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for November 2009
 Well, aren’t we streaky?
After going winless for four games, the Buffalo Sabres reeled off the third consecutive victory after shutting out the Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-0 at the Air Canada Centre. Ryan Miller stopped all 38 Toronto shots he faced in getting his third shut out of the season. In the process, the Sabres took over first place in the Northeast Division at 16-7-2 for 34 points.
After a scoreless first period, Tim Kennedy got Buffalo on the board with this second goal of the season at 13:07 of the second. Henrik Tallinder gave the Sabres some breathing room with a goal just 40 seconds into the final period, and Jochen Hecht capped the scoring with his fourth goal of the season at 10:59.
Miller improved to 15-4-2 on the season. Buffalo is off until Thursday before hosting divisional rival Montreal at the HSBC Arena.
 Canisius junior guard Julius Coles (Harlem, N.Y.) has been named as the MAAC Men’s Basketball Player of the Week, the conference office announced today. Coles averaged 26.5 points per game last week as the Golden Griffins went 2-0 in non-conference games against Buffalo and Howard.
In the Griffs’ 70-54 victory over Howard Nov. 28, Coles scored a career-high 27 points after he went 9-for-17 from the field, 3-for-7 from 3-point range and 6-for-8 from the foul line. Coles started last week by matching his previous career-high with 26 points at cross-town rival Buffalo as the Blue and Gold came back to beat the Bulls 73-71 on the road. For the week, he shot 54.5 percent from the field, 50 percent from 3-point land and 71.4 percent from the charity stripe.
Continue reading ‘Julius Coles Name MAAC Player of the Week’
One of Buffalo Sports Daily’s newest and best affiliates is Skunkpost.com. Like BSD, Skunkpost is relatively new and making a big splash in the online community.
Every morning following a Bills game, I sit down with Skunkposter Sara Serafin in their studios to break down the game. Here is the interview following an impressive home win against divisional rival Miami.
 Lost among the hoopla of a big Buffalo Bills win on Sunday was the stunningly dominant performance by Western New York in high school football over the weekend. By the time the New York State finals were finished in Syracuse, Section VI had claimed four state class titles for the second consecutive year. By doing so, Western New York stamped its signature as being the undisputed hot spot for high school football in the Empire State.
North Tonawanda (Class AA), Sweet Home (Class A), Southwestern (Class C) and Randolph (Class D) all waltzed through their opponents en route to state crowns. Western New York has now won eight of the last 10 state football crowns.
Continue reading ‘WNY: The Undisputed Kings Of High School Football’
 I’ll be honest. Coming off of a holiday highlighted by three full days of tryptophan-induced lethargy (oh, how I love Thanksgiving), I knew heading into Sunday that my weekly film session post wasn’t going to be as in-depth as usual. My apologies for not warning you before this morning; call it a preparatory lethargy on my part.
The Buffalo Bills blew the Miami Dolphins out yesterday. There, I said it. If we’re calling the Bills’ 27-7 loss to New Orleans a blowout loss, then their 31-14 performance yesterday was a blowout win. I’ve got some observations for you to ponder and/or expand upon after the jump, but let’s just get the most obvious note out of the way: Gus Johnson is awesome. Moving on.
Continue reading ‘Bills 31, Dolphins 14: Week 12 Film Session’
 Being this was a holiday week and all, I thought I’d switch things up a bit. Any tailgating food I would’ve whipped up for Sunday would’ve most likely be some concoction of Thanksgiving leftovers and scraps. So it’s only right to show you guys the origins of those leftovers and scraps, right?
Here’s a little peek at Thanksgiving, done the fat I-talian way. To me, it’s one of those days where I always make sure I have a festive pair of stretch pants on hand. Although this year, I’m not sure stretch pants did the trick. I needed a stretch stomach. Something perhaps along the line of this..
Continue reading ‘The Unemployed Chef: My Big, Fat Italian Thanksgiving’
 “You can’t rush beauty, Partna.”
That was the expression uttered by Terrell Owens’ bodyguard Pablo on the premiere of the “The T.O. Show” on VH-1 this summer. There could be a million nouns used to pinpoint T.O.’s performance the first half of his season in Buffalo, and beauty wouldn‘t be one of them. Though the first eight games of 2009 Owens grabbed all of 23 passes, managed just 281 yards and caught exactly one touchdown pass. He was on pace for his worst season since his rookie year with San Francisco in 1996.
But a funny thing happened to his humdrum, one-and-done campaign. The T.O. turnaround is in full flight and suddenly, labeling it as beauty would be quite the understatement. Breathtaking may be more fitting.
Continue reading ‘You Can’t Rush Beauty, Partna’
 Felix Schutz scored twice including the game winner late in the second period to lead the Portland Pirates to a 3-2 win over the Springfield Falcons in an American Hockey League game played Sunday in front of 2,472 at the MassMutual Center.
Paul Byron netted the other Pirates goal while Matt Generous collected two assists as the Pirates won for the second straight time and extended their point straight to nine games (6-0-3-0). In addition, the Pirates have now collected at least one point in each of their last five road games going 3-0-2-0. The victory also put Portland above .500 for the first time this season at 11-10-3-0.
Continue reading ‘Schutz scores a pair as Portland continues to roll’
 Despite 28 points and a program record eight three-pointers from senior Chris Matthews (Washington, D.C./Covenant Christian Academy), St. Bonaventure couldn’t overcome its 29 fouls in hard-fought 80-77 loss at Illinois State Sunday afternoon in the championship game of the Basketball Travelers Classic on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena.
The loss snaps a three-game win streak for the Bonnies, who fall to 4-2 on the young season, while Illinois State stays unbeaten at 6-0.
Continue reading ‘Bonnies drop heartbreaker to Illinois State in BTI Championship’
 The Niagara men’s basketball team (4-3) dropped the final game of a long road swing on Sunday to Akron (4-2), 80-68. The Purple Eagles took a 31-23 lead into the break, but the Zips used a pair of big runs in the second half to put the game away.
Akron opened the second stanza with a 14-6 run, including the half’s first six points, to knot the score at 37-37 with 16:33 remaining. After NU took q 42-41 lead with a Tyrone Lewis (Levittown, Pa.) 3-pointer, the Zips responed with a 16-7 run to pull away from the visitors. The home team benefitted from shooting 30 free throws in the second half, compared to Niagara’s 10 free throws for the game.
Continue reading ‘NU drops final game of long road swing, 80-68′
Follow all the play by play and get instant analysis live as it happens from Ralph Wilson Stadium today as the Bills take on the Miami Dolphins. Join the chat and chime in with your thoughts and observations.
 As the Buffalo Bills prepare to take on the Miami Dolphins today at Ralph Wilson Stadium, my mind goes back to a time when this rivalry reached a fevered pitch that finally exploded on a beautiful summer day in 1980.
Most Buffalo Bills fans will tell you that the one team they love to beat is the Miami Dolphins. Some will tell you that they don’t care if the Bills lose all their games just as long as they “squish the fish”. So why is there such a frenzy over this one team in the NFL? For those fans that are too young to remember, here’s a little refresher course.
Continue reading ‘Does God Hate the Buffalo Bills?’
 Canisius College junior guard Julius Coles scored a career-high 27 points, while teammates Greg Logins and Frank Turner added 14 and 13 points, respectively as the Golden Griffins defeated Howard 70-54 in the Koessler Athletic Center Saturday afternoon. Canisius has now won three-straight and improves to 3-1 with the win, while the Bison slipped to 0-7 with the loss.
Coles, who matched his career-high with 26 points in Tuesday’s win at Buffalo, scored his game-high 27 points after he went 9-for-17 from the field, 3-for-7 from 3-point range and 6-for-8 from the foul line. He also added five rebounds, an assist and a block to his final stat line, as the Blue and Gold opened the home schedule with a win for the first time since the 2002-03 campaign. Logins added a team-high eight rebounds in the victory for the Griffs, while Turner, who reached double figures in the scoring column for the 23rd-straight game, was credited with a game-high seven assists to go with five steals.
