How will you react to no offseason structure changes to FO/Coaching

[HumanSlinky39]

I'll piss and moan like an impotent jerk then spend another hockey season miserable in 2025/26.

[JP51]

1 hour ago, HumanSlinky39 said:

I'll piss and moan like an impotent jerk then spend another hockey season miserable in 2025/26.

LOL as will most of us...

 

I am just honestly waiting for someone to offer to buy the Billboard LOL 

[LTS]

I'll always be a Sabres fan. It's just a question of whether I will invest to be able to watch them play either with my money.. or my time.

[Thorner]

Quit 

[Carmel Corn]

Terry thinks he’s smarter than everybody else.  Very little change occurs despite the overwhelming evidence that things are not working.  Having a delusional owner who is too stubborn to admit he’s wrong is an unacceptable situation.

[GoPuckYourself]

Not doing a single thing in a 13 game losing streak is unacceptable from the GM not making a trade to the HC not changing things up, failure from the top to the bottom.

Edited Thursday at 01:21 PM by GoPuckYourself

[clink]

What this scenario feels like, in song 😃

 

 

[PerreaultForever]

14 hours ago, Mr. Allen said:

I’m done with this group.  Terry needs to hire a president and then stay out of it.  Let the new president pick his own guys.  

Yes, definitely, but it won't happen. Most of us have been asking for this for years.

1 hour ago, GoPuckYourself said:

Not doing a single thing in a 13 game losing is unacceptable from the GM not making a trade to the HC not changing things up, failure from the top to the bottom.

Even just calling up guys from Rochester. SOMETHING. 

[SwampD]

Am I the only one who doesn’t ever remember a “playoffs or bust” statement? In fact, I remember KA would say almost everything leading up to that, but never had the conviction to ever say that. If there is video or an article of him saying that, I’d love to see it.

[Weave]

13 minutes ago, SwampD said:

Am I the only one who doesn’t ever remember a “playoffs or bust” statement? In fact, I remember KA would say almost everything leading up to that, but never had the conviction to ever say that. If there is video or an article of him saying that, I’d love to see it.

My recollection is, Alex Tuch was much more direct in saying playoffs were the goal than KAs comments indicated.  But I am old and feeble and my memory should not be trusted.

[Believer]

Pegula owns it.

He and he alone is responsible for the utter failure of the Buffalo Sabres.

Pegula disrespects Sabre fans.

Pegula disrespects Sabre players.

Pegula disrespects the game.

I live in Sarasota. I’m a diehard Buffalo Sabres fan. I watch 65+/-games on television. If I lived in Buffalo, I wouldn’t be attending games or buying merchandise until Adams and Ruff are replaced.

Then, I would buy two season tickets, mid ice, 30 rows up, on the aisle.

I’m 75. I want a winner before I leave the arena.

 

[JohnC]

22 hours ago, Pimlach said:

I picked Completely Unacceptable.  

Enough is enough.  Terry is not even trying.  I want to pick 3, I am a loyalist and my fandom predates the Sabres existence, but I have to finally take a stand. 

I witnessed three miserable home games and a miserable road game,  and I cannot take it anymore.  No more tickets, no more merch.   I want change. 

 

What I find bewildering is the owner's invisibility. Everyone knows that he's not much of a public speaker. That's not what bothers me so much about him. It's that while his team has been cemented as an irrelevant hockey franchise during his tenure (that has lasted close to a generation), there has been nothing but a sphinx act coming from the owner. Does he even care? Is this team simply a write-off for this silent billionaire? The response is nothing but crickets. 

A lot of the critical responses are directed to the GM. That's understandable. However, he's simply an unqualified person in a challenging job who is overmatched by the responsibilities. He's not the source of the problem for this plagued franchise, he's simply a reflection of it. Why would the owner select a person so patently unqualified that no other owner would have even considered him, let alone selected him to be their GM? It made no sense to hire him and it certainly makes no sense to have kept him after five years of unmitigated failure. 

