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ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- Doug Whaley was willing to risk future draft picks for the opportunity to land receiver Sammy Watkins and put the Buffalo Bills in a position to make the playoffs this season. In his first NFL draft as the Bills general manager, Whaley struck a deal with the Cleveland Browns to move up five spots to select the Clemson receiver with the fourth pick on Thursday night. To get Watkins, Buffalo gave up its No. 9 pick this year, plus a first- and a fourth-round pick in next years draft. "We thought it was a calculated risk, and a risk we were willing to take," said Whaley, who took over after Buddy Nix stepped down a year ago. "The high cost of not making the playoffs is something we weighed, and we thought this guy was going to get us to the playoffs." The Bills are coming off their third consecutive six-win season. Theyve also gone 14 seasons without a playoff berth -- the NFLs longest active drought. Watkins has the potential of providing the Bills sputtering offence a dynamic threat. And he addresses the objective Whaley outlined in the weeks leading up to the draft: add talent to spur the development of quarterback EJ Manuel, who is coming off an inconsistent and injury-shortened rookie season. "Hes automatically going to make our quarterback better and us better as a team," Whaley said. Manuel expressed his excitement by posting 16 exclamation marks on his Twitter account after Watkins was picked. Buffalo finished last year 19th in total yards gained, and 29th in yards passing. Manuel had his development stunted by three separate knee injuries that led to him missing six regular season and two preseason games. He finished with a 4-6 record with 11 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Watkins, listed at just over 6-feet and 211 pounds, put up eye-popping numbers during his three-year college career. He finished with 240 catches for 3,391 yards and 27 touchdowns in 29 starts, and set 23 school records. Watkins joined Rod Gardner as the only Clemson players to have multiple seasons topping 1,000 yards receiving. And hes the only Tigers player to score more than 10 touchdowns receiving in more than one season. Last year, Watkins had 101 catches for 1,464 yards and 12 touchdowns. Watkins was so excited to be drafted that he took a picture of himself and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell at the draft podium at Radio City Music Hall. And Watkins can fully appreciate the burden of expectation placed on his shoulders in knowing what the Bills traded away to draft him. "That is a lot, but for me, I think I am prepared," he said. "I need to be 100 per cent when I get there. I need to be starting off on the right foot." Watkins is friends with former Clemson running back C.J. Spiller, who was Buffalos first-round pick in the 2010 draft. Now he gets to join Spiller on a team that has been stocking up on young offensive talent, particularly at the receiver position. Buffalo selected Robert Woods and Marquise Goodwin with second- and third-round picks last year. The Bills also made a trade with Tampa Bay last month to acquire Mike Williams. Watkins addition raises questions about returning starter Stevie Johnsons future with the team. Whaley declined to address Johnsons status, saying the days focus was about Watkins. The trade with the Browns began developing immediately after Jacksonville selected UCF quarterback Blake Bortles with the No. 3 pick. "We went into this draft saying we were going to be bold, and we made a bold move," Bills President Russ Brandon said. "Were sitting up here very pleased right now." The Bills only have five picks left. Buffalo is next scheduled to pick 41st overall, in the second round set for Friday. Its the first Bills draft since Ralph Wilson -- the teams owner and founder -- died in March. The Bills will be put up for sale, raising concerns the franchise could eventually relocate. Goodell continued to express optimism the Bills will remain in Buffalo in an interview with ESPN about an hour before the draft began. "We want to keep our teams in their current markets," Goodell said. "But in particular, I think the Bills fans have demonstrated their passion and their support for the team." Goodell then reiterated what he said a day earlier, noting a new stadium would help secure the teams long-term future. Cheap Old Skool Authentic .L. - Defending womens champion Alberta improved to 3-0 at the Canadian junior curling championships with a 10-3 win over Ontario in Sundays afternoon draw. Cheap Vans Old Skool . General manager David Poile called signing Ribeiro a great opportunity to add a talented, experienced and creative centre Tuesday when he introduced the veteran at a news conference. Ribeiros contract is worth $1.05 million after being bought out of the final three years of a $22 million contract by the Coyotes recently. http://www.cheapoldskool.com/. LeBron James believes hes a major reason for their early failures. Old Skool Shoes From China . - Kentucky freshmen Stanley Boom Williams, Dorian Baker, Drew Barker and Tymere Dubose have been charged with disorderly conduct for their involvement with air pistol shots being fired near a residence hall on the South campus Sunday night. Cheap Old Skool Free Shipping . Assistant coach Glen Gulutzan said Thursday that Edler, who played Tuesday in Nashville, is out indefinitely.MONTREAL -- Old rivals Montreal and Boston are going to a decisive seventh game once again. The Canadiens kept up a furious pace and produced their best effort of the playoffs as Max Pacioretty had a goal and an assist and Carey Price made 26 saves in a 4-0 victory over the Bruins that staved off elimination on Monday night. The NHL Eastern Conference second-round series is tied 3-3 going into Game 7 on Wednesday night