OH, HEY...

So, I'm a little slow this season...

Did I comment on training camp at all? NO. Did I attend just about every single training camp practice? YES.

Did I have anything to say about the preseason? NO. Did I go to both preseason games that took place in HSBC Arena? YES.

Did I critique the clothing choices of our boys on the Red Carpet? NO. Did I attend said event, camera in hand, firmly planted at the edge of the carpet? YES.

Have I said anything at all about the season thus far? NO. Have I seen every single Sabres game thus far? YES.

Basically, WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?

Since I've already missed so much, as far as SC is concerned, I'm just going to jump right in and pretend that I've been blogging all along. Is that okay with you? Well, it had better be. I have a list of things to address.

First of all, Daniel Paille.

(Insert a rant from yours truly, because I had a few long, strongly worded yet deeply emotional paragraphs written, and then Safari decided to quit on me without Blogger having saved said writing.)

My dear friend Kelsey and I were in Pittsburgh for the Pens/Blues game when we got the news. And let me tell you, I FREAKED. We were eating dinner at a pizza place downtown when he heard about Stafford's tweet, and I was frantically trying to find out who was no longer a Sabre for TWO HOURS until we were sitting in our seats in the Igloo when Kim had the decency to call me and enlighten me.

My initial reaction? "NO! They can't trade Pie! He just got married! Now I can't run into Dan and Dana at Wegmans." :(

But really, I'm happy for Danny. He deserved to play night in and night out, and that wasn't happening here. So for that reason, I approve of the trade. Otherwise, I'm pissed that he went to a division rival, and livid that we received next to nothing for him. I don't know how to feel about this, Darcy...

Moving on.

Next up, Derek Roy.

Do I really have to dust off the wheels of the Bench-Derek-Roy-Bandwagon already? WE HAVEN'T BEEN PLAYING FOR A MONTH YET, D. I shouldn't be this mad at you already. I mean, 8 assists in 11 games isn't much to sneeze at, but really? NO GOALS?!?!? Come on, Princess. Kyle expects better from you.

And I will bring back the bandwagon if you don't have a goal before Game 15. In full-force. Yes, Derek... That's a promise AND a threat.

Thirdly, Patrick Kaleta.

Who lit a fire under his ass?! I mean, seriously! For a hot minute there, the kid was at the top of our score sheet! Don't get me wrong; I love every bit of it! But Patty K! I didn't make a ridiculous trade to get you on my fantasy team for you to stop hitting people so much. Your numbers in that column are so pedestrian. Step it up a little bit, babe. Please. Otherwise, keep up the fabulous work!

Oh boy, oh boy... Who's next? OH! Tyler Freaking Myers!

This "mammoth" never ceases to bring a smile to my face! Whether it's his spectacular manners (momma raised the boy right!) , or how impressed I am with his play, I'm beyond glad that the Sabres decided to keep him.

Timmy needs to be taught some manners, you know?

Now, Mike Grier.

I honestly believe that Mike Grier was the majority of the spark behind the teams that almost went all the way back in 2006 and 2007. The visible heart in the Sabres' game is so much different that anything we have seen the past two years, and it all came as soon as Grier was back in the locker room.

Look at the way Briere exploded when he came to Buffalo. Notice how Clarke MacArthur is coming around? Maybe it's just a coincidence, maybe it's not. I'm thinking the latter.

Imagine how we could be if we had Chris Drury still... But! I'm not going there...

Lastly, Jason Pominville.

Yes, yes, I'm glad his game appears to be returning to what it was the season before last, when he played well, but that's not what I want to talk about at all.

BABY POMMER!!! So the baby was born over the weekend, and that's all we know. Believe me, I fully intend on using my connections at the different area hospitals and cashing in favors to have my friends sneak up to the nurseries and look for Pommer and Kim's adorable spawn. (Not really, of course, but I'm tempted.)

Seriously though, I would probably have to kill myself if they ever dress that baby in a little sailor outfit, because the kid is most likely just too cute naked. That would just be overkill.


I think that's about all I had wanted to discuss... You know, the finer points of the first month of the season that normally I'd have rambled on and on about.

All we can do is hope that the Sabres can roll with the punches and stay atop the division. The way they bounce back Wednesday will show a lot, especially since we play the same Islanders team that threw us out of the Nassau Coliseum on Saturday. Hopefully, since Kaleta and Gaustad should be back, there'll be a little more attitude on the Sabres' bench.

TAKING A BITE OUT OF THE SHARKS

(Anne, that title is for you, by the way.)

So I had this whole big spiel I was going to go through about how much a Sabres' win would mean to this city, but right now, I'm ecstatic.

My emotions have been running on low for the past 24 hours, and to be honest, I didn't think I could feel much worse after learning about the crash of Flight 3407.

But, wow. Just, wow.

This game was absolutely fantastic!!!

I don't really have a ton of coherant thoughts for the game, but, rather, just some quips:

- Derek Roy is incredibly attractive when he's being all feisty and starting trouble with the other players and mouthing off. idk why, but he is.

- Derek also scored his 100th career goal, on the same goal that Drew Stafford notched his 100th career point. Who gets to keep the puck? I think Roy should get it... Goals are cooler than points.

- It's about time Jason Pominville nets a goal! I really think this is where he'll turn it around... And that shootout goal he had was mighty fine.

- Nathan Gerbe's play has been nothing short of foxy since he stepped foot on the ice at HSBC Arena, the Portland game included. I'm so glad he's in the blue and gold. I can't tell you how many times tonight I was wowed by his effort, his determination, and his heart. And when he had that knee-on-knee scare in overtime, I think I almost died a bit.

