We might as well pick up where we left off three years ago, when Mike Grier could see the Sabres were headed for trouble and bolted out of town. They had free agents whose stock was soaring. They had an asinine policy of not giving out contract extensions during the season. Their window of opportunity was closing.

Grier said as much when he left for San Jose, but it wasn't as if he blamed the Sabres for

their business practices and stormed out the door in disgust, vowing never to return. He

figured they were like many confused teams in the post-lockout NHL when they took the soft,

conservative approach that led to their downfall.

But angry? No, he wasn't angry.

"It was just a feeling I had," Grier said this week from Boston. "I saw things that were

coming unfortunately. It wasn't so much the Sabres. There was a lot of that around the league.

It was trying to figure out the best way to keep those core players together as they entered

those free agent years."

If you remember, Grier's decision to leave the Sabres for a three-year hitch with the

Sharks raised red flags all over town, if not across the league. The problem wasn't that he

left, but the message he left behind. He had a key role on a great team. He helped run the

dressing room with his close friend, Chris Drury, and he respected coach Lindy Ruff.

Management told him to shop himself in the open market and get back to them. It was a weak

negotiating tactic, but he agreed. In fact, they matched his three-year offer from San Jose.

He had everything he wanted and still split, which confirmed the future of the organization

wasn't nearly as strong as outsiders wanted to believe.

"To me, it looked like that was how it was going to go," he said. "We all enjoyed playing

there. It didn't seem like it was going to be able to work out even though a lot of us would

have enjoyed staying together and winning the whole thing."

We need not rehash the gory details of the Drury-Daniel Briere charade, trumped by Brian

Campbell a year later. Whether or not Grier intended to insult the organization or warn the

fans or play for a winner doesn't matter. He evaluated the situation from all angles and made

a decision without getting caught up in the emotion.

And he was right.

Now with the cross-country U-turn complete, the chore for him is helping the Sabres regain

the respect they had during his first stint. Grier will never be confused with world-class

players. He's not good for 20 goals or 50 points, but he's a true professional who will

provide the physical and mental toughness they desperately need.

The Sabres have many of the same players from three years ago, but they're a much different

team. For all the talk about their speed and skill after the lockout, their greatest asset was

their competitiveness. They became a softer team that lacked veteran leadership and lost their

way for two years.

Buffalo's summer was greeted mostly with yawns, but signing Grier was a subtle move in the

right direction. He's an effective role player, a tireless worker with strong character. He's

a good fit who should restore accountability inside their dressing room and help in ways that

can't be measured.

In exchange, he gets another opportunity to play in the NHL.

Grier is a quality guy, but teams weren't exactly beating down his door. He said he had a

few offers but picked the Sabres in part because they play closer to his home in Boston. He

embraced the idea he would help shape their young players.

Now, he's sending a different message. He might have left, but he also was willing to come

back. He plans to pick up where he left off.