The Sabres GM and Front Office Thread, Eric Staal hired as Special Asst. to the GM; Jarmo Kekäläinen hired as Senior Advisor

[OkimLom]

I mean....typically senior advisors don't really "report" to anyone. They don't have any real authority or productivity goals. They are a sounding board. What does it matter who they report to? It doesn't.

From Adams "intermediaries" we've heard that:

1) Adams is insistent that any senior advisor reports to him
2) Adams is insistent that any senior advisor is now going to have a big part in planning things and is not just going to be a sounding board.

I'm very curious what the final form of this....if it happens at all while Adams is still the GM. I could actually see this being the thing that actually gets Adams fired eventually. He can't/won't find someone who will fit whatever structure he wants them to come into, Terry realizes Adams isn't being forthright about it and the trust is broken...and without that trust the only thing keeping Kevyn employed is the how annoyed Terry will be having to do a press conference with a new GM.

Depends on what the tasks will be for the Advisor/POHO. If he’s hired as someone that Terry might need to look at the organization from top to bottom with a 3rd party set of eyes on it, to find out where the holes are in the organization, which may include management, then that advisor should be in direct contact with Terry.

Knowing Terry and how he conducts the structure of his teams with free flow of information, I wouldn’t be surprised if he would want the advisor in Adams ear to help him in certain areas.

If Terry just wants that advisor as a tool to help Adams refine his GM issues/weaknesses then the guy would report to Adams and Terry might not get the feedback he needs on his management department.

Without seeing this hire it’s tough to really criticize the hire outside of saying “about time” as there’s a case to be made for either “role” and who they may have contact with based on their tasks.

 

[LamaTabootTaboot]

Absolutely lol. The context was/is there and you just ignore it. Here is the post I was replying to:

"If you want a good experienced exec in here, you need to be willing to let adams go, and also give up on this silly Seth appert nonsense.

Can't have both. Sports don't work that way."

I have no idea how someone would think that my comment would be construed as "a new GM would need to be okay moving on from Adams"

It's painfully obvious that the context of the conversation was around a senior advisor/POHO being looked at and that person, in order to be hired, would need to be okay firing Adams and some coaches.

But go on and keep trying to find that "gotcha" moment, I'm sure i used improper sentence structure somewhere.....

There isn't a qualified POHO or GM candidate in the NHL who needs 8 more months to evaluate Adams.

Not one.

Lower levels, like regional scouts, sure. But Kevyn Adams? Nope.

 

[Ace]

If people think this board has become repetitive in its negativity…wait until they find out what’s happening in the actual Sabres organization.

There are only two kinds of people left.

Those who love this team and recognize what’s happening to it.

And those that don’t.

 

[Chainshot]

I spent a little time reviewing some of Gailvin's videos on youtube where he articulates some of his basic idea and programs for strength and conditioning.

Look, I'm far from an expert, but I understand some basics about how to develop strength and as far as I'm concerned Gailvin is nothing special. He's like so many modern day professional athletic coaches in the way they introduce unneeded complexity into their strength routines, depending heavily on band work, isometric resistance, light dumbbell work, hex bars etc. with a heavy focus on volume over intensity.

He even explicitly mentions in one video I watched how he is getting away from "spinal loading."

Huh?

Look, heavy compound lifts by their nature require some degree of spinal loading. You're not going to barbell squat, deadlift, or press without some degree of spinal loading. But here's the thing: these lifts are by their very nature and simplicity the building blocks of strength development. In the extreme, strength guys like Bjornsson, Hall, and Shaw didn't get to where they are by focusing on single leg kettlebell lunges, side planks, and ab rollouts, which I assure you figure prominently in Gailvan's approach to strength development. No, they got there by squatting, deadlifting, and pressing ever heaver amounts, progressing linearly by adding incremental more weight to the barbell and thus increasing strength -- the ability to produce force against an external object.

Those principles of strength development apply to everyone. Progressive overload is the as old as the Greek myth of Milo of Croton. You get stronger by adding weight to the bar, and going up in weight each training session. Sadly this basic fact is lost on most modern day strength coaches who train professional athletes. Too often the focus of these coaches is to develop programs that allow elite athletes to display their genetically elevated levels of strength and conditioning, rather than challenging athletes to grow stronger via simple. compound lifts progressed linearly . Getting a pro athlete to do 10 30lbs dumbbell goblet squats on a bosu ball -- while visually impressive -- does absolutely nothing to increase their overall level of strength. Getting a NHLer hockey player to up his back squat from 185 to 405, well now we're getting somewhere. That kind objective gain in raw strength allows the athlete to become more effective at their sport while improving their overall resistance to injury as tendons, ligaments, muscles and bones grow to adapt to the increasing amount of stress applied to the body..

