Confirmed with Link: Jason Botterill Fired

[GareFan18]

“The other thing that happened in Buffalo was the Pegulas did a top-to-bottom review of their organization. It was, from what I understand, very in-depth. They went over everyone’s schedule. How many games did you see? Where did you go? There is word they considered some of those schedules “light.”

When the Pegulas/Adams talk about “efficiency,” this is one of the things they thought could be done a lot better. During their budget meetings, department heads were told to prepare multiple scenarios with different bottom lines. Botterill knew he was going to be asked to make painful decisions, and fought them.”


That makes me feel a tiny bit better..
Baby steps. lol

I suppose this makes me feel a little better, too. If the stoppage allowed the Pegulas to truly create a data-driven approach to review the entire organization, came up with a strategic plan based on that data, presented it to fGMJB (the 'f' for former) and he bucked it, well, then, I suppose I feel a little better about gutting the entire organization's hockey operations.

If what emerges is a more efficient organization, which can achieve the same goal (get us back in the f'n playoffs, please), then it was the right move.

I don't trust that's what the Pegulas did. My outsider view from the Great Plains is that these people have no idea what they're doing. They created a sports & entertainment holding company with no actual idea how to run a sports & entertainment holding company, haven't hired people to whom they (Kim & Terry) put their trust and always think they (Kim & Terry) know better because they we re successful doing something completely different.

 

[Buffaloed]

Before firings, Sabres had extended contracts for assistant GMs during season
Former Buffalo Sabres General Manager Jason Botterill's top two lieutenants in hockey operations, assistant general managers Randy Sexton and Steve Greeley, received two-year contract extensions this season, multiple sources confirmed to The Buffalo News on Saturday.

The midseason extensions, which were requested by Botterill and approved by ownership, ensured he and his two assistant general managers would be under contract through the 2021-22 season, and seemingly would have provided a sense of job security.

According to the article they should make $300,000 - $400,000 per year. Botterill has 2 years remaining on his deal that probably pays around $1 million. Unless they get hired elsewhere, are the Pegulas really saving money? If they're going to allow Adams to fill out his staff, this is going to cost them more in the short term.

 

[OkimLom]

“The other thing that happened in Buffalo was the Pegulas did a top-to-bottom review of their organization. It was, from what I understand, very in-depth. They went over everyone’s schedule. How many games did you see? Where did you go? There is word they considered some of those schedules “light.”

When the Pegulas/Adams talk about “efficiency,” this is one of the things they thought could be done a lot better. During their budget meetings, department heads were told to prepare multiple scenarios with different bottom lines. Botterill knew he was going to be asked to make painful decisions, and fought them.”


That makes me feel a tiny bit better..
Baby steps. lol

I feel that the light scheduling speaks more to the incompetence of Botterill and his scouting department, than it does the competence of ownership and others. I’d be willing to bet that if we had access to the scouting departments any one of us on these boards would be able ask the same questions right away.

it just confirms what we all knew for a couple seasons now, that Botterill was bad at his job.

My questions are, How long was this going on? If it was in the beginning, wouldn’t you have caught this after any of the other 2 offseasons? If you are doing a thorough enough review each offseason on everyone in the organization, why did it take this long to catch this? What exactly were the reasons for reduced scouting schedules?

 

[Buffaloed]

I feel that the light scheduling speaks more to the incompetence of Botterill and his scouting department, than it does the competence of ownership and others. I’d be willing to bet that if we had access to the scouting departments any one of us on these boards would be able ask the same questions right away.

it just confirms what we all knew for a couple seasons now, that Botterill was bad at his job.

My questions are, How long was this going on? If it was in the beginning, wouldn’t you have caught this after any of the other 2 offseasons? If you are doing a thorough enough review each offseason on everyone in the organization, why did it take this long to catch this? What exactly were the reasons for reduced scouting schedules?

I don't think the Pegulas had any idea how inept Botterill was until Adams brought certain things to light. Botterill had them snowed when Kim gave her statement supporting him. I believe Adams actually led the purge by approaching the Pegulas and asking to be able to do a review. He had to be fed up working for a team that was perennial laughingstock with no hope in sight as long as Botterill remained.

 

[struckbyaparkedcar]

So, Adams was the PSE guy leaking about the cap overage?

 

[Paxon]

You guys know what I do for a living. I’ve got three months of experience, hands on, dealing with populations and this virus. Fort Jackson is a powder keg. We train 51,000 initial entry enlisted Soldiers every year. Columbia, South Carolina is also one of the countries biggest military retirement communities, with 45,000 retirees in the area. The population is so big that we have an off installation military health clinic which only serves retirees. We also have an equal number over government civilian working here as Soldiers working as cadre.

I run Fort Jackson as the installation’s operation officer. I commanded here, got pulled up to this position by the commanding general. In civilian terms, he’s the CEO, I’m the COO. I’ve got a public health doctor who works for me, and a team of infectious disease doctors who run my contract tracing.

For three months, my problem to solve is how do we continue to train all these future Soldiers (who are largely low risk) is isolation from retirees and the government employees. I’d argue this is a far bigger problem that any sports return based on the sheer scale.

