Flashsabre

A Christmas Miracle!!!! Kulich has been coming in of late. Tonight was his best game.

From Pierre Lebrun at The Athletic: ”As the Buffalo Sabres have descended into this 0-10-3 tailspin, landing them last in the NHL in points and headed toward a hard-to-fathom 14th straight season missing the playoffs, I keep thinking about the decisions ownership has made in its general manager hires. Tim Murray was GM from January 2014 to April 2017, Jason Botterill from May 2017 to June 2020, and it’s been Kevyn Adams since then. All three were first-time NHL GMs. That doesn’t mean they weren’t qualified. Everyone has to get their first chance at some point, and especially in the cases of Murray and Botterill, they had worked their way up the NHL scouting and front-office ranks before landing the gig. Regardless, looking at where the franchise is now with the benefit of hindsight, handing the reins to first-time GMs three straight times can’t be glossed over. Listen, no one is complaining in South Florida about first-time NHL GM Bill Zito, nor in Vegas about first-time NHL GM Kelly McCrimmon. But in Zito’s case, he’s got former GMs Rick Dudley, Paul Fenton and Les Jackson surrounding him in his inner circle. McCrimmon has George McPhee. At the very least — especially with Adams, who is a very likable guy with tremendous passion for the sport — couldn’t the Sabres have brought in some sort of mentor to help him along the way? Like how Jim Rutherford is helping along first-time GM Patrik Allvin in Vancouver? Wouldn’t it have made sense to bring in a Ray Shero or someone of that ilk to help support Adams? (Did I mention that Ken Holland is currently a free agent?). The Sabres have locked up young core players to long-term deals: Tage Thompson, Dylan Cozens, Rasmus Dahlin, Owen Power, Mattias Samuelssonand Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. All of them would be desirable NHL commodities on their own. But as a whole, they have failed to come together consistently as a nucleus of a team resembling a playoff contender. The temptation now for Adams, or the pressure weighing on his shoulders, will be to make a roster-altering trade to shake things up. That’s a natural reaction. And league sources suggest he’s pretty open-minded in his conversations with other teams. A lot of different things could happen depending on what teams are willing to do. But as we’ve seen, there’s a risk of a panic move the franchise could regret. Sam Reinhart, Brandon Montour, Jack Eichel and Ryan O’Reilly are all former Sabres who became Stanley Cup champions elsewhere. There are different reasons those players ended up out of town, sure. But it all comes back to the seemingly never-ending question of what ails the Sabres franchise. It is a damaged brand. And also facing Adams: As difficult as it is right now, especially for an awesome fan base in Buffalo that deserves so much better, this is the worst time to make a sizeable trade when the majority of your players are depressed assets with lowered values. The smarter move is to wait this out and more fully investigate the market in the summer, when bigger trades are easier to pull off. And between now and then, there’s the low-hanging fruit of yet another coaching change. Maybe Lindy Ruff is shown the door to give the team the short-term bump a coaching change often brings. But firing a coach eight months after he was named to replace the last coach fired seems rather flimsy as a fix.“

That defensive backfield needs to get healthy quick. And what’s the story with Milano?

I agree. But right now who we draft doesn’t matter. Until this team fundamentally changes none of these kids will change anything. The players the Sabres have drafted are good players. But they have all been setup to fail. Continuing to draft and throw young players to the wolves while not supporting them in the lineup has killed this franchise and it goes back to the Reinhart and Eichel days. 2-3 kids breaking into a team at the same time should be the absolute max. They should be surrounded by quality vets to lead the way. It has never happened here since the tank.

He doesn’t need to sell but he needs to change his philosophy if he wants the Sabres to succeed. It means finally bringing in a seasoned, successful NHL exec to run the team. Im going to use Ken Holland as an example. Hire Holland as POHO. Holland has autonomy to hire who he wants and set up the organizational structure as he wants. The financial handcuffs have to come off and Holland has to be able to spend. Get a quality GM and surround him with more quality hockey people in the FO. Hire a respected coach who is allowed to bring in his handpicked staff. Really beef up the Scouting Dept, especially pro scouts and the Player Development staff. Not just ex Sabres who live locally. A guy like Holland being in charge would help to change the narrative around the organization and start to attract quality people to the team which in turn attracts players and agents to consider the team again. Doesn’t have to be Holland but he is the type of person Pegula needs to start to change things. Pegula would have to put his ego aside. You would think after 14 years of missing the playoffs you would look in the mirror and say “My way doesn’t work.”

Wow the game against the Hawks is for all the marbles. Last Overall on the line. I know the guys can do it. Adams has built a monster!

Baker’s Dozen! Sabres should start raising banners for their losing streaks. Be proud Terry your franchise is a joke and you are a disgrace Imagine being so incompetent at you’re job that you state that it is Playoffs or bust this year and the team you built is last overall in the league AGAIN

Pegula’s biggest failing to this organization has been vets. He has refused to hire a vet NHL guy to run this franchise as President or GM. Every GM has been a first time hire and Adams had no FO experience whatsoever. on the ice they have not paid to bring in quality vets to allow the kids to develop. This team needs 2-3 Zucker types up front and a couple more on the backend. They have not supported Power at all with a proper vet D partner to guide him. The assistant coaches wouldn’t be hired anywhere else. That is Pegula's impact on the franchise and why they continue this cycle of losing. Until they they hire a better hockey man up top nothing will change and nothing will matter.

