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for September 2011
 The Buffalo Sabres announced today that Grant Ledyard, Director of Youth Hockey Development and Head Coach of the Buffalo Jr. Sabres, will conduct six separate hockey clinic sessions for children playing at the Mite, Squirt and Peewee levels on Sunday, Oct. 23 at First Niagara Center.
The goal of the clinic is to inform and instruct participants on how they can improve each and every aspect of their own individual game.
The cost of the one-hour clinic will be $35 per participant. Each child will receive one (1) hour of on-ice instruction from the former NHL player Ledyard and a commemorative jersey. Each session is limited to 30 participants.
Continue reading ‘Sabres To Host Youth Hockey Clinic At FNC’
 First of all, let me say that I like Boston. I like the city. I like its history. I like its restaurants. I love going to a game at Fenway Park. I just think Boston is one of the best cities in the country.
I even like the sports fans there. Well, except for Patriots fans.
So when I heard that the Red Sox’ epic collapse was complete…..blowing a nine-game lead in September, and blowing a ninth-inning lead in the last game of the season to lose out on a wild-card playoff spot, my first thought was to feel sorry for their fans.
I mean after all, who understands better what it’s like to have your guts ripped out by your favorite sports team than someone from Buffalo? We know what it’s like to have a tough night. Or month. Or decade. Or lifetime.
Continue reading ‘Opinion: Bosox, Bills Fans & Karma’
 The Buffalo Sabres today announced they will be hosting Pucktoberfest on Oct. 8. Fans are invited to First Niagara Center to enjoy a plaza party with European flair and watch the team take on Los Angeles in Berlin on the HD video board in the arena. The event will give fans a chance to watch the team as it plays in Europe to open the 2011-12 regular season.
The festivities begin at 11:30 a.m. in the plaza outside First Niagara Center as the Auslanders, Buffalo’s premier German band, take the stage to perform traditional authentic German music as well as popular cover songs. Dancing to the Bavarian sounds will be the Schuhplattlers, a traditional German dance group from Western New York.
At 2 p.m., fans can head into the arena to watch the Sabres play the Los Angeles Kings in Berlin on the HD video boards. The game is part of the NHL Premiere Series and is the second of two games the team is playing during its nine-day trip to Europe.
European-themed food and beverages will be available for purchase on the plaza and throughout the arena during the event. The Sabres Store will also be open so fans can purchase Sabres NHL Premiere Series merchandise.
Admission to the event is free, as is parking in the First Niagara Center parking ramp.
 With an undefeated start to the 2011 NFL season, the individual awards are starting to pour in for the Buffalo Bills. Kicker Rian Lindell was named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week for his clutch game-winning field goal over New England last Sunday, and this morning quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick was named the AFC Player of the Month for September.
Fitzpatrick is the first Buffalo player to capture the honor since Drew Bledsoe in 2002 and only the third Bills quarterback ever to win. Jim Kelly won it three separate times.
In three games, Fitzpatrick already has nine touchdown passes (including eight in the red zone) and a quarterback passer rating of 103. He’s also thrown for 841 yards and tossed just three interceptions.
He’ll try to keep the magic alive this Sunday as the Bills look to move to 4-0 for the second time in four years when they visit the Cincinnati Bengals.
 One of the many cool things about the Buffalo Bills getting off to such an unexpectedly hot start is seemingly everyone in the country wanting to discuss it with anyone who writes about the team, even hacks like myself.
Yesterday I was asked to appear on the Yahoo Sports popular football podcast “On The Corner” with The Mighty MJD to discuss the Bills 3-0 start, and I gladly obliged. Together we talked about Fred Jackson, Ryan Fitzpatrick, defensive big plays, Chan Gailey and of course the fevered pitch among the Bills rabid fan base.
The interview is in the first segment. Take a few minutes from your wonderful Thursday to give it a listen by clicking here. You can also click the On The Corner logo as well.
 University at Buffalo men’s basketball head coach Reggie Witherspoon has announced that Raphell Thomas-Edwards has signed scholarship paperwork and will join the Bulls this season. The Leicester, England native is entering his freshman year.
