UM, WELL, UH, YEAH...

That was pitiful, I asked my mom if I could gnaw off my arm and use the bloody stump to beat myself over the head with, she said no because all the blood might scare the kids who were sitting behind us. Needless to say I was very disappointed with the way the Sabres played tonight, we should have had this game and should have come in with guns blazing. But instead of machine guns and bazookas we were forced to play with water guns or hell those cap guns my brother and I used to play with as kids.

I'm not sure what went wrong because mistakes seemed to come from everywhere, but Patrick Lalime, where have you been all my life. Honestly if it wasn't for him standing on his head for two periods the score would have been at least 5 to 0. Miller was mad that he got pulled, you want to know how I could tell? Maybe the fact that coming in from the first intermission when he saw Lalime in net he took his goalie stick and chucked it down the walkway from the locker room.

I wanted to tell Sekera that he's playing hockey not leap frog with the way he did that tuck and roll over Miller's head in the first period. Well he can look at it this way, if hockey doesn't work out he always has a future as an acrobat in the circus.

I wanted the Sabres to get angry but they sure as hell weren't playing like they were, I wanted to punch someone and I wasn't even one of the players on the ice getting my ass handed to me by a team we should have beaten blind folded and with our collective hands tied behind our backs. We were all over the place, passing was bad because the players refused to watch where they were shooting, for some reason they couldn't seem to keep the puck (when they managed to have possession) on their sticks, they kept hitting the 'Canes defense in the shins with the puck which caused a bunch of unfortunate bouncings allowing the 'Canes offense to regain possession.

One funny part of the game was when Justin Williams from the Hurricanes got hit and stuggled to make it to the bench with what looked like an arm injury. At the same time he was trying to make it to the bench the rest of his teammates on the same line where changing and other player were coming out the door that he was tryin to get through. I sit in the 300 level directly across from the opposing player's bench so that I can look down the hallway that leads to the locker room. Williams' teammates were blocking his way into the bench so that the 'Canes risked a too many men call, Williams yelled at one of these offending teammates "GET THE FUCK OFF THE ICE" which I and I'm sure just about everyone else in the arean could heard loud and clear. After Williams made it onto the bench he took his stick when he was in the hallway and swung it against the floor effectively breaking it in half, yeah he's got some anger issues.

Anyway Happy 30th Birthday Adam Mair, MJ I hope you're baking your future ex-hubby some tofu brownies because after the way the Sabres played tonight, that's about all he and the rest of the team deserve.

ETA: Forgot to mention the guy behind me in the concession stand line was saying that if he were Lindy Ruff he would be throwing and breaking things in the locker room. I turned around and told him that Lindy likes to throw the dry erase markers across the room. He asked me if I was serious and I said yeah because in last years 'What would you get Lindy Ruff for Christmas?' video Tony Lydman said he'd get Ruff some more dry erase markers because Ruff likes to cap and recap them repeatedly when he's talking (usually breaking the caps while doing so) and when he's really angry he throws the markers against the walls. I wish I could find that video somewhere but they never posted it on the Sabres website, it was hysterical some of the answers that the guys gave.

WHERE TO BEGIN?

Okay, so I realize that I've become very neglectful of my dear blog. And I apologize for that.

But I'm trying this new thing for me, where I'm actually going to study regularly on my own time, and not just pay attention in class. That worked out well for me in high school, but I can't say it's doing much the same in college. So, in order to not waste my $354.50 that I had to pay in tuition this semester, I'm actually taking the time to do my reading and take my own notes.

Sad, right?

But school also messed up my blogging schedule. Last semester, my earliest class was at 10, which still left me plenty of time to wake up early, blog, get ready, and then be on my way. This time around? No. I decided that I wanted to get all of my school out of the way so I could have all afternoon and evening to myself. So, being the genius that I am, I made my Tuesday/Thursday schedule so that I go in at 8, and I'm done at 12:15. Wednesdays are a bit tedious, in that my lab starts at 9, but my last class lets out at 3:50.

For that reason, I'm not blogging nearly as much as I used to. I just have too many things on my plate once I get home from school, or I go somewhere... You know how it is. And it's not like I can even blog in between classes, because T/Th, I only have 15 minutes breaks, and Wednesday I have an hour and a half, but that's my lunch time (I only have two classes that day).

