Mango

I can't believe we have a 4-2 game with 34 total SOG.

I actually think that not having a cup for Edmonton is a wart on the league. His nickname is McJesus. He's the best player in the game by a mile. Leagues need their stars to win sometimes. It's not a market size issue. I think the personality issue is worse. It's similar but different to the NBA at the moment. The issue isn't exactly Indiana v OKC. It's that casual fans don't really know them. If it was Durant v Reggie Miller it would be zero issue. The NHL desperately needs their star to be a star and win a championship.

McDavid has got to put this game away. He hasn't been invisible this series but he's been muted (by his standards).

To be fair when they "put the whistle away" 95% of penalties don't stop play. It's tought to bring everybody to the faceoff dot and just ignore a penalty. The over the glass is both sometimes dumb but I also don't want it to go away. I don't want it to become a subjective penalty.

The Panthers put in a $10M dehumidifier at ice level and the Sabres...checks notes...finally replaced the roof they were contractually required to replace after it leaked on fans for like 7 years.

I think the ref just took one in the danglies.

I should have clarified it with "from somebody from one of the orgs". But also we've had a bunch of dudes leave and be very good players in the league post Darcy. If that speech was given from Pegula, then sure. Honestly it should have been.

That is arguably the worst presser in Buffalo Sports history. Either that or the "Hockey Heaven" speech. I feel like I am being gaslighted. Like this cannot be real. There aren't real humans who watch those 20 minutes and come away with "ya know, I think somebody else is the problem here" Adams literally admits that Lindy asked in the interview process about the coaches and then brought it up again after getting to know everybody. There is no back and forth between two people who want to keep the coaching staff that is already in place. It is, "you still like them?"..."yeah"..."cool". And you move on.

WTF are we talking about here? This is sooo far out of the realm of reasonable. There have been next almost zero HC who proactively quit their jobs mid-contract that aren't part of some joint agreement to walk away rather than be fired. Lindy would be 1 of 1 who spent 30 years in the same city only to walk out of the org on terrible terms mid contract. It would be a horrendous end to any coaches legacy for the org, for the fans, and for Lindy himself. I think he was a little bamboolzed by making some assumptions about the same weird wording we constantly hear from Adams. And instead of ending his tenure hanging the city out to dry he is sticking around to try and right this thing before he rides off into the sunset. Adams is constantly smug in his wording, and particularly so in what is the worst press conference in Buffalo sports history. He is wildly evasive and aggressive from start to finish. Assistant coaches included. I am just so baffled how anybody can listen to that interview and think that enemy number one and in this organization is Terrance Pegula and Kevyn Adams. And then talk about a team that has lead the league in unused cap dollars over 5 years and thing 'It DoEsNt MaKe SeNsT tHaT pEgUlA WoUldNt SpEnD oN nEw CoAcHeS" I don't think Lindy is a world beater. He isn't, especially at this point in his career. The best part of Lindy is that he can make a 10 goal scorer a 20 goal scorer. The worst part is that he can take a 30 goal scorer and also make them a 20 goal scorer. He can take the 20th best roster and get them into the playoffs and maybe steal a series. But he also won't have the 6th best roster in the conference finals all the time either.

What does this mean? It doesn't really follow a single thought. What does that say about Lindy? Well by Adams own admission Lindy asked about replacing the staff at the front end, and then after getting to know the staff had a "back and forth" with Adams about replacing them. There is no back and forth between two people are on the same page off the rip. So unless you think Adams wanted to replace the staff and Lindy was trying to keep them, to me it sounds like Lindy tried to replace the coaching staff. I am not sure what the realistic expectation of Lindy Ruff is. He has spent nearly 30 years in this town as a coach or player for the Buffalo Sabres. I am sure it would be really really hard for him to throw his fingers up at the org and walk away over hunkering down and trying to right the ship. The expectation, which you seem to imply, is that Lindy should go out in a blaze of glory. That seems like the absolute worst way to end a career in your home town and would basically be unprecedented in any of the big 4 leagues in the US. I cannot possibly wrap my head around the fact that any human who watches that presser and has followed the Sabres isn't targeting all their anger and frustration at some combination of Pegula and Adams. They could hire the ghost of Scotty Bowman to be the HC this team with Trotz, Deboer, and Maurice on staff and they would still miss the playoffs. That is how wildly inept this franchise is.

