Sabres don’t fire Adams or Ruff

[HaNotsri]

Bills keeping us going.

I can only laugh when I find out people still hate the Sabres on this board, when they haven't been a threat to anyone in a generation.

There's no major sports team more miserable to root for than the Buffalo Sabres right now.

Dynamo Berlin?

 

[landy]

I think any coach deserves at least 2 seasons, but Adams, they have no excuse.

 

[Chainshot]

Am I the only one that feels like the coach and GM aren’t the issue in Buffalo?

So when I see this, I shrug. So what? I’m sure their fans are mad and all that. Not saying they’re good at their job. I don’t think Ruff is an NHL level coach anymore, nor do I think Adams has done more than an okay job.

I don’t see these two being the difference between them getting over the hump and not doing so.

Seems more like an owner issue, and then a group of players that are talented but don’t come together as a team to play up to their ability on a consistent basis. At a certain point, it’s on them (owner and players), and they can’t keep firing coaches and GM’s.

Adams has been there for five years. There is no "oh, they just made a recent change" to this. He has been on the job longer than 21 other franchises' GM's at this point. It's on the owner for consistently hiring inexperienced people which he's done three times in a row now. It is also on the owner for firing the first new guy over him not wanting to fire Bylsma and then sacked the 2nd one for not being willing to slash staff during lockdown. It's the owner.

But Adams has not done an okay job at all. He's very much part of why the collection of players don't fit together. He even acknowledged that he simply liked Byram but didn't know how he would fit in for example. He has no idea how to build a team and is attached to his draftees. He leans in on younger players and has left veteran help as an afterthought. They've been the youngest team in the league every year of his tenure. It's him.

 

[gary559]

Too bad you can't fire the boss.

 

[Dueling Banjos]

Eternal rebuild continues

 

[Ace]

It’s not at all surprising if you’ve paid any attention to how bad an owner Pegula is.

Adams is more likely to be promoted than removed. After five failed seasons the last two of which his team regressed each year. He’s genuinely more likely to be given an advisory role as the go between a GM he has an hand in picking and ownership than to not be GM. That’s real. Thats the state of ownership’s investment in a team it destroyed.

 

[Ace]

Eternal rebuild continues

You have to try to build something for this to be accurate.

They don’t. Adams sits on his hands in the season, doesn’t do nearly enough in the offseason, doesn’t move on from enough players he needs to, doesn’t have a plan to replace them if he did.

He does nothing.

They don’t build

They don’t rebuild.

They do nothing.

 

[Bleedred]

The fact that Adams wasn't fired does leave me pretty flabbergasted.

He seemed to be the safest bet for GM to be fired as soon as the season ended.

My only rationalization is that he's a complete puppet and figurehead for the Pegula family. Merely a PR spokesperson at this point.

 

[5 Minute Major]

Eternal rebuild continues

It may be different this off-season. I think they are finally starting to realize that 18, 19, 20 and 21 year old players shouldn’t make up a third to half of your roster. Looking for some of these kids to be traded for some vets that have a few miles on them.

I know, it’s the Sabres. We’ll believe it when we see it.

 

[goeb]

The most shameless organization in the NHL with the most inept owner. If you can't luck yourself into one playoff season in almost 15 years then your organization has a serious ownership problem.

I feel for not only Sabres fans but also Tage Thomspon. Unless he pulls an Eichel, he might have to wait another 5 years to make the playoffs.

Sabres do have some good piece: Thompson, Tuch, Dahlin, Peterka and Lukkanen are players that can help you get to the playoffs but the depth on this team is abysmal. Hopefully Power can really transcend next year.

 

[Gabrielor]

They do nothing.

False. They're the best NHL farm team for other NHL teams in NHL history.

 

[MCR74]

Is that a bad thing?

 

[Fatass]

False. They're the best NHL farm team for other NHL teams in NHL history.

Sadly that sure appears to be true. Sabres have had some guys move on and be key on Cup winners.
Maybe it’s good they keep their coach to have some sense of stability?

 

[Panthaz89]

Adams is one of the longest tenured GMs in the league.....think about it lmao he's going into his 6th year.

 

[ForsbergMoDo21]

A.I. being forced to run the Buffalo Sabres franchise might become the core reason for the machine uprising. Let's not.

If they keep running the team the way they have been, there’s going to be a human uprising in Buffalo.

 

[VivaLasVegas]

Terry Pegula just needs to stay the course a few more years!

 

[EdmFlyersfan]

This is rather surprising, given that the team f***ing sucked despite having a decent roster, so many high draft picks, and a record number of years without playoffs. Should they have been fired? Yes. Why weren’t they? Because Terry is a cheap bastard man. Discuss.

Seriously, the pp and pk were so f***ing bad, you can’t tell me this is a pro coaching staff. Money isn’t being spent on basic billionaire shit, it’s a problem. The NHL has a derelict owner.

They have stolen the "Yzerplan" and Stevie doesn't even know it yet!

 

[BB79]

I dont blame Lindy Ruff, but yeah. at this point I think the Sabres would be better run by AI

We need a player/coach like Paul Newman with the Chiefs

 

[BFLO]

That's a completely overblown assumption. Pegula has had zero issue with spending money on the roster and zero issue paying for fired HCs and GMs. (Coaching staffs and scouting department? That's another story)

The reason that Adams isn't being fired is even simpler than money -- he makes Pegula feel heard in all decisions. Murray and Botterill never did, which is a big reason why both got fired. Pegula doesn't need to make the decisions, just feel like he has a voice.

Pegula LIKES Adams. That's why he's not being fired.

It’s not overblown. Since 2020, when Adams became GM, the Sabres have spent less on player salary than any other team in the league, totaling about $60m under the cap.

Terry spent plenty of money pre-2020. But it’s not arguable that he’s been the cheapest since then.

“I mentioned three words: effective, efficient and economic,” Terry Pegula said. Jun 16 2020

That was the turning point.

 

[Satoru Gojo]

The Lindy hire made no sense there were better coaches available last season

 

[tsujimoto74]

Meh, it’s not like firing them would do anything. Pegula would still be hiring their replacements. I’m not sure this team can get better until he f***s off.

 

[Madap]

I was going to write a snarky comment but I honestly can’t. I feel for Buffalo fans. They deserve better.

I will say they’ve played in a really tough division over the years, but still, seeing teams like Ottawa and Montreal take steps forward while they are struggling to is tough.

 

[OysterForever]

Yo Terry, hire Jarmo & Torts

 

[ItWasJustified]

This is rather surprising

No it's not. You can't just fire your coach every two years and expect anything to move forward.

 

[MOGlLNY]

We’re finally making progress that most of the replies in this thread are blaming Pegula