There’s never a dull moment in Buffalo, even in the middle of a terrible season.
TSN’s Bob McKenzie and CBC Sports’ Elliotte Friedman have reported there is a problem amongst the Sabres front office, and the bulk of the attention centers around team President of Hockey Operations Pat LaFontaine.
Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News points out LaFontaine was scheduled to appear at a team function on Friday afternoon, but was a late cancellation.
LaFontaine was also nowhere to be seen at First Niagara Center on Friday night when the team completed a blockbuster trade with the St. Louis Blues that sent franchise goalie Ryan Miller and team captain Steve Ott out of town. The only Sabres executive to speak on the trade was general manager Tim Murray.
If there are problems with LaFontaine, it’s not the first time it’s happened to him as an executive. He was a senior adviser to Islanders owner Charles Wang in 2006 and resigned from the position after six weeks on the job. LaFontaine was hired to his position with the Sabres on Nov. 13, 2013.
With the trade deadline coming up on Wednesday and LaFontaine being a major figure in the organization and with the team rebuild, this is a bad time to have a kerfuffle amongst the suits.