The Buffalo Sabres have not had an easy go.
With the longest active playoff drought in North American sports at 14 years and a painful home-opening loss to the New York Rangers on Thursday night, you can forgive Sabres fans for the angst directed at the management and ownership group for the decade-plus of mediocrity.
But NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is backing the Western New York team and its owner, telling reporters in Buffalo that Terry Pegula is "committed to getting it right."
"By the way, I remember when he first bought the Bills, initially there was a lot of criticism and it took three or four years for that team to get good," Bettman continued, per Matthew Fairburn of The Athletic. "This is taking a little bit longer, but the commitment should never be doubted. He’s a terrific owner.”
Pegula bought the Sabres back in 2011, right after the team's last ticket to the dance, and the team has not seen playoff hockey since. Conversely, the Buffalo Bills returned the playoffs three years after Pegula's purchase of the team and have been contenders ever since, led in part by MVP quarterback Josh Allen.
Though it appears just one of Pegula's investments is paying dividends (the Sabres consistently rank in the bottom of the league in attendance), Bettman insists the 74-year-old remains steadfast in the quest to return the Sabres to glory.
"No team enjoys having to go through a rebuilding process and a drought. But there’s no doubt in my mind that Terry Pegula is dedicated to hockey, committed to hockey, committed to Buffalo," Bettman said. "I assure you he’s not any happier than any fan is about the fact that he’d like to see the team perform better than it has. I know he’s committed to doing that."
The Sabres got off to a poor start to their season, suffering a shutout at the hands of their intrastate rival and were boo'd off the ice. It's just Game 1 of 82, sure, but with injuries to starting goalie Ukko Pekka-Luukkonen, defenceman Owen Power, and forwards Josh Norris and Zach Benson, hope is not high that the Sabres will prevent a 15th year to the drought.
