BillsFan4

Well, Diggs is free to take a pay cut to make more space for Hopkins if he really wants him that bad… 😂 I’d be surprised if that was the issue though. This seems like something that’s been going on since last season.

Maybe it wasn’t. I don’t know if it was or not. Just looking at the QBs he played with and what they are known for, I just thought that if that “by far” comment was meant as a shot at someone (not saying it definitely was), I felt it was more likely a shot at Brady (or maybe Romo too?) because Brady has been talked about so much as being the ultimate leader/GOAT. Allen isn't necessarily known for his leadership. More his physical gifts and toughness on the football field (leaping guys, trucking right over guys, insane throws, etc).

I am generally not a fan of Beasley on Twitter but this doesn’t upset me. You could argue the “by far” part was unnecessary. I do think maybe that was meant to be a bit inflammatory but it could have been meant as a shot at Brady more than Allen. I guess you could say his response to the tweet asking about Allen was a bit of a shot at Allen. Beasley had the chance to say Allen was a good leader too but chose to talk about his physical gifts instead. I think it could also just be partly due to Beasley’s views on leadership. Knowing his views on things other than football, I could see where he views a leader as more of the typical “Alpha male” type. And I don’t think that’s Allen. I think Allen is still more of a jokester. I do think guys naturally gravitate towards him because he’s a fun dude, puts his body on the line and leads by example on the field. He will do anything he needs to do on the field to win a game. But I think he still has room to grow as a leader, and I think he will. I mean, if we are being totally honest here I think we know Allen probably still needs to grow a bit more as a leader. we’ve all seen when he gets into his funks during a game and that blank stare + look in his eyes that he gets. It definitely happens much less than it used to and I think/hope it will continue to improve even more. He’s also rallied the team on the sidelines too. So I know he can do it. I think it’s just about finding a bit more consistency. He’s getting there…

Boo! That sucks. I thought Weber was doing a fantastic job in Rochester. That’s a big loss for the Amerks IMO. I was kind of hoping maybe Weber would eventually replace Marty Wilford as the Sabres defensive asst. coach.

I know this was a joke and I’m probably ruining it by saying this… but the patriots actually cancelled day 3 of their mini camp this year, as Belichick often does. https://nesn.com/2023/06/patriots-cancel-final-day-mandatory-minicamp-practices/ lol

That was exactly my point with the comments about Vegas having success with a backup goalie and the Sabres already trying that route + failing. Hence why I want a proven starter… I’d be fine with Comrie or UPL as the backup. I am not confident enough in either to bet 50% (or more) of Buffalo’s games on them starting. Neither have shown enough for me to think they can handle that role. It would be great if they could, but I’m not betting the season on it again. They already tried that last year. I also said I didn’t want to trade a crazy amount for either goalie. I even said I didn’t want to trade any of the top 4 prospects or Levi. Obviously guys like Tage/Quinn/JJ would also be a no-go for me. I figured that was assumed. I said I’d happily do #13 and any combination of guys like UPL/Joker/Olofsson etc. I never mentioned any of the top players and I have no idea how you are jumping to that conclusion from what I’ve said. I kind of feel like you aren’t reading my posts and/or you are putting words in my mouth that random fans on Twitter said.

I never said anything about a title. I just said I wouldn’t bet another season on UPL/Comrie and that I didn’t think it was wise to rely on a totally unproven young rookie to be the #1 guy next year if the Sabres are trying to make the playoffs. I thought my opinion was pretty reasonable… What if the workload gets to Levi and he starts struggling? What if he’s not ready to be a #1 yet? What happens if he needs time in the AHL? (all things that seem very likely) You really have confidence that UPL and Comrie can be our starters? If so, I’d ask why. I know a lot of fans are high on Levi but there’s really no track record of 21yr old goalies being ready to carry a starter’s load in the NHL. I just want a viable alternative option on the roster. I think it would be extremely foolish not to have one. Not only for the Sabres success next season, but for Levi’s development too. Even if they want to keep him in the NHL next year, he shouldn’t be starting more than 50% of the games (at best) and I don’t feel like we have anyone on the roster to start the other 50%. Edit - oh, and Vegas also has the deepest roster in the NHL and play stellar team defense. Hill was excellent for them, but he had a lot of help from the guys + system in front of him. Adams already tried the unproven backup route last offseason. It didn’t go well.