- Craig Rivet is my new hero. I don't care what Derek says, and I don't care about the age difference; I love him. He was just way too cute when he and the other guys were jumping around after Pommer's goal. I just love him.

- Roy had an adorable little fist pump... thing... after his shootout goal.

- I honestly thought Danny Paille scored Spacek's goal, and I really wish that he had. He did play very well, though, in his first game back, in my opinion at least.

- Did I mention that we beat the San Jose Sharks, arguably the best team in the league?

- Did I also mention that we, who are in 8th place in the East, are 2 points behind the Rangers, who are in 4th place in the East? Oh, and also that we've played them twice thus far this season, and we won both of those games?

- Looks like Lindy's method of working the power play all practice long yesterday payed off, as we went 3-for-6? As in 50%?? Let's do that more often, okay boys?

- I seem to like to refer to the Sabres as "we." Like I'm part of the team. Sweet.

- I saw Caroline (of Hockey Night in Buffalo) on TV after Pominville's game-tying goal!!

- I'm really, really, really happy about this win.

Okay. I'm going to watch Friday Night Lights (don't judge me), and go to bed, as I'm working alllll day tomorrow, 7 am to 11:30 pm. Woo. Exciting stuff.

Happy Valentine's Day friends, and same to the Sabres. =]

xoxo

SUNDAY SHENANIGANS.

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"WAY TO HIT THE GLASS"

Ugh, so my perfect evening was ruined because of some dumb waitress at Chili's. She took forever to bring us TWO APPETIZERS. Two orders of boneless wings should not take half an hour.

MISS WAITRESS LADY?? I FORGET YOUR NAME, BUT YOU DIDN'T DESERVE YOUR $3 TIP. WE SAW YOU ONCE, AND WHAT'S WORSE, YOU MADE ME MISS WARMUPS. I CAN NEVER FORGIVE YOU FOR THAT.

Okay, now that I've got that out of my system...

So I must say, sitting in the front row--in the corner--is very, very exciting, especially when the Sabres win.

Brittany and I weren't prepared for just how nerve-wracking it can be to see two 200-pound men skating quickly towards you, with only a piece of glass to stop them. It's actually downright scary.

Quick hits from the game:

- Pommers got hit right in front of us. WHY JASON? Why couldn't someone flatten Lecavalier right there, or something?

- The delay-of-game call on Miller was COMPLETE bull shit. I was sitting ten feet away from Miller and could clearly see him catch the puck, then proceed to wave his closed glove in the air for the refs to see. I don't care what anyone says, Miller is on the shit list of the refs, along with Roy and Kaleta. Hell, throw everyone wearing blue and gold up on there, as well.

- Ditto for the "boarding" call.

- The guy behind us called Jaro "Space Station." That was pretty good.

- Thomas Vanek is a sexy beast. Enough said.

- Nathan Gerbe is extremely impressive. I've said it before (I think): It's one thing to watch him on TV and say, "Yeah, he's good," or "Yeah, he's really fast," but you have no idea until you've seen him play in person. He's fantastic. I will say this, though: He looked good last night, but this is nothing like what he can play. When I saw him up in Portland, I was completely blown away. And that doesn't happen much...

- Goose and Mair are also sexy beasts. I love the picture of Paul on the front of TBN's Sports section today. Hahaa.... Sauce from the Goose. I love it.

- What's with the no-call when Derek got his lip cut open??

(I love how this is all ADD-ish, and not in order of anything that really happened in the game...)

- Britt's boyfriend texted us at one point and told us that we weren't hitting the glass enough. Mostly because she braced herself every time the players skated towards us, and I guess maybe he watched us, and saw her sit all the way back.

- He then texted us and said that the guy sitting next to us looked like a snowman. Our response? "It's Frosty, duhhhhhh." He did on TV, though. White hat and a white long sleeve T on a big man? Yep.

(Derek is late calling up Kiss again... He's so unreliable...)

- Back to Miller's penalty, I'm really proud of the guys for killing off that two-minute two-man. Kudos.

- Steven Stamkos looks like Luke's friend Nick, so we proceeded to call him that for the rest of the night.

- There was a guy sitting right behind us that looked like he could be our friend Tom's twin.

Ohhhh, well I can't really remember much else. I'm blogging, listening to the radio, and reading the newspaper at the same time right now. Multi-tasking is something I can usually do well, but it's not really working for me this morning. I have to do it, though, because in about an hour, I have to head out for Canada, as I have an interview for my Nexus pass at 11 am.

This was the best picture I found from the night:


I <3 THE GERBE DERBY!!

Oh, and Britt and I were in a couple pictures from Getty, as well:


AHHHH he scored on that one. And then my hand hurt really bad. I usually can take a lot of pain, but I didn't think that hitting plexiglass repeatedly would hurt that much...


I don't like this picture. (A), because I look stupid, and (B) because Pommer had just been smooshed right in front of me, and (C) you don't mess with my Pommer.

Alright, well I don't think Derek's woken up yet. So I'm going to go get ready, and if Derek ever decides to call, I'll update you on his ridiculousness.

Jason's Birthday Weekend Couldn't Get Worse.

Okay, well, maybe if the Sabres had lost on Friday, it could've, but they didn't, thankfully.

I'm not even going to talk about the depressing game the Sabes played on Saturday, and I don't even want to think about the stupid Bills game that Kim and I sat out in the rain for. EPIC FAILS ALL AROUND.

And how is it that my favorites from both teams end up with phantom groin injuries??? Just when they're playing poorly??

