With training camp rapidly approaching, I’ve decided to give you five things that as a Sabre fan, I am not looking forward to:
5. Tim Connolly’s first injury
The Sabres get off to a great start, say 7-3 in their first ten. Beginning with the defense returning to its solid formation much like 05-06, and the powerplay scoring at will. Oh wait, down goes Connolly. It’s a severe case of chapped lips. He’s out for life. Continue reading ‘Five things I’m NOT looking forward to this season’
Sunday’s Buffalo News had a great article about the Bills’ struggles in the red zone. The evidence of futility is quite breathtaking.
Last season, the red-zone offense was clearly in protective custody somewhere. The Bills went inside the 20 just 34 times and produced 13 touchdowns and 17 field goals. Their touchdown percentage was just 38.2 percent. Now compare that to the Bills opponents who ventured into the red zone 56 times and produced 25 touchdowns for 44.6 percent.
The key to red zone success is to have multiple threats to keep the defense honest. With a lack of a passing game, the defense can focus on the run. When you’re running the ball deep in the opponent’s territory, it’s hard to get the personnel on the field to open up the passing game.
You need to have two stud receivers and a tight end who’s a threat. The Bills have Lee Evans and rookie James Hardy to fill those receiver slots. Tight end? Not so much.
The Bills haven’t had a stud tight end in a while. If ever. Who was the last notable Bills tight end? Pete Metzelaars? Continue reading ‘Bills need tight ends to step up. Or A tight end. Okay, ANY tight end.’
Yeah, I know. Where the fuck have we been?
Blogging takes a backseat to life sometimes. As evidenced by this little break. I promise it won’t happen… often. Thanks for coming back though.
But since nothing has motivated us enough to write anything right now (because we’re lazy), the staff at 3MI is introducing our staff profiles. Just to give you a better idea about who we are.
So without further adieu, here we are:
We’ll be back with a regular post… eventually.
We’re way too late on this, but it still deserves mention.
According to this loosely translated website, our boy Mike Ryan has decided to bring his wicked skills to Russia. Ryan signs a one year deal with Dynamo Minsk of the KHL.
28-year old hockey the past two seasons spent in the “Buffalo.” Last season, born in Boston played 46 games in the “Klinkov, scored 8 (4 +4) points.
How did Mike Ryan of all people catch the Dynamo Minsk management’s eye, you ask? Who’s their GM, you wonder? None other than Sabres legend and 3MI favorite Vladimir Tsyplakov.
So, there goes the last remaining piece of the Stu Barnes deal. Of course, we all remember that day when the Sabres lost the rights to 2003 second round pick Branislav Fabry.
Good luck to Michael in Russia. It’s too bad things didn’t work out here in Buffalo. Ryan had all the skills needed to make it in the NHL… except maybe talent.
J.P. Losman has the whole “woodsman” look down.
And you know what? I like it. I take it as some sort of “lone wolf” kind of thing.
Trent Edwards was not exactly decent in the Bills first preseason game, completing only one pass on a few set of downs. I’ve decided if we’re going to have two second string caliber players trying to be our starter, why not the “sexy” one?
And I don’t mean J.P. is sexy, (well, maybe, if I liked men) but “sexy” in a football sense. Continue reading ‘The Instigator: Digging J.P.’s beard’
The Sabres’ average age just jumped a bit. The team announced on Friday that they have signed 40 year old Teppo Numminen to a one year, $1.1 million deal.
Numminen (7/3/1968, 6’2”, 198 lbs.) played 16:03 in Buffalo’s regular season finale against the Boston Bruins last season. He had missed the first 81 games of the season recovering from heart surgery that took place on September 20, 2007 at the Cleveland Clinic. In three seasons with Buffalo, Numminen has scored 69 points (4+65) in 155 regular season games.
It is unclear whether Numminen will have a permanent spot in the lineup, but it is certain that he will continue to look like Bono from U2.
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The Sabres also announced on Friday that they have signed unrestricted free agent forward Tyler Bouck.
Bouck was the captain of the Portland Pirates last season, while he was a member of the Anaheim Ducks organization.
Bouck (1/13/1980, 6’0”, 196 lbs.) captained the Portland Pirates (AHL) last season, picking up 29 points ( 11+18 ) and 86 PIMs in 79 games. Bouck’s 11 goals matched his career-high set in 2003-04 with Manitoba. Since turning pro in the 2000-01 season, Bouck has also played for Utah, Springfield and Manitoba.
A native of Camrose, Alberta, the 28-year-old Bouck has 12 points ( 4+8 ) in 91 career NHL games with Dallas, Phoenix and Vancouver.
It’s unclear now whether or not he will remain Pirates captain.
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And like many of these signings the Sabres have been making to fill out the Portland roster, there’s rumors of a new deal before we get any official word.
