The road back to the Eastern Conference playoff race will be long and hard but hey, the Buffalo Sabres have to start somewhere, no?
Returning from the All-Star break after a full week off, the Sabres did something they hadn’t previously done since November 11—won consecutive games. Buffalo played a good game in Montreal for nearly 60 minutes and were rewarded for it, defeating the Canadiens 3-1 after giving up the game’s first goal.
Their recent 12-game road losing streak is slowly, very slowly starting to appear in the rearview mirror. We’ll see how real this team is Wednesday night when they return home to host the New York Rangers.
Ville Leino and Paul Gaustad scored for Buffalo at Montreal while Pat Kaleta added an empty netter. Ryan Miller made 27 saves in net for the Sabres.
If stealing were a crime in high school hoops, the McKinley Macks would be facing some hard time after Tuesday evening.
“Stealing one” in a close game against a rival may sound like a giant cliché, but it’s exactly why the Macks walked off their home court victorious and still undefeated in league play.
With an offense that couldn’t seem to connect on an outside shot from anywhere on the floor, McKinley, ranked sixth among large schools, relied on their asphyxiating full court press defense to get the job done against Riverside.
By the time the final horn sounded, the Macks forced a mind-blogging 37 steals en route to a 63-52 victory and opening a two-game lead at the top of the Yale Cup.
Now that the NHL All-Star break is over, the Buffalo Sabres are finally close to healthy. Tyler Ennis is slated to return to the line-up tonight against the Montreal Canadiens, and center Paul Gaustad has a chance to return this evening as well. If Gaustad does, the Sabres will have the same line-up they had in Europe when they ran roughshod over Anaheim and Los Angeles in back to back games to begin the 2011-12 campaign.
Things of course were much different then. The team was completely healthy except for Jochen Hecht, who didn’t seem to be missed much. Luke Adam appeared poised to have a monster year after netting two goals and two assists in the first two games. Part of that was because the youngster played between Thomas Vanek and Jason Pominville. For a brief stretch Adam was the number one center this team desperately needed – young, big, and skilled.
♦ The Buffalo Bills are pretty much going to a 4-3 base in 2012, which doesn’t differ as much as you think from last year. The biggest change moving forward is that Nick Barnett is no longer the middle linebacker. Instead, he’ll move over to the weak side with second-year pro Kelvin Sheppard taking over inside. Who plays on the strong side in the 4-3 remains to be seen. On paper Shawne Merriman appears to be the favorite, yet I’m not even convinced he’ll be on the roster next season.
♦ Former UB Defensive Coordinator William Inge was recently hired by the Bills as an assistant defensive line coach and while thrilled for him personally, I was a bit bothered by head coach Chan Gailey’s comments about the move on Monday. I’m paraphrasing here, but regarding Inge getting the job Gailey alluded to Inge quite possibly growing into a great coach someday. Call me crazy, but shouldn’t the Bills be focused on hires that are great coaches now after 12 straight seasons of no playoffs? It’s that kind of mega -patient mentality within the organization that drives me nuts. Again, this is no knock on Inge at all.
We’ve been running a pair of series at Buffalo Sports Daily, highlighting the five biggest bright spots… and dark clouds on the 2011 Buffalo Bills season. We kicked off the dark cloud portions with number five the Bills reality check in the Whiteout game and moved on with the poor decision of banking on Shawne Merriman. Today we reach the third-darkest cloud on the season—the rise and fall of starting quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick.
The Bills concluded one of the more irritating campaigns in franchise history and no one was more front and center than quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. Among those genuinely in early consideration for NFL Most Valuable Player through seven weeks, Fitzpatrick received a colossal contract extension in late October and almost without delay suffered through an atrocious second half that had fans and critics alike once again questioning the aptitude of the organization’s decision makers.
Things undoubtedly began promising for the heavily bearded gunslinger. He threw seven touchdown passes and just one interception as Buffalo started the season with a pair of wins against AFC West foes Kansas City and Oakland.
If the Buffalo Sabres are going to make any kind of second half of the season push, particularly on the road, there’s probably no better place to start than Montreal. To say the Sabres have stunk on the road may be an understatement, but that hasn’t been the case when they visit the Canadiens. In fact, Buffalo returns from the All-Star break tonight in search of their fifth consecutive victory in Montreal.
Unfortunately the slumping Sabres haven’t had the same success against the rest of the league. Buffalo endured a 12-game road losing streak that saw them get outscored 51-18 before finally earning two points in New Jersey via a shootout in their last game before the break.