And then there's the whole work issue.

I used to be able to blog at work. The past few games I was going to, but out of the 12 patients I have, eight of them decided to come down with the stomach flu this week. Yeah, so I didn't really have time to blog, much less eat my dinner, because they all decided to get violently ill during my down time. Thankfully that wasn't during the Sabres game. Well, no, I actually did miss the first period of the Phoenix game. Kim and my mom were blowing up my phone about Paetsch and ridiculous calls, and I had no clue what they were talking about.

Shame.

So.

I'm back... At least, for the time being.

Thus far, I can't really complain about the west coast trip. Yes, we lost to Calgary, but we also walked all over Edmonton, and won a tough game against Phoenix. I can't really comment on the meat of the games, though, because I was in a stupor during the Oilers game, and at work for the 'yotes. The Flames game, though.. I don't even remember where I was. Well, it was Wednesday, so I guess I was home. But, again, in a stupor.

But what I can say is DAY-YUM.

Don't even get me started on Tim Connolly. I FREAKING LOVE THIS MAN, STD's included. If they've helped to make him the hockey star that he is, I'll take it. He's been absolutely phenomenal the past couple weeks, and I will be absolutely devastated if anything happened to him now. But I did freak out when they were stitching up his lip. All in all, though, he just won't be able to kiss any of the puckbunnies, or anything along those lines.

This, though, was my cousin's Facebook status, in regards to Timmy C:


(Sorry, Shelby... I wasn't knocking Tommy, you know I love him. I just love Timmy more.)

So basically, enough said. Thanks, Todd.

And Nathan Paetsch??

Dang, when did he get so feisty??


I'm not going to lie; I like it.

And Ryan Miller has been so foxy in net, and foxy on his living room couch, and just foxy in general.

Watch this, and you'll see what I mean. It's basically everything that was in the TBN on Sunday, but I just like how cute he looks in the video.

Yeahhh, and Derek's assist one Drew's goal was pretty sexy as well. Just like Drew's play as of late.

Oh, and Patty K, Patty K, PATTY K!!!! Way to cause a ruckus in your first game back! That's why I love you. Oh, and not to mention how adorable you were in your interview:


Who could punch this face??

Oh, wait... Denis Gauthier could. Funny thing, though, is that he's being told to report to a disciplinary hearing with Gary Bettman. Aww, shucks, Denis. Looks like you can't get away with being an asshole forever!

And in other NHL news, Ottawa has *finally* fired their coach. I mean, when did the rumors start for real? I know I wrote about it back in... Oh, wait, nevermind. I can't find it, but I believe it was back in the beginning of January when we doubled up on them, 4-2. Sucks to be you, Craig Hartsburg. But I find sick enjoyment in Ottawa's struggles, myself. I think I'm getting to the point where I hate the Sens more than the Leafs...

Alright, so my plan for this evening is to do some Psychology reading, watch the St. Louis/Detroit game tonight, and then the Sabres game at 10. It might kill me, but I might have to go to bed before the end of the game. I'm not sure if I can run on four hours of sleep again...

I will most definitely be back tomorrow, though. I promise. Even if it is at four in the afternoon. xoxo.

THE WEATHER CAN STAY COLD AS LONG AS THE SABRES STAY HOT

I admit that I forgot I was going to the game tonight and because of the first two periods I wasn't so sure I was glad I remembered. They were just awful, but the complete hideousness of the game was broken up by Derek Roy's goal with 3:53 left in the second and everyone in the arena at that point was thinking the same thing "It's about time". Through the first two periods it seemed as if the team couldn't do anything right. Their passing was horrible and they couldn't seem to get the puck out of our end with Rangers outshooting us 14 to 7 in the first period. The second period was even worse with first shot on goal coming with 10 minutes already gone in the period. The fans were getting frustrated with good reason because that shot was met with derisive cheering and clapping. The Sabres stepped it up in the third because I'm pretty sure I could hear Ruff yelling, from the dressing room up in the 300s, to get their asses in gear something they seemed to have a problem with in the first and second. The only player who showed up for all three periods was Miller and I'll even forgive him that goal because he was screened and it came from a wrist shot almost out at the blue line.

