Pegula's Sabres reaping what he allowed his management team to sow

Every business owner has the right to run his business the way they see fit. In sports the direct result of how it's run plays out on a yearly basis in a win/loss record and most predominantly who's left standing at the end of the playoffs. From great sports franchises like the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers under the Rooney family (six Super Bowls with only three head coaches since 1969) and the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers (11 NBA titles since 1979) under the Buss family to the struggles of the Cleveland Browns, NY Knicks, and the Buffalo Sabres, what ownership does and how they run their franchise matters.

When it comes to the Sabres, ownership had noble ideas initially but when things weren't going as planned or moving fast enough, they decided to tank in 2013-14 and, especially, in the 2014-15 season for a shot at Connor McDavid, a player that looks to be approaching a Mario Lemieux/Sidney Crosby level of play. The circular debate as to whether tanking is the best way to get the best talent most certainly will rage forever on the sandlots of social media and most will point to the Pittsburgh Penguins as a sample of success when it comes to outright tanking. They'd be correct. The '83-'84 Penguins tanked their season, drafted Lemieux and eventually won two Stanley Cups in the 90's. 

Lemieux then took a similar approach earlier this century as owner of the Penguins to save a franchise on the brink of financial ruin. From 2001 to 2004 Pittsburgh finished 26th, 29th and 30th, respectively just before the 2004-05 NHL lockout. With no season prior to the 2005 NHL Draft, the league used a weighted lottery system to determine the draft order and the Pens won the right to land Crosby. They've won three Cups since.

The word 'tank' is thrown around a lot when it comes to bad teams acquiring talent and often times it's misused to define a full rebuild. Cases are made that the Chicago Blackhawks and Los Angeles Kings, the two most cited examples, followed the tank path to their five combined Stanley Cups from 2010 to 2015, but it doesn't really fit. Those who posit that narrative point to the drafting of future Hall of Famers like Chicago's Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane as well as the Kings Drew Doughty as "fruits of a tank," yet there are major distinctions between what the Pens did for Lemieux and how those two teams were built.

While the '83-'84 Pens were openly selling their collective soul for a savior, the 'Hawks and Kings were looking to acquire talent at the top of the draft to rebuild and they were doing so in drafts where, at times, there wasn't even a consensus top overall pick. Prior to landing Toews, Chicago finished 29th in 03-'04 and then 28th in '05-'06, the year he was drafted third-overall. The following season they finished 26th but via the lottery jumped the maximum of four spots to land Patrick Kane first overall. 

The Kings finished 28th in 2006-07 and drafted fourth-overall after dropping down via the lottery and finished 29th the following season before drafting Doughty with the second pick in that 2008 NHL Draft. They were 26th-place finishers in '08-'09 and selected fifth.

One could make the case that the Toronto Maple Leafs embarked on a stealth tank to land Auston Matthews at No. 1 overall in 2016, but only two teams have lost in an overtly and defiantly proud manner in an attempt to land that savior at the top of the draft--the '83-'84 Penguins and the '14-'15 Buffalo Sabres (along with their tank-counterparts, the New Jersey Devils and Arizona Coyotes, respectively.) It worked for Pittsburgh, not so much for the Sabres.

That said, it all starts at the top with how ownership wants their franchise to be run. The Sabres followed the Pittsburgh Penguins tank model and it didn't work and now they're on the precipice of losing Jack Eichel, "the consolation prize" in the McDavid draft, along with Sam Reinhart who was selected second-overall after a tank the prior season. They're also in the midst of an NHL record-tying 10-year playoff drought and they have their second 31st place finish in the Eichel-era.

Although there were factors other than tanking that contributed to the Sabres demise under Pegula, the stench of the tank still lingers and it's doubtful we'll ever hear apologies from owner Terry Pegula, who allowed that approach. The Penguins never apologized for their tanking, Peter Pocklington and his Edmonton Oilers never apologized for skirting the 1979 NHL Draft using a "personal services contract" with Wayne Gretzky either. And God knows the storied Montreal Canadians franchise would never admit to general manager Sam Pollock hording talent and dictating expansion draft rules to build the juggernaut that was the 70's "Flying Frenchmen." Au contraire. Pollock is considered one of the greatest GM's ever. 

That's not how they do it. At least when your plan works and you win. 

The Sabres lost with that plan and they lost in a big way. The boulder is back down at the bottom of the hill and we're not sure which players will make up the roster to start rolling it back up. We're not even sure who the coach will be next season either. What we do know is this, Sabreland does not like what's transpired over the 10 years Pegula has owned this franchise and the fans proved it when Covid-19 restrictions were eased in April to allow 10% capacity (1,900) at KeyBank Center. It had been over a year since fans were allowed to see their beloved Buffalo Sabres live and only 302 people showed up.

Pegula's on the losing end of this one and he's reaping what he's sown. The fruits of his failed approach was summed up by WGR550's Paul Hamilton on Sportsnet's Halford & Brough in the Morning. "Here [the fans] blame the Pegulas," said the longtime Sabres beat writer while talking about a woeful Sabres team owned by the same family that owns a recently successful NFL team. "It's strange because the Pegulas own both teams, so they love the Pegulas when we're talking about the Buffalo Bills and they despise the Pegulas when we talk about the Buffalo Sabres. And I mean despise. I have never in my years in Buffalo covering both teams seen a team and a franchise hated as much as the Buffalo Sabres.

"The fans despise this team. They hate this team."

But hey, it's Pegula's team and he has the right to run it how he sees fit. Even if it's off a cliff.

Where's the bottom for this Buffalo Sabres franchise?

In 1956 the New York Football Giants won the NFL Championship and for five of the next six seasons they made it to the NFL championship game only to lose. Regardless of that fact the Giants were considered a model franchise but after their 14-10 loss to the Chicago Bears in the 1963 championship game, New York went 17 consecutive seasons without making the playoffs and got progressively worse (4-23-1 in 1973 and '74 combined) before stagnating well below the .500 mark until the 80's.

Football fans largely ignored the Giants and in a pre-ESPN era where game highlights were mainly shown via local news broadcasts and in Sunday pre-game or halftime shows (think Monday Night Football with a national audience,) out of sight, out of mind. As the New York football Giants continued floundering through another lost season, just when you thought it couldn't get worse, it did. On November 19, 1978 with New York up 17-12 over the Philadelphia Eagles late in the game, the 'brain'-trust on the sideline scoffed at the thought of kneeling to run out the clock and 'boldly' decided to run a complicated play. Quarterback Joe Pisarcik's handoff to Larry Csonka was flubbed and Eagles cornerback Herm Edwards scooped up the fumble for the winning touchdown.

Why this story in a blog about the Buffalo Sabres?

It's about finding the bottom.

Sabres news, some good and not so good.

First off, some really good news for NHL fans as the league is targeting a January 13th start to a 56-game NHL season. Whether or not there will be fans in the seats in any capacity remains to be seen as Coronavirus vaccine manufacturing and distribution is just beginning but there is light at the end of a tunnel and even though it's long and dark, the first steps back to a sense of normalcy have been taken.

The National Hockey League has been hit hard by the pandemic and with that we'll lead into the not-so-good news for the Buffalo Sabres this long off season before ending on some happier notes.

Financial health of the NHL and Sabres

NHL franchises took a tough hit in the Spring as the normal season was cancelled in March, but the league managed to scrape out some TV revenue with an alternative end to the regular season and a full slate of playoff games in two bubbles. The toll it took on some franchises, including the Buffalo Sabres, was pretty harsh. In it's annual listing of team values Forbes outlined the impact of the pandemic on the league:

--the average team value dropped by 2%

--the $4.4 billion in revenue from a season that was 85% completed was 14% below the prior year

--operating income was down a whopping 68% ($250 million)

The rich/poor disparity was glaring as well in a pandemic-ravaged 2019-20 season. "The league’s five most valuable teams—the New York Rangers ($1.65 billion), the Toronto Maple Leafs ($1.5 billion), the Montreal Canadiens ($1.34 billion), the Chicago Blackhawks ($1.085 billion) and the Boston Bruins ($1 billon)," wrote Forbes, "accounted for almost a quarter of the league’s revenue. Without them, the league would have lost $50 million."

