Sabres Announce GM Jason Botterill has been Fired. Kevyn Adams Named GM

[Doohicksie]

On 6/16/2020 at 10:37 AM, mjd1001 said:

A lot of speculation here, but.....

Maybe Botts asked for his 'release'?  I think a common thought was that if the Sabres don't make the playoffs next year he was going to be gone for sure...and maybe he just thought he'd be too much of a lame duck...and asked out?

[Taro T]

45 minutes ago, In The Buff said:

Wonder who the free agent was that was being discussed.

 

41 minutes ago, Curt said:

It doesn’t really matter now, does it?

Don't know.  Pretty sure if Botterill had close to a deal worked out that if it makes sense for the Sabres, Adams might bring it to fruition.  It's not like the agent/player talking to JBotts is suddenly no longer interested.

Edited June 19, 2020 by Taro T

[Stoner]

29 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

Trade Berglund and Sobotka for him.  If they need a sweetener they can have Thomspon too.

So you're saying Kim is OSP II?

Bobby Pin Kim is in testing right now.

[Doohicksie]

7 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

Bobby Pin Kim is in testing right now.

It's doing well with women over 70, but not so well with other demographics.

[Curt]

47 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Don't know.  Pretty sure if Botterill had close to a deal worked out that if it makes sense for the Sabres, Adams might bring it to fruition.  It's not like the agent/player talking to JBotts is suddenly no longer interested.

Yeah, sure maybe, he might.  Or maybe Adams doesn’t like the price, or the term, or isn’t interested in bringing that player back at all.

The fact that Botterill was negotiating with a player, doesn’t tell us anything at all about what Adams would like to do with that same player.  That’s why I say, it doesn’t matter.

[Indabuff]

6 hours ago, Brawndo said:

So they fired the Hockey Ops IT Guy by mistake and brought him back today per Friedman 

 

[Sabres Fan in NS]

15 hours ago, Thorny said:

Does this quote bother you, from the ESPN article I linked:

"Are the Sabres the team of Ralph Krueger?

They should be. He's the one guy with the hockey cachet to tell the other links in the chain they're wrong.

We've lobbied in the past for Krueger to take on the dual coach/GM role with the Sabres, in the spirit of a Mike Keenan or a Bryan Murray. But when I asked him if Adams getting the general manager job would lead to Krueger being more involved in hockey operations, the erudite coach replied, "I signed on here to be the head coach of the Buffalo Sabres.""

That quote from Ralph is exactly what I expected him to say in public.  It means absolutely nothing.  IMO, Ralph is the head hockey guy here, not in name right now, but he is.

[Pimlach]

10 hours ago, Doohickie said:

Okay but she owns the team.  Why does she need to be credible?

Seriously?  A credible organization starts at the top.   What kind of question is this?  

 Because I follow the team and I spend money on their product.  I will vote no and not spend more until I see progress.   
 

The entire fan base can demand she be a credible Hockey President, and if not we can vote with our wallets.  

[WildCard]

3 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Seriously?  A credible organization starts at the top.   What kind of question is this?  

 Because I follow the team and I spend money on their product.  I will vote no and not spend more until I see progress.   
 

The entire fan base can demand she be a credible Hockey President, and if not we can vote with our wallets.  

I always love this line, 'we can vote with our wallets'

They've been hemorrhaging money for years, tens of millions of it annually, and what did they do? They're not going to sell the team or replace themselves because you're not going to the games. They will replace everyone else every single time until they get it right, if they ever do. 

Edited June 19, 2020 by WildCard

[Pimlach]

1 minute ago, WildCard said:

I always love this line, 'we can vote with our wallets'

They've been hemorrhaging money for years, tens of millions of it annually, and what did they do? They're not going to sell the team or replace themselves because you're not going to the games. They're going to draw tighter and tighter into themselves, cut costs, and think they can fix it.

I am answering the question on why does Kim needs to be credible as President.   That is all I have.  I will stop buying Sabres tickets and Sabres stuff.  You are correct, we fans have little recourse.  I was a fan long before they owned this team.  
 

Your bolded words summarize the Pegula problem.   Action without credible skills.  More like reaction.   
 

If they have been losing money on the Sabres, which others here say they have not, then they can:  (1) cut costs, (2) sell the team, or  (3) fix the problems.   They are failing at (3) on a colossal and unprecedented scale.  The changes brought about by Covid have taken them to (1) - cut cost, adapt to the new environment.  I get that.  

[dudacek]

57 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Seriously?  A credible organization starts at the top.   What kind of question is this?  

 Because I follow the team and I spend money on their product.  I will vote no and not spend more until I see progress.   
 

The entire fan base can demand she be a credible Hockey President, and if not we can vote with our wallets.  

I’m not defending Kim here because she has accomplished nothing yet.

But she has been president of the team for two years. In that time she has:

1) Launched a lengthy and thorough investigation/review of the organization to see what is working, what isn’t and why.

2) Determined the organization is bloated and has culture issues that contribute to its lack of success on and off the ice.

