Kevyn Adams FIRED; What Changes for the Sabres? | The Jeremy and Joe Show

Kevyn Adams FIRED; What Changes for the Sabres? | The Jeremy and Joe Show

What's up? It's cold out. >> What's up? >> It's cold out. We've got lots to get to today. We've got, of course, uh Bills, you know, >> in general, >> and uh the Sabres made the move. They fired their GM and uh have uh named a new GM. I I was actually just in the midst before we get to the Sabres of of crafting a tweet about last night's Patriots or sorry, last night's Dolphins game and what it all means. >> There's a couple things. means that the Dolphins and Tua especially just they freeze. >> Yes. >> They look so cold every time they play in the cold >> and they go to New England in week 18. >> I think if you had hope Miami will beat New England >> to help the Bills get the division back. >> Yesterday didn't help. >> It did not help yesterday. >> No, it made it a lot worse. >> No, it did not help. So, that's the first part of it. Miami did not look like a team that you're going to be counting on. It's going to be a you never know. not a h this team's dangerous because they would look dangerous until last night they got hammered by Pittsburgh host team. >> The other part of it is a caller called into the afternoon show yesterday and pointed out that Bills Eagles could kind of be meaningless and the caller is I want to say like 85% right about that >> is the way that happens if the Ravens beat the Patriots. >> Yes. If that happens, like this this week, if the Bills beat the Browns and the Patriots lose to the Ravens, the Eagles game will have zero to do with the division. >> It will still factor in possibly to one seed races, >> okay? >> But I did the New York Times playoff machine where I clicked all the games, Bills winning the division or not, and if you toggle Eagles, Bills back and forth, the division does not change. Okay. >> So, you'd kind of have a spot where it's like, all right, this game only matters in your chase to be a higher seed. >> Yeah. So, I I All right. I can get I can get on board with that matters a little. I I could also uh You're afraid of Houston a little bit, right? I >> I'm afraid of everybody and also not afraid of anybody like like like most of you out there. Like, who knows what what's going to happen >> if you're more afraid of Houston than anybody else. I heard Eric Wood on with the afternoon guys yesterday and him talking about the differences between home and road. >> Yeah. for the defensive >> versus a team like the Texans where you are either on a silent count and Deion Dawkins is guessing almost at when to jump back versus at home when you would have that more buttoned up. I thought I think I want to make sure I stay ahead of the Texans in any seating. Yep. >> And if they're the six then maybe Oh, maybe it is a little important to play the five cuz if I do see them down the road, >> I'd rather be the five and they're the six. >> I get to play the Will Anderson Denil Hunter combo at home, >> right? if that ever happens, right? In that case, yeah. So, seating would matter. >> But that's only that only matters so much, >> right? >> It's not the division. It's not making the playoffs. It's not I would get the one seed or not, >> right? There there are plenty of teams that I mean, then there's Jacksonville. Am I afraid of going to Jacksonville? Not quite. >> No. I mean, I think the Jaguars might be good. They actually have a shot at the one seed. Whatever. Anyway, we'll get to that in a minute. So, that's the first thing I just wanted to mention was on last night's game. You know, there's going to be lots of conversations about Tua today and what the Dolphins should probably do. Their coach might be good. Their quarterback is a mess and he's, you know, they put together a couple weeks. It was 5 days ago Dan Olowski said, "Don't sleep on the Dolphins." You can now go to sleep on the Dolphins. I promise you. >> And this is the first year of his contract extension, by the way. >> Who's that? >> To us. >> Ah, nice. Well, >> $250 million. >> Nice. Well, don't cry poor for them because these teams have the money. And if you want to have a conversation, if you want to have a conversation, we can later. I always like to ask it. And it's it's not that there's no answers, but what were they supposed to do? We can do that. So anyway, the reason I brought up Bills Eagles potentially being meaningless is there are other games that could be meaningless. The Ravens and Steelers, some of their math could have a game in there being meaningless along the way. Team Orisk at Pro Football Focus had this. You might remember a couple weeks ago or not a couple weeks, maybe last year, the the two teams, Jaguars and Titans or whoever it was. >> Oh, it was Lions Vikings. Remember they played in the final week of the season, unless there's another >> No, what I'm thinking of is like Jags and Texans >> played in two two of the final three games of the year. Okay. >> And the first one was meaningless on who won the division or something. There was something like that where the NFL scheduling quirks have it where oh your week 17 game is actually a buy and week 18 will matter. That's