Unfortunately the Sabres aren't amongst those big-market, money-machines even though they have big-money ownership in Terry and Kim Pegula. The Pegula's saw the current value of their team drop 4% to $385 million on an initial investment of $189 million in 2011. There were seven other teams in Buffalo's boat at -4% and five who fared worse at -5%.

According to Forbes, revenue for the Sabres last season was $120 million with only 10 teams below them (the NY Rangers led the league with $225 million in revenue) while operating income for Buffalo was $-11 million, which was seventh-worst in the league (the Montreal Canadiens led with $87 million on revenue of $215 million.)

Possible NHL realignment for 2020-21

Those are some big losses for Buffalo but in a tribute to the commitment the Pegula's made at their 2011 introductory press conference, management has been given the financial resources to ice a roster that will hopefully end their league long, nine-year playoff drought.

Unfortunately for the Sabres, the pandemic has forced the NHL to temporarily realign their divisions. International travel restrictions are probably giving us an all-Canadian division with the league leaning towards three regional divisions in the States. Preliminary indications has the Sabres in a group with Boston, New Jersey, NY Islanders, NY Rangers, Philadelphia and Washington along with Pittsburgh or Carolina. Only two of those teams, Buffalo and New Jersey, failed to make the expanded playoffs last year while Boston, Washington and Pittsburgh have been perennial playoff teams. Add in the Islanders, Philadelphia and Carolina as teams on the upswing and the Sabres are in a bit of a pickle.

Should the league be looking at another expanded playoff scenario of 24 teams (six from each division,) the Sabres will need to get into the top six. Boston hasn't missed the playoffs since 2015-16 and have a Stanley Cup finals appearance since then while Washington has the 2018 Stanley Cup and hasn't missed the post season since 2013-14 so putting those two at or near the top of the division isn't much of a reach. The NY Islanders made a run to the 2020 eastern conference finals while Philadelphia lost a seven-game, second round series to those same Islanders and either Pittsburgh, with their long history of making the playoffs during the entirety of the Sidney Crosby-era (2006-present, including three Cups) or an upstart Carolina franchise (two consecutive playoff appearances,) seem poised to take the fifth spot.

That leaves three teams vying for one playoff spot--the New Jersey Devils, NY Rangers and Buffalo Sabres.

Does Buffalo have the wherewithal to take that spot? Adding 2018 league MVP Taylor Hall helps, and so does trading for top-six center Eric Staal but they may need to upgrade goaltending and/or their defense corps if they want to make it.

Three Sabres make IIHF World Junior Team Canada and Team USA  squads

On a positive note, Buffalo's prospect pool is getting stronger. As noted in the previous blog their AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans, should see a sizeable influx of homegrown talent this upcoming season and behind them is another group that's making it's way through the system.

Center Dylan Cozens leads the way with the 2019, seventh-overall pick set to make his second consecutive IIHF World Junior Championship skating for Team Canada. Cozens posted nine points (2+7) in a subdued role for the tournament champion Canadian team last year and will play a larger role this year. Joining him on the squad is Buffalo's 2020, eighth-overall pick Jack Quinn. There were questions concerning Quinn and whether or not he'd make the team but he did and early projections have him skating in a top-six role for the high-profile, talent-laden Canadians.

In addition to those two forwards, it was announced today that defenseman Ryan Johnson has made Team U.S.A. Johnson, a 2019 first round pick (31st-overall) plays in the NCAA for the Minnesota Golden Gophers. 

Sabres scouting staff growing incrementally

Those three draft picks were from an amateur scouting staff that was definitively hacked in the spring as management decided to get more efficient and/or rebuild the scouting department. After going through the 2020 NHL Entry Draft with a skeleton crew, The Buffalo News reported yesterday that Anders Forsberg will rejoin the Sabres as their scout in Sweden. Forsberg had been a scout for the club from 2015-17 and is back in the fold, albeit in more of a "consulting" role, according to the News, while the also wrote that "his work will have a heavy emphasis on video."

Forsberg is the second scout brought in since the spring purge bringing their total to eight. He joins Tristan Musser, who was hired October 7 as both an amateur and pro scout, as new adds under director of scouting Jeremiah Crowe and assistant director Jason Nightingale. 

The Pegula mushroom cloud that was June 16, 2020 in Sabreland

A few days ago on June 16, the owners of the Buffalo Sabres, Terry and Kim Pegula, dropped what would become a bomb on the hockey world beginning with the announcement that general manager Jason Botterill had been fired and an in-house replacement, Senior Vice President of Business Administration, Kevyn Adams would take over the position. We wouldn't know just how big of a bomb they had just dropped on the entire hockey operations department until we witnessed the huge mushroom cloud above Washington St. later that evening.

After a 2 pm Zoom conference call going over the morning events, the Sabres announced that Botterill's right hand men, AGM's Steve Greeley and Randy Sexton, the latter being the general manager of the Rochester Americans also got the boot. Sexton's staff in Rochester were also let go as head coach Chris Taylor plus his assistants Gord Dineen and Toby Peterson were shown the door as well as 14 of the team's 21 scouts, whom we'll name here:

Ryan Jankowski, Director of Amateur Scouting

Jeff Crisp, Assistant Director of Amateur Scouting

Amateur scouts Cory Banika, Steve Cocker, Mark Ferner, Marcus Fingal, Scott Halpenny, Randy Hansch, Tom O'Connor, Ron Pyette, Matt Tiesling and Magnus Weing

Pro Scout John Van Boxmeer

Player Development Coaches Krys Barch and Mike Komisarek

Dennis Miller, Rehab and Development (Performance Dept.)

BOOOOOM!

Frank Servalli, Senior Hockey Reporter for TSN tweeted of the purge, "It's a bloodletting that may be unprecedented in #NHL history - certainly in one day by one franchise."

Sure enough. It's now Friday, the dust has settled and the crater caused by this leaves Adams as a mere speck in the chasm created.

Sabres Pegula should take note of Dr. Fauci's taking lead in Covid-19 pandemic

Far be it for me to equate sports with a life-threatening pandemic that's sweeping the globe, but when looking at the Buffalo Sabres and how the Trump administration responded to the Covid-19 pandemic, and especially with whom in their respective roles as department leaders, there are some parallels.

Prior to the NHL suspending the 2019-20 season, the Buffalo Sabres were on their way to an NHL-long ninth consecutive season outside of the playoffs. Since Terry Pegula bought the team in 2011 they've gone through a short-lived President of Hockey Operations, are on their third team president, third general manager and sixth head coach. The overall choppy results, at best, since he took over are representative of an organization that has neither found the right people nor found the right philosophy to guide the franchise out of this mess.

It's Deja vu all over again as the Sabres right now look like the Sabres of the post-Drury/Briere era

Former Buffalo Sabres general manager Darcy Regier was pretty much dead on when he was building his team for the "new NHL" prior to the 2004-05 lockout. He came out of that owner-imposed loss of a full season with a team that was poised to become the most exciting group of players in the NHL.

Regier came out of the Dominik Hasek/Michael Peca "hardest working team in hockey" era and began to build more with speed and skill as well as a focus on puck-movers on the blueline. Coming out to the lockout Chris Drury, Daniel Briere, Thomas Vanek,  Max Afinogenov, Tim Connolly, Derek Roy were either fast, skilled or a combination of both-up front while the defense had Brian Campbell, Teppo Numminen, Henrik Tallinder and Dmitri Kalinin who were noted for their skating and/or puck-moving and/or offensive abilities.

Having said that, the 2005-06 Buffalo Sabres also had some tenacity baked into the lineup with the likes of Mike Grier, JP Dumont, Jay McKee and Toni Lydman who could hold their place in the lineup while adding a ton of sandpaper to a team that had a lot of skill and finesse. That team was the surprise of the league that season and were it not for a rash of injuries on defense, they very well could have represented the east in the Stanley Cup Finals instead of the Carolina Hurricanes, who beat Buffalo in seven games in the conference finals and went on to win the Cup.

Mutual Appreciation Society (and win) brings good vibes to KeyBank Center, but...