Do you think anything will embarrass Pegula at this point? Anything that will make him to really get serious about building a winning franchise?

Delaware North is a Buffalo company with two of the brothers living in Buffalo. It would be the best option for Terry if he were to sell. The thing I think a lot of people miss is “that if Terry sells then someone will move it out of town” How could Pegula sell the Sabres and let them leave Buffalo and still own the Bills? Couldn’t happen. People would skewer him. So he would either be selling everything Bills and Sabres related or selling the Sabres to a group to keep the team in Buffalo. If he ever plans to sell at all.

This 3 way exchange sounds ludicrous but the idea of Delaware North being a possible interested option in the future is a little comforting.

The Jacobs Famly (Delaware North) wants to buy the Sabres but it gets complcated. -this is on hfboards. It comes from a guy in Boston that mods confirmed is connected. I won’t link because I don’t think that is allowed but you can go there and read the thread. He replies a lot and has some interesting info about the entire situation. Anyways herehere is what he says initially: ”This rumor has been percolating in Boston for a few weeks and spawns from the Celtics being up for sale. Delaware North simply can't afford the Celtics who could be sold for $5 BILLION The six children of Jeremy Jacobs now own the Bruins and Delaware North owns TD Garden. The family feels they can build a new arena downtown to replace the flawed KeyBank Center. But for this to work you need a third team and the Penguins are the perfect fit as Terry Pegula has strong Pennslynaia connections and the Penguins are currently owned by the Red Sox. Fenway Sports Group then winds up with the Bruins/TD Garden and can overpay for the Celtics and prevent another arena from being built. The one thing nobody outside of the Jacobs family knows is the health of Jeremy.” TAKE WITH A GIANT GRAIN OF SALT. They said Jacob’s hasn’t been seen in 2 years and missed the Bruins Centennial event recently. Jacob’s said the Bruins wouldn’t be sold while he was alive but his kids could do as they please once he has passed. It’s too crazy of an idea but I think Delaware North is probably the best option down the line to keep the Sabres in Buffalo. They could build an arena and control all the concessions. ONE CAN DREAM😁

It’s all money related. Pegula stopped wanting to spend the money. They don’t pay for a quality POHO, quality GM, quality Front Office overall. Don’t pay for a quality coaching staff. Do scouting on the cheap. Don’t want to pay for quality vets so they throw the ELC contract kids in the lineup to sink or swim. The fact they thought it was a smart idea to say publicly that they are going lean and that they want to maintain their lifestyle is just mind boggling. And Adams standing up in front of the media and lying through his teeth everytime that there are no financial restrictions on him. Clown Show. They are not a serious organization under Pegula plain and simple.

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nfl/article/ask-madden-jets-owner-reportedly-axed-jeudy-trade-based-on-video-game-ratings/ The football version of the Sabres. Amazing how much damage poor ownership can have on a franchise’s success

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/scouts-analysis-why-the-sabres-potential-isnt-paying-off/ Really good article on an outsider’s POV of the Sabres. He nails it in my opinion.

https://www.tsn.ca/video/the-smokehouse-gm-drurys-effect-on-rangers-has-been-negative-not~3049542 https://www.yardbarker.com/nhl/articles/rangers_blame_struggles_on_gm_chris_drury_at_players_only_meeting_report/s1_17615_41434753 The bloom is off the rose for Drury in NY.

Uh those teams don’t have an owner that believes the solution is in the room 😁

https://www.tsn.ca/nhl/video/the-talking-point-have-the-sabres-hit-rock-bottom~3049491

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/why-nhl-teams-should-reconsider-teardown-rebuilds-and-prioritize-winning/

My God Kevyn isn’t even functioning at this point. Please step in NHL and do something here.

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/how-strong-locker-room-culture-gives-great-teams-an-edge/

Can Gary Bettman step in and tell Terry, “We are assigning Ken Holland to run the team and make all hockey related decisions. This mess has to be cleaned up.”

Imagine travelling back in time and telling everyone that this guy will turn this franchise into the laughingstock of all sports and will not make the playoffs once under his guidance. How does Terry look in the mirror? ”No Mr. Black, not Hockey Heaven, it becomes Hockey Hell”

0 for 14 as owner. The one thing Pegula hasn’t done in this awful period is hire a vet NHL guy to lead the franchise. It’s the one thing he has left to try. He has proven he has no idea how to identify and build a strong front office. Let a seasoned NHL guy give it a go.

You can’t know who will be part of the solution until you have the right people in place above the team. 1) Terry needs to F the Hell off. He needs to realize he has no clue what he’s doing and FINALLY realize he needs vet NHL people in here to guide the ship and make the decision. A Ken Holland type at the top. And they don’t need Terry’s input everyday. Back off and let them cook. 2) Let him hire a competent vet GM, someone respected that can attract quality assistant GMs. Then hire a quality coach who is respected and can attract quality assistant coaches. 3) Let them figure out a vision and path forward. Once that is completed then you can start deciding who among this group can be part of the solution. 4) All of this is only possible if Terry opens up the purse strings to allow it to happen.