BuffaloWest Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 Terry Pegula seems to be a godsend for The Sabres, not that the team was in big time jeopardy of leaving or anything but his purchase secures their future in Buffalo and puts to rest any conversation of them ever leaving... More importantly- He is committed to building a winner and spending what it takes. It would be great if he bought the Bills obviously and instituted the same philosophy. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Free agency in The NHL begins on Friday. The Sabres look to be players, maybe big players. My question is: Does Wilson concern himself with another guy coming into his market and setting a precedent of winning at any cost and follow suite? Wilson is aware of The Sabres importance in the market and their winning ways of late. I heard Tom Donahoe acknowledge this point in an interview on San Diego Radio about 4 years ago.... What does Wilson have to lose by going all in for once? You have to think he wants a championship. I think Pegula's Sabres create some competetition in the market for discretionary/recreational dollars from fans. If you have to choose between Sabres and Bills season tickets at the same cost which do you choose? The Sabres look to be pretty good. The Bills could do some damage in free agency when it begins-but will they? Finally-I hope the Sabres bring back Chris Drury. His numbers have tapered off but the guy is a PURE WINNER. That is a rare thing to find- a player who leads by example and inspires play around him. I loved him as a Sabre. He should be the captain... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zulu Cthulhu Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 Funny, i hear the knees on that WINNER aren't so WINNING anymore. But yeah guys like you have heard of him so why not bring him again and slap the C on him. DERP! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffaloBaumer Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 (edited) Terry Pegula seems to be a godsend for The Sabres, not that the team was in big time jeopardy of leaving or anything but his purchase secures their future in Buffalo and puts to rest any conversation of them ever leaving... More importantly- He is committed to building a winner and spending what it takes. It would be great if he bought the Bills obviously and instituted the same philosophy. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Free agency in The NHL begins on Friday. The Sabres look to be players, maybe big players. My question is: Does Wilson concern himself with another guy coming into his market and setting a precedent of winning at any cost and follow suite? Wilson is aware of The Sabres importance in the market and their winning ways of late. I heard Tom Donahoe acknowledge this point in an interview on San Diego Radio about 4 years ago.... What does Wilson have to lose by going all in for once? You have to think he wants a championship. I think Pegula's Sabres create some competetition in the market for discretionary/recreational dollars from fans. If you have to choose between Sabres and Bills season tickets at the same cost which do you choose? The Sabres look to be pretty good. The Bills could do some damage in free agency when it begins-but will they? Finally-I hope the Sabres bring back Chris Drury. His numbers have tapered off but the guy is a PURE WINNER. That is a rare thing to find- a player who leads by example and inspires play around him. I loved him as a Sabre. He should be the captain... I think that would be a slap in the face to every Sabre on that team who was here when Drury left. If that guy ever comes back to Buffalo, it would have to be as a 4th line C at 1.5 million for one year (and DEFINITELY no Captain status) Edited June 29, 2011 by BuffaloBaumer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jumbalaya Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 I think that would be a slap in the face to every Sabre on that team who was here when Drury left. If that guy ever comes back to Buffalo, it would have to be as a 4th line C at 1.5 million for one year (and DEFINITELY no Captain status) It was a slap in the face to every Sabre and every Sabre fan the way the Sabres let Drury, Briere and Campbell go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrappy Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 He's money, it gives us the best chance of success. The Bills will be perennial losers under Ralph until the entire ownership / management is overhauled. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramius Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 This is a dangerous time for Wilson and the Bills. It could get very ugly if/when Pegs/Regier make a huge splash in FA for the Sabres and the Bills sit on their hands. When you have one owner willing to do whatever it takes to win and another who doesn't seem to be willing, things could get bad in a hurry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buftex Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 It was a slap in the face to every Sabre and every Sabre fan the way the Sabres let Drury, Briere and Campbell go. Personally, I think Drury fugged the Sabres, and the Sabres screwed Briere in turn. I think he agreed, initially, on principal, to re-sign with the Sabres early in the season...but lost interest in doing so, as that season went on. And, I can't remember the specifics now, but I remember him saying some particularly galling things, for a team captain, during that final series he played with the Sabres. I don't want Drury back... