Archives for November 12, 2002

Buffalo Sabres coach Lindy Ruff seems to be running out of things to say.

Potential buyers of the Buffalo Sabres cannot like what they are seeing.

'"I'm optimistic we're closer to the end than we are the beginning, so you can do the math," Bettman said.'

'"I know the league believes in the Buffalo market for NHL hockey, we believe in the Buffalo Sabres," Bettman said. "We're not doing anything other than making 100 percent of our efforts to make sure this franchise has a bright future here."'

'People close to Golisano tell me those issues are close to being resolved, and we could know within a couple weeks if Golisano or Hamister will get the green light from Gary Bettman and the NHL. Based on a combination of what’s been reported, sources in both groups and just plain common sense, it appears the Golisano bid is by far the stronger of the two.'

You know what they say: the first step to conquering your problems is admitting you have them. The Sabres appear to be a long way off from putting their issues to bed, and in the interim, the fans have found a whole new level of apathy for their team.

'Erstwhile backup Mika Noronen, meanwhile, has been superb. He has a 1.99 goals-against average and a .927 save percentage. He is 0-3-1 because the Sabres have scored three goals in his three starts.'

'Season-ticket sales are worse than flat for the Sabres. In fact, the season-ticket count actually is lower than it was three weeks ago.'

'He personifies what Buffalo fans despise in a hockey player. He's a soft finesse player with the charisma of a doorknob. He's the antithesis of Michael Peca…'.

'About 12,500 tickets for tonight's game had been sold by late Monday afternoon.'