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

[Doohicksie]

Yes, perhaps you're right, Curt.  I probably over-speculated there.  Time to back that out of my narrative  ?

1 minute ago, dudacek said:

You don’t think the continued disappointments on the ice warranted an owner-mandated review, in and of themselves?

Maybe they did.  Let's back the "Kruger went over JBot's head" part out of my post.

[Pimlach]

1 hour ago, Curt said:

Your first line is plausible for sure.

But I don’t think friction between Botterill/Krueger was a major factor here.  I think the review happened and one of the major takeaways was Yes, we can cut some people and replace these others who we think aren’t working well for us.  Then Botterill was kind of balking at firing so many of his people.  Eventually the Pegulas and Botterill could not get on the same page about how to move forward, and he was let go.  Then they made all the cuts/changes that they wanted to.

So the Pegula's were clearly wrong to endorse him 3 weeks ago if all this "independent review" stuff was happening and her "candid conversations" had not happened.  It sounds like the results of the review had not been digested and put into a plan forward strategy. 

I do this kind of work for a living.  I have never seen Corporate Exec's acts so carelessly as to tell their reporting chain one thing (in Kim's case the AP), and then come up another story a few weeks later.   It would get most Exec's fired.  Of course Kim does not have to worry about that, the buck stops with her, but it says a lot about her experience and her leadership.

[Curt]

1 hour ago, Pimlach said:

So the Pegula's were clearly wrong to endorse him 3 weeks ago if all this "independent review" stuff was happening and her "candid conversations" had not happened.  It sounds like the results of the review had not been digested and put into a plan forward strategy. 

I do this kind of work for a living.  I have never seen Corporate Exec's acts so carelessly as to tell their reporting chain one thing (in Kim's case the AP), and then come up another story a few weeks later.   It would get most Exec's fired.  Of course Kim does not have to worry about that, the buck stops with her, but it says a lot about her experience and her leadership.

Absolutely.  They are consistently tone deaf in how they come across with the media and fans.  A PR nightmare.

[Thorner]

4 hours ago, dudacek said:

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.

Botterill's finest fan moment was that video of that fan yelling at him about signing Skinner and him yelling back, "we'll get it done!"

[IKnowPhysics]

1 hour ago, Pimlach said:

So the Pegula's were clearly wrong to endorse him 3 weeks ago if all this "independent review" stuff was happening and her "candid conversations" had not happened.  It sounds like the results of the review had not been digested and put into a plan forward strategy. 

I do this kind of work for a living.  I have never seen Corporate Exec's acts so carelessly as to tell their reporting chain one thing (in Kim's case the AP), and then come up another story a few weeks later.   It would get most Exec's fired.  Of course Kim does not have to worry about that, the buck stops with her, but it says a lot about her experience and her leadership.

Pretend you "do this kind of work for a living" for the Sabres.  Your hockey team is losing.  You're aware the GM and hockey department are under scrutiny from the fans.  You're aware that they are undergoing review by the ownership, but it is not yet complete.  The Associated Press asks the ownership very directly if the GM is returning next year.  Any response: positive, negative, and even a non-response will be published as a response.

What do you tell the owner to say?

@john wawrow : What would you expect an owner to say?

[Pimlach]

5 hours ago, IKnowPhysics said:

Pretend you "do this kind of work for a living" for the Sabres.  Your hockey team is losing.  You're aware the GM and hockey department are under scrutiny from the fans.  You're aware that they are undergoing review by the ownership, but it is not yet complete.  The Associated Press asks the ownership very directly if the GM is returning next year.  Any response: positive, negative, and even a non-response will be published as a response.

What do you tell the owner to say?

@john wawrow : What would you expect an owner to say?

The truth.  
 

1. If he is safe say it.  But only if he is. 
2.  If you are evaluating; say it. Say “we will evaluate everything  when the off season starts“.  Then do it fairly.  If you think he has a good chance then be positive about any progress made.   Positive, not cryptic.  
3.  If your going to release him say  “we will evaluate after the season ends.”  Nothing more.  Done. Or don’t make yourself available to the AP to begin with.  
 

People respond better to bad news when it is delivered honestly and fairly. People deserve that.  This will serve well in building a good reputation around the league.  Which I doubt she has right now. 

Edited June 20, 2020 by Pimlach

[JimS]

And then also trotted him out there for the end of season press conference. Not cool.

[PerreaultForever]

Or...........as Burkie said, "it's a clown show."

[Radar]

10 hours ago, JimS said:

And then also trotted him out there for the end of season press conference. Not cool.

The only thing that would make sense is that the Pegulas were going to purge those other positions. They told Botterill to do it . He knowing he was not going to be around after this coming season told ownership no to the purging and they then fired him. I think the Pegulas were going to keep Botterill for one more year but that was all. When Botterill refused the purge then they fired him. Decision was after the end of year presser by Botterill.

[Pimlach]

6 hours ago, Radar said:

The only thing that would make sense is that the Pegulas were going to purge those other positions. They told Botterill to do it . He knowing he was not going to be around after this coming season told ownership no to the purging and they then fired him. I think the Pegulas were going to keep Botterill for one more year but that was all. When Botterill refused the purge then they fired him. Decision was after the end of year presser by Botterill.

