jad1

It's year 2 of Adams/Granato. And it's 10 years of absolutely no expectation of this team winning. Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss. This might be a newsflash for Sabres fans, who's experience with continual losing has resulted in a form of Stockholm Syndrome, but the NHL isn't a developmental league. Continual rebuilds are the weakest move, not a fan's expectation that a professional sports team would challenge for the playoffs once every decade or so.

Skinner is the comeback player of the year for the Sabres. Ralph Krueger deserves a special place in hockey hell.

This team is terrible its own zone. Been that way for 10 years.

49 points in 56 games last season. Kanes issues don't include on-ice performance.

So after two years, Adams is on pace to match the 1st year results of the Sabres last failed GM? Climbing the ladder of success!

Nah, I enjoy gambling but I don't want to be on the side of the bet that requires the Sabres to lose games. I think the approach that the Sabres are taking is risky and flawed, but I would be ecstatic if I was proven wrong and the Sabres turn the corner as a franchise.

Rebuild the team through the draft. Remove 'problem' players through trades for future assets. Turn the short term focus of the entire organization to development. Promote guys to the big club based on speed and attitude. Sign veterens to short-term deals so that there are no impediments to the promotion of young players when they are ready. The focus is on future development, sacrificing wins now for wins later.

Sure, he seems like a stand up guy. But neither of those guys lost the fan base to the extent that the team has this year, and neither of them finished bottom five two years in a row (if the Sabres finish poorly this season). If the team can't turn it around this year, Adams' plan will have hit Pegula harder in the wallet that planned, with less on-ice success than promised, with greater fan apathy than anticipated. That might motivate Pegula to turn the organization over to someone with a better plan.

I think that the attendance is a lost cause, but also believe that the team can play better and have a stronger finish than bottom five. But to your point about trading Eichel, IF the Sabres finish poorly, and are sitting on the assets acquired by Adams at the end of season, Pegula could easily pull Adams and Karmanos into separate meetings and ask them where to we go from here? And if Karmanos gives the better answer, why wouldn't he be given the job? Why shouldn't he be given the job?

I can appreciate that. My opinion is that a bottom five finish, bottom of the league attendance means Adams gets booted. It's fine to disagree.

So things can turn around this season, but while they thought it was going to be bad, I doubt that they thought that the loses and attendance would be this bad. Traditionally, poor attendance for the Sabres would be around 12-14k per game. This year, that has dropped significantly. And while covid has played a role in this drop, TV ratings for the games are also significantly lower this year. I don't think the plan was to completely lose the fan base like the team has done this year. The "hard work" approach could be expected result in a record hovering around .500. Lately, the team's record has been significantly worse. So there's 'suffering' and then there's 'suffering.' Again, hopefully the plan grabs a little traction with improved goaltending and continued maturation of the young guys, and cameos from the future stars. But if things continue down the current path, it's hard to believe that those results were part of the plan.

I'm not mad. I just have an opinion based on what I've observed from Pegula and from sport teams in general and I'm sharing it on a message board. Does it you make you mad that I believe that there's a strong possibility that Adams might be fired if the losses and poor attendance continue?

Those were promotions, not reassignments for people who failed at their current job. If Pegula is looking for a new GM, he's not going to choose moving Adams up the ladder instead of firing him. This is the same nonsense that was knocked around with Krueger last year.

This is Adams 2nd season, that's fact. And the record book shows that Adams finished dead last in the NHL his FIRST season. He owns that, no matter the excuses that are made for him. Pegula has fired plenty of people after their 2nd seasons. And in each case he was right to do so. And again, Adams and Karmanos are two different people. They play the same game as long as it benefits each of then to do so. Hopefully by March, the Sabres have turned things around and are posting more wins, and the fans return and attendance trends up. Things will be OK if that happens. If that doesn't happen, though, and the losses continue and the attendance declines, look out, because we're in store for a patented Pegula blood bath.

Well they sold that plan to a historically impatient owner. And Adams and Karmanos are two separate people I guess we'll agree to disagree and see what happens 😉

Plans are great, but when the losses pile up and the arena is empty, basic business principals take over and guys get fired. They are many good people on this board who believe in what Adams is doing, and they do a great job of analyzing his plan. But the general fanbase is not on board with the direction of the team. There aren't 19,000 fans in the arena eager to watch Tage Thompson's development during a 13 game winless streak. In the end, the only thing that matters is wins. And if Adams can't produce them, all it takes is a Pegula calling Karmanos into his office and asking, "So, what would you do different if you were the GM."

No, Pegula will straight up fire him. Look, we have enough history with Pegula to know how this works. He fired Blysma, Ryan, and Krueger after only two years on the job, even though there was a lot of opinion that he would give those guys 3 years or would kick one of them upstairs (Krueger). He fired Murray with almost no warning. He fired Botterill after giving him a vote of confidence. Pegula has no history of moving people around the organization instead of just letting them go. He has a long history, though, of firing people who don't produce results. If the Sabres continue on their current pace, it's hard to make the argument that he's going to change now. Especially since Karmanos has an equal or better resume than Adams.

Yes. And if the Sabres are in the bottom 5 of the league come April and averaging 7,000 fans a game, I'd say that there's a 100% chance he's fired.

With Karmanos waiting in the wings it's more likely he gets fired than not.

If the Sabres are bottom 5 in the league come spring, and the attendence is under 8,000 a game, Pegula will fire Adams at the end of the season. Expect him to start scheduling skip level meetings with Karmanos around President's day.

So that was a fight, I guess.

Who the fans who said they are on board with this plan back in September? The attendance and television rating clearly show that the majority of Sabre fans are not on board with this plan.

I really don't see Tuch or the 20 year olds being much of a difference for the Sabres this year. And there's a chance that the Sabres current young guys hit a wall, as many of them have not played an 80+ game NHL schedule. If the goaltending improves, maybe UPL catches lightning in a bottle or Anderson returns at peak form, that could help. Other than that, only Arizona's awfulness will keep the Sabres out of the 32nd spot.

It's official. The Sabres have become the Washington Generals.

Oh, those a-holes? F*** them.