Published by hockeybuzz.com, 4-29-2017
After a major jump in their first season coming out of their rebuild, only the most optimistic of souls predicted the Buffalo Sabres in the 2017 NHL playoffs this year. Most pundits had the Sabres at or slightly above where they ended up finishing: 8th in the Atlantic Division, 15th in the Eastern Conference, 26th in the League.
But very few predicted the dysfunction that would engulf the team this seasons as GM, coach and players all played a big role in the Sabres finishing with less points than the prior season. Buffalo's roster had holes to begin with and when major injuries hit, former GM Tim Murray stood on the sidelines. Former head coach Dan Bylsma lost the room around mid-season into his second season with the club and the players feuded with the coach and amongst themselves through the latter part of the season as well.
The word 'former' in front of Murray and Bylsma is a sure indication that a) ownership expected more from this club and b) neither of them had any answers. For Terry and Kim Pegula, owners of the Buffalo Sabres, it wasn't good enough and they cleaned house just over a week ago. They made the move despite having no one in the hockey department ranked higher than assistant general manager and with a lot of crucial decisions to be made between now and mid-July.
Amongst items Buffalo's new GM will have on his docket is the expansion draft, NHL Entry Draft, free agent contract decisions, contract extension negotiations with Buffalo's other lottery picks, Sam Reinhart and Jack Eichel, decisions on players like Evander Kane and Robin Lehner and the start of free agency on July 1.
But there's one thing in the hockey department that even Russ Brandon could handle, the NHL Draft Lottery, which will be shown live tonight just prior to the Pittsburgh Penguins/Washington Capitals second round playoff game.
Buffalo will be looking for some luck that they didn't have in 2014 and 2015 when they ended up selecting second overall after finishing last in the league. Unlike in 2015 when the last place team could fall no more than one slot, the NHL now has the first three picks up for grabs.
This year the expansion Las Vegas Knights are in the lottery and will draft no lower than third which means the Sabres will not be in the Nos. 4 or 5 slot. Here are Buffalo's odds for where they could pick:
1--7.6%
2--7.8
3--8.0
4--xx
5--xx
6--14.3
7--38.2
8--21.4
9--2.6
Representing Buffalo at the Draft Lottery tonight will be former Sabres enforcer and president of the Sabres Alumni Association, Larry Playfair. Perhaps if things don't go their way he'll have a flashback and deck somebody.
Am of the opinion that continuity demands the Sabres end up with the No. 2 pick. It's a small consolation for having things go against them in '14 and '15, and it's not like there's an Eichel waiting there for them, but having the opportunity to select either Nolan Patrick or Nico Hischier, the clear-cut top two prospects in the draft would/should/could be a nice symmetrical close to a dark era for the Sabres.
For those who have time to kill and/or are interested in testing their luck with the lottery, the NHL has a lottery simulator found here.
Test your luck.
Here's what I came up with on my one and only spin this morning:
Buffalo
Vancouver
Las Vegas
You can believe it or not, but that's how it came out.
Sunday, April 30, 2017
Saturday, April 29, 2017
Pegulas put up quite the smoke screen for Bills’ draft
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 4-28-2017
From the sound of it, Buffalo Bills and Buffalo Sabres owner Terry Pegula wasn’t travelling from campus to campus to get to know his new head coach, Sean McDermott.
From the sound of it, Buffalo Bills and Buffalo Sabres owner Terry Pegula wasn’t travelling from campus to campus to get to know his new head coach, Sean McDermott.
With the Bills playoff drought at 17 years and counting and
with a quarterback in Tyrod Taylor who may or may not be the answer, Pegula
joined McDermott on the Franchise Quarterback Tour to see just what his scouts
are looking for at QB.
Terry and his wife Kim, who’s technically the big dog in the
Bills hierarchy, have their hands full this dual off-season for both of their
franchises. They’ve put the future of their football team in the hands of
McDermott, a first time head coach playing the role of “one voice” while their
general manager has been relegated to figure head, and they’re also in the
process of trying to fill the GM and coaching positions for their hockey team.
With Pegula joining McDermott at various campuses looking at
potential franchise quarterbacks, it was assumed that the Bills were serious
about finding one and may have been looking at picking one with the 10th-overall
pick in this year’s draft.
Lo and behold, they did not. The Bills apparently weren’t
all that impressed with what they saw, but there was another team that was. Kansas
City Chiefs head coach, and McDermott mentor, Andy Reid liked Pat Mahomes so
much that he traded up from No. 27 to No. 10 to get him. The Bills received two
picks in this year’s draft—Nos. 27 and 91—as well as the Chiefs first rounder
in 2018.
It was a trade that worked for both teams as the Chiefs will
be able to groom a very raw Mahomes for a couple of years while the Bills not
only add picks in this draft, but also added a very valuable second
first-rounder in a 2018 draft that’s said to be quarterback-heavy.
Perhaps when Pegula was shuffling around on T-Pegs I, what
he really was doing was looking at potential GM candidates for his Sabres
hockey team. Both Kim Pegula and Sabres President and Alternate Governor Russ
Brandon stressed that the team is working hard on the GM search. “We’re keeping it under wraps,” said Kim Pegula to the
media on Wednesday, “but definitely put a lot of work this week in, and next
week.”
The Pegula’s through Pegula Sports
and Entertainment, parent company to the Bills, Sabres and other enterprises,
were also busy announcing other ventures that had come to fruition including a
joint venture with Labatt USA and another partnership with Uber.
When it comes to the GM search,
there wasn’t anything coming out of PSE but we did get some tidbits from
reporters on Twitter.
Here’s how the GM search is going
so far:
--One report had the Los Angeles
Kings saying that the Sabres had not yet contacted them about fired two-time
Cup-winning GM, Dean Lombardi
--Another said the Sabres inquired
about the availablility of Phoenix Coyotes GM, John Chayka, but were rebuffed
as the ‘Yotes told them the league’s youngest GM was unavailable.
--Buffalo
--The Sabres did get one interview
in with Pittsburgh Penguins AGM, Bill Guerin. The two-time Cup winner as a
player began his front-office career in 2011 after retiring from the game. He
spent three years as player development coach for the Penguins before getting a
promotion to his present position in 2014.
Still on the docket for the
Sabres, supposedly, are:
--Chicago
--Penguins Associate General
Manager, Jason Botterill
--Senior VP of Hockey Ops for the Montreal
There are other names like TV
analyst Pierre McGuire, Columbus Blue Jackets AGM, Bill Zito and, maybe others
who’ve not come to the fore as of yet.
Not much is coming out of PSE on
the search and we’re not even sure what they’re looking for. Terry Pegula said
at his end of season presser that they’d be leaning towards experience while
NHL insider John Shannon tweeted that the Pegula’s are looking for “new blood
as opposed to veteran manger.”
Pegula and McDermott put up a
pretty good smoke screen at the NFL Draft and got a haul in the process. As for
the Sabres GM search, it’s pretty foggy right now.
Friday, April 28, 2017
Pegula's getting busy? More help for the defense. Plus...
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 4-27-2017
Rumor has it that the Buffalo Bills scouting department is in for a house-cleaning after the NFL Draft which begins today. Terry and Kim Pegula own both the Bills and the NHL's Buffalo Sabres through Pegula Sports and Entertainment.
If true, the Pegula's will have done a lot of spring cleaning this year after poor results from their franchises. They started their purge of undesirables this past winter when they jettisoned Bills head coach Rex Ryan with three years and one game left on his contract. Later they hired Sean McDermott has the new head coach and he's wielding enormous clout for a head coach, and a first-timer to boot. McDermott has been dubbed the "one voice" of the Bills, according to the media, and has complete control over the draft., pushing GM Doug Whaley to the side and, it would seem, out the door.
Over at the foot of Washington St., the Pegula's dumped Sabres GM Tim Murray and head coach Dan Bylsma last week after what Terry Pegula described as a very disappointing 2016-17 season. Murray had just received a three-year extension in October and Bylsma also had three years on his contract. In the process, Pegula also said he was disappointed in himself for not being more involved in the hires of both Murray and Bylsma.
Apparently, PSE is liking what McDermott is doing with the Bills so far. Terry has been joining his head coach and "one voice" on scouting visits for quarterbacks and seems to have a liking to the way McDermott is approaching things and the entire scouting department is on alert. ProFootball Talk cited an unnamed Bills scout as saying, "We are all getting fired next week," which would be after the draft.
It's not really surprising. The scouting department has done a fair job, but nowhere near where they need to be for the franchise to rise above mediocrity. This is a team that spent the last three seasons within a game of .500 after going three consecutive seasons at 6-10. GM Whaley has been either around or in charge during this stretch and why he's still around is still somewhat of a mystery.
The timing is right, but to do so when they have a hockey department that's been laid to waste means a lot of work for the Pegula's and whatever helpers they've employed to guide them.
Pegula's hockey club didn't have a deep hockey department to begin with on the operations side. They went from having a couple of advisors when he first bought the team to Terry and Kim up top with President and Alternate Governor Russ Brandon just below the owners. After that it was Murray. At one point, for a very brief four-month stint, the Pegulas hires Pat LaFontaine to head the hockey ops, but he left in a cloud of mystery which placed a lot of responsibility on the shoulders of Murray, whom they fired because it didn't work out.
If the rumors are true, the Pegulas, and presumably Brandon, are biting off a huge chunk as they'll be looking to build a scouting department for the Bills while looking to fill an empty hockey department for their Sabres who have a number of big-time things to deal with including the expansion draft, NHL Entry Draft, decisions on the 20 or so free agents they have, decisions on players in the system as well as free agency.
It's a huge undertaking the results of which won't be known for another couple of years, when they may be cleaning house again?
*****
Right now the Pegulas still have assistant general manager Mark Jakubowski his handling contract negotiations, which was his main focus with the club anyway. And yesterday Jakubowski got on th board as the club announced that junior defenseman Devante Stephens (2015, 122nd-overall) to a three-year, entry-level contract.
The 6'1" 172 lb. mobile rear-guard made huge strides in his third season with the Kelowna Rockets of the Western Hockey League scoring 13 goals and adding 22 assists in 67 regular season games while adding seven assists in 15 playoff games. In addition to adding some bulk to deal with the rigors of the pro game, Stephens will probably spend at least a year or two in Rochester honing his defense against men, which is a huge jump for most junior players.
Buffalo's defense-corps had a rough go of it last season meaning change is on the horizon and opportunity for NHL-ready defensemen. Stephens isn't there yet but KHL d-man Viktor Antipin certainly is.
The 24 yr. old Antipin has spent his entire hockey career in Mother Russia, most recently with the Kontinental Hockey League, and was rumored to be signing with Buffalo weeks ago. There were questions as to what would happen after Murray was fired but according to a tweet from KHL insider/scout Aivis Kalnins, "Antipin and Buffalo Sabres have talked recently, feeling is that they will indeed get a deal done, most likely after World Champs."
The IIHF World Championships conclude May 21 and are being held in Cologne, Germany.
The question arises as to why Antipin would want to make his foray into the NHL amidst the tumult that is the Buffalo Sabres right now, but the 5'11" 174 lb. Antipin has an opportunity to jump right into the Sabres lineup, and if rumors about a no-AHL clause are true, then he'll spend his one-year deal playing in the NHL.
It's a nice fit for both player and team.
*****
Kris Baker of Sabresprospects/sabres.com tweeted that "the Stephens pick was made with info provided by Bylsma, who loved his athleticism when spending time with [Dan] Lambert in Kelowna."
Lambert was with the Rockets from 2009-15 before Bylsma brought him on board as an assistant. After one year as a Sabres assistant the organization moved Lambert behind the bench in Rochester. He was not part of the purge that happened last week.
*****
Last week I did a piece on Murray and how I'd be missing his media personality and demeanor. In a results-based business, things like that matter very little, in fact candor can often reveal too much and eventually work against you.
There were a lot of things wrong with the Sabres this past season and Murray took the hit for a roster that wasn't as talented as they could/should have been, especially on defense. However, I do feel that coaching had a lot to do with a sad Sabres season.
In watching the playoffs, most recently the Captials/Leafs series as well as Game-1 of the Oilers/Ducks series, the skating and aggressiveness with which played was something we'd see out of the Sabres, but very rarely. The big knock was Bylsma's system and the disconnect it caused with the players, especially the younger, more talented ones who could get up and down the ice.
Bylsma's system did nothing for this team in terms of speed and aggressiveness. Sure it was predicated upon his defense getting the puck to the forwards, which was an extremely difficult task for that corps, but to not deviate from a system that clearly wasn't working doesn't make sense.
I don't know how many times I wrote in my notes that teams seemed to know what the Sabres were about to do before they did it and simply broke things up before they got started. And it's been documented that often times players were more focused upon getting to a spot on the ice instead of playing the game. This insistence upon a rigid adherence to system throttled a team that had enough speed and skill to at least surpass last year's point-total.
In looking back, one can point to the 5-4 win in Ottawa the first game Jack Eichel returned from his injury. It was a game that Bylsma said was fun for the fans to watch but gave him and his staff indigestion. What a concept, a fun game for the fans to watch and to be on the winning end of a nine-goal game.
The skating and aggressiveness we saw in that Ottawa game rarely came to the fore again, unless it was when the team was behind and they needed to hit the go-switch.
It began with a game against the Los Angeles Kings in December after they found themselves down 2-0. Buffalo would storm back with four unanswered goals in just over six minutes en route to a 6-3 win in front of the home crowd. And in January the Sabres stormed back three consecutive games and won in overtime scoring 11 goals in the process.
Yet, it wasn't "The System."
Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News tweeted on the eve of the second round of the playoffs that the Sabres, "went 12-6-4 (.636) against 8 remaining teams -- and 9-0-3 vs. OTT, NYR, NSH, EDM. Can't finish with 78 points when you can do that."
A lot of things weren't right with the Sabres last year, but I'm of the opinion, and will always be of the opinion, "The System" played a huge role in the crappy season we in Sabreland witnessed.
Rumor has it that the Buffalo Bills scouting department is in for a house-cleaning after the NFL Draft which begins today. Terry and Kim Pegula own both the Bills and the NHL's Buffalo Sabres through Pegula Sports and Entertainment.
If true, the Pegula's will have done a lot of spring cleaning this year after poor results from their franchises. They started their purge of undesirables this past winter when they jettisoned Bills head coach Rex Ryan with three years and one game left on his contract. Later they hired Sean McDermott has the new head coach and he's wielding enormous clout for a head coach, and a first-timer to boot. McDermott has been dubbed the "one voice" of the Bills, according to the media, and has complete control over the draft., pushing GM Doug Whaley to the side and, it would seem, out the door.
Over at the foot of Washington St., the Pegula's dumped Sabres GM Tim Murray and head coach Dan Bylsma last week after what Terry Pegula described as a very disappointing 2016-17 season. Murray had just received a three-year extension in October and Bylsma also had three years on his contract. In the process, Pegula also said he was disappointed in himself for not being more involved in the hires of both Murray and Bylsma.
Apparently, PSE is liking what McDermott is doing with the Bills so far. Terry has been joining his head coach and "one voice" on scouting visits for quarterbacks and seems to have a liking to the way McDermott is approaching things and the entire scouting department is on alert. ProFootball Talk cited an unnamed Bills scout as saying, "We are all getting fired next week," which would be after the draft.
It's not really surprising. The scouting department has done a fair job, but nowhere near where they need to be for the franchise to rise above mediocrity. This is a team that spent the last three seasons within a game of .500 after going three consecutive seasons at 6-10. GM Whaley has been either around or in charge during this stretch and why he's still around is still somewhat of a mystery.
The timing is right, but to do so when they have a hockey department that's been laid to waste means a lot of work for the Pegula's and whatever helpers they've employed to guide them.
Pegula's hockey club didn't have a deep hockey department to begin with on the operations side. They went from having a couple of advisors when he first bought the team to Terry and Kim up top with President and Alternate Governor Russ Brandon just below the owners. After that it was Murray. At one point, for a very brief four-month stint, the Pegulas hires Pat LaFontaine to head the hockey ops, but he left in a cloud of mystery which placed a lot of responsibility on the shoulders of Murray, whom they fired because it didn't work out.
If the rumors are true, the Pegulas, and presumably Brandon, are biting off a huge chunk as they'll be looking to build a scouting department for the Bills while looking to fill an empty hockey department for their Sabres who have a number of big-time things to deal with including the expansion draft, NHL Entry Draft, decisions on the 20 or so free agents they have, decisions on players in the system as well as free agency.
It's a huge undertaking the results of which won't be known for another couple of years, when they may be cleaning house again?
*****
Right now the Pegulas still have assistant general manager Mark Jakubowski his handling contract negotiations, which was his main focus with the club anyway. And yesterday Jakubowski got on th board as the club announced that junior defenseman Devante Stephens (2015, 122nd-overall) to a three-year, entry-level contract.
The 6'1" 172 lb. mobile rear-guard made huge strides in his third season with the Kelowna Rockets of the Western Hockey League scoring 13 goals and adding 22 assists in 67 regular season games while adding seven assists in 15 playoff games. In addition to adding some bulk to deal with the rigors of the pro game, Stephens will probably spend at least a year or two in Rochester honing his defense against men, which is a huge jump for most junior players.
Buffalo's defense-corps had a rough go of it last season meaning change is on the horizon and opportunity for NHL-ready defensemen. Stephens isn't there yet but KHL d-man Viktor Antipin certainly is.
The 24 yr. old Antipin has spent his entire hockey career in Mother Russia, most recently with the Kontinental Hockey League, and was rumored to be signing with Buffalo weeks ago. There were questions as to what would happen after Murray was fired but according to a tweet from KHL insider/scout Aivis Kalnins, "Antipin and Buffalo Sabres have talked recently, feeling is that they will indeed get a deal done, most likely after World Champs."
The IIHF World Championships conclude May 21 and are being held in Cologne, Germany.
The question arises as to why Antipin would want to make his foray into the NHL amidst the tumult that is the Buffalo Sabres right now, but the 5'11" 174 lb. Antipin has an opportunity to jump right into the Sabres lineup, and if rumors about a no-AHL clause are true, then he'll spend his one-year deal playing in the NHL.
It's a nice fit for both player and team.
