This is all true but what exactly is Adams getting patted on the back constantly for? We haven’t done anything yet.

That’s the part I don’t get.

I would’ve given him props for making the playoffs. You know, the thing some teams do every single season
- sbroads24

What has Brandon Beane and Sean McDermott done ?

Peak three years ago ?

I stand up for Adams cause everyone makes him out to be the worst GM in hockey when I’m reality he’s done some great things.

I mean with that logic Yzerman stumbled into Kucherov, Point, Cirelli, Killorn, and Palat.

Robert Kraft’s legacy was built on a 6th round pick QB named Tom Brady.

Name me one person who’s ever gotten anywhere without a degree of luck.

Say what you want, but Tage was producing like this under the previous GM and at the end of the day it was Adams’ coaching hire that is getting the most out of him.

Not to mention it was the front office’s foresight to get ahead of the curve and secure the best contract in the league
- Swedish_Jesus

Without Tage, where do you suppose this organization is? Probably hoping for Bedard to be your desperately needed #1 center. There’s luck, and then there’s what the emergence of Tage did for us from an organizational standpoint

What has Brandon Beane and Sean McDermott done ?

Peak three years ago ?

I stand up for Adams cause everyone makes him out to be the worst GM in hockey when I’m reality he’s done some great things.
- Swedish_Jesus

Right, being the literal SB favorite going into the season vs being a lottery team every year are totally the same thing.

What has Brandon Beane and Sean McDermott done ?

Peak three years ago ?

I stand up for Adams cause everyone makes him out to be the worst GM in hockey when I’m reality he’s done some great things.
- Swedish_Jesus

Beane and McDermott have won a lot of games. They got the franchise QB right, they successfully rebuilt, they’ve made Buffalo an attractive spot for UFA’s.

Adams has done none of that yet. That’s not to say he won’t.

Until the Sabres actually make the playoffs (in a league where 50% of the teams do) than I don’t get how we can say anything other than they are finally entertaining to watch, which they are.

What has Brandon Beane and Sean McDermott done ?

Peak three years ago ?

I stand up for Adams cause everyone makes him out to be the worst GM in hockey when I’m reality he’s done some great things.
- Swedish_Jesus

NO!! DONT!! NO!!! STOP!! HOW DARE YOU!!!
NO!!!!!!!!!!

There will be no standing up for the best gm and coach we have had in a decade. NO!!!

HE FAILED!!

He failed to see how bad our defense was. Ottawa seen how poor there defense was and got chickenman. And look at them now!

STOP!!!

There will be no positive energy for the best hockey we have seen since me and Roy were banging honeys on the chip strip. NO!!

We were dead for months!! Ever since the 8 game losing streak. Were were watching ever since because we are all idiots!! IDIOTS!!

NO!! DONT!! NO!!! STOP!! HOW DARE YOU!!!
NO!!!!!!!!!!

There will be no standing up for the best gm and coach we have had in a decade. NO!!!

HE FAILED!!

He failed to see how bad our defense was. Ottawa seen how poor there defense was and got chickenman. And look at them now!

STOP!!!

There will be no positive energy for the best hockey we have seen since me and Roy were banging honeys on the chip strip. NO!!

We were dead for months!! Ever since the 8 game losing streak. Were were watching ever since because we are all idiots!! IDIOTS!!
- ZiggyBuff

😆😆😆😅😅😅🤣🤣🤣🤣

NO!! DONT!! NO!!! STOP!! HOW DARE YOU!!!
NO!!!!!!!!!!

There will be no standing up for the best gm and coach we have had in a decade. NO!!!

HE FAILED!!

He failed to see how bad our defense was. Ottawa seen how poor there defense was and got chickenman. And look at them now!

STOP!!!

There will be no positive energy for the best hockey we have seen since me and Roy were banging honeys on the chip strip. NO!!

