11:03 p.m. -- New Orleans Saints, CB Patrick Robinson, Florida State
-- I'm going to drive home and then type up a "best available" post. This is going to be amazing. I now LOVE the new draft set-up.

10:59 p.m. -- I half-expect to see NBA-style deals tonight, with re-evaluations making teams re-value guys they wanted who were already picked.

10:55 p.m. -- No. 31 Indianapolis Colts, OLB Jerry Hughes, Texas Christian
-- Bob is displeased. Indy needed a lineman and I thought they could go quarterback, but the Colts now have some depth if Dwight Freeney's injury is worse than thought. This is setting up to be an incredble overnight as both McCoy and Clausen will be available, as will Charles Brown and Mount Cody. I expect the Saints to go with Taylor Mays to fill the Darren Sharper void, unless they trade out.

10:46 p.m. -- No. 30 Detroit Lions, RB Jahvid Best, Cal
-- Best is an unruly freak. Played with Reggie Bush-ish dominance at Cal before getting hurt on that disgusting flip into the air when he went 345 feet into the air. Love this pick for Detroit.

10:45 p.m. -- And they do... Vikings go to second pick of second round. Their quarterback will likely be there.

10:42 p.m. -- With the whole day to debate the second round's beginning, expect all these picks to take the full 10 minutes. Even if the Vikings love Clausen or McCoy, they have to be salivating at the idea of moving out.

10:38 p.m. No. 29 New York Jets, CB Kyle Wilson, Boise State
-- The Jets wants to have the deepest secondaries in the NFL, not even taking into account Antonio Cromartie's many soon-to-be draft eligible children.

10:30 p.m. No. 28 Miami Dolphins, DT Jared Odrick, Penn State
-- Odrick, like many NFLers, is built like a house. With Paul Solial as their current NT, they really needed a monster DT unless they plan on playing the 3-4 the Bills want to play, where Kyle Williams can play the base NT and an OLB slides on a given side depending on the match-up. Weird.

10:23 p.m. -- No. 27 New England Patriots, CB Devin McCourty, Rutgers
-- It would be dishonest for me to tell you I know anything of value about Devin McCourty. Here's something: he could be Irish.


10:13 p.m. -- No. 26 Arizona Cardinals, NT Dan Williams, Tennessee
-- Two straight picks that the Bills were rumoured to be interested in at No. 9. Gotta be a bummer for Buddy Nix and company.

10:07 p.m. THE EARTH SHOOK. Just kidding, but Tim Tebow is selected.

No. 25 Denver Broncos, QB Tim Tebow, Florida
-- Kinda wished it happened in Buffalo just because I believe he will put it together as a quarterback. The under-center and throwing motion garbage is trying way too hard. That said, Colt McCoy is still available.

9:58 p.m. -- The Patriots deal their pick to the Cowboys. How is it that the ex-Pats-ish teams are the only ones smart enough to keep trading down?

No. 24 Dallas Cowboys, WR Dez Bryant, Oklahoma State
-- That's exactly what I thought.

9:52 p.m. No. 23 Green Bay Packers, OT Bryan Bulaga, Iowa
-- Our collective hands slap our foreheads as OURLADS' No. 2-rated tackle goes to the Packers. This is a very surprising drop indeed.


9:46 p.m. No. 22 Denver Broncos, WR Demaryius Thomas, Georgia Tech
-- Thomas' parents couldn't decide between the Y and the I, so they went with both.

9:41 p.m. -- No. 21 Cincinnati Bengals, TE Jermaine Gresham, Oklahoma
9:40 p.m. -- No. 20 Houston Texans, CB Kareem Jackson, Alabama
-- I can't tell you all that much about Jackson other than he played on a ridiculously good defense, but Gresham is a potential monster for Carson Palmer. Last year, Gresham would've gone ahead of Brandon Pettigrew, but came back only to be injured. This makes an absurd amount of Sooners taken soon...er than some thought.

9:31 p.m. -- No. 19 Atlanta Falcons, OLB Sean Witherspoon, Missouri
-- Brad is ecstatic after seeing Witherspoon torture UB at Mizzou a couple years back. The Falcons were yearning for LB help so good for them.


No. 18 Pittsburgh Steelers, C Maurkice Pouncey, Florida
-- Supposedly the fans chanted, "She said no." I love the fans right now.

No. 17 San Francisco 49ers, OG Mike Iupati, Idaho
--Two picks that don't hurt the Bills. In fact, I'm extremely surprised Clausen didn't go here.

9:21 p.m. -- No. 16 Tennessee Titans, DE/OLB Derrick Morgan, Georgia Tech
-- There goes that theory. Cue some video of him dancing like an idiot. Solid, solid pick-up for Jeff Fisher.


9:15 p.m. -- No. 15 New York Giants, DE/OLB Jason Pierre-Paul
-- If Derrick Morgan continues to drop, the Buffalo Bills could very well jump up to grab him. Chan Gailey recruited him to Georgia Tech, and he fits what the Bills need.

9:11 p.m. -- OURLADS on Spiller: "A bolt of lightning type runner that is a threat to score as a receiver, ball carrier and return specialist." Hmmm, that sounds good. I'll have that. A BOLT OF LIGHTNING type? According to Wikipedia, there are six main types of lightning: bead, staccato, forked, ribbon, heat and sheet. We think he's staccato lightning.


9:04 p.m. -- No. 14 Seattle Seahawks, S Earl Thomas, Texas
-- Quite a drop from where he could've gone. CRY, EARL THOMAS, CRY.

9:01 p.m. -- The reason the 49ers took Davis instead of Jimmy Clausen is likely because no one needs a quarterback between their two picks, while Davis would've certainly been selected by someone in the interim.

8:57 p.m. -- No. 13 Philadelphia Eagles, Brandon Graham OLB/DE, Michigan
-- Granted I'm a Michigan guy, but I love Graham. A combination of instinct, smarts, speed and skill, any team would be blessed to wind up with him commanding either side of their defense. Nice pick.

8:53 p.m. -- Denver trades down again. Stockpiling picks in a pretty solid move here.

8:50 p.m. -- No. 12 San Diego Chargers, RB Ryan Mathews, Fresno State
-- Mathews scored a lot of touchdowns.

8:45 p.m. -- No. 11 San Francisco 49ers, OT Anthony Davis, Rutgers
-- He's lazy. I'm glad he's not a Bill. The 49ers traded a fourth-round pick to get this pick from Denver. Now at 12, San Diego has traded with Miami to slide into the next position.

8:43 p.m. -- Sixteen minutes later, I'm totally on-board with the Spiller pick. He probably is the best all-around talent in the draft. YES, you can get good running backs at the Buz'n'Bee in South Buffalo, but I'm going to go on record as saying this pick works for me.


8:33 p.m. -- No. 10 Jacksonville Jaguars, DT Tyson Alualu, Cal
-- I'm feeling even better about the Spiller pick now.

8:31 p.m. -- No. 9 BUFFALO BILLS, RB C.J. SPILLER, Clemson
-- He's an incredible running back, but is this what they need? He's 5'11" and definitely better than the simple "waterbug" Chan Gailey said he needed. He can be LaDanian Tomlinson. Seriously. Let's hope they have a plan to get him some blocking and a quarterback.


8:29 p.m. -- No. 8 Oakland Raiders, OLB Rolando McClain, Alabama
--And a double whammy... Adam Schefter said C.J. Spiller is the pick for the Bills. Whammmmmmy.

8:27 p.m. -- After all is said and done, I wouldn't be surprised to hear the Steelers had dealt Ben Roethlisberger to get into this spot.

8:26 p.m. No. 8 Oakland Raiders, DRUG Cocaine, Colombia


8:23 p.m. No. 7 Cleveland Browns, CB Joe Haden, Florida
-- More tears. It makes me kinda wish he was crying because he had his heart set on Cleveland and they called to say they just killed his cat.

8:06 p.m. -- No. 6 Seattle Seahawks, OT Russell Okung, Oklahoma State
8:03 p.m. -- No. 5 Kansas City Chiefs, S Eric Berry, Tennessee
-- As Brad just said, not a single pick has gone down that will change the Bills idea of what they'll do at No. 9. Okung is a solid selection and Berry is the hard-hitting speed freak who knocked out Tim Tebow. Now here's Cleveland who loves Colt McCoy. This is where things get very intriguing.

7:59 p.m. -- No. 4 Washington Redskins, OT Trent Williams, Oklahoma
-- I thought Okung was the play here, but Williams should do just fine. Tackles named Williams tend to work out at No. 4. Whoops. By the way, Trent Williams... call J.P. Dockery for me to complete an odd pairing.

7:53 p.m. -- What will Washington do? Well, their line is absolutely awful and they have their pick of the OT litter. Book it. It's over-thinking if they don't go Russell Okung, but almost everyone thinks Trent Williams will go to D.C.


7:51 p.m. -- No. 3 Tampa Bay Buccaneers - DT Gerald McCoy, Oklahoma
-- Don't cry, large young man... you're rich now.


7:44 p.m. -- No. 2 Detroit Lions - DT Ndamukong Suh, Nebraska
-- Aaaaaaand that's the last time I have to use CTRL-V to paste the name "Ndamukong."

7:40 p.m. -- The Lions are currently starting Ko Simpson at safety, so it makes sense to me that Detroit might want to see what they can get for Ndamukong Suh, and drop a few slots to pick up Earl Thomas or Eric Berry. I know they play free safety, but move Louis Delmas over if you want.

7:37 p.m. -- PICK -- No. 1, St. Louis Rams, QB Sam Bradford, Oklahoma
-- As I've said, he's really good at throwing a football and can heave it far when he has to. Great arm and smart kid. His only issue in my mind is his back-to-back injuries. A risk worth taking.

7:20 p.m. -- Among this red carpet B.S. is our conversation about a potential rookie salary cap coming in 2010. So... you'd have to REALLY believe in a QB at No. 9 overall, because there's a strong possibility that next year you could pay a whole lot less for your "next franchise quarterback."

7:09 p.m. -- Aaaaaaaand we're on the air on WECK 1230AM and streaming online at http://www.weck1230.com . Get me on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/NicholasMendola, or email nickonweck@gmail.com

7:01 p.m. -- Remember how Ndamukong Suh was the best prospect in the last 30 years? That sentiment is less than 100 days old and he won't go first. So.... 30 years, huh?

6:50 p.m. -- This draft has no "gotta get him" player for me, especially in the first round. By nature, I love freaky-nasty (not Freaknasty, I think that was a pop group) linebackers, so I would be pleased with Alabama linebacker Rolando McClain at No. 9 overall. Yet I'd be pleased in just about any scenario.

A) Trade up. Take Sam Bradford. He's good at football. I promise.
2) Trade down. Get another second round pick and get more prospectively good football players because you don't have a ton of them.
D) Take someone you believe.