*****
Kris Baker of Sabresprospects/sabres.com tweeted that "the Stephens pick was made with info provided by Bylsma, who loved his athleticism when spending time with [Dan] Lambert in Kelowna."
Lambert was with the Rockets from 2009-15 before Bylsma brought him on board as an assistant. After one year as a Sabres assistant the organization moved Lambert behind the bench in Rochester. He was not part of the purge that happened last week.
*****
Last week I did a piece on Murray and how I'd be missing his media personality and demeanor. In a results-based business, things like that matter very little, in fact candor can often reveal too much and eventually work against you.
There were a lot of things wrong with the Sabres this past season and Murray took the hit for a roster that wasn't as talented as they could/should have been, especially on defense. However, I do feel that coaching had a lot to do with a sad Sabres season.
In watching the playoffs, most recently the Captials/Leafs series as well as Game-1 of the Oilers/Ducks series, the skating and aggressiveness with which played was something we'd see out of the Sabres, but very rarely. The big knock was Bylsma's system and the disconnect it caused with the players, especially the younger, more talented ones who could get up and down the ice.
Bylsma's system did nothing for this team in terms of speed and aggressiveness. Sure it was predicated upon his defense getting the puck to the forwards, which was an extremely difficult task for that corps, but to not deviate from a system that clearly wasn't working doesn't make sense.
I don't know how many times I wrote in my notes that teams seemed to know what the Sabres were about to do before they did it and simply broke things up before they got started. And it's been documented that often times players were more focused upon getting to a spot on the ice instead of playing the game. This insistence upon a rigid adherence to system throttled a team that had enough speed and skill to at least surpass last year's point-total.
In looking back, one can point to the 5-4 win in Ottawa the first game Jack Eichel returned from his injury. It was a game that Bylsma said was fun for the fans to watch but gave him and his staff indigestion. What a concept, a fun game for the fans to watch and to be on the winning end of a nine-goal game.
The skating and aggressiveness we saw in that Ottawa game rarely came to the fore again, unless it was when the team was behind and they needed to hit the go-switch.
It began with a game against the Los Angeles Kings in December after they found themselves down 2-0. Buffalo would storm back with four unanswered goals in just over six minutes en route to a 6-3 win in front of the home crowd. And in January the Sabres stormed back three consecutive games and won in overtime scoring 11 goals in the process.
Yet, it wasn't "The System."
Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News tweeted on the eve of the second round of the playoffs that the Sabres, "went 12-6-4 (.636) against 8 remaining teams -- and 9-0-3 vs. OTT, NYR, NSH, EDM. Can't finish with 78 points when you can do that."
A lot of things weren't right with the Sabres last year, but I'm of the opinion, and will always be of the opinion, "The System" played a huge role in the crappy season we in Sabreland witnessed.
Thursday, April 27, 2017
Are the Pegula's packing their own chute on the GM seach? Plus...
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 4-26-2017
Word on the street is that the GM search (and presumably coaching search) is on for the Buffalo Sabres. Just who is running this search at this point in time is in question as they have no one in the hockey department higher than Assistant General Manager, Mark Jakubowski. From the Sabres website here's the administrative chain of command:
Terry Pegula--Owner/CEO
Kim Pegula--Owner/CEO of Pegula Sports and Entertainment (PSE)
Russ Brandon--President/Alternate Governor, Managing Partner/President of PSE
After those three is a big blank next to General Manager and a list includes a COO, six Executive VP's, on VP and a couple of Executive Assistants.
When Terry Pegula first bought the team in 2011 his inner circle included two senior advisers--Ken Sawyer and Cliff Benson--to go along with President/Alternate Governor, Ted Black. The 2015-16 Sabres media guide has Brandon listed as President/Alternate Governor after he took over for Black and has both Sawyer and Benson with entries way down the guide (page 24) under Executive Administration. Sawyer is still listed as Senior Advisor/Alternate Governor and Benson as Chief Development Officer.
With Sawyer and Benson gone, there's a huge gap in the hierarchy. One would think that Brandon would be involved in the GM search, as he is president of the club, but word out of PSE is that he's not involved in hockey decisions which would have Terry and Kim Pegula doing a tandem skydive into the world of hockey ops. Keep in mind that the duo also dove into football ops under the guidance of Brandon and selected Rex Ryan as football coach. Less that two seasons into Ryan's tenure, he was fired.
They're still scraping that PR mess of the field from that failed venture.
It looks as if the Terry and Kim Show is back on, with or without Brandon. Unless they have some secret advisor tucked away in the dark recesses of KeyBank Center.
Has anyone seen Lindy Ruff recently?
*****
The Sabres may never get out from under these words, "The Tank."
With Pegula's "rebuild" faltering after only two years and the team in limbo, there really isn't too much to talk about in Sabreland so a great fallback is the great debate on the Sabres consecutive last place finishes to draft at the top in 2014 and 2015, the year they missed out on Connor McDavid and selected Jack Eichel second overall.
It's almost a daily occurrence on twitter when a media person brings up that very sore subject. Personally I had no problem with the way the Sabres approached their future as outlined in this piece, Should the Sabres apologize, Mr. Hodge?
It was from November 10, 2014 when the hockey world, especially our neighbors to the north, were up in arms at the approach the Sabres were taking to their future. In his "Thumbs-up/Thumbs-down piece for TSN, Dave Hodge mentioned "pleas for honor" and "the integrity of the game" as Buffalo seemed wholeheartedly intent upon finishing last that season. It would be the final season a team finishing last would be guaranteed one of the first two picks in the draft and the Sabres weren't hiding their intentions.
I get what he was saying, and social media made it worse. Had Twitter and Facebook been around when Pittsburgh tanked twice for generational players, I'm sure the backlash would have been just as severe. But the NHL is not a league full of executives up for sainthood. Was Sam Pollock a saint when he dictated the rules of the expansion draft in the Original-Six era? Was Peter Pocklington a saint when he signed Wayne Gretzky to his "personal services contract?" And were there any in the offices of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment who's tanking with dignity in the 2015-16 season netted them franchise prospect Auston Matthews?
The Sabres did what they did, over and done with.
Time to move on.
*****
Long-time NFL reporter Ed Werder announced on Twitter today that he was laid off today by ESPN, who he'd been with for 17 yrs. According to ProFootball Talk, "ESPN is expected to lay off around 100 employees this week, as the network tries to reduce costs as it deals with declining revenues."
I was instantly reminded of how unceremoniously Kevin Oklobzija was let go from the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle after 31 years covering the Rochester Americans.
Both provided quality work.
And just minutes ago as I was writing this piece, Scott Burnside, a member of the Professional Writers Association and 13 year veteran for ESPN was also laid off.
Dan Rosen of NHL.com had the perfect tweet, "This is devastating. I don't know of a better person in the business than Scotty. ESPN's huge loss will be another company's huge gain."
Word on the street is that the GM search (and presumably coaching search) is on for the Buffalo Sabres. Just who is running this search at this point in time is in question as they have no one in the hockey department higher than Assistant General Manager, Mark Jakubowski. From the Sabres website here's the administrative chain of command:
Terry Pegula--Owner/CEO
Kim Pegula--Owner/CEO of Pegula Sports and Entertainment (PSE)
Russ Brandon--President/Alternate Governor, Managing Partner/President of PSE
After those three is a big blank next to General Manager and a list includes a COO, six Executive VP's, on VP and a couple of Executive Assistants.
When Terry Pegula first bought the team in 2011 his inner circle included two senior advisers--Ken Sawyer and Cliff Benson--to go along with President/Alternate Governor, Ted Black. The 2015-16 Sabres media guide has Brandon listed as President/Alternate Governor after he took over for Black and has both Sawyer and Benson with entries way down the guide (page 24) under Executive Administration. Sawyer is still listed as Senior Advisor/Alternate Governor and Benson as Chief Development Officer.
With Sawyer and Benson gone, there's a huge gap in the hierarchy. One would think that Brandon would be involved in the GM search, as he is president of the club, but word out of PSE is that he's not involved in hockey decisions which would have Terry and Kim Pegula doing a tandem skydive into the world of hockey ops. Keep in mind that the duo also dove into football ops under the guidance of Brandon and selected Rex Ryan as football coach. Less that two seasons into Ryan's tenure, he was fired.
They're still scraping that PR mess of the field from that failed venture.
It looks as if the Terry and Kim Show is back on, with or without Brandon. Unless they have some secret advisor tucked away in the dark recesses of KeyBank Center.
Has anyone seen Lindy Ruff recently?
*****
The Sabres may never get out from under these words, "The Tank."
With Pegula's "rebuild" faltering after only two years and the team in limbo, there really isn't too much to talk about in Sabreland so a great fallback is the great debate on the Sabres consecutive last place finishes to draft at the top in 2014 and 2015, the year they missed out on Connor McDavid and selected Jack Eichel second overall.
It's almost a daily occurrence on twitter when a media person brings up that very sore subject. Personally I had no problem with the way the Sabres approached their future as outlined in this piece, Should the Sabres apologize, Mr. Hodge?
It was from November 10, 2014 when the hockey world, especially our neighbors to the north, were up in arms at the approach the Sabres were taking to their future. In his "Thumbs-up/Thumbs-down piece for TSN, Dave Hodge mentioned "pleas for honor" and "the integrity of the game" as Buffalo seemed wholeheartedly intent upon finishing last that season. It would be the final season a team finishing last would be guaranteed one of the first two picks in the draft and the Sabres weren't hiding their intentions.
I get what he was saying, and social media made it worse. Had Twitter and Facebook been around when Pittsburgh tanked twice for generational players, I'm sure the backlash would have been just as severe. But the NHL is not a league full of executives up for sainthood. Was Sam Pollock a saint when he dictated the rules of the expansion draft in the Original-Six era? Was Peter Pocklington a saint when he signed Wayne Gretzky to his "personal services contract?" And were there any in the offices of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment who's tanking with dignity in the 2015-16 season netted them franchise prospect Auston Matthews?
The Sabres did what they did, over and done with.
Time to move on.
*****
Long-time NFL reporter Ed Werder announced on Twitter today that he was laid off today by ESPN, who he'd been with for 17 yrs. According to ProFootball Talk, "ESPN is expected to lay off around 100 employees this week, as the network tries to reduce costs as it deals with declining revenues."
I was instantly reminded of how unceremoniously Kevin Oklobzija was let go from the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle after 31 years covering the Rochester Americans.
Both provided quality work.
And just minutes ago as I was writing this piece, Scott Burnside, a member of the Professional Writers Association and 13 year veteran for ESPN was also laid off.
Dan Rosen of NHL.com had the perfect tweet, "This is devastating. I don't know of a better person in the business than Scotty. ESPN's huge loss will be another company's huge gain."
Wednesday, April 26, 2017
Dean Lombardi shouldn't be dismissed out of hand
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 4-24-2017
There's a lot of cringing going on in Buffalo at the thought of former Los Angeles Kings GM Dean Lombardi being considered for a spot in the Sabres front office. Lombardi built a team in LA that won the Kings their first-ever Stanley cup in 2012 and followed up two years later with another one.
The emotional rebukes of Lombardi amongst Sabres fans are running the gamut from his team-building is already archaic to his mismanagement of the Kings salary cap.
Lombardi's Cup-winning formula was anchored by strong goaltending from Jonathan Quick and a strong defense lead by perennial All-Star and Norris Trophy winner Drew Doughty. Up-front he built a heavy, Western Conference-style team predicated on puck-possession and driven by chip-and-chase. When they were on their game, you couldn't get their big bodies off you or get the puck away from them.
Lately the trend in the NHL has been towards quicker and often times smaller lineups of skilled players who hit overdrive as they fly up and down the ice. The Tampa Bay Lightning with a smaller, fast and skilled team made it to the 2015 Stanley Cup Finals using that model and the Pittsburgh Penguins won the Cup last year using that style of play. Other teams in that vein include the Calgary Flames, Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs and Columbus Blue Jackets.
All of these teams have had success over the last two seasons with the Lightning and Peguins doing their thing the past two seasons and the Flames, Canadiens, Maple Leafs and Jackets making the playoffs this year after missing last season, although they were all bounced in the first round.
I'd like to think that former Sabres GM Tim Murray had the Kings on his mind when he began his tenure in January, 2014, but it looked as if he tried to alter in mid-flight as his last presser talked about speed and aggressiveness. This past season Sabres fans didn't know what style we were watching as too many factors lead to egregious inconsistencies that often left us scratching our heads. Nobody from management on down seemed to be on the same page and it's been rumored that when Murray was asked by ownership about his team, he had no answers.
That Murray was leaning Western Conference-style ala the Kings and it faltered could be reason enough for fans to be skeptical about Lombardi, the architect of those teams. However, look at how the 2017 playoffs have unfolded.
The Chicago Blackhawks won three Stanley Cups without premier goalies but had forces up front in superstars Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews as well as a future Hall-of-Famer on the back-end in Ducan Keith. Their superstar core remained in tact and they got timely goaltending and are considered a dynasty in the Cap-era. However, the Hawks got swept this year by Nashville. How did the Preds not only break Chicago's playoff dominance over them, but do so in a four-game sweep? Goaltending. Pekka "976" Rinne shut down one of the best cores in hockey allowing them only three goals while finishing with a sterling 0.70 GAA and .976 Sv%.
Why did the Pittsburgh Penguins run over the Columbus Blue Jackets? Marc-Andre Fleury was rock solid in net posting some of the best numbers of his playoff career while superstars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin smoked the Jackets to the tune of 11 goals and 18 points in five games. Conversely, Columbus goalie Sergei "Bob" Bobrovsky, a 2017 Vezina finalist, was terrible with a 3.88 GAA and .882 Sv%.
St. Louis goalie Jake Allen posted a .956 Sv% as the Blues got by a good regular season team in the Minnesota Wild while a Anaheim combo of John Gibson and Jonathan Bernier throttled the whiz kids from Calgary in a four-game sweep. Any kind of goaltending could have helped the Flames as Brian Elliot was worse than Bob posting the same 3.88 GAA but a slightly worse .880 Sv%.
How did the upstart Toronto Maple Leafs push an extremely talented and deep Washington Capitals team to a six-game series including five overtimes? Timely goaltending from Fredrik Andersen plus a four-game goal-streak from up-and-coming superstar Auston Matthews. The Caps overcame a torrent of flying Leafs with solid, if unspectacular goaltending from Brayden Holtby and gusty performances from its stars and superstars, of which they have quite a few.
Having playoff-caliber goaltending and/or having superstars in the lineup are strong indicators of playoff success. Good coaching doesn't hurt either. In Edmonton, the Oilers only got four points (2+2) from superstar Connor McDavid but with all the attention paid to him, others on the team were put in positions to make an impact, as in former Sabre Zack Kassian's two game-winning goals.
No matter what era you're in, goaltending and superstar power are almost always closely related to success.
The Sabres have some of that formula right now in the form of Jack Eichel and they have some complimentary pieces around him. They also have a No. 1 goalie and thank God there aren't any shootouts in the playoffs.
I get the extreme apprehension when talking about bringing in Lombardi but he does have a few pieces in place with which to build a winner. And he's proven he can build one. Is he married to a Western Conference-style of play that would make it difficult for the team to get into the playoffs? Maybe, but we don't know for sure. He was locked into those big contracts, which were his fault, no doubt, so he was locked into that style of play as well.
And before we go off on the cap-mess he's in, success is the reason he's in that situation. The Blackhawks have been in that same pickle but have managed to wiggle their way out the last couple of years, but eventually success, and the top price one must pay to keep those who lead to that success are gonna get to you in a salary cap world.
What we do know is that he seems to like to build from the goal out, which isn't such a bad idea as the more the league changes, the more it seems to stay the same, at least in the playoffs. We also know that he has one burgeoning superstar in Eichel plus a host of complimentary players that look as if they'll be able to have an impact. And maybe most important at this juncture is that the new GM in Buffalo will have a ton on his plate from the get-go, and Lombardi has the experience as well as th connections throughout the NHL well to get the job done.t
In Buffalo, we shouldn't be putting the carriage before the horse. Before you can win multiple Cups, you need to win one and before you can even think of a Cup-run, you need to get into the playoffs.
That's why I won't dismiss out of hand a GM who built a first-time Cup-winning team.
There's a lot of cringing going on in Buffalo at the thought of former Los Angeles Kings GM Dean Lombardi being considered for a spot in the Sabres front office. Lombardi built a team in LA that won the Kings their first-ever Stanley cup in 2012 and followed up two years later with another one.
The emotional rebukes of Lombardi amongst Sabres fans are running the gamut from his team-building is already archaic to his mismanagement of the Kings salary cap.
Lombardi's Cup-winning formula was anchored by strong goaltending from Jonathan Quick and a strong defense lead by perennial All-Star and Norris Trophy winner Drew Doughty. Up-front he built a heavy, Western Conference-style team predicated on puck-possession and driven by chip-and-chase. When they were on their game, you couldn't get their big bodies off you or get the puck away from them.
Lately the trend in the NHL has been towards quicker and often times smaller lineups of skilled players who hit overdrive as they fly up and down the ice. The Tampa Bay Lightning with a smaller, fast and skilled team made it to the 2015 Stanley Cup Finals using that model and the Pittsburgh Penguins won the Cup last year using that style of play. Other teams in that vein include the Calgary Flames, Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs and Columbus Blue Jackets.
All of these teams have had success over the last two seasons with the Lightning and Peguins doing their thing the past two seasons and the Flames, Canadiens, Maple Leafs and Jackets making the playoffs this year after missing last season, although they were all bounced in the first round.
I'd like to think that former Sabres GM Tim Murray had the Kings on his mind when he began his tenure in January, 2014, but it looked as if he tried to alter in mid-flight as his last presser talked about speed and aggressiveness. This past season Sabres fans didn't know what style we were watching as too many factors lead to egregious inconsistencies that often left us scratching our heads. Nobody from management on down seemed to be on the same page and it's been rumored that when Murray was asked by ownership about his team, he had no answers.
That Murray was leaning Western Conference-style ala the Kings and it faltered could be reason enough for fans to be skeptical about Lombardi, the architect of those teams. However, look at how the 2017 playoffs have unfolded.
