4-7: Botterill Presser Live

[thewookie1]

I'm sick of all the endless bad talking about GMJB because he didn't do exactly what "you" wanted.

For starters he did not say the ROR trade gave him the cap space to get Skinner but rather the assets. He's alluding to the 1st he received freeing up the 2nd this year and the 2nd in 2021 as a asset replacement for the 3rd in 2020. The ROR trade sucked, no GM is going to tell the media that the trade sucked. That's career suicide. ROR quit on the Sabres like his brother did with the Amerks; end of story. The trade sucked but it wasn't like it came out of left field. Lastly why would Botts have any idea Berglund would flee a month in to the season leaving him without a vet C to help shelter Mittlestadt.

Tage Thompson did show flashes of skill and talent most of the year. He had 10 to 15 games where he seemed to have turned the corner and then just ran back behind said corner. He would have chances and seemed to respond to healthy scratches but never seemed to overcome his gaffes which only worsened as the year continued. Like the team as a whole/Housley Botts gave them the benefit of the doubt. It failed this time but it doesn't mean we should crucify him for holding out hope for the Tage from that 10/15 games to re-emerge. Playing hot potato with prospects doesn't help their development in any way.

Risto does step up physically against big teams; its his defensive play that leaves much to be desired. Botts also prefaced his comments by saying "early in the season" when praising most of his offensive play

 

[GellMann]

The "zomg y'all hate botterill for anything" takes are functionally identical in format and quantity to the (yes, predictable) "this press conference sucks" takes, for what it's worth.

 

[OneBuffalo]

Not a good enough roster? WHOSE GODDAMNED FAULT IS THAT????

Could have had a damn good game day roster if they kept Ryan O’Reilly and gave Kane the money he received in SJ. ‍. He cited the Kane trade for him Skinner, but that’s bullshit. The assets they traded to Carolina, they still had without the Kane trade.

 

[CaptPantalones]

Until they introduce coach Q

Kinda hard to do that when Q has a presser in Florida tomorrow

 

[Myllz]

Kinda hard to do that when Q has a presser in Florida tomorrow

Not yet.

 

[Gabrielor]

You guys are confusing Botts firing Housley and the rest of what the press conference was for. This wasn't a PC just to fire Phil, it was also his season ending review. If people thought all would be forgotten about this season and nothing else negative was going to come up during his season ending review just because he fired Phil....that's an interesting outlook.

Exactly this. The complaints of having opinions outside of Phil are weird, since this presser was for the entire season, not this one event.

 

[littletonhockeycoach]

He kind of admitted that up front and said he is still open to what they are looking for.

That's frickin frightening..........

 

[SabresFan26]

That's frickin frightening..........

He wasn’t going to pigeonhole himself

 

[littletonhockeycoach]

He wasn’t going to pigeonhole himself

I won't make excuses for Botterill. His response was just lame.

Being "open" after just firing your HC is the wrong answer. He could have easily outlined what things Phil didn't do that he wants done. Or things that Phil did that Botts wants changed.

I don't see how that would tie his hands........

 

[SabresFan26]

Saying experience and than he hires someone who has never coached in the NHL say Taylor would look bad.

Look at what Florida did, basically wrote Q’s resume in their job description.

 

[slip]

Saying experience and than he hires someone who has never coached in the NHL say Taylor would look bad.

The Sabres were touting "experience" last time they went looking for a coach, and then somehow unearthed Housley.

 

[Daz28]

So he pretty much said only the things that were his fault? I understand he respects Phil, but can he at least give us some canned player type responses. "We gotta get better at this/that". He just said that he gave Phil a Phail roster, and that was about it. Looks like he might have missed the Q train already, so there's mistake number 1 for next years presser already. He didn't do much to convince me Skinner is staying, either. He's got a pretty big hill to climb to make this team better, and get any fan approval.

 

[SharkInABoloTie]

I won't sugar coat it, those answers in response the questions regarding ROR and Tage made me clench (I thoroughly dislike the word cringe). They were defensive, and at this point in the year that's a pretty ugly look. He could have easily said something along the lines of "what's done is done, I'm not going dwell on it. Mistakes will be made but Im focused on what can be done” and I would have accepted that.

To me it seems the decision to get rid of housley had been made a couple months ago, and the consequent decision to wait until the season ended was either allow Phil to finish what he started or to make a point. *cough* Terry *cough*
Whether that was the right decision, I won't speculate, but at this point: the next coaching hire needs to be knocked out of the park, there needs to be measurable turnover of the roster, and they need to have success at the draft.

I am cautiously, maybe even morbidly, interested to see how these next 6 months play out.

 

[Royal Thunder]

One day people will realize that Botterill runs a tight ship and is never going to say anything meaningful in the media. He's not exactly the best public speaker yet people take all his corporate responses and dissect them as if they truly represent his mindset. It's the same reason we see virtually zero leaks or real rumours about the team nowadays, Botterill keeps everything in-house with his staff. Is it boring and kind of lame how vanilla he is in the media? Sure, but I don't think it reflects on his ability as a GM. He's clearly respected around the hockey community or Hockey Canada would not have hired him in the middle of a disastrous stretch of play by his Sabres.

