LabattBlue Posted May 22, 2014 Posted May 22, 2014 I know many here are not Sabres fans at all, but don't believe for a minute that Golisano/Quinn didn't play a major role in the July 1st, 2007 fiasco when Drury & Briere both left, and then in a panic move the Sabres matched the Vanek offer sheet. Here we are 7 years later, and the Sabres still haven't recovered from that day. While Regier is definitely partially responsible, don't forget about upper management.
May Day 10 Posted May 22, 2014 Posted May 22, 2014 but the Sabres are here in Buffalo and secure. Â Jacobs also made mistakes en route to winning a cup. Â Pegula is the most dedicated owner possible and the organization has had one blunder after another under him. Â Â Â There is not one spotless possibility here.
Kirby Jackson Posted May 22, 2014 Posted May 22, 2014 (edited) I figured no pre-arranged sale, I was thinking more of a pre-arranged, pre-approved list that Ralph might have provided the trust of individuals who he knew was interested and could direct them --- probably grasping at straws here, but, in my mind, the best indication that the team will be sold to local interests is that fact that the two Mary's are on voting trust -- no way does Ralph put those family members in position to have to vote to move team -- and, no way, do those two vote for a non-local buyer, regardless of their bid --- IMO The two Mary's is such an interesting point to me. He would never set up his family to become villains. I don't think that you are grasping at straws at all. This process is probably much further along than we realize and IMO is almost certainly a local buyer. When it 1st came out I think that I was around 75-25 that the team would stay. As more information has come out I am closer to like 98-2. There are so many things working in favor of WNY and against relocation. I know that this sounds terrible but I always thought that the early in the lease that RW passed the higher the chance that the team stays. It appears to be playing out that way. Edited May 22, 2014 by Kirby Jackson
Doc Posted May 22, 2014 Posted May 22, 2014 I know many here are not Sabres fans at all, but don't believe for a minute that Golisano/Quinn didn't play a major role in the July 1st, 2007 fiasco when Drury & Briere both left, and then in a panic move the Sabres matched the Vanek offer sheet. Here we are 7 years later, and the Sabres still haven't recovered from that day. While Regier is definitely partially responsible, don't forget about upper management. We can speculate, but Sabres fans also hated Regier and he wasted Pegs' money. And &ost of them would gladly trade the current state of the team to what it was under TG.
nucci Posted May 22, 2014 Posted May 22, 2014 I know many here are not Sabres fans at all, but don't believe for a minute that Golisano/Quinn didn't play a major role in the July 1st, 2007 fiasco when Drury & Briere both left, and then in a panic move the Sabres matched the Vanek offer sheet. Here we are 7 years later, and the Sabres still haven't recovered from that day. While Regier is definitely partially responsible, don't forget about upper management. Depending on who or what you want to believe, Golisano pulled the Drury offer.
C.Biscuit97 Posted May 22, 2014 Posted May 22, 2014 but the Sabres are here in Buffalo and secure. Â Jacobs also made mistakes en route to winning a cup. Â Pegula is the most dedicated owner possible and the organization has had one blunder after another under him. Â Â Â There is not one spotless possibility here. Â It's borderline stupid if people bash Golisano. He's #1 on my owner board. He saved the Sabres. A team he didn't care about. The team was the best it had been in 20 years and was one of the worst pro teams when he bought it. Of course he didn't want to lose money on them! He did WNY a favor and we should be fovever grateful to him. Â The Bruins, one of the best franchises in the NHL, generated $114 million in revenue. The Bills and their 14 year playoff drought generate $256 million. Golisano would never have to worry about losing money with the Bills. He would be a great owner. Â We can speculate, but Sabres fans also hated Regier and he wasted Pegs' money. And &ost of them would gladly trade the current state of the team to what it was under TG. Â Well said. I think Golisano was hands off with the Sabres and let Reiger do what he wanted. And reiger is terrible.
nucci Posted May 22, 2014 Posted May 22, 2014 The two Mary's is such an interesting point to me. He would never set up his family to become villains. I don't think that you are grasping at straws at all. This process is probably much further along than we realize and IMO is almost certainly a local buyer. When it 1st came out I think that I was around 75-25 that the team would stay. As more information has come out I am closer to like 98-2. There are so many things working in favor of WNY and against relocation. Â I know that this sounds terrible but I always thought that the early in the lease that RW passed the higher the chance that the team stays. It appears to be playing out that way. It's looking like Ralph had a plan to keep the Bills in Buffalo.
