The Rochester Americans and Buffalo Sabres have been affiliated for the past 29 years. The past six months between the two teams has been like a bitter divorce battle. The ongoing saga had put fans against fans, and caused a major distraction that effected the 07/08 Amerks season.

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Sabres/Amerks Divorce is Final

A number of people have questioned whether it was really over, but news of the past few days has made everything all but official.

The Portland Pirates were previously affiliated with the Anaheim Ducks. The Ducks have now reached an agreement to be the NHL affiliate of the Iowa Stars.

With that deal official, Regier said Monday he soon will reveal plans about his team’s future.

The Iowa Stars were previously affiliated with the Dallas Stars. A spokesman for the Dallas Stars, who ended their affiliation with the Iowa Stars after two seasons, said last week the team will assign its minor league players to two AHL teams next season. Those two teams being the Portland Pirates and Iowa Stars.

So the Buffalo Sabres will be back to sharing an affiliation with an AHL team.

All of this opens the door for the Florida Panthers to be the sole NHL parent team of the Rochester Americans after sharing them with the Buffalo Sabres for the past two seasons.

Amerks fans have consistently said they do not want a dual affiliation. With the Sabres going back to that, all signs point to the team leaving as a good sign. The Florida Panthers have said they are committed to producing a winning team in the AHL as the sole affiliate, something the Sabres weren’t willing to do.

Only time will tell if the Sabres leaving has any sort of negative impact, but one thing is for certain, nothing can really be worse than last season for the Amerks franchise (knock on wood).

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Sabres Affiliation ‘Days Away’ from Being Over

The Buffalo Sabres have said they won’t be back as an affiliate next season without new ownership.

Steve Donner plans to sell a majority share of the franchise to a new investor, that sale can’t take place until Donner and partner Walter Turek can finally buy out minority owner Randall Latona.

Those negotiations, ongoing for months, continue to go well, Donner said.

“All the numbers are in order. We’ve come a long way,” Donner said.

All of us want answers (fans and players).  I can’t imagine current Florida Panther prospects were happy to read that the Panthers are ready to keep most players in the ECHL with the Florida Everblades, and spread the rest out across teams in the AHL.

Rochester is behind on affiliation payments to both Buffalo and Florida, with the team agreeing to pay each franchise $18,000 a season for each player on loan — about half the going rate.

The Panthers say they have worked out a payment plan with Rochester, with alternate governor Bill Torrey working out a deal last month. According to Martin, the Panthers received a payment from Rochester on Feb. 1, but still haven’t received a payment that was scheduled for Feb. 29.

”I would think everything is going to be resolved,” Martin said. “I don’t understand it. You look at their attendance, and it’s been good. They have other teams that may be hurting them, and they owe money to people.”

So the big question hangs overhead, where is all the money going to that the Amerks bring in from ticket sales to cause payments to be behind?

Amerks president Steve Donner said he understood the Panthers’ fears. He said the NHL team had been kept updated on a plan that would provide stable financial footing.

“They’re making sure I can get my deal done,” Donner said.

“They have expressed a concern that things have dragged on. They obviously have been more than patient.”

Fans have been more than patient as well, but I can’t imagine will be for much longer.  Long time fans have become divided on which side to choose.  It’s like a divorce where kids have to choose between mom and dad.

With this battle it’s a choice between people who support Steve Donner, and those who want him out of here.

Donner keeps on telling us that “things will be fixed soon,” something he also told Rhino’s fans and look how that situation has turned out.

”I think we’re going to know something within a month,” Panthers coach and general manager Jacques Martin said. “This month is crucial for both of us, to see where we’re going to be.”

I imagine Jacques Martin was told that by Steve Donner.  Donner also expected a buyout to be completed by the end of February with Latona.

So, we know a few things for sure at this point -

• Steve Donner and Randall Latona have reportedly solved there feud.  The two of them have also been negotiating with an investor to buyout Latona’s shares of the team.
• The Panthers and Sabres have said they will not be back without new majority ownership.
• The lease at Blue Cross Arena for the Amerks is up in June.

