JohnC

Let's just put hockey aside and examine this franchise from a business standpoint. Pro sports is part of the entertainment business. Like any business, if your product is less than mediocre and lacks entertainment value, it won't be supported. That translates into loss of revenue. How many games were there where empty seats made up a large portion of the seating capacity. There are times when your company has to be run more austerely to adjust to the economic conditions. And there are times when you have to spend money to make more money. The hockey business is a direct competition business. You are competing against other organizations that are determined in trying to win. They are fully staffed with the best people that they can attract. When your franchise is run by a buffoon owner who knows little and interferes a lot, who will want to work for him? What owner would have hired such an ill-equipped KA to be their GM? No one but the silly Buffalo owner. And what owner would have kept on the same GM who after five years has little to show for his efforts? No one but the silent Buffalo owner. Why would he not have fired him or move him on to some other less consequential position? For one, he doesn't want to pay people for not working and because he wants some howdy doody person in the position who allows him to play with his toy whenever he wants to interject his stupid thoughts. It's not unusual for a new owner to make mistakes in the beginning of his tenure and then get better as he gains experience. Not this hardheaded fool. It seems that he is doubling down and continue with the same bet on the same losing horse. There is a glimmer of hope with the bringing on board of the new staffer. But what neutralizes that positive step to an unknown degree is that the current GM remains in his position. What's obvious for all to see is that the Sabres are not a normal franchise because our owner is quirky. Being idiosyncratic can be a charming trait in a person but it is destructive trait when you are the owner of a sports franchise where stability is essential. A generation of this foolishness is so stupid and ridiculous.

It's so embarrassing. I wish this owner would sell the team and sail away on his big boat. Everyone in the hockey business knows that the Sabre owner is a joke and that he has degraded this franchise and strangled the market into oblivion. Even if he cared (which is debatable), he's too inept to bring in the right people to straighten out the mess that he created. How can he be a serious owner when he acts so silly? WTF!

From just the snippet you cited from the article it starkly demonstrates how hollow this Pegula franchise was. It was bad enough that this organization was so thinly staffed, but to make things even worse was that the most influential people (owner and GM) in this rinky dink operation were out of touch from the real world of professional hockey. How do you compete against serious people when you are a joke?

The GM position has so many varied aspects to it. It is the like being the head of a multi-company corporation. One required trait you have to have to be successful is that you have to hire quality support staff. Another critical trait is that you have to have a broader vision than if you worked in one of the departments in the company. KA is a fine fellow. He’s playing checkers in a chess match. I say this with no malice intended: He’s simply in over his head.

As you point out, it isn’t a startling revelation that the organization reeks of dysfunction. However, anything that might give some insight to where this non-talking owner’s head is at has some interest. My attitude of contempt for this arrogant billionaire who has degraded this once proud franchise to a laughed at and scorned franchise has not changed. On a positive note, the addition of an experienced hockey person to the staff is a positive step. It’s so sad that when this stubborn owner does something that should normally be expected it becomes a cause for celebration.

Care to elaborate on the last sentence?

Does Robertson have a no trade clause?

I like Benson a lot. He shouldn't be playing on the top line at this early stage in his career. Both JJP and Kulich have played on the first line. Those were advanced roles that they really didn't earn. That's not to say that eventually that they won't be top line players but playing them at those higher roles was an indication that the roster was not full enough to play these youngsters where they should have been slotted at this time.

You shouldn’t be surprised that small successes get overshadowed by one’s overall record. The fans are less tolerant and patient with this franchise and staff after a generation of failing and an owner who is incommunicado. The fans are fed up as I am.

You may think you are embarrassing me but I take pride in my dinosaur nature. Now get off my weed infested lawn. Excuse me now. I have to go and pee.

The Watson acquisition was an owner instigated transaction. And to compound his mistake he was the one who offered the ill-conceived contract that has negatively reverberated for years. Bad ownership making stupid and crippling decisions.

I'm not in the camp that everything he has done is wrong. That would be an unfair evaluation. However, I am in the camp that as a GM is not good enough. To be blunt: Your record is your record. And that's what he owns and can't hide from.

As it turned out after a tough journey Baker Mayfield has found his footing and is in the right place at the right time. (As you point out.) I don't care what pro sports you are talking about, front offices and organizations make plenty of mistakes on judging talent. However, the organizations that have a solid foundation, like the Bills, overcome them. There is no question that without Josh Allen, the Bills would probably not be a Super Bowl contending team. But that doesn't mean that with its quality staff that they wouldn't have made the necessary adjustments to be a good team. The Sabres not being a serious team for the full tenure of this silent owner is an indictment on his gross incompetence. This owner bought the hockey franchise and went on to degrade it. It's shameful and pathetic. (I'm aware that we are more in agreement than not.)

