WGR 550's Paul Hamilton has learned that the sale of the Sabres to Terry Pegula will be made official on Thursday morning. The price tag on the team will be 175 million dollars, plus the debt being taken on by Pegula.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said that prospective Buffalo Sabres owner Terry Pegula took a “preliminary step” in purchasing the franchise by meeting with the league’s Board of Governors executive committee on Saturday morning. The commissioner added that he “likes” Pegula and his passion for hockey during his press conference on Saturday evening at the RBC Center.
WGR previously confirmed that Pegula had met with Boston Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs and the rest of the executive committee earlier in the day. It appears that Pegula’s interest in hockey and the Sabres is impressing all within the NHL. Bettman said that he has known the Pennsylvania billionaire for quite some time and said that he believes Pegula is, “somebody who has the wherewithal to own a franchise. He’s, obviously, been a hockey fan for a long time…he has made a substantial contribution and furtherance of collegiate ice hockey in Penn State.”

ESPN.com’s Pierre LeBrun also reported that a purchase agreement for the franchise could be announced later this coming week. LeBrun also reported that the sale price for the franchise is $189 million. Commissioner Bettman would not discuss specifics of any deal, adding:

“The status of the transaction, I’m not going to speculate as to whether or not this is the week, or there’s ever going to be a week [to announce a purchase agreement]. That would be for Mr. Pegula and the Sabres and current ownership to announce if and when they’re ready.”

After his press conference the commissioner spoke more about Pegula and his love of hockey. Bettman said he believes Pegula is a good candidate to become an owner of an NHL franchise, saying he, “has the resources, is familiar with the area…he [Pegula] obviously loves the game, he is investing in it at all levels.”
Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly echoed Bettman’s comments on Pegula after the press conference as well. Daly has spent some time getting to know Pegula and said that the self-made billionaire is, “very likeable. He met with…the subcommittee of our executive committee. He was impressive. “

Daly continued to rave about Pegula and believes that his meeting with the board’s sub-committee was able to accomplish many things:

“He’s down to earth. He’s normal. He, you know, spoke about his passion for the game, spoke about his passion for the Sabres, about this being…a lifelong dream to kind of own the Sabres and operate ‘em. He talked about his vision for the future, which is putting substantial resources behind the club and making it successful long term, wanting to be successful on the ice. So, it was a good session with him.”

It is important to remember that the signing of a purchase agreement is not the final step to owning the Sabres. Once the purchase agreement is signed by both sides the Board of Governors will vote on the sale of the team, and once the sale is approved by the group Pegula can become the owner of the team. It has been reported that it could take a month between the time a purchase agreement is signed and a vote on the sale.

a lifelong dream to kind of own the Sabres and operate ‘em.

his vision for the future, which is putting substantial resources behind the club and making it successful long term

Exxxcellent



Hell to the yes.

Maybe this owner won't unnecessarily tear apart a Cup Contender because he wants to pocket a few more million....because its a business.

I still say we're atleast 3-4 years away from any of the magic we had in 06-07; too many bad contracts, and under performing roster players.

This is definitely a step in the right direction, but unless Pegula comes in and buys out 3 bad contracts, and then goes out and buys Richards, Gagne, and Jovanovski we're still going to have holes in our roster.

Don't get me wrong, I'm excited to have a new owner, but I'm not expecting this team to be revamped overnight.

I agree this team is going to take some time to revamp and the way that I look at it is if any team wants Connolly, Rivet, Butler then get whatever you can for these losers. This team needs some work but more importantly what happens to Regier and Ruff.

Pat LaFontaine for head coach...make it happen!

I'd support any one of the French Connection, but I personally would like Renee Robert as HC.
I'd like Martin and Perreault in the front office. Just my personal preferrence is all.

This turnaround will not take 4 years.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that management goes after Zach Parise.

Considering BTG never did this either, Pegula probably wont.

I'd go with that, though being 31 I didn't grow up with those guys. LaFontaine, Mogilny, Andreychuk and hell, even Pupa are guys I remember from my childhood. Sorry...back on track, I strayed from the topic.

Do you get paid to be Golisano spokesman?
....
Reports are that he's not a hands off owner even though he wasn't a fan of hockey prior to owning the team.
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Who gives a rip..you're the owner of the Sabres...what have to done for the Sabres organization....its so obvious that he cared about this team as much as his runs for Governor. Give it a go and give up.