Sabres for Sale?

Looksl ike it's a possibility that the Buffal Sabres could in fact be for sale, citing the economy as one of the main reasons to do so. I had heard this on Hockeycentral @ noon, apparently the owner(s) purchased the franchise for $25 million, and less all loses, if they sold today for $200 million, they could potentially have made $175 million, not a bad investment. With possibly more than a few wealthy Canadian businessmen (Balsillie and a Calgary businessman, among them) interested in purchasing and relocating teams to Canada, why not? With Buffalo out of the way, it makes it easier to relocate the team to a Southern Ontario market, and one or more of both Florida teams, Columbus (), Phoenix, and Nashville could also be moved to Quebec, Winnipeg and some more steady US markets (Hartford?, Las Vegas, Kansas City?).

Even with the economy as it is, its almost a given that a team in Canada would fair much better than a team is now in one of those failing US markets. As well, guys like Balsillie acknowledge the risk of economic loss and accept it, which shows how sincere and committed they'd be to owning a franchise.

DashRiprock wrote:Looksl ike it's a possibility that the Buffal Sabres could in fact be for sale, citing the economy as one of the main reasons to do so. I had heard this on Hockeycentral @ noon, apparently the owner(s) purchased the franchise for $25 million, and less all loses, if they sold today for $200 million, they could potentially have made $175 million, not a bad investment. With possibly more than a few wealthy Canadian businessmen (Balsillie and a Calgary businessman, among them) interested in purchasing and relocating teams to Canada, why not? With Buffalo out of the way, it makes it easier to relocate the team to a Southern Ontario market, and one or more of both Florida teams, Columbus (), Phoenix, and Nashville could also be moved to Quebec, Winnipeg and some more steady US markets (Hartford?, Las Vegas, Kansas City?).

Even with the economy as it is, its almost a given that a team in Canada would fair much better than a team is now in one of those failing US markets. As well, guys like Balsillie acknowledge the risk of economic loss and accept it, which shows how sincere and committed they'd be to owning a franchise.

I can think of 6-8 teams off the top of my head that deserve a franchise less than Buffalo. Those fans are passionate and support their team through thick and thin. Having said that, if it's not economically viable, the plug may have to be pulled

It has everything to do with economics. I'd like to find out more, cause all I have is what the guys (Kypreos et al) on Hockeycentral @ Noon on Sportsnet were discussing.

The GM meetings are said to be discussing the economy right now and they have economists from both Canada and the United States there making presentations. It's unknown whether or not the Buffalo sale is being brought up.

EDIT:

Right on cue, almost an hour later from my post... http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=258941&lid=headline&lpos=topStory_nhl

Sabres minority owner Quinn denies team for sale nor relocating