Spun

Cry us a river! You are allowed to take study breaks!

The Habs get the puck out of their zone quickly. Game sevens are the best! I hope it goes OT! The Sabres PP will haunt me all summer. 0-19. God help us.

The Habs and Bruins have both won in large part because of the defensive wall put around their goalies. The best way to beat such a system is to score the first goal forcing the wall to move up ice and take some chances. The Western Conference games have been wide open back and forth games. But in the East, the games have been tighter and yes, boring. If the Pens score first this series may be over. If the Habs score first and with the crowd on their side the Habs should pull it off.

The Habs have been the big surprise this year (so far). If they win tonight it could be a crazy night in Montreal. They are closing down a portion of St Catherines (the main downdown street). According to a cop: “We want to avoid incidents between people and cars.” And a lot of glass storefronts. http://www.montrealgazette.com/sports/Cath...8643/story.html The riot act: http://www.montrealgazette.com/sports/lose...7375/story.html

The only good thing about the Bruins and Flyers series is at least one of them will lose.

Defensively, a main difference between the Sabres and Bruins was that Rask had a safety net of players protecting the slot while the Sabres seemed in a broken formation much of the time. Rask is a very good goalie but he did not have to make the saves that Miller made. Myers and Tallinder played well but were also flawed. The kid did well and will do better. Watching Lydman and Montador fumble over the puck was frustrating. If you can't stickhandle or pass the puck over your own blue line simply dump it over the line. I don't think Stafford will be back. A move for more two-way players is needed. I did like the infusion of energy from Ennis and Gerbe but the smaller guys get pushed off the puck too much and too easily. Offensively, the Sabres need strength and scoring in front of the opponents net which should help the power-less play. Once again, push the puck deep in the opponents zone to force mistakes. And where were the Sabres' odd-man rushes? The second period of game two decided the series. The hustle and effort was lacking in game two as the Sabres let the Bruins chase down loose pucks without much fight. Miller has got to be frustrated and tired. I am looking forward to Kassian making the roster I can't even watch hockey right now. To lose always sucks but to lose to THEM, is inexusable and intolerable. FIX IT.

I suspect the offer for "whatever" came and went in last weeks draft. "Whatever" wasn't good enough then and it isn't now. If ML wants out he should demonstrate that he isn't so much of a conduct issue by showing up for conditioning and playing his ass off. Then, there may be enhanced interest with ML getting his departure and the Bills getting more in return. Otherwise, the Bills can let ML sit through the Lake Erie gusts kind of like Al Davis did to Marcus Allen (just as long as Uncle Ralph doesn't go bonkers like Al Davis).

The Sirloin Tips...

I have too many of the "outdoorsmen" in my neighborhood so I prefer the anti-signs. Quit cleaning the sidewalk with your ass. God Bless.

I haven't given up on these guys. The Sabres have had the first goal in every game so far. They obviously need to score more than they have. The power play has been pathetic. I think putting Ennis and Gerbe on the pp could pay off in some goals. While not discernible from the shots-on-goal stats, one of the biggest differences between the two teams is the defensive play. The Sabres have gotten many shots from the perimeter while the Bruins have walled a zone around their net. The Bruins have gotten better opportunities. Miller has stood tall. Team defense has failed. The Bruins press on offense but don't get caught on defense. The Sabres need to create some odd man rushes when the Bruins press. As a previous poster pointed out, the Sabres need to back the Bruins up simply by getting the puck over their own blue line. Another way to push Boston back is to pin them in their own zone. The fancy playmaking attempts to send the puck back to the offensive blue line backfire way too often. Keep the puck deep in the Bruins zone. Let the Bruins push the puck back up ice, don't do it for them. Fight for your lives Sabres! Get loud Sabres fans! And no quitting!

Initially, I was of the "WTF" sentiment on this pick. Now that I have thought it over, listened to national opinions of Spiller, taken into consideration the Lynch status and examined who is still available, Spiller may be a home run. I have been of the opinion that building a monster and nimble offensive line and a formidable pass rush were the main priorities for the Bills. I think the offensive line is on it's way with last years picks. I still want a "real" pass rush. Like the new coach and GM, I am willing to give Spiller a chance. I think that teams don't want Lynch except at a discount rate. Maybe the Bills should hold Lynch until during the preseason when teams start losing running backs to injury. Then and only then will the Bills recoup any value for Lynch. I prefer Colt McCoy for qb and Golden Tate for wr. One more thing to consider about Spiller: Barry Sanders was 5" 8'. Before Sanders was drafted, there was skepticism because of his size. A don't mean to put too much pressure on Spiller nor do I say he will be the next Barry Sanders but what if? Speaking of what if, what if the Bills did assemble that monster offensive line and Spiller turns it out? It should be an interesting weekend!

Terrible news. My condolences to the Burke family.

How soon can Kassian lace them up? The guy may not be ready yet but when he is, he will bring some nastiness.