One thing is for certain, we’re all very skeptical of Steve Donner that “things will be fixed soon.”  It would be nice at this point if there was something to go on other than his word.

Hearing this news from the Panthers points back to the idea of the Buffalo Sabres eventually owning the Amerks.  The Sabres aren’t interested in fielding a full AHL team.  The Panthers seem to have two options, either become sole affiliate with new ownership in Rochester, or spread players across the AHL.  Put two and two together and we have the same team as we do this year.

Chances are we’ll be heading well into the summer without a real resolution.

Quotes taken from the Miami Herald and Democrat and Chronicle.

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Panthers Also Ready to Leave Rochester

Mark Mancari (13th of season) and Kenndal McArdle (5th of season) scored the only goals for the Amerks, all four goals for the flames were scored by Grant Stevenson.  Adam Dennis stopped 30 of 33 shots.

The Amerks only had 15 players on the roster tonight, two under the norm, Stefan Meyer and Marek Zagrapan were out presumebly with the flu bug that has been going around the locker room.

Franklin MacDonald was playing as a forward tonight, he now joins Gragnani who was also recently moved to the same position after a depressing start as a defenseman.

The Amerks have been short on players for much of the season and especially as of recent.  The Buffalo Sabres currently have Clark MacArthur who was recalled on January 5, and Patrick Kaleta on the 8th.  The Florida Panthers called up Tanner Glass on January 13 and Anthony Stewart back on January 3rd.  Neither team has assigned any players to the Amerks as replacements.

What may have been an insult to current Panther prospects, the Panthers bypassed everyone on the Amerks and called up Shawn Matthias from the juniors, he has been playing for the Belleville Bulls of the OHL.

At this point in a season one would think the Amerks would at least try and sign some players to a PTO contract, but we can only speculate as to why that hasn’t happened.  It could be possible the team tried to find replacements but couldn’t find anyone and get them to the team on time while they’re on the road.  It could be possible they don’t have the money to be able to sign someone.

Why havn’t the Panthers or Sabres signed someone else, or at least promoted some players to the Amerks?  It’s because neither team has anyone else.  Players can only be promoted to the AHL from the ECHL and the CHL, neither parent team has any prospects in either of those leagues.  Any additions would have to be new signings.

One last thought is that the only people who care about the outcome of this season are the players on the ice and the Amerks head office, not anyone in Buffalo or Florida.  If they do care they sure have a weird way of showing it.

The only real possible conclusion to this whole mess goes back to comments that Stefan Meyer made at the end of December:

“It’s easy to play when things are working, but now is a good time for our parent teams to come watch,” said Meyer, the third-year winger who is third in team scoring.

“They can see who can play, who can battle through adversity, things guys will face in the NHL. This is an opportunity for a lot of us to turn the ship around. This is a time for leaders and guys who can handle the NHL to show it.”

The Florida Panthers have said they want and are willing to be back in Rochester next season, if that’s the case they’re probably going to build the team from next to nothing.  Stefan Meyer, Rob Globke, Martin Lojek, Drew Larman, Anthony Stewart, and Adam Taylor are all restricted free agents.  Of all those players Stefan Meyer is probably the only one that could be expected to be resigned.

Buffalo has said they’re not coming back to Rochester next season as an affiliate.  Of there prospects, Mark Mancari and Clark MacArthur are the only restricted free agents at the end of this season, MacArthur has pretty much solidified his spot on the Sabres roster.  Mark Mancari leads the Amerks in scoring with 34 points (13 G, 21 A) in 45 games.  Mike Ryan is unrestricted at the end of the season, the Sabres have not played him to his potential this season so Mark may as well play like he is going to take that spot.

With an uncertain future ahead of the Amerks franchise, we have a very bleak second half of the season as the team tries to shed the label of potential worst team in franchise history.