It's Buddy Nix and Chan Gailey. There is no legitimate reason to doubt them at either GM or head coach because neither guy has truly failed in that position. You can be cynical and dislike them because they're old, but then karma will put you in a bad nursing home one day.

Beginning around 6:30 p.m., I'll be blogging it up pick-by-pick while on-air with Brad Riter, Scott Wilson and Bob Gaughan on WECK 1230 AM. Can I multi-task despite a decades-old case of ADHD? Listen longer and find out!

(WGR 550) -- Heading into the playoffs, there were two teams in the Eastern Conference that had failed to figure out how to contain Thomas Vanek: Boston and Tampa Bay.

Make that one.

Johnny Boychuk's slash to the knee of Vanek sent him awkwardly into the HSBC Arena boards, making the the high-scoring forward's return to the series an important question mark. Up to that point, Vanek had registered 1.05 points-per-game against the B's in the regular season. Only the Lightning had less success against the Austrian (1.1).

So with one chop, it's my opinion that this series is 100 percent up-for-grabs, regardless of what some may tell you. Buffalo still has Ryan Miller, and while that's probably enough to get them out of Round One, the order for a series win just became a much taller one.

Vanek has posted 39 points in 36 games against the Bruins, including his goal in Game One and assist in the 4:22 he played in Game Two. While his production in the 2005-06 playoff run was basically absent, the knock on Vanek's postseason run was less valid in 06-07. His 10 points tied for third on the team. His six goals had him alone in second.

His goofy-looking stride makes him an easy target for those who want to label him as lazy, but the truth is that Vanek's been as important to this team's post-Drury/Briere success as any player not named Miller. Buffalo is a combined 8-10-2 without the left winger since the 2007-08 season began. The Sabres are 78-49-17 with him.

I'll let his enemies argue that validity of those stats, but it's hard to argue with the offensive repetoire Vanek brings to the table. Anyone can stand in front of the net and cause trouble for the opposition. It takes someone special to wreak the havoc Vanek does, supplying passing as well as redirection and shooting. Unfortunately, his skill in front of the net have taken away from our notice of his heavy, accurate shot that's spun the goal light silly on many occasions.

The Sabres aren't dead on the frozen water without Vanek, especially in this series. A prolonged absence, however, casts a season that once looked so promising into an old and eerie light. Get well soon, Thomas.

(WGR 550) -- I won't make apologies for the Sabres periodic bouts with malaise in the effort department, but there's one constant that has me daring to believe a long playoff run is in order, and that's Ryan Miller.

When I was planning Wednesday's power play show, I couldn't get around one idea: for the first time since some guy from Czechoslavkia (now a Republic) was between the pipes, there is no other goalie in the league I'd want backstopping my squad.

Of course, when I lead off the show with the idea that Miller is the best goaltender going right now in the playoffs despite Tuukka Rask's numbers and Martin Brodeur's history, I got this expected and understandable email from a reasonable listener named Rick:

"Please Nick, don't turn into a full homer. Martin Broduer is still the best going into the playoffs no matter what you think. He has proved it already and is still the best going in. As long as he is around, he is still the best"

Don't get me wrong, I get his point. Brodeur is one of the Top Three goaltenders in modern hockey, but that doesn't mean he's there right now. The Devils system hasn't always been what's made Brodeur's numbers as exceptional as they are. This year it is.

Consider this: Miller has better numbers than Brodeur despite the systemic difference.

Miller: 2.22 GAA, .930 save pct.
Brodeur: 2.24 GAA, .916 save pct.

When you throw in the fact that Miller has faced 94 more shots than Brodeur in eight less games played, there's another stat to consider. Miller sees 30.4 shots a night, while Brodeur sees four less.

And goaltending is more than numbers. How many times have we seen Miller hung out to dry with a 3-on-1 or a superstar breakway. Thing is, he's been up to the challenge this year -- and most of last season.

The question becomes is there another goaltender in the league that would make you feel better about your chances in the 2010 playoffs. For me, it came down to Brodeur and Miller, and I've selected the American.

It's not homerism. There is too much I don't like about the Sabres to be all-aboard this playoff train. I'm hesitant, like a lot of Western New York. Buffalo's skaters could lay four eggs in seven games against Boston, be outscored 11-10 and go home. It wouldn't change the thesis.

The sky's the limit with No. 30. Let's just hope the goal-hanging tendencies of a few stubborn divas up front don't cost the Sabres a legitimate chance to do damage.

Email: nick@wgr550.com

(WGR 550) -- These are the match-ups you pay to see. When the Sabres and Bruins square off in the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs, the on-ice story will be about Tuukka Rask vs. Ryan Miller, David Krejci vs. Thomas Vanek, and Zdeno Chara vs. Tyler Myers.

And while what happens on the ice -- which we'll handle in a few paragraphs -- is what really matters, to me it's about so much more. Sure, the drama is ratcheted up in any playoff series and we can learn to hate anyone from Dallas to Carolina and beyond, but the Bruins and Sabres playing a series is everything I want and more.

When I fell in love with ice hockey in the 1980s, I fell in hate with the Boston Bruins and the Montreal Canadiens. Year-after-year, the Sabres made the playoffs and year-after-year they lost in the first round to one of those two "storied" franchises (By the way, Boston hasn't won a Cup since 1972 and is 0-5 in the Finals. Just saying).

Cam Neely, Ray Bourque, Glen Wesley, the Sweeneys, Andy Moog, Reggie Lemelin and Bruce Shoebottom. Hate. Hate. Hate. Hate. I learned to love Neely for the player he was, but I have to admit that the Farrelly Brothers helped.


When Brad May put that puck between Bourque's legs and hung a stunned Moog out to dry, you could've convinced me life would never feel any better than to be an adolescent running circles around his parents house, screaming with delight. "We beat those jerks! We beat the Bruins!"

We did it again in 1999, but the rivalry's been pretty tame since then. If I didn't go to high school with a Bruins fan and make a another friend in the indie rock scene who supported the B's, you could've convinced me the team became the Thrashers. It even got to the point where I was rooting for their team to get better on account of some cool players like Milan Lucic and Blake Wheeler.

Not anymore.

This is what you sign up for when you become a hockey fan. The enemy is an Original Six franchise, one of those teams you can't help but think have the refs in their pocket. They can from a city that's won a ton of championships. Their players look mostly like neanderthals, even moreso now that Marc Savard is out (He's pretty).

Let's do this.

So, who are the 2010 Bruins? Well, they're pretty dangerous. I'd imagine most pundits will use this series as their "first round upset." Boston has two viable options between the pipes, so if Tuukka Rask falls there's Tim Thomas to pick up the playoff slack.

They have a lot of trouble scoring. We mentioned Savard's absence, and Boston's missed Milan Lucic a bunch, but this is a team who's seventh-leading goal scorer is Daniel Paille. He has 10 goals.

The Bruins have underperformed after a solid 2008-09 campaign. Blake Wheeler, Michael Ryder and Krejci have seen their numbers dip like a swimmer in "Jaws," but it's what makes them all-the-more of a threat. Like Thomas Vanek scoring five goals in two games, you wonder if the Bruins will wake up now.

I don't think so. Sabres in six.

Quick thoughts always available here: http://twitter.com/NicholasMendola">twitter.com/NicholasMendola

(WGR 550) -- After years and years of frustration, it's not in Bills fans' best interest to award loser points for effort in the Donovan McNabb sweepstakes. You either get the guy you want, or you don't. But the Bills reportedly dogged pursuit of the veteran quarterback does say something important.

Buffalo's Buddy Nix and Chan Gailey know they need better.

The Bills had an offer on Philadelphia's table that was reportedly as good as anyone else's best, including Oakland and Washington, where McNabb ended up. Buffalo had also issued a contract extension to the former Syracuse star, but it ultimately wasn't enough. Odds are McNabb got a list of teams willing to give the Eagles what they wanted, and the chance to immediately get back at the club that's quitting him is very alluring.

The Eagles are playing a bit of Moneyball. They used a second-round pick on Kevin Kolb a few years back, and would rather deal from a position of power with McNabb than lay back and watch his value drip away. In other words, at this stage in his career, the "loses value the minute you drive it off the lot" maxim applies.

In my opinion, the arguments for and against McNabb to Buffalo were both right. It's just hard to view it that way if you're one of the extremes -- for or against it.

If you wanted McNabb here, you believe that quarterback is the most important position on the field and that there's a better chance of winning with one who's an option miles better than the trio on your roster. You believe that McNabb could make every skill player on the Bills offense more dangerous and that he has enough gusto and moxie to improvise behind a first or second round left tackle while the rest of the draft focuses on the defense.

If you didn't want McNabb, you believe the likely truth -- that the Bills are far away from being even a good football team. Even in the mercurial world of NFL parity, the Bills are switching to a new defense and have a lot of question marks on their offensive line. You know Chan Gailey has found success with average at-best quarterbacks like Tyler Thigpen, and hope that Brian Brohm, Ryan Fitzpatrick or Trent Edwards can stopgap their way to an "entertaining in a good way" season.

Regardless, it's good that the Bills acknowledged the weakness under center. There's been no boring "we like what we have" rhetoric from Gailey and Nix, just a little bit of hope and belief in what their management can bring to the team. To be honest, I'm starting to hate the idea of quarterback at No. 9 unless Sam Bradford miraculously drops there. Depending on the price tag -- and it wouldn't be a first if it were a trade -- I'd be intrigued by the idea of Jason Campbell, who has improved every season in Washington. You could even talk me into trading an air pump and four footballs for former Gailey signal caller Tyler Thigpen.

It's not that I don't believe Tim Tebow, Colt McCoy, Dan LeFevour or Jimmy Clausen can have remarkable success. I just think you need that speed freak of an outside linebacker or that roadblock of a left tackle. With Jake Locker among the many brilliant quarterbacks potentially available in 2011, the Bills have the luxury of picking the best player at any position of need. No. 9 doesn't seem like quarterback territory, as sexy as that would be.

Email: nick@wgr550.com

(WGR 550) -- There are players who get called up to "the show", have a couple nice games and fans see them as a future star in the league. Whether it's Mark Mancari, Steve Bernier or some other guy, it's relatively easy to become "the next big thing" simply by having a number on your sweater fans haven't seen in a while.

This isn't the case with "Tiny" Tyler Ennis.

I have been remarkably impressed by Ennis, and it's hard not to be. With five points in five games, he's shown some real scoresheet style, but it's what he does on almost every offensive zone trip that gets me fired up for the other first-round pick from the "Tyler Myers Draft."

Ennis has a knack to cut quickly to the free area of the ice, forcing defenseman to keep a peripheral eye on the kid. At 20-years-old, he has the same excitement variable that Derek Roy had when he first came up to Buffalo, without the giveaways. Yes, he's little -- 5'9" seems generous -- but he brings a sparkplug dimension not available in spades on the club.

So, here's the thing: he has to stay up with the big club when the team regains full health. He wouldn't necessarily gain anything from being sent down to Portland, and he's a definite part of the future in Buffalo. Let him see what the stretch run looks like in a successful regular season. Let him be a part of the playoff roster, and experience the high anxiety of "win or your done."

