Pegula - Buffalo Hockey Beat

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

Disconnect with Pegulas costs Jason Botterill job as Sabres GM

If the NHL could’ve held its draft as scheduled next week, Jason Botterill would likely still be employed as the Buffalo Sabres’ general manager. But the COVID-19 pandemic forced the league to postpone the annual event until the fall.

The extra time gave Sabres owners Terry and Kim Pegula an opportunity to discuss and plan the team’s future – “Really start digging in,” Kim Pegula said on a Zoom call Tuesday to discuss Botterill’s firing ... Read the full article

Sabres fire Amerks coach Chris Taylor and assistants

In his three years as Rochester Americans coach, Chris Taylor helped re-energize the Buffalo Sabres’ moribund AHL affiliate.

For the first time in years, the Amerks morphed into a consistent winner. Players, meanwhile, regularly raved about the affable Taylor and his staff.

When the Sabres needed an assistant to fill in behind the bench early this season, they elevated Taylor, who is often talked about as a future NHL coach.

But on Tuesday, hours after ... Read the full article

After firing Jason Botterill, Sabres will go forward as ‘leaner’ operation

Sabres’ Jimmy Vesey vows to be ‘part of the solution’ on race, inequality

Jimmy Vesey became the first Buffalo Sabres player to speak out about the death of George Floyd and the violence and racial tension in the United States in a reflective essay he posted on Twitter late Wednesday afternoon.

“The videos I’ve seen online are gut-wrenching,” wrote Vesey, who made an undisclosed monetary donation to the NAACP Boston Branch. “Whether it’s seeing extreme injustices by law enforcement against people of color or seeing fellow Americans beat ... Read the full article

Pegulas issue statement calling for end of racial inequality

Buffalo Bills and Sabres owners Terry and Kim Pegula on Monday night joined the growing number of pro sports owners to issue a statement condemning the killing of George Floyd and calling for the end of racial inequality.

Floyd, an African American, died May 25 in police custody in Minneapolis. Video captured Derek Chauvin, a white police officer, kneeling on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes. Floyd was unarmed.

Protests erupted all over the country, ... Read the full article

Five ‘Sabres Classics,’ including win after Flight 3407 crash, to air

Five more “Sabres Classics” – this time an array of regular-season and exhibition games from the franchise’s 50-year history – will be rebroadcast on MSG next week.

The games are being aired because the COVID-19 pandemic forced the NHL to suspend its season indefinitely March 12.... Read the full article