I'm too frustrated in my teams, and the fact that I messed up the cookies I was baking yesterday (I put in 5 cups of flour instead of 2.5. Go me.), just repels me from blogging this evening.

So Kim and I are going to go put some comfy, warm, and dry clothes on, eat some spaghetti, and play Guitar Hero World Tour some more. Not that playing from 11 pm last night until 4 in the morning wasn't enough, or anything.

BUT HAPPY BIRTHDAY JASON POMINVILLE!!!!! WE LOVE YOU!!!!



We'll return tomorrow morning to our regularly-scheduled Sabres-fanatical blogging.

And believe me... It'll be worth it.

Life, Jaroslav's Eating Habits, and Unanswered Questions

Here's the part where I complain about my personal life for a moment:

Okay, so we all know that I don't have the most glamorous job around--I change the diapers of the elderly, bathe them, and put them in bed. Not that spectacular, and pretty smelly, which is why I don't often go out after work. At least, if I do, I shower first, which means I don't go out until 1 am, which, in Buffalo, is not late at all, but still...

ANYWAYS, because I had to work last night, and then told a coworker that I'd cover her overnight shift, I couldn't go shopping this morning. I mean, not that I can really afford to spend my money unnecessarily, or anything... But I love shopping, and Black Friday shopping is like, the most fun ever.

So I'm a little bummed that I didn't get to go shopping, and now I'm running on four hours of sleep, and about to get ready to head back to work. And my supervisor even had the gall to ask if I'd do another double tonight. NO THANK YOU. I have plans for tomorrow. They're not that exciting, but it's stuff that needs to get done. I have to go to the post office and find a box big enough to fit a Sabres jersey and a container of cookies to send to Andy, I have to make the cookies (which Kim has so kindly offered to assist), clean my room, make preparations for Sunday's Bills/49ers' game, and, oh yeah, WATCH THE SABRES.

And then there's always the Sociology tests that I have to take online by the 17th, and the lab practical I have for Anatomy on Wednesday.

Yuck.

BUT BACK TO MY PURPOSE IN LIFE, TALKING ABOUT THE SABRES.

All of these videos about the boys and their Thanksgivings are just adorable.

I love how Patty's mom lays down the law and gives him a time to be at the 'rents house by. I also love how Jason got that sheepish smile when talking about Thanksgiving (which I think is extra cute because he still celebrates it even though his American mother and himself have lived in Canada for how long?), and how Jaro talks about his abilities to cook foul, when we all know all he really does is bite the head off, Ozzy Osbourne style. And I especially like his name pronunciation correction during the Sabres show (it's right after the commercial).



I really think that I adore that man.

In other news, I'm really hoping Tommy is okay. Because the more effect Milan Lucic is having on this team, the less I like him, and the more inclined I am to hurting him. And I really don't feel like going to jail anytime soon, so Tommy had best be alright. If he wants to sit out tonight, fine, okay. But not tomorrow. We need him tomorrow more than tonight, because, when it comes down to getting into the playoffs down the stretch, we'll need divisional points more than conference points. Therefore, Montreal on Saturday is more important.

Plus, once Al comes back healthy, who sits? Danny's supposed to be playing, so I don't necessarily see him sitting anytime soon, and I don't see the Sabres sending Mancari down in the near future. Well, at least they wouldn't have any legit reason for doing so...

OH!! And to the person who found us by searching for this:



I give you your answer. Also someone found this by searching for "Adam Cari Miller." What, did I all of a sudden marry Ryan Miller, and now we have a son named Adam? And no, for another person's inquiring mind, I do not know the colors of the Sabres' respective bedrooms, I do not love Maria Genero, I don't want to ship Derek off to Maine, I'm not friends with Garnet Exelby on Facebook, I've never seen Daniel Briere shirtless (nor do I want to), and I'm not going to trash talk Marky Mark's beautiful girlfriend. If you want to do that, and I suggest and beg that you don't, go over to those trashy forums. Because I don't have vendettas against the girls that the guys I love decided to go out with. I'm not a jealous bitch, so you've got no business being here if you want that (Can you tell that I can't stand those forums, no matter how addicting they are??).

Well, kids, I have to go get ready for work. Thankfully, though, the nurse I work with is awesome and likes the Sabres, too, so I never miss a game while I'm there. I'll post after the game if there's something good to talk about.

What to say, what to say?

Well, I know I'm not going to say anything about that catastrophic kick that almost made me commit suicide during the Bills game.

Besides, why should I talk about that when there is a new Sabres injury to discuss? What injury is that, might you ask?

OH, ONLY DEREK ROY'S GROIN PULL.

Or his yeast infection, as my father said. I think that's pushing the envelope, myself. We say he's gay, or metro-sexual... Not transsexual. He's so harsh to my guys...

But anyways, I suggested to my mother that I make him some cookies, and this time I was deadly serious. I have an excuse to be in the area of his townhouse, since two of my good friends works in the office building about 500 feet away from his doorstep, and another friend is working on the construction of an apartment building going up across the street. SO IT'S ENTIRELY PLAUSIBLE THAT I REALLY AM "JUST IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD." Alas, my mother, since she had seen the infamous picture, reasoned that, because D's getting chunky, or was chunky, maybe some tofu brownies would be a better idea.

I don't like tofu, though, so unless Derek misses any games, he's not getting anything from me.

MJ gave me a good laugh, yesterday, though. When I found out that Derek was hurt, or at least missed practice, I texted her about it, and this was her response:

Oh no not princess d!! They are all falling apart on me!!

Okay, first of all, it rhymes. But she called him Princess D!! I love it!!! MJ, you're my heroine.


