Author: Chris Ostrander

Buffalo Pipe Dream: Pucks and Conventions

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Early in the summer – when the threat of a lockout was evident but not looming – I took the time to throw out a few big picture ideas for Buffalo. These ideas ranged from re-working the Cobblestone District to finding a place for a state-of-the-art aquarium on the Outer Harbor.

Swap out those graphics for ones promoting an OHL contest and you’ve got yourself a winner.

Now that the HARBORcenter project is well underway, the Junior Sabres and Canisius DI teams will have a new home with seating for 2,000 fans. I like to think that my original pipe dream story had something to do with this, but I’m not that naïve.

One piece of common knowledge is the Buffalo’s Convention Center is undersized, dated and incapable of attracting larger events that hit cities like Pittsburgh. The recent waterfront Bills stadium proposal had a new convention center worked into the plans and such a project would be interesting to see. However, I don’t think that a new convention center needs to accompany a Bills stadium project.

Certainly there are plenty of power brokers and decision makers in WNY who are well aware of the glaring need to upgrade the current Convention Center. An updated and modern convention center would help raise the overall profile and perception of the region. Finding a location and project to build a new Convention Center should be high on the priority list of many throughout Buffalo. Continue reading →

Extra Point: Bills fall from playoff contention in loss to Colts

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This week’s loss to the Colts all but eliminated the Bills from playoff contention. I penned the recap for Buffalo Wins this week and rather than write the same thing twice, I’d instruct you to check out the piece I posted for Buffalo Wins.

Disappointing changes made to Pond Hockey

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The Labatt Blue Pond Hockey Tournament has been a welcome event in the middle of the last few Buffalo winters. Taking notes from it’s older cousin in Eagle River, Wisconsin, the Buffalo tournament has truly become a must-play for any beer leaguer in Western New York.

As is the case with sport in Buffalo, things have rarely gone according to plan. The tournament has been plagued by bad ice, warm weather and many hiccups. 2012 was the climax of various hurdles over the first five iterations as the Inner Harbor didn’t freeze and the tournament needed to change over to a street hockey format.

The tournament organizers are obviously trying to combat that by building in additional fail-safe methods for the upcoming tournament. However the changes being made have a very disappointing tone to them. The tournament will change from a weekend long event to a one-day marathon of hockey and the registration process has also changed from first-come first-serve to a lottery process. Continue reading →

Extra Point: Squishing the Fish

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Winning affords teams a number of things. Namely, it absolves them of many of their mistakes made along the way. For one night, at least, the Bills can be absolved from some of their misguided decisions.

Buffalo managed to secure their first division win against Miami thanks to a sound defensive effort and another phenomenal return from Leodis McKelvin. C.J. Spiller had another productive evening on a night when neither offense was capable of building much momentum.

However, the one thing that stood out to many fans were the dubious playcalls made in specific situations by Chan Gailey. His third and short playcalling was particularly questionable on drive ending plays:

–          3rd and 1 from the BUF 33 – Tashard Choice wildcat run, no gain. Punt

–          3rd and 3 from the MIA 14 – Empty set, incomplete pass intended for Donald Jones. Bills FG

–          3rd and 1 from the MIA 16 – Empty set, incomplete pass intended for Scott Chandler. Bills FG

–          3rd and 3 from the MIA 17 – Fitzpatrick sacked. Bills FG

–          1st and goal from the MIA 4 – Three pass attempts, one defensive pass interference penalty and three incompletions. Bills FG from the MIA 1.

–          3rd and 1 from the BUF 44 – C.J. Spiller run for -1 yard.

The final play listed came in the fourth quarter when the Bills were milking the clock. Now, that was probably the right playcall and it just didn’t get the job done. But it is perplexing to think that Gailey would call six pass plays on short yardage situations in the red zone. Maybe the specter of Spiller’s goal-line fumble against New England still haunts the coach. Maybe Fred Jackson’s absence caused Gailey to go in a different direction. However, these are exactly the situations that fans and media have pointed to as shortcomings with Gailey’s attitude towards the run game. Continue reading →

Extra Point: Groundhog Pick

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Sunday must have felt like Groundhog Day for Ryan Fitzpatrick. Just as he did against Tennessee, Fitzpatrick played a sterling game only to unravel late in the fourth when the Bills were trying to lock up a victory.