This thread on HFBoards indicates that the Sabres are on the verge of bringing in tough guy forward Jimmy Bonneau.
There were random sources for the Darche, Wilson, and Bouck signings, so it wouldn’t be crazy to assume this is true.
Bonneau spent last season with the AHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs and ECHL’s Cincinnati Cyclones as part of the Montreal organization. The 23 year old played junior hockey with fellow Sabres prospect Marc-Andre Gragnani as a member of the Prince Edward Island Rocket of the QMJHL.
It’s time to get things going, Bills fans.
The Buffalo Bills officially begin their preseason schedule tonight at 7 PM (TV: 7, Radio: 97 Rock) as they take on the Washington Redskins.
The starters, including QB Trent Edwards, probably won’t play more than a drive or two, so it’s mostly about getting an idea of who’s going to be filling out the depth chart. We’ll get our first look at rookies such as CB Leodis McKelvin and WR James Hardy, as well as new faces like DT Marcus Stroud and LB Kawika Mitchell.
Personally, I’m just hoping to see Matt Baker get some snaps.
Good news, Bills fans! Just when you thought the Brett Favre unretirement saga was ending, it just got a bit more interesting.
The Brett Favre era in Green Bay officially came to an end late Wednesday night as the legendary longtime Packers quarterback was traded to the New York Jets, the Packers announced.
The exact compensation wasn’t immediately available, but it is believed to be a fourth-round draft pick that increases in value depending on how the Jets perform in the 2008 season.
Of course, all this does is move all of the NFL training camp coverage from Green Bay to New York.
This whole thing has been a complete joke. Lead story on every news update. Program-interrupting “Breaking News” of Brett Favre getting on an airplane. A special “FAVRE” ticker on ESPN’s BottomLine. But now there’s actual relevant football conversation to have.
All of a sudden, the Jets are being discussed as a playoff team, with Favre under center. Forget they were 4-12 last season (and two of those wins were over the 1-15 Dolphins). Forget everyone was pretty much writing them off before this happened.
It seems a bit ludicrous that one player, a quarterback who turns 39 this season, can take a team of scrubs and turn them into a playoff team just by showing up. Favre hasn’t even taken a look at a playbook yet, and the Jets play their first preseason game tonight. How much of a learning curve is there going to be for a guy who had been with the same team for 16 years?
The Jets had been trying to figure out whether Chad Pennington or Kellen Clemens would be starting under center this season. With Favre in the fold, it looks like Pennington will get the axe. It’s too bad, because although he is a “quality, classy quarterback”, he didn’t really seem to do too well against Buffalo. Now, New York’s coaching staff has to get the new QB into the system with only a couple weeks until the games count.
Odds are Brett will be up to speed by the time the J-E-T-S come to the Ralph to play the Bills for the first time on November 2. But will the Jets still be viewed as a contender by then?
Great news, Sabres fans! Your prayers have been answered.
Buffalo made two big signings yesterday, bringing in left wing Colin Murphy and right wing Colin Fretter.
Fretter played his college hockey at Michigan State, picking up 112 points (43+69) in 159 games during a four-year collegiate career from 2002-06. A native of Harrow, Ont., Fretter was originally selected by Atlanta in the eighth round of the 2002 Entry Draft.
Murphy (4/11/1980), 6’0”, 195 lbs.) spent the last three seasons with the AHL’s Toronto Marlies, after signing with the team as an undrafted free agent in 2005. Last season he finished with 38 points (11+27) and 152 PIMs in 68 games.
Now all that’s left is to rewrite the lyrics to “We’re Gonna Win That Cup” to somehow include the names Fretter and Murphy. Shouldn’t be too hard.
Somebody cue up “Brass Bonanza”.
Buffalo’s about to inject a bit of the Whale into their organization (Apparently, Nolan Pratt just wasn’t cutting it.) The Sabres will announce tomorrow that they have hired former Hartford Whaler, and former Portland Pirates Head Coach Kevin Dineen to guide their new AHL affiliate, the Portland Pirates.
A news conference has been scheduled for 2 p.m. Tuesday in Portland, where the announcement is expected to be made. Dineen has been the top candidate since July 24, when former Rochester Americans coach Randy Cunneyworth left the organization to become an assistant coach with the Atlanta Thrashers.
It never really seemed like Cunneyworth ever really wanted to take the job in Portland. That said, they brought Dineen back to Portland, where his contract had just expired.
It does seem a bit out of the ordinary for the Sabres to bring in someone who wasn’t a former Sabre to join the coaching staff (Lindy Ruff, Mike Ramsey, Randy Cunneyworth, etc.), but from the looks of it, this is one hell of a hire. Continue reading ‘Sabres to hire Kevin Dineen to guide Portland’
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