Well, Sabres fans, the moment many of us have been waiting for has finally arrived! Or it will arrive later this week. Pierre Lebrun of ESPN.com is reporting that the Sabres will announce the sale of the team to billionaire Terry Pegula by the end of the week.
While this is exciting news, remember that this is simply a formal announcement of the sale - the actual sale should be closed within a month of the announcement, according to LeBrun.
Pegula met with the NHL Board of Governors executive committee on Saturday, according to the Buffalo News, and will purchase the team for a reported $189 million, according to ESPN. Pegula will still need the sale to be approved by the full Board of Governors, which should happen sometime after the sale is announced, and according to a quote from TBN, that approval is "a slam dunk."
Here's how things will shake out over the next few weeks, as taken from this Buffalo News article:
Boston Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs, chairman of Delaware North Cos., in Buffalo, is the chairman of the board of governors and also presides over the executive committee. If the deal is accepted by the committee, as expected, the vote of the board of governors would appear to be a formality. New owners must receive approval from 23 of the 29 other owners, and the vote does not have to occur with all the governors in one room. They can vote by fax.
All we can do now is wait for the team to make it official sometime in the next seven days. Keep that champagne on ice for now, and let us know how you feel about Uncle Terry in the comments.