Someone's not coming clean

Chris Drury insisted he wanted to remain a Sabre.

Darcy Regier and Larry Quinn claimed the two-way warrior never gave them the opportunity to match the five-year, $35.25 million deal he received from the Rangers on Sunday.

On the surface, somebody is lying.

In reality, both statements are true.

The problem is, a significant piece of information is being left out. The Buffalo News knows what that is.

Before passing judgment on who's more to blame for Drury's departure, it might be a good idea for Sabres fans to check www.buffalonews.com when we post Tuesday morning's stories or pick up a copy of the paper.

---Tim Graham

Comments

[terriblejournalism]

Tim Graham, does this post make you cringe now? Because it should. Are you a journalist, or a gossip shill?

Not only did you report incendiary half-truths to the heartbroken hockey fans of Buffalo, but you baited everyone with this childish post the night before.

Like everyone else in town, I am hugely sad that we lost our captains to free agency, but unlike you, it is not my JOB to thoroughly investigate the situation. The Buffalo News should be embarrassed to be outclassed by WGR550 which at least took the time to contact the Sabres organization for a comment.

[Bob Corkum]

All I hear out of these guys' mouths is that the goal is to "be competitive." Shouldn't the goal be to win the cup?

[ED]

How come nobody remembers when the same management did the same thing to a player by the name of Peca once before. But of cource the Sabers didn't need him after all how many times did they make the playoffs without him and what did he acomplish after leaving the Sabers? The Sabers never had any intentions of keeping either of their co-captains.Last season was their last run at the cup they were going to dismantle the team regardless.Untill the fans stop supporting a losing team which is what is going to happen this will continue.I do not understand keeping players who had to be benched during the playoffs because they played with no heart or intensity while you let your co-captains and Zubrus go as well these three played their hearts out in the playoffs.Well Buffalo good luck on making the playoffs in the near future.As for the cup not in my lifetime.

[Jaromir Jagr]

Don't cry, Buffalo fans!

When Kris Drury and I return from our honeymoon, we will put on our Blue Skirts and show you just how much we love each other!

Kris and Jaromir sitting in a tree...K I S S I N G!

[Jason]

BTW has anyone noticed LQ's pretty tan in the press photos?
Usually during the most important weeks of my year I'm not sitting on a beach NOT doing my job!
Way to go Larry!
Once a bozo always a bozo..

[disgusted in PA]

Don't worry Buffalo fans, remember quinns last tenure in Sabres management...When he actually thought that the paying customers wanted to see him skate in a Sabres alumni game. Think of those great names of the past Gil, Rico, Rene and larry thinks we want to see him. With an oversized ego like his, he probably is considering offering his skills as a hockey player to the team and will start skating with them next season.

Well when you consider what he has brought to the table as management, he couldn't be worse as a player. & maybe when his contract was up, some other team would take him off our hands.

[Lloyd Marshall Jr.]

"Ode to Darcy Regier"

My, what a schmuck the Sabres have for a GM.

Always ready to make deals that break the Sabres.

Really makes you wonder about his intelligence, let alone his manhood.

Interesting how he gets rewarded for perpetual failure, while an ex-Sabre GM sees his team pass Buffalo for a Stanley Cup shot---and yet gets fired.

Constantly trying to spin his way out of the blame.

One more look at his face, and I'll heave and retch... do you feel the same way, folks?

No longer can I bring myself to watch this team's exploits so long as he's still in his position.

[Paul]

Darcy really showed Drury with his tricky agree and "don't send the contract" at the beginning of the season and the "make them wait" approach at the end of the season!

Drury would have had to have been nuts to re-sign with this asshole negotiating on behalf of the Sabres!

Maybe Drury "forgot" to allow the Sabres to match the Rangers offer just like Darcy "forgot" to send the contract to Drury at the start of the season. LOL

10,000 fans outside of HSBC during playoff games and we get a second rate G.M. with bush league moves playing with millions of dollars and running a business (the Sabres) into the ground.

[LT]

GO BILLS - GO SABRES -

Give me a break - I'm a Buffalo native living in Southern California watching the Ducks sign players already for another run.

BUFFALO WILL NEVER WIN A TITLE IN THIS ERA OF FREE AGENCY....WHY WERE THE BILLS SO GOOD IN THE EARLY 1990'S ? BECAUSE FREE AGENCY WAS NOT THAT BIG BACK THEN - SINCE THEN BUFFALO HAS AND WILL CONTINUE TO FAIL TO WIN ANY TITLES - IT IS VERY SAD..BUT TRUE !!