The Chicago Blackhawks won three Stanley Cups without premier goalies but had forces up front in superstars Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews as well as a future Hall-of-Famer on the back-end in Ducan Keith. Their superstar core remained in tact and they got timely goaltending and are considered a dynasty in the Cap-era. However, the Hawks got swept this year by Nashville. How did the Preds not only break Chicago's playoff dominance over them, but do so in a four-game sweep? Goaltending. Pekka "976" Rinne shut down one of the best cores in hockey allowing them only three goals while finishing with a sterling 0.70 GAA and .976 Sv%.
Why did the Pittsburgh Penguins run over the Columbus Blue Jackets? Marc-Andre Fleury was rock solid in net posting some of the best numbers of his playoff career while superstars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin smoked the Jackets to the tune of 11 goals and 18 points in five games. Conversely, Columbus goalie Sergei "Bob" Bobrovsky, a 2017 Vezina finalist, was terrible with a 3.88 GAA and .882 Sv%.
St. Louis goalie Jake Allen posted a .956 Sv% as the Blues got by a good regular season team in the Minnesota Wild while a Anaheim combo of John Gibson and Jonathan Bernier throttled the whiz kids from Calgary in a four-game sweep. Any kind of goaltending could have helped the Flames as Brian Elliot was worse than Bob posting the same 3.88 GAA but a slightly worse .880 Sv%.
How did the upstart Toronto Maple Leafs push an extremely talented and deep Washington Capitals team to a six-game series including five overtimes? Timely goaltending from Fredrik Andersen plus a four-game goal-streak from up-and-coming superstar Auston Matthews. The Caps overcame a torrent of flying Leafs with solid, if unspectacular goaltending from Brayden Holtby and gusty performances from its stars and superstars, of which they have quite a few.
Having playoff-caliber goaltending and/or having superstars in the lineup are strong indicators of playoff success. Good coaching doesn't hurt either. In Edmonton, the Oilers only got four points (2+2) from superstar Connor McDavid but with all the attention paid to him, others on the team were put in positions to make an impact, as in former Sabre Zack Kassian's two game-winning goals.
No matter what era you're in, goaltending and superstar power are almost always closely related to success.
The Sabres have some of that formula right now in the form of Jack Eichel and they have some complimentary pieces around him. They also have a No. 1 goalie and thank God there aren't any shootouts in the playoffs.
I get the extreme apprehension when talking about bringing in Lombardi but he does have a few pieces in place with which to build a winner. And he's proven he can build one. Is he married to a Western Conference-style of play that would make it difficult for the team to get into the playoffs? Maybe, but we don't know for sure. He was locked into those big contracts, which were his fault, no doubt, so he was locked into that style of play as well.
And before we go off on the cap-mess he's in, success is the reason he's in that situation. The Blackhawks have been in that same pickle but have managed to wiggle their way out the last couple of years, but eventually success, and the top price one must pay to keep those who lead to that success are gonna get to you in a salary cap world.
What we do know is that he seems to like to build from the goal out, which isn't such a bad idea as the more the league changes, the more it seems to stay the same, at least in the playoffs. We also know that he has one burgeoning superstar in Eichel plus a host of complimentary players that look as if they'll be able to have an impact. And maybe most important at this juncture is that the new GM in Buffalo will have a ton on his plate from the get-go, and Lombardi has the experience as well as th connections throughout the NHL well to get the job done.t
In Buffalo, we shouldn't be putting the carriage before the horse. Before you can win multiple Cups, you need to win one and before you can even think of a Cup-run, you need to get into the playoffs.
That's why I won't dismiss out of hand a GM who built a first-time Cup-winning team.
Monday, April 24, 2017
Trying to read the Pegula's tea leaves
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 4-23-2017
Perhaps it's best we not try and figure out what owner Terry Pegula was trying to say about the franchise at his 15 minute presser on Thursday, but then again, it can make for some interesting speculation. In this instance we're going to attempt to figure out the hierarchal plans he has for his hockey team, the Buffalo Sabres, and whom they might be inclined to hire as general manager.
When Pegula bought the team back in 2011 he kept on his GM, gave him a open checkbook and direct access to the big guy himself. It's been that way ever since save for a period of sanity when Pegula brought in former Sabres great and NHL Hall of Famer, Pat LaFontaine to head the hockey ops. At the time the team was going through transitional period where they were moving on from Darcy Regier and everything he built and were dead set upon a scorched earth rebuild. LaFontaine admittedly was not the GM-type so he was in charge of finding one, which turned out to be the recently fired, Tim Murray.
The plan, according to Bucky Gleason of the Buffalo News, was to have a three pronged-approach to the front office. LaFontaine, a well-liked and well-respected hockey man would head the hockey department and be the face of the front office as president. The roster and the mechanisms involved in that would fall on Murray, who would handle the personnel side of the equation from scouting to roster decisions, and a numbers-guy would work contracts and the salary cap.
It was a brilliant idea until LaFontaine reportedly had a distaste for the "rebuilding" approach favored by the organization. There may have been other things involved in his departure but his reign as President of Hockey Operations lasted all of four months, throwing that structure completely out the window.
Instead of replacing LaFontaine the Pegula's heaped the entire hockey operations on the shoulders of first-time GM Murray who was probably hired under the auspices of working the hockey aspects of the operation. We see how that turned out with Murray even saying that he wished he'd been able to scout a little more instead of being around the team day-in, day-out.
At Pegula's presser he was asked about the structure of the front office, which is devoid of any leadership right now, and he danced around the question. When a media member pressed the issue and asked Pegula if he intended to go back to the LaFontaine structure the answer was a quick and definitive "no."
Which seems about right. The Pegulas own both the Sabres and the NFL's Buffalo Bills under the umbrella of Pegula Sports and Entertainment. The only voice other than the Pegulas over both organizations is PSE President Russ Brandon who was CEO of the Bills under the late Ralph Wilson then was named President and Managing Partner of the team by the Pegulas and who also wears the hat of President and Alternate Governor for the Buffalo Sabres.
The Buffalo Bills structure the last two seasons under PSE had their GM and coach answering directly to Big Papa Pegula while Brandon continued to be involved in football related decisions. That plan was altered a bit as head coach Rex Ryan was fired and replaced by new head coach Sean McDermott who is making all the football decisions with GM Doug Whaley curiously remaining on as a figurehead. With the Bills effectively eliminating GM Whaley, McDermott is the lone voice in the new PSE "one-voice" mandate.
That's unlikely to happen with the Sabres and the Pegulas have started an ardent search for both coach and GM as they're looking to "build a stronger organization from top to bottom," according to Pegula. He mentioned that experience being important which lead us to believe that the GM position would be filled byu someone like Dean Lombardi or former Sabre Rick Dudley, both of whom have a long administrative resume.
That's what the tea leaves were reading post-presser, yet Sportsnet's John Shannon tweeted out yesterday that, "[the] Sabres have started building their list of candidates for GM. Sounds like they are looking for "new blood" as opposed to veteran manager."
Which leads us in another direction. Or maybe he does want to bring in an experienced VP of Hockey Ops to guide a newbie through his first GM position. Or maybe not.
Who the hell knows?
On the newbie front, the Sabres will have plenty of "new blood" to choose from for the GM position. The big name is Chicago AGM Norm MacIver who's been with the club for the duration of a Blackhawks dynasty that saw them win three Stanley Cups in five years.
In a recent interview with the Chicago Tribune, GM Stan Bowman was quoted as saying MacIver was "a stabilizing force" for the Hawks and much attention has been paid to his personnel skills with Bowman calling him a "co-architect" of the last two Cup-winning teams. When asked about his strengths MacIver talked about "just having a good feel for our team and ... (gauging) the pulse of the team and trying to help [Bowman] put this thing together. My biggest strength is recognizing the needs and strengths and weaknesses of our team."
MacIver seems like the type who won't rock the boat or rub ownership the wrong way. And from what I've gathered also sounds like a character-type guy which is huge buzzword ownership is throwing around right.
Based upon what they just went through with Murray, it would seem as if they'd like a little less personality and more suit. Murray was said to have rubbed Kim Pegula the wrong way and some of his moves, most notably that of the trade for noted off-ice "character" Evander Kane, probably didn't sit well with an ownership that seems to want a rigid adherence of their ideals. "New blood" certainly would allow them to mold a GM in the way they'd like.
Which probably rules out possibilities like Lombardi and Dudley, who would be coming in with their own ideals, and even a "new blood" like former Sabre Chris Drury who seems to have a self-confidence that would far surpass the Pegulas needs.
Jason Botterill is another candidate that would probably fit in with what the Pegulas are looking for. He started his management career with Pittsburgh in 2007 and is now associate GM for the Penguins. Botterill is a highly regarded up-and-comer and the Pegulas have a deep affinity for those from the Penguins organization. New Jersey AGM Tom Fitzgerald is also a candidate.
Other than MacIver, the only other button-down who seems to have the necessary experience and success to take on what the Pegulas are throwing their way (minus a VP of Hockey Ops) is Nashville Predators Assistant General Manager, Paul Fenton.
Fenton has been in his AGM position since 2006 and prior to that he was the Preds Director of Player Personnel beginning in 1998. He's a former undrafted NHL player who worked his way up from lower levels of pro hockey to a 400+ game NHL career and is highly regarded for his scouting and player development, especially on the blue line.
Back when the Edmonton Oilers were looking for a GM, Jonathan Willis of the Edmonton Journal picked a number of candidates to opine upon and here's some of what he wrote about Fenton, "While Nashville’s development record in all departments is one of the best in the league, they’ve really built a reputation for churning out NHL-calibre defensemen. Meanwhile, the team hasn’t sacrificed winning while producing these prospects; Nashville’s AHL (Milwaukee Admirals) is one of the most consistently successful at a minor-league level. Combine Fenton’s work in Milwaukee (as GM) with the Predators’ successes drafting and developing, and of course the team’s own ability to stay competitive with limited financial resources, and there’s good reason to think that Fenton would do well with his own franchise."
Sounds like a prime candidate, especially when defense is the weakest position in the organization.
Then again, who knows what the Pegula's will do.
No doubt Terry and Kim are well-meaning people who desperately want to bring a championship to the city of Buffalo, but what they've been finding out is that building said winner is quite different than running their previous energy business. Many are of the belief that they're in over their heads and simply winging it. It certainly looks that way with how their teams have performed the last few years and with the number of former coaches, along with a GM, whom they're paying not to be in the organization.
There will be plenty to speculate, write and opine about as the Pegulas search for their next coach and GM, which is fine. When all's said and done, we'll find out just who came closest to reading the tea leaves.
Perhaps it's best we not try and figure out what owner Terry Pegula was trying to say about the franchise at his 15 minute presser on Thursday, but then again, it can make for some interesting speculation. In this instance we're going to attempt to figure out the hierarchal plans he has for his hockey team, the Buffalo Sabres, and whom they might be inclined to hire as general manager.
When Pegula bought the team back in 2011 he kept on his GM, gave him a open checkbook and direct access to the big guy himself. It's been that way ever since save for a period of sanity when Pegula brought in former Sabres great and NHL Hall of Famer, Pat LaFontaine to head the hockey ops. At the time the team was going through transitional period where they were moving on from Darcy Regier and everything he built and were dead set upon a scorched earth rebuild. LaFontaine admittedly was not the GM-type so he was in charge of finding one, which turned out to be the recently fired, Tim Murray.
The plan, according to Bucky Gleason of the Buffalo News, was to have a three pronged-approach to the front office. LaFontaine, a well-liked and well-respected hockey man would head the hockey department and be the face of the front office as president. The roster and the mechanisms involved in that would fall on Murray, who would handle the personnel side of the equation from scouting to roster decisions, and a numbers-guy would work contracts and the salary cap.
It was a brilliant idea until LaFontaine reportedly had a distaste for the "rebuilding" approach favored by the organization. There may have been other things involved in his departure but his reign as President of Hockey Operations lasted all of four months, throwing that structure completely out the window.
Instead of replacing LaFontaine the Pegula's heaped the entire hockey operations on the shoulders of first-time GM Murray who was probably hired under the auspices of working the hockey aspects of the operation. We see how that turned out with Murray even saying that he wished he'd been able to scout a little more instead of being around the team day-in, day-out.
At Pegula's presser he was asked about the structure of the front office, which is devoid of any leadership right now, and he danced around the question. When a media member pressed the issue and asked Pegula if he intended to go back to the LaFontaine structure the answer was a quick and definitive "no."
Which seems about right. The Pegulas own both the Sabres and the NFL's Buffalo Bills under the umbrella of Pegula Sports and Entertainment. The only voice other than the Pegulas over both organizations is PSE President Russ Brandon who was CEO of the Bills under the late Ralph Wilson then was named President and Managing Partner of the team by the Pegulas and who also wears the hat of President and Alternate Governor for the Buffalo Sabres.
The Buffalo Bills structure the last two seasons under PSE had their GM and coach answering directly to Big Papa Pegula while Brandon continued to be involved in football related decisions. That plan was altered a bit as head coach Rex Ryan was fired and replaced by new head coach Sean McDermott who is making all the football decisions with GM Doug Whaley curiously remaining on as a figurehead. With the Bills effectively eliminating GM Whaley, McDermott is the lone voice in the new PSE "one-voice" mandate.
That's unlikely to happen with the Sabres and the Pegulas have started an ardent search for both coach and GM as they're looking to "build a stronger organization from top to bottom," according to Pegula. He mentioned that experience being important which lead us to believe that the GM position would be filled byu someone like Dean Lombardi or former Sabre Rick Dudley, both of whom have a long administrative resume.
That's what the tea leaves were reading post-presser, yet Sportsnet's John Shannon tweeted out yesterday that, "[the] Sabres have started building their list of candidates for GM. Sounds like they are looking for "new blood" as opposed to veteran manager."
Which leads us in another direction. Or maybe he does want to bring in an experienced VP of Hockey Ops to guide a newbie through his first GM position. Or maybe not.
Who the hell knows?
On the newbie front, the Sabres will have plenty of "new blood" to choose from for the GM position. The big name is Chicago AGM Norm MacIver who's been with the club for the duration of a Blackhawks dynasty that saw them win three Stanley Cups in five years.
In a recent interview with the Chicago Tribune, GM Stan Bowman was quoted as saying MacIver was "a stabilizing force" for the Hawks and much attention has been paid to his personnel skills with Bowman calling him a "co-architect" of the last two Cup-winning teams. When asked about his strengths MacIver talked about "just having a good feel for our team and ... (gauging) the pulse of the team and trying to help [Bowman] put this thing together. My biggest strength is recognizing the needs and strengths and weaknesses of our team."
MacIver seems like the type who won't rock the boat or rub ownership the wrong way. And from what I've gathered also sounds like a character-type guy which is huge buzzword ownership is throwing around right.
Based upon what they just went through with Murray, it would seem as if they'd like a little less personality and more suit. Murray was said to have rubbed Kim Pegula the wrong way and some of his moves, most notably that of the trade for noted off-ice "character" Evander Kane, probably didn't sit well with an ownership that seems to want a rigid adherence of their ideals. "New blood" certainly would allow them to mold a GM in the way they'd like.
Which probably rules out possibilities like Lombardi and Dudley, who would be coming in with their own ideals, and even a "new blood" like former Sabre Chris Drury who seems to have a self-confidence that would far surpass the Pegulas needs.
Jason Botterill is another candidate that would probably fit in with what the Pegulas are looking for. He started his management career with Pittsburgh in 2007 and is now associate GM for the Penguins. Botterill is a highly regarded up-and-comer and the Pegulas have a deep affinity for those from the Penguins organization. New Jersey AGM Tom Fitzgerald is also a candidate.
Other than MacIver, the only other button-down who seems to have the necessary experience and success to take on what the Pegulas are throwing their way (minus a VP of Hockey Ops) is Nashville Predators Assistant General Manager, Paul Fenton.
Fenton has been in his AGM position since 2006 and prior to that he was the Preds Director of Player Personnel beginning in 1998. He's a former undrafted NHL player who worked his way up from lower levels of pro hockey to a 400+ game NHL career and is highly regarded for his scouting and player development, especially on the blue line.
Back when the Edmonton Oilers were looking for a GM, Jonathan Willis of the Edmonton Journal picked a number of candidates to opine upon and here's some of what he wrote about Fenton, "While Nashville’s development record in all departments is one of the best in the league, they’ve really built a reputation for churning out NHL-calibre defensemen. Meanwhile, the team hasn’t sacrificed winning while producing these prospects; Nashville’s AHL (Milwaukee Admirals) is one of the most consistently successful at a minor-league level. Combine Fenton’s work in Milwaukee (as GM) with the Predators’ successes drafting and developing, and of course the team’s own ability to stay competitive with limited financial resources, and there’s good reason to think that Fenton would do well with his own franchise."
Sounds like a prime candidate, especially when defense is the weakest position in the organization.
Then again, who knows what the Pegula's will do.
No doubt Terry and Kim are well-meaning people who desperately want to bring a championship to the city of Buffalo, but what they've been finding out is that building said winner is quite different than running their previous energy business. Many are of the belief that they're in over their heads and simply winging it. It certainly looks that way with how their teams have performed the last few years and with the number of former coaches, along with a GM, whom they're paying not to be in the organization.
There will be plenty to speculate, write and opine about as the Pegulas search for their next coach and GM, which is fine. When all's said and done, we'll find out just who came closest to reading the tea leaves.
Sunday, April 23, 2017
Ode to Tim Murray
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 4-22-2017
I'm going miss Tim Murray, especially his candor when addressing the media and some of the off-beat language he used when making his point. I'm also of the opinion his tenure was cut a bit short when ownership decided to clean house.
One of things most in the Buffalo media talked about after the news of his firing hit was Murray's relative honesty when asked a question. Even if he said he didn't want to address something, he'd still dance around a bit before giving a little insight into where his head was at on the subject. And the colorful words Murray used at times was refreshing especially with the parade of droll GM's the Buffalo sports community was subject to in both hockey and football dating back to the last century. Like when he talked with owner Terry Pegula about the trade for Evander Kane, who wasn't exactly a choir-boy off-ice. Pegula asked him about the move and Murray said that "he answered as best he could.
"It's not all unicorns and rainbows and jujus," said Murray of Kane and his off-ice issues, "I can tell you the best of the very best players have warts."
