birtmc.com

Sabres forward Evander Kane may soon be on the move. By Jake Dehlinger The Buffalo Sabres must trade Evander Kane. I said it. It might not be what you want to hear, but I’ll offer some perspective. Too many fans believe that he should be re-signed. In reality, we need to look at the team as a whole. There is no denying that Kane is essentially 25 percent of the team’s offense this season. Unfortunately for us Sabres fans, this is a problem. Too many variables play into why the Sabres must deal Kane before the deadline. Ultimately, it is up to general manager Jason Botterill with what he wants to do. Realistically, I think we will see Kane gone from a Buffalo uniform. Goal scoring is at an absolute premium in the NHL. If you can finish off of playmakers, teams want you. Teams who are looking to make deep postseason runs are definitely going to take a run at players like that. Enter Evander Kane. Kane’s stat line currently reads 12 goals and 23 points throu...

Old Team Tuesday is a weekly feature taking a look at former teams that have gone by the wayside. After a two-week hiatus, we return this week to close out a two-part series examining the history of professional roller hockey in Buffalo . ********************************************** After financial ruin laid waste to the Buffalo Stampede during the 1995 RHI season, Buffalo was left without a professional roller hockey team. The absence of a team meant Memorial Auditorium would close its doors for good in the spring, rather than in late summer when the roller hockey season would come to a close. Instability in pro roller hockey continued to be a problem, with teams folding and relocating at a frenetic pace. After playing for two years in Phoenix, the Cobras relocated to Glens Falls, New York for the 1996 season. The move failed to turn around the fortunes of the franchise, so they uprooted themselves yet again and signed a one-year agreement to play at the new Marine Midl...

By Jake Dehlinger As we pass the midway point of October, the Buffalo Sabres sit in second-to-last place in the Atlantic Division and fans are not amused. This is understandable. A team which retooled its defense and looked to make great strides in both the front office and behind the bench should be better than they have been. The team has been weak when it comes to secondary scoring and its power play has been abysmal, especially when it comes to allowing shorthanded goals. The team needs better from its second and third lines, which it finally received in the form of O’Reilly and Reinhart contributing goals in the OT loss in Vegas. The defense needs to contribute to the scoring too. This issue plagued them last season. The power play needs to take chances when it comes to scoring and that is completely understandable, but the shorthanded goals are not. And while all of this sounds like doom and gloom I’ve come to share some news: This will get better. Take a look ...

Old Team Tuesday is a weekly feature taking a look at former teams that have gone by the wayside. This week’s edition is the first in a two-part series examining the history of professional roller hockey in Buffalo . ********************************************** Looking to capitalize on the inline skating fad that was seemingly ubiquitous in the early 1990s, sports pioneer Dennis Murphy ventured into virtually unchartered territory when he established Roller Hockey International in 1991. Unlike his previous forays with the American Basketball Association or World Hockey Association, there was no established league to contend with in the sport, and unlike his other former project, World Team Tennis, there was no professional organization of any kind related to roller hockey. Roller Hockey International made its debut in the spring of 1993, placing 12 franchises in cities all over North America. After the Anaheim Bullfrogs defeated the Oakland Skates to win the inaugural Mu...