Buffalo Sabres team president Kim Pegula was in Arizona last week, along with husband Terry, at the NFL owner's meeting talking about learning on the job. The Pegula family owns both the Sabres and the Buffalo Bills and Kim took over the team presidencies of both clubs when Russ Brandon left the organization last May. She was asked about a number of things concerning the two franchises including all the changes as of late that have gone on at Pegula Sports and Entertainment, the umbrella company of the Sabres and Bills of which she's the president and CEO. Kim Pegula admitted that they took on a lot while in the midst of an upper-level management restructuring and when asked just how challenging it was to take on all that responsibility she told the gathered media, "I think it's fun.
"C'mon, we're in sports," she continued with happiness running through her big smile. "There's nothing more fun than being involved in sports. I'm actually really enjoying it."
Good for her. She and the Pegula family should be very happy. Being an NFL owner is like having one of 32 ATM cards where a constant supply of profits generated from television revenue and merchandise means every year they can go to the teller and cash in. Without financial worries, it also allows her to learn on the job, something which she also touched upon. "It takes a while to understand your organization and knowing things like how we want things to be structured," she said. "It's a matter of wanting to put my own stamp, not just myself but Terry and I, on the organization, how we want it to be structured and run.
"I've talked to a lot of other teams around the league asking, 'how are you doing things?' And so for me it was part of the learning process. Once Russ [Brandon] departed it has allowed me, it's just part of the whole progression of how we want things to be and how we want to make our own mark.
The Pegulas are making their mark, however, when it comes to their Sabres this season, they're the wrong marks for her as a first-year team president.
We all know of the Sabres 10-game winning streak which tied a franchise record. Everyone, including the Pegulas (who said as much) knew they weren't as good as that, but everyone (and I'd assume the Pegulas as well) felt that Buffalo was at least a .500 point team and achieving mark that for the remainder of the season would have had them on the playoff bubble. Unfortunately it didn't work out that way. Here are the marks:
--since the streak, Buffalo's 14-32-8 record and 36 points are worst in the league
--those 14 wins are four less than the next worst team
--131 goals-for in 54 games equals 2.42 goals/game, third-worst in the league
--194 goals allowed in 54 games equals 3.59 goals-against/game, worst in the league
--the Sabres have not won back-to-back games since Dec. 11-13, a span of 47 games
--after getting shut out three games in a row this past month, they're the first team since 1929 to get shutout three games in a row in consecutive seasons
--they'll be the second team in league history to have a 10-game winning streak and miss the playoffs
--outside of the 2013-15 tank years (plus those surrounding it) and any NHL-shortened seasons, the Sabres are on pace to finish with the least number of points in back-to-back seasons since 1971-73 when they finished with 138 points in their second and third seasons playing 78 league games.
How did they get to this point? A good starting point is December, but the month of March cemented this team as an incredibly inept and devoid of emotion.
Buffalo went 2-12-2 in the month of March with one to start the month and one win separating two seven-game losing streaks (both 0-6-1.) Neither of those wins came in regulation. It's been a pretty ugly downward spiral since the streak and as Laurie Anderson spoke in her song, From the Air:
Good evening. This is your Captain
We are about to attempt a crash landing...
We're going down. We're all going down.
Together...