happened a few times. >> That's what I'm thinking of Detroit Minnesota played on Sunday night week 18 last year. Winner won the division and I think Detroit had a game against San Francisco. They both played week 17 and it like didn't matter. >> Gotcha. Gotcha. >> Cuz they were tied and it was just the winner of the week 18 game is going. >> Right. >> So, but Right. That's probably happened a couple of times. >> It gets goofy like that. >> Yeah. Anyway, we can explore that a little bit later. The Sabres have made the big change. They have they have relieved their GM of his uh GMing duties and elevated Yarmmo Kalinan. In a series of statements, we found that out that Kekalinan would be the new GM and Kevin Adams is no longer the GM. This is uh not unexpected, right? We kind of had this over the last couple days like this this is probably going to happen. And the biggest takeaway, the bigger question is like what how will it actually be different right now? What will happen, right? Is it just someone else making the final decision, but everything else is the same? I mean, are Lindy Ruff and Seth Appert still like the primary co? Are all the the assistant coaches and people that have been here for multiple staffs all staying? >> Does Kealinan get the freedom to bring in his entire staff, whatever he wants? he's going to want to put his stamp on the organization. He's in charge again. Like what really will be different? Because I do think you have a lot of people that would admit while Kevin Adams didn't exactly do a great job that it doesn't really feel like he had all of the potential resources he might have wanted. >> Mhm. >> Right. Who are his coaching hires? It's a guy that was in the room and Lindy Ruff who had been in the room before. Don Gronado and Lindy Ruff. Those are his coaching hires. He might want to go out and get Todd Mlelen or this guy or that guy and you can't either because money, reputation, scheme fit, you being the GM, like without trying to say Kevin Adams is not at fault here. Could we all agree that he did not exactly have a full deck to be dealing with, right? >> He we even kind of know that in the the palm trees comment like it's a little tougher up here. You're not supposed to say that, >> but but we would all kind of know, you know, this isn't you're not blank check with the Tampa Bay Lightning here, >> right? So, how will it be different? If it's just Yarmmo and everything else is the same, do you feel what percent better? 10% better, 30% better? Like, how different is it right now? I think I would still feel like 30 to 50% better. If you told me nothing else is different and he can't really put his full stamp on the organization, I would still feel better. I would still feel better given that there's a track record of this guy doing that job before. Like I know that there might be other limitations in the organization. I can't think it's a bad thing that they are going from someone whose previous job as before GM was senior VP of business administration to general manager than this guy who was a GM and it's the first time they've hired a former GM that had done the job before in 46 years. They've not even tried this type of person. >> So >> I'm 46 years old. So since I was born since you were born. the first time they've hired a GM that had done the job before that can't be a good thing that he would know what the job entails, what you need to do the job and that he would be given that also he doesn't really have a long history of working in the organization like Kevin Adams does that I could only guess that he could be someone that could say okay I need this, this, and this. And he would push for that because he knows he needs it. And I don't know if he'll get it, but I feel like that's a good influence to have in the organization and to have somebody leading your hockey department is to know what you need to run a hockey department. I'm not sure Kevin Adams ever knew what a full deck looked like. He might not have had one, but what does he know what it is? Because Kalinan would know what the job entails and know what you need to do with it, right? And if he needs 10 people in his office, is he gonna get those 10 people? >> He might get Does he get seven? >> Well, maybe. Does Adams get those 10? Get those seven or is Adams kind of left by himself? >> But that's I guess where my hope is that Kealine and someone that would actually push for that. Got >> And I'm not sure Adams ever even. >> And because maybe the owner has been moved to, okay, fine. Let's have a full-on hockey department that we didn't have before. >> Sure. That's that's a hope of mine. and he did do the job in a small market that had a lot of the same limitations that the Sabres did. I'm not sure that it was as bad, but Columbus is not a destination. Columbus is a team that is always on all the no trade lists or a lot of the no trade lists. And this dude went out and made big swings, the thing that Adams never wanted to do. Took him three years to make a trade that actually made their team any better. And it was Greenway for a second, >> right? Right. >> That was three years into his tenure. Like I've got a GM here who was