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for February 2011
 When it comes to the Buffalo Sabres’ roller coaster season, about the only thing that remains certain is they’ll defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs. Saturday night was no exception at the HSBC Arena as Buffalo handed Toronto a 6-2 defeat. Buffalo has won all three meetings between the teams this season and are 29-9-1 against the Leafs since 2005.
The Sabres, who haven’t lost to Toronto on home ice since December of 2008, held a convincing 43-25 advantage in shots on goal.
Drew Stafford scored twice for the Sabres and is now better than a goal for every two games he’s played this season (17 goals in 33 games). Paul Gaustad, Jason Pominville and Thomas Vanek also scored for the Sabres. Even Tim Connolly scored, his first in 13 games.
Continue reading ‘Sabres Continue Dominance of Leafs’
 The Bonnies used 3-pointer from Michael Davenport with 1.6 seconds left to overcome a one-point deficit and sink Atlantic 10 leader Duquesne, 64-62, on Saturday night in front of a raucous Reilly Center.
After Duquesne’s B.J. Monteiro hit a layup with 11 seconds left the Bonnies inbounded the ball to sophomore Demitrius Conger, who found Davenport along the right elbow for the game winner. Davenport finished the game with a team-high 16 points while Montiero led all scorers with 17.
Duquesne, who led the A-10 with a perfect 8-0 record coming into the game, falls to 16-6 (8-1) while the Bonnies improve to 12-10 and 4-5 in the conference. The loss halts the Dukes’ 11-game win streak, which ranked as the fourth-longest in the nation.
Continue reading ‘Last-Second Shot Puts Bonnies Over Duquesne’
 On September 22, 1985 at was then called Rich Stadium, Buffalo Bills quarterback Vince Ferragamo dropped back against the New England Patriots and looked to the left side of the field. He threw the ball to a cutting receiver over the middle of the end zone. Playing in his third career game as a rookie, Andre Reed corralled the ball that was a bit high into his reliable hands for his first NFL touchdown.
He’d go to catch 86 more touchdowns; 85 of them as a member of the Buffalo Bills. He’d also end up with franchise records of 941 receptions and 13,198 yards for his 15-year Buffalo career. Despite a career rivaled by few receivers in the history of the league— Andre Reed is still not a NFL Hall of Famer.
The National Football League announced its 2011 Hall of Fame class and for fifth consecutive year as a finalist, Reed didn’t make the final cut to gain induction.
The NFL Hall of Fame selection committee met for nearly seven and a half hours today to decide the fate for the 15 finalists. Reed’s case was presented by Buffalo News reporter Mark Gaughan.
Reed made the first cut from 15 down to 10 but was eliminated along with Curtis Martin, Cortez Kennedy, Willie Roaf and Dermontti Dawson when the cut went from 10 to 5.
The 2011 class consists of Deion Sanders, Marshall Faulk, Shannon Sharpe, Ed Sabol, Richard Dent, Chris Hanbuger and Les Ritcher.
Continue reading ‘Andre Reed Gets Hall of Fame Snub Yet Again’
 The University at Buffalo men’s basketball team had its six-game winning streak snapped at Ball State, losing to the Cardinals, 72-71, at Worthen Arena on Saturday afternoon. There were 15 lead changes and four ties in a game between the Mid-American Conference’s two division leaders.
Zach Filzen led the Bulls with a career-high 26 points, including four three-pointers. The junior guard added a career-best five steals. Titus Robinson matched a career best with 16 points and added five rebounds.
Turnovers and foul trouble plagued the Bulls early on as they had 10 turnovers and committed 11 fouls in the first half. The Cardinals came out of the gates shooting the ball well and built a nine-point lead with 7:41 remaining in the first half. Trailing by eight with 4:05 left in the half, UB’s shooters started to heat up. Filzen, Tony Watson II and Filzen again drained three-pointers on three straight Buffalo possessions to put the Bulls ahead, 33-32, with 2:37 left in the half. Ball State’s Tyrae Robinson hit a driving layup with less than a second remaining to give the Cardinals a 38-37 lead at the break.