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 4-5-2019


For Buffalo Sabres fans who emotionally detached themselves from the team during a precipitous drop the last four months, last night's final game at KeyBank Center was a feel-good opportunity and their team delivered. While the diehards took in Game-41 of their Sabres home schedule pounding down (relatively) cheap grub, playing with their Jack Eichel bobblehead and/or hoping to get in on one of the many prizes being given away, the players were busy delivering a 5-2 win over the Ottawa Senators. They appreciated the win and the Sabres on the ice appreciated the support.

Which is rather fitting because, after all, it was Fan Appreciation Night in Buffalo and an announced crowd of 17,998 cheered their team on while the Sabres reciprocated with a fun-filled win. The five goals scored by Buffalo came from five different players in five different ways:

--first-year North American pro (because he's not considered a rookie) Victor Olofsson used a one-timer on a feed from Rasmus Ristolainen to blast one in for the first goal.
--Kyle Okposo was in the right place at the right time while driving to the net to pot a carom off of a Sens player
--Eichel put on a dizzying display of puck-control before sending a tape-to-tape, no-look backhand pass from behind the net to Sam Reinhart who was all alone in the slot
--Captain Jack got in on the scoring himself when he circled from around the net to bury a rebound left in the crease
--and finally, Jason Pominville sent a harmless-looking shot on goal from along the half-wall that deflected off of an Ottawa defender and into the net.

Buffalo Sabres 2018-19 Team Stats--March. Plus Kim Pegula quote

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 4-1-2019


Buffalo Sabres team president Kim Pegula was in Arizona last week, along with husband Terry, at the NFL owner's meeting talking about learning on the job. The Pegula family owns both the Sabres and the Buffalo Bills and Kim took over the team presidencies of both clubs when Russ Brandon left the organization last May. She was asked about a number of things concerning the two franchises including all the changes as of late that have gone on at Pegula Sports and Entertainment, the umbrella company of the Sabres and Bills of which she's the president and CEO. Kim Pegula admitted that they took on a lot while in the midst of an upper-level management restructuring and when asked just how challenging it was to take on all that responsibility she told the gathered media, "I think it's fun.

"C'mon, we're in sports," she continued with happiness running through her big smile. "There's nothing more fun than being involved in sports. I'm actually really enjoying it."

Good for her. She and the Pegula family should be very happy. Being an NFL owner is like having one of 32 ATM cards where a constant supply of profits generated from television revenue and merchandise means every year they can go to the teller and cash in. Without financial worries, it also allows her to learn on the job, something which she also touched upon. "It takes a while to understand your organization and knowing things like how we want things to be structured," she said. "It's a matter of wanting to put my own stamp, not just myself but Terry and I, on the organization, how we want it to be structured and run.

"I've talked to a lot of other teams around the league asking, 'how are you doing things?' And so for me it was part of the learning process. Once Russ [Brandon] departed it has allowed me, it's just part of the whole progression of how we want things to be and how we want to make our own mark.

Sabres/Bills team president Kim Pegula, "I'm still learning." Sabres still sinking.

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 3-27-2019

While Buffalo Sabres and Bills owners Terry and Kim Pegula were in Arizona at the NFL owners meetings yesterday evening, their hockey team was busy getting embarrassed and shut out by the Ottawa Senators, the worst team in the NHL. Although Kim's thought-process while facing the Buffalo media in Arizona may have centered around being team president of the Bills, she's also team president of the Sabres.

Regardless of which professional team her thoughts were ultimately emanating from, Kim Pegula, who had no team president experience when she took over the mantle of both professional clubs, admitted to learning on the job. Which is great for her. But while she's busy "learning" about being a team president, her hockey team is busy cementing their place in the annals of NHL ignominy for having one of the worst falls in league history--from first-overall to bottom-five in a span of 51 games.

"It takes a while to just understand the organization and people behind it and how we want things to be done, how we want things to be structured," she told the Buffalo media. "I've been talking to a lot of other clubs around the league, 'how are you doing things?' And so for me it was part of the learning process….and it's just part of the whole progression of how we want things to be and how we want to make our own mark."

If the Sarbes are going to fire coach Phil Housley, might as well do it now

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 3-15-2019


Can the Buffalo Sabres rifle through three head coaches in less than four seasons?

Sure. Why not? If it isn't working, it isn't working.

Clearly it's not working for present coach Phil Housley and it looks like he might be the third coach owners Terry and Kim Pegula have gone through since the 2015 off-season. Ted Nolan was brought in for his second tour or duty as Buffalo's head coach on in November, 2013. Nolan was hired by former Hockey Ops President Pat LaFontaine who hired GM Tim Murray a couple months later. After Buffalo's tank seasons of 2013-15, Nolan was canned on April 12, 2015. Murray replaced him with a Stanley Cup winning coach in Dan Bylsma after the team missed out on landing Mike Babcock. Bylsma had a solid first season but lost the room half-way through his second season and was fired, along with Murray on April 20, 2017.

The Sabres brought in Jason Botterill who was a rookie GM in May, 2017 and he in turn hired a rookie head coach in Phil Housley. Buffalo's fortunes took a dramatic tumble as they went from 78 points in Bylsma's last season to 62 points and a last place finish in 2017-18 despite having two players who were results of their tank seasons--second-overall picks Sam Reinhart (2014) and Jack Eichel (2015.) The Sabres added to that haul with 2018 first-overall pick Rasmus Dahlin and after a promising first two months of this season, it looks as if they'll finish only marginally better than last season in the standings.

The Pegulas witness a disaster and perhaps they need a different approach

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 2-20-2019

Terry and Kim Pegula should feel very lucky they own the Buffalo Sabres and not the Florida Panthers because no matter how bad their team might be, they'll never see such a sparse crowd like was on hand last night in Sunrise, Florida. The Pegulas reside just a stone's throw away in Boca Raton and they were on hand last night as their Sabres took on the Panthers with empty seats all over the place at BB&T Center. Luckily for them, despite how bad Buffalo has been playing lately, and have played since they took over the team in 2011, the attendance is way beyond anything Florida has had.

Buffalo dropped a 4-2 decision to a Panthers team that has been in the bottom half of the conference for most of the season. It was the third loss in a row for the Sabres and third one against a team that was decidedly out of the playoff race. 

Back on the road back to "Hockey Heaven" for the Buffalo Sabres?

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 8-5-2018


Yeah, it was cheesy, and the timing of it probably wasn't the greatest but the concept behind the term "hockey heaven" from former team president Ted Black was solid.

This is what Black had to say at owner Terry Pegula's introductory press conference as the billionaire Sabres' fan-turned-owner promised no financial restraints on the franchise and a dedication to the lone goal of winning the Stanley Cup:

"A clarion call should go out to the league and to hockey players everywhere," Black said at that February 22, 2011 press conference, "that Buffalo is hockey heaven. If you want to come somewhere and work for the best owner in the league, which that's what you have in Buffalo here right now, then you should make some plans to come to Buffalo because this is where it's going to happen. It might not happen this year, it might not happen the next, but it's gonna happen."

Black was right in one aspect. It hasn't been "happening" on the ice in Buffalo in the seven years since Pegula took over the team. In fact it's been a disaster culminating with a another last place finish, their third in five years.

For his part, Pegula put his money where his mouth was but unfortunately for the first-time professional sports owner, money isn't the be-all, end-all. Having access to financial resources helps immensely but as we found out, hiring the right people to spend that money (and/or assets) properly is equally, if not more, important than throwing money around.

When Pegula took over the Sabres they were a mediocre team in a downtown area that represented a microcosm of an entire rustbelt region in decline. While he was pouring financial resources into the team which included everything from locker room renovations to the scouting department to lavish, ill-advised free agent contracts, he and his wife Kim began what would become a downtown revitalization centered around hockey.

The vacant lot adjacent to the arena where the Sabres played their home games was turned into a large hockey complex called Harborcenter. The building had two regulation-sized rinks, one that seats 1,800 people, an off-ice training facility, hotel, restaurant and parking garage.

The Pegula's threw their considerable financial weight behind Harborcenter and the sport with a strong commitment to USA hockey. That commitment actually began when Terry gave his alma mater, Penn State, a generous grant to start up a NCAA Division I hockey program. Harborcenter with his focus on USA related hockey is home to the Canisius Golden Griffins (D-I) and Buffalo Jr. Sabres as well as the Buffalo Beauts of the National Women's Hockey League.