He's a smart guy but he doesn't show it in the media. He mentions the good first half of the season, and the critics immediately mock him as if that means that he thought the team was as good as they were playing. He sees the numbers and the analytics. He never explicitly mentioned playoffs as a goal last summer, I think he knew the team wasn't going to be that good. It turning into a total disaster is why he fired Housley. It happened like 15 hours after our last game, it was clearly decisive and had been decided days, or more likely weeks before.

He talked about having young players in key roles. That's true but I've seen posts refuting it? Dahlin and Mitts both saw significant time on PP1. Thompson had looks on the pp earlier in the year before his game totally fell off. Jack saw a fair amount of PK time. Olofsson and Pilut both got pp time as did Nylander. We didn't really have any really young guys who should have been on the pk other than Borgen, did we? Smith maybe? Considering the pk was the one area that was strong all year, why would they change it?

Despite some mistakes I still have faith in Botterill, I think he's a really smart hockey mind behind the scenes when he's working. I'm looking at his drafting, the Americans being loaded with young talent and being very good, and trades like the Skinner and Montour trades. Montour is just an awesome player and that was my favorite trade he has made. Housley was a hot candidate at the time at the time and the hire was mostly praised, even on here. Didn't work out, sucks but at least he acknowledged the mistake and corrected it.

The organization was in such a state of disarray when JB was hired that he has had to rebuild from the ground up, and thus I think a lot of his moves have been made to fit the long term plan, including the controversial ROR one which looks bad in hindsight but may look better in 2 years, who knows. It's taken a while, as he said it would, but hopefully next year is the year we finally see results on the big club. He's definitely on the hot seat now, as most GM's are after they hire their second coach. I just think some folks have made up their mind on Botterill and not much is going to change it.

/optimistictake

 

[Dingo44]

In Vogl's The Athletic article about the coaching search he says Botts met with some core players last Monday to get a feel on what went wrong. So there is that.

One of those interactions with players was last Monday, The Athletic has learned. With just days left in a disappointing season, Botterill met with the leadership group to get a late-season feel for things. Though two of the players involved declined to comment, anyone who’s watched since mid-December knows the late-season feel was glum and fueled by losses.

I was driving all day so I listened to the Botts press conference in its entirety twice. I didn't love it, but mostly because it was boring. Like I stated, that's sort of the point. Botts doesn't want to give much away or usually share his true feelings. By all reports though he's quite honest behind closed doors. We can all admit the Sabres leaks are pretty much gone.

All I know is I also heard all the callers into WGR550 after the announcement as well and they actually came off as rational and knowledgeable compared to some of the insane hot takes in this thread. We're at peak HF Boards.

 

[Buffaloed]

Bottom Line:
Housley didn't get enough out of the roster he was given. He deserved to be fired.
Usually a GM will get to go through at least 2 coaches before they get the ax, unless their name is Tim Murray.
Performance is all that matters in this business. It's measured in wins and losses.

 

[Buffaloed]

This is what we need a President of Hockey Ops for:

 

[toomuchsauce]

I'm sick of all the endless bad talking about GMJB because he didn't do exactly what "you" wanted.

For starters he did not say the ROR trade gave him the cap space to get Skinner but rather the assets. He's alluding to the 1st he received freeing up the 2nd this year and the 2nd in 2021 as a asset replacement for the 3rd in 2020. The ROR trade sucked, no GM is going to tell the media that the trade sucked. That's career suicide. ROR quit on the Sabres like his brother did with the Amerks; end of story. The trade sucked but it wasn't like it came out of left field. Lastly why would Botts have any idea Berglund would flee a month in to the season leaving him without a vet C to help shelter Mittlestadt.

Tage Thompson did show flashes of skill and talent most of the year. He had 10 to 15 games where he seemed to have turned the corner and then just ran back behind said corner. He would have chances and seemed to respond to healthy scratches but never seemed to overcome his gaffes which only worsened as the year continued. Like the team as a whole/Housley Botts gave them the benefit of the doubt. It failed this time but it doesn't mean we should crucify him for holding out hope for the Tage from that 10/15 games to re-emerge. Playing hot potato with prospects doesn't help their development in any way.

Risto does step up physically against big teams; its his defensive play that leaves much to be desired. Botts also prefaced his comments by saying "early in the season" when praising most of his offensive play

RE: THE BOLDED

That is exactly the problem, why would you even try to spin that? Botterill said it in his press conference. And, what they are admitting IS THE f***ING PROBLEM. Re: Tage, Botts literally said something like, "we thought about sending him down, but then he made a few good plays, so we didn't, but then eventually we did." What the everloving f***. "Well, we thought this kid was in over his head, but then he toe-dragged a guy, so we thought, nah, actually he needs 30-40 more NHL games." What the everloving f***. Seriously. What.

