Sabres Announce Kevyn Adams has been relieved of his duties; Jarmo Kekäläinen is the New Sabres GM

[...]

21 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

I feel like the Sabres wasn't a pat on the back for doing what they should have in April. 

Are you familiar with the Parable of the Prodigal Son?

[Thorny]

1 hour ago, Doohickie said:

A couple thoughts on that:

1. When someone advances to a new position, they invariably don't know all the job entails and they have to "fake it till they make it".  I've had my current position about 16 years now and there are still times I have to fall back on that.
2. The people who are most likely to recognize they are in over their head are the smarter ones and they know to reach out for help.  But as @tom webster says, just because someone is in over their head doesn't make them a bad person.

He’s not a weasel of a person. How could we say that? We don’t know him personally.

This is an entertainment product. We buy and sell the product. Adams was a weasel of a GM. There’s no sympathy required - a grown man who had won a cup, he knew exactly what he was stepping into when he took the job. He knew he was firing a bunch of employees that the previous GM would rather quit than can. He knew the plan concocted by himself and Terry was a plan that had zero expectation of success in any realistic timeframe. His aim was job security 

[K-9]

Will he keep UPL out of patriotic loyalty to a fellow Finn? Inquiring minds wanna know.

[...]

1 hour ago, tom webster said:

My experience is that most people over-promoted are the last to realize they are in over their head. In my opinion this doesn’t make them bad people.

So, you maintain your position that Adams didn't realize he was in over his head. I can see why, although I'm also open to Adams fully realizing the role was too big for him.

[SwampD]

I can honestly say that this is the most excited I’ve been about the Sabres in a long time.

Someone actually cared enough to do something.

[PerreaultForever]

5 hours ago, Brawndo said:

 

This comment makes me think the scenario I laid out earlier was correct. Terry wanted to move on from Adams after last season but he also feared hiring the wrong hockey guy so he brought him in as senior advisor to get to know him. I guess he passed the test but the question would be was the test to see if he's competent or was it to see if he'd be loyal to Terry and do what he's told. Time will tell. 

It's doubtful he can be worse than Adams. Now let's see what moves he makes. 

 

[Thorny]

1 minute ago, ... said:

So, you maintain your position that Adams didn't realize he was in over his head. I can see why, although I'm also open to Adams fully realizing the role was too big for him.

If Adams didn’t realize why he was over his head it goes a long way towards explaining why he was so bad at the job. Frankly the idea he is that stupid is more of a pot shot at the guy (and far more unrealistic) than the idea he was maximizing the term of his employment as a priority. 

He’s not stupid. He’s probably pretty smart. You know what he wasn’t? A Sabre.

[HumanSlinky39]

Gonna be a lot of missed umlauts around here going forward.

Kekāläinen 

[Flashsabre]

6 minutes ago, K-9 said:

Will he keep UPL out of patriotic loyalty to a fellow Finn? Inquiring minds wanna know.

He passed on PoolParty to take Dubois in the draft so I don’t think loyalty to a country man will play a factor

[...]

3 minutes ago, Thorny said:

If Adams didn’t realize why he was over his head it goes a long way towards explaining why he was so bad at the job. Frankly the idea he is that stupid is more of a pot shot at the guy (and far more unrealistic) than the idea he was maximizing the term of his employment as a priority. 

He’s not stupid. He’s probably pretty smart. You know what he wasn’t? A Sabre.

That's why I'm open to him either being stupid, a weasel, a stupid weasel, or none of the above. I've never met him so really can't pass a fully informed judgement. All we have are his actions and public statements, from which my assessment is that any of the former three apply.

[Wyldnwoody44]

3 hours ago, PASabreFan said:

I'm setting up tent just outside this tent. JK has to be just the tip of the spear.

2 tents next to each other, I'll bring the soup over, pay no mind to the nylon unzipping in the wee hours of the night. 