So basically I don't think Gailvin will move the needle in regards to our overall team strength levels. Maybe we'll see some gains in conditioning when the season starts if players commit to his overly complex and voluminous levels of HIIT type movements, but I don't expect any noticeable improvements in team toughness, nor do I think his approach will have any positive effect on injury rates.

Perhaps it is in his ability to get people committed to at least doing some work that has some of the reporters singing his praises? The technical part is one bit, but getting guys enrolled in the idea of how they improve could also be something -- I don't know as it's not a current I have ever peered behind.

Appreciate that you went through his stuff. I would hope the idea is better conditioning (one of Ruff's complaints) and some improvements in possession areas where guys are getting knocked easily off the puck due to what seems like paltry leg strength. I don't think they have the mindset to necessarily be "tougher" but they could be more competitive if able to stay on their pins or keep up later in shifts/games.

 

[slip]

Perhaps it is in his ability to get people committed to at least doing some work that has some of the reporters singing his praises? The technical part is one bit, but getting guys enrolled in the idea of how they improve could also be something -- I don't know as it's not a current I have ever peered behind.

Appreciate that you went through his stuff. I would hope the idea is better conditioning (one of Ruff's complaints) and some improvements in possession areas where guys are getting knocked easily off the puck due to what seems like paltry leg strength. I don't think they have the mindset to necessarily be "tougher" but they could be more competitive if able to stay on their pins or keep up later in shifts/games.

It's definitely a concern for the coach to be haranguing his players about conditioning deep into the season. Sure I can see many showing up to camp in rough shape, but these are gifted, elite athletes. Conditioning, which is easy to lose through inactivity, shouldn't take more than a month to 6 weeks to return to peak levels. So I'm not sure what is happening over the course of the season that's impairing their conditioning. Diet? Poor sleep? Bad habits? Probably some combination of all three if I were to guess.

But it does suggest that players are not putting in the work in between games to maximize recovery, and I think it also points to general frailty in some of the younger guys who have depended on innate talent to get to the NHL but refuse to put in the extra work at the gym, especially during the off season, to take their level of physical preparedness to the next level.

If Gailvin can identify which players -- looking at you Quinn and Power -- who need the most work and get them to buy into effective (even if not optimal) off season programming, I'll be fine with the hire, general critiques of his methodology aside.

 

[jc17]

It's definitely a concern for the coach to be haranguing his players about conditioning deep into the season. Sure I can see many showing up to camp in rough shape, but these are gifted, elite athletes. Conditioning, which is easy to lose through inactivity, shouldn't take more than a month to 6 weeks to return to peak levels. So I'm not sure what is happening over the course of the season that's impairing their conditioning. Diet? Poor sleep? Bad habits? Probably some combination of all three if I were to guess.

But it does suggest that players are not putting in the work in between games to maximize recovery, and I think it also points to general frailty in some of the younger guys who have depended on innate talent to get to the NHL but refuse to put in the extra work at the gym, especially during the off season, to take their level of physical preparedness to the next level.

If Gailvin can identify which players -- looking at you Quinn and Power -- who need the most work and get them to buy into effective (even if not optimal) off season programming, I'll be fine with the hire, general critiques of his methodology aside.

I can't find his videos, do you have a link?

 

[SundherDome]

There isn't a qualified POHO or GM candidate in the NHL who needs 8 more months to evaluate Adams.

Not one.

Lower levels, like regional scouts, sure. But Kevyn Adams? Nope.

And that is an okay opinion to have

 

[Dreakon13]

If your team can't win on the ice, especially as long as the Sabres haven't been winning, the fans need to find their own way to win... so you let the negativity consume you and talk/argue about how bad everything is, because bad is the only constant, it's the only way to "be right".

EDIT: Add to that, the age of the loudest people on social media being the most heard. It's easy to figure out how/why some people feel like it's their duty to embrace the negativity.

