Enough To Make Your Head Hurt
I’ve been mostly sports-free over the holiday season, and the first time I get to watch even a part of a Sabres game, they suck. They had some solid stretches, but for the most part just weren’t connecting in any meaningful way. Moves need to be made, as I imagine fans will get a bit restless with another ’struggling to make the playoffs’ type season. I know I am.
It also doesn’t help that the Bills are keeping Dick Jauron. Shanny can get sent packing after all he’s done with Denver, but Dick (of the one single solitary winning season ever) gets a pass. BARF.
Canada and the US face off tomorrow night in the World Junior Championships, by the way. Enjoy it for me, I won’t be home to watch.
Tags: bills, buffalo, capitals, football, Hockey, NFL, NHL, sabres, washington, WJC, world junior championships
Buffalo Gets The 2011 World Junior Championships!
Oct 24, 2008 WJC
There is a press conference scheduled with USA Hockey at HSBC Arena for Monday, which can mean only one thing - Buffalo won their bid to host the World Junior Championships in 2011! It’s a fun tournament, I watched our current AHL goalie Jhonas Enroth in it this year, and should be well attended thanks to this hockey crazed city, and the close proximity to Canada. H/T to BfloBlog.
Tags: enroth, Hockey, WJC, world junior championships
USA Hockey Likes Buffalo
Sep 12, 2008 WJC
USA Hockey made their site visit for deciding which city is hosting the World Junior Championships in 2011, and seemed to like what they saw. Thankfully they were here in the summer, and probably were steered around a few specific areas, as this was one of the comments:
“[Buffalo] is a gorgeous city and certainly very clean and a city that has a lot of pride in it,” USA Hockey’s Assistant Executive Director of Marketing and Communication Mike Bertsch said Thursday afternoon. “You can see that from the presentations that we’ve had… [I’m] very impressed with it.”
Nice. Maybe I’m just reading more into the comments than I should (as I’m sure they were glowing everywhere) but this part makes me think Buffalo is a shoe-in:
Bertsch also cited the fact that the tournament has never been to Western New York as a consideration for the committee (North Dakota and Minnesota have hosted in 1982 and 2005, respectively).
I have yet to see anything about when the decision will be made, but I’ll keep you posted.
Tags: Hockey, NHL, WJC, world junior championships
Buffalo Is A WJC Host City Finalist
Aug 21, 2008 WJC
Buffalo, along with Grand Forks, ND and Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota is a finalist to host the 2011 IIHF World Junior Championships (you know, for hockey). The WJCs are a great showcase of young talent, with numerous NHLers having played in recent years, with the Sabres shown here:
- Maxim Afinogenov (Russia) – ’98 & ‘99
- Tyler Bouck (Canada) – ’99 & ‘00
- Chris Butler (USA) – ‘06
- Tim Connolly (USA) – ‘99
- Jhonas Enroth (Sweden) – ‘07 & ‘08
- Nathan Gerbe (USA) – ’06 & ‘07
- Philip Gogulla (Germany) – ‘07
- Clarke MacArthur (Canada) – ‘05
- Adam Mair (Canada) – ’99
- Nathan Paetsch (Canada) – ’02 & ‘03
- Dan Paille (Canada) – ’03 & ‘04
- Derek Roy (Canada) – ‘03
- Felix Schutz (Germany) – ‘07
- Andrej Sekera (Slovakia) – ‘06
- Drew Stafford (USA) – ’04 & ‘05
- Thomas Vanek (Austria) – ‘04
- Marek Zagrapan (Czech Republic) – ’05 & ‘06
Another interesting bit there (and something important to the area) is the potential economic impact. Just like when Buffalo hosts NCAA tournament games, this is a great way to get people to travel to your town and stay for a few days, and Buffalo just doesn’t have a whole lot of that going on. The deciders will be making site visits next month, so let’s hope a great showing for that, plus the fact that the other two places have already hosted the tournament, means Buffalo has the inside track.
Tags: buffalo, Hockey, iihf, WJC, world junior championships
Nothing Persson-al
Jun 3, 2008 NHL
Buffalo has signed 2006 draft pick Dennis Persson to a contract, continuing the run of signings over the past few days. He split time between the Swedish Elite League and their second-tier league, as well as having a solid tournament for Sweden at the World Junior Championships.
I promise to stop making ‘punny’ titles sometime next year.
Tags: buffalo, Hockey, NHL, persson, sabres, signing, WJC, world junior championships
WJC - Congratulations Canada
Jan 9, 2008 WJC
Canada won their 4th straight Gold medal at this year’s World Junior Championships. They beat Sweden 3-2 in overtime to clinch the Medal. The USA, after cruising through the Round Robin, lost to Canada in the semis and then again to Russia in the Bronze Medal game. Sabres prospect Jhonas Enroth played well for Sweden, going 4-1 with a 2.33 GAA.
Tags: canada, enroth, Hockey, sweden, usa, WJC, world junior championships
WJC - Canada And US Cruise
Dec 27, 2007 WJC
Team Canada, led by John Tavares’s 2 power play goals, shut out the host Czech Republic 3-0. The defending champs ran their win streak at the WJC to 19 games. Steve Stamkos, currently the number 1 prospect according to International Scouting Services, had 3 assists. Tavares would be pushing for numero uno but is not draft eligible this year. In a Buffalo connection, Tavares is the nephew of Buffalo Bandits lacrosse legend Johnny Tavares.
Team USA beat Kazakhstan 5-1, led by Kyle Okposo (former Gopher and future Islander). After giving up the opening goal, it was all USA. Russian and Sweden also won their opening matchups.
Tags: B-Lo Sports, bandits, canada, golden gophers, Hockey, islanders, john tavares, minnesota, new york, okposo, russian, stamkos, sweden, tavares, usa, WJC, world junior championships
