Ghost of Dwight Drane

Is chz daydrinking and spilling the beans about the previous endeavor???? This could be.....AWE-SOME!!!!!

You ring the doorbell, and I'll light the bag of poop on fire........

;)

I am more prone to respond to something I disagree with than something I agree with. Or, I just don't pay attention to a topic or poster. There are only a few posters I brush over...and I never put anyone on ignore. If I agree...no need to support unless it's controversial and needs backing. Otherwise, the point is on record. Same goes for jokes....I probably laugh a few dozen times a week, but figure if everyone responded to that, we'd clutter this even worse.

OK...I think my point was made and others made valid points as well which I agree with. For those interested in the current total value of a pair of Buffalo Sabres season tickets if invested in the S+P 500 on every July 1st since 2007.....and I threw in the 6 home playoff games for free...... 300 Level Nosebleeds: $21,900 100 Level II: $51,500 ............................................................................... Club Level: $87,800

I agree...he got there, and that's something to be excited about....

Understood. The tangential premise brought up in the Ehrhoff thread was that it was folly to criticize Pegula and suggest he was overactive and over-reaching in his early years as an owner. Somehow, he had just performed some noble act of fan amnesia by paying the last $18 million on a buyout of Ehrhoff, or what would equate to $450 for a person with a net worth of $100,000. So I just figured, why not figure out how much these mistakes cost the fans? I totally agree. I'd have more fun listening to polka on the radio with great auntie than going to a hockey game with her. We all have our bonds and values. That's ironic :)

I understand....any "not-needed" purchase can be looked at this way. I decided to research this because even though there seems to be consensus the team is now headed in the right direction, I think the logical conclusion is that major mistakes were made by a few key people that has hampered the franchise for close to a decade. In 2008, I hand-wrote a note on an invoice from the Sabres threatening to cancel my seats if I didn't pay. It pretty much read, "Please be my guest, and blow it out your ###." I'm not going to sit back and let the past 7 years of suffering be met with ridicule towards those who were skeptical because the new regime now has had a guy on the job for a few months who seems to have a clue. I love it, and have said so multiple times. Absolutely. I was a season ticket holder for 40% of my life until D-Day. There are plenty of entities that thank Darcy Regier, Larry Quinn, OSP, TP, TB, etc. Least of which are the Bacardi Family, Churchill Downs Inc., Phillip Morris, Svetlana and Olga from Niagara Falls, The Estate of Ralph Wilson, and dozens of others....

For sure.... The question is, how much entertainment have you received? If you went to a concert for $107 and weren't entertained, would you purchase tickets for the next 163 performances of the same artist at the same price? Would you like me to go back to 2007???? I can run those numbers for anyone who has kept their tickets since July 1, 2007...... In fact....this will be fun!!!! I'm sorry. Between the directive to not send threads off on tangents, and the sarcastic banter in the Ehrhoff thread.....I was inspired.

I think they need to print up a shirt with a hand hitting the snooze button of a digital alarm clock where the time reads 5:50......

I'll be honest...I don't like starting threads. If I have a comment, I just usually respond to what I see. I also hate the "I started it first" thing that goes on. We're just a bunch of dudes and a few dudettes hanging out and shooting the breeze. Having said that, given the directive, if I have a new or separate idea, I am fine with it.

The comments in the Ehrhoff thread with sarcastic mentions of Pegula's meddling led me to research this..... Whether or not you want to make fun of those people who felt Terry Pegula was taking an overactive role in the assembly of his hockey team, I present the facts. Terry Pegula himself said: 1) He talked to many NHL executives and was told Darcy Regier was a great GM 2) His top adviser Ken Saywer called Regier a "Hockey Genius" 3) Pegula liked Regier because he could "work with him". 4) Pegula recently said within the past 8 months, "Someone please tell me what Regier has ever done wrong." 5) Pegula's daughter is on video saying her father went to Regier praising that "Ehrhoff fella". 6) Pegula admitted Regier was prone to placating to his owner...."Sometimes the painter has his brush hand held." 7) I'm sure I could get to 10, but I will be nice in the spirit of Murray Heaven Pegula took over the team in the second half of the 2010-11 season. I will not include this for financial costs as people put their money up ahead of time. As of July 1st 2014, a season ticket holder under the entire Pegula ownership will have been committed to 4 seasons of Sabres hockey. We will use the following data for building the model. Yes, I know that not everybody goes to every game, or has the same number of seats, and some sell to the aftermarket, but for the purpose of this idea, I am giving what the average ticket holder has forgone by owning season tickets. I am not counting preseason or rebates...which are pretty much a wash....and I am also rounding down costs. Cost of a pair of season tickets the past 4 years: Section............2011-12............2012-13.............2013-14............2014-15 Club................$7500.............$8100................$8400.............$8700 Lower Bowl II.......$4400.............$4900................$5000.............$5200 Nosebleeds..........$1800.............$2000................$2100.............$2200 The common measuring stick for opportunity cost of investment is the S+P 500 Index. This is what most pensions, 401k's, etc. use as the baseline. On July 1st when season tickets are committed to, deposited on, and paid within 90 days.....here is where the S+P 500 was: 2011: 1030 2012: 1340 2013: 1630 2014: 1960 Assuming that instead of buying a pair of season tickets, the season ticket holder instead put said funds into an S+P 500 index on July 1st of each year that Pegula has owned the team, with many options being tax-free or deferred, here is the total amount of money that would be in your account as of today: 300 Level Nosebleeds: $11,075 100 Level II: $26,750 Club Level: $44,900 There was no need to add playoff invoices to this study....... Yes, Murray Heaven is here. That doesn't mean Hockey Heaven, #Blueprint, and Ron Rolston never happened. So please.....while it is fun to joke and almost everyone is a good sport.....there are some very real consequences to the decisions that have been made to date....and the average fan doesn't get to write off 40% of those mistakes against natural gas profits........

