Got Yourself a Sword

By Chris

Our friends at SabresNation.com have made this clever video featuring Tony Soprano's ride home from HSBC Arena. Props for getting Mighty Taco and the Anchor Bar in there.

Check out the video and their site at SabresNation.com.

"Is that a... OH MAN!"

by Ryan

Just when you thought Simo Hayha was the most dangerous Fin ever, along comes Tero Pitkamaki and his javelin.



Now I don't know about you, but I know that is exactly how my face would look if I was suddenly impaled by a large throwing spear.

Because Sdiri is okay, it is safe to look at this and go "wow, that actually is pretty cool." Someone with a bit of creativity could attempt to recreate the effect with toothpicks and whipped cream Frenchmen, but to each their own. A personal favorite would be to guess the most likely thought going through his head as a pointy stick is rammed into his side.

The Top 5:

5) "Man, these quad stretches really do burn!"

4) "Wait till I get Zidane on the phone..."

3) "This is still better than it "raining men" like last year..."

2) "Man, if I'd known her brother throws javelins for a living..."

1) "Maybe this will make me more "NOW" than Posh Spice!"

Welcome to America

By Jon

It's the day the media and the MLS brass have been waiting for: David Beckham has arrived.

I'll be honest.... I couldn't care less.

The man has the ability to earn almost twice as much as A-Rod (a reported $250 million over five years). He just lead Real Madrid to a dramatic championship. Now, he's expected to inject life into a sport that has a smaller following in the U.S. than ice hockey, all while staving off the tabloids and the L.A. media, anxious for his first misstep (if you don't count him nearly saying "football").

There's no possible way he can live up to the hype. I don't care how well he played the last two months for Real Madrid, just six months to one year ago he was left for dead, with everyone saying he was washed up after being stripped of England's captaincy. I mean, this guy was royalty across the pond at one point, he had to have done some pretty awful things to be stripped of his captaincy.

I, for one, will be no more interested in the MLS. Besides, if you support anything having to do with David Beckham, you are indirectly supporting the Spice Girls and their upcoming reunion.
And any supporter of the Spice Girls is an enemy of mine.

A Bouncing Baby Souray

by Ryan

Ryan Miller breathed a sign of relief yesterday, as Sheldon Souray inked a five year contract with the Oilers yesterday. This means Sheldon and his rising slap shot will only be seen far less around these parts, and those parents who named their child "Sheldon" up north will have a lot of explaining to do.

This brings two things to mind. First off, is it just me or does it seem like Edmonton settled for Souray? Kevin Lowe sure made it look like he threw the kitchen sink at quite a few people in the UFA market before he gave Sheldon a ring. Sure, now that they have Souray under contract it's quite okay to say you were after him all along, but stories like this and this don't just suddenly disappear.

In no way am I mocking the move, I think it is good for both parties, but it is interesting to see how some GMs flip the free agent game. Kevin Lowe, whether for better or worse, was determined to "make a splash" this offseason. He did, it just so happened that his splash was Plan C. It's an interesting contrast with Darcy and the Sabres, who seemed dead set on landing one select player (Chris Drury) and not having much public interest elsewhere.

The other important, if not life altering question that comes out of Souray's departure is this: is it safe to name your child after a favorite player anymore?

Yes, I know it sounds ridiculous, but it's been done before. Heck, if there are a few dozen babies named "ESPN" floating around out there, then anything is possible. But even with ESPN, it's a stable television network that will leave a history behind it, no matter what happens in the future. The same cannot be said for a star player in a salary cap era. It's barely safe to buy a lettered jersey these days, let alone put a name on legal papers. (How many Bledsoe or Flutie jerseys do you see even today?)

Now, I know it's stupid and outlandish, but people have been known to do stupid things. Children have been named after mayonnaise, failed birth control, and record labels; so why not after a defensemen with a heavy shot? Sure, there's a risk involved, but if Souray leads your Habs to a Cup win, suddenly your kid is the coolest one in preschool, even cooler than the one with the mini Hummer.

I can think of at least a half dozen people I would risk naming my kid after, but can't because of free agency. I'll name one, and if you come up with any, feel free to leave it in the comments.

Wily Mo Pena

An Experiment in Adjectives

by Ryan

Balls.

