Darren Dreger on Jason Karmanos

[Thorner]

7 minutes ago, JohnC said:

On that issue we are in accord. One area where I have admiration for him is that he is more of a collaborator than a driver on issues. That approach works when you are secure enough to surround yourself with top notch people. His hiring of Karmonos, a more experienced front office  executive, is an example of not only surrounding yourself with quality staff but also listening to them. His hiring of Granato made a profound difference on the roster and team. 

Being in accord is OK but I prefer the image and evoked emotion of “two ships passing in the night” 

Edited April 22, 2023 by Thorny

[Taro T]

11 minutes ago, Thorny said:

Being in accord is OK but I prefer the image and evoked emotion of “two ships passing in the night” 

Umm, isn't that usually used to describe a brief tryst?

[Thorner]

17 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Umm, isn't that usually used to describe a brief tryst?

My parents did okay but never to the level of hooking me up with that kind of set-up/cash flow 

[Taro T]

5 minutes ago, Thorny said:

My parents did okay but never to the level of hooking me up with that kind of set-up/cash flow 

Tryst.  Not trust.

[Thorner]

2 minutes ago, Taro T said:

Tryst.  Not trust.

I’m missing something, I trust - Fundamentally 

[Taro T]

Just now, Thorny said:

I’m missing something, I trust - Fundamentally 

Was making a funny, but it couldn't have been that good of a joke if it has to be explained.

My bad.  🍻

[Thorner]

Just now, Taro T said:

Was making a funny, but it couldn't have been that good of a joke if it has to be explained.

My bad.  🍻

dude

[Taro T]

4 minutes ago, Thorny said:

dude

 

[Thorner]

2 minutes ago, Taro T said:

 

The 4th reason is hilarious but reason 3 hit the mark, in this case. Was joshing with you da whole time 

[Brawndo]

2 hours ago, JohnC said:

KA brought in Karmonos as his assistant GM and also gave him a lot of additional responsibilities, including designating him the Rochester GM. This franchise became  more reliant on analytics after he became the GM. The ethos and culture of this organization was dramatically changed. What I want to emphasize here is don't discount the near total rebuilding of the organization in this franchise's progress. 

With the caveat I’m a huge Adams Fan, 
 

Karmanos is an associate GM and only took the position after being guaranteed those responsibilities. 

Karmanos is also responsible for the Sabres Analytics Department. His pitch to the Pegula’s in Boca Raton a month after being hired green lighted the expansion and it was His Relationship with Sam Ventura is the reason he came to Buffalo.  

[JohnC]

10 hours ago, Brawndo said:

With the caveat I’m a huge Adams Fan, 
 

Karmanos is an associate GM and only took the position after being guaranteed those responsibilities. 

Karmanos is also responsible for the Sabres Analytics Department. His pitch to the Pegula’s in Boca Raton a month after being hired green lighted the expansion and it was His Relationship with Sam Ventura is the reason he came to Buffalo.  

You and I agree on Adams. As I said in a prior post, he is more of a collaborator than a driver of policy. He surrounded himself with people who were very experienced in the hockey business, even more so than he was. He would be the first to admit that. You have to be very secure to do that. KA is more of a listener than a talker. He assembled a first-class staff, gave them a wide berth, and empowered them. That's why as the head of the franchise he has been a sterling success. 

[Stoner]

22 minutes ago, JohnC said:

You and I agree on Adams. As I said in a prior post, he is more of a collaborator than a driver of policy. He surrounded himself with people who were very experienced in the hockey business, even more so than he was. He would be the first to admit that. You have to be very secure to do that. KA is more of a listener than a talker. He assembled a first-class staff, gave them a wide berth, and empowered them. That's why as the head of the franchise he has been a sterling success. 

Maybe one day he'll get us in the sterling conversation.

I'll show myself out.

[JohnC]

32 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

Maybe one day he'll get us in the sterling conversation.

I'll show myself out.

Before you shut the door you need to go back into the room. You got it backwards. His talent to converse is far from being sterling, while his talent to listen is. He's a proponent that you learn more from listening to other people than you do talking to other people. That's why in his short tenure he has been successful. There's still a lot more to do but the course he has set is the right course. At least, that is how I see it. 

Edited April 22, 2023 by JohnC

[French Collection]

18 minutes ago, JohnC said:

Before you shut the door you need to go back into the room. You got it backwards. His talent to converse is far from being sterling, while his talent to listen is. He's a proponent that you learn more from listening to other people than you do talking to other people. That's why in his short tenure has been successful. There's still a lot more to do but the course he has set is the right course. At least, that is how I see it. 

We have two ears and one mouth, we should listen twice as much as we speak.

[Pimlach]

1 hour ago, French Collection said:

We have two ears and one mouth, we should listen twice as much as we speak.

Words from my mother. 

[Pimlach]

3 hours ago, JohnC said:

You and I agree on Adams. As I said in a prior post, he is more of a collaborator than a driver of policy. He surrounded himself with people who were very experienced in the hockey business, even more so than he was. He would be the first to admit that. You have to be very secure to do that. KA is more of a listener than a talker. He assembled a first-class staff, gave them a wide berth, and empowered them. That's why as the head of the franchise he has been a sterling success. 

I have to ask.  Are you his neighbor of Kevyn, a friend, or a former teacher of his  at Clarence High?  You seem to know know a lot about his personal traits and leadership style.   
 

He has a plan and he appears to keep things on track.  He has made a few mistakes along the way but that is understandable.   The jury is still out on the sterling success part.  There is a lot of winning that needs to happen before I can go that far.  

 

 

[JohnC]

6 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

I have to ask.  Are you his neighbor of Kevyn, a friend, or a former teacher of his  at Clarence High?  You seem to know know a lot about his personal traits and leadership style.   
 

He has a plan and he appears to keep things on track.  He has made a few mistakes along the way but that is understandable.   The jury is still out on the sterling success part.  There is a lot of winning that needs to happen before I can go that far.  

 

 

I have never met him and don't know him. I have listened on WGR to maybe half a dozen people who do know him from his playing days and worked with him in other capacities who all virtually say the same things about him i.e. that he is intelligent, works well with people and listens to what others have to say before making a decision. Simply stated, his leadership/management style is more of a collaborator than autocratic, top/down approach. In addition, he has talked on multiple radio broadcasts (for me mostly on WGR) about his approach to rebuilding the franchise. Based on what he has frequently stated it's not difficult to decipher what his philosophy is as the head of this franchise. He often refers to the Carolina model of having a deep team and not being dependent on a few individual players. 

As you stated, the plan that he had and laid out when he took the GM position is the plan that he is executing. 

[nucci]

On 4/21/2023 at 6:51 PM, kas23 said:

It would be a consensus, as it is now. I really don’t think KA is making any unilateral roster decisions as a TM or JB did. Look, this isn’t about day to day responsibilities. It’s about how to keep our FO intact if another team comes knocking to poach. Giving a person a promotion, via new title and increased pay, is reason enough to want to stay in Buffalo. People usually like what they do. They leave jobs when their boss is unbearable or they don’t feel appreciated. 

maybe he doesn't make unilateral decisions but he is ultimately responsible. It's possible one of these guys wants to be in charge of their own team.

[GASabresIUFAN]

From the Athletic.

Things must be getting better here.  When was the last time we were worried about losing a member of our front office to a rival team.

They also said they doubt Karmanos is ready to leave and pointed out he was fired by Pittsburgh previously.  

[Zamboni]

It will be nice if he stays.

If he doesn’t want to be here …. 
 

bu-bye