You are probably correct on the timeline and all but if you are in a NHL Hockey operations job what are you thinking about the goings’ on in Buffalo.  
 

There are a lot of former Sabres Employees out there with stories. 

[Kruppstahl]

6 hours ago, Radar said:

The only thing that would make sense is that the Pegulas were going to purge those other positions. They told Botterill to do it . He knowing he was not going to be around after this coming season told ownership no to the purging and they then fired him. I think the Pegulas were going to keep Botterill for one more year but that was all. When Botterill refused the purge then they fired him. Decision was after the end of year presser by Botterill.

I think that is more or less exactly how it played out.

The Pegulas wanted to retain Botterill as part of their cost saving plan.  Over the last 3 weeks they sat down to really dig into how to arrange things going forward.  They told Jason of the purge, and he refused.

I hated Botterill as GM, but I give him credit for standing up for himself and his staff in this manner.  He obviously realized that the Pegulas were turning the franchise into a joke show, making success on the ice that much more difficult, and Botterill didn't want to be a part of that.  Good on him.

Having said that, I'm still glad he's gone.  But in the wake of all the other changes, I don't think it really matters who the GM is going forward.

As I've written here many times in the last few days, I find myself hoping for an ownership change at this point.

Given that the Pegulas own the Bills, I don't think it's unrealistic to suggest they would sell the Sabres.

 

 

[thewookie1]

10 minutes ago, Kruppstahl said:

I think that is more or less exactly how it played out.

The Pegulas wanted to retain Botterill as part of their cost saving plan.  Over the last 3 weeks they sat down to really dig into how to arrange things going forward.  They told Jason of the purge, and he refused.

I hated Botterill as GM, but I give him credit for standing up for himself and his staff in this manner.  He obviously realized that the Pegulas were turning the franchise into a joke show, making success on the ice that much more difficult, and Botterill didn't want to be a part of that.  Good on him.

Having said that, I'm still glad he's gone.  But in the wake of all the other changes, I don't think it really matters who the GM is going forward.

As I've written here many times in the last few days, I find myself hoping for an ownership change at this point.

Given that the Pegulas own the Bills, I don't think it's unrealistic to suggest they would sell the Sabres.

 

 

As long as sell to another Buffalo-only owner. I never want our teams to move and any team sale strikes the fear of God into me.

[Stoner]

I wonder how much money LQ and Dan DiPofi have and whether they and OSP would want to get back in the game. Tom could then say he saved the Buffalo Sabres twice.

[jad1]

2 hours ago, PASabreFan said:

I wonder how much money LQ and Dan DiPofi have and whether they and OSP would want to get back in the game. Tom could then say he saved the Buffalo Sabres twice.

Right, bring in the cost-cutting king to fix the precieved issue of cutting costs.

Looking foward to the day they let Eichel and Dahlin walk for nothing on the same day.

Edited June 20, 2020 by jad1

[SwampD]

I just need to know who was responsible for the O’Reilly trade. If that person is still in the organization then I really have no reason to have any kind of hope.

[Pimlach]

2 hours ago, SwampD said:

I just need to know who was responsible for the O’Reilly trade. If that person is still in the organization then I really have no reason to have any kind of hope.

Botterill was responsible for the trade.  He was the GM, he made the trade.  What I think you want to know was whether he was directed into the move by Terry/Kim.  Rumors have it that a Terry wanted him gone after his “lost the love” speech.  Now if he pushed JBot to do it prior to the bonus payout then he made Botterill’s job much harder.    
 

Edited June 21, 2020 by Pimlach

[SwampD]

10 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Botterill was responsible for the trade.  He was the GM, he made the trade.  What I think you want to know was whether he was directed into the move by Terry/Kim.  Rumors have it that a Terry wanted him gone after his “lost the love” speech.  Now if he pushed JBot to do it prior to the bonus payout then he made Botterill job much harder.    
 

Right. If that’s the case, then Botterill was not responsible for the trade.

[nfreeman]

27 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Botterill was responsible for the trade.  He was the GM, he made the trade.  What I think you want to know was whether he was directed into the move by Terry/Kim.  Rumors have it that a Terry wanted him gone after his “lost the love” speech.  Now if he pushed JBot to do it prior to the bonus payout then he made Botterill job much harder.    
 

@john wawrow -- Just wondering if you have any info on this?

[Stoner]

31 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Botterill was responsible for the trade.  He was the GM, he made the trade.  What I think you want to know was whether he was directed into the move by Terry/Kim.  Rumors have it that a Terry wanted him gone after his “lost the love” speech.  Now if he pushed JBot to do it prior to the bonus payout then he made Botterill job much harder.   

Has anyone flat out asked the Pegulas how it went down?

[Curt]

29 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Botterill was responsible for the trade.  He was the GM, he made the trade.  What I think you want to know was whether he was directed into the move by Terry/Kim.  Rumors have it that a Terry wanted him gone after his “lost the love” speech.  Now if he pushed JBot to do it prior to the bonus payout then he made Botterill job much harder.    
 