Continue reading ‘UB Men’s Hoops Has Six Game Win Streak Snapped’
Senior Kourtney Brown put the University at Buffalo women’s basketball team ahead with a basket with 28 seconds left and the Bulls hung on for a victory at Eastern Michigan, 70-68. The Eagles had overcome a 16-point second half deficit, taking a one-point lead before Brown gave the Bulls the lead back. The win was the third straight for UB as it improves its record to 12-10 on the season and 5-4 in the MAC.
The Bulls scored the first six points of the game on back-to-back three-point plays from junior Brittany Hedderson and Brown. However the Eagles responded to tie the game up, going on to take their largest lead of the game at 20-12 with 8:42 left in the opening half. The Bulls then went on a 14-1 run over the next six and half minutes, which was fueled by three three pointers from sophomore Nicki Hopkins. The Bulls led by as many as five in the first half, which was their lead heading into the break.
The Bulls came out firing in the second half as they dominated the opening 10 minutes of the half. With UB up 48-40 in the half, the team went on a 10-2 run, which was capped off on a layup from Brittany Hedderson, giving the Bulls their largest lead of the game at 16, leading 58-42 with 9:02 left.
Continue reading ‘Brown’s Bucket Delivers Bulls To Third Straight Victory’
  Andre Reed will be waiting by the phone at approximately 7pm tonight to find out if he’ll be enshrined into the NFL Hall of Fame Class of 2011. This is Reed’s fifth time as a finalist and sixth year of eligibility.
Reed is the Bills all-time leader in receptions (941), receiving yards (13,198) and receiving touchdowns (86) during his 15-year Buffalo career that saw him earn seven Pro Bowl nods. He also played one season in Washington, catching just 10 passes for 103 yards and a touchdown.
At least one national reporter thinks Reed’s time is coming sooner than later.
Continue reading ‘Will Andre Reed Get Call From The Hall?’
 If nothing else in high school basketball we learned two things Friday night. Canisius is amongst the elite teams in Western New York and secondly, Bishop Timon St-Jude is not…. at least at this time.
The Crusaders, ranked fifth among WNY large schools took to the road in a crucial Martin Monsignor Association match up and walked off Timon’s floor with a convincing 7764 victory.
Canisius has played a slew of tough opponents from all over the region and come away with mixed results. More importantly they rebounded from a tough home loss last week against St. Joes. Meanwhile, Timon has played four tough opponents and come up empty each time, including a pair of home court loses to Catholic schools (they also lost to St. Joes in overtime at home) and also lost to Batavia and Bishop Kearney and Batavia from Section V.
Continue reading ‘Canisius Handles Timon’
The Buffalo Sabres took a 2-0 lead in Pittsburgh against the Penguins, but it didn’t hold up. The Penguins stormed back with three straight goals and held on to beat the Sabres Friday night, 3-2.
Buffalo failed to take advantage of playing Pittsburgh without their two best players. Sidney Crosby was already out with a concussion and early in the game Evegni Malkin was injured (and didn’t return) after a collision with Sabres defensemen Tyler Myers.
Paul Gaustad and Mike Grier scored in the first period for Buffalo as the Sabres jumped out to a 2-0 lead but couldn’t muster any offense the rest of the way.
Buffalo will try to collect themselves when they play host to the Toronto Maple Leafs tonight at the HSBC Arena.
 The Buffalo Bandits moved to 3-2 on the season after they defeated the Minnesota Swarm 15-12 at HSBC Arena on Friday.
John Tavares scored two goals and eight points, while both Mark Steenhuis and Chad Culp recorded hat tricks in Buffalo’s second home game of the season. Mike Thompson was an anchor in the Bandits’ net as the veteran netminder made 23 saves in Buffalo’s victory.
After scoring just five goals in last week’s loss to Toronto, Buffalo was challenged by the coaching staff to step up the offense and exploded for 15 goals against the Swarm.
Continue reading ‘Bandits’ Offense Rebounds by Scoring 15 Goals in Win Over Minnesota’
 All five Canisius College starters scored in double figures, led by senior Julius Coles and his team-high 18 points, as the Golden Griffins defeated Marist 75-60 Friday night in MAAC action in the Koessler Athletic Center. The win improves Canisius to 11-11 overall and 5-7 in the MAAC, while the Red Foxes dropped to 4-20 overall and 3-9 in league play after losing their seventh straight.
