News Article: AP: Pegula focused on efficiency; staying on as Sabres President

[PegulasSportsEmpire]

Jeremy White mentioned this. About how the salary cap is going up and how the Sabres are losing money.

This is reminding people of what the Bills were like in their last 10 years under Ralph Wilson.

Is anyone concerned about the future of this team? Not just on the ice but off it?

 

[TalkingProuder]

Jeremy White mentioned this. About how the salary cap is going up and how the Sabres are losing money.

This is reminding people of what the Bills were like in their last 10 years under Ralph Wilson.

Is anyone concerned about the future of this team? Not just on the ice but off it?

No, this kind of low expectation talk from Kim Pegula signals to me some billionaires that bought an investment are focused on profitability. She doesn't care about the fans.

 

[TalkingProuder]

Hopefully sooner or later they'll find Hockeys equivalent of Beane & McDermott.

They are much better than Botterill but in the grand scheme of things haven't done much yet. No playoff wins and no division titles in 3 years so far.

 

[May Day 10]

Jeremy White mentioned this. About how the salary cap is going up and how the Sabres are losing money.

This is reminding people of what the Bills were like in their last 10 years under Ralph Wilson.

Is anyone concerned about the future of this team? Not just on the ice but off it?

Im not too worried about that, yet.... but there is much more damage these Pegulas will do, and I don't think dark days are too far away where we see crowds in the arena rivaling the bankrupcy years.

The unknown is the Pegulas' wealth situation. If they are in some sort of crisis, who knows how long they will want to prop up a hockey franchise that loses money and the fans hate them? If they did sell, I would imagine they would seek out a local interest. Im not too sure there is a very competitive market to buy an NHL team right now. After Seattle, I think the only market that the NHL has a lot of interest in would be Houston. IMO, the NHL is very comfortable with what they have in Buffalo and isnt in a hurry to relocate at the first opportunity.

 

[CrazyPsycho]

No playoff wins and no division titles in 3 years so far.

That is rather harsh considering what they inherited and also having the NFLs greatest dynasty in their division

 

[Club]

I know you're joking but I've been trying to find another team to really root for like I do Buffalo, but those west coast playing times are brutal for us out east..

Being out west, I also fancy the Avs and Yotes. Colorado was the first team I remember rooting for at the young age of 5.

 

[La Cosa Nostra]

Keep dreaming. Buffalo is the 50th market in the NHL, although it punches above its weight because of passionate fans. Jeremy Jacobs owning concession rights is probably biggest safety net.

But Bettman? Not sure. He hates franchises moving, no question about that. He doesn't like the look of it and he wants owners to known league runs the show. In that sense, it's tough to move team.

All along, I've thought the biggest threat to Buffalo was someone from Toronto taking this team and moving 50 miles down the road to Hamilton where they have a rink that seats 17,300. I'm not sure how territorial exemptions work across border but Sabres may already own that area and Leafs too. It's an out-dated rink now but so is Sabres rink and the boxes were not even half full most nights this year.

The Buffalo franchise is a train wreck financially, now. Buffalo gets huge draws on TV for percentage of market but the overall number is still relatively small. I can't imagine TV contract is huge bucks. That leaves tickets mostly.

Will the Sabres ever move. I doubt it. But guess what? The Pegulas and their incompetence makes it a tiny bit possible. I think they meant well but they are letting down the community now.

Just no. Hamilton is not getting a team and if they somehow did it definitely would not be the Sabres. Ballsacksillies Blackberry empire is done he doesn't have the money. Luckily there are at least a half dozen franchises who would move make more sense to relocate. You actually think a Hamilton franchise that would have to compete with the Leafs can bring in more fans then the Sabres? Zero chance.

But I totally expect the days of spend to the limit to be gone. Which honestly isn't a bad thing considering this team was top 4 in the history of the league in win % their first 40 years with cheap ownership.

Kim Pegula is awful. No NHL team would hire her for any job. Shes here ruining the team because she married Terry Pegula.

 

[La Cosa Nostra]

There's a couple of guys that could buy the Sabres should the Pegulas choose to sell.

Jeff Gundlach. Bob Rich.

Hell maybe someone unknown pops up. No one knew who the Pegulas were until they purchased the Sabres.

That said, I might be in the minority, but I don't want the Pegulas to sell. As frustrated as I am with the on ice product, the Harbor Center has been great for our local economy.

Hopefully sooner or later they'll find Hockeys equivalent of Beane & McDermott.

Or Botterill makes us eat crow.

Heh Jeffrey Gundlach...my gf rented a carriage house apartment very close to Albright Knox and lived there 1.5 years. The next door neighbor? Gundlach. For being a billionaire while the house was pretty tight there were no expensive luxury vehicles. They did have a lot of cocktail/dinner parties with people arriving in expensive cars. But thats the difference between a wealthy intelligent businessman and a "trophy" wife allowed to run a pro sports team.