 

[toomuchsauce]

RE: THE BOLDED

That is exactly the problem, why would you even try to spin that? Botterill said it in his press conference. And, what they are admitting IS THE ****ING PROBLEM. Re: Tage, Botts literally said something like, "we thought about sending him down, but then he made a few good plays, so we didn't, but then eventually we did." What the everloving ****. "Well, we thought this kid was in over his head, but then he toe-dragged a guy, so we thought, nah, actually he needs 30-40 more NHL games." What the everloving ****. Seriously. What.

I mean, yeah, I come off as an irony-poisoned, disaffected internet clown, but this is bad process. Jesus christ, wtf. "Look, this kid needs to be in the AHL...OH SHIT, HE MADE A NICE PLAY. DID YOU SEE THAT TOE DRAG? NEVERMIND, PUT HIM ON THE PP1 W/ EICHEL!!!!

Seriously, what are they doing?

 

[Rasmus CacOlainen]

If people find a way to complain about late 1st round picks on a condition in orderoto secure we get Montour, they will also find a way to complain about a boring ass press conference.

Nothing new from the same old haters.

 

[vcv]

If people find a way to complain about late 1st round picks on a condition in orderoto secure we get Montour, they will also find a way to complain about a boring ass press conference.

Nothing new from the same old haters.

Responses like yours and a few others are missing the point. It's not that the press conference was boring or that JB didn't reveal anything.

It's about what he did reveal. What little he did reveal illustrate, to some of us, that he doesn't appear to know what he's doing at worst, and has trouble with player assessments, at best.

 

[Der Jaeger]

Who cares what he said?

What was the "scenario" and "situation" count?

 

[buffalowing88]

I'm sick of all the endless bad talking about GMJB because he didn't do exactly what "you" wanted.

For starters he did not say the ROR trade gave him the cap space to get Skinner but rather the assets. He's alluding to the 1st he received freeing up the 2nd this year and the 2nd in 2021 as a asset replacement for the 3rd in 2020. The ROR trade sucked, no GM is going to tell the media that the trade sucked. That's career suicide. ROR quit on the Sabres like his brother did with the Amerks; end of story. The trade sucked but it wasn't like it came out of left field. Lastly why would Botts have any idea Berglund would flee a month in to the season leaving him without a vet C to help shelter Mittlestadt.

Tage Thompson did show flashes of skill and talent most of the year. He had 10 to 15 games where he seemed to have turned the corner and then just ran back behind said corner. He would have chances and seemed to respond to healthy scratches but never seemed to overcome his gaffes which only worsened as the year continued. Like the team as a whole/Housley Botts gave them the benefit of the doubt. It failed this time but it doesn't mean we should crucify him for holding out hope for the Tage from that 10/15 games to re-emerge. Playing hot potato with prospects doesn't help their development in any way.

Risto does step up physically against big teams; its his defensive play that leaves much to be desired. Botts also prefaced his comments by saying "early in the season" when praising most of his offensive play

Agreed! I really think we are right to be trigger-happy on Housley but GMJB isn't the issue in my book. I'm also on-board with any hardball he needs to play with Skinner this offseason. I know it's not a favorable approach but we have so much talent coming up next year that I start to get 05-06 thoughts... I want Skinner here, but I think we have Olofsson already ready to play that role if money needs to be spent elsewhere.

 

[Rasmus CacOlainen]

Responses like yours and a few others are missing the point. It's not that the press conference was boring or that JB didn't reveal anything.

It's about what he did reveal. What little he did reveal illustrate, to some of us, that he doesn't appear to know what he's doing at worst, and has trouble with player assessments, at best.

What you say and what you do in such positions like his are not often related. This thread is full of holy overreaction. I judge by actions. In 2019 he has:
- left Housley in his job to finish the tankjob
- got Montour for meh pieces
- fired Housley on day 1 of postseason

You dont judge a GM on speaking to media but on actions.
Anyone complaining right now is just the same old anti-Botts agenda.

He had one big mistake - hiring and keeping Housley in the first place and a bunch of Elie/Wilson-type meaningless ones. ROR was never staying (lockeroom situation with Jack was clearly a non-starter) and allowed that we get Skinner and Montour. I am fine with the big trades he has made, actually not fine, I am glad with them assuming Skinner stays here. What I am not fine with is how he handled Housley (cant complain about the hire as from memory he was the favorite on the board as well), could and maybe should have fired him in on New Years eve... Big offseason, get the right coach now and we are fully in business next year, we have the roster. Get the coach wrong AGAIN and he's gone and we continue the meltdown on this board. Let's hope he gets it right, the situation with NYI shows how important of a factor the coach is, our roster is much better than theirs and they are playing Pittsburgh in a few days while we are waiting for the lotto balls again.

 

[old kummelweck]

One thing I can't buy is Botterill's statement that the Pegula's had nothing to do with the decision. If I'm Botterill, I'm feeling the pressure of my own neck on the line and they still owe Housley a chunk of change, you don't spend that money without ownership fully aware. In addition, he said that the coach search is 'already underway'. My guess is that they already had some conversations and the framework was in place for the firing/hiring, and that the timing had everything to do with getting out in front of the market with Quenneville triggering a feeling they may miss the market.

Does anyone know the details of Housley's contract?