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for April 2010
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 The Amherst Center will be the site of many of the nation’s best junior hockey teams beginning today. USA Hockey will determine its 12-and-under as well as the 14-and-under Tier I national champions over the next five days.
There will be 12 teams from each age group participating, including a pair of teams from Amherst because they are hosting the tournament.
The 12-and-under Amherst Knights open the tournament against a team from Colorado at 3:45 p.m. today. The 14-and-under Knights will meet the L.A. Selects at 6 p.m. Wednesday. According to the USA Hockey website, the Selects are the second ranked team in the country in their age group.
Continue reading ‘USA Youth Championships at Amherst Center’
 After months of almost exclusively leading the Northeast Division and looking over their shoulders, at least when it comes to the Ottawa Senators the Buffalo Sabres have to look no more.
Tyler Ennis had a goal and two assists and Drew Stafford snapped out of a nasty slump with a goal and assist as the Sabres took care of business in their home finale, a 5-2 win over the New York Rangers.
With the win the Sabres clinched the Northeast Division. They’ll be playing in the postseason for the first time since 2007 and are guaranteed no lower than a third seed in the playoffs.
It’s their sixth division title in franchise history.
Continue reading ‘Sabres clinch Northeast Division in home finale’
 I have steadfastly declined to do a mock draft (I may do one before April 22) to this point and if you haven’t noticed, I haven’t published or reported on the mocks of other writers and sites for the past several weeks. The primary reason is frankly, I don’t think mocks should be trusted and set up fans with false hopes.
In my opinion they provide little more than ammunition for debate during the league’s down time, so I tend to stray from revealing most of them.
But in the case of Daniel Jeremiah I’m making an exception. Unlike a super-fan, media personality or alleged draft expert, Jeremiah has a leg to stand on when he makes projections. He’s a former NFL scout who has worked for Cleveland and Baltimore, so he has a much better grasp in how teams are thinking, not to mention a boatload of contacts to gage players on.
Continue reading ‘Former NFL scout has Bills taking Trent Williams’
At the exact same time the Buffalo Sabres take the ice to face off against the New York Rangers, Northeast Division foe Ottawa will be in Florida skating against the Panthers. At the end of the night what Ottawa does on the scoreboard could be irrelevant for the rest of the regular season.
It’s extremely cut and dry for Buffalo tonight as they play host for the final time during the regular season; defeat the Rangers and wrap up the division title in the process. By doing so, the expected packed crowd at HSBC Arena will be in party mode for good reason; the Sabres will win their division for the first time since 2007.
They’ll also win the division if Ottawa loses, though Buffalo is hardly looking to back into anything.
Continue reading ‘Sabres hope to lock down division in home finale’
 Here are some Buffalo Bills links from around the web to keep your morning going.
→ Our friend Brian Galliford at Buffalo Rumblings writes that the Bills should be wary of a trade for Jason Campbell. Galliford brings up many valid points, including Campbell’s 20-32 career record as a starter. It’s well worth the read.
→ Buffalo News reporter Mark Gaughan covers in detail Mike Williams workout at the Thurman Thomas Training Center yesterday for scouts of six NFL teams, including the Bills.
→ One of our favorite authors, Nick Mendola from WGR-500 pens an excellent column giving credit to the Bills for acknowledging their own need at quarterback when they tried to land Donovan McNabb.
→ Marshawn Lynch is still with the Bills… for now, writes Chuck Pollack of the Olean Times.
 Josh Heidinger, the all-time leading scorer for the Canisius College hockey team will continue his career in the ECHL. Heidinger signed with the Cincinnati Cyclones, a minor league affiliate with the NHL’s Montreal Canadians and Nashville Predators, on Saturday.
Heidinger set career highs with 39 points, 11 goals and 28 assists during his senior campaign. A two-time Atlantic Hockey Player of the Week, Heidinger finished the season strong, recording 22 points in the final 12 games while leading the Griffs to the Atlantic Hockey semifinals for the first time since 2004.
During his tenure at Canisius, Heidinger amassed 132 points, 37 goals and 95 assists in 141 career games. He leaves Canisius with the most career points and assists in the program’s Division I history.