The slide has caused Buffalo to fall all the way to a tie for last in the Eastern Conference with Carolina and the New York Islanders with just 45 points.
However, nothing cures a losing feeling like a hot streak. As bad as the Sabres been, they are only 10 points out of eighth place in the conference and a playoff spot. A long road, sure–but not insurmountable.
Of course, the way this team has played they’ll be smart to not look past Montreal since Buffalo hasn’t been on a winning streak since November. The team gets closer to full health tonight with the return of Tyler Ennis, who’s been out since mid-December with an ankle injury. Only Paul Gaustad and Brayden McNabb, who started the season in Rochester remain out of the lineup.
With season-altering victories over Aquinas and Canisius last week, St. Joe’s wrestled the top spot in this week’s large school high school boys’ basketball poll. If Monday night is any indication, they’ll be in for a dog fight to hold on to it.
Once you reach the top of the mountain everyone guns for you and Bishop Timon got the first crack at Western New York’s new number one. The Monsignor Martin Association foes battled for four quarters and when things still couldn’t get settled, battled in overtime before the Marauders escaped with a 57-54 in in front of a packed gym featuring boisterous fans from both sides.
Senior center Reggie Agbeko continues to emerge as the front runner for Player of the Year and was a pivotal reason the Tigers left Kenmore in an upset mood rather than upset victors. Agbeko scored 22 points, pulled down 19 rebounds and swatted four shots—all in the second half and overtime and his team essentially needed every mark he filled in the stat sheet to pull off the win.
Men’s track runner Jimmy Campbellwas named the Buffalo State Athlete of the Week after his strong performance in the team’s third meet of the season on Friday night.
The sophomore forensic chemistry major took down Division I and II competitors to win the 400-meter dash at Youngstown State Invitational with a new facility record time of 48.60 seconds – which converts because of track size to the third fastest time in Division III so far this season. He also placed fourth the 200-meter dash (22.36).
Buffalo State will return to action this Saturday at Mount Union.
How far under cap are Bills including carry over from unused last year- Scott Eustace (via Twitter)
Scott, it doesn’t matter. Yes, how much under the salary cap the Bills are under certainly matters, but carry-over from any unused money is irrelevant. The reason why it is because as frustrating as it can be for fans, the Bills simply do not carry over unused money and apply it to the next year. The Bills not operate under a “cash to cap” philosophy but they do it on a year-to-year basis. That means if they leave $15 million on the table one season, that money doesn’t automatically get rolled over into their spending the following year. That’s the Buffalo part of cash-to-cap I hate. In reality, most teams in the league operate on a cash-to-cap basis. Buffalo however, is one of the few if not only team that doesn’t roll anything over either.
For the record, exactly how much the Bills are under the cap is something I’m working on finding out.
If you’re a fan of high school hoops in Western New York, one of the biggest controveries in a long time occurred last summer when former Jamestown star Jaysean Paige transferred to play for a school in Kentucky. From the moment the news became public, reaction from the Jamestown community ranged from anger to flat-out betrayal, and even accusations of Paige’s family being set up with a cushy job in exchange for Paige’s services.
Things got more interesting when Paige was initially ruled ineligible to play by the KHSAA before appealing and having the decision overturned in early December.
Turns out the split is working out just fine for both sides.
Paige has been performing quite well in Kentucky. Playing for the Perry County Central Commodores, Paige is averaging 22 points and 6.5 rebounds for Perry and the team is 18-4 and currently ranked 11th in the state. Paige has scored at least 30 points four times this season, including twice over his last three games.
“Just when you think you have all the answers— I change the questions.” – Roddy Piper.
That phrase best describes the topsy-turvy week in high school basketball across Western New York that just took place. If you thought for a split second you had a keen sense of the way things would play out, you may want to think again.
One of the more unpredictable and exciting seasons in recent memory got a lot more arbitrary over the past week.
Where do we even begin? Let’s start with St. Joe’s, who many wrote off for 2011-12 after blowing a big lead and falling short in last year’s Manhattan Cup final at Canisius College. There was good reason for tempered expectations this season. Last year’s team led by star forward Connor Rehbaum lost a lot of talent and senior leadership to graduation. Then Chad Kelly announced he wouldn’t be participating this year so he could focus on football. Yet, we’re near the end of January and the Marauders just concluded one of the biggest statement weeks they’ve had in years. Last Saturday they upset one of top teams in the state in Aquinas and Friday night in front of an electric home crowd, knocked off top-ranked large school Canisius.
