Buffalo Sabres an awful and embarrassing organization: Cox

[SpikedLemonade]

February 18, 2011, was supposed to be the day that the world changed for the Buffalo Sabres (http://sabres.nhl.com/).


That was the day Terry Pegula, an owner with buckets of cash who loves hockey, officially assumed control of the team that the Knox Brothers founded.


No more poverty. No more bankruptcy. No more getting by on the cheap. No more being the feeder squad for the rich boys.


All good.


Instead, it’s pretty much been all bad. The team is off to the worst start in franchise history and has become a yet another case study on how money doesn’t always cure all in pro sports.


Two black eyes on the franchise, a 10-game suspension to uber-rat Patrick Kaleta (upheld on Thursday by Gary Bettman) and an upcoming suspension to gong show artist John Scott for his ridiculous Wednesday evening cheap shot (http://www.thestar.com/sports/hockey/2013/10/24/john_scott_a_rare_combo_of_goon_rat_for_buffalo_sabres_as_vicious_hit_on_loui_eriksson_shows_cox.html) on Boston’s Loui Eriksson are just symptoms, really, of an organization that seems to have completely lost its mind....

http://www.thestar.com/sports/hockey/2013/10/25/buffalo_sabres_an_awful_and_embarrassing_organization_cox.html

[OpIv37]

I said it a while back: Pegula is the NHL's Snyder. He's not a hockey guy. He's just a fan like us or worse in terms of hockey knowledge. The only difference is that he has enough money to buy the team from things completely unrelated to hockey.

The only way it works is if he steps back and puts GOOD hockey people in charge (ie NOT Regier). It took Snyder 15 years to learn that he can't win running the team like he's playing Madden franchise mode. Hopefully it won't take Pegula that long, but based on his actions so far, I'm not counting on it.

[sukie]

Snyder spent wildly trying to buy a winner. Pegula? Interior decor.

[rbochan]

Who?

[OpIv37]

Btw while I agree with the general sentiment of the article, I disagree with a few particular points.

First, Ruff is not one of the best coaches in the business. His record here speaks for itself. His inability to win the big one and do things like fix the PP in less than a decade are proof that he's no one of the best.

Second, the Scott and Kaleta incidents are inconsequential. Kaleta is what he is- we all know it and we've known it for years. And the Scott incident is way overblown. The only reason it's a big deal is because it's making people outside of Buffalo realize what Sabres fans already knew: this guy doesn't belong on an NHL roster. It's not because of the hit- it's because he isn't an NHL level talent. He's the old-skool goon that teams just can't afford to waste a roster spot on in today's NHL. The fact that Scott is on the roster is the embarrassment, not the incident.

[SpikedLemonade]

Who?

Well respected long-time sports writer for the Toronto Star however if it makes you feel more important, he quotes a Buffalo News writer.

[chernobylwraiths]

BS, Snyder is an ass that wants to line his wallet. Pegula really wants change and to win. You should see what is happening downtown partially because of him. And he seems to be doing it more at his own expense than asking for tax money. Sure he should reap huge financial gain too, but I believe that is besides the point.

Where I believe Pegula has dropped the ball is the retention (and continual retention from the start) of Regier. I really believe the guy is such a nice guy, that he doesn't want to fire Darcy. That is bad in the sports world where firing people who don't produce is the norm. Onliy time will tell.

[SpikedLemonade]

Ralph or Pegula are beyond criticism since they were willing to invest in the City of Buffalo by owning a team right?

[Dr. Lecter]

Ralph or Pegula are beyond criticism since they were willing to invest in the City of Buffalo by owning a team right?


Who said that?

Don't be a dumbass.

[sukie]

Pegula really wants change and to win. You should see what is happening downtown partially because of him. And he seems to be doing it more at his own expense than asking for tax money.


What does Downtown have to do with the hockey product he expects fans to pay for? I would estimate, and it's only a guess... NOTHING.

