What is the jolt this franchise needs?

[LGR4GM]

14 minutes ago, 5th line wingnutt said:

1.21 gigawatts

Great Scott!

[TheAud]

4 hours ago, #freejame said:

The Jacobs family are one of the most powerful families in the NHL. Jeremy is on the board of governors. When he approves the relocation of the Sabres to another city, that’s when I’ll believe it. Billionaires don’t get to simply decide to pack up and move a team. 

Jeremy Jacobs will be 86 in January. Not to be morbid, but let's not count on that Buffalo-related support for too long. 

[5th line wingnutt]

12 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Great Scott!

Exactly

[Stads]

2 hours ago, spndnchz said:

Your face on a Saturday night?

Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, etc.  I don't discriminate 

[Pimlach]

5 hours ago, irregularly irregular said:

As much as I have crowed about Terry selling the team, it would in all likelihood mean the end of NHL hockey in Buffalo. We as fans have not seen a real NHL hockey team (always competitive or at least always entertaining hockey games) since Terry became owner. Can new ownership with a different outlook bring hockey fans back to Buffalo via a kick ass AHL franchise and would it be enough to keep those hockey fans engaged and happy? What's better, a chronically bottom of the barrel NHL team or a top notch premier organization in the AHL? 

As a big time Buffalo Bisons fan and lover of the Pepsi cap I must say no to thinking that losing the Sabres and having an AHL team is going to ever be good enough.  

Terry can own the team or someone else can but their job is to find people that know how to run a team and how to win. 

The reason for the Sabres existence ... 

 

 

[Crusader1969]

New owner. 
 

but since that won't happen I'll say a decision by TP to hire someone competent as the GM and hand the keys to the car completely over to that person

[zow2]

Never has the future outlook of this team looked so bleak. The owner needs to sell. The new owner needs to fire everyone including the intern who fetches the morning coffee for the staff. They will have to rip them entire thing down and rebuild. This team as constructed now is a millions miles from being an 8th seed type of team.

[HumanSlinky39]

[kas23]

Just take a look at the Arizona Coyotes. Once the laughingstock of the NHL. Something jolted them and suddenly they look like a competent team. We all know what that jolt was. 

[kas23]

10 hours ago, Pimlach said:

l believe the "rumor" that Terry told Brendan Shanahan he was the teams POHO.  The Sabres will never win with Pegula running the team they way he does.  He needs to stop pretending he is a hockey guy and let a proven hockey guy run things, and give him all the resources that he pledged to us.  

Drill another well Terry.  

And yet a couple apologists quickly came to Terry’s support and denied this (you all know who you are) happened. Tell me, do these people still think this couldn’t possibly be true?

[PerreaultForever]

1 hour ago, zow2 said:

Never has the future outlook of this team looked so bleak. The owner needs to sell. The new owner needs to fire everyone including the intern who fetches the morning coffee for the staff. They will have to rip them entire thing down and rebuild. This team as constructed now is a millions miles from being an 8th seed type of team.

I think it has looked bleaker but it's definitely very bleak right now. It will be bleakest when Tuch walks for nothing and Dahlin and/or Thompson asks for a trade. 

[sabremike]

24 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

I think it has looked bleaker but it's definitely very bleak right now. It will be bleakest when Tuch walks for nothing and Dahlin and/or Thompson asks for a trade. 

There is no hope until Terry sells the team or dies. He is a nasty, stupid and stubborn fool who has inflicted so much suffering and pain on so many who in no way deserve it. He's a bigger lying fraud than Peter Karmanos.

[Pimlach]

2 hours ago, kas23 said:

Just take a look at the Arizona Coyotes. Once the laughingstock of the NHL. Something jolted them and suddenly they look like a competent team. We all know what that jolt was. 

A pretty good coach out of juniors 

[mjd1001]

The worst part for me is that something needs to be done, ANYTHING regarding the front office/decision makers.  The ONLY thing that isn't OK is to let things go this long and not make a change.

If a change was made, we can debate is the new GM the right guy? Was it correct or not to bring in a POHO?  Should a bigger purge of the front office or scouting department have happened (50% of the guys gone or 100% gone?)  Stuff like that.

The only thing this fanbase doesn't want is no action...yet that is the ONLY thing we get.

This franchise doens't appear to be going anywhere. A reset is needed, on ice included. Unless this team lucked into a vezina quality goaltender that is.  Let say somewhat this team squeeks into the playoffs, then what?  Is this roster EVER going to contend for a cup (again, unless they get that Vezina goaltender)?  Statistically and at their ages, you are getting "peak" Thompson and Norris. Tuch is at his peak and probably starting to decline.  You dont' really have a bunch of 'stars in waiting' that will pick up from the older guys and take this team to the next level.

