Author: Chris Ostrander

Winnipeg Jets unveil new uniforms

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The Winnipeg Jets alleged logos and uniforms have been a fun topic of conversation this summer. After a surprise logo unveiling earlier in the summer, the Jets showed off their new jerseys today.

A close-up of the terrible vertical arm striping on the new Jets uniforms.

Overall the jerseys are pretty underwhelming. They don’t stink, which is a good thing. But they aren’t show stoppers. The blue home uniform looks good. The sleeve and waist stripes aren’t ridiculous and the color scheme works well. Aside from the main logo, the home uniform works.

As for the away jersey, it is awful. The sleeve stripes aren’t all that terrible. The light blue looks good. However that stupid vertical navy blue arm band is horrendous. There is no trim on it, so it is just floating out in space, part of it fills in between the horizontal stripes and it has no counterpart on the home uniforms. To top it off, it makes the horizontal stripes, which on their own would look good, look like something you see on a crossing guard.

i was really hoping the Jets organization would stay away from mistakes like this, especially those awful third jerseys. For the most part they did. They chose a cool color scheme with a very cool secondary logo and a fairly unique wordmark, depending on your taste. The boring logo doesn’t help much, but coupled with that idiotic vertical stripe, I can only hope the NHL goes to white jerseys at home so I don’t have to witness these in person.

On the bright side there is an opportunity for a baby (aviator) blue third jersey with that awesome secondary logo. Also, the numbers and letters are pretty unique, so that is a small victory.

Again, they’re not the worst things in the world. Just not worth all the waiting and fan fare. I think I may have taken the counterfeits over this model.

A look at the numbering and lettering on the new Jets uniforms.

Hangartner, Corner headline Bills cuts

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Geoff Hangartner, Reggie Corner and Naaman Roosevelt headlined the cuts made by the Billstoday in order to reach the 53-man roster limit.

Jon Corto was one of the surprising cuts made by the Bills today.

Here are the 27 players who have been cut: QB Levi Brown, FB Jehuu Caulcrick, WR Naaman Roosevelt, WR Kamar Aiken, TE Mike Caussin, OT Ed Wang, OT Jason Watkins, C Michael Switzer, DE Lionel Dotson, DE T.J. Langley, NT Michael Jasper, OLB Antonio Coleman, OLB Jammie Kirlew, ILB Brandon Hicks, CB Doyle Miller, S Sidney Glover, S Josh Nesbitt, LS Danny Aiken, WR Buster Davis, WR Felton Huggins, TE Shawn Nelson, OT Cordaro Howard, OG Mansfield Wrotto, C Geoff Hangartner, CB Reggie Corner, S Jon Corto.

Hangartner, Corner, Roosevelt and Jon Corto are probably the most surprising names that appear on this list. Ed Wang and Antonio Coleman and Mansfield Wrotto are also cuts from last year’s roster.

Of the players that made the team who are surprises, Colin Brown, Ruvell Martin and Robert Eddins. Now, Eddins was strong throughout camp and the preseason, but I thought he would be a practice squad player before making the active roster, particularly over Antonio Coleman. As for Brown, this may be the biggest surprise simply because he didn’t do much during his audition, perhaps that is a good thing for a lineman. Continue reading →

Bills roster projection: the final 53

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I have been scribbling, replacing and crossing out names on my depth chart throughout the preseason. After watching the preseason games and seeing the coverage that is available, I have a good idea who the Bills will keep this season.

I went with an even 25/25/3 split to make things easy. Surely Chan Gailey will have some variations in mind as he chisels away cuts. By going with 25 on each side of the ball I allowed myself to be somewhat conservative with my choices. Reason being, there aren’t many guys you want to take a chance on. Continue reading →

Deskchair Quarterback – Bills vs. Lions

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I can officially proclaim that the NFL Preseason is the biggest racket going. The Bills, and NFL, go of and charge full price for two home games so fans can watch players they never heard of perform poorly in hopes of making an NFL roster.

I understand that this is out of the Bills’ control. However it is embarrassing that these games aren’t priced at $10 a ticket. It isn’t fair to chars such steep prices and the poor turnout last night showed that.

As for the game. There isn’t too much to write about. The starting offense didn’t do much, but it didn’t look like they were trying either. Shawne Merriman looks like his old self, just pray he stays healthy.

This game was all about the reserves. Players on the bubble needed to prove their worth and many did. Antonio Coleman was active and likely saved his bacon despite another strong showing from Robert Eddins. Eddins is destined for the practice squad and a potential call up depending on injuries.

Continue reading →

Roster watch: Bubble Battles

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Some football seasons are different than others. Some years there are undrafted rookies and late round picks usurping established veterans for roles on the final roster.

The 2011 NFL season is not one of those years. The abbreviated offseason that was good of OTAs and mini-camp has taken valuable time away from fringe players drafted in the late rounds and signed as UDFAs.

There are a few battles being waged for starter and reserve spots on the Bills roster. Demetrius Bell, Andy and Chad Rinehart make up a triangle of dispute on the left side of the line. However, all three are locks to make the team.

Additionally, Marcus Easley is inching closer to a starting position at wide receiver by means of an injury to Donal Jones. Would this be a battle had Jones’ cappa been detated from his body? Maybe not yet, but Easley’s raw talent would have eventually earned him playing time.