If you talk to any old timer, the stuff that goes on today is mere child's play compared to what athletes did decades ago. It's a different era and a different world. Even locker room talk and the antics that went on are now taboo and subject to intense scrutiny. When Murray talked of an incident post-game in February when his franchise center Jack Eichel verbalized his dismay with the home crowd's booing of the team. Murray's response, "[Eichel] certainly won't get his pee pee slapped by me for being a little more outspoken," a figurative expression with literal roots dating back to a different era.
That's all well and good for us outside the rink as within Murray's wry smile there seemed to be a precocious, child-like throw-back to the irreverence of days gone by. Hell, even the great Punch Imlach, the Sabres first coach and GM, had those qualities, going so far as to draft Taro Tsujimoto, a fictitious Japanese hockey player from the Tokyo Katanas (Japanese for sword,) in the 11th round of the 1974 NHL Draft, as a way of voicing his displeasure with the slow, lengthy draft process.
But the product on the ice is what matters and instead of Murray's Sabres taking a step forward this season, they were beginning to spiral out of control. Discord and disconnect ruled the roost as his team went from 81 points in 2015-16 to 78 points last season. There was plenty of blame to be thrown around from players to coaches and Murray was on the hook for the team he assembled.
Murray stormed onto the scene in Buffalo with brazen blockbusters in his first year-and-a-half of his rather short stint as a first-time GM. He finished the work of former GM Darcy Regier when he traded goalie Ryan Miller to St. Louis in February, 2014 less that two months into his tenure and lead the franchise through an ownership approved "rebuild" that completely gutted the organization of talent. Bolstered by a ton of draft picks and prospects from his predecessor Murray elected to speed up the rebuild by acquiring young-vets.
There were two unhappy young-vets available whom Murray traded for, the aforementioned Kane and Ryan O'Reilly. Murray was able to land both as the primary pieces of blockbuster trades but used a boatload of draft picks and prospects to do so. Murray got himself two good players in Kane and O'Reilly and he furthered his young-vet theory by trading for goaltender Robin Lehner at the rather steep price of a first-round pick in 2015.
The Lehner deal was consummated with his former Ottawa Senators team whose GM was his uncle, Bryan Murray. Whether or not there was something else in the works may be up for discussion, but we'll never know as Bryan Murray stepped down from his GM position in April, 2016. But in the world of the NHL there are always backroom deals as Tim Murray mentioned when it comes to the upcoming expansion draft and the new Las Vegas Knights team.
While on WGR550 radio Murray was rather honest when talking about how he's approaching the upcoming expansion draft and how he may have already done a favor for new Knights GM George McPhee who at the time was GM for the Washington Capitals. "I’ve had a conversation or two with George on who I wouldn’t like to lose (in the upcoming expansion draft) and how we can make that happen. Maybe I’ve done a deal with George in the past that was considered somewhat of a favor. Maybe I’ve had a conversation with him reminding him of that, and he remembered the wordage of that deal word-for-word, which I was very happy to hear."
The prevailing theme is that Murray's rebuild with young-vets was flawed. With the set-back his team went through and his firing this week, old clichés are being tossed around with the emphasis upon rushing things.
Murray may have been on the precipice of turning things around. He knew the teams flaws, especially on defense where another of his trades, the one for Dmitry Kulikov, blew up in his face, and he may have had a plan to fix it, but he didn't say what the Pegula's wanted to hear when he met them for the end-of-season meetings.
I'd like to have seen him around for one more season tp see how he addressed the flaws throughout the hockey department from Buffalo to the Rochester Americans to the now defunct Elmira Jackals formerly of the ECHL. He has some good talent coming up to Buffalo and will also have more talent heading to Rochester for their rookie seasons. During the next three seasons we'll be seeing Murray's draft picks come through the ranks as they continue their developmental process.
Where it all leads is up in the air but if the Pegulas move takes this team forward, good for them and good for those of us in Sabreland. That said, I'm going to miss Murray. He may not have been everyone's cup of tea, but for those who got him and how he approached things, it was a pretty cool ride.
I'm going miss Tim Murray, especially his candor when addressing the media and some of the off-beat language he used when making his point. I'm also of the opinion his tenure was cut a bit short when ownership decided to clean house.
One of things most in the Buffalo media talked about after the news of his firing hit was Murray's relative honesty when asked a question. Even if he said he didn't want to address something, he'd still dance around a bit before giving a little insight into where his head was at on the subject. And the colorful words Murray used at times was refreshing especially with the parade of droll GM's the Buffalo sports community was subject to in both hockey and football dating back to the last century. Like when he talked with owner Terry Pegula about the trade for Evander Kane, who wasn't exactly a choir-boy off-ice. Pegula asked him about the move and Murray said that "he answered as best he could.
"It's not all unicorns and rainbows and jujus," said Murray of Kane and his off-ice issues, "I can tell you the best of the very best players have warts."
If you talk to any old timer, the stuff that goes on today is mere child's play compared to what athletes did decades ago. It's a different era and a different world. Even locker room talk and the antics that went on are now taboo and subject to intense scrutiny. When Murray talked of an incident post-game in February when his franchise center Jack Eichel verbalized his dismay with the home crowd's booing of the team. Murray's response, "[Eichel] certainly won't get his pee pee slapped by me for being a little more outspoken," a figurative expression with literal roots dating back to a different era.
That's all well and good for us outside the rink as within Murray's wry smile there seemed to be a precocious, child-like throw-back to the irreverence of days gone by. Hell, even the great Punch Imlach, the Sabres first coach and GM, had those qualities, going so far as to draft Taro Tsujimoto, a fictitious Japanese hockey player from the Tokyo Katanas (Japanese for sword,) in the 11th round of the 1974 NHL Draft, as a way of voicing his displeasure with the slow, lengthy draft process.
But the product on the ice is what matters and instead of Murray's Sabres taking a step forward this season, they were beginning to spiral out of control. Discord and disconnect ruled the roost as his team went from 81 points in 2015-16 to 78 points last season. There was plenty of blame to be thrown around from players to coaches and Murray was on the hook for the team he assembled.
Murray stormed onto the scene in Buffalo with brazen blockbusters in his first year-and-a-half of his rather short stint as a first-time GM. He finished the work of former GM Darcy Regier when he traded goalie Ryan Miller to St. Louis in February, 2014 less that two months into his tenure and lead the franchise through an ownership approved "rebuild" that completely gutted the organization of talent. Bolstered by a ton of draft picks and prospects from his predecessor Murray elected to speed up the rebuild by acquiring young-vets.
There were two unhappy young-vets available whom Murray traded for, the aforementioned Kane and Ryan O'Reilly. Murray was able to land both as the primary pieces of blockbuster trades but used a boatload of draft picks and prospects to do so. Murray got himself two good players in Kane and O'Reilly and he furthered his young-vet theory by trading for goaltender Robin Lehner at the rather steep price of a first-round pick in 2015.
The Lehner deal was consummated with his former Ottawa Senators team whose GM was his uncle, Bryan Murray. Whether or not there was something else in the works may be up for discussion, but we'll never know as Bryan Murray stepped down from his GM position in April, 2016. But in the world of the NHL there are always backroom deals as Tim Murray mentioned when it comes to the upcoming expansion draft and the new Las Vegas Knights team.
While on WGR550 radio Murray was rather honest when talking about how he's approaching the upcoming expansion draft and how he may have already done a favor for new Knights GM George McPhee who at the time was GM for the Washington Capitals. "I’ve had a conversation or two with George on who I wouldn’t like to lose (in the upcoming expansion draft) and how we can make that happen. Maybe I’ve done a deal with George in the past that was considered somewhat of a favor. Maybe I’ve had a conversation with him reminding him of that, and he remembered the wordage of that deal word-for-word, which I was very happy to hear."
The prevailing theme is that Murray's rebuild with young-vets was flawed. With the set-back his team went through and his firing this week, old clichés are being tossed around with the emphasis upon rushing things.
Murray may have been on the precipice of turning things around. He knew the teams flaws, especially on defense where another of his trades, the one for Dmitry Kulikov, blew up in his face, and he may have had a plan to fix it, but he didn't say what the Pegula's wanted to hear when he met them for the end-of-season meetings.
I'd like to have seen him around for one more season tp see how he addressed the flaws throughout the hockey department from Buffalo to the Rochester Americans to the now defunct Elmira Jackals formerly of the ECHL. He has some good talent coming up to Buffalo and will also have more talent heading to Rochester for their rookie seasons. During the next three seasons we'll be seeing Murray's draft picks come through the ranks as they continue their developmental process.
Where it all leads is up in the air but if the Pegulas move takes this team forward, good for them and good for those of us in Sabreland. That said, I'm going to miss Murray. He may not have been everyone's cup of tea, but for those who got him and how he approached things, it was a pretty cool ride.
Saturday, April 22, 2017
Pegula rolls solo in important press conference
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 4-21-2017
I highly doubt anyone thought earlier today that Buffalo Sabres owner Terry Pegula would roll solo with his most important presser since buying the team six years ago. Thanks to Sabres TV we saw Pegula stand at the podium by himself answering questions about the present, future and, unfortunately, an unpleasant past.
Everyone who's ever watched a Terry Pegula presser knows how awkward he is in front of the microphone. He'd much rather be doing other things or answering questions about the positives he and Pegula Sports and Entertainment have done like HARBORCENTER and Canalside. But after firing both his general manager and head coach yesterday this was a time for him to take ownership of his team.
It was a ballsy move considering the many questions surrounding the state of an obviously flawed franchise, but in his opening statement he stood at the podium stating that "we" as an organization weren't happy with our season and, very humbly I might add, said that "accountability starts with me."
The theme of his approach going forward will start with three words that he repeated throughout, "discipline, structure and communication" a theme that Pegula and his wife Kim decided upon after meeting with former GM Tim Murray and former head coach Dan Bylsma. Later in the rather brief presser he added a fourth, "character."
After watching the Sabres play this season, and also following them in the media, it's not surprising that those three words would be the foundation moving forward. Lack of discipline on the ice reared it's head in the many times they failed to buy-in while off the ice it manifested itself in the Sam Reinhart saga when he was benched after breaking a recently installed zero-tolerance policy on tardiness late in the season. This Buffalo team was a mess with structure out the window and an obvious lack of communication between coach and players and more than likely between GM and owner.
When Pegula mentioned character, one couldn't help but think about Evander Kane's off-ice issues, said to be severely frowned upon by Kim Pegula. Another event was the Ryan O'Reilly bout with a Tim Horton's wall two summers ago. And one couldn't help but think that as owner of the NFL's Buffalo Bills the bouts with stupidity that some of his football players had must have come to the fore in the addition of character. Murray said of Kane that he had warts, and that some of the best players of all time had warts, but Pegula just busted out the Compound W.
After a rather humble opening statement Pegula was thrown into the fire by a question about Jack Eichel and how much his discontent played into the firing of Bylsma, as well as Murray. The transition from defense to offense began as he quoted Eichel's agent Peter Fish, "I don't know where those stories come from. It's ridiculous. Pegula called it a "complete fabrication" and "not a true story."
Later in the Q&A Pegula would get on the offensive again when asked if the rumors of talking to former LA Kings GM Dean Lombardi before firing Murray. "We didn't talk to anybody," he said flatly, "pure fabrication.
"Put that in the 'Jack demanded his coach be fired' category."
All-in-all not much was said about the immediate future of the franchise save for head amateur scout Jeff Crisp handling the amateur side of things with "several people" heading the pro side. Pegula said that their goal is "to build a stronger organization top to bottom" but would not reveal if he's ready to put a Hockey Ops person in between him and the GM. A hint may have come when he answered with a definitive "no" when asked about a direct link between GM and ownership with no go-between.
We haven't seen Pegula at a Sabres presser for over three years and a lot has transpired. The hiring process of both Murray and Bylsma were done with him outside of the loop and it's something he said he regretted with the results being a second season outside of the playoffs after what he termed the Sabres "rebuild."
One reporter had a different review of the rebuild pointing to fans and media alike calling it a tank. Pegula was asked about his "point on character" and if he felt the organization was damaged in that respect from that "flawed plan, a plan that authorized and essentially hoped for losing as a way of building."
"I don't want to talk about the past," began Pegula, "but a lot of teams go through rebuilds..." The reporter mentioned that it was true, but not a lot hope to lose. "Hope to lose? We don't hope to lose," responded Pegula as he brought the past to the present.
The team tanked and perhaps they're reaping what they've sown. Some will let it go, while others while carry it to the grave.
Buffalo is in a rough spot right now with no GM to guide this team through the expansion draft, NHL Draft or free agency, not to mention the glut of 20 free agent contracts to decide upon as well as an extension for Eichel and a decision on whether or not to move forward with Kane.
Pegula is taking a methodical approach, which is good. He'll have the amateur draft covered with Crisp and even possibly former head scout and assistant GM Kevin Devine. He has Mark Jakubowski as his cap-guy and an AGM who handled much of the contract negotiations and he may tap into a trusted internal guy like Kevyn Adams for some help on the pro side.
Gotta give Pegula a lot of credit for standing up there solo in a position he's not very comfortable with, but then again, he owed it to Sabreland, as this mess is his.
I highly doubt anyone thought earlier today that Buffalo Sabres owner Terry Pegula would roll solo with his most important presser since buying the team six years ago. Thanks to Sabres TV we saw Pegula stand at the podium by himself answering questions about the present, future and, unfortunately, an unpleasant past.
Everyone who's ever watched a Terry Pegula presser knows how awkward he is in front of the microphone. He'd much rather be doing other things or answering questions about the positives he and Pegula Sports and Entertainment have done like HARBORCENTER and Canalside. But after firing both his general manager and head coach yesterday this was a time for him to take ownership of his team.
It was a ballsy move considering the many questions surrounding the state of an obviously flawed franchise, but in his opening statement he stood at the podium stating that "we" as an organization weren't happy with our season and, very humbly I might add, said that "accountability starts with me."
The theme of his approach going forward will start with three words that he repeated throughout, "discipline, structure and communication" a theme that Pegula and his wife Kim decided upon after meeting with former GM Tim Murray and former head coach Dan Bylsma. Later in the rather brief presser he added a fourth, "character."
After watching the Sabres play this season, and also following them in the media, it's not surprising that those three words would be the foundation moving forward. Lack of discipline on the ice reared it's head in the many times they failed to buy-in while off the ice it manifested itself in the Sam Reinhart saga when he was benched after breaking a recently installed zero-tolerance policy on tardiness late in the season. This Buffalo team was a mess with structure out the window and an obvious lack of communication between coach and players and more than likely between GM and owner.
When Pegula mentioned character, one couldn't help but think about Evander Kane's off-ice issues, said to be severely frowned upon by Kim Pegula. Another event was the Ryan O'Reilly bout with a Tim Horton's wall two summers ago. And one couldn't help but think that as owner of the NFL's Buffalo Bills the bouts with stupidity that some of his football players had must have come to the fore in the addition of character. Murray said of Kane that he had warts, and that some of the best players of all time had warts, but Pegula just busted out the Compound W.
After a rather humble opening statement Pegula was thrown into the fire by a question about Jack Eichel and how much his discontent played into the firing of Bylsma, as well as Murray. The transition from defense to offense began as he quoted Eichel's agent Peter Fish, "I don't know where those stories come from. It's ridiculous. Pegula called it a "complete fabrication" and "not a true story."
Later in the Q&A Pegula would get on the offensive again when asked if the rumors of talking to former LA Kings GM Dean Lombardi before firing Murray. "We didn't talk to anybody," he said flatly, "pure fabrication.
"Put that in the 'Jack demanded his coach be fired' category."
All-in-all not much was said about the immediate future of the franchise save for head amateur scout Jeff Crisp handling the amateur side of things with "several people" heading the pro side. Pegula said that their goal is "to build a stronger organization top to bottom" but would not reveal if he's ready to put a Hockey Ops person in between him and the GM. A hint may have come when he answered with a definitive "no" when asked about a direct link between GM and ownership with no go-between.
We haven't seen Pegula at a Sabres presser for over three years and a lot has transpired. The hiring process of both Murray and Bylsma were done with him outside of the loop and it's something he said he regretted with the results being a second season outside of the playoffs after what he termed the Sabres "rebuild."
One reporter had a different review of the rebuild pointing to fans and media alike calling it a tank. Pegula was asked about his "point on character" and if he felt the organization was damaged in that respect from that "flawed plan, a plan that authorized and essentially hoped for losing as a way of building."
"I don't want to talk about the past," began Pegula, "but a lot of teams go through rebuilds..." The reporter mentioned that it was true, but not a lot hope to lose. "Hope to lose? We don't hope to lose," responded Pegula as he brought the past to the present.
The team tanked and perhaps they're reaping what they've sown. Some will let it go, while others while carry it to the grave.
Buffalo is in a rough spot right now with no GM to guide this team through the expansion draft, NHL Draft or free agency, not to mention the glut of 20 free agent contracts to decide upon as well as an extension for Eichel and a decision on whether or not to move forward with Kane.
Pegula is taking a methodical approach, which is good. He'll have the amateur draft covered with Crisp and even possibly former head scout and assistant GM Kevin Devine. He has Mark Jakubowski as his cap-guy and an AGM who handled much of the contract negotiations and he may tap into a trusted internal guy like Kevyn Adams for some help on the pro side.
Gotta give Pegula a lot of credit for standing up there solo in a position he's not very comfortable with, but then again, he owed it to Sabreland, as this mess is his.
Friday, April 21, 2017
Boom! Both Tim Murray and Dan Bylsma fired. Opportunity knocks
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 4-20-2017
It's been a rather contentious off-season for fans of the Buffalo Sabres as a very disappointing season turned to question marks in April as the NHL playoffs march on. Fans took sides when it came to who was most responsible for the step backwards the Sabres had taken this season with one side saying GM Tim Murray put together a poor roster and the other side saying the head coach Dan Bylsma couldn't figure out how to make things work on the ice.
Well, the owners of the Buffalo Sabres made it pretty clear today that they weren't happy at all with what transpired and fired both Murray and Bylsma. Here's the statement from the Pegulas:
"After reviewing the past season and looking at the future of our organization, Kim and I have decided to relieve General Manager Tim Murray and Head Coach Dan Bylsma of their duties. We want to thank Tim and Dan for their hard work and efforts that they have put in during their tenures with the club. We wish them luck. We have begun the process to fill these positions immediately."
