Housely was a coach on the rise, at least. He was going to get that shot somewhere very soon. Boterill is a ridiculous stretch. That would be the equivalent of being nostalgic over that one random peanut butter sandwich you had back when you were 6.
I lump Nolan and LaFontaine together in my mind since it all happened together. That one at least makes sense as you’re just taking over the team and you want to try to show this connection to the fans. The rest up until last summer, I really don’t see it as them going out of their way to hire ex-Sabres. If that was the case, Perreault would have been wooed to some ambassador position or something.