Thomas-Edwards is a 6-5, 230-lb. forward who attended The Gateway School and played for the Leicester Warriors. He averaged 25 points and 14 rebounds per game last season.
Thomas-Edwards was also a member of the British U-18 Team that played in the European Championships. He was his team’s leading scorer and rebounder, averaging 10 points and 7.9 rebounds over the seven-game tournament.
Continue reading ‘UB Hoops Signs Raphell Thomas-Edwards’
 The Buffalo Bills blazing start has not gone unnoticed throughout the country, not to mention the national media that covers the NFL, as evidenced by this week’s Sports Illustrated cover.
However, and I’m sure anyone associated with the Bills would say the same, the team has to be very careful not to buy into the hype suddenly surrounding the organization. To this point Buffalo has flown very much under the radar, and that’s perfectly fine with them.
If the Bills continue to play well, good things will come their way. But hopefully the players aren’t taking too much time to read their own press clippings. That happened in 2008 when the Bills began the season 4-0 and promptly lost nine of their last 12 games. To a lesser degree it happened to Stevie Johnson just last year, when he was on every media outlet in the country after scoring the Cincinnati Bengals, only to have his worst game as a pro the following week against Pittsburgh, including the overtime drop that cost his team a victory.
Of course, this appears to be a Bills team with a totally different mindset determined to stay in the underdog role. It’s nice and frankly, refreshing to see this much praise heaped upon Buffalo, let’s just hope it doesn’t affect the way they’ve been playing.
 Admittedly still somewhat amazed, if not downright befuddled at how remarkably explosive the unheralded Buffalo Bills offense has been through three games, I dove head first into every stat sheet I could feast my eyes on, in hopes of finding a tell-tale reason for this astonishing turnaround in Orchards Park.
Of course, there’s plethora of explanations as to why defensive coordinators around the league suddenly suffer sleep deprivation when it comes to game-planning against Buffalo’s offense. Ryan Fitzpatrick has emerged as a legitimate franchise caliber quarterback. Fred Jackson is running like every running back who’s ever wore a Buffalo uniform is trying to steal his job while Stevie Johnson is proving last year was no fluke, along with Donald Jones and David Nelson making general managers around the league regret passing each over on draft weekend 2010.
Heck, even the much-maligned offensive line has been impressive early on, allowing Fitzpatrick to be sacked just once.
Continue reading ‘Red Zone Critical To Bills Perfect Start’
 The Buffalo Sabres today announced that 70 of the team’s regular season games in 2011-12 will be broadcast on the MSG Network and that 12 of the team’s games will be part of national telecasts on the newly-combined networks of NBC and Versus (to be re-launched as NBC Sports Network on Jan. 1 2012). Every game of the 2011-12 season will be televised on either MSG and NBC/Versus and will be produced in High Definition.
MSG’s coverage of Buffalo Sabres games will include the team’s two games being played in Europe (Oct. 7 vs. Anaheim and Oct. 8 vs. Los Angeles) as part of the NHL Premiere Series.
Returning to the MSG broadcast this year will be the venerable broadcasting team of Rick Jeanneret and Harry Neale. Jeanneret and Neale will be calling a slate of 57 regular season games (39 home, 18 away), with Kevin Sylvester and Danny Gare taking over the remaining 23 games. Sylvester and Gare will begin their schedule with the Sabres’ Nov. 5 game at Ottawa. Their schedule will include one home game (Feb. 24 vs. Boston) and 22 road games. Rob Ray, who has been part of the broadcast team since the 2003-04 season, will join Jeanneret and Neale as a second color analyst during their games.
Continue reading ‘MSG To Be Home To 70 Sabres Games In 2011-12′
 The National Lacrosse League has released Buffalo’s 16-game schedule for the 2012 NLL regular season.
Schedule highlights include the Jan. 14 home opener vs. the Toronto Rock, as the Bandits will look to avenge their 12-11 home playoff loss to the defending champions in the 2011 Eastern Division Final. The two teams will meet at least three times in 2012, twice in Buffalo.
The Bandits continue their interstate rivalry with the Rochester Knighthawks with three regular season games, one of which is at home on April 21.
Buffalo will take on the Western Division champion Washington Stealth twice this season. The schedule includes two Friday night games and a Sunday afternoon contest. The Bandits will play every NLL team at least once in 2012.