We were dead for months!! Ever since the 8 game losing streak. Were were watching ever since because we are all idiots!! IDIOTS!!
- ZiggyBuff

Can you imagine being so used to losing that you make a post like this despite the obvious fail staring you right in the face? Not to mention literally no one is claiming we still don’t have a bright future. It’s like Stockholm syndrome, or a victim of domestic abuse. Good grief.

😆😆😆😅😅😅🤣🤣🤣🤣
- Buff36

We always have to pick a side.

Reinfart or No Reinfart

Trump or No trump

Vax or Pure Blood

Successful season or We suck

Botts team or Top 5GM

We always have to pick a side.

Reinfart or No Reinfart

Trump or No trump

Vax or Pure Blood

Successful season or We suck

Botts team or Top 5GM
- ZiggyBuff

Orrr….you could recognize nuance and respond to what is actually being said, and not what you want to hear. You’re expressing the precise bi-chromatic perspective that you’re accusing others of having.

[quote=SoCalPucks]

Sorry i should just be like most on here and be miserable for the whole year.

We make the playoffs and get blown out 4 straight by one the best best hockey teams in the history of the league.

You think the miserable people would be happy that we made the playoffs of be miserable because we got totally destroyed??

I know what i would have my money on.

Jesus Christ is not a fan of this thread.

[quote=ZiggyBuff]

Again Sparky. No one was miserable the whole year. Not even SwedishJesus who thrives on taking contrarian stances regardless of how ridiculous they are. The criticism today is specific and relevant to where the team is right now. Are you happy with missing the playoffs for the 12th year in a row?

Jesus Christ is not a fan of this thread.
- TheSabresTaco

Oh my!!

NO!! DONT!! NO!!! STOP!! HOW DARE YOU!!!
NO!!!!!!!!!!

There will be no standing up for the best gm and coach we have had in a decade. NO!!!

HE FAILED!!

He failed to see how bad our defense was. Ottawa seen how poor there defense was and got chickenman. And look at them now!

STOP!!!

There will be no positive energy for the best hockey we have seen since me and Roy were banging honeys on the chip strip. NO!!

We were dead for months!! Ever since the 8 game losing streak. Were were watching ever since because we are all idiots!! IDIOTS!!
- ZiggyBuff

Fitz-like writing, *insert red flag emjoi*

[quote=SoCalPucks]


Sparky? You must be from california?

Yes I will take this year over any of the last 11.

I am very happy with what i seen from this team.

Jesus Christ is not a fan of this thread.
- TheSabresTaco

Maybe the isles and Panthers choke and the season is resurrected. I’ll be happily eating crow if that were to happen.

[quote=ZiggyBuff]


Yea. So would I. Which is yet another reason why your screamy post sounds deranged. And I live in Cali, but I’m from Clarence/Williamsville.

[quote=ZiggyBuff]


Terry thanks you for embracing his 13 year plan.

Yzerman started in 2010 and made it to the conference finals in 2011
- washedup20

How’s his new team doing, oh you forgot about Detroit, huh?

[quote=SoCalPucks]

Def not deranged.

Just would never of thought id be readying miserable post after miserable post when still in the playoff hunt in April after missing the playoffs for 11 years.

Talk about deranged….

[quote=washedup20]

lol

Bruh, 12 years of abject, record-setting failure. Be positive.

How’s his new team doing, oh you forgot about Detroit, huh?
- turbo044

[quote=washedup20]

Iv giving Terry $0 since he took over. Zero

How much have you given? He thanks you!

[quote=ZiggyBuff]

Justifiable criticism is not deranged. Your two weird posts were deranged.

[quote=SoCalPucks]
From the Atlantic, but what does a qualified opinion mean anyway?

BUFFALO, N.Y. — The summer of 2020 was a hopeless time for the Buffalo Sabres.

The 2019-20 regular season had been cut short by a pandemic. The Sabres were one of just seven teams that failed to qualify for the expanded playoff bubble. The lack of games and uncertainty over when the next season would start hurt the franchise’s financial situation. Then there was everything that happened in the front office. In May, Kim Pegula told the Associated Press that general manager Jason Botterill would keep his job only to reverse course on that decision a few weeks later. The Pegulas then hired Kevyn Adams to be the general manager, and his first task was making the phone calls to fire more than a dozen people across hockey operations, the minor league coaching staff and development staff.

