BillsFan4

^ for sure. Bringing back Zo is a must now, IMO. There is going to be a huge leadership void with Kyle leaving. It would be even bigger if Zo left too.

Bummer. Comgrats on a great career Kyle! You will be missed.

I had never heard Skinner didn’t want to be there. What i read happened is this (I’ve been following this story since they got a new owner. This is the best I can piece the timeline together...): The new owner (Tom Dundon) took over in January. He had already been working behind the scenes and came in guns blazing wanting to make changes. He felt the culture needed to change because it had been 9yrs without playoffs, and felt drastic action was needed. Carolina started exploring the option of trading Skinner at the end of last season. Ron Francis was a cautious GM, couldn’t find a deal he liked so no move was made. And as I understand it, didn’t feel that moving Skinner was a priority. Tom Dundon then “re-assigns” Francis, effectively firing him without firing him (he’s later let go) because he was too cautious and Dundon wanted action. Don Waddell is appointed new GM, is given the mandate to take action now and continues trying to trade Skinner over the summer, along with a few other guys. They are now openly stating that they want to trade Jeff Skinner (and I believe they may have even approached him/his agent for a list of teams). This continues over the summer. As the summer went on and Carolina continued trying to trade Skinner, he and his agent told the team they they also felt that it was best that he moved on at this point. The way I understand it though, It was carolina who initiated trade talks and I don’t think it was over a new contract. Now, I know Don Waddell said that he didn’t think Skinner would re-sign. But he also said that they never even tried to approach Skinner to negotiate a new contract. From an athletic article (inside the war room with Tom Dundon. I can link it if you have a subscription) the Hurricanes felt that had cheaper internal replacements for Skinner (the article said they weren’t willing to pay the market rate for numerous RFAs/UFAs. Dundon is cheap). There’s also quotes in that article from Dundon on his desire to change the culture, and how it would only happen through action on their part. Anyway.... that’s what I’ve pieced together from the articles and interviews I’ve read/heard. I’m just glad that, for whatever reason, Carolina decided to trade Skinner and he listed buffalo as one of his preferred destinations! lol Like you said though, now they have to get him signed.

Yes, very true. I think it’s probably more likely that he’s open to more teams at th deadline than at the beginning of the season. But that’s just a guess. There’s really no way to know. He was in a contract year, so if he is shipped out to somewhere he’s not familiar with for an entire season, I can see why he would be picky. He wanted to make sure that if he wasn’t in carolina, that he was setting himself up as best he could for his ability to earn a big contract. By the time the deadline comes, there’s not a whole lot of hockey left to be played. Plus, with Skinner never having made the playoffs, I’d think he’d have been open to any contender.

The reason that I buy the reports that moving Skinner was a owner/GM/coach driven move to shake the team up and change the culture is that they could have just kept Skinner until the trade deadline and got a similar return (I think he easily brings a 2nd + B prospect (which is what buffalo gave up), and maybe even a 1st + B prospect if he was having a very good season). There have been reports for months that the Hurricanes are shopping for a top 6 goal scorer/sniper. There’s been recent reports that they are desperate for one and have ramped up their pursuit after failing to land William Nylander. Had the Skinner trade just been about recovering an asset for a pending free agent, I’d think they would have just kept him for most of the season instead of creating a hole that they’ve been trying to fill ever since.

A new owner bought the team and was dead set on making big changes. He got rid of the coach + GM and felt more drastic changes were needed since they have the NHL’s longest playoff drought. So they traded Skinner, Lindholm and Hanifin. Rumors are the owner is actually involved in personnel decisions (which is part of the reason why he has trouble hiring a GM. That and the $$ he was offering was super low). I don’t know if he had a hand in the Skinner trade or not, but I know he pushed for big changes. I also read that their new coach (Rod Brind’amor) wasn’t the biggest Skinner fan (I believe because he felt Skinner didn’t play enough defense or something stupid like that). Mainly I think it boiled down to them wanting to change the culture and Skinner was one of their longest tenured players.

Merry Christmas everyone! Happy Holidays!

Damn, not crazy about that. Harbaugh could probably turn that team around, even if it did only last about 4yrs (until he wore out his welcome, grinding people down).

Do you have a link? I can’t find a single thing about that anywhere. They recently hired CAA ICON, which is a stadium consulting firm. They are helping the Pegula’s figure out their stadium/arena plans for a new or renovated stadium in Buffalo. That is is quite a big difference from what you are saying. https://www.caaicon.com/news/pse-begin-comprehensive-study-venues

Darr is so bad that it leaves me wondering if it was some sort of stealth tank move by Beane... lol. For real though, he’s awful. What were they thinking signing this guy?

Alexander! He needs to be back next season.

That was an awful interception. Even I could see the DB staring down the route on TV. I knew that was an interception before he even threw the ball. Allen is having a tough day. But I expected it. Rookie QBs always struggle against Belichick, especially in Foxboro.

Well... not the start I was hoping for. Yes, mine is. I had a hard time even seeing the ball on allen’s pass.

Lets go Buffalo! I really, really want this win today. It would put the Pats on a 3game losing streak and pretty much assure that they don’t get a 1st round bye this year. With Brady+Gronk (etc) getting old, that’s a big deal IMO. Plus, Allen would be the first rookie QB to win in Foxboro in forever.

I do think Clay will be released, but I wouldn’t say it’s a no-brainer to release McCoy to save cap space. The Bills already have like $90 million in cap space for next season. I highly doubt that Beane is going to go blow all of that hard earned cap space in a single offseason. I think he will spend a decent portion, but I don’t see the Bills as a cap team next year by any means. Beane has preached buindling through the draft and being smart in free agency. So I don’t see it as a priority to cut Shady for cap space. And Seeing as he wasnt traded at the deadline when we when there were said to be offers, I think they will most likely give him a chance to rebound (behind a hopefully improved o line).

Definitely relieved to hear RJ is ok.

If Lynn was still here, it is likely that we’d still have all of the old Ralph Wilson gang running things (minus Brandon). Whaley would probably still be GM. Scott Berchtold would probably still be director of communications and the Bills would probably still be leaking embarrassing information to the press on a regular basis. McDermott is the main reason that the Bills finally cleaned house after 17 straight years of failure. Im sure some good people were let go, but the Bills desperately needed a fresh start IMO. So far, I like the way McDermott and Beane have built the culture of this team. It’s not just some buzzword with them. It’s real. Only time will tell how it works out. But I like the direction they’re headed at the moment.

Article said he started feeling lightheaded. Hopefully it’s nothing serious. Thoughts and prayers are definitely with RJ right now.

I cant really even enjoy this game right now. It kind of gave me a nervous stomach ache. Worried about RJ. Prayers to him.

I just rewound the game. He was calling it to start the 3rd. The.n around 17:45 he says something like “buffalo dumps it in and Manson recovers” then it just goes dead silent for 30 (ish) seconds and Rob Ray takes over, followed by Duff. I am legitimately worried about RJ.

I hope Rick Jeanneret is ok. Rob Ray kind of suddenly took over play calling duties during the 3rd period (from between the benches). Now Brian Duff is calling the game. Hope its just something like his voice giving out or something minor.

Bills + Sabres twitter killing it recently.

Good! I didn’t want him landing with the Jets.