Ek's note: Hey there Sabres faithful. You've seen your ten contestants and now it is time to narrow the field from ten to 5. Over the next two days I will be posting three blogs and asking for your honest opinions on who you would like to be your next great Sabres blogger? I was thoroughly impressed with all ten that we posted and there were many more that were great but didn't quite make the cut. Here are the last four of the initial ten for your consideration. Please start your comment with your pick among these four. The blogger picked the most in your comments over the next 24 hours will be asked to write a second article for consideration. So 3 of the 5 finalists will be selected directly by you and the other two will be selected as wildcards by your votes and our editors... Good luck to the first three. note..I've posted the first 100 or so words from each writer, but you can see their entire articles simply by hitting archive above..Here we go!
Contestant #4: Stephen
The Pegulas & Buffalo Sabres: A Decade of Mismanagement Part 1
It goes without saying that this last decade as a Sabres fan has been challenging to say the least. Every offseason we see constant change and reshuffling of coaches, GMs, scouting, players, draft capital. We can always just look at what we see on the surface, whether it be injuries or gameplan or interesting lineup choices but in the end, the results are always the same. So why not take a step back and look at the one position that hasn’t changed in that time, Ownership.
February of 2011 for every Sabres fan was a day of euphoria for the fan base. Finally, the days of penny-pinching ownership were gone and the likelihood of losing players to FA based on money like that of Briere and Drury was basically zero with a billionaire owner coming in for the first time. 10 years later and the franchise is a complete and utter disaster. So where did it go wrong? Does all this failure simply rest on the shoulders of the Pegulas or is there other underlying facts to the lack of success? In my opinion, not all of the blame is on the Pegulas but a lot of it should be directed their way.
If there’s one thing that we’ve learned in the sports world it is that ownership should stay out of the way and leave it up to the people who know and understand the business. Even though Terry broke down in tears when sitting next to famous former Sabres players at his introductory press conference and saying how passionate he was as a Sabres fan growing up doesn’t mean you know what’s best. I constantly bring the Sabres to the playoffs every year in NHL21, doesn’t mean I should be a GM in real life now. However, from all the reports we’ve heard over the years regarding this team and ownership, they still can’t seem to stop shooting themselves in the foot.
Contestant #6 Paul K
As I see the Buffalo Sabres... Just to put this in perspective I am darn near 70 years old. I’ve been following the Sabres since we drafted Gilbert. In the early days under the Knox family the Sabres were basically Toronto South. Punch Imlach and Tim Horton were convinced that this would be a great place to play and work. They were right. Buffalo fans lined up to watch a rag tag bunch of players entertain them. The early years were defined by the French Connection and early success. They were in the playoffs by the third season and we were singing, literally, their praises. In the 74-75 season we had the best record in the NHL but lost in the fog to Philly. The French Connection years ended in 1979 when Rene Robert was traded to Colorado and the door closed with Rick Martins knee injury and trade to LA in 1981.
The 80s and 90s saw Perrault reach 500 goals, drafting of Pierre Turgeon and Alex Mogilny. Trading for Pat LaLaLaFontaine, Dom Hasek, RJs “May Day… and more of the playoffs for nine straight years until the 94-95 season stopped all that. Then enter Ted Nolan and the “hardest working team in hockey… with Patty and Randy Burridge leading the scoring for a bunch of lunch bucket players who warmed our hearts. From 96 – 06 I guess you could say we turned our team into the Bickering Sabres. Hasek fought the press Mucks got fired, Nolan got fired. The Rigas years began and ended Peca sat out in a contract dispute but we made it to the finals one more time against Dallas and we all know how that ended.
The ownership of the Sabres was tenuous at best in the early 2000s as the Rigas group gave way to the league then to Golisano. In spite of the termoil in 05 – 06 we won 52 and with Lindy Ruff at the helm we showed everyone what hard work was again. The Pegula years began in 2011 with the promise that the team focus going forward would be to win the Stanley Cup. During this new focus our coaches were Lindy Ruff, Ron Rolston, Ted Nolan again, Dan Bylsma, Phil Housely, Ralph and now Don Granato. Ten years, seven coaches and four GMs, Regier, Murray, Botterill and now Adams.
