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for 17 September 2009
McKelvin Reportedly Has a Change of Heart
Leodis McKelvin has stated when it comes to returning that ill-fated kickoff Monday, he would do the same thing again. Everyone believes him.
But when it comes to making public statements regarding the teenage youths who vandalized his home property, he’s proving to be not as quite convincing.
Yesterday during the Buffalo Bills media day, McKelvin told reporters gathered that he “didn’t want anybody to be arrested.
But according to this WBEN report filed by Steve Chicon, Erie County District attorney Frank Sedita says he has a sworn affidavit from McKelvin which reads the second-year cornerback would like to press charges.
Chichon states Defense Attorney Terrence Connors told the radio station that if charges are brought up, they’d “likely be handled within the confines of family court, making it a confidential proceeding.”
According to the Hamburg police, in the hours following the Bills 25-24 loss to New England, two teenagers vandalized his front lawn, spray painting an obscenity and the final score of the game across his lawn. McKelvin fumbled a kickoff return in the game’s waning moments that led to New England recovering and taking its only lead of the game; a lead that held up in the final seconds for a heartbreaking Buffalo loss.
Mad Max Trying Out in Atlanta
I’ve just learned former Buffalo Sabre Max Afinogenov is in training camp today trying out for the Atlanta Thrashers.
Afinnogenov was one of the more explosive, and frustrating players in recent Sabres memory. Despite physical skills on par with the best skaters in the league, Max only scored 134 goals in his 569 games with Buffalo, including only 16 over the past 104 games over the last two years.
At 569 games, Max was the longest tenured Sabre on the roster, but inconsistency and a failure to stay healthy led to Buffalo having no interest in resigning him once he became a free agent after last season. He hadn’t played more than 56 games in a season in three years and for all his talent never registered more than 23 goals or 71 points in a full season.
However, he does still maintain elite speed and privileged skillfulness so look for Atlanta to give him a legitimate chance to stick.
Many Sabres Vets Sitting Out Tonight’s Opener
Head coach Lindy Ruff said that for tonight’s Sabres preseason opener against Washington, Patrick Lalime and Jhonas Enroth will share goaltending duties, with Enroth likely geting the starting nod.Only select veterans Ruff expects to be on the opening roster will play tonight. Veterans not playing this evening include Ryan Miller, Henrik Tallinder, Toni Lydman, Tim Connolly, Paul Gaustad, Patrick Kaleta and captain Craig Rivet. Matt Ellis and Nathan Paetsch are also not in the lineup.
Both 2008 rookie first round picks, Tyler Myers and Tyler Ennis will be on the ice tonight.
The game tonight starts at 7PM and can heard live on WGR-550. Buffalo will play the Capitals when it counts on Wednesday November 25 in Washington.
The Capitals have yet to announce if reigning Hart Trophy winer Alex Ovechkin will play tonight.
Schobel Forced To Miss Practice With Sore Back
Chris Kelsay has returned to practice for the Buffalo Bills today after missing yesterday with a knee bruise. It was expected he would miss at least one week after suffering the injury right before halftime Monday night, but his recovery has went well. However, Aaron Schobel is not practicing today. He was forced to watch with a sore back. Chris Brown of BuffaloBills.com confirms this.If Schobel misses any playing time on Sunday it could be devasting for the Bills defense. Schobel looked like his old self this past Monday, with a sack and interception return for a touchdown against Tom Brady. He nearly picked off a second pass late in the fourth quarter.
Check back later as we’re working on updates and if anything becomes available we’ll pass it along immediately.
Women’s Hockey Picked Fifth In CHA Pre Season Poll
The Niagara women’s hockey team was selected to finish fifth in the 2009-10 CHA Coaches Pre Season Poll announced today from the league’s office.
The 2009-10 season will witness a new coach for the Purple Eagles for only the second time ever in the program history when former Niagara men’s hockey standout Chris MacKenzie begins his first season as a head coach.
Niagara returns a senior laden team as 10 of the 18 players returning are in their fourth year in the program. Niagara will look for key contributions from seniors forwards Frances McPhail (Oakville, Ont.) and Mary McKinnon (Summerside, P.E.I.) and 2008-09 CHA All-Rookie Team member Jocey Kleiber (Edina, Minn.).
Defending league and tournament champions and NCAA Tournament finalist runner-up Mercyhurst was picked first with a total of 16 points and received four out of five first place votes.
Niagara opens the season at St. Cloud State on Oct. 2 at 7:07 p.m.
Continue reading ‘Women’s Hockey Picked Fifth In CHA Pre Season Poll’
E.C.C. Men’s Golf Wins First Tournament
The Erie Community College men’s golf team won their first tournament of the 2009 fall season, winning the D’Youville College Invitational at Springville Country Club on September 16.
The Kats won the tournament with a team score of 329, just four shots ahead of Medaille College, who finished second with 333. Hilbert and D’Youville finished with 354 and 379 to finish third and fourth respectively.
