Anybody fired after the Calgary debacle? Why not?

[HILLsabre]

So, of course not!!!                                 It seems to be a popular sentiment that either 1. Terry doesn't care and is all wrapped up with the Bills and their success OR 2. He is too involved with the Sabres front office and basically pulling a Jerry Jones controlling everything because of his massive ego!  BUT, could it be .......................... That nothing is presently happening because IF management does something dramatic it will confirm "the plan' has failed and this franchise is now in total disarray and people in charge don't know what they're doing. Hence signaling to the NHL there needs to be intervention. Could debilitating fear be paralyzing progress?  I just can't get the memory of Terry tearing up years ago at his introduction press conference with some of those past Sabre HOFamers sitting in the front row. And now not caring about this franchise, it doesn't make sense. Thoughts? Answers?

[#freejame]

The Sabres lost this exact game a week ago and nothing changed. Why would last night be the impetus?

[COSabreFan]

[DarthEbriate]

11 minutes ago, #freejame said:

The Sabres lost this exact game a week ago and nothing changed. Why would last night be the impetus?

Exactly.

Plus, in between they saved their season in the 3rd period vs. Detroit and then had a dominant win against big bad McDavid & Draisaitl. They're safe from change until at least an eight-game losing streak.

[mjd1001]

29 minutes ago, HILLsabre said:

So, of course not!!!                                 It seems to be a popular sentiment that either 1. Terry doesn't care and is all wrapped up with the Bills and their success OR 2. He is too involved with the Sabres front office and basically pulling a Jerry Jones controlling everything because of his massive ego!  BUT, could it be .......................... That nothing is presently happening because IF management does something dramatic it will confirm "the plan' has failed and this franchise is now in total disarray and people in charge don't know what they're doing. Hence signaling to the NHL there needs to be intervention. Could debilitating fear be paralyzing progress?  I just can't get the memory of Terry tearing up years ago at his introduction press conference with some of those past Sabre HOFamers sitting in the front row. And now not caring about this franchise, it doesn't make sense. Thoughts? Answers?

All of the above bolded is true in my opinion.

There is no amount of 'finesse' that can fix this. No one or 2 moves.  No returning injured players. None of that is going to turn this team into a team that is dangerous in any way in the playoffs.

I have been patient with this management group and Adams.  I have thought their defense is young and d-men take longer to develop than forwards so it may take a few years. 

I have thought they young guys (Dahlin, Thompson, Tuch) are now just 'in their prime' and they are ready to carry the team.

I thought that UPL had it in him to be the goaltender he was 2 years ago and last year was just a bad year.

I thought that the young guys in Rochester would progress slightly faster than they have.

All of those things COULD have been true, but they don't look like they are.  I had patience through 3-4 years of this front office, I was losing patience last year..but in year 6, its just too long.  

Changes should have been made 1-2 years ago and they weren't. I was OK with waiting a bit longer but if even "I" have waited this long and nothing has changed, well, something does need to be done now.  Its long enough (even for me, one of the more patient people on this forum)

Clean out the entire front office NOW, so anyone new coming in can have their (hopefully) accelerated evaluation period and then they can start making roster change.  If you wait until the offseason to make changes, then the new Front office will have the excuse they need 1 more year to 'evaluate' the team, then changes might not be made quickly, and we are just putting up with the same thing for longer.

Edited 19 hours ago by mjd1001

[Sidc3000]

Why not? Simple… Terry doesn’t give 💩💩 about the Sabres. He hasn’t cared since he bought the Bills. 

[Pimlach]

No front office changes will be made until the season is over.  By then the Bills will be done and Terry can unveil his next new plan. 

If the team completely quits on their coach then Ruff could go, and Appert can get his look.  

Adams fate will be decided after the season.  

 

[Sidc3000]

4 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

No front office changes will be made until the season is over.  By then the Bills will be done and Terry can unveil his next new plan. 

If the team completely quits on their coach then Ruff could go, and Appert can get his look.  

Adams fate will be decided after the season.  

 

It’s not like it will matter if Adams gets fired either way. Terry is just going to hire a budget GM. 

[HILLsabre]

1 hour ago, #freejame said:

The Sabres lost this exact game a week ago and nothing changed. Why would last night be the impetus?

They didn't lose to the worst team in the league, that like many other teams over the past decade, are going through a rebuild and still kick our butts and doing it with attitude!

