Oh NOW do you believe?

By Chris

NEWS UPDATE:
SABRES PRESS CONFERENCE SCHEDULED FOR 2 pm TODAY

Four years ago I bought an old car. The old owner abused it but I was able to buy it dirt cheap and make it run again. I kept the previous owner's mechanic and even the driver. The car just had some new tires put on and seemed like it was heading in the right direction. But I still went out and had my mechanic put a new engine in, and it put a new drive in my car, a new sense of determination.

Yesterday at noon, the warranty on my engine and tires ran out. I had a chance to have my mechanic renew those contracts before the warranty ended, but it's against our philopsophy. Why should the engine and tires get special treatment over the brakes or the interior? No part is greater than the whole, not even the most important parts that make the car work.

Now it turns out that my warranty has expired and now I can't afford the parts I could have had for a lesser sum of money a year ago. So I have to say good bye to my motor, Chris Drury, the heart and soul of my team, and Daniel Briere, the wheels that made my offense go.

I'm Buffalo Sabres owner B. Thomas Golisano, and I'm looking to make a profit above all else.

***

So what did the lockout and the new CBA solve? Pretty much nothing. The way the salary cap is structured to grow, the big market teams are favored once again and there seems to be nothing impeding that trend. The Rangers and Maple Leafs got better by spending money on big name free agents. The Sabres and Predators got worse by being forced to let those players go because they couldn't afford to pay them. Go figure.

Thank you, Mr. Bettman, for instituting a system that was supposed to help keep our team financially competitive. But you screwed that up too. Who would've thunk it?

***

Right now, this is what we're looking at:

Vanek-Connolly-Afinogenov
Hecht-Roy-Pominville
Kotalik-Gaustad-Stafford
Peters-Mair-Paille
MacArthur

It's a playoff team for sure in my opinion, a 6th seed in the worst scenario. But on paper, there's no way I see that team winning a Stanley Cup. Which is a huge step backward from back-to-back apperances in the Eastern Conference Finals...and the blame for that falls on the shoulders of Golisano, Larry Quinn, and Darcy Regier. It's going to be a long summer...