Curt

I don’t think the AHL record played into it all that much. I think it came down to a couple things. 1) There may not even be an AHL season, so why keep these coaches on payroll? 2) Were they developing players and turning them into useful NHLers?

This is horrific. Especially considering that parents paid large amounts of money to send these children far from home to pursue a dream. Entrusting the day to day care of their kids to responsible adults who would look after them......... I can not imagine how a parent would feel to learn, years later, that their 15, 16, 17 year old kid went through things like this. That these environments were allowed to exist is mind boggling.

This can’t be true, can it???

I think Rossi is probably more NHL ready than Byfield.

We’ve had nothing to talk about for so long that your phone autocorrected “something” to “so nothing”. I don’t know if Nightingale has connections or not. I don’t think I’ve ever really heard his name mentioned by anyone outside the organization, he has only ever worked for Buffalo, and I’m unsure about the actual quality of his work.

I don’t know. I think there are a lot of good analytics people out there who don’t work for teams.

True for current NHL people. I wonder if they would bring anyone into the scouting or analytics department who isn’t currently employed by an NHL team though?

Adams and whoever is left + hired in scouting will prepare for the draft. All of the information gathered by scouts throughout the season is still there. Scouts file their reports. They don’t take them with them when fired. The team owns them.

That all makes sense. Dudley would be a good addition. Nice to know about his contract situation. The Pegulas are a nightmare from a PR standpoint. They have zero feel for how they are perceived in any give situation.

This is definitely extreme, but I don’t feel negatively about it. The organization has been a disaster. Maybe it will be better to have a 35 person hockey department with everyone having a closely aligned vision, as opposed to a 60 person department where everyone isn’t necessarily the right fit. Im in wait and see mode.

Tom and I were talking specifically about high 1st round picks.

Huh. Is he the only one ever???

I kind of don’t know how to feel yet. Adams seems good despite his resume, but the there are a lot questions about how they are going to re build the support structure. I’m looking at a gutted house after the demo is done, but before any of the actual renovations have begun. We’ll see what happens.

This actually does not happen very often. For 1st round picks it’s almost unheard of. For a top 10 pick? I don’t think it’s ever happened.

Still No.

After listening to a couple radio interviews with Adams today, I have some take aways that I like. He spoke about not just using analytics but integrating them into to scouting department. That some scouts and analytics people would be the same person. I think this is key, because they really are the same thing. Looking for players with skills that the organization values. There should not be an analytics vs scouts situation ever. They should all be looking at the same stuff. This dovetailed with other things he said about the different departments of the organization all being on the same page. Scouting, analytics, player development, coaching, players. They should all be valuing the same things, understanding why they are important and pulling in the same direction. This is what Adams means when he talks about being efficient. It does make a lot of sense. Also, he is a good public speaker. Seems very personable, likeable, easy to talk to. It feels as though he is speaking very openly and casually, even on a public stage. That’s a refreshing change from Botterill. He doesn’t have the ideal experience for a GM, it’s true. He does know the inner workings of the organization though, so maybe he really does have a clue of how to fix the problems. He seems smart enough to know that he doesn’t know it all. If he can place smart people around himself, it seems that he would listen to them. I could see him possibly needing help with regards to contract and trade negotiations, so hopefully they add a couple AGM types with some experience. I don’t know if he is going to be good or not. I’m honestly feeling a little numb to the situation. This is my impression of Adams based on what I know about him so far. We’ll see how things go.

They seem like they are consciously trying to be more involved to be honest.

True, I don’t think results were at the heart of GM change though. Pegulas gave an opening statement and answered 4-5 questions before even mentioning team performance. This was all about undergoing a complete restructuring of the organization and Botterill not being on board for that. Pegulas were very clear that they see the organizations top management team as a 3 pillared structure of themselves, Adams, and Krueger. They want lots of communication between those 3. So yes, their hands are very much on the wheel, probably more so than ever.

Bingo. Pegulas straight up said that their vision moving forward was lean, efficient, lean, effective, lean, lean, lean. And that Botterill’s vision did not align, and the owners felt like they were not being heard.

You mean that there are not teams out there trying to play slow and without the puck???

Just listened to this. To clarify, the Dudley and Luce candidates were Friedman spitballing, not rumors that he had heard. Before anyone gets too excited.

I’m going to assume that there are probably very specific eye exercises to help improve this condition and that they are at least somewhat different from the eye exercises that goalies normally do.

NO!

If you are Terry, then it’s not hard. It’s impossible.

Sabres will be so lean by draft night that only Terry and a barefoot Adams will be on stage when the pick is made.