Confirmed with Link: Jarmo Kekäläinen hired as Senior Advisor

[joshjull]

 

[Doug Prishpreed]

This could very well be the trial version of if Jarmo can work under Kevin and then Kevin fails upward to team president to keep holding Terry's hand while Jarmo and the rest of the staff run the day-to-day stuff.

Sounds like a recipe for continued failure.

Funny how they purposely handicap themselves just so they can avoid admitting doing anything wrong.

 

[Butt Ox]

This could very well be the trial version of if Jarmo can work under Kevin and then Kevin fails upward to team president to keep holding Terry's hand while Jarmo and the rest of the staff run the day-to-day stuff.

That could well be, and I would embrace a move to get hockey minds to make hockey decisions rather than sit on their hands and make excuses. But it also leaves a bitter taste in once again rewarding complacency and failure.

You wanted to win a cup, Terry. Your words, not mine. Fire Kevyn and have a presser stating that half-assed attempts don't turn into W's in the win column. Fire your coaching staff. Turn your attention to family, and the need to be less involved in hockey and taking care of them. Let competent minds go to work.

 

[JLewyB]

Between Rousek and now Jarmo, the main thing I learned is that social media follows matter more than what we like to admit . Lol

 

[TehDoak]

Someone did a breakdown of the jarmo notable moves, back when his name first came up

Can anyone find it?

History of hockey trades by general manager Jarmo Kekalainen - NHL Trade Tracker

 

[LamaTabootTaboot]

I don't think the POHO must be a vision position. It can be anything the Sabres want it to be.

I think the POHO is important for the Sabres for these reasons:

- Interface between the team and the GM. As noted in another post, being a hockey GM is far more complicated than a football GM. Having someone to answer the phone when the owner calls is a big deal.

- Take on organizational issues so the GM can focus. The Hasek - Kelley issue, stadium issues, interfacing with league offices, etc. That takes a lot of weight off the GM.

- Setting culture and being a veto over moves which don't align with the team's culture. That's what LaFontaine should have been for Murray, vetoing his dumber moves. But LaFontaine left.

I don't think Adams is a vision guy in the future. I think he's Pegula's safety belt to make sure the organization doesn't get burned by another GM.

I also think the POHO for the Sabres is super important because that person needs to be a middle man between Pegula and hockey ops. Having that person being in lockstep with Terry makes everything worse IMO.

Like I look at the Bills, and I'm a firm believer that that works because McD and Beane are always out voting and/convincing Pegula in a 2v1 setting. If you mirror that to the Sabres, creating a POHO that now makes it say Legal and Adams v Jarmo isn't good for the hockey ops.

Specifically to your point, WTF wants Adams being able to veto hockey moves for the foreseeable future. This is basically my biggest concern.

An organization that promots Kevyn Adams to the tippy top of the org chart isn't going to be an organization that protects it's hockey ops from Kevyn Adams IMO.

Anyways, I am happy that Jarmo is in the building. Finally this regime has an adult in the room.

 

[toddkaz]

Marino was on to something back in March

 

[GellMann]

Echoing the sentiment that Terry really needs to just rip the bandaid off and make Jarmo GM today, but Terry and Kevyn love pissing away years of our lives so it's probably not going to happen

 

[Zman5778]

Like I look at the Bills, and I'm a firm believer that that works because McD and Beane are always out voting and/convincing Pegula in a 2v1 setting. If you mirror that to the Sabres, creating a POHO that now makes it say Legal and Adams v Jarmo isn't good for the hockey ops.

Nah. It works because Pegula trusts McBeane and wouldn't override them. I think Pegula has a similar level of trust in Adams............but Adams isn't NEARLY as good as McBeane.

 

[Beerz]

Marino was on to something back in March

Sure..but people do this about every player and team execs in every sport... it is almost a meme at this point.

He just happened to be right this time.

 

[toddkaz]

Sure..but people do this about every player and team execs in every sport... it is almost a meme at this point.

He just happened to be right this time.

Wait, so Jarmo was only following Columbus media then started following Buffalo media in March but no other media and now you are saying this happens in every sport with every player and team exec?

Can you give some examples? Where an exec was only following his old team and then got hired by the new team he was following? Make sure he is following no other teams too.

IT should be very easy to give 4-5 examples since it happens so often.

Sheesh people are so jealous they refuse to give credit where credit is due.

 

[Beerz]

Wait, so Jarmo was only following Columbus media then started following Buffalo media in March but no other media and now you are saying this happens in every sport with every player and team exec?

Can you give some examples?

IT should be very easy to give 4-5 examples since it happens so often.

Sheesh people are so jealous they refuse to give credit where credit is due.

