JohnC

https://www.google.com/search?q=milquetoast&oq=milque&aqs=chrome.0.0i433i512j69i57j0i433i512j0i512l7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8 I really believe that KA's rebuild would have been a lot more successful if he added some flexibility and creativity to his mostly "draft and develop" plan. Too much patience and not enough urgency. He simply didn't have the wherewithal to sometimes think outside of his self-imposed small box. He's simply not big enough for task.

There's no question that the owner significantly meddled when he took over the team. And its likely he did it for years. But I'm not as sure as you are that he is doing it as much as many people think. It's probable that Terry Pegula requires hockey decisions be approved by him before they go into effect. Basically, he wants to be informed ahead of time. There's nothing wrong or unusual about that. He's paying the salaries. I'm harsher in my assessment of KA than you appear to be. When the Sabres were stumbling it was KA who had the ear of the owner. He ended up as the head of the hockey operation. He had a plan that he publicly stated: Draft and develop. The intention was to jettison the old core for a new core that needed time to develop. My criticism of the congenial GM is not that he had a bad plan of basically starting over. It is that he was too rigid in not tweaking it enough to bring in the right players to support the new youngish core. I said this before so I apologize for the redundancy: He's a checkers player playing a chess game. In my opinion, he's overmatched as far as I'm concerned. With a little more flexibility and creativity, he could have mostly maintained his strategy to rebuild and been more successful. You are what your record is.

The Sabres are at a point where the age issue should not be considered a mitigating factor when judging its record. Yes, we are young relative to most teams. But there were opportunities to add a couple to a few medium veterans to this roster to better balance this roster. As an example, a second line veteran and alto so a veteran blueliner could have been added to better round out this laden young roster. It should be noted that our lower lines were reconstructed with experienced players this offseason. It also has to be factored in that a number of our young players got early NHL ice time and although are far from being seasoned veterans do have plenty of NHL experience. I would say Dahlin, Joki, Cozens, Samuelsson, Quinn (plagued with injuries), and JJP etc. fall in that category. Our GM has built this team the way he wanted to. Our record is our record. You could have a young roster and be successful. And you can have an older roster and be successful. We are what our record indicates. No more excuses. (Note: I'm not saying that you are saying otherwise.)

As you point out, Lindy is already in the building. It's very likely that his voice is presently influential. I'm confident that bringing in players to staff the lower lines this offseason was driven by the new coach. The GM could have added even more talent this offseason. He certainly had the wherewithal to do so. He didn't. He's a checker's player in a chess match. He's in over his head. His record is a testament to that.

Excellent summarization. The basic point you are making is that this franchise has failed due to its accumulation of bad or at least unwise hockey decisions by the staff. We have had the draft capital, cap room and enough player options in the market to upgrade the roster. The GM didn't or more likely was incapable of using his resources to make this team more competitive. The GM's a small picture guy in a big picture position. That's an incongruity that leads to perennial mediocrity. It's exasperating.

It appears that he didn't do too well. His balls were too slick.

OK, let's not assign blame for KA for the Reinhart situation. He's been the GM for, I believe, at least 4 yrs. He's the top person running the hockey operation. What's his record? Where is this team at now and what are its prospects in the near future? Eichel, Reinhart, ROR et al wanted out for the basic reason that they wanted to win and be with a serious team in the league. What happens when Dahlin and other gets to that WTF point and want out because they feel stuck on an irrelevant non-playoff team? The Sabres are mired in generational mediocrity not because of any inherent disadvantages that other franchises don't also have to contend with. It's the accumulation of bad decisions that has weighed this franchise down. This is not a lost season yet. But unless some sense of urgency is displayed by the players and organization is exhibited, the same cycle of failure will be repeated again. It gets tiresome.

Matt Millen was a disaster. KA is basically mediocre. In the end what does it matter. Mediocrity begets mediocrity. Your record is your record.

I'm not putting the onus on KA for all the transactions that happened before him. That would be unfair. But what I can say is that the GM has been in his position long enough (at least four years) where this team should be better positioned for success. The GM had a plan to rebuild from scratch. That's the source of my angst with him. Although it was the right thing to do, he didn't have the creativity and flexibility to tweak it to accelerate the transition. As I said in prior posts, I don't understand his antipathy toward Mitts. The player's agent stated that the GM made no offers to him before being dealt for Byram. Are the Sabres made better in that exchange? I would say no. The Reinhart deal is even more perplexing, if not peculiar. The player was willing to sign an extension. The GM declined. So he ended up being a UFA and dealt for an imbalanced return. Reinhart was one of the best players on a Cup winning team. And in my estimation, he is an upper echelon player in the league. Are we better off not signing him when the opportunity existed? Definitely not. These are self-inflicted wounds that not only didn't make us better but set this franchise back, again, and again, and again. There is no question that our clueless owner has interfered with hockey decisions. I'm not sure that is the case now, at least to the extent that he did when he first bought the team. My hope is that he learned his lesson with the Bills allowing the football people to make the decisions. Compare the two organizations. The Bills are one of the best run football operations in the NFL, as indicated by their record over a sustained period of time. I'm not publicly lamenting to discourage others. We are where we are not because of any inherent obstacles but rather because of an accumulation of unwise decisions. Buffalo is an unattractive franchise for many players not because it is Buffalo per se. It is because of the deserved reputation of its historical ineptitude. I'm counting on Lindy to alter the lax attitude of the players and force them pay more attention to details. Especially, in this particular sport the difference between success and failure is miniscule. And if some of the players are not receptive to his coaching wisdom, they will be held accountable. Enough is enough!

