BillsFan4

Man, Sutton (I mean Hutton) needs to get his *** back to Tre White’s goalie academy after that terrible turnover. He can’t do that, especially in such a hard fought (tie) game with 7 mins to go.

I like this signing. He looked like angood fit in Daboll’s offense in his only appearance. He reportedly gets along with Allen very well and has embraced his role on this team. Plus, whether related or not, Allen has shown great improvements since both Anderson and Barkley were added to the roster. His development looks on schedule. No reason to mess with whatever is working at the moment. The more stabiility around our rookie QB, the better IMO. Congrats Matt!

Yeah ive known a couple people over the years that have returned to normal. They just just kind of slowly lost interest as they either lost money or never made the money that they were promised, and eventually they just moved on.

That’s what I figured, thanks. For sure! He did us a favor. He didn’t want to be here and he was playing like it. Then he (appears to have) quit when he wasn’t handed a steady role for his half-assed effort. Getting out from under that contract without any cap penalty (a buyout would have been on the books for 6 years) or having to take on another team’s bad contract is a big win in my book. It would have been nice if he could have helped fill the secondary scoring void we have, but that didn’t happen. His role on the team can be filled for MUCH cheaper than $3.85 x 4yrs. Plus, he was a big, slow player who is entering the downside of his career and still had multiple years left on a (bad) contract. The NHL is trending away from big, slow players like Berglund. We are lucky to be getting out of this contract now. Can you imagine what he would have been like in years 3+4? Yikes! lol

No, sir. I am not 100% sure but they might possibly have a (roughly) $1.6M cap hit for this season, for the 20 some games he was on the roster. But I’m not exactly sure how that works. Even if we do it’s not that big of a deal. All that really matters is that the Sabres are getting out of his $3.85M cap hit for the next 3 seasons (after this one).

Congrats Kirby! Hope you get it. Just make sure it doesn’t have any mice or you may have to burn this place down too, and move all over again... ?

Aggravating loss. Buffalo looked like the better team most game. They outplayed them the first 2 periods for sure. Buffalo just couldn’t capitalize on any of their scoring chances. They always struggle against Luongo... Florida, for whatever reason, just seems to be Buffalo’s kryptonite. The game really seemed to turn after that penalty shot. It just seemed to really deflate Buffalo. Rob Ray even said guys were hanging their heads on the bench after that. I didnt fully agree that Florida should have been awarded a penalty shot. I felt that the Florida player still got a scoring chance and a penalty shot is supposed to be called to restore a scoring chance. So I kind of felt that it should have just been a 2 minute penalty. Oh well. Onto the next one. I have no idea what Berglund is worth but Hopefully they don’t have to take back a contract of equal length... Personally, Id love it if they could send him to Pittsburgh for Brassard. Brassard just hasn’t fit in with the Pens, for whatever reason. It it would give a Pittsburgh their 3rd line center and it would give buffalo a 2nd line center for this season (then Brassard is a UFA). Maybe they could bring him back on a reasonable deal, but if not at least it would fill the 2C gap for this season and hopefully add some secondary scoring. I doubt Pittsburgh is willing to take on 4 years of Berglund though. I can’t wait until he retires! lol He’s 39 and plauged with injuries. It can’t be That far off...

I ******* hate playing Florida. For whatever reason, they just seem to have Buffalo’s number. A loss tonight would be 7 straight to the Panthers.

Wish they would have asked him about Skinner’s contract status. They were supposed to start talking around now. I’d love to know if any progress has been made. I’m Anxious to get that dude signed...

https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/politics/albany/2018/12/18/charter-spectrum-agrees-record-fine-huge-refunds-new-york-customers-cable-time-warner-internet/2346976002/ they came amp to a settlement. Spectrum will pay out $174 million in vines and pay $62M to NY customers and provide free premium channels for a period of time. It says some 700,000 customers will get between $75-$150 refunds. I fought these ******* tooth and nail on not providing the Internet speeds they claimed. For 3 years I had been paying for their “upgraded” internet speed (which, at the time was only 25mbps). It never seemed as fast as it should but I never really gave it much thought. Eventually I picked up a streaming device and bought an xbox and was having all sorts of trouble getting movies to stream and games to download (in less than 2 days...). So I started looking in to my internet speeds and found out that I was only getting, on average, about 2-5mbps. Well, one to find out that the cable modem time warner provided me was only capable of providing up to 15mbps internet speed, but because of its age was providing much less than that. Mind you, a Time Warner Cable tech told me this directly! So I have this tech transfer me to a customer service rep, who goes on to give me this list of reasons why it’s not their fault and tried to tell me that the cable modem isn’t the issue (after a tech tells me it is, swaps it out and suddenly I am getting proper internet speeds). She tells me it isn’t the modem. Then when I prove it is, moves onto thr next thing on their list of reasons why it isn’t their fault and so on and so on. Finally, she tells me that Time Warner only started offering this upgraded speed a year ago, so I could have been paying for it for 3 years (even though it’s clear as day on my bill...). It took me about 4 hours on the phone and about 5 different Time Warner reps until I finally got to a supervisor. He told me that he would look into when Time Warner started offering their upgraded internet speed and if they had indeed been offering it for 3+years as a claim, he will have no problem giving me a refund for the past 3 years of service I paid for and didn’t recieve. Days go go by and no call. So I called him and he says “oh, I could find anything. Sorry”. So I say “hey, no problem. I looked into it myself and here are a few links to old articles from 2012 announcing the upgraded speed offered by Tim Warner”. I got my refund after that... lol.

https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/politics/albany/2018/12/17/recreational-marijuana-andrew-cuomo-new-york/2336975002/ I’ll be interested to see if this happens, and what exactly the laws will be if it is indeed legalized in NY state.

