On a continuation of yesterday’s post (it was late so I had to cut short since I had a quiz today and needed sleep), I’m continuing to dissect the press conference that made the sale of the Buffalo Sabres to Terry Pegula official. I spoke a lot about facts last night so instead, I think today I’ll write about some thoughts I had while listening in on the presser.
I took notice that Golisano had said Ryan Miller and Tyler ENNIS had won awards (the Vezina and Calder, respectively). He corrected himself shortly afterwards, but he seemed to be making a lot of mistakes during this press conference if you paid enough attention. I’m not saying that ‘oh, maybe he’s been away from the Sabres too long’ but I feel like he had enough time to prepare for this media onslaught so why do you sound so nervous, Tom? Maybe I’m just displeased at him screwing up that much of a height difference. Seriously. One guy is tall enough to be a hobbit, and the other is tall enough to be the Jolly Green Giant. It’s hard to screw that up.
On the shovel matter – I had absolutely NO idea that Larry Quinn possibly came up with the idea for that with the entire league. It makes me wonder how they got rid of all of the ice shavings in the first place before the ice crew was formed. Yeah, there was zamboni, but I’m sure that not all of the shavings were off the ice after a quick sweep of that. I’m sure skating on that is a major pain. Regardless, apparently he created the whole idea and should get a lot of praise for it. If he really did then great job, Larry Quinn. Thanks for not brainwashing us with the whole ‘ice girls’ thing. There’s no need for that, at least in this city. (Watch as all the men and/or independent ladies attack me for that last sentence.) There’s a place for cheerleaders but I don’t think that place is hockey…sorry.
Dan DiPofi wasn’t asked any questions this conference and considering I don’t know much about him, I can’t say anything on him. When Larry Quinn began to tell of his sendoff, I could hear a sincere remorse in leaving his position as a managing partner up for grabs. Now, I never really liked the guy because I believed he was what held Darcy back from a lot of things but at the same time, you could tell he cared about the team and community. He took a lot of the heat while Golisano was out of town as well so I give him an abundance of credit for that. It’ll be interesting to see how Larry’s departure will affect how this team does during the Trade Deadline (even though this year he’ll still be around at the time, it appears) and also during Free Agency.
A VERY interesting portion of the press conference was when the trade deadline was being discussed, and Larry mentioned there was a note given to Terry that there are certain players on this team that are untradeable – but the list is small, and they could not reveal who those players were. It makes you wonder who they want this team to be formed around. To be honest, I don’t think it’s the guys that people are most likely to think it is. Examples are Vanek and Miller. I believe that they’re tradable (not like anyone wants Vanek’s contract, but you never know) and it could be other guys; the ones who seem like they would make excellent tradebait but are also great leaders and are still developing. Oh look, I did just describe Vanek. My bad. Either way, it gives us things to think about as the trade deadline fast approaches.
I don’t know if I’m just very observant or what, but during the press conference, Tom Golisano talks about how Drury and Briere left Buffalo because they were offered contracts that paid significantly more money than they were willing to pay them. During this little tirade, either Larry or Dan (though I believe it was Larry) begins to cough abruptly. Here I am getting too analytical about facial expressions/body language but seriously – who thinks Larry is a little upset that no deal could’ve been made with those two? Briere and Drury were actually compared to Vanek and Roy by Golisano and I believe that’s a lopsided comparison. Briere and Drury are a few years older and more experienced. Also, Vanek and Roy were, at the time, on the third line when Briere and Drury were here. Totally different caliber level players. I just think the comparison is a little unfair and believing that Roy or Vanek were soon going to turn into one of them is ridiculous. This might be why Vanek’s capabilities as a sniper are being hindered back by Lindy but that’s a whole ‘nother rant I can get into. Which I won’t.
Anyone else thought it to be unprofessional that Tom still had his phone on during the presser? As soon as you heard it go off, I rolled my eyes. Turn that off when you’re giving an important press conference such as this one, or at least turn it on silent. That just pissed me off for reasons unknown, maybe it’s because I’m a Business student and slowly learning the ways of being a professional. Meanwhile as I type this, I’m slouching and awkwardly on my couch.
My favorite part of the whole presser though? The Mike Harrington/Tom Golisano faceoff. I was waiting for a microphone to smash into one of their heads; if I had been there, I would’ve grabbed some popcorn and made myself comfortable. Talk about putting a little drama into things. It figures that the owner would’ve put a lot of blame on the players and the coaching staff for missing the playoffs two years in a row but I think collectively as an organization, you have to feel like you did something wrong. Maybe that’s me but there is no ‘I’ in team and while there are 23 guys who play on this team every night, there are others involved. It isn’t just one person’s fault, everyone is to blame. Maybe Tom Golisano can think about that as he heads back to his little ranch in Florida and take care of his business there. Thanks for saving my team, Tom – in more ways than one.
A new era of the Sabres begins today as they take on the Penguins at 7 PM. I won’t be watching since I’ll be at the Bandits game tonight, but I hope that long break helped them prepare for this crucial run to try and make the playoffs. Operation: Pegasaurus is a go. Let’s go, Buffalo!
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