Mango

Utah getting a team was back on a few of my social media algorithms today. This was the first time I thought “there goes the Sabres. Mark it down.” I’ve defended Buffalo as a meaningful market for the NHL. But I’m honestly not sure anymore. I can’t see any other path for Terry.

This franchise has been painful since the tank. Not just bad, but for the most part just not fun to watch even if they aren’t good. In the covid year I sensed a tide turning. Then last year they flashed. More often than not it was fun hockey even if the team was “meh” overall. But when you’re bad and just terrible to turn on, you’re effed. For that reason alone the entire FO and coaching has to change. It just has too. Adams inherited a bad unwatchable team. And now here we are a few years later talking about a bad unwatchable team.

I’ve defended Buffalo as a meaningful hockey market for the league. But this is just getting crazy. The Utah rumors got bumped again on Reddit today. For the first time after reading about it for forever I thought “oh Buffalo could end up there”.

Family is staying with us for the holiday so I put the game on in the other room and popped back in and out. Every couple of minutes. In total I probably got 60-70% of the game but it was roughy to pick up the flow. Fun game. Obviously better play. One wild stat. We scored 9 goals, only 4 skaters failed to register a single point. Samuelson, VO, EJ, and Cozens. Samuelson gets extra points for being negative in the plus minus. 3 of those players have been catching a lot of flack to be benched or traded.

Two things: 1. Terry Pegula, is, was, and will always be a problem. I sincerely believe that this city cannot afford to lose both McDermott or Beane. McDermott can get a new GM and Beane can get a new HC. But relying on Terry replace the entire org would destroy Buffalo as a sports town. This is a legitimate quote from Pegula in 2013 after his second season as owner. https://buffalonews.com/sports/sabres/sabres-owner-pegula-states-his-case-for-regier/article_720ab6fa-7897-54ed-be8e-530b0e2e620e.html 2. When it comes to coaching or trades, I think the Sabres need to stand pat for the season. I had expectations of this being a 100 point team this year. That sounds lofty but it really only asking for about 5 more wins. Hell, 3 wins and a couple of OT losses would do the trick too. What we are seeing isn't close. I have said the last few months that the first thing this org needs to do before moving any piece is ask the GM "what do we need to be successful" and if his shoot from the hip answer is anything similar to "time to develop" or "stay the course" then you pull the rip cord immediately. You escort the guy out of the building right then and there. Conversation over. No convincing. No "Fix it or you are done". That answer is from somebody who has no idea what they are seeing on the ice, which means they have no accurate solution. Any move by somebody who says that about this roster is only making performative moves to keep their job, not somebody who is making moves with a plan. I have a hard time hearing Adam's "this is an execution problem" as anything other than "stay the course". Any major move anywhere in the org needs to be executed by a new GM. 3. Until you fix point number 1, I have little confidence in point number 2.

In no particular order: Dahlin Levi Thompson Mitts JJP Benson Ryan Johnson There are a couple of tweeners in there that I would listen to offers for, but be hesitant. But these are my absolute "no's". When it comes to coaching or trades, I think the Sabres need to stand pat for the season. I had expectations of this being a 100 point team this year. I was only asking for about 5 more wins this year compared to last. Now we are seeing it isn't close. I have said the last few months that the first thing this org needs to do before moving any piece is ask the GM "what do we need to be successful" and if his shoot from the hip answer is anything similar to "time to develop" or "stay the course" then you pull the rip cord immediately and escort the guy out of the building right then and there. Conversation over. No convincing. No "Do this or else". That is somebody who has no idea what they are seeing on the ice, which means they have no accurate solution. Any move by somebody who says that about this roster is only making performative moves to keep their job, not somebody who is making moves with a plan. I have a hard time hearing Adam's "this is an execution problem" as anything other than "stay the course". Any major move anywhere in the org needs to be executed by a new GM.

Some how Ryan Johnson made it in McDermotts Schmitt list.

The issue this team is having is that benching doesn’t work when there’s no comparable in the pipeline. This team needs a lot of vet free agent help to not just kick these kids in the arse but push them down the depth chart a bit. I used to coach at a pretty high level, did some stuff with the USOC, team USA, etc. Sometimes a young group can push each other forward until they leap frog themselves and become world beaters But sometimes they need to be the JV before they become starters. Even in college a really good freshman class can be great out of the gate but if you miss the mark in the next class or two it’s common to see them hit their ceilings pretty quickly. All sports aren’t the same, but there have been times that young studs have plateaued without having anybody pushing them from out front out behind. Sure Mule needs to be benched. So has Cozens, Tuch, and Skinner. But when the replacement is Krebs or Rosen it isn’t really a threat or a punishment for the player at all.

After Adams comment that the coaching is on point, the players are all talented, and it’s all purely an execution issue. To then get this performance? Walk the guy out the door tomorrow morning. Edit: there are no “go for it” years. He all but said him and Donnie are aces. He wants to roll it back. Get him out of here before we ruin another good group of prospects.

Everyday I might mail Terry Pegula a postcard with that quote and the days since the last Sabres playoff appearance on it until he hires a president of hockey ops and stays in Florida.

