BillsFan4

sounds good to me!

^ full press conference. Krueger is definitely a talker.... lol. Really liked this answer.

I think the pick could be Trevor Zegras. He’s a center who skates well, plays a 2 way game, has high compete level and he’s headed to Boston University next year. He is also the only player the Sabres have met with twice. They had a private interview at the combine and took him out to dinner (I am not sure if they’ve taken any other player out to dinner? Not that i’m award of but I haven’t heard much about any prospect). Could just be they wanted info on teammates, who knows. As as I said before, I am lucky this year because I like a cluster of players likely to be available to Buffalo. But if I was forced to make a list right now.... I want Byram #1, Turcotte #1A but I know both will be gone. Then I’d want some combo of Zegras/Dach/Podkolzin flowed very closely by Caufield and then Cozens. I am still trying to study up on all these guys, so I reserve the right to change my mind! lol The reason i’d prefer a Center is #1) it gives buffalo a legit backup plan for Mittelstadt. #2) you can always switch a center to wing. If a C fails at C in the NHL, you can move him to the wing. If a winger fails, you can’t really try him in a different position. #3) As far as positional value, I would go with a center over a wing, all things equal. I could definitely see Caufield shooting up the Sabres list if Skinner walks, though. He reminds me quite a bit of a right handed Jeff Skinner. Smaller stature, feisty, pure goal scorers/snipers that are both very good on their edges (and at avoiding contact), and both have those happy-go-lucky, always smiling personalities. I mean... If they feel Caufield is the BPA, they should pick him no matter what. I just mean that if it’s a tie between Caufield and a center, I could see skinner’s decision (to sign or not) factoring in.

He must finally be in Buffalo.

I have a few guys I really like at 7 this year. I would be very happy with Podkolzin, Zegras, Caufield or Dach. I like Cozens too, but not as much (I’ve viewed him the least, though). I can find reasons to get excited about any of those 5. I would take Turcotte or Byram over any of them, but I highly doubt either will be there. I think buffalo may may go with a center over a winger (depending on who’s available), but that’s just a guess. This year in particular I am really trying my best not to get too high or low on any of the players potentially available at 7. This draft just feels so unpredictable. The cluster of players available after the top 2 are all viewed so similarly that I really have no clue what order they will go in, or what direction Buffalo will go in.

I didn’t even know he was writing for a paper again. Thought this paragraph was telling. Sully, even after tons of outcry from his readers (so much outcry that it actually got his column taken away because it was hurting TBN’s business), still views himself as some beacon of honesty in Buffalo sports media, when in reality it’s not honesty. He is just super negative about everything buffalo sports related. Skinner is useless in overtime? I guess someone should tell him Skinner led all Sabres in overtime goals (more than Eichel, Dahlin, Reinhart, Risto etc) even though he got less OT icetime than all the other big name Sabres. And Skinner “reflects too much of what’s wrong with a losing organization”? Really? The first buffalo player to hit 40 goals in a decade (and he also has the most game winning goals in a decade too). He then says if Krueger is the hockey savant everyone say he is, that he could watch the tape and see that Skinner isn’t worth keeping. Hey Jerry, did you ever think that maybe he DID watch tape on Skinner and decide he IS worth keeping? Of course not, because if Sullivan doesn’t think he’s worth keeping, obviously brilliant hockey minds must agree with him (and he doesn’t even consider the possibility that they don’t...lol). Well.... that was the first, and last, new Sully article I’ll click on. You’d think that maybe after everything that happened it would humble him at least a little bit and make him do some serious reflection. But of course not. I’ll bet he views everything that happened as someone else’s fault. Or him just being a victim of circumstance.

Probably not. He didn’t really say a lot about Buffalo, except that he didn’t like a lot of the things they were doing (re:his usage and/or in general, it wasn’t super clear) or something like that. He talked more more about how it will take him a long time to get over what happened in STL and that he has poor representation. I didnt het the impression he was going to make an NHL return next year though. Sounded more like he might play in Sweden or somewhere closer to home. Oh, and he wonders “what if” in regard to if his rep got his no trade list in on time. When I heard that, I said “yea we Sabres fans wonder that too...”. lol I feel the same way. I hold no grudge and look at it as more of a bonus for us getting back that almost $4M x 4yrs. Plus, like you said, better to walk away than half ass it, not produce and eat up cap space. And i I can respect a person putting his happiness and mental well being above money. From everything that came out after he left, it sounds like he’s had mental health issues for years and had a support system in place in STL (the only place he ever played in the nhl). When it was taken away the way it was, it had a huge impact on him. I wish him well.

