Back in the summer of 2011 when new Sabres owner Terry Pegula was making waves by throwing big money at free agents, he was also investing heavily in other, less flashy areas of the organization. "There is no NHL salary cap on scouting budgets or player development budgets, " he said at his first presser declaring that he planned on increasing those budgets.
More scouts in the field and a Sabres Combine for draft prospects were amongst the areas receiving additional finances.
In direct contrast to the immediacy of his free agent splurge, the benefits of an increased focus upon scouting and player development wouldn't be seen for at least a few years down the road.
It looked to be a two-fold approach to their goal of the winning the Stanley Cup: a direct influx of free agent talent for an immediate, short-term run into the playoffs while underneath the surface, a feeder group of prospects would be developing for long-term success.
Unfortunately for the team and it's fans, the short-term plan imploded. The team did not move forward with an augmented core, missed the playoffs two years running and had their worst finish in 10 years last season.
To make matters worse for an increasingly impatient media and fan-base, Regier, the GM who built the team, is now in charge of breaking it down and rebuilding it.
As the team gets ready for the draft, picking at the highest slot since 2003, the entire Pegula regime is under attack. And the source of this disdain is Regier with tertiary disgust being thrown at Pegula for keeping his GM on board.
The Buffalo News' Jerry Sullivan calls it "Trouble in hockey heaven" as he takes Pegula to task in a recent article. Sullivan and his understudy, Bucky Gleason, have never hidden their contempt for Regier and undeniably and unabashedly want to see his ass shown the door.
Sullivan has been railing against Regier, and at times directly attacking Pegula because of Regier, for a couple of years, "It has become a joyless, redundant exercise," he wrote, "to criticize the Sabres and their owner, Terry Pegula. You're whispering into a tornado of denial, helpless in the face of one man's refusal to entertain the wide-held notion that his general manager might be a problem."
The source for Sullivan's latest rant was Pegula's appearance on WGR's Hockey Hotline, a Sabres radio show with direct ties to the organization.
With these five words Pegula sent the media into a frenzy, "What has [Regier] done wrong?"
Pegula was said to be in hiding by his detractors. His team stumbled on the ice this season and he had not made a public appearance to talk about his hockey team since January when he announced Regier's contract extension. Everyone, especially the sports department at the Buffalo News, wanted answers.
In the interview on GR, they were instead treated to a somewhat smug rebuttle of Regier's critics. An obviously irritated owner was sticking by his GM.
What has Regier done wrong? Those in Sabreland have a littany of transgressions from which to choose from when it comes to his decisions over the last 16 years. But they forget that Pegula is looking only at Regier's job performance for the two-plus years he's owned the team. Pegula has stated this time and again.
A mere two days after Pegula made his appeareance, Regier held the Sabres annual draft presser and blew up every GM wannabe's dream scenario by stating simply and honestly, "to move [from 8th in the draft] up into those top [three-five] spots will be extremely difficult if not impossible."
This was yet another transgression. It dashed NHL-13 fantasies of trading goalie Ryan Miller, Mikhail Grigorenko and the 8th pick to Colorado for the 1st overall pick and a chance to draft Nathan MacKinnon.
Unlike other times when there was an outcry for honesty and transparency, the truth of Regier's statement was an unwelcomed bucket of cold water. A large portion of the fan base, it would seem, wanted to go on believing that there actually was a chance to move up and draft a potential superstar.
In an epic rant on WGR, afternoon co-host Chris "Bulldog" Parker blasted that mentality, "That's how bad it is?" he barked at host Mike Schoppsie. "You wanna pretend that something might happen that isn't really going to happen?"
"You wanted them to suspend belief for ten more days that they might be able to draft Nathan MacKinnon. That's what you were hoping for out of them?
HOLY COW!!!"
Although the Sabres short-term plan was rocked like the Milan Lucic steamroll of Ryan Miller, the long-term team-building plan is still in place.
The fruits of this process are still well beyond Pegula's stated three-year Stanley Cup plan. But the foundation is beginning to take shape.
The Sabres' scouting staff has increased significantly including a larger overseas presence like the hiring of Fredrik Andersson who is scouring Europe to unearth latter-rounds goalie gems.
He found Linus Ullmark, last year's sixth round pick, who's rising fast on the Sabres depth chart.
Ullmark was one of many prospects brougth to Buffalo to attend the Sabres Combine, something that was a dream of head amateur scout Kevin Devine under the previous regime. With Pegula's financial resources and commitment to scouting and player development, Devine's dream became a reality. Draft prospects now hit the ice at the F'N Center while the organization gets a first-hand look at what they have to offer.
There has also been a fundamental change in the players that the Sabres want to build with.
At his first presser Pegula stated that he wants "not only statistically good players but winners, gritty players." Anyone who's watched the team since 2007 knows that this team was generally the opposite of that. The previous core could put up numbers, but they were routinely described as "easy to play against."
Two faces of Regier's old core, Derek Roy and Jason Pominville--both consistently amongst the top-three scorers on the team but lacking grit--were traded. The bellweather of the Sabres' philosophical change in players might be the trading of Roy for gritty winger Steve Ott in the 2012 off season.
In Pegula's GR interview this past week, he stressed his affinity for "hard workers" and pointed to Zemgus Girgensons who was drafted with the second of the Sabres two 1st-round picks last year, a pick Regier traded up for.
Johan Larsson, part of the Pominville trade, was also pointed to as a hard worker by Pegula.
Both Girgensons and Larsson look to be a big part of the team's "new core" going forward, a core that follows Pegula's stated desire to land "not only statistically good players, but winners, gritty players."
These are players targeted by Pegula's hockey ops team headed by Regier.
The media and fans have seen Regier's team-building prior to Pegula and it was a failure save for two seasons. Pegula, on the other hand, looks at what his GM has done in the two years since he took over the team. Regier was given his marching orders and has impressed his boss. That's what Pegula is looking at when he asked the question "what has he done wrong?"
In this battle between disenchanted fans/irate media members and Pegula, I choose to side with the owner.
I really don't think Regier's done much wrong since the decision was made to purge his core. To the contrary, I think he's pulled off some impressive trades.
If Regier's role and main focus right now is to acquire the assets that others within the organization deem fit to build with, great. I think he's done an outstanding job thus-far.
And if you choose to look at this defense of Pegula and Regier as coming from someone drunk from drinking the kool-aid. So be it.
I like the long-term building blocks and right now I don't care that Reiger's in charge. I hold no grudges, nor do I take anything personally when it comes to the team and how it's run.
The Sabres are on the right track. A slower track than anyone anticipated or desired, but the right one none the less.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/regier-is-the-right-man-for-sabres-for-now/article14900235/ Oct. 16, 2013
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