Trades, Trades, Trades
2-5 Stumbling Sabres. Inconsistant to Say the Least
1-14 Doug Shouts Out About the Disappearance of Serveral Players

** THE OFFSEASON IS UPON US **

May 23, 2000

Well Sabres fans, the season is done, and we are in for what looks to be like an exciting offseason. Will we trade Hasek? Who will be taken from expansion? We will have to wait and see.

The season was one full of ups and downs, more downs than ups, but a mediocre season. The Sabres did a tremendous job sqeaking into the playoffs, but did not make any noise like in past seasons. The aquisitions of Gilmour, Gratton, and Dumont adds a great outlook for next season for this team. We got the "tools" that Regis promised us, but they were a little too late. In my eyes I think next season looks very bright for Buffalo. I predict no lower than a 6th seed. Some beg to differ, but i think they will excell next season.

Now onto Hasek..........oh boy. What is going to happen? As much as I want the Dominator to end in Buffalo, We need that extra something for the Stanley Cup. in '99 that was a cinderella season and we all know it. That does not happen too often. What we need is one more premier player, and with Hasek's big salary out of the way we could really get a great player. Now who would we want? A defenseman or a forward? I really can't put a finger on this one. To tell you the truth i think a big name scoring defenseman is just what the doctor ordered. Now i don't know exactly who to pinpoint that we could actually trade for, but maybewe don't need one huge player. Maybe we need a few players who are well known and above average. So much can be made out of Hasek, but do we really want to trade him??

Now the expansion draft. According to NHL rules, each participating team will submit a list of protected players consisting of either (a) up to five defensemen, nine forwards and one goaltender or (b) up to three defensemen, seven forwards and two goaltenders. All protected lists must be submitted to the League Office 48 hours after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Finals. Obviously we will use choice (b) because we need to protect Hasek and Biron. The three defenseman - Zhitnik, Mckee, Warrener. Those are my choices. Both Mckee and Warrener are young and on the verge of their prime years, and Zhitnik is valuable in the trade market. I do not like leaving Woolley unprotected, because he is the captain of the power play, but someone has to go. Also i like Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre. He has a good future, but I don't think he will be a star. He is a future Warrener. The Seven Forwards - Peca, Gilmour, Gratton, Satan, Brown, Barnes, Varada. These I think are obvious choices. The only thing I don't like is losing Rassmussen. He still has a bright future, and will be a great physical forward. After seeing Tsyplakov play after the trade, look for him to be picked up by The Minnesota Wild or Columbus Blue Jackets. The Sabres can afford for the rest of the unprotected players to be taken.

It seems like the Sabres staff won't have too much time to play golf with all the happenings this offseason. The expansion draft will be interesting, and seeing the status of all-star goaltender Dominik Hasek will be determined. I am thinking that my next article will be about the expansion draft's happenings, and the 2000 NHL Entry Draft. Thank You very much for taking your time to read my article. Thanks again, and until next time, GO SABRES!!!!

Feel free to email with questions, comments, and suggestions DaS101884@aol.com