Nextmanup Posted March 5, 2022 Posted March 5, 2022 11 minutes ago, BillsFan4 said: he has been buying up all sorts of property in Buffalo. https://www.wgrz.com/article/money/business/developer-douglas-jemal-continues-to-buy-up-buffalo-wny/71-7cfe3cb8-e0c9-4719-b7da-ea2448b7c44f and he says he loves a challenge… 😂 But he has nowhere near the net worth of Pegula ($150 million). I’d be very very nervous that we’d be headed back to the Golisano days of extreme penny pinching where the profit margin was always the #1 concern. Personally, I don’t know that I want the Pegulas to sell. not sure I buy this rumor anyway. It’s from some random Buffalo fan Twitter account with like 100 followers. There has been a lot of smoke about a sale though. The Sabres are currently in a penny pinching mode and have been there for quite a while. Pegula has a lot of money but the Sabres organization is bleeding money. There are entire threads dedicated to this topic at Sabres forums. 2
BillsFan4 Posted March 5, 2022 Posted March 5, 2022 11 minutes ago, Nextmanup said: The Sabres are currently in a penny pinching mode and have been there for quite a while. Pegula has a lot of money but the Sabres organization is bleeding money. There are entire threads dedicated to this topic at Sabres forums. Yeah I know. But I still feel confident enough that Terry wouldn’t let money get in the way of hiring someone he wanted (like a Babcock for ex.), or signing a good player (they offered Dahlin a max term contract this past offseason, for ex.). + Their pay cuts came at a time where the NHL was facing a completely unprecedented situation. Now I’m not excusing them. I think they went too far and I’ve been a big critic of all the cuts in spending. This offseason was comical with basically every player getting a vet minimum $750k deal. (I think I kept a running list of them here) But if I’m honest about it I also kind of understand where the Pegulas are coming from. They’ve been bleeding money on the Sabres for a decade. The team’s been operating in the red many of those years. They’ve been a cap ceiling team almost every year with one of the biggest and highest paid scouting depts + front offices in the NHL and it’s got them year after year of bottom 8 finishes. They knew Eichel + Reinhart + Risto all wanted out so why be a cap ceiling team in a rebuild year? But that doesn’t excuse the massive cuts to hockey ops. I definitely thought they went too far. They have built it back up some since then but the scouting dept. still seems small and they don’t have as many overseas scouts as other teams (which I think is a mistake). The Sabres do seem to be building a top tier analytics team though, hiring what have widely been considered some of the top analytic minds. It appears they’re building a scouting dept/system somewhat similar to Carolina’s where they rely on a hybrid scouting/analytics system to draft. I’ve been skeptical, and still am, but I will say despite having a smaller scouting department than Murray or Botterill, the early returns on their drafts actually look pretty good so far. Obviously way too soon to tell though. I guess i’m just reluctant to change ownership groups. The devil you know and all that… Plus I have some hopes that the Sabres might actually be on the right path and I’d like to see some continuity and to build something for once. I’d think a new ownership group would want their own people. When I look around the NHL I don’t see many good teams that got good by changing their GM + coach every 2-3 years. I look at teams like Colorado - Sakic was damn near fired in his 3rd or 4th year on the job because Colorado had struggled. Then you started seeing his plan come together and now they’re s powerhouse. Where would they be if they had aborted the plan after 3-4 years? Same with Winnipeg. They struggled for years under Chevy and Maurice after a rebuild. Then in year 5 it turned. LA is another example. They’ve stuck with Blake and you can see his draft + develop plan coming together nicely. I mean, I guess it’s not a sure thing that the Pegulas stick with the same regime either. Their track record certainly doesn’t lend much confidence they will. But I think they might simply because Adams is “their guy”. 3
BillsPride12 Posted March 6, 2022 Posted March 6, 2022 Actually looking forward to the Sabres game today after their last two performances. But every time we get to this point they lay an egg so will be interesting to see what happens. 2 1
Another Fan Posted March 6, 2022 Posted March 6, 2022 6 hours ago, BillsPride12 said: Actually looking forward to the Sabres game today after their last two performances. But every time we get to this point they lay an egg so will be interesting to see what happens. Uggh yeah I guess hope is a part of it. It's funny though you know Buffalo hockey I was never I fan of it but I found myself following it a little more than normal this year. A combination of not much else going on and I feel I na weird way it's sort of it in my genes to root for a Buffalo team trying to break out of a playoff drought. I still recall vividly that Bills game the year of the Stevie drop. 0-8, then won the next two and were showing signs of life. I looked forward to that game all week and I still don't forget how disappointed I was that day! 1
\GoBillsInDallas/ Posted March 6, 2022 Posted March 6, 2022 6 hours ago, BillsPride12 said: Actually looking forward to the Sabres game today after their last two performances. But every time we get to this point they lay an egg so will be interesting to see what happens. Ask and ye shall receive. 1
BillsPride12 Posted March 6, 2022 Posted March 6, 2022 7 hours ago, BillsPride12 said: Actually looking forward to the Sabres game today after their last two performances. But every time we get to this point they lay an egg so will be interesting to see what happens. Welp! 43 minutes ago, Another Fan said: Uggh yeah I guess hope is a part of it. It's funny though you know Buffalo hockey I was never I fan of it but I found myself following it a little more than normal this year. A combination of not much else going on and I feel I na weird way it's sort of it in my genes to root for a Buffalo team trying to break out of a playoff drought. I still recall vividly that Bills game the year of the Stevie drop. 0-8, then won the next two and were showing signs of life. I looked forward to that game all week and I still don't forget how disappointed I was that day! Not sure if you were following this "story" but Kim Pegula inadvertently created some controversy over the weekend by making a comment about how there isn't much overlap between Bills and Sabres fans. Obviously the WNYers took offense to that but it looks like her comments were taken out of context and she was just referring to season ticket customers. But I always find it cool when the out of area Bills fans also like to pay attention to how the Sabres are doing. 1
ALF Posted March 10, 2022 Posted March 10, 2022 Vegas / Eichel at Sabres tonight on ESPN+ . I pay more for MSG games that's it for Sabres.