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eball Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 As for your original premise -- i.e., that the presence of a legitimate "wants to win" owner across town may inspire Ralph to be a little looser with the purse strings -- we can only hope. You'd think a 90+ year old with nothing else left to prove and more money than he can spend would pull out all the stops to bring a Super Bowl championship to Buffalo, but none of us can get inside that head. As for Drury? That ship sailed a long time ago. No use crying over spilled milk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramius Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 It was a slap in the face to every Sabre and every Sabre fan the way the Sabres let Drury, Briere and Campbell go. Soupy wanted (and got) a ridiculous contract. There was nothing wrong with what the sabres did regarding him. We couldn't keep everyone and stay within the cap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skibum Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 Drury gave us the LeBron treatment. F him. He's washed up and can we please stop with this mythologizing of his magical winning powers. He won a Cup on a team with Joe Sacik, Peter Forsberg, Patrick Roy... I could have my name on the cup with teammates like that. He won the little league world series when he was 12. Fantastic. Did he bring a Cup to Buffalo? No. Can you be all winner when you score 5 points in 24 games and can't skate anymore? No. I would rather see Darcy pay Tim Connolly $25M over 5 years than bring back Drury for one game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrDawkinstein Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 Drury is as much to blame for leaving for NY as the Sabres. Yes, there was that "story" about the late fax, but it was well known that Drury's dream was to be a Ranger. He let the Sabres deal flounder and then left when he could. His career is over at this point. I was just talking with a big-time Rangers fan yesterday, and he couldn't understand why Drury was still on the roster and eating that cap space. Outside of his first year with the Rangers he has been non-existent. Signing Drury would be a mistake and a MAJOR step backwards. If you are looking for vet leadership, and dont mind spending some dough, sign Brad Richards. To address the main point of the OP, I hope that what Pegula is doing EMBARRASSES and SHAMES Ralph Wilson and the Bills Front Office. If they dont feel that way, it's even more obvious Ralph doesnt care about winning at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 Drury wanted out and was a good let-go. Briere wanted to stay and it was a mistake to let him leave. Campbell was way overpaid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffaloWest Posted June 29, 2011 Author Share Posted June 29, 2011 Personally, I think Drury fugged the Sabres, and the Sabres screwed Briere in turn. I think he agreed, initially, on principal, to re-sign with the Sabres early in the season...but lost interest in doing so, as that season went on. And, I can't remember the specifics now, but I remember him saying some particularly galling things, for a team captain, during that final series he played with the Sabres. I don't want Drury back... Who knows what he has left in the tank. NY wasnt a good fit for him-It didnt work out. If he panned the Sabres owners/management when he left -Good for him. Those guys completely mismanaged the entire Briere/Drury situation. Both players were team guys. Sabres could have gotten the deals done for both guys if they had been proactive, but Quinn and company were such arrogonat a-holes they didnt get anything done-and waited and waited for free agency to come. Clearly NY and Philly (amongst other teams)saw the value in these guys. After that debacle-NO player wanted to come to Buffalo and play for those clowns...AND-To make matters worse-The Sabres were forced to sign Vanek to a 7 year deal for $7 million a year because they were so arrogant and short sighted that they didnt address that situation earlier either-Those morans had a lot of nerve. They were horrible managers. The only reason the team was as good as they were was dumb luck by landing Briere and Drury-Not that they were some "Post Lockout Geniuses" with some great foresight. That success was pure luck-nothing else and it went away pretty damn fast after Briere, Campbell and Drury split. Thank god Quinn and company are gone. Now Quinnn can spend time trying to lure Bass Pro back into his hugely succesful Canalside project. Thank god for Pegula! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob in STL Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 (edited) Terry Pegula seems to be a godsend for The Sabres, not that the team was in big time jeopardy of leaving or anything but his purchase secures their future in Buffalo and puts to rest any conversation of them ever leaving... More importantly- He is committed to building a winner and spending what it takes. It would be great if he bought the Bills obviously and instituted the same philosophy. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Free agency in The NHL begins on Friday. The Sabres look to be players, maybe big players. My question is: Does Wilson concern himself with another guy coming into his market and setting a precedent of winning at any cost and follow suite? Wilson is aware of The Sabres importance in the market and their winning ways of late. I heard Tom Donahoe acknowledge this point in an interview on San Diego Radio about 4 years ago.... What does Wilson have to lose by going all in for once? You have to think he wants a championship. I think Pegula's Sabres create some competetition in the market for discretionary/recreational dollars from fans. If you have to choose between Sabres and Bills season tickets at the same cost which do you choose? The Sabres look to be pretty good. The Bills could do some damage in free agency when it begins-but will they? Finally-I hope the Sabres bring back Chris Drury. His numbers have tapered off but the guy is a PURE WINNER. That is a rare thing to find- a player who leads by example and inspires play around him. I loved him as a Sabre. He should be the captain... Does Wilson concern himself? No. He owns an NFL team and is happy with that. Let's face it, he does not have the energy to do what Pegula is doing and he most likely does not have the right people around him to do it for him. Does he follow suit with Pegula? No. Ralph has had more money than he can ever spend but "spend to win" does not motivate him. Wilson wants the league to run like it did in the old days. That is winning to him. Wilson has nothing to lose by "going all in" but the there is no gaurantee that spending big will get you a championship. Ask Danny Synder. You have to build a winning infrastructure and you have to create an environment that breeds success. That is a stable environment run by the best people you can find. Pegula knows that and he is working all aspects of the Sabres (fixing their image, improving the facilites, improving the front office people, the scouting, the training, and the developmental aspects, etc). Pegula is laying a foundation, he is not just randomly throwing