Overtime was back and forth between zones which was really frustrating because at that point you know that it's going to a shootout. I hate shootouts, I hate them on principle usually because we're always on the losing end but tonight the Sabres pulled it off. Ales Kotalik had the lone goal in the shootout for the Sabres but it turned out to be just enough with Miller stone walling the three New York shots.

It's horrible to say but the Sabres deserved to lose that game because of their play in the first two periods. The Rangers were the superior team for most of the game both out shooting, out skating and overall out playing the Sabres but once again the Sabres managed to pull a goal out of their butts and sneak away with a win in the shootout.

The scariest part of the game came with 16 minutes left in the first period when, after colliding with Paul Gaustad, Michal Rosival fell face into the open doorway at the Sabres bench hitting his face on the corner of the boards. He skated across the ice to the Ranger bench and sat down next to Henrik Lundquist who sat out the game allowing Steve Valiquette to get the start. After being examined by the trainer Rosival was escorted to the Ranger locker room and didn't return to the game. On the post game show it was reported that Rosival had recieved a gash that stretched the length of his cheek. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that he also suffered a neck injury after the way he hit those boards with his neck snapping back so quickly it looked like his head was replaced with a bouncy ball.

Speaking of neck injuries from the seats where my mom and I sit for the games we can see the part of the press box that the injured players sit in during the national anthem I turned around to see Pat Kaleta sporting a neck brace and managed to snap a picture of it with the phone on my camera, which is why it's really fuzzy, during one of the stoppages in play. He looked really bored which I would be if I had to sit and watch my teammates play without me. Max Afinogenov put in an appearance leaning over the edge to look out at the crowd during the first intermission. Jeanerette showed up during the second intermission talking to Kaleta all the while chowing down on a cookie.

That's him on the left.

Today marked the halfway point in the Sabres season and before tonights game they were dead even in wins and losses with 20 each counting shootout and overtime losses. Tonight's game was also the 4th win in a row for the Sabres putting them at 4-0 since the New Year if this streak continues the Sabres can say hello to a playoff spot (let's hope) because as it stands right now they are tied with Carolina for 7th place in the Eastern conference.

As the guy in the booth at the parking ramp said tonight it was an important win for the Sabres tonight because tomorrow we play (shudder, cringe) Detroit who we haven't played at all this season and who I'm not looking forward to playing at all for obvious reasons mainly Henrik Zetterberg and Ty Conklin (why is it that we get rid of a player and they do fantastically on another team it's got to be part of the Buffalo curse I tell you).

Well I'm attending the blogger get together tomorrow so for those of you who are going it'll be nice to put a blog with a face I look forward to meeting you.

SERIOUSLY?

Okay, so in reviewing all of my posts since Kim and I started this wonderful little blog, I must say I am quite surprised at myself. I really prided myself on knowing all sorts of stuff about hockey, and really truly say that I am not a puck bunny, but in all honesty, I've done nothing to convince you of the sort since, probably, mid-October.

So my New Year's Resolution for SC is to return to smart and intuitive hockey blogging. I'm still going to gush on my love for the guys, but I'm going to make an earnest effort to supply much more clever blogging.

And I'm hoping that begins now, and continues.

I had no idea that when I turned on the game, not only would I almost miss Matt Ellis' fourth goal of the season, but I hadn't a clue that I would be watching Jarkko Ruutu's best imitation of Tyson v. Holyfield.


(I enjoyed Andrew Peters' comments on that, as he spouted cliche after cliche. True, he has to hold himself accountable for his own actions, and no doubt knows that if he said something stupid, he'd be in deep, but still. Who didn't want to hear Petey call out Ruutu and just say, "Yeah, I'm aware we play them again on Saturday, February 7th, and don't worry, I know Jarkko's number." Hopefully the NHL will step in and hold Ruutu accountable for that action, which was not only embarrassing to himself and the Senators, but also the league, and the game in general. And if the NHL doesn't step in, I'll be angry, but it wouldn't surprise me since they all but ignored Denis Gauthier's sucker punch to Patrick Kaleta, who is still out, mind you, due to that cheap shot.)