It's been a week and a half and that's the best I can come up with. Since the Canada Day Massacre I've been searching for something that sums up the general mood surrounding this offseason. It's been difficult at best. "Shenanigans" sounds too comical. "Garbage" sounds too domestic. "Crappy", "stupid", and "jerk-a-ma-face" far too juvenile, and "wrong" is just too ordinary.

It all goes back to balls for me. It's just a statement, and a valid one at that. Let's face it, things went wrong this offseason. Many teams went out and added talent, fixed needs, while we just created more uncertainty and complained about it.

It was bad enough having to read this disgusting article, but that wasn't the only news the Rangers made this offseason. Petr Prucha, Brendan Shanahan, and Henrik Lundqvist all are under contract now as well. Heck, they even got stronger when Kevin Weekes signed with New Jersey. (They are better off with Juan Pablo Montoya as their backup, let alone Al Montoya)

It is just frustrating. While the two newest Rangers fight over which one gets to wear Jordan's number, the only numeral quarrel we've had is Paul Byron wearing 21 at Sabres Rookie Camp while Drew Stafford wore 9. (Seeing the two of them side by side was like watching Yao Ming slow dance with Verne Troyer...)

The point is this: so far this offseason has been balls. Can it get better? Yes. In fact, every day that passes I grow more excited about the coming season. Still, with the schedule released yesterday I am reminded of the realities of this offseason. Both Chris Drury and Daniel Briere are coming back to Buffalo this season wearing another team's sweater. That hurts. That's balls.

We will also open up the season raising the President's Trophy banner against our "longtime rival" the Islanders. I've written before about the prospect of raising that banner without a captain. It will be an interesting night to say the least, and I will approach it with both excitement and apprehension.

Still, this entire offseason has been depressing to say the least. Many people claim it to be the worst two weeks in Sabres history, but I feel it is the simple effect of reality setting in. In this New NHL, or any NHL for that matter, the world is not our oyster. These past two years have been magical and probably saved this franchise, but now is the time reality takes over and makes us just a hockey team.

Yes, it sucks. No, it's not fair. But since when has anything been fair?


Balls.

New Year's Celebration

By Chris

NBC is planning on throwing a New Year's Day Party outside this year. They're calling it The Ice Bowl, and the Pittsburgh Penguins are coming. But it's still up in the air as to whether Buffalo or Detroit will be hosting.

Potentially, it could be the biggest game in Buffalo Sabres history--both in crowd size and in the magnitude of media attention. I have no doubt that the game would sell out, possibly even minutes after tickets to the general public go on sale.

After the events of last week, if there's anything to look forward to during the 07-08 season, this would be it. Anyone who watched the Heritage Classic in Edmonton a few years ago knows that it was something special to see. A big time game outside in the cold. It's perfect.

And if it snows? All the better.

Link to the story.

A Journey to Mecca

by Ryan

To Red Sox fans Fenway Park is baseball Mecca. Sure the park is 95 years old, with weird angles, cramped seating, and very little foul territory; but that is exactly how most fans want their baseball: classic, a bit odd at times, and as close as possible.

To be a Sox fan and not have visited Fenway Park is difficult, but not hard to imagine. Being a long distance fan is part of it, but with Fenway seating just over 37,000 even some Bostonians haven't been able to sit inside those brick walls. To get inside, even for a tour, is something some Red Sox fans can only dream about.

Finally, after years of such dreams, I made the trek to Fenway. Of course there are hundreds of ways it could have been better: we could have played someone other than the D-Rays, I could have actually had a seat, David Ortiz could have adopted me, and so on. Still, this was my Mecca. And it was perfect.

The walk to the stadium was enough of a rush. My hotel was a few blocks from Fenway, but as we walked closer to the stadium, the lights disappeared under cover of some smaller buildings along the way. That element of surprise stayed with me throughout the entire walk. In my mind there was an image of Fenway Park borrowed from pictures and FOX broadcasts, but it is nothing like the real thing.

Walking through the Fens, the Olmsted park that Fenway was named after, was unexpectedly moving. It was like walking through another part of the world. Right in the middle of this bustling city is a murky, dank smelling pool of water surrounded by foliage. Walking through the Fens with that humid, stagnant smell lingering made me realize that Fenway Park is unlike any place I've been to watch a sporting event.

