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This is Buffalo - how many countless times was Norwood's infamous "Wide Right" kick dissected and analyzed and hypothesized? What if... what if.... what if....?????? Heck, even one radio station played a silly fantasy audio track where Norwood made the kick, and the Bills won the Superbowl.

Figures. We couldn't even tank right, compared with other teams. lol

hahahaha!!!!!! He's owned the Sabres for over 6 years now - does he still qualify as 'new'? LOL We need one of those old Microsoft Office Assistant images captioned - "It looks like you're trying to run an NHL Team. Would you like help?" Get Help with running the Team Just Run the team without help. Don't show me this tip again"

No, Whaley should have been canned when Pegula first bought the team; best to purge the old regime - a lesson he should have, but clearly didn't, learn from Pegula's own experience with the Sabres. But another great time that Whaley could have been fired - immediately after the disastrous Rex Ryan press conference, which was an embarrassment. As to the real world - yeah, the owner isn't necessarily going to throw even people he's clearly displeased with under the bus. But on the other hand, perhaps Pegula's public praise of Whaley ought to have been a bit more, shall we say 'muted', if CHARACTER, Pegula's favorite buzzword, actually extends to include himself? Otherwise, one comes across as hypocritical, and lacking in CHARACTER? And if he actually WAS all that pleased with Whaley a couple months ago, then Pegula is revealed as a fickle, temperamental and mercurial individual - it doesn't fill me with confidence in Pegula's ability to build a quality organization That being said - I'd agree with your statements - if there was some grand strategy behind Terry Pegula's actions - I just don't think there is - he's making this up on the fly - and it comes across disjointed and haphazard. So what's next? McDermott , a guy who hasn't coached a single game yet, is going to be part of the search team for his new boss? And how many quality GMs want to take a job where the HC is already selected - and where there's a track record of the GM not having much input in who the coach is, anyway? And of course, another negative for a new GM - the draft is already over; I would think most GMs would prefer to be hired in winter, so they could be involved in the draft.

Que the Russ Brandon Defense League - "But he's not involved in operations" or "But he's just marketing" This is the kind of garbage that should be expected from volatile, impulsive, fickle, and most importantly, clueless ownership.

Well, it's a radical opinion shift in just a few months time. Kind of similar to Murray - In October, he's the greatest thing since sliced bread, and Pegula is lavishing a huge contract on him. In April, Murray's fertilizer. The Pegulas seem to be establishing a track record of frequent firings, and rapid changes of heart; seems hard to believe that doesn't give them a bad rep with job candidates. It's like a revolving door there Oh, and remember - Pegula said he doesn't like to fire people. LOL

I just can't be optimistic. Weren't we thinking similar happy thoughts when Regier was fired 3 1/2 years ago? Today, we're still a 70-something point team in the bottom 5 of the league, in search of another GM.

Let's guess the key points of the upcoming insightful and meaty Pegula presser; Terry, why fire Doug Whaley now? "Character, discipline, blah blah blah blah" But Terry, didn't you say in January that Whaley had your confidence? "We're not here to talk about the past.... even yesterday is off limits... blah blah blah blah"

So the guy that had Pegula's every confidence a few months ago is now fired? It's a good move, long overdue - but it seems that truth and Terry Pegula are mutually exclusive. It must be horrible to work for Pegula; a mercurial, impulsive billionaire who tells his employee he or she is doing a great job - then the axe falls. Are good personnel going to want to work in such a climate?

Yup - one giant paragraph - the poster is free to do whatever he wants - but I'm just as free not to read it. I'm much more likely to read a post that's shorter, OR a longer post that's broken up into paragraphs so its a structured read.

But remember - Pegula stated publicly that he hates to fire people. :lol: :lol: :lol: Anyone who believes that, I've got some fracked land in PA to sell you. The man veritably crawls with contradictions and inconsistencies. The only thing that seems consistent - his ownership of both the Bills and Sabres have been consistently turbulent and chaotic, and the results to date have been poor ones. His teams' plans have altered course more frequently than sailboats at a regatta.

I think the titular question was definitively answered; Shanahan and Babcock have done a heckuva lot better job with the Leafs than Murray and Bylsma did with the Sabres. They were supposed to be behind us - guess they weren't?

The press conference was 15 minutes of almost no content. A number of shallow homilies, catch-phrases, chatter issued by Terrance Pegula. However, it wasn't totally meaningless - from the photo in the Buffalo News - look who was standing on the sidelines - Russ Brandon. He is the Club President - does anyone not think that Pegula is getting a lot of advice and consul on the direction and personnel of the hockey team from the living embodiment of the Peter Principle during this critical time? And then there's Kim, who was also in the photo with Brandon; tWe know that she'll be heavily involved in the search - she's got a great track record too - Rex Friggin Ryan! This team is like a ship without a rudder - it goes in one direction, then abruptly alters course and goes in another. Rinse and repeat. We went with Regier, then shifted tack, and brought in LaFontaine - LaFontaine never finished his plan - then another direction -with Murray and the tank - then Murray and Bylsma - now we've come full circle. I feel like we're almost back to where we started when Regier was fired; the only bright spot(s) now vs then, is Eichel, Risto, and a few others on the roster. Even worse, with LaFontaine in charge of the GM search back in 2013, and in charge of operations, I felt there was a positive plan to move the team forward. The Pegulas mercifully were left OUT of it - doing what inexperienced neophyte owners ought to be doing - putting a top shelf hockey guy in charge, and writing checks. Sadly, I think we're back in full blown rebuild mode; except now instead of LaFontaine, the ship will be run by Captains Terry & Kim. No reason whatsoever for any optimism. That's the best takeaway from the presser.