I'm sure you are aware that you could have used a more provocative picture of a sausage that would have drawn the ire of the people who monitor this site. 😀

No one is disputing the fact that the owner's presence hovers over this flaccid franchise. However, our GM was definitely instrumental for dealing Mitts for Byram, and if I'm not mistaken was the GM who didn't sign Reinhart to an extension when he had the opportunity to do so.

I live in the MD/DC area. What Washington has done since winning the Cup is steadily and smartly transitioned their roster from the aging Cup roster to its current younger and more competitive roster. Not every personnel decision has worked out over the past few years, which it never does for any organization. But in general, they have made more right decisions than wrong decisions. Our GM, who was hired out of the business side of the Pegula business, essentially let Mitts and Reinhart go when he had the ability to re-sign them. Ask yourself, looking back are we a better or worse team for those two decisions? While other franchises move forward, we continue to tread water. Mediocrity begets mediocrity. It starts at the top. I'm not in a state of despair and consider this a lost season, at least not right now. But what's most exasperating is that this franchise has imprisoned itself in the house of irrelevance by its own handcuffing.

I no longer accept excuses for this bedraggled franchise. There is no excuse for not qualifying for the playoffs (in an expanded system) in a generation. I'm not a despairing fan. I recognize that there is a good chance that we will make the playoffs this year. But I'm not going allow excuses to rationalize this generational failure. Our record is our record. Bad hockey decisions made on top of bad decisions resulting where we are now, and where we have been for a generation. That is not acceptable to me. There are plenty of reasons why the many players in this league have no trade clauses to Buffalo in their contracts. It has little to do with the city as it has to do with how our franchise is viewed by outsiders. Reinhart is one of the best players on a Stanley Cup team He's also an upper echelon player in the league. We had him in our system and had the ability to retain him. The GM decided not to do so. It was not a good decision. No GM makes decisions where all turn out right. However, our GMs have a history of making enough bad decisions that have kept this franchise mired in the muck of mediocrity. No more excuses!

You give an accurate depiction of the situation that KA faced. The mistakes that were made is how he handled Mitts and Reinhart. With these two players on our current roster the Sabres would be a better team, in my estimation.

There's no question that KA's plan was to move on from the old core and start anew. He has publicly stated so. That's not the issue because there is no denial of what he wanted to do, and did. I'm setting aside the Eichel debacle because the player made a decision to not be a part of the rebuild. (I don't blame him.) In my opinion, the GM's plan to rebuild was not a mistake. The mistake was made in the execution. He was too inflexible in adhering to his plan and lacked the creativity to modify it to make this team better sooner than it could have been done. If Mitts and Reihnhart, both players already on the roster and willing to re-sign deals, were on the team now, added to the rebuilt lower lines, this team would be better, at least I believe so. Bad decisions laid on top of bad decisions have plagued this battered franchise and fanbase longer than it needed be.

On the issues of Mitts and Reinhart both of us are riding the same exasperating bus. Mitts as a second line center and forward, with the ability to play on the top line when needed, would have made this a better team. I'm not knocking Byram as a player because from a talent standpoint he and Mitts are in the same strata. But from a balanced roster standpoint it set the team back. And it should be noted that you and I both have vociferously extolled the talents of Reinhart. Just think if both of these players were included in the mix in assembling the top two lines. If you also consider that our lower lines were addressed in the offseason, then what should have been or could have been is maddening to think about. Our GM had a plan that looked to the future instead of considering the present and near future. He lacked the creativity and flexibility to tweak his understandable plan to make this team a serious team right now. Mediocrity begets mediocrity.

KA's timeline was out of whack. I'm not declaring that Reinhart would have been a savior player for us because the roster needed a lot more bolstering. But there is no doubt that Reinhart would have been potentially a big factor in more success then and now. In my opinion, KA miscalculated. Nothing new.

You have to consider that the rosters are significantly larger.

There is much more player movement in hockey than in football. There are more options to pursue talent than in football. Florida Panthers are an example of that.

For much of the game, we kept up with the Panthers. It's indisputable that they are a fuller and better team. They won the Cup last year and should be serious contenders this year. Eventually, there fulsome talent prevailed. What irritated me most about this game was watching Reinhart. He was an instrumental player in their Cup run but also is an upper echelon talent in the league. Can someone explain the logic of not signing him to a long-term contract when he was willing to sign a deal when he was with the Sabres? His talent and production was evident for all to see. It's it the accumulation of bad hockey decisions that has chained this franchise to the house of mediocre. It pisssses me off!

I disagree. It's easier to make player moves in hockey than in football. The Sabres are simply a product of their historical mismanagement. One example is that we had Reinhart in the system. For some inexplicable reason, the GM refused to sign him to an extension that he was willing to sign. Instead, he became a UFA and was dealt. Reinhart ended up being an instrumental player on Cup team, and without question he is one of the upper echelon players in the league. The accumulation of bad decisions has kept this franchise mired in the muck of mediocrity.

If you were wearing a tailor-made tuxedo and had a Hollywood hairdresser coif your hair you would still look raggedy compared to him. Let's not get delusional. Do you know what the first thing the hairdresser would say to you? Get that dam chicken off of your head before entering my exclusive salon!

You are only listening to what you want to hear. I said ass-tutes, with the accent on the first sylable.

I am a political junkie. Like you, I'm exhausted. I voted early so I can tune out as the noise gets louder with more desperation added to it. You will be in our thoughts and prayers.

Terry Pegula has been a poor hockey owner. Check the record if you don't believe me. If he handled the hockey operation in the same manner that he did with the football franchise, this franchise would have had an immensely more successful record in our recent history.