Peters Says to Expect Major Changes to the Organization Before End of Season

[K-9]

4 hours ago, PASabreFan said:

You let your hockey czar figure out how to achieve the mission. While I don't endorse meddling, there's no way a new owner would or should hire someone who's fine with the glacier-like pace of returning NHL hockey to Buffalo.

Especially the word grifter. Pretend not to see the franchise GOAT, cry a little, build a rink on top of a donut shop and move right along to the Bills. "I'm really a football guy." Someone wake Merriam and Webster up, assuming it was two people.

[nucci]

5 hours ago, PromoTheRobot said:

You act like owners don't care about the $5-6MM gross per game. Don't forget the road team gets 40%.

They care but TV money and betting has moved tickets sales down the list

[Radar]

10 hours ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Go on Two Bills Drive.

The Bills are a national brand now. The Sabres are a quaint local distraction.

I was saying I don't agree most Bills fans don't care about the Sabres. Nationally maybe but locally they're, I would guess, many who care about both franchises.

[PromoTheRobot]

7 hours ago, Flashsabre said:

Is this TSN Tortorella led group story recent? Doug MaCLean said last year on Kypreos podcast that he heard Torts friend was looking at buying the Sabres. Was this a new report?

That was the one and only time that rumor was floated. That led to Peters vague prediction. Now the flourish of Jemel tweets. 

[PromoTheRobot]

2 hours ago, nucci said:

They care but TV money and betting has moved tickets sales down the list

True but they aren't scoffing at in-game revenue. In fact she if they betting money Congress from sports books right inside the stadium.

My boss took me to a Pats game this year. He's a station ticket holder. It had been a few years since I had been to Gillette and it's changed quite a bit. A Davio's restaurant with game views and a huge sports book there now. Why add those things if revenue from attendance doesn't matter?

Edited March 2, 2022 by PromoTheRobot

[Sabres Fan in NS]

I have said it before and I will say it again ... the Sabres will never move from Buffalo.  The franchise would fold before move.

[Curt]

39 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

That was the one and only time that rumor was floated. That led to Peters vague prediction. Now the flourish of Jemel tweets. 

That story did not lead into what Peters said.  The Torts story came out in June.  Peters started talking about this in January, like 6 months later.

[SabresVet]

10 hours ago, 7+6=13 said:

It's funny how some still think the NFL is funded by game attendance. 

Do you know who you're responding to?  

[That Aud Smell]

10 hours ago, JohnC said:

.So your main criticism of this grand and complicated project is that you don't find it aesthetically pleasing. Do you know what is less aesthetic than his completed project? An empty building with little activity around it. 

Grand. That’s rich. 

My main criticisms of Jemal have little to do with what be actually *does* with his projects, once they’re greenlit. 

That said, I think you fail to apprehend or appreciate why his street-side design at Seneca One is more than an aesthetic issue - like one of mere preference. It’s god awful urban planning - right smack dab in our historically rich and beautiful Joseph Ellicott area. These sorts of things make downtown worse. The fact that this piece of his plan was passed is indicative of the “main criticisms” and concerns I have with him.

The approach of “whatever this guy wants to do is better than en empty or disused building” is exactly what allows bad, ugly, short-sighted planning decisions to hurt Buffalo. It’s a shame.

[Scottysabres]

13 hours ago, Marvin, Sabres Fan said:

I am not allowed by my religion to take the hallucinogenics which you are taking.  Not enough people care, taxes are too high, the business climate is too bad, the politics are too liberal, the city is too small, the residents are too poor on average, and the team has been too bad for too long.  Unless the Pegulas sell to someone with ties to the city, the Sabres are gone.

I agree

So, to recap, buy the team, shed some tears for your younger self hero, proclaim the team exists to win, then commence to destroying the finished product for a decade, buy the larger profit making product in the market, prepare to dump the near worthless product you created, all while building a couple of cool projects in the market.....

If Pegula sells the Sabres, they are as good as gone. May as well tear down the arena. Congrats Terry Pegula, you've managed to destroy one of the most die hard hockey fan bases in the NHL, you've successfully made a small market team much much smaller. All while dragging that same fan base through the last 10 yrs of the clubs existence in to hockey hell.

