Fairburn’s Athletic Sabres Fan Poll

[Flashsabre]

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6171886/2025/03/04/buffalo-sabres-fan-survey-results-2025/
 

Exactly what you would expect but maybe having it in print to the public will embarrass Terry enough to do something.

[GASabresIUFAN]

34 minutes ago, Flashsabre said:

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6171886/2025/03/04/buffalo-sabres-fan-survey-results-2025/
 

Exactly what you would expect but maybe having it in print to the public will embarrass Terry enough to do something.

The fanbase is pretty united in their thoughts on Terry, Adams and the team.  I did find it interesting that the poll responders want a top 6 forward over improvements on defense.  Considering the Sabres are 12th in GF, but 5th worst in GA, I’d say the priority is the defense.  I also think that stay at home D might be easier and cheaper to acquire than a top 6 forward.  

[inkman]

9 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

The fanbase is pretty united in their thoughts on Terry, Adams and the team.  I did find it interesting that the poll responders want a top 6 forward over improvements on defense.  Considering the Sabres are 12th in GF, but 5th worst in GA, I’d say the priority is the defense.  I also think that stay at home D might be easier and cheaper to acquire than a top 6 forward.  

Their forwards are the biggest problem on D 

[mjd1001]

2 hours ago, inkman said:

Their forwards are the biggest problem on D 

Totally agree.  The defensmen, even the 3rd pair guys like Bryson and Clifton and Gilbert, I think are better than they are given credit for. They aren't perfect of course. The lack of help by the forwards or the mistakes the forwards me (Cozens, Peterka, Quinn being the 3 that stand out most to me), makes the D-men look worse than they are.

Edited Tuesday at 08:36 PM by mjd1001

[GASabresIUFAN]

2 hours ago, inkman said:

Their forwards are the biggest problem on D 

They are an issue, but the by far bigger issue is the D except Dahlin.  They are positionally terrible, not physical enough, are giveaway machines, make terrible passes to clear the zone and often fail to clear the crease.   Other than that, they are fine.

Edited Tuesday at 08:36 PM by GASabresIUFAN

[LGR4GM]

4 minutes ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

they are an issue, but the by far bigger issue is the D except Dahlin.  They are positionally terrible, not physical enough, are giveaway machines, make terrible passes to clear the zone and often fail to clear the crease.   Other than that, they are fine.

Again, why is the defensive assistant wolford still employed? He has never iced a good NHL defense. 

[Taro T]

1 hour ago, inkman said:

Their forwards are the biggest problem on D 

To a degree.  Still expect that having a true top 4 veteran D-man who is preferrably stay at home or at minimum a solid 2 way guy to play with Power would do wonders for the unit overall.  Getting 1 more Zucker preferrably or even another Greenway for the top 6 would be 2nd on this kid's list.

3 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Again, why is the defensive assistant wolford still employed? He has never iced a good NHL defense. 

Why are ANY of the coaches not named Ruff (and possibly Bales) still employed.  What have ANY of them done to improve the output of this (or any other recent) Sabres roster?

[Flashsabre]

The assistant coaches are still employed because they have existing contracts and firing them would mean spending more money on new coaches.

But remember: no financial constraints 

[mjd1001]

10 minutes ago, Flashsabre said:

The assistant coaches are still employed because they have existing contracts and firing them would mean spending more money on new coaches.

But remember: no financial constraints 

What Pegula has learned in his time as an owner of the Sabres.....Why fail a little bit spending more money when you can fail spectacularly on the cheap.

[Taro T]

13 minutes ago, mjd1001 said:

What Pegula has learned in his time as an owner of the Sabres.....Why fail a little bit spending more money when you can fail spectacularly on the cheap.

Sadly, that does seem to be SOP at 1 Seymour Knox III Plaza.

[GASabresIUFAN]

45 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Again, why is the defensive assistant wolford still employed? He has never iced a good NHL defense. 

I don't disagree.  I asked since the day Lindy was hired why he wasn't allowed to pick his own staff and why did he take the job under those circumstances.  Wolford is a terrible coach.  Ellis is a terrible coach.  The only reason they still have jobs is TP is to cheap to fire them.

Edited Tuesday at 08:43 PM by GASabresIUFAN

[Stoner]

Step back. Way back. How did Terry go from drilling another well/no cap on hockey dept spending/summer of 2011 to his current stance?

[mjd1001]

23 minutes ago, Stoner said:

Step back. Way back. How did Terry go from drilling another well/no cap on hockey dept spending/summer of 2011 to his current stance?

The last 2 yeas that was very noticable. Covid was on its way out so that wasn't an excuse.  NHL revenues were going up. The team had a ton of cap space. There was no reason to not find a vet, overpay them for 2-4 years to make the team better.

[Flashsabre]

25 minutes ago, Stoner said:

Step back. Way back. How did Terry go from drilling another well/no cap on hockey dept spending/summer of 2011 to his current stance?

Buying the Bills. Thats where his focus and money has gone. Also the new stadium which he is paying for overruns. After they bought the Bills they had that marketing disaster talking about keeping their lifestyle and Efficent, Effective whatever it was nonsense about doing everything in the cheap

[PromoTheRobot]

On 3/4/2025 at 1:17 PM, GASabresIUFAN said:

The fanbase is pretty united in their thoughts on Terry, Adams and the team.  I did find it interesting that the poll responders want a top 6 forward over improvements on defense.  Considering the Sabres are 12th in GF, but 5th worst in GA, I’d say the priority is the defense.  I also think that stay at home D might be easier and cheaper to acquire than a top 6 forward.  