[LTS]

13 hours ago, kas23 said:

Just take a look at the Arizona Coyotes. Once the laughingstock of the NHL. Something jolted them and suddenly they look like a competent team. We all know what that jolt was. 

I think you are inferring that the move to Utah was the difference. I think the move to Utah was coincidental. The team had talent, what it lacked was belief that it's ownership believed in them and they were in a stable franchise.

You don't have to move a team to create that atmosphere but in Arizona they very clearly did. After decades of floundering in and around the city of Phoenix it was clear Arizona did not want to support a hockey team. The government basically rejected the hockey team.  That's not the same in Buffalo.

Buffalo is not a big city, but it is very much a hockey city.  Buffalo draws Toronto and Canadian fans in masses. The league loves this and it helps any owner as well keep the barn full. I don't think they would want to move Buffalo, they do however want to have an owner and an area that its invested in the team.

Moving the team away from Canada would eliminate that. There's a reason hockey has failed in Atlanta. The fair weather cities need to have a competitive team or they lose people in a heartbeat. Recall the Florida Panthers attendance when they were bad?  

I don't believe the Sabres will move if they get sold. It could happen. Pegula could also create a winning franchise. I'm not putting the odds on that. All I know is that the current path sucks and the trend has proven that he's doing something wrong in operating the franchise.

 

[SwampD]

51 minutes ago, LTS said:

I think you are inferring that the move to Utah was the difference. I think the move to Utah was coincidental. The team had talent, what it lacked was belief that it's ownership believed in them and they were in a stable franchise.

You don't have to move a team to create that atmosphere but in Arizona they very clearly did. After decades of floundering in and around the city of Phoenix it was clear Arizona did not want to support a hockey team. The government basically rejected the hockey team.  That's not the same in Buffalo.

Buffalo is not a big city, but it is very much a hockey city.  Buffalo draws Toronto and Canadian fans in masses. The league loves this and it helps any owner as well keep the barn full. I don't think they would want to move Buffalo, they do however want to have an owner and an area that its invested in the team.

Moving the team away from Canada would eliminate that. There's a reason hockey has failed in Atlanta. The fair weather cities need to have a competitive team or they lose people in a heartbeat. Recall the Florida Panthers attendance when they were bad?  

I don't believe the Sabres will move if they get sold. It could happen. Pegula could also create a winning franchise. I'm not putting the odds on that. All I know is that the current path sucks and the trend has proven that he's doing something wrong in operating the franchise.

 

Good post.

[jahnyc]

A jolt in the form of a combination of Jarmo as GM and Appert as HC is what we do not need.  There is no way that Appert should be HC of the Sabres.  Not sure about Jarmo as GM, but the Sabres should engage in a real search at the end of the season for a new GM and HC (and probably a President of of Hockey Operations).  These moves are long overdue, and no one currently a part of this organization should be retained unless after a real and independent accounting of what has gone wrong with this organization it is determined otherwise.

Edited 1 hour ago by jahnyc

[JP51]

On 12/5/2025 at 10:04 AM, #freejame said:

The Jacobs family are one of the most powerful families in the NHL. Jeremy is on the board of governors. When he approves the relocation of the Sabres to another city, that’s when I’ll believe it. Billionaires don’t get to simply decide to pack up and move a team. 

Agreed the fact that Buffalo still supports the team despite Terry Pegulas relentless focus on ensuring ineptitude and wildly succeeding loke no other franchise in history has for this amount of time ... well mostly... demonstrates the viability of this market if they didnt move coming out of Bankruptcy after Rigas. I am not thinking they move now. Image what a competent owner and relevance does to this fan base... not saying it can't happen but I am not convinced it will 

[GoPuckYourself]

The jolt would be to have Terry fire the entire coaching staff including scouts, also Terry would need to step back and let the real hockey people make moves without his consent (will he ever allow that? Probably not so most likely a moot point). Hire Shanahan also the president of hockey ops, Jarmo to GM and have them colaberate on who should be the next HC going forward. Also find out who the weak links are on this team (all goalies, Power, Byram, do Östlund/Rosen/Levi fit into our plans if not lets move on). At this point in time I'm getting rid of both UPL and Lyon and going with Levi/Ellis and may the best man win from this season on (whether that's as a back up going forawrd or our starting goaltender but starting UPL or Lyon now is pointless imo). Also is Tuch really worth the 8.5-9M a season that I'm hearing he's about to get? If you don't think so you don't have many options other than receiving ddraft picks and prospects this late in the year.