Buffalo selects Dareus, lost their QB

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The first five picks of the 2011 NFL Draft went pretty much according to plan. The Carolina Panthers selected Cam Newton first, to the delight of just about every Bills fan, and the following picks fell into order.

After Denver selected Von Miller second overall, the Bills were left with a fairly easy decision. They selected Marcell Dareus, the massive and agile DT from Alabama.

Dareus addresses a handful of needs for Buffalo. Chiefly, their inability to stop the run. I’ll leave the rest of the explanation up to Mark Gaughan, he has quotes and an in-look at the selection. Continue reading →

2011 NFL Draft: Who do the Bills take?

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My love for pro football has seriously fallen off in recent years. It is a great game, but the NFL has become a business, not a sport. The No Fun League moniker certainly crops up a lot and it is hard to like the players when they all act like jerks. All the time.

However, free agency and the draft always peak my interest. Of course, the looming lockout/work stoppage put the kaibosh on free agency. The draft will go on. Why? I’m not quite sure, but it doesn’t matter and I am still looking forward to tuning in. The big question in tornado alley Buffalo is, who do the Bills select with the third overall selection?

Leave it to Buffalo to bottom out in a year with such a weak class at the top of the draft. Still, there are a few options available at the third pick. They have a plethora of needs starting at QB right on through DT. Outside linebacker and offensive tackle are also huge weak points for this team. However, they can’t address every need in the first round, only the most glaring one.

I see five players that the Bills could take a serious look at with the third selection. Marcell Dareus, Blaine Gabbert, Von Miller, Cam Newton and Patrick Peterson. Of those five, I wouldn’t touch Newton. He comes across as a huge phony, a cheater and a jerk. I think he will be a cancer to any locker room he gets put into. Miller and Dareus (even Nick Fairley) address immediate needs on defense. They are highly skilled and would be effective for a defense that desperately needs help. Gabbert and Peterson are pretty much safety valves for me, based on who is picked at one and two. Here is my breakdown of the prospects in the order I would take them:

Von Miller -OLB, Texas A&M

Von Miller would be my choice if I were the Bills. He is a bit undersized at 6’2″ 246 pounds, but he has a solid body of work in a competitive conference. Miller is a edge rusher who can play in both the 3-4 and the 4-3.  He has the style and skill that Aaron Maybin was supposed to bring. Buffalo has had a pretty horrific pass rush over the past few years, Miller would help fill that void and hopefully bump Chris Kelsay to a three point stance all the time. He is exaclty what the Bills need and there is no reason why he shouldn’t be available for the third pick. That is also why I chose him as a correspondent with the original, DC based, Two in the Box.

Continue reading →

2ITB second round predictions

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I was a tidy 6/8 with my first round selections in the 2011 Stanly Cup Playoffs. Of course, that means I will go o’fer in round two but that won’t keep me from taking a stab at it anyway.

EASTERN CONFERENCE

#1 Washington Capitals vs. #5 Tampa Bay Lightning

This could be an interesting series. The knee-jerk choice is Washington. They can score almost at will and they did a good job keeping a defensive-minded team, with a good goalie, at bay in round one. The Caps also got strong goaltending, something many had questioned. Tampa, on the other hand, took a while to wake up. They fell behind Pittsburgh 3-1 before igniting their offense a bit and then riding Dwayne Roloson into the second round. It is Roloson’s pair of shutouts against Washington that intrigues me. Also his flawless elimination game record (6-0). If Roloson continues the way he is playing, Tampa will be dangerous. I am willing to go against that, I like Washington’s new-look defensive game and their ability to fill the net. Caps in six. Continue reading →

Stanley Cup Playoffs: Round one recap

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To say the first round of the 2011 Stanley Cup playoffs were highly entertaining would be a massive understatement.

Half of the series went to a game seven and three of the four deciding games were spectacular. The one exception was the 5-2 drubbing the Flyers put on the Sabres. The other four series were equally entertaining. I would say the Caps 4-1 triumph and Detroit’s sweep of the Desert Dogs were the only ho-hum parts of the first round.