I had a somewhat close friend (from my late teens and 20’s) that got into selling some type of health food supplements a few years back. They claim it a MLM sales model, but it seemed more like a pyramid scheme to me. It was crazy how much it changed him, though. I don’t see him that much anymore but anytime I talk to him It’s impossible to have any type of real conversation anymore. Within 5 minutes it ALWAYS turns into a sales pitch. He is constantly trying to sell you products and recruit you as a distributor, telling you how rich you can become selling this product. It’s like he is reading off a script all the time. Even when I try to change the subject he immediately finds ways to turn it back to a conversation about his new “business” or why I need to buy these products. He now seems to mainly associate with other members of this company. He is always going with them to these seminars or events the company gives (which usually cost money to attend) or gets together to talk “shop” with them. He has also spent $1000’s on product inventory. I will say that he does seem to live a very healthy lifestyle now. He works out all the time and eats healthy.

I just checked about an hour ago to see if Hackstol has been fired yet. I Knew it just has to be coming today... sure hope they dont land Q, but I have a feeling they will. I believe he’s good friends with Fletcher and that’s a team with a lot of talent, that with good coaching (and better goaltending) could easily take a big step forward. Edit - Scott Gordon named interim HC. Still think Q is a real possibility, though. But he will probably have his pick of at least a few teams if he decides to wait until the offseason. Also, I just read that Hackstol’s 277 games behind Philly’s bench (or about 3 & 1/3 seasons) puts him 3rd all time in Flyers history. Thats nuts! lol

Yes, 100% he should be back in some role on this defense next year. I cannot see any reason why he shouldn’t and lots of reasons why he should... - he has played damn good this year - Bills have boatloads of cap space. More than they are going to use next season - he is one of the main leaders in the locker room. He has fully bought in and embraced this new regime’s philosophy. Plus he’s really embraced his role as a leader and taken a number of thr younger players under his wing. - he’s embraced the buffalo community and does a lot of charity work off the field - he’s a model NFL veteran that does everything the right way (exercise, diet, film study etc) and is a great example for all the young guys that are already in buffalo and the ones coming from our (at least) 10 picks in this draft. He also just recently said that that he wants to retire in Buffalo. With the amount of cap space buffalo has I don’t see any reason they wouldn’t offer him a deal. They may possibly want to go year to year with him (if he’s willing), but I’d be shocked if the Bills didn’t offer him a contract.

More info starting to come out on the Berglund situation. https://www.diebytheblade.com/2018/12/16/18143128/buffalo-sabres-starting-to-get-some-clarity-on-patrik-berglund-suspension Friedman talks about it in this video -

I think that’s why Detroit snapped the ball so quick. I thought Wallace had it and Golliday didn’t take it away until after Wallace’s knees touched the ground.

Oh Reinhart, how in the heck did you miss that shot?! The net could not have been more wide open. Ghat should have been the game winner with under a minute to go. Oh well. Hopefully someone (on the Sabres) makes up for it in OT.

Search google for “Reddit NFL streams”

https://theathletic.com/714803/2018/12/15/the-making-of-a-captain-how-jack-eichel-swiftly-changed-the-sabres-culture-and-the-feeling-in-a-city-that-deserves-a-winning-team/ nice article about Eichel becoming captain on the athletic, for those with subscriptions.

Me and a couple of the older kids went out that back door once. It was a year where our bus was particularly rowdy (on an almost daily basis) and the bus driver usually let us get away with murder. I dont remember exactly what what happened that day. We did something that really pissed off the driver, I know that. She was so mad that she actually turned around and was taking the entire bus back to school. Well, me and a couple of the older kids popped that back door open and jumped out when the bus came to a stop, then just walked home from there (we were only like a 10min walk from my house). We heard the next day that the whole bus ended up having to sit at school for something like 2 hours. I guess the principal even ended up coming out onto the bus. Someone on the bus must have told the principal our names because we all ended up getting an at-home suspension from school for it, which really isn’t much of a punishment when you think about it. “Hey, you were bad so we’re going to make you stay home from school for a week” Umm, ok! lol. I never really understood at-home suspensions. An In-school suspension was a much worse punishment in my book (where they made you sit quietly in detention the entire day, doing schoolwork. No leaving that room for anything but to use the bathroom).

Have fun! Have you ever been to a game at “The Shark Tank” (SAP Center)? If not, it’s a great place to watch a hockey game. The atmosphere in the arena is awesome.

