Jsixspd

Well, that sounds like what's needed is a fresh sheet of paper. Clean out the locker room - Replace as much of that roster as fiscally possible; do a Vegas-Lite

LOL - Yup! I'm cynical enough to agree. I remember all the patience with GMTM around here.... now he basically persona non-gratis, shunned and castigated by the majority. And we had patience for Drew Stafford, and Derek Roy, and Lehner, and Moulson, and Bogosian and Gorges and Ehrhoff, and Myers.... Let's just jump to Terry's other desk - lots of patience among the fans for Dick Jauron, and Buddy Nix, and Chan Gailey, and Ryan Fitzpatrick, and JP Losman, and Trent Edwards...... Most Buffalo sports fans are eternal optimists. :)

Yeah, but if the right QB isn't available, it seems like a foolish decision to forge ahead with drafting a QB; that's the path to another EJ Manuel; the better strategy would be using the draft to beef up other positions, and seek to hire a veteran QB in the interim; maybe the right one comes available in the 2019 draft? Yeah, a QB is a burning need for the team, but foolishly selecting another EJ Manuel is pointless. Pointless, unless building a solid post season team long term is a secondary consideration to selling tickets in Fall 2018. Kind of like when Rex Ryan was hired as HC.

Wonder if Brandon, while sitting at the drafting table, was whispering "draft a QB regardless" - because it would sell tickets this fall? Brandon - "Don't worry - if it doesn't pan out, we'll come up with another schtick to lure people into the stadium by fall of 2019" Seems like a very poor decision given the lack of any veteran QB in the lineup from which this kid could learn, if he does have potential. From what we've seen of Peterman, he's atrocious. McCarrion is more of an unknown quantity - but his stats don't suggest he's the next Tom Brady either. And having the kid out there starting in one or more of the first few games..... which sadly is a possibility - remember EJ Manuel? ..... would be more evidence of the Brandon-Effect - short term ticket sales pop with no long term strategy for building a championship franchise. Allen could be yet another epic 1st round draft disaster for the Bills like Manuel or Maybin, especially if he isn't developed properly. Maybe Terry Pegula will have another apology statement ready to share with fans in spring 2019?

Yup. Was wondering if anyone heard any inside scoop on if the team is making or losing money? I'd bet its still something of a loss leader (not very profitable). $120 million in gross annual income sounds big until the costs start getting tallied. Just player cap hit alone is almost $70 million. That leaves $50 million from which to subtract all other operational expenses, GM, Coaching, management salaries, office staff, people like Bylsma and GMTM who are getting paid to twiddle thumbs, etc etc. They might be actually struggling to break even. Although even if it's just breaking even, Pegula has done well on his investment. The on ice product is disastrous, yet he could sell it and pocket $150 million+ in profit, even if he didn't make a dime over the past 7 years on it.

This was a really heartfelt and sincere letter from TPeg. Probably best and most honest statement he's made regarding the Sabres in a long time. He just won back a little bit of my lost faith with these words. Let's hope things turn around this fall. That's all we can really do.

Stay away from Men's Warehouse - bought a 3 piece tailored suit there 3 years ago for a wedding - fits like crap. Shoulder's sagged between neck and pads - bah!!!! I have an off the rack Levi suit I bought at Peebles for 1/5th the price that fits me better. No shoulder sag either.

I'd love to know the profitability of the Sabres. The franchise value has more than doubled since Pegula took over - $173 million in 2011 to $350 million in 2017. Revenue went from $81 million in the last pre-Pegula year, to $120 million thru 2016-17, nearly 50% increase. Both far outpace inflationary gains. Only in the topsy-turvy world of sports can a new owner come aboard, diminish the product quality substantially, and yet come away seeing a $180 million increase in company value. Financially, looks like a huge win for Pegula's wallet, and a big loss for actual fans of the team.

haha!!!

The logic of supporting Pegula depends on another owner assuredly moving the team, and/or that another owner couldn't do any better with this team than Pegula has, turning it into basically a basement dweller, after 7 1/2 years. I don't buy either one. Apparently the only positive to Pegula is that he hasn't moved this team. Well, in fact he has moved the team.... into the sewer. It's the joke of the NHL now.

Another excellent night for Evander..... a goal and an assist. He's probably overjoyed to be out of the madhouse of Pegulaville. They need a sign for the locker room entrance at Keybank... "Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here"

OMG - lol!!! I gather from some of the previous discussion, that if Pegula cares more about the Bills than the Sabres, that's a good thing for the Sabres? Conversely implied to be a 'bad thing' for the Bills? If true, what does that say about Pegula the Owner? lol!!!! Don't get me wrong - I'm not disagreeing..... but if it's indeed true, it's horrendous!

Here's a quote from the Sharks' coach in the post-game presser. Note the section I bolded - remember when this was going to be "Hockey Heaven" under the Pegulas loving touch......? Now apparently Buffalo is a known pariah in the league to be avoided. Wuh happen??? Nothing will ruin a good player quicker than doing a 'stint' in Buffalo. lol "(Kane) is a world-class player," San Jose coach Peter DeBoer said. "I think Buffalo was a tough situation for everybody, and when he got the opportunity to get into our room and play with Burns and Pavelski, he was re-energized. That's what you're seeing: A guy who got his passion back and came to the rink excited."