Here’s the full berglund interview that those quotes came from - http://www.blogtalkradio.com/hockeysense/2019/05/31/segment-3--patrik-berglund-53119

Had the same thought. Why would he continue to see her outside of school if he was truly uncomfortable with her continued sexual advances?

I agree, it seems unlikely that the Sabres are the team that takes a shot on him. Especially with Botts on his 3rd year and 2nd coach. He may want someone who can have an impact quicker, instead of in 3yrs from now. I heard an interview on WGR with the Sabres director of amateur scouting yesterday (Ryan Jankowski. I looked for the interview to post here but could not find it anywhere) and he swore up and down that not drafting a CHL prospect was just circumstance. That they have nothing against drafting from the CHL and it could have just as easily worked out the other way. So I guess we will see come draft day... Seeing is believing.

The more I watch of this kid, the more I love him. I know under contract in the KHL for 2 more years, but as long as he is definitely willing to come to North America after that I think it’d be worth the wait. He’d probably be the consensus #3 player in the draft if not for that KHL commitment.

This thread -

https://wgr550.radio.com/media/audio-channel/05-31-tsns-darren-dreger-instigators Cole Caufield on the instigators. I would be ok with the Sabres taking him at #7 depending on who was still on the board. He very well may be the best goal scorer in the draft, and he works his ass off. Elite shot placement/sniper.

Yep... same guy. Seems like he’s probably just throwing it out there because there are lots of rumors a deal with Skinner is very close. Not it sure why I even shared it... lol

pretty funny, and for a great cause.

https://wgr550.radio.com/articles/news/barkley-ready-whatever-role-needed-after-wild-journey-landed-him-bills Pretty cool to read.

Wow. That’s crazy. Tells you the team brass felt this guy was potentially a legitimate threat to people’s safety. Cant say I blame them. And looking at what happened after he left the Bills that offseason, it looks like the Bills were 100% justified to be concerned about him.

Plenty of people mourn the loss of a loved one without becoming violent and threatening/scaring/attempting to injure people and being arrested multiple times in a matter of days. Going on a rampage inside a funeral home and damaging their property (including caskets) + threatening to shoot funeral home employees with weapons you actually had in the trunk of your car, attacking gym patrons and then telling the police the guy was some spy because you secretly work for high level government age, and becoming violent at your 90+ year old grandma’s house and damaging property (again) are not normal mourning behaviors. It’s not like this was the first and only incident involving Incognito either. He has a long history of questionable behavior including anger management issues, assault charges, accusations of sexual harassment and racism stretching back 15+ years. If this was just some isolated incident I am sure people would be more understanding. But it’s not. It’s just the latest in a long history of misconducts of all sorts.

Not sure how I’d feel about $9+ million a year for Skinner. $8.5M was really the highest I wanted them to go. But how can you lose a 40 goal scorer on a team that struggles mightily to score goals? The only free agent that could truly replace him is Panarin, and there’s a 0% chance he comes here.

Krueger isn’t in episode 1 all that much (because they didn’t have a training camp and all the players were down in the AHL, which is what the video shows). But he’s in episode 2/3/4 a bunch. It’s a cool look behind the scenes. You get an idea of his coaching style.

Frazier said in his press conference that they knew Murphy wouldn’t be healthy, or a big contributor, last season. He said they were lucky that he was even available as much as he was. He said it was a multi-year signing with Murphy for a reason. Sounds like they have much bigger expectations for him this season. Hopefully we see the pre-injury version of Murphy this season. He was a beast in that season before he tore his ACL.

Seemed like Ike a good place to put this - ”Why Leadership Starts and Ends with Relationships with Carolina Panthers Coach Sean McDermott” https://learnloft.com/podcast/why-leadership-starts-and-ends-with-relationships/ This podcast interview is one of the reasons why I was so excited when the Bills hired McDermott. Great listen IMO.

https://theathletic.com/999287/2019/05/29/the-culture-starts-with-sean-how-the-coachs-voracious-learning-habits-are-rubbing-off-on-the-bills/ Excellent article on the Athletic (Sub. required, sorry I tried to share as much as we are allowed to here). One of the the things I love the most about McD is that he’s always trying to learn and grow as a coach+leader. Ill be anxious to to see how McDermott and new Sabres coach Ralph Krueger get along. They both share a lot of similarities and I’ll be very surprised if they don’t use each other as resources. Hopefully both buffalo teams have their long term coaches!