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Growth of a Hockey Department |
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"Starting today, there will be no financial mandates on the Buffalo Sabres hockey department. There is no salary cap in the National Hockey League on scouting budgets and player development budgets. I plan on... increasing our scouting budgets, both with bodies on the ground, and in areas we may not be hitting capably, and also enhancing our video department. Starting today, we will bring in more player development coaches, to help these guys become better hockey players, work on their weaknesses, or whatever the coaches think. We will aspire to be the best in the league at finding, developing, and keeping our players in their new Buffalo Sabre family."
--Terry Pegula, February 22, 2011
With those words, Sabres owner Terry Pegula began his mission to restock a bare-bones hockey department.
Sabres fans know that the Tom Golisano/Larry Quinn-era featured a stripped-down hockey department relying upon miles of video instead of miles on the ground. They also know the results of that cost-conscious Sabres-era--mediocrity.
This was the hockey department for the 2008-09 season (from 2008-09 Buffalo Sabres Media Guide):
General Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Darcy Regier
Director of Amateur Scouting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Kevin Devine
Director of Pro Scouting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Jon Christiano
Pro Scout . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Dennis Miller, Ryan Vinz
Amateur Scouts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bo Berglund, Nik Fattey,
Iouri Khmylev, Al MacAdam, Paul Merritt, Craig Benning, Kim Gellert, Eric Weissman
Director of Amateur Scouting Operations . . . . . . . . . Scott Schranz
Assistant to the General Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Mark Jakubowski
Coordinator of Hockey Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Michael Bermingham
One king, two knights, a couple of rooks and 11 pawns. A total of 16 people represented the Buffalo Sabres hockey department back then.
Today they have more amateur scouts on the ground (20) than the entire hockey department had personnel back in 2008.
Pegula has been vilified for his free-spending summer of 2011 and hindsight renders that "drunken spree" a disaster. And rightfully so.
But underneath those "big city" signings, Pegula was pouring money into a organizational foundation of scouting and player development.
During his first full season at the helm of the Sabres franchise, Pegula' front office team modestly increased the hockey department by adding one amateur scout in Dave Torrie, a hockey operations assistant in Austin Dunne and a hockey technologies manager, Kyle Kiebzak.
He also moved Scott Schranz from director of amateur scouting operations to a director of hockey analytics/technology, and added a hockey analytics assistant, Graham Beamish.
All that was just a primer for what was to come in 2012.
For the 2012-13 season Kevin Devine was moved up to Assistant General Manager while overseeing the Rochester Americans organization.
Al McAdam replaced Devine as director of amateur scouting.
A two-person Pro Scout/Player Development department was increased to six people and was renamed the Pro Scout Department while the Amateur Scouting Department went from nine to 19 including an increased presence overseas.
In one year, the team added a total of 14 scouts on the ground bringing the total number of pro/amateur scouts to 25.
With those additions, the hockey department doubled in size, from 16 in 2008 to 32 in 2012. With nearly all of that increase represented by the addition of 15 scouts.
Yesterday it was announced that GM Tim Murray added two more to the hockey department: Rob Murphy as director of scouting and Greg Royce as director of amateur scouting.
In addition, Mark Jakubowski was promoted to Assistant General Manager. He and Devine are now both directly under Murray.
Other personnel who have recently been added to the hockey department are Craig Patrick, special assistant/advisor; Jason Long, player development; Randy Cunneyworth, special assistant/player development coach.
All-totaled, 39 people are now a part of the Buffalo Sabres Hockey Department including 28 in the scouting department.
Pegula wasn't kidding when he said "Starting today, there will be no financial mandates on the Buffalo Sabres hockey department."
And as large as the department is, I don't think they're quite finished.
The Hockey Department under Pegula:
From the 2011-12 Buffalo Sabres Media Guide
General Manager ..............................................Darcy Regier
Director of Amateur Scouting .............................Kevin Devine
Director of Pro Scouting ....................................Jon Christiano
Pro Scout/Player Development ...........................Dennis Miller, Eric Weinrich
Amateur Scouts ...............................................Bo Berglund, Nik Fattey,
Iouri Khmylev, Al MacAdam, Paul Merritt, Craig Benning, Kim Gellert,
Eric Weissman, Dave Torrie
Dir. Hockey Analytics/Technology.........................Scott Schranz
Hockey Analytics Assistant ..................................Graham Beamish
Assistant to the General Manager .........................Mark Jakubowski
Coordinator of Hockey Operations .........................Michael Bermingham
Hockey Operations Assistant .................................Austin Dunne
Hockey Technologies Manager ...............................Kyle Kiebzak
From the 2012-13 Buffalo Sabres Media Guide
General Manager ..............................................Darcy Regier
Assistant General Manager .................................Kevin Devine
Director of Amateur Scouting .............................Al McAdam
Director of Pro Scouting .....................................Jon Christiano
Assistant to the General Manager ........................Mark Jakubowski
Pro Scouts .......................................................Dennis Miller, Eric Weinrich,
Nik Fattey, Fredrik Andersson, Graham Beamish
Amateur Scouts ................................................Iouri Khmylev, Craig Benning,
Kim Gellert, Eric Weissman, Dave Torrie, Toby O’Brien, Monty Trottier,
Fredrik Andersson, Austin Dunne, Paul Merritt, Bo Berglund, Norm Poisson,
Jussi Kari-Koskinen, Keith Hendrickson, Teemu Numminen Brandon Jay,
Victor Nybladh, Jim Kovachik, Chris Moulton
Director of Hockey Technologies/Innovation ...........Scott Schranz
Hockey Operations Assistant ................................Brett Ruff
Coordinator of Hockey Operations ........................Michael Bermingham
Hockey Technologies Manager ..............................Kyle Kiebzak
2014-15 Staff Directory from sabres.com
General Manager--Tim Murray
Special Assistant/Advisor--Craig Patrick
VP of Hockey-Related Businesses--Joe Battista
Assistant General Manager--Kevin Devine
Assistant General Manager--Mark Jakubowski
Pro/Amateur Scout--Kevin Prendergast
Director of Scouting--Rob Murphy
Director of Pro Scouting--Jon Christiano
Scouting Coordinator--Eric Weissman
Player Development--Jason Long
Pro Scout/Hockey Analytics--Graham Beamish
Pro Scout--Eric Weinrich
Special Assistant/Player Dev. Coach--Randy Cunneyworth
Director of Amateur Scouting--Greg Royce
Head Amateur Scout--Dave Torrie
Amateur Scout--Bo Berglund
Amateur Scout--John Van Boxmeer
Amateur Scout---Iouri Khmylev
Amateur Scout--Al MacAdam
Amateur Scout--Paul Merritt
Amateur Scout--Kim Gellert
Amateur Scout--Nik Fattey
Amateur Scout--Austin Dunne
Amateur Scout--Toby O'Brien
Amateur Scout--Jim Kovachik
Amateur Scout--Norm Poisson
Amateur Scout--Brandon Jay
Amateur Scout--Keith Hendrickson
Amateur Scout--Monty Trottier
Amateur Scout--Chris Moulton
European Pro/Amateur Scout--Teemu Numminen
European Pro/Amateur Scout--Fredrik Andersson
European Amateur Scout--Bo Berglund
European Amateur Scout--Victor Nybladh
European Amateur Scout--Jussi Kari-Koskinen
Hockey Technologies Manager--Kyle Kiebzak
Coordinator of Hockey Relations--Jessica Kindron
Hockey Operations Assistant--Brett Ruff
Hockey Operations: Travel & Immigration--Michael Bermingham
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