The Buffalo Sabres..Where Do They Go from Here?

What a difference a few months make. Remember back to last Spring, when Buffalo Sabres fans were coming off their team's biggest feat in franchise history, winning the President's Trophy? That's right. The Sabres finished the 2006-2007 regular season with the most points among the National Hockey League's 30 teams. Sabres fans were hopping on the Sabres' bandwagon and entering the 2007 Stanley Cup Playoffs with high hopes and dreams. Daniel Briere and Chris Drury, big fan favorites then, were the workhorses leading their team onto the ice. With just about the whole City of Buffalo behind them, the Sabres took to the ice to battle the New York Islanders in the first round.

One tough battle to win against the New York Rangers in the second round and a devastating third round loss to the Ottawa Senators, and the Sabres found themselves scratching their heads at what happened to their dream season. Exactly who was to blame and what would be done about it was the topic of discussion on nearly every Buffalo area sports talk radio program. Then, amidst all the what-if scenarios and turmoil, free agency reared its ugly head. Exactly what would happen? Nearly all Sabres fans were sitting on pins and needles because Briere and Drury were among the top Sabres available to entertain offers from any team. While most Sabres fans were fairly confident that the team's management would do almost anything to resign these power-forwards, it came as a complete shock when both players were scooped up by other teams, just hours after free agency got under way. So there it was...capping off a disappointing season...Briere would be hopping a plane to Philadelphia, while Drury was hopping a plane to the Big Apple, for a shot with the Rangers. What would become of this team, which once gave fans so much hope...?