tom webster
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Posts posted by tom webster
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Brandon Spikes is visiting today. Signing him would change things. I think he's overrated but he's a very good two-down linebacker.
Way to hedge your bets.
So just so I'm clear, they are likely to be 4 and 12 but will steal a couple of wins to stay mediocre but if they add an over rated, two down middle line backer everything changes.
Got it?
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The Bills have said they don't value the guard or safety position. The near death of all their quarterbacks last year showed that they were wrong in not valuing the guard position... We'll see what the safety position has in store for this team. Easier to hide a bad safety.
It's almost like they're just going to keep saying whatever expensive free agents they have coming up are playing positions they don't value.
Then again, the relatively low franchise numbers for those two positions seem to indicate the rest of the league agrees.
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I honestly don't understand the Levitre situation. Can someone amplify? Byrd sat out part of last season. It is easier to understand his departure. Was Levitre not worth the money? What did he do/not do that made him jetsam?
Two things I have heard discussed;
1) Bill's hierarchy does not place guard in the high premium position category
2) they were also concerned with his long term health prospects due to some existing condition
For whatever that's worth
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I don't want the team to spend wildly. That's not my issue.
And AGAIN with this ###### reference to my career. Get off it. If you were a plumber I wouldn't criticize how much toilet paper in a public bathroom you use because it's not relevant nor is it my place. Good writers usually don't qualify with "in my opinion" because they either don't say it or stuff like that is reserved for op eds. You won't see it in anything but places where it's clear. Good writers usually do NOT qualify with "in my opinion."
This is an online discussion forum. Almost everything is opinion. You can't whine just because you disagree. You would NEVER argue with somebody who says "Ville Leino is terrible" and make them qualify it, because you agree with it. That simple.
Actually my comment had nothing to do with your career. To me you are just another poster on this board. In my mind you have a long way to go before i consider you anything more. Like a lot of people from your generation, you write like you text and/or talk and I just don't find it very communicative . Just my opinion.
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Again... Everybody states opinion as fact. Qualifiers like "I think" are pointless. Obviously if I'm saying it then it is my opinion, therefore the qualifier isn't necessary. Even "Peyton Manning is great" is an opinion, but you won't see anybody complaining when somebody doesn't qualify it as their opinion.
Glennon has showed MUCH more than Manuel. Obviously Lovie Smith doesn't believe in him, but that's an opinion. :P Doesn't mean that Glennon doesn't have a bright future if he's given another shot. I'd take him over Manuel right now without hesitation. I THINK that Manuel was a terrible decision. Period. He was a forced pick, and Buffalo will pay for it until its fixed. They don't have the weapons to hide his ineptitude, nor the offensive line to allow him to progress.
I defend the "blind faith" of Tim Murray that many people call it because Murray has the credentials. Manuel never had the credentials to warrant a high pick. The outlook on him would be FAR different if he were selected where most projected him and where he should've been... The third round or later. Instead, many fans show blind faith in him because he was picked in the first round.
Sorry, I've just been extremely annoyed about everything Bills related today. The Graham signing is the only move the team has made so far that'll have an impact. It's just watching other teams actually know what they're doing, have eight home games every year, somehow make big additions after their roster is already stacked with elite talent WHILE locking up their own players and all that has just made me realize how bad this organization currently is.
In my opinion, good writers qualify their statements with in my opinion.
Secondly, the top teams tweak their roster and keep their own but build mainly through the draft. Denver is desperate and will end up a mess once Peyton turns human again. What other good teams are spending wildly?
Thirdly, it's extremely arrogant to believe that all Bills fans are showing "blind faith" just because he was drafted were you don't think he should have been drafted.
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The more I think about it today, the more I realize that this team is farther away from the playoffs than it has been in a while. Manuel is terrible, the offensive line is even worse (they just signed a guy who has been one of the worst offensive starters in the league for a while now) and the defense will be a question mark.
As much as the defense improved last season you have to question what the loss of Byrd and Pettine will mean to its production.
You can keep stating your opinion of Manuel as fact but it still doesn't make it true Don't know you are wrong, just know its way too early. And before Pettine was the hot coordinator, Schwartz was even more so.
