BillsFan4

What could it possibly be? Like CaptnCoke11 said, the trade window doesn't open until march. Player news... Kyle retiring? Something with Incognito? A contract extension for someone (Benjamin? Gaines? Kyle?)? That's about all the guesses I have off the top of my head.

Correct. What really sucks is that they chose to change it pretty much the year after the Sabres started their rebuild. It used to be that the draft lottery was only for the 1st overall pick, and a team could only fall 1 spot (that's how we got Eichel, but they changed it immediately after that). The last place team used to have 25% odds of picking #1. Now they only get an 18% chance at #1 and can fall 3 spots. But at least we tanked in time to get Eichel...

Yes. But he was on loan from Sweden's AIK hockey for the year. Thats why why he was eligible for the AHL before 20yrs old. He wasn't considered a major junior player, but a european player on loan to major junior. Had the Sabres not made him play in the AHL he would have went back to Sweden to play.

"Look at me" posts

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/bills-gm-explains-how-andrew-luck-spoiled-plan-to-draft-cam-newton/ Cam was definitely the original target... I don't know if Whaley tried to move up for him or not, or if Carolina would have been willing to trade that pick. But the Bills did want Newton.

Oh man, I want Dahlin SO bad! I just have zero hope of winning a draft lottery. I am planning on being pushed back the max 3 spots. As long as we can stay in the top 5 though... top 5 looks real strong this year. Some really good d men in this draft. I dont want to rush Mittlestadt. If he's absolutely 100% ready, then great. But if there's any doubt I'd rather keep him in college an extra year than rush him to the NHL too early, like we did with Reinhart and Nylander (He should have stayed and played in Sweden instead of being pushed into the AHL too soon. I guess Sweden actually made a big deal about Tim Murray rushing him to the AHL. They were pissed and felt it hurt his development (which looks to be true). I guess they even brought it up in a meeting with all the GM's).

I was just coming here to post the same thing. They showed it during the Sabres/Flames game. I couldn't find the actual graphic, but yes i believe it was 43%. I know it led the entire NHL. McDavid came in 3rd just for reference... (McD was pretty invisible last night, eh?) Eichel's continued development has been impressive to watch. You have to give Housley his due credit in Eichel's development. He really seems to have been able to reach Eichel and get him to change certain aspects of his game (like backchecking and playing defense, for one). You can see a lot of guys (slowly) starting to do what Housley is asking of them more and more. It's amazing how much better the Sabres play when they actually listen to their coach and follow his game plan!

Yeah I lived in northern Florida for a while and the summers were absolutely brutal! 100(+) degrees and humid as !@#$. People literally had to walk around with sweat rags... we had plastic furniture we left outside that started to deform... lol. Like you said, I didn't want to leave the a/c. Plus there's lots more bugs and stuff like that, since they can live there year round. Taking a walk in the woods was a whole new ordeal, with not having grown up there (so I didn't know the different plants, animals, bugs etc to watch out for). Lots of spiders, poisonous ones too, like brown recluses (who will leave a hole in you if they bite) and black widows. They had to spray my place once a month to keep them under control. Fire ants. Love bugs that glue themselves to your car and don't come off. Mosquitoes like crazy, and the list goes on... Oh and CHIGGERS. I had no idea what these even were until I walked through a patch of long grass and was miserable for the next week+ with little tiny bugs imbedded under my skin. I almost had a damn alligator eat my dog, too! (I lived right on the St. John's river). There was a lot to like about living down south, but the summer heat was not one of those things. I honestly don't miss it. I like the change of seasons.

Wonder what he meant by this - Is he saying that he may bench Mariota for certain games to help develop him? Or am I misinterpreting?

My thoughts exactly.

Did they have Daboll on yet?