Amen - their one and only playoff game in 18 years was a complete stinkburger - they looked like a team that had no business even being in the same stadium with playoff caliber teams. They've clawed back to where they were, win/loss wise, when Pegula took over. But I haven't seen enough success yet to embrace Beane and McDermott and shout out "Well done!"

The Sabres organization stinks to high hockey heaven!

Yeah, given that the previous year was an intentional tank, the improvement wasn't as dramatic as the numbers show. I was simply pointing out that it's not hypocritical or inconsistent for more criticism of Housley his first April vs Bylsma's. The team plummeted to the bottom of the standings during Housley's first season in the center seat. Whereas at least with Bylsma, it looked like the team might be going in the right direction, April 2016, emphasis on 'might'. Myself, I was just as skeptical of Bylsma in April 2016 as I am about Housley now - probably more so with Housley because all we've seen is a huge regression. But he gets a pass until fall. I can agree with that line of reasoning, so we'll wait and see.

It seemed like the Sabres were overdue for a change when the Pegulas took over - both Ruff and Regier had been around forever. I was ok with Lindy going..... however, if there was anyone to blame for the team's state it was Regier.... so it was puzzling to me that Ruff was the first 'out the door'. I still attribute that to yet another poor decision by the Pegulas.

Well, the Sabres went from 54 points to 81 points in Bylsma's first season as HC. While it was a bit disappointing, the improvement was apparent. Therefore, April 2016 was quite a bit kinder to Disco here at SS. I was never keen on the Bylsma hire. Housley I had no feeling one way or another - for me it was just "wait and see" Still waiting.

I will never forget his presser after the favored Blues were surprisingly eliminated from the playoffs in the 1st round(probably shockingly to Blues fans), and he had a very average performance in that series. Miller said, somewhat apathetically "Well, at least I can now attend my wife's sister's wedding" Wasn't he canned by the Blues not long after those cringe-worthy comments?

It certainly came across like that old Weasel Regier throwing Ruff under the bus in order to save his own sorry skin. Notice also that Ruff got employed as a HC in the league right away - Darcy Regier got an assistant GM job with the Coyotes, but that ended a couple years back. Kind of demonstrates how the rest of the league views the relative value of the two guys in their positions. One - is still seen as a valued contributor. The other.... nobody wants him for the GM spot.

Yup - lol - that's the tired excuse "They needed to learn the coach's system" or "They're still learning his system". Vegas must have a bunch of Rhodes Scholars on the roster - they seemed to learn their new coach's system pretty darn quick! lol Housley essentially gets a pass on any evaluation or critique for this entire season, because he and Botterill are 'evaluating'. Maybe the Sabres should have just sat out the season and scrimmaged at KeyBank Center, since this season was a total throwaway apparently. Total Ownership and Total and complete accountability should start for Housley with game 1 of the 2018-19 season. No. More. Excuses. If things go south, I sure don't want to read anything about 'evaluation' or 'learning the system' as excuses for Housley this fall - At that point, it's prime time, and overdue time to p@#$ or get off the proverbial pot! And if its looking poor after 20, 25 games, can his behind! We shouldn't countenance a loser!

LOL. Yeah, Regier's exhaustive and sweeping search included looking behind every curtain, under and behind, and beneath every table, desk, and cabinet inside Regier's office - and Rolston was the very best guy he found. In his office.

This is how the season ends - not with a bang, but a whimper. 31st in goals for. 29th in goals against Bottom 10 in PP% Bottom 10 in Penalty Kill. Lost all 4 April games back to back. Way to show 'progress' under Housley's system they've been 'learning' all season. Remembering 2015-16 when many figured 'poor' Babcock was going to have to resign himself to years of 'suffering' and 'losing' in Toronto before they got better; the Leafs would need to bottom out while Sabres were already on the rebuild and on the upswing. Well, Babcock's suffering didn't last long, did it? They made the playoffs last year, and the Leafs had a .600 winning record this year, 7 wins above .500. Sabres, OTOH, 0.300 winning record. Leafs had 24 more wins than the Sabres. smh! There's no real light at the end of the tunnel at KeyBank Center. Totalling disgusting result for 2017-18.

Wow, TB took the 2 goal lead and started coasting - Sabres made them pay in the 2nd period and racked up the goals. Well, same old Sabres..... they called it a game basically after the 2nd period. Only 7 shots on goal in the 3rd, even with a power play during the period. Tampa Bay realized - 'hey we need to win this game' and started playing like they meant it, with 16 SOG. Doesn't seem to matter if the coach is Bylsma or Housley - the team can't seem to play a full 60 minutes. Don't know if it's a lack of physical, or mental, conditioning. The team needs more push to win!

Yeah. But there's no confidence that they just won't bring in different dirt - which has been the theme of 7 1/4 years of Pegula ownership. Let's not forget - the Wings have one of the worst records in hockey - they're a bottom ten team and for the last 45 minutes of game time, we made them look like a Cup Contender. At home. In front of fans expecting something with the Middlestadt debut.