After navigating a bit of winding sidewalk, I finally turned a corner, and there it was.

"Holy crap that's Fenway Park"

The brick facade, the championship banners, the famous players. Before you know it I'm in front of Ted Williams and that lucky little kid, forever captured in bronze. I walked down the first base side, studying the brick walls like a textbook. The old entrances are closed off but still visible; one can only wonder where they lead. So much of the old park is still there: the ancient windows, wooden seats, it really is a wonder everything still works in there.

The Fenway Park tour is worth every penny. Even though we had tickets to the game, I wanted to spend as much time inside as humanly possible, and that included paying $12 to see it empty. But sitting in those old seats, hearing the stories about fire, Ted Williams' red seat, the Green Monster being built; those are things you just can't get from pictures or books. You just can't feel the ghosts until you are sitting in their seats.

While on the Green Monster I didn't get the chance to look down onto the field. I was distracted by a man proposing to his girlfriend. He didn't make a spectacle out of it, no big announcement, no round of applause. There they were, a row below me, and he slid an engagement ring across the table to her. It struck me that he would pick now, inside a baseball stadium on a $12 tour to do something as life altering as that. In hindsight it was probably the perfect way to do it: inside a stadium they both love. No going on one knee, no speeches, just two people looking out at a beautiful field, thinking the same thoughts.

After getting refused at the Cask and Flagon (it's a long story), spending three paychecks at the team store, and a few laps around the park, it was time to open the gates. Batting practice brought a few near misses and a fingertip grazing from a D-Ray hitter, but nothing very shocking. I refused to relegate myself to diving for batting practice balls, so there was not much to pre-game but soaking in a sunset at Fenway.

The game itself was laughable at best. The Devil Rays went through 4 pitchers in 4 innings, Coco Crisp hit a grand slam (he was up facing bases loaded four times that night), and Josh Beckett plowed through the D-Rays for a 15-4 win. Hideki Okajima was announced as an All-Star, which was very cool, and it started to pour after the 6th inning.

Of course, I gave my "Samuel Jackson in "Deep Blue Sea"" speech about not leaving the park till the game was over. My standing room only tickets soon turned into right field roof deck table seats as businessmen decided a blowout was worth less then their nice ties. A few innings later, Timlin induced a double play, and "Dirty Water" plays on the Fenway speakers.

Still, that meant I had to leave now, and so we lingered around taking some pictures, soaking in the view of the Green Monster one last time. It was a very, very good day, and no amount of rain could change my mind.

As we walked home in the mist, I couldn't help but think about the other places I'd watched baseball. Jacobs Field, Great American Ballpark, Skydome, Dunn Tire Park. Even all the little league and high school baseball diamonds. Sure, they all have their charms, and most are certianly more comfortable then Fenway. But there is something intangible about that place that just can't be beat.

There is a reason that Red Sox fans fought so fiercely to keep it alive: it is the history that makes it so special. There are ghosts within that simply cannot be torn down. Carlton Fisk will always be waiving that ball fair, and Dave Roberts will always be stealing second base. So while the Yankees get a replica stadium built next door, there is just one Fenway. Personally, that's all I need.

I Didn't Rob a Bank Because You Made Up the Law...

by Ryan

You know it's going to be a fun vacation when you are literally terrified of your cell phone the entire time.

Yes, while I traveled down to Boston to visit baseball Mecca, news of the Sabres offseason slowly trickled in through my phone. And as blown away as I was by Fenway Park, (a full post will follow shortly) I simply could not escape the sad reality of this past week.

Coming with me on the trip was the Tuesday morning edition of the Buffalo News. That awful front page, I simply couldn't get away from it. Who would have thought Chris Drury would be a Ranger a week ago? I can't even imagine him in red, white, and blue. The thought itself is enough to make my stomach turn.

The final straw for me was yesterday morning when I learned the Oilers tried to sign Vanek, forcing us to match that ridiculous contract to save face. Blame who you want, but Thomas Vanek is now over payed, plain and simple.

