Dear Terry...

[PalmTreeMafia]

2 hours ago, jad1 said:

If this were true, the NHL would be pressuring half of the owners in the league to sell.  

Pegula is worth $5.4 billion.  He's not going anywhere.

HUGE difference between being among the bottom half of the teams that don't make the playoffs and what we've seen from the Sabres this year and for most of the past decade. I don't claim to have any credible sources or any special inside information. I'm just guessing that at some point, the rest of the NHL has to look at a franchise that continuously looks like it's fielding an AHL team as a giant ***** stain on their brand.

The rumors for the past year or more have been that the Pegulas are cutting corners throughout the organization to save money. If money isn't an issue, then why all the recent cuts to staff? Why so few hockey scouts? If enough fans boycott next season, wouldn't that make their financial situation much worse? This could be the leverage us fans need to get these piece of sh!t owners to sell. If the Pegulas aren't going anywhere no matter what the ticket sales are, then we're truly ***** because they've proven themselves to be too ***** stupid and stubborn to hire proven hockey people to run the team and then get out of the way.

Edited March 17, 2021 by TerryFolds

[jad1]

6 minutes ago, TerryFolds said:

HUGE difference between being among the bottom half of the teams that don't make the playoffs and what we've seen from the Sabres this year and for most of the past decade. I don't claim to have any credible sources or any special inside information. I'm just guessing that at some point, the rest of the NHL has to look at a franchise that continuously looks like it's fielding an AHL team as a giant ***** stain on their brand.

The rumors for the past year or more have been that the Pegulas are cutting corners throughout the organization to save money. If money isn't an issue, then why all the recent cuts to staff? Why so few hockey scouts? If enough fans boycott next season, wouldn't that make their financial situation much worse? This could be the leverage us fans need to get these piece of sh!t owners to sell. If the Pegulas aren't going anywhere no matter what the ticket sales are, then we're truly ***** because they've proven themselves to be too ***** stupid and stubborn to hire proven hockey people to run the team and then get out of the way.

The NHL will help Terry if he asks for it, like they reportedly did with Murray and Botterill (that worked!), but there is no way in hell the league is going to mess with the Pegula's ownership.  

Why so few scouts? Well because the scouting staff they had under Botterill did jack s###.  They had a GM who didn't organize or utilize his scouting staff in a way that moved the organization foward.

And I want experienced managers brought into the organization, and believe that's the best way to improve, but experienced GMs and coaches fail all the time in the NHL.  Creating synergy between the GM and coach is crucial, regardless of what their experience level is.

Getting over the hurdle of hiring the right people is huge for the Pegulas, but once they get it right, by luck or skill, they'll be considered to be among the better owners in the league.  It happened with the Bills, it will happen with the Sabres.

 

[LabattBlue]

1 minute ago, jad1 said:

Why so few scouts? Well because the scouting staff they had under Botterill did jack s###.  They had a GM who didn't organize or utilize his scouting staff in a way that moved the organization foward.

So instead of firing, and then rebuilding the off-ice hockey staff, you just fire them and say f*** it, we'll do without them?  Only in this Pegula led bizzaro world does this make any sense.

[Marvin]

15 minutes ago, TerryFolds said:

HUGE difference between being among the bottom half of the teams that don't make the playoffs and what we've seen from the Sabres this year and for most of the past decade. I don't claim to have any credible sources or any special inside information. I'm just guessing that at some point, the rest of the NHL has to look at a franchise that continuously looks like it's fielding an AHL team as a giant ***** stain on their brand.

The rumors for the past year or more have been that the Pegulas are cutting corners throughout the organization to save money. If money isn't an issue, then why all the recent cuts to staff? Why so few hockey scouts? If enough fans boycott next season, wouldn't that make their financial situation much worse? This could be the leverage us fans need to get these piece of sh!t owners to sell. If the Pegulas aren't going anywhere no matter what the ticket sales are, then we're truly ***** because they've proven themselves to be too ***** stupid and stubborn to hire proven hockey people to run the team and then get out of the way.

My sources have this answer.

The Pegulas are worth a LOT more now than they were 18 months ago.  However, they are less liquid and are husbanding their resources to hold on to the very profitable holdings they have -- not just the Bills.

The speculation on this board on the places where their liquid assets have gone is, on the whole, accurate.  Apparently, they are waiting for NYS to fully open up before returning to quasi-normal with the Sabres.  Currently, they and many other owners are staring at up to $100M in losses this season.

We don't have to like it (if there was a problem with liquidity, why sign Taylor Hall?), but this is my reconstruction of their thinking.

[jad1]

17 hours ago, LabattBlue said:

So instead of firing, and then rebuilding the off-ice hockey staff, you just fire them and say f*** it, we'll do without them?  Only in this Pegula led bizzaro world does this make any sense.

My guess is that he got input from Adams about his take on the efficiency of Botterill's organization and Adams suggested the changes to the scouting staff.  Terry then decided to go with Adams' approach over Botterill's.