Edited March 2, 2022 by Scottysabres

[Marvin]

11 minutes ago, Scottysabres said:

I agree

So, to recap, buy the team, shed some tears for your younger self hero, proclaim the team exists to win, then commence to destroying the finished product for a decade, buy the larger profit making product in the market, prepare to dump the near worthless product you created, all while building a couple of cool projects in the market.....

If Pegula sells the Sabres, they are as good as gone. May as well tear down the arena. Congrats Terry Pegula, you've managed to destroy one of the most die hard hockey fan bases in the NHL, you've successfully made a small market team much much smaller. All while dragging that same fan base through the last 10 yrs of the clubs existence in to hockey hell.

This brings up a interesting point -- what was the beginning of the end?  I think the original distal cause is The Tank.  But the most important proximate cause was the trade of Ryan O'Reilly.  It's not even the return; it was that it signified the first rebuild of the rebuild -- and was entirely unnecessary.  I still can't believe that XGMJB was trying to trade O'Reilly before the TDL.  How dumb is that?  Once that happened, we were in for more suffering.

[dudacek]

I don't think Terry is tired of this toy and ready to cast it aside.

I don't know why a bored billionaire would lock himself into a pandemic Buffalo office space in the middle of summer for an entire weekend to listen to Jerry Forton and Sam Ventura debate the merits of Viljami Marjala and William Van Barnekow. That is pure and utter Sabrespace level hockey geek behaviour.

I do think that he is about to embark on a building project worth 10 Douglas Jemals and should be fixated on getting a) his personal fiscal house in lean order, and b) any kind of investment support he can.

These rumours need to be filtered through that lens.

If he's close to getting the stadium deal done, I would guess any deal related to the Sabres is either a) past being necessary, or b) already pretty much done.

Edited March 2, 2022 by dudacek

[Doohickie]

11 hours ago, Pimlach said:

I’m talking about the entire game experience, including the pre-game, and post-game.  Especially the televised product  

If only ESPN+ would show the pre- and postgame coverage to out-of-market viewers (like NHL.tv did).

[Doohickie]

11 hours ago, Porous Five Hole said:

You and I agree. I’m not saying the Sabres aren’t on the block because I don’t know that…but someone needs to explain to me how selling the hockey team furthers the Bills long term interests. The owner is worth five billion dollars.  He doesn’t need to sell the hockey team to build a stadium. Debt can be utilized to build a stadium.  
 

I think people are putting too much emphasis on Twitter rumors. And I’m not interested in fighting the Twitter mob.  But it just doesn’t make sense to me that the Sabres are for sale.  
 

Someone, please, make it make sense (ducks). Are people saying Terry & Kim are so butt hurt over negative press that they don’t care anymore? Is this what it is all about? Because I’ll die on the hill that it isn’t about money…regardless of how big their yacht is. 

It's not hard to figure out.  If they do take on debt it will affect their cashflow while they're paying it back.  Cashflow for the Sabres has slowed to a trickle at a time when they would like to maximize their cashflow.  It makes sense that a partial or total sale of the Sabres would improve their cashflow (with a lump sum) and reduce the amount of debt they have to service.

It's kind of like you want to do major renovations to your primary residence, so you sell your lake cottage to help finance the renovations.

[That Aud Smell]

52 minutes ago, dudacek said:

I don't know why a bored billionaire would lock himself into a pandemic Buffalo office space in the middle of summer for an entire weekend to listen to Jerry Forton and Sam Ventura debate the merits of Viljami Marjala and William Van Barnekow. That is pure and utter Sabrespace level hockey geek behaviour.

Did that happen?

[dudacek]

5 minutes ago, That Aud Smell said:

Did that happen?

The Sabres draft videos show Terry at the table throughout, both days.

[Marvin]

1 hour ago, dudacek said:

I don't think Terry is tired of this toy and ready to cast it aside.

I don't know why a bored billionaire would lock himself into a pandemic Buffalo office space in the middle of summer for an entire weekend to listen to Jerry Forton and Sam Ventura debate the merits of Viljami Marjala and William Van Barnekow. That is pure and utter Sabrespace level hockey geek behaviour.

I do think that he is about to embark on a building project worth 10 Douglas Jemals and should be fixated on getting a) his personal fiscal house in lean order, and b) any kind of investment support he can.