 

[Jim Bob]

I can't find his videos, do you have a link?

All the players in the organization have homework.



I am sure that Apps and Mersch gave him a reference.

 

[Howie Hodge]

"The Buffalo Sabres can’t seem to do much right. They’ve just brought in the inexperienced Eric Staal to assist the underperforming GM Kevyn Adams. The two played together with the Carolina Hurricanes and isn’t that nice? What the Sabres need is senior management person— a Lou Lamoriello-Cliff Fletcher type of years gone by — to take over the operation, show them the way, then hire a general manager, then hire an assistant "

No one is impresssed. Certainly not The Toronto Media. Nor should they be.

The beat goes on, as the organization ponder their next move.... smh.

 

[toddkaz]

And that is an okay opinion to have

Opinion is one thing but thinking GMs, POHOs and advisors need 8 months of "evaluating" before they can do their job isn't an opinion its ignorance.

 

[toddkaz]

"The Buffalo Sabres can’t seem to do much right. They’ve just brought in the inexperienced Eric Staal to assist the underperforming GM Kevyn Adams. The two played together with the Carolina Hurricanes and isn’t that nice? What the Sabres need is senior management person— a Lou Lamoriello-Cliff Fletcher type of years gone by — to take over the operation, show them the way, then hire a general manager, then hire an assistant "

No one is impresssed. Certainly not The Toronto Media. Nor should they be.

The beat goes on, as the organization ponder their next move.... smh.

View attachment 1034366

This franchise isn't going to bring in anyone who will make Adams look bad which means 90% of the hockey people are out of the running.

 

[OkimLom]

Opinion is one thing but thinking GMs, POHOs and advisors need 8 months of "evaluating" before they can do their job isn't an opinion its ignorance.

If their job includes "evaluating" the organization, then technically, they WOULD be doing their job immediately.

While I don't think there is an evaluation that would take that long to do, I do agree that there might be time for someone to come in here, depending on the scope of their job, and it might be a bit to get into the root causes of the problems and finding solutions, and where changes can be done, where things can be extended upon, and essentially getting the lay of the land of how things operate and where areas of the organization are lacking. If said owner wants to keep with the "skeleton" of what they already have in place, then it might be a more delicate process and negotiating within the organization compared to getting the greenlight to dismantle everything and clear everything out.

 

[Fezzy126]

Seems like that is the reasonable path. Create a new path to Pegula. That said, they would hopefully evaluate everything.

Why does this seem reasonable? How many Senior Advisors report directly to team owners or board of directors?

I understand that we don't have a POHO, but who cares who a senior advisor reports to? People here seem to think:

1. Reporting structure and org charts prevent people from talking to others (this is nonsense)
2. Reporting to someone prevents you from disagreeing or having tough conversations (this is also nonsense)

I disagree and challenge my colleagues and those above me constantly, it promotes healthy discussions and outcomes in every organization.

 

[Sabre the Win]

This front office with Kevyn and the coaching staff remind me of a couple kids playing house while their parents are away. The only way for Kevyn's best friend to get experience in the office is hiring him here because Pegula won't say no when 31 other teams would.

I hope they continue to get rejected for a 'senior advisor role' whatever that may be.

IM expecting a bad season including a top 3 pick this year. They have no actual centers, Josh Norris can't be relied upon with his injury prone self.

The Cozens trade was laughable, the Staal hire is laughable, the promotions from inept bench coaches within the organization are laughable.

I'm not sure there is anything to like about the Sabres anymore, free agency is a joke and has been a joke because there isn't a single damn palm tree in all of Buffalo...

 

[toddkaz]

If their job includes "evaluating" the organization, then technically, they WOULD be doing their job immediately.

While I don't think there is an evaluation that would take that long to do, I do agree that there might be time for someone to come in here, depending on the scope of their job, and it might be a bit to get into the root causes of the problems and finding solutions, and where changes can be done, where things can be extended upon, and essentially getting the lay of the land of how things operate and where areas of the organization are lacking. If said owner wants to keep with the "skeleton" of what they already have in place, then it might be a more delicate process and negotiating within the organization compared to getting the greenlight to dismantle everything and clear everything out.

We are talking about an evaluation timeline where the GM, POHO doesn't do anything because he is evaluating.