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That made the press conference in which the Pegulas announced the hiring of Adams a strange one. They were simultaneously firing a lot of people and promoting one. Adams was getting his dream job but under nightmarish circumstances. Terry Pegula spoke about the need for the Sabres to be, “economic, efficient and effective.” He said there was no search for a new general manager before they decided to promote Adams.

“This is all an in-house hire, very, very recent,” Terry Pegula said.

He added: “We had Kevyn in mind very recently only because we know him over nine years. He has handled very admirably any job we’ve given him. Loyal, communicative and we just feel that it’s a better place for us to be with Kevyn as our GM.”

When our editors at The Athletic recently asked us to write about something we got wrong, I thought back to that press conference. I wasn’t on the Sabres beat yet, but I was on that Zoom call as a Bills reporter because the Pegulas own both teams and don’t talk often. I came away from that press conference pessimistic about the future of the local hockey team. Adams took over a barren hockey operations department, and questions about how much the owners would spend made the future uncertain.

It wasn’t that I didn’t think Adams, specifically, could handle the job. It’s that I wasn’t sure there was anyone who could succeed in turning the franchise around under the circumstances he walked into. Forecasting who would make a strong general manager is a challenge. If you ignored first-time candidates, you’d miss out on plenty of talented managers. As the Jason Botterill hire showed, you’re not guaranteed success just by coming through the traditional scouting ranks, either.

Adams didn’t have extensive experience in hockey operations when he took the job, but his resume wasn’t the concern. The state of the team was. Things got worse before they got better, too. Ralph Krueger led a dismal 2020-21 season before he was eventually fired after losing 12 straight games. That streak would stretch to 18 games with Don Granato as the interim coach.

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That was just two years ago. Following that season, Sam Reinhart, Rasmus Ristolainen and Jack Eichel were all at various stages of discontent. Adams spoke about prioritizing players who want to be in Buffalo, and there were questions about whether any of those three players fit that description. Adams, a first-time general manager who had just weathered a disastrous first season, had three disgruntled veterans, including a franchise cornerstone. Throw in that Eichel’s issues stemmed from a disagreement over how to handle his injury, and Adams had a complicated situation to deal with.

Here’s what Adams did between the end of the 2021 season and the time the calendar flipped to 2022:

Adams hired Granato as the head coach.
He traded Ristolainen to the Philadelphia Flyers for Robert Hagg, a first-round pick that became Isak Rosen and a 2023 second-round pick.
He traded Reinhart to the Florida Panthers for a 2022 first-round pick that became Jiri Kulich and Devon Levi, a goalie prospect who has emerged as Buffalo’s potential future in net.
He traded Eichel and a 2023 third-round pick to the Vegas Golden Knights for Alex Tuch, Peyton Krebs, a 2022 first-round pick that became Noah Ostlund, a 2023-second round pick that was used as part of the trade to acquire Jordan Greenway.
With those four moves, Adams altered the future of the franchise. He navigated a messy and public dispute with Eichel, handled it with necessary grace and firmness and got proper value in return. You could argue he won what seemed like an unwinnable trade. The Reinhart and Ristolainen trades both look like potential wins, too.

“I think he did a really good job of observing and figuring out what was going on,” Sabres captain Kyle Okposo said. “He was thrust into a very difficult situation to start. He got through that and handled that extremely well. Through how he handled that caused the team to have faith in him and how he was going to lead us going forward. I think he hasn’t looked back. He has a vision for how he wants us to play and how he wants this built and he sticks to that.”

With four games left in the season, the Sabres are still mathematically alive in the playoff race. Their chances of ending the playoff drought this season are unlikely, but considering where this team was two years ago and how many changes were made, it’s a remarkable turnaround. More importantly, it feels like this season was just the start of Buffalo’s upward climb. The roster was the youngest in hockey. Four players scored 30 goals, and three of them are 26 or younger. They have plenty of cap space, a strong pool of prospects and another eight draft picks this year.

