For just about eight years, Rob Blake served as GM of the Los Angeles Kings. In that span, the Kings made five appearances in the Stanley Cup playoffs. But because L.A. failed to win a single playoff series in that span, Blake and the Kings parted ways Monday.
Let’s compare Blake’s tenure to that of Buffalo Sabres GM Kevyn Adams, who has been running things in Western New York since June of 2020. In Adams’ tenure, the Sabres have failed to make the playoffs each and every season. Playoff wins have been more of a pipe dream than just getting into the post-season, yet here we are, and Adams is still holding the reins of power. Does something seem off about this picture? Because it absolutely should.
Indeed, the Sabres’ culture of losing is so pervasive, the status quo is embraced in a way that would never happen with many other organizations. Other teams have pulled the plug on their GM after two or three seasons of letdowns, let alone five. There are no excuses with other teams — you either produce positive results, or someone comes in and takes over your job. Pretty straightforward.
It took the Kings less than a week to decide on a new direction for the team after their latest playoff loss to the Edmonton Oilers. There was no doubt something major had to change. Blake didn’t get the job done, and he knew as well as anyone it was time for his era in L.A. to end. Sabres fans have to look at the way that situation played out and pine for an ownership group that has that level of expectation for its management members.
Because the Kings changed course so quickly, they’re going to have a sizeable number of GM candidates to choose from. But if the Sabres get off to another sub-par start to the 2025-26 season, the group of candidates to replace Adams at that time will be rather small. This is another reason why waiting to dismiss Adams is such a bad idea. But the Sabres have cornered the market on bad ideas, so no one should be shocked at their most recent one.
The Kings have won two Stanley Cups in the past 14 years because the competitive bar the team has set for itself is considerably high. The Sabres, on the other hand, have a competitive bar set so low, a limbo contest would be impossible to win against them.
It has to be massively frustrating for Buffalo fans to sit back and watch the Sabres have another ho-hum off-season where nothing changes at the top of their power pyramid. And until that changes, more disappointment is almost assuredly on its way.
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