Sabres: Push to the Playoffs

Tim Connolly (Buffalo Sabres)

We are already just about three-fourths of the way through the NHL regular season, it's time to start seriously thinking about the playoffs. There are so many questions to be answered and not much time left to answer them. What are some of the transactions that will be seen over the next few weeks leading up to and including the NHL trade deadline? The deadline this year is February 28, 2011 at 3:00 PM Eastern Standard Time, and some major trades may be brewing as many teams will be looking to acquire the missing links to secure their playoff positions.

With the Buffalo Sabres new ownership, there is expected to a be a flurry of trades and transactions that would see the club make an even stronger push into the playoff hunt. Still a few points out, they need several pieces to the puzzle that would help make them a much stronger team. Some reports say that D Craig Rivet, F Tim Connolly, F Rob Niedermayer, F Mike Grier, and F Jason Pominville are all on the trading block and may be on their way out. There are many different trade rumours dealing with the Buffalo Sabres, however the most common theme sees Tim Connolly (pictured) on his way out of Buffalo. This will not come as a surprise to many Sabres fans, as anyone who has looked at salaries and performance can see that Connolly makes too much money for producing too little. At the moment, he makes $4.5 million a year and eventhough his contract will end at the end of this year and make him an unrestricted free agent, that would open up some room to perhaps bring in another player that would help in the push to the playoffs.

Currently, the Buffalo Sabres are making a push to join the hunt, and they have been quite successful lately with the exception of yesterday's matinee game against the Washington Capitals. Let's hear some trade rumours and your opinions on who should go and who should stay. I think we all can agree on the fact that the Sabres need to make a move if they want to not only make the playoffs, but be a contender to get past the first round.

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Biggest transfers of the winter transfer period.

The headlines in the news throughout England were dominated by the recent transfers. The top tier in England saw several important transfers that will have certainly have an impact on the rest of the season. Among the top transfers were names like Fernando Torres (pictured left) and Andy Carroll (pictured right).

Fernando Torres who has been struggling for form recently due to injuries, has seen his way from Liverpool to the west London club FC Chelsea. David Luiz, a Brazilian defender from Benfica Lisbon in Portugal was also acquired for £21.3 million. Chelsea is seeking a way to defend their title and Carlo Ancelotti must see these two as the missing links. 10 points behind Manchester United with 14 games left may be a unsurmountable difference, but don't put it past the Blues. The transfer fee is a record £50 million (approximately $80 million). Liverpool reinvested the money into buying two replacements for Torres. Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez were purchased for a total of £57.7 million (£35 and £22.7 million respectively).

Sunderland acquired several strong midfielders that may be able to help their chances in the road to the Champions League. Sulley Muntari is on loan from Inter Milan, and Stephane Sessegnon was purchased for £6 million. Obafemi Martins is also on loan to Birmingham from Russian side Rubin Kazan for the rest of the season. Edin Dzeko came to Manchester City from German club VfL Wolfsburg, and Emmanuel Adebayor left ManCity to Real Madrid until the end of the season to make room for Dzeko. Relegation bound West Ham United secured the sure goal scorer Demba Ba from TSG Hoffenheim and also acquired the help of Robbie Keane until the end of the season.

There were also several Americans on the move including Michael Bradley, as previously mentioned. Robbie Findley made his way to Nottingham Forest in the English Championship from the MLS. Eddie Johnson was sent on loan to Preston North End, where he will seek some playing time he couldn't find at Fulham.

Opinion: Chelsea may be taking a risk in the purchase of Fernando Torres, who may find a hard time earning minutes behind the likes of Didier Drogba, Nicholas Anelka, and Salomon Kalou. I think Liverpool is the winner with the purchase of Andy Carroll who has already scored 11 goals this season for Newcastle. He may lack experience however his potential to evolve into a bigger star is certainly attractive. Chelsea needs improvement on the defensive side of the ball and hopefully David Luiz can improve the team. Sunderland may be the team to watch. A very impressive first half of the season has led to an opportunity to play for a Champions League spot at the end of the season. The two midfielders will only help their situation and they are a team to keep an eye on.

Sabres sale official. Press conference on Thursday.

Today the Buffalo Sabres owner Tom Golisano has agreed to finalize the sale of the western New York NHL team to billionaire Terry Pegula. The agreement was announced today, however details regarding the entire situation will be discussed Thursday during a press conference.

The reports say that the purchase will be $175 million for the Sabres organization and another $14 in liabilities through the NHL.

Terry is a Penn State University alumn, and he recently made a very generous donation in the area of $88 million for a new multipurpose arena which will be the host of the Penn State Ice Hockey teams which will be competing at the D-I level starting in the 2012-2013 season.

Opinion: I think that we need to thank Tom Golisano for saving the team back in 2003 when we suffered financial difficulties, however recently I was not happy with the performance and some of the choices of management. Is this starting a new era for the Buffalo Sabres? What are your thoughts on this situation?