Ruff and Adams end-of-season press conference: Saturday, April 19, 4:30pm

[Ctaeth]

Adams is going to get hammered by the press & rightfully so.  Get your popcorn ready!  

[inkman]

12 minutes ago, Ctaeth said:

Adams is going to get hammered by the press & rightfully so.  Get your popcorn ready!  

I doubt it.  I wouldn’t enjoy watching it either.  This isn’t a parent child relationship.  Adams has an employer that he answers to.  If Pegula ain’t moving on, what’s the point of verbally abusing the guy?  So the reporter can feel good about himself.  
 

Every year fans put way too much value on these media sessions.  They don’t mean anything.  We need actions not words. 

[Goldseatsaud]

Their not happy how the season ended. Shocking! We gotta get better blah blah. Get Alex Lifeson from Rush to go blah, blah

[Stoner]

1 hour ago, Brawndo said:

Adams already announced that Ruff is back ext year 

Can we assume KA has already been told he will be back? Otherwise this is the GM getting out front of his owner.

1 hour ago, LGR4GM said:

You know what pisses me off, none of our media have the balls to ask flat out why kevyn adams thinks he deserves to be back with how awful the team has been under his 5yr rule. 

They've been tamed. Certainly Lance and Bill Hoppe will be compliant. Wawrow is good for a pointed question. I'm not sure about Mike anymore. Maybe Wes Goforth can save us. I mean Beningi. All in all given the media landscape, I think the idea has been to cover the team in a friendly way and cooperate in giving hope to the fans (read: the people they want to still read, listen, subscribe etc.).

1 hour ago, dudacek said:

I'll be surprised if Harrington doesn't take this angle.

Why wouldn't he? Why wouldn't they all?

1 hour ago, dudacek said:

I've never bought into the desire of some fans to turn reporters into a conduit for their anger. I just hope they do their jobs.

• "Six months ago, you said this was a playoff team. Where did you go wrong in terms of that evaluation?"
• "We heard talk from Lindy about changing culture. What specifically does that mean? How is the culture flawed and what do you need to see it become?
• "A number of players had disappointing seasons, should we expect more core pieces to follow Dylan Cozens out the door as a result, or will most of them be back?
• "Do you expect Jiri Kulich and Zach Benson to spend significant time in your top 6 next year?
• "You've been talking about adding a defensively reliable top 4 defenceman for some time now, should fans expect one to be added this summer?"
• "Special teams failures arguably cost the team a playoff spot this season, who is accountable for that and how will it be fixed?"
• "Your goaltenders put up some of the worst statistics in the league this year, do you intend to add a veteran NHL goalie to the roster?"
• "Are you planning to spend at or near the cap next season?"
• 'How do you plan to bring fans back into the building next year given your track record?"

These are some of the hard but utterly professional questions I'd like to hear asked

I want unprofessionalism. Remember what happened when Mike got mouthy with OSP at the presser after he sold to TP? We got the truth from a flustered Tom. "The only directive I gave them was to break even." (Paraphrase)

Also, has one of these things ever been done on a weekend? Hoping no one pays attention?

[Goldseatsaud]

Wes goforth! How about Mike Nolan at Wgrz

[LGR4GM]

Kevyn Adams: "You know *insert reporters first name here* I think that when I look back on this season I see a lot of good, you know (pause). We didn't accomplish what we wanted, we wanted to make the playoffs (nervous laugh), and we didn't reach that goal but I think and I really believe that we saw these guys really grow together. They really matured as a team and you saw, you saw that at the end of the year (pause). I think that is something we can build on and we are committed to getting better and we have a good group of people."

 

And now you all do not have to listen to Kevyn's rambling incoherent response where he offers nothing that could be considered a rational thought.

1 hour ago, dudacek said:

I've never bought into the desire of some fans to turn reporters into a conduit for their anger. I just hope they do their jobs.

• "Six months ago, you said this was a playoff team. Where did you go wrong in terms of that evaluation?"
• "We heard talk from Lindy about changing culture. What specifically does that mean? How is the culture flawed and what do you need to see it become?
• "A number of players had disappointing seasons, should we expect more core pieces to follow Dylan Cozens out the door as a result, or will most of them be back?
• "Do you expect Jiri Kulich and Zach Benson to spend significant time in your top 6 next year?
• "You've been talking about adding a defensively reliable top 4 defenceman for some time now, should fans expect one to be added this summer?"
• "Special teams failures arguably cost the team a playoff spot this season, who is accountable for that and how will it be fixed?"
• "Your goaltenders put up some of the worst statistics in the league this year, do you intend to add a veteran NHL goalie to the roster?"
• "Are you planning to spend at or near the cap next season?"
• 'How do you plan to bring fans back into the building next year given your track record?"

These are some of the hard but utterly professional questions I'd like to hear asked

They don't do their jobs though. 

[Mr Peabody]

I wouldn’t read anything into this foretelling the future of their place in the organization.  It’s business as usual until it’s not.  Didn’t Doug Whaley take one for the team at the end of his tenure?  Not positive on that. 

[zow2]

This team every season gets pummeled with regulation losses by Christmas time.   They just can't hold those 1 goal third period leads and at least get the games to OT. 

[Pimlach]

3 hours ago, Archie Lee said:

My prediction:  This year's narrative will be that the players were not in shape, that many of them were not mature enough to have good off-seasons when it came to training, and it will be up to the players to take things more seriously in order for the team to get to the next level. 

If that is true, and I bet it is, then Adams is worse than we ever thought.   If it took hiring Lindy to tell Adams this then Wilford, Appert, Matty, and anyone related to strength and conditioning should all be released.  The coaches should be released anyway based on their performance. 

