BillsFan4

https://www.buffalobills.com/news/how-veterans-and-alumni-play-a-key-role-in-rookie-development-for-the-bills Interesting read. I like that McDermott is always trying to find ways to get better. It makes me think of what Art Rooney said “hire the smartest coach you can find and then give him the time and resources he needs to succeed”. IMO McDermott comes off as the type of coach you want to give the time to figure things out.

Yeah, super happy for STL fans. They were the team that had been in the NHL the longest without a Cup win. Now Buffalo and Vancouver are... lol. A couple cool celebration videos - https://globalnews.ca/video/5385110/fans-celebrate-after-st-louis-blues-win-first-ever-stanley-cup

The main criteria for the lady bang is the number of penalty minutes you take in a season. It usually goes to one of the players (who play top 6/top 4 roles on their team) with the least amount of penalty minutes. Maybe I shouldn’t have said it’s meaningless. But it’s not an award given for being one of the best players in the NHL. Like the year ROf won in (2013) he was 33rd in the NHL in points, 29th in goals, 56th in assists. He wasn’t even top 20 in any category (with a quick glance) https://www.hockey-reference.com/leagues/NHL_2014_leaders.html And I never once said ROR wasn’t any good. Even in his last season here he was still a good player for us. But it was still nothing like his 1st year here, or this year in STL, when everyone was saying “is this guy too good to be true?”. In ROR’s first year here he was unreal, just like in STL this year. Anyone you put on his line he had producing (even Nic Deslauriers). He was our best player in 2015, without a doubt. He was not that same player last year. I still never wanted to trade him. Even after the comments. I was pretty outspoken about that. I said the only way I was ok with trading him is if we got a return we couldn’t refuse. That didn’t happen. I hated the return from day 1. But I tried my best to look at it as a futures trade and not judge it until we knew where the 1st fell at the very least. My main point is that I just don’t buy this narrative that ROR was blameless in getting shipped out of buffalo. Botterill got a crap return but ROR played a large role in getting traded. In Botterill’s only year with ROR in Buffalo, he did not get to see the player we all saw in 2015-16. He got to see a player that was a shell of his former self. If you want to say he was beaten down by the losing, I’d say that was very likely. But whatever the reason, he just wasn’t the same driven to win player he was when he first got here. I also don’t buy that he didn’t want to leave (as I explained above). And for someone one who supposedly didn’t want to get traded, he sure was super excited when it happened (and in every interview afterwards). He seemed glad to be out of Buffalo, and even talked about how he was never equipped to be a leader here (the whole reason it was reported he wanted out of Colorado - to go be a real leader, and main guy, on a team).

i wasn’t taking about just point totals. As Lurker said, he played over 200 minutes more than any other forward. He should put up points with that many minutes and that much opportunity (at 5v5 and on the PP). I was talking about his effort on the ice on a shift by shift basis. I am talking about him dogging it on the backcheck. I am talking about him standing there doing nothing in the d zone while his man stands open in front of the net. I am talking about him no longer staying after practice like he did in his first season(s) here. I am talking about him being much less driven than he was in year 1 here, and kind of checked out mentally. Theres a lot more to hockey than just point totals. ROR even basically implied that he wasn’t giving his full effort in his year end comments. If you think the ROR buffalo had last year is the same ROR we had year 1, or that STL had this year, then I really don’t know what to say, except that you need to go back and rewatch some games from last year vs year 1 (or this year in STL). Oh, BTW, finishing 2nd in voting for the lady bang means nothing in regards to his performance on the ice. That is awarded to the guy who takes the least penalties (“most gentlemanly conduct”). And being 11th in Selke voting isn’t very impressive either. You’re not even considered a finalist for the Selke unless you finish top 3 in voting. Now, this year in STL, finishing top 3 for the Selke (and likely winning it) is impressive. The highest he ever was in voting during his time in buffalo was 11th. Agreed. You don’t say that stuff to the media if you really want to stay. You would say it behind closed doors to teammates, coaches and the GM. If he really wanted to make a differences here, that’s how he would have done it IMO. There is absolutely no reason to air that out in the media. And he had days to think about what he would say. It wasn’t some heat of the moment thing. It was calculated.

https://wgr550.radio.com/media/audio-channel/06-13-sabres-forward-jeff-skinner-instigators Jeff Skinner on The Instigators. This one’s actually worth listening to (IMO).

Wow. I can’t believe she actually had the nerve to ask you to pay for the ring. I can only imagine what your answer was... I know I would’ve had a whole lot of fun with that one! lol

Someone needs to ask Jason Botterill at his next presser “do you feel that you deserve your name on the Blues Stanley Cup? After all you did hand them the Conn Smythe winner and regular season team MVP for a couple cap dumps and a bag of pucks” Mike Harrington, where ya at? ?

Agreed. The ROR we had year 3 was nothing like the ROR we had year 1, or the ROR STL has this year. His end of the year presser just sealed the deal and hurt his trade value. ROR quit on us last year. Watching him play in STL this year should make that very clear to everyone.

