Matthew Fairburn Latest Article regarding Terry Pegula and Adams

[LTS]

33 minutes ago, Thorny said:

ADMIRAL Pegula?!!!!

Admiral…..

Yep.. he's running the ship!

[Thorny]

4 minutes ago, LTS said:

Yep.. he's running the ship!

Terry tasks me. He tasks me and I shall have him! I'll chase him 'round the moons of Nibia and 'round the Antares Maelstrom and 'round perdition's flames before I give him up!

[Taro T]

3 hours ago, JoeSchmoe said:

Despite the bluster I find deep down, Rivet is actually sincere, humble guy and I like listening to him. Peters on the other hand thinks he's the smartest guy in the room, which (as per your post) is very far from the truth.

I'm still a regular listener, but if Rivet left, there's no chance I'm listening to Peters.

In fairness to Peters, even if he was an individual of average intelligence in his youth, in his late adolescence / early adulthood he became a hard core user of andro (since banned for NHLers) and his job description included taking haymakers to the melon on a fairly regular basis.  Of course he isn't even remotely the smartest guy in whatever room he's in presuming he isn't the only guy in the room (and even then it's debatable).

[Pimlach]

51 minutes ago, JohnC said:

It's not a surprise that the hockey decisions are made by the GM. As you note, that's a standard NHL setup. What's different about this situation is the selection of KA to be the GM with the paltry credentials and experience to do such a challenging job. Sometimes a surprising and out of the box pick for a key job turns out to be a home run that surprises the conventional thinkers in the business. But in this case, after a five-year run, his personal selection to head his hockey operation has a record that is not very distinguished. So the owner made an unexpected selection that didn't work out, it happens. The bigger mistake is in his retention after a five-year middling stint. And that's on the owner. 

Closing the door on Shanny doesn't bother me at all. The owner has the ability to talk to a lot of people in the business from analysts, people formerly associated with other teams, media people etc. It can be done on an informal basis or more formal basis. How many people tuned into the NHL do you think would tell the owner that his current GM is doing a stellar job? I doubt any would. Even I, with a rudimentary knowledge of the sport, recognizes someone who is inadequate to manage a hockey operation. I blame the owner for this longstanding stagnant franchise.

 

It bothers me a little bit.   Terry needs to inject something new into the organization, especially at the top of hockey operations.  Shanny's results as an exec may be mixed, but he is a HoF player and well connected throughout the league.   

Buffalo is said to be a place players don't want to go to, stated by their own GM.   If Shanny is calling the owner to talk about a position then invite him down to the yacht and talk.   Maybe he can help?  Maybe he knows others that can help?  Maybe he can attract help?  

I am skeptical that this ever even happened. 

 

[Believer]

40 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

So the owner made an unexpected selection that didn't work out, it happens. The bigger mistake is in his retention after a five-year middling stint. And that's on the owner. 

Truth.

 

 

[Brawndo]

4 hours ago, Pimlach said:

I was just told this past week by some people close to the Sabres that Adams runs the hockey operations and the "run it by Terry" stuff is pretty much always met with an "ok" and that this practice is not so unusual in todays NHL.   

The draft picks, the "no blockers", ignoring of the goaltending, the lack of big trades, the poor roster construction  - its all Adams, even the cap situation is Adams saving cap space for his prospects/trades.  That is what I am hearing right now.  

The insiders were making it clear that Adams record is on him and if he were better at his job the team would have improved by now.   Terry is not stopping the notion of improvement, but he wants to be informed of what is happening, same as he is with the Bills.  Adams keeps him in the loop and listens to him, therefore he can fulfill his contract and then we shall see what happens.  

Terry has McBeane with the Bills, and they are quite good at their job, and keep him informed too.  Terry just cannot figure out the NHL.   If he really said this to Shanny, and if he closed that  door so quickly, it confirms that he is lost in the NHL world.   

 

I am going to disagree on the cap situation, that one is all Terry. Matthew Fairburn mentioned that the Sabres have had almost 60 million dollars in unused cap space over the past five years and only cap dump the Sabres have taken on was Ben Bishop to get to the floor. They are one of the franchises that receives revenue sharing and yet they never retained or acted as a third team broker to retain salary. How do you think the owners of the teams that pay into revenue sharing feel when their organizations are performing salary cap gymnastics in a flat cap world while the Sabres are sitting on unused space. Adams is complicit in the fact he is still willing to do this entering his sixth season as only two teams have made the playoffs in the past decade that were in the bottom ten for spending. 
 

