Baker & Fairburn pod: The time has come

[Taro T]

2 minutes ago, Archie Lee said:

With so many real things to be critical of Sabre management for, I guess I just struggle with finding reasons to be critical of the things they got right. I mean, we want them to consider the opinions of their development staff, right?  

This is hilarious.  'They'd've drafted Benson anyhow, they like small players high in the draft.'  Yes, they do like small forwards, if they can skate like the wind which Benson doesn't do.

'Well, they listened to their development people and that was a good thing.'  Well, yes, they DID listen to their development people and that was a very good thing because as have said previously the Benson pick was a very good one and he's better than anyone else they had been inclined to pick instead of him.

 

Please show us what was critical of them choosing Benson?  That was great.  But they wouldn't have taken him had they not drafted Savoie and they very likely wouldn't have had McLeod if they hadn't drafted Savoie.  So, in a round about way, drafting Savoie was an excellent choice as that pick resulted in them getting the value of McLeod and also the added value of Benson over whomever else was on their radar when they chose Benson over that guy.

 

[Flashsabre]

Maybe Terry will fly to Detroit to address the team and fix everything like he did in Montreal last year🙄😝😂

I just remember how much Kevyn kissed his ass afterwards saying how impressive the things Terry said in the dressing room were😳 

[Spoonman]

22 hours ago, Jorcus said:

 

It's the NHL general managers meeting. They are all in Toronto. 

I like my conspiracy theories. 🤐

[Crusader1969]

16 hours ago, oddoublee said:

I'm clearly in the minority here. I actually liked the way the team had been playing to start the year. 

I'm no KA defender and never will be....but to say this team has not been severely impacted by roster injuries would be horribly unfair.

This roster has been gutted.

I’m with you. At full strength, the team looked okay—which is an improvement. But injuries aside, 1 win in the last 10 shows it’s time to move on. Holding onto a long-term GM hoping things will click is like keeping an ex’s number—you know they weren’t great to begin with, but you convince yourself they could be okay if things were different. Most of the time, you’re better off cutting ties and moving forward.

[JP51]

On 11/15/2025 at 12:55 PM, Crusader1969 said:

I’m with you. At full strength, the team looked okay—which is an improvement. But injuries aside, 1 win in the last 10 shows it’s time to move on. Holding onto a long-term GM hoping things will click is like keeping an ex’s number—you know they weren’t great to begin with, but you convince yourself they could be okay if things were different. Most of the time, you’re better off cutting ties and moving forward.

I wish I was with the concept of we need to retool or we are making progress . I would say even if we are a little, I dont see it being the type of progress that propels us to the playoffs as a relevant contending team... JMO ( you may be here as well...) 

but in the end I am at the... how do you fix this... (simplistic take on what would be an involved plan) A significant addition of Vet talent, an overhaul of they type of skilled player that plays with grit, Veteran leadership that by example demands 60 minutes of effort and consistency to change the over all culture of this team...  If you could execute on this strategy in our current form then fine, lets re tool.... Problem to me is actually getting those players, especially talented vets,   to come here via trade or FA  after the longest tenure of failure in the league faced with incompetent management and ownership...  

So to me they need to eradicate the FO and coaching staff... hire and pay a well respected and successful GM/POHO and allow them to assess the players and situation. One that could actually convince a more talented player to come here because it is going to be different...  I also accept that the decision may be blow it up, trade for assets and totally rebuild... in fact, I feel like that is the most likely outcome... but who knows...  

But in the end, we need to remove the we cannot obtain talent via trade or FA moniker from this team... that at this point is the scarlet letter that this brand bears as a result of multiple decades of embarrassing and unparallel incompetence and abject failure...  

 

Edited yesterday at 02:44 PM by JP51

[Taro T]

Yeah, Adams needs to go.  But Forton needs to be clearing out his desk the same day.  Doesn't Pegula have some sort of tie to Jerry?  He'll be a mole in the new guy's operation and end up with too loud a voice.  Until Forton is gone, personally don't expect things will ever truly change.

Yes, Adams is bad at his job and needs to go, but Forton seems to be the cancer that's going to metastasize throughout the organization.

IF he survives the next purge, and personally expect he will someone somehow be one of the survivors, would almost rather have him be the GM and take the pain that comes with him demonstrating the Peter Principle than have him merely having one of the loudest voices in the room and having Pegula's ear.  Because, they're always going to do boneheaded things as long as he has input.  Yes, he identified McAvoy, but he was unable to convince anyone else.  Since then, he hasn't seemed to be as good at picking them, but he has found his voice in the room, unfortunately.

Edited 22 hours ago by Taro T
Fixed autocorrect

[#freejame]

The thing that bugs me most about the whole Jerry Forton and his influence is how there’s a story out there that he’s close to the McAvoy’s and was pushing hard for us to draft Charlie, but we instead went Nylander. The one time the guy was right, we ignored him. 