What Dan Snyder did to the Redskins/Commanders in the NFL, Terry Pegula (without the sleaze) has done to this battered franchise. Both individuals were/are responsible for the demise of their respective franchises and fanbases. There is a dictum that fits both characters: Shameless people can't be shamed. This multi-year lingering situation is beyond being ridiculous.

I'm so tired of this owner. I wish he would sell the team to someone who is serious in his responsibility as an NHL franchise owner. 

[Thorner]

At least my tweet has some play 

 

[LGR4GM]

Adams is a failure. Of that we should have no doubts. 

[thewookie1]

I gave Adams every mulligan and excuse in the book over the past 5 years, I'm done with that. After the 13 game losing streak was when I had finally just lost any faith in his planning. He'll make the occasional good move but this is always followed by a combination of ineptitude 

[Pimlach]

On 4/16/2025 at 8:13 AM, JP51 said:

This is where I am at too... I fail to see any level of real competence here... I also think his handling of Eichel, Reinhart, Montour etc... should have really raised the flag immediately.  His inability to develop promising players by hiring the right coaches and having the appropriate in season plan is also an abject failure who incompetence has likely set us back years...  

Flags were raised at the hasty and exorbitant free agent singings of Ehrhoff and Leino.

Flags were raised at hiring the concoction if  Black, LaFontaine, Murray, Nolan, Battista, etc  - all massive fails never to be seen again in the NHL.    

Flags were raised at the obvious gutting of the team and the blatant tanking. 

Flags were raised at the hiring of the young Jason Boterill, the inexperienced Phil Housley, and the washed up soccer coach Ralph Krueger 

Flags were raised when Eichel was injured and his medical treatment became the reason he was shipped out (even though it was not the real reason).  

Flags were raised when Adams was hired as GM and EEE was the plan.

Flags were raised when Adams let the vets go (Eichel, Reinhart, Risto, McCabe, Montour and Ullmark) and committed to a massive youth movement and a salary cap floor team. 

Flags were raised when predictably that youth strategy failed, and the exhaustive coaching search for an NHL vet coach started and ended with old friend Lindy Ruff. 

As much as I do not like Adams as a GM, this is all on Terry.   

[Thorner]

15 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Flags were raised when predictably that youth strategy failed, and the exhaustive coaching search for an NHL vet coach started and ended with old friend Lindy Ruff. 

As much as I do not like Adams as a GM, this is all on Terry.   

A not-insignificant amount of people were very bought in on the Adams plan about two years ago, that shouldn’t be forgotten. Singing his praises, even, i need not dig up the posts. Not everyone has been torpedoing the plan from day one.

The tipping point as of our current perspective appears to be failing to capitalize on the 91 point finish in 2023. Was that Terry? Adams could have absolutely gotten them over the finish line with a little bit less complacency and total faith in his players. Who he said came in “full of themselves”, remember? is that on Terry?

Adams severely bungled the 2023 offseason, and that’s the tipping point so far, if you look at the curve. All on Terry isn’t just a stretch, it’s wrong 

Adams bungled it 

Edited Thursday at 03:03 PM by Thorner

[SwampD]

8 minutes ago, Thorner said:

A not-insignificant amount of people were very bought in on the Adams plans about two years ago, that shouldn’t be forgotten. Singing his praises, even, i need not dig up the posts. Not everyone has been torpedoing the plan from day one.

The tipping point as of our current perspective appears to be failing to capitalize on the 91 point finish in 2023. Was that Terry? Adams could have absolutely gotten them over the finish line with a little bit less complacency and total faith in his players. Who he said came in “full of themselves”, remember? is that on Terry?

Adams severely bungled the 2023 offseason, and that’s the tipping point so far, if you look at the curve. All on Terry isn’t just a stretch, it’s wrong 

Adams bungled it 

He signed players that would not play in order to get to the cap floor. I cannot believe that a GM would do that for any reason other than he was told to by the owner, either directly or by having to fulfill some directive (ie: OSP’s "just don’t lose money").