Word of the firing came when in the early part of an interview I was having with long-time Rochester Americans announcer, Don Stevens, and to show just how split Sabreland was on responsibility for the Sabres poor season, he mentioned one, yet I was thinking the other. Neither of us, however, thought that both Murray and Bylsma would be shown the door as I assume most in Sabreland didn't think this bombshell was coming.
The national media has already begun jumping on the move . Pierre LeBrun tweeted, "Constant turmoil with the Bills and Sabres. The passionate fans of Western New York deserve so much better."
It's a shot at ownership and I'm sure there will be plenty more. Some of the things that will be pointed our are the Bills 17-year playoff drought, even though the Pegula's have owned the team for only two of those seasons as well as the Sabres six-year playoff drought, all of them under the Pegulas with two of those seasons being devoted to emptying the roster for a scorched-earth rebuild. We'll also hear a lot about how they fired the Bills Rex Ryan after two seasons with three years left on his contract and that of Bylsma, who has the exact same scenario.
And while talking about paying former coaches not to coach for them, we can add in Murray who just signed a three year contract extension which kicks in this off-season.
That being said, the Pegulas should be questioned as to how they structured the Sabres post-tank years especially in light of what the Toronto Maple Leafs were able to accomplish this season.
The Leafs went into their rebuild and began by hiring Hall of Fame player Brendan Shanahan as President and Alternate governor. According to the Sabres Media guide Buffalo's President and Alternate governor is Russ Brandon, a marketing guru who's spent the last 20 years with the Buffalo Bills, becoming Chief Operating Officer in 2008 when he took charge of day-to-day football operations. The Bills have had seven coaches during that time and had a record above .500 only once.
Sabres legend and Hall-of-Famer Pat LaFontaine was with the organization in the role of Vice President but parted ways with the Sabres not long after Murray was hired as general manager. No reason has ever been given for the split and it left a first time GM in charge of the entire hockey department.
The Leafs also have another Hall-of-Famer in GM Lou Lamoriello and an almost sure-fire Hall-of-Famer in head coach Mike Babcock, whom the Sabres courted but missed out upon. The Sabres had a head coach with one Stanley Cup but plenty of question marks as to how he got that Cup.
That the structure problem that probably lead to dysfunction and a season of disconnects.
There were a lot of reasons why the season went off the tracks and lack of depth certainly contributed to it. Murray built a roster that was pretty solid up front but when injuries hit, the replacements weren't quite ready. Lack of depth was a problem that stretched down to the AHL. And Murray's defense was in shambles all season, mainly because of injury but also in large part because they didn't have enough quality.
From the coaching ranks we had a coach that apparently wasn't on the same page as the team's star player--Jack Eichel. That disconnect also lead to reported discord between the veteran players and the younger ones.
It's not surprising that Bylsma was fired as coaches are usually first to go, especially when there's reported friction between him and the face of the franchise. But Murray was a real surprise.
Murray came into Buffalo with a ton of picks and potential in his arsenal and proceeded to come out with guns ablazin' as blockbuster trades became the norm. He took a lot of heat for the Tyler Myers/Evander Kane trade even though Kane looks to be the best player in the deal. That said, he also was the one that had off-ice issues which assuredly didn't go unnoticed by the Pegulas.
The Ryan O'Reilly trade was another big one with the Sabres getting one of the top two-way players in the league. Unfortunately Murray had to give up some prime prospects including a player in J.T. Compher, who may end up being O'Reilly 2.0, and defenseman Nikita Zadorov, a young player who had some off-ice problems but one who also played in a top-four role this past season.
Then there was the trade for goalie Robin Lehner. Murray gave up a 2015 first round pick for Lehner, a source of consternation from many in Sabreland as you don't usually give up a first-rounder for a goalie unless he's had some time to establish himself. Lehner was injured his first season in Buffalo and compiled a strong 2016-17, but even with solid numbers, many are not convinced he's a top-flight No. 1 goalie.
Put it all together and the Pegulas put an end to the dysfunction with in the hockey department. The process now is all about building a proper one although we're unsure of where they want to begin. Hopefully it's with a Vice President of Hockey Operations who will define what it means to be a Buffalo Sabre as throughout the Pegula's ownership, we're not really sure what they want to be.
The Sabres have a future superstar in Jack Eichel at center and have a strong No. 2 in O'Reilly. They have a top-pairing d-man in Rasmus Ristolainen and a good number of role players spread throughout the lineup. If Lehner isn't the No. 1 goalie of the future, Linus Ullmark is in the hopper having made great strides in Rochester this past season after playing real strong as a rookie during Lehners injury.
However, the Sabres also have a lot of dead weight to move and will need to make decisions on 20 free agents this off-season and should also be looking to extend Eichel beyond next season. The draft is coming up and the Las Vegas Knights expansion draft is before that meaning they'll need to formulate their protected list.
Today's news is a bombshell, but with all that said, it's an opportunity for the Pegulas to get it right beginning with the front office. If they don't, we'll just be going through this again.
It's been a rather contentious off-season for fans of the Buffalo Sabres as a very disappointing season turned to question marks in April as the NHL playoffs march on. Fans took sides when it came to who was most responsible for the step backwards the Sabres had taken this season with one side saying GM Tim Murray put together a poor roster and the other side saying the head coach Dan Bylsma couldn't figure out how to make things work on the ice.
Well, the owners of the Buffalo Sabres made it pretty clear today that they weren't happy at all with what transpired and fired both Murray and Bylsma. Here's the statement from the Pegulas:
"After reviewing the past season and looking at the future of our organization, Kim and I have decided to relieve General Manager Tim Murray and Head Coach Dan Bylsma of their duties. We want to thank Tim and Dan for their hard work and efforts that they have put in during their tenures with the club. We wish them luck. We have begun the process to fill these positions immediately."
Word of the firing came when in the early part of an interview I was having with long-time Rochester Americans announcer, Don Stevens, and to show just how split Sabreland was on responsibility for the Sabres poor season, he mentioned one, yet I was thinking the other. Neither of us, however, thought that both Murray and Bylsma would be shown the door as I assume most in Sabreland didn't think this bombshell was coming.
The national media has already begun jumping on the move . Pierre LeBrun tweeted, "Constant turmoil with the Bills and Sabres. The passionate fans of Western New York deserve so much better."
It's a shot at ownership and I'm sure there will be plenty more. Some of the things that will be pointed our are the Bills 17-year playoff drought, even though the Pegula's have owned the team for only two of those seasons as well as the Sabres six-year playoff drought, all of them under the Pegulas with two of those seasons being devoted to emptying the roster for a scorched-earth rebuild. We'll also hear a lot about how they fired the Bills Rex Ryan after two seasons with three years left on his contract and that of Bylsma, who has the exact same scenario.
And while talking about paying former coaches not to coach for them, we can add in Murray who just signed a three year contract extension which kicks in this off-season.
That being said, the Pegulas should be questioned as to how they structured the Sabres post-tank years especially in light of what the Toronto Maple Leafs were able to accomplish this season.
The Leafs went into their rebuild and began by hiring Hall of Fame player Brendan Shanahan as President and Alternate governor. According to the Sabres Media guide Buffalo's President and Alternate governor is Russ Brandon, a marketing guru who's spent the last 20 years with the Buffalo Bills, becoming Chief Operating Officer in 2008 when he took charge of day-to-day football operations. The Bills have had seven coaches during that time and had a record above .500 only once.
Sabres legend and Hall-of-Famer Pat LaFontaine was with the organization in the role of Vice President but parted ways with the Sabres not long after Murray was hired as general manager. No reason has ever been given for the split and it left a first time GM in charge of the entire hockey department.
The Leafs also have another Hall-of-Famer in GM Lou Lamoriello and an almost sure-fire Hall-of-Famer in head coach Mike Babcock, whom the Sabres courted but missed out upon. The Sabres had a head coach with one Stanley Cup but plenty of question marks as to how he got that Cup.
That the structure problem that probably lead to dysfunction and a season of disconnects.
There were a lot of reasons why the season went off the tracks and lack of depth certainly contributed to it. Murray built a roster that was pretty solid up front but when injuries hit, the replacements weren't quite ready. Lack of depth was a problem that stretched down to the AHL. And Murray's defense was in shambles all season, mainly because of injury but also in large part because they didn't have enough quality.
From the coaching ranks we had a coach that apparently wasn't on the same page as the team's star player--Jack Eichel. That disconnect also lead to reported discord between the veteran players and the younger ones.
It's not surprising that Bylsma was fired as coaches are usually first to go, especially when there's reported friction between him and the face of the franchise. But Murray was a real surprise.
Murray came into Buffalo with a ton of picks and potential in his arsenal and proceeded to come out with guns ablazin' as blockbuster trades became the norm. He took a lot of heat for the Tyler Myers/Evander Kane trade even though Kane looks to be the best player in the deal. That said, he also was the one that had off-ice issues which assuredly didn't go unnoticed by the Pegulas.
The Ryan O'Reilly trade was another big one with the Sabres getting one of the top two-way players in the league. Unfortunately Murray had to give up some prime prospects including a player in J.T. Compher, who may end up being O'Reilly 2.0, and defenseman Nikita Zadorov, a young player who had some off-ice problems but one who also played in a top-four role this past season.
Then there was the trade for goalie Robin Lehner. Murray gave up a 2015 first round pick for Lehner, a source of consternation from many in Sabreland as you don't usually give up a first-rounder for a goalie unless he's had some time to establish himself. Lehner was injured his first season in Buffalo and compiled a strong 2016-17, but even with solid numbers, many are not convinced he's a top-flight No. 1 goalie.
Put it all together and the Pegulas put an end to the dysfunction with in the hockey department. The process now is all about building a proper one although we're unsure of where they want to begin. Hopefully it's with a Vice President of Hockey Operations who will define what it means to be a Buffalo Sabre as throughout the Pegula's ownership, we're not really sure what they want to be.
The Sabres have a future superstar in Jack Eichel at center and have a strong No. 2 in O'Reilly. They have a top-pairing d-man in Rasmus Ristolainen and a good number of role players spread throughout the lineup. If Lehner isn't the No. 1 goalie of the future, Linus Ullmark is in the hopper having made great strides in Rochester this past season after playing real strong as a rookie during Lehners injury.
However, the Sabres also have a lot of dead weight to move and will need to make decisions on 20 free agents this off-season and should also be looking to extend Eichel beyond next season. The draft is coming up and the Las Vegas Knights expansion draft is before that meaning they'll need to formulate their protected list.
Today's news is a bombshell, but with all that said, it's an opportunity for the Pegulas to get it right beginning with the front office. If they don't, we'll just be going through this again.
Thursday, April 20, 2017
As the Sabres turn--a Disco Dan/Jack Flash conundrum?
Published by bockeybuzz.com, 4-19-2017
The old adage in Hollywood is "there's no such thing as bad press." Well, the Buffalo Sabres are certainly going to test that. It wasn't bad enough that they were chasited relentlessly for "the tank," and that this year their season went caput while two contemporary teams made the playoffs, now the team needs to deal with internal issues between a marquis player and the coach. Oh, and the backdrop has the Sabres missing the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season while the NHL's Buffalo Bills just finished a 17th season outside the playoffs.
This may be a job for Sean Spicer.
Buffalo Sabres GM Tim Murray scheduled to meet with ownership today, there's a question as to what kind of remarks he'll be packing in his briefcase when he opens it up for Terry and Kim Pegula. Murray finished his end-of-season interviews with the players and hit the podium for the presser with question marks all over the place. He began by taking full responsibility for what he called "a very disappointing season" but distributed some of the blame to coaches and players. It was the second season Buffalo missed the playoffs with this core group of players and the second with coach Dan Bylsma on the bench.
Bylsma had the team Murray built at his disposal and finished with a worse record than the previous season. A shored up forward ranks and a full season of health from goaltender Robin Lehner wasn't enough to offset a weak defense, undermanned bottom-six and a number of long-term injuries to key players. Among the injured was franchise center Jack Eichel who missed the first 21 games of the 2016-17 season. However, the biggest problem may have had less to do with the above and more to do with rumors that Bylsma lost control of the room somewhere along the way.
There had been reports of a disconnect between players and coach in Buffalo for a number of months culminating with a report from WGR550 radio today that Eichel won't sign a contract extension if Bylsma is retained as head coach. From WGR's Paul Hamilton, "Inside sources have told me that Eichel has no desire to sign a contract extension this summer if Bylsma remains the coach."
Eichel was drafted second-overall in 2015 after the Sabres and is the future of the franchise. He was the last player Murray talked with during last week's exit interviews and when the GM talked to the press a few hours later, he never gave an endorsement of Bylsma as the head coach moving forward. "He's my coach today," said Murray at the time before qualifying it later saying that things could change.
That change could be as early as today after Murray is finished meeting with the Pegula's.
Peter Fish, Eichel's agent, called the report "ridiculous" via John Vogl of the Buffalo News. “I don’t know where anyone is getting these reports, but they are ridiculous in a word,” Fish told Vogl. “Jack, he left Buffalo, he thought he had a real good meeting with coach Bylsma and a real good meeting with Murray. When he got home to Boston, he was genuinely excited with the thoughts that maybe they’re just a few players away from getting into the playoffs."
Not being in the playoffs might be a particular thorn in Eichel's side this season as he watches his contemporaries--Connor McDavid (2015, first-overall, EDM) and Auston Matthews (2016, first-overall, TOR)--battling it out in the post-season for the first time in their careers. The 20 yr. old Eichel has a competitive spirit and hatred to lose not seen in Buffalo since "The Dominator," Dominik Hasek ruled the crease, the last time the Sabres made it to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1999.
"He's an extremely, extremely, competitive kid who hates to lose, he just hates it," Fish said. "He's just sitting there at the podium after a long season, World Cup, ankle injury, he missed the playoffs and he's got microphones in his face. Yes, his frustration level is there, but it's his frustration. He didn't get the team to the playoffs and he's frustrated and he wants to do better."
For some reason known only to those inside of the locker room, supposedly Eichel and a band of younger players tuned Bylsma out at some point. Veteran players were more apt to publicly say that they're professionals and they showed it on the ice by strictly adhering to Bylsma's system, but the big knock against Bylsma being rumored was that his system was too rigid and that his devotion to X's and O's created a disconnect that didn't resonate with the younger players, especially a talent like Eichel.
It's the second time that this has happened in Bylsma's two coaching stints.
Bylsma took over the Pittsburgh Penguins mid-season in 2009 and coached the team to the Stanley Cup that season. From thence came a decline and a gradual disconnect between Bylsma and his star players.
Here's what Chris Peters of cbssport.com wrote and thanks to our very own I'm That Guy, who posted the link and the following quote in the last thread:
"There are a lot of reports and rumors swirling that Pittsburgh Penguins coach Dan Bylsma’s days with the club are numbered and will get his walking papers any day now. One of the reasons, as reported by Rob Rossi of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review was that there was a disconnect between the team and its head coach, most notably between captain Sidney Crosby and Bylsma.
More from Rossi:
Crosby and Malkin felt they needed one another this season when they grew frustrated with Bylsma, the sources said.
Crosby and Malkin grew disenchanted with perceived harsh criticism they received from Bylsma during meetings, the sources said. They and other veteran players were unhappy with Bylsma's numerous meetings and long practices and the decreasing sense of fun within the Penguins' environment, the sources said.
Ownership believed Bylsma lost the dressing room this season, specifically the support of Crosby and Malkin, the sources said."
About the only thing missing from recent reports of disconnect in Buffalo was the "sense of fun" part. But anyone who watched this team through the last few months of the season could tell that this group of players lumbered through games often times with minimal passion.
Right now the Sabres have themselves a soap opera on their hands and it's sure to get noticed throughout the hockey world. Is it bad press? We shall see as there's a number of ways one could look at the situation.
Simply put, if the Sabres have any doubts about where this team will end up with Bylsma in charge, they need to pull the plug now. Murray is probably of the same thought as a disenchanted face of the franchise and/or a slow start to next season putting them in jeopardy of missing the playoffs again will probably mean a pink slip heading his way.
These are the days of our lives in Sabreland.
The old adage in Hollywood is "there's no such thing as bad press." Well, the Buffalo Sabres are certainly going to test that. It wasn't bad enough that they were chasited relentlessly for "the tank," and that this year their season went caput while two contemporary teams made the playoffs, now the team needs to deal with internal issues between a marquis player and the coach. Oh, and the backdrop has the Sabres missing the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season while the NHL's Buffalo Bills just finished a 17th season outside the playoffs.
This may be a job for Sean Spicer.
Buffalo Sabres GM Tim Murray scheduled to meet with ownership today, there's a question as to what kind of remarks he'll be packing in his briefcase when he opens it up for Terry and Kim Pegula. Murray finished his end-of-season interviews with the players and hit the podium for the presser with question marks all over the place. He began by taking full responsibility for what he called "a very disappointing season" but distributed some of the blame to coaches and players. It was the second season Buffalo missed the playoffs with this core group of players and the second with coach Dan Bylsma on the bench.
Bylsma had the team Murray built at his disposal and finished with a worse record than the previous season. A shored up forward ranks and a full season of health from goaltender Robin Lehner wasn't enough to offset a weak defense, undermanned bottom-six and a number of long-term injuries to key players. Among the injured was franchise center Jack Eichel who missed the first 21 games of the 2016-17 season. However, the biggest problem may have had less to do with the above and more to do with rumors that Bylsma lost control of the room somewhere along the way.
There had been reports of a disconnect between players and coach in Buffalo for a number of months culminating with a report from WGR550 radio today that Eichel won't sign a contract extension if Bylsma is retained as head coach. From WGR's Paul Hamilton, "Inside sources have told me that Eichel has no desire to sign a contract extension this summer if Bylsma remains the coach."
Eichel was drafted second-overall in 2015 after the Sabres and is the future of the franchise. He was the last player Murray talked with during last week's exit interviews and when the GM talked to the press a few hours later, he never gave an endorsement of Bylsma as the head coach moving forward. "He's my coach today," said Murray at the time before qualifying it later saying that things could change.
That change could be as early as today after Murray is finished meeting with the Pegula's.
