Last February, Terry Pegula had me at "Where's Perreault"?
Today, the Sabres owner blew me away again when he said in front of Tyler Myers, Darcy Regier, Ted Black and the assembled media:
"The owner of a sports team has one job. To be liked"
This is not a dream or a mirage. We live in Hockey Heaven.
I like Terry and Kim Pegula more today than I did yesterday!
Pegula told the crowd that he had no idea two weeks ago that Tyler Myers would want to talk about a contract extension this season. He was interested in working out a long term deal now so as to avoid chaos in the new season. So, Darcy Regier activated conversations with Myers' agent, JP Barry. Two short weeks later, Myers is the beneficiary of the new 7 year, $38.5 million extension. Myers is 21 and will be a Sabre for the duration of his twenties.
In Hockey Heaven, ask and ye shall receive.
Winning won't happen by just by talking about it, Pegula said. Its a start. The converstaion. The belief. The posture. The passion. Pegula says that winning is a belief, not a goal. Winning is the by product of belief. He referenced that he attended a Penn State football game last weekend. He told a story about how he remembers when Penn state first entered the Big 10 conference. They were dominant and Joe Paterno created a culture of perennial winning. Last weekend, Pegula, before the game, asked approximately 50 people who was going to win the game that day, and he was shocked to hear not one fan say that Penn State would win. Pegula says winning starts with believing.
"We believe. We believe we can win. I don't know if Tyler (Myers) may not win, but we'll die trying his Stanley Cup, but we're going to kill ourselves trying".
Pegula never ceases to amaze me. Such candor and intelligence. Such passion and purpose.
Pegula appeared genuinely touched by Myers's comment that he and his sabres mates love working for Pegula and his management team. Pegula told Myers that he had never heard that story about the players before and that he was happy to hear it.
Pegula is not your everyday, average sports powner. He's not in it for the money. He's in it to win it and to have fun doing it. Ask him and he'll tell you. If he wants to make more money, he'll drill another hole. That's Pegula to the core.
When asked how many millions he's already invested, Pegula said:
"I don't know the number. We are investing with our hearts".
69 Players Expected to Report to First Niagara Center on Sept. 16
BUFFALO, N.Y. (September 15, 2011) – The Buffalo Sabres today announced the schedule for the first three days of the team’s 2011 training camp schedule. Camp will begin Friday, Sept. 16 with all players reporting to First Niagara Center at 8 a.m. A total of 69 players are currently scheduled to attend this year’s camp -- 40 forwards, 22 defensemen and seven goaltenders.
On Friday, prospects will practice from 8-9:30 a.m. On-ice testing will be held from 10 a.m. until 12:30 p.m.
Practices get underway Saturday, Sept. 17 at the team’s practice facility at the Northtown Center from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. The team will practice again at the Northtown Center on Sunday, Sept. 18 from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., before returning to First Niagara Center for the remainder of the practices.
Sabres President, Ted Black, brought several of us media types for a tour of the new locker rrom construction project.
Among the changes:
* New "We Believe" mural in the lobby.
* New de-humidification units to create the best ice in the NHL.
* New humidification towers.
* The newest, pimped out rocker rooms and weight rooms you'll ever see in your life!
* Two new zambonis, with frickin laser-leveling!
The Sabres are $3.6 million over this season's cap, and Darcy Regier has ssaid for the record that he has spoken with his NHL counterparts regarding trades. You should get rid of the idea that Regier will bury the contracts of Morrisonn and Kotalik in Rochester. Its not going to happen. Regier says that he is confident that he has trade partners.
I expect Brad Boyes ( plus Mojo Risin and Big Al ) and his $4million cap hit to be jettisoned from Buffalo before the start of the season.
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