Sabres fans "should have been more suspicious" when Terry Pegula purchased the team and spoke of winning the Stanley Cup, as he has "embraced status quo and, with that, accepted mediocrity," according to Bucky Gleason of the BUFFALO NEWS. People from Pegula's inner circle "said he would restore credibility" and they "were wrong." High-ranking execs from "across the league are laughing at the Sabres, just as they did last year after the season turned ugly." The general opinion is that Pegula's "success in the real world means almost nothing in the sports world." The Sabres needed "a cold, distant evaluation that would have revealed changes were in order." Members of Pegula's inner circle "told him to clean house," but he instead "became smitten" with GM Darcy Regier and coach Lindy Ruff. Most are "stunned" Regier and Ruff have "survived when common sense called for their dismissal long ago." Looking back, it was "easy to embrace Pegula as a hockey-loving fanatic rather than a shrewd businessman." In truth, his "affection for the Sabres, while admirable, has worked against him." This is "not how Stanley Cups are won," and it is "not how credibility is built" (BUFFALO NEWS, 2/12).
