Congratulations to Terry and Kim Pegula! They were unanimously (31 of 31 votes) approved by the NFL owners on Wednesday morning at the Conrad Hotel in New Jack City.
The Pegulas are the first owners in NHL and NFL history to be sole owners of teams in each league.
The Pegulas completed the NFL record transaction by wire transferring the full amount of $1.4 billion to the Wilson Family Trust.
Pegula: "If you had asked me 10 years ago if I would have been the owner of the @BuffaloSabres and the #Bills, I'd have called you a liar"
— Buffalo Bills (@buffalobills) October 8, 2014
Terry Pegula made a brief statement after departing the NFL owners meeting. He , Kim and their family will be in attendance at the Sabres home opener on Thursday night. I'm certain that the Pegulas will get a long, lusty ovation when they are introduced on the jumbotron. I can't wait to hear the "Shout" song played inside First Niagara Center this season. There is no doubt in my mind that every beer tap will be flowing non-stop as Sabres and Bills fans will come together to raise a toast to the family that saved professional sports in the Buffalo-Niagara region.
Never again will Sabres and Bills fans have to live in fear of losing their sports teams to richer, more sexy marketplaces.
The Pegulas become just the second ownership group in franchise history following the passing of Ralph Wilson Jr. in March. Wilson was the founder and owner of the Bills, and the last living founder of the American Football League.
Props to my friends Adam Benigni and Pete Gallivan for their outstanding coverage of the Pegula ownership bid on Buffalo's WGRZ-TV.
Thanks, WGRZ.com
PHOTO: New #Bills owner Terry Pegula meets with @nflcommish and Patriots owner Robert Kraft. http://t.co/Cv2zAtqRdv pic.twitter.com/5inx3nXbWD
— WGRZ (@WGRZ) October 8, 2014**
On the ice, Ted Nolan said Wednesday that D-man Jake McCabe has been placed on the IR with a "mid-body" issue. McCabe will miss a week or so.
D Mark Pysyk was also placed on IR as were Pat Kaleta and Matt Hackett.
Here are Wednesday's line trios and D pairs:
#Sabres lines & pairings this AM: 26-63-21 82-28-80 19-23-12 44-8-65-17
4/57 61/41 6/55 51/24
1 & 34
— Buffalo Sabres (@BuffaloSabres) October 8, 2014
**
The Tampa Lightning are loaded for bear and are a legitimate Stanley Cup contender.
Today, they waived talented winger Richard Panik.
Some Sabres fans are clamoring for Tim Murray to claim him. Not me. The guy is gutless. I'll pass on him.
Richard Panic was the slug who railed @zemgus94 from behind causing a concussion in ROC-SYR game in 2013. I'll pass. #waivers
— SabresBuzz (@SabresBuzz) October 8, 2014
More to come....