I can not think of any other reason that the trade happened on the day before the bonus was due.  There are rumors, I believe from multiple teams that were willing to give a better deal after the bonus was paid.

I can’t know with certainty, but the evidence seems pretty transparent that Pegula wanted the deal done before the bonus was due, at the expense of getting a better hockey trade.

[kas23]

13 minutes ago, Curt said:

I can not think of any other reason that the trade happened on the day before the bonus was due.  There are rumors, I believe from multiple teams that were willing to give a better deal after the bonus was paid.

I can’t know with certainty, but the evidence seems pretty transparent that Pegula wanted the deal done before the bonus was due, at the expense of getting a better hockey trade.

This is pretty much it. It certainly wasn’t a coincidence he was traded the day before the bonus. There is no hockey-related reason for this to have happened. It was the off-season. No rush. If there is still a debate, people can discuss whether it was JBott or TP who didn’t want to pay the bonus. 

[dudacek]

4 hours ago, Pimlach said:

Botterill was responsible for the trade.  He was the GM, he made the trade.  What I think you want to know was whether he was directed into the move by Terry/Kim.  Rumors have it that a Terry wanted him gone after his “lost the love” speech.  Now if he pushed JBot to do it prior to the bonus payout then he made Botterill job much harder.    
 

O’Reilly was on the trading block well before the “lost love“ speech. There was all kinds of talk at the deadline and even going back to the fall. I think it’s pretty clear that there was an organizational decision to flush Kane and O’Reilly (and probably Lehner) made in the midst of Botterill’s disastrous first season. How much of that was Botterill and how much was Pegula and how much they were united on the decision is an open question.

3 hours ago, Curt said:

I can not think of any other reason that the trade happened on the day before the bonus was due.  There are rumors, I believe from multiple teams that were willing to give a better deal after the bonus was paid.

I can’t know with certainty, but the evidence seems pretty transparent that Pegula wanted the deal done before the bonus was due, at the expense of getting a better hockey trade.

I don’t think there can be any doubt ownership imposed a bonus-related deadline. I also think that it is very clear Botterill botched the deadline.

We know the Blues deal was patched together last second after the Botterill failed to close an alternate deal with Armstrong a few days earlier. I suspect Botterill left a better deal With Armstrong on the table because Armstrong's need for/ability to fit ROR was lessened after he got Bozak in UFA. We also know Montreal and Carolina had serious offers out there. Were they better?

The deadline didn’t sneak up on Botterill. He had months to shop and pull the trigger. I suspect he overplayed his hand, similar to the way many think he overplayed his hand while shopping Kane.

Edited June 21, 2020 by dudacek

[Randall Flagg]

A bunch of posters did the work on hf a while ago, somewhere buried in the thousands of pages about ROR. They concluded that Botterill wanted to move him as early as a few weeks into the season. There is every indication including from people who purport to have insiders that Botterill just wanted Ryan gone. While its def possible that Terry felt the same way and imposed the deadline, ROR was doomed the second we hired jason and Jason added that offseason's abominable pile of crap, no matter who the owners were 

[Curt]

18 minutes ago, dudacek said:

O’Reilly was on the trading block well before the “lost love“ speech. There was all kinds of talk at the deadline and even going back to the fall. I think it’s pretty clear that there was an organizational decision to flush Kane and O’Reilly (and probably Lehner) made in the wake of Botterill’s disastrous first season. How much of that was Botterill and how much was Pegula and how much they were united on the decision is an open question.

I don’t think there can be any doubt ownership imposed a bonus-related deadline. I also think that it is very clear Botterill botched the deadline.

We know the Blues deal was patched together last second after the Botterill failed to close an alternate deal with Armstrong a few days earlier. I suspect Botterill left a better deal With Armstrong on the table because Armstrong's need for/ability to fit ROR was lessened after he got Bozak in UFA. We also know Montreal and Carolina had serious offers out there. Were they better?

The deadline didn’t sneak up on Botterill. He had months to shop and pull the trigger. I suspect he overplayed his hand, similar to the way many think he overplayed his hand while shopping Kane.

Yeah, I don’t know for sure when the deadline was imposed.  Was the bonus deadline something that was established far in advance, or was in sprung on Botterill somewhat on short notice?  I can’t say.  

I have confidence in neither Botterill’s trade negotion process, nor confidence that the Pegulas did not impose a last minute surprise deadline.

Carolina’s offer included Elias Lindholm +, I’ve heard.  That would would have been nice.

[dudacek]

18 minutes ago, Curt said:

Yeah, I don’t know for sure when the deadline was imposed.  Was the bonus deadline something that was established far in advance, or was in sprung on Botterill somewhat on short notice?  I can’t say.  

I have confidence in neither Botterill’s trade negotion process, nor confidence that the Pegulas did not impose a last minute surprise deadline.

Carolina’s offer included Elias Lindholm +, I’ve heard.  That would would have been nice.

A month prior to the deadline the “Insiders” were touting the July 1 bonus and saying how the price would be going up if the Sabres ended up paying it.

I think that was a Botterill leak planted in a clumsy attempt to disguise the fact he was working under a deadline and accelerate negotiations.