[HumanSlinky39]

Jarmo convinced the prize FA in the 2022 class to sign in Columbus, a move that was on no one's radar. He has chops. I've been saying for a long time that we need a GM not willing to accept the status quo that has the apple bag to TRY to make bold moves. Jarmo is that 

There are some warts to his CBJ tenure, but he also molded a doormat franchise into a regular playoff participant for a few years. Excited about the path forward for the first time in a long time.

[Big Guava]

I guess the "increased smoke" a few closer to the Sabres Twitter posters referenced really meant something this time...

[Thorny]

3 minutes ago, ... said:

That's why I'm open to him either being stupid, a weasel, a stupid weasel, or none of the above. I've never met him so really can't pass a fully informed judgement. All we have are his actions and public statements, from which my assessment is that any of the former three apply.

The Adams character will always be open to interpretation on that front 

[...]

 

[Thorny]

3 minutes ago, HumanSlinky39 said:

Jarmo convinced the prize FA in the 2022 class to sign in Columbus, a move that was on no one's radar. He has chops. I've been saying for a long time that we need a GM not willing to accept the status quo that has the apple bag to TRY to make bold moves. Jarmo is that 

There are some warts to his CBJ tenure, but he also molded a doormat franchise into a regular playoff participant for a few years. Excited about the path forward for the first time in a long time.

No, Adams signed Hall 

[Big Guava]

2 minutes ago, HumanSlinky39 said:

Jarmo convinced the prize FA in the 2022 class to sign in Columbus, a move that was on no one's radar. He has chops. I've been saying for a long time that we need a GM not willing to accept the status quo that has the apple bag to TRY to make bold moves. Jarmo is that 

There are some warts to his CBJ tenure, but he also molded a doormat franchise into a regular playoff participant for a few years. Excited about the path forward for the first time in a long time.

Didn't the BlueJackets go from worst team in the NHL and rebuild, to making the playoffs, to rebuilding again to playoffs all during the time the Sabres haven't made the playoffs a single time yet?

[transient]

14 minutes ago, Thorny said:

If Adams didn’t realize why he was over his head it goes a long way towards explaining why he was so bad at the job. Frankly the idea he is that stupid is more of a pot shot at the guy (and far more unrealistic) than the idea he was maximizing the term of his employment as a priority. 

He’s not stupid. He’s probably pretty smart. You know what he wasn’t? A Sabre.

It's mind boggling how out of touch with the fanbase he was despite growing up in Clarence. 

[Big Guava]

14 minutes ago, Thorny said:

If Adams didn’t realize why he was over his head it goes a long way towards explaining why he was so bad at the job. Frankly the idea he is that stupid is more of a pot shot at the guy (and far more unrealistic) than the idea he was maximizing the term of his employment as a priority. 

He’s not stupid. He’s probably pretty smart. You know what he wasn’t? A Sabre.

I mean, he got large salaries from Pegula for over a decade, so he must have at least done something well...

[GASabresIUFAN]

Do you Kevyn is relieved that the drama is over.

[HumanSlinky39]

2 minutes ago, Big Guava said:

Didn't the BlueJackets go from worst team in the NHL and rebuild, to making the playoffs, to rebuilding again to playoffs all during the time the Sabres haven't made the playoffs a single time yet?

[Big Guava]

Just now, GASabresIUFAN said:

Do you Kevyn is relieved that the drama is over.

He is still getting paid regardless 

[Thorny]

Fever dream 

[Thorny]

3 minutes ago, transient said:

It's mind boggling how out of touch with the fanbase he was despite growing up in Clarence. 

That’s honestly how Adams and his tenure is best summed up: he had no proper appreciation for, or understanding of, The Drought 

[Thorny]

7 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

Do you Kevyn is relieved that the drama is over.

Arbitrarily waiting until after the trip was dumb and unfair 

it’s arbitrary. You don’t HAVE to do it that way. Surely getting on with it was better than letting him twist in the wind with the entire internet saying “DO IT!”