Peter Fish, Eichel's agent, called the report "ridiculous" via John Vogl of the Buffalo News. “I don’t know where anyone is getting these reports, but they are ridiculous in a word,” Fish told Vogl. “Jack, he left Buffalo, he thought he had a real good meeting with coach Bylsma and a real good meeting with Murray. When he got home to Boston, he was genuinely excited with the thoughts that maybe they’re just a few players away from getting into the playoffs."
Not being in the playoffs might be a particular thorn in Eichel's side this season as he watches his contemporaries--Connor McDavid (2015, first-overall, EDM) and Auston Matthews (2016, first-overall, TOR)--battling it out in the post-season for the first time in their careers. The 20 yr. old Eichel has a competitive spirit and hatred to lose not seen in Buffalo since "The Dominator," Dominik Hasek ruled the crease, the last time the Sabres made it to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1999.
"He's an extremely, extremely, competitive kid who hates to lose, he just hates it," Fish said. "He's just sitting there at the podium after a long season, World Cup, ankle injury, he missed the playoffs and he's got microphones in his face. Yes, his frustration level is there, but it's his frustration. He didn't get the team to the playoffs and he's frustrated and he wants to do better."
For some reason known only to those inside of the locker room, supposedly Eichel and a band of younger players tuned Bylsma out at some point. Veteran players were more apt to publicly say that they're professionals and they showed it on the ice by strictly adhering to Bylsma's system, but the big knock against Bylsma being rumored was that his system was too rigid and that his devotion to X's and O's created a disconnect that didn't resonate with the younger players, especially a talent like Eichel.
It's the second time that this has happened in Bylsma's two coaching stints.
Bylsma took over the Pittsburgh Penguins mid-season in 2009 and coached the team to the Stanley Cup that season. From thence came a decline and a gradual disconnect between Bylsma and his star players.
Here's what Chris Peters of cbssport.com wrote and thanks to our very own I'm That Guy, who posted the link and the following quote in the last thread:
"There are a lot of reports and rumors swirling that Pittsburgh Penguins coach Dan Bylsma’s days with the club are numbered and will get his walking papers any day now. One of the reasons, as reported by Rob Rossi of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review was that there was a disconnect between the team and its head coach, most notably between captain Sidney Crosby and Bylsma.
More from Rossi:
Crosby and Malkin felt they needed one another this season when they grew frustrated with Bylsma, the sources said.
Crosby and Malkin grew disenchanted with perceived harsh criticism they received from Bylsma during meetings, the sources said. They and other veteran players were unhappy with Bylsma's numerous meetings and long practices and the decreasing sense of fun within the Penguins' environment, the sources said.
Ownership believed Bylsma lost the dressing room this season, specifically the support of Crosby and Malkin, the sources said."
About the only thing missing from recent reports of disconnect in Buffalo was the "sense of fun" part. But anyone who watched this team through the last few months of the season could tell that this group of players lumbered through games often times with minimal passion.
Right now the Sabres have themselves a soap opera on their hands and it's sure to get noticed throughout the hockey world. Is it bad press? We shall see as there's a number of ways one could look at the situation.
Simply put, if the Sabres have any doubts about where this team will end up with Bylsma in charge, they need to pull the plug now. Murray is probably of the same thought as a disenchanted face of the franchise and/or a slow start to next season putting them in jeopardy of missing the playoffs again will probably mean a pink slip heading his way.
These are the days of our lives in Sabreland.
Wednesday, April 19, 2017
On coaches, the Sabres and the Leafs
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 4-18-2017
Bucky Gleason has a very cool article in the Buffalo News today about the coaching carousel in the NHL which, he writes, is enough to make one's head spin. With Sabres head coach Dan Bylsma's status up in the air as he awaits the result of a GM/Ownership meeting this week, there is the possibility that the Sabres will have yet another coaching change, the fourth one since Lindy Ruff was fired. Ruff's tenure lasted just about 17 seasons and at the time of his firing was a part of the longest tenured head coach/GM tandem in the NHL.
But Ruff and GM Darcy Regier's long-time tenure is the anomaly in a league where coaches are hired to be fired, as the old adage goes. Professional sports is about immediacy and hockey is no different these days.
Gleason sets the ball rolling by starting with present St. Louis head coach Mike Yeo and does a Chronicles-like unwinding of the many coaches hired and fired. It's a pretty noble piece that moves well and in the end the simple conclusion is that there are three possibilities that preclude a coach being fired: "A) the general manager needed a scapegoat for a lousy roster he assembled because, heaven forbid, it's the GM's fault; B) the coach's message grew stale; C) players underachieved."
He concludes with "the most common factor is D) All of the above," which seems to be where Bylsma and the Sabres are at this point.
GM Tim Murray's 2016-17 team was flawed, maybe fatally although maybe not because of injuries. That's what he and owners Terry and Kim Pegula will be discussing when they meet in Boca Raton, FL this week to discuss the season. We also know that there was a disconnect between Bylsma and his players. How long this disconnect existed is up for debate but it could go back to the middle of December when disturbing trends on a team getting healthy again were starting to make their way into the picture.
And, no doubt, there were players that underachieved, most notably on defense and in the bottom-six. However, the top-six performed very well, at least statistically. Even Sam Reinhart surpassed his rookie output this season.
Something just wasn't right this season for Buffalo which brings it all back on the coach.
Gleason uses Buffalo captain Brian Gionta as a way go hoist some of the blame on the players. The supposed disconnect between Bylsma and the players had a lot to do with the coaches system, to which Gionta said two months ago that coaching systems didn't vary all that much in the NHL. Gleason writes, " It was the 15-year veteran's way of saying most teams approach the game in similar fashion and, therefore, his younger teammates and others needed to stop whining about Dan Bylsma," then concludes, "there are no secrets in the NHL. Hockey always has been, and forever shall be, an effort sport."
All of that is true, and motivating players to play their hardest in an "effort sport" apparently isn't one of Bylsma's strong points, at least with this team.
Former head coach Ted Nolan was a supreme motivator who employed (at most) basic X's and O's principles while touting the value of hard work, effort and accountability. His teams almost always overachieved yet he was always ridiculed as a dinosaur with no value in the modern NHL.
Yet, as Sabres fans watch the Stanley Cup playoffs for the sixth year in a row, it's not hard imagining a Nolan-coached team easily eclipsing the 78-point total that Bylsma's system-oriented team gathered.
And even if they didn't, there's one thing we Sabres fans could be pretty sure of.
When the Sabres met the Leafs for the final time this season at KeyBank Center with Toronto battling for a playoff spot and Buffalo in the role of spoiler, I'd almost bet the farm that a Nolan-coached team wouldn't have laid the colossal egg this team did in the embarrassment of that game. He'd have reveled in that playoff-like atmosphere.
*****
Speaking of that game.
Toronto eeked into the playoffs by one point. Buffalo had played a highly motivated game against the Leafs 10 days prior at KeyBank and totally manhandled them 5-2. Beating the Leafs again may have put them on the ropes to where they'd have missed out on the playoffs.
It didn't happen and much to the dismay of many a Buffalo sports fan, not only is Toronto in the playoffs, but they're leading the top-seed Washington Capitals 2-1 in the series. If a Sabres fan wants to beat his or her head every time they watch the Leafs this post season, they should do so against a 2016-17 Buffalo Sabres team picture.
*****
I get the consternation of Toronto in the playoff and as a Sabres fan I will always wish them to lose, expecting the same in return.
But when the anguish of a distraught fan comes in the form of "a little rant of 20+ reasons the Leafs have me bitter and salty," perhaps we're taking it a little too far.
When WGR550 morning host Jeremy White began is rant, I and every other Sabres fan can relate, but on the other hand, I get a kick out of watching Leaf Nation celebrate every goal as if it was the Stanley Cup winner.
The Leafs are a fun team to watch and it's good for the NHL as a whole that they're relevant again. Does it hurt a bit? Yeah, it does. Do I want to slit my wrists? Far from it.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. Toronto was the epitome of health this season and I'd bet the house that if Auston Matthews was injured for 21 games to start the season like Jack Eichel was, they wouldn't be in the playoffs. In fact if they also lost William Nylander and Mitch Marner like Buffalo lost Evander Kane and Ryan O'Reilly, they'd probably not be in the playoffs.
Everything went perfect for the Leafs this season and more power to them. And it's great for the NHL that in it's 100th Anniversary season, Toronto is back in the playoffs.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Bucky Gleason has a very cool article in the Buffalo News today about the coaching carousel in the NHL which, he writes, is enough to make one's head spin. With Sabres head coach Dan Bylsma's status up in the air as he awaits the result of a GM/Ownership meeting this week, there is the possibility that the Sabres will have yet another coaching change, the fourth one since Lindy Ruff was fired. Ruff's tenure lasted just about 17 seasons and at the time of his firing was a part of the longest tenured head coach/GM tandem in the NHL.
But Ruff and GM Darcy Regier's long-time tenure is the anomaly in a league where coaches are hired to be fired, as the old adage goes. Professional sports is about immediacy and hockey is no different these days.
Gleason sets the ball rolling by starting with present St. Louis head coach Mike Yeo and does a Chronicles-like unwinding of the many coaches hired and fired. It's a pretty noble piece that moves well and in the end the simple conclusion is that there are three possibilities that preclude a coach being fired: "A) the general manager needed a scapegoat for a lousy roster he assembled because, heaven forbid, it's the GM's fault; B) the coach's message grew stale; C) players underachieved."
He concludes with "the most common factor is D) All of the above," which seems to be where Bylsma and the Sabres are at this point.
GM Tim Murray's 2016-17 team was flawed, maybe fatally although maybe not because of injuries. That's what he and owners Terry and Kim Pegula will be discussing when they meet in Boca Raton, FL this week to discuss the season. We also know that there was a disconnect between Bylsma and his players. How long this disconnect existed is up for debate but it could go back to the middle of December when disturbing trends on a team getting healthy again were starting to make their way into the picture.
And, no doubt, there were players that underachieved, most notably on defense and in the bottom-six. However, the top-six performed very well, at least statistically. Even Sam Reinhart surpassed his rookie output this season.
Something just wasn't right this season for Buffalo which brings it all back on the coach.
Gleason uses Buffalo captain Brian Gionta as a way go hoist some of the blame on the players. The supposed disconnect between Bylsma and the players had a lot to do with the coaches system, to which Gionta said two months ago that coaching systems didn't vary all that much in the NHL. Gleason writes, " It was the 15-year veteran's way of saying most teams approach the game in similar fashion and, therefore, his younger teammates and others needed to stop whining about Dan Bylsma," then concludes, "there are no secrets in the NHL. Hockey always has been, and forever shall be, an effort sport."
All of that is true, and motivating players to play their hardest in an "effort sport" apparently isn't one of Bylsma's strong points, at least with this team.
Former head coach Ted Nolan was a supreme motivator who employed (at most) basic X's and O's principles while touting the value of hard work, effort and accountability. His teams almost always overachieved yet he was always ridiculed as a dinosaur with no value in the modern NHL.
Yet, as Sabres fans watch the Stanley Cup playoffs for the sixth year in a row, it's not hard imagining a Nolan-coached team easily eclipsing the 78-point total that Bylsma's system-oriented team gathered.
And even if they didn't, there's one thing we Sabres fans could be pretty sure of.
When the Sabres met the Leafs for the final time this season at KeyBank Center with Toronto battling for a playoff spot and Buffalo in the role of spoiler, I'd almost bet the farm that a Nolan-coached team wouldn't have laid the colossal egg this team did in the embarrassment of that game. He'd have reveled in that playoff-like atmosphere.
*****
Speaking of that game.
Toronto eeked into the playoffs by one point. Buffalo had played a highly motivated game against the Leafs 10 days prior at KeyBank and totally manhandled them 5-2. Beating the Leafs again may have put them on the ropes to where they'd have missed out on the playoffs.
It didn't happen and much to the dismay of many a Buffalo sports fan, not only is Toronto in the playoffs, but they're leading the top-seed Washington Capitals 2-1 in the series. If a Sabres fan wants to beat his or her head every time they watch the Leafs this post season, they should do so against a 2016-17 Buffalo Sabres team picture.
*****
I get the consternation of Toronto in the playoff and as a Sabres fan I will always wish them to lose, expecting the same in return.
But when the anguish of a distraught fan comes in the form of "a little rant of 20+ reasons the Leafs have me bitter and salty," perhaps we're taking it a little too far.
When WGR550 morning host Jeremy White began is rant, I and every other Sabres fan can relate, but on the other hand, I get a kick out of watching Leaf Nation celebrate every goal as if it was the Stanley Cup winner.
The Leafs are a fun team to watch and it's good for the NHL as a whole that they're relevant again. Does it hurt a bit? Yeah, it does. Do I want to slit my wrists? Far from it.
I've said it before and I'll say it again. Toronto was the epitome of health this season and I'd bet the house that if Auston Matthews was injured for 21 games to start the season like Jack Eichel was, they wouldn't be in the playoffs. In fact if they also lost William Nylander and Mitch Marner like Buffalo lost Evander Kane and Ryan O'Reilly, they'd probably not be in the playoffs.
Everything went perfect for the Leafs this season and more power to them. And it's great for the NHL that in it's 100th Anniversary season, Toronto is back in the playoffs.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
Of the captaincy--Jack Eichel or Ryan O'Reilly
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 4-17-2017
There’s an amount of respect that should be given beat writers and media members who follow sports teams. Although this shouldn’t be confused with journalists covering human suffering in all it’s ghastly shapes and forms or those who are on the beat covering political processes that affect the vast constituency woven into our American fabric, sports journalists have a job to do and their sole focus upon the team(s) they cover is their livelihood.
Being a sports journalist in Buffalo has been particularly difficult, relatively speaking, when you consider that the Bills have been the laughingstock of the NFL for nearly the entirety of their 17-year playoff drought and the Sabres are beginning to enter snicker-territory as they just finished their six consecutive season outside of the playoffs. The Bills cast a particular pall over the Buffalo sports scene with their run of mediocrity while the Sabres took the dive away from middle of the road and were left to spin their wheels while supposedly climbing their way out of the basement of the league. A 25th place finish tells us that their not quite there yet.
So when a beat reporter or columnist opines about anything Bills or Sabres related, it's easy for us as fans to look at a piece and immediately have our emotions run the gamut anywhere from shrugging it off to ripping it to shreds.
In particular, the latest news hitting the Sabres, other than a "very disappointing season," in the words of GM Tim Murray, is the future of the captaincy for the team. There are many who say that being named captain is more of an honor and has very little to do with leading the team as all are expected to be professionals and play the game to their capabilities on a nightly basis. That may be true in the other major professional sports but I think of the captain of an NHL team directly contributes to successes and failures as they tend to embrace and/or define a franchise
There’s an amount of respect that should be given beat writers and media members who follow sports teams. Although this shouldn’t be confused with journalists covering human suffering in all it’s ghastly shapes and forms or those who are on the beat covering political processes that affect the vast constituency woven into our American fabric, sports journalists have a job to do and their sole focus upon the team(s) they cover is their livelihood.
Being a sports journalist in Buffalo has been particularly difficult, relatively speaking, when you consider that the Bills have been the laughingstock of the NFL for nearly the entirety of their 17-year playoff drought and the Sabres are beginning to enter snicker-territory as they just finished their six consecutive season outside of the playoffs. The Bills cast a particular pall over the Buffalo sports scene with their run of mediocrity while the Sabres took the dive away from middle of the road and were left to spin their wheels while supposedly climbing their way out of the basement of the league. A 25th place finish tells us that their not quite there yet.
So when a beat reporter or columnist opines about anything Bills or Sabres related, it's easy for us as fans to look at a piece and immediately have our emotions run the gamut anywhere from shrugging it off to ripping it to shreds.
In particular, the latest news hitting the Sabres, other than a "very disappointing season," in the words of GM Tim Murray, is the future of the captaincy for the team. There are many who say that being named captain is more of an honor and has very little to do with leading the team as all are expected to be professionals and play the game to their capabilities on a nightly basis. That may be true in the other major professional sports but I think of the captain of an NHL team directly contributes to successes and failures as they tend to embrace and/or define a franchise
Monday, April 17, 2017
Amerks end tough season on a sour note, but some bright spots emerge
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 4-16-2017
After making huge strides last season as the Buffalo Sabres emerged from two years at the bottom of the league with a season of progress before they took a step back this season. Among the issues that plagued Buffalo this season were key injuries, player/coach disconnect, vet/youngin disconnect, a weak defense-corps and severe lack of depth. Outside of disconnects on the Sabres, a troublesome aspect of the entire organization was lack of depth which was exposed when injuries hit hard, especially on defense and in addition to defensive woes in Buffalo, the Rochester Americans ended up feeling the brunt of it.
Whatever depth the Sabres had this season was stretched thin, something that didn't bode well for Rochester. It's a problem that's not unique to the Sabres/Amerks as an NHL club is constantly tapping into the farm team when injuries strike. With injuries mounting on the Buffalo blueline, the Sabres got help in the form of defensemen Justin Falk and Taylor Fedun, Rochesters top pairing. Both were called up in the middle of November and stuck with the Sabres well into December.
From November 12 when Fedun joined Falk in Buffalo to December 17 when he was sent back to Rochester, the Amerks went 4-11-1, were outscored by a 35-57 margin, were outshot 526 to 423 as a defense-corps of Casey Nelson, Eric Burgdoerfer, Brady Austin, Paul Geiger and Mac Bennett, and Brycen Martin, among others, were overwhelmed and undermanned. Rochester went from a middle of the pack 5-5-0 team to the lower levels of the conference.
The thin defense corps left goaltenders Linus Ullmark, John Muse, Jason Kasdorf and Jonas Johansson as ducks in a shooting gallery all season long. Ullmark had a pretty strong season for the Amerks going 26-27-2 with a 2.87 GAA and .909 SV%. He faced a league-high 1,678 shots while his 1,525 saves also were tops. Of note for those of us in Sabreland who watch shootout struggles from Buffalo's goaltending duo, Ullmark stopped 10 of 14 shootout attempts for a .714 SV%.
The Amerks were shut out 3-0 by the Albany Devils (NJD) last night and finished the season with a good stretch going 8-4-1 in the final 13 games. That included a 5-3 home win the prior night against the Devils to close out the home portion of the season. A couple of players also left the ice on the upswing. Forward Nick Baptiste finished with nine points (5+4) in his final eight games and Justin Bailey had seven points (4+3) in his last 10. Both will be expected to make a strong push for the Sabres roster next season as will forward Evan Rodrigues who played very well in his 30 games with Buffalo. Although four goals and two assists isn't mind-blowing Rodrigues held his own in a bottom-six role while showing he has the tools to stick with the big club.