Continue reading ‘Canisius Product Heidinger Joins Cincinnati Cyclones’
 Wide receiver prospect Mike Williams sent a clear message Monday to the media regarding how he feels about his talent as he readies himself to enter the NFL.
“If I don’t go in the first round, I’m going to be the steal of the draft,” Williams told the media Monday afternoon. “Don’t matter where I go, I’m going to be the steal of the draft.”
The former Riverside high school and Syracuse University star held his personal workout Monday morning at the Thurman Thomas Sports Training Facility.
At least six teams, including the Buffalo Bills were on hand to watch him work out. Other teams confirmed as being there were the Baltimore Ravens, Cleveland Browns, Green Bay Packers, San Diego Chargers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Continue reading ‘Bills Show Interest in Former Riverside Star Mike Williams’
 Current Canisius College men’s lacrosse head coach and former Golden Griffin standout Randy Mearns is included in the second Rochester Knighthawks Hall of Fame Class. Mearns and fellow inductees Jody Gage and Paul Gait will be honored during Saturday’s game.
“I am very humbled by my selection into the Rochester Knighthawk Hall of Fame,” Mearns said. “What a tremendous honor it is to be inducted with Jody and Paul and to join the great class of 2009. To be recognized by the organization – considering all the great players that have worn a Knighthawk jersey – is just incredible. I really am taken aback. I cherish the great memories I have of my teammates, coaches, support staff and, without a doubt, the Knighthawk fans. This award will stay with me throughout my lifetime and I truly am speechless. Words can’t describe how I feel.”
Continue reading ‘Canisius Coach To Be Inducted in Knighthawks Hall of Fame’
 Late last night after Donovan McNabb was traded to the Washington Redskins, we immediately put out a post speculating that it shouldn’t take much time for the Buffalo Bills to express interest in restricted free agent quarterback Jason Campbell.
But we never thought reports would emerge this quickly.
According to the ESPN 980 twitter page this morning, the Bills are one of four teams interested in Campbell.
“ESPN 980 has learned the following are interested in Jason Campbell: Buffalo, Carolina, Oakland, Jacksonville.”
Continue reading ‘ESPN Report: Bills are indeed interested in Campbell’
 It’s public knowledge that the Buffalo Bills were interested in dealing for Donovan McNabb, who was traded to the Washington Redskins on late Sunday. What wasn’t known to this point is if the Bills actually made a trade offer to Philadelphia.
According to a Sunday night column from Jason Cole at Yahoo Sports, the Bills not only made an offer for McNabb, but were willing to give him an extension.
“When the Buffalo Bills expressed interest – and even were willing to give McNabb a contract extension – he passed on the offer.” Cole wrote in his column.
So regardless if you want to blast the Bills for failing to land McNabb, give Buddy Nix and the front office credit for attempting to better the team with a significant move. And assuming Cole’s column is accurate, you can’t tee off on Ralph Wilson for being cheap. Reportedly, he was willing to sign off on a contract extension that will surely command an annual eight-figure salary.
Continue reading ‘Report: Bills made offer, extension for McNabb’
 Look, apologist or not, if you were to tell me at the beginning of the season that we’d be two points away from winning the division with a week left in the season, I’d be sending Tom Golisano and Monica Seles a new toaster oven. I’d be buying a dam slug jersey and a stupid Sabres playoff flag for my car. However, I’m broke, I don’t own a car and I sure as hell don’t know where Tommy G and Monica are these days.
Now, with all that being said, I still don’t think it’s negative for my to voice a concern about the Sabres. It’s the same concern I brought up when the Sabres were in first place by 13 points over Ottawa. It’s the same concern I brought up when they were struggling before and after the Olympic break. Hell, it’s the same concern that I’ve been bringing up since the start of the 2007 season. Now, I’m bringing that same concern up today.
Continue reading ‘Blog: Sabres thoughts on… well, everything’
 The University at Buffalo football team continued its spring drills this weekend with a scrimmage at UB Stadium. The morning was full of energy, hard hits, great catches and was dominated early and often by the Bulls defense.
