JohnC

I retired. At the end of an exhausting career there was a boss who was the #2 man in a relatively large agency acting like a cartoon dictator and being obnoxious and condescending in his presentation. There were a lot of big shots at the gathering. During his bloviating I stood up and interrupted his public display of stupidity and politely asked him if he recognized how stupid he sounded? The audience went dead silent. He was a big fellow who went to an NFL training camp. He wanted to kill me for humiliating him. I was at the end of my career. Needless to say, I had to watch my back.

I worked in a 👮 police and security agency for 30 years. The most important skill in prospects and employees is interpersonal skills. It’s stunning to observe how many people lack what I consider a basic talent. I had more conflicts dealing with some of the unappealing people I worked with than with outsiders.

Great story. I once was being interviewed for a job. He brought up my job history and the stepping stone jobs that I had when young. I made the point to him that there is no such thing as a menial job. That whatever job one had was to be done well and with pride. He was impressed. However, although the interview went well, I wasn’t hired.

How many dishes did you break per day? On payday did you end up owing more $$$ to the company than you ended up with on payday? 😀

Titles mean nothing in this aberrant organization. It doesn’t matter what title he is given. From a hockey operational standpoint he will have no influence. This is a Terry P created organization that doesn’t follow the normal standards and practices of a genuine NHL franchise. The aloof owner acts on his own whims. He empowers and un-empowers whoever he wants. I’m confident that if removed from the GM position and then given a lofty title KA will then be neutered as a factor in actual hockey decisions.

If KA is removed from the GM position, it’s unlikely he will have any meaningful influence on hockey decisions. Even if he was given the title of POHO, it will carry little influence in the hockey side of the business. For the sake of argument, let’s assume Jarmo takes over the GM job. If Jarmo wants to make a trade and KA disagrees in his POHO role, KA would be ignored.

As you noted, Paul Hamilton is not noted for harsh or controversial commentary. I like him but in general his style is reasonable and bland. However, on the topic of the competency of KA, even the blind can see. It was absurd for the aloof owner to hire KA to be his GM, and it is even more absurd to keep him on the job for so long.

What’s irksome is not the dissent as it is the perplexing reasoning. 🙃

It doesn’t matter how few or many people will be snickering in the crowd. What matters to the most of us is what the owner does to help this floundering franchise get on the right track.

I’m a proud member of the moron class. I still have the ability to recognize when someone is peeing on me and not blame the non-existent rain on a sunny day. 😇

There are people who would love to see Terry P publicly embarrassed at the podium because of his unpolished speaking ability. That ridiculing group make up a small/minuscule faction of the audience who want to see him ACT more judiciously.

Rob Ray is in a tough spot. He’s been around the sport for a long enough time to know what the situation is. If he candidly and publicly spoke about the real state of affairs about this franchise, he would be out of a job. Marty Biron is an excellent hockey analyst who is knowledgeable about the home team and league in general. He also is cautious and guarded when discussing the team. When it comes to job security you sometimes have to tip toe in how you conduct yourself. There is no secret about the state of affairs for this bedraggled franchise. It’s too obvious not to see. It’s really a shame that the owner is willing to just continue on continuing on.

You are always seeking distracting inconsequential side issues in order to avoid the ugly issue of a generation of failure. The central issue that you often refuse to face is the record. When you close your eyes you will not be able to see.

Where do you get the notion that people want to see him get in front of the mike in order for him to publicly embarrass himself? Where do you come up with such nonsense? It's recognized that he's not much of a public speaker. So what! That's not a big deal to most people. That isn't the reason why the overwhelming majority of people have so much scathing criticism of him. As you note, people are clamoring for him to hire competent staff and then give them enough resources to adequately do their jobs. Retaining KA, after six years of abject failure, is the source of much of the criticisms directed toward this owner. The problem has nothing to do with how he speaks as it is how he acts. The record speaks for itself!

I have no problem with challenging goals due to offside. If the challenging team is wrong, they then get penalized. If the challenge is upheld, then the goal shouldn't count.