Coles finished the night shooting 5-for-9 from the field, 1-for-2 from 3-point land and 7-for-8 from the free-throw line to go with six rebounds and one steal in the winning effort for the Blue and Gold. Senior Greg Logins had 17 points and five rebounds, while sophomore guard Alshwan Hymes chipped in 14 points and a career-high six assists. Senior Elton Frazier was good for 12 points, three boards and three assists, and sophomore Gaby Belardo added 10 points and six assists as all five Canisius starters registered double figures in the scoring column for the first time since Feb. 5, 2006.
Continue reading ‘Balanced Attack Leads Canisius Over Marist’
 The Niagara men’s basketball team was unable to climb out of an early hole to the second place Saint Peter’s Peacocks in a 70-47 loss on Friday night from the Gallagher Center.
“I’m very disappointed in the way we came out tonight,” head coach Joe Mihalich said. ”I thought we came out a little soft and lethargic. We don’t have any room for errors and you can’t spot a good team a 10-0 lead.”
A fast start by the visitors and a slow start by Niagara (4-20, 1-11 MAAC) led to a 34-20 halftime lead for the Peacocks (14-9, 9-3 MAAC). Niagara cut the lead to 23-18 with 6:30 left in the half, after falling behind 10-0, but would only manage to score two more points for the remaining of the half.
Continue reading ‘Niagara Slowed By Saint Peter’s’
 The NFL released their collegiate invite list for the 2011 NFL combine via their website, and the invites include University at Buffalo cornerback Josh Thomas.
Thomas, one of the top cover corners in UB history, finished his Bulls’ career with 29 career passes defended, tied for fifth best in school history. The Cedar Hill, TX native racked up 24 career starts and was named to Phil Steele’s All-MAC third team this past year.
As a senior, he started all 12 games and was fifth on the team with 58 tackles, including 30 solo stops. He added 5.5 tackles for loss, a pair of sacks, eight pass breakups, including an interception.
Continue reading ‘UB Cornerback Thomas Gets Combine Invite’
 It’s a busy night for sports locally in the Western New York area, with no shortage of events to check out live.
In college basketball both Canisius and Niagara are at home. Canisius plays host to Marist while Niagara will try to get a win against MAAC rival Saint Peters. Both games begin at 7pm.
If lacrosse is your thing, but the Buffalo Bandits are in action at the HSBC arena when they face off against the Minnesota Swarm at 7:30pm.
A pair of outstanding high school basketball games is also on the slate for Friday evening. Second-ranked large school Jamestown travels to Lancaster for an important battle while two of the heavyweights of the Monsignor Martin Association square off when Bishop Timon-St. Jude is home for a battle with Canisius. Both games start at 7:30pm.
Of course, if you’re unable or unwilling to leave the cozy confines of home, the Buffalo Sabres return to the ice after a nine day All-Star break layoff with a clash at the Pittsburgh Penguins.
We’ll have overnight coverage of all the games here at Buffalo Sports Daily, so be sure to check back later to find out how things went down.
Congratulations to Buffalo News reporter Mark Gaughan, who was elected president of the Pro Football Writers of America during their annual Super Bowl meeting on Friday.
Gaughan, who will serve a two-year term as president, has been with the Buffalo News since 1984 and has covered the Buffalo Bills since 1988.
According to their website, the Buffalo News is the first paper to have three PFWA presidents. Former Buffalo News writers Larry Felser and Vic Carucci have also served as president of the organization that currently holds approximately 250 members.
Gaughan is in Dallas covering the Super Bowl and among other things, will make the case to Hall of Fame voters for Bills receiver Andre Reed’s induction credentials. The Hall of Fame announcement comes at 7pm and Reed is one of 15 modern era finalists.
 The American Hockey League announced that Portland Pirates right wing Mark Mancari has been named the Reebok/AHL Player of the Month for January. In 15 games, Mancari scored 13 goals, dished out eight assists and posted a plus-10 rating as the Pirates continued their chase for the Atlantic Division title.
Mancari was held scoreless in his first and last games of the month but fashioned a 13-game scoring streak in between, matching the longest run in the AHL this season. He posted three consecutive three-point games over the weekend of Jan. 21-23, and became the first AHL player in nearly two years to notch back-to-back hat tricks when he scored three goals on Jan. 22 vs. Providence and three more on Jan. 23 at Worcester. Included in Mancari’s month were two power-play goals, one shorthanded goal and one game-winner.