Just like against the Titans, Fitzpatrick’s late miscue will receive just as much blame as the defense should for another 35+ point performance. That makes five games in which the defense has allowed 30 or more points. Shocking stat of the week: The Bills have lost all five games in which they surrender more than 30 points.

Danny Woodhead’s touchdown scamper was another astounding lack of run support from any of the 11 players on the field. But the rest of the performance wasn’t nearly as bad as the travesty that made up back-to-back losses to the Patriots and 49ers earlier in the year.

Buffalo outgained the mighty Patriots by nearly 140 yards. Yet they lost the game due in part to ugly penalty yardage and an early fumble that gave the Patriots a short field.

Chan Gailey still underutilized his most prolific weapon, CJ Spiller. But that won’t be the case on Thursday, as Fred Jackson will not be available for the Bills. Spiller finished with an average of 10 yards per play (9 carries, 70 yards and 6 catches, 61 yards). Once again, Spiller averaged a first down every time he touched the ball. Continue reading →

Questionable roster choices have hurt the Bills depth

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Terrence McGee’s career developed an extremely unfortunate trend the past few years. He has, quite literally, been limping towards oblivion and landing on the IR this week might just seal the deal for the longtime Bill.

Joining McGee on the IR is right tackle Erik Pears. John Potter was also released, making room for three players on the 53-man roster. Buffalo has since filled the three vacant spots and head into the rest of the week’s practices with a full roster.

Marcus Easley has finally found his way to the active roster after three seasons of hardships. Easley, elevated from the practice squad fills the spot that the Bills had allocated for their additional specialist at the beginning of the season. The Bills filled the other two spots with tackle Thomas Welch and CB Crezdon Butler. Continue reading →

Extra Point: Bills run away from winning combination

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Before the final drive of the game for the Bills, CJ Spiller only had nine total touches. He picked up a pair of receptions on that drive to bring his overall number of touches to 11 on the day. Fred Jackson also had 11 touches. Of the 54 plays the Bills ran, Jackson or Spiller had the ball on 40 percent of them.

Nine of the 22 touches the backs had come in the passing game, leaving only 12 total rushes between the two. That is 22% of the offense that went through the running game (excluding runs by Ryan Fitzpatrick and Brad Smith). Yes, less than a quarter of the offense went through a running attack ranked in the top five of the NFL.

That isn’t to say that CJ Spiller didn’t produce. Outside of getting stuffed on a few runs, he still averaged 6.5 yards per carry and has 102 all-purpose yards. That is a whopping 9.2 average per touch. So, while the rest of the offense sputtered, Spiller was capable of nearing first down yardage every time he touched the ball (on average). Continue reading →

Inclusion of Afinogenov in Alumni Plaza mural has caused a stir

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Afinogenov is just visible behind Rene Robert.

A fairly innocuous observation between Eric and myself on the last Instigator Podcast has suddenly become a big story in hockey circles. Maybe if there was hockey being played this wouldn’t even matter. But since this ridiculous lockout continues, Max Afinogenov’s inclusion on the Alumni Plaza mural is a story.To offer a recap, Afinogenov was included on a photo mural of former Sabres that adorns the walkway in the newly anointed Alumni Plaza. The decision to cover the walkway with former Sabres was not only a decision likely forced by the lockout (and inability to use current players for promotions) and the convenient fact that the creation of the Plaza would make the black and white headshot mural quite out of place. For what it’s worth, the team picture mural concept was getting old fast and I commend the Sabres for having a new option that they can renew each season, if they so choose.

Afinogenov is one of the last players pictured and is sandwiched between Chris Drury, Thomas Vanek and Ryan Miller. Both Drury and Afinogenov are featured in “slug” jerseys and tie together the current era of team history on the mural. The question surrounding Afinogenov’s inclusion asks not only how deserving he is of the honor and how many other Sabre greats were passed over for him. Continue reading →

Canalside should piggyback on Perry Street proposal

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The proposed Perry Street streetscape project really got some wheels turning for me. The proposed improvements will not only directly impact the businesses in the Cobblestone District, but it will serve as an aesthetically pleasing entryway to the Ohio St. corridor and, more importantly, Canalside.

Take this logo, illuminate it and place it at the front door of Canalside.

A point made in my post on the Perry St. proposal included the need for Canalside to eventually get permanent, significantly eye-catching signage for the district once the major construction projects are completed. While there is no doubt of where you are upon arrival to the neighborhood, replacing some of the temporary banners with permanent and dynamic signage should be first on ECHDC’s to-do list. Continue reading →