Have you wondered what Christian Laettner is up to now that his NBA playing days are long behind him? Well, the answer is coaching. WGRZ-TV reports the former Nichols high school legend is now an assistant coach with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants of the NBA Developmental League and taking his gig very seriously.
“If you’re trying to get an NBA job they want to see how much experience you have,” Laettner told reporters, “So it’s a chance for me to improve my coaching skills.”
One of the most decorated athletes in Western Nww York history, Laettner went on to star at Duke University and was a member of the USA’s original “Dream Team” in 1992. He played in the NBA from 1992-2005 for six different teams.
The University at Buffalo men’s basketball hit a season-high 11 three-pointers en route to a 74-59 win at Northern Illinois on Saturday afternoon. It was the fourth straight win for a UB squad that improves to 12-6 overall and 5-2 in the Mid-American Conference.
The Bulls got contributions from a number of different Bulls as 10 different players scored for UB. Javon McCrea scored 14 points and added 12 rebounds in only 19 minutes of action for his fifth double-double of the season. The sophomore forward was a beast on the boards in the second half, pulling down 11 rebounds in only nine minutes.
Zach Filzen had 12 points, all on three-pointers. His fourth triple gave him 1,000 points for his career, counting his freshman season at Northern Arizona. He had four of the Bulls’ 11 three-pointers in the game. Tony Watson chipped in with three three-pointers to finish with nine points. Dave Barnett also knocked down a pair of treys for six points and added six rebounds.
St. Bonaventure (12-7, 5-2 Atlantic 10) scored the game’s first 10 points and led wire to wire in a 62-47 win over Richmond (12-10, 3-4) at the Reilly Center.
With the victory, the Bonnies (12-7, 5-2 A-10) maintain a share of the Atlantic 10 Conference lead with Massachusetts (16-5, 5-2) and La Salle (16-6, 5-2).
St. Bonaventure’s 5-2 start in A-10 play in the best since the 2000 team posted the same mark through seven games, while the team’s 12-7 overall record is tops since 2001-02.
There wasn’t much that went the Buffalo Bandits’ way Saturday night. Flying into Minnesota after a loss at home to the Philadelphia Wings on Friday, the Bandits dropped a 19-11 decision to the Swarm. It was Buffalo’s first-ever loss in Minnesota.
Angus Goodleaf made his first start of the season in goal for Buffalo (2-2) and allowed three goals on the first seven shots he faced. When Minnesota took a 7-2 lead on their fourth straight goal 5:03 into the second quarter, Goodleaf was pulled in favor of Friday’s starter, Mike Thompson. The switch didn’t do much to swing the momentum the other way, however, as Minnesota (1-1) scored three more goals before the half ended.
Goodleaf would be back in net to start the third quarter but not necessarily because of Thompson’s play in relief. As the horn ended the second quarter, at least three fights broke out in a benches-clearing brawl between the two teams.
Something that’s been suggested to me many times is a post on the college careers of WNY’s former high school players. So I decided to provide a list of any former player currently on a college roster. Those who wish to, can now use the comments section to provide updates on the players and discuss their progress at the next level.
If you know of someone who played high school basketball in WNY and is now currently on a college roster, but isn’t listed below, send me an email at: centercourt42@gmail.com Please include the high school attended the player attended and the year he graduated.
I like Chad Kelly. Overall he’s a quality kid and quite obviously a ridiculously talented football player. He’s taking his extraordinary talents to Clemson next year and genuinely I wish him nothing but the best. But this youngster needs to gain some maturity in a big way as he evolves and if I could offer him advice, I’d pungently suggest him discarding Twitter.
Maybe it’s the hype of carrying a famous last name or perhaps he’s just not aged enough to handle the intense scrutiny of the media spotlight, but if you follow Kelly on Twitter surely you see what I’ve been seeing—the kid has been acting the fool lately. Kelly may not be the next rocket scientist when he’s a grown adult but he’s certainly no dummy either. Unfortunately, his spelling of words, grammar and context on Twitter are making him an easy target to critics (and haters.)
Until now I’ve enjoyed hearing what he has to say and I’ll always root for him, but for the time being I think it’s time for him to ditch Twitter—and songs rapping about him.
Buffalo Sabres forward Jason Pominville was not the last player drafted in the NHL fantasy All-Star draft Thursday evening like many expected. Instead he went in round 18; the second-round to team Alfredsson.
The Olean Times Herald reports that the head injury Jochen Hecht is trying to deal with has the Sabres extremely worried.
