Darcy Heaven

So, this is Hockey Heaven?

For the first time since, um, never, I can’t think of anything to bit#$ about with the Sabres. Nothing, zip, zilch. Sure, the regular season hasn’t started yet, and we all know that you have to play the games to really get a feel for your team, but right now, there’s nothing to complain about. Everything is great. I can’t complain about Golisano or Quinn. I can’t go after Tim Connolly. I can’t fight with people on Twitter about anything.

I’m finished.

No more Sabres talk for me.

Buffalowins.com is out of business.

Goodbye.

Farewell…..

OK, I’m kidding.

I can always go after their overrated goalie. Ah, I’m just playing! (Shifty eyes)

Players are giving out tickets to fans, T-Pegs and Ted Black are having beers in driveways, we have Zambonis with weapons on them – gee, Larry Quinn’s shovels look pretty lame now, don’t they? – and fans are going nuts over the All-Valley High hockey tournament. (Watch Karate Kid). It’s a great time to be a Sabres fan.

It’s just crazy what a difference a year makes. Last year at this time, we had just endured the Tim Kennedy fiasco and another one of those “We will improve the team or else” speeches from Larry Quinn, which went nowhere as usual. Recently, I’ve been hearing some fans/experts say, “Well, this team didn’t have many issues when it was under Tom and Larry,” but that’s a crock. They had issues. There was just always an odor around the team, even when they won the division in 2009. Anyway, this really isn’t about them, it’s actually about Darcy Regier.

I have to say, I have a newfound, um..likeness for him. For years, he’s been the punching bag for Sabres fans and yours truly. Now he’s the toast of the hockey world, and other GMs are probably wishing they had an owner like T-Pegs behind them. When you look at the entire organization now, who is the one guy who has the battle scars? Well, it ain’t Ruff because he’ll be coaching the team until 2030. Ryan Miller? Nah. Fans heart him. Derek Roy? Well, he’s on Twitter now and everyone loves him apparently so he’s fine. People have been begging for Vanek to be a captain for years now. So, the love is there.

Darcy is the guy who took the biggest beating of any of the guys who are still here from the old regime.

He took the brunt of any sort of screw-up the team made and hardly got any sort of praise when the team actually played well. The credit always went to Lindy it seemed . Yes, if it wasn’t for their strong surge from January-April, I would have been begging for the team to fire him when Terry Pegula took over.

Anyway, in a span of 5 months, Darcy has given over 110 million dollars in contracts. (BTW, how funny is it that during his Golisano years, Darcy always crapped on other teams who signed players to lucrative back-loaded or front-loaded deals. Not anymore.). Yes, he pretty much gave out the yearly payroll for an NFL team. That is something.

Flash back to the years with Tom and Quinn, and I just keep picturing how Regier was nothing more than the good soldier when moments of the Sabres being cheap reared its ugly head. He was the guy who took the heat. He was the Sabres excuse-maker, or better put, he made excuses for Larry and Tom. He was the guy that had to deliver the message to the masses who were ready to throw his ass on the street. He was the one who had to give an excuse as to why they weren’t giving Hank or Toni extensions. Teppo’s suspension. 7/1/07. The list of impromptu press conferences mounted quickly for Darcy. Damage control, I guess.

I always remember how when the whole Kennedy stuff came down, Darcy was the lone guy at the interview table, taking questions and the heat. We all knew he shouldn’t have been the only one sitting at that table. I remember reading a comment from I think Bucky, talking about how Quinn was at the back of the press conference, looking on and nodding his head. Way to take the fall, Larry.

Yes, I was one of the many who thought that if Darcy was being handcuffed, which I think now we all know was the case, he should have packed his bags and lit his entire office on fire. Why wouldn’t he? Your goal is to win the Stanley Cup, and yet you are being screwed by the powers that be. However, Darcy didn’t do that. He stuck with it.

Frankly, I have no clue why he did that. A lot of other GMs in professional sports might have decided to go off to greener pastures. Maybe he stayed because he loved the area. Maybe he really loves “the system”. Maybe he’s the type who doesn’t like to walk away when the job isn’t finished. Maybe he really likes the executive bathroom. I actually wish someone could ask him why he decided to stay. I know he’d give some sort of typical Darcy answer, but maybe if we slipped him a shot or two of Crown, he would open up.

Today, Darcy is reaping the benefits of Hockey Heaven. Like a garbage man who won the lotto, he can buy whatever he wants now. Scouts, players, new locker rooms, the Rochester Americans and unlimited junior hockey tournaments.  Other than the fans, I think Regier has gained the most out of anyone when it comes to the Hockey Heaven transformation.

They always say, sometimes it takes going through hell to get to heaven.

Well, welcome to Hockey Heaven, Darcy.