NOW Do You Believe!?!? - Sabres NHL 11 BAGM

[Hawkeye57]

REGIER OUT AS GENERAL MANAGER, WILLIAMS IN

BUFFALO (11/19/10, 11:10pm) - The Buffalo Sabres front office have officially relieved General Manager Darcy Regier from his duties as General Manager and have promoted him to Senior Vice President of Hockey Operations. Replacing him will be Mark Williams, the youngest General Manager is the history of the National Hockey League.

Williams, a Buffalo native, was ecstatic to hear the news that he would receive the position, and had this to say:

"I have always been a Sabres fan, and ever since I was around thirteen I knew I wanted to be the General Manager of the Sabres, and now I am able to live that dream not ten years later. I can't wait to get started!"

This move was also met with a great deal of criticism, mostly regarding his age. Many people in the hockey world don't think that Williams is mature enough to be GM in this league. "He is too young, and being that young can really hurt a franchise" one anonymous GM stated, "It could either be really good, or extremely awful. Not saying that I am not happy for the kid, but it could possibly hamper a sterling franchise."

Williams met this criticism with a laugh, seemingly unworried about the press. "I have never let the press get in my way of anything, and if people are intimidated by a young General Manager, so be it. I am going to make this great team even greater, and you can take that to the bank."

The players seem to think that the move was excellent. "I am happy to see the move, it shows that the team cares about having a guy in the front office that will make moves to make this team better", said goalie Ryan Miller. "I think that having a young guy is great, it shows the organization is really valuing their staff", noted team captain Craig Rivet. "It seems the guys in management want to give us the best in order to succeed."

Mark, 22, will begin his work as GM at the Entry Draft this June.

[Hawkeye57]

SABRES PULL OFF BLOCKBUSTER WITH DEVILS AT DRAFT

LOS ANGELES, CA. – The Sabres managerial team remained quiet throughout the first six rounds of the draft, denying offers from many different teams and just making their picks. Fans were getting antsy to see what new GM Mark Williams would pull off, and they ended up waiting until the final round of the draft to see some action. And boy, what a treat they received.

Williams made a move that Regier would not have, and traded for a big name at the draft. The team parted ways with Defensemen Shaone Morrisonn and Steve Montador, Forward Cody McCormick and their 7^th round pick in the draft (acquired from San Jose) to the New Jersey Devils to Forward Travis Zajac and Defenseman Tyler Eckford.

The move shocked the Sabres fans in attendance, and even some New Jersey fans. Williams and the team seem to be happy with their acquisition…

“The way I see it, what killed us last year was our Power Play and scoring. Acquiring Travis was a huge step in the right direction. Morrisonn, Montador and McCormick will all be missed by the organization and we thank them for all of their hard work”, noted Williams.

“We also felt very strongly about Eckford, we saw how well he was doing and how he was developing and thought he would be a good fit. Our scout thought highly of him, and we all agreed this was the guy we wanted”

When he heard the news, Zajac was in shock. “I am extremely shocked that the Devils parted ways with me, I thought I was part of their core and I guess they thought otherwise. However, the Sabres see me as an integral part of their season, and that makes me excited. I can’t wait to put on the blue and gold!”. Eckford could not be queried.

When asked on how this move would affect his defense corps, Mark responded with a somewhat confident attitude, “We have a great depth at defense right now, with Myers leading the pack. We will be definitely looking to sign some guys at free agency time as well.”

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The Sabres chose eight players in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, here is the latest batch of new Sabres:

1^st Round – Jonathan Parker (F)
3^rd Round – Adam Almquist (D)
3^rd Round – Tristan Scherway (RW)
3^rd Round – Niklas Treutle (G)
4^th Round – Lukas Stoop (D)
5^th Round – Tomas Knotek ©
6^th Round – Michael KirkPatrick ©
7^th Round – Jonathon Brunelle (LW)

[Hawkeye57]

SABRES ADD SIX TO ROSTER

BUFFALO, NY. – The Buffalo Sabres wasted no time when July the First rolled around, making some big signings and filling holes in their lineup. The team ended up signing six players out of the free agents pool, acquiring two defenseman, and several role playing forwards.

At 12:03pm, the Sabres and Defenseman Jay McKee came to terms on a two year, $3.56 million deal. Mark Williams, Sabres General Manager, hailed this as a breakthrough signing that would add solid depth and a veteran presence to a defense corps weakened in the Zajac trade. While the team reportedly made an offer to defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron, he ended up siging with the Capitals three minutes later.

Around fifteen minutes later, the Sabres announced that they had signed Forward Bill Guerin to a one year deal worth around $850,000. Guerin, a veteran who has spent time recently with the Penguins and the Islanders, was excited to come to the Sabres. “I am very excited to be a member of the Sabres organization and I look forward to contributing offensively as well as being a positive veteran presence in the locker room.

While the team did not make any moves in the next few hours, they made three minor moves in rapid procession. The team came to terms with Defenseman Jonas Frogren and Forwards Jonathan Cheechoo and Owen Nolan. Frogren, signed for the league minimum over three years, will play a role with the Sabres farm team in Portland. Cheechoo, signed to a one year deal worth $700,000, is on a two way contract and will likely spend most, if not all, of the season with the Pirates. Owen Nolan, a veteran, most recently playing with Minnesota, signed a one way deal worth $600,000. He may see time in Portland, should he pass waivers, or may be the team’s extra forward.

The Sabres weren’t done at that point, however. The team added grinder Evgeny Artyukhin, who signed a one year deal worth $775,000. Evgeny is ecstatic that the Sabres signed him, “I was hoping to hear from the Sabres and I feel fortunate to be part of the team. I look forward to the upcoming season”


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The team also came to terms with five players in their organization, all were Restricted Free Agents.

Draftees Lukas Stoop, Triston Scherway and Adam Almquist were all signed to three year deals at varying price levels between $750,000 to $850,000. Also signed were Defenseman Mark Pysyk and Forward Zack Kassian, already part of the organization, both receiving three year deals.

[Hawkeye57]

SABRES SWAP D-MEN WITH BLUES

BUFFALO, NY. – Today, the Sabres and Blues organizations have announced a trade that will, in essence, swap defenseman.

The Buffalo Sabres acquired defenseman Corlo Colaiacovo and Roman Polak, and sent Defensemen Jordan Leopold and Marc-Andre Gragnani, along with their fifth round pick in 2011, to St. Louis.

Both managers seemed to be ecstatic about this deal, but Williams seemed to be a bit more jocular. “In my opinion, I think we won that trade. I don’t want to discredit Leopold nor Gragnani, but I felt that this offer got us a great two way defenseman in Colaiacovo and Polak, who will be worked through the system, may be have a great impact in two to three years. We thank Leopold and Gragnani for their contributions to the organization.”

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The team has also released their preseason schedule:

Saturday, September 18^th vs. Toronto
Tuesday, September 21^st vs Montreal
Friday, Semptember 24^th @ Ottawa
Monday, September 27^th vs. Boston

[Jshson14]

GO SABRES!

Signing Jay McKee off of the Niagara University Coaching staff, win!

[bthomp05]

Good luck in pre-season.

[hockeyplayer]

I hope your numerous off-season moves improves your team. At least on paper it should. Good luck!

[metscolts]

Good luck!