The big coup for Pegula and Harborcenter, and what really put them on the map, was landing the National Hockey League Scouting Combine. Toronto hosted the event for over two decades but Harborcenter offered a facility built for hockey and the league moved the annual pre-draft event to Buffalo, on a temporary basis in 2016. It coincided with the city hosted the NHL Draft that year.

Yet despite all the wonderful hockey-related activity around what is now KeyBank Center, home of the Buffalo Sabres, that success did not equate to a winning product on the ice whether it was self-inflicted or a matter of a poor product.

Pegula and Black set the franchise on a course to bottom out and rebuild with top picks but it ended up being disastrous and the road to hockey heaven eventually lead to a ditch.

It began with the teardown where GM Darcy Regier did a great job of acquiring high draft picks for veteran players before getting fired. But many were tossed around as his successor, Tim Murray, tried to speed up the rebuilding process. The Sabres did get two high draft picks in Sam Reinhart (2014, second-overall) and Jack Eichel (2015, second) out of the morass that was the tank years and they look to be core pieces for years to come, but the young vets Murray paid dearly for to surround his young talent with never meshed and none of them remain.

Jason Botterill came in as general manager in 2017 and set about fixing what his predecessor had done but the team ended up in last place once again. However, the Sabres were able to land the first-overall pick in the NHL Draft and selected what many consider a franchise defenseman bordering on generational talent, Rasmus Dahlin. That pick, along with some other core pieces such as Eichel and Botterill's first ever draft pick as GM, Casey Mittelstadt, are combining to produce a positive effect that's starting to generate interest outside of Buffalo.

Case-in-point, the decision by winger Jeff Skinner to waive his no-trade clause for Buffalo.

Botterill pulled off a remarkable trade for Skinner last week when he sent prospect Cliff Pu and three draft picks (a second, third and sixth) to the Carolina Hurricanes for the three-time 30-goal scorer. Granted Skinner's no-trade clause limited his destinations and his pending 2019 UFA status limited interest in him, but for Buffalo this is a huge get, at least for this season, as Botterill filled a position of dire need with a bona fide top-six player.

When asked by the media why he chose to waive his no-trade clause to come to Buffalo, Skinner said there were a number of variables that went into breaking down an NHL team, but right off the bat the 26 yr. old pointed to the young core the Sabres had. "I think first and foremost, the players they have, the young core, is exciting," he said. "There's a lot of good players and I'm excited to join those guys and be a piece of the puzzle."

Skinner didn't limit his praise to that young core either when he talked about doing his homework which included talking to other players about the organization. "I've heard a lot of positive things about the city," said the Markham, Ontario native, "a lot positive things about the ownership group, the management group and the fans."

This isn't the first time a quality player has waived his no-trade clause to come to Buffalo but it doesn't happen that often. And before we get all giddy about hockey heaven being right around the corner, it's best to be reminded that the Sabres landed in a ditch last season and before we can get to nirvana, they've got to get back on the road.

Having said that, the things PSE have been doing off the ice have been nothing short of impressive, but as will all NHL teams, much of it is about the product on the ice. The hires of Botterill and Sexton seem like very good ones at this point as they've been able to point this thing in the right direction, which is something that Skinner took notice of when he decided to allow a trade to Buffalo. However, much more is needed for them to get to the ultimate goal of winning the Stanley Cup and without a Cup, there is no hockey heaven.

"Prime Years"--A look at the 2011 NHL Draft. Terry Pegula's first as owner

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 7-22-2018


It's been just about seven and a half years since Terry Pegula took ownership of the Buffalo Sabres on February 18, 2011. If you're a fan of seven-year cycles, then the new one for him and his team is punctuated by the drafting of 2018 first-overall draft pick, Rasmus Dahlin.

To get to that point, however, Pegula's Sabres had an atrocious season on their way to a last place finish but were lucky enough to win the NHL's Draft Lottery to secure the right to draft what many consider to be the best d-prospect possibly dating back 45 years. Hockey Hall of Famer Denis Potvin was drafted first-overall by NY Islanders in 1973, was named captain of the team for the 1979-80 season and lead them to four consecutive Stanley Cups (1980-83.)

But as Dahlin begins a new seven-year cycle for the Sabres, those first seven years under Pegula were fraught with dysfunction and dismay as the first time pro sports owner struggled to find his footing. During Pegula's tenure the team missed the playoffs in all of his full seasons, never finishing higher than third in the division, and ending up in last place three times, two of them by design. In those seven full seasons Buffalo saw one President of Hockey Ops come and go in less than four months, is on their third general manager and fifth head coach.

The Sabres finished the 2010-11 season well as they rode the Pegula wave to the playoffs and were in a position to win their first round series against the No. 2 seed in the East, the Philadelphia Flyers, but lost in overtime in Game-6 then fell in seven games. They were being carried by GM Darcy Regier's core but their prospect pipeline was producing very little and after a disastrous first full season under Pegula, Buffalo began charting a new course that would lead them to a complete strip down of the roster and consecutive tank seasons in 2013-15.

Throughout the past few years we did a series entitled "Prime Years." In it we looked for Sabres draft picks who would have been in their prime (roughly 24-28 yrs. old) during any given year. We started with the 2005 NHL Draft wherein those players would be within those prime years (albeit at the high end) when the Sabres came out of their consecutive tank years in 2015.

That 2005 draft year was a train wreck beginning with the selection of Marek Zagrapan in the first round and it didn't get much better save for the 2008 draft where two first rounders--defenseman Tyler Myers and forward Tyler Ennis--cracked the upper half of the lineup with Myers playing top-pairing minutes in Buffalo.

From 2005-09 as found in the summation here (with links to individual years,) the Sabres drafted 37 players an outside of the two Tylers, only a handful played a significant number of games in Buffalo with most of them coming from the mid-latter rounds of the draft. The 2010 draft was better when it came to their first rounder, defenseman Mark Pysyk, but none of the other eight picks made it to the NHL.

Once again, at the time of the series, these draft picks would have been in their primes and with a record like that, it's not surprising they ended up in a scorched earth rebuild.

Those drafted in 2011 would be right in the middle of their primes right now at the age of 25 or so. This was Pegula's first draft and in an effort to enhance their drafting, they held the Sabres draft combine between the NHL Combine and the draft. In three years the Sabres hosted 75 player but individual team combines were deemed to be an "unfair competitive advantage" by the NHL and they were stopped.

Buffalo went into the 2011 draft with five picks beginning with the 16th-overall and with it they chose Assat (SM Liiga) right winger, Joel Armia. The Sabres had not selected a player from overseas since picking goalie Jonas Enroth in the second round (46th) of the 2006 draft.

Armia was an interesting pick in that the Sabres saw very little of him play live overseas. But a "friend of a friend" recommended they take a long look at him and sent along a video package. They also had the opportunity to see him up close at HSBC Arena as they hosted the 2011 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships. Although his performance was underwhelming, Armia did enough to pique the Sabres interest and with his first ever pick as an NHL owner, Pegula took the podium to announce Armia as their selection.

The prospect profile on Armia was that he was very mobile for a 6'3" 191 lb. player and that he was a sniper. However, it was also said by Goran Stubb, NHL's Director of European Scouting at the time, that "you might have to look for him during some shifts, but then, suddenly, he scores the winner."

Armia's sniping abilities never materialized in Buffalo. He played in 126 games for the Rochester Americans scoring 22 goals and adding 46 assists in three seasons and only dressed for one game with the Buffalo Sabres. He was part of the Myers/Evander Kane trade in 2015 and has played 179 games for the Winnipeg Jets since the trade.

Speed-demon Daniel Catenacci was selected by Buffalo with the 77th-overall pick. He played five seasons for the Rochester Americans posting 43 goals and 86 points in 247 games before being traded to the NY Rangers organization where he played a total of 61 games for their AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolfpack. Cantenacci played 11 games for the Sabres and one for the Rangers failing to register an NHL point. He signed to play overseas next season.

Big center Colin Jacobs was selected 107th overall by Buffalo and spent most of his years bouncing between the AHL and ECHL. At the AHL level he collected two goals and five assists in 46 games for the Amerks while posting 39 goals and 88 points in 190 games for three different ECHL clubs.

