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Hey, can we all just agree to wear Phred the Phoenix gear to games now? EDIT: Maybe signs "I went to the University of Phoenix Online and All I got is THE WORST GM IN THE NHL."

Perhaps. And not saying it's causation. But there is a distinct difference in the changes in the hockey department pre early-2022 and post when the team has underperformed yet again.

The hobbit was released in 1937

Serious question. Adams has to be the greatest alumni that Phred the Phoenix has ever seen grace its halls websites. But really, if you zoom far enough out he is entrenched as a 6 year executive of a major professional sports team. There might not be a single more "successful" graduate of their business program.

Surely you’ve seen LOTR? or do you just mean again

It also makes me sad that I never wrote out the full Sabres Wars prequel trilogy screenplays. But, add the prequels to the watchlist, and know that I have just about everyone in the organization mapped to a character. And it's creepy how well it works.

I’m so out of touch with all the references. Being archaic makes one say “huh” a lot.

This could be a snake way of saying he had somebody else do it. See JBotts.

“Why didn’t Pegula declare himself Minister of the Sabres?” asked Ron. Lupin laughed. “He doesn’t need to, Ron. Effectively he is the Manager, but why should he sit behind a desk in Buffalo? His puppet, Thickhead, is taking care of everyday business, leaving Terry Riddle free to extend his power beyond the sabres.”

One thing that I wonder about in all of this is how much, if at all, this situation would be different had Kim Pegula not had her heart attack which essentially resulted in a stroke. The 2 were most definitely a team and without her around now it sure seems from the Fairburn article that Adams and Terry are now that team as far as the hockey side of things goes. Maybe he'd be even more entrenched were she still more involved, but wasn't a significant portion of the ouster of their 1st GM hire a perceived or real insubordination towards her and a significant portion of the 2nd GMs ouster was the owners "not feeling heard" (or something to that effect). (Pretty sure it was her idea to can Brandon too.) Might Kim have been a bit more pointed in the questioning of what was going on at the end of season reviews and during the inseason low points? Terry made some sort of boast when he bought the Sabres that he'd never fired anyone from his Energy East company. But he and his wife sure did fire a lot of people in their 1st 9 or so years of owning the Sabres. Maybe he's a softie and she's the one that has more of the stomach for that sort of thing. Since the team's taken a step back from 91 points we've now seen Granato fired, the S&C coach fired, and Ellis demoted and that's the entirety of the removal for performance in the past 2 years. (Not counting alterations to the playing roster to date.)

The issue then becomes, how much influence does the new staffer have, especially compared to KA. My suspicions are that he may have more authority.( Just my personal opinion.)

And I come back to you now… (after having never left) .. at the turn of the tide

Reading this thread makes me realize I need to watch Game of Thrones and read/watch Lord of the Rings

Really, when JBott refused to fire everyone, Pegula should have just named himself the GM (gone full Jerry Jones) and taken over the control of the team in his own vision. Of course, that's a job, and it's time-consuming and difficult. So, whom better to run it than the sycophant who will do his direct bidding, just as well as he himself could run it? Kind of a cowardly approach vs. what he did with the football team (and I assume the lacrosse team), which is hire real folks to do everything because they actually know the sport and can put in the time/setup to get talented staffs and players, etc. I sense a lot of fear there for something as trivial as a trade dispute hockey franchise. They're one and the same: master and apprentice.

Terry doesn’t need to actually be right, he’s rich. He just needs to be able to tell himself he is. - - - great post

Yep. That's the most salient thing for me that Fairbairn's piece drove home. And even though it's nothing we didn't know or at least suspect, @thewookie1 is right, having it spelled out so matter-of-factly is damn depressing.

Technically Adams would be closer to the truth based on those specific phrasing. You don't choose to win, you can choose to try to win but you can't just state you'll win and will it into existence. Winning is a byproduct of many different elements coming together to create success; continued success is neither aligned nor unaligned with immediate winning but are not directly linked. The problem is that Adams keeps using bad ingredients to make his Sabres Pie.