[OpIv37]

BS, Snyder is an ass that wants to line his wallet. Pegula really wants change and to win. You should see what is happening downtown partially because of him. And he seems to be doing it more at his own expense than asking for tax money. Sure he should reap huge financial gain too, but I believe that is besides the point.

Where I believe Pegula has dropped the ball is the retention (and continual retention from the start) of Regier. I really believe the guy is such a nice guy, that he doesn't want to fire Darcy. That is bad in the sports world where firing people who don't produce is the norm. Onliy time will tell.

Yes, compared to Snyder, Pegula is more philanthropic and less of a money-grubbing egomaniac, but you completely missed the point. The point is that they are both people with no real experience or background in the sport in which thus now own a team, and they both try to run the team personally although neither is qualified to do so. Case and point: Snyder kept Vinny Cerrato as VP for player personnel for years, despite an utter lack of results, just like you are complaining about Pegula and Regier.

[Night Train]

Pegula has about as much hockey acumen as my cat.

His issue is just going along with whatever his right hand man Sawyer wants ( which is Reigier wearing a teddy ) There is no other explanation why he is still GM. Meanwhile, Black dies a thousand deaths trying to explain it all and wishes out.

The amazing thing is how long this could go on before a change is actually made. It's become a sad comedy to us and hysterical entertainment to the rest of the NHL.

[JATMtheJATM]

im not a pegula guy. its obvious he has no hockey sense. if he did, darcy would no longer be GM of this team.

[trapezeus]

i still have faith in pegula. he's focused on big picture hockey heaven, and helping buffalo with the harbor center, etc. There is change coming there that no other owner or business person would take on. 5 years from now, buffalo will have more tournaments, more college hockey events, perhaps more NHL events because of those investments. That's good for buffalo.

as for today's hockey, it's like they want to follow the penguins model to a T. They are more focused on letting regier take the blame, hit rock bottom and then insert their guy at end of season. if that's the plan, i'm on board.

but i really don't think it's fair. they let regier pick another coach who assumeably has a contract that the will have to break at the end of the season. these are decisions that should have been made 3 years ago. the fact darcy was given a wallet and still extended stafford and then picked up pieces that didn't work meant that his approach failed. if he would have tanked the team then and started fresh, i would have given him a little bit of leeway to build the team.

i was ready for a bad season, but i really didn't expect they'd be so incompetent and so uninterested as a team.

[chernobylwraiths]

Yes, compared to Snyder, Pegula is more philanthropic and less of a money-grubbing egomaniac, but you completely missed the point. The point is that they are both people with no real experience or background in the sport in which thus now own a team, and they both try to run the team personally although neither is qualified to do so. Case and point: Snyder kept Vinny Cerrato as VP for player personnel for years, despite an utter lack of results, just like you are complaining about Pegula and Regier.

I don't think Pegula is trying to run the team at all, and he has said as much, that he hired people to do that. If I were to pick another guy that might need to go, it is Sawyer who appartently was the guy who told Pegula that Darcy was the man for the job. I didn't miss the point, I don't agree with the point.

[WagonCircler]

im not a pegula guy. its obvious he has no hockey sense. if he did, darcy would no longer be GM of this team.

This just in....no owner has hockey sense, other than maybe Mario Lemieux, and just because he was a great player doesn't necessarily mean he has executive sense.

They all, to a certain point, rely on the acumen of others.

Pegula has made one huge mistake, Regeir, and it has had an cancerous effect on everything in this organization.

Once he finally gets rid of Regeir, everything changes.

Snyder is an insufferable egomaniac who is nothing like Pegula.

[SkateZilla]

This just in....no owner has hockey sense, other than maybe Mario Lemieux,

Cough, Gretzky.. Cough Cough...




It's all because we let Peters go.... lolahahahahaha

[swiper]

Snyder spent wildly trying to buy a winner. Pegula? Interior decor.

You still *****ing about the new rug Pegula put in the locker room?