Ennis is not a Gerbe or Mancari, guys who ultimately may not be a part of your core. This is a first-round pick who's succeeded after every level he's played. You can get a guy ready for the future while gaining something now, which isn't often the case.

Maybe he'll make the 2008 draft the "Tyler Draft."

Email: nick@wgr550.com

(WGR 550) -- It's foolhardy to put too much into a regular season game, but I'm putting a ton into about 600 seconds of Friday's match between the Sabres and Senators at HSBC Arena.

I love times when Buffalo can prove they're a team to believe in, and the Sabres have failed me several times over the past three-plus seasons. When they sleep-walked through the Isles and Rangers in the '07 playoffs, I wasn't convinced they'd "wake up when it mattered," and they didn't. When they showed precious little heart early in the following two seasons, it put them into too deep of a hole to climb into the playoffs.

This year, they've ridden Ryan Miller to no lower than a third-place slot in the Eastern Conference playoffs, but fans have been very wary about getting too pumped up. This team's let them down in a lot of key spots. So here's what I need.

I don't require a win tonight -- though it'd be great. I need to see something I didn't see during that pre-Olympic losing streak. Forget the deadbeat starts to the Pittsburgh and Ottawa losses. Remember the 4-3 loss to Carolina? Surely they'd come out like crazed animals. Nope.

The next night. Lowly Columbus. The Senators surging. Nope.

Then, after the break. You can forgive a Patrick Lalime loss to Pittsburgh, but Ryan Miller's return to the home nets versus Washington. Where was the gusto? Nowhere.

I'm sure we could go back and reel off a number of games like that, but I don't want to be strictly negative, because I'm very excited for Friday's game versus Ottawa. If Buffalo comes out tonight like they mean it, I'm on board. In the first 5-10 minutes of this game, they are hitting, moving and passing like a good-looking team, I can take some enthusiasm forward.

Admit it, you've been hesitant to jump on the train this year. It's not a bandwagon thing, as much as people want you feel bad. The team was the best team in the league a few years back, and faltered at too many times. Every team goes through a down period. The 2008-09 champion Penguins had a 5-13 stretch in December of that season. The Red Wings went through a 1-8-2 skid in the year they won the 2008 Cup. I'm sure you can find things like that in every champion's season.

I'm not saying the Sabres can't win in the playoffs if they lose or look uninspired against the Senators. That's silly. But if the Sabres can't get up for tonight... if the boys don't come out flying with a chance to make the playoffs by beating your rival -- in the process moving into second place in your conference and ensuring no Washington until the East Finals -- then you don't have me yet.

Simple as that. Go hard.

Looking forward to the game: nick@wgr550.com

"At 12:01 a.m. on the opening day of free agency, the Miami Dolphins were arranging to meet with linebacker Karlos Dansby, the New York Jets were burning the phone lines and the New England Patriots were finalizing a deal to bring back a franchise nose tackle.


I asked Buffalo Bills general manager Buddy Nix what he was doing at that moment.

"Sleep," he said Monday while taking a break from the NFL owners meetings at the Ritz-Carlton Orlando Grande Lakes. "They asked me if I was going to be there, I said 'Hell, no. I ain't going to be there. I'm going to bed," Tim Graham, ESPN, March 22.

I saw J.P. Losman last night. Seriously, I was out meeting with some soccer pals at an Elmwood watering hole when the former Bills quarterback walked in and grabbed some grub with the bar's owner, a mutual friend.

A few hours later, I find myself making a connection between the random sighting of a failed Buffalo Bills experiment and the aforementioned quote from the team's current general manager.

We have a love/hate relationship with honesty in sports, but the truth of the matter is that it's whether you're good or bad that makes a legend or a laughingstock. When Mark Messier guaranteed a win and delivered with a hat trick, he was "gutsy." When Matt Hasselbeck said, "We want the ball and we're going to score," and was subsequently picked off, he was a punch line.

Right now, the jury's out on Nix. He's already got a couple refreshing and borderline hilarious quotes. "I've never been accused of being the smartest guy in the room" and "Hell, no. I'm going to bed." They are down-to-Earth and don't reek of football-speak, which is great.

But all it will take is a poor draft decision or even a Gailey coaching misfire, and Nix turns into the bumbling hick that can't do anything right.

That's where Losman comes in. If No. 7 was a difference maker, his " 'There is no try, only do,' by the famous Yoda," comments would put him into that "quirky, but likeable" category with Joe Namath, or Manny Ramirez. Instead, he wasn't very good at all, and became the "drum-playing, Yoda-quoting surfer dude" run out-of-town. If Marv Levy was a horrible coach, he'd be the "weird old man who always talks about American history."

That's all I can think about right now. If you're good, you can darn near do whatever you want. Look at Ben Roethlisberger. Marshawn Lynch was villified for avoiding the police after an alleged hit and run. Roethlisberger isn't catching nearly as much flak for an alleged assault against a 20-year-old girl. Some will say it's racial, and maybe it is, but the truth is Roethlisberger's wins aren't hurting him.

Boring guys have failed here, too. The book's not closed on Trent Edwards, but both he and boss DIck Jauron did a fine job of helping paint dry during press conferences. Both were also criticized for that lack of emotion and fire. To be honest, if someone's going to fail, I prefer them to be more entertaining and vocal, but if the Bills had gone 11-5 last year, I would've had no complaints about any fire in anybody's proverbial bellies.

For now, I'm going to love the up-front nature of our two front office folks, and I'll probably continue to long after they've worn out their welcome, if in fact they do.

ESPN's Tim Graham: "Is your opening-day quarterback on the roster?"

Nix: "I have no idea. I really don't know. I know that's what we got now, and it's open. [Bills head coach Chan Gailey has] made that clear. We're going to see who comes out. The fact that those are the three guys we got, we like all three of them, all of them got redeeming qualities, but if something else comes available, we might add a fourth to the mix. I don't know."

He doesn't claim to have all the answers. Let's just hope he does.

Email: nick@wgr550.com

(WGR 550) -- Another year, another trade deadline in the NHL, and this was one of the worst. Not for Buffalo, but for hype. Three relatively big names -- Ilya Kovalchuk, Dion Phaneuf and Olli Jokinen -- were shipped almost a full month or more before the deadline, and no real surprises came out of the blue.

But that doesn't really matter in the long run as much as who got better and who got worse. Let's take a look, starting with our hometown team.

Buffalo -- Did Darcy Regier have a world-beating deadline day? No, but he had his best since the lock-out, and it should work on some level for the Sabres. Clarke MacArthur was a half-effort guy who looked like one of two players on a given game night. One night, he'd be a dynamic power forward, checking and digging the puck away from the wall to lug it to the front of the net. On most nights, however, he looked like the guy who was benched during his rookie call-up for lack of heart and commitment to the hockey Lindy Ruff wants played. Look at his game logs over the last few seasons: an awful lot of "five goals in seven games" followed by elongated winter vacations. Good riddance. Have fun with Chris Thorburn and Maxim Afinogenov in Atlanta, and then trying to get paid like a 20-goal scorer this offseason. We'll take the third and fourth round picks.

In Raffi Torres, they have a left wing who really cares about hockey whose biggest problem is injury. He's 28-years-old and a former No. 5 overall pick of the Islanders. This is the healthiest he's been since 2006-07, missing 31 games last year and 52 the previous season. His season-high for goals was in the post-lockout year of 2005-06, when he notched 27 goals. He's got a look at topping that figure this year. He's not a super tall guy -- 6'0" -- but he plays wide. As a left wing, he'll provide another body for the front of the net. If Ruff wants to break up Thomas Vanek and Derek Roy, you could see Roy with Torres and Vanek with Connolly.

More importantly, did Darcy Regier have to call Raffi on his Bananaphone?

Maybe the biggest boon to the Sabres is no longer carrying a ridiculous eight defensemen. They would've likely called up Tyler Ennis with Paul Gaustad hurt, but the diminutive first-round pick suffered a concussion Sunday night after being cross-checked in the head by Albany's Jay Harrison. He's out through at least the weekend. So, it's likely Nathan Gerbe will have a chance to convince Regier that sending Adam Mair to Portland is a solid idea by the time Goose is back. It would be interesting to see this line-up on Friday against Philadelphia:

Vanek-Connolly-Pominville
Torres-Roy-Stafford
Hecht-Gerbe-Grier
Ellis-Kennedy-Kaleta

That doesn't serve Kennedy all-that-well, but he's struggling right now and maybe a diminished role can help him focus on the little things. It would also be awesome if Jason Pominville could figure out that whole shooting problem, because he is working himself into great scoring spots.

You have to wonder if Brian Burke flat-out wasn't interested in dealing within the division, because the Sabres almost certainly could've put together a better package than Matt Jones, a fifth and a seventh in exchange for Lee Stempniak, who went to Phoenix. Then again, maybe the Sabres don't like Stempniak. Buffalo could've used a power-play quarterback, but maybe they'd just benefit from just benching their captain, who is struggling as badly as a defenseman can. He's forcing the issue not just with passes, but with stickhandling.

Regier also has a look at turning the third and fourth round picks from the MacArthur deal into something better, even if it's just moving up in the draft. GRADE: B-

THE REST OF THE EAST

1. WASHINGTON
IN- Joe Corvo, Milan Jurcina, Eric Belanger, Scott Walker
OUT- Brian Pothier, Oskar Osala, second-round pick in 2011, second, sixth and seventh-round picks in 2010

Walker's cooked -- picture Adam Mair with a better history -- but give Washington credit for giving up their 2010 draft for defensive depth, even if Jurcina is hurt for a while. Belanger is a nice center with 41 points this year... a very solid "under-the-radar" pick-up. The Caps knew they had to get bigger and deeper if they wanted to win a Cup, and they are going for it. Good work. GRADE: A

2. NEW JERSEY
IN- Ilya Kovalchuk, Anssi Salmela, Martin Skoula
OUT- Johnny Oduya, Niclas Bergfors, Patrice Cormier, first-round and fifth-round pick

Still hate the Kovalchuk move for a franchise, but they are sticking their necks out there for this year, as Martin Brodeur isn't getting any younger. Their power play is lethal with Zach Parise and Kovalchuk leading the charge. GRADE: B

3. OTTAWA
IN- Matt Cullen, Andy Sutton
OUT- Alexandre Picard, two second-round picks

A quote from Senators GM Bryan Murray that you'd love to read from Regier:

“I don’t know that the amateur (scouting) guys are real happy with me at the moment but we have a fairly decent hockey team that is competitive and I wanted to give them every chance they deserved come playoff time—if we get there—and I think we’ve sent the message to the players now that we care, we want to win, we’re going to help them in any way we can and this is the way we can help them.”