[GASabresIUFAN]

They cut Geertsen, what more do you want?

Edited 16 hours ago by GASabresIUFAN

[Ctaeth]

Because the answers are in the room.  Duh!

[PromoTheRobot]

3 hours ago, COSabreFan said:

Yeah, he let the Flames put a 6-burger on you.

[Flashsabre]

What an embarrassing 24 hours for the Pegula Empire but he probably has no clue.

[Crusader1969]

He is just going to let their contracts run out.  No one is getting fired.  

[PerreaultForever]

I actually think Hamilton's comment was spot on. "Terry must be okay with it". 

[HumanSlinky39]

Why not? I can save ya a bunch of reading, the simple answer is this is not a serious hockey organization.

[GoPuckYourself]

He clearly couldn't give a rats ass about the fans, billionaires only care about the bottom line but some also hate to lose although Terry doesn't seem to really care. I haven't been to a game in so long and i don't miss a thing. I've said for a long time if they're doing great and in the playoffs I'll support them but I haven't had to waste my money on them at all, no jersey's no tickets, no merch of any kind. I will not parade that gear around until it's worthy of being paraded around imo.

[mjd1001]

5 hours ago, GoPuckYourself said:

He clearly couldn't give a rats ass about the fans, billionaires only care about the bottom line but some also hate to lose although Terry doesn't seem to really care. I haven't been to a game in so long and i don't miss a thing. I've said for a long time if they're doing great and in the playoffs I'll support them but I haven't had to waste my money on them at all, no jersey's no tickets, no merch of any kind. I will not parade that gear around until it's worthy of being paraded around imo.

A select few of them care about winning more than anything, but many. The rest, they care about winning but ONLY after making lots and lots more money. That must come first.

[LGR4GM]

I have said it a bunch but I'll add it here. I believe Terry is worried about stadium costs and that's his sole focus. He saw that he had a bunch of front office guys with 1yr deals,  so decided to punt on the season. He brought in Kekalainen to audition for gm and knows Ruff will retire at years end. It's a winning formula is Terry's mind where he doesn't have to pay 2 staffs, gets to see if he likes the new gm, and allows Adams to move up into whatever role Terry plans while the stadium overruns get paid off. Bottom line is Terry doesn't care about this year because the stadium and Bills are more important. On top of all that, he's working to get public funding for a arena overhaul. The product on the ice is irrelevant. 

[mjd1001]

2 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

I have said it a bunch but I'll add it here. I believe Terry is worried about stadium costs and that's his sole focus. He saw that he had a bunch of front office guys with 1yr deals,  so decided to punt on the season. He brought in Kekalainen to audition for gm and knows Ruff will retire at years end. It's a winning formula is Terry's mind where he doesn't have to pay 2 staffs, gets to see if he likes the new gm, and allows Adams to move up into whatever role Terry plans while the stadium overruns get paid off. Bottom line is Terry doesn't care about this year because the stadium and Bills are more important. On top of all that, he's working to get public funding for a arena overhaul. The product on the ice is irrelevant. 

It is the most likely scenario but from a Fan's point of view there is.. not one a few but one really big major flaw I see. 

If it plays out that way, Kekalainen is the new GM. 

Where is the exhaustive search for the new GM? Where are multiple interviews, where is the chance to see different points of view? 

If it does play out that way, and I think it's the most likely scenario at this point, it's another case of Terry pegula not taking any chances, going with someone he's comfortable with, rather than the best person for the job.

[JohnC]

2 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

I have said it a bunch but I'll add it here. I believe Terry is worried about stadium costs and that's his sole focus. He saw that he had a bunch of front office guys with 1yr deals,  so decided to punt on the season. He brought in Kekalainen to audition for gm and knows Ruff will retire at years end. It's a winning formula is Terry's mind where he doesn't have to pay 2 staffs, gets to see if he likes the new gm, and allows Adams to move up into whatever role Terry plans while the stadium overruns get paid off. Bottom line is Terry doesn't care about this year because the stadium and Bills are more important. On top of all that, he's working to get public funding for a arena overhaul. The product on the ice is irrelevant. 

No doubt that the increased costs for the new stadium was a concern. But he significantly addressed it by selling minority shares for his franchise and he also used PSL revenue to defray much of the cost. The NFL Bills are a big money-maker and wll be more so with the new stadium in operation. The silent owner has failed with the Sabres because from a hockey standpoint he is inept. 