3) Gutted the business side of old boys, redundant positions and people who weren’t getting the job done

4) Gutted the hockey side of same 

5) Put the hockey department In the hands of two men she has experience working with and trusts to remake it properly, based on a model that is working for her with the Bills.

These are all actions I can support and things this board has been demanding for years.

I have no idea if she is making the right decisions in her overhaul, but I am beyond ecstatic it’s being done.

This is what fixing a team looks like and this type of change is long past due.

Edited June 19, 2020 by dudacek

[WildCard]

 

[dudacek]

1 minute ago, WildCard said:

 

I’m pretty sure Botterill did the same thing just three years ago.

The Pegulas fired MUrray and his top lieutenants and Botterill followed up by turning over more than half the scouting and the player development staff, including Dan Lambert and the staff in Rochester. He also replaced the Sabres coaching staff as well.

Spreading it out over a few weeks  maybe disguised the bloodshed, but this stuff isn’t unheard of at all.

[bunomatic]

Now we sit back and watch Terry and Kim rebuild a hockey team.?

[shrader]

16 hours ago, Curt said:

I don’t know.  I think there are a lot of good analytics people out there who don’t work for teams.

And just to add to that one a bit, my friend's brother works in the analytics department for the Tampa Bay Rays but lives in the Seattle area.  Even the whole "no one wants to live in Buffalo" mentality doesn't necessarily factor in here.

25 minutes ago, dudacek said:

I’m pretty sure Botterill did the same thing just three years ago.

The Pegulas fired MUrray and his top lieutenants and Botterill followed up by turning over more than half the scouting and the player development staff, including Dan Lambert and the staff in Rochester. He also replaced the Sabres coaching staff as well.

Spreading it out over a few weeks  maybe disguised the bloodshed, but this stuff isn’t unheard of at all.

A purge during a front office overhaul?  Nope, never happens.  People need to let the dust settle, see who the hire and then we'll have a much better idea of what their approach is going to be.

[Stoner]

48 minutes ago, dudacek said:

I’m pretty sure Botterill did the same thing just three years ago.

The Pegulas fired MUrray and his top lieutenants and Botterill followed up by turning over more than half the scouting and the player development staff, including Dan Lambert and the staff in Rochester. He also replaced the Sabres coaching staff as well.

Spreading it out over a few weeks  maybe disguised the bloodshed, but this stuff isn’t unheard of at all.

So doesn't this argue against giving Kim doing anything of note re: "gutting the hockey department"? She did what the new GM would have done anyway. Or did the GM do it? Did Kevyn know what he was going to do after getting hired and just do it very quickly (immediately after being hired)?

[nfreeman]

12 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

So doesn't this argue against giving Kim doing anything of note re: "gutting the hockey department"? She did what the new GM would have done anyway. Or did the GM do it? Did Kevyn know what he was going to do after getting hired and just do it very quickly (immediately after being hired)?

It seems pretty likely that the Pegulas shared the results of the external review with KA, told him that they wanted to get rid of the underperformers and rebuild the organization to be leaner/cheaper and more effective, and asked him to produce the specific chopping block list and then execute the layoffs upon being named GM.

[dudacek]

12 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

So doesn't this argue against giving Kim doing anything of note re: "gutting the hockey department"? She did what the new GM would have done anyway. Or did the GM do it? Did Kevyn know what he was going to do after getting hired and just do it very quickly (immediately after being hired)?

Reading between the lines in Kevin’s interviews, particularly the one with Lyskowski, it’s pretty clear that Kevin was a lead - probably THE lead - in Kim’s review of the organization.

I think that much of Unicorns, Rainbows and Jujubes Tuesday was a result of that review and a plan put together by an inner circle with Kim and Kevyn in the most prominent roles.

Botteril was presented with the plan and balked. Kim, already less than happy with Botterill, said ***** him, Kevyn, why don’t you take over?

[darksabre]

2 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Reading between the lines in Kevin’s interviews, particularly the one with Lyskowski, it’s pretty clear that Kevin was a lead - probably THE lead - in Kim’s review of the organization.

I think that much of Unicorns, Rainbows and Jujubes Tuesday was a result of that review and a plan put together by an inner circle with Kim and Kevyn in the most prominent roles.

Botteril was presented with the plan and balked. Kim, already less than happy with Botterill, said ***** him, Kevyn, why don’t you take over?

That's pretty much my theory. The extent of Adams' involvement has been revealed in things like him sitting on the governor's board and travelling with the team. If he wasn't running the review outright, he was certainly directly and completely involved. 

Who better to take over the team at this point than the one who now knows it from top to bottom? It's the logical choice. And he should know his blind spots and be able to make hires to fix that. That's what a leader would do. 

[LGR4GM]

4 minutes ago, darksabre said:

That's pretty much my theory. The extent of Adams' involvement has been revealed in things like him sitting on the governor's board and travelling with the team. If he wasn't running the review outright, he was certainly directly and completely involved. 

Who better to take over the team at this point than the one who now knows it from top to bottom? It's the logical choice. And he should know his blind spots and be able to make hires to fix that. That's what a leader would do. 

I feel like I heard Adams mention blind spots in one of his interviews and just being aware of them so he can have help. I wish I could remember which interview. 