Cullen, as I typed here, is a brilliant addition, and one that would've behooved the Sabres. Give Murray a lot of credit here. The Senators are the front-runners to win the division and avoid Washington for a couple rounds if possible. I was wrong about the Senators to start this season. The Heatley trade was a mutually-beneficial one, though I'm still not sure how. GRADE: A

4. PITTSBURGH
IN- Alex Ponikarovsky, Jordan Leopold, sixth-round pick
OUT- Martin Skoula, Luca Caputi, Chris Peluso, second-round pick

Pittsburgh wants to win a Stanley Cup. They already have several. They also have better players than the Sabres, and went after talent. Ponikarovsky could've helped Buffalo, but as stated above, who knows if Burke was willing to deal in division. Leopold doesn't "wow" me, but he's an okay addition. They gave up nearly nothing. GRADE: B+

5. BUFFALO

6. PHILADELPHIA
IN- No one
OUT- No one

I'm very happy the Flyers front office thinks Michael Leighton and Brian Boucher are the killer combo to backstop a team to a Cup... just like Tommy Salo, Garth Snow, Antero Niittymaki, Robert Esche, Jeff Hackett, Sean Burke and Roman Cechmanek. It's not like Tomas Vokoun, Marty Turco and maybe even Carey Price were more or less openly available.Seriously, good work. Really, guys, keep at it. Love the throwback jerseys. GRADE: F

7. MONTREAL
IN- Aaron Palushaj, Dominic Moore
OUT- Matt D'Agostini, second-round pick in 2011

I truly believe not doing much can work for Montreal. They are still coming together from their summer of crazy moves, and it's happening quicker than it did for the Lightning last year. With Andrei Markov and Brian Gionta missing a healthy portion of the schedule, the Habs would be higher up in the Eastern standings had they not lost two prominent players. Look out. GRADE: B

8. BOSTON
IN- Dennis Seidenberg, Matt Bartkowski, fourth-round pick in 2011
OUT- Derek Morris, Craig Weller, Byron Bitz, second-round pick in 2010

Morris has become one of those oft-shipped, overhyped defensemen. I can remember hearing about him being the next big thing while I was still in high school. Really, the Bruins shipped out Bitz, Morris and a second-rounder for Dennis Seidenberg. They got better while off-loading salary. A nice move, but nothing that'll catapult them to the top. Holding onto Blake Wheeler was probably smarter than what they would've received in return, and Wheeler is just an RFA when all is said and done. GRADE: B

9. NY RANGERS
IN- Kris Newbury, Anders Eriksson
OUT- Jordan Owens, Miika Wiikman, seventh-round pick

New York isn't winning the Cup this year, so it's a good thing they didn't mortgage their extremely-deep, highly-rated farm system for an ill-fated run. I love the idea of Sather letting guys like Michael Del Zotto, Marc Staal and company learn from trying to do it themselves rather than bringing in Dan Hamhuis to steal valuable ice time. The Olli Jokinen trade is still a head-scratcher, but they rid themselves of Ales Kotalik. GRADE: C

10. ATLANTA
IN- Clarke MacArthur, Chris Chelios, Johnny Oduya, Niclas Bergfors, Patrice Cormier, first-round pick
OUT- Ilya Kovalchuk, Anssi Salmela, third and fourth-round picks

If they somehow make the playoffs off this Kovalchuk trade, I'll take back a lot of what I said about Don Waddell. The Atlanta general manager had offered Kovalchuk $100 million to stay, and he said, "No, thanks." Then, Waddell improved his team. If you're an Atlanta fan, you're thinking you got a young 20-ish goal scorer in MacArthur for third-and-fourth round picks. You'll learn. Chelios is cheap and -- believe it or not -- will provide some value for that room as it tries to defy the odds and beat out Boston, Tampa and the Rangers. GRADE: A-

11. TAMPA BAY
IN- Teddy Purcell, third-round pick
OUT- Jeff Halpern

Got rid of an old, solid face-off guy for a young guy who hasn't lived up to the hype and a third-rounder. Could've they have done more? Sure, but I have a feeling the Lightning are just hitting their stride, and most if not all Sabres fans would deal their Top-Six for Tampa's Top Four of Vincent Lecavalier, Martin St. Louis, Steven Stamkos and Ryan Malone. Just saying. GRADE: C

In summation... giving out grades is kind of silly for some of these teams who did little, but I'm grading what they did to improve their teams, and some of these teams are better for not giving anything up. Here's how I think the standings shake out come April 11:

1. Washington
2. Pittsburgh
3. Ottawa
4. New Jersey
5. Philadelphia
6. Buffalo
7. Montreal
8. Tampa Bay
9. Boston
10. NY Rangers
11. Atlanta
12. NY Islanders
13. Carolina
14. Florida
15. Toronto

Yep, Sabres and Senators and the first-round. Sweet.

Email: nick@wgr550.com

Apology: This has nothing to do with the trade deadline, but I've got the shakes waiting for my 11 a.m. show (not to mention the 3 p.m. deadline), so I wanted to get these thoughts out of my system. Thanks. Follow me all deadline day on my Twitter page.

(WGR 550) -- It won't be this year, and it won't be next, but there's one thing I can guarantee when it comes to Sid the Kid's future in Pittsburgh.

He won't spend the entire prime of his career there.

At age 22, Sidney Crosby has a Stanley Cup in Pittsburgh and the most important hockey goal in Canadian history (at the least, it's tied with Paul Henderson's 1972 goal in the Summit Series, which happened when I was negative-10, so you know I know what I'm talking about). He makes $8.7 million-per-season, and will do everything short of breaking Wayne Gretzky's scoring record by the time he's done in hockey. He's that good.

But standing there, knowing Crosby was looking across the ice as Ryan Miller got a standing ovation from the Pittsburgh crowd, his Pittsburgh crowd, something occured to me. There's one thing Crosby can't do in Western PA.

Bring a Cup to Canada.

It's been 17 years since a Canadian team lifted Lord Stanley's hardware, and our neighbors to the North had three-straight Bills-esque looks at it a few years back. With each campaign, the nation awkwardly embraced its rivals. In 2004, many Oilers and Canucks fans cheered on the Flames versus the Lightning. The next year, Flames fans held barf bags while barking, "Go Oilers." In 2006, Leafs and Habs fans went the way of Ottawa. All for nought.

So, while it's years down the line, I wanted to put it on record. Whether it's Brian Burke over the summer or someone in Vancouver come 2013, Sid the Kid is going to want to come to Canada. The kid's been an immature player who I can't stand -- a punch to the you-know-what from behind is on his resume -- but he's going to want to pull the reverse Gretzky, leaving a legacy in the States to try and build a bigger one up North. It could happen even sooner if he snags a Cup with a loaded Pens squad this year (Proactive GMs... they exist).

And it'll be awesome.

Email: nick@wgr550.com

(WGR 550) -- With the clock creeping toward Wednesday's 3 p.m. NHL trade deadline, it's time to evaluate Darcy Regier's pieces before you even worry about "who's out there?"

There are a few things to consider about the Sabres:

1) They need to free up some money in almost any scenario that brings in a solid player. Not every player is an offensive defenseman with a $1.7 cap hit and $381k remaining salary like Jordan Leopold (who was traded from Florida to Pittsburgh at the deadline and could justifiably be labeled a drifter).

The Sabres have $1.828 million in cap space. Keep this in mind any time you're drawing up a deal.

2) Will Darcy Regier do anything out of the ordinary? If he wanted to, how hamstrung would he be by the rosters and the dollar signs/years associated with each player.

Could the team re-up with soon-to-be unrestricted free agents Henrik Tallinder, Mike Grier or Toni Lydman, or are they pieces that could free up space to bring in a guy?

3) Keep in mind contract statuses

Sabres cap hits with year contract expires in parenthesis (according to nhlnumbers.com):
Thomas Vanek -- 7.143 (2013-14)
Jason Pominville -- 5.3 (2013-14)
Tim Connolly -- 4.5 (2010-11)
Derek Roy -- 4.0 (2012-13)
Jochen Hecht -- 3.525 (2011-12)
Craig Rivet -- 3.5 (2010-11)
Henrik Tallinder -- 2.875 (UFA)
Toni Lydman -- 2.562 (UFA)
Paul Gaustad -- 2.3 (2011-12)
Drew Stafford -- 1.9 (2010-11)
Steve Montador -- 1.55 (2010-11)
Clarke MacArthur -- 1.4 (RFA)
Tyler Myers 1.3 -- (2011-12)
Mike Grier 1.2 -- (UFA)
Patrick Lalime 1 -- (UFA)
Andrej Sekera 1 -- (2010-11)
Chris Butler 850k -- (2010-11)
Nathan Paetsch 850k -- (UFA)
Tim Kennedy 850k -- (RFA)
Adam Mair 758k -- (UFA)
Patrick Kaleta 514k -- (RFA)
Matt Ellis 500k -- (UFA)

4) What would call-ups cost in a 2-for-1 deal, and which players are signed long-term? Those are other factors when you're drawing up your deal. Nathan Gerbe and Tyler Ennis seem destined for next year's opening night roster, while the Sabres have just 13 players under contract for next season, and 10 free agents (three restricted, seven unrestricted).

5) Forget the future, does it actually make your team better now? Would moving a defenseman to the bench and losing Clarke MacArthur be better than having them around? Or would the team be better for the stretch drive with Dam Hamhuis and Gerbe/ Ennis in their place?

Now feel free to construct something using other teams rosters and their hits (again, nhlnumbers.com is a useful tool here. Don't go thinking Lecavalier for Paetsch and next year's draft will fly): nick@wgr550.com

(WGR 550) It's been less than 12 hours since the Winter Olympics came to a close, and I can't remember a more complete one. Granted, I'm 28. Even after the debacle that was NBC's "showcasing" of live sports -- I understand that not everyone got to tear through live sports on MSNBC and CNBC during the weekday afternoons -- there were so many memorable moments that I'm not sure I'm all caught up on all the best stories.

Consider this: I didn't watch a second of Apollo Anton Soulpatch and also missed out on Joannie Rochette's emotional triumph in figure skating after the sudden death of her mother, and I'm still stunned at how much I enjoyed the Winter Games. Admittedly, I don't care much for the summer events, but there is no question this is in my Top Two with Albertville in 1992 (or as I'll remember them, the Ray LeBlanc Olympics).

You had Lindsey Vonn's bruised-shin medal run and Shaun White's clear-outclassing of every other snowboarder. There were Norway's curling pants, Alexandre Bilodeau's Canadian gold in moguls and Bode Miller's metamorphosis from world-class ugly American in Torino to resurgent skiing star. Some of the most polite and offbeat people on Earth (Canadians) took a ton of gold medals and ratcheted national enthusiasm to near-record heights.

Plus, I'm pretty sure Macgyver captained the aforementioned Norwegian curling team, while Vizzini from "The Princess Bride" skipped Canada.

Before this weekend, Kevin Martin was a guy the Sacramento Kings traded. Now, Kevin Martin is a shiny-domed caucasian curler who skipped the Canadian curlers to a home turf gold medal.