On another note, I found that car dealerships in Western New York are allowing people like me crazy fan-girls to find the Sabres a little bit more easily, these days...

Take, for example, DeLacy Ford:



And, for Exhibit B, I present, from Autoplace Nissan, via an internet dealer:



(That car that Paul now drives is an Infiniti FX35. Nice cars...)

I found the one of Paul when I was searching for a commercial that Kim saw, in which Paul was doing a Jason Pominville-esque promotion. That was the only thing returned to me. So then I ventured over to DeLacy's website to find some stuff about Jason, and I found some wonderful pictures....


Oh, and Ryan Miller is going to do the ceremonial lighting of the Christmas tree at Rotary Rink on Sunday at 5 pm. I saw something somewhere (maybe in the paper this morning?) that it's $100 per ticket... That's a bit steep, if you ask me, to watch a good looking guy throw a switch. Whatever, though, because I don't get to see it because I'll be at work. What a shame...


But that's about all the Sabres stuff I could dig up for today. Enjoy the snow!!

Ummm...Holy Crap?!?!?!

So let me just say that I have never been more proud of the Sabres then I am at this moment, if I was a mother hen, I'm pretty sure my chest feathers would be all puffed out in pride. The Sabres were absolutely amazing they skated so fast that first period I think I was getting whiplash just from watching them. I could have sworn that the entire Devils team was standing still for 30 of those 60 minutes. Twenty shots and they had to wait until the dying seconds to get a goal in the first period but hey it was still a goal who am I to look a gift horse in the mouth?

And of course tonight was the return of Craig Rivet to the line up, completely ahead of schedule which surprised everyone including me, but once again, gift horse and mouth equals me not looking.

Did anyone else giggle every time the announcers said Johnny Oduya, because I did, it's just so hard to take him seriously with that last name. Maybe it was just me I have a twisted sense of humor.

I was very disappointed to find out when I got home that the game was on Versus because we all know that the announcers on that channel are a bunch of morons, a bunch of very dumb, very stupid morons who don't have a clue as to what the hell they're talking about. However, watching a game on Versus is entertaining if nothing else. Seriously, I only listen to them to see what kind of stupid ass analogies they can come up with during the games. We all know the usual ones such as:

• The cage is actually the net, luckily they only said it a handful of times which is down from the usual hundred.
• The paint is the crease.
• A drive is a shot.

Tonight the morons came up with some spectacularly bad sayings that completely bear repeating.

When Gaustad got into that small scuffle near the beginning of the game they called him "a large human" well no duh.

When Vanek got the call for hooking one of the announcers claimed that it was "fondling with the stick" which can be taken in so many ways most of them nasty.

When Gaustad was screening Weekes they said "try looking through that humanity."

Buffalo had 20 shots against the Devils in the first period and "It's been a mastadonic performance" were the words of choice to describe this phenomenon.

"He was gased" when one of the Devils players looked tired.

"He got that one off the drive by" as in Kaleta when he tipped the puck into the net for the goal from 20 feet out.

"He almost got that one in the grill" when they were describing why most guys don't like to be positioned in front of the net.

And they kept talking about yardage, uh, hello, we're not playing football here.

Those are about all that I caught, but seriously where do they get these guys? I'm sure if you handed Cari and I a microphone we could do a much better job. Hell, I'm sure a trained monkey could do a better job, maybe even an untrained monkey.

Timmy Connolly was skating to the net without a helmet on and I thought "this is it the next thing I'm going to see is him being taken off the ice on a stretcher because all the bones in his body are now broken."

We took 6 penalties in a row, are you kidding me? But then again we managed to kill all of them off, yay for special teams, you all deserve big cookies.

Plus how cool was it that Miller got two consecutive shutouts the first of his career and the first time that has happened in Buffalo since Marty had 3 in a row in the 02-03 season.

Goals tonight went to Pominville (which now has another resident) who got his 4th and Patty K. who got his 1st.

My Three Stars:

3. Pominville for obvious reasons.

2. Kaleta because not only can the guy draw penalties but he can score as well, on the drive by of course.

1. And tah-dah, Miller as my first star because the man is just a beast and let's face it without him we'd probably be behind the Islanders in the standings.

We'll that's about it, next time you hear from me will probably be when I'm in Boston but if not talk to you all on the flip side.

Oh and did anyone happen to see the cute little happy dance that Lalime did while congratulating Miller out on the ice after the win? Adorable, enough said.

Length of Game: 60 minutes
Goals Scored Against The Devils: 2
Goals Scored Against The Sabres: 0
Watching Patrick Lalime Dance Like A Little Girl: Priceless

QUICK, LIKE MAXIM AFINOGENOV

Okay, Max actually has nothing to do with this post, but seeing as I just came home from work, and I plan on sleeping all day have waaaaay too much to do today, I'm posting just as fast as that adorable Russian can go from end to end, unobstructed, of course.

THE GAME LAST NIGHT WAS EXACTLY WHAT I HAD ASKED FOR.

Derek scored, and I totally knew cleaning my room would make him, because he scored his other goal the day I cleaned too.  So I (partially) cleaned it yesterday.  Mainly, I just threw a lot of stuff out and took some clothes over to Plato's Closet to get some money.  And Jason scored too!!  Way to show up after Coach calls you out.  Nice.  And Tommy's two goals were fantastic.  Now on pace for 82!!

