BillsFan4

I watched every game. It wasn’t that I’m surprised because I thought he did a good job. It had nothing to do with that. It was that Jason Botterill interview about a month ago. He said that Housley would “definitely be the Sabres coach next year”. The media said to him “do you know the the #1 thing fans want is Housley gone?” Botterill actually sounded shocked and pissed off that the media even asked him that and has this kind of disgusted sound to his voice when he answered the question. and then the Pegulas just said a couple weeks ago (at the NFL owner’s meetings) that Botterill wanted to keep housley and they gave him their support. So I thought that maybe they’d try to sell us on housley to start next year. I’m glad they didn’t. But I also said on here a few weeks ago that I didn’t care what Botterill said, that Housley couldn’t survive if this collapse continued.

Maybe.... still sounds like Florida is the front runner, though. Dale Tallon (their GM) hired Q in Chicago and assembled much of the team that Q won 3 cups with. Plus, the panthers are currently a better team than the Sabres. But hey, at least it sounds like we might be trying to go after him.

crap. The Q dream may be over before it even started...

It depends on who’s fired. I’m hoping/thinking Bruce Boudreau will be fired in Minnesota. I would love that hire. Alain Vigneault might be a name to watch. He has a lot of experience, was known as an innovator and has taken 2 teams to the Cup finals. He was named the head coach for team canada at the upcoming worlds, where Botterill is the GM. Some other experienced veteran coaches out there: - Michel Therrien (HC in Pittsburgh when botterill was hired) - Todd McLellan - Darryl Sutter - Randy Carlyle (puke...) Rikard Grönborg could be another name to watch. He’s been team Sweden’s coach for years and is said to be looking for NHL opportunity. Botterill clearly loves the way Swedish players are developed (and has said as much). If Botterill goes with less experience again, Chris Taylor (Amerks Head Coach) could be a candidate (too inexpensive need IMO. Only 2yrs as a head coach at any level) Or Sheldon Keefe of the Marlies. That’s a hire I wouldn’t mind. He’s won at every level. Q is definitely my #1 choice, though. I don’t know if Botterill will be looking for a veteran HC or not. I think he 100% should, but I worry that he may go with a less experienced candidate again.

I am actually hoping that is one of the advantages the Sabres have (Eichel + Dahlin being others) is that they can offer a coaching salary that most teams won’t match. I think that Philly is going to go hard after Q though, and their GM has a prior relationship with Q. In fact, iirc Chuck Fletcher’s dad gave Q his first professional head coaching job (with the marlies I believe). Oh, and Paul Holmgren is still their team president and no one likes a to make a big splash more than him. There will be a lot of teams after him, I’m sure.

Oh wow. I am surprised to be honest. I thought they’d keep him another year. I kinda figured it’d be tough to survive that insane collapse in March though. Now, please go get Quenneville or Boudreau or someone on that level! Edit - here’s the tweet from the Sabres -

No. It’s a very nice top 2 but not on that level. I would easily put them behind the top 2 in 2015 (McDacid, Eichel), and behind the top pick in 2016 (Matthews). I’d put them behind Dahlin too. Hughes is probably about what Pat Kane was as a #1 pick and Kakko’s game is kind of like a lesser Matthews or a guy like Rantanen.

Jack Hughes (C) is probably the top prize and Kaapo Kakko (wing) going 2nd. It looks like tiers, as usual. Hughes and Kakko are tier 1. Then there’s a tier from about 3-7. Then 8-9. Then a drop off.

Well, things somewhat worked out for Buffalo last night (as far as potentially getting the higher STL pick). Almost every team we needed to win did. Has the Blues not won in the shootout like they did, their pick would have been #19. Currently it sits at #20 but we still have a chance... If any of Colorado, Vegas, Dallas, or Columbus make their respective conference finals (and St. Louis does not), then St. Louis's pick will go up to the 19th pick (or as high as 17, potentially), and Buffalo would retain it. So I know what teams I will be rooting for when the playoffs start! Vegas seems like the most likely to make the finals. Let’s hope Fleury gets hot again.

Wow, unbelievable. 7-1. I love it! When is the last time the Sabres ended the season with a win? It feels like forever. Especially a blowout 7-1 win... I know it screws up their draft position by 1 spot but I’m still happy for a definitive win like this. The Rangers game is in overtime so that locks Buffalo into the #5 spot. Now let’s hope for some draft lottery luck!

Skinner with #40! His first 40g season. And Buffalo has a 40 goal scorer for the first time since 2008 (iirc). I love that Housley moved him back to the top line for the 3rd and that all his teammates were trying to set him up to score, passing up chances of their own to get Skinner the puck. Love seeing that type of stuff.