In recognition of his achievement, Mancari will be presented with an etched crystal award prior to an upcoming Pirates home game.
Continue reading ‘Mancari Named AHL Player of the Month’
 Fifth-year senior Kourtney Brown has been named to the Capital One Academic All-District Second Team. Brown, who has twice been named Academic All-MAC, was one of five players who made the second team.
Brown leads the Bulls and the Mid-American Conference in scoring (22.5), rebounding (12.2), field goal percentage (.603) and blocked shots (61). She is the only player in the country who is in the top 10 in scoring, rebounding and field goal percentage.
Brown, who has a 3.35 GPA, has already graduated with a degree in computer engineering and is currently working on her second degree in electrical engineering. Brown is the reigning MAC East Player of the Week, the third time this season that she has gotten that honor. She has reached double figures in all, but one game this season and she has 12 20-point games and four 30-point games.
Continue reading ‘Kourtney Brown Named Academic All-District’
 The University at Buffalo men’s basketball team won its sixth straight game by defeating Toledo, 81-58, at Alumni Arena on Thursday afternoon. The Bulls led wire to wire in a game that was rescheduled for 2:00 pm on Thursday after a winter storm forced UB to close on Wednesday.
Zach Filzen matched a career high with 23 points and Byron Mulkey added 20 to pace four UB players in double-figures. Filzen knocked down five three-pointers and also tied a career high with six rebounds. Mulkey shot 4-for-5 from beyond the arc and added five rebounds, five assists and three steals.
The Bulls rode Filzen’s hot hand in the second half as the junior sharpshooter scored 14 of Buffalo’s 17 points over a seven-minute stretch to extend the UB lead to 71-51 with 6:27 remaining.
Continue reading ‘Bulls Rocket Past Toledo with Strong Second Half’
 At a press conference Thursday afternoon at the HSBC Arena, Tom Golisano made it official. He’s selling the Buffalo Sabres to Pennsylvania billionaire businessman and Sabres fan Terry Pegula.
According to Golisano the closing will formally take place in about 30 days. There’s two issues that still need to be taken care of, one of which is the NHL Board of Governors vote/stamp of approval, which will be a mere formality. Also because of the size of the transaction, the Federal government makes the parties go through an application process with the Justice Department to make sure the transaction is not a monopolistic purchase.
Golisano said since the NHL already has a rule that you can only own one team at a time, it’s not an issue that can tie the sale up.
He noted that the process will cost the principals in the sale about $100,000 and didn’t sound pleased about what he sees as a meaningless governmental process.
The Buffalo Bandits will be included in the purchase.
Continue reading ‘Golisano Announces Sale of Sabres At Press Conference’
 The Buffalo East Panthers will host the McKinley Macks on Thursday at 5:30 pm in boy’s high school basketball, with first place in the Yale Cup at stake. East High is located at 820 Northampton Street in Buffalo.
The Panthers and Macks both made it through the first round of the league schedule with one loss apiece. McKinley was defeated at Bennett, 76-67, on January 21st. The Panthers’ lone loss in the Yale Cup came in its first head-to-head meeting with the Macks, 61-56, on January 11th.
In my “Top games of the week” post, I called Monday’s game between East and Riverside the game of the week, because the Panthers needed to win that one, while the Macks had to get past Hutch Tech that same evening, in order to set the stage for Thursday.
Continue reading ‘Yale Cup Battle For First Place Today’
 When the Buffalo Sabres return to the ice Friday night in Pittsburgh, they’ll be doing so with Paul Byron in the lineup. The Sabres recalled him from Portland again on Wednesday morning.
He’ll take Patrick Kaleta’s place. The rugged winger is still suffering the effects of his hand injury
“Pat can’t handle the puck yet,” head coach Lindy Ruff said. “You watch him…. he can’t shoot it yet. It’s going to be no use.”
Byron played the last two games for Buffalo before the All-Star break, both wins. In those games Byron had an assist and his first career goal in Ottawa.
He’s third on the Portland Pirates this season in scoring with 31 points in 45 games. he also has a team-leading seven power play goals.
Continue reading ‘Ruff Counting On Byron For Offense’
 University at Buffalo head football coach Jeff Quinn has announced his initial signees for the 2011 recruiting class on the first day of the National Signing period.