Here's the deal: everyone is wrong. Any Sabres fan who thinks this team is through is absolutely out of their minds. As I've said before, losing Briere and Drury is not losing your team, but losing the face of your team. It's an emotional connection, yes, but in no way are we not a playoff team. Anyone who is ready to write this team off here and now, well, I'm glad to see you go. Take the next couple plays off, and get ready to bail on the Bills in Week 2. So glad you could make it.

Looking at what the Buffalo News has been writing while I've been away, I have to completely agree with the notion that they are going way, way overboard. My red flag went up when Bucky Gleason insinuated that he knew more than Darcy Regier on Monday, and it only got worse while in Beantown. Alan Pergament's article accusing TV broadcasters being too soft is the perfect example of making something out of nothing. I'm not sure if the sports department got together and someone made the "Let's go out there and run 'em" speech, but it sure seems like a team effort over there.

However, the Sabres brass is not off the hook in my book. In my opinion, the entire off season game plan has been utter garbage. Throwing Danny Briere under the bus while not knowing for sure Drury wanted to come back was just plain stupid. Not having another big name free agent on the sign able list was also a big mistake, one that still has no explanation. So to alleviate the pressure of that failure, management promised to bring back Thomas Vanek.

Enter the Edmonton Oilers.

The contract itself is simply disgusting. Not once did I ever hear mention of a signing bonus to lure anybody to Buffalo. How many times did you hear someone call Danny Briere "The Five Million Dollar Man" when things went awry? Thomas Vanek just made that for waking up on Friday morning.

It didn't have to be this way, though. Larry and Darcy will have you believe there was no way to know how the market was going to work. Well why do they seem to be the only ones that have no sense of foresight in these matters? If Chris Drury is your "guy", wouldn't you do everything you possibly could to keep him in Buffalo? Including front loading a contract, or taking a hit with a signing bonus?

You can't take the effect and make it the cause, either. It's simply wrong to say that letting Danny and Dru walk with money to give on the table was necessary because signing Vanek would be so imperative. In fact, the opposite is the real truth. I know I wasn't the only one that was more than okay with losing Vanek to a big contract if I had a captain on the roster. Take a look at the Group Two comp sheet and tell me you wouldn't feel better about losing Vanek to that contract in exchange for Chris Drury signed at $7 million and four first round draft picks.

To sum it up, I'm not happy. No one is.



It's good to be home.

A lesson in economics...

Nothing quite says "panic button" like having to give a third-year player with a sketchy playoff history $50 million dollars after watching your two best players walk for less money.

They had to sign him. The contract is astronomical. Vanek is certainly not worth $50 million at this point in his career, but after parting ways with Drury and Briere, Darcy and the boys had to pull the trigger. There's no way in the world that they could have explained losing three of their best players in the same offseason without replacing them.

In the press conference, Darcy seemed a bit peeved with Oilers GM Kevin Lowe, deeming his offer to Vanek "a move of futility." Sorry Darcy, not buying it. Lowe acted within his rights. He tried to offer Vanek something that you couldn't match. I'm sure his thinking was something like, "Hey, it's worth a shot." Honestly, I've always been puzzled by the fact that RFA's don't get more offers, especially from their conference and division. Couldn't this be a great tactical move to hike up the price? For example, Sidney Crosby becomes a RFA after next season. Why wouldn't the Flyers offer him an insane contract that would push Pittsburgh to the cap? If Pittsburgh matches, they are at the cap. If they don't, you gain an all-world player and have a new face for your franchise. Granted, I didn't do any number crunching and I am basically ignoring the cap situation Philly (just the first Atlantic Division team that came to my head), but it seems as if this could happen.

Basically, Vanek's insane contract just adds to the nightmare that is the 2007 offseason. The Sabres were forced to choose between becoming a rebuilding team (those four first-rounders would look awful nice if we were rebuilding) or continuing to believe they are a contender. Let's hope they made the right choice, because Thomas Vanek at over $7 million per doesn't do us any good if we are the number 9 seed.

Mark your calendars

By Chris

Some important preseason events for the Bills and Sabres have been announced in the past few days. Here they are for future reference:

July 6-11:
Sabres Rookie Camp. Off-Ice Morning Sessions at HSBC Arena
On-Ice Workouts at the Amherst Pepsi Center from 5-7 p.m.