 

[May Day 10]

Heh Jeffrey Gundlach...my gf rented a carriage house apartment very close to Albright Knox and lived there 1.5 years. The next door neighbor? Gundlach. For being a billionaire while the house was pretty tight there were no expensive luxury vehicles. They did have a lot of cocktail/dinner parties with people arriving in expensive cars. But thats the difference between a wealthy intelligent businessman and a "trophy" wife allowed to run a pro sports team.

this is the thing that always bugged me with the Pegulas. Golisano is another notoriously 'cheap' billionaire.

The Pegulas acted like they are in a Brewster's Millions situation and have since they became public figures. New locker rooms? best in the biz. New Hotel, restaurant, hockey rinks? OK, heres a great project. But Penn State a hockey program? bam! Another expensive competing restaurant kitty-corner to the one we just built? Sounds good. Healthy scratch money wasting tenant for our daughters to run? Heck, why not own 2 MLL teams? Record label? Ugh. Its like stop already. These are all terrible investments. I would say Harbor Center as a concept is good. Without a Fortune 500 occupant downtown, anything down there is a bad investment.

And now they want to blame it on the hockey organization they ran into a tree 7 years ago and have been trying to fix it by lighting it on fire over and over again?

While doubling down insisting she is the best suited for the position (why?).

 

[TalkingProuder]

That is rather harsh considering what they inherited and also having the NFLs greatest dynasty in their division

They inherited a team that had gone .500 over the previous 3 years. Under Sean McDermott in 3 years the Bills are 2 games above .500 over the course of 3 years.

They should get credit for making the playoffs twice but again, this is an achievement in Buffalo if you had no expectations.

Two other coaches hired in the same cycle as McDermott, Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan, have won division titles and made the Superbowl and both inherited teams that had won 2 games (SF) or 4 games (LAR).

Now it is time to win the division with no Brady and a rebuilding Miami.

 

[HogtownSabresfan]

Just no. Hamilton is not getting a team and if they somehow did it definitely would not be the Sabres. Ballsacksillies Blackberry empire is done he doesn't have the money. Luckily there are at least a half dozen franchises who would move make more sense to relocate. You actually think a Hamilton franchise that would have to compete with the Leafs can bring in more fans then the Sabres? Zero chance.

But I totally expect the days of spend to the limit to be gone. Which honestly isn't a bad thing considering this team was top 4 in the history of the league in win % their first 40 years with cheap ownership.

Kim Pegula is awful. No NHL team would hire her for any job. Shes here ruining the team because she married Terry Pegula.

Pretty much the only way Hamilton COULD EVER get a team would be if it was Buffalo's team. No owner can afford to pay off the Leafs, you'd need a way around it.

As I said, NHL doesn't like franchises to move. Hates it. Probably has zero interested in Buffalo moving to Hamilton or anywhere. Pegulas would have to lead that charge -- greed versus being hated in Buffalo for eternity. (I think a Hamilton franchise works but it will never happen. Longshot.)

All that said, the NHL tolerance for failure in Buffalo will be nowhere near what it was in cities like Florida and Zona. It's not fair but Buffalo will always get short end of stick because it's a small market, great TV numbers but the city is tiny compared to other NHL markets. Bettman has always dreamed of major US contracts and they'll never happen.

My money is Sabres never go anywhere. BUT, A MAJOR BUT. In my imagination, I could never have thought of a team having this much bad management for a decade with really no end in sight.

Someone needs to show me how the Sabres are set up to improve with the way team is run. It's not there. The recipe is for more failure and people in Buffalo are on to it now. They work hard for their money in Buffalo. These are not corporate accounts where no one cars about flushing cash away.

I can see crowds of under 10 K easily coming. The season ticket base is collapsing. The ownership demands of 5% price. increases on top of collection of money for season that won't start until Jan 1 on top of the same crappy team -- I honestly don't know what Pegulas are thinking.

 

[jputt99]

As far as I'm concerned she's sharing the hot seat with Botts . If this team doesn't return to the playoffs ,
this team will need more than a new GM .

 

[Buffaloed]

Girgensons and Larsson could never play for a Hamilton team.

 

[slip]

You know who focuses on efficiencies? Organizations who have thrown in the towel on organic growth.

 

[brian_griffin]

If you're going to be one thing, be efficient.

I'd rather be effective.

Efficient, effective, focused, honest.
Has the Sabres top leadership been any of these?

