MBHockey13 Posted April 13, 2015 Report Share Posted April 13, 2015 (edited) We definitely have had a lot of changes in the last few years with the Sabres and now the Bills, and much of it is due to Terry Pegula coming in and becoming one of the greatest Buffalonians of all time! I know some people aren't on board with Terry, and I'll never understand why. Luckily, they are very few and far between.Even those who don't seem to like the changes since Terry came to town have to admit it hasn't been boring around the Sabres since he arrived. I'm trying to think about how the Sabres would be if Golisano was still the owner. Here is just a short list of things, good and bad, that I think may have or may not have happened: 1. Darcy Regier is still GM of the Sabres 2. Larry Quinn is still involved with the team 3. Lindy Ruff may or may not still be coach 4. The Sabres would have never tried a full rebuild and kept patching what they had 5. They would have desperately tried to keep Ryan Miller and he would have left anyway, with no return 6. The same probably would have been true for Vanek, Pominville, and any other free agents with any value 7. Our farm team would still be in Portland or elsewhere. It would have NOT been in Rochester. Rochester may have had continuing ownership problems to the point there was talk about one of the West Coast NHL teams buying the franchise and moving them West. I doubt that would have happened. But the Sabres do NOT buy the Amerks, and both the Amerks and the Sabres are worst for it. 8. The HarborCenter is never built. Carl Paladino buys the land from the City of Buffalo and puts some mixed development right next to the FNC. 9. Ville Leino and Christian Ehrhoff are never signed. The Sabres never wade into the upper-tiers of free agency, and keep trying to keep their own pieces and always "build through the draft". However, they never get anything for their own players once they are in their last seasons, so they don't build up any extra draft picks. 10. The Sabres continue to finish between 7 - 10 in the conference. The manage to squeak in the playoffs in Ryan Miller's last season but then go out in five in the first round. 11. Right now Sabres fans are panicking that we may not be able to resign Jonas Enroth as our number one goalie despite not having a good season because we have no strong candidates in Portland or wherever, and Enroth's backup Michael Leighton was not reliable in his few starts, which made Lindy play Enroth the last 25 games of the season in a desperate drive for 8th. They finish 10th. 12. Because the Sabres did not trade upcoming free agents for draft picks, they do not have Girgensons or Zadorov. We are excited about Joel Armia, but Grigorenko may be considering going to the KHL despite the falling ruble. 2014's first round draft pick Nick Schmaltz does not appear ready to make the NHL next season. 13. The Buffalo Bills are now owned by the Rogers group out of Toronto, led by Jon Bon Jovi. They have been talking about the immediate need for a new stadium to be built in Buffalo in the next three years, or they will move the team in 2020. They finished 7-9 last season, lose Jerry Hughes, sign no impact free agents, and end up hiring Norv Turner as the new head coach. 14, Next year the most we can hope for as Buffalo fans is that the Sabres MAYBE reach 8th place and the Bills MAYBE get to 8-8 - but we withhold our affections because we fear the inevitable move to Toronto in 2020. Edited April 13, 2015 by MBHockey13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubkev Posted April 13, 2015 Report Share Posted April 13, 2015 If my aunt had balls, she'd be my uncle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taro T Posted April 13, 2015 Report Share Posted April 13, 2015 Disagree about 13. Expect Jacobs &/or Rich would have gotten a deal done (if TP himself didn't throw his hat into the ring; expect he'd still have been making NFL contacts in the agent business). Rogers never had a legit shot. Thank you Ralph. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sicknfla Posted April 13, 2015 Report Share Posted April 13, 2015 Terry Pegula is a savior to Buffalo sports. There is no two ways about that and everyone should be forever grateful. That being said he has made mistakes. He would be the first person to admit it. I also think that he does not look at himself as having a lifelong free pass from scrutiny just because he is a savior. Second guessing and criticism from the fans comes with the territory of being an owner. Pretty sure he has the backbone to handle it. What encourages me is he seems to be willing to learn from his mistakes. He wants to win. It is not an investment for him. The Bills and Sabres are his passion. I have confidence that in the end he will do whatever it takes to make it happen. There will be bumps in the road but we are in good hands. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MBHockey13 Posted April 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2015 Disagree about 13. Expect Jacobs &/or Rich would have gotten a deal done (if TP himself didn't throw his hat into the ring; expect he'd still have been making NFL contacts in the agent business). Rogers never had a legit shot. Thank you Ralph. I probably agree with that as well, but that was the fear, wasn't it? They may be still trying to work out the ownership right now. I think it got done as quickly as it did because Pegula basically said "How much? Let's just do this now." Plus, he had the cash. The Jacobs/Rich group would still have to work out the financing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PASabreFan Posted April 13, 2015 Report Share Posted April 13, 2015 tl;dr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eleven Posted April 13, 2015 Report Share Posted April 13, 2015 tl;dr Come on. Isn't this all relevant to your trial? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattPie Posted April 13, 2015 Report Share Posted April 13, 2015 Come on. Isn't this all relevant to your trial? It's not negative enough. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taro T Posted April 13, 2015 Report Share Posted April 13, 2015 I probably agree with that as well, but that was the fear, wasn't it? They may be still trying to work out the ownership right now. I think it got done as quickly as it did because Pegula basically said "How much? Let's just do this now." Plus, he had the cash. The Jacobs/Rich group would still have to work out the financing. But fear is what Buffalo fans do. Weren't the Sabres supposed to win out after beating Carolina? Pretty sure that was being written a lot. Though that was the fear, the reality was they weren't going to win another game. Though the fear was the Bills were moving, the reality was far different. And, if it took longer to get done, that wouldn't have altered a deal getting done; and Rogers staying on the outside looking in. But it would have been good for the fear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brennan Huff Posted April 13, 2015 Report Share Posted April 13, 2015 Next I want to see the reasons that Reinhart will be ok. Ready go! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PASabreFan Posted April 13, 2015 Report Share Posted April 13, 2015 Next I want to see the reasons that Reinhart will be ok. Ready go! He has chocolate drizzled on his abs and Eichel is coming for him! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brennan Huff Posted April 13, 2015 Report Share Posted April 13, 2015 He has chocolate drizzled on his abs and Eichel is coming for him!Ok that's one excellent reason.... And then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PASabreFan Posted April 13, 2015 Report Share Posted April 13, 2015 Ok that's one excellent reason.... And then? I dunno, the rubber chicken dude never told us how it ends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brennan Huff Posted April 13, 2015 Report Share Posted April 13, 2015 I dunno, the rubber chicken dude never told us how it ends.Buzz kill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PromoTheRobot Posted April 13, 2015 Report Share Posted April 13, 2015 Fake Gorby would lament the Sabres need a rich owner willing to spend money and get involved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bunomatic Posted April 14, 2015 Report Share Posted April 14, 2015 If my aunt had balls, she'd be my uncle. I laughed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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