You don't need Terry Pegula to have a press conference. You need him to take meaningful actions to change the middling course of this franchise. According to Paul Hamilton on WGR, the hiring and retaining KA as the GM is and was an inexplicable mistake. In the first segment of this link, Paul Hamilton talks about the necessity of the owner to fire the GM, sooner rather than later. And Paul H. talks about how the Sabres are considered as a joke franchise by the rest of the league. The problem with this perplexing owner is not his not talking as it is his not acting when it is required. https://www.audacy.com/podcast/the-jeremy-joe-show-9b4b9/episodes/hour-2-owen-and-paul-on-the-sabres-ot-win-and-sal-on-the-bills-heading-into-week-15-c27d4

Simple solution: https://www.google.com/search?q=seinfeld+scene+George+does+the+opposite&oq=seinfeld+scene+George+does+the+opposite&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOTIICAEQABgWGB4yCAgCEAAYFhgeMg0IAxAAGIYDGIAEGIoFMgoIBBAAGIAEGKIEMgoIBRAAGIAEGKIEMgoIBhAAGIAEGKIE0gEJMTU0NzVqMGo3qAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:bc3f30aa,vid:1Y_6fZGSOQI,st:0

You and I have the same view about this weird owner. His non-responsiveness is a demonstration of his contempt for the fans and paying customers. He’s essentially giving us the finger. His arrogance is tough to stomach.

It’s a futile exercise to go into detail about which players are not contributing to this poorly matched roster. The sabotaging problem isn’t about any particular player as it is the hollow organization led by the invisible owner and his handpicked clueless GM. It doesn’t matter in what field of endeavor you are in. When the organization’s primary decision makers are grotesquely incompetent, the outcome is very predictable. When you have an owner who doesn’t recognize his own hockey ignorance that is glaringly evident to everyone else, then you will continue to fail. The worst thing that happened to this franchise is that it was bought by Terry Pegula. He may own a big boat but ever since he took over this franchise has been sinking. You don’t have to make a deep analysis to come up with such an obvious conclusion. The owner’s obtuseness and stubbornness is enraging.

If KA is elevated to a position with a loftier title without much authority, then I would be fine with that. He can have whatever title he wants as long as another GM is the one authorized to make the hockey decisions. Will that be the case in this weird Pegula organization? I don't know.

I wouldn't be bothered if KA was promoted to the POHO position. The issue then becomes is he still making the hockey decisions or would the next GM be making the personnel decisions. The issue isn't what position he has as it is how empowered is he.

I disagree. It wasn't a secret to him or anyone involved in the league that the Sabre organization was and is dysfunctional. He probably thought he would have more say into personnel and staffing decisions. But clearly, he isn't as influential and empowered as he thought he would be. There were and are a lot of qualified people who wouldn't have an interest in taking the coaching job if offered because they know what they would be encountering here in this Pegula toxic dump.

As you acknowledge, the Sabres will not get much of a return for this impending free agent player. With respect to the cap space made available by not signing him, it shouldn't be forgotten that Buffalo is not an attractive franchise for players on the market. It shouldn't be forgotten that Buffalo is one of the most cited franchises on NTCs. If Tuch is dealt, the end result, even after utilizing the cap space, the Sabres will be a lesser team. And what a Tuch departure due to him not wanting to be here is another sign that this organization is so contaminated that not only players don't want to come here but also players here want out. That's an ugly situation to be in. And don't kid yourself that players such as Dahlin and Tage will also want to get the freak out.

Ruff was at the end of his extended and overall successful coaching career with multiple teams. He was basically retired. He was hired after a blatantly nonexistent search directed by the owner to the GM. At that stage of his career no other franchise would have even considered him for a HC job. KA was hired by the silent owner to rebuild the roster and basically start over. No other organization in the league would have considered such a Howdy Doody candidate for the most important position for a franchise let alone hire him. How many other owners would have kept on their GMs with the record that our shallow GM has? The Pegula constructed organization is an unserious organization. The outcome should not be a surprise. And the owner remains silent! Abnormality has become this franchise’s normality.

I wouldn't be bothered if a dealt goalie is serviceable or even does well on another team. So what? The strategy that the shallow GM is taking with respect to determining which goalie or goalies to keep is self-defeating. By keeping three of them instead of the usual two goalies on the roster, he is putting all of them in a position to fail because of the lack of steady work. UPL has had enough time to demonstrate what level of goalie he is. There will be games where he will shine, just enough to tantalize you. Then he will revert into true his baseline level of being a pedestrian goalie. If I had to make a judgment on which goalie will turn out to be the best of the current trio, I would say Ellis. But I don't say it with much conviction. It should also be noted that Levi is in Rochester, and it appears he has recently been on a bumpy road. But even so, if the dullard GM keeps two instead of three goalies on the big club roster, he still has a fallback position of bringing up Levi if a goalie is hurt. It shouldn't be a surprise that a third-rate organization with third-rate decision makers make third-rate decisions. When you shoot yourself in the foot it shouldn't be surprising that you limp. A lot of people don't know that the Sabres were the inspiration for the making of a movie. It was called: Dumb and dumber. And unsurprisingly, it had more box office success than the Sabres have had on the ice.