wheeling and dealing first round picks for Matt Duchain and for Art Tenny Paneran and signing Johnny Gdro in in free agency. Like this dude was going after it. >> Yeah. Is I'm reminded of when we talked about this. I said the Sabres have to be prepared to pay premiums like a country club initiation. Like you're not cool. You have to go out and try stuff as opposed to just thinking everything's going to grow grow organically. And Kalinan did that in Columbus. He went out and he went big. He was criticized for some of it, but at least he's like screw that. What am I supposed to do? Not try. >> So he he tried stuff, >> right? And he did mortgage their future a little by doing it. But like again, like >> sometimes you need a little of that. Yep. >> And him having that track record in that market and having the job for as long as he did, I think it was 11 years that he was Columbus's GM, made the playoffs, I think five times, I it's at least 50% better for me. it and that is without if you if he can manage to convince ownership that I need a fullblown hockey department. I need scouts. I need >> coach co let me let me do my own thing on the bench. >> All right. Is the first >> if he can convince the owner to do that then it's 100%. >> The first test is coach is it not? >> Yes. >> You can't just roll out it's Seth Appert's my coach. >> It will feel like unless it's feel like to me he's not allowed to hire his own coach if Seth Aert's the head coach. >> I agree. Lindy is still the coach for now. We will not talk to Lindy today. His appearance has been moved. We uh hope to talk to Yarmokan tomorrow. That's the plan. But coach is the first test. If you run Lindy to the end and then an extensive coaching search and you decide it's Seth Appert like all right well then all the good grace of changing GM is gone to me. I think no one's going to believe in that. >> I agree with that. So you could also have Lindy step away and appert be interim and for the rest of this year I suppose you could try that or you could try to see if you can find hire someone >> like you have an opening there currently are no openings and I think are there no interim coaches right now so anybody that wants to work hey there's a job for you today right here right now do you want this job coach is a big big test because they've got assistance from Ralph Krueger's staff >> yes I mean come on a full coaching staff a full undertaking in terms of three coaches ago, >> nuts and nuts. They're still on the bench. >> So, I guess I'm almost when you lay it out that way, I'm almost afraid of Apert being the interim coach >> cuz that gives them Oh, hey, wait a minute. These four months went really well. Look at them. They were on They were on a 94 point pace in those four months as they missed the playoffs by eight points. With that being true, um I I I don't know what they'll do on the short term. I I did think about John Tordella a lot yesterday because that's the last the last time Yarmmo Keolin made a coaching move in the middle of a season. That was the dude he turned to in Columbus. And if he does that, uh that guy's available. >> So I don't I don't know that that would that would do it immediately, wouldn't it? Does that make you feel better just because that I don't mean to just be asking you these questions. I'm asking everyone out there. Give us a call 8030550. Like >> does that make you feel better because you've heard of him? >> Like right now I've heard of that guy. Doesn't sound terrible. You tell me Brandon Shanahan wants the job. I think I've heard of that guy. That sounds like a good idea. Or uh Todd Mlen or Gerard Galant or you just name guys I've heard of and I'll think like all okay that guy. Bruce Budro. >> That's kind of where I'm at. It's just somebody I've heard of that feels like he's NHL credible. Let me feel like they are they are back circulating in the normal NHL waters that everybody else is in. >> It might take some time. They got some work to do. >> Right. Because it is felt like they just want to do their own thing, their own people and not really >> and we know better than you. >> Not venture out. Right. Exactly. They they said in a press conference when they fired Jason Botro for Kevin Adams, they didn't trust hockey people anymore. >> Like show me that. Show me that there is a faith restored or maybe just we tried this for a long time, six years that all we're going to go back to like all right, people in the sport that know how to do the job that have done the job before will start venturing in those waters again. Like I'm I don't love John Tordella as a head coach idea in a vacuum at all. But here and now, like, >> is that >> if it was going to be moved on from Lindy and you're telling me it's that or I'm doing the Seth Appert thing and I'm just continuing to go, all right, who was on my staff already? Then I would prefer to feel like, all right, they're back in those waters. >> Here's a here's a loose rough comparison, though. Is hiring Tortoella hiring Pete Carroll? >> He's hiring Torella. >> Like, hey, this guy has been in the league. He's coached multiple franchises. He's won. Carol's really old. >> I know. I know. >> Maybe >> Torrell