West Seneca, NY native Alex Lepkowksi (137th) had a brief taste of North American pro hockey when he played eight games for the Amerks and one in the ECHL after his 2013-14 OHL season ended. The big defenseman played in 62 more ECHL games the following year
 before heading overseas for the last two seasons.

Goalie Nathan Lieuwen was taken in the sixth round (167th) and got himself a taste of the NHL in the 2013-14 when the Sabres set an NHL record for most goalies dressed in one season--nine. Lieuwen got into seven games for Buffalo that year posting respectable numbers (1-4-0 record, 2.98 goals against average, .906 save %) for the worst team in the league. Although his career was proceeding nicely at the pro level, concussions knocked him off track forcing him to retire last June.

Brad Navin (197th) was Buffalo's final pick in the 2011 NHL Draft and has spent his entire pro career in the ECHL thus far playing for three different teams and compiling a stat-line of 147 games, 26 goals, 35 assists.

 

Thoughts on owner Terry Pegula's letter to Sabres' season ticket holders

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 4-21-2018


On February 22, 2011, billionaire Terry Pegula sat in front of the media as owner of the Buffalo Sabres and boldly declared, "Starting today, the Buffalo Sabres' reason for existence will be to win the Stanley Cup." For those in attendance at his inaugural press conference and Sabres fans everywhere, having those words came from a billionaire who was in it to win it was music to their cost-constrained ears.

Fast forward seven years and Pegula's Buffalo Sabres are no nearer to their "reason for  existence" then they were back in 2011. In fact, it's gotten progressively worse after the Sabres finished in a playoff spot that season with one of the big reasons being a two-year tank-job from 2013-15. Since their last playoff appearance Buffalo has finished no higher that 23rd in the league and have finished dead last in three of those seasons.

Down to the bottom with Calgary up tonight.

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 1-22-2018


The Buffalo Sabres 7-1 loss on Saturday coupled with the Arizona Coyotes 5-2 win puts both teams at 31 points, right at the bottom of the 31-team league. All is not lost for Sabres fans, however, as Buffalo still has two games in hand over Arizona, but it's still a sad state of affairs. How ironic that the two teams who barreled to the bottom of the league in 2014-15 for a shot at drafting either Connor McDavid or Jack Eichel that year find themselves back where it started.

Both teams lost out on McDavid, who went to the Edmonton Oilers, a team that sunk to the bottom of the league after making it to the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals. The Oilers made it to the playoffs last season for the first time since, but they're also struggling this season with 45 points in 47 games (24th in the league.)

Buffalo heads into tonight's matchup against the Calgary Flames (9 pm EST) on yet another skid as they've been able to pull out a win only once this calendar year (1-6-1.) Losing is one thing, but the way they've been losing is even worse as three of those regulation losses were blowouts. To date their -59 goal differential is worst in the league and they're on pace for a -105 which isn't far off of the -113 of the 2014-15 tank season.

These parallels between the tank years and this edition of the Buffalo Sabres is a rather ugly one considering that this team has way more talent, but still can't seem to get it right. The horrors of the 2014-15 season could be captured in a franchise worst 14-game losing streak that included an 0-fer in January (0-12-0) while icing a team that had little or no talent.

What does that say for this edition?

Not much. A long series of events that's being tied directly to "terrible ownership," as Bucky Gleason of the Buffalo News wrote yesterday, has brought this team to this level. The Sabres have not made the playoffs in any of Terry Pegula's seven full seasons as owner of the Sabres and it's like everything Pegula has done has backfired:

--In 2011 he took off the financial constraints of the previous owners and went after what they thought were prized free agents. They'll be paying Ville Leino $1.2 million for the next two seasons not to play and Christian Erhoff $857K per year through 2028-28.

--In 2013 Pegula grudgingly fired Ruff, whom he famously said "Ain't goin' nowhere" at his inaugural presser. The Sabres are on their fourth coach since then and a fifth one might not be that far off.

--Beginning with the 2013-14 season, the Sabres went into tank-mode as a rebuild model. Both that season and the next they finished last in the league but the NHL Draft Lottery left them with second-overall picks both times.

--In Fall, 2013 Pegula hired Sabres legend and Hockey Hall of Famer Pat LaFontaine to lead the hockey department. Five months later, a presumed philosophical chasm caused him to leave the organization.

--In January 2014 Pegula hired a long-time scout and former assistant general manager to be the GM in Buffalo. Tim Murray took over as a first-time GM and proceeded to dismantle the team in a scorched-earth rebuild with the focus upon landing at the top of the draft.

--After a rather successful 2015-16 campaign things deteriorated the following season with Pegula firing both Murray and his head coach of two seasons, Dan Bylsma.

--Pegula hired a rookie GM in Jason Botterill last spring. Botterill hired a rookie head coach in Phil Houlsey who ended up hiring a rookie defensive assistant in Chris Hajt. Botterill and Housley both played for the Sabres, with the latter having a long and productive career, while Hajt is the son of quite possibly the Sabres' best defensive-defenseman of all time, Bill Hajt.

Add it all up, and it leads us to this point, in the past two-plus seasons where the Sabres were supposed to be pulling out of the rebuild and into respectability with a franchise center in the fold (courtesy of the 2015 draft,) Buffalo has posted a 79-99-32 record good for 190 points. Only three teams were worse than the Sabres during that span--Arizona at 76-109-17 (169 points); Vancouver, 79-104-18 (176 points) and Colorado 87-111-11 (185 points.)

So where has it all lead us?

To a lot of finger pointing directed at Pegula for being a control freak, to the tank for a ill-conceived rebuild model (not to mention bad karma,) to Murray for wasting a wealth of picks on players built for an NHL that's seemingly becoming antiquated and to the players themselves as they soured on Bylsma only a year-and-a-half into his tenure. With their performance as of late, it looks as if they've soured on Housley only 40 some-odd games into his tenure.

"Country-club setting" is once again creeping into the vernacular and when senior Sabre Jason Pominville, a favorite of the local press, was asked by the gathered media about it yesterday he replied, ""As unfortunate as you say it, it's probably a little bit the case," he said. "You play on teams that haven't had success, and it's acceptable. But that's what has to change. Efforts like this aren't acceptable. Practices have to be a compete level that you need."

Pominville was described in that piece as a player "once part of a winning culture in Buffalo," and sure enough he was. The last time the Sabres won a playoff series was back in 2007 second of consecutive back-to-back Eastern Conference Finals appearances. Pominville was a young player in a support role then and when he was in a leadership role from 2007-08 to February, 2013 when he was traded, his teams made the playoffs twice and were bounced in the first round both times.

Yet it was Pominville who was a part of Regier's "Core" that might be dubbed, "The Original Sabres Country-clubbers" and looking to him for any insight and/or answers doesn't really jibe. That group had many of the same attributes as this one does.

The Sabres start at three-game road trip tonight in Calgary after a brutal 7-1 loss at home to the Dallas Stars and a supposed very hard skate directed by Housley as a way of getting his club motivated again.

To further shake things up Housley went with these forward lines at practice yesterday, according to those at HarborCenter:

Girgensons-Eichel-Okposo
Wilson-O'Reilly-Reinhart
Kane-Larsson-Pominville
Nolan-Rodirgues-Baptiste

Nothing changed on the defense pairings.

Robin Lehner will probably be in net tonight and has been struggling. Amy Moritz of the Buffalo News points out that Lehner has been pulled in three of his last five starts, is 0-4-0 with a 5.50 goals-against average (19 goals on 114 shots) and has a .833 save percentage. It might have been worse but backup Chad Johnson was tagged with the 'L' in a 7-4 loss vs. Winnipeg at home that wasn't as close as the score might indicate.

NHL gets rolling again. Mittelstadt impressive. Trade freeze ends at midnight

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 12-27-2017


Both the NHL and AHL return to action tonight after their Christmas break. For Western New York hockey fans that means the Buffalo Sabres and Rochester Americans will be back on the ice. The Sabres, because the 2018 World Junior Championships are being held in Buffalo right now, are in Brooklyn, NY gearing up for tonight's contest against the NY Islanders while the Amerks are at home and will take on the Laval Rocket (MTL) for the third time in a row.