July 26-August 22:
Bills Training Camp at St. John Fischer College

July 31, August 2, 6, 8, 13, 15 and 20:
Bills Training Camp Night Practices (7 p.m.)
Ticket information for the 7/31, 8/6, 8/8 and 8/13 sesssions can be found here.

September 24:
Sabres v Minnesota Wild Preseason Game in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

Finally....

Finally, we have some movement on the home-front. Apparently, Jocelyn Thibault was the veteran that Darcy mentioned in his press conference.

Also in the news, we have signed a key part of our two-time Eastern Conference runner up teams in Andrew Peters, and made sure that 26-year-old "prospect" Michael Ryan doesn't get away.

Stanley Cup, here we come!


(If you can't tell that this was dripping with sarcasm, please jump off of the bandwagon)

Vanek Update

By Jon

Highlights from an interview taken from Thomas Vanek's official site (Thanks to Erika for the heads-up).....

Excuse the broken English, the post was originally in German....

"For at the telephone, Vanek in the AUSTRIA-interview tells entirely other: "Of the Sabres still has no with me spoken", so the gate hunter. He worries therefore to be sure no, for: "That is hold the Sabres-politics. In my first contract was negotiated have also the entire summer over and first in September we lower letter.""


"Plan B nevertheless Vanek go and its agent on number Sicher. "My agent negotiates presently also because of 'offer sheets' with other societies", tells Vanek, "however I may not say, which societies that are". Should, put for example, the Montreal Canadiens an offer at Vanek, would have to accept this, still would have would have to accept after that Buffalo 48 hours time to make it the same offer and Vanek."

""Would like to remain, but ..." Earnestly Vanek with a club change does not busy itself to be sure, nevertheless the 23-year-old makes herself so its thoughts: "Most dearly I would have the contract with the Sabres already in the hand and if everything fits, will come I very gladly back, but the entire is simply also a business. I will give everywhere my best, equal where I spiele.""


What do I take from this? First of all, broken English is fun to try and translate. For some reason, it cracks me up. Maybe I'm a bit ethnocentric, but it sounds so prehistoric.

Anyways, after reading this, I fear that the Sabres management will either lose or overpay Vanek, completing the worst off-season in Buffalo history. It seems as if Thomas has received a few offer sheets, and those are sure to be more than the Sabres could have signed him for prior to July 1st. That being said, even if the Sabres do decide to match (which I fully expect will happen. How would you be able to explain losing three of your top five forwards without replacing them?), they will have to fork over the dough. Another smooth move by Tom, Larry, Darcy and the gang.

***

Head over to our friend's at Bfloblog.com to read about the great reporting going on about the Drury situation in our hometown newspaper. After days of A1 Paris Hilton headlines and now this, I'm losing faith in the paper that I have grown to love.

Sabres get their man in Drury

By Chris

See that headline? That was on the top of the sports section of the Buffalo News four years ago today. In a rare case of optimism, Jerry Sullivan's column lauded the move. It "could be the best deal Darcy Regier has made since becoming the GM, and it might wind up saving his job." It probably was, and it did.

I was hoping that this anniversary would be a happy one, but unfortunately, we all know what has happend since Black Sunday. I'm ready to move on and as Ryan Miller put it, "keep (Drury and Briere) in our rear-view mirror."

So we look to the future now. There are many important dates ahead, including tomorrow's 5 p.m. arbitration deadlines for Derek Roy, Nathan Paetsch, and Andrew Peters, and the actual arbitration hearings that we all dread begin on July 20.

And oh yeah, Bills training camp opens in 22 days. Only better days can come, right? Right?

Oh now WHO do you believe?

By Chris

Well this is certainly shocking.

From the Buffalo News this morning:

Chris Drury, now a Ranger, says he had agreed to a Sabres pact last fall, Team management failed to follow up

The Buffalo Sabres had co-captain Chris Drury locked up for four more years. Then they drove him away with their inaction.

Drury and the Sabres agreed on terms of a new contract last fall, but the team suddenly went silent and never formally presented the offer. The co-captain, after weeks of uncertainty, had his agent withdraw the deal and started thinking about a new organization, an industry source with knowledge of the negotiations has told The Buffalo News.

The result of the incomplete talks was Drury signing with the New York Rangers and Sabres fans bemoaning what has become of their team.