Tim Connolly played!!  And didn't die!!  I was so happy!  And he got an assist, and did quite well otherwise.  I'm so proud that he didn't break a nail or stub his toe or something ridiculous like that and sideline himself for another 20 years.  I have to say, though, he did give me a scare at one point when he took a shot to the foot or the leg, or some other body part necessary to playing hockey, and he kinda gingerly skated around.  And every time he went through the neutral zone with the puck, I cringed and held my breath, expecting this to happen again Peter Schaefer to make an attempt on his life (I was going to link it up, I swear, but I don't have the patience or the energy to deal with YouTube at the moment).

Ryan Miller's play and playlist were bad-ass.  Enough said.

Um, and speaking of playlists, last night I totally had another shot of Derek + Cari = Fate, beside the whole goal thing.  Right after the game, I was walking out the door to go to work, and Derek's being interviewed on TV.  I drive to Tanlines Xtreme, so I don't look like a ghost, and as soon as I pull in the parking lot, Derek's on the radio.  And then I get tanning booth #9!!  But just wait, it gets better....

These were the first two songs to play in the booth.  Fabu-freaking-lous.

So that's what I have to say.  I'm going to bed now, seeing as I've slept for four of the past 48 hours.  Yuck; no, thank you.

(And what's even worse is that I had to work nine hours instead of eight because of Daylight Savings Time, but I don't get paid for the extra hour because of some scheduling policy that says the extra hour doesn't get paid out because in the spring the shift is seven hours, so it balances out.  Well not for me!!  I think I should have Patty K go over and beat my $16.50 out of have a little chat with my scheduling clerk.)

I've got nothing.

I have nothing to say about the pitiful loss to the Lightning. Nothing at all. Except this: Drew, maybe I really did need to bake you a cake. Maybe you would've had more incentive to play. But I don't know about the rest of the team... Maybe they expected cupcakes, or something. I guess I'll have to try again with Jason's birthday...

Anyways, I have to say that MJ's post today is fantastic! You should all go read today's installment of My Safety is Harvard. Now. But then come back, because I have some pictures to show you:

Thomas Vanek. Wow. He does pull Dumb and Dumber off well, though.


I think Paul took my flapper idea too far... Though, the balloons are a nice touch.


Pat looks like he's trying to be... Well, I don't know exactly.


Clarke is going as the winner of Pretty, Pretty Princess.


Mark's friend makes a nice, cute fairy princess, and Mark is Pippy Longstockings.


Stefan is a very sexy hula dancer. The hair is incredible.


Nathan wears that headdress nicely.


Jason's dressed as a very flamboyant member of Buffalo's Fire Department.

That's all I've got. And those are all stretches (except for Vanek's) because they're actually from the Amerks at Your Service Dinners, but whatever. They serve my purpose. And since you've all seen this picture, I couldn't very well use it:


I do like Vanek's, um, stance as he impersonates Lance Armstrong, and Paul's exposure of his legs as John McEnroe. Very nice, boys... Very nice.


And really, if you haven't read MJ's post yet like I told you do, do it now. You won't regret it.

Happy Halloween!!

THAT WAS A "WILD AND WOOLEY ONE!!" <3 Rick Jeanneret

FINAL SCORE:

Sabres 7

Islanders 1

This little portion of this post has nothing to do with today's game, but to my delight, when I came home from running errands, I found these on my dining room table:

If you can't read them, they're tickets to the November 8th game in Boston.  Kim and I are road-tripping up there, and up to Portland for a game.  =]  11TH ROW!!!  Serious TV possibilities...

PRE-GAME

-  Lalime is in net tonight; Ruff says Miller will play Wednesday in New York (Rangers).  Good.  Ruff's learning.

-  And Rick DiPietro isn't playing.  Shucks.

-  Some of the guys were eating spaghetti for breakfast.

-  The Geico gecko is at the game.  (It's Kid's Day)

FIRST PERIOD

20:00  Poor Ryan has to sit all by himself in the Zamboni entrance.  I'll sit with him.  And he's wearing a beanie.

16:00  I love when Rick's voice cracks.  And so far, this game has been kinda boring.  =/

13:31  Derek Roy is a beast.  He took on 4 Islanders, dumped the puck in, and recovered it.  Then had a decent shot on goal.  This is why I love him.

9:51  Power play goal by Jochen Hecht!!!!!!!  Nice goal, from the side of the net, using the goalie as a means of banking the puck in. 1-0 Buffalo.

6:22  Mike Comrie is a joke.  Jumping Henrik in retaliation...  I guess it was a little bit of an iffy hit, but that doesn't warrant cross-checking and slashing him, and then punching him with a glove on.  4 minute power play!!

2:19  ANOTHER blown 4 minute power play.  Lindy needs to do more work with the PP, and yes, I know Jochen just got a PP goal.

0:00  1-0 Buffalo.  Shots:  13-7 in favor of Buffalo

SECOND PERIOD

18:46  Lalime poke check!  I love a good poke check...

17:38  ADAM MAIRRRRR!!!!  Yay!  Way to go to the net!!  2-0 Buffalo.

17:12  Rick just said Jochen went to the dressing room at the last whistle...  And Derek looked pissed off at himself for missing a wide-open net.  I'm pissed too, Derek.

13:00 Daniel Paille (BEAST) and Thomas Vanek are my heroes!!!  Vanek scores shorthanded.  3-0 Buffalo.

11:21  The Population of Pominville is now 1!!!!  4-0 Buffalo.