But it was nice to see Ellis continue on his little goal streak. Four goals in three games ain't to shabby if you ask me.

I was slightly disappointed the game lost a lot of it's intensity after the first period. I know the coaches probably harped on the players to get their heads in the game, cool their tempers, get a grip, blah, blah, blah, but seriously, I had planned on watching a highly spirited game with loads of fisticuffs and all that jazz, you know, seeing as how high emotions were running the last time we faced off against the Sens. But Captain Craig didn't disappoint in his return, that's for sure. He all but took on every guy in red and black on the ice, and bloodied up one of them, just because they got too close to Ryan Miller. It's nice to see someone standing up for Miller and immediately and instinctively jumping the culprit. That's the leadership this Sabres team has been missing for the past season and a half, give or take the games Rivet was healthy for.

And thankfully that puck tipped by Derek Roy bounced into the net off of Carrie Underwood's boyfriend Mike Fisher's skate, or else Miller probably would've been kicking himself tonight.

Oh, and anyone else notice how similar Drew Stafford's little move in front of the Sens' net was to Jason Pominville's playoff game winner, way back when? If Roy hadn't been in the corner and had fed the puck to Staffy, and instead he had broken in all alone, those two goals could possibly have been identical.

There's one other thing I want to point out: Thomas Vanek's 27th goal was scored with 26 seconds left. The only thing that could have made it better would be #26 scoring his 26th with 0:26 left. How weird would that be?

So, my stars, for the game, since I haven't done that since October:

(1) Derek Roy. (Not just because he's my guy, but because he had a solid night, with one goal and two assists, that goal being the game winner.)

(2) Jason Spezza. (Yes, he's a Senator, but still, a two goal game is quite impressive, especially when the only guy who scores is one of three who make up half of the scoring for the entire team.)

(3) Ryan Miller. (True, he single-handedly allowed the Senators a chance at a comeback, but if he hadn't snapped out of whatever funk he had gotten himself into after that second goal, the Sabres would have been in real big trouble.)

Overall, very good game, boys. I'm very impressed at the little streak you've put together for yourself, but I'm not holding my breath. We'll see how it goes on Friday, and we'll see how happy I am with the NHL in the next couple days.

FACEBOOK SHOULD HAVE AN "ADD AS ENEMY" OPTION

SADFACE. =[[[


Anyways, if Facebook did, I would definitely search out the real account for LA's Denis Gauthier, and proceed with that request. Please allow me to indulge myself in sharing the message I would then send to him:

Dear Mr. D. Gauthier, Jr,

Let me, please, take this opportunity to express my disgust with your behavior.

First of all, Mr. Patrick Kaleta was not even attempting to hit you when he crashed into the boards. If you watch the replay of the event, Mr. Kaleta was attempting to hit, I believe, Mr. Jaret Stoll, with a clean hit, NOT YOU. But what do you do upon seeing this? You attempt to hit Mr. Kaleta, but in doing so, bring your elbow up to the level of his head. Luckily, at that time, you missed you check.

What you do at this point, is what infuriates me. Mr. Kaleta skates away, but yes, he turns back towards you. But you have to know that Mr. Kaleta has a reputation for doing such, and that he just came back from a semi-lengthy injury, and that he was going to be up to his usual tricks. But you just can't let it go. For some reason, unbeknownst to any of us viewers, you lose your head, drop the gloves, and instantly punch a defenseless Mr. Kaleta in the face.

Now, I am one to use the expression, "I am going to punch you in the face," quite often, BUT NEVER DO I MEAN IT. What you did classifies you as a "gutless puke," as Mr. Michael Robitaille would say. And I second the sentiments of one Mr. Lindy Ruff when I say that the NHL needs to suspend you immediately for you classless, careless, and hurtful actions. It was a despicable event which I wish was never seen in the great game of hockey.

I have one thing left to say to you; I present you with the wording from the rule-book of the National Hockey League that applies to the matter: An instigator of an altercation shall be a player who by his actions or demeanor demonstrates any/some of the following criteria: distance traveled; gloves off first; first punch thrown; menacing attitude or posture; verbal instigation or threats; conduct in retaliation to a prior game (or season) incident; obvious retribution for a previous incident in the game or season..