big money at players. Wilson may be running out of time. Edited June 29, 2011 by Bob in STL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bills1960 Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 This is a dangerous time for Wilson and the Bills. It could get very ugly if/when Pegs/Regier make a huge splash in FA for the Sabres and the Bills sit on their hands. When you have one owner willing to do whatever it takes to win and another who doesn't seem to be willing, things could get bad in a hurry. God forbid one of our teams actually chooses to win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purple haze Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 (edited) This is a dangerous time for Wilson and the Bills. It could get very ugly if/when Pegs/Regier make a huge splash in FA for the Sabres and the Bills sit on their hands. When you have one owner willing to do whatever it takes to win and another who doesn't seem to be willing, things could get bad in a hurry. Nix has already said what they're philosophy is. Folks might not like it, but they will build through the draft. So no reason to compare the organizations. As much as everybody loves the Sabres, Buffalo will always be a football town at heart. Edited June 29, 2011 by purple haze Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrDawkinstein Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 (edited) Nix has already said what they're philosophy is. Folks might not like it, but they will build through the draft. So no reason to compare the organizations. As much as everybody loves the Sabres, Buffalo will always be a football town at heart. Its not just free agency. As a matter of fact, Id say thats the least of it. The Sabres have built through the drafting/acquiring and developing good prospects. They've gotten away with letting players leave much more than the Bills, because they can REPLACE players. The Bills have been fundamentally broken for years. And when they have done well, it was in spite of the way Wilson runs the team, not because of it. Pegula understands that winning is a culture and that it comes from the top down. The owner's demand to win must permeate everywhere, from the All Star Goalie to the guy refilling the ketchup at the concessions. And it is the Owner who must also set an example of that himself. Ralph just doesnt have the desire to really win over everything else. Other things take priority, or he is just not a good owner/manager/executive. The one and only thing anyone can say about him as an owner is "He has kept the team in Buffalo!". The fact that that statement is his legacy, says everything you need to know about Buffalo Bills franchise history under Ralph. It's not so much any splash that Pegula makes in FA, but the fact that it's so obvious that winning is priority #1. Whether that means signing a high priced Free Agent, or remodeling the locker rooms on his own dime, there are a lot of things that go into being a good owner. Buffalo is as much a hockey town as it is a football town lately. If Pegula brings home the city's first Championship, it will be very interesting to see the fallout from the Bills' perspective. Edited June 29, 2011 by DrDareustein Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PromoTheRobot Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 Terry Pegula is no dummy. He knows that his investment will increase in value when if the Bills leave Buffalo, and increase again if he wins a Stanley Cup. It looks like he's spending money like a drunken sailor but he knows it will pay off down the road. You only need a few hundred million to be a high roller in the NHL. You need billions in the NFL. PTR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoSaint Posted June 29, 2011 Share Posted June 29, 2011 Psssh. Money has flown at 1 bills drive. Just happened to be to the likes of maybin, whitner, dockery, losman, walker, etc... If half of those guys play to there draft slot/FA dollars... We are competitive. We haven't hit on a qb, HC, GM trio since the SB years but it's not like he hasn't tried. Its not just free agency. As a matter of fact, Id say thats the least of it. The Sabres have built through the drafting/acquiring and developing good prospects. They've gotten away with letting players leave much more than the Bills, because they can REPLACE players. The Bills have been fundamentally broken for years. And when they have done well, it was in spite of the way Wilson runs the team, not because of it. Pegula understands that winning is a culture and that it comes from the top down. The owner's demand to win must permeate everywhere, from the All Star Goalie to the guy refilling the ketchup at the concessions. And it is the Owner who must also set an example of that himself. Ralph just doesnt have the desire to really win over everything else. Other things take priority, or he is just not a good owner/manager/executive. The one and only thing anyone can say about him as an owner is "He has kept the team in Buffalo!". The fact that that statement is his legacy, says everything you need to know about Buffalo Bills franchise history under Ralph. It's not so much any splash that Pegula makes in FA, but the fact that it's so obvious that winning is priority #1. Whether that means signing a high priced Free Agent, or remodeling the locker rooms on his own dime, there are a lot of things that go into being a good owner. Buffalo is as much a hockey town as it is a football town lately. If Pegula brings home the city's first Championship, it will be very interesting to see the fallout from the Bills' perspective. I will say one thing ive liked about new Orleans turnaround is they have taken the "even the janitors" approach. You go against the winning culture and your gone. On the flipside, even the janitors got SB rings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
White Linen Posted June 30, 2011 Share Posted June 30, 2011 Terry Pegula seems to be a godsend for The Sabres, not that the team was in big time jeopardy of leaving or anything but his purchase secures their future in Buffalo and puts to rest any conversation of them ever leaving... More importantly- He is committed to building a winner and spending what it takes. It would be great if he bought the Bills obviously and instituted the same philosophy. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Who are you talking to? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts