Sabres 2011/12 Season Preview. Part 1, It's Starts At the Top

It's a great 1:18 video that does what a cartoon should do, take a situation and amplify it to an extreme.

All the talk in the NHL is about the Sabres new owner Terry Pegula and what he's done for the franchise by opening up his wallet as he and the team pursue the Stanley Cup. And it should be. This type of commitment from ownership hasn't been seen since the Knox days.

It's true, Pegula has changed the financial dynamics of the team and spent a ton this off season to acquire, and retain, talent. And he's not shy about admitting it either, "This notation that we're spending more money than the other teams," he said at the Tyler Myers contract extension press conference, "we had some things we needed to address, and we have a timeline, so why wait two years to do it. We tried to take care of immediate needs early."

Salary's aside (although his financial wherewithal should in no way be discounted,) Pegula was intent upon changing the culture of the team--from compete hard to win--as well as changing the relationship between upper management and their charges--from a cold business to a family. "Believe it or not," he said, "I've never made a decision in my life based on money, it was always based on what I believed was right and what I thought should be done."

A lesser known example of this would be the story of long time Rochester Americans trainer, AHL Hall of Famer, Kent Weisbeck. Weisbeck was in Rochester for 26 years. When the Sabres announced their return after a three year stint in Portland, Weisbeck was out because the organization really liked the man they'd worked with in Portland. Pegula did what he considered the right thing to do, he created a new position with the Amerks for the re-hiring of Weisbeck.

Any owner with deep pockets can throw money around like a drunken sailor, and Pegula showed he's unafraid to shell out big bucks. When asked at the Myers press conference whether he knew how much he'd spent on the team from contracts to renovations, he said, "I don't know the number...I don't care."

But the Pegula-effect goes deper than that. "We're investing our hearts," he said, "and want to make the Buffalo Sabres a first-class organization."

As the team starts the 2011/12 regular season, it's first full season under Pegula's ownership, they have a sound foundation and an unabashed commitment from ownership to pursue the ultimate goal--and the reason for the Sabres existence--to win the Stanley Cup.

It all starts at the top.




You cannot stop me, for I am unstoppable.