These rumours need to be filtered through that lens.

If he's close to getting the stadium deal done, I would guess any deal related to the Sabres is either a) past being necessary, or b) already pretty much done.

That is an interesting analysis and food for thought.  Thank you for that perspective.

[nfreeman]

I will also repeat something else I've said on this:  the Sabres' franchise value is probably pretty GD depressed right now, with attendance at rock-bottom, the team looking at another bottom-3 finish and various pandemic and other economic hits to WNY reducing demand for tickets for the foreseeable future.  It would not make economic sense for TP to sell the team, or a portion of it, now.  It would make much more sense to wait a couple of years for the team and the economy to (presumptively) improve.

[Radar]

1 hour ago, Marvin, Sabres Fan said:

This brings up a interesting point -- what was the beginning of the end?  I think the original distal cause is The Tank.  But the most important proximate cause was the trade of Ryan O'Reilly.  It's not even the return; it was that it signified the first rebuild of the rebuild -- and was entirely unnecessary.  I still can't believe that XGMJB was trying to trade O'Reilly before the TDL.  How dumb is that?  Once that happened, we were in for more suffering.

Bure/Drury departures more so.

[That Aud Smell]

22 minutes ago, dudacek said:

The Sabres draft videos show Terry at the table throughout, both days.

ahh, okay. thanks. initially, the timing confused me. middle of the summer? but the draft was held later because of the pandemic, IIRC.

1 hour ago, The Ghost of Yuri said:

It makes sense that a partial or total sale of the Sabres would improve their cashflow (with a lump sum) and reduce the amount of debt they have to service.

I do not mean to be pedantic, but that sort of thing would improve their cash position - not their cash flow.

[PASabreFan]

2 hours ago, Marvin, Sabres Fan said:

This brings up a interesting point -- what was the beginning of the end?  I think the original distal cause is The Tank.  But the most important proximate cause was the trade of Ryan O'Reilly.  It's not even the return; it was that it signified the first rebuild of the rebuild -- and was entirely unnecessary.  I still can't believe that XGMJB was trying to trade O'Reilly before the TDL.  How dumb is that?  Once that happened, we were in for more suffering.

Let's not overthink. The beginning of the end was even before Terry cried. After the intro presser he went over to the Buffalo News editorial board and told them he had ALREADY rejected Darcy's plan. Instead of trusting the GM who had done a very good job on skintight budgets to take advantage of more resources in his own time and way, he forced his will. He meddled. Welcome Ville Leino and all the rest. The rest is history.

Edited March 2, 2022 by PASabreFan

[woods-racer]

11 hours ago, K-9 said:

How many SS's are in this picture?

Has to be mid 80's?

Come on old farts fess up.

[tom webster]

42 minutes ago, nfreeman said:

I will also repeat something else I've said on this:  the Sabres' franchise value is probably pretty GD depressed right now, with attendance at rock-bottom, the team looking at another bottom-3 finish and various pandemic and other economic hits to WNY reducing demand for tickets for the foreseeable future.  It would not make economic sense for TP to sell the team, or a portion of it, now.  It would make much more sense to wait a couple of years for the team and the economy to (presumptively) improve.

And I’ve said this before, franchise values are expected to skyrocket. If they decide to sell, it will be because someone has offered them a deal that reflects this. 

[That Aud Smell]

29 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

he went over to the Buffalo News editorial board and told them he had ALREADY rejected Darcy's plan.

Is true? Link?

I remember him saying that they shouldn’t be mean to the Sabre players — and referenced his daughter’s tennis career.

[nfreeman]

35 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

Let's not overthink. The beginning of the end was even before Terry cried. After the intro presser he went over to the Buffalo News editorial board and told them he had ALREADY rejected Darcy's plan. Instead of trusting the GM who had done a very good job on skintight budgets to take advantage of more resources in his own time and way, he forced his will. He meddled. Welcome Ville Leino and all the rest. The rest is history.

 

4 minutes ago, That Aud Smell said:

Is true? Link?

I remember him saying that they shouldn’t be mean to the Sabre players — and referenced his daughter’s tennis career.

I think PA's post reflects a large amount of spin and would like a link on this.