Continue reading ‘Bandits Release 2012 NLL Schedule’
 The Buffalo Sabres, as expected, demoted forward Ales Kotalik and defensemen Shaone Morrisonn to the Rochester Amerks after they cleared NHL waivers today. The moves were done in part to help the Sabres get below the salary cap. According to reports the team now stands about $1.5 under the cutoff.
The transactions leave the team with 25 players still in camp. The NHL roster maximum is at 23 once the regular season begins. It’s pretty much certain the final two moves will comprise of demoting goaltender David Leggio and forward Paul Szczechura.
That would leave the team with Ryan Miller and Jhonas Enroth as the goaltenders, seven defensemen and 14 forwards. The big question becomes who will be spending a lot of time on game nights sitting in the press box?
Continue reading ‘Sabres Roster Down To Last Few Decisions’
 If you woke up in the middle of the night, stumbled to your computer under the groggiest of conditions to check the box score one final time, I’m sure you’re not alone. After 15 unsuccessful tries and what surely felt like 150, the Buffalo Bills finally did the unthinkable— knocking off the New England Patriots in spectacular fashion, 34-31.
As if the victory itself wasn’t enough to send Western New York and fans around the nation into a state of euphoria, the manner in how the Bills won certainly did. For the better part of the first half, New England, like they typically do, punked off the Bills and took a commanding 21-0 lead. Tom Brady calmly picked the defense apart in looking flawless while his counterpart Ryan Fitzpatrick appeared ready to gag after throwing two early interceptions to Kyle Arrington.
But if there was any question before there isn’t any longer. These are not the same Buffalo Bills that we’ve seen over the past several years. It began last year with many tight battles against quality teams that ended in losses, and now this year they’ve taken the next step– they’re starting to win the close battles.
Continue reading ‘Bills Upset Patriots: A Long List Of Random Smatterings’
 With four weeks of high school football under our belts, a few teams are putting their stamps on what looks to be promising seasons.
The big story this weekend was Clarence, ranked third among large schools. They faced a tough Lancaster team in even tougher weather conditions and handed them a convincing 20-0 defeat in front of rain soaked home crowd.
Big running back Michael Gelz rushed for 211 yards and both Clarence touchdowns.
The win sets up a huge match with Orchard Park in this week’s Section VI marquee game.
Continue reading ‘Week Four High School Football Wrap-Up’
 Buffalo Sabres General Manager Darcy Regier today announced the team has assigned the following 14 players to the Rochester Americans (AHL):
Forwards Marcus Foligno, Zack Kassian, Jonathan Parker, Michael Ryan, Colin Stuart, Corey Tropp, Phil Varone and Derek Whitmore; defensemen TJ Brennan, Joe Finley, Brayden McNabb, Dennis Persson and Drew Schiestel; and goaltender Drew MacIntyre.
MacIntyre, Persson, Ryan and Stuart have each been assigned pending waivers.
This leaves the Sabres with 27 players still in training camp (16 forwards, 8 defensemen and three goaltenders).
 Buffalo Bandits Director of Lacrosse Operations Scott Loffler today announced that Buffalo will host the 2012 National Lacrosse League All-Star Game at First Niagara Center on Saturday, Feb. 25 at 7 p.m.
“We are extremely proud and excited to be hosting the 2012 NLL All-Star game,” said Loffler. “The Bandits and Sabres organizations, First Niagara Center and the City of Buffalo are known for putting on first-rate world-class events…this will be no different.”
The event marks the first professional all-star game in the 15-year history of First Niagara Center.
Continue reading ‘Bandits To Host 2012 NLL All-Star Game’
 Somehow, someway the Buffalo Bills erased a 21 point deficit against the team that’s owned them over the past decade, and miraculously came back to remain undefeated. In the process, we learned something.
One thing is now most definitely for certain—these “cardiac” Bills are very much for real. The New England Patriots led with 6:02 left in the second quarter, 21-0.
Turns out, it wasn’t big enough.
Rian Lindell connected on a 28-yard field goal as time expired to send the Bills to an improbable 34-31 victory over the Patriots and send the Orchard Park crowd home in euphoria. It was the second straight week the Bills came back after being down three scores.