My team figured it out, and did it so well the Chief of Staff of the Army came here for his 60 Minutes interview. They also looked at how we did it.

Things I’ve learned:
- the vast majority of patients will be asymptomatic. We have an entire barracks building dedicated to asymptomatic positive cases. We had to put in WiFi, Netflix, and gaming systems to keep these kids from going crazy the two weeks they were in isolation.

- positive does not mean contagious. We have kids who test positive well after their 14 day isolation due to viral particle shedding.

- I’m prohibited from sharing numbers, but we’ve had a very small amount of retirees and government civilians test positive.

- the number of hospitalizations is tiny, and every one was admitted for a different condition far worse than Covid, and found to also have Covid. None on ventilators.

We’ve been able to push through this situation. Getting COVID isn’t a death sentence. From experience, if you take the proper precautions, you don’t need to stop doing anything you were previously doing. Sports can come back.

I agree. I just don't accept as I said that athletes as a group are beyond risk, regardless of how serious that risk is. The point being that athletes' contracts are not equivalent to soldiers. Soldiers have signed up to potentially go anywhere on the planet and potentially die in the course of their duties. NHL players didn't sign up to play hockey in the summer isolated from their families during a pandemic. If players don't want to and are willing to forgo the relevant salary then I have no hard feelings towards that. That isn't gonna happen, but if it were to then so be it. I don't accept this "they signed contracts" rhetoric. It isn't a very fair way of framing things in my opinion.

 

[slip]

I don't think the Pegulas had any idea how inept Botterill was until Adams brought certain things to light. Botterill had them snowed when Kim gave her statement supporting him. I believe Adams actually led the purge by approaching the Pegulas and asking to be able to do a review. He had to be fed up working for a team that was perennial laughingstock with no hope in sight as long as Botterill remained.

If this interpretation of events is true then my opinion of Adams just did a 180 for the better.

 

[flashsabre]

That would be hilarious if Adams was the one who did the independent review of the team and ends up being GM after getting everyone canned. Boss Level

I think Adams is bright, knows hockey and knows how to handle the Pegulas. Everyone says he is a great leader and hard worker. In time he will probably be a good GM. I’m just dying to hear a Dudley or Futa type joining the FO to support Adams. I guess no FO moves can be made until after the playoffs (which I don’t think are going to happen) and the draft unless the person is not attached to a team at the moment.

 

[Buffaloed]

If this interpretation of events is true then my opinion of Adams just did a 180 for the better.

It fits with Adams refusing to disclose when he was offered the GM job. He might have turned it down and later relented when he saw we'd be stuck with big head for at least another year.
Sabres GM Kevyn Adams 'part of the process' before Jason Botterill's firing
Quietly, though, Adams' role with the Sabres expanded significantly over the past 12 months. His promotion to the team's senior vice president of business administration included an appointment as the team's alternate governor. When Botterill wasn't available, Adams would attend NHL Board of Governors meetings, a task previously carried out by Kim Pegula. Adams would not say when he was offered the general manager position.

 

[Myllz]

I don't think the Pegulas had any idea how inept Botterill was until Adams brought certain things to light. Botterill had them snowed when Kim gave her statement supporting him. I believe Adams actually led the purge by approaching the Pegulas and asking to be able to do a review. He had to be fed up working for a team that was perennial laughingstock with no hope in sight as long as Botterill remained.

Let's say that's accurate and how events actually went. Isn't it then massively greedy and presumptuous for Adams to take over after that review? Auditing the organization and reporting your findings to ownership is one thing, but then saying "I can fix all of this!" immediately afterwards smacks of arrogance. Or, maybe the Pegula's got his report, were impressed by it and then offered him the job to fix it. I wouldn't entirely blame him for accepting in that scenario, but it's still pretty damn presumptuous to accept and feel like you're the person to handle everything when you have zero experience in a similar role. I don't like the outcome of it any way it's broken down.

If Adams were truly about the growth and improvement of the organization, why not do the review and make the recommendation that they clean house and bring in someone with experience in rebuilding an organization from the ground up? No more first time GM's, no more hoping you have the next big thing, just bring in someone who's done it before with some amount of success.

 

[Buffaloed]

Let's say that's accurate and how events actually went. Isn't it then massively greedy and presumptuous for Adams to take over after that review? Auditing the organization and reporting your findings to ownership is one thing, but then saying "I can fix all of this!" immediately afterwards smacks of arrogance. Or, maybe the Pegula's got his report, were impressed by it and then offered him the job to fix it. I wouldn't entirely blame him for accepting in that scenario, but it's still pretty damn presumptuous to accept and feel like you're the person to handle everything when you have zero experience in a similar role. I don't like the outcome of it any way it's broken down.

If Adams were truly about the growth and improvement of the organization, why not do the review and make the recommendation that they clean house and bring in someone with experience in rebuilding an organization from the ground up? No more first time GM's, no more hoping you have the next big thing, just bring in someone who's done it before with some amount of success.

