A trip around the web

It has been very quiet around the Sabres of late but there is still plenty going on.  A new blog I have been reading lately is Mile Wide, Mile Deep.  It appeared to be a Sabres blog but apparently will be dabbling in Bills talk as well.  There is an interesting post about Chris Drury and Derek Roy here.  Makes you think a little.  

Wes Goldstein breaks down the off-season moves by the teams in the Norteast Division.  The Sabres did not fair well in his rankings so what are your thoughts.

The Sabres disappointed their terrific fan base with a mediocre playoff effort after a great season. But the real pain was inflicted a few weeks later when Buffalo was overrun by free agency.

It's hard to disagree with that assessment.  I have hope that the Sabres will be the same team next season but I think those expectations would be unrealistic.  The Sabres should compete for another division title as well as be a playoff team despite a less than stellar off-season.

Finally there was news today that the NHL is in negotiations with the ESPN about televising games.  It appears that NBC might be out of the mix and ESPN might take over.  The entire article is worth reading.

Multiple sources described the conversations as preliminary. The two started talking the week of July 16 when the NHL approached ESPN about NBC’s nine-game regular-season schedule, plus the playoffs. NBC holds the rights to air the coming season as part of a revenue-sharing agreement, and the network holds a one-year option for the 2008-09 season.

I think NBC wants out but the NHL shouldn't be so quick to leave.  ESPN has shunned the league before and they will probably do it again.  I understand the NHL's desire to promote the game and use ESPN to do it but they should not cater to ESPN.  The league is financially stable, which is evident by the enormous contracts being signed, and they do not need to continue to push the game.  Hockey has the most passionate fans and they don't need ESPN in order to keep those fans.  There are plenty of other issues that need to be cleaned up in order to build the fan base the least of which is ESPN airing games.

The other interesting news in the article is about the NHL Network and Center Ice Package.  If the NHL Network is aired in the U.S. this season that would be good news.

The league’s talks with ESPN come as it is negotiating with cable and satellite operators for carriage of its planned NHL Network and its out-of-market Center Ice package. Cable sources describe the negotiations as progressing smoothly, with the league taking a page from Major League Baseball by tying carriage of its planned channel with the renewal of Center Ice.

This would be great for the passionate fans who already love the NHL and would have better access, including some of the same coverage that is aired in Canada.  If this happens you can sign me up immediately.