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Reports: Sabres having front office problems

BUFFALO SABRES

Buffalo Sabres owner Terry Pegula, right, listens as Pat LaFontaine, new President of Hockey Operations for the Buffalo Sabres, speaks during a press conference at First Niagara Center in Buffalo, N.Y., Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2013. The Sabres fired coach Ron Rolston and hired former coach Ted Nolan to replace him. Sabres owner Terry Pegula also announced that he fired general manager Darcy Regier and hired LaFontaine as president of hockey operations. (AP Photo/The Buffalo News, Charles Lewis) TV OUT; MAGS OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT; BATAVIA DAILY NEWS OUT; DUNKIRK OBSERVER OUT; JAMESTOWN POST-JOURNAL OUT; LOCKPORT UNION-SUN JOURNAL OUT; NIAGARA GAZETTE OUT; OLEAN TIMES-HERALD OUT; SALAMANCA PRESS OUT; TONAWANDA NEWS OUT

AP

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.

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