'While no NHL club was mentioned, Powers believes the group was interested in bringing the financially-troubled Buffalo Sabres to town. The NHL recently took over day-to-day operations of the Sabres pending the possible sale of the franchise to an owner committed to keeping the team in the Queen City. The group in contact with Hamilton had indicated territorial compensation would not be an issue, fuelling speculation Buffalo was the franchise. Powers said the negotiations, which saw both the Toronto group and HECFI exchange proposals, broke down about 12 days ago.'