Time to chime in a bit on Buffalo Bisons baseball, as the team held its final Spring Training game this afternoon in Winter Haven, Florida, and the team will head up to Buffalo tomorrow to set up shop here.

If anybody is counting, the Bisons ended their preseason schedule with a 3-5-3 record and one rainout. In the finale today, they lost to Toledo 5-3.

So now the countdown starts to Opening Day. Here are the planned activities:

Sun Apr 1 7:00PM… MLB Opening Night party at Pettibones Grill… $5 admission gets you free chicken wings and a free ticket to this Friday’s game. Torey Lovullo and select Bisons players will be on hand.

Tue Apr 3 7-9PM and Wed Apr 4 2-4 PM… team practices, open to the media.

Thur Apr 5 3:05PM… Opening Day! The Richmond Braves are the opponent.

Just checked the updated long range forecast on weather.com… Thursday: High 33, snow shower/wind.

Uh boy… that does not sound good.

This score is deceptive… the game was over early and the Sabres were all over the New York Islanders from the get go. Want some ugly stats? How about 5 first period goals on 10 shots, chasing Islanders goalie Mike Dunham after one period. With Rick DiPietro out of the lineup with headaches, the Isles were then forced to turn to AHL journeyman Wade Dubiliewicz (by the way we saw him in net back in January when we visited Worcester, as he was playing for the Isles farm team Bridgeport Sound that night). For the final two periods it was mop duty.

Two of those goals by Buffalo were scored shorthanded… and Daniel Paille was skunked on three point blank opportunities, including two breakaways, otherwise it would have been uglier.

New York then got two goals early in the third to cut it to 5-3; Lindy called a time out to refocus the team and they played with a bit more conviction the rest of the way.

With the win the team goes to 107 points and retakes the overall league lead. With one more win they will clinch the East and first seed… maybe tomorrow night in Montreal!

Other observations from the game:

-Was that Nicholas Picholas wearing #81 for the Isles tonight??? Just kidding, but actually, Miroslav Satan was such a non factor in the game that Buffalo fans didn’t get much of a chance to boo him.

-Philadelphia lost tonight, meaning they officially clinch 30th and last place in the standings. That means that Buffalo will have the 31st overall pick in the 2007 amateur draft, the pick we got in the Biron trade.

-The whole “Teddy Nolan comes to Buffalo” thing is yesterday’s news. The fanfare and salute should have happened back in January. Tonight it would have come across as idiotic.

-You almost have to feel sorry for the Islanders…yeah they are still in the mix in the six way race for the final three spots, but with DiPietro out and Ryan Smyth injured, one can’t like their chances.

-And last, Detroit lost in a shootout tonight, meaning a loss of one point in the President’s Trophy race. Detroit’s remaining schedule? Home and homes vs Columbus and Chicago. Ugh!

Above are two renderings of the new Bass Pro and related development set for the central wharf next door to HSBC Arena. Check out the 19th century period architecture!

It’s front page news here in Buffalo - the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation today inked a “pre development” agreement with Bass Pro to construct a 125,000 sf retail store on the waterfront next door to HSBC Arena. This will be the retail anchor for a comprehensive mixed use development which should dramatically change the look of the arena neighborhood in the coming few years.

Looking at the renderings - part of me is thrilled, and part of me is looking at this with a feeling of trepidation and dread. What will go wrong now? Supposedly all that is standing in the way is the standard environmental impact review, and once a negative declaration is issued, it is all systems go. Nonetheless, I will believe all this when I see a shovel in the ground. I’ve seen Buffalo’s hopes and dreams dashed too many times and that is where my skepticism comes in.

And sure enough, Tim Tielman from the local preservationist crowd is already chiming in, calling the renderings “an abomination”. As a reminder, this is same posse who tried to move heaven and earth to prevent Dunn Tire Park from being built in the 80s… they much would have preferred to maintain the few derelict vacant buldings and litter strewn parking lots over a beautiful baseball stadium.