Yup. The only useful information from that presser didn't leave me with warm fuzzies; it seemed rather clear that Pegula was not going the Pat LaFontaine route (i.e. having a knowledgeable and respected person, with NHL experience, leading the search). He felt it was a failure; he neglected to mention of course, in a bit of intellectual dishonesty, that LaFontaine was fired BEFORE he could even complete his plan. So it's basically throwing the baby out with the bathwater. And this is why I'd very much like to know who will be leading the GM search, and who will be involved in it? If Kim and Terry are a big part of it.....I will not be optimistic as to the outcome.

The Tank was our best chance to get McDavid. However, the consolation prize, Eichel, was well worth a losing season that was lost anyway. IT should be pretty clear he's a special talent. I thought the questions in the presser today about 'the tank' were pretty pointless and stupid. Lots of teams have overcome horrible years and records and improved within a few years of time. I don't think the "Tank" guaranteed a losing mentality - if such an attitude took root, blame that on poor coaching and leadership.

Sabres are a business; a large corporation Businesses generally don't just do things 'spur of the moment' like firing key personnel without pre-planning. They first lay plans and plot strategy in advance their interests forward. They use Six Sigma systems to build flowcharts and map out the plan to move forward They assign personnel to roles within that plan, and delegate ownership and accountability for tasks. They create flowcharts and visual management tools to map progress towards the goal (which in this case is the selection and hiring of a new GM) They set up regular touch base progress meetings with all involved parties. I find it hard to believe this was not done; and the Sabres are in a reactive, instead of pro-active, management situation. If it is done, then the search method and committee are already established. If, however, none of this groundwork is already laid, or planning done, and Pegula doesn't even know who is going to carry out the GM search, then the Sabres are truly dysfunctional.

This has been a brutal couple days; I feel as if our team is back to where we were in 2013 when Regier was fired Even worse - at that time I was very optimistic about the future; we were finally rid of Regier and we'd be rapidly assembling a playoff caliber team. Now, after 6 1/2 years of experience with Pegula ownership, I have no reason to be optimistic. IF Pegula's presser today was intended to generate warm, fuzzy feelings, it did exactly the opposite for me. I can see no method to the madness at all.

I was thinking, given the Pegulas' age disparity of 18 years, Terry Pegula turning 66 in March, and the greater average longevity of the American female vs American male, that Kim Pegula has an excellent chance of becoming the next Marge Schott within 10-20 years. May the heavens have mercy on us all then.

I don't believe most were wanting Murray to be fired. I wasn't quite at that point either. I did think that Murray was responsible for a lot of questionable contracts like Moulson, Ennis, Gorges, Bogosian. But I did wonder if those guys would be better under a good HC with a good system? So maybe the issue wasn't the players that Murray added, but the system and the Coach? IF Murray backed Bylsma, and resisted firing him, then he deserved to be fired along with Bylsma. IF Murray saw that Bylsma needed to go, then I was all for keeping Murray at least another year, to give his plan a chance to work, this time with a good coach. Unfortunately, we'll probably never know where Murray's loyalties lay. I wonder if GMTM will be picked up as GM by another team? Or if he'll sink back into the rank and file, never to rise to the top again?

Didn't I see someone already using the acronym FGMTM? LOL

LOLOLOL!!! Perfect!

Ok, I'm not hitched to the idea that Eichel was lobbying the Pegulas for Bylsma's fire. It looked like a number of players gave up on Bylsma and his system sometime in February. That doesn't equate to actively demanding he be fired. But now there is clearly a national perception that Jack Eichel was behind Bylsma's fall; it was being discussed at ESPN's website yesterday. False or not. The timing of the firing didn't help that perception. If Pegula had a strong track record of doing what he says he'll do, I'd buy into what he says a little more. Pegula doesn't help his credibility by saying one thing, and doing otherwise - that's what I'm pointing out - in my book he hasn't established rapport or credibility with fans or media; it's hard for me to forget the cloud of BS and dissembling that surrounded Ryan's firing a few months back.

Right. And he said that Bylsma and Murray both did a good job. But he fired them. And he said that he hates to fire people - and yet he does so frequently and abruptly. And he's said Brandon has no involvement in operations - despite the fact that Brandon was deeply involved in Bills' operations in the recent past, and his titles and power and scope have been increased since Pegula took over both teams. Do we believe this guy? And as I stated - IF Eichel was innocent of pushing for Bylsma's fire, Pegula totally mishandled the situation by firing them so soon after the report surfaced. It sure makes Eichel look guilty of it, and look like a liar. More dysfunction

Well, I was responding to Eleven hinting that Kane won't be kept in Buffalo because of character. So Bylsma and Murray were 'bad characters'? Really? Pegula just gave, less than a year ago, a big fat juicy new contract to Murray - what surfaced in these past few months that made Murray such a 'bad hombre'? LOL Or did Pegula think the team itself didn't have enough 'good character' with bad actors like that incredibly talented Kane, and he put that on Murray? He started out by saying they did a 'good job' too - yeah, generally people doing a 'good job' aren't abruptly and (in Murray's case) unexpectedly FIRED, Terry! Y'know, Terry? Hard to put much stock in anything this Pegula guy says. Lots of contradictions and illogic brought to the podium

Which is stupid - because that plan was never fully enacted - the LaFontaine model was never finished.