BillsFan4

https://www.golongtd.com/p/why-damar-hamlin-is-exactly-what good story on Hamlin’s upbringing. Worth a read. definitely rooting for him!

Kucherov already half in the bag by the time he gave his (shirtless) press conference. He didn’t make any friends in Montreal.... “Montreal fans were acting like they won the Stanley cup last game. Are you kidding me? Are you kidding me? Their final was last series, ok?”

Some of my family and friends have been using a service called “EyeStreamTV” for well over a year now and they all swear by it. Ive been wanting to try it for a while. You get literally every channel - 900+ channels + PPV events. All the premium movie channels. All Bills + Sabres games. All for like $40-50 a month. And if you refer people you get it cheaper. Iirc if you refer 5 people you get it for free. I don’t see how it’s legal but apparently it is.

This is starting to remind me of the old rumor (that eventually became a running joke) that Olli Jokinen was getting traded to the Sabres.

some info on him: https://www.post-gazette.com/sports/penguins/2020/12/01/pittsburgh-penguins-sam-ventura-nhl-hockey-analytics-puck-player-tracking/stories/202012010022 he’s the guy who originally founded war on ice and iirc was one of the first big analytics hires in the NHL. Jason Nightingale (our long time analytics guy) promoted to assistant director of amateur scouting. So I’m assuming analytics will play a large role in the Sabres drafts under Adams. Hopefully that ends up being a good thing... I’d say it can’t get much worse, but as we know, it always can. 😂 Ventura seems like a competent hire so I’m hopeful (for now).

oh man. 😢 How sad. edit:

Yikes! I had forgotten how terrible his blue line acquisitions were. And to make matters worse he had some sort of rule about not drafting defenseman in the top 1/2 of the draft. I think it was the year they passed on Sergachev that he made the comment about how Buffalo had to draft later in the 1st before he could draft a d-man. 🤦‍♂️ wonder what he would’ve done in the Dahlin draft? I will give him credit for a few things, though. - the ROR trade was a home run (before pegula/botterill f’ed it up) - at least he seemed to have a vision on how he wanted to build the team. More than I can say for whatever the **** Botterill was trying to build. - drafting for skill in the late rounds, which led to the Olofsson pick. that’s about all I can think of off hand. 😂 it’s pretty incredible to think about how bad the GM’s have been since Darcy Regier. I still wonder what type of team he would’ve put together if given the 5 years he wanted. Couldn’t have been much worse, right?

https://theathletic.com/2680565/2021/06/30/live-qa-john-vogl-answers-your-buffalo-sabres-don-granato-and-jack-eichel-questions/

Side note - this makes the 7th different head coach since the Pegulas bought the Sabres in 2011. 😬

The article doesn’t mention it but he’s only had 3 losing seasons in total over his 16 years as a head coach at various levels. If it was down to Tocchet or Granato (as reported yesterday) I am very glad it’s Granato. Still would have preferred Boudreau, but if they’re trading away a bunch of veteran players and re-re-rebuilding I’m not sure Boudreau made as much sense. A big reason I wanted Boudreau was to have 1 more kick at the can with an actual proven winner veteran coach w/Eichel still on the roster. I figured this was the last chance for Buffalo to hire a head coach while they still had Eichel and I didn’t think we should gamble on another inexperienced coach. But it seems like Eichel being traded is a foregone conclusion at this point. Same with Reinhart, Risto, etc. I wonder if Tocchet could end up being hired as an associate coach? It’ll also be interesting to see if Matt Ellis and/or Dan Girardi end up on Granato’s staff.

I was pulling for the islanders. Now that they’re eliminated I don’t really want either team to win... But as a Buffalo fan I usually always root for the underdog, which would definitely be Montreal. So I guess that’s who I’m rooting for. Plus, Canada is so insanely hockey crazy. I know how much it would mean to Canadians, and especially Canadiens (French Canadians). Speaking of Canada being hockey crazy. I saw the price difference in tickets. For games 1+2 in Tampa, ticket are roughly $850. For game 3 in Montreal, cheapest ticket are over $4000! Canadien fans saying it’s cheaper to fly (round trip + game ticket + hotel) to Tampa for a game. Crazy!

😢 I can’t even imagine

I would assume it wasn’t but I’m not sure. Ross tucker said it was someone in the league. Greg Cossell also said himself earlier in the interview (at the 5:15 mark) that Allen is the most physically gifted QB in the NFL.

I understand why Eichel wants the surgery he does. But I also understand why the Sabres are hesitant. This article describes the exact procedure he wants, the benefits + risks, looks at the athletes who’ve had it done. Very fair assessment of the situation. worth a read for Sabres fans. https://www.diebytheblade.com/platform/amp/2021/5/19/22443208/buffalo-sabres-jack-eichels-artificial-disc-conundrum?__twitter_impression=true

Well, the Sabres curse continues. Staal traded and will now play for the Cup. Hey, maybe we can use it as a selling point to free agents! ”Come sign in Buffalo. We’ll trade you to the eventual cup finalist at the trade deadline, guaranteed!” 😂

Spoiler: what a game tonight!

I don’t think he’s actually going to opt out or retire. But If he does I could see Daboll filling the slot receiver role by committee (Sanders, McKenzie, Davis, etc.), or a sign/trade by Beane to fill that spot. Thankfully Buffalo does have great WR depth if Cole did decide to opt out/retire.

Sorry, I didn’t know I wasn’t allowed to talk about a hockey game in the hockey thread.

What a win by the Isles in OT! Especially after getting destroyed 8-0 last game. Amazing they forced a game 7. I really want them to pull off the series win.

The documentary is on Amazon Prime and Hulu. It’s pretty interesting. RIP

No. Seth Jones is 1 year away from UFA and already told Columbus he’s testing free agency. Why would Buffalo think they could sign him? CBUS has been a much better team than Buffalo and he won’t sign there. and, without Jones, 5th overall just isn’t a good enough center piece for Eichel. I just don’t see what Columbus even has to be the center piece of an Eichel trade. The value would have to be made up from the 1at round draft picks they hold in this draft. #5, mid 20’s and Tampa’s pick (last?). I’d rather gamble on an unprotected CBUS 1st next year vs. taking back later round picks this year, in a weak draft. Im really hoping Adams is just using Columbus to drive up the price with other teams. They just don’t have the high end prospects other teams do. And no interest in either of their goalies unless it’s just a throw in. No. 2 firsts isn’t nearly enough. They need high end prospects back. No interest in gambling on picks in an Eichel trade. They need as close to sure things as possible. The only deals that even remotely interest me would be the Ducks for #3 + Zegras +. Or Chicago for Dach + 11 ++. Or LA for Byfield ++ They need the other teams top prospect, and that prospect has to be a top 5 in the NHL (IMO).

😢