Drury and the Sabres decided early last season to meet in Boston, where Drury’s agent, Mark Witkin, is based. They discussed an extension for the pending free agent, the source said. The Sabres started the talks with a four-year, $20 million offer. Drury’s camp countered with $23 million over four years. The parties agreed to meet in the middle, the source said, on a four-year deal worth $21.5 million.

Then nothing happened.

Drury waited for the Sabres to present the contract, but they didn’t bring it up again. Drury withdrew the deal after a couple of weeks, the source said, because it was “bad business” not to officially finish the talks.

The Sabres on Monday, at their post-mortem news conference to address Sunday’s loss of Drury and fellow co-captain Daniel Briere, acknowledged having contract talks with Drury
in the fall.

Bucky Gleason's statement at the press conference yesterday of " With all due respect, is it possible I know something that you don't?" now rings pretty clear.


For a complete transcript of yesterday's Press Conference with Darcy Regier, Larry Quinn, and the media, click here.

Green Walls and Greener Pastures

by Ryan

I'm going to be honest with you: it's not all that hard to leave.

As difficult as skipping town right in the middle of free agency should be, I really am not concerned. Besides, from what I heard today we will be tinkering at best, so what's left to stick around for?

As Soup mentioned some time ago, I will be making my first trip to Fenway Park this week. Tomorrow morning I will hurl myself towards Boston with nothing but a half ton SUV and an iPod worth of songs keeping me from death. Hopefully the songs keep, and I won't get a text saying the Flyers traded a few picks to God for Moses and a Saint to be Named Later.

Oh man. You know you need a vacation when you make a free agency joke about God.

The good news is that ahead of me lies four glorious days of Red Sox pride, capped off by a trip to Mecca, aka Fenway Park. I've heard many things about Fenway, but the one that resonated the most is that you simply must see it with your own eyes. I plan on doing that, capturing it on film, writing it, and more.

Yet as I prepare to leave Buffalo, I cannot help but wonder what it will look like as I return. Once again I fear for this town. We simply cannot take much more heartache. Eventually, and finally, something will have to give.

Heck, it happened in Boston. Just think how different the atmosphere would be if I visited just a decade ago? The Patriots would have zero rings, the Bruins would still be mediocre, the Celts would be longing for their glory days, and the Red Sox would have still been the Red Sox.

It really is a Brave New World in Boston. Maybe, just maybe, we can do it too.

Until then, I'll see you down by that River Charles.

Football news, because the hockey news makes me sick

By Jon

Two athletes familiar with the Buffalo area were rewarded with contracts today.

No, not those two.

First off, the Bills gave Brian Moorman a three-year extension to his current deal, along with reworking the three years that were left. Moorman will make 10 million dollars from 2010-2012, nearly guaranteeing that he will finish his career with the Bills. My opinion? A small price to pay for the toughest and one of the best punters in the NFL.

For a team that values special teams, the Bills locked up their best special teamer before he hit the open market. What a novel idea, eh? Perhaps that other Buffalo team should take notice....

In a more bizarre move, the Toronto Argonauts of the CFL have signed former Bill Steve Christie to their practice team. Christie hasn't been a Bill since 2000, and has been out of the NFL since 2004.

On a related note, if you are ever walking the streets of downtown Buffalo and need a good chuckle, head over to Church and Main street and look up at the buildings overhead. There you will find an ad for Artvoice Magazine with a skinny, gangly man pictured with a paint brush. Your painter: Steve Christie. Why do I find this so funny? I don't know. But man, do I laugh every time i see it, and now you will too.

And uhhhhh, best of luck Steve.

One of These Things is Not Like the Other

By Ryan

Some of my favorite quotes from the 2pm news conference:

"The sky is not falling"

"it was more a personal choice" (refering to Drury's departure to New York)

"we were very competitive"

Buuuuuuuuuuut. Then we see this.

In short, Darcy and company openly said they wanted to sign Drury, and pursued him to the end. Fine, good for you. I'm glad you admitted to completely burning the Danny Briere bridge and went after just one player. But here's where you screwed up, and why we want answers: it didn't work.

If Drury didn't want to come back, you better know what he's thinking before you cut ties with Daniel Briere. You didn't, and now they are both gone.

So now what? Where's the Plan B? Did you even have one?

