The GM has just not found the right pieces. We have talent, but we are missing key ingredients.
You can point this back to the owner, but there's an outside chance the owner could luck out into a good GM (see Bills) who could solve our problems.
We've had teams that "lacked heart," but had enough talent to get into the playoffs. I'd take that over what we have now. "Heart" is the least of our current problems.
I just wanted to put this out there: I do not buy this “lack of heart” argument in any way/shape/form. It is a lazy argument/a cop-out.
Heart is maybe what enables the 2nd-most-talented team to beat the most talented team to win a Stanley Cup. It’s not something that has anything to do with the Sabres’ problems.
The Sabres problems are very empirically observable, not esoteric.
Or because they knew they had to beat Hasek
Similarly, we were the hardest working team because all the players knew they were playing in front of the greatest goalie ever. That is pretty motivating.