A couple of things worth noting. 1. Regier helped assemble the 99 Cup team as well as the huge run we had post lock out circa 05-07. Darcy didn’t totally suck at his job until Terry came to town. 2. Found the interview I was thinking about. It was WGR a bit of a state of the union. Here is the quote. Who knew this would be so telling. “Pegula hinted that his arrival as owner in February 2011 hasn’t been universally accepted. “I think if you probably talk to other owners around the league, they might think that I may spend too much money,” Pegula said. “You may hear that or whatever, but that’s my style. … You might talk to some of the other owners around the league, and they’ll tell you, ‘Who’s this new owner? What is he, crazy? Why did you give this guy money or that guy?’ Hey, it’s my decision. It was something I wanted to do.””. 3. With the benefit of hindsight and being drunk on a full wallet compared to Galisano, being reminded that Vanek and Miller basically asked to leave fairly early into this process wasn’t fun. “…Ryan Miller and leading scorer Thomas Vanek have made it known they’d be accepting of trades as they head into the final year of their contracts.… “I can tell the fans I’m concerned, too,” said Pegula, who has turned down numerous interview requests by The Buffalo News. “Yes, we want them here. They have a say in that decision. What that decision is, no one’s been re-signed yet, so we’re still working. … Don’t forget, they’re part of that decision.”” EDIT: sorry, I forgot to link. It’s behind a paywall. As a good citizen I want everybody to know that piracy is bad, and if you know anybody using removepaywall.com you should report them to the proper authorities. https://buffalonews.com/sports/sabres/sabres-owner-pegula-states-his-case-for-regier/article_720ab6fa-7897-54ed-be8e-530b0e2e620e.html

Checking my missed calls the day after my birthday to remind myself that my Dad didn’t call…again… Watching reruns of my parent's divorce proceedings. Edit: Guys, this was a joke. For laughs. No need for the sad faces.

I don’t know about that, when Ter-Bear bought the team they averaged 99.9% attendance. And even with a bad team we are a top 5 TV market. I actually think Buffalo is a decent hockey town by NHL standards. This isn’t the NBA or NFL. Buffalo has more value for the NHL. Based on that I wouldn’t be shocked if the league wants Terry to shape up or ship out. I vaguely remember Terry circa trading Ryan Miller saying something like “the other owners don’t like how I do things”

I’ve posted a handful of times and Adams comments solidified it for me with his “it’s an execution issue”. When you sit down with Adams and ask what this team needs going into next season and he even hints at running it back, you fire him immediately. Or at the very least lock down any and all trades for the rest of the year. That’s a guy who doesn’t see what’s wrong with the team, which means he is totally incapable of fixing it. You can’t have a guy like that making any moves for your roster. The Adams/Granato era needs to end. It’s a shame, I really liked Donnie and appreciate what he did bringing the kids along.

Good intentions, bad intentions, whatever, it really doesn't matter at all. When he bought the Sabres they had 99.9% average attendance and had the 4th highest points percentage in league history. We were by far the best franchise to never win a cup and it isn't even a little close. Since purchasing the team the Sabres have the worst attendance to capacity in the league (71%). In the 10+ years Terry has owned the team he erased 40+ years of overall good credit and plummeted the teams points percentage from 4th to 12th in league history. During his tenure the Buffalo Sabres have the worst win percentage in the league during that time. For perspective, in order to reverse that damage in the same time frame he drowned this franchise, a Terry Pegula lead Sabres would have to go on a 10 year tear that the league has never seen. Averaging close to .700 point percentage for a full decade. There is no possible way that anybody can be considered to be doing a good job with those results. Zero. That isn't happenstance. There is no "he is a good owner who just happened to hire the wrong people". If I had to choose this team under Terry or no team at all, sure I take Terry. But that's sort of like choosing between having my legs amputated and death.

Skinner - Tage - Tuch Benson- Mitts - JJP Greenway - Cozens - Quinn Robinson - Krebs - KO Couple of changes, but I think this is close. Maybe a conversation for a different thread, but there might be a world where Skinner is moved at the deadline/offseason. The issue is that depending on what the return is, we may have to keep some salary just to stay above the cap floor (and get value).

I believe that people should continue to get a chance to prove themselves as long as they are constantly getting better. Even though I had some criticisms last year, I really thought that since the team kept getting better that they deserved another year. Even if they didn't improve this year, I thought for sure that worst case scenario would be another low 90 point season, missing the playoffs again, but at least fun, exciting, watchable hockey. What I didn't expect was for this team to look this bad. The bottom end of the roster is bad, the versatility of the guys in Rochester is bad. The goaltending is bad. The coaching is bad. Outside of the Dahlin and Benson, the offseason was bad with no notable improvement from FA's. The kicker is if we fire Donnie midseason, who replaces him? Matt Ellis? Ha, what a joke.

I really like Donnie. I think he is good people and a good, well respected hockey guy. I appreciate what he has done with this team up until this point. I feel for the guys family. Unsure if firing a guy after his brother is diagnosed with cancer is the best or worst move for him. But last night also did it for me. Something about the inability to have any consistent rush blew my mind. Just every time we try and cross the blue line it is the same exact thing over and over and over again. And when we do "adjust" and try and dump it in to the O-Zone it is either because of a line change, or unless Benson is on the ice, nobody is chasing the puck. We have done this time and time again, but last night was sort of the last straw for me. I don't think we can look at this team and blame Granato entirely either. A big part of why we stink is Kevyn Adams. That isn't lost on me. His vision is to keep running the whole thing back until these guys figure it out. I honestly don't want a single roster move until we clean house. I don't want a desperate guy making desperate moves.

I think I have to lean into it. Talk shirt, score a goal. I’m basically Randy Quaid in Major League …..OK, I’m mostly just Randy Quaid.

I’m almost rooting for 20-0 SOG at this point? I can’t believe that’s even possible. But honestly, has that ever happened before?

This…..is a reach.

They were letting the real hockey finish up first. NJ v BOS was a fun one.

No shots on goal with 4:40 left in the period and on the PK. Jesus. Has a team ever gone shotless for a full period.

Guys this is my fault. When I’m on the board during either Sabres or Bills game we normally lose. I was selfishly looking for answers. I’m sorry.

WTF is it like at the arena right now? Like have they sung the anthem, and dudes are just sitting on the bench waiting for 20 minutes?