Buffalo heads into their game against the Islanders tonight with dismal team stats and individual players that are, or have been, struggling most, if not all of, the season. Winger Evander Kane is the exception. He has been the most consistent Sabres player all season and has lead the team in scoring since the last time these two teams met in Buffalo's second game of the season. That particular game was a disaster that saw the Sabres on the losing end of a 6-3 score, but Kane showed some serious mettle by answering three second period Islander goals in 1:47, two of them shorthanded, with two shorthanded goals of his own.

Hot on Kane's trail for the team lead in scoring is Jack Eichel. The 21 yr. old has kicked in his game as of late. In three of the Sabres' last four games with five goals, including his first career NHL hat trick, and three assists while also playing an impressive 200' game. It would be great to say, "As Eichel goes, so do the Sabres," but in that one game where he notched the hat trick and was simply dominant, goaltending and team defense let the Sabres down as they lost in overtime 5-4.

Early struggles and injuries had really put a hurtin' on the Sabres defense corpse, but they're healthy and playing much better as of late while Robin Lehner has been very solid in goal. Where this all leads the rest of the way is still to be determined as this team continues to have trouble scoring. Lehner has been a victim much of the time in that situation and overall the Sabres are dead last in the league scoring a measly 2.17 goals/game.


*****

Buffalo Sabres owner Terry Pegula acknowledged that his NHL hockey team needs some scoring. He was on WGR550 prior to the opening of the 2018 WJC, which the Pegula's and the city of Buffalo are hosting.

Three Buffalo forward prospects are in the tournament and Pegula said that he "wants to see how they perform," meaning Alexander Nylander (2016, 8th-overall,) Casey Mittelstadt (2017, 8th) and Marcus Davidson (2017, 37th.) Nylander went from the NHL Draft right to the American Hockey League with the Rochester Americans. He struggled as an 18 yr. old, was felled by an injury this past off-season and has struggled a bit since he returned from his injury. Mittelstadt is having a very solid season in D-I at the University of Minnesota while Davidsson has put up some very respectable numbers as a teenager in Sweden's top pro league.

"It's pretty obvious our team in the NHL needs some goal-scoring," Pegula said. "So it'd be nice to see these guys fill the net a little bit."

Nylander and Davidsson both play for Team Sweden who romped through their opening matchup with Belarus defeating them 6-1. Neither Buffalo prospect scored but Nylander collected primary assists on Sweden's second and fifth goals of the game.

Mittlestadt had whale of a game in the day's final matchup which pitted Team USA vs. Team Denmark. The 6'0" 203 lb. Minnesota native scored two goals in USA's 9-0 shoutout win, but more than that he dazzled with his skating and stickwork. It was a continuation of what he did in two exhibition games leading up to the tournament as he scored goals in both of those games as well.

Last night there was a lot of open ice for Mittelstadt and he took advantage of it. But he also showed great tenacity as he followed his own rebound for his first goal of the game (which can be seen in the video below at the :44 second-mark.) Mittelstadt showed off some wicked stick skills from in-tight as he lofted a shot top-shelf from the edge of the crease (1:18) for his second goal.



(video courtesy USA Hockey)

Mittelstadt has been battling at the D-I level were teams trap all over the ice and leave you very little room to breath. However, for a freshman playing against mostly older competition, he's managed to work for some ice and is doing very well with 17 points (5+12) in 19 games. With that said, there are times where he does have a little space to show off his skills, like this goal courtesy sabresprospects.com:




As the tournament goes on and the competition gets tougher, especially when they hit the medal rounds, the cream will rise to the top and perhaps one or more of those players will be in that group.


*****

The NHL trade freeze will be lifted at midnight and the name that keeps popping up from Buffalo is, of course, Evander Kane. Reports have a number of teams interested in Kane with the most recent one being the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Lyle Richardson of Spector's Hockey delved into that this morning using the Buffalo/Pittsburgh ties between Sabres present GM Jason Botterill and the Pens whom  he spent the prior 10 seasons with.  If anyone knows what Pittsburgh has in the cupboards, it's Botterill as he was driving force in building a Penguins farm system that was instrumental in them winning back-to-back Stanley Cups.

If you're the Sabres and you potentially have the best rental forward available in this year's trade market, supply and demand means that a return for a powerforward like Kane and his 33 points 15+18) could be substantial. And if you want to remake the team for the way the NHL is played, it makes sense that you'd be looking for a younger, more dynamic player to go along with a probable first round pick.

So when the rumor-mill somehow starts linking Kane and 30 yr. old Pittsburgh defenseman Kris Letang in the same paragraph, you might wonder what people are thinking.

That's not to take anything away from Letang and what he did in his 11+ year career with the Penguins. He's a winner and has three Stanley Cup rings to prove it. But he also carries a $7.5 million cap-hit for four more seasons after this and injuries are starting to creep into the equation. Last year he played 41 games and in two of his last four seasons he played in 51 or less games.

Is that really something Botterill wants? I get the leadership and all but they already have a defenseman in Zach Bogosian who has had injury problems and is making over $5 million a season. The Sabres also have forward Ryan O'Reilly and his $7.5 million cap-hit and Kyle Okposo who's making $6 million/season. Next year Jack Eichel and his $10 million cap-hit kicks in.

I mean, really? How does that make any sense for the Sabres at this time?

It doesn't.

Who ya gonna call? Russ Brandon!

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 12-2-2017


Yeah. You can put that headline to the theme of Ghostbusters.

If there's something strange, in your locker room,
Who ya gonna call? Russ Brandon!
If the team's a mess
and it don't look good,
Who ya gonna call? Russ Brandon!

Sorry if that song is stuck in your head. It could be worse. I could've used that 'Friday' song, which would be akin to tying a noose while nudging a chair your way.

Ray Parker Junior's theme song to the movie of the same name has a groove to it. It's light and playful song that's rather simple and easily lends itself to parody and/or satire. And it's the first thing that popped into my head this morning while at the keyboard.

The tire fire that is the present Buffalo Sabres hockey team may have reached the point of no return last night as they dropped a 4-0 decision to the Pittsburgh Penguins. And my did they look bad in the process. They looked like an expansion team against the two-time defending Stanley Cup Champions. Maybe worse than an expansion team, at least when it comes to the Sabres. For the first time in the 47 year history of the club, they endured a third consecutive shutout and God knows, the original Buffalo Sabres expansion team from 1970-71 could probably disperse this present team with a flick of the wrist.

WWPD?

What would Punch do? It was a question posed by the late jtswineheart here on hockeybuzz back when the team was owned by B. Thomas Golisano and they were floundering with a core of players built by GM Darcy Regier and coached by Lindy Ruff. Those players were thrown into a difficult situation after upper management failed miserably in the summer of 2007 and just didn't have the wherewithal to get past a certain point.

George "Punch" Imlach, of course, is the late, great Hockey Hall of Famer who was the first coach and general manager of the Buffalo Sabres. He won four Stanley Cups as the Toronto Maple Leafs GM in the 60's before the Knox brothers brought him to Buffalo to lead their expansion team. The Sabres made it to the Stanley Cup Finals.

I'm not sure there's anything that Punch could do for the Sabres this season as this team's at an all-time low nearly a third of the way through, but God knows he'd have a much better idea of how to approach this mess than a marketing guy.

When Sabres owner Terry Pegula was introduced to us in his first presser, his emotions lead us to believe he had direct ties to that era through the Sabres first ever draft pick, Hall of Famer Gilbert Perreault. "I am a Sabres fan and have been since 1975," declared Pegula on February 22, 2011. After that statement, he was overcome by emotion when he looked in the direction of Sabres players and alum gathered to his right. "I'm going to try and not look this way," continued Pegula, visibly fighting back tears. "Because...some of the old faces...Where's Perreault?"

He looked directly at the Sabres legend and said, "You're my hero."

However, six years later, it might be Perreault holding back the tears as a franchise he was so proud to play for may be at it's lowest point ever.

Pegula did some wonderful things early on. He cut the financial chains that the previous owners had on the club. He got Rene Robert to come back into the fold and had the entire French Connection of Perreault, the late Rick Martin and Robert, together and on the ice for a skate, for the first time in decades. He put money in to the arena and tried to make it a world class facility. In addition, what he through Pegula Sports and Entertainment did in building HarborCenter on a vacant lot adjacetnt to KeyBank Center is first class.