First year Head Coach Jeff Quinn had mixed feelings about today’s scrimmage.
“The defense played with great energy and enthusiasm, they flew around and made some good plays. The offense wasn’t anywhere where we needed to be, very inconsistent, that’s something we need to clean up as coaches. The most important thing right now is that we develop as a team, and come out here, practice hard and make each other better so at the end of the day we are ready to compete at the highest level.”
Continue reading ‘Bulls End Second Week Of Practice With Scrimmage’
 The Philadelphia Eagles have traded Donovan McNabb to the Washington Redskins for a pair of draft picks, as first reported by Adam Schefter on Sunday evening.
The Eagles will receive a second-round pick (37th overall) in this month’s NFL draft and either a third- or fourth-round pick next year depending on McNabb’s performance.
It’s been reported the Buffalo Bills were interested in McNabb, but it’s not known if the team ever made an official offer.
A representative for McNabb stated that the six-time Pro Bowl quarterback would not be interested in signing an extension if he came to Buffalo or Oakland.
Continue reading ‘Will Bills be interested in Jason Campbell?’
 The Buffalo Stampede fell to 3-16 over the weekend with a 124-105 loss the Halifax Rainmen. Halifax stormed out to a 59-41 lead and cruised to the victory to improve to 12-7.
The Stampede are at the bottom of the PBL standings alongside Maryland, who are 3-17 on the season.
Corey Herring led Buffalo with a game-high 34 points and Mike Norwood added 33.
Buffalo closes out the season at home April 10 against Lawton- Fort Sill.
 The Bandits fell to the Colorado Mammoth 12-11 in a fight to the finish in overtime.
The Mammoth came out hungry with three goals in the first quarter from Jamie Shewchuk and two from Alex Gajic to take a 3-1 lead. The lone Bandits goal came from Mike Accursi at the 5:22 mark.
The second quarter would prove much of the same as the Mammoth would come out with three more goals. Gajic would get his third just before Mike Thompson was replaced by Angus Goodleaf.
Continue reading ‘Bandits lose to Colorado in overtime’
 The Buffalo Sabres had a chance to clinch the Northeast Division Saturday night in Montreal but failed miserably, getting shut out by the Canadiens 3-0.
Buffalo still needs just one win or Ottawa loss over the next week to secure the division but if they look anything like they did in Montreal, it could be a short postseason run.
Montreal, currently sitting in sixth place in the conference could end up facing the Sabres in the first round of the playoffs. They’ve won four of five meetings between the two this season.
Buffalo will try to wrap up the division again on Tuesday night when the New York Rangers come to the HSBC Arena for their final home game of the season.
 So let me get this straight: Two months ago, Tim Tebow was projected to be selected in the 3rd or 4th round of the NFL Draft. Now, some draft experts are saying he could go in the late first or early second round? Only the NFL Draft. It’s funny how a player’s stock can go up or down without even playing a football game. I mean, you may as well not play during the college football season. This is why it’s kind of stupid for anyone to do a mock draft in January. All it does is make the mocker…well, make a mockery of himself by changing it.
Between the end of the college football season and the beginning of April, there are a number of reasons that a prospect’s stock can rise to the top or come crashing down. I swear, I think it can be something as minute as a hand shack. Maybe a prospect is suffering from perspiration issues. Maybe the prospect ate some real spicy food. Maybe the prospect isn’t use to wearing a shirt and tie. All of a sudden, he walks into the combine and shakes a GM’s hand, while covered in sweat. I’m sure the GM is thinking this guy’s extremely nervous. Uh-oh, red flag, this guy obviously can’t handle the pressure.
Continue reading ‘Don’t believe everything you hear’
 The Buffalo Bisons (7-0-2) concluded their spring training exhibition schedule with a 7-2 victory over the New Orleans Zephyrs (Florida) on Friday afternoon from Port St. Lucie, FL.
The Herd was unbeaten this spring with seven wins, two ties and one rainout in their 10-game schedule against the Triple-A affiliates of the Florida Marlins and the St. Louis Cardinals.