I’d also be very interested in Juusi Saros if Nashville is truly looking to trade him. He’s under contract for 2 more seasons, where as Hellybuyck only has 1 year left on his deal. Levi has also said that Juusi Saros is one of the goalies he models his game after. And Saros actually said Levi is a goalie he watches too! Saros could be a great mentor for Levi. it’s rare that 2 goalies of this caliber might be available in trade. Usually teams don’t trade proven elite starting goaltenders still in their prime. With such a big need in net, for the immediate future anyway, I’d hate to not at least try to land one of the two. Not at the cost of our future, but I hope he makes a reasonable offer. The Sabres should be looking to make the playoffs next season and I don’t think relying on an unproven rookie is the route they should take. If not a trade, I think Adams needs to at least sign a starting caliber goalie in free agency. The free agent goalie market doesn’t look great and I think you probably need to overpay in term to land the top options (like Andersen). As good as Levi looked I just don’t want to see him forced into a starter’s role + workload in his first NHL season at such a young age. It hasn’t been a recipe for success historically. He’s not used to the NHL grind. He’s used to going to class and playing a couple games on the weekends. It’s a lot to ask of a young rookie goalie to take on a starter’s load + burden the load of trying to break the longest active playoff drought in the NHL, and I don’t have much confidence Comrie or UPL can play the role of a 1B starter. I certainly wouldn’t bet the Sabres season on it again.

I’ve never heard that argument against Hellebuyck. Just with a quick look at his stats page I am skeptical of this argument. https://www.nhl.com/stats/goalies?reportType=season&seasonFrom=20192020&seasonTo=20222023&gameType=2&filter=gamesPlayed,gte,1&sort=shotsAgainst&page=0&pageSize=50 Looking back at his 2019/20 season, he faced the most shots against in the NHL and had the 2nd best save percentage in the league. It looks like he is at or near the top of the NHL in shots against (SA) every year from 2017-2021. last year he was near the top of the NHL in high danger save percentage, which seems consistent through his career. https://www.statmuse.com/nhl/ask/nhl-goalie-overall-high-danger-save-percentage-in-the-nhl-2023-regular-season and he’s consistently been one of the top goalies in the NHL in basically every advanced metric almost every season. https://moneypuck.com/goalies.htm He’s consistently been one of the best goalies in the NHL over his career. I am not saying to give up Levi for him though. As I said in my other post I wouldn’t be on board trading one of our top prospects like Levi/Savoie/Kulich. Don’t really want to trade Rosen or Ostlund either. I’d trade #13oa and some combo of UPL/Joker/Olofsson (etc) in a heart beat though, as long as Hellebuyck was willing to sign an extension.

I don’t think it would mean getting rid of Levi. It would just mean that Levi can be properly developed in the AHL. Let him spend a year or two as starter down there, then bring him up to back up Hellebuyck and go from there. If/when he is the better goalie you trade Hellebuyck. It would mean getting rid of UPL or Comrie. If Winnipeg sees value in UPL and want him as part of the trade, great. If not they can have Comrie back. I assume they might be open to it because Comrie played well for Winnipeg and they didn’t want to lose him in the first place. Plus he has a reasonable cap hit for next season then is UFA. For me, trading for CH would depend on what Winnipeg would want in return, if Hellebuyck was willing to sign an extension here and what that would look like. If Winnipeg wants a crazy high return and/or CH wants crazy term (6-7+yrs) or isn’t willing to sign here then it’s a no-go for me. If he’s open to signing here for something like 5 years or less, I’m good with it. Even 6yrs might not be a deal breaker for me if the cap hit is reasonable. He’d likely be here for at least 3yrs before Levi was ready to take over for him. Then Buffalo could just trade him. I don’t see having 2 good goalies as a problem… As long as the trade price was reasonable I think it would be a great move. CH is one of the best goalies in the NHL and would be a great addition for a team like Buffalo that is ready to push for a playoff spot. It would sure help mask some of their issues with defense too. I don’t like the idea of relying on a young unproven goalie next season (Levi). I think they at least need a guy who can be a 1B goalie and split starting duties or carry the load when needed. Personally, I don’t see Adams paying the price for CH though, unless maybe he can get it done with the #13 overall picks as the main piece. I don’t see him giving up any of the top 3-4 prospects on top of that (Savoie, Kulich, Rosen/Ostlund). Goalies usually don’t go for crazy high prices in trades. But CH might be an exception.

Probably already posted but this thread moves wayyyy too fast to possibly keep up with all the posts…

I am enjoying the fact that the Boston Bruins fired Bruce Cassidy as their head coach last offseason and he went and won a Stanley Cup in his first season as the VGK head coach, while Boston was eliminated in the 1st round after a historic regular season. 😂

Marchessault was the right choice for the conn smythe. But I do think Eichel closed the gap tonight and made it a closer race. I’d probably put him #2 ahead of Hill after tonight.