A bit of a chicken and the egg analysis, imo. I believe that Pegula chose Adams precisely because he perceived the absence of such "skills" in Adams. It was those same skills, I think, that prompted the Pegulas' statement that they weren't being "heard" by Botterill. They (he) wanted someone who would be a direct expression of their (his) "vision" for the Sabres. That vision is little more than a tragic folly -- leading to nothing but waste and ruin. (Sorta sticking with the LOTR tones there.)

I decided to read the article and then just file it away. It paints such a bleak picture that one could easily just throw up their arms in surrender because it effectively tells us the Buffalo Sabres only hope of having success is via a 1 in a Million set of circumstances playing out. Otherwise the franchise itself would have to be sold to another owner and that would have a high likelihood of it being moved which defeats the purpose. Hell I'm still concerned as to what will happen when Pegula dies seeing as his estate would have to split his assets which not only would put the Sabres in jeopardy but the Bills as well.

I’m saying they don’t care enough about winning in the now IN MY OPINION. whatever the level you think they care, we can go with: and then I’m going to say it’s not enough. Regardless of if they think they are doing enough to make it, i philosophically disagree with their stance that we achieve success now “without mortgaging the future”. My stance isn’t to win now without mortgaging the future. My stance is to win now. The qualifier totally changes it. Adams believes winning is a byproduct Thorny believes winning is a choice if you take one thing from this post, by all means ignore it all and just take in the bold. This is the crux of my argument almost always

Thanks - sorry for misunderstanding where you're coming from. Sticking with the metaphor: Grima (Adams) doesn't cast the spell on Theoden (Pegula). Grima is just a sycophant serving at the pleasure and direction of the evil wizard who has cast that spell. In our scenario, I don't think there's a third party who has caused Pegula to me misled. Unless we're gonna get super metaphysical and identify Pegula's hubris as some sentient entity from which he needs to be liberated.

Maybe this is the plan, I fear the result will be.... Sabres another unsuccessful year Jarmo makes suggestions that he believes would improve the team Conflict arises from this situation as Pegula wants two voices Karmanos is like "you have got to be kidding me" and is out A power struggle ensues with Adams and Jarmo and Pegula has to sort it out... while he is pondering Jarmo resigns a la Fontaine takes another job Adams is now POHO and GM Sabres are on year 15 without the playoffs and the situation has gotten so toxic that no professional hockey mind in their right senses will come here Pimlach volunteers and is hired and the situation slowly improves... LOL... ok maybe thats a bit much.... but you all get the point.

I think the bold is a very strong take, and better helps me understand where you're coming from. It's like telling your 16-year-old: "What do you mean I don't care about you, I bought you a car and gave you a credit card." In regards to the spending, I haven't fully bought into my own thinking yet, but I find myself increasingly wanting to blame Adams for not spending to the cap. Bear with me: Terry spent money right up to EEE, with COVID past Terry no long needs EEE, Terry has spent money on firing coaches, buying out contracts, fixing roofs and rebuilding the hockey department, among other things recently; it doesn't really make sense that he is pinching pennies the past couple years on $6M in player salaries. Adams has consistently said that Terry has given him the resources he needs. I wonder if this wording is aimed at having it both ways: sticking up for his boss and avoiding blame for himself. I get a sense Kevyn has heard Terry grumbling about Botterill wasting his money, or how Terry thinks (fill-in-the-blank) is a waste. And in pure Wormtongue-like Adams hubris, Adams leans into that. He tells Terry "You're right. Under me we haven't done any of those silly things. Watch this, I can run this team without even spending to the cap." Instead of doing what a good GM would do and steering him in to the logical conclusion that spending to the cap is a necessary part of being competitive. That still allows plenty of room for your take: that a fully-invested Pegula would (should) have said: we've got the money Kevyn, let's spend it." Basically, its a mutual enabling of each others weaknesses, rather than a more proper checks and balances situation.

I've been a bit busy, but I've got to weigh in on the most important part of this conversation: If Sheevyn is Grima, then that would make Darth Pegulas the Wise... Saruman, as played by Christopher Lee (which is a slap in the face to Mr. Lee), and... we, the fans, are Theoden, King.