that's a direct quote from new owner, terry pegula, taken from his press conference at hsbc the day he officially took over the buffalo sabres...
since then, the sabres have made two rather significant personnel moves:
- defenseman, craig rivet, was waived then placed on re-entry waivers where he was claimed by the columbus blue jackets...the sabres are on the hook for one-half of his $3.5m salary which, when pro-rated, will be somewhere around $750k
- the sabres then picked up forward brad boyes and his $4m contract,which, btw, has another year at that hit...his pro-rated salary for the year is somewhere around $1m
top-six center derek roy has been out since late december and probably won't return unless the sabres make the eastern conference finals....
today i came across an interesting article via yahoo's puckdaddy...cbc.ca's elliotte friedman says there's a hot commodity on the market now that the ncaa's frozen four has been set...
 |
| stephane da costa |
his name is stephane da costa and he's a 5'11" 180lb. center from merrimack college out of hockey east...
da costa is a native of paris, france who made a huge impact last season as a freshman for merrimack, a tiny, liberal arts college 25 miles north of boston, ma...
in his first season he finished with an average of 1.32 pts/game, good for seventh in the nation, this was after he attracted a ton of attention scoring five goals in his first home game...
to everyone, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that da costa, the runaway rookie of the year and finalist for hockey east player of the year, would be turning pro...he had the offers at the end of last season, "quite a few" he said through a smile during a merrimack eagle-tribune article on his decision to stay for his sophomore season...
a great run by the warriors came to a finish two days ago at the hands of notre dame...da costa finished the year with 45 pts. in 33 games...the skilled, creative center lead the warriors offense which was 2nd in hockey east (3rd in the nation) and 2nd on the power play...
and it looks like he'll be turning pro soon...very soon...as within the next two days...
there were quite a few teams interested in da costa last season--with the anaheim ducks inviting him to camp--and now, according to friedman, at least 20 teams have scouted him this past season, with 15 having some level of interest...friedman has the following teams looking very closely at da costa: boston, minnesota, anaheim, nashville and pittsburgh...he states that the team the spent the most time scouting the kid is ottawa
the catch to signing him is this: according to friedman, the collective bargaining agreement he must sign a multi-year contract with his nhl team...
word on the street is that he will command, and probably receive, the maximum $3.75m/year contract--$900k salary plus $2.85m in bonuses...
are the sabres one of the 15 teams having a level of interest in the 21 yr. old dea costa?
with the lack of depth at center in the organization, it would behoove them to go after him...
if de costa is the prized ncaa free-agent right now and if the sabres truly have no financial mandates, outbidding heavyweigths like pittsburgh, boston, anaheim and even ottawa could be a major step in turning the buffalo sabres into a "first class organization and hockey heaven"...
on stephane da costa from hockeysfuture:
"Da Costa is a dynamic 5'11/180 lbs center that possesses tremendous hockey sense with equally good vision, hands and creativity. And it is what he does with those attributes that has gotten so much attention from the NHL. Da Costa possesses an uncanny ability to find and utilize open patches of ice to consistently create smart, effective plays. He follows plays exceedingly well and can make plays in transition. He also possesses great finishing ability as well. While not lightning fast, Da Costa does possess some good speed and does a good job of consistently keeping his feet moving. He maintains very good balance on his skates and despite being a smaller player uses his body quite well in protecting the puck. Another of Da Costa's notable assets is his blistering shot. He is not a particularly physical player, but does play with some competitive edge to his game."
update, 3-31-2011...the ottawa senators, who had scouted da costa and were the front-runners to sign the kid, did do so...a two year entry-level deal
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