TBN: Yet again, Sabres just leave you scratching your head

[Ehran]

I think McCabe's comments are getting blown way out of proportion.

With the upset fans and mini-uproar that is happening, the GM and/or ownership should be facing these questions, not the players. What / how does anyone really expect a player to respond in this situation?

But we all know the Pegulas won't take questions and Botterill won't provide answers based on reality.

 

[flashsabre]

The Sabres are getting buried in the media after the Duane call, the parody song and the jersey spelling mistakes debacle.

The team hasn’t made a single comment on any of it.

The lack of leadership in this organization is terrifying.

 

[Fatass]

The Sabres are getting buried in the media after the Duane call, the parody song and the jersey spelling mistakes debacle.

The team hasn’t made a single comment on any of it.

The lack of leadership in this organization is terrifying.

What are they supposed to say? Whoops? Maybe saying nothing is the best idea?

 

[Buffaloed]

What are they supposed to say? Whoops? Maybe saying nothing is the best idea?

They need to socialize with the fans. Treat them like friends instead of pieces of meat with dollar signs. They pay a lot of money to people to manage their social media accounts and they're more detached than a medical office. When the Pegulas purchased the team they started off by giving it a personal touch with Kim actually visiting people's houses to deliver season tickets. That's disappeared. They should say they made a mistake and it won't be repeated. By not responding they're allowing people to think the worst.

 

[sabrebuild]

Agreed, and the lack of internal development to supplement the failures/ idiocy of the acquired trash.

Also, no one with legitimate hockey knowledge and experience would argue ROR wasn't / isn't a core piece for any NHL team. It didn't need to be proven wrong, the premise was wrong from the start. ROR was the Luce equivalent on the '70s Sabres, the Gainey equivalent on the late-'70s Habs, the Bob Bourne equivalent on the early-'80s Islanders, the Messier equivalent on the late-'80s Oilers. Some of you can fill in the past 30 years.

He was traded for personal / personnel reasons, depending on how your sentiments lie, not hockey reasons.

I would normally agree with you, despite the bevy of posters who would claim otherwise.

But Botterill's other decisions do not really support your optimistic and reasonable belief.

 

[kirby11]

Kim commented during an interview at the SB (paraphrasing) "fans aren't coming to see me, they're coming to see the players. We have camera people for them."

She's out to lunch about what fans want

 

[flashsabre]

What are they supposed to say? Whoops? Maybe saying nothing is the best idea?

Really? Say nothing?

Their silence speaks volumes. No answers, No clue.

 

[darcyRegier]

Not sure where else to ask this, but who is responsible for this absolute mess? The on ice product is an absolute mess and that’s on Botterill.

But who is responsible for everything else? The low quality experience at KBC. Misspelling HOFers names on the jerseys. Etc. Is Kim Pegula mostly to blame here?

 

[Chainshot]

I just dont see how we can get rid of all these bums with nothing really coming from the farm

Good depth and mid-line players move ever summer for reasonable cost in trade. Buffalo has draft picks. They have some prospects that aren't valueless. There is opportunity constantly for improvement that doesn't cost an exorbitant personnel price.

Popping out one of the few good forwards on the team and justifying it that it will fill multiple holes or that the team lost with him, so why not is the same sort of faulty logic that had initial reactions to the O'Reilly trade being favorable.

 

[Chainshot]

Not sure where else to ask this, but who is responsible for this absolute mess? The on ice product is an absolute mess and that’s on Botterill.

But who is responsible for everything else? The low quality experience at KBC. Misspelling HOFers names on the jerseys. Etc. Is Kim Pegula mostly to blame here?

Kim is team president. It's on her.

 

[Myllz]

Kim is team president.

The crux of the issues.

 

[Ace]

What are they supposed to say? Whoops? Maybe saying nothing is the best idea?

I know that current culture makes apologizing and owning up to your mistakes frowned upon...but a simple acknowledgement of very real faults and the promise to do better would go a long way.

People are looking for 3 things.

1. To know they’re being heard
2. Recognition from someone there that they are aware of what is unacceptable
3. Things to turn around.

They could do 2 of the 3 with a sentence.

They choose not to.

 

[Ace]

Also I don’t know how anyone could still be scratching their heads. What is there to wonder? They’re incompetent.

 

[Chainshot]

I know that current culture makes apologizing and owning up to your mistakes frowned upon...but a simple acknowledgement of very real faults and the promise to do better would go a long way.

People are looking for 3 things.

1. To know they’re being heard
2. Recognition from someone there that they are aware of what is unacceptable
3. Things to turn around.

They could do 2 of the 3 with a sentence.

They choose not to.

Since when did that become uncommon? In what industry is that not how one is supposed to act?

 

[Buffaloed]

I heard that Kim lost over a billion dollars playing bingo. Between that and bad investments in country music singers, they're teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.

 

[Ace]

Since when did that become uncommon? In what industry is that not how one is supposed to act?

Presidential politics and the third of the country in the cult

 

[Chainshot]

Presidential politics and the third of the country in the cult

Ah, I was talking about from a business perspective and how adults act in a functioning society vs what you described. Industry vs THAT.

 

[Jim Bob]

I just dont see how we can get rid of all these bums with nothing really coming from the farm

So, just get rid of the really good players, instead.

Sounds like a great idea to me...



The real way to build a team isn't just through drafting and developing. It's also making smart additions in FA and trade like moving Nylander for Joker and signing Lazar.

The problem is that for every Joker trade, Botts has traded for guys like Miller, Vesey, and Frolik that are a waste of a roster spot at this point.

 

[debaser66]

I get what your saying, but for one, why would an equivalent player to Reinhart, but with I guess the "right stuff" suddenly help the team in any substantial way vs performative. And if there really is a personality difference between Reinhart and player X that will be that useful, why would the other team do that?

The problem with this logic, is that most fans only know 3-4 significant players on other teams, so they think those players like basketball primarily decide the outcome of games. The reality is, if Washington traded Eichel and Reinhart for Backstrom and Ovie, guess what Washington would still be an elite team that would be one of the favorites in the East.

The problem on this team is not the good players. It is the endless trash that Botts has brought in for the last three years.

O'Reilly wasn't a core player was proven wrong by simply joining a team with a good base level of talent.

It's definitely easier to just pick random player that is a big name you don't care for and think they don't have it cuz it's not happening and they will return something good.

But that's just not how winning is done. Get rid of the actual bums, bring in better talent to support your good players.

I can't believe this is still a conversation piece after the O'Reilly deal, regardless of how badly it went.

Nicely put