BUFFALO, N.Y. – The firings in Pegula Sports and Entertainment came at an astounding rate Tuesday, including some of the Buffalo Sabres’ longest-tenured executives.



PSE has fired 21 employees and multiple sources tell The Athletic the list includes John Sinclair, the vice president of tickets and service; Chris Bandura, the vice president of communications; and Jennifer Van Rysdam, the vice president of live events.



The terminations impacted numerous departments, including the Academy of Hockey at Harborcenter – and sources stressed these were terminations, not furloughs. Pegula Sports and Entertainment has been examining cost-cutting measures for some time, and some of the firings may have come this summer regardless of the COVID-19 pandemic. But the pause created by coronavirus cancellations apparently accelerated the timeline.



“There is no way to adequately express how difficult these decisions were for Terry and me,” said...