Do the Sabres make the playoffs this season (Thanksgiving edition)

[mjd1001]

10 minutes ago, steveoat87 said:

This is shades of the Ralph Wilson syndrome.  He would only hire people he new.  You will never win with this philosophy.  Hoping his kids can talk some sense into him.

As is my main issue with Pegula, and why firing Adams likely won't change anything. In Football, there are more layers to separate him from the product on the field, in Hockey, Pegula wants to be involved, and he isn't going to hire someone who will tell him to 'butt out' of the hockey department.

How can the team get better when you may need a new hockey department, but the one person who may be able to change that hockey department might be the single biggest problem with it?

[JohnC]

1 minute ago, mjd1001 said:

As is my main issue with Pegula, and why firing Adams likely won't change anything. In Football, there are more layers to separate him from the product on the field, in Hockey, Pegula wants to be involved, and he isn't going to hire someone who will tell him to 'butt out' of the hockey department.

How can the team get better when you may need a new hockey department, but the one person who may be able to change that hockey department might be the single biggest problem with it?

I don't see the owner interfering with the football operation. He hired quality people in McDermott and Beane resulting in resounding success. Why can't the same non-interference policy apply to the lagging hockey team? There is no problem keeping the owner informed about any considered or even impending transaction. He's signing the checks, so he has a right to know what is going on. The model and structure for success exists with his NFL franchise. The same reasoning should apply to the hockey franchise, at least that is how I see it. 

[mjd1001]

3 minutes ago, JohnC said:

I don't see the owner interfering with the football operation. He hired quality people in McDermott and Beane resulting in resounding success. Why can't the same non-interference policy apply to the lagging hockey team? There is no problem keeping the owner informed about any considered or even impending transaction. He's signing the checks, so he has a right to know what is going on. The model and structure for success exists with his NFL franchise. The same reasoning should apply to the hockey franchise, at least that is how I see it. 

I agree with you 100%, there should be a 'non interference' policy with the Sabres also. But for some reason, he doesn't want that.

Remember the last GM before Adams and why he got fired? There were direct quotes from both Terry and Kim saying they fired Botts because they felt "they weren't being listened to" in terms of hockey related decisions and they wanted more input.

So yeah, you had a guy that came up with a different organization, bred to be a 'hockey guy', not a 'business guy', with experience with a winning team (Botts).  Was he going to be a great GM? Well, he wasn't give much time but he was fired because the Pegula's had a different vision for the 'on ice' product and he wasn't receptive enough to them or made them feel 'heard' enough.

Edited Monday at 08:30 PM by mjd1001

[Sabres Fan in NS]

Poll is closed, but not the thread. so ...

YES !!

[JohnC]

10 minutes ago, mjd1001 said:

I agree with you 100%, there should be a 'non interference' policy with the Sabres also. But for some reason, he doesn't want that.

Remember the last GM before Adams and why he got fired? There were direct quotes from both Terry and Kim saying they fired Botts because they felt "they weren't being listened to" in terms of hockey related decisions and they wanted more input.

So yeah, you had a guy that came up with a different organization, bred to be a 'hockey guy', not a 'business guy', with experience with a winning team (Botts).  Was he going to be a great GM? Well, he wasn't give much time but he was fired because the Pegula's had a different vision for the 'on ice' product and he wasn't receptive enough to them or made them feel 'heard' enough.

The Botts situation was different. It was the covid era when economics of the business was upended. The owner whose hockey business and other hospitality businesses were hemorrhaging $$$ wanted an austerity program instituted where the scouting department and other staff were to be fired. The GM said no that he wasn't going along with the staff shredding approach. So he was fired. That's not the case now. For the most part, the current GM is making the hockey decisions. Does he have less $$$ to work with compared to other organizations? Probably so. But the GM is the person who is the most influential person by far in making personnel decisions. To put it mildly, he is less than stellar. 

[Pimlach]

1 hour ago, steveoat87 said:

This is shades of the Ralph Wilson syndrome.  He would only hire people he new.  You will never win with this philosophy.  Hoping his kids can talk some sense into him.

True, but Ralph was in his late 90's when this happened.  Terry has all his faculties, he just doesn't know were to turn.  

[steveoat87]

51 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

True, but Ralph was in his late 90's when this happened.  Terry has all his faculties, he just doesn't know were to turn.  

True, but it seems that a person of his means would have no difficulty finding someone if he really wanted to.  I have worked at a number of large successful corporations and when there was motivation, there was never any problem finding a consultant or outside individual to assess and advise on a problem.  Terry just seems very stubborn and appears to have some vision of what he wants, but it is unrealistic given the way hockey is currently played (probably whey he liked Jeff Skinner).  The best chance we have is if either Lindy (who probably carries some weight) or his kids, who probably have some interest in the business) can talk some sense into him.  Adams is just a yes man who is clueless as to how to run an organization.

[Weave]

This was the hole they could not dig.

KA gonna need to pull a rabbit out of a hat now.

[Carmel Corn]

11 minutes ago, Weave said:

This was the hole they could not dig.

KA gonna need to pull a rabbit out of a hat now.

Yes….he could sign a rabbit or two to the roster….since they are much tougher and grittier to play against vs. any Sabres on this team!  🙃

[JP51]

On 11/24/2024 at 9:14 PM, PerreaultForever said:

Zucker started really slow, like he didn't really want to be here. A disinterested mercenary. But then he started to come along and now he's one of those veteran leaders we've been missing all these years. I don't know what changed, but I don't think they'd be winning without him. 

Zucker will turn completely disinterested shortly if he already has not, he will see the lay of the land realize he is in purgatory and bid his time until he can either leave, or get traded to a playoff team for more draft picks at the deadline.

On 11/24/2024 at 9:14 PM, PerreaultForever said:

Zucker started really slow, like he didn't really want to be here. A disinterested mercenary. But then he started to come along and now he's one of those veteran leaders we've been missing all these years. I don't know what changed, but I don't think they'd be winning without him. 

Zucker will turn completely disinterested shortly if he already has not, he will see the lay of the land realize he is in purgatory and bid his time until he can either leave, or get traded to a playoff team for more draft picks at the deadline.

[DarthEbriate]

The Buffalo Sabres are no ordinary rabbit!

[Carmel Corn]

16 minutes ago, DarthEbriate said:

The Buffalo Sabres are no ordinary rabbit!

They’re the adorable bunny inside the belly of a coyote.  I want the rabbit from Monty Python’s Holy Grail instead!!!

[DarthEbriate]

1 hour ago, Carmel Corn said:

They’re the adorable bunny inside the belly of a coyote.  I want the rabbit from Monty Python’s Holy Grail instead!!!

[Thorner]

On 12/2/2024 at 2:28 PM, mjd1001 said:

I agree with you 100%, there should be a 'non interference' policy with the Sabres also. But for some reason, he doesn't want that.

Remember the last GM before Adams and why he got fired? There were direct quotes from both Terry and Kim saying they fired Botts because they felt "they weren't being listened to" in terms of hockey related decisions and they wanted more input.

So yeah, you had a guy that came up with a different organization, bred to be a 'hockey guy', not a 'business guy', with experience with a winning team (Botts).  Was he going to be a great GM? Well, he wasn't give much time but he was fired because the Pegula's had a different vision for the 'on ice' product and he wasn't receptive enough to them or made them feel 'heard' enough.

We know what Botterill was fired for, explicitly: because he wouldn’t fire a bunch of people 

he stood up to Terry and got fired 

“Felt they weren’t being listened to”.

Yes. “Fire those people.”

”No.”

”Ok, Kevyn, you do it.”

Adams:

Edited 51 minutes ago by Thorner