thenorthremembers Posted November 20, 2018 Share Posted November 20, 2018 Been wondering about this thread. Does everyone still hate the Pegulas with the Sabres being good? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
May Day 10 Posted November 20, 2018 Share Posted November 20, 2018 After nearly 8 years, a few overtime comeback wins doesnt erase a history of terrible decision making. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted November 20, 2018 Share Posted November 20, 2018 41 minutes ago, May Day 10 said: After nearly 8 years, a few overtime comeback wins doesnt erase a history of terrible decision making. Golisano had no interest in hockey and spent as little as he could on the Sabres and the team had loads of success. The Pegulas do have an interest in hockey and are spending money on them, and they are now just getting good. Why did the cheapie owner succeed and the rich owner fail (for so long)? Was it Lindy Ruff? Meanwhile the Bills made the playoffs in their 3rd full season of ownership. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jrb1979 Posted November 20, 2018 Share Posted November 20, 2018 2 hours ago, thenorthremembers said: Been wondering about this thread. Does everyone still hate the Pegulas with the Sabres being good? Just Bills fans as most of them have no interest in the Sabres or hockey. I am guessing the reason is hockey is to complicated for most. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
May Day 10 Posted November 20, 2018 Share Posted November 20, 2018 (edited) 39 minutes ago, Doc said: Golisano had no interest in hockey and spent as little as he could on the Sabres and the team had loads of success. The Pegulas do have an interest in hockey and are spending money on them, and they are now just getting good. Why did the cheapie owner succeed and the rich owner fail (for so long)? Was it Lindy Ruff? Meanwhile the Bills made the playoffs in their 3rd full season of ownership. Darcy Regier was a pretty good austere General Manager. Generally drafted and developed decently, and rarely came out on the bad end of trades. Good hard line negotiating without large purse strings... and not a ton of pressure to 'win now' because he had the "lack of resources" crutch. Lindy Ruff was a perfect head coach to complement that. They both had flaws though and got very stale. Regier did not like making moves, in large part because he was extremely sensitive to the human aspect of it. Golisano had some good ideas. Chopped the STH pricing down low, which ended up creating huge demand and birthed the waiting list... and made the Sabres generally financially solvent for the first time since maybe the early-mid 80s (also thanks to the new CBA/revenue sharing). He also started to reach back into the past that Rigas tried to wipe out/ignore (fancied them in 1996-97 as his/adelphia's expansion team) Golisano is treated very unfairly by Sabres fans. He wasnt the ideal owner, but he did save the team when there was no other buyer and there was a lot of labor uncertainty in the NHL. The Pegulas took over and everyone assumed that Regier's track record, plus unlimited resources would = definite success. But the money just highlighted his flaws and was burning a hole in their pockets. Went in guns ablaze, backing the brinks truck up to Brad Richards, the highest rated UFA. He said no, so they threw a pile of money at Ville Leino, who was #2 on the market. Also other ghastly feel-good moves like Robin Regehr and Christian Ehrhoff. Then they were very indecisive of what to do with Regier and Ruff. Gave out extensions, and later forced Regier to fired Ruff a month into a season that was delayed due to a lockout (when it was clear the move should have been made in April, not February). Then they did the same thing mid-rebuild with Regier, firing him mid-stream in November, reportedly due to a chance meeting with LaFontaine at a concussion banquet. Allowed Lafontaine to go on a 3 month interview bender looking for a GM (mid season and mid rebuild) to settle on another inexperienced guy in Tim Murray. Then the LaFontaine firing/resignation, handing the steering wheel solely to Murray who proceeded to donk off like 85% of the assets they had managed to stockpile for pennies on the dollar. Not to mention the Babcock/Bylsma thing, Ron Rolston, the changes to upper management with his Pennsylvania guys, Ted Black, John Koelmel, Russ Brandon, etc. The embarrassing results havent been shocking. It seems as though Botterill might have stopped the bleeding, stockpiled assets again, and maybe made a few moves to right a toxic lockerroom. I think the team is really set to hit a serious cup-window starting in the Fall of 2020. I think it is also a valid concern of what will happen if/when one or both of these franchises enjoy sustained success. Will it last? Will the Pegulas stand back and allow it to blossom? There is a degree of 'involvement' they like to have and also a history of dysfunction and employees becoming former employees. Can it stay cohesive and humming? Or are we bound to have a "polianesque" event that kills the golden goose? Edited November 20, 2018 by May Day 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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