It's been a couple of banner days (no pun intended) in the front page sports news department lately. Yesterday, Buffalo News' Bucky Gleason took a crack at playing GM for a day, and figured out a way to solve all of Buffalo's problems. Well, the ones related to hockey, anyway. He found a way to keep Drury, Briere, and Vanek in town while staying under a budget of $44 million. Larry Quinn has already stated that the Sabres' actual budget will be more than that, but no one knows by how much. We only know that they won't be pushing the cap, which has yet to be set. (Dear NHL: Please get on this.) Of course, in Bucky's plan this meant saying goodbye to some other players, namely Afinogenov, Spacek, Numminen, and Zubrus. Except for Spacek, I would really like to hold on to all of those guys, but if it means keeping Drury, Briere, and Vanek, I'd be willing to let them go. The plan also involves bringing a substantial number of players up out of Rochester, which I'm not too keen on. Sure, we did that last year, only bringing in Spacek from outside the organization, but I wouldn't count on it for a second straight season. I'd be really afraid of injuries, especially given our history the past two seasons. On the other hand, Paetsch in the top 6 defensemen! I agree 100%! Other than that, it's a pretty sound plan which incorporates fair contracts for all the players. Of course, it will never ever happen. But it gave me something to pretend about for a little while.
Today there was a breakdown of the Sabres' RFAs on the front page, along with some decidedly no-news news about the draft. As if we don't have enough of a headache already with trying to keep the top two UFAs in the league, we need to be reminded that we could also lose the top RFA in Vanek. Apparently, the hands-off approach toward other teams' RFAs has gone out of style, and now poaching everyone else's young talent is the name of the game. I'm still confident that the Sabres will match any offer (within reason--at some point the draft pick compensation gets pretty lucrative) made to Vanek. But we're almost assuredly going to need to pay more than we wanted to for him. I pray the rest of the league keeps thinking Derek Roy sucks and doesn't make him any offers. I know I yell at the guy a lot, but I still want him here. The rest of the RFAs--Paille, Paetsch, Peters--I'm not worried about. I don't think anyone else particularly wants them, and they'll be cheap to keep. As far as the draft goes, the Sabres don't have any first round picks, though we have the first pick of the second round. Still, any of the players drafted won't be seen in Buffalo for another 3-5 years. See? No-news news.
Then, I swung over to LetsGoSabres.com, my other Sabres news source. They reported the same news about the RFAs, that the Sabres had made qualifying offers to Vanek, Roy, Paille, Peters, and Paetsch. The process is underway, there. And then I read this:
"Two independent sources have told LGS this week that it appears more than likely that Chris Drury's days in Buffalo are over. Both sources believe Drury is looking to test the open market. And according to both sources, there is very strong reason to believe that the center will most likely wind up on the Pacific Coast where his offseason home is located."
And part of my soul died. It's real now. Drury's going to leave, and I don't know if I can handle it. I guess I had just assumed, throughout the season, that if only one of our co-captains were going to be around next season, it would be Chris. So I gently and gradually phased my love for Danny out, getting ready for him to be gone. And now I'm having to make this quick emotional turn-around. It's nuts. What's even worse is that it's looking more and more like Drury doesn't want to stay. That it's not a question of money, he just doesn't want to be in Buffalo anymore. And... Ouch. That hurts. I can't even put into words how that makes me feel as a fan, without sounding really really pathetic. But it's like, that's not "just business," that's betrayal.
But I'm getting ahead of myself, here. Once everything's final and official, then I can start bitching about it, I guess. Until then, all I can do is wait. Wait, and go crazy.
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What's even worse is that it's looking more and more like Drury doesn't want to stay. That it's not a question of money, he just doesn't want to be in Buffalo anymore. And... Ouch. That hurts.
Oh, Gambler. I am so right there with you. I actually lost sleep over this a few nights ago. I've been feeling a vague sort of depression/nervous anxiety for a few days....and I blame Chris Drury. I kid. Sort of.
Part of what made this season so magical is how it brought Buffalonians together and it's hard to accept that the players aren't really as emotionally involved with that process as we are.
Chris Drury is going to be a very rich man no matter where he ends up playing next year. My guess is that he is really only considering two things this week: Where would his family be happiest?- and which team is going to win? I can (begrudgingly) accept that. Honestly, it makes me love him all the more.
Now I'm just praying that Briere wasn't blowing smoke up our butts with the whole, "We love Buffalo. It's our home, even in the off-season", thing. Please Danny! We love you!
Plus, we still don't actually know what's going to happen. i can't believe that even in the very sad situation that both captains leave, that the Sabres won't figure out a way to put a good team on the ice.
Maybe there is a happy, happy miracle on the way!
I'm not going to lie, I'm totally pissed at Chris Drury right now. It's ridiculous and illogical, but I am. I think Kate hit the nail on the head. It's hard to imagine that the players aren't as attached to us as we are to them. I really thought he was going to be the one who stayed too.
The Sabres blog at the Buffalo News is reporting that Danny is now leaning towards testing the market as well. So now I'm pissed at Darcy too. I love him, he's done a great job, in the long run it's probably a good thing that he's not overly sentimental about players and it's hard to argue that 7 million dollars isn't too much, especially for Drury (IMO). But I hate all these rumors that both guys are feeling like the team doesn't really want them back and that negotiations have been practically non-existent.
I can't take this. I can't. Somebody please just do something, sign somewhere, make this madness end so that I can celebrate or grieve as is necessary.
Oh, good. I'm glad it's not just me who's irrationally pissed at Chris Drury. I agree completely with both of you that the real pain comes from seeing the way Buffalo as a city lit up during the playoffs. It's just impossible for me to accept that anyone would want to play anywhere else after experiencing that.
And, yeah Regier needs to get his shit together, and fast. Otherwise I'm going to have an ulcer nicknamed "Little Darcy."
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