11:17  FIGHT!!!!  Rivet's in the middle of it; I couldn't tell what happened to him but Mair jumped someone because he did something to Rivet (I think).  "He's eating him up!" according to Rick.  And Pat just body-slammed Witt!  LOVE!  "It's a wild and wooley one!"  And now Lindy is screaming at the Islander's bench.  Remember what Lindy does when he argues with the other bench?  I do.  That was awesome!  =]  "There's room on the bench for Ryan Miller if he wants to go over there."  PENALTIES:  Rivet get 5 minutes, and 2 game misconducts, Kaleta got a 5 and a 10, and Mair got 5.  Bergenehim got 5 and a game, same with Witt, and Thompson got a 5.  Put it all together?  80 minutes.  From one fight.  Talk about old time hockey.

10:40  Danny Paille beats out an Islander to cancel out an icing for the second time this afternoon.  Again, Beast.

9:28  Another puck banked off MacDonald for Vanek's second of the night!  And another PPG, at that.  5-0 Buffalo.

8:30  Injury Update:  Jochen Hecht's return is questionable, due to an upper body injury.  Great.

7:30  Derek jumps over someone to drive to the net with the puck.  Too bad MacDonald managed to stop that one.

3:14  Jaro got a delay of game penalty for shooting the puck over the glass.  I despise that penalty.  2:1 rush for Derek and Jason; no results.

2:00  Danny Paille possibly hurt?  Hobbled, in the least...

0:51  5:3 power play coming up!!  Haha, Comrie, you fool.  I love you.  And when I say I love you, I mean I cannot stand you.  And waving a white flag in the penalty box?  Well, there's no room in the NHL for quitters.  Bye bye.  Haha, they're playing "SOS" by the Jonas Brothers....

0:00  5-0 Buffalo.  Harry:  "The Sabres have the Islanders by the throat, and I don't think they're going to let up in the third."  Shots:  26-15 Buffalo.

THIRD PERIOD

20:00  Because Rivet got 2 game misconducts, he may or may not be suspended for a game...  That's up to the league.  I'll guess we'll have to wait and see.

19:02   Big Al, one-timer, on the power play...  6-0 Buffalo.

14:39  Islanders finally get on the board.  2:1 rush, and Hunter buries it; well, it deflected off of Spacek anyways.  6-1 Buffalo.

14:14  Vanek takes a stupid goaltender interference penalty.  Tommy, you should know better.

9:12  Danny sets up Sparky-Clarkey on a give-and-go.  Yay!!!  7-1 Buffalo.

5:20  Lalime pulls a Hasek and comes flying out of the net, up past the faceoff circle to play the puck.

0:00  7-1 Buffalo.  Shots:  35-24, Buffalo.

What.  A.  Game.  I LOVE THE SABRES!!  I don't have much time to write an elaborate recap because I'm housesitting with Kim, and the house doesn't have wireless capabilities (well, it does, but they forgot the password), so I have to post before I go over there.  And I'm going over there in about 15 minutes.  SO!  Wow.  We were physical, smart, consistent, solid, and mentally-prepared and aware.  AND OUT POWER PLAY WORKED!!  I'm so proud!  And to top it all off, Mike Comrie made a fool of himself.  It couldn't be better.  And it truly says something about a team when 14 different players get on the score sheet (see below for details).

1st Star  :  Thomas Vanek / Adam Mair

Tommy makes his case by scoring 2 goals and stepping it up on the special teams, scoring on both the power play and while shorthanded.  Adam kicked ass in that fight, and netted the game winner.

2nd Star  :  Jason Pominville / Ales Kotalik

Both guys had a goal and 2 assists, and Al's goal on the power play boosted the team.

3rd Star  :  Patrick Lalime

Way to step in and be solid in your first game in the blue and gold.  Keep it up!  Plus, I quote:  "The guys played a hell of a game!"

Islanders' Star  :  Rick DiPietro

He's the only guy on that team that can't be held accountable for this catastrophe.

Stats

For a complete list, go here, but like I said:  14 guys got on the scoresheet for Buffalo:

Vanek (2-0)

Kotalik (1-2)

Pominville (1-2)

Hecht (1-1)

MacArthur (1-0)

Mair (1-0)

Afinogenov (0-2)

Paille (0-2)

Numminen (0-1)

Rivet (0-1)

Roy (0-1)

Sekera (0-1)

Spacek (0-1)

Tallinder (0-1)

Rivet's status for Wednesday's game is up in the air, although the guys seem to think nothing will come of his 2 game misconducts.  Hecht, however, will be out for a little bit of time, according to Ruff, with an upper body injury.  More details to come with that, I'm sure.  Again, a great game.  I love these guys...

Buying into the System

I'll admit that while I was bubbling over with joy and excitement and anticipation in the moments leading up to 7:30 last night, I was extremely skeptical as well.

Montreal, as a team, scares me.  We never seem to beat them when we need to, and there was always the chance of the inevitable overtime and shootout, in which, last season, we never seemed to come out on top.  But hey!!  I can be wrong sometimes.  And I'll be the first to admit that when it comes to the Sabres.  And I could not be happier that I was wrong yesterday.

That being said, this post is by no means whatsoever a serious post about last night's game.  If you want that, read this.  This is just my normal ramblings about Sabres life in general, everything I'm used to.  Let us begin:

Player Tunes  :  Jason Pominville

Jason, like Anne said, I'm a bit disappointed that Les Cowboys Fringants didn't make the cut this time around.  And you do seem to have a love affair with Kanye West this fall, but there's nothing wrong with that.  I do, however, have a problem with your lack of Jonas Brothers, because like I said before, I can see you driving around in your Expedition, rocking the aviators, breaking it down to "Burnin' Up," and crooning your passengers when "Love Bug" plays.  Sad.  Overall, good playlist, though.

