens6]

Re: A Buffalo Sabres Dynasty! (Using EHM 07)



Peters Stay In Buffalo Looks To Be Over!

Buffalo, NY- As the Buffalo Sabres pre-season moves along, it looks as if long time enforcer Andrew Peters is on his way out!. The Sabres placed him on waivers today, and if no one picks him up, he will become a FA.

While Peters is a fan favorite in Buffalo, new GM Jim Darcy felt as if he had no use for Peters in his plans for Buffalo this upcoming season so it had to be done. More on this story as it develops.

From the diary of Jim Darcy.....

Sept. 25th

With training camps over, i evaluated all the players that showed up, and decided to not offer any of the tryout players a contract feeling as if they weren't quite ready yet. And yes it's true, i dissapointed a lot of the Buffalo fans with putting Peters on waivers, and with trading Max, but, these things had to be done. I'm looking to win this year and i felt that these moves may be over to put us over the top.

[Gosens6]

Re: A Buffalo Sabres Dynasty! (Using EHM 07)

From the diary of Jim Darcy...

Sept. 26th.

Pre-season is officially over. This period gave me a good time to look and see who should be apart of the main roster. Overall we did very well in the pre-season and our young guys looked strong against the other teams. Here are the results..

Sept. 23rd Vs. Ottawa: 2-1 Win
Sept. 24th Vs. Detroit: 5-4 OT Win
Sept. 25th Vs. Lighting: 4-3 SO Win

While we only played three games i feel we looked really good out there and i took time to evaluate the talent and determine if there were any guys i wanted to cut or send down to the farm. Here are my decisions...



Michael Ryan

While i love Michael Ryan as a talent, I don't feel that he's quite ready to be participating on the active roster yet, but, if stricken by injury by this year he will be one of the first guys to be called up.



Andrej Sekera

This guy is without a doubt the future of our defense, but he needs a bit more seasoning until he's ready to compete with the big boys in the NHL, will become a quick fan favorite due to his gritty style of play.