Darcy Regier never came across as an unseemly character, so you wanted to take him at his word Tuesday when he insisted there were no ulterior motives for waiving Tim Kennedy four days after the South Buffalo native was awarded a one-year contract worth $1 million in arbitration.

Regier said he held no resentment toward Kennedy after he had the audacity to challenge the Sabres over money. The general manager made it clear that he was not intending to send a message to other players in the future. The decision to buy out the hometown winger was just, well, you know, business.

Heck, by the time he was finished with a 15-minute media gathering at HSBC Arena, you would have thought Regier was ready to whip out his own wallet and bridge the $200,000 gap between what the arbiter deemed fair and what the Sabres were offering before negotiations broke down.

"There is no room for retribution. There is no room for being vindictive," Regier said. "That's on one side. On the other side, it's a tough business sometimes. It impacts young men. This organization cares about him. I will do everything I can to get him a job, find him a job, and quite frankly he's going to be fine because he's a good player."

OK, then why not keep Kennedy and avoid yet another public-relations disaster?

Apparently, the $1 million award for Kennedy was too high for a team that Regier said already was over budget. He made sure to emphasize how ownership has made such a strong financial commitment. He said he informed Kennedy that there could be repercussions from arbitration.

Fair enough, but through all the rhetoric Tuesday that sounded all too familiar, Regier never mentioned why the Sabres were over budget in the first place.

No matter how you do the math, it doesn't add up.

Logic suggests either A) the Sabres were mismanaged and couldn't afford Kennedy because too many mistakes were made before him or B) their budget isn't high enough for them to make an honest push toward the Stanley Cup, which they reiterated after the season was their goal. History suggests it was both.

Through it all, Regier rationalized that the Sabres were somehow better after removing a good player -- his term for Kennedy -- because they had $666,666 to spend elsewhere, such as defense, after the $333,333 buyout. He also could have bought out Drew Stafford and saved $1.53 million to spend elsewhere, such as better defensemen.

No matter how it was intended and regardless of whether it made sense, the Sabres look like a team far more serious about the bottom line than with winning. The decision to waive Kennedy can't be good for community relations with invoices for season tickets arriving in mailboxes Tuesday.

"Our objective hasn't changed here," Regier said. "It's about building the very best team, a championship team. That's the goal. That's what we do. That's why we do it. That's why we make tough decisions like this. I know it hits home. I know it's personal to our fan base."

In truth, Kennedy wasn't their most important player. He had 10 goals and 26 points last season as a rookie and struggled through a brutal 19-game stretch. But he was a solid, gritty winger who played well defensively and came on strong offensively late in the season. He kept his ears open, his mouth closed and did what was asked.

Now?

Regier suggested Tyler Ennis was ready to step into the NHL on a full-time basis, a sound assessment to be sure. Ennis is another good, young, creative player who is loaded with potential. They should have kept both. That's what you do with players who are part of the solution, not the causes of the problem.

Kennedy will play elsewhere but remain on their payroll. The Sabres have less depth, which was exposed in the playoffs. He was respected by his former teammates, who will be left questioning management's commitment to winning more than they ever doubted his.

For a professional sports team, $200,000 might as well be change from the ashtray. For players, it's a pile of money. Regier was willing to accept the award immediately afterward until he and his front-office cohorts began looking for an escape. Their business-first approach was actually business as usual.

"I thought the worst was that I would be traded," Kennedy said Tuesday. "I never thought I would be bought out. I didn't even think it was possible. It's the first time it happened in the history of the league. It never crossed my mind."

And the Sabres wonder why players aren't exactly climbing over one another to play for them. They have a knack for getting nothing back for good players who walk for better contracts and for keeping expendable players too long.

Need we really revisit the nauseating list of examples?

It extends all the way back to their contract dispute with Michael Peca, which was how Tim Connolly arrived in the first place. Connolly had 12 goals and 25 points and a minus-28 rating in his second season in Buffalo, his fourth in the league, and is now their longest-tenured player.

Stafford had 14 goals and 34 points while spending most of last season on the top two lines and making $1.9 million. He'll be back for $2.3 million this season. Jochen Hecht all but vanished two years ago and remained overpaid at $3.8 million last season.

The Sabres wasted $7 million trying to turn around Maxim Afinogenov. And let's not forget the infamous summer four years ago, when their co-captains left and Thomas Vanek's seven-year contract worth $50 million was shoved down their throat.

So they can throw away millions of dollars, but they couldn't keep Kennedy because his arbitration award was $200,000 over what they offered him?

Sorry, it doesn't add up.

bgleason@buffnews.comnull