So does Jason Botterill’s name get put on the Cup? He played a crucial role on STL winning. ROR is going to win the Conn Smythe trophy. ? For sure. Super happy for Blues fans. I was amazed when I saw those pictures of the crowds watching the games outdoors in STL. STL fans definitely deserve this. Not real crazy about watching ROR lift the Cup though.

Honestly.... neither. Any other year St. Louis would be a slam dunk for me to rot for. They’re Underdogs. They made it to the Cup finals after being in dead last earlier in the season. They’ve never won a cup in their 52 year existence. They’re playing a Boston team. Then there’s the whole story with that Laila girl. But because of that damn ROR trade I just can’t bring myself to truly root for them to win it. Watching him play in STL this year just makes it so crystal clear that he quit on us last year. We were lucky if we got half this effort on many nights. Then he forces his way out at the end of the year with that press conference. And Botterill caves and gets an absolutely horrible return... If we had this ROR, Botterill would have never even thought of trading him. The Sabres treated him damn good, too. He got the biggest contract in Sabres history (at the time it was signed), and it was paid almost 100% in signing bonuses. Even most super star players don’t get contracts structured that well. And they gave his brother Cal a $1.4M one way NHL contract (and he’s a career AHLer). It was about double as much as he’d ever got before (usually he got 1 year AHL deals). Ive heard people saying “well he was just being honest. He didn’t force his way out”. Well I say BS to that. When have you ever heard another hockey player say stuff like that to the press? There’s a reason those comments are still being talked about by the media 1 year later. If he Really wanted to be here, he would have said that stuff behind closed doors to his teammates and coach/GM. He knew exactly what he was doing making those comments. If you want s trade, be a man and ask for one. Don’t force your way out and tank your trade value with comments like that to the media. But I can’t bring myself to root for Boston either. This is the least interested I think I’ve ever been in a game 7 Cup final and it pisses me off. I always look forward to any game 7. Especially in the Cup finals.

For sure. Remember, Ralph Krueger was a scouting consultant for the Carolina Hurricanes from 2005-2010. And the Sabres D coach, Steve Smith, worked for Carolina for 4 years. And there’s rumors that Krueger May look to add Mike Vellucci, Carolina’s current asst. GM and Head Coach of their AHL team (that just won the Calder Cup).

He was responsible for Matt Murray’s development in Pittsburgh (and IMO Murray hasn’t looked as good since he left). Marc-Andre Fleury also gave him a lot of credit for helping him. Fleury was always kind of known for choking in the playoffs and made a huge improvement in Bales 1st year working with him. And Carolina’s goaltending this year was a huge surprise.

Jeff Skinner on the Howard and Jeremy show - https://wgr550.radio.com/media/audio-channel/06-12-sabres-forward-jeff-skinner-howard-and-jeremy

This would be a big get, if true. I have heard knowledgeable hockey people call him one of the top goalie coaches in the NHL.

No, I never would. Not even Brady. IMO it’s just not right to cheer for an athlete getting hurt. Just because they play for another team doesn’t make them any less human. Why would anyone want to cheer for someone getting (possibly seriously) hurt?

Why did WGR/One Bills Live even bother carrying the damn press conference?! They showed less than 1/4 of it. They cut it off after like the 2nd or 3rd question, only a couple minutes in. How stupid. Thankfully the Sabres website had the whole thing.

Skinner press conference starting in 10 minutes or so (or at least it’s supposed to...lol). One Bills Live will be carrying it, as will WGR 550. Itll also be carried live on the Sabres website - https://www.nhl.com/sabres/video/live-jeff-skinner/t-277437090/c-40474303

didn’t know where else to put this.

I’ve had that happen before and it’s an absolutely terrible feeling. Hope they find him soon!

Good stuff @john wawrow Yeah, I’m not surprised. I think he's due for a nice bounce back season next year, and he’s going to be motivated as all hell after having 2 separate trades fall through. He has good underlying stats, too. His possession metrics are very good and He has a huge influence on expected goals at both ends of the ice. The Wild create more dangerous opportunities with him on the ice, and his play is almost always a net positive in both the offensive and defensive zone. I could see Zucker breaking out on a new team similar to Niederreiter after he was traded from Minnesota.

He mentions that now that they’ve signed Skinner, Buffalo is hoping to be able to add a 2C and top 6 winger either through trade or free agency. Says that they have kicked the tires on Jason Zucker.

Skinner wrote a story for NHL.com on staying in buffalo.

At the time, our blue line was Ristolainen, McCabe, Cody Franson, Pysyk (who turned into Kulikov after the draft), Josh gorges, Bogosian and Falk. And Risto was playing 25 minutes a night. I’d probably still make the trade but I get why Murray thought the Sabres couldn’t. Now that we have Dahlin and Montour, it would be a no-brainer if that offer was made again.