The Sins Of The Buffalo Sabres In The Last 15 Years, List Them...(One Per Post Please)

[KeepKane]

to me, it was the moment they decided to let LaFontaine/Patrick walk and sided with Kim Pegula presidenting all over the building. This was the true beginning of the end. The immediate aftermath was a disjointed execution of the deep rebuild, while Tim Murray was in out of his depth taking on so much (I truly think he was going to be a background type character, doing a lot of scouting and picking groceries while LaFontaine, under the guidance of Craig Patrick, was going to be the face of the team and doing a lot of the interpersonal stuff.

The Pegulas went all-in on themselves and Kim's night school business degree and decided never to relinquish control again. The whole operation has been a crumbling and decaying joke since that day.

This was the one. But even afterwards. TM built a top 6 that should've competed for multiple cups:
Kane-Eichel-____
____-O'reilly-Reinhart

He ran the cupboard bare but could've just moved picks/prospects for a dman or to get a playoff style 3rd line every year ala Tampa. The crumbling operation and lack of results led to dismantling before Eichel/Reinhart reached their primes.

 

[DapperCam]

Trading O’Reilly because he shared his feeling about playing on a losing team, buried in defensive zone starts. Forcing a poor return because we had an internal deadline to trade him before a cash bonus was due.

ROR is respected around the league and won the Conn Smythe the next season. How do you think UFAs, coaches, agents, etc viewed us after that debacle?

 

[BFLO]

Well they were wrong on Benson. And he outplayed almost every single guy who could have complained as a rookie. I get they would want a proven player…but that player needed to replace some of them more than 18 year old Benson who was, at worst, the fourth best forward on the team. They would have needed 9 new players to force him out

Johnson wasn’t ready but he wasn’t even the worst Johnson getting ice time on D that year.

Adams has bungled Levi every step of the way and we’re lucky he has the focus to block it out and develop when they get around to letting him do so every year.

To be fair to the players, I also wouldn't give a shit about the upcoming season if my GM left 3 roster spots open for rookies to take and left $10m in cap space on the table.

This is the big reason why Benson was able to so thoroughly out hustle the rest of the roster and earn his spot in camp. The rest of the roster was already demoralized.

 

[Zman5778]

To be fair to the players, I also wouldn't give a shit about the upcoming season if my GM left 3 roster spots open for rookies to take and left $10m in cap space on the table.

This is the big reason why Benson was able to so thoroughly out hustle the rest of the roster and earn his spot in camp. The rest of the roster was already demoralized.

If they were demoralized by that.......then that speaks VOLUMES as to the mental capacity of the roster. Like.....shut up and play hard regardless of what you think the GM should have done. I can understand being disappointed that the GM didn't do more to enrich the roster, but at some point they need to push through that and play hard.

That they didn't/couldn't.....jesus....that's absolutely stunningly soft.

 

[BFLO]

If they were demoralized by that.......then that speaks VOLUMES as to the mental capacity of the roster. Like.....shut up and play hard regardless of what you think the GM should have done. I can understand being disappointed that the GM didn't do more to enrich the roster, but at some point they need to push through that and play hard.

That they didn't/couldn't.....jesus....that's absolutely stunningly soft.

What's soft is fans still making excuses for this manager/owner.

If the management and ownership is so incompetent and destructive that it kills the will of the players to try before the season even starts, that's on management and ownership, not the players.

In any other line of work when it's obvious that the manager and the owner only care about reducing costs and don't care about results, it trickles down to the employees and they stop caring too.

 

[5 Minute Major]

kassian for coho, might be longer that 15 years but idc. that was the start.

The “start” for me will always be Lucic/Miller.

 

[DJN21]

Obviously trading Marcus Foligno...goes without saying the worst thing we've ever done.

Trading Scandella for a 4th so Montreal could then flip him a month later for a 2nd.

Patrik Berglund.....all of the situation.

 

[Selanne00008]

I got one I haven't seen, but, it's because it was pre-Pegula. Throwing it out there anyways.

5X25

 

[Chainshot]

Hiring Housley... retaining Housley after his first year... not firing Housley early in his second season.

 

[Chainshot]

Hiring Ralph. Giving Ralph personnel input.

 

[Beerz]

Letting Corey Tropp go

 

[DJN21]

Letting Corey Tropp go

Devane let Tropp's face go....I really thought he was gonna be our new Kaleta and in one fight his career nose dived.....sad but it happens

 

[Beerz]

Devane let Tropp's face go....I really thought he was gonna be our new Kaleta and in one fight his career nose dived.....sad but it happens

Yeah he was my favorite fighter.. then he stepped outside his weight class haha..

 

[Chainshot]

kassian for coho, might be longer that 15 years but idc. that was the start.

Not knowing that genetic disorder on reception was certainly some of the worst luck.

 

[Chainshot]

Going way way back, the unlucky ping pong balls where they are one of three teams with the best chance of selecting Sidney Crosby and instead drafting in the middle of the first and get Marek Zagrapan.

 

[DJN21]

What goalie trade was it that refused to even play for us? Halak? Thats gotta be on the list too

 

[SnuggaRUDE]

2 3rds for Vesay feels like it was 3 too many.

 

[slip]

Protecting Joker, exposing Borgen.

 

[brian_griffin]

Effective, Efficient, and Economic

which led to Lackluster Languishing & Losing


========
Too much of this:
when the wardrobe required this:

 

[toddkaz]

Losing the McJesus lottery.

 

[DapperCam]

Kulikov breaking his back falling into a defective bench door.

 

[Chainshot]

What goalie trade was it that refused to even play for us? Halak? Thats gotta be on the list too

Matt Murray.

 

[5 Minute Major]

What goalie trade was it that refused to even play for us? Halak? Thats gotta be on the list too

That one guy we got in the a O’Reilly trade also retired instead of playing.

 

[DapperCam]

Ville Leino. Just everything about him.

 

[dire wolf]

Going way way back, the unlucky ping pong balls where they are one of three teams with the best chance of selecting Sidney Crosby and instead drafting in the middle of the first and get Marek Zagrapan.

To add insult to injury, PIT somehow also managed to grab Letang in the 3rd round that year. We made 9 picks that year, led by Chris Butler in the 4th and Gerbe in the 5th.