Of course, this is all riding shotgun to the hockey tournament. Some of my favorite young hockey players became some of my favorite hockey players period: Dustin Brown, David Backes, Zach Parise, Bobby Ryan... I could go on for hours. They stood toe-to-toe (and out-scored) with the most talented hockey team ever assembled, and pushed them right to the limit. Yes, the host nation took the gold potato chips and we grabbed the silver, but it was a blast.

And when it was done, I felt great for Canada. Not the Canada that showed up in the comments section of my column, trash-talking like they never opened a Tim Horton's south of the St. Lawrence, but the Canada that wore red everywhere, sang their anthem like I wish we would and put forth an image that made me want to book a trip to British Columbia. That might be a bigger upset than the States performance in hockey, because pictures of nature and mostly B-list or 1980s celebrities convinced me to think about shifting my vacation plans. Alex P. Keaton, the girl from "Mannequin" and Van Wilder joined Steve Nash in that ad. Wow.

Good looks, Canada. I still love ya.

Email: nick@wgr550.com

(WGR 550) -- The Canadian slogan for the Vancouver games was "With Glowing Hearts," a shining nod to a proud song. The American hockey team may have fallen at the hands of the favorites on Sunday in British Columbia, but it's a phrase from the Yanks' anthem that'll ring in my head once the bitterness of defeat dissolves.

The home of the brave.

For the States and Ryan Miller, they'll go down as hard-luck losers, but it's so much more than that. This edition of USA Hockey was what everyone wants an American product to be: able to rise above expectations and show absolutely no quit until something nearly indomitable comes along, and that was Canada.

In times of athletic heartbreak, it's best to keep it short and sweet, but let's salute Sunday's gold medal game between the United States and Canada for what it was: a true brilliant moment for sport.

With the exception of the States losing -- and that's a mighty big exception -- it's nearly impossible to draw up a better contest. The host nation giving away a two-goal lead only to have it salvaged by its finest product ripping a neat, low wrister past a goaltender who had been nearly unbeatable all tournament long.

I've got a lot of dislike for Sidney Crosby, but you can't take anything away from The Kid. A lesser man could've played the role of shrinking violet after being caught on a breakaway by a backchecking Patrick Kane, but Crosby kept moving. His game-winning goal had a feeling of inevitability. If the Yanks had pulled off the upset, you'd half-expect Chris Pronger to say, "...and we would've gotten it done if not for those meddling kids!"

Kane showed everyone something. The much-maligned forward -- for his off-ice activities -- showed brilliance in a high-pressure setting, registering two assists in addition to his aforementioned defensive work on Crosby. In fact, there are a whole batch of new hockey stars for the States in Jersey's Zach Parise, St. Louis' David Backes and Anaheim's Bobby Ryan.

The Canadians at the rink showed a great deal of class in cheering the brilliant backstopping of silver medalist Miller, who posted a 5-1 mark and only allowed eight goals -- six to Canada -- in the six games he played. And I only imagine that Wednesday's home return of the Sabres will feature the sort of rousing ovation reserved for national athletic heroes when Miller is announced as (presumably) starting goaltender for Buffalo.

He'll deserve it. Go States.

Email: nick@wgr550.com

(WGR 550) -- Here we go, my fellow Americans, another elimination game for the States. Thanks for hanging out with me for some live updates of Team USA vs. Finland. If you haven't been able to bail out of work -- or even if you have -- I won't miss anything I deem notable (Hence, the notes). Comment away below, and I'll cut and paste my reaction to your reaction. What a grand time it'll be!

Email: nick@wgr550.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/NicholasMendola

5:12 p.m. -- It's a final. Guaranteed medal for the United States! Do your business, Canada, and we'll see ya Sunday. Anyone who's coming down to the Pond Hockey Tourney this weekend, come say hello. Team WGR (Bulldog, me, some friends) play at 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. on Monday, and 11:30 on Sunday. Root, root, root for the States (and us).

5:11 p.m. -- Ryan Adams' "To Be Young is To Be Sad" over the loudspeakers? Canada, where have you been all my life? Did they think it was Bryan Adams?

5:05 p.m. -- Keep booing the "USA! USA!" chants, Canada. You haven't beaten us in four-plus years, not including World Juniors (which we won this year, by the way). I really do love Canada and need to get these shots in while I can. Go States!

5:05 p.m. -- Thomas' goal mask is awesome.

5:03 p.m. -- FINLAND GOAL, 6-1, STATES. Here it comes! The inevitable collapse. Kidding.

4:54 p.m. -- Miller's night is over. Tim Thomas is going to get a piece of this one. Good for him. Miller hasn't allowed a goal in almost 120 minutes. Good news.

4:51 p.m. -- I'm still watching. Just don't have too much to add right now, except that a Twitterer(?) posted an interesting observation: no protective nets above the end glass? (Another rule exactly like the NHL, right, Gar?)

4:42 p.m. -- Backstrom just got a penalty for sweeping a loose glove out of his crease. That's ridiculous.

4:32 p.m. -- Bettman could not have come off worse. I'm sorry, but does the NHL have PR coaches? The rules (penalty times, trapezoid, no-touch icing, face shields) are quite different and Ovechkin has already said he'll pull himself from your league to play in Sochi. Can I be commissioner? Please? I'm not trying to be disrespectful... it's coming naturally.

4:31 p.m. -- Did Gary Bettman just take a shot at NBC, the only network who would take him? What a fool.

4:30 p.m. -- Would be a huge mistake to pull NHL players from Olympics in Sochi. How is Bettman still in power?

4:29 p.m. -- Dear Gary Bettman, "It's all NHL rules?" Really? Do you know what the NHL is? Signed, everyone.

4:28 p.m. -- An absolutely uneventful second period, but thanks to USA Hockey hero Jim Craig for livening things up by posting that the States should play Tim Thomas in the third. I get the sentiment of it, but would you mess with that mojo? You;ve

4:16 p.m. -- I really like Doc Emrick, but there cannot be "a lot of players tied for the best person in the NHL." By definition, "best" is best. Only one. That's why the Ovechkin/Crosby debate is so fun. And thanks to Malkin for bowing out of that discussion this year.

4:15 p.m. -- Finns have played the States even here in the second, but nothing spectacular from either side. It's going to be a long 25 minutes. They just played "Badlands" by Bruce Springsteen over the speakers. Great song.

4:10 p.m. -- Email from Ed in Texas:


Nick,

I'm watching in Austin, Texas. Loving it. Of course all of my Texas co-workers can't seem to grasp the enormity of this. They tell me they just don't get hockey. Great for USA hockey, great for the Sabres, great for Buffalo NY. Emailing two Canadians back and forth, they are frothing to get the U.S. back on the ice. Be careful what you wish for guys, eh?

USA USA USA USA USA

Reply: (Smiling).

4:07 p.m. -- Jarkko Ruutu runs Miller. Totally out-of-character for him. Two and ten. Somewhere, Andrew Peters is having phantom bite pains in his finger.

4:00 p.m. -- Second-period underway. Two questions:

1) How much would US/Canada gold medal game tickets scalp for?

2) Would you rather see a shut-out for Miller or 12 goals? Can't say both.

3:55 p.m. -- Email from Larry:


"Loving the Buffalo connection in these Olympics: Miller and Kane. We should be damn proud to be Buffalo hockey fans on days like this (btw, i live in Phoenix now but my wife and i still bleed blue and gold). 6-0! This is a great statement game to the canadians: You're not the only ones capable of blowing a team out."

Reply: Don't forget Brooks Orpik. Also, there's a veritable Canadian firestorm of hate on Twitter right now. If they win tonight -- and if the States don't start on fire -- Sunday is going to be insane. They better get a giant TV screen for the Pond Hockey Tourney!

3:48 p.m. -- It took just two weeks for NBC to run an NHL promo during Olympic hockey. Great job!

3:40 p.m. -- Six-nothing, States, just 20 minutes in. Canadians are already signing in to this blog to talk crap about Sunday, so let me officially say, "Go Slovakia."

3:32 p.m. -- Two solid quotes of the night so far.

1) Text from my buddy Spicoli, "How do you say 'Whammy' in Finnish?"

2) Tweet from Acapn: "Kane beat him like a rented cabbie."

3:31 p.m. -- If you're a boss right now, you can do one of two things?:

1) Tell your charges to go back to work, cause this sucker's over.

2) Order a couple cases of Genny Cream Ale and be the hero of the world.

3:27 p.m. -- "Janne Niskala pinched up in the neutral zone. He should feel shame," Mike Milbury says. UNITED STATES GOAL(S), 5-0 and 6-0. First, Kane gets nasty with a wrister from the right side, then Parise forechecks to get the puck to Jamie Langenbrunner, who feeds Statsny for the game's sixth. You can't make this stuff up.

3:23 p.m. -- I just went from a doubter to a cocky American. UNITED STATES GOAL, 4-0. Patrick Kane stays hard on the puck for a backhanded goal after Dustin Brown clogs the front of the net for Kiprusoff. Kipper pulls himself from the game. This is some sick stuff. I believe the United States could beat anyone right now, including the 1976 Canadians. Get me a time machine. I've got Olympic fever, and the only prescription is the gold medal game.

3:19 p.m. -- Erik Johnson may have just chased Kipprusoff. UNITED STATES GOAL, 3-0. Can I be done writing now? An impressive forecheck from the States that included a nifty little stick check from Malone allows Joe Pavelski to pick up a loose puck and attempt a wrap-around. Rebound comes to Johnson who just beats Kipper top shelf. Three-zip. I'm shocked in a deliriously-happy way.

3:18 p.m. -- Toni Lydman, over aggressive? No way! States back to power play.

3:16 p.m. -- UNITED STATES GOAL, 2-0. Like I just said, ahem, make it 2-0. Zach Parise gets a cross-crease pass from Paul Stastny who had to fight for every millimeter (they're in Canada) of that puck. A very Vanek-like play in front of the net, and Parise gets his third goal of the tourney. A just reward for one of the best players of the tourney.

3:15 p.m. -- States heading to PP. Make it 2-0 and dare someone to score three goals against Miller (Says the guy who predicted a 3-2 loss).

3:10 p.m. -- Look at it this way, Finn fans. If the States didn't score on Kipper's screw-up, they would've just now. Great save in traffic by the Flames backstop. Still 1-0. 16:37 left in first.

3:07 p.m. -- UNITED STATES GOAL, 1-0. It's like Kiprusoff is trying to prove me wrong. Kipper makes a horrible decision under duress by Phil Kessel, and Ryan Malone buries a long wrister into the empty net. Kessel tries to tip it in. Come on, man!

3:07 p.m. -- Now, it's Finland's turn to get some pressure in the U.S. zone, but they are quickly learning that the States don't allow too many pucks to get to Miller.

