The Buffalo Sabres have had more than their share of suffering, and this 1978 THN story broke down the decision to fire GM Punch Imlach and coach Marcel Pronovost.

The Buffalo Sabres have been struggling for most of this season, and it’s far from the first time the franchise has gone through tough stretches. Indeed, in THN’s cover story in our Dec. 15, 1978 edition – Vol. 32, Issue 11 – THN covered the Sabres as they cleaned house, firing GM Punch Imlach and coach Marcel Pronovost as they attempted to turn their season around.

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Imlach and Pronovost were replaced by coach Billy Inglis and GM John Andersen, but they lasted only one year before icon Scotty Bowman took over both roles in 1979. However, Bowman couldn’t guide them to a Stanley Cup, and he departed in 1986. Frustration has become part of the identity of Sabres fans, but in this article, we see that frustration boil over to the ownership side and shake their management tree to its core.

STRUGGLING SABRES CLEAN HOUSE AS IMLACH, PRONOVOST GET AXE

Vol. 31, No. 11, Dec. 15, 1978

By THN Staff

BUFFALO – The Buffalo Sabres went shopping for a new general manager and head coach after Punch Imlach and Marcel Pronovost were fired for failing to motivate the struggling Sabres.

Team president Seymour Knox said he took it upon himself to make the decision to replace both men after the team came up empty handed in a weekend home-and-home series against the powerful Montreal Canadiens in which the Sabres were outhustled, outplayed and outscored by 12-2.

Knox, who said he talked it over with the club’s board of directors, made a brief statement to the media.

“These steps are being taken in the best interests of the Buffalo Sabre Hockey Club and its loyal supporters. My decision came after careful thought,” said Knox.

The Sabres were reportedly going to name a new coach as soon as possible but would put off selecting a new GM until the team directorate has had time to assess the situation and see what people are available for the job.

Billy Inglis, a long-time Buffalo chattel who had been helping out the Sabres, was apparently named the interim coach until the club could hire the man they wanted. There was speculation on several Buffalo radio stations that the team might bring back Joe Crozier, who formerly coached the team, as a replacement for Pronovost.

The decision to fire Imlach and Pronovost was believed not totally unexpected. Imlach, who is 60 and was being fired for the second time in his NHL career — the Leafs bounced him previously — was criticized for not making necessary trades or moves to shake the slumping Sabres up. The team had won only eight of its 24 starts this year, fell to third place, 13 points behind Boston and eight in back of Toronto in the Adams Division. The team had also fallen on lean days as a scoring machine. The Sabres’ 68 goals was only good enough for 16th place among league offenses. Only the Minnesota North Stars had scored less goals than Buffalo.

There was some reports that Imlach had been told to make trades during the off season to give the Sabres more life but failed to do so. The team started with much the same personnel they finished last season and quickly ended up going downwards in the first seven weeks of the 1978-79 schedule.

Unlike Imlach, Pronovost was a relative newcomer to the NHL coaching scene. He was in the second year of his contract as coach of the Sabres. The 47- year-old Pronovost did a commendable job in his first season with Buffalo with a 44-19-17 record but this season the situation deteriorated under him and dissension and discontent seemed to run rampant among the Sabre players. Many of them asked to be traded and there was a report circulating after the Sabres’ double weekend loss that cost Imlach and Pronovost their jobs, that some of the team’s big stars requested change at the top or they wanted to go to other NHL teams.

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