This is the time and this is the record of the time
Buffalo Sabres 2018-19 YTD Team Stats (League Rankings)...(Leader):
Wins
--October: 6 (17th)…(NSH 9)
--November: 17 (T-3rd)…(TBL/TOR 18)
--December: 21 (10th)...(TBL 31)
--January: 25 (T-15th)...(TBL 37)
--February: 29 (21st)...(TBL 49)
--March: 31 (T-26)...(TBL 59)
--2017-18: 25 (31st)...(TBL 54)
--2016-17: 33 (25th)...(WSH 55)
--2015-16: 35 (23rd)...(WSH 56)
--2014-15: 23 (30th)...(ANA 49)
--2013-14: 21 (30th)...(BOS 54)
Atlantic Division Standing
--October: 5th...(TBL)
--November: T-1st (TBL)
--December: 3rd...(TBL)
--January: 5th...(TBL)
--February: 6th...(TBL)
--March: 7th...(TBL)
--2017-18: 8th...(TBL)
--2016-17: 8th...(MTL)
--2015-16: 7th...(FLA)
--2014-15: 8th...(MTL)
--2013-14: 8th...(BOS)
Eastern Conference Standing
--October: 6th...(TBL)
--November: T-1st (TBL)
--December: T-5th...(TBL)
--January: 9th...(TBL)
--February: 12th...(TBL)
--March: 14th...(TBL)
--2017-18: 16th...(TBL)
--2016-17: 15th...(WSH)
--2015-16: 14th...(WSH)
--2014-15: 16th...(NYR)
--2013-14: 16th...(BOS)
League standing/Points
--October: 14th/12...(NSH/18)
--November: T-1st/37 (TBL)
--December: T-10th/48 (TBL 64)
--January: 14th/56...(TBL 76)
--February: 22nd/66...(TBL 102)
--March: 28th/72...(TBL 122)
--2017-18: 31st/62...(NSH/117)
--2016-17: 26th/78...(WSH/118)
--2015-16: 23rd/81...(WSH/120)
--2014-15: 30th/54...(NYR/113)
--2013-15: 30th/52...(BOS/117)
Points Percentage
--October: .583 (15th)…(TBL .773)
--November: .685 (3rd)…(TBL .712)
--December: .600 (9th)...(TBL .800)
--January: .560 (14th)...(TBL .760)
--February: .524 (21st)...(TBL .785)
--March: .456 (28th...(TBL .782)
--2017-18: .378 (31st)...(NSH, .713)
--2016-17: .476 (26th)...(WSH, .720)
--2015-16: .494 (23rd)...(WSH, .732)
--2014-15: .329 (30th)...(NYR, .689)
--2013-14: .317 (30th)...(BOS, .713)
Goal Differential
--October: -4 (22nd)…(COL +14)
--November: +9 (T-8th)…(TOR +26)
--December: 0 (T-16th)...(TBL +51)
--January: -4 (17th)...(TBL 57)
--February: -18 (21st)...(TBL +80)
--March: -53 (T-27th)...(TBL +97)
--2017-18: -81 (31st)...(TBL +60)
--2016-17: -36 (24th)...(WSH +81)
--2015-16: -21 (20th)...(WSH,+59)
--2014-15 -113 (30th)...(NYR +60)
--2013-14: -91 (30th)...(BOS +84)
Goals/Game
--October: 2.58 (26th)…(PIT 4.30)
--November: 3.04 (T-14th)…(COL 3.73)
--December: 2.80 (22nd)...(TBL 4.13)
--January: 2.84 (20th)...(TBL 3.96)
--February: 2.81 (23rd)...(TBL 3.80)
--March: 2.62 (26th)...(TBL 3.88)
--2017-18: 2.41 (31st)...(TBL 3.54)
--2016-17: 2.43 (24th)...(PIT 3.39)
--2015-16: 2.43 (25th)...(DAL 3.23)
--2014-15: 1.87 (30th)...(TBL 3.16)
--2013-14: 1.83 (30th)...(ANA 3.21)
Shots/Game
--October: 30.3 (24th)…(CAR 41.7)
--November: 31.6 (16th)…(CAR 38.9)
--December: 32.1 (13th)...(CAR 37.2)
--January: 32.3 (11th)...(CAR 35.8)
--February: 32.7 (9th)...(CAR 35.1)
