‘"There is a rich history of professional hockey in Portland and we hope to add to that winning tradition," said Sabres general manager Darcy Regier. "During our tenure with our previous AHL affiliation, our franchise model was to draft and develop young prospects and build our success from a core group within. With our current roster of players like Ryan Miller. Jason Pominville, Derek Roy and Thomas Vanek, we have been able to develop our system with positive results."’