I was also surprised that we didn't hear anything about Schwartz being linked to any of the head coaching jobs, or even interviewing them (afaik anyway). He does have a bit of a reputation for having a very strong personality... (to say it nicely). I guess that could possibly play a part. I think it was mainly just the way things are trending with coaching hires. With the numerous first time rookie head coaches that have just recently come in and had real success I think we are seeing more teams going that direction. It can be a bit of a copycat league at times. Sean McVay, Doug Pederson, Sean McDermott, Dan Quinn, Anthony Lynn, Adam Gase (last year) and even Todd Bowles (2 years ago) + Kyle Shanahan (once he got a QB) all came in and had varying degrees of success. Lot of younger coaching hires recently too, and also guys with much less experience. We are seeing coaches hired that barely have any experience as a coordinator (2-3 years or less) and have only been coaching a total of 10 years or less. This is a bit of a change from years past. Things seem to be currently trending toward younger coaches with less experience. Especially this offseason.

Wow... So... Gregg Williams and Todd Haley on the same staff. lol

There it is. Pats to super bowl. Again. Damn I hate them. But im also not all that unhappy about seeing the quitter lose. One of those bitter ter sweet games I guess.

And of course Gilmore makes the play to end the game for Jax.

I f ing hate the damn Pats but... man Brady really is clutch. He's just at his best with the game on the line. And New England's coaches are masters of in game adjustment.

Oh man, this isn't good for Jax. Myles Jack is a loss I don't know that they can overcome...

Very true. Definitely rooting against the Pats. I really don't like either team. I just don't want to see the Pats go to 2 in a row. Not looking too good for Jax right now though.

Wow! Huge stop by the Jags! Can't believe I'm rooting for Marrone, but I am! lol

Ugh. That was huge.

The way I understand it is that was a stand alone bill to fund the miltary during the shut down. I think it actually may be the same one they passed right at the start of the shut down in 2013, that she re-introduced but I'm not sure in that. DACA was not attached to it though from what I can tell. Here is the actual bill - H R 1301 - Mar 8, 2017 · Provides appropriations for FY2017 for Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO)/ the Global War on Terrorism. ... Provides appropriations for Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E) for the military departments and other DOD agencies. Provides appropriations for the Defense Working Capital Funds. https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/1301

https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4710278/senator-mcconnell-objects-military-pay-protection Here's a video of Mitch McConnell objecting to an amendment proposed by a democratic senator to continue funding the military during this shut down.

He has very little coaching experience. He's only been coaching for 7 years, and only 4 years in the NFL - Ohio State (2011) Linebackers coach Ohio State (2012–2013) Defensive line coach Houston Texans (2014–2016) Linebackers coach Houston Texans (2017) Defensive coordinator Tennessee Titans (2018–present) Head coach He was (obviously) a pretty good NFL player though. But it still seems like a little too soon to already be named a head coach. and I thought Houston's defense regressed this year in his 1st and only season as DC (but to be fair they had some significant injuries). Houston was the #1 ranked defense last year (YPG) and slipped all the way to #20 this year... They were also the #11 defense in points allowed per game in 2016, and this year they ranked dead last (#32) in the NFL in ppg. Like i said, I know injuries played a part, but IMO it's still not a very good look for Vrabel. Who knows though. Maybe he will end up being a very good head coach.

He overplays pucks WAY too much. It it seems like almost every game there is a goal scored against us that is directly due to him overplaying a puck and getting caught out of position. Like goals #3 and 4 (the game winner) against the Rangers. Or the 1st goal today (I think there was another today too). For such a big big goalie he sure sucks at just staying in net and using his big body + positioning to stop pucks. I'd love Ryan Miller here right now to tutor him on positioning. Lehner doesnt appear to be the long term solution in net. Sucks that Buffalo will never come close to recovering the asset given up to acquire him. And when you look at the players that were available at pick #21 of that very deep 2015 draft it makes it even worse.... How great would it be to, instead of having Robin Lehner, have someone like Brock Boeser, who has 22 goals (would lead all Sabres), 40 points and is on pace to break Pavel Bure's rookie scoring record in Vancouver...? Or Jacob Larsson (looks great on Ahaheim's blue line), Sebastian Aho (16 goals and 37 points, which would be 2nd on the Sabres ahead of Evander Kane), or Noah Juulsen (another good young defenseman), Colin White, Travis Konecney, Anthony Beauvillier, Jack Roslovic, Jeremy Roy, Travis Dermott, Brandon Carlo (good young d man for bruins), Oliver Kylington (yet another good young d man) and the list goes on and on... Tim Murray really screwed our rebuild. So many blown and traded away picks... Sorry, just venting. lol