Dr. Who

Is Taylor Swift dating an Edmonton Oiler now?

KA as GM is defined by do you want to be here. I don't think he's capable of playing that card.

Of course, Adams should not be in charge, but the arrogance and obtuseness begins at the top. It's difficult to sustain hope when that is an obvious brake on future success. If TP is unable to learn a modicum of humility after 14 years, no amount of rational calculation regarding talent and roster construction is going to mean much. One is reduced to random luck, miracle, or change in ownership as what could conceivably pull the franchise out of its lamentable ways.

Well, if that's the price, you do it.

I suppose the sense of it is that if we are too young/emotionally fragile to handle the pressure of the race to get into the playoffs, we're unlikely to step up in the post-season. No doubt, there could be some surprises, but in general, I surmise we have been too young to expect the team to raise its level of compete sufficiently to not be embarrassed. After such a prolonged wait, you'd like to be able to accomplish something once the team crosses the mythical border into playoff land. Anyway, the hope that players that are edgy, uncomfortable to play against, etc. will be part of the profile for who is drafted and brought in is a reflection of that judgment.

He's angry with Staal's behavior on a social issue several years ago -- Staal refused to wear a rainbow jersey while a member of the Panthers. I don't believe that has anything to do with his hockey acumen, which I do not know one way or the other.

He's going to draft D in the first for sure then, or trade out of the round.

What I find offensive, really, is the presumption by certain folks that there is somehow an irrational zeal to be disappointed and angry with the franchise. It’s such a ridiculous position, since only someone deeply committed to the team would continue to care about it and follow what is happening to them after the last fourteen years of misery. To those who malign the fan base for protesting the truly historic ineptitude of the Pegula ownership, the reaction to this hire is provisional, because there is no basis for trust in the leadership that has been consistent in failure, if not always in the tactics pursued. At least this is undeniably an outside, veteran voice that is connected, and mature. It’s been lacking from the inception of TP’s time as captain of the ship he’s run aground. Most everyone is hopeful and glad to see at least a glimmer of responsibility. The complainers who repeatedly blame the fans should note that when there is a reasonable action, the response is affirmative. No one is eagerly waiting for the opportunity to bash the move.

That would just be sadistic, too mean even for an imbecile.

Incompetent professionals under contract are routinely fired; sometimes competent ones, to be fair, though that isn't KA. Saying he is under contract is near to a tautology, which is indeed boring. One can surmise multiple reasons of the sort you propose. TP is comfortable with KA. TP doesn't want to pay another poor hire not to work for him. The likely answer is that KA is a figurehead who accommodates Pegula's prejudices. In my view, a team associated with a community is a kind of trust. A bad owner may treat it as a private property, like a personal vehicle. It's nobody's business what he does with his yacht. However, it is actually unjust to continue modes of action that consistently have bad results when the recipient of that action involves an entity greater than the private. At minimum, he has alienated a generation of fans, provoked indifference in many younger folk, and provided very little return to those who invested in season tickets. Anyway, I suppose you think everything is reasonably answered by Pegula's right to do what he wants with his toys.

There's no plausible argument that justifies KA still being the GM. Whether TP cares or not, and to what degree, only God accurately knows. What is unquestionable, is that he is historically inept as an NHL owner, because you are what your record says.

Well, that's incorrect. Dislike of the Leafs predates Pegula. A lot of it has to do with Leafs' fans, and some of it has to do with the NHL Official Review in Toronto, and the partisan rooting by ex-players and sense of entitlement.

Slacker. Should have starting working out in the womb.

Only if the Leafs lose it.

True, I think, and that is why there's not much sympathy for TP. He's not just a clueless fella that would like things to end well. There's an arrogance that permeates that kind of ineptitude.

Someone could write a book about how not to run a sports' franchise based on the Pegula Sabres. It would be Russian novel level depressing, and too damn long.

The Titanic was all fun and games until it hit the iceberg.

I'll add that the irony is that posters like John C (I know him from when he used to post about the Sabres over on the Bills' side) and myself were among those who tended to be optimistic, and gave ownership a lot more rope, so to speak. It took a lot to prove that all they could do was hang themselves.

There isn't much else to discuss, no. You point to posters like Taro, LGR, and Tom Webster. I appreciate their posts, as well. Taro and I agree on a lot. I post on a different board for some of that, because we are the minority here on those subjects. I don't annoy folks by picking fights on those matters. It would do no good. Further, I don't have the critical insight and acumen to add to their level of hockey insight. When there is something to discuss, like a draft pick, or a trade, or a significant move, folks will chime in. When there is no reasonable response to continued failure, folks discuss that. The new impetus has to come from ownership, because the discussion is reactive to what they do or do not do.

You don't like the vibe of the board, and blame the folks who have been following the team for sometimes over fifty years for lamenting the disaster that is the Pegula owned Sabres? Too bad. Make a counterargument with specifics as to why TP and KA should not be excoriated for their actions. See if it stands up to scrutiny.

You must be one of the ten who is ruining it for everyone. If only you would be silent, there could be tremendous discussion of all the wonderful things KA and TP have done for the Sabres.

14 years, the entire tenure of ownership, record breaking ineptitude, none of that is made up. Other hockey organizations do not consistently hire individuals with little or no experience to run them. There's never been a rational course correction, and now there is stubborn insistence on keeping a fella who is manifestly in over his head. Yet when folks are angry about it, you act baffled. A lot of conjecture occurs because there is a lack of transparency, lack of any kind of reasonable response to failure, so folks are left to try and discern a semblance of plan in the tiny moves and increasingly meaningless rhetoric that is slow-walked out to the dwindling number of fans who can only speculate whether there is anything coherent beyond manifest contempt for those who remain to care about the team -- mostly an older crowd that remember when the crest was an honorable reflection of the city.

When average competency seems like Mt. Everest for your team . . .

I dunno. Are you requesting a detailed trade X for Y, draft Z kind of breakdown? I think plan equals what decisive change could be made to palpably improve the direction of the franchise. Maybe you've got a different criteria. In any event, what's the point of indulging the yen for playing fantasy GM? It's tiresome at this point to reiterate the kind of needed change that everyone talks about ad nauseam. Find a way to bring in a top 4 RD that plays sound defense to pair with Power, etc. The Sabres have become a perduring league wide embarrassment because of Pegula's earned reputation on the basis of his decisions for the entire tenure of his ownership. Whether he is also the victim of some bad luck or forgivable ignorance, at least at the beginning, is immaterial to where he has now brought the organization. It's evident that no one respects Adams, so continuing to keep him only prolongs and exacerbates the poor negotiating position the Sabres find themselves when it comes to making trades and drawing free agents. The simplest and most efficient way to change that would be to bring in someone with a proven track record and clearly move away from the neuralgic proclivities that are the manifestation of Pegula's fearful or arrogant wounded pride.