Edmonton Oilers GM Kevin Lowe broke the National Hockey League’s nuclear taboo Friday, sending a $50 million/seven-year offer sheet to Buffalo Sabres restricted free agent Thomas Vanek. (Whatever else you want to say about the Oilers this off-season, it certainly hasn’t been a dull week.) The Sabres grudgingly exercised their right to beat the offer by $1, announcing the decision at a midday press conference. Even though there had been widespread talk of RFA bids on Vanek, a Second-Team All-Star at 23, the Sabres took Lowe’s attack very personally; no one who heard the live press conference will ever forget managing partner Larry Quinn’s purple-faced vow to keep the Oilers running in circles with RFA counteroffers “for as long as we’re alive.” I’d post here about whether the offer was worth the risk but I already ran off at the mouth about it over at Lowetide.