In The Crease

Searching for hope

The last 48 hours have been an absolute whirlwind for Sabres fans -- especially me. And I deserve to rant one (hopefully) last time.

This CBA was supposed to bring parity and reassure fans in small markets that any team could compete. Many small market teams (Columbus, Florida) have gone out and made significant moves to upgrade their hockey clubs. But the Sabres are not on this list. Darcy Regier has managed to cut Buffalo's best forward -- Miroslav Satan -- and best defenseman -- Alexei Zhitnik -- in the first two days of free agency. Everyone goes to the Island, or so I've heard. So this is what we waited 310 days for?

1. Why would a free agent want to come to Buffalo?

How is Regier selling this team to possible players? "Ummmm... we have ahm... solid goaltending and a core of young talent which includes Brian Campbell, err, Chris Drury." And what happens when the player/agent asks about the recent departures? Does Darcy just say they weren't at the right price? Or that the Sabres have this "surplus" of talent? Okay, so the team is a crapshoot. You can't sell them on the weather like the Panthers.

2. Sabres fans are outraged

After bankruptcy and three years of missing the playoffs, all Sabres fans asked for was hope -- something that was supposed to be part of a new, cost-certainty NHL. I didn't know whether to cry or scream when I found out Zhitnik was signed by the Islanders. I felt betrayed by a franchise which has -- at least under Lindy Ruff -- prided itself on solid defense. Now the Sabres have Dmitri Kalinin and not much else: injury-scarred Jay McKee, shaky Henrik Tallinder, dependable Rory Fitzpatrick, smart-but-old James Patrick, horrid Brian Campbell and even scarier Jeff Jillson. Was $3.5 million too much for a defenseman who logs almost 30 minutes a night and is, for lack of a better cliche, like a rock? He's one of the smoothest skaters in the league and does the job without breaking a sweat. He's a steady veteran that's been with your club for nine and a half years. Doesn't any of this mean anything to Regier? Because it sure means a lot to most Sabres fans, even the ones who yelled at Z when he missed the net consistently. It was a love-hate relationship, but I think the outrage yesterday and today is proof that Sabres fans not only knew the franchise needed Zhitnik, but also that they wanted him to stay.

3. The face of the franchise

Who is the marketing team supposed to sell to the community? Chris Drury and Daniel Briere, two of the team's best players, have played in Buffalo less than two years. Another slew of the forwards -- Derek Roy, Thomas Vanek, Ales Kotalik -- have young, promising NHL careers, but nothing to sell Sabres fans except faith. And how are you supposed to do that when Zhitnik and Satan are gone? Bring back Brad May? Tell Jim Schoenfield to lace up the skates?

4. Hope

I don't feel like it's too greedy to ask for hope. Philadelphia gets hope in the form of Peter Forsberg, who returns to the franchise that drafted him in 1991. Panthers fans get Gary Roberts and Joe Nieuwendyk. Islanders fans get Satan, Zhitnik and Mike York. And Edmonton -- known for losing players -- picked up Chris Pronger and Michael Peca. But this is what Sabres fans are told, courtesy of The Buffalo News:

' "We made (Zhitnik) an offer based on an evaluation of what we thought his value is," Sabres General Manager Darcy Regier said. "It was a very good offer, but based on what his agent told me, he could do better.

"The judgments we're making are based on what we think the value of a player should be. We're not interested in chasing or getting into a bidding war." '

Chasing? Bidding war? I haven't heard any Sabres rumors. While this is typical with Regier, I have the feeling we're going to have to be patient for days, even weeks, before we might see additions to this club. And beyond adding a few warm bodies on defense, I'm doubtful that Regier will do much. I'm praying every day he'll prove me wrong.

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Okay, so if you're a Sabres fan I've further enraged you or made you more depressed. Don't worry -- other fans, including that dreaded blue-and-white clan to the north are fed up too. The message boards at Sabresfans.com are bursting with Sabres talk, including a comforting message from long-time poster Goatlord:

"We were screwed when Rigas was arrested after putting the team $150 million bucks in debt. We're less screwed now because Golly [owner Tom Golisano] is rumored to have spent in excess of $100 million of his dollars to bail the team out. I was born the same year as this team, seen a lot of players, coaches, GM's and even owners come and go. Some are bad, some are good, very few have been great. Imo these past 4 years or so have been the lowest point in the history of the franchise. Imo Darcy and Quinn [Larry], under very reasonable and understanding budget constraints, have spent the money unwisely and did not anticipate the difficulties or the speed of this offseason. Quinn screwed the franchise up once already, he's well on his way to a 2nd time. Darcy... well we all know he should have been fired a couple years ago.

All I can, like 75 [another poster] who said he's been through rough time in the past as well, is the bad times always end and when they do the good times are that much sweeter. Any Sabres fan who endured the 80's knows how sweeeeeeeeeet MayDay was that season. And the playoff runs of the late 90's.... I haven't enjoyed a team so much in my life.

So if I may dare to repeat what others have said. Just hang in there my friends. Maybe we'll sign some players, maybe we won't. Maybe we'll suck this year, maybe we won't. I know I was here cheering for the Sabres long before Darcy, Lindy, Larry and Golly. I know I'll be here cheering for the Sabres long after they are gone. I know you all will be too. Things will get better. Let your voices be heard, keep the faith and put on the foil. But whatever happens, just don't turn your backs on the team. It may be full of a bunch of screwed up misfits but hey, so is Buffalo We'll have our day. If I was Golly I'd take note of the frustration and anger. It will hurt his bottom line but imo it also shows that after... whate 5 years of constant bullshit the fanbase is passionate and still loves the team. If they didn't, they sure as hell wouldn't be so upset."