Entering his second season, Quinn added 20 players, including every position, from 10 different states and two provinces in Canada. The class is heavy on line of scrimmage players with a total of eight linemen, five on the offensive side and three on the defensive side. The class also features three defensive backs and a pair of quarterbacks and running backs. Three recruits – Gabriel Barbe, Dillon Guy and Wyatt Cahill – enrolled at UB in January and are on campus now.
“It gives me great pride and excitement to announce this class because of the quality that I belive they will bring to UB both on and off the football field,” said Quinn. “We inked a student athlete at every position so we can balance out our recruiting. Last year we played six true freshmen and I would anticipate members of this class to contribute this fall. I want to give a tremendous amount of credit to our coaches, players, faculty and staff for their time and effort in helping us bring these talented young men to the University at Buffalo.”
The initial 2011 Buffalo football signees:
Continue reading ‘Bulls Releases 2011 Football Class’
 Former Buffalo Bills great wide receiver Andre Reed joined “Coach” Sal Capaccio on his weekly Internet program “Buffalo Bills Now!” just four days before the Pro Football Hall of Fame class of 2011 is announced.
Reed is once again a finalist for the Hall, the 5th time he has reached this stage of the process. After surviving the first cut from 15 to 10 for the first time last year, many believe Reed will finally get his call for enshrinement Saturday night.
In this exclusive 30-minute interview, Andre discusses his chances for enshrinement, what it would mean to him, his love for the city of Buffalo and Bills fans, and then talks with Sal about the Super Bowl era Bills twenty years later, and the state of the organization right now.
Continue reading ‘Andre Reed Makes Case For Canton’
 University at Buffalo head football coach Jeff Quinn has announced two new additions to his coaching staff, both with Division I head coaching experience, and both boasting resumes that have seen success at the highest levels of college football.
Quinn has hired Alex Wood as offensive coordinator and wide receiver coach as well as Don Patterson as quarterbacks coach. Both coaches have a connection to Iowa, where Wood is a 1979 graduate and Patterson spent over 20 years on Hayden Fry’s Hawkeye staff.
“It is a pleasure to welcome both Alex Wood and Don Patterson as the newest members of the UB coaching staff,” said head coach Jeff Quinn. “Both had many opportunities and chose to be a part of this great University and football program at Buffalo.
Continue reading ‘Quinn Adds Wood and Patterson to Football Coaching Staff’
 This past Saturday, January 29, 2011 brought me and many others to Lackawanna for the 4th Annual Frank Privitere Rabbit Hunting Derby. This affair is held every year by the New Empire Beagle Club in honor of Frank Privitere, an avid beagler and rabbit hunter for over 50 years.
The WNY area welcomed teams from Rochester, Syracuse, Pennsylvania and even Canada. Although the powdery snow made for a laborious day on the hounds 29 hunters checked 123 wasqually wabbits for the weigh-in. Many of those who participated reported short runs by the dogs and an unexpectedly meager amount of bunnies despite the sunny and windless morning. I myself did not harvest a single snowshoe hare to be weighed but I was still able to spend a whole day in the woods followed by a great time with my fellow hunters and houndsmen.
Continue reading ‘The Frank Privitere Rabbit Hunting Derby’
 With the sale of the Buffalo Sabres to Pennsylvania billionaire Terry Pegula now official, fans exited for regime change saw their hopes hit a snag Monday night, as the Buffalo News reported that General Manager Darcy Regier signed a two year extension this past fall, which would take him through the 2012/2013 season. The deal is more of the same from the old boys club of Sabres’ upper management which has made a habit of sweeping its collective failures under the rug while rewarding painful mediocrity.
Over the summer, I chronicled why Regier deserved to be shown the door after the embarrassing Boston Bruins playoff series, and after a sub-par offseason that has the team once again sitting outside the playoffs window, it’s clear he deserves an extension even less than he did last spring.
Even more absurd is that the deal was reported to have been reached this past fall, meaning that if the extension was reached during the season, the team was in worse shape in the standings. That probably has something to do with the fact that none of Golisano, Quinn nor Regier himself were in any hurry to actually announce the signing.
Continue reading ‘Opinion: Regier Deal Was a Thank You Move’
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