[Pimlach]

4 minutes ago, Thorner said:

A not-insignificant amount of people were very bought in on the Adams plans about two years ago, that shouldn’t be forgotten. Singing his praises, even, i need not dig up the posts. Not everyone has been torpedoing the plan from day one.

The tipping point as of our current perspective appears to be failing to capitalize on the 91 point finish in 2023. Was that Terry? Adams could have absolutely gotten them over the finish line with a little bit less complacency and total faith in his players. Who he said came in “full of themselves”, remember? is that on Terry?

Adams severely bungled the 2023 offseason, and that’s the tipping point so far, if you look at the curve. All on Terry isn’t just a stretch, it’s wrong 

Adams bungled it 

Agree that Adams bungled it after the 91 point season.  He isn't off the hook at all.  But Terry is the root cause if 14 years of failure.   Adams has 5.  

I recall every NHL pundit saying the same thing during that 91 point season, the Sabres just needed to add goaltending, better defense, and a some veteran know how to a promising young lineup.  

But the next year they sat on essentially the same team, did not even replace the  injured Quinn during the off season, which allowed 18 year old Benson to make the team.  It  was also the year that Granato was going to "teach defense" and install the defensive system. That seemed to just confuse them.  Plus every team in the NHL knew how to counter them by then.  

It showed how over their heads both Adams and Granato were.  

Sadly, Adams and Lindy have done even worse.  

[Thorner]

10 minutes ago, SwampD said:

He signed players that would not play in order to get to the cap floor. I cannot believe that a GM would do that for any reason other than he was told to by the owner, either directly or by having to fulfill some directive (ie: OSP’s "just don’t lose money").

Because his “want to be here, draft and develop” plan got the team to 91 points in year 3 and people were more than willing to point to the supposedly strong building blocks that facilitated such - read the threads. Adams believing in his plan to the tune of doubling down on a “patient” approach and more growth *isn’t* a logical, reasonable explanation for why Adams (wrongly) decided to basically stand Pat? Come on now 

i always need @dudacek backup for this particular point: Adams isn’t spineless. He’s annoyingly stubborn. He believed in his plan. He acted with conviction: just not aggressiveness 

Edited Thursday at 03:20 PM by Thorner

[SwampD]

4 minutes ago, Thorner said:

Because his “want to be here, draft and develop” plan got the team to 91 points in year 3 and people were more than willing to point to the supposedly strong building blocks that facilitated such - read the threads. Adams believing in his plan to the tune of doubling down on a “patient” approach and more growth *isn’t* a logical, reasonable explanation for why Adams (wrongly) decided to basically stand Pat? Come on now 

i always need @dudacek backup for this particular point: Adams isn’t spineless. He’s annoyingly stubborn. He believed in his plan. He acted with conviction: just not aggressiveness 

What members of this board thought is irrelevant, though.

Plus, I don’t ever remember a time where nobody didn’t say that we needed vets to help the youngins.

[Thorner]

9 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Agree that Adams bungled it after the 91 point season.  He isn't off the hook at all.  But Terry is the root cause if 14 years of failure.   Adams has 5.  

I recall every NHL pundit saying the same thing during that 91 point season, the Sabres just needed to add goaltending, better defense, and a some veteran know how to a promising young lineup.  

But the next year they sat on essentially the same team, did not even replace the  injured Quinn during the off season, which allowed 18 year old Benson to make the team.  It  was also the year that Granato was going to "teach defense" and install the defensive system. That seemed to just confuse them.  Plus every team in the NHL knew how to counter them by then.  

It showed how over their heads both Adams and Granato were.  

Sadly, Adams and Lindy have done even worse.  

Right.

there needs to be a lot of weight placed on it because it’s a huge inflection point. Again, frustration stems from failing to achieve playoffs when it’s so relatively achievable - “oh damn Terry is an idiot he hired a 91 point GM”. I’m sorry, like yes maybe that’s true but in spite of Terry’s failures it was right there. Making the playoffs isn’t that hard and being bad for so long AT LEAST had Adams handed a cupboard with the likes of Dahlin and Thompson two all-star level players +,

- doing almost literally nothing facilitated 91 points -

- we traded an mvp level player, and Reinhart, and got to 91 points - 

Terry had a voodoo barrier over the last couple points? 