Anyways, the urban planner in me is jacked up and I am just a fountain of ideas…. so rapid fire here goes:

1) The renderings show the skyway gone; $10MM is set aside for Aud demo; and the Donovan Building is now vacant and slated for demolition this year. So how about fast tracking the Skyway closure, and start bidding out asbestos and mold remediation for the Aud NOW! Demo all three structures at the same time, and have development ready sites all in place for immediate build out.

2) They are leaving the skyway piers in place, according to the drawings. So light ‘em up, turn them into dramatic sculptures. Imagine laser lights and other special effects offering a symphony of light each night.

3) How about leaving the Terrace Street lobby entrance of the Aud intact. The size of the structure would be proportional to future development, and it would leave a bit of Aud history in place.

4) I would love to see a dramatic new Canalside light rail station - with weather protected access for arena patrons.

5) When can we see construction of that low rise bridge at the foot of Main Street, presumably connecting to the new Fuhrmann Blvd in the outer harbor. Get that bridge built and open and that land the other side of the Buffalo River becomes HOT PROPERTY.

Here is more from The Buffalo News. Also, Jim Fink has an update from the ECHDC meeting this morning at Buffalo Business First.

This is a circa 50s photo of the Inner Harbor, with the Skyway under construction. With today’s plans being released, the new look would resemble what things were like there two generations ago

“Staring at the Standings”

This week’s Puck Stop. Check it out!

When Lindy Ruff walks into the press room for his postgame news conference, reporters jump up and place their recorders on the lectern. Peter was covering tonight, and did not get seated quickly enough, so yes for a brief moment we all got a glimpse of Artvoice’s finest (well, second finest next to ME) on the MSG postgame telecast.

By the way Peter is sporting his new haircut, his first since his sister Katy’s wedding… last August!

The boys in blue and gold win a big Eastern Conference game with the help of some returning faces.

Welcome back Kotalik. Nice to see you again Paille.

Out with significant long term injuries, these two Sabres returned to the ice and provided two of the Sabres’ third period goals and lifted Buffalo to a critical 4-3 win over the Devils. Paille got the scoring going in the third with a nice rebound shot that got under Brodeur, and Kotalik showed that his rocket of a shot hadn’t been slowed down as he powered home what proved to be the game winner with a tad over four minutes to go.

The win pushes the Sabres to 105 points on the season and most importantly expands their lead over the Devils and Senators to seven points and puts the magic number to win the conference’s top seed at four. Buffalo can clinch as early as Friday with a win over the Islanders combined with a bunch of dominoes falling in other games just right.

Notes from inside the arena….

Whoever is in charge of returning the banners to their rightful spots in the rafters either messed things up or decided to do a little redecorating. Tim Horton’s #2 has been moved away from the middle of the Sabres retired numbers and sent way off to the right of the other five. Again, can’t say whether this is a goof or if it’s planned.

Hey, if you go to as many arenas as we do, trust me you’d notice things like this too…..

Fitting music track of the night: Van Halen’s “Runnin’ With the Devil”.

No goals and no penalties in period one. I thinks Taro is gonna get to work on finding out when the last time that has occured at a Sabres game.

After seeing Zubrus’ amazing end to end rush in the first period I now can see why people go crazy over this guy and wonder why things like this don’t happen more often.

Islanders coming into town Friday. 18,690 fans will know that Teddy is in the building, will anyone with a tv/scoreboard camera know that???

Here in Buffalo we might covet an exciting and vibrant downtown core - something like Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, but over in Baltimore, they covet something that WE have (and no I’m not referring to Willis McGahee and his progeny). They would love to be in the rotation for an NCAA basketball event, and as Baltimore Sun columnist David Steele points out in his column, Baltimore does not have the facility to support a tournament of this magnitude. The 45 year old First Mariner Arena in downtown Baltimore was once the home of the NBA Baltimore Bullets, but that was a lifetime ago.