Eastern Conference

#1 Washington Capitals defeat #8 New York Rangers 4-1

I had the Caps winning in five, which really is no great stretch of a prediction. This could have shaped up to be a much different series had Marian Gaborik not gift-wrapped the game four overtime goal for Jason Chimera. The Capitals improved defense was strong as was Michael Neuvirth. Washington scored timely goals and Henrik Lundqvist wasn’t enough to counter the superior match up. Turning point: Marian Gaborik’s gaffe leads to OT winning goal to give Washington a 3-1 series lead. MVP: Michael Neuvirth – 4-1, 1.38 GAA, .946 SV% Continue reading →

Sabres series recap, what to remember

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As I just wrote, there are plenty of things to forget about this series. However there are plenty of things to stroll into the offseason happy about. Not all of them are silver lining, grass is greener reasons either.

– The kids are alright. Tyler Ennis came to the party a little late, but he was still dynamic with the puck on his stick late in the series. Chris Butler may be my only exclusion from this list because it seemed like he ran out of energy as the series wore on, he had quite a few bad turnovers. However, Mike Weber and Marc Andre Gragnani made some strides and Tyler Myers showed his nasty side. Big time. Last, but not least, Nathan Gerbe asserted himself as an NHL forward. He had a terrific second half of the season and continued to show his strengths in this series. I think it is safe to say he and Paul Gaustad are a pretty great match on the third line moving forward. Continue reading →

Sabres series recap, what to forget

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There are a whole bunch of things that the Buffalo Sabres didn’t do well in their seven-game loss to the Philadelphia Flyers. In fact, the bad may outnumber the good. No matter though, I won’t rehash every hand-wrenching moment. Just the ones that can be fixed.

Ask yourself why he is so open in front of the net.

– Defensive zone coverage. That is a broad point and I intend it to be. The Sabres simply didn’t do very well handling the Flyers’ forecheck and clearing their zone. They also lost contain far too often and let too many dangerous forwards free too many times. In both 1-0 victories this happened. It may have been limited, but it happened. In the four losses it happened way too much. The most glaring times were when the Sabres were giving up two and three-goal leads. Continue reading →

He said it: The people who didn’t want Briere are gone

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Want to talk about a press conference bombshell? Danny Briere saying that the people who didn’t want him there are now gone was a bombshell, a big one.

"The people who didn't want me there are gone now."

Now there is more than one person who left during the ownership change, so I wouldn’t dare point a finger at anyone in particular. But how ridiculous is it to hear a player who scored six goals in this series say something like that? Continue reading →

Where game seven can go

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This is a hell of a lot farther than anyone expected the Sabres to go. So many have used the phrase, “playing with house money.” I agree with those people.

Now the Sabres have run the defending Eastern Conference Champions to the edge of elimination. The Sabres haven’t looked pretty doing it and they lost a golden opportunity to get this into the barn at home in game six. No matter, they have one more shot. They have an extra shot to achieve a bit of greatness. Continue reading →

Double minors – Game six

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Game six seemed to be the culmination of everything that the Sabres have been doing poorly in the series with the Flyers.

Since game one Buffalo has been weak along the boards and has been unable to clear their zone with ease. Aside from a few bright spots the defense has been beyond spotty. Lastly, just like in the regular season, the Sabres have not played well with a lead and haven’t been able to finish off the Flyers when they had their foot over their throat. Continue reading →

Does Richards face additional discipline?

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As I have settled down from the game six loss I have decided that breaking up my thoughts may be better than one long, rant-riddled diatribe on what made my blood boil this afternoon.

First topic is Mike Richards. I know that the war of words started between he and Lindy Ruff. I didn’t necessarily see eye-to-eye with either party on their opinions, so I kind of just ignored it. After all, I had been viewing this series as house money either way.

To be fair to the “level-headed” Philly fans, Richards did not deserve a major for his elbow to Pat Kaleta. It should have been a two-minute penalty. However, I think that he might need to sit a game for his hit on Tim Connolly.

Reason being, it is the type of play that the NHL is trying to eliminate. Sorry for the canned reasoning but I couldn’t look at it differently. It was a nasty hit and the shot from the corner shows Richards’ hand up pretty high on Connolly’s back. By my math, having his hands high on Connolly, driving his head into the boards (from behind) and the injury that resulted from the hit makes this a rather cut and dry case.

Of course it seems that the most obvious offenses are the ones the NHL seems to overlook. Also overlooked are big-name players like Richards. Those two factors might work against the Sabres in this situation. If he isn’t suspended it won’t be the end of the world. I don’t think losing Richards would adversely affect the way the Flyers play the Sabres, and vice-versa.

If Richards plays a major role in a Philadelphia victory in-game seven, you may have a case for missing the mark on a suspension.