SECOND CHANCE FOR BOTHThe first Peca episode ended, well, not so good. We all remember the contract impasse, the holdout, then the trade to New York. In all, it was not a good time for the Sabres. We remember that year.
We remember the brutal second round Game 6 tragedy where the Sabres were minutes from the Conference Finals only to have Lemieux and gang rip that dream away. Why? Why, Rhett Warraner, didn't you just tackle him?
We remember the following summer, where we lost Dominik. Well, we traded him, but he wanted out anyways. The trade, of course, brought in the heartless and useless Slava Kozlov who was a Sabre for about five minutes.
We remember the Rigas scandal that almost saw the Sabres become the Portland Sabres. I won't go into any more detail.
And finally, we remember the culmination of a year long contract dispute and holdout which eventually lead to the trading of Peca to the Islanders for Tim Connolly and Taylor Pyatt.
In hindsight, the trade was not all bad in terms of personnel, considering that Connolly, despite injuries has turned into one hell of a player and Pyatt also had his moments. However, the Peca saga seemed to be symbolic of troubled times that none of us saw coming.
The ensuing 3 seasons after the Peca saga yielded some of the darkest times in Sabres history. We suffered through the bankruptcy, the near relocation, and some very horrendous hockey. We went three straight years missing the playoffs and rode a tidal wave of a negative reputation and very mediocre on-ice performance into the lockout. It was the worst of times.
Of course, things are different now. We were saved by a new owner, we are back to being a playoff team, make that a contender, and the hockey tradition in Buffalo is alive again. Despite the management whiffs of the past few weeks, things are still looking pretty positive and as it turns out, Peca wants a piece of the WNY hockey experience again.
According to the News, Peca would love a second stint with the team where his career peaked years ago. Saying that he feels he could contribute to the team in terms of on ice performance and leadership, he claims that Buffalo is on the top of his wish list of teams to sign with.
Here it is. A second chance for everyone. Regier can put the Free Agency Disaster of 2007 behind him and Peca can return to a place he is more than familiar with. Peca is a familiar face and a legendary name in the halls of HSBC Arena and there is no better way to begin fans' healing than to bring a guy with Peca's reputation in.
Let us not forget, he wore the "C" the last time we went to the Finals.
Darcy, stopping f--king around and sign him. Just sign him.
We remember the brutal second round Game 6 tragedy where the Sabres were minutes from the Conference Finals only to have Lemieux and gang rip that dream away. Why? Why, Rhett Warraner, didn't you just tackle him?
We remember the following summer, where we lost Dominik. Well, we traded him, but he wanted out anyways. The trade, of course, brought in the heartless and useless Slava Kozlov who was a Sabre for about five minutes.
We remember the Rigas scandal that almost saw the Sabres become the Portland Sabres. I won't go into any more detail.
And finally, we remember the culmination of a year long contract dispute and holdout which eventually lead to the trading of Peca to the Islanders for Tim Connolly and Taylor Pyatt.
In hindsight, the trade was not all bad in terms of personnel, considering that Connolly, despite injuries has turned into one hell of a player and Pyatt also had his moments. However, the Peca saga seemed to be symbolic of troubled times that none of us saw coming.
The ensuing 3 seasons after the Peca saga yielded some of the darkest times in Sabres history. We suffered through the bankruptcy, the near relocation, and some very horrendous hockey. We went three straight years missing the playoffs and rode a tidal wave of a negative reputation and very mediocre on-ice performance into the lockout. It was the worst of times.
Of course, things are different now. We were saved by a new owner, we are back to being a playoff team, make that a contender, and the hockey tradition in Buffalo is alive again. Despite the management whiffs of the past few weeks, things are still looking pretty positive and as it turns out, Peca wants a piece of the WNY hockey experience again.
According to the News, Peca would love a second stint with the team where his career peaked years ago. Saying that he feels he could contribute to the team in terms of on ice performance and leadership, he claims that Buffalo is on the top of his wish list of teams to sign with.
Here it is. A second chance for everyone. Regier can put the Free Agency Disaster of 2007 behind him and Peca can return to a place he is more than familiar with. Peca is a familiar face and a legendary name in the halls of HSBC Arena and there is no better way to begin fans' healing than to bring a guy with Peca's reputation in.
Let us not forget, he wore the "C" the last time we went to the Finals.
Darcy, stopping f--king around and sign him. Just sign him.
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