--March: 32.8 (8th)...(CAR 34.6)
--2017-18: 31.2 (20th)...(FLA 34.4)
--2016-17: 30.4 (15th)...(PIT 33.5)
--2015-16: 29.5 (17th)...(PIT 33.2)
--2014-15: 24.2 (30th)...(CHI 33.9)
--2013-14: 26.3 (30th)...(SJS 34.8)
5v5 Goals
--October: 18 (25th)…(PIT 33)
--November: 54 (9th)…(OTT 63)
--December: 74 (19th)...(TBL 107)
--January: 101 (15th)...(TBL 127)
--February: 123 (19th)...(TOR 160)
--March: 144 (22nd)...(TOR 198)
--2017-18: 119 (31st)...(TBL 196)
--2016-17: 126 (28th)...(MIN 187)
--2015-16: 121 (28th)...(DAL 167)
--2014-15: 110 (29th)...(TBL 181)
--2013-14: 96 (30th)...(ANA 190)
Powerplay
--October: 20.0% (17th)…(WSH 37.1)
--November: 19.5 (16th)…(COL 31.4)
--December: 19.2 (19th)...(TBL 29.2)
--January: 16.7 (23rd)...(TBL 29.8)
--February: 18.8 (18th)...(TBL 29.3)
--March: 18.4 (18th)...(TBL 28.5)
--2017-18: 19.1 (20th)...(PIT 26.2)
--2016-17: 24.5 (1st)
--2015-16: 18.9 (12th)...(ANA 23.1)
--2014-15: 13.4 (30th)...(WSH 25.3)
--2013-14: 14.1 (29th)...(PIT 23.4)
Goals-against/Game
--October: 2.92 (15th)…(ARI,1.91)
--November: 2.81 (T-11th)…(BOS 2.40)
--December: 2.85 (11th)...(NSH 2.58)
--January: 2.96 (14th)...(NYI 2.41)
--February: 3.13 (20th)...(NYI 2.30)
--March: 3.32 (26th)...(NYI 2.38)
--2017-18: 3.39 (29th)...(LAK 2.46)
--2016-17: 2.82 (19th)...(WSH 2.16)
--2015-16: 2.62 (15th)...(ANA 2.29)
--2014-15: 3.28 (29th)...(MTL 2.24)
--2013-14: 2.96 (25th)...(LAK 2.05)
Shots against/Game
--October: 32.2 (19th)…(VGK 24.4)
--November: 33.1 (25th)…(VGK 27.4)
--December: 33.1 (T-25th)...(CAR 27.9)
--January: 32.6 (24th)...(CAR 27.9)
--February: 32.8 (24th)...(CAR 28.0)
--March: 33.2 (25th)...(CGY 28.1)
--2017-18: 32.7 (23rd)...(CAR 28.9)
--2016-17: 34.3 (30th)...(LAK 25.9)
--2015-16: 30.6 (22nd)...(NSH 27.3)
--2014-15: 35.6 (30th)...(LAK 27.0)
--2013-14: 34.3 (28th)...(NJD 25.5)
Penalty Kill
--October: 78.9% (15th)…(TBL 93.2)
--November: 80.2 (12th)…(ARI 89.5)
--December: 83.8 (5th)...(ARI 87.7)
--January: 81.9 (9th)...(ARI 86.9)
--February: 83.0 (5th)...(ARI 85.9)
--March: 80.7 (15th)...(ARI 85.1)
--2017-18: 77.9 (22nd)...(LAK 85.0)
--2016-17: 77.6 (25th)...(BOS 85.7
--2015-16: 82.6 (9th)...(ANA 87.2)
--2014-15: 75.1 (30th)...(MIN 86.3)
--2013-14: 81.4 (20th)...(NJD 86.4)
Faceoff Percentage
--October: 49.0 (19th)…(PHI 57.1)
--November: 47.8 (28th)…(PHI 55.6)
--December: 48.0 (25th)...(PHI 55.8)
--January: 48.6 (22nd)...(PHI 56.4)
--February: 48.9 (21st)...(PHI 55.5)
--March: 47.9 (27th)...(PHI 54.9)
--2017-18: 51.5 (7th)...(CAR 54.1)
--2016-17: 49.6 (17th)...(ANA 54.7)
--2015-16: 49.4 (21st)...(ARI 54.7)
--2014-15: 44.9 (30th)...(BOS 53.6)
--2013-14: 46.8 (29th)...(NSH 53.1)
For your pleasure, here's the From the Air video via whickysticks. Enjoy the audio whilst reading.
Terry Pegula interview from Arizona:
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