(Ed. Note: It’s the NHL Alternate History project! We’ve asked fans and bloggers from 31 teams to pick one turning point in their franchise’s history and ask ‘what if things had gone differently?’ Trades, hirings, firings, wins, losses, injuries … all of it. How would one different outcome change the course of history for an NHL team? Today: Dave Davis on the Buffalo Sabres! Enjoy!)

By Dave Davis

Gary Bettman has had a vision of parity for the NHL pretty much since the day he became commissioner.

But in the 1990’s, before the days of loser points and salary cap ceilings and floors, the financial landscape of the league looked a bit like the Wild West. If you owned a team, the amount of money that could be spent on players was limited only to your resources and appetite for risk.

As it turned out, there was a select group of about a half dozen teams — residing in large markets and/or having owners with deep pockets — that had the inside track on the best players.

Buffalo was about as far away from that group as Siberia.

The Sabres fell into deep financial trouble. The team was losing well over $10 million per season in its last few years at Memorial Auditorium. It got to the point where payroll wasn’t being met on time.

As it turned out, Adelphia Communications CEO and future white collar criminal John Rigas became majority partner of the Sabres and kept them afloat financially, at least until the truth about his blatant misuse of funds came to light.

But consider this:

What would happen if the lifetime dream of a certain diehard Sabres fan/wealthy businessman came true 13 years earlier?

{Cue the Zamboni time machine graphic and cheesy alternate reality music.}

It’s 1997, and Rigas is in negotiations to bump up his ownership stake in the Sabres to 52%, which would give him operational control of the franchise.

Enter Terry Pegula, who sold East Resources a year earlier for $500 million. The 46-year-old oil & gas tycoon jumps into the mix and significantly outbids Rigas with an all-cash proposal.

The best offer wins. Pegula takes control of the Sabres in January of 1998.

After staying in the background and letting GM Darcy Regier do his thing through the end of the 1997-98 season, Pegula is feeling frisky and ready to make his mark.

The NHL Draft is in Buffalo that summer, and the new owner has visions of drafting Vinny Lecavalier first overall in front of the hometown crowd. But Regier’s attempt is futile as Tampa wants nothing to do with trading the pick.

Frustrated but undaunted, Pegula flies Regier and head coach Lindy Ruff with him to Pittsburgh to incessantly stalk Ron Francis until the veteran forward finally agrees to a four-year, $22 million dollar contract. While they’re out there, the triumphant trio also land another ex-Pittsburgh Penguin, talented offensive defenseman Fredrik Olausson.

For the 1998-99 season, Francis is named Sabres captain. He and Olausson finish second and third behind Miroslav Satan in team scoring.

The additions of a two-time Stanley Cup winner and the scoring touch from the blue line, to a resilient and well-coached team that already has the best goaltender in the world in Dominik Hasek, puts Buffalo over the top.

The Sabres are up three games to two against the Dallas Stars in Game Six of the Stanley Cup Final. Brett Hull flips the puck over a sprawling Hasek and into the net in the third overtime.

But as the polished Cup is slowly being packed and readied for a trip to Dallas for Game 7, video review shows that Hull’s skate was in the crease. The goal is disallowed, and Michael Peca scores the game-winner moments later.

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