He probably did recommend they do a search and the Pegulas would have none of it. They no longer trust hockey people. It was Adams or nothing. His options may have been take the job or they stay with Botterill. The timing fits that he turned it down, they were committing to Botterill for another year and he changed his mind.

 

[Der Jaeger]

I agree. I just don't accept as I said that athletes as a group are beyond risk, regardless of how serious that risk is. The point being that athletes' contracts are not equivalent to soldiers. Soldiers have signed up to potentially go anywhere on the planet and potentially die in the course of their duties. NHL players didn't sign up to play hockey in the summer isolated from their families during a pandemic. If players don't want to and are willing to forgo the relevant salary then I have no hard feelings towards that. That isn't gonna happen, but if it were to then so be it. I don't accept this "they signed contracts" rhetoric. It isn't a very fair way of framing things in my opinion.

We’ll need to agree to disagree. I’m not trying to say “be like Soldiers” but I also don’t think life is fair.

Edit: my point was that if we figured it out, professional sports with far greater resources allocated per person should be able to do it, easy.

 

[Buffaloed]

I agree. I just don't accept as I said that athletes as a group are beyond risk, regardless of how serious that risk is. The point being that athletes' contracts are not equivalent to soldiers. Soldiers have signed up to potentially go anywhere on the planet and potentially die in the course of their duties. NHL players didn't sign up to play hockey in the summer isolated from their families during a pandemic. If players don't want to and are willing to forgo the relevant salary then I have no hard feelings towards that. That isn't gonna happen, but if it were to then so be it. I don't accept this "they signed contracts" rhetoric. It isn't a very fair way of framing things in my opinion.

State and local governments can shut it down very quickly if it poses a health risk. We're not going to have sports if clusters of outbreaks are traced to sporting events.

 

[Royisgone]

State and local governments can shut it down very quickly if it poses a health risk. We're not going to have sports if clusters of outbreaks are traced to sporting events.

I don't think we're going to have sports at all for a while yet to come, despite the various leagues doing their best to keep the show running and the money coming in.

It's just too early.

I've been saying for a while that I"ll be surprised if the NFL season starts in early Sept. I don't see it happening.

 

[SabresSharks]

Sabres leapt out of the frying pan. There's no reason to assume they won't land in the fire.

Can we please have a legitimate VP of hockey operations?

 

[Jim Bob]

Can we please have a legitimate VP of hockey operations?

Not while the Pegulas own the team it would appear.

 

[Jim Bob]

I am not a Harrington fan, but this was an interesting listen.

And it is definitely NSFW.

Barnaby going through his five favorite coaches was a fun listen, too.

 

[AustonsNostrils]

Barnaby says 6 years ago somebody he won't name told him you ain't seen nothing yet with the Sabres, that the franchise was and would continue to be a complete shitshow because of one person - Kim Pegula.

we're doomed, find a new team to cheer for or new sport.

 

[TalkingProuder]

Barnaby says 6 years ago somebody he won't name told him you ain't seen nothing yet with the Sabres, that the franchise was and would continue to be a complete shitshow because of one person - Kim Pegula.

we're doomed, find a new team to cheer for or new sport.

Its possible that Adams is terrific but the process of how he was hired was a clown show. If he's good chalk it up to dumb luck.

 

[Jim Bob]

My meeting needs to end so I can listen to this...

 

[BloFan4Life]

Barnaby says 6 years ago somebody he won't name told him you ain't seen nothing yet with the Sabres, that the franchise was and would continue to be a complete shitshow because of one person - Kim Pegula.

we're doomed, find a new team to cheer for or new sport.

Why does anyone pay any attention to Barnaby?

The guy is an egomaniac with serious substance issues. Never a good combo. He is trying to make any dollar he can now since his career has gone totally in the toilet. He will say anything for attention.

 

[Doug Prishpreed]

Barnaby says 6 years ago somebody he won't name told him you ain't seen nothing yet with the Sabres, that the franchise was and would continue to be a complete shitshow because of one person - Kim Pegula.

we're doomed, find a new team to cheer for or new sport.

I bet is was Lafontaine

 

[OkimLom]

Why does anyone pay any attention to Barnaby?

The guy is an egomaniac with serious substance issues. Never a good combo. He is trying to make any dollar he can now since his career has gone totally in the toilet. He will say anything for attention.

Nothing he said was anything that hasn't been said on these boards before. In terms of listening for new information, he's probably not a good source, but for someone who wants to give his opinion, I don't see him being that bad to listen to.

 

[Buffaloed]

Why does anyone pay any attention to Barnaby?

The guy is an egomaniac with serious substance issues. Never a good combo. He is trying to make any dollar he can now since his career has gone totally in the toilet. He will say anything for attention.

If Barnaby knew anything he would have opened his yap 6 years ago.

 

[GareFan18]

Why does anyone pay any attention to Barnaby?

The guy is an egomaniac with serious substance issues. Never a good combo. He is trying to make any dollar he can now since his career has gone totally in the toilet. He will say anything for attention.

Harrington & Barnaby?
LOL. No thanks.