Pegula - Buffalo Hockey Beat

Johan Larsson’s long career with Sabres could be over

Johan Larsson looked looser early last season. The Sabres center, affectionately nicknamed “Angry Larry,” even occasionally smiled, a rarity throughout his turbulent seven-year career in Buffalo.

Naturally, as the season progressed, the Sabres’ annual implosion sapped some of his happiness.

Still, Larsson, 28, enjoyed perhaps his best NHL campaign. The tenacious Swede entrenched himself between Zemgus Girgensons and Kyle Okposo early in 2019-20, helping the trio morph into one of the league’s best checking ... Read the full article

Sabres notes: Eric Staal’s acquisition helps Kevyn Adams establish credibility

Barely an hour after Kevyn Adams acquired center Eric Staal last week, he hadn’t given much thought to having completed his first trade as Buffalo Sabres general manager.

“I’ve been so focused on this process and the work that goes into it,” Adams said Sept. 16 after dishing forward Marcus Johansson to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for Staal.

Adams, 45, experienced a whirlwind summer as he began tackling the daunting task of trying to ... Read the full article

Sabres notes: Kevyn Adams reached out to Jack Eichel shortly after hiring

Since the Buffalo Sabres drafted Jack Eichel in 2015, they’ve employed three general managers and three coaches. The startling numbers illustrate the franchise’s dysfunction.

After the Sabres fired GM Jason Botterill on June 16, Kevyn Adams, his replacement, called Eichel later that day. Adams and owners Terry and Kim Pegula also had a conversation with their captain and biggest star.

“From there, (we) exchanged some notes back and forth,” Adams said on a Zoom call ... Read the full article

Coach Seth Appert confident Amerks can develop talent for Sabres and win

After 11 years at RPI, Seth Appert said he started to slip. The coach of a small college is responsible for the entire program, meaning he is essentially a CEO.

“There’s so much you do that isn’t coaching that can grind you down that you don’t even realize,” Appert said on a Zoom call Tuesday, shortly after the Rochester Americans announced him as their new head coach.

Appert recruited more kids than the premier NCAA ... Read the full article

Former Sabre Sean Malone ready for fresh opportunity with Predators

If the Buffalo Sabres hadn’t cleaned house last month, firing 22 people, including the AHL coaching staff he had built a strong relationship with over three seasons, center Sean Malone would’ve considered re-signing in the organization.

Kevyn Adams, Jason Botterill’s replacement, is the Sabres’ fourth GM since they drafted the West Seneca native in the sixth round in 2013.

“It’s hard to keep climbing up the ladder when you’re starting over new every ... Read the full article

Trusting his talents: Sabres GM Kevyn Adams has history of taking risks

As Kevyn Adams moved up and around the hockey world during his unlikely journey to becoming the Buffalo Sabres’ general manager last month, he kept challenging himself and taking risks.

Instead of taking a job in an NHL front office after the Sabres fired him as an assistant coach in 2013, Adams accepted Terry and Kim Pegula’s offer to start the Academy of Hockey at Harborcenter from the ground up.

His work establishing the program ... Read the full article

Sabres GM Kevyn Adams showed signs of bright future during career at Miami

One by one, after listening to George Gwozdecky’s gut-wrenching address, the stunned players embraced their former coach inside Miami University’s dressing room.

At first, Gwozdecky had no intention of leaving the upstart program in Oxford, Ohio. When the University of Denver approached him following the 1993-94 season, he rebuffed them.

In five years under Gwozdecky, Miami had morphed from a doormat into one of the Central College Hockey Association’s elite teams, winning the conference in ... Read the full article

Sabres name Kenmore’s Jeremiah Crowe director of scouting

The Buffalo Sabres today named Jeremiah Crowe their new director of scouting and elevated Jason Nightingale to assistant director of scouting.

Nightingale also serves as director of analytics.

The moves, some of Kevyn Adams’ first as general manager, illustrate the “leaner” version of the Sabres owner Terry Pegula mentioned when the team fired GM Jason Botterill, amateur scouting director Ryan Jankowski and 20 other members of its hockey department June 16.

Most teams ... Read the full article

GM Kevyn Adams has long to-do list as he begins trying to transform Sabres

Right now, Kevyn Adams has a precious commodity as he begins his unlikely tenure as Buffalo Sabres general manager: time.

Being a rookie GM is difficult enough for front office veterans. Adams, 45, was hired to replace Jason Botterill last week having never worked in an NHL hockey department.

Adams, of course, knows the hockey world and his bosses, Sabres owners Terry and Kim Pegula, well. The Clarence native played 10 seasons in the NHL ... Read the full article

Sabres’ decision to fire Amerks coach Chris Taylor looks foolish

In 2017, former general manager Jason Botterill and his assistant, Randy Sexton, took an unusual first step in rebuilding the Buffalo Sabres’ struggling AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans.

Barely a year after the Sabres’ previous regime had let Chris Taylor go as an assistant coach from the Amerks, Botterill and Sexton, who also served as Rochester’s GM, rehired him as head coach.

The move made sense. Taylor, who was fired again Tuesday, spent his ... Read the full article