Dear Tim Connolly,

A hairline fracture?  Really?  I should've known something would keep you out of the game.  I should have known.  At first, I thought that maybe I jinxed you when I got home and put your jersey on.  But then I realized that putting faith in you, and hoping against hope that you'd have a decent, injury-free year is a lot to ask.  And Tim, as much as I've loved you since the day your curly-haired, polo-shirt-wearing, nervous self had your introductory Sabres press conference with Taylor Pyatt way back in the day, AND THAT'S A LOT, trust me, I just can't bring myself to get past the idea that you truly are injured.  Now, I'm not saying that you're faking, I just find it a little hard to believe that after a week, you're not absolutely 100% like you said, but instead, you're on the shelf, for possibly a week.  What gives, Tim?  What gives?  Please explain this to me, because I'll be the first to jump back on the Tim Connolly bandwagon.  In fact, I'm only one foot off right now, because when I fall for a player, I fall hard.  Take that from Brian Holzinger, Jay McKee, Marty Biron, and Brian Campbell, all of whom I still love and hold dear in my heart.  So you'll always be there with them.  It's just a question of how I remember you.  So, please, Tim, I'm begging you:  Prove me wrong.  Love, Cari.

Home is Where Al's Heart Is

Now, I'm not saying that Al doesn't love being in Buffalo, because he does.  But honestly, how can you not go "awwww" when a grown man, let alone one of Ales Kotalik's size, stature, and talent, says he gets homesick?  That's just adorable.  On the Sabres Show yesterday, Maria Genero did a spot with Al, interviewing him over a game of pool at the Pearl Street Grille and Brewery.  He admitted that he fits the European stereotype of liking fashion, and it was made known that he has his own line of hats and headwear.  I want to see these hats.  He also revealed that his mother is a school teacher, his father is a dentist, and his older brother Adam is a TV analyst (I believe that's what they said).  And while he loves the steakhouses here, but hates eggs.  He never eats them in any way, shape, or form.  His favorite movie is "Pulp Fiction," and the person he most wants to meet is Quentin Tarantino.  Oh, and Derek was wrong; Al does have a special lady friend.  "But she's not a Buffalo girl; she's Czech."  They've been dating for three years.  Cute.

Teppo's Heart Surgery

I still can honestly say that I think Teppo Numminen is the most adorable and the most awe-worthy guy on the roster whenever I hear him say that he thinks it's funny that he's 40 and teams are still calling him.  And he always says it with that adorable, sheepish smile he always has on his face.  And what makes me like him and Craig even more is what Craig said about him:  "Teppo's my biggest surprise, coming out of camp."  Okay, Craig, I love you too.

Okay, I lied.  One thing I have to say about the game last night was in response to Derek's hooking penalty.  Now, Kim and I--I don't know where we got this, but it's now our saying--whenever a player we really like gets a hooking penalty, say this, so I have to share it with you.  Derek Roy is a hooker, right?  Well, he can stand on my corner anytime he wants.  =]

And I was in heaven this morning because there were four, COUNT 'EM:  4, articles about the Sabres in the Buffalo News this morning.  I love hockey season!  And Bucky Gleason's article was happy, and cheerful, and positive!  What is this world coming to?

More tomorrow.

The New Captain

INTRODUCING THE NEW CAPTAIN OF THE BUFFALO SABRES:

CRAIG RIVET

This is quite the surprising choice, I don't think anyone expected him, a newcomer, to be named captain. But actually in my opinion I think it is a good choice, he's got a lot of experience, he's one of the older guys on the team and he was an alternate captain in San Jose. I know most people will probably be unhappy with the choice and probably would have preferred the captaincy to go to someone who had been with the team longer but hey at least it's not rotating captaincy. I think I speak for Cari and I that nothing drove us crazier than trying to remember who was captain in a certain month. Read all about Lindy's choice here.

The alternatives and these come as no surprise are Jochen Hecht, Jaroslav Spacek, Jason Pominville and Teppo Numminen, according to Lindy Ruff two will wear the A's on the road and two will wear the A's at home. Sort of like the cocaptaincy with Drury and Briere one was captain at home and one was captain on the road.

I think having one captain is the best for everyone they now can look to one person for guidance and will be able to focus more on the game than worrying about who was going to wear the C the next month. I'm happy for Craig Rivet and I'm sure he will bring some much needed wisdom and experience to a relatively young team.

Well now we can get back to worrying about the season opener which by the way is in approximately 48 HOURS!!!!!

What Defines a "Good-Looking Ear?"

It's not very often that you'll find me ripping on Drew Stafford, because, come on, look at him. How can I rip a guy that cute, with that smirk, who would probably kick my ass despite the fact that I'm a girl.

In the TBN today, there's a snippet about Drew:

Stafford suffered what's termed "cauliflower ear," a common injury among boxers and wrestlers, from a blow during a fight last week in Minnesota. He's had his left ear drained twice and stuffed with bandages.

"It was more a precautionary thing," Stafford said. "I didn't want to have an ear that's looked like I've gone a few rounds. I wanted to make sure I had a decent-looking ear."

Drew, I had no idea you were so vain. But, I suppose since cauliflower ear could potentially look like this:



I'm glad that you took measures to keep yourself looking like this:



Or, better yet, like this:




So, are you like best friends with Sidney now??? Could you maybe possibly slip my phone number into his phone??? That'd be great. Thanks.



A few other off-topic things:

Here's a link to the old, old, old bout between Rob Ray and Craig Rivet. Sorry, Craig, but Rob most definitely got the best of you.