As of now it’s the St. Louis pick (currently #22). The San Jose pick is currently at #24. We we have to wait and see where everything falls after the draft lottery though. We will have a bit better idea after the regular season ends tonight. There is still a tint chance the St. Louis pick could end up at #19 (after the draft lottery) depending on what happens tonight. Anaheim gets the better of the 2 picks if the STL pick ends up #20 or higher. Buffalo keeps it if it ends up at #19. Then we also have to root for both STL and SJ to lose by the 2nd round of the playoffs. If one makes it to the conference finals, it pushes the pick to the 28-31 range.

Yeah, I’ll be rooting against Toronto too. But I wouldn’t go as far as t9 say that I am rootain’t for Boston. My ideal 1st round would include both of hem being eliminated... lol. But really though, The only thing I truly care about is that both St. Louis and San Jose lose by the 2nd round. If they make it to the conference finals, it pushes their 1st into that 28-31 range.

they gave Dareus about the same, too.

Nice win by the Sabres tonight. They played a good game. Eichel was unbelievable. The Carolina Hurricanes won tonight and clinched a playoff spot for the first time in 9 years. Happy for them! Oh, and Guess what that means... The Buffalo Sabres now hold the NHL’s longest current playoff drought. Yay buffalo! lol I wonder how many other markets had multiple professional teams that held the longest active playoff drought streak in their sport(s)? Is that another buffalo distinction or have there been other teams? Cleveland maybe? On a on a side note, I really wanted buffalo to sign Justin Williams when he was a free agent in 2017. He’s not Chris Drury but he’s cut from that same cloth. He would have been a heck of a veteran leader. But chances are he would have picked Carolina anyway. He spent most of his career there, so a return home made sense.

I think the main advantage we have in signing Skinner is that it has been reported numerous times that living/playing near his family is something that’s important to him. He supposedly only had Toronto and Buffalo on his trade list, and I read that he may have considered Detroit as a fall back option. So if he really does want to live/play near his family, this is as close as he’s going to get. No possible way Toronto can afford him. He said a while back that he saw himself as a piece of the puzzle here, so I hope that still holds true. I’m still hoping everything works out and Botterill looks smart for slow playing this and letting Skinner cool off. Definitely don’t feel as confident about him signing as I did earlier in the year, though.

Was just coming to post this Yolo. Wow what a story!

I actually think it would have been a much worse look if they hadn’t shown an effort last night.They were playing his old team. I said to some friends before the game that this game would be a good test. If they didn’t show an effort last night I felt that it would be clear they really did quit on him. I saw that too. 22yr old rookie fresh out of college. Shows a lot of respect for the Sabres goal scoring prowess, eh? lol It'll be interesting to see how he does.

Oh, I don’t hold a grudge or anything. And I’m not judging him off a single meeting or implying that I think he’s a bad guy or anything like that. I was just sharing a story with ODB. Im sure plenty of fans have had positive experiences meeting Andre Reed.

Love this signing! He was a force on the field when the Titans were running Moreno of a power run game (or “exotic smash mouth” to use MM’s words) under Mularkey. I think we could see a big season from Spain in Brian Daboll’s offense.

I used to go up to the training camps when they were at fredonia during the Super Bowl era. We used to take a 2 week vacation at Sunset Bay every summer (with my mom’s whole wide of the family. Lots of cousins and aunts/uncles). It happened to coincide with the Bills training camp every year. So my dad/uncle would take all of us up there to watch practices etc. When you are younger, you think that getting your favorite players autographs is about he coolest thing in the world, so I wanted to get all of the main guys. Most were easy to get. Like, Jim and Thurman for ex. would drive a golf cart right out into the middle of a huge crowd of fans and stay to sign autographs. Well, the last one I needed was Andre Reed to complete my collection. I hadn’t been able to get his yet, as he usually never came out into the crowd to sign (at least when I was there anyway) One day, after practice I happen to see Andre Reed sneak out the side door to miss the crowd. So I run over to him with my pad and pen and ask him for an autograph. He did not even acknowledge that I was alive. He just kept quickly walking to his car as I ran along side him begging for an autograph. He just got in his car and left, without ever even as much as making eye contact with me or saying a single word. I was the only person around, too. So he could have easily just signed a single autograph for me and been on his way. That is my lasting memory of Andre Reed.

Boy the Sabres are getting screwed so far tonight. I thought thst first Nashville goal was questionable, and the refs explanation was even more questionable. The refs said it went off his body, but it sure as heck looked like it hit his stick to me. And now that 2nd buffalo goal. No Nashville player ever touched it. That was 100% a good goal.

Eh, as I posted the other day, it’s really not worth rooting for them to lose. The Sabres are pretty much locked in at either the #4 or #5 spot. You’re talking a 1% difference in odds. Iid I’d much rather see them win these last 3 games and go into the offseason with some positivity. Or at least less negativity than ending the season on a 10 game losing streak...

I wonder if Manziel will regret burning those bridges in the CFL now...