Greg S Posted March 10, 2022 Posted March 10, 2022 On 3/5/2022 at 2:28 PM, Helpmenow said: I think he should sell. Best for everyone 4
BillsFan4 Posted March 10, 2022 Posted March 10, 2022 https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/as-return-to-buffalo-nears-eichel-reflects-on-tumultuous-run-with-sabres/ more revisionist history by Eichel. Seems like he keeps forgetting that he told Elliotte Friedman that he requested a trade after the 2019/20 season - long before he was ever injured. Also, it’s odd to hear that he was mad the C was taken away from him. I honestly don’t know what he expected would happen when he told the Sabres he was done playing for them… 🤷♂️ maybe it was petty to take the C away before he was traded but the season was starting and I think it was more a message to the team than to Eichel. I think it was more Adams + Granato saying “we’re putting the Eichel drama behind us” as well as giving other players a chance to step up and lead. 1
T&C Posted March 10, 2022 Posted March 10, 2022 6 hours ago, ALF said: Vegas / Eichel at Sabres tonight on ESPN+ . I pay more for MSG games that's it for Sabres. I don't pay for any games at all but I will be checking this one out tonight. Wonder how badly he'll be booed.
TBBills Posted March 10, 2022 Posted March 10, 2022 28 minutes ago, T&C said: I don't pay for any games at all but I will be checking this one out tonight. Wonder how badly he'll be booed. How many people are actually going to be at the game to even boo him?
T&C Posted March 10, 2022 Posted March 10, 2022 12 minutes ago, TBBills said: How many people are actually going to be at the game to even boo him? Going to a Sabres/Bills game is a social outing with all the trimmings so who knows. No masks either.
Helpmenow Posted March 11, 2022 Posted March 11, 2022 Boo the guy for what. He put his time in here 1 2
T&C Posted March 11, 2022 Posted March 11, 2022 Plenty of boo's... but I can only get the away feed, anyone else having this problem? Nice work by Krebs...
T&C Posted March 11, 2022 Posted March 11, 2022 (edited) Chippy as ***** ... this is pretty entertaining for a Sabres game. Penalty boxes are full lol. Edited March 11, 2022 by T&C
Helpmenow Posted March 11, 2022 Posted March 11, 2022 Ask yourselves if you Jack waiting for the Sabres to get their act together. I’m glad for him. Pegula is a bad owner 5
T&C Posted March 11, 2022 Posted March 11, 2022 48 minutes ago, Helpmenow said: Ask yourselves if you Jack waiting for the Sabres to get their act together. I’m glad for him. Pegula is a bad owner Jack ain't jack... no better place to fail. Hat off to Mr. Anderson.
Rockpile233 Posted March 11, 2022 Posted March 11, 2022 Great win tonight fun game! Where do you stand on the Eichel tribute video? I figured they would do one, but I wouldn’t have.
PromoTheRobot Posted March 11, 2022 Posted March 11, 2022 1 hour ago, Helpmenow said: Ask yourselves if you Jack waiting for the Sabres to get their act together. I’m glad for him. Pegula is a bad owner I hope Jack got a good look at this Sabres team. He never saw one that tight when he played here. Wonder why? 21 minutes ago, T&C said: Jack ain't jack... no better place to fail. Hat off to Mr. Anderson. Best win of the year. And to have the two guys from VGK scoring, the Tuch goal off an Eichel turnover, made it all the more sweet. 16 minutes ago, Rockpile233 said: Great win tonight fun game! Where do you stand on the Eichel tribute video? I figured they would do one, but I wouldn’t have. I'm glad they booed him. Great seeing Sabres fans standing up for their team. 2
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