The final roster and captaincy is supposed to be announced today, and I have class. Maybe I'll skip and blog my reactions? And maybe do some shopping? I think that sounds pretty good to me. I mean, it's only nutrition. Not that difficult of a subject.

And Dave and Adam's Card World has a couple notable signings coming up:
Craig Rivet, Tuesday October 28th, 7-9 pm, Transit Road location
Jason Pominville, Wednesday October 29th, 7-9 pm, Sheridan Drive location

Please, please, please! if you plan on going to one of these signings, you absolutely have to go to D&A's website because tickets may or may not be required, and there is a cost involved.

Oh, and please also don't hold it against me, because I was completely ignorant of the autograph session they had with one Nathan Gerbe. SORRRRRYYY. I totally would've gone myself.

'Til later.

Counting Down...Hours...Minutes...Seconds

So there are under 6 hours left until the start of real hockey's return to Buffalo. So it only made the day about 100 times better when I opened my mailbox this afternoon to find the newest issue of The Hockey News waiting for me.

As usual THN has ranked the top twenty players in terms of position based on their projected performance in the coming season and I have to say it's about time that Buffalo players made the grade. Yay Sabres someone finally appreciates you, not that I don't but oh you know what I mean...no it's okay Danny sorry I made you cry I know how sensitive you are...

None of our defensemen made the list but Ryan Miller was ranked number 8 in goalies, so some good news there. It should come as no surprise as to who was ranked first in left wingers, Alex Ovechkin, but the real surprise came futher down at number 8 who is this? Thomas Vanek? okay so here I am thinking this is good news at least two of our players made the list. Number 1 in centers was none other than Sidney Crosby (seriously I was stunned), but much to my apparently unending surpise Derek Roy was number 16th on that list. Could my eyes be deceiving me THREE of our players? It couldn't be four could it? But there it was in black and white Jason Pominville ranked 8th in right wingers. FOUR PLAYERS finally getting the respect they deserve, hell the SABRES getting the respect they deserve.

I thought my happiness was never ending but there THN goes ruining it. They didn't even predict us to make the playoffs giving us the 11th position in the East, they rank 4 of our players in the top twenty in their positions and they don't even have the decency to give us a playoff spot. What kind of messed up crap is that? I don't know but they are going to get a strongly worded letter detailing my displeasure with them, or I'm just going to think very hard about how much I loathe and despise them (I'm not good with confrontation).

In a special section key departures were listed which included, for Buffalo, DMITRI KALININ, seriously, someone actually misses him, I didn't even realize he was gone. If you miss Kalinin raise your hand, anyone, anyone, Bueller, Bueller, yeah that's what I thought. Please, if you miss him let me know so that Cari and I can point and laugh at you, you'll be our entertainment for the week. I admit I'll miss Steve Bernier but Kalinin now there was a one man train wreck.

And this line in the team report sums up the game of hockey:

Ryan Miller realizes in the grand scheme of things, he and his teammates are just a bunch of big kids playing a little kid's game.

Or in the case of some of our players (Tim Kennedy anyone) little kid's playing a little kids game.

The report included more of the same old same old on Miller, the whole team rests on his shoulders, he has to do better if the team hopes to make the playoffs this year, he played too many games last season, yada, yada, yada, blah, blah, blah. Thank you Hockey News for telling us here in Buffalo what we already know.

Also in the team report:

...bounce back seasons by Tim Connolly and Maxim Afinogenov will have the Sabres in the hunt for a playoff spot.

Okay first off this was written before Timmy went MIA so this just made me giggle a little because as Cari has previously reported Timmy is either dead or buried under some blond he's screwing and can't seem to manage getting out from under her in time to go to practice. As for Max as much as I love the man, I can't see this being a bounce back season for him, we've heard for so long that he hasn't reached his potential I'm starting to wonder if he even had it to begin with. I think we should finally realize that the guy is a one trick pony who should be taken out behind the barn and shot or in the best case scenario traded.

I guess we'll see what this season has to offer and it all begins tonight.

Training Camp Worries

So while the Sabres were at the Pepsi Center or the arena until late afternoon, and then I presume a bunch went out to celebrate Pommer's extention, Kim and I were at my house starting production of our 2008-09 homemade Sabres shirts.  (BTW, if anyone wants one, let me know.  I actually got complements on the Amerks ones I made last year buy a woman who worked in their merch store.  I'll put pictures up.)

But then I was thinking, honestly, if you go out and get trashed the night before you're supposed to report for your yearly physicals, I don't think that would turn out too well.  I mean, seriously, who likes having a physical done anyways?  Drinking might make you a little bit more loose, but then you run the possibility of throwing up, or getting a migrane, both of which present as symptoms of a concussion.  So boys, let's not end up like Timmy C and end up sitting out the entire season.  And if you do have a concussion, don't be stupid and lie about it like Drew did.  Please?  Because as much as I hate to see my guys sidelined and in the press box, I'd rather have them there than in a pine box, which is where you'd probably end up if you got checked by, oh, let's say Pat Kaleta.

This is what happens to you when you get concussions.

You make stupid decisions in regards to your appearance,

yet you still get an ample amount of ass.  Go figure.

In other news, I think we've got a few too many players...  I'm kind of hoping that youngins like Clarke MacArthur (who I affectionately call Sparky), Pat Kaleta, Mark Mancari, and Andrej Sekera give a good push for the team, but so many roster spots are filled by my loves, it makes it so difficult for me to comprehend that my boys like Nathan Paetsch and Tim Connolly are sort of on the bubble this year.  Well, I suppose we'll see in a couple weeks whether or not my loves will be in Buffalo or Portland.