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When was the last time Sabres fans had reason to feel this hopeful about the future of their team? Adams not only shipped out disgruntled stars, but he has, along with Granato, created an environment that allowed players like Tage Thompson, Rasmus Dahlin, Jeff Skinner and Tuch elevate to career-best seasons. He has his top two centers, Cozens and Thompsons, locked up on seven-year contracts at a combined cap hit of just over $14 million. His first two draft picks, Jack Quinn and JJ Peterka, look like they’ll be high-quality NHL players. The Sabres are one of the NHL’s youngest teams and have one of the deepest prospect pools in hockey.

There is work still to be done on this roster. Adams has made his mistakes, but he’s also shown an ability to evaluate himself and those around him and course correct. He might have been slow to fire Krueger, but he did it and identified Granato as a replacement. That looks shrewd two years later. The stripped-down hockey operations department he took over has been rebuilt. He hired a sharp analytics crew led by Sam Ventura and a deep amateur scouting staff led by Jerry Forton. This wasn’t an overnight fix, and it’s not one many people expected.

“You have to have a chip on your shoulder mentality coming into a situation like he was,” Alex Tuch said. “He had to make some big decisions that were obviously franchise-changing decisions. It’s never easy. It’s a lot of stress. I bet he’s had a lot of sleepless nights figuring out what to do in certain situations. But I think he’s proud of what he’s done in here and we really focus on trying to keep the outside noise to the outside and focusing on us in this locker room and in this building as an organization. It shows how much hard work and dedication he’s put into this team. He’s not backing down from anybody. He’s also had a mindset and plan in place and stuck to it. He hasn’t wavered or tried to fast-track anything. He’s stayed patient and stayed diligent. It’s paying off. We’re going to try to make sure he keeps looking good.”

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During that introductory press conference, Adams didn’t feel like the main event because the Pegulas were fielding so many big-picture questions. But he did say, “I believe that winning is doing it together. We’re going to move forward. We’re going to be positive. And I’m really looking forward to what lies ahead.”

With the benefit of hindsight, it’s clear now that’s how Adams has operated. He’s been honest and passionate through the good and bad of this latest rebuild. He’s also changed the energy in the building and made it a place players and staff want to come to work. Being positive about hockey in Buffalo wasn’t easy for the decade before Adams took over. It wasn’t easy in his first few months on the job, either. But the arena is starting to fill back up more consistently, and there’s legitimate belief about the future of this team.

“He cares about the team and about the city of Buffalo,” Tuch said. “Through and through, he bleeds blue and gold. That was something I noticed right away. He really truly cares. Each and everything he does, he does it at 100 percent. He definitely supports us. He’s not afraid to show it.”

Okposo sees it in the way Adams is always around. He always stops in the hallway to chat with players. He’ll sit down and eat breakfast with players in the cafeteria. He showed it the other night when he wrapped rookie goalie Devon Levi in a hug as he was coming off the ice and told him he was proud of him. In his press conference at the trade deadline, he got choked up talking about the players and said, “I know what it takes to win in this league and I know we have it.”

“He doesn’t try to be anybody he’s not,” Okposo said.

Regardless of how he ended up in the job or the situation he inherited, Adams promised himself he would always be himself. He told me last summer, “I couldn’t try to be someone else or act a certain way because that’s what you’re supposed to do, whatever that means. That was one thing I was adamant about. I always got up every day with that in mind.”

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It turns out that’s been enough for Adams to steer the Sabres in a clear and positive direction. He’s done what I wasn’t sure was possible when he was hired less than three years ago. Where the team goes from here will ultimately define Adams’ tenure, but the franchise hasn’t been this stable in a long time. That’s an accomplishment.

“When you have an inexperienced GM come in, there’s always going to be doubts,” Okposo said. “What’s their style going to be like? Can they do the job? I think he’s taken all of those doubters and proven them wrong