The Wiz Posted May 22, 2014 Posted May 22, 2014 I know many here are not Sabres fans at all, but don't believe for a minute that Golisano/Quinn didn't play a major role in the July 1st, 2007 fiasco when Drury & Briere both left, and then in a panic move the Sabres matched the Vanek offer sheet. Here we are 7 years later, and the Sabres still haven't recovered from that day. While Regier is definitely partially responsible, don't forget about upper management. Not that I don't think he was involved in the Drury/Briere thing but blaming the past 3 years, where Pegula has owned the team and has thrown money all over the place, to now trading off pretty much everyone and expecting them to tank next year as well is not a result of Drury/Briere.
G-Daddy Posted May 22, 2014 Posted May 22, 2014 If Larry Quinn's name is attached, then NO THANKS! Ready for him to propose concave goalposts to make extra points and field goals more difficult.
YoloinOhio Posted May 22, 2014 Author Posted May 22, 2014 It's borderline stupid if people bash Golisano. He's #1 on my owner board. He saved the Sabres. A team he didn't care about. The team was the best it had been in 20 years and was one of the worst pro teams when he bought it. Of course he didn't want to lose money on them! He did WNY a favor and we should be fovever grateful to him. Â The Bruins, one of the best franchises in the NHL, generated $114 million in revenue. The Bills and their 14 year playoff drought generate $256 million. Golisano would never have to worry about losing money with the Bills. He would be a great owner. Â Â Â Well said. I think Golisano was hands off with the Sabres and let Reiger do what he wanted. And reiger is terrible. That would be good news for Whaley, as most NFL GMs certainly prefer it that way.
C.Biscuit97 Posted May 22, 2014 Posted May 22, 2014 Not that I don't think he was involved in the Drury/Briere thing but blaming the past 3 years, where Pegula has owned the team and has thrown money all over the place, to now trading off pretty much everyone and expecting them to tank next year as well is not a result of Drury/Briere. Â As bad as the Briere/ Drury think was, they didn't exactly kill it after they left Buffalo. And do folks blame Pegula for signing no goal having Leino? Â That would be good news for Whaley, as most NFL GMs certainly prefer it that way. Â And it's why the Cowboys are only slightly better than the Bills. You should hire people and trust them to do their jobs. and if they don't do it, fire them.
The Wiz Posted May 22, 2014 Posted May 22, 2014 (edited) As bad as the Briere/ Drury think was, they didn't exactly kill it after they left Buffalo. And do folks blame Pegula for signing no goal having Leino? Â Â Never said they were killing it after they left. Just saying the last 3 years are Pegula's doing as a result of Pegula/Regier and not Golisano not retaining Drury/Briere. I even made mention earlier, I think, that both of them were so-so afterwards. Drury was even bought out of his contract. Â Yes, everyone blames him for Leino who I think will be bought out this summer which is a shame since he helps the tanking process. Edited May 22, 2014 by The Wiz
Doc Posted May 22, 2014 Posted May 22, 2014 Depending on who or what you want to believe, Golisano pulled the Drury offer. That's even better news. Drury was mostly finished after leaving Buffalo. Letting Briere go was the mistake.
C.Biscuit97 Posted May 22, 2014 Posted May 22, 2014 Never said they were killing it after they left. Just saying the last 3 years are Pegula's doing as a result of Pegula/Regier and not Golisano not retaining Drury/Briere. I even made mention earlier, I think, that both of them were so-so afterwards. Drury was even bought out of his contract. Â Yes, everyone blames him for Leino who I think will be bought out this summer which is a shame since he helps the tanking process. Â Agreed. it's just funny how it works for some fans. Don't sign Briere/ Drury, Golisano is cheap. Sign Leino, Pegula is stupid. Owners/ team make mistakes. It's silly that some fans hold stuff against TG. He saved this franchise and had probably the best 2 year run the Sabres have ever had.