Continue reading ‘Cardiac Bills Do It Again, Finally Beat Patriots’
 In their most anticipated regular season game in six years, the 2-0 Buffalo Bills (to the surprise of everyone) face off against the 2-0 New England Patriots (to the surprise of no one) at what’s sure to be a frenzied Ralph Wilson Stadium this afternoon. The game is sold-out and will be shown on television locally, with Marv Albert and Rich Gannon on the call.
While it won’t automatically take a victory to legitimize these Bills as a full-fledged turn around team, a strong showing against an opponent that’s owned them in recent years is crucial to Buffalo’s credibility on a league-wide basis. Today the Bills attempt to do something they’ve been unable to do in their last 15 tries against New England— earn a win. The Patriots have won the last 15 times the team’s have met, dating back to opening weekend 2003. Most of the games haven’t been close; the Patriots have won by an average margin of over 18 points, including a 34-3 romp the last time the team’s squared off late last season.
To say Buffalo has usually saved their worst football for the Patriots is an understatement. The Bills have scored more than 17 points in just two of their last 15 against New England, although they did put up 30 in a losing effort early last season.
Continue reading ‘Gameday: Bills vs. Patriots’
Prior to the Buffalo Sabres preseason contest against the rival Toronto Maple Leafs, the organization gave players as well as fans the VIP treatment. Players came from their cars dressed in their finest suits, walking the “Blue and Gold” carpet to meet fans and sign autographs. To summarize, they were treated like stars off the ice.
On it, they played like stars… and in particular the power play.
 The Sabres scored all three of their goals with the man advantage to improve to 4-0 on the preseason with a 3-2 victory over the Leafs; their second win in as many nights over Toronto.
Drew Stafford and Christian Ehrhoff scored on the power play and the game winner was a beauty— Adam Luke finishing off a beautiful tic-tac-toe passing play with Thomas Vanek and Brad Boyes. Erhoff’s goal was his second along with two assists in three preseason appearances.
Jhonas Enroth played the entire game in net and had 19 saves.
Before the game Buffalo placed Ales Kotalik and Shaone Morrisonn on waivers. If they go unclaimed by Monday, the Sabres can and likely will assign both to Rochester, which will put the team $1.5 million below the salary cap.
 Buffalo head coach Jeff Quinn often quotes legendary football coach Vince Lombardi who said that a football game often comes down to five or six plays and who makes them.
Saturday night at UB Stadium that was exactly the case as, despite outgaining Big East foe Connecticut by a 319-293 margin, the Bulls dropped a 17-3 decision before 18,215 fans.
The keys to the game were two 60-plus yard catches by Nick Williams, one which went for a score and the other set up UConn’s first touchdown, and the fact that the Bulls were only to score three points despite being inside the Huskies 35-yard line on four occasions.
“I asked these guys to leave it on the field tonight and looking at the way our defense played I was really proud of their effort,” said Quinn. “To hold Connecticut to 80 yards rushing speaks volumes to the way these kids competed. Those two plays were the difference in the game. Overall I feel like we found something in a defensive unit that can keep us in games but we have to do our part offensively but to be able to go toe to toe with UConn, the way our kids competed, I’m proud of their effort.”
Continue reading ‘UB Falls To UConn, 17-3′
 With a pair of outstanding performances to start the NFL season, Buffalo Bills running back Fred Jackson has been hearing the praises of teammates, opponents, coaches and the media throughout the nation. And with good reason— Jackson’s leading the NFL with 229 rushing yards and is averaging 6.5 yards per carry.
Apparently Jackson has been playing close attention. He wants a new contract—and doesn’t seem happy over the lack of progress.
According to a report by WGRZ-TV, Jackson is looking for a new deal and is growing annoyed that something isn’t getting done.
“We’ve approached them and it hasn’t gone the way that we’ve wanted it too,” Jackson told WGRZ after practice this past Wednesday. “I’m a three-year starter, playing at a high level, I would like something to get done about it this year. I would like to get something done that’s fair to me and the team.”