Lol, I have no clue. That happens to my posts a lot and I don’t really know why. I did go back and edit some parts before I posted it (moved a couple paragraphs with cut&paste). Maybe that’s why?

100% agree on the consistent goaltending part. That has been a major difference. Especially having a guy like Hutton vs Lerner. They are polar opposites. Hutton can be counted on to make the big saves when the team needs it most. Plus his personality is night and day different. Lehner was super emotional. He would have Wild mood swings (on and off the ice). I remember Claude Giroux saying that Lehner was his favorite goaltender to play against because it was so easy to get in his head and get him worked up. Hutton is the opposite. He is a calming influence on the ice, and a great veteran mentor on and off the ice. They also definitely have some real, competent middle/bottom 6 depth for the first time in years, which definitely helps. Plus it caused some actual competition for those roster spots, which is also important IMO. And i obviously agree that adding Skinner has helped, especially since he’s on fire since being moved with Eichel. They have undeniable chemistry together. But, honestly, I don’t know that replacing Ryan O’Reilly (who has been fantastic for STL (12g 29pts), and much better than any C on the Sabres not named Eichel) and Evander Kane (playing great in SJ) with Jeff Skinner and Berglund/Sobotka/Sheary is that huge an upgrade in talent. ROR has more points than Berglund, Sobotka and Sheary combined. They had way more talent than a 31st place team last year, I know that..... I would argue that we upgraded our bottom 6 depth, upgraded over Kane on LW and made a massive downgrade at 2C (for this season, anyway) by replacing O’Reilly with bottom 6 depth and futures. Mittelstadt, who many thought could replace ROR this season, hasn’t been able to come close yet. I think he will be a good player in the long term, but a lot of nights he is a total non-factor. Same goes for Tage Thompson. Tage had that few game stretch when he started to score. But before and after that, he hasn’t really contributed much of anything. Both Tage and Casey have been totally invisible lately, too. Again, I think they’ll be fine long term. But both just don’t seem 100% ready for the NHL yet. Sheary was good the first 10 games or so, but hasn’t been very good lately. His last point came back on November 23rd, and his last goal came way back on Nov. 8th. Our 4th line is definitely improved this season. Obviously adding Dahlin has been huge. That has helped the defense corps for sure. McCabe and Bogo both healthy (well, not McCabe atm) and playing well has too. But Scandella, who was very good last year and playing like crap this year, has hurt. We are basically a 1 line team though (on many nights). If Eichel’s line isn’t “on”, the Sabres are probably going to have a tough time winning right now. Where as in previous seasons, we did have 2 top 6 centers that were capable of carrying a line and producing, but we had less bottom 6 depth. So, I would say that overall the talent on the team is upgraded, but not a crazy amount over last season. I think there are a lot of little things that have all added up, as far as the improvements to this team go. But I truly think that that one of the biggest differences is the culture - just the overall attitude of the players in the locker room and on the ice, as well as their decision to buy-in, get everyone on the same page, play the way their coach is asking them to and give more of a consistent effort every game. I think that has probably been equally important with the other changes. I mean, just look what happens when the Sabres get away from playing the right way (like the 2nd period last night). They are not a very good team when that happens... All the Sabres players talked about how they met over the summer and had some real heart to heart meetings. They said they all decided to finally start holding each other accountable to playing the way they were supposed to play (following the game plan). Like Andrew Ference said, there’s not much a coach can do with a group of players that won’t listen to him. They are finally willing to listen to their coach and follow his game plan. That was a huge issue in years past (talked about by many players and media members). They simply wouldn’t follow a game plan or stick to a system. They’d all just kind of do their own thing for much of a game, especially if they got behind. They were not very coachable, either (at least according to numerous beat writers like Hamilton, Vogl, Harrington etc). They had a large group of players that refused to take coaching. Team chemistry is also much better. The locker room is not a toxically negative place anymore. Even after a loss, the post game interviews aren’t doom and gloom now. They are showing some confidence. They aren’t hanging their heads when they get down in a game. They aren’t giving up or going totally off script when that happens. Buffalo had had talent last year, but they just weren’t a team, and they were so fragile. Just look around the NHL. Look at teams like the St. Louis Blues. They have WAY more talent than their 3rd last record shows. But their culture sucks right now. They are also a totally fragile group. Same goes for LA. Or look at Las Vegas. They did not have the talent that Stanley Cup finals teams usually have. They were a collection of cast offs - lots of #4 defenseman and #5/6 forward types. But they came together as a group after that LV shooting, and they just played a relentless style of hockey that carried them to the finals and helped many guys on that team have career years. There are are plenty of examples like that throughout the NHL. Either teams with plenty of talent struggling, or teams with less talent playing really well (Montreal, for ex.). Anyway... just my opinion but I truly believe that culture is huge. Btw, sorry about the essay... lol edit - also, check out the post game interviews from last night. Every player attributed their success to deciding to get back to playing the right way - https://wgr550.radio.com/articles/locker-room-sabres-kings-0