Falk ended up playing 52 games for the Sabres and earned a contract extension from Murray in the process. Fedun is an unrestricted free agent and may be looking for greener pastures after he displayed solid two-way acumen at the NHL-level as his seven assists and plus-3 rating in 27 games would indicate. We're no sure if any bridges were burned this season, but he'd be a nice re-sign for the club.
When the team went in the tank for two seasons, the roster on both clubs was left in shambles. Murray began filling his NHL club with talent, but acquiring that talent sometimes meant plucking prospects from the farm system. That depleted system, especially on the blueline, really hurt this season and it will take more than one off season to address it properly. We can expect an influx of draft picks and free agents to make their way to Rochester this summer but how many and how much of an impact they will make is to be determined.
The Amerks recently signed defenseman Anthony Florentino (2013, 143rd-overall) to an AHL contract and he looks to be a solid defender. "Flo" spent the last five games of the season with Rochester and was an even plus/minus. Up front they'll have Alexander Nylander in a scorers role should he not be able to crack the lineup and in goal, Johansson looks to be the starter next season as Ullmark looks to be NHL-bound.
Although it's not all doom and gloom over there, a 25th place finish in the league for Rochester isn't' exactly rainbows, unicorns and jujus either. Murray has a lot of work to do with both clubs this off season and building quality depth in Rochester is something that won't be overlooked.
After making huge strides last season as the Buffalo Sabres emerged from two years at the bottom of the league with a season of progress before they took a step back this season. Among the issues that plagued Buffalo this season were key injuries, player/coach disconnect, vet/youngin disconnect, a weak defense-corps and severe lack of depth. Outside of disconnects on the Sabres, a troublesome aspect of the entire organization was lack of depth which was exposed when injuries hit hard, especially on defense and in addition to defensive woes in Buffalo, the Rochester Americans ended up feeling the brunt of it.
Whatever depth the Sabres had this season was stretched thin, something that didn't bode well for Rochester. It's a problem that's not unique to the Sabres/Amerks as an NHL club is constantly tapping into the farm team when injuries strike. With injuries mounting on the Buffalo blueline, the Sabres got help in the form of defensemen Justin Falk and Taylor Fedun, Rochesters top pairing. Both were called up in the middle of November and stuck with the Sabres well into December.
From November 12 when Fedun joined Falk in Buffalo to December 17 when he was sent back to Rochester, the Amerks went 4-11-1, were outscored by a 35-57 margin, were outshot 526 to 423 as a defense-corps of Casey Nelson, Eric Burgdoerfer, Brady Austin, Paul Geiger and Mac Bennett, and Brycen Martin, among others, were overwhelmed and undermanned. Rochester went from a middle of the pack 5-5-0 team to the lower levels of the conference.
The thin defense corps left goaltenders Linus Ullmark, John Muse, Jason Kasdorf and Jonas Johansson as ducks in a shooting gallery all season long. Ullmark had a pretty strong season for the Amerks going 26-27-2 with a 2.87 GAA and .909 SV%. He faced a league-high 1,678 shots while his 1,525 saves also were tops. Of note for those of us in Sabreland who watch shootout struggles from Buffalo's goaltending duo, Ullmark stopped 10 of 14 shootout attempts for a .714 SV%.
The Amerks were shut out 3-0 by the Albany Devils (NJD) last night and finished the season with a good stretch going 8-4-1 in the final 13 games. That included a 5-3 home win the prior night against the Devils to close out the home portion of the season. A couple of players also left the ice on the upswing. Forward Nick Baptiste finished with nine points (5+4) in his final eight games and Justin Bailey had seven points (4+3) in his last 10. Both will be expected to make a strong push for the Sabres roster next season as will forward Evan Rodrigues who played very well in his 30 games with Buffalo. Although four goals and two assists isn't mind-blowing Rodrigues held his own in a bottom-six role while showing he has the tools to stick with the big club.
Falk ended up playing 52 games for the Sabres and earned a contract extension from Murray in the process. Fedun is an unrestricted free agent and may be looking for greener pastures after he displayed solid two-way acumen at the NHL-level as his seven assists and plus-3 rating in 27 games would indicate. We're no sure if any bridges were burned this season, but he'd be a nice re-sign for the club.
When the team went in the tank for two seasons, the roster on both clubs was left in shambles. Murray began filling his NHL club with talent, but acquiring that talent sometimes meant plucking prospects from the farm system. That depleted system, especially on the blueline, really hurt this season and it will take more than one off season to address it properly. We can expect an influx of draft picks and free agents to make their way to Rochester this summer but how many and how much of an impact they will make is to be determined.
The Amerks recently signed defenseman Anthony Florentino (2013, 143rd-overall) to an AHL contract and he looks to be a solid defender. "Flo" spent the last five games of the season with Rochester and was an even plus/minus. Up front they'll have Alexander Nylander in a scorers role should he not be able to crack the lineup and in goal, Johansson looks to be the starter next season as Ullmark looks to be NHL-bound.
Although it's not all doom and gloom over there, a 25th place finish in the league for Rochester isn't' exactly rainbows, unicorns and jujus either. Murray has a lot of work to do with both clubs this off season and building quality depth in Rochester is something that won't be overlooked.
Sunday, April 16, 2017
Would Murray gamble on a first-time coach with his job on the line?
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 4-14-2017
Tim Murray's end of season presser was hardly vote of confidence for his head coach after a "very disappointing" Buffalo Sabres season, but then again, he said nothing of moving on from Dan Bylsma either. Murray even said that he "hadn't had any thoughts of firing him" as well. Yet the door was left open as Murray still has a meeting with ownership next week.
"He's the coach today," said Murray of Bylsma, "like I'm the GM today. There's going to be a review top to bottom.
"The reason I always say today is that something could happen tomorrow."
Murray has been general manager since January, 2014 which is a little over three seasons. He began his tenure with the continued tear-down of the previous roster, and drafted forward Sam Reinhart second-overall in his first-ever draft as GM. He's on his second head coach and has reworked his lineup somewhat to his liking. There have been failures along the way and places where he could have done better with the bottom line being, his team regressed this season.
When he goes in with his "book full of notes" to discuss this past season, Murray will make his case to ownership. No doubt he'll point to injuries that felled Jack Eichel for the first 21 games as well as a host of others, but owner Terry Pegula will probably focus upon the stumbling that took place after Eichel, and Evander Kane and Ryan O'Reilly were back in the lineup for the last five or so months of the season.
That's where Bylsma comes into play.
The Sabres fell apart post bye week but there were cracks and fissures noticeable before that. Those cracks stemmed from a disconnect between some players and the coaching staff--between the players abilities on the ice and the rigid system Bylsma employed. Murray framed the disconnect this way, "I think that maybe [the coaches] are stuck in that (video) room and maybe they could put a coffee in their hand once in a while and do two hours of video instead of three and get out and get to know our players and talk to our players.
"It's about coaching individuals a little more and coaching systems a little less."
At his own end of season presser, Bylsma sais there wasn't a disconnect, but Murray had just finished player exit interviews and it would seem as if the players thought there was a chasm between themselves and the coaching staff lead by Bylsma. Amongst the most visibly irritated at the way things were going during the season was Eichel. As the future of this franchise his words hold a lot of clout with upper management and ownership and one might assume that the disconnect between him and Bylsma that we saw on the ice and that was mentioned in the media during the latter stages of the season likely came out during his exit interview. Eichel, by the way, was the last of Murray's player interviews and was said to be held just before the GM's presser on Wednesday.
There was talk in Pittsburgh that Bylsma lost the room before he was fired and it looked as if he'd lost the room in Buffalo less than two years into his tenure. Perhaps the rigid way he coaches is just the way he is which means if he's still around next season, any ill will between players and coach may will eventually manifest itself in losing ways. Bylsma has three years left on his contract and when Murray said "he's our coach today," perhaps the prevailing thought is that he'll need to get the OK from ownership that they're willing to eat the last three years before he gives Bylsma the pink slip.
If the team has serious reservations about whether Bylsma is the right man for the job, it's better if they fire him now. Waiting until the season begins severely limits the coaching pool from which to draw from. Just this week, a prime candidate in Gerard Gallant was just snatched up by the expansion Las Vegas Knights.
Gallant was a veteran coach, some would say retread, on the market and there remains another one who might be of interest to the Sabres--former Los Angeles Kings head coach Darryl Sutter.
Sutter finished his six-year run in LA with two Stanley Cups wins with the Kings including their first-ever in 2012. He has a long history of coaching that dates back to the 1992-93 season and his teams missed the playoffs only three times in his 18 years behind the bench.
When Murray took over the Sabres it seemed as if he was modeling his build after the Sutter-coached Kings as he used the term "heavy" on more than one occasion. However the game has changed and it's probably what caused Sutter and his GM Dean Lombardi, to get canned. After struggling for two seasons, Murray himself is devoting more of his focus to "speed and transition" which may leave Sutter out of the equation.
Regardless of NHL styles, hiring a veteran coach would be safe for Murray. Perhaps the ideal one would have been Gallant who guided a young, up-and-coming Florida Panthers team to a 103 points and a division crown two years ago. With him gone, as well as another well known coaching retread in Ken Hitchcock, the last of the big-name vets that might be appealing to Buffalo would be Sutter.
Then again, there are two young coaches that will in the very least get long looks from teams with coaching vacancies.
Former Sabre and NHL Hall of Fame defenseman Phil Housley has been working his way up the coaching ladder having been hired as a Nashville Predators assistant after he coached Team USA to the gold medal at the 2013 World Juniors in Ufa, Russia. The captain of that USA team was Buffalo Sabers defenseman, Jake McCabe. From Preds GM David Poile, "Phil brings a unique skill set to our coaching staff. He was one of the most talented offensive defensemen to play in the NHL, and he has worked extensively with young players during his coaching career. He will continue to focus his efforts on our young defensemen and assisting on the power play."
At the NCAA level is up and coming Denver University head coach Jim Montgomery who just lead the Pioneers to the 2017 NCAA championship. Montgomery team was the epitome of speed and transition and will be a hot commodity in an NHL that is all about speed and transition these days. Montgomery also has a bit of a Buffalo connection as he coached Zemgus Girgensons with the Dubuque Fighting Saints 2010-12.
Montgomery has also been working his way up the ladder. He started as an assistant at Notre Dame in 2005-06 and went to RPI for four seasons as an assistant. After three years in the USHL he was hired by Denver and since taking over the head coaching position in 2013, his Pioneers are sporting back-to-back Frozen Four appearances with a Championship this year.
Should Bylsma get fired, Murray will have a tough decision to make. Were he in this position last year he'd have a bit more wiggle room as his team was still feeling the effects of the "tank years." However, should Murray make a change, the focus would be squarely on him and there'd be a tremendous amount of pressure placed on a rookie head coach as Murray is headed into his fourth season as GM with the club.
Housley or Montgomery, or even Boston University's David Quinn, might be well worth it but it might take a couple of years for them to establish themselves. Sutter, on the other hand, would have the best chance for short-term success. Hiring Sutter and having him succeed at getting the team to the playoffs may end up saving Murray's job.
On the other hand, if Murray hired a rookie head coach, he may end up falling on the sword in the event of another team failure.
This is all speculation at this point as Bylsma's still the head coach but in the event of change, one would hope that Murray keeps the best interests of the organization in mind.
Tim Murray's end of season presser was hardly vote of confidence for his head coach after a "very disappointing" Buffalo Sabres season, but then again, he said nothing of moving on from Dan Bylsma either. Murray even said that he "hadn't had any thoughts of firing him" as well. Yet the door was left open as Murray still has a meeting with ownership next week.
"He's the coach today," said Murray of Bylsma, "like I'm the GM today. There's going to be a review top to bottom.
"The reason I always say today is that something could happen tomorrow."
Murray has been general manager since January, 2014 which is a little over three seasons. He began his tenure with the continued tear-down of the previous roster, and drafted forward Sam Reinhart second-overall in his first-ever draft as GM. He's on his second head coach and has reworked his lineup somewhat to his liking. There have been failures along the way and places where he could have done better with the bottom line being, his team regressed this season.
When he goes in with his "book full of notes" to discuss this past season, Murray will make his case to ownership. No doubt he'll point to injuries that felled Jack Eichel for the first 21 games as well as a host of others, but owner Terry Pegula will probably focus upon the stumbling that took place after Eichel, and Evander Kane and Ryan O'Reilly were back in the lineup for the last five or so months of the season.
That's where Bylsma comes into play.
The Sabres fell apart post bye week but there were cracks and fissures noticeable before that. Those cracks stemmed from a disconnect between some players and the coaching staff--between the players abilities on the ice and the rigid system Bylsma employed. Murray framed the disconnect this way, "I think that maybe [the coaches] are stuck in that (video) room and maybe they could put a coffee in their hand once in a while and do two hours of video instead of three and get out and get to know our players and talk to our players.
"It's about coaching individuals a little more and coaching systems a little less."
At his own end of season presser, Bylsma sais there wasn't a disconnect, but Murray had just finished player exit interviews and it would seem as if the players thought there was a chasm between themselves and the coaching staff lead by Bylsma. Amongst the most visibly irritated at the way things were going during the season was Eichel. As the future of this franchise his words hold a lot of clout with upper management and ownership and one might assume that the disconnect between him and Bylsma that we saw on the ice and that was mentioned in the media during the latter stages of the season likely came out during his exit interview. Eichel, by the way, was the last of Murray's player interviews and was said to be held just before the GM's presser on Wednesday.
There was talk in Pittsburgh that Bylsma lost the room before he was fired and it looked as if he'd lost the room in Buffalo less than two years into his tenure. Perhaps the rigid way he coaches is just the way he is which means if he's still around next season, any ill will between players and coach may will eventually manifest itself in losing ways. Bylsma has three years left on his contract and when Murray said "he's our coach today," perhaps the prevailing thought is that he'll need to get the OK from ownership that they're willing to eat the last three years before he gives Bylsma the pink slip.
If the team has serious reservations about whether Bylsma is the right man for the job, it's better if they fire him now. Waiting until the season begins severely limits the coaching pool from which to draw from. Just this week, a prime candidate in Gerard Gallant was just snatched up by the expansion Las Vegas Knights.
Gallant was a veteran coach, some would say retread, on the market and there remains another one who might be of interest to the Sabres--former Los Angeles Kings head coach Darryl Sutter.
Sutter finished his six-year run in LA with two Stanley Cups wins with the Kings including their first-ever in 2012. He has a long history of coaching that dates back to the 1992-93 season and his teams missed the playoffs only three times in his 18 years behind the bench.
When Murray took over the Sabres it seemed as if he was modeling his build after the Sutter-coached Kings as he used the term "heavy" on more than one occasion. However the game has changed and it's probably what caused Sutter and his GM Dean Lombardi, to get canned. After struggling for two seasons, Murray himself is devoting more of his focus to "speed and transition" which may leave Sutter out of the equation.
Regardless of NHL styles, hiring a veteran coach would be safe for Murray. Perhaps the ideal one would have been Gallant who guided a young, up-and-coming Florida Panthers team to a 103 points and a division crown two years ago. With him gone, as well as another well known coaching retread in Ken Hitchcock, the last of the big-name vets that might be appealing to Buffalo would be Sutter.
Then again, there are two young coaches that will in the very least get long looks from teams with coaching vacancies.
Former Sabre and NHL Hall of Fame defenseman Phil Housley has been working his way up the coaching ladder having been hired as a Nashville Predators assistant after he coached Team USA to the gold medal at the 2013 World Juniors in Ufa, Russia. The captain of that USA team was Buffalo Sabers defenseman, Jake McCabe. From Preds GM David Poile, "Phil brings a unique skill set to our coaching staff. He was one of the most talented offensive defensemen to play in the NHL, and he has worked extensively with young players during his coaching career. He will continue to focus his efforts on our young defensemen and assisting on the power play."
At the NCAA level is up and coming Denver University head coach Jim Montgomery who just lead the Pioneers to the 2017 NCAA championship. Montgomery team was the epitome of speed and transition and will be a hot commodity in an NHL that is all about speed and transition these days. Montgomery also has a bit of a Buffalo connection as he coached Zemgus Girgensons with the Dubuque Fighting Saints 2010-12.
Montgomery has also been working his way up the ladder. He started as an assistant at Notre Dame in 2005-06 and went to RPI for four seasons as an assistant. After three years in the USHL he was hired by Denver and since taking over the head coaching position in 2013, his Pioneers are sporting back-to-back Frozen Four appearances with a Championship this year.
Should Bylsma get fired, Murray will have a tough decision to make. Were he in this position last year he'd have a bit more wiggle room as his team was still feeling the effects of the "tank years." However, should Murray make a change, the focus would be squarely on him and there'd be a tremendous amount of pressure placed on a rookie head coach as Murray is headed into his fourth season as GM with the club.
Housley or Montgomery, or even Boston University's David Quinn, might be well worth it but it might take a couple of years for them to establish themselves. Sutter, on the other hand, would have the best chance for short-term success. Hiring Sutter and having him succeed at getting the team to the playoffs may end up saving Murray's job.
On the other hand, if Murray hired a rookie head coach, he may end up falling on the sword in the event of another team failure.
This is all speculation at this point as Bylsma's still the head coach but in the event of change, one would hope that Murray keeps the best interests of the organization in mind.
Friday, April 14, 2017
Buffalo Sabres 2016-17 Team Stats--Final
Published by hockeybuzz.com, 4-13-2017
When Buffalo Sabres GM Tim Murray meets with ownership next week he'll be packing a dossier loaded with information about the performance of head coach Dan Bylsma in the form of exit interviews with Sabres players. Mixed in with that will be Murray's personal views on Bylsma as a case will be made as to whether or not he feels the second year coach should be back for a third season.
Some of that was already revealed yesterday as Murray held a 30 minute end of season press conference and fielded questions on what he described as a "very disappointing season" for his team. He spread the blame around beginning with part of his opening statement which read, "I'm [at] the top of the food chain when it comes to hockey and I take full responsibility." He also stretched it to the players later during the question and answer session of the program when he asked rhetorically, "Where's the accountability on the players when we can't beat Colorado and Arizona (the two worst teams in the league) when we have a sniff of a playoff spot?"