You hear it all the time. No i can't give specific examples because it is so insignificant at this point..I don't remember

 

[toddkaz]

You hear it all the time. No i can't give specific examples because it is so insignificant at this point..I don't remember

Got it, but it happens so often its a meme.

Good lord.

 

[LamaTabootTaboot]

Nah. It works because Pegula trusts McBeane and wouldn't override them. I think Pegula has a similar level of trust in Adams............but Adams isn't NEARLY as good as McBeane.

Beane just said in the last few weeks that he had a 17 hours meeting with Pegula before the draft where they watched every single snap Josh Allen ever took.

Where he said "we want ownership onboard" and "just to go through ownership".

Pegula may give him more leeway now, but that sounds a lot like the same exact stories we hear about Pegula running the Sabres.

McBeane run a masterclass but they shouldn't have to.

 

[KeyserSoze81]

My pedantic addition to this conversation: The alt key combination for ä: ALT-0228 (umlaut-a).

 

[TageGod]

I think the correct move here is:

Adams knows he is out as GM after 2025-2026 season. Jarmo knows he is taking over as GM after. Adams would push back on this unless: He is going to be the president to handle the day-to-day affairs while Jarmo runs the team as GM after this season. Why else would a former GM with experience want a position like this?

The Sabre effect:

Jarmo quits, Adams is GM until Eric Stall is ready in 2030.

 

[DapperCam]

Terry didn’t hire him or do the search. Adams did.

I’m assuming Terry insisted on a senior advisor with GM or President experience. Maybe Adams got to pick the guy, but I have to think Terry likes having an experienced person who can step in now if Adams gets canned.

 

[enthusiast]

I hope kev fails upwards as soon as possible

 

[TehDoak]

I hope kev fails upwards as soon as possible

You know, the roof is upwards. He can have an incredible view of the harbor.

"This is how we win again"

 

[Nikolajs Sillers]

It's better than Chiarelli or Holland I guess.

 

[BFLO]

Meh. My gut reaction is that this fundamentally doesn't change anything. I don't think the issue is that Kevyn needs a more experienced advisor to consult with on the 2 or 3 moves he attempts per off-season.

We need a full organizational enema.

So unless this is a letting the fox loose in the hen-house sort of situation where Jarmo comes in and just immediately starts undermining kevyn and all the other clowns and gets them all ousted so that he can take complete control and remake the team in his image, I don't see this amounting to much.

 

[Weltschmerz]

AI will be the end of us all...but until then

View attachment 1044174

It probably will but I guess we have some time left. Right now AI is like a chess computer from the 80s and they will need more than 20 years to fix it.

 

[Der Jaeger]

I also think the POHO for the Sabres is super important because that person needs to be a middle man between Pegula and hockey ops. Having that person being in lockstep with Terry makes everything worse IMO.

Like I look at the Bills, and I'm a firm believer that that works because McD and Beane are always out voting and/convincing Pegula in a 2v1 setting. If you mirror that to the Sabres, creating a POHO that now makes it say Legal and Adams v Jarmo isn't good for the hockey ops.

Specifically to your point, WTF wants Adams being able to veto hockey moves for the foreseeable future. This is basically my biggest concern.

An organization that promots Kevyn Adams to the tippy top of the org chart isn't going to be an organization that protects it's hockey ops from Kevyn Adams IMO.

Anyways, I am happy that Jarmo is in the building. Finally this regime has an adult in the room.

Until Pegula sells the team, the idea that the Sabres are going to get away from Pegula being involved is a pipe dream. He's going to be involved. Having someone who Pegula trusts in the POHO position is the single most important position requirement.

What if the Sabres start to do well and it becomes Adams and Jarmo v Pegula? Or Adams, Jarmo, Ruff, and Staff all together? There's an idea that Adams is just doing everything Pegula tells him. I think there might be an aspect where Adams is one voice trying to convince Pegula, and needed help.

If you were GM, why would you agree to bring in an assistant, who was a former GM, who was more successful than you are now?

Adams vetoing hockey moves as POHO isn't an every move thing. It's a Tyler Myers and 1st for Kane and Bogosian veto type of thing. Simply to make sure the GM isn't crushing the organization with a move which hurts the organization beyond talent or value of a trade.

I don't see Adams as a POHO interfering with decisions that Jarmo would make as GM. If you go back to my post you replied to, that's what I see a POHO doing for a Pegula owned team.

 

[SundherDome]

Doesn't matter the hire, even if it was Lou, this franchise can't go any lower then they are now.

Lou would have absolutely taken them to a new low.

 

[Dirty Dog]

At least when he takes over in a year we don’t have to let him take a year to evaluate the roster