Portland deal becomes final

The Buffalo Sabres have officially announced what has long been speculated in that their AHL affiliate will no longer be in Rochester, but in Portland. Now all of those awesome signings the Sabres have made in the last few days will have to go to main instead of right down the Thruway in Rochester.

Well it is obviously not as convenient as the close team in Rochester was, the financial situation with the Portland Pirates is much more stable. Despite the fact that Portland has been repeatedly changing their affiliation, there is no reason to expect the organizations to but heads as much as Buffalo and Rochester did last year.

The deal however is for three years, so if the Amerks are forced to sell the team and Golissano buys them, it won't be until at least 2011 that the team would be able to move back.