Watch out NHL! Here come the Buffalo Sabres!

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Not really. The Sabres officially announced another signing today, but it is even more underwhelming that the re-signing of Patrick Lalime.

The Sabres agreed to terms with tough-guy Tim Conboy. The 6’2″ 210lb right winger will spend the season in Portland, barring any unforeseen rash of injuries. Conboy has split time between the AHL and NHL the past few years but, I don’t see a spot for him on the Sabres roster.

Some die hards will remember him for inciting a gongshow at the first Pirates game at HSBC Arena in 2009. This was during my time with the Sabres and I’ll never forget the game because of the lengthy shootout (Portland lost 4-3 to Albany) and the numerous fights. Conboy stuck to the code when he decided Nathan Gerbe was the right dance partner for him that evening. We will see how well those two get together on the farm next year.

Dutch hater!…and the World Cup final

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First, congratulations to the Spanish for their World Cup victory. Spain now holds the European and World championships.

The winning Spanish goal at 116′ of extra time

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The LeBron network

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It had to be only hours after my piece calling out ESPN that they decided to dedicate an hour to LeBron James’ decision on who to sign with.

How ridiculous can you get? I understand that this is the biggest thing for the NBA, and the network that holds the league in such limelight, since Jordan retired. But still, this guy hasn’t won anything. I don’t even think I would give him the final shot in game seven if I had the choice. Dwayne Wade and Kobe would be my first two choices – and I’m sure there are more ahead of LBJ.

Either way, I think he ends up with the South Beach Super Squad (Miami Heat) and they win a title or two in the next few seasons. Cleveland doesn’t have the ability to build him a winner. The Bulls failed to land any big names. The Nets and Bulls are floating in the same boat. Finally, the Knicks just don’t seem capable of landing him, even with Amare Stoudemire.

I’ll have a recap of the event, plus some photoshop goodness later tonight or tomorrow. It should be interesting to see the outcome, even though the reports have already leaked.

World Cup Final set

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Spain advanced to the World Cup final on a late header from Carles Puyol this afternoon. They will meet the Netherlands on Sunday in Johannesburg for the 2010 World Cup.

These guys are Dutch, so am I (sort of). They will face Spain in the World Cup Final on Sunday.

While almost my entire family is Irish, my last name is Dutch. Therefore, I get to root for my “ancestors” come Sunday evening.

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Another A-bomb

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This has been the busiest week for free-agent signings for the Sabres this summer.

Darcy Regier went out and grabbed some Stanley Cup experience and grit with Rob Niedermayer and then had Mike Weber accept his one-year qualifying offer. In addition, Corey Tropp was inked to a three-year entry level deal. Then came the big one. This afternoon the Sabres announced that they had re-signed Patrick Lalime to a one-year deal.

The butterfly bandit will be back for another season.

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Who the hell is going to wear #44 for the Sabres?

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Well, Sabres fans can’t say Darcy didn’t sign anybody. But, he really has yet to make a major impact in free agency. On the bright side, he didn’t just sign Bob Corkum.

The Sabres signed Rob Nidermayer to a one-year deal today. According to TSN, the deal is worth $1 million for the 2010-11 season.

Rob Niedermayer (left) scored 10 goals for New Jersey last year.

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ESPN has sunk to a new level

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In the past four or five years, ESPN has become a, flat-out, frontrunner. They seemingly gave up on covering every sport and only covered the ones they care about. I understand that it is good business, but don’t say you’re the world wide leader in sports when you’re really the world wide leader in football, basketball and NASCAR.

The only reason NASCAR is worth watching.

That is where my beef truly begins. NASCAR is not a sport, it never was a sport and will never be a sport. It is drab, uniform and just plain hickish. The only good thing to come out of NASCAR is Talledega Nights and crashes. I understand that the drivers are very skilled – I know I probably wouldn’t do too well driving 160 in traffic – but, they aren’t athletes. The cars do just as much work as they do. Not only has Johnson not done anything athletic, he has won the last four Sprint Cups because of strategy, not winning a whole bunch of races. Every sport forces it’s champion to win it all, not win sometimes and finish high enough the rest of the time. NASCAR is a complete and utter joke.