is probably pretty old. >> Maybe not the perfect comparison. Does I'm not even going for I'm just going for like, hey, franchise that's been embarrassing. Look, we hired a guy with a name. >> Like, we got to be careful there. If they hire someone that's unexpected and maybe bright. We might doubt it, but maybe Kalinan has has had somebody in his mind. I mean, Kalinan's worked in the league for a long time. >> He actually crossed over with Don Granado in St. Louis, which I did not realize. I was like going through like seeing any crossovers here or there, but he crossed over with Granado in St. Louis. So, we will uh we'll see what he has to say. My I've got three goals right now for the new Savers GM. I wrote down three goals. I did this last night. >> So, uh I can give those to you now if you want. It's not that long of a list. Three goals. Number one, the uh Sabres new GM needs to change the way that the GM talks to fans. >> Uhhuh. The last two GMs have been horrific. >> Yeah. >> Absolutely trash fire. >> The last two were really, really horrific. Really tough >> in how they talk to fans and how they talk about their job and how they talk about their team. Out of touch. I mean, Kevin Adams, nice person. We've talked to him plenty of times. You know, running the hockey team, you could say what you want, but the way he really like what he did to himself and lost a lot of favor with fans is how he talked to them in press conferences. That went a long way to doing a ton of damage. >> Yeah. >> I feel I feel bad for our fans. The palm trees of course like over and over again. Like just change the way you talk to your fans. Let us let us believe that what's going on there is uh you've got a plan. Number two is actually have a plan. Show a vision. If there's anything that Kevin Adams is guilty of, is it not that all all of his moves, all of his big moves were reactive, not proactive? >> Yeah. >> It's time to trade Dylan Cousins now. Oh, it's time to make a trade of a prospect. Let's trade Matthew Seavoy. Oh, it's time. Purka wants out. Okay, I got to make that trade. Like, >> proactive, not reactive. That's number two. A trade we don't see coming. Not that it has to be Owen Power. The chat will love if I say this. Owen Power in the Quinn Hughes trade. I know he's not Quinn Hughes, but like, hey, here's here's four pieces for Power that are prospects in this because we like the guy. I think he's good, but that's not the kind of guy we're going to play with. We don't see it coming and we say, wow, holy cow, what's that? Maybe it's a vision. And number three is find a goalie, dude. Find a goalie, dude. Is >> good luck. But behind find a goalie. >> Yep. There you go. That's the job. Talk to fans in a different way. Be proactive. And holy cow, goalie. >> It really is the thing. Adams never they never go big on it. They >> He never even really took a swing in the entire time that he was the general manager, which was five and a half seasons of hockey. His biggest move acquiring a goalie was what was it? Was it actually getting Levi as a prospect thrown in on the Sam Reinhardt trade? >> Is it is it James Rhymer? Is it Craig Anderson? >> Well, these are those guys were retired basically. >> I know, right? The Sabres had a what, a three-year stretch of going to 40-year-old goalies to save their bacon. >> What's what's what happened with Adams and what was I mean there are many things on the list that led to his downfall as the general manager. One of them is he tied himself at the hip to a goalie that he didn't even draft that Jason Botel drafted. He tied himself to UPPL for five years. >> No. >> And that's that in part sunk. And I can't imagine Kalinan won't ever try something at that position because it never really happened with this last GM ever. And on the the press conference thing, you can buy yourself a lot of goodwill with fans if you just nail it. Tim Murray was not a good GM and he bought a lot of goodwill just by the way he talked in press conferences. >> Yep. >> And then the next two >> cuz he was honest. He was he was Yeah. >> He was dry. He was he sounded like a guy that wanted to win and was not afraid to call out players and coaches as not being good enough. >> And even like there there is stepping in it sometimes the way Adams did. And then there's also just feeling like you don't have the right pulse on >> I never had the pulse >> like crying about Zus Gurgensson and what he meant to the fabric of the Buffalo Sabres when they were tough when they were 10 points out of a playoff spot. Like dude, read the room right now. The fans have been chanting to have this guy finally removed from the fourth line for like three years and that was the reaction when he was traded for nothing at a deadline or maybe he wasn't even traded, he was let go at the end of that season. I mean, just getting mad about thinking fans were mad about a rumor about Matias Samson before the end, >> right? Getting bought out, right? >> Like, there were so many moments like that. >> There's a sneaky one where he talked about their expected goals in the 13ame losing streak. >> Like, I don't remember that one. >> Yeah. He's like, "We had a higher expected