Be careful.....

He can talk to Lafontaine's empty chair.....

We have to see how that personality translates to play. I'm not knocking Reinhart, just my impression. He's had a lot of time in front of a mic already and has been closely followed as the next big thing for a few years so it isn't new to him. Everyone says he is a smart kid and that he anticipates on the ice. I don't see that anticipation in his social interaction. He almost overthinks it if it isn't an obvious flow. Again, he could be a very smart kid, but maybe airplane co-pilot smart, where he runs down the checklist every flight to make sure the plane doesn't crash. I like Tom Cruise fighter pilot smart. I can see where Lemieux could rub some people the wrong way. My guess is the kid is smart off the charts, and is a goofball chatterbox for the sake of self-entertainment. There is a 4 minute piece with him and Ekblad as best friends, and Lemieux is the alpha for sure. He seems to be a more fine-tuned Steve Ott. He doesn't think when he talks.....which to me is the sign of a truly confident person, and one who makes it easier for me to trust. Some people are just shy in social situations and it comes across as thinking, but this kid wasn't throwing out clichés or what he thought you wanted to hear. He handled the press like a CEO in an important situation. When a kid can do that at 18, that is the "it" factor. I have no idea if his game will be good enough to have an important role down the line, but even if he is a career 3rd/4th liner....he is the type you want around for the playoffs. Again, nothing wrong with quiet and measured. Ray Bourque and Scott Stevens both won a Stanley Cup......but Bourque had to be traded as a favor to find it....

I should try and find more interviews with Martin. I almost turned it off after 50 seconds because it made me cringe.

A lot has been said that Buffalo pushed these kids in their interviews. I am a firm believer that certain people have the ability to see "an aura" of a person in quick fashion. I don't know how many can, and it's not good to outright judge, but the intangibles of life might just be the most important thing. My impression from seeing the draft picks talk.... Reinhart is ok for being in the spotlight for so long, but he just screams Pominville to me. He will probably work hard and be a solid enough player, but when you answer questions in the intonation of a question.....that's the kind of thing that gets you pulled over at customs and doesn't exactly inspire others. He was a little better when it seemed he was answering naturally, but I don't think you have the next big thing here. Lemieux......holy sh!t......TV should sign this kid to a contract now. He is in total command but not abrasive at all. He knows what he feels, says it, does it with passion, can self-reflect, and has a vocabulary and logic to him. I don't know what his game translates to, but if he has anywhere near the talent of Girginsons, this kid is a threat to be a captain down the line. He's built like a jock as well, but talks like a 40 year old who has seen the world. Impressed....similar to Lazar last year. Cornel.....Comes across as a bit slow on the uptake, but he makes sense and it could just be nerves. He reminds me of a cross between Dale Hawerchuk and Tim Connolly in both looks and personality. I guess I can settle for that. I bet this kid is a boom or bust. He ends up with 300 NHL goals....or 12...... Martin.....wouldn't have touched this kid with a 10' pole. Comes off as arrogant and entitled. That's different than even cocky. He's probably going to get a big surprise and those attributes don't bode well for rising to the occasion of a challenge. Again....basing it on 3 to 10 minutes of interviews.....but you can see a basic personality in that time. My guess is that in 4 years, Lemieux has more endorsement deals in the city than Reinhart.......

The major problem the past few years is that the on-ice product has been so meaningless, asides become more prevalent than actual breakdown about the on-ice product. The seeming constant soap opera in the front office hasn't helped either. When the car has a blown transmission, it doesn't make sense to worry about the 3 flat tires, broken windshield, and poor alignment. That car ain't goin nowhere.... At least now HOPEFULLY there is a new decisive direction with the team where the players and games will matter sooner than later. This will focus people, bring on a greater sense of comradery, and encourage new posters. And remember....everyone is communicating through writing....unless you have met somebody, you end up creating a voice in your head as to how you hear a poster. 99.9% of the time I would think people don't want to hurt anyone's feelings on here, and if it looks like it, that's where self-policing is good. Someone here may read a poster in the voice of a grumpy Jerry Sullivan, where in fact it may be in the spirit of Drunken Uncle on Saturday Night Live. And we need more females here. Someone needs to cook the hors d'oeuvres for the Sabrespace meetup.......

This is a move that might prove once and for all Pegula regrets his first foray into ownership. If he meddled, he just proved himself to be foolish at the time. It's an expensive mistake to admit, but he just did so. And the more I see of Murray, the more it looks like he is the type of loose cannon that can cancel out the other loose cannons hanging around. For some reason I see him getting back to his condo today, putting on Aqualung, and spraying a can of RediWhip down his throat......

Always wanted to eat a meat pocket in DuPont Circle....... We want a save....

The guy MAILED it in. Even X thought it was sad as it happened. Pegula just burned $70 million on the extended contracts of Darcy, Ehrhoff and Leino alone......

I want an empanada

It's fine to be frustrated. He was an embarrassment. Tim Murray should give him a Roger Dorn jersey as a parting gift...

Schnitzel-Slapped!!!

Put on a tape of that Detroit game near the end of the year..... You could have put Tim Horton's casket out there and it would have been harder to get around than Ehrhoff. I've never seen such a blatant mail-it-in job from a professional. If that game was NCAA, the feds would have investigated it for gambling purposes....and I am dead serious on that one....