[Rockstar]

Seriously this anti Pegula sentiment displays not that Pegula is incompetent rather that specific “fans” are ignorant. </SPAN>

Pegula has owned the team for 3 years people. Basic big business concept for you here: Big business (the NHL is in fact big business) is about culture, company philosophy, mission statements and then hiring the correct people to carry out those ideals. Do I think Regier is the right guy for this organization? No, but Pegula didn’t hire him. Should he find a good replacement? Yes, but Pegula is viewing Regier in the terms of the two season he has worked for Pegula, NOT the time frame the rest of us grade him. And that is what Pegula should be doing. </SPAN>

Terry Pegula has been a fans dream. He cares, he is a fan (gag me with the “being a fan is a bad thing” garbage) he loves Buffalo, he invests into the city, he is a bottomless pit of money (HUGE!)</SPAN>

The biggest fallacy’s I hear is that being a fan is bad. Really? Caring passionately when being the guy who has the money is bad? Has anyone here put their heart and soul into a project only to be left with nothing because the owner wasn’t a “fan”?</SPAN>

Secondly I hear about how what he does in the city doesn’t matter? How is creating a better external environment from within one’s own corporation not help the bottom line of that business? (That is straight from business textbooks)</SPAN>

Lastly I cannot stand the soap box that criticize Terry Pegula for his actions based on the FALSE premise that he is an operations manager! The owner in big business is NOT involved in operations. Pegula is not the GM, he is not the coach, and he doesn’t evaluate talent. What he does is provide a secure supply of cash and listen to the customer base. I guarantee Pegula didn’t want to fire Ruff, he did because the customer base demanded it. </SPAN>

If Terry Pegula was the owner in 2006-2007 Danny Briere and Chris Drury (along with Grier, Dumontt and a few others) would have been retained. If that happened and Derick Roy remains our third line center and (I hate Roy but what a dangerous third line center) Our first two lines remain dominate. That would have equaled success to a level I don’t want to think about. </SPAN>

[DetDannyWilliams]

Bucky is that you? :rolleyes:

[WagonCircler]

What does Downtown have to do with the hockey product he expects fans to pay for? I would estimate, and it's only a guess... NOTHING.

It has everything to do with it. Have you paid attention to the "fans" at Sabres games lately? You can hear conversations about people's vacations, their plans for after the game, their kids' soccer practice, their new minivan...anything BUT hockey.

This isn't 1975. Going to Sabres games, sadly for real hockey fans, is not about hockey. It's more of a night out on the town. The building isn't loud like the Aud was, and it's not just the acoustics, and it's not just the product. Half the ticket buying public spends as much time staring at their smartphones as they do watching the game.

It sucks, but it's the new reality. We've become a nation of short attention span idiots. However, these idiots are the ticket buyers now, so creating the ultimate night on the town that includes convenient underground parking, dinner at the new sports grill, shopping at the Harbor Center stores and staying at the Marriott, where you have brunch the next morning is the bait you have to have to get the filthy Yuppie dollars.

Terry has plenty of money, but running a business in the black is a point of pride for guys like him, and creating a downtown hockey destination rather than just an arena is key to that goal.

It also buys him public (government and community) respect, and the perks that respect brings. For once, a guy who does more than ********* us about twin spans and Bass Pro. Finally we have a guy who bucks up and builds something.

The development also keeps him interested in the whole situation. This cannot be overstated. It would be very easy for a guy like him to say "Screw this, I'm moving to Florida."

Eventually, a guy with THAT much money and that much desire will get what he wants, and building Hockey World will keep him engaged until he does.

[JATMtheJATM]

This just in....no owner has hockey sense, other than maybe Mario Lemieux, and just because he was a great player doesn't necessarily mean he has executive sense.

They all, to a certain point, rely on the acumen of others.

Pegula has made one huge mistake, Regeir, and it has had an cancerous effect on everything in this organization.

Once he finally gets rid of Regeir, everything changes.

Snyder is an insufferable egomaniac who is nothing like Pegula.

fair enough.

[WagonCircler]

Cough, Gretzky.. Cough Cough...

How'd that turn out?

I'd let his daughter run my...um, never mind.