On the other hand, good thing you decided against betting on Glennon being better unless you think he will progress sitting behind McCown.
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It's all subjective of course, but Adam Oates would like to have a little talk with you.
If memory serves, wasn't Oates part of a package deal along with a Ray St??? Who didn't quite pan out?
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He's up to 11 goals now for the season - our third most productive player behind CoHo and Tyler Ennis. 4th in points too!
And I bet he has about 40 shutouts, oh wait, that's not good for a forward is it?
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I would put Matt Read in that discussion too, just to bring up a smaller school find. He's put up some nice seasons in Philly.
Agreed.
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It's worth the risk and then dealing with the surplus of players later, if they can land a guy like Brian Flynn for nothing.
With all due respect to Rhuwedel and Flynn, the top college free agents we are hoping to emulate are guys like Torey Krug and Dan Dekeyser
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It's kind of like asking a guy if it's OK to bang his future girlfriend.
And the guy saying go for it because it will never happen
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I'm not even sure how the playoffs work anymore. Can they face LA in the 1st round or only the conference finals? I'm looking forward to that matchup. I can see LA grinding out 2-1, 3-2 wins, and the added pressure of playing Quick while starting to physically fizzle....
I hope Miller gets us the #1, but I still have reservations he can hold up the entire playoffs to win 16 on any team....especially if they keep using him so much.
I have always thought the over worked narrative was one if thise themes that this board eventually turned into an absolute truth. Maybe now we will get a test case.
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The big dog available is center Greg Carey. Has has put up very impressive numbers in each of his 4 seasons at St Lawrence, but the last 2 he has become an elite scorer. No doubt he will be the most coveted college free agent. The best d-men is 6'3 Finn Ahti Oksanen. He plays for Boston College. He is young, just 20yo, and plays on pairing on BC's defense. Great offensive game and great size.
I don't think we will land either of the 2 big free agents, i do think there are few names to watch out for beyond the top 2.
-Trevor van Riemsdyk - Brother of James, he plays defense and is a high scoring d-men. Plays for New Hampshire, plays a smart defensive game but scores at a high level. Currently is injured so i wonder how that will effect his stock?
-Mark Zengerle - 24yo center plays on Wisconsin. Born in Rochester, plays a hard, in your face game. Has offensive talent but is an elite shutdown center in college ranks. Murray said he wants to bring back local players. Brian Flynn did wonders. He is a similar type player.
-Shayne Taker - big 6'4 d-men for Notre Dame. I heard the Sabres had scouted him in the past few months, i forget where i heard it from, somewhere on radio i think it was mentioned. He reminds scouts of Dan DeKayser who was a college undrafted signing with Detroit who has turned out real well.
Thanks.
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Now that the trade deadline has come and gone and with the draft still a couple of months away, who are the prize hockey free agents?
While its a somewhat over rated pipeline, there are usually a player or two worth talking about. I'm calling on our resident experts to fill us in.
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Everytime I read something like this I wonder where the population is that can truly understand analytics because most everyone seems to be basic math challenged. Right now the team sits just below $37 million with only 13 players under contract. That means they only need to add 10 players at $1.5M each to reach the cap floor. Factoring in one mid level signing on both forward and defense will easily take them over the floor. This doesn't even factor in things like the cap not rising as much as first thought because of the falling Canadian dollar, using a regular buyout on Leino thus creating cap dollars while eliminating one of the 23 or signing Ennis or Foligno to new deals.
The floor will not be a problem.
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That was a crappy lazy power play. Those guys were floating around back in their own zone. All they needed to do was play another 2 minutes for a shutout but they sat on their heels
Maybe Enroth just getting old, losing his focus, just no good because he can't get a shut out
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The ultimate scenario ( if the Islanders give us the 2014 Pick) would be having the first and second picks. Take your pick of forwards and Ekblad. Then call up the Oilers and offer their pick of Myers, Risto, Ekblad or Zadorov for Hall or RNH.
The ultimate scenario is having the top two picks next year. In my perfect world, a young Sabres' squad battles for a playoff spot to the surprise of everyone and just misses out on the last day of the season only to win the lottery and pick first ahead of the Islanders who finish with the worst record in the league after deferring their 2015 pick to Buffalo.
