What will Lindy do?

[Stoner]

One more thing. I sense a bit of eye-rolling when it comes to Terry's goal of winning a Cup. Lindy was asked about it and he correctly said Tom and Larry said the same thing.

 

Fans and media can go ga-ga over it, but it was far from the most significant or encouraging thing Terry said today.

[Taro T]

That's interesting. Does Ruff have an agent? Unless Lindy's a saint, the cost of keeping him went up today. Not that it matters much, as Taro points out. But what about when it comes time to sign players, when the cap comes into play? Hasn't Terry revealed himself as a bit of a softie here?

Well, he can show the players that he's dropped coin on the amenities (assuming he does in fact follow through on that), but he can then shrug and say 'there's only so much I can give you w/ the hard cap.'

[cgang]

I hardly ever post here but I read the comments here everyday.

 

My guess is that Lindy will stay. I am guessing he will not demand the amount of money that he could make elsewhere. If history is a guide, he will settle on something "fair" so long as he extracts a real commitment from Pegula to give the team the resources to help attract and retain players, scouts, and staff. He will want to have a comfort level on that point before he signs anything.

 

Pegula wants to build an NHL powerhouse in WNY given his love of the Sabres and he wants to improve the hockey development program in the United States by focusing on his alma mater at Penn State. He is going to give Darcy, Lindy, et al. tangible/intangible resources that focus on player scouting, development, training, and other things that are not, in his words, subject to the salary cap but that make a big difference to players (this came through not only in his press conference, but in his follow up interview on nhl.com). I would be shocked if Lindy would walk away from that. It is pretty easy to see why the NHL quickly approved his purchase-- he is not only committed to the Sabres success but the game as a whole in North America.

 

When Pegula shed a tear looking over at the alumni and at Perreault, I did as well. He made his 35 year old dream come true today and it was pretty awesome to see. When I think back on the French Connection years (I was 8 when I started paying attention to the Sabres and going to games... back in 1978), the thing I remember most is how excited/loud the fans got every single time the Sabres crossed the opponent's blue line. I really believe Pegula is ready, willing and able to help the franchise create that kind of environment/energy again. I have a hard time believing that Lindy will just walk away from that given his experience in Buffalo as a coach and player. Yes, talk is cheap but I have a feeling this guy will back up what he said with real dollars- he has the financial resources to do this and he is already on record saying this isn't about him making another billion dollars. He is doing this because he loves the game.

 

Lindy (and Darcy) will get what they want. Then we will see if the dream team is as good as some of us fans think they are (or as bad as some of us think they are).

[nobody]

Ruff wants to coach the Sabres and Pegula wants Ruff to coach the Sabres. My opinion is he's staying.