Name: Matthew Barnaby on state of Sabres: 'Do I feel bad for this fan base'
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Matthew Barnaby on state of Sabres: 'Do I feel bad for this fan base'

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Former Sabres player Matthew Barnaby had plenty to say on his podcast, "Unfiltered," about what he called the "tire fire" with the organization in the wake of , including l.In the opening to the episode, Barnaby spent nearly 17 minutes with strong words for Terry and Kim Pegula and new GM Kevyn Adams and expressed empathy for Sabres fans.The transcript has been lightly edited for clarity and language."I don’t think that anyone could be in the running for the most awfully run organization in the National Hockey League. I thought this was fairly simple, the Ottawa Senators, right? Eugene Melnyk is the worst owner in the league. But he’s being given a run for his money in Buffalo, a place that is very near and dear to my heart."Having played in Buffalo for seven years and been part of the organization for nine years, I know the fan base. And (expletive), do I feel bad for this fan base. It’s a blue-collar town that loves their Bills and Sabres. Let’s face it, there’s not much going on in Buffalo beyond the Buffalo Bills and Buffalo Sabres. The one thing that have in common is the same owners. I remember nine years ago when the Pegulas purchased the team, the excitement from around Western New York was unparalleled. Championships were coming. They’ve got the money. A man who’s worth between four and five&nbsp; billion is going to come in and save the day. Having met Terry, having met Kim over the years, very nice people and very dedicated to bringing that championship or, so I thought, to Western New York. They unloaded money on free agents over the years. ..."I was told roughly six years ago that the storm had just started. That’s when it really started to unfold. I was told then, 'You just wait, you just wait because we haven’t even tipped the iceberg. We haven’t even gotten to the (expletive) show that we will see in the coming years.' There were multiple people that told me that there were too many cooks in the kitchen, too many people making hockey decisions that should not even be talking about hockey and they were talking about Kim Pegula, and Terry, but mostly Kim. She has as much of a resume to be a president and oversee hockey operations as I would running the United States or being prime minister of Canada and flying a 747. It would be like, ‘People jump on, I’ve read lots of books on how to do this.’ Like, c'mon. I know for a fact and I have been told that Christian Ehrhoff and Ville Leino were no-gos from the previous regime from the coaching staff, and most importantly the general manager. But Kim and Terry were adamant that they were going to get these star players and fix things in Western New York. They were going to throw around the money, give them the most and we will have the best team. I played for the Rangers from '01 and '04 ... and we paid everyone more than everyone else. You know what happened? We didn’t make the playoffs for three years. Just because you spend the most money doesn’t mean you’re going to have the best team. ..."If you go through six head coaches and four general managers, is it all their fault? The problem usually lies somewhere else. And where does it usually lie, right at the top. Kim Pegula has done a lot of great things for Buffalo, reviving downtown. It’s a different place to go. When you travel downtown, it’s fun and vibrant and great. I think her heart is in the right spot. But weighing in on signing free agents, you don’t have the resume. I’m sorry. Jason Botterill, I’m not going to say he deserved to be fired or didn’t deserve to be fired, but three years isn’t enough to turn around an organization. You usually get four or five. ..."I love Buffalo’s fan base so I feel bad that I was right but man was I right when I said Toronto was ahead in the rebuild when Mike Babcock chose Toronto. ..."Jason Botterill’s firing? I’m OK with. He didn’t do anything in Buffalo. He traded a star in Ryan O’Reilly. Now it's perfect storm for St. Louis. He wins the Conn Smythe and they win the Cup, but he spoke his mind. He knew it was a (mess) in Buffalo and he was right."Kevyn Adams is going to take over. And Kevyn Adams does not have the resume, as much as I like to guy, to run a team in the National Hockey League. You need to take steps to be an assistant general manager and be at the games and look at the amateurs and the pros. … That gives you a head start. Kevyn Adams just doesn’t have it and it’s going to take him a while to learn. In three years, do I think he’ll be a good general manager? No, I don’t. Do I think in three years he’ll have turned this around? No, I don’t. Does he know hockey? Yes. Stanley Cup champion and great guy, but just because you’re doing my bushes outside and you’re a great person doesn’t mean I want you building my house and doing the foundation. … Because you're a great guy and a great gardener, don’t think I’m going to trust you to build the foundation of my house and pouring the cement and building it from the ground up. He’s got a great start. He’s got a great player in Jack Eichel. …"I understand the times we’re in … Going lean? They’re going anorexic. (He then read the list of dismissals). ... They’re going to have to be doing video scouting and we know how that turned out for a former regime. … You can do it a little bit, but it doesn’t give you the full picture. This has been a long time coming."This didn’t happen overnight. And it’s not going to change. Not in the near future and that makes me sad for Buffalo Sabres fans out there. Krueger is a good coach and I think the players like him a lot. Eichel is a superstar and deserves more. The thing I hear most is Jack Eichel, what happens in three years when this isn’t turned around? It doesn’t look like there’s a plan in place. There hasn’t been a plan in place since the Pegulas have taken over. What will the Sabres look like in three years? I’m guessing a lot like it looks like now. Not good. Not good. You can throw all the money you want at all the guys, but it doesn’t matter when at the top, it’s not being run the right way."If you’re micromanaging every piece of the puzzle, you’re doomed for failure. And the Buffalo Sabres are doomed for failure because in no which way should Kim Pegula or Terry Pegula have any say in the players they are bringing in. Stick to the business model you have. Stick to building stuff around the arena. That’s what you do best, not telling who’s the best 204th player in free agency or what defenseman you should sign. You just don’t know that. You don’t know that. Just like I don’t know how to build the Harborcenter or 716. You don’t know hockey. You’ve done a great job of fracking oil. But hockey, nope, not happening. ..."To Buffalo Sabres fans, I say this in all sincerity, I love you and I hope I’m wrong. &nbsp;… I loved being a Buffalo Sabre and I’m proud of alumni of the Buffalo Sabres. I just don’t see it turning around. I just don’t. Good luck. It’s been a bad nine years. They might be the only organization, even if fans were allowed to come back, they might not. Corona might be a good thing because we’d see a lot of empty seats. The people I’m talking to in Buffalo, not happy."The episode also features News columnist Mike Harrington. You can listenStory topics:There are no comments - be the first to commentWe sift through all the news to give you a concise, informative look at the top headlines and must-read stories every weekday.Please check your email to confirm you would like to join our newsletter list.

Former Sabres player Matthew Barnaby had plenty to say on his podcast, "Unfiltered," about what he called the "tire fire" with the organization in the wake of , including l.In the opening to the episode, Barnaby spent nearly 17 minutes with strong words for Terry and Kim Pegula and new GM Kevyn Adams and expressed empathy for Sabres fans.The transcript has been lightly edited for clarity and language."I don’t think that anyone could be in the running for the most awfully run organization in the National Hockey League. I thought this was fairly simple, the Ottawa Senators, right? Eugene...

Matthew Barnaby on state of Sabres: 'Do I feel bad for this fan base'

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