A Rochester update

Well back a few months ago, I was blogging about the Sabres and the Amerks moving away from each other and the Sabres moving the farm to Portland. Well its been some time, and the battle continues between the Sabres and Steve Donner, but there might be a 180 here by the Sabres organization. Well Kevin Oklobzija, says things might turn around.

When the City of Rochester this afternoon took the first step toward seizing PAETEC Park, they may also have opened the door for the Sabres to buy the Amerks.

By taking the soccer stadium from the insolvent Rhinos ownership group, the city very likely will force NBT Bank to sue Rhinos owners Steve Donner, Frank DuRoss and Chris Economides. Each personally guaranteed a bank loan that has ballooned into a $10.8 million liability.

The bank has already filed suit for that money. If they chase the trio to bankruptcy, Donner could be forced to sell his 40-percent stake in the Amerks and Knighthawks lacrosse teams.

The bank surely doesn’t want to own part of an minor-league hockey team along with an NLL franchise. But the Chenango County lender does want its money.

Thus, the forced sale of Donner’s share. His other 40-percent ownership parnter, Walter Turek, already wants out. He’s just waiting for the buyout of minority partner Randall Latona (20 percent) to be completed.

And who saves the day? The Sabres, of course. They can swoop in and buy the franchise — and for far less than they would have offered in the fall.

Thus the Sabres operation tactic of demolition by neglect would work perfectly. The Amerks are god awful this year. 40 points out of first in their division. The cupboard is almost empty and the Sabres don't bring in the players to make them a real good team. The team gets bad, the fans go away, the money goes away, leaving the owners forced to sell to Golisano. Who, then restocks the team and lets the money flow again.

Then last friday, more money came in from other owners besides Steve Donner. So who knows whats going on. But I have no doubt since Golisano took over in Buffalo, the Amerks have gotten worse. They were 5th two years ago in the North and now they will be last in their division. The Sabres got better, while the farm got worse. Filled with less and less talent, spread over two teams and its taken its toll financially.

The Sabres haven't stated anything lately on the Rochester situation, you'd think if they were going to make a move they would say something already. The relationship with Rochester makes sense and should be saved in my eyes. Maybe its just a case of breaking a few windows to lower the price, so you can buy low. Golisano sure bought the Sabres low, now the value skyrocketed. I have no doubt he could do the same with the Amerks.

Its over

Well the rumored split, has finally come about. The 29 year old marriage between the two is finally over. Rochester will be moving on with their Florida mistress, while the Sabres will search for a new partner willing to work with their needs. They have gotten through some tough times, raised some high quality children, but the two have separate goals and needed to start over.

Lets look at the issues.

Neither side says the partnership can be saved this time. The major stumbling block: veterans and who pays for them.

The Sabres say if veterans are important to the identity of the Amerks, then it should be Rochester's responsibility to pay part or all of the salary. Buffalo's contention: it's not the Sabres job to sell Amerks tickets.

But Donner doesn't understand why Buffalo won't pay for veterans. He says they are critical to prospect development, and the older on-the-bubble players also are NHL-ready in case there are injuries in Buffalo.

"I've been puzzled why the Sabres don't have any depth guys here," Donner said. "Do you think they can make a serious run for the Stanley Cup with the depth guys they have here now? No way."

The Amerks' slow-pay practices have irked the Sabres for years. That was clear in a letter sent to the Rochester ownership group by managing partner Larry Quinn in January.

In requesting the start of talks regarding an extension of the affiliation, Quinn wrote that any new deal would require "some form of security to assure payment" (of affiliation fees).

When this dual affiliation first took shape, the Sabres wanted only about 13 roster spots in Rochester. They were leaving seven slots open to the Amerks to fill.

The Amerks, however, didn't have the money to pay for seven of their own players. Since the Sabres had no desire to pay for players with no NHL future, they brought the Panthers in as a limited partner in Rochester.

"That wasn't meant to be standard practice, it was more an aberration," Quinn said.

Yep, just like most divorces, its all about money. So sad to see this partnership break up, because some people are just too cheap. Looks like Quinn and the Sabres were just to stubborn to work together to provide Rochester with some AHL veterans who could help the Sabres down the road. And the Amerks were too cheap to buy their own players.