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Something to do with rebuilding Neuvirth's confidence and showing he is accepted and important?
Personally I think Miller's number should be on the don't-use list for a while. At least until someone starts playing well enough they can 'inherit' it
Don't tell JJ but Neuvirth actually has better stats
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Three of the six players ended up having long HOF quality careers.
Since when isn't it all about winning the Cup with you? The fans ended up running all three of those players out of town and the others were so bad nobody cared enough to hate them.
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Not 30 year old's facing unrestricted free agency there isn't. Where Moulson is in his career and where the Sabres are in their rebuild don't align.
Fans need to stop trying to fix this years team and start looking 3-4 years down the line. If not you're going to be extremely frustrated.
This team will be fun to watch in two years. Its all about four players. A first line and a goalie. They have the defense and with all the prospects already in the system they should have no problem coming up with forwards 4 through 12 and a back up goalie. They have two drafts to fill the top line assuming one of the pieces they have doesn't rise to that level and free agency or trade to find their goalie.
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The upside in all of this is that if things play out perfectly in our favor, we could have THREE first round picks in 2015. That is bonkers.
It should be bonkers. Remember when we had 3 first round picks in two consecutive years and got John Tucker in the 2nd round. That didn't end well.
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What are you gathering, exactly? What specifically is there that supports this theory?
You mean word of the TN extension? So PLF was PO'd about a leak regarding the extension and that resulted in him quitting?
That would be pretty strange.
No. I think he negotiated the extension on his own and when he got his hand slapped the press conference was cancelled and he had a tantrum.
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From what I am gathering, the issue appeared to be difference of opinion on how long and the depth of the rebuild. PLF and TN were here under the impression it would be a quick one to two year rebuild. Murray was hired, probably told that's what they think it will take, and he probably said he would need to dig deeper before he would know for sure but he would be open to whatever the best way to go would be. Murray apparently did his work and came back that it needed to be a 3 to 4 year rebuild, not a quick one and there was no way that would work. PLF disagrees and now there becomes a fundamental difference of opinion on how to go about it. The Sabres back Murray, the guy PLF hired, PLF says this isn't what I signed up for and resigns/throws a hissy fit and gets fired. Nolan also was here expecting it was going to be quick, but now with a 3 year extension offered, basically is going to be here to do all the heavy work and lifting and then potentially replaced by Murray's handpicked coach once they get back to a level where they are competing for division titles and or championships. So now Nolan is in the position to take a job where he is going to do all the hard work but potentially not be in position to reap the rewards of that work which is probably what PLF is telling him and why he is hemming and hawing now about it...
If this were true it would make PLF look even worse in my eyes as it isn't something that couldn't have allowed him to stay on till the end of the season.
I'm going with he went and negotiated a three year deal with TN and even arranged a press conference last week Tuesday. When word got out, the brakes were put on and he eventually quit in a tantrum.
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Keep in mind that Connor McDavid is that good. A once in 5-10 years type of player (at least according to Don Cherry in the D&C yesterday).
But expecting to load up on picks and trading picks at draft time to get that #1 overall pick is extremely unlikely. So what we need to do is target the teams that suck and acquire their 1st round picks to increase the chance of winning the lottery. I'm talking about guys like Ehrhoff to Edmonton for their pick (and more) and some combination of Stafford, Stewart and/or Moulson to Florida (and some other details) for theirs. New York will hopefully defer (and still suck balls).
That would give us, at the current standings:
Buffalo 25%
Edmonton 18.8%
Florida 14.2%
New York 10.7%
That totals to a 68.7% chance of winning the lottery for McDavid, plus whatever else we got back in trades, plus a guarantee for four of the top five players in a strong draft (regardless of lottery).
I think it's really, really aggressive, but definitely not impossible. And I like Ehrhoff.
edit: I forgot about Calgary, but ###### Calgary. We could trade to them as well and make it totally ridiculous at 76.9% and five of the top six players, or if we didn't, it'd be down to only 66.1%.
You do know that McDavid is next year, right?
Buffalo Bills 2014
in The Aud Club
Posted
Again , you are the realist. Anyone that thinks they may be better is just thinking with their heart and couldn't possibly have better insight then yourself?
It's so nice that you want the rest of us to be happy though.