You can’t really blame season ticket holders for leaving early, fans not wanting to purchase seats, and the rare front page article in the Democrat and Chronicle.

When a team only has 15 healthy players to start a game and there are no attempts to get replacements, it proves that the issues this team has faced this season should not be put solely on the shoulders of the players on the ice.

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15 Active, Lost 20 of last 22, Where’s some Help?

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Sabres to end affiliation with Amerks

January 5, 2007 –

(This information was not made public until November 29, 2007)

Source: News 10 NBC (Rochester, NY)

View a pdf of the letter Larry Quinn sends a letter to Steve Donner showing interest to start discussing the affiliation between the Buffalo Sabres and Rochester Americans for the 2007-2008 season and beyond. The letter states the Sabres are interested in discussing two alternatives, one of which is a long term affiliation agreement, the other is the outright purchase of the Americans.

Source: As reported by the Press Box Power Trip Rochester Americans and Knighthawks owner Steve Donner apparently held a press event today in reaction to Mayor Bob Duffy’s offer in his State of the City address Monday night to conduct an audit of the teams’ finances. I couldn’t make the press thing, but Donner issued a written statement as well. Oh, yeah, and here it is:“I am encouraged by the Mayor’s remarks last evening and his commitment to help the Amerks and the Knighthawks on a long-term basis. We will agree to participate in an independent audit of our financial records as a long as the City agrees to a mutually acceptable level of confidentiality. We have provided 11 years of financial statements to the City of Rochester and are confident that independent analysis will confirm our need for a better lease for both teams and a larger share of the revenues that our organizations create.”

May 24 2007 –

Source: Democrat and Chronicle / View copy of lawsuit (pdf) Randall Latona files a lawsuit seeking the removal of Steve Donner from all positions of power within the Rochester Americans and Rochester Knighthawks organizations.

A judge refuses to remove Steve Donner and Walter Turek of the Rochester Americans and Knighthawks, saying that minority owner Randall Latona lacked evidence to support his claim that the sports teams are teetering on the brink of financial collapse.In his ruling, New York State Supreme Court Justice Kenneth Fisher did order the teams to turn over financial information to Latona that had been requested this past spring.Additional newsworthy items brought forward:

Source: News 10 NBC WHEC Rochester, NY

The letters previously mentioned that were sent by Larry Quinn to the Amerks on January 5, 2007 and April 6, 2007 were tracked down by News 10 NBC in Rochester, NY. Up until this point it had just been speculation and rumors that the Sabres did offer to begin talking to the Amerks about both long term affiliation as well as interest in purchasing the Rochester Americans.“You have two organizations whose business interests do not align properly at the moment,” Donner said.“It takes two to tango and that hasn’t happened,” Sabres owner Tom Golisano said.“We have a solid investment offer on the table worth millions of dollars that would clear up any questions about our finances,” Donner said. “The Rochester Americans are going to be fine. We’re going to be here. There’s absolutely no question about that.”

November 29, 2007 –

Source: Democrat and Chronicle American Hockey League President Dave Andrews says his league will continue to operate in the city of Rochester beyond the 2007-2008 season.

“We’ve encouraged them to put an offer in and we’ve actually told them the range it would take to put an offer in that we would accept,” Steve Donner is quoted as saying on the Soccer Sam radio show on Hot Talk 1280, WHTK in Rochester, NY.

Two other quotes of interest from Steve Donner:

A few items to be pointed out:

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The Facts Regarding The Finances and Affiliations

The Amerks are now the only team left in the AHL with two parent organizations.  It would seem there is a reason for that. 

It was only a matter of time before call-ups started happening for the Amerks.  They do for every AHL team.  They are always going to be a part every minor team and only add to the frustration of our own injuries and problems.

With players like Mike Van Ryn and Rostislav Olesz and ex-Amerks like David Booth and Noah Welch being injured for the Florida Panthers, call-ups are needed to replace them.  And that would be fine…

If not for the fact that the Amerks have another parent team who is also very good at getting themselves injured.  With Jaroslav Spacek out we have already seen the Buffalo Sabres dipping into their pool of reserves.  And to make matters worse, in tonight’s game (10-24), both Paul Gaustad and Dmitri Kalinin were injured.