3:05 p.m. -- States get a shot on net within the opening minute from ol' "Fountain of Youth" Rafalski. Game plan hasn't changed. Pucks either deep or on net. We'll see if that's enough to beat Miikka Kiprusoff, the only keeper in the tourney with better numbers than the States' Ryan Miller.

2:58 p.m. -- Real nervous about this one. Even Matthew Barnaby, who generally knows his stuff, is saying we've got a better team than Finland, but I'm not so sure. You've got the 2006 silver medalists with four or five Finn legends going for it in their last OIympics, and a bunch of young Finns who don't want to let them down. I hope I'm wrong, but I'm feeling 3-2, Finland. Yikes.

(WGR 550) -- It's no fun being the sobering voice of hockey reason, so please cut me some slack as I tell you that the United States road to the gold medal game in men's hockey is paved with obstacles. It may be a one-game road, but there are twists and turns.

The trip starts Friday with Finland. It would be a huge mistake to look past the "Leijonat," who have medalled in four of the last six Olympics (Leijonat translates to Lions). This includes a somewhat-surprising run to a silver medal in 2006, a tournament that saw them upset these United States, 4-3, in the first round of elimination play.

Finland blanked a Czech Republic team littered with NHL offensive firepower, 2-0. The Finns boast Calgary goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff, who has two shut-outs in the tournament. They won't take as many risks as the Swiss, have far more offensive skill and just as good a goaltender. It'll be a tall task for the States to win, let alone effectively dominate like they did in the quarterfinals.

On the other side, it'll be Canada and Slovakia. What a difference a couple days make. After the U.S. gave the Canadians a wake-up call, Team Canada did not touch the snooze button. They followed an 8-2 rout of Germany with a 7-3 win over the Russians. A tough couple games for San Jose Sharks goaltenders Thomas Greiss (Germany) and Evgeni Nabokov (Russia) makes the Canadians look -- appropriately -- as world-beaters.

(By the way, my bad on picking Russia over Canada, but I got the other final three right, including the upset of Sweden)

Slovakia is a nice story, but their win over Russia isn't looking as wonderful after the Canadians spanked Alexander Ovechkin and company. The Slovaks have a shot at upending Canada because of their world-class defensive play exhibited in the opening round coupled with the offense they showed in upsetting Sweden. Andrej Sekera scored the second goal last night, and plays with a talented defensive cast (Zdeno Chara, Lubomir Visnovsky, Andrej Meszaros) that allows players like Marian Hossa and Marian Gaborik to fly.

Look for Canada to get the best of Slovakia and loom large as the host in a gold medal game on Sunday. There will be no question that the Canadians will be favorites -- yes, even after the States beat them in the opening round -- unless the Americans put an absolute hurting on Team Finland, which I think is highly unlikely.

The United States physical style and willingness to put their face in front of pucks is massive. They are coming into Friday's game with a full head of steam, and their young stars are starting to click. As I wrote Wednesday, Zach Parise was called "the heart and soul of the Team USA" by an analyst.

It's a changing of the guard that wasn't supposed to pay off so quickly for USA Hockey, but here we are two wins from gold, and one win from a guaranteed medal. Heck, if the States lose to Finland, they'd just need a win over Slovakia to snag bronze.

It's already a victory for the underdogs because they've virtually erased the bogus 2006 performance in Italy from memory. A win on Friday would purge it. 2006 was a nightmare: they tied Latvia and lost to Slovakia, Sweden and Russia. Their only win was over Kazakstan, so it was little surprise when Finland topped them. A loss to FInland now would be a little more surprising, but the Baby Yanks have a couple tricks up their sleeves in veteran leaders Chris Drury and Jamie Langenbrunner, puck stylists Bobby Ryan and Parise and the veritable coming-out party of the Blues' David Backes.

Oh, and there's this other guy... I think his last name is Miller...

Feel free to predict the two games in the comments section.

LIVE BLOG: States vs. Swiss

Nick Mendola

nick@wgr550.com


(WGR 550) -- Live thoughts during these shenanigans between the Chocolate Cheese Neutrals and Sam's Army:

5:14 p.m. -- EXHAAAALE. UNITED STATES GOAL, 2-0. Parise again, and he's earned his first two goals of the tourney. Drew Stafford's good friend ices the game with a wrister into the vacated net. "The heart and soul of USA Hockey," says one analyst.

5:11 p.m. -- Hiller pulled with 1:43 to go. Showtime. No one should have any problems with this, but the announcers think it's way too early. When you haven't solved a goalie once in 58-plus minutes, why wait?

5:10 p.m. -- This is scary tight. Don't know what to say besides an exhortation for the States to stick to their game.

5:08 p.m. -- Predictions for rest of night: Finland, Russia, Slovakia.

5:04 p.m. -- They're playing "Living On A Prayer." That's like Popeye spinach for New Jersey native Bobby Ryan.

5:03 p.m. -- Miller doing what he's done best in Buffalo; making hard saves look easy. Great crease movement by No. 39. His performance will deservedly be overshadowed by Hiller and Parise, but don't sleep on Miller's work.

5:00 p.m. -- Unlike Howard & Jeremy, I think the NHL can benefit from this Olympic exposure, and here's a prime example: You're a borderline fan in St. Louis or Los Angeles who's been watching the Blues or Kings this year. All of the sudden, you're watching national TV, which your team is almost never on, and two of the best players on the ice are from your teams (Backes and Brown). Just think of the doubters Miller could win over with a gold, and multiply that times people caring in minor markets. Just one example.

4:57 p.m. -- Shots are 40-14. Score could be 3-0 if not for a meddling game clock and weird penalty call.

4:53 p.m. -- I think Brian Rafalski hit up the "Lost" temple fountain before the Olympics started.

4:50 p.m. -- With Drury and Ryan Callahan penalty killers with the Rangers, John Tortorella should let them kill the full two minutes. Drury just blocked a very painful-looking shot that -- painfully -- looked all-too-familiar.

4:47 p.m. -- Replay proves us wrong on two counts. One, Jeannin's shot hit the post. Two, the Kesler penalty was a little shaky. Either way, the Swiss are on the power play.

In shame, I have to admit that I was consoling myself after the Jeannin goal by reminding myself that he's on my Olympic fantasy team in the Schopp & The Bulldog league. I'd rather be up, 1-0 (I have Parise, too).

4:45 p.m. -- Sandy Jeannin just beat Ryan Miller, but it was ruled it hit the post. Then, the U.S. goes down and score. The States goal is disallowed, and now they will go review the Jeannin almost goal, which looked like it was a good one. At best, it'll be 1-0 States when this review is said and done.

4:44 p.m. -- States doing what they can to totally deflate the Swiss balloon. Bobby Ryan tries a kid's trick and almost makes it 2-nil. Then, a nice replay of the Parise goal. High-def is excellent.

4:41 p.m. -- AND THEY DO! UNITED STATES GOAL by Parise. He called for the puck and followed a point shot past Hiller, who still almost saved it! 1-0, States!

4:40 p.m. -- Brooks Orpik just donated a Swiss player to the USA bench. At the other end, another penalty for the Swiss. States gotta get going (obviously).

4:39 p.m. -- Nothing's changed in between periods. Hiller is still a jerk (or a guy who's really good at hockey and making huge saves).

4:29 p.m. -- Potential heroes based on first two periods: Hiller (obviously) and Roman Wick for the Swiss. Parise and Backes have been the best players on the ice for the States. Tough spot for Ryan Miller, but he's there to be the best, not to have an excuse. This has been a solid game. Good for hockey.

4:26 p.m. -- Temporary technological difficulties. What you missed: The States scored... just not in time. The puck crossed the line and the Yanks celebrated, but replays showed the puck fluttering in the air but not across the line when the clock hit zero. This is how upsets are drawn up, and Swiss people make domestic movies. Time to be concerned.

Also, the commercial where they ask if a guy can win $1 million by wrapping himself in toilet paper and not ripping it is anti-climactic. They show him celebrating. Great job!

4:17 p.m. -- Things are getting dicey just because the "one funny bounce rule" is officially in play. The game is beginning to resemble every memorable international upset ever. I'm having an intense deja vu moment, and I can't remember if it's Canada/Swiss from an old Winter Games, or US/Latvia's 3-3 tie in 2006.

4:16 p.m. -- Yikes. The Yanks are blowing chances left and right. Olczyk has been spot-on as an analyst since the aforementioned comment about the first period. Backes is a monster.

4:12 p.m. -- Erik Johnson's remarkable shot block on a Swiss 3-on-1 out of the box leads to Switzerland scrambling back up ice and taking another penalty. Wilson should think about a time-out here.

4:12 p.m. -- Team USA's power play has been garbage. It's up to Ron Wilson and the staff to come up with a solution for the Swiss press. They tried three across the blue line there, but that's almost anti-threatening.

4:09 p.m. -- Second-consecutive goal-saving penalty by the Swiss, and even a hook almost wasn't enough to stop Jamie Langenbrunner from putting it home. Another big opportunity for the States to put one home. This is looking more like a Sabres/Panthers game with every shift.

4:04 p.m. -- Nothing doing. Switzerland finally building up so momentum and starting to look like the team that took Canada to the shoot-out. America has to stay patient on offense. Still scoreless.

4:01 p.m. -- Parise is doing everything but score, and was taken down after nearly connecting for the game's first. Good penalty for the defeated Swiss defender. Here we go, boys!

3:59 p.m. -- Good kill but some scary moments for the States. Blocking shots is huge and proof of dedication, but the US have to be careful with using their sticks to block shots. When those go wrong, they're called deflections.

3:55 p.m. -- Back in business. Stupid interference/elbowing penalty by Ryan Malone. The Swiss were being controlled and hemmed in their own end for the first few minutes of the period until Malone took an over-aggressive two.

3:40 p.m. -- A commenter who can't see the game just asked if the Swiss were "playing their game." The answer is yes, and they can be proud of their effort, but make no mistake about who owned the period. In the first three minutes, Switzerland did some nice things and Miller made a couple of tricky saves, but Hiller and the pipes are what's kept this game closed. Fun fact: Hiller and The Pipes would be a good band name. Someone get on that.

3:37 p.m. -- Twenty absolutely dominant minutes. 0-0. Not great, but not worried. Keep this in mind: It wouldn't get the press, but the Swiss winning here would be a bigger upset than Sunday's win over Canada.

3:36 p.m. -- Parise cranks another one off the post. I think he thinks this is three-bar.

3:34 p.m. -- Ed Olczyk just called this an even game. He's probably forgotten more hockey than I know, but he also could be high. This sucker hasn't been close, but the longer we go scoreless... well, whatever. I'm not going to lie. I'm just not at all worried right now. The Yanks are cruising, just not denting the twine.

3:28 p.m. -- The US is outshooting Switzerland, 14-4, through 14-plus minutes. "My name is Jonas... I'm carrying the Swiss."

3:26 p.m. -- Zach Parise would be the most statistically-dominant player in this tournament if he had any finish. It's been like watching the Sabres in one of those games they out-shoot Montreal, 43-21 and win 2-1.

