'Ward, a penalty-killing wing for the Sabres for five years through the 1999-2000 season, agreed that the off-ice problems were unfortunate, but did not affect the team's mind-set. "It's not like [the Sabres] had a $70-million payroll and all of a sudden they have to go down to $35 million," Ward said. "It's not like they had to go in there and cut everything and take away their airplane, because they never had it. That's the attitude and style that fits them. It's a blue-collar town. When I was there we were proud of the reputation we had of being a bunch of no-names going out and working hard."'