dudacek

I suspect this process has been ongoing longer than we might think. The senior executive rumour a week or two back was probably the first public whiff of it and it probably emerged because somebody knew somebody who had an interview. I have no idea if Karmanos is a good choice, but he is certainly qualified.

Often when a coach gets fired there is a sense that there are certain things he and the GM don’t see eye-to-eye on, that the GM thinks that making the change might address. I get the sense the reason Ralph stuck around for so long is because there weren’t a lot of these issues between he and Kevyn; they were on the same page in a lot of ways philosophically. He got fired when his record made it impossible not to fire him.

I think he wasn’t fired because they need a coaching staff to finish out the season and he has the best resume for interim head coach. As for the rest, maybe.

Because Sabres fans are thirsty for an opposite of Krueger and this is about encouraging fans to place bets.

I think Granato has had a significant role in how they were asked to play. I think the players have had an opportunity to provide the type of feedback you are talking about. So while I can’t disagree with your points, or speak against this as a course of action, I have my doubts that it will solve much, or that Granato is the guy to implement it.

This has to be about showing you want to make the team better immediately. Make it mean something as soon as you can.

I think anyone expecting a bump with the change is going to be very disappointed. By and large, I expect that once the immediate relief from the pressure valve release is over, there will be an existential crisis that flows through the room. This wasn’t a team chafing under a tyrant. They liked and believed in Ralph and they let him down. The Sabres lifers will feel trapped and lost. The short-term vets will be counting the days until they move on. I don’t expect a significant shift in systems. Granato’s voice will pale next to Ralph’s. Maybe the young D get a bump from Girardi? For a lot of the players and part of the coaching staff, there will literally be nothing to play for. I expect the next two months will be akin to the final weeks at a workplace where the company has announced a permanent branch shutdown. A handful of guys will still see a future with the firm and will either be trying to cement their roles or jockeying for new positions. Most will be putting in time with one foot out the door. It’s limbo until the new coach is hired and the summer roster moves are made.

Adams steadfastly refuses to throw people under the bus, and I admire that. But it was pretty clear that he thought the Steve Smith/our defence corps combination was an issue

Yeah, it sounded like that process is well underway — as in interviews have happened and a hire might be coming soon.

This had to happen. It does not bring me hope.

I’d take a chance in him if I was a contender because he still thinks the game very well and I could see him turning back the clock in the right scenario. As a Sabre, he is the softest forward on a soft team, and he loses every foot race. His feet stop moving every time he gets close to the puck and his lack of engagement is positively Alex Nylander like.

it doesn’t matter now, and it may never matter, but this is true. Tage still isn’t a good hockey player, but he is a notably talented one. He is the worst player on the team.

I crossed out the stuff that every other team faced. The puck luck I might buy before the COVID break; since then, they've generally been embarrassingly bad Let's say the goaltending generously cost us 4 points and the division another 4. So we're a 25th-placed team instead of a 31st. Yahoo

You are falling back on two premises that some might take for granted, but actually show no signs of being true: The Pegulas will eventually sell and/or The team will eventually get better. Don't underestimate the damage that has been done as old fans literally die, current fans fall out of love, and new fans fail to be nurtured, or the damage that can continue to be done the longer this continues. Sports fandom is like a marriage.

The paint dry. Literally. House is looking nicer.

What player, what coach, what hockey executive, what sponsor, and — most importantly — what fan? They've used up most of the considerable good will capital this franchise accumulated over its first 40 years. I don't think it is an exaggeration to say the future of the business is at risk.

That does make sense. I've already gone through denial, anger, bargaining and depression.

I does, proving once again that Terry's business sense matches his hockey acumen.

I can't be the only who thinks any money they are saving by keeping Ralph will be devoured by the empty seats next fall? Nothing short of acquiring McDavid is going to bring people back into the building after another 25 games of this.

I cannot believe what I am watching (or, more accurately, watching less and less). Ralph's record: First 20 games .575 (P%) 21-40 .450 41-60 .500 61-COVID .333 Gets the roster he wants. Tells ownership and Adams "this team is close" 1-20 .375 21-now .083 He has no excuses. He got what he wanted. This is his team, with his people, playing his way. He's hit the firing trifecta: his team is significantly underachieving, his team is embarrassingly bad, and his team has lost the paying customer. I am at a loss to remember a coach ever going through something like this and not getting fired. Krueger's legacy is destroyed. He will never coach in North America again. For God sake, put him out of his misery. The damage this season is doing to the business is enormous, both in terms of selling tickets and attracting talent. Every night it becomes more unwatchable. It's like Terry wants to destroy Ralph and burn down the Sabres at the same time.

It sure is.

Skinner and Eakin down, Okposo and Staal to go. Ralph might be doing it backwards, but he's getting there. 😄

I think the context here is that Risto used to lose his ***** over losing, try to do too much and make things worse. We've seen it happen. If he's saying he can't fall into the trap again — which is how I read it — I'm fine with it too.

I believe that the boss of any coach on a 7-26 run should have had his finger on the trigger a long time ago.

What needs to be emphasized here is the real opportunity that exists to blow up this team into something unrecognizable. We have 11 UFAs you can trade or simply allow to walk entirely: Hall, Staal, Rieder, Sheahan, Montour, McCabe, Davidson, Irwin, Hutton, Johansson and Ullmark We also have the ability buy out Eakin, Girgensons and Thompson for peanuts this summer if we want to, and the cost of buying out/burying Okposo starts to become realistic. We're basically stuck with Skinner. Every other player has trade value, some of them (Eichel, Dahlin) have considerable value. Reasonably speaking, Adams could choose to save $5 million by burying Okposo and buying out Girgensons, Eakin and Thompson, use this as his starting point this summer and build almost an entire roster from scratch: Top six: Skinner (untradable) Middle six: Cozens (why trade?) Bottom six: Lazar (under contract, good value) Forward depth: Ruotsalainen, Asplund Top four: Blueline depth: Bryson, Borgen, Laaksonen, Samuelsson Goalie: Lukkonnen, Tokarski Then he can use ~ $24 million in tradable assets under contract (Eichel, Olofsson, Ristolainen, Miller) ~ $8 million (qualifying offers) in tradable RFA assets (Reinhart, Mittelstadt, Dahlin, Jokiharju) ~ $62 million in cap space to fill out 16 roster slots If Adams is truly angry, he has an extraordinary opportunity to do something about it.