The fans’ fury deserves an answer from the Sabres organization, Buffalo News columnist Bucky Gleason recently wrote.
Ryan Fitzpatrick admitted that the Buffalo Bills were not ready to be successful this past season in this NFL.com article.
We’ve started a series at Buffalo Sports Daily, highlighting the five biggest bright spots… and dark clouds on the 2011 Buffalo Bills season. Our biggest bright spots section has already featured the emergence of Scott Chandler at tight end and the surprisingly strong play of the offensive line. Today we move on to our third-biggest bright spot of 2011– the revelation that running back C.J. Spiller is not bust.
In what nearly became the defining play of his two-year Buffalo Bills career, C.J. Spiller lined up split out wide right on the first play of the third quarter in a game at Dallas November 13. Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick took an Eric Wood snap and dropped back to pass. As he was doing so, Spiller blew past the linebacker assigned to him in coverage.
Heaving arguably his best long ball of the season, Fitzpatrick launched a flawless spiral in the direction of Spiller for what looked to be a highlight reel 83-yard pass and catch for a touchdown; a much needed one considering the Bills were already down 28-7.
The University at Buffalo women’s basketball team will be taking part in its annual breast cancer awareness event on Saturday afternoon during its game against Toledo. This year, the event has been named “Play 4 Kay” in memory of former NC State head coach Kay Yow, who lost her battle with breast cancer in 2009. All proceeds from the event will benefit the WBCA/Kay Yow Cancer Fund.
The first 200 people to attend the event will be given pink UB Bulls water bottles and the first 50 people will also get free cotton candy. While at the game, fans will have an opportunity to buy a pink t-shirt for a $5 donation that they can then design on their own at an assigned station. D’art Moda will also be in the house, putting some pink flair into fans’ hair.
The Buffalo Sabres today announced that the next installment of the 2011-12 Power Play Luncheon series will take place on Friday, Feb. 10 in the 100 level Harbour Club at First Niagara Center. Sabres Hall of Famer Dave Andreychuk will serve as the event’s guest speaker.
The Power Play Luncheon series offers corporations and individuals an exclusive first-hand look at the Sabres’ organization and the NHL, with a portion of the proceeds from the event benefiting the Buffalo Sabres Foundation.
The luncheon begins at 12 p.m. and attendees will be asked to adhere to a business casual dress code. Free parking will be available in the ramp adjacent to the arena.
For the first time this season and the fourth time for his career, senior Kevin Smith was named the Mid-American Conference’s Wrestler of the Week. The Mexico, NY native earned the honor thanks to a dominating 4-0 weekend at the New York State Collegiate Tournament. This marks the second straight week that a UB wrestler was honored. Smith was also named the MAC Scholar Athlete of the Week, his second time this season.
Buffalo senior Kevin Smith was named the New York State Collegiate Tournament’s Most Outstanding Wrestler on Sunday after winning all four of his matches en route to the 141-pound title. Wrestling as the top seed in his bracket, Smith got a pin in his opening round and then followed with a 7-4 win over eighth seed Ryan Guynup of Jamestown CC to end the first day of wrestling.
The University at Buffalo men’s basketball team won its third straight game by defeating Eastern Michigan, 65-47, at Alumni Arena on Tuesday night. The 47 points scored by the Eagles were a season low by a UB opponent.
Buffalo (11-6, 4-2 MAC) had three players score in double-figures led by Javon McCrea’s game-high 17 points. Zach Filzen added 16 points, including five three-pointers. Mitchell Watt had 14 points and a game-high nine rebounds.
Eastern Michigan (9-11, 4-2 MAC), one of the Mid-American Conference’s best defensive teams, played a tough zone defense the entire game. The Bulls countered with making nine three-pointers. Along with Filzen’s five, Auraum Nuiriankh and Tony Watson each added a pair of triples.
The road back to the Eastern Conference playoff race will be long and hard but hey, the Buffalo Sabres have to start somewhere, no?
If stealing were a crime in high school hoops, the McKinley Macks would be facing some hard time after Tuesday evening.
Now that the NHL All-Star break is over, the Buffalo Sabres are finally close to healthy. Tyler Ennis is slated to return to the line-up tonight against the Montreal Canadiens, and center Paul Gaustad has a chance to return this evening as well. If Gaustad does, the Sabres will have the same line-up they had in Europe when they ran roughshod over Anaheim and Los Angeles in back to back games to begin the 2011-12 campaign.
