How worried are you about this team? Both on and off the ice?

[HogtownSabresfan]

They can afford it and things can turn around very quickly.
1 billion = 1000 million

View attachment 350644

No cash flow, no revenue. Assets maybe not worth the same.

 

[sabremike]

I feel like Reinhart is the type of player Terry wont want to pay

If you saw that press conference it seems pretty clear going forward he doesn't want to pay players period which is why I see Jack out the door in two seasons tops. Why would he want to stay in an Islanders post Lighthouse defeat style organization where the owner has decided he has no desire to spend the money to actually win things?

 

[Buffaloed]

If you saw that press conference it seems pretty clear going forward he doesn't want to pay players period which is why I see Jack out the door in two seasons tops. Why would he want to stay in an Islanders post Lighthouse defeat style organization where the owner has decided he has no desire to spend the money to actually win things?

I don't recall anything being said about player salaries. I see it as emulating Thomas Dundon who pruned a bloated front office and made his organization efficient to free up money to spend on players.

 

[sabremike]

I don't recall anything being said about player salaries. I see it as emulating Thomas Dundon who pruned a bloated front office and made his organization efficient to free up money to spend on players.

That may have been your impression but it certainly wasn't mine. All I can say is that we are going to get that answer over the next several months.

 

[Der Jaeger]

Honestly, that's not a scary thing for me. Pegula knew he was entering a rebuild full of youth and wanted a captain, leader, and role model to guide the kids. I would be good with that type of deal then entering into a cap floor era with lots of players getting traded for futures.

 

[Dirty Dog]

Not worried, it’s sports. Things are awful until they aren’t. It can happen suddenly

 

[eanyills]

I don't recall anything being said about player salaries. I see it as emulating Thomas Dundon who pruned a bloated front office and made his organization efficient to free up money to spend on players.

The first thing I thought of during the press conference was Carolina. Dundon was absolutely roasted when Bill Peters resigned and the Ron Francis debacle happened. Brindamour was seen as a cheap coach hire from within the organization and Waddell was a retread that people laughed at. Carolina was an absolute laughingstock that people joked wouldn’t meet the cap floor.

They went “efficient” and it’s worked really well. Smart trades, good team building based on analytics, and for a team that talked internal budget, they’re at the cap ceiling. If they had an actual goaltender, they’d probably be far and away the strongest team in the league right now. If we emulate Carolina’s model, I’m OK with that.

 

[Buffaloed]

The first thing I thought of during the press conference was Carolina. Dundon was absolutely roasted when Bill Peters resigned and the Ron Francis debacle happened. Brindamour was seen as a cheap coach hire from within the organization and Waddell was a retread that people laughed at. Carolina was an absolute laughingstock that people joked wouldn’t meet the cap floor.

They went “efficient” and it’s worked really well. Smart trades, good team building based on analytics, and for a team that talked internal budget, they’re at the cap ceiling. If they had an actual goaltender, they’d probably be far and away the strongest team in the league right now. If we emulate Carolina’s model, I’m OK with that.

For 9 long years the Sabres have been emulating the 1997-98 to 2003-04 Rangers and the consequence of failure has been to spend more money. I think that led to a lot of irresponsible decisions. I hope those days are behind us.

 

[Buffaloed]

That may have been your impression but it certainly wasn't mine. All I can say is that we are going to get that answer over the next several months.

You've heard of the Bills Mafia? Well when Tage Thompson is the leading scorer in the playoffs in a couple years you'll be joining the Adams Family.

 

[K8fool]

I'm honestly not that worried. I'm more worried about the mental state of Sabres fans.

Not taking a shot at anyone, but I think the anxiety around this team is fed by many factors, some of which have nothing to do with hockey, including the economy, the state of the world, etc.

I am as unhappy as anyone about the lack of success of this team over their tenure, but the hysteria over everything Pegula related at this point is absurd to me. Building a winner is not easy. You can do everything right and still lose sometimes because there are 30 other teams trying to do the same thing. They haven't gotten it right yet, but that doesn't mean they are evil, stupid, don't care, or any of the other sensational claims made with very little supporting evidence.

One thing is for sure, they have not communicated well with the public over the last few years, despite a really strong start. I have to attribute some of that to Botterill. They hired him, yes, but he was piss poor at explaining what was happening and the reasoning behind his moves to the fans. I think Adams will be an improvement on that front.