It's not just about the players we lost, either. Look what other teams did, the ones we will have to play 4 or more times a year. Philledelphia will be good. Right now. Briere, Hartnell, Timonen, Gagne, Upshall. That is not a rebuilding year, that's a rebuilt team.

Toronto got better. The Rangers, unquestionably, got much better. Even the Penguins got better. And we lost both captains and get a deadpanned "Sorry" from the boys who let it happen.

Thanks Larry, you always put us down gently.

At 4pm Chris Drury is going to be introduced by the Rangers on MSG NY. Later on tonight, the same channel will show Chris Drury scoring his first career hat trick against the Rangers on October 14th, that magical night when hockey changed the mood of the entire region. While the sky was falling, a hockey team made it all okay, if only for a few hours.

Sure, Darcy, the sky may not be falling today. But our hopes sure are.

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...

Here Lies the Wreckage

By Ryan

It spread like a plague today. Slowly it crept along from mouth to mouth like a disease, everyone within earshot hearing the news come like a hurricane. Then television picked it up. Then radio. Soon phones were ringing, and text messages were exchanging the stories like carrier pigeons.

I don't know who to blame. Most people think Darcy screwed the pooch today. Some blame the players and the Almighty Dollar. I, however, blame myself mostly.

Actually, I blame us all.

We all deserve the burden of guilt for thinking it could be any different. To live that terrible sham, thinking this "New NHL" will help keep us in the game. How many people championed the lockout as necessary to help smaller franchises stay competitive with rising player salaries?

And yet, here we sit, captainless once again.

In reality it's not fair. But who questions the system but the ones deprived because of it? Say what you will in hindsight, but we were the ones stamping our feet for a salary cap because of the Red Wings and Rangers of the world. It doesn't surprise me one bit that two years later we blame those same teams for our misfortune once again.

I think it is time we as Sabres fans face the reality of the situation: we may never compete on July 1st with anyone. The system just isn't put in place to work for us, no matter what the intention is.

A salary cap is intended to keep a limit on team payrolls, yes, but who was to guess that it would increase dramatically in consecutive years? What GM would know that signing Daniel Briere at arbitration rate last year for 3 years would be a brilliant move?

So when the salary cap is raised due mostly to revenue from increased ticket costs, who has the money to go after players? Can Buffalo get away with raising ticket prices to sign anyone? No, but the Rangers would fill the Garden if they only accepted gold bricks at the gate. Buffalo cannot and will not spend to the cap this year, and won't be able to next year either. It is a cold, hard fact; and no calculator work on any fan's part will change that.

So what's a boy to do? As a fan, there is nothing to do but watch. It will be interesting to see how many fans react to losing a few major pieces to the puzzle. This area has been so transfixed by the Sabres the last two years, and Danny and Dru were a major reason for that. There will be some fans that fade away, some in disgust, some in protest, and many in despair.

Today being Canada Day, I went to downtown Niagara Falls to watch the fireworks display. I wasn't sure what we were celebrating, but sitting in the darkness watching someone else's party summed up everything that happened today. While "the other half" celebrated and lit up the night sky, we sat in despair, only catching the reflections of another's happiness.

This is not an aberration, this is our first day of reality. We are not special here in Buffalo, no matter how quaint our love of hockey is. Any one city can create a hockey atmosphere when winning is involved, and when dollar signs and weather patterns come into play, we sure do drop down the list quick. It's a hard truth to take, but nothing comes easy in a city like this.

Just another day in Buffalo.

Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo Buffalo.

It's a sentence alright, but not always a good one.

Free Agency Insomnia

By Ryan

Things I do while not sleeping before Free Agency:

Make a Mii that looks like Chris Drury.

Talk myself into Adam Mair as a second line centerman.

Refresh TSN.ca every 16 seconds.

Read articles such as this, this, and this.

Study the salary cap like lines of code from "The Matrix."

Ponder the emptiness of a President's Trophy banner raising without a captain.

Wish evil on whomever decided Free Agency should start on Canada Day.

Pray that Darcy isn't sleeping, either.

Pray that lowballing Danny was intentional.

Pray.

Realize that by noon tomorrow, nothing will ever be the same.



Oh, wonder. Oh, brave new world.