in Boston, where the Bruins will no doubt be looking for the same boost from their fans that the singing, chanting and generally deafening 21,273 at the Bell Centre gave the Canadiens. "Its sudden death now," said Pacioretty. "Everything in the past will be forgotten once Game 7 rolls around. "They like playing in their building. We have to find a way to come out the same. Were a frustrating team when everyones skating like that and everyones on board. We have to find a way to do that again." Pacioretty, who had only one assist in the first five games, scored and set up Thomas Vaneks goal in the second period. Lars Eller scored in the first for Montreal and Vanek added his second of the game into an empty net with 3:56 left in regulation time. "I was just waiting for my time to pitch in offensively," said Pacioretty. "Obviously you wanted it to happen more often in the playoffs. But I feel confident. You want to feel youre helping the team win and I think I did that." It is the same scenario as the last time the teams met in the post-season in 2011, when the Canadiens won at home to force a Game 7. That year, they lost the decisive first-round game in overtime. It is the 34th time overall the teams have faced each other in the playoffs. The game turned in the second period after the Canadiens, leading 1-0, held off a ferocious Boston attack through a five minute 11 second stretch without a whistle. It included killing a minor penalty to P.K. Subban and was highlighted by a Price stop at the doorstep on Milan Lucic. Defencemen Mike Weaver and Josh Gorges shared a nearly three-minute shift in the midst of it. "Youre just buying time," said Weaver. "I think guys at that point, youve just got to be positionally sound. You cant be chasing all over the ice." Not long after, rookie Nathan Beaulieu threw a pass up the middle that Pacioretty chased down and went in alone to score. Boston coach Claude Julien felt that stretch was his teams best chance to make a game of it. "The second goal probably hurt us the most because we were spending a lot of time in their end and we had some great chances to tie the game, but that kind of turned the tide around," said Julien. "I didnt like the way they got their goals tonight. "But we had more lines going than weve had this whole series. We spent a lot of time in the offensive zone, but if you hit posts and miss open nets. . . Youve got to bury those chances. Tonight they came back to haunt us." Asked what he expects from game 7, Julien said: "I expect us to win." When Montreal coach Michel Therrien was asked the same question, he said: "Anything can happen in a Game 7. Thats the beauty of it." The TD Garden crowd in Boston is especially hostile to Subban, but the flashy Canadiens defenceman denied feeding off it even if he has had some big moments in that rink, including a late goal in a 4-2 loss in Game 5 on Saturday.dddddddddddd. "I dont give them that credit," he said. "I go and play the game. "I play to win, I dont care whos there. I dont care if theres nobody in the stands. Im going there to win. Its irrelevant to me. I hope that its a hostile environment. It makes it all better." Montreals big move was to bring 21-year-old Beaulieu in to replace the slow-footed Douglas Murray on the third defence pair. The teams 2011 first-round draft pick responded to his first-career NHL playoff start with an assist and a plus-2 performance in only 9:36 of ice time. "I never played at a pace like that before," he said. "It was incredible. It was good to get the first period under my belt and I felt I settled down after that." Montreal busted out of the gate after a rousing pre-game show and the teams played at a frantic pace through the first two periods. Despite having the best of the play in the opening 20 minutes, the Canadiens needed a freak play for the only goal. Kevan Miller lost the puck off his stick behind the Boston net and then inadvertently tripped goalie Tuukka Rask as he tried to smother it, leaving Eller free to score unassisted 2:11 into the game. Beaulieu flipped the puck up the centre of the ice and saw it go off Loui Eriksson to Pacioretty, who won a race with Zdeno Chara and beat Rask between the pads at 15:24. Pacioretty kept a puck alive with his feet amidst a crowd in front of Rask during a power play and saw the puck slide to Vanek for a shot into an open side at 17:39. The Bruins came close at 11:05 of the third when a Chara shot went off Price and dropped behind him, but with Jarome Iginla digging in the crease David Desharnais was on his knees to stop the puck with his stick just as it had almost crossed the goal-line. The no-goal call stood up to video review. There were some nasty moments near the end, including a clash that saw Montreals Andrei Markov jab his stick between Charas legs. Chara, Iginla and Weaver were assessed penalties when the skirmish ended. In Game 5, Bostons Shawn Thornton got fined for squirting water from the bench at Subban. Julien said it wasnt all his teams fault this time. "Were perceived as the bad guys and theyre the good guys," he said. "When Markov trips Chara and then puts his stick between his legs and nothings going to be called, eventually somebodys going to react. "Whether its right or wrong. Zdeno reacted and then everything else started. There was a slew foot before, Desharnais on (Brad) Marchand. A slew foot. Those are things we keep talking about that are dangerous in our game. "Its a rivalry and theres some things going on on both sides. Im not portraying ourselves as innocent here. Im just saying it takes two teams to tangle and thats what happened." Notes: Daniel Briere returned to the lineup for Travis Moen. . . Eller scored during Beaulieus first career NHL playoff shift, making him plus-1 only 2:11 into the game. . . Boston made no changes. . . Shawn Thornton played his 100th career playoff game. ' ' '