The BUFFALO Sports Bar

[POJO_Risin]

Dick Jauron...to be next Bills coach...

Jauron in Buffalo to discuss final details of contract
Jan. 22, 2006
CBS SportsLine.com wire reports

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- Former Chicago Bears coach Dick Jauron was in Buffalo and preparing to become the Bills head coach on Sunday, a person familiar with the decision told the Associated Press.

Reached on his cell phone, Jauron told the AP that he was in town but declined to comment, referring questions to the team.

A person with direct knowledge of the decision told the AP that Jauron arrived to finish up some details on his contract. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the official announcement had not yet been made.

A message left with Bills spokesman Scott Berchtold was not immediately returned.

Jauron went 35-46 in five seasons with the Bears and was the NFL coach of the year in 2001, following a 13-3 finish.


Dick Jauron won the coach of the year in 2001, but was 1-4 as interim coach with Detroit. (Getty Images)
Jauron spent the past two years as the Lions defensive coordinator and finished last season as the team's interim coach after Steve Mariucci was fired in late November.

Jauron also was an assistant coach with Jacksonville and Green Bay.

When he accepts the job, Jauron will take over a Bills team that underachieved in going 5-11 last season and missed the playoffs for the sixth straight year -- the Bills' longest drought since the NFL merger.

He replaces Mike Mularkey, who abruptly resigned on Jan. 13, a week after Bills owner Ralph Wilson announced his coach would be back for next season.

Jauron will become the Bills' fourth head coach since current GM and Hall of Fame coach Marv Levy retired following the 1997 season.

Levy is back with the Bills, replacing team president and general manager Tom Donahoe, who was fired earlier this month.

Wilson and Levy interviewed five other candidates for the job in a weeklong search that focused mostly on those with previous head coaching experience. Among those also interviewed were former Green Bay coach Mike Sherman and former Houston coach Dom Capers.

Jauron and Sherman were considered the front-runners throughout the process.

[Nickdfresh]

Ugly man, very ugly. I was hoping for SHERMAN...

[Romeo Delight]

Tim Connoly was hurt when noted cheap-shot artist Kasparitis hit him with a hip-check that went awry.

Now I don't like Kasparitis. He has tried to hurt people in the past. But this time the hit was clean, although the end result was unfortunate.

Dude should have answered the bell to Sabres who tried to exact some revenge with hard hits eyt. Instead he flopped around the ice like he was trying out for Skating With the Stars.

Ruff was out of line calling the hit dirty. If anything you could question the hip check as being inherently risky, given that it is hard to be accurate trying to line a player up when you are skating laterally while a player is moving up the ice.

I think the league has let the game get pussified enough, so the hip check should stay.

[Nickdfresh]

Originally posted by DavidFlamma
Tim Connoly was hurt when noted cheap-shot artist Kasparitis hit him with a hip-check that went awry.

Now I don't like Kasparitis. He has tried to hurt people in the past. But this time the hit was clean, although the end result was unfortunate.

Dude should have answered the bell to Sabres who tried to exact some revenge with hard hits eyt. Instead he flopped around the ice like he was trying out for Skating With the Stars.

Ruff was out of line calling the hit dirty. If anything you could question the hip check as being inherently risky, given that it is hard to be accurate trying to line a player up when you are skating laterally while a player is moving up the ice.

I think the league has let the game get pussified enough, so the hip check should stay.

I agree it's a clean hit. I love a good hip check, and according to this poll, most fans here agree. But that being said, KASPARITIS (with his long history) better watch his back if the SABRES and Rangers meet in the first round of the playoffs...

I think RUFF, and the fans, are just frustrated, because every time we turn the corner and get some injured guys back (DUMONT returned from a sports-abdominal hernia early), somebody gets blown apart for four to six weeks...

Connolly's injury means that the top three scorers on the BUFFALO SABRES have been injured for a significant amount of time this season, (including DANIEL BRIERE, their best player). This in addition to integral role players like PYATT, Ryan MILLER, and Adam MAIR...

This team has really fought through some serious injury problems this season, which makes their record even more of an accomplishment...