The first thing a POHO does is fire the old staff and bring in his own so no, he isn't "evaluating" for 8 months before he does anything.

 

[Ehran]

I disagree and challenge my colleagues and those above me constantly, it promotes healthy discussions and outcomes in every organization.

I get that, and I was that way too.

The problem is I don't think Pegula encourages those sorts of discussions. He wouldn't take it well, I don't believe. Management style and capability are hugely important to having those sort of healthy discussions.

But when times get tough, and they always do, who you "report" to very much controls your future employment. Do they support you or do they see you as disloyal?

I think we can see where the Sabres org falls on that sliding scale.

 

[May Day 10]

My point was, which started the argument:

If the Sabres are going to approach a heavy hitter type, like the mentioned Holland and Lamoriello... a well as a number of other experienced GMs/POHO types, they can't attach these preconditions most of us know exist.

You can't say Adams definitely stays, and we have this awesome savant of an NCAA coach we found who has mystified us and we have him pegged to be the head coach through at least 2028. Adams doing the outreach would probably be enough of a red flag to kill this thing on arrival. Nobody wants to come in, attach their name/legacy/career to just helping Kevyn Adams not look like an amateur and helping pave the way for Appert.

Im sure there are many other 'officers' in the organization who would be untouchable for an Advisor/POHO. Nightingale, Crowe, Forton, Jakubowski, and the rest.


If Terry Pegula were doing the outreach and discussions, I think there would be a chance, and there could be some back and forth and maybe autonomy granted. The collaboration that Pegula has "achieved" here is a major detriment and that would need to be removed. POHO and GM can collaborate.

 

[SundherDome]

Why does this seem reasonable? How many Senior Advisors report directly to team owners or board of directors?

I understand that we don't have a POHO, but who cares who a senior advisor reports to? People here seem to think:

1. Reporting structure and org charts prevent people from talking to others (this is nonsense)
2. Reporting to someone prevents you from disagreeing or having tough conversations (this is also nonsense)

I disagree and challenge my colleagues and those above me constantly, it promotes healthy discussions and outcomes in every organization.

In the absence of a POHO, I would assume senior advisors would report directly to ownership. The position seems to be a short term role (1-3 years, maybe?) that is layered above the GM and would have a direct path to the owner.

Agree on point 1. Any organization sports or business needs to have collaboration and open lines to build growth and mitigate risks.

Agree on point 2. There isn't anyone out there who is an all knowing being. All different roles and people have unique opinions/experiences and they can truly influence a culture/organization.

 

[Beerz]

"The Buffalo Sabres can’t seem to do much right. They’ve just brought in the inexperienced Eric Staal to assist the underperforming GM Kevyn Adams. The two played together with the Carolina Hurricanes and isn’t that nice? What the Sabres need is senior management person— a Lou Lamoriello-Cliff Fletcher type of years gone by — to take over the operation, show them the way, then hire a general manager, then hire an assistant "

No one is impresssed. Certainly not The Toronto Media. Nor should they be.

The beat goes on, as the organization ponder their next move.... smh.

View attachment 1034366

Chuck Fletcher might be the one guy they can bring in and have it be a downgrade on Kevyn Adams.

 

[Chainshot]

Chuck Fletcher might be the one guy they can bring in and have it be a downgrade on Kevyn Adams.

The old "just when you think it is as bad as it can be, it will get worse" eh?

So on a similar note: I have one other thought that I haven't wanted to enter into the conversation because of how some folks run with these things - do we know Eric Staal is not part of the 2003 U20 sexual misconduct investigation? One way that I can see this getting worse is winding up involved in that.

 

[NotABadPeriod]

Chuck Fletcher might be the one guy they can bring in and have it be a downgrade on Kevyn Adams.

Ron Hextall is unemployed AFAIK.

 

[toddkaz]

I was thinking Cliff Fletcher....Which wouldn't surprise me being Buffalo

Not sure he has 8 months in him to "evaluate" the team.

 

[Beerz]

The old "just when you think it is as bad as it can be, it will get worse" eh?

So on a similar note: I have one other thought that I haven't wanted to enter into the conversation because of how some folks run with these things - do we know Eric Staal is not part of the 2003 U20 sexual misconduct investigation? One way that I can see this getting worse is winding up involved in that.

Wait... there is 2 cases?

 

[TageGod]

Anyone up for a Ruff Regier?