A good chunk of the presser yesterday had to do with head coach Bylsma of whom Murray said, "he's my coach today," leaving him an out if his meeting with the Pegula's ends with a different view of Bylsma's future as coach.
Murray referred to injuries earlier in the season to key players like Jack Eichel, who missed 21 games as well as Evander Kane and Ryan O'Reilly, both of whom missed time during the first two months of the season. Eichel and O'Reilly finished 1-2, respectively, in points on the team this season while Kane lead the team in goals. Having them out of the lineup meant a significant shift in how Bylsma wanted to operate. Out went the hope of scoring and in came an extreme focus upon defense and goaltending--1.95 goals for/game (30th in the league) and 2.45 goals against/game (10th.)
With Eichel back in the lineup and Kane coming to life after returning a bit too soon from his four broken ribs, the Sabres ramped up their offense to finish with 2.43 g/gm, which was right where they were last season. However, it came at the expense of defense. When the team opened things up it turned on them as their shots against and goals against increased.
Therein lies the rub. There had been reports of a disconnect in the way the players felt they could play and how Bylsma wanted them to play once they got healthier. The tug of war lasted from December through February pre-bye week and the team managed to eek it's way ever so slightly up the standings but the bottom was about to drop out.
With the playoffs still in sight, the Sabres went 2-7-2 after their bye week and lost their interest as shown in the statistical drops across the board.
The only bright spot on the season was the powerplay which finished No. 1 in the league. It's the first time the Sabres had a powerplay in the top-five since they finished third in 2005-06 and it was only the second time they'd finished atop that category, the other being 1991-92, according to Sabres PR, who also pointed out the 25.4% conversion rate is third-best in franchise history and 13th best all time since 1987-88.
That said, when Murray heads into the office with the Pegula's he'll have some explaining to do as the team took a step backwards in nearly every aspect as shown below.
The numbers below added to the reported disconnect between Bylsma and his players plus some of the things Murray said yesterday like "it's about coaching individuals a little more and coaching systems a little less," makes it hard to believe Bylsma will make it through.
Until then, here are the final team stats for this season.
Buffalo Sabres Team Stats (League Rankings)...(Leader):
Wins
--October: 3 (T-23rd)...(MTL, 8)
--November: 8 (T-28th)...(MTL, NYR, 16)
--December: 13 (28th)...(CBJ, 26)
--January: 20 (T-27th)...(WSH, 33)
--February: 26 (T-23rd)...(WSH, 42)
--March: 32 (24th)...(WSH, 51)
--2016-17: 33 (25th)...(WSH, 55)
--2015-16: 35 (23rd)...(WSH, 56)
--2014-15: 23 (30th)...(ANA, 49)
Atlantic Division Standing
--October: 7th...(MTL)
--November: 8th...(MTL)
--December: 8th...(MTL)
--January: 7th...(MTL)
--February: 7th...(MTL)
--March: 7th...(MTL)
--2016-17: 8th...(MTL)
--2015-16: 7th...(FLA)
--2014-15: 8th...(MTL)
Eastern Conference Standing
--October: 12th...(MTL)
--November: 15th...(MTL)
--December: 16th...(CBJ)
--January: 15th...(WSH)
--February: 13th..(WSH)
--March: 14th...(WSH)
--2016-17: 15th...(WSH)
--2015-16: 14th...(WSH)
--2014-15: 16th...(NYR)
League standing/Points
--October: 20th/8...(MTL/17)
--November: 28th/21...(MTL/34)
--December: 28th/34...(CBJ/56)
--January: 27th/49...(WSH/72)
--February: 22nd/63...(WSH/91)
--March: 24th/76...(WSH/110)
--2016-17: 26th/78...(WSH/118)
--2015-16: 23rd/81...(WSH/120)
--2014-15: 30th/54...(NYR/113)
Points Percentage
--October: .500 (T-15th)...(MTL, .944)
--November: .477 (26th)...(MTL, .739)
--December: .472 (28th)...(CBJ, .800)
--January: .500 (24th)...(MIN, .724)
--February: .500 (T-22nd)...(WSH, .734)
--March: .494 (24th)...(WSH, .714)
--2016-17: .476 (26th)...(WSH, .720)
--2015-16: .494 (23rd)...(WSH, .732)
--2014-15: .329 (30th)...(NYR, .689)
Goal Differential
--October: -1 (16th)...(MTL, +17)
--November: -13 (25th)...(NYR, +29)
--December: -23 (27th)...(CBJ, +50)
--January: -21 (26th)...(MIN), +54)
--February: -24 (23rd)...(WSH, +73)
--March: -28 (24th)...(WSH, +75)
--2016-17: -36 (24th)...(WSH, +81)
--2015-16: -21 (20th)...(WSH, +59)
--2014-15 -113 (30th)...(NYR, +60)
Goals/Game
--October: 2.50 (21st)...(NYR, 3.89)
--November: 1.95 (30th)...(NYR, 3.67)
--December: 2.14 (28th)...(CBJ, 3.46)
--January: 2.43 (24th)...(PIT, 3.55)
--February: 2.46 (24th)...(PIT, 3.46)
--March: 2.48 (24th)...(PIT, 3.36)
--2016-17: 2.43 (24th)...(PIT, 3.39)
--2015-16: 2.43 (25th)...(DAL, 3.23)
--2014-15: 1.87 (30th)...(TBL, 3.16)
Shots/Game
--October: 27.4 (28th)...(TOR, 34.7)
--November: 29.4 (20th)...(PIT, 33.9)
--December: 29.5 (17th)...(PIT, 34.8)
--January: 29.8 (17th)...(PIT, 34.4)
--February: 29.7 (20th)...(BOS, 33.9)
--March: 30.4 (13th)...(PIT, 34.1)
--2016-17: 30.4 (15th)...(PIT, 33.5)
--2015-16: 29.5 (17th)...(PIT, 33.2)
--2014-15: 24.2 (30th)...(CHI, 33.9)
Goals-against/Game
--October: 2.50 (12th)...(MTL, 1.44)
--November: 2.45 (10th)...(SJS. 2.09)
--December: 2.67 (14th)...(MIN, 2.06)
--January: 2.78 (17th)...(WSH, 2.10)
--February: 2.79 (18th)...(WSH, 2.08)
--March: 2.79 (19th)...(WSH, 2.22)
--2016-17: 2.82 (19th)...(WSH, 2.16)
--2015-16: 2.62 (15th)...(ANA, 2.29)
--2014-15: 3.28 (29th)...(MTL, 2.24)
Shots against/Game
--October: 30.6 (20th)...(WSH, 25)
--November: 32.5 (26th)...(LAK, 25.4)
--December: 32.6 (27th)...(LAK, 25.9)
--January: 33.3 (29th)...(LAK, 25.9)
--February: 34.1 (30th)...(LAK, 26.0)
--March: 34.2 (30th)...(LAK, 26.0)
--2016-17: 34.3 (30th)...(LAK, 25.9)
--2015-16: 30.6 (22nd)...(NSH, 27.3)
--2014-15: 35.6 (30th)...(LAK, 27.0)
Powerplay
--October: 25.0 (7th)...(NSH, 35.7)
--November: 22.7 (5th)...(CBJ, 27.8)
--December: 21.6 (9th)...(CBJ, 27.4)
--January: 22.7 (5th)...(CBJ, 24.6)
--February: 22.2 (4th)...(TOR, 23.0)
--March: 25.3 (1st)
--2016-17: 24.5 (1st)
--2015-16: 18.9 (12th)...(ANA, 23.1)
--2014-15: 13.4 (30th)...(WSH, 25.3)
Penalty Kill
--October: 86.7 (7th)...(MIN, 96.2)
--November: 78.7 (25th)...(CAR, 89.7)
--December: 73.9 (30th)...(CAR, 88.8)
--January: 74.3 (29th)...(CAR, 87.8)
--February: 75.8 (29th)...(CAR, 86.0)
--March: 77.3 (26th)...(FLA, 85.7)
--2016-17: 77.6 (25th)...(BOS, 85.7)
--2015-16: 82.6 (9th)...(ANA, 87.2)
--2014-15: 75.1 (30th)...(MIN, 86.3)
Faceoff Percentage
--October: 54.7 (3rd)...(ANA, 59.3)
--November: 51.5 (5th)...(ANA, 56.8)
--December: 51.1 (9th)...(ANA, 56.0)
--January: 50.6 (11th)...(ANA, 55.1)
--February: 49.9 (14th)...(ANA, 54.7)
--March: 49.7 (16th)...(ANA, 54.6)
--2016-17: 49.6 (17th)...(ANA, 54.7)
--2015-16: 49.4 (21st)...(ARI, 54.7)
--2014-15: 44.9 (30th)...(BOS, 53.6)
When Buffalo Sabres GM Tim Murray meets with ownership next week he'll be packing a dossier loaded with information about the performance of head coach Dan Bylsma in the form of exit interviews with Sabres players. Mixed in with that will be Murray's personal views on Bylsma as a case will be made as to whether or not he feels the second year coach should be back for a third season.
Some of that was already revealed yesterday as Murray held a 30 minute end of season press conference and fielded questions on what he described as a "very disappointing season" for his team. He spread the blame around beginning with part of his opening statement which read, "I'm [at] the top of the food chain when it comes to hockey and I take full responsibility." He also stretched it to the players later during the question and answer session of the program when he asked rhetorically, "Where's the accountability on the players when we can't beat Colorado and Arizona (the two worst teams in the league) when we have a sniff of a playoff spot?"
A good chunk of the presser yesterday had to do with head coach Bylsma of whom Murray said, "he's my coach today," leaving him an out if his meeting with the Pegula's ends with a different view of Bylsma's future as coach.
Murray referred to injuries earlier in the season to key players like Jack Eichel, who missed 21 games as well as Evander Kane and Ryan O'Reilly, both of whom missed time during the first two months of the season. Eichel and O'Reilly finished 1-2, respectively, in points on the team this season while Kane lead the team in goals. Having them out of the lineup meant a significant shift in how Bylsma wanted to operate. Out went the hope of scoring and in came an extreme focus upon defense and goaltending--1.95 goals for/game (30th in the league) and 2.45 goals against/game (10th.)
With Eichel back in the lineup and Kane coming to life after returning a bit too soon from his four broken ribs, the Sabres ramped up their offense to finish with 2.43 g/gm, which was right where they were last season. However, it came at the expense of defense. When the team opened things up it turned on them as their shots against and goals against increased.
Therein lies the rub. There had been reports of a disconnect in the way the players felt they could play and how Bylsma wanted them to play once they got healthier. The tug of war lasted from December through February pre-bye week and the team managed to eek it's way ever so slightly up the standings but the bottom was about to drop out.
With the playoffs still in sight, the Sabres went 2-7-2 after their bye week and lost their interest as shown in the statistical drops across the board.
The only bright spot on the season was the powerplay which finished No. 1 in the league. It's the first time the Sabres had a powerplay in the top-five since they finished third in 2005-06 and it was only the second time they'd finished atop that category, the other being 1991-92, according to Sabres PR, who also pointed out the 25.4% conversion rate is third-best in franchise history and 13th best all time since 1987-88.
That said, when Murray heads into the office with the Pegula's he'll have some explaining to do as the team took a step backwards in nearly every aspect as shown below.
The numbers below added to the reported disconnect between Bylsma and his players plus some of the things Murray said yesterday like "it's about coaching individuals a little more and coaching systems a little less," makes it hard to believe Bylsma will make it through.
Until then, here are the final team stats for this season.
Buffalo Sabres Team Stats (League Rankings)...(Leader):
Wins
--October: 3 (T-23rd)...(MTL, 8)
--November: 8 (T-28th)...(MTL, NYR, 16)
--December: 13 (28th)...(CBJ, 26)
--January: 20 (T-27th)...(WSH, 33)
--February: 26 (T-23rd)...(WSH, 42)
--March: 32 (24th)...(WSH, 51)
--2016-17: 33 (25th)...(WSH, 55)
--2015-16: 35 (23rd)...(WSH, 56)
--2014-15: 23 (30th)...(ANA, 49)
Atlantic Division Standing
--October: 7th...(MTL)
--November: 8th...(MTL)
--December: 8th...(MTL)
--January: 7th...(MTL)
--February: 7th...(MTL)
--March: 7th...(MTL)
--2016-17: 8th...(MTL)
--2015-16: 7th...(FLA)
--2014-15: 8th...(MTL)
Eastern Conference Standing
--October: 12th...(MTL)
--November: 15th...(MTL)
--December: 16th...(CBJ)
--January: 15th...(WSH)
--February: 13th..(WSH)
--March: 14th...(WSH)
--2016-17: 15th...(WSH)
--2015-16: 14th...(WSH)
--2014-15: 16th...(NYR)
League standing/Points
--October: 20th/8...(MTL/17)
--November: 28th/21...(MTL/34)
--December: 28th/34...(CBJ/56)
--January: 27th/49...(WSH/72)
--February: 22nd/63...(WSH/91)
--March: 24th/76...(WSH/110)
--2016-17: 26th/78...(WSH/118)
--2015-16: 23rd/81...(WSH/120)
--2014-15: 30th/54...(NYR/113)
Points Percentage
--October: .500 (T-15th)...(MTL, .944)
--November: .477 (26th)...(MTL, .739)
--December: .472 (28th)...(CBJ, .800)
--January: .500 (24th)...(MIN, .724)
--February: .500 (T-22nd)...(WSH, .734)
--March: .494 (24th)...(WSH, .714)
--2016-17: .476 (26th)...(WSH, .720)
--2015-16: .494 (23rd)...(WSH, .732)
--2014-15: .329 (30th)...(NYR, .689)
Goal Differential
--October: -1 (16th)...(MTL, +17)
--November: -13 (25th)...(NYR, +29)
--December: -23 (27th)...(CBJ, +50)
--January: -21 (26th)...(MIN), +54)
--February: -24 (23rd)...(WSH, +73)
--March: -28 (24th)...(WSH, +75)
--2016-17: -36 (24th)...(WSH, +81)
--2015-16: -21 (20th)...(WSH, +59)
--2014-15 -113 (30th)...(NYR, +60)
Goals/Game
--October: 2.50 (21st)...(NYR, 3.89)
--November: 1.95 (30th)...(NYR, 3.67)
--December: 2.14 (28th)...(CBJ, 3.46)
--January: 2.43 (24th)...(PIT, 3.55)
--February: 2.46 (24th)...(PIT, 3.46)
--March: 2.48 (24th)...(PIT, 3.36)
--2016-17: 2.43 (24th)...(PIT, 3.39)
--2015-16: 2.43 (25th)...(DAL, 3.23)
--2014-15: 1.87 (30th)...(TBL, 3.16)
Shots/Game
--October: 27.4 (28th)...(TOR, 34.7)
--November: 29.4 (20th)...(PIT, 33.9)
--December: 29.5 (17th)...(PIT, 34.8)
--January: 29.8 (17th)...(PIT, 34.4)
--February: 29.7 (20th)...(BOS, 33.9)
--March: 30.4 (13th)...(PIT, 34.1)
--2016-17: 30.4 (15th)...(PIT, 33.5)
--2015-16: 29.5 (17th)...(PIT, 33.2)
--2014-15: 24.2 (30th)...(CHI, 33.9)
Goals-against/Game
--October: 2.50 (12th)...(MTL, 1.44)
--November: 2.45 (10th)...(SJS. 2.09)
--December: 2.67 (14th)...(MIN, 2.06)
--January: 2.78 (17th)...(WSH, 2.10)
--February: 2.79 (18th)...(WSH, 2.08)
--March: 2.79 (19th)...(WSH, 2.22)
--2016-17: 2.82 (19th)...(WSH, 2.16)
--2015-16: 2.62 (15th)...(ANA, 2.29)
--2014-15: 3.28 (29th)...(MTL, 2.24)
Shots against/Game
--October: 30.6 (20th)...(WSH, 25)
--November: 32.5 (26th)...(LAK, 25.4)
--December: 32.6 (27th)...(LAK, 25.9)
--January: 33.3 (29th)...(LAK, 25.9)
--February: 34.1 (30th)...(LAK, 26.0)
--March: 34.2 (30th)...(LAK, 26.0)
--2016-17: 34.3 (30th)...(LAK, 25.9)
--2015-16: 30.6 (22nd)...(NSH, 27.3)
--2014-15: 35.6 (30th)...(LAK, 27.0)
Powerplay
--October: 25.0 (7th)...(NSH, 35.7)
--November: 22.7 (5th)...(CBJ, 27.8)
--December: 21.6 (9th)...(CBJ, 27.4)
--January: 22.7 (5th)...(CBJ, 24.6)
--February: 22.2 (4th)...(TOR, 23.0)
--March: 25.3 (1st)
--2016-17: 24.5 (1st)
--2015-16: 18.9 (12th)...(ANA, 23.1)
--2014-15: 13.4 (30th)...(WSH, 25.3)
Penalty Kill
--October: 86.7 (7th)...(MIN, 96.2)
--November: 78.7 (25th)...(CAR, 89.7)
--December: 73.9 (30th)...(CAR, 88.8)
--January: 74.3 (29th)...(CAR, 87.8)
--February: 75.8 (29th)...(CAR, 86.0)
--March: 77.3 (26th)...(FLA, 85.7)
--2016-17: 77.6 (25th)...(BOS, 85.7)
--2015-16: 82.6 (9th)...(ANA, 87.2)
--2014-15: 75.1 (30th)...(MIN, 86.3)
Faceoff Percentage
--October: 54.7 (3rd)...(ANA, 59.3)
--November: 51.5 (5th)...(ANA, 56.8)
--December: 51.1 (9th)...(ANA, 56.0)
--January: 50.6 (11th)...(ANA, 55.1)
--February: 49.9 (14th)...(ANA, 54.7)
--March: 49.7 (16th)...(ANA, 54.6)
--2016-17: 49.6 (17th)...(ANA, 54.7)
--2015-16: 49.4 (21st)...(ARI, 54.7)
--2014-15: 44.9 (30th)...(BOS, 53.6)
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