Sabres' only hope for success is if Terry Pegula sells the team

Bad teams that are always bad tend to stay bad for a reason. You just have to pinpoint what that reason is. It usually starts at the top of the organization. That is the case for the once-proud Buffalo Sabres franchise, which has been completely sabotaged and turned into a league-wide laughing stock by the ownership of Terry Pegula. 

Sabres need an ownership change more than anything else

The Sabres were humiliated on Friday afternoon, losing a 5-0 decision to the New Jersey Devils in front of a sellout crowd in Buffalo. That loss kept the Sabres at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings, where they are the only team that does not have a points percentage of at least .500 or better.

As the minutes ticked away in the third period, the Sabres fans who remained in the building started chanting for the team to fire general manager Kevyn Adams.

It is probably a necessary change given how bad his general manager tenure has been and how far away the team remains from serious contention. 

The problem is that a general manager change will not matter, because the stink that occupies the Buffalo Sabres offices is coming entirely from the owner's chair. 

The chant from fans should be "sell the team."

Pegula purchased the Sabres in February 2011 and watched as the team finished the season with 43 wins and made the Stanley Cup Playoffs, eventually losing in the first round to the Philadelphia Flyers.

That was the last time the Sabres organization qualified for the playoffs. 

Their now 14-year playoff drought is the longest in the history of the NHL and is tied with the NFL's New York Jets for the longest active playoff drought in professional sports. 

That means that in every full season Pegula has owned the Sabres, his team has failed to qualify for the playoffs in a league where half of the teams qualify every year. 

Since the start of the 2011-12 season, every other team in the NHL has played in at least 14 playoff games, including the Seattle Kraken, who are only in their fifth year of existence as a franchise. If you exclude the Kraken, every other team in the NHL has played in at least 25 playoff games during this time period.

The Sabres remain at zero. 

From a regular season standpoint, the Sabres' .454 points percentage since the start of the 2011-12 season is also last in the NHL. 

Notice the line below where Pegula purchased the Sabres? Notice what has happened since then? It is staggering.