CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — The Buffalo Sabres appeared to be headed in the right direction this past season as they blasted out of the gate with an 8-1-1 start and were a respectable 16-11-6 near the end of December.
In their final 15 games before the coronavirus (COVID-19 strain) break they were just 2-12-1 and dropped out of the playoff race. Team owners Terry and Kim Pegula announced late last month GM Jason Botterill would be back for next season but apparently changed their minds after plenty of heat in the Buffalo media about the Sabres again missing the playoffs.
Not only did the Sabres ownership axe Botterill, but they fired Ryan Jankowski, the director of amateur scouting, and the assistant director, Jeff Crisp, plus 12 of the 21 scouting staff. In addition, the owners dismissed the entire AHL coaching staff even though the Rochester Americans finished second in their division with a very respectable 33-20-4-5. Head coach Chris Taylor, assistants Gord Dineen and Toby Petersen plus Americans GM Randy Sexton, who was well known here in Charlottetown with the Senators, were also dismissed.
I wonder why they fired Sexton, who is still under contract for two more years. Something happened to sour the Pegula family on the youthful Sabres, but what?
Botterill, who was highly respected in NHL circles, has been replaced by Kevyn Adams, a journeyman NHLer who inherits a team with some key pieces and a top head coach in Ralph Krueger. The team has talent in star Jack Eichel, key defenceman Rasmus Ristolainen, snipers like Sam Reinhart and Victor Olofsson, plus 20-year-old Rasmus Dahlin, Jake McCabe, Oskari Laaksonen and a top young goalie in Linus Ullmark, 17-14, 2.69 goals-against average.
The Sabres also have two stars from the world junior tournament in Canada’s Dylan Cozens and USA defenceman Mattias Samuelsson, son of former NHLer Kjell.
Condolences
Father Gerry Tingley passed away this past week, bringing to an end his earthly career after almost 60 years in the priesthood. He was involved for years in the charismatic movement and worked tirelessly to make P.E.I. a better place to live.
Tingley was a terrific athlete and I should know. My brother Tex and I got to see him play often with Saint Dunstan’s (SDU) varsity football and basketball teams. We were ball boys when A.J. MacAdam coached the 1959 football team, the first Canadian football team on the Island. At six-foot-four, Tingley made a great target for QB Gil Collins on a team that also included hard-nosed Gerry Gillis and Charlie Sark from Lennon Island.
Tingley also starred in university basketball with guys like Jack Hopper, Frank Garrity, Len Sirois and Don DesRoches and he was one of the big scorers. Tingley’s roommate his first year at SDU just happened to be Urban Bradley, my mom’s brother.
Tex and I were also stick boys when Frank Ledwell-coached the SDU hockey team and that squad included Tingley’s brother Dick, a big star with the Saints university club and with Sandy's Royals, who picked up Dick at the end of the university season for Maritime senior playoffs in the early 1960s. The Saints had guys like Gerry Gillis, Mike O’Brien, George Trainor, Steve Connolly, Dennis Clough, Bill Noonan and goaltender Frank Callaghan.
Gerry Tingley was one of those guys who made people from all spectrums of society feel important, which is why he was so enjoyed and respected in his worldly work. To his brother Dick and his family and relatives in Saint John, N.B., my condolences.
Harness racing
Dr. Ian Moore-trained horses put on quite a show a week ago at Mohawk Raceway in Milton, Ont. Moore sent out four horses and they all won, including monster trips by Century Farroh in 1:51 in the $36,000 preferred and by powerful-looking sophomore Tattoo Artist, who routed a top field in 1:50.
The P.E.I. Standardbred Horse Owners Awards Banquet, normally held in April, will be staged virtually tonight on the Red Shores website starting at 9 p.m. Tonight’s show will only honour the horse awards as individual awards will be presented at a later date.
Live harness racing continues tonight 6 p.m. with a terrific card. The feature has Gold Cup and Saucer-type horses like Avatar J, Bugsy Maguire, Lisburn, Screen Test and Simple Kinda Man. Last Saturday’s card was one of the most astonishing cards in P.E.I. racing history. The slowest race on the card was a 1:57:4 score by J K Express for owner James Perrot and driver Jason Hughes. The fastest trip of the night was a sizzling 1:54:2 victory by the Danny MacDonald-trained and Jason Hughes-driven Avatar J. Time to Dance, co-owned by Brent Campbell and Matt McDonald of Ontario, and handled by Marc Campbell with consultant Richard Campbell in the background, paced away from a tough field in winning in 1:55:2. The winner is just four by A Rocknroll Dance.
Windemere Ryan, a terrific two-year-old last season, opened this year’s campaign with an impressive 1:56:2 win for driver Adam Merner and owners High Five Racing of Stanhope. This colt is by highly successful Malicious.
Fred MacDonald's column appears every Saturday in The Guardian. He can be reached at [email protected].