3:23 p.m. -- Pavelski, Malone and Kessel are all over the Swiss, and Chris Drury keeps the pressure up by winning a face-off back to Jack Johnson who pumps one into Hiller's pads. Switzerland is overwhelmed right now, a combination of playing into a shoot-out with Belarus on Tuesday night and just not being good enough. Miller will take shots with a clear viewing lane from the top of the circles all day.

3:17 p.m. -- There's a penalty coming up to the States, but let's focus on David Backes, who just put his shoulder through a Swiss forward in open ice. For casual Sabres fans, Team USA has to be a coming out party that there are skilled players besides Alexander Ovechkin who do that, with Backes, Bobby Ryan and Dustin Brown playing all sorts of mean.

3:15 p.m. -- Luca Sbisa's hand is bleeding from a blocked shot. Yesterday, Canada's Shea Weber shot a puck through the German netting. Cue Don Cherry talking about banning composite sticks.

3:11 p.m. -- The Swiss aren't changing a thing from group play, where they'd lie in wait for transition opportunities and then swarm the goaltender. The problem with this strategy is the Yanks are willing to put their face in front of every slap shot. 0-0 though three-and-a-half minutes.

3:06 p.m. -- The States are all over the Swiss to start. A friend was helping me put a new light in, so I didn't get to make this prediction somewhere other than my Twitter page, but I don't expect this one to be close. Even if Jonas Hiller stands on his head, which he is to start this thing, I'm predicting 4-1, States. The boys aren't letting me down early.

(WGR 550) -- It's just one game. There's plenty of tournament left. You can't win giving up 45 shots to elite countries.

Blah. Blah. Blah.

In a rivalry described by one of the in-game analysts as "tremendously tremendous," Team USA topped Canada, 5-3, in the final game of group play at the Winter Olympics. No, this isn't the biggest upset since "Miracle on Ice," but feel free to have the conversation, because it's a lot of fun. For those who think hockey can't grab any Stateside momentum from the Olympics, think about this: Ryan Miller was the No. 1 "trending topic" on Twitter after the game ended. MSNBC is calling him the "man of the hour." Twitter and MSNBC have a different sort of fan base.

Apparently, the Jonas brother with the incredibly thick eyebrows apparently Tweeted about him and Team USA. Even funnier: Alyssa Milano tweeted that Miller almost makes her want to be a Sabres fan.

Who's the boss? No. 39 in red, white and blue. Sabres fans have seen Sunday evening's performance from Miller a bunch this season, but America picking up on it is pretty solid. When was the last time Buffalo had the nation's sports hero, if only for an evening?

Maybe never.

The hockey was incredible. The world's best were playing an All-Star Game with hitting. A bunch of young kids named Ryan took every punch from a Canadian talent juggernaut playing in its own backyard and were still standing in the end. One of those Ryans, Ryan Kesler, made an unbelievably gutty play to score a one-handed, game-sealing empty-netter. It typified Team USA's underdog spirit, not to mention that he's a right-handed shot and the physics of what he did are mind-stalling.

And I know... after Chris Drury gave the Yanks a 3-2 lead, someone in your house combined Darcy Regier's name with a curse word (It happened at our gathering). Then, when Drury and Miller embraced after the game, someone else talked about being wistful.

So, where does this leave Team USA? In a very tough spot, but a good one nonetheless. The States will be the No. 1 seed moving forward, and will play Switzerland or Belarus on Wednesday at 3 p.m. EST.

You'd have to consider the U.S. underdogs against almost any opponent they'd play after that, if not for a certain hot goaltender. The Ryans have one Ryan that matters more than the rest, and he's pretty good at ice hockey (Sorry to the mothers of Callahan, Kesler, Malone, Suter, Whitney and Bobby, but I'm talking about Miller).

With apologies to Canadian assistant coach Lindy Ruff, this is one night I don't care if he's miserable.

Go States.

PROBLOGUE: I apologize if I'm missing anything incredibly obvious... I am not even close to in "football state of mind." I try to turn it off from the Super Bowl until free agency. I used Chris Brown from the Bills' web site free agent list, since I'm assuming he wouldn't have the wrong information!

(WGR 550) -- Hey, Brad Butler: Thanks for putting a crimp in my Olympic watching!

Laying on my couch and watching my beloved Team USA, I had no intentions of thinking about football for a solid two-to-three weeks, maybe longer. I watched enough college football to decide which players I like, and don't plan on being swayed by "who ran how fast" at the Combine.

(Quickly... for me, the Combine is cool for absolute football nuts like our own Joe Buscaglia and guys who don't like and/or don't pay a ton of attention to the college game. You also get to find out which players are absolute flakes, which is useful. I'll read the reports, talk to Joe and do Podcast interviews with players I need to know more about)

So, now my right tackle is saying "Goodbye" to pro football. Great news. I totally understand him taking off. If I was really good at a job I didn't love -- say fossil juggling -- but the job paid millions of dollars, I'd make several million dollars and then get out. God bless ya, Brad Butler. Don't ruin the government.

But it makes one thing absolutely certain -- next year's Bills are going to look very, very different. Already gone are Butler, Derek Fine and a bunch of special teams regulars (John Wendling, Justin Jenkins). Many fans would love to see Donte Whitner and Marshawn Lynch traded, and many would love to see Trent Edwards dealt or released. Terrell Owens likely isn't coming back unless no one else wants him (so maybe he's coming back). Aaron Schobel might retire, and Eric Wood's injury return is questionable at best. Roscoe Parrish has been whispered as a trade piece by a lot of folks.

Also, a few mainstays are unrestricted free agents no matter what: Ryan Denney and Josh Reed. Wouldn't be surprised to see Denney in Miami with his brother (pure speculation). Reed was rewarded for working his tail off week-in and week-out for years with the prize of being inactive to close the season. Bryan Scott is unrestricted. Also, and if Scott leaves, we'll never be able to play music together, as discussed. How sad.


Now, an uncapped year changes the free agency status of Richie Incognito, George Wilson, Ralph Ellison, Ashton Youboty, Joe Klopfenstein and Gibran Hamdan. An uncapped year is super complicated. My brain starts on fire whenever I think about it.

So..... who is guaranteed to be here come the start of the season? Let's review (and believe me, I'm totally open to being wrong about half this list!):

DEFINITELY BACK:
Fred Jackson
Lee Evans
Geoff Hangartner
Andy Levitre
Paul Posluszny
Terrence McGee
Leodis McKelvin
Shawn Nelson
Aaron Maybin
Spencer Johnson
Marcus Stroud
Kyle Williams
Kawika Mitchell
Jairus Byrd
Chris Ellis
Drayton Florence
Rian Lindell
Brian Moorman

PROBABLY BACK:
Ryan Fitzpatrick
Chris Kelsay
Reggie Corner
Garrison Sanborn
James Hardy
Nic Harris

There are a bunch of other guys under contract, but it's ridiculous to even speculate when there's a new head coach and three new coordinators in town. You can't guarantee back-ups from the Dick Jauron/Perry Fewell won't get cut.

This team could be awful, but they'd be awful with a bunch of new guys.

WGR 550) -- At the risk of courting controversy and being told I'm "un-American" by some commenters on this site -- who apparently think observing worldwide agreements will install Osama bin Laden as President -- let me lay a few thoughts out there on the Ryan Miller/Jonathan Quick goaltie mask controversy.

As reported Tuesday, the two American goaltenders were told by both the IOC and IIHF to take certain phrases off their masks. The IOC is wary of political, commercial and personal statements in the games, though this feels hypocritical on a number of levels. Here are my takes:

-- So Ryan Miller can't paint a play-on-words of a beer slogan bearing his last name onto his mask. Big deal. It's a bit hypocritical that NBC can buy the rights to the Olympics and then sell advertising, but if Miller were getting money from the brewery bearing his name for competing in the games, it'd be wrong.

-- They also wanted Miller to take "Matt Man" off his mask. To me, this is absurd. What is this promoting besides cancer awareness and the memory of a cousin/friend? Is Latvia going to be up-in-arms because they are pro-cancer? Will Karlis Skrastins run Miller because of how much he advocates the idea of "letting people figure out they have cancer" on their own? Are they anti-doctor? It's stupid.

-- Here's what I do understand: why the IOC wanted "Support Our Troops" taken off Quick's mask. In the United States, the term "Support Our Troops" is relatively-innocuous. At its most "inflammatory," the slogan is an attempt to quell the sort of hate thrown at soldiers upon their return of an unpopular war in Vietnam. With the popularity of the war in Iraq on the decline for so long, it seems "Support Our Troops" came to the forefront to say, "Hey! Hate the game, not its players. They are serving their country."

Which is right, but flip the script. Neither Iraq nor Afghanistan have athletes in these Winter Games, but if one of the Afghani tae-kwon-do competitors or Iraqi rowers in the 2008 games stitched or painted "Support Our Troops" on their uniform or boat, I think there might be some problems in America. Would they be stupid problems? Possibly, but that's life these days. I'd simply offer that the IOC doesn't want to court that drama, so it puts up pre-emptive drama.

Visit Nick's shorter thoughts at twitter.com/NicholasMendola. For his trek through deciphering football-speak, read on...

(WGR 550) -- Working in sports journalism is a pretty okay gig, but a day like Thursday's media gathering at One Bills Drive is not one you covet. Sure, you might gather some tidbits from head coach Chan Gailey and his three top assistants, but it's going to take more digging than an archaeologist's worst nightmare. What was the refrain from the afternoon's talks? You can say it with me:

"Whatever it takes to win."

Let me set the scene for you. Gailey speaks at a podium for an overview and Q&A session, followed by offensive coordinator Curtis Modkins, defensive coordinator George Edwards and special teams boss Bruce DeHaven conducting 'enter-at-random' interviews at seated tables scattered about the place. Then, we all eat sandwiches and pasta salad. It's nice.

That said, here are some educated guesses from the goings-on at the Paul Maguine Press Box Club at Ralph Wilson Stadium this afternoon:

-- The back-and-forth between media and football coaches is like a chess game where the pieces are extra boring. This is no fault of either party. Football coaches think they might tip off the opposition and the media needs to address what their viewers/listeners/readers are screaming about.

All four fellas played any future ideas for the Bills pretty close to the vest. Can we glean anything from what they had to say? Sure. With apologies to dozens of noted philosophers, the phrase "a tiger can't change its stripes" cannot be an absolute (The tattoo community amongst tigers is growing by leaps and bounds, for one thing).

-- Gailey and Modkins abide by the same philosophy/cliche Buddy Nix said 4,000 times during his introductory news conference as Bills general manager, whatever it takes to win. I asked Gailey whether you needed the "name in lights" quarterback to win in this league, considering he's had success with Tyler Thigpen and Jay Fiedler, and his answer seemed to imply that the league was moving the way of needing a stud more than a plain "game manager." In other words, Gailey doesn't buy the Trent Dilfer/Ravens idea.

