BillsFan4

A Minnesota player born in Buffalo, NY! His dad played for the Sabres. He also played for the Sabres. Buffalo drafted him and gave him his start in the NHL. Lindy Ruff was his first NHL coach. There was a time he talked about retiring a Sabre. He was sad when he got traded away. Now I would bet money that Buffalo is on his no trade list.

this ⬆️ there is nothing else left to do if he is serious about ever winning and not being a joke franchise. the guy I keep thinking about is Ken Holland. Hire him as President of hockey ops and let him hire a GM. He is one of the most well respected GMs in modern NHL history. He has a stellar reputation in NHL circles. There’s a reason the oilers hired him when it looked like McDavid was nearing his last straw with Edmonton (and it worked). I don’t even know if he’d take the job but it’s worth a shot.

Last place in the NHL.

Good article on the Sabres issues https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/scouts-analysis-why-the-sabres-potential-isnt-paying-off/

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6006850/2024/12/19/predators-disappointment-barry-trotz/ I wish our GM + owner understood this…

Glad I’m not the only one who remembers that! It was such an eyebrow raising comment that it just stuck in my head and I’ve never forgotten it.

I remember reading/hearing years back (I think maybe Tim Graham reported it iirc) that in order to hire McDermott/Beane, Pegula had to put a clause in their contract that they got final say over football operations and it was also reported that was something Pegula regretted giving them (even with all the Bills success…).

“When we were in detailed discussions with Jason and how we felt we needed to move forward — effectively, efficiently and economically running this franchise — we felt that there were too many differences in opinion,” Pegula said then. He then added, “I’m not going to sit here and, you know, dish on Jason Botterill, but we have a vision and we want to see our vision succeed.” —— Terry Pegula is the root of the problems with this team. Nothing will change until he does.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6000113/2024/12/17/sabres-terry-pegula-meeting/ Nothing is going to change until Pegula decides to take a step back and hire experienced people to run hockey ops. but he won’t. And now to add to the above, they are playing maybe their worst game of this 11 game losing streak after a speech from Terry Pegula where he professed confidence in the Adams, the coaches and players. Not sure what that says/means, if anything.

Amazing article by Michael Silver on the athletic: “Josh Allen making MVP case with run of play that has teammates in awe: ‘He’s mythical’ “ https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5997141/2024/12/16/josh-allen-bills-lions-mythical-play/ I found this part interesting

I bet Lindy is wishing he would have stuck to that “no” he gave Kevyn Adams when Adams first tried to hire him… I don’t think he really realized just how broken this team is. I actually feel bad for him, especially because like he said it really does seem like it is all on him. He doesn’t have a GM that’s willing to do anything to try and help stop all the losing. I mean, how can he? We don’t have palm trees… and maybe there truly aren’t any worthwhile trades out there right now. I’m sure every GM is trying to throw him an anchor or steal a good young player. But he’s also in year FIVE. If he hadn’t waited until this past offseason to start trying to improve the team, maybe he wouldn’t be backed into a corner right now.

I think the tailgating parties + drinking are a big part of what kept Bills fans engaged. A big part of going to Bills games all those years they sucked was the tailgating scene for a lot of fans. Not sure how you replicate that at the downtown arena. You can’t even get drunk at the games unless you want to spend insane $ on beers. 😂 although the bandits sure do well at that same arena. But they win. I do think the atmosphere at the arena adds to the issues, for sure. Sabres players have talked about it for years and years now, how the arena is so quiet and dead, or how easily fans boo. The Sabres definitely play worse at home than on the road.

So on brand for this 🤡organization to be more concerned about inflatable palm trees than the results on the ice. Yep. Basically the entire roster all had career years and Adams banked on them not only repeating it, but improving upon it. I feel like that one stupid season has set this team back because it seems to have made the front office believe that this roster and “core” is good enough to be perennial playoff contenders even though they’ve never made the playoffs.

You could literally see the panic set into their game in the 3rd period, even before Detroit scored to make it a 1 goal game. 4 shots on goal in the entire 3rd period. Zucker looked like one of the only players not *****ing his pants in the 3rd. Just hammers home the point that this team needs more good veteran players. And zucker’s not even that great, but he’s been one of their best players. its criminal that more good veteran players haven’t been brought in to surround this “core”.