This! I don't hear that any differently than "Terry give me everything we need to be successful". Adams always leaves wiggle room. He is a total weasel. Ask him for a yes or no answer on if he can spend 100% of the salary cap or if Terry will pay for 4 new NHL veteran scouts and you get "Terry is willing to provide everything it takes to be successful". Sort of crazy to me that @Archie Lee watches Adams squirm over this question the way he does and comes away fully thinking Adams said that this was Lindy's staff that he wanted and he assembled after getting to know them. He explicitly says that Lindy asked about it, and that after getting to know them they talked about it some more, and after a back and forth "this is the staff that we arrived at". Not that this is the staff he wanted. But the one we arrived at. And as a follow up question, if this is the staff that Lindy wanted, WTF was the back and forth about after "getting to know them". In theory if this is Lindy's staff, here is the conversation. Not sure anybody would consider this a "back and forth" Kevyn: "Do you love this coaching staff?" Lindy: "Yeah" Kevyn: "Cool, next item on the agenda"

I always thought that whole run around about "getting to know" and then "feeling comfortable" was Adams being smug ash hole with a punchable face. Getting to know doesn't mean hire and feeling comfortable doesn't mean not fire. To me it's the same tone as "extensive search" and "Terry gives me everything we need".

Don't forget Rex Ryan.

Lindy as POHO blocking Adams from the role based on circumstance, firing Adams, with Jarmo as GM and Deboer would immediately bring this franchise back into respectibility. That said I expect an Adams extension any day now.

Now is the time to do it with Ruff in the building. Ruff/Jarmo v Pegula/Adams stands a chance. But Jarmo will lose that alone 100 times out of 100. And according to the article, it sounds as though it has been Pegula/Adams vs the world since Pegula bought the team.

It was approved in 2013. Also even if that's true, everybody should run from a medical practice who refuses to perform the best procedure for you (that insurance covers) because of funding dollars. The way it was explained to me was that the solution to a failed disc replacement is fusion and you just end up where you would have to begin with so there is no "worse off" https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8405360/ It's possible UB doesn't use an artificial disc that is approved for double disc replacements which is another concern, but different. Anyways, the whole thing made me shift my thinking that the Eichel decision wasn't just politicking, but just flat out underqualified medical advice.* *I know that anecdote isn't data and I am just a schmuck on the Internet.

Baker was good in Cleveland. They just got start struck by Watson. Literally everything said stick with the kid, you have your guy at QB. It was considered wildly stupid at the time even without the contract.

Its both, nobody has ever accidentally won the Olympics. It was a conscious decision that starts likely a decade or more prior. You don't win without the intent to win and that means you practice with intent, and sleep with intent, and eat with intent. I understand that I am in full on hate mode since it is as revealed that Adams is back with the full coaching staff. But I think all of that is just still too much credit for both those dingdongs. I think they are just two monkeys humping a hockey puck. They both think that because they finished they've birthed a legitimate NHL hockey org, team, staff,and roster.

I think a lot of things can be true at one time. I think McBeane are both very good at their jobs but I also don't think two very good executives are enough to overcome Pegula. Had the Bills Baker, who is considered a top 10 QB in the NFL right now, I think the Bills look a lot closer to the Cleveland Browns than they do the Chiefs or the Eagles. And that isn't a critique on McBeane, that is a full on insult to Terry Pegula.

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."

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.

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

We are totally splitting hairs here, I get it. We are not far off. But again to the bolded I really don't think that is the case. I think Terry believes he is a good owner and Kevyn believes he is a good GM. His EOY pressers all started with "I need to be better" and ended with "I think we did enough" or "on paper I think I did a good job". These are guys living in the clouds. These guys are the dumbest clowns in the worst circus clowns in the worlds dumbest circus. If these two orchestrated anything successfully it would be the first time.

For sure. Again, why launch the franchises biggest hire in a decade on a Friday? Especially when you know this piece is twisting in the wind. This is maybe the best article on the Sabres in recent memory.

This implies that this is calculated by Adams. I know Adams is proud to call himself a friend of Phred the Phoenix (this is actually how they spell it), but I don't believe that is the case. I think Pegula and Adams are on the same exact page. Kevyn isn't a yes man, he is in agreement. I think that difference in ineptitude is worth noting.