I am still not sold on Donald Jones. He is a great special teams contributor and he blocks well. However he doesn’t always catch a ton of passes. Unfortunately that is the main duty of a wide receiver. I think he, Naaman Roosevelt and Buster Davis are all close for the two final WR spots on the roster. Easley, Stevie Johnson, David Nelson and Roscoe Parrish are all locks and I see the Bills keeping six players at WR. That leaves two spots to be fought over between four players (if Kamar Aiken is a real possibility). Continue reading →

Sabres prepared for Traverse City

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Fans looking to dip their beaks in hockey action will get a small taste the week before the Buffalo Sabres preseason opens.

The Sabres are sending 23 prospects to Traverse City, Michigan to participate in the 2011-12 NHL Prospect Tournament.

Topping the list of players are Luke Adam, Zack Kassian, Brayden McNabb and Mark Pysyk. Those players are currently the top players in the Sabres’ pipeline and Adam and Kassian are expected to challenge for an NHL roster spot this season

The remaining 19 players are an assortment of draft picks from the past few seasons in addition to a few invitees. Steven Beyers, Jonathan Parker and Phil Varone all participated in the Sabres rookie camp earlier in the summer, Parker and Varone will be in camp with the Amerks in a few weeks time as well. Beyers was impressive in camp and will remain on Buffalo’s radar for him final year of junior.

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Deskchair Quarterback – Bills vs. Jaguars

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I’m fairly certain that 75% of the fans who bemoaned the Bills’ poor performance against the Broncos have changed their opinion on the possibility of an 0-16 season for the Bills.

The only thing that matters to me is the 17-0 lead the Bills starters opened up in the first half against the Jaguars starters. Buffalo’s offense was in high gear, the offensive line kept Ryan Fitzpatrick upright and the defense was strong without Shawne Merriman in the lineup.

It seems as if Demetrius Bell responded well to the possibility of losing his job. He got the start and held up quite well against the Jaguars pass rush. Of course Jacksonville was without their best pass rusher, Aaron Kampman, but I’m going to try to stay positive. Andy Levitre was equally impressive when he bumped to tackle, however I still wonder if he will struggle long-term at that position considering his size. On the bright side, if the Bills deem Kraig Urbik unfit for the RG spot, Chad Rinehart is more than capable of stepping in to fill his role. I feel like that switch will be inevitable once the regular season starts but the coaching staff is waiting to weed out the best players for the left side first. Continue reading →

Effin’ A Cotton, effin’ a

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In a summer of major changes for the Sabres organization one more cosmetic one will occur today. First Niagara will acquire the naming rights to HSBC Arena.

This is a move I suspected would occur in the near future, I just didn’t think it would happen this soon. As First Niagara has continued to grow in recent years I began to wonder if they would look into some sort of branding with the Sabres, Bisons or the Bills. When HSBC sold their retail branches to First Niagara I assumed a name change for the Arena was inevitable. However, all news from the three parties involved appeared to be in the contrary.

Now there is the opportunity for the Arena to be called the First Niagara Arena – or FNA (effin’ a). UPDATE: It appears the name will be the First Niagara Center.

With the additional renovations being made to the interior of the Arena and the locker room, a name change will add that much more of a new look for the new regime. Based on the look of the First Niagara logo, it will look much better on the exterior (and interior signage) of the building. I do wonder if they will utilize the neon waves that were once prevalent on the main exterior sign back in the 90s.

Aside from a trade, it seems as if the next biggest change will come with a new sign on the front of the Arena.

Bills make the right move with Morrison

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News broke on Wednesday evening that the Bills had come to terms with inside linebacker Kirk Morrison. It is reportedly a one-year deal for the man who was replaced by Paul Pozluszny in Jacksonville.

Morrison is no slouch, he has amassed over 100 tackles in five of his six pro seasons. The only year he failed to eclipse 100 was last season with the Jaguars. While Morrison’s main experience has come in a 4-3 look, I don’t expect him to struggle much with the Bills.

Most of the reports out cite Reggie Torbor’s uncertain injury status as the reason for signing Morrison. I would like the cite the fact that Torbor has looked incredibly slow in the preseason and seemed unable to cover in space, an issue Bills’ linebackers had last year as well. Morrison should help in that regard while adding some serious experience to the depth chart at inside linebacker. Continue reading →

Sabres-Flames rumors swirl again

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As training camp fast approaches the Sabres timetable to get under the cap continues to shrink.

Despite the obvious solution (sticking players in the minors), Darcy Regier continues to stand by his strategy of utilizing trades to clear the necessary cap space. Due to that apparent strategy, the rumor mill is back up and running.

Everyone’s favorite rumor monger, Eklund, floated the idea of a second trade between the Sabres and Flames. While it is an intriguing notion I doubt that either team could find a workable option.

Jarome Iginla is on every Sabres fan's wish list. I say keep wishing.

Buffalo currently sits $3.6 million over the salary cap. The Flames are just about $1.5 million under the cap at this time. Given those numbers, I can’t find a may either team could work the payroll. The Sabres top trade prospects are Brad Boyes, Ales Kotalik, Shaone Morrisonn, Jason Pominville and Andrej Sekera. Sekera is the most attractive option based on his cap hit (2.75) and his skill level. Pominville is a close second based on his scoring touch, but his $5.3 million cap hit would require a lot of tweaking in a potential trade. Brad Boyes has a moderate cap hit and a moderate offense return, I wonder how attractive he would be for teams around the league.

As for the Flames, there are only a few truly attractive options based on the Sabres’ needs and salary constraints. Rene Bourque, Curtis Glencross, Nik Hagman and Brendan Morrison. Certainly Sabres fans are hoping that the white whale, Jarome Iginla, is a target, but there is no way they could swig the trade based on their current cap situation.

Continue reading →