My Friends Call Me Tebucky

Quite Frankly, I find it hard to believe they got Shaq's nuts off his chin long enough for him to do an hour long TV show

Well, maybe aside from every comment that Jeff Garcia has ever made

this is too gay not to be on the first page. bump.

per Isles team page. Great.

Resign Zhitnik, go after a cheaper quality defenseman that wasn't tendered (I'm thinking Martin Skoula of Anaheim), package Dumont and Biron together, see if Detroit will give you Datsyuk or Zetterberg. That would make you younger, much better, and probably only add between 2.5 and 3.5 million to the current payroll.

I put a Rob Johnson patch over my Bledsoe jersey...big hit with the ladies.

Keith Goganius had rare athletic ability.

Kyle Brady took an especially large amount of abuse on draft day...

If MC Ren and Ice Cube were flying the plane I'd never worry 'bout terrorists...

Hopefully locking up McGee would have no impact on Clements. Obviously McGee won't be as good as Clements, because Nate is pretty much a prototype NFL corner except for some occasional decision making skills. Except for McAlister, I don't think anybody's better, including Bailey. I think McGee could eventually develop into a great #2 corner- a guy like Dre Bly, who gives up a lot of plays, but seems to make just as many.

I'm not positive on this, but over the last 3 years the Sabres probably have one of the 5 worst records in the league...if not, they're definitely in the bottom 6 or 7. Besides, you have to give the large market teams SOMETHING. Some of them are gonna have to give up half their roster in the new, more socialist NHL. It's only fair that they get at least a 1 in 48 chance of landing Crosby.

A lineup from just the 3rd round of those 4 drafts... QB: Josh McCown RB: Brian Westbrook and/or Kevan Barlow FB: Rueben Droughns WR: Steve Smith WR: Darrell Jackson WR: Laveranues Coles (and we have Marty Booker to bring in on 3rd downs, too) TE: Erron Kinney LT: Jonas Jennings RT: Kareem McKenzie G: Zach Piller G: Rex Tucker C: Casey Rabach or Seth McKinney DE: Reggie Hayward DE/OLB: Chike Okeafor DT: Cletidus Hunt DT: Darwin Walker OLB: Joey Porter (a Donahoe 3rd round pick) MLB: Dat Nguyen OLB: Ben Leber CB: Mike McKenzie CB: Will Peterson Nickel Corner: Dwight Smith SS: Adrian Wilson FS: Greg Wesley A 3rd round pick is an extremely valuable commodity...you can get great players, you just have to have a reliable system that's capable of finding them. Many of these guys have played in Pro Bowls..i don't think a team with this as it's lineup would do any worse than 8-8.

I'll go with a golfer that could shoot 72-72-124-109 = 377 and still pocket $20,000 at a PGA event. He has no risk of any 250 pounder physically touching him, gets to play on the world's best golf courses, picks and chooses when he wants to work, doesn't have to deal with management and contract negotiations, doesn't really need an agent, doesn't have to endure any type of training camp whatsoever, and makes some solid money on the side just by wearing a Titleist or Taylor Made baseball cap on the course even though he'll never be on TV...

Well put. Nobody here could honestly say they wouldn't be pissed off if they were in Henry's shoes circa April 2003. He handled the situation about as well as anybody could have, and he's good enough to be a starter for at least a half dozen teams in the league...you just can't blame him for wanting out of Buffalo or for not being as good as McGahee, he was playing off of a rookie contract at a position which doesn't have much of an NFL shelf life...for his future financial well being alone his demand was completely understandable.

I don't completely disagree with you, and I don't think it's completely his fault, but I just don't see him as ever being more than a Craig Janney type. Maybe he'll get you 20-50-70 in a good year down the road, but his complete lack of grit and desire are pretty alarming, even for a "kid." I say it's not all his fault because of the unfair circumstances he's had to go through his whole career- A. he was drafted #5 overall, expectations perhaps too high B. The Islanders significantly retarded his development by rushing him to the NHL C. As mentioned earlier, the Lindy Ruff factor- Buffalo has been a graveyard for talented offensive players for years, and Ruff's inability to create lines that make sense is a major factor in that. D. Replacing a great two way player, leader, and fan favorite like Peca is pretty much impossible. But there are big time flaws with him, and I don't think he'll ever develop in Buffalo. For him to make it in the NHL he's gonna have to be a 1st line center, a 2nd line center surrounded by two guys who can really play defense (two guys who'd probably be on a checking line), or a 4th line spare part that only gets serious ice time on the PP. It's a Catch 22 with him...he can't get better unless he plays, but Buffalo can't afford to play him because he's a huge liability. I think he's a skilled player taken in an extremely weak draft whose career potential just isn't what a #5 pick in another year's draft may be...

ESPN's John Clayton is reporting that the Cowboys have signed Pepper Johnson, Bart Oates, and Myron Guyton to 1 year deals. Details to follow.

Uhhh..I think that he's best classified as a complete bust. 45 points from a 21 year old center is fine if he does something else well like win a faceoff or (GOD FORBID) backcheck. Or if he shows signs of getting better, which he never did. He doesn't play D and he's not good enough 5 on 5 to play as a scoring line center. Too bad, he would've been really popular around here...

is he still flashing that Pat LaFontaine/ Doug Weight-like potential that he's been showing off around here for 4 years?

Unless 90% of the guys on that list are UFAs, it's way, way too long. There won't be nearly that many buyouts. If only a few teams made it through the last couple of years turning a profit, they're not going to have the money to do it. It'll just be teams doing it to get under the salary cap, not to get rid of overpriced guys. Look at it this way...could the Islanders theoretically afford to give Alexei Yashin a 28 million dollar signing bonus all payable up front? There's no way....it would cripple their franchise. Paying Alexei Yashin 40 or 45 million dollars and getting his ability (even if he is pretty useless now) is wiser than giving him 28 million dollars and getting nothing for him. And I can't believe somebody actually said that he's not concerned about Zhitnik going, but that we need to keep Pyatt, Campbell, and Biron. Pyatt's never going to explode into Todd Bertuzzi like Darcy Regier thinks, Campbell will never be an NHL defenseman, and Biron just isn't worth the modest money he'll be asking for- they have a better guy behind him in Miller and a capable backup in Noronen. Peca's not coming back to Buffalo, way too many bridges burned there. Of Niedermayer, Rafalski, Hamrlik, Foote, Gonchar, and Ozolinsh, I'd take any of them just because we desperately need a power play QB. But Ozolinsh is almost as bad as Campbell in his own end, Foote is very similar to McKee and not much of a power play force, and Rafalski's gonna cost too much/ is a midget. Niedermayer's the best of the bunch but he's older, so I'd go with Hamrlik and try really hard to keep Zhitnik. Gonchar would be nice, but he'll be pricey, and isn't that good in his own end. Keep Zhitnik! Get a power play QB, preferably one that knows how to play in his own end too! McGillis, Zubov, and Kim Johnsson off of that list may be better fits...

It doesn't really make sense that an overweight, declining run stuffer that has never anchored a good run defense without a 380 pounder at his side would be burning bridges like this. If he falls flat on his face in Minnesota and gets cut after a year or two, he would have been a great candidate to come back to Buffalo as a depth player being a fan favorite and all...oh well.

You're assuming that the NFL considers the NHL a professional sports league