Buffalo Sabres

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Just looking over the latest copy of The Hockey News (Volume 76, No. 06, Prospects Unlimited) and discovered some fascinating content. This copy is chalked full of content on prospects, with a cover story on the Buffalo Sabres young players.

There are also two articles that should be of interest to Kansas City hockey fans. One of those talks about the ECHL and building a winner in that league. The other article is about a four-game exhibition series that the Kansas City Scouts played in against the Washington Capitals right before the final decision to move to Denver was made.

The ECHL article, entitled Can’t Coast By written by Ken Campbell, gives good insight into how an ECHL franchise is put together. It also gives you an idea of how much your favorite KC Maverick might be getting paid to play, as they give a bit of information about the league’s salary cap. (With the cap at less than $15,000 a week, no wonder Lamar Hunt Jr. thinks the NHL expansion fee is “ridiculous”.) The article also states that ECHL affiliated teams receive between 3-8 players from an affiliation. It’s a good read, and details how difficult it could be to put together a championship ECHL team.

The Scouts article, entitled When the NHL Invaded Japan by Steve Currier, talks about The Coca-Cola Bottlers Cup 4-game exhibition tournament between the Scouts and the Washington Capitals that was played in Japan. It’s an interesting read, which I assume might just be an excerpt from Currier’s book on the subject, also called When the NHL Invaded Japan. It’s an interesting read and makes me one to grab a copy of the book to read more in-depth description, as well as maybe see more pictures from the event.

The Hockey News is always worthy of a purchase, if you don’t already subscribe, but I found this edition to be something I wanted to share. Oh, and this edition also had part 3 of the series talking about the WHA. It’s been an extremely interesting series to read with Howard Baldwin’s stories about the rise and fall of the league, and specifically his experiences with the Whalers franchise’s place in the league. Part 3 gets in to signing the Howes to play for the Whalers. I never knew Colleen Howe was involved in contract negotiations.

Anyhow, if you don’t have a subscription, why not? And if you don’t, you should think about trying to pick up a copy somewhere.

NHL Back in KC: Target #5: Buffalo Sabres

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Now to our last team we’re looking at being vulnerable for a move, the Buffalo Sabres. You had to know this troubled franchise was going to be on the list. Despite not having any issues with their arena, this team has had major attendance issues, not to mention a lot of turmoil and turnovers with GMs, coaches, and players. Plus, there’s the drama that eventually became the Jack Eichel trade. Let’s look at Buffalo.
The Sabres came in the league 52 years ago. In that time, they’ve gone through 5 ownership periods. Seymour Knox III and Northrup Knox were the original owners. John Rigas took the team to near bankruptcy, a point where they almost missed payroll. The NHL had the team for a year. Tom Golisan and Larry Quinn purchased the franchise. Then, Terry and Kim Pegula became owners in 2011 by purchasing the Sabres for $189 million. They were proclaimed saviors at the time because they didn’t have the highest bid, but the higher bidder’s purchase was contingent on moving the team, while the Pegulas were committed to Buffalo.
The Pegulas purchase of the team initially sparked the Sabres. They ended up making the playoffs that season when they were not expected to. But since that 2011 purchase and playoffs, it’s been a playoff drought. The Sabres have gone 11 seasons without a post-season appearance.
Even without a playoff appearance in 9 seasons, the 2019-20 season saw average attendance at 17,167. But then came COVID, the continuing GM/coach carousel, and the Jack Eichel drama and last season’s average was 8,700, approximately 45% of capacity at Key Bank Arena (the worst in the league). Fans seem to be fed up with the franchise, the season ticket base is now at an estimated 6,500, 1/3 of what it was in the 2010s.
In 2020 one fan took to Craigslist to demonstrate frustration with the franchise. Jill Thompson, a fan of the team since the late 80’s, put an ad on the website “…looking for a wealthy owner who actually understands hockey.” But when asked about the Sabres and Pegulas during the 2022 All-Star break, commissioner Gary Bettman told the media he had faith in the Pegulas, and he believed they could revive the franchise.
Around a year ago, former NHL GM and coach Doug MacLean told Nick Kypreos on his podcast he’d heard a friend of John Tortetella’s was linked to purchasing the Sabres. While nothing materialized from that, it’s interesting to note Kypreos commented he’d heard the Pegulas had been looking to move on from the NHL. That would make sense with their ownership of the NFL’s Buffalo Bills. A couple of other things that should be noted is that they run their sports teams from Boca Raton, Florida and Kim Pegula had health issues over the summer that lead her to be hospitalized in the ICU of a Boca Raton hospital. It could very well be that the 71-year-old Terry Pegula and his wife might be looking to lighten the load of their sports empire.
So, with only one playoff appearance right after the purchase and a 281-354-94 record since taking over, maybe it’s time for the Pegulas to move on. It seems like the team would be ripe for a for sale sign, as they do seem to be making some improvements on the ice. Could this be the time? Is there interest? Would there be a no move restriction? My bet is there are billionaires out there that’d love to own a sports franchise of any kind. I’d also bet given how the Pegulas purchased the team and the fact they own the Bills, a sale would contingent on the team staying in upstate New York.