[Nickdfresh]

FLYER's goalie Robert Esche on the Buffalo SABRES:

http://cbs.sportsline.com/nhl/gamecenter/recap/NHL_20060202_PHI@BUF

Esche made 33 saves in the loss, the Flyers' third in the last four games. Esche was making his fourth start since returning from a groin injury.

"With a talented team like they are, they make you move so much," he said. "Those forwards on that team are very underrated. I think they are some of the best in the game right now."

[Romeo Delight]

With so many Sabres and Canucks injured, it should be noted that The Nucks Manitoba Moose beat the Sabres farm team, Rochester in the playoffs last year.

Our grinders are better than your grinders

[Nickdfresh]

Funny thing is though, the SABRES have found some guys that would never have gotten the chance they have if it weren't for those injuries. JASON POMINVILLE has been a absolute shock, he's a goal scorer that was waived last year...

And TIM CONNOLLY has reached potential and grown into a second line play-making centerman...

I hoping, and this is true for VANCOUVER as well, that the injury luck of the draw will change down the stretch, and teams like OTTAWA will start to have their luck run out...

[Romeo Delight]

I think that any Stanley Cup run, due to its marathon-like nature, necessitates a certain relentless element that the younger, fringe player may bring.

How can a vet give a half-assed shift when some rookie is fighting Iginla and scoring goals! Every Cup run has the eventual winner with a hot goalie, but more importantly a team dedicated to helping him look good through hard work.

Buffalo is a shining example.

[Dave's PA Rental]

Nick...

So the Bruins/Sabes game was on last night and I wasnt really paying attention to it at the beginning, but they sang the CANADIAN national anthem before the game.

What the fuck is up with that? Do they always do that?

[Nickdfresh]

Yup. It's a long standing tradition since Buffalo is a border-town and a major traffic area with the Peace Bridge and all. A river separates Buffalo from Ft. Erie, ONT. The SABRES have a significant Canadian fan base, and a lot of Hockey starved Torontonians that can't get LEAF tickets come down on bus packages. In fact, when the Sabres play the Maple Leafs, it's almost as loud in the bldg. when the Leafs score as when the Sabres score.

And DON CHERRY adopted BUFFALO has an honorary Canadian town...

[Dave's PA Rental]

How the flyin' Ethel Merman did I miss this fact? I go back to the depths of the Adams Division in the mid-late 80's...watching EVERY Bruins game on TV38, back when hockey was the greatest game around...how did I miss the fact that they sing O Canada? Please tell me that it;s only been for the last 10 years or so and I will feel better about myself...

[Nickdfresh]

Nope...

I think it's always been...

Maybe you ignored that fact as the Bruins owned the Sabres until 1993...

[Romeo Delight]

Hey Nickd!

Can Mika Noronen play?

Has Golden Awe seen him play?

I like the pickup for the Nucks.

[Nickdfresh]

NORONEN can play... He's a solid goalie that has skill. But he's been riding the pine here and was getting very unhappy about it, only because MILLER's a top-shelf goalie, and BIRON played his ass off when Miller went down. There was talk of wanting to trade BIRON and of keeping Noronen, thinking he'd be a better backup for Ryan MILLER. Mainly because Mika can play better in spot-duty than Marty, who needs two games just to warm up...

He's the only goalie ever to be the Hockey News' prospect of the year, twice...

[Nickdfresh]

Sabres keep on marching

There's panic in the state of New York ...

Oh, calm down Rangers fans, your team isn't out of it yet. But there's another New York team that isn't showing any kind of weakness heading into the home stretch: the Buffalo Sabres.

Lindy Ruff's crew is hotter than those suicide wings at Duff's (you locals know what we're talkin' about!) as the Sabres have won seven straight games and are in a tight battle for the Northeast Division lead (and important playoff positioning) with the Ottawa Senators.

We wish we could say that fortunes were the same for Vancouver and Tampa Bay ...

Read on, hockey fans, read on!

SABRES are number TWO on the ESPN NHL power rankings as of week 24

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/powerranking