One quote from the column:
“This time, Maryland and seven other schools traveled to drab, bone-chilling Buffalo, thin on top-notch hotels and nearby amenities….”

Ouch!

No amenities? Perhaps next time we need to get the good Mr. Steele up to Fort Erie and a visit to the Canadian Ballet. Or maybe he was in a surly mood because his Terrapins got themselves a good whoopin’!

Coming out of DC is this report stating that the new ballpark for the Washington Nationals, located on the banks of the Anacostia River, is on schedule and on budget.

The new venue, with the working title of “Nationals Ballpark” (you know that corporate moniker is coming!) will open in April of 2008. And of course this visit is firmly on the USRT radar screen!

A two year contract extension.

More on the Philadelphia Flyers website.

Last week NHL disciplinarian Colin Campbell raised the question about whether fighting belongs in the NHL anymore. As this article from the Canadian Press shows, the entire issue generated a great deal of comment across the NHL.

But none as hard hitting as Don Cherry on last Saturday’s “Coach’s Corner” on CBC. When host Ron MacLean tried to interject during Cherry’s tirade about what message parents should be giving to youngsters playing hockey, Cherry snapped back, “The NFL doesn’t worry about kids. Baseball doesn’t worry about throwing at a guy’s head.”

The funniest part of the segment was a vintage clip from 1991, of a very young Ron MacLean and Cherry at the zamboni entrance at the Great Western Forum in Los Angeles. Cherry was wearing his Hollywood shades, an earring dangling from his left ear, and in total Peter Pan mode was wisping and lisping his way about how hockey should be just one happy lovefest. “Hockey without violence is like a silver ballet”, Cherry mimicked as he waved his imaginary wand.

Great stuff. No wonder all of Canada stops dead in its tracks at 7:45PM each Saturday to tune in CBC. Here in Buffalo we do likewise.

While Buffalo’s Adam Mair and Ottawa’s Jason Spezza were flailing away at each other in the big brawl on February 22, Tom Preissing and Brian Campbell look on in an almost tender embrace. Cherry has shown this clip twice and has heaped his ridicule on the two both times.

While the San Francisco 49ers have been quietly making plans for a new stadium in suburban Santa Clara, the City of San Francisco yesterday unveiled this plan for a complete overaul of Hunters Point and Candlestick Point, which is the current location of Candlestick, err… 3Com, err… Monster Park, err…. San Francisco Stadium. Included in the proposal would be thousands of new homes, retail, and public spaces and parks. And a commitment for open parking to keep an active and vibrant tailgate scene.

Mayor Gavin Newsom apparently wants to keep the heat on the 49ers to remain in the city. Whatever the outcome, 2012 seems to be the year everyone is circling for the replacement of their current stadium, which we have ranked as the worst venue in the NFL.

Hallej - freaking - lujah!!!

For the past few months, the rumblings were out that the Canadian institution known as Hockey Night In Canada would move from the CBC to TSN when the contract was up due to an “offer you can’t refuse” coming from TSN. Whatever actually went down, in the end tradition prevailed as the CBC retained the rights to one of North America’s longest running sports shows.

I mean, HNIC leaving the CBC would be about as unthinkable as Monday Night Football leaving ABC, wouldn’t it??

Oh…

Check out the new home uniforms…those red unis with the classic red Buffalo logo look sweet!

New Bisons radio voice Ben Wagner and I got to sit down and talk baseball, sports and Buffalo stuff.

What better way to get into the baseball spirit than to to head down to Dunn Tire Park on a warm and sunny March day… the grass is green, the ballpark looks to be in great shape, and in less than 10 days it will be time to “Play Ball” for the 2007 season.

The team held its annual “Media Day” at Pettibones this afternoon, and it’s always a great chance to reconnect with familiar faces, meet some new people, and see all the exciting things the team has in store for the new season.