Did you call into WGR this morning?

[JohnC]

22 hours ago, Taro T said:

Sadly, that does seem to be SOP at 1 Seymour Knox III Plaza.

What I don't understand is that it is obvious to all that if he invested in the right staff and player payroll, he would generate a lot more revenue. The return on the $$$$ would be more than the increased expenditures. Just look at the Buffalo Bandits where the house is consistently filled and the generated revenue is a lot compared to the expenditure. I recognize that there is a big difference between the hockey and lacrosse costs but the principle is still the same. The owner's apparent apathy makes no sense to me. What's the point of owning a hockey franchise when you have allowed your franchise to become a laughed at and scorned franchise. It's gotten to the pathetic point where not only do players not want to come here but players already here desperately want out. Where is the freaking pride?

[shrader]

1 hour ago, Stoner said:

Step back. Way back. How did Terry go from drilling another well/no cap on hockey dept spending/summer of 2011 to his current stance?

I think it’s this:

22 hours ago, mjd1001 said:

What Pegula has learned in his time as an owner of the Sabres.....Why fail a little bit spending more money when you can fail spectacularly on the cheap.

 

[GASabresIUFAN]

40 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said:

Did you call into WGR this morning?

No, why?  I live in Atlanta and don't really listen to GR in the morning.  

[PromoTheRobot]

2 hours ago, GASabresIUFAN said:

No, why?  I live in Atlanta and don't really listen to GR in the morning.  

Someone phoned in from Georgia (They didn't say what town) to speak with Sabres reporter Paul Hamilton. I thought there was chance it was you.

[Pimlach]

5 hours ago, Stoner said:

Step back. Way back. How did Terry go from drilling another well/no cap on hockey dept spending/summer of 2011 to his current stance?

The new yacht, the lifestyle, and the stark realization that winning in the NHL is much harder than winning in the Olean Youth Hockey House League.  

[JohnC]

1 hour ago, Pimlach said:

The new yacht, the lifestyle, and the stark realization that winning in the NHL is much harder than winning in the Olean Youth Hockey House League.  

Terry Pegula is a self-made billionaire in a high stakes energy business. He should be given credit for his business accomplishments. This is the American dream of starting off with nothing and ending up rich beyond anyone's imagination. I'm confident that in the business world where he accrued his wealth that he was smart enough to surround himself with talented people. On the other hand, it seems that he has preferred playing with his toy franchise rather than approaching it in a serious manner as he did in the energy business. 

As @mjd1001 has keenly noted, it's obvious that the owner is a stubborn person who wants to do things his way. Yet there comes a point that is obvious to all that the course one is taking is not only not working but is disastrous. It just seems that the more the situation deteriorates the more he seems to double-down. Not only is it a wrong way to handle a problem but it is a self-destructive way to deal with it. Just plain stupid and infuriating.  

 

[PerreaultForever]

On 3/4/2025 at 11:52 AM, GASabresIUFAN said:

They are an issue, but the by far bigger issue is the D except Dahlin.  They are positionally terrible, not physical enough, are giveaway machines, make terrible passes to clear the zone and often fail to clear the crease.   Other than that, they are fine.

This is continual and it's what they insist on constructing. They want quick transition speedy puck movers and not big and strong positionally sound defensive D men. Powerless is big but he plays small. Only Gilbert is a defensive D man but he's marginal NHL level at best. 

It won't change until the roster construction philosophy changes. 

[GASabresIUFAN]

18 minutes ago, PerreaultForever said:

This is continual and it's what they insist on constructing. They want quick transition speedy puck movers and not big and strong positionally sound defensive D men. Powerless is big but he plays small. Only Gilbert is a defensive D man but he's marginal NHL level at best. 

It won't change until the roster construction philosophy changes. 

I do find it interesting that many people here think that the forwards are more responsible for our team's bad defensive play than the inept "defensemen."  

Edited Thursday at 01:28 AM by GASabresIUFAN

[Thorner]

7 hours ago, JohnC said:

What I don't understand is that it is obvious to all that if he invested in the right staff and player payroll, he would generate a lot more revenue. The return on the $$$$ would be more than the increased expenditures. Just look at the Buffalo Bandits where the house is consistently filled and the generated revenue is a lot compared to the expenditure. I recognize that there is a big difference between the hockey and lacrosse costs but the principle is still the same. The owner's apparent apathy makes no sense to me. What's the point of owning a hockey franchise when you have allowed your franchise to become a laughed at and scorned franchise. It's gotten to the pathetic point where not only do players not want to come here but players already here desperately want out. Where is the freaking pride?

Attempting to understand the minds of the exceedingly rich is folly 

[Pimlach]

1 hour ago, JohnC said:

Terry Pegula is a self-made billionaire in a high stakes energy business. He should be given credit for his business accomplishments. This is the American dream of starting off with nothing and ending up rich beyond anyone's imagination. I'm confident that in the business world where he accrued his wealth that he was smart enough to surround himself with talented people. On the other hand, it seems that he has preferred playing with his toy franchise rather than approaching it in a serious manner as he did in the energy business. 

As @mjd1001 has keenly noted, it's obvious that the owner is a stubborn person who wants to do things his way. Yet there comes a point that is obvious to all that the course one is taking is not only not working but is disastrous. It just seems that the more the situation deteriorates the more he seems to double-down. Not only is it a wrong way to handle a problem but it is a self-destructive way to deal with it. Just plain stupid and infuriating.  

 

No doubt that he is a brilliant businessman in the energy field.