Sean Monahan and Calgary’s First was offered to the Sabres as a cap dump, something that Adams actually wanted to do, but was ultimately told no. Instead Montreal ended up with two firsts for their trouble. 
 

I understand that GMs have to check with their owners about potential moves, but could you imagine Jim Nill or Joe Sakic calling their respective owners to ask about trading Henry Jokiharju for a 4th at the TDL? 

[Brawndo]

1 hour ago, Pimlach said:

It bothers me a little bit.   Terry needs to inject something new into the organization, especially at the top of hockey operations.  Shanny's results as an exec may be mixed, but he is a HoF player and well connected throughout the league.   

Buffalo is said to be a place players don't want to go to, stated by their own GM.   If Shanny is calling the owner to talk about a position then invite him down to the yacht and talk.   Maybe he can help?  Maybe he knows others that can help?  Maybe he can attract help?  

I am skeptical that this ever even happened. 

 

Not a fan of Terry at all so I have no reason to defend him, but you are correct this did not happen 

[kas23]

17 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

I am going to disagree on the cap situation, that one is all Terry. Matthew Fairburn mentioned that the Sabres have had almost 60 million dollars in unused cap space over the past five years and only cap dump the Sabres have taken on was Ben Bishop to get to the floor. They are one of the franchises that receives revenue sharing and yet they never retained or acted as a third team broker to retain salary. How do you think the owners of the teams that pay into revenue sharing feel when their organizations are performing salary cap gymnastics in a flat cap world while the Sabres are sitting on unused space. Adams is complicit in the fact he is still willing to do this entering his sixth season as only two teams have made the playoffs in the past decade that were in the bottom ten for spending. 
 

Sean Monahan and Calgary’s First was offered to the Sabres as a cap dump, something that Adams actually wanted to do, but was ultimately told no. Instead Montreal ended up with two firsts for their trouble. 
 

I understand that GMs have to check with their owners about potential moves, but could you imagine Jim Nill or Joe Sakic calling their respective owners to ask about trading Henry Jokiharju for a 4th at the TDL? 

If a team like the Sabres are recipients of revenue sharing, at what point does the NHL step in and encourage him to sell the team. The NHL did so with Alex Meruelo and the Coyotes, found him a nice buyer, and eventually tripled his money in less than 5 years. This had a lot to do with the Coyotes not having an NHL arena to play in. But, I wonder if there are any by-laws stipulating revenue generation as requisite for ownership? This is likely why there is a new stadium for the Bills being built. The Sabres revenue growth over the past 10 years must be negative. 
 

ChatGPT says the owners must be in the bottom half of revenue, have a small market, the owner must not have too much personal wealth, and lastly, this:

 

Effort to Improve Revenue

Teams must also show that ownership is making “best efforts” to increase revenue (e.g., through ticket sales, sponsorships, arena improvements).

The NHL can withhold funds if the league believes the team isn’t trying hard enough to improve financially.

 

Would be interesting to see if withholding revenue sharing could lead to an ownership change. 

[Brawndo]

1 hour ago, kas23 said:

If a team like the Sabres are recipients of revenue sharing, at what point does the NHL step in and encourage him to sell the team. The NHL did so with Alex Meruelo and the Coyotes, found him a nice buyer, and eventually tripled his money in less than 5 years. This had a lot to do with the Coyotes not having an NHL arena to play in. But, I wonder if there are any by-laws stipulating revenue generation as requisite for ownership? This is likely why there is a new stadium for the Bills being built. The Sabres revenue growth over the past 10 years must be negative. 
 

ChatGPT says the owners must be in the bottom half of revenue, have a small market, the owner must not have too much personal wealth, and lastly, this:

 

Effort to Improve Revenue

Teams must also show that ownership is making “best efforts” to increase revenue (e.g., through ticket sales, sponsorships, arena improvements).

The NHL can withhold funds if the league believes the team isn’t trying hard enough to improve financially.