I also live in San Diego. I think the Charger fans have unrealistic expectations fanned by the media honks. Some would say the Chargers underachieved. I say they overachieved. And if the Chargers played the Jets again, the Jets would win more decisively this time. Some think the Jets are a fluke but they have been building their lines for a while now and are now fine tuning the skill positions (Sanchez). The Jets (unfortunately) may be good for a while. I think the window has closed for the Chargers. Their big advantage was their lines. No longer. Charger fans are looking for someone to blame. Bills fans were the same. The Chargers are heading downhill. As for the Bills, they will be waiting for the Chargers at the bottom, at least until proven otherwise. The Jets model for building the team was a smart one: build the lines first. The Bills need consistency on the offensive line and a solid pass rush. Same old story.

I saw the Chiefs game that year. The Bills lost but my conclusion was that the Bills had their quarterback. Ten years of slop. I miss good football.

The Sabres should have won this game. They dominated the action after the early Pitt goal. BUT they did not cash in enough. There were a couple of empty net opportunies that just missed for the Sabres. Miller probably had his worst game of the year. He had some nice stops but he looked clueless in some of those goals. Then again, Crosby also had a couple of near misses. He came close to having five goals. Regroup and get after the Sens. Psychologically the Sabres need a win against the Sens. Too bad Kaleta won't be playing. I was expecting some revenge for that hit he took the last time the two teams met. The Kennedy goal from Grier was of the nicest looking goals that I have seen all year. Sabres and Sens preview: http://senators.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=515961

Just get all the people jobs. I'd be happy with that!

Well said! Two things to say on this. First, take this proposal very seriously. These people are not kidding around. Second, do not wait to fight for the Buffalo Bills, BE LOUD AND BE OUTSPOKEN. Remember what they did to Cleveland, Houston, Baltimore, etc.? They supported their teams also. And don't act like it is a lost cause or it will be. That's three things. Whatever... The NFL was made by people like us. The owners got rich because of people like us. We fill RWS and travel very well. Fight them and fight this!

It wouldn't surprise me if the Big 10 didn't create divisions but simply did a schedule whereby not everybody gets to play each other. That is what they do presently but I believe there is currently only one team left off each teams schedule each season. Notre Dame had their chance. The Big 10 has traditionally been a midwestern conference. Although, Penn State isn't midwest. Some of the teams in the Big 10 also aren't considered midwest but are what is now considered "the old midwest" - OSU. Missouri would be an interesting choice and would open recruiting westward. I believe TCU would be a travel cost issue for thrifty ADs especially with the Title IX constraints. Pitt would be a great addition for rejuvenating the Pitt-Penn State rivalry but that would dent the Big East. The multitude of SEC rivalrys is very different than the Big 10. I believe that there are only a few rivalrys in the Big 10 with marquee value. The Big 10 is very money oriented so I expect an addition and a conference championship. It would take some getting used and may take about fifty years for fans to accept! Change comes slowly in the Big 10!

I do believe that the US declared war on Canada at some point. I am not sure if that was before or after the fire.

None of the above. I would like to see Tony Dungy as the newbie...

It is a spooky looking place. I used to cut through the grounds going to and from Buff State. A friend of mine used to work there when he was in high school. One day, a patient was having a bad day so he took it out on my friend who had his shirt ripped right off of him by the patient. The grounds also used to have the same PSA type cops as Buff State who would drive around and give people tickets for perceived violations. One time these sort of cops gave me six tickets at once. I went to court and the judge asked the clerk what was going on and she told him that this over-ticketing was becoming more and more frequent. The judge dismissed all the tickets. They should have locked up some of the cops. I always thought they could use the Psychiatric center for a film's external shot. It looks like Dracula's castle.

One thing I have noticed is that the Canadians love the CFL despite the NFL. That isn't to say that CFL fans don't also enjoy the NFL (and US college football) but some aren't too crazy about the prospects of a Toronto NFL franchise and what negatives that may bring for the CFL. The Labor Day holiday brings a rivalry weekend in the CFL that a sizable number of CFL fans seem to enjoy.

Wasn't Grier playing hurt last year? The Sharks are up there again. If anything, they are consistently competitive. It helps to have a big body (Myers) swatting at flies in the defensive zone but the same would be nice on the offensive side.

The Leafs came at the Sabres for the first two periods. The penalty killing along with Miller was impressive. The slow starts will catch up with the Sabres against better teams. Both the Canes and Leafs games were slow-starters for the Sabres. The one concern that I have is that the Sabres are 2-2-2 against Northeast divsion teams with both wins coming against the Leafs. December looks to be a very tough month as 11 of 15 games are against teams that made the playoffs last year and 6 of 11 against division opponents. 2 games are against the team the Sabres seem to struggle with the most - Ottawa. The Sabres have been fortunate with the puck concentrated in their own zone but they need to do the reverse, especially, against aggressive forechecking teams (Ottawa). Grier has helped but the Sabres could use a big center to park in front of the opponents net.