I'm so out of touch that I can't even comprehend the archaic world and crowd. Please be gentle with me. I'm frail and easy to be wounded i.e. easy target due to inherent insufficiencies. 😄

I’m so out of touch with all the references. Being archaic makes one say “huh” a lot.

The issue then becomes, how much influence does the new staffer have, especially compared to KA. My suspicions are that he may have more authority.( Just my personal opinion.)

The issue isn't the quantity of staff as much as it is the quality of the top decision makers, including the owner. You can have the best staff in the business but still fail if the top of the top of the operation isn't functioning smartly. I understand why the owner went into austerity mode during the covid period. His hockey and hospitality business were hemorrhaging money. So his belt tightening response was understandable. But after that challenging period, his decision-making on staff and hockey decisions have been very inadequate (to put it mildly), to the point of relegating this flailing franchise to being an expected back of the pack franchise by others in the business. This organization has handcuffed itself due to its own foolishness. (I'm not suggesting that you are saying otherwise.) It just so tiresome. On the bright side, the hiring of an experienced person to join the upper staff is encouraging. There needs to be more follow-up.

You make an insightful observation about which franchise makes much more money. But the irony is that if the hockey franchise was more competently run and most likely be reflected in the play and competitiveness, the hockey franchise would be more profitable. More tickets would be sold, more concession $$ would be accrued, playoff $$$ would be added and with better management of player contracts there would be a smarter relationship between player costs and production. I agree with you that the NHL team revenue would not come close to NFL team revenue. But what is indisputable is because TP has run a third-rate operation, the revenue return is also third rate. I don't care what business you are in, leaving money on the table due to ineptness, is never a smart way to run any business. And when you are not serious about your particular business and are competing against owners who are serious about competing, you end up at the bottom of an empty barrel. A generation of stupidity does take a toll on the spread sheet.

The lack of self-awareness about the owner's own lack of knowledge is absurd. He might not realize how little he knows but everyone else on the outside (and many in the inside of the company) certainly recognizes it. This is hubris and arrogance at a mountainous level. On the positive side, bringing in an experienced outside person to be involved in the operation is a positive step. Pegula's footprint on this flailing franchise is not only obvious but it is at a level that it has stomped on this franchise into oblivion.

I had spondylolysis where it resulted in a surgery. A long time later after the successful first surgery I had a second surgery. What makes me wary about people with this condition who are currently fine is that they are involved in an endeavor that can be categorized as a "crash" sport, an activity that would be vulnerable to a person with back issues. What was odd about my condition is that I could run 10 miles with no effect. However, if I stood for half an hour I was aching. Modern medicine is a marvel. However, if I had an equal ranking for another player, out of caution, I would take the person without the potential back issue.

As a GM with a multiplicity of responsibilities, how would you rate him as a GM? I'm not trying to be gratuitously harsh when evaluating him, but I would put him near the bottom, if not the bottom, in the ranking of NHL GMs. The bottom line for every GM comes down to one's record. In that basic grading system he would be classified as a failure. He was ill-equipped when hired and his performance over an extended period of time reflected it. Your search for the kernel of good in the mountain of bad is admirable but a stretch. Your record is your record. Cold hard facts can't be denied even when kind sentiments are inserted into the equation.

I don't want to diminish Tort's career as a HC. His record is admirable. It's just that for the Sabres he would not be a suitable coach, in my opinion. The past is the past, now the present and future need to be addressed. His style of coaching and personality are not what this franchise needs.

Don't you think your advancement timetable for Staal's elevation is a little bit accelerated?

@Brawndo you can be our mole in the draft room and whisper @LGR4GM draft suggestions to those in the room making the selections. If caught, do what an accomplished spy would do i.e deny, deny and continue to deny. If that doesn’t work just spill the beans and blame @Pimlach for the espionage plot. He’s expendable.

Keka did what constantly moving people in the hockey profession do who are not currently working or working in a satisfactory (lower) position. They pursue and find their next best option. I have a different take on Keka and this new job, whatever his role is. The potential is that it places him in a good advancement situation, either with the Sabres or with another team. From what I have heard about him, he is very experienced in the hockey business from the scouting side to the executive side. So I'm sure that he won't be blindsided with unexpected situations within this troubled franchise. I'm confident that he knows what his role will be and that it won't be a detriment to whatever future aspirations he has within the business. I'm very much encouraged by his hiring, and to a lot lesser extent the Staal hiring, because it seems that the owner is more receptive to outside voices. The Sabre franchise has been plagued with a provincial operation. What these two hirings suggest to me that it is becoming more modern (normal) in how it will operate. At least I hope so.