I have yet to see evidence that the team is in financial trouble or that they are about to sell the team. Making cuts in this situation is totally reasonable to me and does not mean the viability of the team is in question. I believe they mean well, have tried to do the right things, invested a lot of money in the team and have done a lot of good for the city of Buffalo. Of course, all of that gets forgotten quickly when the team misses the playoffs every year.

I know it sucks to support this team right now, but take a deep breath. The roster is not in terrible shape. They've got months to fill positions and redesign the way the organization works, for the better.

Another thoughful take... Eat it sully but stay consistent w yr negativity..

 

[K8fool]

Not worried, it’s sports. Things are awful until they aren’t. It can happen suddenly

Cozens exceeds . Pekar makes the team . Mitts decides to devote his life to hockey or is chained to eichel. A top three pick.. .goalie center and .....voila , a very dangerous team.

 

[paulmm3]

I'm not worried. I'm already dead inside.

 

[MarkusKetterer]

I have to have hope to be able to worry.

 

[dotcommunism]

Honestly, that's not a scary thing for me. Pegula knew he was entering a rebuild full of youth and wanted a captain, leader, and role model to guide the kids. I would be good with that type of deal then entering into a cap floor era with lots of players getting traded for futures.

They weren't rebuilding yet in 2012, though, were they? Sure they moved Gaustad the previous deadline, but he was a pending UFA and they got a pretty big return for him. The big trade that off-season was Roy for Ott, and I'm not sure I'd call that a rebuild trade. It wasn't until the shortened 12-13 season that they ended up making arguably the first rebuild move in trading Pominville, and of course that was also when they fired Ruff.
In hindsight, obviously the team wasn't far away from the total teardown that ended up happening, but I think one would be pretty hard pressed to argue that during the 2012 offseason they were planning on doing the sort of rebuild that they ended up doing.

 

[Der Jaeger]

They weren't rebuilding yet in 2012, though, were they? Sure they moved Gaustad the previous deadline, but he was a pending UFA and they got a pretty big return for him. The big trade that off-season was Roy for Ott, and I'm not sure I'd call that a rebuild trade. It wasn't until the shortened 12-13 season that they ended up making arguably the first rebuild move in trading Pominville, and of course that was also when they fired Ruff.
In hindsight, obviously the team wasn't far away from the total teardown that ended up happening, but I think one would be pretty hard pressed to argue that during the 2012 offseason they were planning on doing the sort of rebuild that they ended up doing.

this is correct. I’m off on timing. I remember that he wanted to bring Doan i because the room was reportedly poor. When Ott and Vanek become your captains.....

 

[brian_griffin]

For 9 long years the Sabres have been emulating the 1997-98 to 2003-04 Rangers and the consequence of failure has been to spend more money. I think that led to a lot of irresponsible decisions. I hope those days are behind us.

agreed. Think of your personal life. Money is tight, you think longer about what you spend it on. Got a big stash?, a little waste or bad decision is tolerated. It has just as much to do with feeling good / confident with the outcome as it does your net worth. After all, none of us can take it with us.

It also relates or equates to the concept of earning success / results. High dollar UFAs may not be as vested in work ethic to achieve success with rest of team. In particular, organizations they did not mature through. Eichel I’m not worried about because he has a young mans drive. Skinner? You start seeing his boyish joy from scoring again and I think he’ll be alright. I don’t want a high price UFA coming here unless he wants to work hard in a non- glamorous city and earn the deal.

 

[Buffaloed]

I'm honestly not that worried. I'm more worried about the mental state of Sabres fans.

Not taking a shot at anyone, but I think the anxiety around this team is fed by many factors, some of which have nothing to do with hockey, including the economy, the state of the world, etc.

I am as unhappy as anyone about the lack of success of this team over their tenure, but the hysteria over everything Pegula related at this point is absurd to me. Building a winner is not easy. You can do everything right and still lose sometimes because there are 30 other teams trying to do the same thing. They haven't gotten it right yet, but that doesn't mean they are evil, stupid, don't care, or any of the other sensational claims made with very little supporting evidence.

