JohnC

What’s worse than his poor public speaking is his self-sabotaging hockey decisions. In any business recognizing what you don’t know and finding the right support staff to help you is critical. It’s not his non-talking that has crippled this forlorn franchise, it is his inexplicable hockey decisions, mostly pertaining to staffing, that has left us with this hockey carcass. It is so stupid and inexcusable!

Losing is corrosive. The players who have been here are dispirited. Playing for the Sabres has sucked the joy out of playing a sport that they love. You can see it in their play when dealing with adversity. I’m hoping that the young players don’t get contaminated with this pervasive negativity. It’s so sad how a fool owner has destroyed this franchise with his horrendous staffing decisions. What’s the solution to getting out of this deep rut? Before there can be a roster shakeup there has to be a major shakeup in the front office and coaching staff, and then give them the ability to make the personnel decisions with a fresh perspective. The Sabres are a mocked and irrelevant franchise. I mostly blame the fool and stubborn owner. There are a cadre of people who reflexively cite excuses for this lame franchise. I’m not one of them. This fiasco of a franchise is of its own doing. The motto of this franchise seems to be : Stupid in leads to stupid out.

Is Jarmo currently actively or at least collaborating on personnel decisions? Was he a Pegula recommended addition or was it a KA add after being instructed by the owner to find an experienced staffer to help him out? It is not a healthy organizational situation to be in where you have staff waiting in the wings (maybe so?) because you then have people looking over their shoulders worried about their status and influence. Terry Pegula has created a third-rate organization, and the results are proof of that dysfunction.

My niece's daughter who was 13 years old had her schoolmate and best friend pass away from contracting viral meningitis. I'm not saying this to be morbid or dramatic but, as you are doing, pointing out how serious this illness can be. You never know when you can be facing unexpected misfortune.

If Tuch is dealt, it is unlikely the immediate return will make this a better team, at least for the near term. Even if the return is getting an appealing young player back, the already young Sabre roster won't be much better. It would not surprise me if Tuch rides out his contract and puts himself in a situation where he can test the market. What will the front office do? If it doesn't believe it can get a deal done, they will deal the approaching free agent player for a discounted value. This scenario has played out before as the Reinhart deal illustrated. How do you think that Dahlin and Tage will respond to the roster setback? I can see the same "Jack" get me the freak out of here scenario playing out again. Continued disfunction and incompetence are the hallmark of this cartoonish franchise.

The biggest fault that can be attributed to Pegula isn't providing enough financial support for the franchise as it is hiring bad staff. If you hire a bad GM who hands out bad contracts, that is a money loser from an investment on the dollar calculation. If you hire a coach when there were better options for the position, regardless how much you pay for your selection, you are not only not getting a return on your investment in salary, but you are also not getting the results on the ice resulting in less fan support causing additional revenue loss. The bottom line is that management ineptitude costs you more money. It's stupid and a consistent theme during Pegula's tenure. When one is stubborn you don't learn from your mistakes.

The problem isn't lacking the urgency as much as it is having the ability to translate that urgency into production. I assume you watched the Carolina game and many others. This team, especially after being subjected to a number of injuries, simply isn't good enough to maintain the puck in their zone, even with a man advantage. Compare how other teams handle the puck without sloppily losing it as the Sabres often do? Even if one doesn't have much knowledge in the sport (count me in that unschooled group), it was evident to the untrained eye that Carolin was the better team. The problem with the Sabres is that it is an assembly of parts that don't properly fit together. The parts value is greater than the team value. This is where we are at and have been for quite a while. When you have the same people at the helm steering the ship it shouldn't be a surprise that they become stuck on the course they have unwisely set. There is a bland sameness to this Peugla franchise that is dispiriting.

Terry P. Would make significantly more money with or without a write off if he had a serious team. The fan support and revenue generation would be much higher. The obvious fact based on his record is that his own ineptitude has cost him money.

No owner in the NHL would have hired a GM such as KA. He clearly lacked the qualifications for the position. And to compound the problem with the inexplicable hire, no owner other than TP would have kept on the job for so long a person with KA’s record. This franchise has handcuffed itself.

The problem and the solution does’t originate with the HC. It’s starts with the GM who presides over the hockey operation. You can have an excellent coach while the GM has presented him with an imbalanced roster. Even with the best coaching the flaws are going to manifest itself. The Sabres have a third-rate owner who has assembled a third-rate organization. We’re stuck with a stubborn owner who doesn’t recognize his own limitations. Until a credible hockey person is installed at the top of the hockey operation, this franchise will continue to flail.

There’s no magical solution to what ails this failed franchise. No top tier coach is coming here until the organization is properly structured and staffed. As it is currently structured, it is set up to fail regardless who is the coach. There needs to be a major organizational renovation. Do you believe our stubborn owner is receptive to such a dramatic change? Right now, I don’t believe so.

Yes to question #1. No to question#2. Yes to question #3.

I watched a little more than two periods. You don’t have to have much hockey knowledge to recognize which team was out- classing the other team throughout the game, regardless what the score was. The Sabres have an unserious owner presiding over a third- rate franchise. It’s sad and maddening.

The bathroom? Some flushing needs to be going on to an expel the crap, starting with the howdy doody GM. In any business, institution or sports franchise at any level when there is systemic failure outside analysts are brought in to do a thorough review and then recommend a change of course. The problem here is that the Sabres are owned by a stubborn and obtuse owner whose strategy during his tenure is to double down on the same failed course. It’s beyond beyond being stupid!

The overwhelming majority of posters want the Sabres to do well. So a few posters with fringe views don’t come close to representing the majority opinion. Using them as a basis of argument isn’t a strong argument to make. It becomes a diversion from facing the real issues.