Lets see the Sabres can find that will make them happy and fulfill their needs. And lets face it the Sabres are kinda needy.

YARRRR!!! We might be yer affiliate

With a tip from the Godfather of Sabre blogging, Tom Luongo, it looks like Portland might be the sight for the Sabres prospects next year. Which is kind of funny this is breaking now as the Pirates are the Ducks affiliate and thats who the Sabres are playing tonight. The situation between the Sabres and Amerks has been quickly breaking apart for a while now, and looks like we are at the point of no return. Now Florida has deemed Rochester as their choice and they want to fill a full team. The Sabres and Amerks are as good as done. In this article from the D & C there are some interesting developments.

One of those things that must happen is the exit of the Sabres. Buffalo officials said last week that there was really no chance to preserve the 29-year affiliation marriage with the Amerks. On Monday Sexton (Florida asst GM) said it's common knowledge in NHL circles that the Sabres are headed to Portland, Maine.

Well you would have thought this would have came out earlier, if its common knowledge, but I'm sure Mr Sexton knows what hes talking about. So LQ whats up?

Sabres managing partner Larry Quinn refused to reveal where they will place their prospects next season, adding only that "the Panthers don't speak for us."

I'd hope not, that would be weird. But once again the big sticking point for the Amerks has been the veterans issue.

The partnership between the Sabres and Amerks has eroded over the past three seasons for two reasons: the Amerks' cash-flow problems, and Buffalo's desire to provide only kids and not pay for veterans.

Donner said the Panthers are aware that quality veterans, even only three or four players, are essential to development, on and off the ice. Those players provide leadership in the AHL but are also able to fill injury gaps for the NHL team.

The Sabres are not taking this issue laying down though, with the LQ firing back.

Quinn said the affiliation contract provided Rochester a chance to sign its own veterans, even those commanding a $200,000 AHL salary. Buffalo is charging only $18,000 per player, about half the normal rate. Florida's price is about the same.

"So if Rochester is paying $400,000 for their affiliation and the going rate is $800,000, then Rochester could have had two of those (veteran) guys," Quinn said. "You got a break from the two NHL teams, sign some veterans."

If Larry Quinn is like this in the paper, imagine what hes like on the phone. Those must be some conversations. This just seems like some nasty divorce between a couple thats been good and together for a long time, but the kids left the house, and things just went downhill quickly and now they can't stand each other and just want to leave. Of course the kids (fans) are the ones that really get hurt.

But what about Portland? Are they down with this, we've heard all the stuff from Rochester and Buffalo, what about Maine?

Well according to the Portland Press Herald, its news to them. And their might be sticking points.

The only trouble is the Pirates are in the third year of a five-year affiliation agreement with Anaheim.

Either the Pirates or Ducks is free to opt out of the arrangement after this season. Neither has said it will do so.

Mmmm, well that could be a problem, unless they decide to share.

In its affiliation agreements with the Ducks and Washington Capitals in 12 years before that, the Pirates' owners never have picked up personnel costs for players and training staff of the AHL team.

"I don't go into player deals," said Brian Petrovek, the Pirates' managing owner/CEO. "I never have and I never will."

That would seem to preclude the possibility of the Sabres pairing up with the Pirates.

On Monday, Petrovek denied knowing anything about the possible relocation of Buffalo's AHL affiliate to Portland.

Wait if its common knowledge that the two are going together, then the Portland CEO would be directly involved. Right? Oh man, this process should be easier then this, or is this just a play by the Sabres to get a better deal from the Amerks? I don't think so. All this comes to one obvious conclusion.

The Sabres and Amerks are done.

The Sabre Amerk Relationship Drama

Well thanks to loyal reader and long time friend of GCFB, Jason Downer, there was a article in Tuesdays D&C about Sabres owner Tom Golisano commenting about the floundering relationship between the teams.

Tom Golisano, the billionaire owner of the Buffalo Sabres, said it pains him to see the affiliation between the Rochester Americans and his NHL team end, but that he doubts the 29-year marriage can be saved.

“I think it may be too late,” Golisano said this afternoon, following his speech to the Rochester branch of the American Marketing Association at the Riverside Convention Center.