-- Gailey referenced the trade block as well as the draft and free agency as a way to acquire talent at signal caller, and that meant something to me in the wake of the Philadelphia Eagles news of the past week. Regardless of if Gailey wants Donovan McNabb from Philly or a wild card from any other team, using conditional draft pieces in 2011 to grab your quarterback for 2010 allows a team to focus on the laborious process of switching to a 3-4, which doesn't always mean instant success as it did for Green Bay this past season.

-- I asked both offensive minds in separate interviews whether they viewed the prototypical pocket passer as a must. Modkins seemed to infer that they'll take any athlete that can win and see what they can do with him. So while they'd certainly love to get their hands on their top available idea, it certainly doesn't rule out anyone from the myriad of quarterbacking styles: McNabb, Michael Vick, Tim Tebow, Dan LeFevour. They will get the guy they see as best fit for the job, and I'm almost guaranteeing it won't be Trent Edwards or Ryan Fitzpatrick. That may seem like common sense to some, but it isn't a given.

-- George Edwards knows he has a battle on his hands to get a 3-4 defense ready for 2010, and wouldn't tip his hand even when confronted directly with a "Who would be more important to your defense at No. 9? Linebacker or defensive tackle?" question. He didn't flinch while saying, "Both." Frankly, other than Joe Buscaglia's idea from a few weeks back, I haven't seen too many ideas that make any sense to me, and I'll be intrigued to see what Edwards does to address this issue.

Seriously, we could start a chat room or web site simply based on the possibilities. It seems an absolute that Aaron Maybin will be an outside linebacker and Paul Posluszny will be inside, but would you bet on any other front seven player starting in a spot come opening day? Maybe Marcus Stroud and Kyle Williams as ends? But what about Aaron Schobel? Will he come back? Will he be a Bill? Will Chris Kelsay's reign as captain and locker room mouth piece come to a close? Will Kawika Mitchell cut it inside, or be cut altogether?

What? You're looking at me?

Mitchell played inside in Kansas City in a 4-3, so I think you can plant him alongside Pos. Maybin has to start outside. I think logic has the Bills going DT as early as possible, and trying to find another outside linebacker along the way. Maybe Joey Porter, who spent a lot of time with George Edwards in Miami? Also, Edwards coached Stroud and Richard Seymour when they were freshman on the Georgia d-line, so that could become a "fit," as the pundits say. And, of course, there's OLB/DE/athletic freak Derrick Morgan from Georgia Tech, recruited by Gailey at GT and set for a Top Ten spot in the draft.

-- Edwards said something else that rang true. When asked what it was like watching Bill Parcells come into Miami and turn that mess around, he referenced Parcells' job of "changing the entire culture" of the Dolphins. He at least has a theory of how to do it himself, and that's an important thing to recognize. It was nice to not here everyone utter useless statements about how "the pieces are here, we just gotta move them around." They know they have a ton of work to do, and won't say much about how they plan to do it.

-- By the way, don't ask these guys for their takes on players who are actually on the Bills. "Haven't seen enough tape will be their answer," but to paraphrase one colleague in the media, "These guys were getting entertained by game film four seconds after they were hired." If it's true that the coaches just started evaluating their own players yesterday, well, I wish the press conference would be a held a few days later in the week.

-- I don't think Modkins would give you a specific opinion if he was on fire and you asked him how it felt. Typical football guy. Does seem to be a fan of attacking and referenced having "two good backs" when asked if Fred Jackson can handle a No. 1 workload all year. And Chan is calling the plays... all of them.

-- Bruce DeHaven is a nice story, and easy to talk to. The guy gets Buffalo fans, which is nice. He knows he has a good punter in Brian Moorman and an above average kicker in Rian Lindell. Better than that, DeHaven put me a little more at ease with the Gailey and Nix hirings.

DeHaven said he's been places where he wasn't sure he'd get good special teams players on the roster because there weren't "football guys" in charge. Sure, he may have been coached into saying it, but there were only a few of us left at his table when DeHaven gave both men a vote of confidence as true football guys who will give him the pieces to succeed.

-- There isn't a ton of hope to sell for 2010 right now, and I know how nutty the football season gets as soon as someone doesn't throw a challenge flag far enough or in the right direction, but I'm starting to feel pretty good about Gailey's ability to find teachers. I just wonder if he'll get enough rope from the fans on what appears to be quite the long-term endeavor.

Email: nick@wgr550.com

I don't want to belabor this point in the incestual world that is the National Football League, but one of my favorite Bills snagged a Super Bowl ring on Sunday, and it wasn't for Buffalo.

Jabari Greer, he of the quirky Bills locker room skits and undrafted starter fame, is a Super Bowl champ. So are Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams and two of his players, Anthony Hargrove and Pierson Prioleau.

They are the first former Bills to hoist the Vince Lombardi Trophy since Larry Centers of the Patriots in 2003. There have been others -- Rob Johnson (Tampa Bay) and Mike Lodish (Denver) among them -- but those were back when Bills fans felt they were just a few moves away from a title, so briefly removed from playoff wins.

Honestly, when my boss called me Monday morning and asked if I had any postable opinions on Gregg Williams winning a Super Bowl, I felt uninspired in terms of writing. Yeah, I don't really like the guy, and I'm bummed that he won. Plus, I was rooting for the Colts on account of UB alumni Drew Willy and Jamey Richard.

But truth be told, former Bills winning doesn't faze me. Maybe I'm already in hockey mode after the underwhelming "Quest For a Coach" and more underwhelming Sabres weekend, but when I see Williams, I don't think "former Bill" and I certainly don't seethe with hate. I don't like the guy, no, but he's just another guy who has a ring.

When it comes to Greer, I'm very happy for him. He was a rags to riches guy who told us midway through last season that the Bills hadn't even approached him about sticking around. That was pretty rough to hear, but maybe there's a silver lining here.

There's a new coaching staff and some new front office folks in town. Sure, they don't look like much and the odds say they're bigger castaways than "Lost," but beneath it all maybe they'll be able to recognize and work with the talent they had.

I'm certainly one of those "quarterback first" guys, but how much better would the Bills have been if they had picked Haloti Ngata and played him alongside former Bills defensive tackle Justin Bannan, allowed to leave. What about Jim Leonhard, who started for the Jets in the AFC title game with a broken hand? Mike Gandy started a Super Bowl at tackle for the Arizona Cardinals last year, while Sam Aiken has been catching passes from Tom Brady this year.

Bannan, Leonhard, Gandy and Aiken aren't household names, nor are they stars. They aren't players you were shocked to see leave Buffalo and, with the exception of Leonhard, they underperformed as Bills. But it makes you wonder exactly how bad things have been here in terms of finding and developing NFL players, not even in free agency, but on your very own practice field.

There's a bunch of new faces in charge now. New defensive coordinator George Edwards could be eyeing up someone in the draft, but he also could've seen a number of players in the NFL and thought, "Those guys could work better under my tutelage." Same for every other coach on staff. It's not much to go on, but it's better than nothing.

Email: nick@wgr550.com

I woke up this morning after a couple hearty-enough weekend nights and asked my wife where the five pounds on my stomach came from. Her answer: You run all summer, and not in the winter. It's true enough, my winter is iced hockey -- more anaerobic than aerobic they tell me -- and my summer is 5ks and grassed soccer.

So after church, I headed to the gym, pumped out my normal routine and then popped on a versaclimber (whatever that means) and decided to move my legs for the entire third period of the Caps and Pens, or at least a half-hour. I entered the work-out entertaining the idea that perhaps Buffalo needed an undeserved but perhaps appropo shake-up behind the bench, and left shaking my head at my naivete. Here's what I learned:

The Sabres don't have the wherewithal to take either of those clubs past five games unless they magically acquire two Ryan Millers and both play at once.

Notice I didn't even type "the Sabres right now." See, the thing about both Washington and Pittsburgh isn't that they just have better players than Buffalo. It's that those players adapt their talent into demanding systems and go balls to the wall for a 'W.'

Read the box score, and you'll assume that the Caps came back from 4-1 down to beat the World Champs because Alex Ovechkin had a hat trick and a helper, which isn't entirely false. Washington got to overtime because Ovechkin will shoot from anywhere on the ice, but they won because Mike Knuble would rather break a beer bottle over his face than quit before a whistle.

Ovechkin ripped a half-wall shot off the post that came to just under Marc-Andre Fleury's leg pad. While they Pens searching for the puck, Knuble dug for the rubber like an oil man and forced it past Fleury for the win.

That one play is indicitive of the difference between the league's best five or six teams and the Sabres. Yes, Buffalo has players who give their guts in the paint (and one of their names is Thomas, seriously). They also have players who will dedicate themselves to playing their parts in Lindy Ruff's system.

But they are too many drifters to call them outliers, and something has to scare these guys. No one meaningful has been moved from this system in years. Yes, they didn't pay Brian Campbell and they traded Ales Kotalik, but the former move wasn't one they wanted to make and the latter was a given.

Somebody major has to move.

This team obviously has the talent to be a Top-4 team in the East, but do they have the make-up? Not yet. If I'm Darcy Regier, I've reached a breaking point where I trade the "untradeable," the guys who are viewed better around the league than they are here. I deal a guy like Derek Roy, who is immensely-talented on the ice and liked in the locker room -- as many of the guys are -- but doesn't commit to playing the style the wins games.

See that word I used and love -- wherewithal -- is one of those crazy "intangibles," and what Buffalo has right now is tangible. Talent that wins when it works hard. And that'll work on its best night against any team in the league (save Ottawa. Ha!), but the Sabres players don't give that. Regier is or was hoping his youngsters would find the right mix, but there's a difference between making taking lemons and making lemonade and trying to make lemonade out of potatoes.

On Sunday afternoon, I watched the Caps and Pens do the same things the Sabres try to do. Ever see a Sabres drop pass and think "too fancy?" You can think that, but Washington and Pittsburgh did it all game and guess what? There was a teammate in the right spot to pick it up. That's dedication to positioning and Buffalo doesn't always have that. Same things with using the boards for passes and defensive pinching. As bad as Craig Rivet has been in 2010, he'd look better if his forwards gave more than a passing thought to hustling back to cover for a risk their captain's made.

Back in my naive world, watching Drew Stafford rip his bucket off and make R.J. Umberger's brain come out of his ear was a solid moment for me, one where I wondered if maybe he's getting it. If I'm going to stay consistent with this column, though, I have to offer him up to this season-saving sacrifice, too.

It's time for more team players, and almost everyone's available (I wouldn't trade Ryan Miller, Tyler Myers and Paul Gaustad. I'd prefer not to trade Chris Butler, Jason Pominville and Thomas Vanek, but you can't type a column like this and then offer up crap to the opposition).

The Sabres are in first place in their division with a team that tries 75 percent of the time at best. It's time for a change, one that says, "We're here for hardware, not hat tricks."

Email: nick@wgr550.com