Quinn, DiPofi Expected To Leave Sabres After Sale Is Completed

Quinn, DiPofi expected to leave Sabres when Pegula brings in his own executives

Tom Golisano "plans to announce Thursday he has sold" the Sabres to East Resources President & CEO Terry Pegula, and the deal is expected to mean "the departure of" Managing Partner & Minority Owner Larry Quinn, according to David Shoalts of the GLOBE & MAIL. The sale price is said to be $175M, plus another $14M in "financial liabilities Pegula will assume, which is not bad considering Golisano paid just a little more" than $60M for the Sabres in '03. Quinn, who will receive about $14M in the transaction, yesterday said that he "would like to stay involved in hockey, perhaps at the amateur level." He did "not have any choice in selling once Golisano decided to cash out his majority stake, as Pegula will bring in his own executives." Sabres COO & Minority Owner Dan DiPofi also is "expected to take his leave." Sabres GM Darcy Regier's long-term future "will be subject to a review of the team’s operations by Pegula, but it is certain he will be around to pare down the Sabres’ $54.9-million payroll" by the Feb. 28 trade deadline (GLOBE & MAIL, 2/1). In Buffalo, Mike Harrington reports the Sabres last fall gave a contract extension to Regier, who was "widely believed to be on his way out" once Golisano sold the franchise. Golisano gave Regier a two-year extension between $2-2.5M, a deal the team "never publicized." It has been "assumed all season Regier was in the final year of his deal" (BUFFALO NEWS, 2/1).