While there is no word on how bad their injuries are, one thing will be certain…the Amerks will be losing more players for their game on Friday night.

With only nine games played, the team has already lost Anthony Stewart (getting Rob Globke in return), Kamil Kreps, Stefan Meyer and Andrej Sekera.  Who will be taken this time?  Leading scorer Clarke MacArthur?  A top defenseman?  Just another bite taken out of a team looking to stop a five game losing streak. 

Maybe things wouldn’t be so bad if either parent team was willing to put their money where their mouth is.  The Amerks have no veterans this season.  No one to help develop the extreemly young players on this team into something Calder Cup-ready (or NHL ready for that matter).

Last season there was one veteran on the team and he had to be supplied from money out of the Amerks own pockets. 

Maybe the time is coming to look into other options for the Rochester Americans.  It may be time to break free of the Sabres if they aren’t willing to have a single affiliation with Rochester.

With fifteen starting players on the Sabres who were brought up through the Rochester system, you would imagine the Sabres would find them to be an important part of the team.

With a long term lease with the Blue Cross Arena around the corner, there have been surveys handed out at games and for season ticket holders asking what we should do about the affiliation situation.

The talk on the streets is this…

If the Sabres aren’t ready to put money into the team that is supplying them with players, maybe it is time to find someone who will.  And the Panthers don’t seem to have enough pro-ready players to make an AHL team on their own.

The day has come where a change needs to be made.  Either with one of the parent teams the team has now, or with another NHL affiliate.  But, one thing is for sure…something needs to change.

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The Tolls of a Dual-Affiliation

Seems like an almost safe bet that we’ll see an announcement that they are being sent down to the Amerks to start the season.  It’s not likely that the Sabres would allow anyone to skip the sessions while their names were plastered all over every video screen in the arena, unless they had already been given the news.

I havn’t heard much about Funk this pre season, but Mark Mancari and Marek Zagrapan are two players stepping up their game who will be a great asset for the Amerks (assuming the Sabres don’t get run down with injuries and they get called up often).

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Mancari, Zagrapan, and Funk being sent back?

Another report from camp coming on Wednesday afternoon!

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Sabres Send a few back..

Two current defenseman for the Sabres, Jaroslav Spacek and Dmitri Kalinin were criticized for their performances during the playoffs, Funk and Sekera have their sights set on improving their play to one day replace them.  Great news for them, let’s just hope the Sabres have some defenseman to replace them on the Amerks if the day comes! 

07/17/07 Buffalo News Article

Funk, Sekera seeing spots

Young defensemen ready if Kalinin, Spacek falter

By John Vogl NEWS SPORTS REPORTER
Updated: 07/17/07 7:02 AM

 Sometimes, it’s all about taking advantage of someone else’s misfortune. Michael Funk and Andrej Sekera are working hard to do just that.

The Buffalo Sabres prospects are focused on themselves this summer, striving to improve every area as their second pro season approaches. If the defensemen don’t get better, their chances of advancing to the NHL are slim no matter what anyone else does.

But their eyes sparkled when they thought about the chance they may have been given within the organization. The Sabres’ defensive corps, thought to be one of the team’s strengths, began to crumble during the playoffs. Erstwhile stalwarts Jaroslav Spacek and Dmitri Kalinin were pinned to the bench for all but a few minutes as the Sabres’ season ticked to an end.

Also, two defensemen picked up at the trade deadline have not been re-signed. Timo Helbling has signed to play in Europe and Mikko Lehtonen is an unrestricted free agent.

Suddenly, the climb up the depth chart seemed shorter. Funk and Sekera are still long shots to make the opening-night roster this fall, but they now have hope they can supplant two players they previously had little shot to catch.

Continued - http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/story/121037.html

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Funk and Sekera looking for big seasons!