That really did make me feel better. I'm always going to be a diehard fan. I got over the Michael Peca trade a few years back. I lived through the dark years of the franchise. I'm still here. And I'm not going anywhere.

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AROUND THE LEAGUE:

- Chicago still suffering from the past: After Adrian Aucoin signed with the Blackhawks, GM Dave Tallon pursued Peter Forsberg and Mike Modano -- offering them both more than what they eventually signed for. Is Tallon up to the challenge of completely reversing the Blackhawks' negative image?

-Avalanche lose out on Foote, Forsberg: I feel a little sorry for Avs fans, but can they really complain that much? They still have Joe Sakic, Milan Hejduk, Rob Blake and Alex Tanguay. Does GM Pierre Lacroix still have the golden touch in the new NHL?

-For deprived, out-of-town Sabres fans: Still sulking from the loss of EMPIRE and WNSA like me? WGR has added an audio vault to their website, updated daily with clips from favorites like Howard Simon and Mike Schopp.

Sid, Satan and Swedes

Talk is where it's at on day four of buyout week:

I'll admit it. I've always had a thing for Peter Forsberg. He's everything you want in a hockey player -- a tough and aggressive, eyes-in-the-back-of-his-head, prolific and clutch point-scorer. He pops out of nowhere to break opposing team's hearts and send goaltenders crying to the locker room. But Forsberg -- not an Av? Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun:

"In Sweden, hockey fans already are fantasizing about a Mats Sundin-Forsberg union, though there also are rumours that Forsberg and fellow unrestricted free agent and Vancouver Canucks captain Markus Naslund will shop themselves as a package.

Forsberg's future with Colorado has been in doubt. To keep Joe Sakic and Rob Blake and restock the Avs -- Sakic and Blake were invited to a team news conference yesterday as a signal they're staying -- Forsberg would have to be sacrificed, with Alex Tanguay possibly moving to centre.

Forsberg has told friends that he prefers to stay in Denver but if that club's hefty payroll has no wiggle room under the $39-million US salary cap, he wants to go to a competitive team in a big hockey market."

Okay, so the thought of a Forsberg-Sundin or Forsberg-Naslund tandem is appealing. But isn't that the sole reason we even have one of those kooky all-star games every non-Olympic year? To see crazy combinations like that? Call me stuck in 1996, but Forsberg should stay with the Avs or play in Europe. He flies with Joe Sakic, Milan Hejduk and Alex Tanguay. It just won't be the same to see him don the Maple Leaf.

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"Satan's days are numbered" -- that's the great headline The Buffalo News ran today, reporting that Miroslav Satan has probably played his last game in the City of Good Neighbors:

"The Sabres' leading scorer in six of his seven full seasons here is a restricted free agent who would make nearly $4 million this season, about 14 percent of the team's target payroll, and become an unrestricted free agent next summer.

The Sabres will either decline to tender a qualifying offer or retain his rights for the purposes of trading them away for as little as a draft pick.

About the only scenario in which Satan would return is if he became an unrestricted free agent and decided to renegotiate a contract with the Sabres for significantly less money rather than move on. That's unlikely."

So even in the new-era NHL where parity is supposedly the name of the game, the Sabres can't afford to keep Satan. I hope that's not the sole reason that they're rumored to be shopping around Satan, probably for a draft pick.

Satan was often a moody, streaky scorer. But his numbers can't be brushed off lightly. The Sabres had a solid scoring line of Jochen Hecht, Daniel Briere and JP Dumont for a good part of the 2003-04 season. But it's a good -- not great -- scoring line. And none of them will ever score 40+ goals like Satan did. And with the new rules, Buffalo will need to add more scoring touch. So go ahead Darcy Regier, part ways with Satan. I won't cry. But I will if you don't get a consistent, scoring forward to replace him.

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I was never a big fan of NHL2Night, but ESPN's John Buccigross always was a beacon of light next to mullet-for-life-club member Barry Melrose. His column on ESPN.com offers some advice to the Pittsburgh Penguins:

"Attention, Pittsburgh Penguins: Please consult me before designing your new arena. You have a baseball park beyond compare, so expect and demand the same for the house The Kid built. Here's a few of my 1,000 ideas:

1. It should hold no more than 17,000. The smaller the better. It doesn't matter how big a football stadium is, but baseball parks and hockey rinks are meant for a more intimate setting. See Fenway Park, PNC Park, Wrigley Field, Boston Garden, etc.

2. Reserve a section behind one of the nets made especially for a band. I'm talking college pep band. Invite a different college or high school band to every game. Bring a college vibe to the arena.

3. Iron City Ice Girls. PLEASE. This is very important.

4. Build a huge outdoor ice skating area on the shaded side of the arena and call it The Craig Patrick Backyard Rink. The outdoor rink should have a statue depicting Patrick helping a young child to skate. Charge $5, keep $2.50 for facility maintenance and give $2.50 to Children's Hospital. Keep a running total of money contributed under the statue in perpetuity.

5. Whatever you call the barn, don't use the word "Arena" or "Center." They are cold, lifeless words. Give me a Lemieux Gardens. For the other 995 ideas, hit my cell."

Buccigross has some great points here about the possibilities of Pittsburgh's new arena. Please -- no enormous, sloping ARENA, where cheers of "Let's Go Pens" would drown out before hitting the nosebleeds. And make it an auditorium, forum or (maybe even) gardens -- not an arena or center. Make it a great place for hockey -- and that means no gimmicky ice girls, Buccigross. Just a place fit for King Crosby.