Adams f*cked up, royally. Disastrously 

[Thorner]

4 minutes ago, SwampD said:

What members of this board thought is irrelevant, though.

Plus, I don’t ever remember a time where nobody didn’t say that we needed vets to help the youngins.

There was at least a fair bit of questioning AFTER the 2023 offseason but largely benefit of the doubt

What the board thought IS irrelevant but that’s your opinion and im asking your opinion Swamp about whether you personally think Adams could have, plausibly, thought his plan was working that summer to the tune of being complacent 

Adams did say the players came in overconfident did he not? (Can someone please help me find a link to that?)

that there wouldn’t be a level of projection there is…well grade 9 level psychology 

[dudacek]

55 minutes ago, Thorner said:

Because his “want to be here, draft and develop” plan got the team to 91 points in year 3 and people were more than willing to point to the supposedly strong building blocks that facilitated such - read the threads. Adams believing in his plan to the tune of doubling down on a “patient” approach and more growth *isn’t* a logical, reasonable explanation for why Adams (wrongly) decided to basically stand Pat? Come on now 

i always need @dudacek backup for this particular point: Adams isn’t spineless. He’s annoyingly stubborn. He believed in his plan. He acted with conviction: just not aggressiveness 

People have been very slow to keep up with what's been going on post-Krueger.

They're hanging on to this old version of Terry Pegula, puppet master, when the latest Sabres failures are really more of a case of the owner being too patient and hands-off.

Terry was painfully aware of his reputation as an interfering owner with a quick trigger finger and has leaned hard in the other direction with Adams. He's hardly been absent, but he's trusted in Adams and his plan well past its due date.

@Thorner and I disagree on the necessity of what Adams did in the great sell-off of 2021, but I think we are in full agreement that the deconstruction was the easy part. The tough part is how you react and adjust when your plan starts getting punched in the face.

I’d argue that the Cozens trade was the first time Adams has adjusted at all.

Adams decided it was going to be a slow and steady build through the draft process. Adams selected and signed and developed the cornerstone pieces. Adams decided who should coach them and who should surround them. And Adams has stuck with his course until “I believe in the guys in that room” has become a meme.

This is Adams' team. These are Adams' failures.

Terry's crime this time basically amounts to allowing that to continue.

Edited Thursday at 04:13 PM by dudacek

[Pimlach]

30 minutes ago, Thorner said:

There was at least a fair bit of questioning AFTER the 2023 offseason but largely benefit of the doubt

What the board thought IS irrelevant but that’s your opinion and im asking your opinion Swamp about whether you personally think Adams could have, plausibly, thought his plan was working that summer to the tune of being complacent 

Adams did say the players came in overconfident did he not? (Can someone please help me find a link to that?)

that there wouldn’t be a level of projection there is…well grade 9 level psychology 

Adams said he thought they were overconfident.  He said other things to make you believe he knew he himself did not do enough.  Not  replacing Quinn was egregious. But they needed to do much more. 

As always, Adams failed with the goaltending.   He started with a three headed monster. Then he handed the goalie job to Levi and that blew up the early part of the season and put them on a hole.  UPL came on later to play  good enough to earn the contact that is now in question. 

At the end of the season he threw Granato under the bus, and so did some the players by repeating Adams talking points - working harder, higher expectations, and more accountability - as if Grananto did not set high enough expectations, and maybe he didn't? 

You could see the duress on many of the players at the locker clean out when this was going on.  What a terrible organization.  

Adams publicly blamed Grananto.  Next he was going to do an exhaustive coach search for an NHL vet coach that would instill hard work and accountability.  Only that search was already completed and Terry told him to fire Granato and hire Lindy.    The search was a farce.