[Paul]

Why would anyone want to play in Buffalo if what happened to Drury is true?

What does it say about an organization that treats a classly person, and top line player, like Drury the way it did?

If you treat your top employee (Drury) that way what haven't we (as fans) heard about how others have been treated?

What was the "reasoning" in waiting six weeks after the season other than to enhance your image as a total management type asshole?

Why are we (as fans) still bothering to care?

I'm done!

I'm done with the Sabres!

[Big Al]

SOMEONE CALL AT&T FAST! MAYBE THE PHONES AT SABRES HQ ARE NOT WORKING AND DARCY & LARRY ARE TRYING TO FIGURE OUT THE BEST MOVE TO FIX IT?

[N]

Goodbye to all the bandwagon fans -- maybe now I can finally go to some hockey games.

[Jessica]

Someone's lying or they're not telling the truth. And we all know that. So instead of making us wait, tell us. We all deserve to know, after all we've put behind this team.

[Fred Saradin]

How many times have we heard "We never can stand still or remain stagnant, we always try to improve"?
I'd like to know how Darcy and that moron Quinn feel that they have improved the Sabres in the last few days. They have cheated the Sabres' fans. They have removed the heart of this team.

[Ashammed for the 2]

Boy would I like to hear what Rob Ray and Mike Robataille have to say about this!!

[matthew]

there is a 2-way street that many people miss here -

1. contracts were offered to both players

2. these players declined the contracts, valued at 5 and 6 million dollars !!!!!!!

if these players really wanted to stay here they would have signed these very lucrative contracts - face it, these players do not care about the fans!!!!!!!

so stop whining, they are gone, there will be more players to come along the road

that being said, if i was running this team, i certainly would have had this players signed long term, long before fa took place, or even became a remote idea to the to of them...if we would have given briere $4 million a year last year before arbitration he would have signed, we now know we could have had drury for $5 million/yr

however, i am not running this team, and neither are any of you, i am sick of hearing people complaining because they bought drury/briere jersey's last year, do your homework, we are not the first team to lose all-star players to free agency

last of all, simmer down, life will go on, we will be in the playoffs next year, and who knows what could happen:

a) we lose in the playoffs (do you remember your heartbreak this year)

b) we win the cup and can laugh at briere and drury!!

[Tom Guttuso, Jr.]

Now that the Buffalo Sabres again make no sense and fans pick up their heads only to see a world of confusion, I have one question: Is anybody going to own this thing? We now know that Captain Clutch agreed to a 4-year deal this past fall with Darcy and then never was offered a contract. That doesn’t sounds like Darcy to me. When asked about this at the press conference yesterday, Darcy said that things changed. That doesn’t make any sense! What changed? The fans in this town are some of the most loyal and persevering anywhere in the world but we’re not stupid. We need someone to own this thing. Speaking of ownership, where was Golisano during the press conference? Mr. Golisano has been the hero of all heroes in Buffalo. He’s a classy guy and a shrewd businessman and kept the Sabres where they belong. He’s gotten ahead by knowing what he’s good at and delegating to others what he’s not good at. Darcy said that the Sabres wanted Drury long-term. But then he slapped Drury in the face by not producing the agreed contract this past fall? I don’t think so. Mr. Golisano, the fans in this town are not only loyal but we are forgiving. As the owner of our beloved Sabres, please come clean with us. We need to make some sense of this. You will once again be our hero if you can tell us what happened and, most importantly, what was learned from this. Darcy and Larry Quinn faced the firing squad yesterday while being burned at the stake. Where were you? If you look back your long and accomplished career at Paychex, you will recall that there were several crossroads when the captain needed to right the ship and set the course and sail. Please address your fans and staff publicly and right this ship by taking ownership of both the ups and downs. We do not want to start thinking of our owner as a coward. You are our hero.

[Jack]

“I think we probably failed somewhere.”- Larry Quinn....No $#!T Larry ya think!!!- Sooner or later the truth will come out and I'm not quite sure that it will matter anymore than it does now in terms of future negotiations. It is rather disturbing to be a fan and wonder what will come of the future of this team. I'm concerned about how well respected Drury is around the league and how this disaster will echo throughout the league. Who will want to come to Buffalo and be treated this way?

[Craig]

The bigger picture is being missed here. Why would anyone sign a long term contract with this team? The management has no loyalty and absolutely does not want to win. What free agent in their right mind would want to come to Buffalo? As long as we got Kalinin locked up for a couple more years we should be good to go (for more playoff blunders). I'm sorry, there is no way you can replace Briere's offense and Drury's intangibles with what is left on the market. I believe they will be mediocre at best next year. Get ready for Roy as the number one center. Way to go Regier and Quinn you incompetent piles of crap. Why must you continue to screw this city?

