Porous Five Hole

While I won’t put it as the likeliest or even a likely decision, but it could come down to NYS stepping in on the improvements with Terry buying the building and signing a long-term lease renewal. I don’t know the actual level of flack Albany took for the Bills stadium deal (recency bias could play a huge role), but the state has done this for most of their major teams (Mets, Yanks, NY Red Bulls, the Bills, etc).

Nothing to do with that. I’m just trying to isolate the specific subject matter of the thread. And you went sideways, again.

Ok but that isn’t what this thread is about. This is an issue with the timing of the building lease and the local municipalities. It is conversation worth having. Please try to keep up. Especially you of all people who dislike conversation about GMing and other off-ice items. If you want to spin a web into this being Pegula’s fault, feel free. Or because of Pegula, the county doesn’t care about the team. Also, feel free. But don’t expect actual conversation to take place. Just drive-by plop-o.

lol Jonas sucks

I’m in Madrid!! 🇪🇸

And there is the rub. If the county is walking away, it’s probably because they’re not making money. While we expect the billionaire owner to just spend whatever it takes to buy & improve the building, he’s still a business man. New expenses without new revenue streams. And everyone in Sabrehood seems to hate the guy for his failure in results. Totally valid! But we cannot just yell sell more tickets/be good because that won’t offset the purchase price and new recurring expenses. The Sabres were losing money each year before this. Larry Quinn stated on After The Whistle this past week that the team wasn’t profitable even when there was a waiting list for season tickets. I’m still not panicking because TP cannot walk away from this because he owns the Bills. He cannot alienate Buffalo. But it’s still unsettling.

What’s interesting to me is while the county provides all of the services to support the arena (police, snow removal, utilities, etc), they collect county sales tax on all things Key Bank Center to offset. I don’t know the numbers, but tax on every penny spent in that building *probably* covers these expenses. That 4.75% adds up on every transaction. By walking away, Erie County is going to keep all of that tax revenue generated without any arena expenses. The city will now have to budget for these ‘new to them’ costs without any sales tax benefit. I think the County is doing the City dirty.

This all comes down to if Terry wants the building or not. I don’t know the specifics of the lease and maintenance, but I did perk up last year when Terry footed the bill for a new roof and scoreboard when he didn’t own the building. This could be the first step toward Terry acquiring the arena for peanuts. And he might as well if he’s obligated to maintain the place. The reason why I’m not sure if Pegula wants the building is because deals like this are usually ironed out long before six months prior to the expiration of a 25 year lease. The article said the acting mayor was unaware this was coming…wtf? How it could play out: 1) Erie County walks away. 2) The city, surprised & who did not budget for this while facing a 50 million dollar budget deficit, also walk away or put the building up for sale. 3) Pegula, who I believe already runs all events for the building, assumes ownership or purchases the building. Any alternative to this would be unsettling to say the least.

That’s fair, I’ll take the search out of it. I didn’t hate the Ruff hire when it happened. I didn’t really know what to think. But it hasn’t worked and KA has to own it.

Agree that you can hopefully learn from mistakes, but KA has made too many of them. He preached a culture of wanting to be here and it didn’t translate into winning. He iced the youngest team in the league after saying “win mode now.” He did not address the crease properly two years ago by rolling with Levi like he was ready, and then extended UPL for too long based on 40 games. He did not do a competent head coaching search and the guy he brought in was screaming he needs a culture change in the last Sabres embedded. There was some good in there as well as more bad, but for me…Palm trees and taxes was the final straw. I would have fired him that night.

This book is a ride so far. A man who has nothing left to live for among a line of bad decisions turns his life over to standup comedy.

Tage 🤪

Pretty sick. That was a dart.

Wow a drive by after nine years. I am feeling beaten down. I can’t think about the tank any longer. I’m only looking forward.

Helenius with an hattie and Levi with his league-leading seventh shutout. Amerks win 4-0.

An outstanding night at the Town Ballroom!

Relevant to this convo about offer sheets are the numbers. Here are the most likely tiers and draft compensation: $4,580,917 - $6,871,3741 1st-round pick, 1 3rd-round pick $6,871,374 - $9,161,8341 1st-round pick, 1 2nd-round pick, 1 3rd-round pick I think you instantly match anything for JJP in either tier. The Sabres can offset cap by bringing up a plethora of Amerks prospects to offset. It may mean moving other guys, but the Sabres are not susceptible to an impossible to match scenario.

Is that because you don’t believe in GMKA? If that, then I agree. Osmosis won’t make this team “better” enough to win the whole damn thing. Not being within the top five as the youngest team in hockey will eventually help, so a playoff birth in the future is possible. But is that the goal? Not to me. We need a GM with experience whose auto-response is not let’s run it back.

Thumbs down from me because I’m a Levi truther. He’s got IT. I truly believe that. Sure I could be wrong and he’s doomed at the NHL level due to his size. He would need to be the 1% of the elite level…and I think he has it in him. Remember, he’s still only 23. His time might not be 2025-26 and so it is still UPL’s crease as G1 next year (thanks Kevyn). But I predict Levi is the long term answer.

What do you mean by this?

May I assume you’ve watched the majority of his Amerks games in 24-25? 37 GP, 6 shutouts, 2.22 GAA, 9.18 save percentage. Not anointing him G1 in Buffalo next year, but get outta here with sOfT gOaLs. He also turned 23 in December. I am missing context from your snarky reply lol UPL is about three years older and those are a big three years of development. Levi’s college stats are better than UPL’s junior stats. Levi’s AHL stats are FAR better than UPL’s AHL stats. I agree that Levi sucked in Buffalo out of the gate in 2024, but it seems like you’re assuming a 22 year old goalie (turned 23 in Dec) isn’t expected to continue to improve?

Man moves to new town and becomes a fan of a local radio station and the local team. That tracks.

You’re right, it’s both. In this five wins in six game run, the Sabres PDO (shooting percentage plus save percentage) is third in NHL in that span, 1.090. That came from a Sabre Report tweet.

I am thinking both special teams PP/PK via coaching is a logical way to improve (5 on 5 scoring is already a team strength), but Norris can help with that and he’s already here. We moved for him for the dead weight of Dylan. Great trade. It will be difficult to do more with less. I would roll with Norris and improve in other ways (like trading Byram for different defensive help).