♦ The Buffalo Bills are pretty much going to a 4-3 base in 2012, which doesn’t differ as much as you think from last year. The biggest change moving forward is that Nick Barnett is no longer the middle linebacker. Instead, he’ll move over to the weak side with second-year pro Kelvin Sheppard taking over inside. Who plays on the strong side in the 4-3 remains to be seen. On paper Shawne Merriman appears to be the favorite, yet I’m not even convinced he’ll be on the roster next season.
We’ve been running a pair of series at Buffalo Sports Daily, highlighting the five biggest bright spots… and dark clouds on the 2011 Buffalo Bills season. We kicked off the dark cloud portions with number five the Bills reality check in the 
The Buffalo Sabres 
If the Buffalo Sabres are going to make any kind of second half of the season push, particularly on the road, there’s probably no better place to start than Montreal. To say the Sabres have stunk on the road may be an understatement, but that hasn’t been the case when they visit the Canadiens. In fact, Buffalo returns from the All-Star break tonight in search of their fifth consecutive victory in Montreal.
With season-altering victories over Aquinas and Canisius last week, St. Joe’s wrestled the top spot in this week’s large school high school boys’ basketball poll. If Monday night is any indication, they’ll be in for a dog fight to hold on to it.
Men’s track runner Jimmy Campbell was named the Buffalo State Athlete of the Week after his strong performance in the team’s third meet of the season on Friday night.
How far under cap are Bills including carry over from unused last year- Scott Eustace (via Twitter)
If you’re a fan of high school hoops in Western New York, one of the biggest controveries in a long time occurred last summer when former Jamestown star Jaysean Paige transferred to play for a school in Kentucky. From the moment the news became public, reaction from the Jamestown community ranged from anger to flat-out betrayal, and even accusations of Paige’s family being set up with a cushy job in exchange for Paige’s services.
“Just when you think you have all the answers— I change the questions.” – Roddy Piper.
Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News has an excellent first half of the 
The University at Buffalo men’s basketball hit a season-high 11 three-pointers en route to a 74-59 win at Northern Illinois on Saturday afternoon. It was the fourth straight win for a UB squad that improves to 12-6 overall and 5-2 in the Mid-American Conference.
St. Bonaventure (12-7, 5-2 Atlantic 10) scored the game’s first 10 points and led wire to wire in a 62-47 win over Richmond (12-10, 3-4) at the Reilly Center.
There wasn’t much that went the Buffalo Bandits’ way Saturday night. Flying into Minnesota after a loss at home to the Philadelphia Wings on Friday, the Bandits dropped a 19-11 decision to the Swarm. It was Buffalo’s first-ever loss in Minnesota.
Something that’s been suggested to me many times is a post on the college careers of WNY’s former high school players. So I decided to provide a list of any former player currently on a college roster. Those who wish to, can now use the comments section to provide updates on the players and discuss their progress at the next level.
I like Chad Kelly. Overall he’s a quality kid and quite obviously a ridiculously talented football player. He’s taking his extraordinary talents to Clemson next year and genuinely I wish him nothing but the best. But this youngster needs to gain some maturity in a big way as he evolves and if I could offer him advice, I’d pungently suggest him discarding Twitter.
Buffalo Sabres forward Jason Pominville was 
We’ve started a series at Buffalo Sports Daily, highlighting the five biggest bright spots… and dark clouds on the 2011 Buffalo Bills season. Our biggest bright spots section has already featured the 
The University at Buffalo women’s basketball team will be taking part in its annual breast cancer awareness event on Saturday afternoon during its game against Toledo. This year, the event has been named “Play 4 Kay” in memory of former NC State head coach Kay Yow, who lost her battle with breast cancer in 2009. All proceeds from the event will benefit the WBCA/Kay Yow Cancer Fund.
The Buffalo Sabres today announced that the next installment of the 2011-12 Power Play Luncheon series will take place on Friday, Feb. 10 in the 100 level Harbour Club at First Niagara Center. Sabres Hall of Famer Dave Andreychuk will serve as the event’s guest speaker.
For the first time this season and the fourth time for his career, senior Kevin Smith was named the Mid-American Conference’s Wrestler of the Week. The Mexico, NY native earned the honor thanks to a dominating 4-0 weekend at the New York State Collegiate Tournament. This marks the second straight week that a UB wrestler was honored. Smith was also named the MAC Scholar Athlete of the Week, his second time this season.
The University at Buffalo men’s basketball team won its third straight game by defeating Eastern Michigan, 65-47, at Alumni Arena on Tuesday night. The 47 points scored by the Eagles were a season low by a UB opponent.