So it's taken almost a decade to figure out that Golisano and Quinn were running the team the right way and it all it needed was a bigger budget and for the Pegulas to stay out of the way? Reminds me of a story I heard on Car Talk. A guy with no mechanical experience got the idea he could buy old classic cars, restore them, and sell them at huge profit. He picked up a 1960 something Chevy Impala for $2000 and had it hauled to his garage on a flatbed. He then proceeded to take it completely apart to check and restore/replace each part as necessary. He had no idea how to put it back together. Their garage was unusable for years. His wife finally had enough. Her and the kids wanted a pool and they needed the garage. She also wanted to buy a new car and didn't want to have to park it outside. She was the main breadwinner. They had already added a shed for bikes and garden tools. She told him, either the car goes, or I go with the kids, and you can keep the car. He ended up hiring a mechanic, took a huge loss on the car after expenses, and has a pile of tools he doesn't know how to use. The fans are telling the Sabres the same thing. Either Kim goes or I go. The Sabres need to hire a mechanic.

<Reads post.>
<Opens door from laundry room to garage.>
<Confirms my late brother's stripped 1964 1/2 Mustang coupe is still in one bay of garage.>
<Confirms boxes of old and new parts, doors, glass, seats, etc. are still in rest of garage.>
<Opens garage door and confirms wife's car is still outside.>
<Goes back inside and contemplates hours spent reading / posting on HFboards.>
<Feels bad.>

 

[Buffaloed]

There's a couple of guys that could buy the Sabres should the Pegulas choose to sell.

Jeff Gundlach. Bob Rich.

Hell maybe someone unknown pops up. No one knew who the Pegulas were until they purchased the Sabres.

That said, I might be in the minority, but I don't want the Pegulas to sell. As frustrated as I am with the on ice product, the Harbor Center has been great for our local economy.

Hopefully sooner or later they'll find Hockeys equivalent of Beane & McDermott.

Or Botterill makes us eat crow.

Rich is strictly minor league. Gundlach has possibilities. Robert and Richard Sands are loaded but we have to figure out a wine angle to catch their interest. Maybe some of Jeremy Jacobs kids would like to own a franchise.

 

[sabremike]

Rich is strictly minor league. Gundlach has possibilities. Robert and Richard Sands are loaded but we have to figure out a wine angle to catch their interest. Maybe some of Jeremy Jacobs kids would like to own a franchise.

That feeling when of the teams you root for in major American pro sports the least bad one is Mike Brown...

 

[brian_griffin]

Rich is strictly minor league. Gundlach has possibilities. Robert and Richard Sands are loaded but we have to figure out a wine angle to catch their interest. Maybe some of Jeremy Jacobs kids would like to own a franchise.

I heard the rimshot after that one...

 

[Paxon]

I am possibly as jaded as I've ever been about this team. Efficiency is not having to hire qualified presidents to run their sports teams I guess.

 

[member 311261]

Bob Rich is the wealthiest of the bunch.

 

[AustonsNostrils]

I'm at the breaking point finally, over 30 years I've financially and emotionally supported the Sabres. When Eichel gets traded it will make things easy for me, I will instantly become a hardcore fan of his new team. It won't be Toronto so I'm safe. Hope it isn't Boston. I'd like to see him with the Rangers probably, even Montreal.

 

[AustonsNostrils]

Hopefully sooner or later they'll find Hockeys equivalent of Beane & McDermott.

Or Botterill makes us eat crow.

I nor anybody else should ever eat crow served by Jason Botterill. The Sabres could get good but it surely won't be because of Jason Botterill. He didn't tank to get Rasmus Dahlin, he inherited Eichel and Reinhart, and Olofsson and Ullmark. He didn't even want to fire Housley.

 

[PegulasSportsEmpire]

I nor anybody else should ever eat crow served by Jason Botterill. The Sabres could get good but it surely won't be because of Jason Botterill. He didn't tank to get Rasmus Dahlin, he inherited Eichel and Reinhart, and Olofsson and Ullmark. He didn't even want to fire Housley.

Agreed 100%. If the Sabres do make the Playoffs next year it's probably because Dylan Cozens, Tage Thompson & Casey Mittlestadt panned out, and or we win the lottery and get Lafrinier.

Even if we do make the Playoffs, I will still not be convinced that Botterill is the right guy, and that we're becoming the 1994-2014 New York Islanders.

 

[sabremike]

I'm at the breaking point finally, over 30 years I've financially and emotionally supported the Sabres. When Eichel gets traded it will make things easy for me, I will instantly become a hardcore fan of his new team. It won't be Toronto so I'm safe. Hope it isn't Boston. I'd like to see him with the Rangers probably, even Montreal.

Just Pray:

 

[HaNotsri]

One way could be to spend more on iq-testing before recruiting, not cheap out on good player's bonuses and swap them for cap dumps etc

Efficiency often comes from finding a sweet spot for resources, it does not mean cutting costs since investing more could give you a much better roi.

Simple example: spend enough resources to make the playoffs and fans will return.

Bad investments like Botterill, Okposo surely proves that we could get more out of the money that's already invested but it all starts with recruiting and hiring INTELLIGENT people and it's so **** easy to test.