[Thorny]

2 hours ago, Taro T said:

Yeah, Adams needs to go.  But Forton needs to be clearing out his desk the same day.  Doesn't Pegula have some sort of tie to Jerry?  He'll be a mole in the new guy's operation and end up with too loud a voice.  Until Forton is gone, personally don't expect things will ever truly change.

Yes, Adams is bad at his job and needs to go, but Forton seems to be the cancer that's going to metastasize throughout the organization.

IF he survives the next purge, and personally expect he will someone be one of the survivors, would almost rather have him be the GM and take the pain that comes with him demonstrating the Peter Principle than have him merely having one of the loudest voices in the room and having Pegula's ear.  Because, they're always going to do boneheaded things as long as he has input.  Yes, he identified McAvoy, but he was unable to convince anyone else.  Since then, he hasn't seemed to be as good at picking them, but he has found his voice in the room, unfortunately.

UnFortonately he’s a lifer 

[LTS]

1 minute ago, Thorny said:

UnFortonately he’s a lifer 

And if that's the case.. and because of Pegula it all circles back to.. we're doomed as long as Pegula owns the team.

Also.. well done!

[PASabreFan]

They're talking about it on FortChan.

Thorny, back to you.

[#freejame]

1 minute ago, PASabreFan said:

They're talking about it on FortChan.

Thorny, back to you.

Isn’t that Chan Gaileys personal blog?

[Thorny]

6 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

They're talking about it on FortChan.

Thorny, back to you.

In the year Forton-five forton-five…if Sabes are, still alive.. 🎵

[PASabreFan]

59 minutes ago, Thorny said:

In the year Forton-five forton-five…if Sabes are, still alive.. 🎵

[Brawndo]

7 hours ago, #freejame said:

The thing that bugs me most about the whole Jerry Forton and his influence is how there’s a story out there that he’s close to the McAvoy’s and was pushing hard for us to draft Charlie, but we instead went Nylander. The one time the guy was right, we ignored him. 

Forton was the source of the story. He told it on Sabres Live one day 

[PerreaultForever]

On 11/15/2025 at 8:16 AM, Archie Lee said:

There is lots to be critical of Sabres management for. But, Zach Benson was a top 10 ranked pick. He was on every team’s radar. I’m sure the Sabres got some extra looks with Savoie being on the same team, but it was completely consistent with their draft history under Adams for them to take Benson where they did. 

Benson was ranked as high as 5. He fell because of his size. They lucked out. It happens all the time with smaller guys who end up being good. 

The best way to evaluate it is to look at who was drafted after him. Nobody there in the first round stands out as a missed opportunity. Benson was the best pick at that spot. No question. I don't think that's genius on the Sabres part though. Just luck. 

[LGR4GM]

6 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

Benson was ranked as high as 5. He fell because of his size. They lucked out. It happens all the time with smaller guys who end up being good. 

The best way to evaluate it is to look at who was drafted after him. Nobody there in the first round stands out as a missed opportunity. Benson was the best pick at that spot. No question. I don't think that's genius on the Sabres part though. Just luck. 

Zach Benson is the pick that convinced me elite prospects do a better job at scouting than most nhl teams. 

The ability to win battles, manipulate defenders, and put pucks into HD areas all while being excellent defensively is apparently hard to see for most teams. It's why this draft season I wonder about Stenberg and Belchetz being more effective at the nhl than McKenna. 

[Archie Lee]

7 hours ago, PerreaultForever said:

Benson was ranked as high as 5. He fell because of his size. They lucked out. It happens all the time with smaller guys who end up being good. 

The best way to evaluate it is to look at who was drafted after him. Nobody there in the first round stands out as a missed opportunity. Benson was the best pick at that spot. No question. I don't think that's genius on the Sabres part though. Just luck. 

I agree it was the obvious pick. I disagree that the only reason Benson was on the Sabres’s radar is because they had drafted Savoie the year before. I spend maybe 3 hours reading draft previews every year and Benson was on MY radar. He was on everyone’s radar. The Sabres didn’t need to see him 10 extra times to know who he was or how good he was. 

[shrader]

What if Forton's right and everyone else is getting in his way?😁

 

Ok, I'll leave.

[DarthEbriate]

54 minutes ago, shrader said:

What if Forton's right and everyone else is getting in his way?😁

 

Ok, I'll leave.

I’ve got Bib Fortona ready to go. 

Dey wanna wanga?

[Mr Peabody]

[PASabreFan]

These guys shouldn't sip from coffee cups and water bottles during the podcast. It's simply horrifying. Fairburn especially seems to fill his mouth then comes close to swishing before swallowing. Just stop.