Meh, I really don’t care that much. I don’t really like the panthers either, and as a state I like Nevada better than Florida. I am more/less indifferent on who wins this year. If I was forced to pick it would be Florida because I like Reinhart a lot more than Eichel. He was a good Sabre and I can respect the way he went about leaving. But I don’t care enough to be at all upset that Vegas won it. I think this is the least interested I’ve ever been 8n a Cup final. I just didn’t like either team and the series wasn’t all that good. I don’t like how easy it’s been for Vegas to get their Cup though. They haven’t had to suffer at all to get it. It just seems a bit unfair the advantages they were given over other expansion teams. Seattle too. But I get it. It’s a good way to grow the fan base quicker. That only helps the NHL as a whole and they need help. Hockey’s has slipped in popularity. It’ll be interesting to see the golden knights Cup parade. That’s my guess too.

Yeah, Florida just looks overmatched. I think it’s safe to say their Cinderella run is over.

Me? Or Barkley? 😂

I’ve been hearing talk about this ChatGTP for a while now and I still have no clue what it is. Guess it’s time to Google it… https://letmegooglethat.com/?q=what+is+chat+gtp 😂

this is kind of a myth, unless I’m misunderstanding what you’re saying. Without NYC, WNY would be considered one of the poorer states in the country. NYC pretty much funds the rest of NY. 70+% of income tax money NY collects comes from a few counties in the NYC area alone. If anything, NYC is getting screwed. They pay a lot more and get less than we do upstate. Upstate NY gets something like $15 billion more than what they pay every year. Without NYC, our taxes would have to go up by 50% to make up the difference, or spending on services would have to be massively cut. There was talk a while back about splitting the state and thankfully it never happened because it would be a total disaster for us. https://www.syracuse.com/politics/2019/03/5-reasons-why-splitting-new-york-would-be-a-disaster-for-upstate.html

I was confused at first because I was thinking you were talking about Matt Barkley and I was like “why would he want to retire a Giant?”. 😂 Then when you mentioned Leveon Bell I realized you meant Saquon (and sure enough you mentioned him in the next line…lol).

Looks like this might be the year for Vegas! I know the panthers came back from being down 3 games to 1 against Boston but I don’t see them doing it again. Vegas has just been too good, and so has Hill. So who do you all think wins the Conn Smythe if Vegas wins the Cup? My guess is either Marchessault or Hill, with Eichel possibly in that mix too. I think right now it has to be one of the other two though, unless Eichel just has a monster finish to the series. He’s been very good this series but I think the other 2 have been a bit better and a bit more important. I will say… I’ve been impressed with Eichel’s 2 way game this year in Vegas and even more so this year in the playoffs. Bruce Cassidy has really gotten him to grow his defensive game. You could always see the potential for Eichel to be a great 2-way C in Buffalo. He could be so good on the backcheck when he wanted to be but the effort just wasn’t consistently there. He seems to be maturing a bit in Vegas. I’m sure it helps being surrounded by a strong veteran team that probably won’t tolerate 1/2 efforts from Eichel. On a side note - how funny would it be if Bruce Cassidy won the Stanley Cup in his first season after being fired by Boston, while Boston was eliminated in the 1st round (after a historic regular season)… 😂

That does look pretty good. Think I’ll DVR it and watch when I get a chance. Thanks for sharing! I was a big Paul Kariya fan growing up. He was one of my favorite non-Sabres players. I even picked his number for my jersey a few times on different hockey teams I played for. edit - it actually already aired at 11am est this morning. Hopefully it will be on again!

Let’s help one of our own! https://www.gofundme.com/f/donate-to-help-cindy-maurer?utm_campaign=p_lico+share-sheet&utm_location=DASHBOARD&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer Born, raised and lived in Buffalo. Huge die hard Bills fan. He was only 36. One of the most kind hearted people I’ve ever known. He went out of his way to help others all the time. The type of guy who would give you the shirt off his own back.

I’ve known for a few days that EA is doing a VIP event in Buffalo tomorrow and a bunch of Bills players will be there (I know someone who works for EA and know people going to the event). But I was explicitly told not to say anything about the event. So I figured it had to be an event for the Madden cover announcement since it happens tomorrow and why else would EA be in town? I didn’t know if it would be Allen or Allen/Diggs or maybe even Damar Hamlin. Kind of figured probably Allen with the Twitter rumors. Pretty cool!

So far this series I think Bobrovsky has been out-played by Hill. Seems like Bob is coming back down to earth after looking unreal in the earlier rounds. He’s looked a lot more average the last 2 games. It’s obviously not just in him though. Vegas is taking over the game now. They’ve been the better team tonight for sure. This might be their year! I really don’t care enough about either team to truly care who wins. I’d rather see Reinhart get a Cup over Eichel but I don’t care that much either way. It is a bit weird seeing Reinhart vs. Eichel in a Cup final. Buffalo’s back to back #2 overall picks in 2014 and 2015 now battling each other for the Cup. lol