Continue reading ‘Career-High by Coles lead Griffs to win’
 Behind a career-high 29 points from sophomore Andrew Nicholson (Mississauga, Ontario/Father Michael Goetz Secondary) and 21 points from senior Chris Matthews (Washington, D.C./Lutheran Christian Academy), St. Bonaventure pulled away for a 98-71 win over Norfolk State in a fast-paced contest on the second day of the Basketball Travelers Classic Saturday night on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena.
Nicholson did a majority of his damage in the first half, scoring 23 points. The Mississauga, Ontario product also grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds and finished 11-of-13 from the field for his second consecutive double-double. Matthews did his damage from the outside, connecting on six three-pointers for his fourth career 20-point game.
Continue reading ‘Matthews, Nicholson lead Bonnies to 98-71 win over Norfolk State’
 It was like the Buffalo Sabres and Carolina Hurricanes played a doubleheader tonight at HSBC Arena. The first two periods were heavily in favor of the Canes while the Sabres controlled the final 20 minutes. The difference in the game was simple…Ryan Miller is better than Michael Leighton.
It took the Sabres 40 minutes to get their legs despite the lift they should have gotten from beating the Flyers on Friday. Maybe it took them some time to realize they would be without Paul Gaustad, Patrick Kaleta and Craig Rivet. The Canes took advantage of the Sabres sloppy play and Matt Cullen scored the first goal to give them a 1-0 lead. Tyler Myers made a terrible decision on a dump pass and Cullen raced in on Miller all alone. It was the only blemish for Miller tonight but Cullen made a nice move to beat him.
Continue reading ‘Sabres Dominate Third To Beat Canes 5-1′
 Former Buffalo Bills greats Andre Reed and Steve Tasker were among the 25 semifinalists announced today for induction into the NFL Hall of Fame. They were selected from a list of 131 preliminary nominees.
The list of 25 semifinalists will be reduced by mail ballot to 15 modern-era candidates. That will be announced on January 7, 2010. The Class of 2010 will be selected and announced on February 6, 2010- the day before Super Bowl XLIV.
According to the official Hall of Fame website, although there is no set number for any class of enshrinees, the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s current ground rules do stipulate that between four and seven new members will be selected each year. No more than five modern-era nominees can be elected in a given year and a class of six or seven enshrines can only be achieved if one or both senior nominees are elected.
Continue reading ‘Reed, Tasker Make Final 25 List for NFL HOF’
 The Portland Pirates were only 13 seconds away from winning their fourth-straight game, but Andres Ambuhl spoiled the victory, leaving the Pirates to settle for only a single point, following Dane Byers game-winning goal in overtime to give the Hartford Wolf Pack a 4-3 win in front of 3,589 at XL Center on Friday night.
Portland hasn’t lost in regulation in their last seven games with 4-0-3-0 record.
The Pirates were down 2-0 after 40 minutes of play, but tied the game early in the third period.
Continue reading ‘Pirates fail on opportunity for fourth-straight win’
 The Canisius College hockey team had its six-game unbeaten streak snapped at the hands of Army on Friday, falling by a score of 4-1. The loss drops the Griffs to 7-7-1 overall and 6-4-1 in Atlantic Hockey play, while Army improves to 4-8-2 and 3-5-1 against the league.
“The flow of the game wasn’t in our favor tonight,” said Canisius head coach Dave Smith. “We didn’t do enough positive things to get it in our favor. Once in a while, it was there but we were unable to capitalize with those chances. We have a lot of work to do if we want to be in the upper echelon in this league. We need to fix the simple things with our game.”
Continue reading ‘Canisius Hockey Falls at Army, 4-1′
 Stifling defense and three players in double figures helped St. Bonaventure open play at the Basketball Travelers Classic on the campus of Illinois State with a convincing 67-44 win over Southeast Missouri State Friday night on Doug Collins Court at Redbird Arena.
The Bonnies opened the game on a 15-0 run and never looked back en route to improving to 3-1 on the young season. After failing to hold an opponent to less than 50 points over the previous 275 games, St. Bonaventure has now held back-to-back opponents to 41 and 44 points, respectively.
Southeast Missouri State (1-4) shot just 32 percent from the floor and 6-of-16 from the free throw line. The Brown and White forced the Redhawks into 20 turnovers that led to a 25-6 advantage in points off turnovers.