On the individual side, sophomore Jim Merriman (South Wales/East Aurora) was the tournament medalist with a three-over 74. His round included a one-under 34 on the back nine. He had five birdies on the day.
Rounding out the members of the Erie team scoring was: Kyle Harman (Orchard Park/Orchard Park) 84, Ryan Winkowski (Lancaster/Lancaster) 84, Andrew Faulring (North Tonawanda/North Tonawanda) 87, and Dave Taylor (Buffalo/Timon-St. Jude) 89.
Sophomore Blake Ihrig (Fredonia/Fredonia) was the only other player to break 80, shooting a 79. He competed in only the individual portion of the tournament. Mike Krywcum (Buffalo/St. Joes) and Alex Godfrey (North Tonawanda/North Tonawanda) each shot 81 competing in the individual portion.
The team will next be in action on Wednesday September 26 at Harvest Hill golf course when they host their fall invitational.
Forecasting The Sabres
Two years ago the Buffalo Sabres were on top of the world and the community had fallen deeply in love with the team. Things have changed considerably since then. The Sabres were eliminated in the Eastern Conference Finals that season by the hated Ottawa Senators. A couple months later the co-captains Danny Briere and Chris Drury left via free agency and now the team has missed the playoffs two consecutive seasons.
The 2008-2009 team was difficult to figure out. They started the season with a four game winning streak and winning six of their first seven. Unfortunately consistency was an issue for them last season. They would often rattle off two or three wins in a row but would follow that up with four or five losses. It was difficult to ever get a gauge on the season.
Despite the lack of consistency this team showed last season; they seemed primed to make the playoffs at the end of February. On February 21 the Sabres were in sixth place and had just won a key game against the New York Rangers. That was the same night that Scott Gomez took out Ryan Miller behind the net and forced him to miss a month with a high ankle sprain.
Morning Links for September 17
* It’s preview time on nhl.com and John McGourty has an excellent Sabres season preview
* Andrew Fillipponi of WGR-550 reports that Clarke MacArthur has to prove that he belongs
* The Sabres held a scrimmage yesterday, and John Vogl of the Buffalo News says the intensity was something to behold
* Buffalo Bills players have been rattled by the vandalism of Leodis McKelvin’s property, writes Sean Fitz-Gerald of the National Post.
* Chuck Pollack of the Olean Times Herald says it’s time to stop putting all the blame on McKelvin for the Bills loss.
* The Tampa Bay Bucs secondary was attacked last week by Dallas. Joe Smith of the St. Petersburg Times reports the team can expect more of the same against Buffalo on Sunday.
* Despite giving up 54 points last week, UB coach Turner Gill defends his defense, as Jonah Bronstein of the Gazette writes.
* In high school tennis, Kenmore West edged rival Kenmore East, 3-2, the Tonawanda News reports.
A Fan’s View: Too Bad The Game Isn’t 57 Minutes
Clap clap clap. Clappity clap clap clap. My god. If I see Dick Jauron’s left hand hit his right hand one more time after another teeth grinding mistake, I am going to Gus Ferotte myself into my living room wall.
I’ll be honest; Dick Jauron has made me negatively stereotype people whose last names rhyme with a derogatory word. My apologies to Tom Jidiot and Edgar Bassmole; we’ll probably never be friends.
Jauron’s Jurassic Park-like, “don’t move or they’ll detect me” sideline presence infuriates me. I feel like if I went to the sidelines during the game and wandered right in front of him, I’d feel like he was a wax museum character. “Everything looks normal, but his eyes aren’t really fixed on anything. Oh, no! Aha, it’s made of wax.” Mentos shock and smile….and scene.
I already know his postgame comments are “I thought we did some good stuff out there…..I’m going to look at the film….obviously we didn’t like the outcome….He’s a heckva player and he’s got to get better and he will!”
Continue reading ‘A Fan’s View: Too Bad The Game Isn’t 57 Minutes’
Jamestown Jets Look to Rebound Versus Team Ulysee
After splitting a pair of games against the Findlay Grrrowl last weekend, Head Coach Dennis Canfield felt he needed more fire power. He turned to a couple of familiar faces to help provide the necessary boost. When the Jets take the ice against Team Ulysee this weekend, Joe Coyne and Dan Igielinski will be wearing a Jets uniform.
Coyne and Igielinski were both key parts of the Jets team that were regular season champions last season. Coyne led the league in points with a record 135 points, including 52 goals. “I felt we needed more offense and physical toughness and we all know what these guys bring to the table” Coach Canfield said. Igielinski brought a physical presence to the lineup with 101 penalty minutes and he added 20 goals along the way.
This will be the first time that Team Ulysee will visit the Jamestown Savings Bank Ice Arena although Jamestown played their last season. The Jets came away from that game with a 9-5 loss in front of a raucous crowd. The Jets may have been a little surprised by the physical play last season, this time they know what to expect. “I think we may have been caught off guard last year. This season we know they will play a physical game and we will be better prepared” Canfield said.
Continue reading ‘Jamestown Jets Look to Rebound Versus Team Ulysee’
