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Sabres Performing Miracles

September 11, 2012, 7:40 PM ET [32 Comments]
GARTH'S CORNER
NHL news by Garth • RSSArchiveCONTACT
With all the talk of impending doom and gloom in the NHL regarding the soon-to-be expired current CBA, the Sabres are creating good will in the Western New York community.

There will be miles of smiles in and around Pegulaville on Wednesday September 7 at 7pm, Buffalo Sabres players and alumni will be on hand at the Miracle League Field on Grand Island to play baseball with the 60+ kids who participate in the Miracle League of WNY program.

The Buffalo Sabres Foundation and Sabres Alumni Association each donated $75,000 to help pay for the construction of the field in 2011. The game will feature one inning of play.


The complex will serve as the playing field for The Miracle League of WNY, the local chapter of the nationally organized Miracle League, which provides the opportunity for disabled athletes from around the country to play organized baseball. Besides a specially designed playing surface, the complex features a concession stand and bathrooms that are wheelchair accessible.

Fundraising for the field began in July 2010 and quickly attracted the attention of the Sabres, the Sabres Alumni, the Town of Grand Island and several other corporate sponsors, all of whom donated time, money and resources to build the complex. Members of the Buffalo Sabres Alumni Foundation were on hand in April 2011 for the groundbreaking and construction was completed four months later, well ahead of the one to two years it usually takes for a project of this kind.


Sabres players who are scheduled to attend:

Nathan Gerbe, Marcus Foligno, Cody Hodgson, Corey Tropp and Luke Adam, as well as Buffalo Sabres alumni, like Grand Island residents Larry Playfair and Rene Robert.


Miracle League Field of WNY Presented by the Buffalo Sabres, Veterans Park, Bedell Road, Grand Island, N.Y.



Sabres.com documented the grand opening of the Miracle Field last August.






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The NHL and the NHLPA meet in Manhattan on Wednesday morning to resume negotiations. The current collective bargaining agreement will transform into a pumpkin at 11:59:59 pm on Saturday night.


According to the Associated Press:

After not meeting face to face since last Friday, the sides planned to get together at the league office in New York before the NHLPA holds player meetings later Wednesday.

The NHL board of governors will convene on Thursday with Commissioner Gary Bettman, while the union holds a second day of discussions with as many as 250 players.

The hastily scheduled negotiating session for Wednesday came just hours after NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly said owners and players were both to blame for their failure to reach a new collective bargaining agreement before current deal expires on Saturday.

Daly wrote in an email to The Associated Press on Tuesday that he hoped both sides would meet before Saturday, but didn't sound optimistic it would happen.

"To this point, we have received no indication that the union has anything new to say to us. And right now, we have nothing new to say to them," he wrote Tuesday. "It's unfortunate, but it's the reality of the situation."

That changed Tuesday night. Whether the restart of talks will lead to a quick resolution remains to be seen. The NHL's labour contract expires at midnight Saturday night, and a lockout seems likely. It would be the league's fourth work stoppage since 1992.

"Ultimately, we just want to negotiate a fair deal that will give all our clubs an ability to be stable and healthy," Daly wrote. "We hoped (and still hope) we can do that without causing any interruption to the upcoming season. Logic would have suggested we would have been able to. The fact that we haven't yet is extremely disappointing, and is a failure for which we both must share blame."

Several hundred players are set to attend the NHLPA meetings Wednesday and Thursday to discuss the current state of CBA negotiations.

The board of governors could authorize Bettman to proceed with a lockout on Saturday if a new collective bargaining agreement hasn't been reached



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