But what has happened with his Sabres since he took over in February, 2011 has been a disaster leaving the entire franchise in a death spiral right now. Unfortunately everyone in Sabreland, nearly everything Pegula has tried to do with this club has blown up in his face.

--Keeping Regier and Ruff? Boom!
--Christian Ehrhoff and Ville Leino? Boom!
--Pat LaFontaine? Boom!
--Tanking for McDavid?  Boom!
--Hiring Tim Murray and Dan Bylsma? Boom!
--Replacing them with a rookie GM and rookie coach? Boom! (at least partially)

Buffalo GM Jason Botterill is a rookie GM but he spent many years as a member of the Penguins front office and was a part of three Stanley Cups. We really shouldn't consider that a Boom! yet as at least part of his plan, reviving the Rochester Americans, is working. But bringing in a rookie head coach in Phil Housley? Let's just say that the team is 6-16-4 and just set a franchise mark for futility in being shut out three times in a row.

Housley has the potential to be a great head coach someday, but that day won't come in Buffalo as it looks like he might not even make it out of the calendar year. This team is a wreck, and although his inexperience is part of the problem, there are way too many other factors involved to lay the blame squarely on his shoulders.

This is a franchise disaster that begins at the top and what's worse for Pegula is that all of this is being filmed right now for "The Road to the Winter Classic." The Sabres will be playing the NY Rangers in the Big Apple on January 1 in the 10th Anniversary of the Winter Classic and NHL film crews began shooting this week.

Amidst all the turmoil surrounding the team, and with them just getting spanked by Pittsburgh last night, who was in the locker room having a one-on-one with franchise center Jack Eichel?

When you're all a lone
pick up the phone.
Who ya gonna call. Russ Brandon!

That's right. None other than marketing maven, Russ Brandon who, it should be known, is the Sabres President/Alternate Governor and Managing Partner/President of PSE. It's the same Russ Brandon who worked his way up with the Buffalo Bills to GM of that team despite no pro football experience in any capacity other than the business side, and was eventually named CEO of the NFL team.

Brandon started with the Bills in 1997 and, according to an article by Tim Graham of The Buffalo News last December, "has been involved in football decisions...since he became general manager in 2008. Although his official bio in the Bills' media guide suspiciously omits any reference to him being GM, the Bills' record is 58-83 (as of December 15, 2016 when I referenced the article.")

It should also be noted that the Bills have not made the playoffs this century and if it weren't for the Cleveland Browns, would be considered the worst-run franchise in the NFL.

Since Brandon replaced Sabres' Ted Black as team president in July, 2015 his hockey team took a big leap forward after coming off their tank season, but have regressed to the point where they're the second-worst team in the league two years later.

Last season's set-back and struggles had Pegula deciding clean house. He fired GM Murray and head coach Bylsma in April, 2017and who lead the search for the new GM? According to NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman, "It sounds like it's Russ Brandon, who is the President of the Buffalo Bills and the President of the Buffalo Sabres." Freidman did qualify things a bit by continuing with, "But, I think the league would have a lot of input on this one."

When he comes through your door
and wants some more.
Who ya gonna call? Russ Brandon!

Brandon is a shrewd marketer who once signed wide receiver Terrell Owens to add a circus element to his middling team. Owens was a great receiver, and still had skills when he came to Buffalo, but there wasn't much else on the team. Ryan Fitzpatrick was the quarterback and Dick Jauron was the head coach who was eventually fired after a 3-6 start to the season. Jauron was replaced by Perry Fewell who guided the team to a 4-3 finish and the Bills' third consecutive 7-9 season.

The prior year, in what would be Brandon's first as GM, the Bills came up with "The Toronto Series" where they'd play one home game in Toronto, Canada every season. The idea promoted by the team was to make the Bills more of a regional commodity, but it was a disaster for the team as they went 1-5, the fans who lost their team for a week, and the Bills image as it was seen as nothing but a money-grab.

This is the Russ Brandon whom the Pegula's hired as their President/Alternate Governor back in 2015. And this is the Russ Brandon who was in the Sabres locker room last night talking with the Sabres' franchise center.

What on earth could he offer Jack Eichel in that situation? Some popcorn?

If the Pegula's like him and what he can do on the business side, that's their prerogative, but Brandon has a definable history and you get what you deserve. Their team is in deep trouble right now and many would much rather have a Brendan Shanahan, John Davidson, Glen Sather or David Poile-type president who's roots are deep in the game and the hockey side of the equation instead of a shrewd marketer an businessman.

Marketing may fool the public, but when it comes down to it on the ice, this version of the Sabres is fooling no one.

It's a disaster and an embarrassment.

But, who ya gonna call? Russ Brandon!

Keeping up with the Pegulas. Plus other Sabres stuff

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 5-3-2017


Although they'll never keep up with the Kardashians as a (silly) reality show and social media dynasty, the Pegula's, Terry and Kim have their own dynasty centered around land development, sports, and music that's growing bigger by the day. Recently Pegula Sports and Entertainment just announced ventures with Labatt USA and Uber, however the areas of interest for us Buffalo sports fans is the ongoing saga with their two major sports frachises--the NHL's Buffalo Sabres and the NFL's Buffalo Bills--both of which are ships without a captain at this time.

After two very disappointing seasons from both the Sabres and the Bills, the Pegulas ended up firing both of their GM's within a matter of a week-and-a-half. One, hockey GM Tim Murray, was a surprise firing not long after the Sabres season ended while Bills GM Doug Whaley was fired 10 days later after the completion of he three-day NFL Draft. Oh to have a camera rolling as Terry and Kim, along with other insiders like PSE President Russ Brandon, discussed the futures of those two and the franchises in general.

Regardless of the lack of reality show appeal, the reality for the Pegulas centers around getting their franchises out of the dregs. And there's a ton of work to do.

What's been going on with the Pegula's and their sports teams?

--The Sabres are getting closer to finding their general manager and although there's not been an official count of who they've interviewed so far, piecing things together via twitter and media reports has the total at six or more. But the big development is the Sabres reportedly bringing in Pittsburgh Penguins AGM Jason Botterill for a second interview. From what I've been told, the Pegulas were very impressed with him, fellow Penguins front office-man Bill Guerin and Calgary Flames AGM Craig Conroy during their respective interviews.

--As for the Bills GM search, things are just getting started. The Pegulas, in conjunction with head coach Sean McDermott, are said to be very interested in Carolina Panthers AGM Brandon Beane, whom McDermott worked with while in Carolina, and it's also been reported that Houston Texans director of player personnel, Brian Gaine is slated for an interview tomorrow.

--Be it known that contrary to popular belief, Sabres franchise center Jack Eichel is not involved in the search for either GM. He's busy in Germany and France playing for Team USA in the IIHF Ice Hockey World Championships. Eichel was on the top line with wingers Anders Lee (NYI) and Johnny Gadreau (CGY) for USA as they had a tune-up game. Eichel scored with his a wicked-wrister 1:24 into the game. The real bullets fly beginning on Friday.

--Fellow Sabres Ryan O'Reilly is on Team Canada in the tournament. O'Reilly was playing right wing on the top line which is becoming the norm for him in international play.

--We all know the story of Evander Kane getting into some trouble last June while Buffalo was hosting the NHL Entry Draft. Kane and his attorney made a plea agreement with Buffalo City Court Judge Barbara Johnson-Lee who last fall, according to the Buffalo News, ordered an adjournment in contemplation of dismissal of the charges. Kane kept his nose clean and charges were dismissed. Now the big question. With one year left on his contract and a reported strong disliking of him by Kim Pegula (and presumably, Terry as well) where does the talented winger end up? Many (like myself) would like to see him extended at a reasonable rate and term while others can't wait for him to be moved.

--Speaking of things being moved, TBN's Mike Harrington wants the Sabres to move the eighth-overall pick in the NHL Draft. The reasoning, "Winning next year has to be an immediate priority and improving the blueline is paramount." Harrington wants the new GM to package the first-rounder to a "defense-rich" team to land an "NHL-level" defenseman. By NHL-level, I'm assuming he means at least a top-four.