[Willy the Impeached]

For the first time in years I watched hockey, went to games, bought merchandise. Why? More than anything else, Chris Drury, and Daniel Briere.
I don't care if they open with 10 wins next season (but I'm willing to bet they won't come close), I for one will not be back.
GO BILLS!

[shoe]

Well the Sabre org. has done it again! Are we being take for ride or what! Upper management is showing the Sabre fans we are nothing but a farn system for the rest of the NHl.No star player wants to come or stay here why, because they are a Bush league organization who show no intrest in keeping any so called high priced talent. Doing it on the cheap,well this year this team is gonna stink,just keep the policy of not getting contracts done till it is too late,again and again and lead us to believe we have a young and promising future, BS. I am done watching and waiting for this team to win the big one, which is never gonna happen with the snake oil salesman running the show. What did this org. do sign Adam Mair, He could'nt hit the net if it was the size of a soccer net. Goodbye you loosers, I want a winner not a bunch of also rans, and promising rising stars who will jump ship as soon as they as they can. Your new slogan should be watch as we bring new and exciting AHL players make a name for them selves, by the way is T. Vanek the next to leave,how about Miller? How many what till next years will it take?

[Ed]

The Sabers’ are very lucky that they've sold so many season tickets. This latest blunder shows that the people running the show don't understand how to run a NHL team. Maybe Sabres management needs to rethink their policy of negotiating contracts during the season. How did Tom G become a billionaire? Not a very smart business decision. With decisions like this I guess it will always be the bottom line. Well the Sabres always have Max; he did play well in the playoffs, didn't he? There is also Tim C, although very talented one more shot to the head and who knows. While Sabres management tries to put a "Sabres" spin on this (you can't compete with a personal decision) any help they Sabres might receive from the free agent market is quickly disappearing, maybe Darcy will work a trade. GO BILLS!!!!!!!

[Ed]

The Sabers’ are very lucky that they've sold so many season tickets. This latest blunder shows that the people running the show don't understand how to run a NHL team. Maybe Sabres management needs to rethink their policy of negotiating contracts during the season. How did Tom G become a billionaire? Not a very smart business decision. With decisions like this I guess it will always be the bottom line. Well the Sabres always have Max; he did play well in the playoffs, didn't he? There is also Tim C, although very talented one more shot to the head and who knows. While Sabres management tries to put a "Sabres" spin on this (you can't compete with a personal decision) any help they Sabres might receive from the free agent market is quickly disappearing, maybe Darcy will work a trade. GO BILLS!!!!!!!

[Tom]

Let me guess, the Sabres lowballed Drury too, earlier than Briere. By the time the Sabres grew up and offered real money, Drury already had decided there was enough Mickey Mouse stuff going on and he was leaving.

I am wondering why nobody grilled Quinny on Thomas Vanek. He was talking as if Vanek was already back in the fold. I wouldn't trust Quinn to hold my beer while I go to the John at this point in time.

[Bill]

Like I said, they have to fix this, their jobs are riding on it! If they do not, they lose their jobs and everyone gets their way! Look, it sucks I know but look around the league, the Sabres are ONE team in a group of MANY who are going through a tough few days! New Jersy got decimated, the Isles were the worst hit in the league. Most teams did nothing at all but watch! If we are going to vent, we must look outside of the team and focus on a league that is so inconsistent its pathetic. Once again I pose the question, why did we have a lockout again? The rich teams keep getting richer and the small markets suffer ... no different then before the lockout!

I still feel sick about this but some how, some way, it will get better! Lets hope its sooner then later!

[John S]

"They will fix this"??? Ahhh, Bill these guys created this mess. That is like saying give George Bush a little more time with Iraq and everything will be alright. In case you haven't been paying attention there is nobody left in free agency that can fill the void left.
So please, no more "fixing"

[Bill]

So what do we do next, mull over what happened? Lets analyze where we will end up after doing so ... Yes we feel good about venting! Yes, we discover that someone dropped the perverbial ball! So what now? We sit on our chairs and curse and swear while Drury and Briere spend their ridiculously over paid contracts. Lets get over it now people! Its done, the contracts are in, lets focus on whos gonna fill this void and there are quite a few guys in that locker room who are able to do so! Enough with the medieval "Off with their head" approach to management, they will fix this! If they do not, they will face their own employment consequences!

[Don]

Tim, you're a journalist, man, not a shill for tomorrow's paper. Post the little secret now -- instead of making your readers wait.