Continue reading ‘Report: Fred Jackson Frustrated Over Contract’
 We Know when it comes to the Bills playing the Patriots, the Bills are the patsies. The last time the Bills won a game against New England was the 2003 season opener. 15 straight losses since then. Closing in on the NFL record for consecutive losses by one team to another….which as we all know is the 20 straight times the Bills lost to the Dolphins in the 1970’s.
Will “son of the streak” end this Sunday at the Ralph? Will the Bills finally get a “W” instead of a walloping?
It could happen. If Chad Henne could pass for 400 yards against the Pats’ defense, I like Ryan Fitzpatrick’s chances. The Patriots’ offensive line is letting Tom Brady take some hits, and we know he doesn’t like that. The Ralph will be rocking. Chan Gailey won’t be intimidated by Bill Belichick.
Those are reasons why it could. I’ve come up with five reasons why the Bills NEED TO WIN.
Continue reading ‘Opinion: Why the Bills Must Beat The Patriots’
 The Buffalo Bandits selected Jeremy Thompson with the ninth overall pick in the 2011 NLL Entry Draft and acquired six other prospects during the draft that was held in Toronto this week.
Thompson (01/03/87, 5’11’’, 194 lbs.) played two seasons for Syracuse University where he amassed 33 goals and 53 points in 32 games, earning All-American honors in both seasons. The 24-year-old midfielder from the Onondaga Nation previously spent two years with junior college powerhouse Onondaga Community College (OCC), helping the team go undefeated (31-0) en route to two NJCAA championships.
In the second round, the Bandits drafted left-handed defenseman Jeff Cornwall with the 15th overall pick. Cornwall (6’ 2’’, 200 lbs.) most recently played for his hometown Jr. A Coquitlam Adanacs, where the physical defender helped anchor a defense that yielded less than seven goals per game on average.
Continue reading ‘Bandits Select Jeremy Thompson Ninth Overall’
 The Buffalo Sabres announced the team’s game against Toronto tonight will be carried on MSG in the Buffalo and Rochester markets. The 7 p.m. game is the first of two Sabres/Leafs contests to be broadcast by MSG this weekend. The second game, when Toronto visits Buffalo, will air at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 24.
For Friday night’s broadcast, MSG will be using the Leaf’s television broadcast via the NHL Network, while Saturday’s broadcast on MSG will come from CBC’s feed of coverage in Buffalo.
This weekend’s games will be the second and third Sabres games carried by MSG this preseason. MSG will also be the home to 70 regular season games for the Sabres in 2011-12. A full broadcast schedule of 2011-12 Sabres games will be released at a later date.
 Buffalo Bills wide receiver David Nelson is emerging as one of Ryan Fitzpatrick’s favorite targets.
He runs crisp routes, has steady hands and at 6-foot-5, he’s pretty easy to find. The lengthy receiver snagged a game-high 10 receptions in this past Sunday’s comeback win over Oakland, including the game-winning touchdown with just 14 seconds remaining.
“He’s a tough matchup for a lot of teams,” Fitzpatrick said. “He’s a real good, smooth wide receiver.”
And while you can’t measure heart, he appears to be OK in that department, too. As the game neared conclusion, his legs grew tired and his body sore.
Continue reading ‘David Nelson Emerging As Favorite Target For Fitzpatrick’
 Canisius College men’s lacrosse graduates Adam Jones and Dan Coates were both selected in the first round of the 2011 National Lacrosse League Draft on Wednesday night. Both players are set to join the Colorado Mammoth with Jones being selected with the third overall pick and Coates with the eighth.
The two Golden Griffin standouts are the fifth and sixth Canisius student-athletes picked in the first round under head coach Randy Mearns, joining Mark Miyashita in 2003, Matt Vinc and Dan Carey in 2005 and Kevin Ross in 2007. The number three overall selection for Jones is the second-highest pick for a Canisius graduate Ð Miyashita was the first overall draftee eight years ago.
The program’s first All-American, Jones accumulated 129 points and 98 goals during his career. He ranks sixth in the program’s history in career goals and 10th in career points despite missing most of his senior campaign due to injury. During both his freshman and sophomore season, Jones led all midfielders in Division I in goals.
Continue reading ‘Canisius’ Jones and Coates Selected in NLL First Round’
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