Continue reading ‘Bonnies cruise to 67-44 win over SEMO at BTI Classic’
 I knew after much time away that the next edition of “The Puck Drops Here” would need to come with a vengeance. After returning to my seat on press row following half time, two scrumptious Alumni Arena hotdogs and Diet Pepsi in hand to find my lap-top out of juice and unable to continue meaningless Facebooking, opportunity came a’ knockin’.
It was at this point that I would have no choice but to focus in on the 2nd half of a local college basketball game that, with all due respect to UB Head Coach Reggie Witherspoon’s opinion of it being just another game, became an instant “Big 4” finish for the ages. Anyone yet to hear let alone read about Canisius’ thrilling last second victory has plenty of outlets for a game recap, but only here at Buffalo Sports Daily will you get the true story of the game as it was uncovered in the basement of Alumni Arena.
After a pretty rare busy day for The Puck, I had no intentions of attending the post game press conference (Think Billy Madison’s “Chlorophyll? more like Bore-a-fill”). However as the events of the night unfolded and the thrill of victory and agony of defeat so clearly depicted on the faces of the opposing sides, it was time to introduce the sports world to its newest budding media superstar.
Continue reading ‘“A Star is Born”; The Puck drops in on his First Press Conference’
 Boy, the Buffalo Sabres could sure use a win. After a blazing 8-1-1 start, the team has found the going tough. They’re just 4-6-1 in their last 11 games and are carrying a four-game winless streak (0-3-1).
Things shouldn’t get easier this afternoon when Buffalo travels to Philadelphia to take on a surging Flyers team that‘s 13-8-1 and finally back at home after a five game road trip.
The Sabres are currently in the middle of the pack in the Eastern Conference, literally. They’re in eighth place with 26 points, putting them eight points away from leading the conference.. And just nine points from being dead last. Today starts a stretch that will see Buffalo play 18 games over the next 33 days.
Continue reading ‘Live Blogging: Sabres defeat Philadelphia, 4-2′
 Some potential good news for the injury-riddled Buffalo Bills. After missing last week’s loss at Jacksonville, starting defensive tackle Marcus Stroud and Terrence McGee were both on the field practicing today, albeit on a limited basis, raising hope that both can play in this Sunday’s home showdown with Miami.
Fewell said after practice that Stroud had a good day and is closer to the probable side. McGee will be a game time decision.
Demetrius Bells (knee), Ashton Youboty (ankle) and Nic Harris (personal) and John McCargo (calf) were the only non-participants at this morning’s practice. All but Harris have been ruled out.
Continue reading ‘McGee, Stroud questionable for Bills’
 The Niagara men’s basketball team (4-2) had five players in double figures in a 74-64 road win over Mount St. Mary’s (2-2) on Wednesday. The total team effort included a pair of double-doubles and a game-high 18 bench points in 23 minutes in senior Tyrone Lewis’ (Levittown, Pa.) return.
“This was a total team effort for us (Wednesday),” Niagara head coach Joe Mihalich said. “We used a lot of balance to beat a very good team. Obviously, we are happy to have Tyrone back, but more than the five three’s he hit tonight, he just makes everyone around him better.”
Continue reading ‘Total Team Effort Leads Niagara To Win, 74-64′
 Oh how the mighty have fallen. The Buffalo Sabres, once flying high at first in the Northeast Division have dropped all the way to third place, behind the Bruins and Senators and to eighth in Eastern Conference.
Fighting for a spot in a still developing playoff picture is nothing new for the Sabres, who have missed the playoffs two years running by a combined six points. Mired in the midst of a three game losing streak, the Sabres traveled to Washington on Wednesday night to face Alexander Ovechkin and the Capitals. The Sabres offensive woes would be fixed going against a mediocre-at-best defense and a goaltender playing in his first full season, right?
Continue reading ‘Sabres drop to 8th in conference after goose egg in Washington’
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In 2008 the UB Bulls won nearly all the nail biters en route to winning their first ever MAC championship. This year has been a different story as time and time again the Bulls managed to lose nearly every close scoring contest. In what hopefully becomes something to build on once again, the Bulls (5-7) finished the season on a two-game winning streak after knocking off Kent State on the road this afternoon, 9-6.
