[Rasmuth]

The curse of Buffalo is very real to many folks who live there or religiously follow Buffalo Sports teams.

The Bills lost 4 consecutive Super Bowls....Brett Hull is still universally despised in Western NY and rightfully so....the goal was an illegal goal. Many found it supremely ironic that after longtime head coach Lindy Ruff was sacked...he then took a job in Dallas...is was...sacrilege.

But none of that could prepare the hockey world and the world in general for the events that would occur in 2015.

Mere minutes after GM Tim Murray stoically chose wunderkind Jack Eichel in the NHL draft...Murray was found dead in a nearby restroom, the victim of a "widowmaker" heart attack. With very heavy hearts...the draft somberly continued (after a 24 hour delay) and the Buffalo organization was left reeling.

Everyone knows the rest of the story. Not even 72 hours later...Sabres owner Terry Pegula and his wife Kim were tragically killed when their private jet suffered catastrophic failure and crashed. Ironically, the plane was also carrying Tim Murray's body back to Buffalo. Not to be forgotten, the team lost other important executives and personnel in that crash.

The league, the remaining staff members and the city of Buffalo were panicking. Those were terrible days.

You should remember me.

I won the powerball lottery 10 years previous....almost 400 million dollars (after taxes)....it was, and still is the largest payout ever. I was only 21 and I was all over the news for a while. I didn't party. (well I did a little), but I wasn't stupid. I invested. I bought, I sold and now at the age of 31....my net worth is very close to 3 billion dollars. And I live just east of Buffalo. The Sabres are my team. I rejoiced every win and suffered every loss. I was sad when Tyler Myers was traded and I still miss Ryan Miller.

So I started thinking.

I contacted the league and the league contacted the team. In some ways, I was very fortunate. The NHL needed to act fast and Buffalo fans were convinced the team was gone. There were nearly riots when some sports broadcasters suggested the team be moved or perhaps even just fold.

Without the details (they were mostly very tedious and boring)....I bought my beloved franchise.

But the celebrations were muted for the most part. Buffalo fans were overjoyed when the sale was announced because they knew the team was there to stay. But I sent the whole city and the league, for that matter, into a panic when I announced in my first press conference that I would also be the Head Coach/GM for the team. I had no experience. I was just the kid who'd won that powerball.

I didn't care. And I still don't. It's my team.

There were rumors the whole staff would walk and I guess I wouldn't have blamed them. The organizational meeting with everyone associated with the team ended up being a party. That's what I wanted. I wanted people to laugh and smile again. It had been a horrible few months. They feasted and they drank. Everyone drank a lot. After all, I was buying.

Not one person left the organization. It didn't hurt that I promised all staff members an immediate 10% raise.

But imagine my surprise when I received a phone call from Terry Pegula's lawyer in the middle of the celebration. Apparently the Pegula's had left a stipulation in their wills, that if they were to both die unexpectedly, the majority of their fortune would be left to help both the Bills and the Sabres.

It was like I'd won the lottery...again.

My name is Max Rasmuth and I am the owner, GM and Head Coach of the Buffalo Sabres.

My whole life is a dream come true. But owning the Sabres?.....that is the epitome of it all. Who says money can't buy happiness.