Mr Golisano follows this with

“The cash position of the Rochester Americans hasn’t been the greatest,” Golisano said. “We think it affects their attendance, our attendance, we think it affects our players’ morale (in Rochester).

“We send them our players (the prospects); we don’t want to have them unhappy.”

I honestly don't know what Steve Donner is doing, I see the pride he has with owning the franchise and doesn't want to be bullied around. But hes not dealing with some two bit man here. Tom Golisano wields some power in the area. Take the deal and just run the teams. Its gotta be less stress in the long run. The Sabres don't want a bad farm team, at least not in my opinion. The best players in Rochester are Sabre prospects. The Panthers usually have piss poor prospects.

Well its sad to see, but it always seemed nice to have the farm team an hour away and if you really wanted to see the kids you wouldn't have to travel far. But who knows who the Sabres will have an agreement with now. Unless some last minute deal comes down the pike, but seeing how stubborn Steve Donner is, I doubt something will happen.

Money always seems to be the issue in the breakup of a long term relationship.

Sabres Amerks relationship at a Crossroads

Well the situation between the two clubs appears to be more dire then I thought. And that the split is highly more likely, unless Steve Donner decides to sell the Amerks to the Sabres. Plus the minority owner is starting a power struggle with Donner trying to state the Amerks are on the verge of Bankruptcy. This isn't some idle threat as stated in this article in the D&C.

"In court, Joseph Zdarsky, the lawyer representing Amerks minority partner Randall Latona, said he was told by Sabres management that if majority owner Steve Donner won't sell the franchise, the Sabres will place their prospects with another AHL team."

Also, an e-mail from the city of Rochester to the Amerks referenced the Sabres intention to leave if a new affiliation agreement wasn't in place by Nov. 1 (there is none in place) or if Donner's group didn't sell the financially troubled franchise to Buffalo.

The Sabres' desire to own the franchise may also coincide with their plan to operate Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial. The management contract between the city and SMG expires in June. The Sabres operate their home rink in Buffalo, HSBC Arena, and have made overtures about doing the same in Rochester.

Wow I didn't know the Sabres had this master plan with the Amerks, drive them low, keep them in financial trouble and buy them low, to only buy and operate them later. Mmm, Mr Golisano is a shrewd businessman I must say myself.

The courts didn't remove Amerks management so this fight should be going on for some time. Only making the relationship between the two even worse. Well its only bad between the Sabres and Donner. So if they get their way, and install their own people, the relationship will continue. If not, then its a new AHL affiliation. Most Sabre fans could care less if good prospects still come flowing through.

Personally I hope things work out, the closeness and length of the relationship really shouldn't come to an end like this.

Friday Farm Report

Yeah yeah yeah, I forgot last week. Some people have things to do, and not waste their time looking through a week of Amerk play. Well lets do this thing.

The last two weeks

Well over the last two weeks as the parent club couldn't beat a baby seal the Amerks have gone to 3-2 to improve their record to 7-8-1-2 so basically 7-11, not great, but they are getting their feet under them. Plus with the Sabres getting healthier, more players will be coming back strengthening the lineup. But they are 5-5 over the last 10, so they could be just a .500 team that doesn't really go anywhere. But time to look at individuals which for Sabre fans much more important then team play.

Who's doing what?

Clarke Macarthur was called up but, still leading the team with 18 points.
Dylan Hunter is starting to emerge as a real talent as he is now tied for 2nd in points with 13, with 6 goals and 7 assists.
Marc Mancari, still playing strong sitting also at 13 points, 2 goals and 11 assists.
Marek Zagrapan is fourth in points with 11, 7 goals and 4 assists.

The defense prospects are oh boy, well Sekera and Weber are the two top guys. And Mike Weber is one of the few Amerks with a + rating. Sekera has been up in Buffalo too long to really be judged on Amerk stats. The two Mikes, are are a combined -13 and all by himself Marc Andre Gragnani is beating them single handedly with a -16.

Adam Dennis (who they should just call up and get rid of Thibault) is 7-4-1 with a .905 sv% and a 3.04 GAA. And from the looks of it playing in front of a crappy defense.

Fan Favorite Pat Kaleta is um doing something. Has only played in 5 games with 0 points and 9 PIM. So hes not fighting or doing anything.

Ill try to bring this back next week