The Sabres have had two workout warriors that I know of in the Pegula era.  Eichel and Tage Thompson.  Both have reputations for off season training.  There should be more.  

 

[Stoner]

53 minutes ago, Goldseatsaud said:

Wes goforth! How about Mike Nolan at Wgrz

Rick Azar was very close to the players, I think. Was it just Schoeny crying at the airport when he was traded to Detroit or did Rick weep as well?

Also... Clip!

[Stoner]

I think the questions begin and end with:

Kevyn, Dakota Krebs here from the Wellsville Penny Saver... you've basically admitted you screwed up by freezing like a deer in the headlights during the losing streak. Given that you're five years into your tenure as a GM, a position you weren't qualified for in the first place, what possible case can you make to us, the fans and ultimately Terrence PEJoola that you deserve another kick at the lifeless equine corpse that is the Buffalo Saberz?

[HumanSlinky39]

There's is no chance I can stomach watching/listening to this, so I won't. I'll just read the low-lights. Anything short of "we have unequivocally failed and I'm resigning effective today", which obviously won't happen, is *****. I'm tired of platitudes.

[HumanSlinky39]

2 hours ago, Thorner said:

 

I know I'm a broken record with this but this is not a serious hockey organization.

[Stoner]

All this speculation about what will get asked. You realize we won't hear the questions, right? Passing a mic around and making sure the audio can be heard is beyond this organ eye zation.

[DarthEbriate]

Sheevy... you've lost another submarine tank season?

[DarthEbriate]

4 minutes ago, Stoner said:

All this speculation about what will get asked. You realize we won't hear the questions, right? Passing a mic around and making sure the audio can be heard is beyond this organ eye zation.

We can play Imagination Questions.

++ I asked GMKA why he doesn't spend to the cap or allow his mentor (Ruff) to select his own staff.

++ I got a pogo stick!

[Pimlach]

2 hours ago, Thorner said:

 

I predict another painful home loss.  Lots of booing.  I hope I am wrong.  

Alex Tuch Bobble heads will be the only positive of the night for the youth of Sabreland. 

I look at the young kids at the home games supporting the team and I feel bad for them.     When I was young I had the expansion Sabres and they were bottom feeders for just two years but they came to play most every night, the team had some great young players, good goalies, some vets that really knew what they were doing, some scrappy guys that defended the team, they had  a few crazy characters that were fun to watch, and of course a GM/Coach with presumably little to work with but yet he traded for Luce, Robert, Lorentz, Korab, and Guvremont.

The lack of moves made by Kevin Adams, with all the capital he had is just criminal.  

Here we are 14 years of nothing but losing.  

[steveoath]

3 hours ago, Thorner said:

 

Need to have that all important team meeting to decide what the throwaway line is this year.  
 

[Goldseatsaud]

Adams will preach the 13 games killed them

[Archie Lee]

1 hour ago, Pimlach said:

If that is true, and I bet it is, then Adams is worse than we ever thought.   If it took hiring Lindy to tell Adams this then Wilford, Appert, Matty, and anyone related to strength and conditioning should all be released.  The coaches should be released anyway based on their performance. 

The Sabres have had two workout warriors that I know of in the Pegula era.  Eichel and Tage Thompson.  Both have reputations for off season training.  There should be more.  

 

I should just clarify that I think "the players weren't in shape" narrative is bogus.  Last year the scapegoat was Granato (I'm not arguing he should have been kept).  The players needed accountability and structure and Ruff was the man to bring it.  Well, the team was, if anything, less accountable and less structured. It can't be that Ruff was a bad choice, so the blame will now shift to the players not taking the off-season serious enough.   

[Drag0nDan]

I'm not sure the press conference changes much one way or the other tbh.  But both Murray and Botterill were fired after delivering their end of season press conferences in 2017 and 2020.  

[Ctaeth]

2 hours ago, inkman said:

I doubt it.

It's going to happen.  Some reporter, probably Harrington as mentioned above, will ask those questions because they want to seem like the guy that "asks the hard questions" and is someone that can stick it to an ineffective management group.  If they don't, fans will likely take the media to task and that's the last thing the BN wants right now. 

2 hours ago, inkman said:

If Pegula ain’t moving on, what’s the point of verbally abusing the guy?  So the reporter can feel good about himself.  

I agree that the reporter will primarily do it so he "can feel good about himself".  It's self-serving when everyone and their mother knows KA is in over his head.  However, there are reasons beyond the reporter's own ego.  Public embarrassment could be a strong motivating factor for making a change.  

[JP51]

3 hours ago, Goldseatsaud said:

Wes goforth! How about Mike Nolan at Wgrz

Brian Blessing or Ed Kilgour LOL 

[JP51]

59 minutes ago, Archie Lee said:

I should just clarify that I think "the players weren't in shape" narrative is bogus.  Last year the scapegoat was Granato (I'm not arguing he should have been kept).  The players needed accountability and structure and Ruff was the man to bring it.  Well, the team was, if anything, less accountable and less structured. It can't be that Ruff was a bad choice, so the blame will now shift to the players not taking the off-season serious enough.   

Yeah, I just think Rolston, Bylsma, Krueger, Housley, Granato, Ruff, etc... Botterill, Murray, Adams... they all have one thing in Common. Pegula.... you literally have to try to get it wrong that consistently. 

[That Aud Smell]

3 hours ago, Stads said:

I hovered my mouse (*ahem*) over that gif and saw its file name - outstanding.

3 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

And now you all do not have to listen to Kevyn's rambling incoherent response where he offers nothing that could be considered a rational thought.