 

Would be interesting to see if withholding revenue sharing could lead to an ownership change. 

I believe there are a couple reasons the league has not stepped in. 
 

First there is a general sense of sympathy towards the Pegulas for what Kim is going through. 
The league had to clean up two situations with Ownership of Ottawa and Arizona needing to change hands
Getting the new CBA done. 
There probably is an overall reluctance by the other owners to strip a franchise from a fellow owner as they would not want the same thing happening to them. 
 

I imagine the decreased revenue coming from the Buffalo Market is a bone of contention for the other owners, there probably will be a strong suggestion about hiring someone with experience into the GM role, Hello Jarmo, and spending to the cap coming in the next season or two 

[Taro T]

32 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

I believe there are a couple reasons the league has not stepped in. 
 

First there is a general sense of sympathy towards the Pegulas for what Kim is going through. 
The league had to clean up two situations with Ownership of Ottawa and Arizona needing to change hands
Getting the new CBA done. 
There probably is an overall reluctance by the other owners to strip a franchise from a fellow owner as they would not want the same thing happening to them. 
 

I imagine the decreased revenue coming from the Buffalo Market is a bone of contention for the other owners, there probably will be a strong suggestion about hiring someone with experience into the GM role, Hello Jarmo, and spending to the cap coming in the next season or two 

Any thoughts on whether the other owners can actually get Pegula to punt Adams?  Can see them being torn on the issue.  Yes, Buffalo could bring in quite a bit more money into the system if they'd rejoin the league.

BUT if they do rejoin the league, then the other owners are competing against 31 other franchises rather than just 30.  They already took Arizona back into the league (though they relocated the club, it is quite likley now an actual rival rather than a joke / afterthought), do they really want NO byes on their schedules?

[Brawndo]

Just now, Taro T said:

Any thoughts on whether the other owners can actually get Pegula to punt Adams?  Can see them being torn on the issue.  Yes, Buffalo could bring in quite a bit more money into the system if they'd rejoin the league.

BUT if they do rejoin the league, then the other owners are competing against 31 other franchises rather than just 30.  They already took Arizona back into the league (though they relocated the club, it is quite likley now an actual rival rather than a joke / afterthought), do they really want NO byes on their schedules?

Owners care about maximizing revenue, empty seats at KBC doesn’t achieve this. 
 

Pretty much all the contracts with the Front Office (including Adams)and Coaching Staff expire after this year, Pegula can walk away with no financial compensation owed after June 30th. 

[Taro T]

4 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

Owners care about maximizing revenue, empty seats at KBC doesn’t achieve this. 
 

Pretty much all the contracts with the Front Office (including Adams)and Coaching Staff expire after this year, Pegula can walk away with no financial compensation owed after June 30th. 

Well, yes, he can.

Why should we have ANY expectation that he might do so?  So far, he treats Adams the way Granato treated Henri, and we all know Granato LOVES HIM some Jokiharju.

[PerreaultForever]

18 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

Owners care about maximizing revenue, empty seats at KBC doesn’t achieve this. 
 

Pretty much all the contracts with the Front Office (including Adams)and Coaching Staff expire after this year, Pegula can walk away with no financial compensation owed after June 30th. 

and that is most likely what will happen, but it's not how you build a winning hockey team. 

[kas23]

20 minutes ago, Brawndo said:

Owners care about maximizing revenue, empty seats at KBC doesn’t achieve this. 
 

Pretty much all the contracts with the Front Office (including Adams)and Coaching Staff expire after this year, Pegula can walk away with no financial compensation owed after June 30th. 

This is true. Owners can win 2 different ways and one is more important than the other. They can maximize the amount of money they make and they can actual win a Cup. Only 1 team wins a Cup each season, so this probably amounts to bragging rights. The real goal is to make money. 

[Brawndo]

12 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Well, yes, he can.

Why should we have ANY expectation that he might do so?  So far, he treats Adams the way Granato treated Henri, and we all know Granato LOVES HIM some Jokiharju.

There are enough rumblings about Jarmo taking the Senior Advisor Position with the understanding he would move into the GM Position within 12 months. 
 

And there is a 0.00000001% chance that Adams realizes he is in over his head and will accept a position in the business side of the organization