The team had a display of some of the new merchandise, and also were modeling the new home uniforms, which look pretty snazzy. PR coordinator Brad Bisbing said they were still sticking with the sliding Bison and the green/black colors as the primary identity for the team.

I got a chance to sit down with the new Voice of the Bisons, Ben Wagner, and he is positively giddy about making his new home in Buffalo and his new job as the play by play guy. Ben and his wife just got settled in their apartment in Williamsville last week, and he got a taste of what a great sports town Buffalo is last Friday, when he was dining downtown and watching the streets explode with joy as the Sabres mounted their furious rally against the Leafs.

All the Bisons media regulars in attendance today were giving Ben the warm welcome and making him feel at home.

GM Mike Buczkowski gave me an inside peek as to the process of filling the important job of play by play announcer in a very short time frame. They only learned as late as February that Rosie was leaving the team, and had to interview and hire someone quick. We will have more on this in our kickoff “Play Ball” column next week in Artvoice.

Oh one more thing… when the Bisons sent out the alert with the invitation, Brad indicated that there would be samples of the new iced capuccino and beef brisket for us to try. So I show up and there’s a whole frikkin’ buffet set up…penne pasta with sausage, barbecued chicken strips, chicken finger wraps, pastrami with melted cheese, bacon cheeseburgers, a dozen different desserts. I know I left some stuff out. Man oh man they always feed us well there!

Opening Day is Thursday, April 5 at 3PM vs. Richmond. Can’t come soon enough for me!

One thing about sitting in the pressbox at Sabres games is you don’t get to choose the company you keep. Assigned seating chart means the Sabres staff gets to pick your neighbors, not you.

For Artvoice, that means Sports and Leisure Magazine on the left, Metro Source on the right. And most of the time, we’ll find Matthew Ondesko in the Metro Source chair.

Matthew is the Associate Editor for Metro Source, which is sort of a combination of your local pennysaver and a mix of localized editorial content. The weekly paper is delivered to every doorknob in WNY. Matthew is in charge of sports, and his paper has found a big niche in covering local high school sports.

With strong South Buffalo roots (Bishop Timon HS grad), Matthew has big goals… he talks of being his own publisher some day. With ease he will rattle off and examine “new media” business models and talk about the future of journalism and the delivery of news. He looks upward towards larger media outlets and asks “why not me?”. But of all his current media assignments, clearly he relishes most his coverage of Sabres hockey and participation in the Sabres media corps, once saying “my friends see me up here and they are so envious and say I’m so lucky to be able to do this. Yeah I am lucky.”

While we have known Matthew since we started covering the Sabres, it is this season that he has rocketed onto our media “A” list. He is a valued colleague, a good friend… and oh… Matthew likes sports travel as well, so don’t be surprised if you hear of him again here, coming along on a future USRT adventure.

Back in February we ran this Puck Stop column in Artvoice, called “A Blueprint For The Aud”, which examined the trials and tribulations that the Montreal Forum went through in its transformation from a hockey arena to a multi use retail and entertainment facility.

This week, our colleague Jim Fink at Buffalo Business First broke this story indicating that Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown now wants the Aud torn down, and wants it done soon. I chatted with Jim at the hockey game last night, and he confirmed that this is all in the pipeline, and also that asbestos removal and demolition preparation will be starting on the adjacent Donovan building this summer.

But whether the Aud is saved or demolished, it will still require massive dollars for asbestos removal and environmental remediation, no?

So that’s why this post by Queenseyes at Buffalo Rising Online really got me excited. Very simple premise - gut the Aud and turn it into a massive parking facility. It would service downtown retail and business during the day, HSBC Arena and Dunn Tire Park at night, and free up every frikkin’ surface lot down there for new construction.

Memo to Mayor Brown, Congressman Higgins and the powers that be at the ECHDC… can we give a good look to this idea? Can we get moving on it NOW!

Rendering above taken from Buffalo Rising