Mango

Karmanos is having a good day.

God forbid we fire the guy responsible for nearly half the Sabres draught. I wish reporters would ask Adams if he feels any sense of responsibility around the draught. The more Pegula engages Adams at a high level in the org the worst the org has gotten. It's a reasonable question/statement to make publicly at Kevy.

They haven't been truthful enough That's the way I feel about One Bills Live. I'm a STH, it isnt like I'm a casual fan. I take in A LOT of NFL media and OBL is soooo terrible. I almost* never listen. *I will listen if Cosell is on

I know you're joking, but I was talking about Levi.

Post this one in the "Beane is the most sensitive GM in the NFL" thread on TBD. I think we have the most sensitive owner, whose lucky to be in a small market. And it makes people who are normally suited for their roles thin skinned. God I HATE Terrance Pegula.

Don't we have one of those?

I read that as past tense originally. As in the never came to the table. My bad.

I'm curious if this was another "didn't want to be here" situation. Adams is a bafoon.

I actually think the issue with hockey and uppers is partially the schedule. These guys basically live in hotels for 6 months. I'm willing to get that if hockey halved their games (not saying in for it) there would be waaaaay less coke. I don't think the prevalence in the league is so much money related.

I don't care if the draft is destination TV. I care that unless you are like you or Thorny that you can pick in the top 10 and maybe never ever see that person again. That's a premium draft slot in other sports Imagine having to wait 3-5 years to get to know Keon Coleman or Tre White. It would certainly take away from being a fan for both entertainment and hopium. Maybe the solution is some combination of including the AHL in the Center Ice package (like MLB and F1 do) and first round picks have to play in the AHL. Access to first round picks should be waaaaaaay easier to keep track of. Part of that is making sure prospects are more NHL ready.

The labor laws in two countries applies to the MLB and NHL. The more people pretend the NHL is somehow special and incapable of growth or innovation the further it will fall behind. The NHL need not concern themselves with the KHL or any other euro league. They're part of major US sports. Let these kids develop there. That's fine. Who cares. The league needs to be concerned with each team putting the best 20 or so players in the world on the ice and making those 20 people as compelling as possible. If somebody else absorbs that cost for them and makes a couple of bucks for their home nation 80000000 miles away, even better. But some kid playing for nothing in the OHL where nobody is showing up or watching isn't helping or protecting the league. It's antiquated. There were 10 teenagers (18 or 19) at wearing an NHL sweater at league start last year. Zach Benson was one of those and he was an NHL sophomore. The 1 x18 year old is hyperbole, but it's not much at all. We all know the rarity of a first round pick playing at any point in the NHL. It is weird to get stuck on some mild hyperbole. The NHL can organize a draft that has more impact players that more fans can follow and relate with. Or they can be stupid.

My totally uneducated opinion is that more kids rely on the NCAA. Sure some end up in Europe, and some already stay in Europe when drafted. I think figuring out a way to put a cap floor on the AHL affiliates would be helpful. Maybe bigger roster sizes for both teams as well. Just my shoot from the hip ideas. I don't know though.

Cool then the irrelavance will continue when compared to other leagues,and teams will let kids with potential waste away in the dumbest most underfunded leagues in the world. There's like 1 18 year old per year that this matters for. Saying the NHLPA wouldnt be for it is silly. The amount of teenagers in the NHL is next to nothing comparatively. A total of 10 to start the 24-25 season. It's not that anybody is for it or against it It's that nobody gives a short to change it because they NHL is antiquated.

From a marketing/fan perspective people like story lines. Hell nearly every sports video game has a "create your own player/career" mode. Imagine downloading NHL25, creating a player, then only being able to play in the OHL where everybody in the game sucks. And then you have to do that for 3 or 4 years before you're even allowed to play with the NHL team. That's literally the NHL's model in real life. And hockey fans wonder why the league can't catch up to other leagues. Reframing the rules around the draft is integral. They have to increase the amount of players who can provide an immediate impact. To me I think that's one of the largest hurdles to make the sport compelling to people.

It doesn't matter. Like after the top 5 picks the draft is a scratch off ticket. Control, no control, it doesn't matter. The league has no reliable vision. I'd argue that a big part of the reason the predictibility is that way is because the kids aren't ready to be drafted.

I don't really understand why the NHL doesn't move the draft age up considerably. It is hard for the average hockey fan to give a short about the full cycle of their team if they can't watch their first round pick for 3 years. It would make the sport much more compelling with better/more immediate story lines. It's a violent sport, take a page from the NFL and make it 3 years after HS. Bonus, if let's the NCAA manage a lot more of player development rather than tracking a million guys around a million leagues all over the world. Somebody might turn on an NCAA game if they know it has all the best young players in the world. There's literally no way for the average person to watch the WHL, OHL, KHL, etc if you don't actively search it out.

Lindy has mentioned a few times he likes having guys play on their strong side. Easier to move the puck is the reason he has given. I don't understand why Kevyn Adams still works here.

I mentioned after one of the years draft "Embedded's" that I don't think Adams has control of the room, nor leads it. He reminds of Tom Hanks in 'Big'. He's just trying to fake it. He's talking about building concencus because he isn't making any decisions. He's loser. Go back and watch the behind the scenes with McD at the Sabres game. He basically B-lines it to Ruff after sort performatively saying hi to Kev-Kev. Then Ruff and Adams seem to chat together, and Adams like a 3rd grader goes "coach, I've always wondered, how many half time adjustments can you really make". It was clear that Lindy and McD were the alphas in the room and everybody was aware that Adams was Pegula cuck.

I think Ruff has some voice but Terry refuses to move on from Adams. Just via the smell test, the last two off-season don't seem to match Adams prior off-season. We haven't done enough but the type of player we target seems to be different. Plus the willingness to move on from Cozens, Savoie, and JJP (despite the request) is something I don't think Adams does without a major push.

Fair, I guess I'd pair that with my post about local sports coverage being cowards and spineless trolls by not addressing the ramifications of the Peterka trade. JJP getting traded because he doesn't want to be here, is the encapsulation of total failure by this regime. Both I high level structure and plan as well as failing at nearly every detail along the way. I cannot believe that Adams was able to make it out of that post draft/trade presser without one reporter framing it as a mascot for the clown car he is captaining. Pegula has certainly nailed the 'Major League' impersonation. This town has never hated this team more than they do right now. I cannot wait until Adams sells his house and has to leave in embarrassment.

Everything this off-season has been "fine". It's almost always "fine" it's just never enough or good.

The constant "great conversations" rhetoric is grating. Also, if you're going to talk JJP, nobody at the presser linking JJP refusing to stay with the fact that that goes against the entire ethos of Adams plan here is cowardly and and borderline unforgivable. It's the elephant in the room.

There's something about his head movements that make me want to bounce his face off a table. The weird head bobble back and forth, and I particularly hate the chin tuck, deep breath, look dook down, lower voice move he does. He's so smug, but small and afraid at the same time.

The Columbus -> Buffalo -> Dallas threw me. The amount it seems Jarmo is on the plane is surprising. But also I know Pegulas plane gets used even if it's not for him.

Nobody freak out There has to be another reason But....Pegulas jet was in Dallas this week after a little back and forth in Columbus and Buffalo. https://uk.flightaware.com/live/flight/XSR960