--Harrington has a solid foundation for his beliefs, but perhaps it's a tad early to go for the immediacy of NHL-level help on the blueline. The Sabres have the eighth pick which should land them one of the top three defensemen in the draft. Although there aren't any marquis names in this draft, ala McDavid/Eichel, Matthews/Laine, it's a draft where an incubation period is to be expected for most prospects. Word from the draft pundits is that there are some talented  d-men in the draft that are pretty much equal but have different traits. I get the idea that patience sux for those of us in Sabreland, but perhaps we should let the new GM get a draft under his belt and get a feel for what he has before moving a first-rounder.

--UMASS commit Cale Makar, Tri-City (WHL) defenseman Juuso Valimaki and Swedish Super Elit d-man Timothy Liljegren are generally seen atop the group of d-prospects and dependent upon what those in front of the Sabres do, any or all could be there when the Sabres pick at No. 8.

--On Sunday Terry Pegula announced that not only did he fire his football GM, but also the entire Bills scouting department. With that in mind and the NHL Draft fast approaching, Sabres fans are worried about the team heading into this draft without a GM and a scouting department that might be on edge. The Buffalo News put fears to rest with an article saying that a massive overhaul of the scouting department isn't in the cards in Buffalo. As for the GM not being on board yet with the draft less than two months away, the scouting department has their lists and should be gathering soon to compare notes. And we should also not forget that Kevin Devine is still on board. Devine, a former Sabres AGM and Head Amateur Scout, has run drafts before so there shouldn't be that much to worry about in that department.

--Finally, amidst the positives coming out of PSE in the form of the Labatt and UBER joint ventures, the NHL announced that their Draft Combine will remain in Buffalo for 2019. The combine moved from Toronto to Buffalo in 2015 with the Sabres putting on quite the show downtown. HARBORCENTER with it's spaciousness and proximity to KeyBank Center plus two Marriotts right on the doorstep, makes an ideal setting for the combine, NHL reps, the media and attendees.

Crazy 8's and the Pegula's clean house again.

Published by hockeybuzz.com, 4-30-2017


I’ll take full responsibility for the Buffalo Sabres drafting eighth overall in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.

Sabres Draft Lottery representative Larry Playfair and many in Sabreland watched as the Philadelphia Flyers, who finished 10 points ahead of them standings and had only a 2.2% chance of winning the lottery, leaped high over the Sabres and 10 other teams to the No. 2 slot. In a more reasonable move for Sabres fans (if there can be such a thing for a team that has no luck when it comes to this lottery thing,) the Dallas Stars, who finished with one more point in the standings than Buffalo, hurdled five teams to land at No. 3 overall while the New Jersey Devils, with slightly better than Buffalo 8.5% chance of winning the lottery will select first overall in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.

The Colorado Avalanche bore the brunt of the ping-pong ball madness as they will pick fourth overall after finishing with the least number of points in a season since the league returned from the year-long lockout in 2005. The second-worst team in the league, The Vancouver Canucks will pick fifth while Bill Foley saw a $500 million expansion fee for his Las Vegas Knights turn into the sixth-overall pick. The Arizona Coyotes, who may have worse luck than Buffalo will draft seventh-overall.

When I wrote about symmetry and continuity for the Sabres at this year’s draft I was thinking that a second-overall pick would be apropos for a Buffalo team that had two consecutive No. 2 picks in 2014 and 2015 and after drafting No.8 overall last season, I was hoping that a little poetic justice would come into play as the Sabres missed out on the first-overall pick two years running after finishing in last place. Unfortunately, I received my wish of with a sense of symmetry featuring the Nos. 2 and 8.

When the Sabres started the rebuilding process in the latter half of the 2011-12 season their 89 points and third-place finish in the division netted them the 12th-overall pick in the draft. A year later they drafted eighth-overall after finishing 23rd-overall while 2014 and 2015 featured two second overalls. Last year they landed in the No. 8 slot and this year because of the luck of the ping-pong balls they're back in at No. 8 for a 12, 8, 2, 2, 8, 8 draft order from 2012-17.

 

Eighth-overall in this draft isn't such a bad spot considering the organizational needs. No doubt either Nolan Patrick or Nico Hischier would be great additions to any club as both are very talented centers and considered the top-two players in the draft. And I wouldn't snub my nose at forwards Owen Tippet, Casey Mittelstadt and my personal favorite amongst the second-tier, Gabe Vilardi. The Sabres, however, have more pressing needs in the system than forward--defense.

 

No doubt a weak defense-corps was exposed this past season and as injuries hit, that position was exposed all the way down to Rochester. In his quest to bolster the forward ranks and depth, which was sub-par at best when he took over, especially at center, former GM Tim Murray's supreme focus seemed to be up front. In the last three drafts, minus the easy sells of centers Sam Reinhart and Jack Eichel, both of whom were taken second-overall, Murray did not select a defenseman in the draft higher than 51st overall (Brendan Guhle, 2015.) In the 2014 draft, he selected only one defenseman out of nine selections and while he did draft five defensemen out of seven picks in 2015, after Guhle they were all fourth-round picks or lower.

 

Last year Murray waited until the third round to select a defenseman, and selected three more from the fifth round on down.

 

It's not to say that these d-men won't turn into anything. Guhle looks like a steal in the second round and has the tools to be a top-four NHL d-man. Will Borgen (2015, 92nd-overall) and Devante Stephens (2015, 122nd) look like they could be NHL defenseman with Stephens making his pro debut next season. There's also been plenty of talk about Casey Fitzgerald, (2016, 86th) and his strong development at Boston College. And I wouldn't dismiss completely players like Brady Austin or Casey Nelson, both of whom spent the bulk of there time in Rochester last season. Although they had mixed results, both players showed that they could be able to hang full-time in the NHL.

 

All of the above mentioned defensemen are at their proper developmental levels which does say a lot for how the Sabres approach player development, but the glaring weaknesses with the big club cast a pall over the organizational depth on defense. 

 

Which leads us now to a new and as of yet unnamed GM entering the 2017 NHL Draft with definitve needs system-wide on defense and a draft slot which may give them the opportunity to select one of the two or three best defensemen in the draft. From International Scouting Services the top defenseman in the draft is Timothy Liljegren whom they see as the sixth-best player in the draft. After him it's Callan Foote coming in as the ninth-best rated prospect and Juuso Valimaki ranked 11th-best. All of them are right in Buffalo's wheelhouse. Fast-rising Cale Makar may also be there when the Sabres step to the podium.

 

So you can put the blame on me for the ping-pong balls not falling the Sabres way, but also know that fate has them here and ultimately, it's what the new GM and his staff do with their picks that will determine where this team is headed in the near-mid future.

 

It's the draft and these are 18 yr. old kids. Very few make the immediate jump to the NHL and those are usually found at the top of the draft, even an NHL that keeps getting younger. Patience sucks but that's where we're at...again.

 

Hopefully next season a sign of progress will have us saying goodbye to 2's and 8's and hello to double digit draft positions once again, preferably upper-double digits.

 

 

*****

 

For posterity's sake, the Sabres have selected eighth-overall only twice--Rasmus Ristolainen, 2013 and Alexander Nylander, 2016.

 

 

*****

 

It was a bloody Sunday for Buffalo Bills GM Doug Whaley and the scouting department. After doing the work on the 2017 NFL Draft, Bills (and Sabres) owner Terry Pegula did a house cleaning today giving Whaley and the entire scouting department their walking papers less than 24 hours after the conclusion of the draft.

 

After disappointing seasons from both of his franchises, Pegula busted out the hatchet on both of his GM's a mere 10 days apart.

 

Pegula has been searching for a GM since dismissing Murray 10 days ago and he told the gathered media at today's presser that "we are close on the Sabres to having a final answer" on the Sabres GM position.

 

Nothing official has come out as of yet but some of the candidates that have been mentioned through sources are:  Jason Botterill, Bill Guerin, Michael Futa, Bill Zito, Norm MacIver and Paul Fenton.

 

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.

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 10^th-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 also wanted to talk to former Sabre and current NY Rangers AGM, Chris Drury, about the position but when Drury was presented with this, the door was slammed on the idea

--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 Blackhawks AGM, Norm MacIver

--Penguins Associate General Manager, Jason Botterill

--Senior VP of Hockey Ops for the Montreal Canadians, Rick Dudley

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.