BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The NHL is entering the final stage of identifying the Buffalo Sabres' new owner after a second -- and likely final -- group formally entered the running this week to buy the financially troubled team.

Rochester billionaire B. Thomas Golisano ended months of discussions with the league by submitting a written offer to the NHL, Larry Quinn told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

''There was a clarification that they wanted us to make, which we did,'' said Quinn, a former Sabres executive who has served as Golisano's point man in the bidding process.

Golisano, who earlier this month ran unsuccessfully for governor of New York, joins Buffalo businessman Mark Hamister, owner of the Arena Football League's Buffalo Destroyers, as the only bidders for the team.

With no other prospective ownership groups considered close to making an offer, the NHL is now concentrating its efforts on determining which of the two bids is the best.

Last week, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman met with both groups.

Without providing a timetable, league spokeswoman Bernadette Mansur said a decision is expected soon.

Hamister was not available for comment, while his spokesman, Earl Wells, directed all questions to the NHL.

The Sabres have been in limbo since the league took over operating control of the team from John Rigas last June in part to protect its interests in the franchise and to help smooth a sale.

Rigas, who remains the team's owner in title only, has since been accused of stealing hundreds of millions of dollars from Adelphia Communications, the cable television company he founded.

Adelphia also is the Sabres' largest creditor, owed $157 million in money Rigas used to purchase and operate the team in the mid-1990s.