JohnC

The degree of his non-communication in whatever form he would prefer, especially when there are so many issues associated with the franchise is unusually low, almost bordering on nonexistent. With respect to his interactions with Harrington or any other media member, it is not too difficult to understand why the members are jaded and scornful covering this long term troubled franchise.

I really don't know where the owner's head is at. There's no communication emanating from him or the organization about what they are thinking and where they are heading. I believe that it was Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News ??? who stated that he hasn't talked to the owner in over five years. That is odd. The Sabres under Pegula are not a normally functioning franchise. The Sabres have become a mocked franchise and a franchise to be avoided by potential staff and players in the league. This owner has devalued the franchise and fanbase by his inexplicable behavior. It's maddening and also weird.

No it is not. There are many countries in the world where early marriages and the bearing of childrem (compared to western countries) is common. And when I was growing up there were more than a few incidents where the guy and girl got entangled in their mid-teens.

Was KA the GM who declined to give Reinhart the early extension when he had an opportunity to do so and the player was willing to sign? I think that was the case but memory is foggy on that issue.

Yes, he posts on the board under the name @Pimlach. He's a tad grouchy and at times when he reaches his tolerance level for foolishness, he becomes pugnacious. Be alert and aware. He's prepared to rumble. ☺️

15 years. Old enough for the male to impregnate and the female to have a baby. That's when the daddy and momma become grandpa and grandma.

I'm not making any conclusive judgment on Ruff just yet because in my view the cause of this franchise's institutional failure is above him. Until the bigger issues associated with the ownership and GM are addressed, I don't see much hope for meaningful change. Another example as to why this franchise has failed is exhibited in how Ruff was selected after a charade hiring process. A fraudulent process for a hollow organization. It's sad.

What's even more enraging than the institutional foolishness is that it has been going on for a full generation without a meaningful change of course. It makes no bloody sense to me.

If anyone doesn’t understand how aberrant a Pegula owned franchise is should read your description of the KA rise in the organization. It demonstrates how abnormally managed and plagued this franchise is. It goes beyond being described as pervasive incompetence to outright weird. Unimaginable level of stupidity.

The problem isn’t so much the Sabres giving up on the player as it is the players giving up on the franchise. If you don’t know what I’m talking about refer back to the Jack and Sam departures/escapes. It’s not surprising that when a player feels “stuck” he works to get “unstuck”.

The quality of ownership varies in the NHL. However, I can't think of one owner, individual or corporate ownership, that would have retained KA after half a decade of wretched performance. Terry Pegula is in a class of his own. It's embarrassing.

https://www.espn.com/nhl/news/story?id=6087856 When Golosano sold the team to Pegula there was a clause that stated that if the new owner wanted to later sell the franchise, he couldn't sell it to anyone who would move the franchise. Is that clause enforceable or can it be worked around? I'm not sure. But even if he wanted to sell the franchise to someone who wanted to move it, it would from a PR stance be awkward for him because he's invested locally in the community with the Bills and Bandits. The best thing that TP could do for this franchise and fanbase is to sell the team and walk away with a tidy profit. Since he bought the team, a generation ago, he has manifestly proven that he is inept and incapable of learning from his mistakes. I'm tired of his foolishness in the hockey business. He may be exceptionally talented in the oil and gas business but in the hockey business he's proven to be an incurable failure. I'm tired of his foolishness.

There was a game in which Ray was broadcasting in which he showed on a replay how far away JJP was from the player he was supposed to cover who easily scored. JJP was so lackadaisical in his coverage that I thought Ray was going to lose it when he commented about it on the replay. It was a blatantly irresponsible play. I like Byram a lot. But if you deal off both JJP and Byram, the return should be pretty good. Maybe enough return contributing to a large extent in reshaping this roster for the better. Is our GM up to the task of getting a good enough return? I'm not confident about that. As others have stated, what happens if Dahlin, Tage and Tuch say I have enough! The owner created a toxic franchise, and the understandable result will be that players no longer want to be around the revolting stench.

I’m adamant on my position on not trading Power regardless of the return. I believe that in the not too distant future m he will be an anchor defenseman. I’m tired of seeing our players on other teams thriving somewhere else.

I very much do comprehend the difference between doing something and having something work. That's my issue! When you have made decisions for a full generation and nothing has worked during that extended period, then don't you think that it's time to change your approach? We're at the point where we are going in never-ending circles. So there is no need to continue on with this futile back and forth. I say this with no disrespect intended but your responses make no sense to me. Your reasoning is so contradictory that it is incomprehensible, at least to me. But that's okay. I'm sure my responses make little sense to you. We are riding on different buses going to different destinations and our paths will not cross. So be it.