One thing is for sure, they have not communicated well with the public over the last few years, despite a really strong start. I have to attribute some of that to Botterill. They hired him, yes, but he was piss poor at explaining what was happening and the reasoning behind his moves to the fans. I think Adams will be an improvement on that front.

I have yet to see evidence that the team is in financial trouble or that they are about to sell the team. Making cuts in this situation is totally reasonable to me and does not mean the viability of the team is in question. I believe they mean well, have tried to do the right things, invested a lot of money in the team and have done a lot of good for the city of Buffalo. Of course, all of that gets forgotten quickly when the team misses the playoffs every year.

I know it sucks to support this team right now, but take a deep breath. The roster is not in terrible shape. They've got months to fill positions and redesign the way the organization works, for the better.

The internet is a double-edged sword. On the one hand it we get news immediately. On the other hand the only way they can stay in business is to produce content. Between news events they're filled with opinion, speculation, rumor, and fabrication. When you're down everyone piles on because that's what generates traffic. It becomes easier to believe everything negative when your team has been as hapless as the Sabres.

 

[Sabre the Win]

How do I feel.

All hope has been killed. I had more hope of Botterill getting it right this year than all of Adams and Kim running this organization.

I have no hope that Eichel and Dahlin will want to to stay. I have no hope of this franchise ever becoming good. My desire to watch hockey again turns to depression when I think about the failures year after year.

Then I think, "Hey we might get lucky with a half season of 48 games, less chance to go on a slide and all we have to do is catch a 12 game win streak" then I remember it was a shorter season this year and they expanded the playoffs to 24 teams and we still missed out.

Also people thinking we have months to figure things out? 24 teams are still playing, the current hockey season probably wont end till October and then you need to hire a staff in rush for draft/next season which will probably start January after New Year's.

 

[Royisgone]

The Sabres are in a living death as long as the Pegulas own the team. They have no business owning an NHL team whatsoever and should be the consensus pick for worst NHL owners of the past 30 years.

You got that right! "living death" is not a bad way to put it. It's no different than the Bills situation during the last 20 years or so of Ralph Wilson's life.

As a fan, I refuse to tolerate ineptitude and self-induced systemic hardships simply so the team "can stay in Buffalo."

If we can't afford a full service NHL team run properly by the standards of good NHL teams, let them go.

 

[Royisgone]

Lest we forget the time Purina owned the Blues and decided not to bother showing up for the draft at all one year. There isn’t anything in sports that can’t be fixed.

Yeah, with the passage of lots and lots of time.

The situation with the Bills and an absentee owner lasted for an entire generation of sports fan.

The Sabres are half way there already.

I'd like this team to be good at some point before I die.

 

[Reddawg]

Yeah, with the passage of lots and lots of time.

The situation with the Bills and an absentee owner lasted for an entire generation of sports fan.

The Sabres are half way there already.

I'd like this team to be good at some point before I die.

The Blues were in the Conference final three seasons after the 1983 dumpster fire of a year that had the team looking to leave St. Louis altogether and then blowing off the draft entirely when they weren’t allowed to by the league.

 

[jputt99]

I'm very concerned . With a record of failure for 9 years and ownership keeps insisting on hiring inexperienced people in key positions while refusing to put a proven hockey guy in charge is stupid and arrogant ! If Terry Pegula is not happy about losing money on the Sabres , tough darts . They both need to acknowledge the financial and emotional investment the fans have made to this franchise . Watching them destroy one of the strongest fan bases in the NHL is shameful .

 

[May Day 10]

Im at the point of not being worried. I dont even care. The Pegulas could be eating out of a dumpster in a year and the Sabres could be the Houston Sabres and whatever. It is no worse than this existence with Kevyn Adams being passed off as a co-GM with Kim and Terry Pegula and Ralph Kruger.

 

[KeyserSoze81]

I honestly don't care much any more. We are a terribly run organization with no redeeming qualities other than a couple of high draft picks. I honestly think I'd have been happier if Golisano moved the team rather than selling to the Pegulas. I could have had fond memories and lamented the fact that we lost a great team (a la Nordiques and Whalers fans). Instead we are Chernobyl. No one can build anything on site here, and us trusting fans are left poisoned.

 

[PegulasSportsEmpire]

I guess you were like that with the Bills before Andy Dalton completed that pass to Tyler Boyd.