Contestant #9: Mitch
A Decade in Reverse
Just over ten years ago, the Pegula family purchased the Buffalo Sabres. On February 22, 2011, Terry Pegula gave an introductory press conference. Let’s take a look at some of what was said then and how those statements have held up over time.
"From this point forward, the Buffalo Sabres' reason for existence will be to win the Stanley Cup." This is, perhaps, the most memorable quote from Terry that day. Ten years in, the Sabres still exist, despite not sniffing a Stanley Cup. The playoff drought is about to hit ten years and isn’t showing signs of slowing (Detroit is next at four going on five – after twenty-five straight appearances). One could easily argue that today’s Sabres are miles further away than that 2011 team. They way the past ten years have played out, who knows if the Sabres reason for existence under the Pegulas will ever be about the Stanley Cup.
"It's a three-year or less process." At this point, the Sabres look like they are three years away from being three years away.
"Starting today, there will be no financial mandates on the Buffalo Sabres hockey department," and “There is no salary cap in the National Hockey League on scouting budgets and player development budgets.… Pandemic finances have taken a hatchet to these statements. Apparently, it is not as easy as just drilling another well. The Pegulas did start off spending on the Sabres but have cut back significantly as of late. While spending lots of money poorly did not bring about results, the current state of the “hockey department… does not fit in with the idea of “no financial mandates.… Even when the Pegulas have spent money on the Sabres, they have done so poorly. The list of questionable contracts and hiring decisions have put a lot of money into the pockets of very unsuccessful players and coaches. Perhaps bringing in some more experienced hockey minds into the top levels of the organization could have avoided this waste.
Contestant #10: Loukas
On July 12th 2014, I read an article on The Hockey News called: Why the Buffalo Sabres will be Stanley Cup Champions in 2020 that stated that with a new GM, a bevy of draft picks, a committed owner and proper development, the Buffalo Sabres stand the chance to be an NHL contender in several years. The article ended with the following sentence: If they hit on the right notes and have some luck along the way, the Sabres will be out of the front row and the lottery before too long and among the NHL’s elite.
Fast forward to 2021 and with some luck, the Buffalo Sabres will score a goal and end their double digit losing streak. The Sabres haven't come close to becoming a contender and they haven't made the playoffs since the 2010-2011 season. The last time the Sabres won a playoff series was in 2007. The 2 seasons following the 2004-2005 NHL lockout were the most exciting brand of hockey I have seen the Buffalo Sabres play perhaps even more than the 1998-1999 Stanley Cup final team. The lockout allowed several prospects (Vanek, Pominville, Roy, Gaustad, Paille, Miller... heck even Jason Botterill was part of that team!) to develop their game in the AHL and join the big boys Brière, Drury, Afinogenov, Dumont, Campbell and company the following season. Those were the days when I was proud to say I am a Buffalo Sabres fan. The players played as one team and had a never say die attitude like the team in the 90's.
What's gone wrong since that article that was written in 2014? A lot of change, several head coaches and GM have come and gone. Missed draft picks like Alex Nylander, Casey Mittlestadt... Good starts in the early parts of the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 seasons saw the team come back to earth because of a lack of scoring depth and average goaltending. Perhaps the Buffalo Sabres need to take the George Costanza pick the opposite path in order to stop being the laughingstock of the league and put a respectable team on the ice for their diehard fans. However, there is hope... Not too long ago, another sports team the Buffalo Bills were in the same situation. The Bills had missed the playoffs for almost two decades but when the team hired Sean McDermott as their head coach followed by Brandon Beane as GM, the culture of the team changed and with a little luck, the playoff drought was over after one season at the helm. A couple of years later, with some solid drafting and proper development with good coaching, the Bills are a serious contender like the one the Sabres aspire to become. In order to establish the winning culture like the Bills have done, the first order of business is to have the right men lead the way. Kevyn Adams is a young GM. Is he the right man for the job? Time will tell. The players seem lost on the ice and have perhaps already quit on their head coach Ralph Krueger. Kevyn Adams needs to shake things up!