I doubt that KA will trade Power. And it would be the right decision. The next issue is what can he get in return for Byram? If you can get a solid return to improve the team and better balance the unit, then do it. The player that I have my eye on is K'Andre Miller from the Rangers.

That's like saying the only thing I did wrong is shoot the gun and have the bullet hit the person I was arguing with squarely in the head. Your defense then becomes it wasn't my fault that this so-called victim didn't have a head hard enough for the bullet to bounce off of. I'm not trying to ridicule or be mean-spirited, but your logic eludes me. And the argument that the owner does care is irrelevant. The issue is whether TP, during his tenure as an owner, has made enough good decisions that help the team win. The accumulated record for the past generation indicates no.

You and I are riding on the same bus. The main source of this franchise's failure is the owner. Blunder after blunder. Opportunities existed for him to get this franchise back on course. He selected the wrong people for critical positions, and it has haunted this franchise. We have a stubborn owner who didn't own his own limitations yet continued to make wrong decisions. It gets tiresome.

I hope so. There is some speculation that former Sabre, Rick Dudley, might be selected for an oversight position here. If that is the case then what will be the power dynamic with our current GM if he is retained, as I expect?

I agree with you that how the goalie issue was addressed did a lot of damage. I'm sure you are aware of I'm a harsh critic of KA. But in the Ullmark situation I'm somewhat sympathetic to him for how the Ullmark situation ended. I really believe that the Ullmark camp indicated to him that he was going to sign. The mistake the GM made was not having a fallback position if the UFA didn't sign. Compare our situation with the Washington Capitals? They revamped their goalie position by acquiring Logan Thompson and Lindgren on relatively cheap deals. A little imagination and aggressiveness in addressing weaknesses can go a long way. Our GM has to make it a priority to address this position this offseason. That's an imperative! And as you point out with your incisive observation about the Ullmark scenario, good goaltending can compensate for other deficiencies. And bad goaltending sabotages a lot of your good works.

The GM's judgment on both of his young netminders was off the mark. The timetable for them to be ready was too ambitious. He left the team too exposed/vulnerable in the most important position. He should have had a just in case backup plan. He took a miscalculated gamble and lost. And you can carry off the same misstep with the other younger players in over-rating their readiness. There simply wasn't enough backup veteran support just in case the development of the young players didn't meet the expected accelerated timetable. His error in judging his own roster affected how much he would do in the prior offseason to augment this young roster. One mistake cascading into additional mistakes. As the record demonstrates: It takes a toll.

The repeating mistake is that the people who drove you into the ditch are now expected to drive you out of the ditch. This was the offseason where the owner's focus right after the season concluded should have been on finding the right Head of Hockey Operations and a new GM. The stubborn owner seemed to be flummoxed to the point of being frozen. It's a sad state of affairs.

As I see it, the enforcer addition isn't our biggest need. It is finding tougher players who play more physically. What I would love to get is another Zucker-like player or two, only younger, and have a better balance between finesse/skill players and hard-nosed players. Greenway doesn't fight much but he is a presence that influences how the opposition reacts to our players. The same imbalance in unit construction applies to our blue line. Adding a couple more rugged defensive-minded blueliners would also give us a better group to handle the rigors of NHL play, especially in the defensive zone. The style of play in the playoffs gets a lot tougher and tighter compared to regular season play. When watching post season games it is evident that the way our team is built couldn't handle the rigors of playoff hockey. The more critical issue is not so much as adding talent but adding the right mix of talent to the team. As an example, I like Byram a lot but would be willing to trade him for the Rangers' K'Andre Miller. Although I believe that Byram is the more talented player, Miller would be more valuable for us because he adds something that this team lack.

The unknown for me is the relationship between the Senior Advisor and the GM. What is the power balance when there is a difference of opinion on players and other issues such as contracts? Whose voice will be more influential if an issue is brought to the owner, whether he wants to stay engaged or not. There certainly could be a lot of upsides for the GM to have a wise sounding board to discuss issues with. Who has the last say? In general, I would think that the GM would be the final authority, but I'm not sure it would be so in this case because our GM has lost some stature due to his performance in office.

Without a doubt, there are rugged defenders than can be puck carriers. However, their acquisition costs are much higher (if available) than a more conservative defender in his zone. In my view, we need maybe two of those more physical defenders to recast the unit. And those type of players should be more attainable than the more valued rugged defender who can carry the puck. For the most part, we're not disagreeing here. The issue is what more doable. We have a good asset in Byram. I like him a lot but we need to remold the blueline to better balance out the unit. When you have an overlapping asset then use it smartly to fill a need.