On Friday, the Bisons rode a five-run first inning to victory. The team hit for the cycle in the first frame, starting with a home run from Mets’ shortstop Jose Reyes. Reyes went 1-4 with a walk while playing seven innings at shortstop for the Bisons.
Continue reading ‘Jose Reyes leads Bisons to undefeated spring’
 In a town as rabid about their football team as the Buffalo Bills, there is bound to be debate amongst fans when any notable football player hits the open market. That will likely be the case in the coming days after the Dallas Cowboys released former Pro Bowl offensive tackle Flozell Adams on Friday.
The fit only seems natural. Adams is a five-time Pro Bowler and a household name league-wide, and it doesn’t take an expert to realize Buffalo is in dire need of talent at left tackle.
Having said that, there’s no way the Bills should pursue him.
Continue reading ‘Bills Should Say No To “Flo”’
 The National Lacrosse League today announced Buffalo Bandits forward John Tavares has been named Player of the Month for March.
Tavares playing in his first full month of the season, recorded 18 pts (8G, 10A) over four games as the Bandits went 4-0 in the month of March; with wins against East Division rivals Orlando, Toronto, Boston and Rochester. Tavares scored the game-winning overtime goal in back-to-back games March 12 at Toronto and March 13 at Boston. With the help of Tavares in the lineup, the Bandits concluded the month of March going 4-0. They moved from 2-6 to 6-6 for the season, and are now tied for 2nd place in the Eastern Division.
Continue reading ‘Tavares named Player of the Month’
 Evaluating a quarterback prospect is perhaps the single most difficult job for NFL personnel men to accurately complete. For every home run evaluation like a Peyton Manning, there’s a horrifying whiff along the lines of Ryan Leaf. Tens of millions of dollars are invested into unproven commodities at football’s most important position, and if you miss on a franchise quarterback at the top of the draft, the financial ramifications added to the poor production are likely to keep your team in the basement for the foreseeable future.
It’s no wonder that NFL teams put an abundance of resources into checking every minute fact about quarterback prospects. The Buffalo Bills aren’t any different this year, taking up close and personal looks at several prospects, leaving no stone unturned.
Continue reading ‘On intangibles at the quarterback position’
 The Buffalo Sabres played the tail end of back-to-back games for the 17th time this season. The way they looked against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday night, they’re relieved that portion of the schedule is over with.
Effort wasn’t a question but execution and fatigue certainly were. The Sabres were sloppy with the puck, missed golden opportunities to score and took far too many undisciplined penalties, six to be exact. Combine all three and the 4-2 defeat at the Air Canada Centre should come as no surprise.
Dropping a contest to the Leafs however, who the Sabres had beaten 10 straight times, is borderline shocking.
Continue reading ‘Sabres finally lose to Leafs, Ottawa wins in shootout’
 Buffalo Bandits Director of Lacrosse Operations Scott Loffler today announced goaltender Ken Montour was placed on Injured Reserve retroactive to March 18. Steve Priolo will take Montour’s active roster spot. (pending league approval)
Priolo, Buffalo’s second-round pick in the 2009 NLL Entry Draft has posted seven points (0+7) in nine games; while collecting 22 loose balls.
Montour, the 2009 NLL Goaltender of the Year, appeared in seven games this season posting a 2-4 record. He stopped a season-high 46 shots against Rochester on January 9 before suffering a concussion at home against the Toronto Rock on February 6.
For breaking Bandits news and ticket information, follow them at Twitter.com/NLLBandits.
 By the time this evening is complete, the Northeast Division race could be officially over. A Buffalo Sabres win tonight over Toronto and Ottawa home regulation loss to Carolina would result in the Sabres having a new banner to hang at the arena.
Buffalo has an exceptional chance to do their part. They face a Leafs team they’ve skated against five times this year and won each meeting. In fact the Sabres have won the past ten times they’ve squared off to tie a franchise record (they beat Washington ten times in a row from 1981-84).
Continue reading ‘Sabres could lock up Northeast tonight’
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