The Wiz Posted May 22, 2014 Posted May 22, 2014 That's even better news. Drury was mostly finished after leaving Buffalo. Letting Briere go was the mistake. I believe they pulled the offer when they knew Drury wanted to play for his favorite team growing up but not before Philly through that 6-7 year for 56 mil, I think, at Briere. They knew they would either have to pay Vanek with the offer sheet on the table or sign Briere and watch Vanek go. Â Agreed. it's just funny how it works for some fans. Don't sign Briere/ Drury, Golisano is cheap. Sign Leino, Pegula is stupid. Owners/ team make mistakes. It's silly that some fans hold stuff against TG. He saved this franchise and had probably the best 2 year run the Sabres have ever had. Well OSP might move from sabrespace to TBD but still live in Florida.
Doc Posted May 22, 2014 Posted May 22, 2014 I believe they pulled the offer when they knew Drury wanted to play for his favorite team growing up but not before Philly through that 6-7 year for 56 mil, I think, at Briere. They knew they would either have to pay Vanek with the offer sheet on the table or sign Briere and watch Vanek go. Oh wait, that's right. Drury informed the team he wasn't going to re-sign with them anyway because he wanted to play for the Rangers.
Buftex Posted May 22, 2014 Posted May 22, 2014 I know many here are not Sabres fans at all, but don't believe for a minute that Golisano/Quinn didn't play a major role in the July 1st, 2007 fiasco when Drury & Briere both left, and then in a panic move the Sabres matched the Vanek offer sheet. Here we are 7 years later, and the Sabres still haven't recovered from that day. While Regier is definitely partially responsible, don't forget about upper management. Â That may all be true LabattBlue, but under the guise of not losing money (a stipulation put into place by Golisano), I would be very surprised if Regier wasn't responsible for the choice of putting all his eggs in the Drury basket, rather than Briere. I also think Drury was disingenuos with the Sabres to a degree. But, keep in mind, Drury did little for the Rangers, and was considered to be a bad free agent signing for them. His first season in NY was pretty unmemorable...he was okay his second, and then was just an injury waiting to happen the next season. I concede, there is no gurantee it would have turned out that way had he stayed in Buffalo (it appeared his tank was near empty...fwiw I thought he was pretty bad in his final playoff series with the Sabres, always wanted them to sign Briere over Drury...), but I think knowing what we know now, they probably would have either did exactly what they did (sign Vanek long term..which made sense, and was a good signing), or put the priority on Briere. So, the point, in some ways, is kind of moot, who is responsible for the Drury/Briere fiasco. Â Depending on who or what you want to believe, Golisano pulled the Drury offer. Â Whatever his reasoning, financial or hockey (less likely I admit), it was a good decision. The money was better spent on the younger Vanek. And Vanek wasn't a total bust..just not enough talent around him.
PromoTheRobot Posted May 22, 2014 Posted May 22, 2014 (edited) Just keep in mind that it was Darcy Regier who built that near-champion 2005 Sabres team. Golisano bought the team when they were already good. I don't blame TG so much as I blame Larry Quinn for botching the Drury/Briere deals. And I also worry that LQ would become part of the Bills management if TG bought them. Edited May 22, 2014 by PromoTheRobot
nucci Posted May 22, 2014 Posted May 22, 2014 Either way I think Golisano will be good for the Bills. Hopefully he would keep Whaley and give him time to build this team.
PromoTheRobot Posted May 22, 2014 Posted May 22, 2014 I know many here are not Sabres fans at all, but don't believe for a minute that Golisano/Quinn didn't play a major role in the July 1st, 2007 fiasco when Drury & Briere both left, and then in a panic move the Sabres matched the Vanek offer sheet. Here we are 7 years later, and the Sabres still haven't recovered from that day. While Regier is definitely partially responsible, don't forget about upper management. The Sabres missed a chance to fleece the Oilers there. 4 #1 picks which turned out to be high ones. All because they were so stung by losing Drury and Briere.
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