So, when ESPN lists Jimmie Johnson as a nominee for Male Athlete of the Year, I know they no longer have an unbiased view of sports. Their nominees for the top ESPY are: Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Albert Pujols, Drew Brees and Johsnon.

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My guess at the Sabres new alternate jersey

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I am a big fan of the website, Icethetics. It is run very well and always has new information about what uniforms are being worn throughout hockey, not just the NHL. Chris, the guy who runs the site, has had some info about a new Sabres uniform for next season.

Larry Quinn stated on a local radio show last year that there would be two new uniforms this season, including a new third jersey to celebrate the team’s 40th season. Chris over at Icethetics put together a concept based on what he has been told the new uniform will look like, here is the link to his story.

I think he is pretty close to accurate based on his description. But, being a hockey nerd and knowing that the city of Buffalo is fanatic about its history (why else wouldn’t Bass Pro be built), I think the sweater will hearken back to an earlier era of Buffalo pucks. Going off what Chris has on his site, I think the Buffalo script will be similar to the script that adorned the old Bisons jerseys in the 1960s. Plus, I don’t know if putting an extra logo on the front makes any sense, I like having the number underneath the script, it leaves room on the right breast for a 40th anniversary patch. Here is my try at the possible third jersey:

Sabres stay static on July 1

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July 1 must not be a good day at HSBC Arena. The Sabres have never done too much on the opening day of free agency, particularly in the past few years. Mark down 2010 as another one of those days.

The Sabres only signing on July 1 was defenseman Jordan Leopold.

With a free agent pool deep with defensive talent, and two UFA defensemen likely leaving the team, it was believed that the Sabres would make one or two acquisitions today. They didn’t disappoint in every sense of the word, although most fans expecting Tomas Kaberle are likely up in arms about the Sabres’ signing.

Jordan Leopold is not a bad pick-up. Three years at or around $2 million (his 09-10 salary was $1.75MM) is not a bad rate for a reliable defenseman. Leopold has playoff experience from his Cup run with Calgary and he has shown he is a capable power play contributor. Just don’t expect him to be Duncan Keith on the man advantage.

While underwhelming, Leopold addresses the loss of the Sabres’ two top left handed defensemen. With Mike Weber coming up from the minors, Buffalo shouldn’t lose too much skill. If they were to find another guy later in free agency they might be golden – reason being, Chris Butler and Andrej Sekera do not deserve a regular shift. Continue reading →

Quick hit – full update later

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It’s UFA Day in the NHL – one of the most exciting, yet, over analyzed days of the year.

In the 4 1/2 hours since free agency opened there have been a boatload of deals; 21 to be exact. The deepest position in this year’s free agent pool is defense and the bulk of today’s signings have been on the back-end.

Sergei Gonchar (Ottawa), Zbynek Michalek (Pittsburgh), Paul Martin (Pittsburgh) and Buffalo’s UFA pair of Toni Lydman (Anaheim) and Henrik Tallinder (New Jersey) all went quickly.

Only a handful of forwards are off the “board” but, my favorite for the Sabres to bring in, Colby Armstrong, went to Toronto for more than I think he is worth. Perhaps the second biggest forward name, behind Ilya Kovalchuk, is gone as well – Ray Whitney signed with Phoenix this afternoon.

Now that the biggest names (defensively) have been picked clean, I expect things to slow to a crawl in terms of signings. You won’t see the rat race for the big names that you see in the first few hours. However, there are always good value players that don’t go early who can contribute on a high level for teams. So, fans around the league can’t get too discouraged if their teams don’t make a major splash right off the bat.

More to come later, including a full wrap-up of day one of free agency.