nfreeman

I’m nominating @GASabresIUFAN as captain of Team Stormcloud 2.0. And I’m starting his tenure with a friendly wager: I’ll bet the Sabres finish with at least 90 pts next year, which will represent a material improvement over the 80 they projected to finish with in JB’s final season. $20 to the charity of the winner’s choosing? I think if RK had wanted to keep Taylor, they would’ve kept Taylor.

Well, I think a number of posters have stood up for you in this recent back-and-forth and have made it clear that they want you here, they respect your work and they don't expect you to reveal your sources. Yes indeed. You should of course do as you see fit, but I am certain that the vast majority of posters here, including me, would love to have you as a regular contributor. As I mentioned upthread, I recognize that this would require you to let some annoying stuff slide by, but we all have to do that here -- it's just part of message board conversation. I agree that some posts have indeed essentially demanded that you identify your sources, and that this is ridiculous. However, I don't think there is anything wrong with observing that your sources may have their own agendas, which is I think what @LGR4GM was driving at. The bolded is interesting info. Glad you mentioned it.

It seems pretty likely that the Pegulas shared the results of the external review with KA, told him that they wanted to get rid of the underperformers and rebuild the organization to be leaner/cheaper and more effective, and asked him to produce the specific chopping block list and then execute the layoffs upon being named GM.

I'd like to be in charge of kitchen snacks. I assume under the new financial directives we're going to be shopping at Costco, and buying house brand only.

A goaltending upgrade is also part of the bare minimum IMHO.

This is an apt description -- resignation that despite a mountain of evidence in favor of dumping Hutton, JB would grimly see it through with him. RK, who is more immediately accountable for wins and losses than JB was, should have a different perspective.

That kinda sounds like Dudley's agent inviting KA to give him a call. I would be extremely psyched if this were to happen. Among other things, Dudley looks like he can still win a 3:00 AM bar brawl.

You wouldn't want to be an NHL GM?

Elliotte Friedman said on TSN today that TP had brought in an outside consultant to do a full review of the organization, and that it played a role in their decision.

I don't agree with your pessimism, but you are certainly entitled to it, and this was an excellent rejoinder.

Tim Graham bringing the heat tonight in the Athletic: https://theathletic.com/1876956/2020/06/16/graham-pegulas-end-up-in-another-unwinnable-position-of-their-own-making/

Well, the possibility would have been obvious to anyone, as JB was coming off of 2 terrible years in his 1st 2 years on the job. It doesn't mean RK was being macchiavellian in taking the job or that he slipped the knife in yesterday. But I think you're right that a desire to dispel that notion underlay those comments.

The two teams that most abased themselves in the you-know-what. Not a coincidence.

The bolded has the cold ring of truth, or at least a very plausible theory. But hoping for them to sell continues to be a huge mistake. Oh! Oh! Shots fired! I think you're right about the daughters, thank goodness.

I think he's UFA in 2 more years, innit? If so, this is not the right contract for him.

Is today Black Tuesday? Will it be a day that will live in Sabres infamy? It might be. Certainly the signs are there. I'm going to choose optimism for now, and focus on the following: - TP has spent at or close to the cap pretty much every season and there is no indication that this will cease to be the case (that would've been a good question to ask today, btw). - I like RK, who is pretty clearly the new head of the organization, and I think TP does as well -- and as @dudacek pointed out, it's quite possible that today's cuts were made following consultation with RK. - Adams seems like a solid guy with a great attitude. - Even with Adams' lack of experience, he will probably do a better job than each of his 2 immediate predecessors. - Other than maybe Chris Taylor, I am hard pressed to think of anyone who was let go today who had clearly earned the right to keep his job. - TP is clearly cutting costs, but we have no idea how deep and how permanent these cuts will be. He said hiring an experienced assistant GM was possible and no decisions had been made on that. He also said he is not having any financial difficulties (and that he still has an oil company -- I think there was some uncertainty about that in a different thread). - The Sabres probably won't play a game until around Xmas, and the AHL may not be back at all next year. I expect them to staff back up (but not all the way back up) as we get closer to Xmas and as the AHL situation resolves. In the meantime, it's not crazy to cut costs from a grievously underperforming organization when there is nothing to do for the next few months. - The Sabres have a franchise C, 3 other legit forwards, a terrific forward prospect in Cozens, a franchise Dman, at least 3 other legit Dmen and cap space to fill out the roster. They also have a good leader-of-men type at coach and a lottery pick this summer. They have needs, like most teams, but it's not an insurmountable wall. I'm not leaving. Go Sabres.

What is this based on?

Bloodbath. I assume this is because Adams is not a fan of CT and his staff? If so, it's well within Adams' prerogative.

There's a reason MH never breaks any stories -- he has no sources in the organization because they are put off by his mannerisms.

That's not what I said. I said other posters may say things to JW that JW views as being disrespectful and obnoxious. I did say that I would rather JW let those statements slide off of him and keep a sense of humor about it, so that part was more or less accurate.

Well, he retained somebody else's hire in Darcy, and he then hired 2 of his own, both of whom crapped out. Even if you include Darcy, I don't see how you get to "so many".

I don't disagree with your pessimism based on these facts. KA's relative lack of experience lends further support to the theory that it will be RK that runs the show. Which, in turn, evidences that hiring RK was yet another incompetent move by JB -- since JB hired someone whom the Pegulas liked and trusted more than they did JB.

No, but I wasn't looking for it -- rather just assuming that those would be 2 natural reasons for a professional sports writer to come here.

Ooooooooooohhhh. Now THAT is an interesting bit of speculation. Adams may have leaked the fact that JB spent $13MM on, and stuck with, a blind goalie! And then JB gets canned a couple of days later! I don't even care whether it's a "that" or a "whether." Full marks for PA.

So, in a quest for fairness, I went back and read @john wawrow's posts over the years. It's certainly true that a couple of posters -- in particular @Hoss and @Ghost of Dwight Drane -- took a number of shots at him, and I can totally understand him thinking "I don't need this aggravation from these DBs." In the board's defense, I will note that those posters aren't really a representative sample of the broader membership -- both of them had serious problems interacting with others. One has been permanently banned, while the other has been suspended more than any other poster. I think it's also true that JW didn't exactly react to the shots he took with a jocular, devil-may-care sense of good humor -- and when a number of other posters (including me at one point) noted a certain thin-skinnedness, JW got more PO'd and lashed back. Understandable, perhaps, but also unnecessary and probably not his finest moments. Bottom line, IMHO is that on the one hand, I think everyone here would like to have JW as a poster and a resource, and most here respect JW's work, while from time to time disagreeing with or doubting certain items that might be reported. On the other hand, though, it is inevitable that on a message board, someone will from time to time say the wrong thing -- i.e. something that from JW's perspective can be reasonably viewed as disrespectful or obnoxious. In those situations, I would hope that JW would let the offending post go by without getting worked up about it. Of course, it's up to him whether participating in the discussion here and getting feedback, story ideas, etc. from a devoted (and IMHO quite knowledgeable) portion of the fan base is worth the aggravation.