[SDS]

25 minutes ago, darksabre said:

That's pretty much my theory. The extent of Adams' involvement has been revealed in things like him sitting on the governor's board and travelling with the team. If he wasn't running the review outright, he was certainly directly and completely involved. 

Who better to take over the team at this point than the one who now knows it from top to bottom? It's the logical choice. And he should know his blind spots and be able to make hires to fix that. That's what a leader would do. 

Perhaps there may be some benefit from seeing the organization go through multiple general manager and coaching changes.

[dudacek]

24 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

I feel like I heard Adams mention blind spots in one of his interviews and just being aware of them so he can have help. I wish I could remember which interview. 

I think he said it more than once, but definitely in his chat with Howard on WGR, which I just relistened to. Pretty sure it was also a talking point in the Tim Graham Q&A as well, but I’d have to re-read. 

Adams is very clear about saying a leader needs to be collaborative and surround himself with people who challenge and support him. Sounds a lot like Krueger in that regard.

[darksabre]

9 minutes ago, SDS said:

Perhaps there may be some benefit from seeing the organization go through multiple general manager and coaching changes.

He's certainly seen enough dysfunction to know how a team shouldn't operate.

[dudacek]

One of Botterill’s most make-you-want-to-throw-things-at-the-radio qualities was his complete lack of empathy for the fans and what we are feeling. He was the epitome of an ivory tower leader, at least in his public persona.

Kevin is definitely aware of that lack of connection and seems prepared to work very hard to be more of a man of the people.

[Pimlach]

1 hour ago, dudacek said:

I’m not defending Kim here because she has accomplished nothing yet.

But she has been president of the team for two years. In that time she has:

1) Launched a lengthy and thorough investigation/review of the organization to see what is working, what isn’t and why.

2) Determined the organization is bloated and has culture issues that contribute to its lack of success on and off the ice.

3) Gutted the business side of old boys, redundant positions and people who weren’t getting the job done

4) Gutted the hockey side of same 

5) Put the hockey department In the hands of two men she has experience working with and trusts to remake it properly, based on a model that is working for her with the Bills.

These are all actions I can support and things this board has been demanding for years.

I have no idea if she is making the right decisions in her overhaul, but I am beyond ecstatic it’s being done.

This is what fixing a team looks like and this type of change is long past due.

You make some valid points here,  but do not think for a minute that the first 7 years of Pegula Regime, prior to Kim's Presidency,  did not have Terry and Kim's finger prints all over it.  Maybe much more of it was on Terry's and it was all bad. 

 

My issues and concerns stem not from the gutting and rebuild, but from these things:   

• the statement of support for Botterill 3 weeks ago where she justified keeping him, even in the current harsh business environment, because she sees things that others do not have insight too.
• the timing of the "lengthy and thorough investigation/review of the organization" - if this review was before her statement then it spells a communication problem with the Pegula's.  If the review was after the statement then it was not lengthy (and maybe not thorough) and yet another reactive move where I wonder who they trust and why?   (side note:  I am reading about outside independent consultants.  That is what I do for a living.  You get called when leadership perceives a problem.  Telling them all is good will never get you another gig.)
• Since no one from the outside was considered the Adams hire smells of favoritism, and lacks due diligence - the fact that Adams was getting more involved with the hockey side before this happened suggests that she had trust issues with the current regime that go further back.  Not sure what is says about Adams character other than he knows who he works for and he will follow orders but he better keep in mind everything that happened because what goes around comes around. 
• Bloated organization - again, the Pegula's hired Botterill and they approved the structure that Botterill put in -- the good old Pittsburgh model. I understand the business environment has changed and if Botterill would not adapt then good bye.  I wanted him out anyway, 
• Gutting the business side - None of those positions have anything to do with players/coaching or the product on the ice.  The arena, the in game experience, the problems we saw on the 50 year celebration, none of it  had nothing to do with the hockey operations side.  The President (Kim) and the VP of Business Administration (Adams) should be accountable for that stuff, not the GM. 
• Culture problems - some of these issues actually started, or got worse, when the Pegula's took over and put in an ambiguous organizational structure that lead to top level people quitting  or getting fired.  Then they also adopted the lose now/win later culture.  No Sabres team ever tanked before that.  The tanking hangover is still there. 
• Bills Model - I contend they got lucky with Beane and they definitely got help from the league with McDermott.  For all we know McDermott hired Beane.    The big difference is that the Pegula's did not know McDermott or Beane beforehand so the Bills model cannot be "hire people you know and trust".  They know RK now, and they know Adams quite well.  What I see is a practice that hires the coach first and then the coach approves the GM.  Definitely unorthodox.

 

I will stop fretting over it.  It is done.  Bots is gone.  We will run lean and mean.  Success will hinge on Ralph Krueger's excellent leadership skills and his ability to change the culture.  Someone has to improve the talent base.  We have RFA's to sign.  We have a Super Star that is asking for veteran help and toughness.  We gutted the scouting staff and will likely work off of what is left from Botterill.   I just hope RK can also spend time with player acquisition and development and help the GM.   If the Sabres turn this around under RK then lets remember who hired him.