goals in nine of the 13 games we lost or something." That was I do remember. >> And it just took way too long for them to think flip the switch now. Ma winning matters. the year I think the way they reacted and treated the year they missed by one point is always going to be is going to sit sour with me. it. There was a moment in that press conference at the end of it where one of the reporters called it a failed season because they missed the playoffs and he took such great offense to that which in the moment I don't even remember if it really felt like he stepped in it that day. Like what do you mean failed season >> but that was the third year >> right? That was the third year. It was oh, we're not supposed to be winning yet, but it's year three and then, oh, now year four. Now it's the fourth year. It's good to start getting going on that. Just think there were timelines that were wrong that there was way too much patience. It took way too long to make trades, bad moments in press conferences, never went after a goalender. guys that want to be here. >> Just there was a lot a lot of a lot of stuff that showed, oh yeah, this guy's never been a GM or worked in a hockey department in a major way before he had that job, >> right? And Yarmmo, a couple different things on relationships. We get to a call here, too. Yarmo as a Finnish hockey mind. UPL is a Finnish hockey product. Like, wouldn't he have opinions on him the whole time? >> Whether that's this guy's worth saving or this guy doesn't have it or whatever it might be. Alex Tuck. How does this change Tuck? We all thought Kevin Adams cannot lose Tuck because it looks bad on his guys that want to be here routine. What does Yarmouth think? Like I'm not going to pay a guy that old 1012 million a year for eight years. No thanks. I'll trade with the deadline and get what I can and so many others. Like he has not drafted any of these players. So there are no relationships and no ties to, you know, trading away. Cousins was a botrol pick, right? So you you want to trade away Zack Benson? >> I don't know. He's going to do that. Jack Quinn, your first pick. Yeah, Jack Quinn, you were my first draft pick, right? Like >> Yarm like, "Okay, I'll trade Jack Quinn in a deal, >> whatever it might be." Uh Steven Buffalo before the break. Hey, Steve. Good morning. >> Hey, good morning, guys. How are you? >> Good, good, good. >> Uh good. I was just listening to your uh coaching comparison earlier with Tordelloo. And I would say if if the Sabres hired Torrell, it would be like when the Bills hired Rex Ryan. >> That might be a good one. Had some success. is known to be, you know, a culture of hard and yelling at people and he is uh part of the part of the show as opposed to just a coach. That's a that's a good comp, Steve. I like that. >> Yeah. Yeah. That's all I see. You have a great day. >> Thanks, Steve. It's a good comp, right? It's pretty good. Yeah, it's it's a pretty good comp >> because I I I wouldn't be very optimistic it would go great. >> You just think it might be interesting. >> It would be interesting and it might prove he could get who he wants. It would mean more for me on where they're headed. Maybe not what they would be with him as the coach, but like okay, this is the type of thing that they're going to be looking for now. No, I'd much rather they hire like Pete Dbor. >> Yeah. Right. 8030550 18885502550. And for Yarmal, that's got to be a sell job. Like listen, I know it's gone bad here. Like we're going to get this thing on the rails. Bring in your your staff. I'm bringing in my staff. The coaching hires are going to tell the story here. and so are the staff hires >> and and Tuck. I think Tuck there's a there might not be another player move that I would expect him to make during this year where we can get a sense of like what he's going to be doing here, but I think Tuck is is one of them. >> Then there of course is the question is how does the team respond on Thursday if in fact it is dubbed a must win? Just we got I got a couple days to think about it. I think the crowd could be pretty juiced up Thursday. >> Maybe three-game win streak. You move the GM out like things are looking up. >> All right. Things are looking up and look and if you look up there wasn't much to look down at. >> I was going to say if you look up you know what you see all the teams in the east. >> If you look up that is except for Columbus. Except for Columbus who is uh tied. Do they play tonight? I guess I check it. Columbus could be ahead of you by the end of the evening. Maybe there are 10 games in the NHL and the Blue Jackets play the Ducks. So, uh, yeah, it could be one

Jeremy White and Joe DiBiase kick things off by discussing the Sabres finally making the change that fans have been waiting for for years. The Sabres have relieved Kevyn Adams of his duties as general manager and replaced him with Jarmo Kekalainen effective immediately. The guys look back on the Adams era and ask what exactly will change for the Sabres with this change. They discuss the decisions facing Kekalainen and the path forward to finally gaining respect as a franchise.

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