BRUINS MAKE A TRADE

The Bruins and Sabres made their first EVER trade between each other today. The B's sent a 3rd round pick, and a conditional 4th rounder to Buffalo for winger Daniel Paille.

Paille is 25 and has been nothing short of a disappointment in Buffalo. As I said above, in 39 years, the Bruins and Sabres have never made a trade. The fact that Buffalo doesn't mind directly competing with a team that has Paille on it speaks volumes about how much they think of him out in western New York.

I'm pretty flaccid on this deal. This kid's getting $1.3 million this year for a guy who totaled 12 goals and 15 assists last year, with only 20 penalty minutes. That being said, he did score 19 the year before. And I remember hating the acquisition of Michael Ryder last year, so hopefully I'm wrong about this deal as well.

Source:
Boston Herald

ANOTHER BRUIN BITES THE DUST

Just a few days after trading Chuck Kobasew, and placing Milan Lucic on long-term injured reserve, the Bruins lost another key forward in Marc Savard. The team announced today that the playmaking center has a broken left foot, and will miss 4 to 6 weeks. Savard scored twice in Friday's 3-0 win over Dallas.

On the bright side, it's better to endure these injuries in October than in April or May. In last year's playoffs, injuries to key players helped contribute to Carolina's 7 game series win in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

Journeyman Trent Whitfield was called up from AHL Providence to take Savard's roster spot.

Source:
Associated Press

PATRIOTS ACQUIRE TULLY BANTA-CAIN

The Patriots came to terms with recently released linebacker Tully Banta-Cain. I think this is a great signing, as Banta-Cain should be able to learn the defense quite quickly, and be ready to play in Sunday's game against the Buccaneers.

In all seriousness, Banta-Cain, whose contract expires at the end of the season, was released then re-signed by the Pats to a deal that extends into next season, but for a lower salary. So Banta-Cain gets job security, and the Patriots get a lower cap number.

Source:
RotoWorld.com

GALLOWAY GONE AWAY

The Patriots cut Joey Galloway today, in a not so surprising move. Galloway had been a healthy scratch the past few games, not even making the trip to Denver. There had been rumors of a trade today, but apparently there were no takers. Cutting him now, before the trade deadline at 4, does allow him to choose a new team to sign with, instead of being placed on waivers. Yeah, Belichick's a real classless jerk.

Source:
The Sporting News

SPITGATE

So will the New York Post be putting asterisks next to the Yankees box scores? Or maybe Rivera's stats?

And no, I'm not accusing Rivera of cheating. I'm accusing New York fans of being an obnoxious, simple-minded rabble of morons and excuse machines.

BANTA-CAIN CUT, GALLOWAY REMAINS, AND THE ADALIUS THOMAS MYSTERY

Yesterday the Patriots cut 3-4 specialist Tully Banta-Cain, but he'll probably be back on the team. I wouldn't understand dropping him completely, as he leads the team with 3 sacks, and has played solidly on the outside of the defensive front. He expects to be back with the Patriots.

Joey Galloway has not been cut. It's probably because he's a veteran, and would therefore be getting paid anyway. The Patriots did not make any trades with him (despite wild speculation in the National Sports Media) yesterday. But I think they're only hanging onto him in case something awful happens to their receivers.

Speaking of receivers, rookie Brandon Tate out of North Carolina might be able to return to practice this week.



And there's still the case of the missing outside linebacker. There's not much to report on Adalius Thomas' absence from Sunday's game. He has been underperforming all season, and I suspect the coaching staff saw some things in practice they did not like. Thomas has been a disappointment since joining the team, but he has shown sparks of brilliance. If he doesn't play in London, then I think he'll likely be cut.

Source:
Boston Herald

BC CRUSHES NC STATE

The Tennessee Titans and NCSU Wolfpack should get together, go out for some hot cocoa, and bitch about the weather in New England. Both teams traveled to Massachusetts this weekend, both had to deal with the cold, and both gave up 50+ points.

A week after being embarassed by Virginia Tech, the Eagles returned to the creamy middle of the ACC and pummelled NC State. The win puts BC on top of the mediocre Atlantic Division, half a game ahead of Clemson and Wake Forest.

Montel Harris set school records with 264 yards rushing and 5 TDs. He's rushed for 756 yards and 5.6 YPC this season. He had 900 yards on the ground last year. He's got 5 more games to surpass that mark.

BC isn't amazing. They don't deserve to even be considered to be ranked (they got 3 votes in the latest Coaches' Poll). But they're better than what everyone thought they'd be. They only need 1 more win to attain bowl eligibility, and they lead their division.

They play Notre Dame in South Bend next Saturday at 3:30.

Sidenote: I was disappointed with BC fans at this game (actually, the fans NOT at this game), particularly the student section. It was about 5 rows from full, and in 3 years of working games at BC, I've never seen that. Leaving a cold blowout game early is one thing, but not even being able to fill the student section is just sad. When BC fans like myself complain about not getting big bowl bids, we should point the fingers at our fellow fans, and not some vague Dixieland good ole boy conspiracy.

Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/The News & Observer, Ethan Hyman

LUCIC OUT FOR AT LEAST 10 GAMES

The Bruins placed bruising forward Milan Lucic on extended injured reserve. He's not eligible to return until at least 10 games and 24 days have passed. Lucic broke a finger in Friday night's victory in Dallas.

After trading Kobasew, the Bruins needed forwards so they called Guillaume Lefebvre, Brad Marchand and Vladimir Sobotka up from AHL Providence. Lefebvre played decently in Satrday's loss to Phoenix. Marchand was solid in preseason. And Sobotka's been up and down for a few years. He's tallied 10 points (4 G, 6 A) in 10 games with Providence.

Byron Bitz will likely move up the depth charts to the 3rd or 2nd line, replacing Lucic. Bitz had to fill that role in the Montreal series last postseason, and did so admirably.

But this is the worst news the Bruins could get. Lucic is the kind of guy that can spark a team to turn around. Now he's out until at least mid-November.

Source:
NESN