[Archie Lee]

2 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

I have said it a bunch but I'll add it here. I believe Terry is worried about stadium costs and that's his sole focus. He saw that he had a bunch of front office guys with 1yr deals,  so decided to punt on the season. He brought in Kekalainen to audition for gm and knows Ruff will retire at years end. It's a winning formula is Terry's mind where he doesn't have to pay 2 staffs, gets to see if he likes the new gm, and allows Adams to move up into whatever role Terry plans while the stadium overruns get paid off. Bottom line is Terry doesn't care about this year because the stadium and Bills are more important. On top of all that, he's working to get public funding for a arena overhaul. The product on the ice is irrelevant. 

I agree that this seems like the most logical rationale for what Pegula is doing.  It is perhaps a contradiction though, that they are spending to the cap this year, and were willing to give substantial two-year extensions to players like Zucker and Greenway and a one-way deal to a player like Georgiev.  I'm sure that Georgiev, who Pegula may soon be paying to play in the KHL, makes as much or more than what Ellis and Wilford make combined.  It is difficult to understand why Pegula pinches pennies in one area but not in others.

The reality is that no NHL team fires an entire front office or coaching staff mid-season. It is also pretty rare for a GM to get fired mid-season. Those sort of truly transformational changes, happen in the off-season. What is incomprehensible to me, is that they don't replace Ruff on an interim basis with Leone or even (gag) Appert.  Backfilling an AHL coach or NHL assistant for 3/4 of a season would cost less than what Pegula is paying Curtis Leschsysheynshyynsn.  And, you never know, it might work.  Mid-season coaching changes have positive impacts quite often.  A fresh voice and outlook at the helm combined with getting healthy and, perhaps, a good trade, might position the team to get on an actual roll before it is too late. Loyalty to Ruff for doing Pegula and Adams a solid and taking this job on a two-year contract, might be preventing them from throwing Ruff under the bus. All of which just adds more to the already mountainous evidence that the Sabres are just not run like a normal NHL team.

Finally, one last frightening thought: there is no requirement for an organization to announce that the GM's contract has been extended.  

  

Edited 1 hour ago by Archie Lee

[JP51]

What I would like to this is... Terry is workng behind the scenes to identify a major FO talent with experience and credibility to take over this ship and will allow that person to decide on what it next...  while not allowing Adams to move any assets with the excepton of Tuch who we will lose in FA for zero if he doesnt....  and they only reason no one is fired is because he doesnt want to interfere with the next GMs plan... and when he has found his guy he will bring them in to re-do the team....  

But this is a little bit like having 9 beers, no dates in 2 years, and rating how good looking someone is at 2am... not  steeped in any kind of sober reality.... 

What I really think is happening is that he is letting these people run out their contracts so he doesnt have to pay them to sit at home... when they expire he will promote internally from this incestuous cesspool of dysfunction making Appert HC after an exhaustive search and Keko GM after an exhaustive search lol... and not replace thier positions to save money...  and we will continue on the same painful treadmill we have been on for years...  major players will defect starting with Tuch and we will have successfully devoided our franchise of anyone worth watching for draft picks and prospects...   I would literally bet money on this. 

Edited 1 hour ago by JP51

[PromoTheRobot]

3 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

I have said it a bunch but I'll add it here. I believe Terry is worried about stadium costs and that's his sole focus. He saw that he had a bunch of front office guys with 1yr deals,  so decided to punt on the season. He brought in Kekalainen to audition for gm and knows Ruff will retire at years end. It's a winning formula is Terry's mind where he doesn't have to pay 2 staffs, gets to see if he likes the new gm, and allows Adams to move up into whatever role Terry plans while the stadium overruns get paid off. Bottom line is Terry doesn't care about this year because the stadium and Bills are more important. On top of all that, he's working to get public funding for a arena overhaul. The product on the ice is irrelevant. 

Is this why the Sabres keep losing to bottom feeders? The players are concerned about Kev and Lindy not being extended? Interesting.

[PASabreFan]

8 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Is this why the Sabres keep losing to bottom feeders? The players are concerned about Kev and Lindy not being extended? Interesting.

The Sabres are bottom feeders. They lose to everyone.