Buffalo Sabres: 3 reasons Don Granato breaks Curse of the Pegulas
By Sion Fawkes
Terry Pegula (probably) learned his lessons
In his article, Matthew Morris stated just how much firing Terry Pegula has done. Well, now that Pegula, Adams, and Granato have and are finally sticking to a long-term build, his two-and-out mentality is probably also changing. In the past, Pegula fell into the same trap you see most owners in professional sports fall into: They want a championship-caliber team….NOW!
Well, unfortunately this is not how things work in professional sports. Have you ever wondered why it seems like the same teams are sometimes in a neverending cycle of either losing or constant mediocrity? There are outliers, but you get the gist. It’s because there is always too much regime change. Too much turnover.
New coaches and general managers arrive and bring in new systems. They push to sign as many free agents as they can based on past performances and clump them together, believing they will emulate the same results in a different city, even at times in a different system. It can work, but it rarely does.
It’s something Pegula ironically learned early shortly after he bought the Buffalo Bills, with 2015 serving as the first full season that he was in charge. Rex Ryan was fired after just two years at the helm, before Sean McDermott stepped in, who regressed in his second season to just 6-10. Instead of firing McDermott, Pegula stayed the course and the Bills have since become one of the AFC’s elite.
That said, don’t expect Don Granato to go anywhere even if the Buffalo Sabres regress. Look for them to continue building the program under general manager Kevyn Adams, with Granato firmly entrenched as the head coach. This gives the Sabres much-needed stability for the future. One that would see them most likely contend in 2023-24.