I have been of the thought all along that the instigator rule has to go, but you obviously fall under its range, and some action needs to be taken. I do not care how long you are out, or how much money you forfeit; only that the NHL does what they say they do, and that you are punished.

Because we all know that even if the NHL does not punish you, you will get your comeuppance because this is nothing new for you. You have a reputation for taking cheap shots and being dirty, so someone will give you a taste of your own medicine, somewhere along the way.

You had just better hope that Mr. Kaleta will recover from the issues with his eyesight, because if this becomes a recurring thing with him, not only will the Sabres remember it, but many of their fans will as well.

And yes, I alluded to Mr. Kaleta's reputation for hitting and turtling, but I do not care about his reputation. If that is what other people know that he does, it is their own fault for falling for his ploy. That is his game, and when people like you fall for it, it becomes effective. Players like you are the reason Mr. Kaleta has said reputation, because he would not have that role if his opponents did not react to his actions in a manner similar to yours.

But that is enough. I am through discussing your ridiculous actions. But if a redhead wearing a Sabres jersey ever slaps you across the face--EVER, you know why.

Good day, Mr. Gauthier.


*******


Alright, well, good game last night. We're fortunate that Ryan Miller and Derek Roy showed up for the entire 60 minutes, before the rest of the team slowly came around. Because if they hadn't, that game could've turned out widely different.

But props to the other goal scorers.

And I am very excited about Chris Butler. You always hear the rookies come up and say, "Oh, I'd like to just keep it simple, blah blah blah," but rarely do you see it actually translate to the ice. Butler actually did just that, and I was quite impressed, because I don't recall hearing his name in a negative way at all. And his post-game interview was adorable. After someone complemented him on the first pass out of the zone plays, he just went, "Aw, thanks," and now I'll always expect him to say "Golly, gee whiz," for some reason...

But anyways, hopefully we can carry that through tonight in Montreal. I'm assuming Patty L will be between the pipes since Crunchy played yesterday, but he did get the shut out, so who knows.

Like I said, hopefully we'll carry it through.

I have to work, unfortunately, so I'll probably only see about half of the game, but I'm going to bust my ass to get everyone in bed by 7 pm. Brittany is working with me, so that's good, and I don't plan on taking a dinner break tonight, just so I can get everyone in bed. I should rephrase that. Everyone who doesn't watch hockey will be in bed by 7 pm. If they watch hockey, they can go to bed whenever they want, because I'll put the game on in their rooms, and they won't mind at all.

I love the way I work. =]

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.

SHORT, LIKE NATHAN GERBE

Okay, so I don't have a ton of time, mostly because I have to leave in about an hour for class, and I just rolled out of bed. But I wanted to post today, and since, after class, I'm crashing on the couch for a couple hours, and then leaving, this is my only opportunity.

Anyways...

I have one thing, and one thing only to say about the whole Ryan Miller getting cussed out by the ref situation: If a player can't say shit to a ref without getting the book thrown at them, no way in hell should a ref be able to say boo to a player. That's like, say, I felt like calling a teacher of mine an effing [w]itch to her face, which prompts her to give me detention, and then she proceeds to call me the same. Nuh uh. I don't think so.

But Jay, on Caroline's last post, brought out something interesting:

(This comes straight from the NHL rule book, mind you.)

If, through misadventure or sickness, the Referees and Linesmen appointed are prevented from appearing, the League will make every attempt to find suitable replacement officials, otherwise,the Managers or Coaches of the two Clubs shall agree on Referee(s) and Linesman(men). If they are unable to agree, they shall appoint a player from each side who shall act as Referee and Linesman; the player of the home Club acting as Referee and the player of the visiting Club as Linesman.

Gee, I think I'd want someone awesome to be ref for us. At first, I was thinking Patty K could be ref. But then I decided against that, as if he weren't ref, he could run whoever he wanted on the ice...

So I'm not really too sure... Probably Stafford... He's kinda deviant and seems like he'd be a huge rule-breaker... So I think he'd be a good "slanted" ref, don't you?

I'd pay to ever see that happen. But seriously, what would it take to off the refs minutes before puckdrop?

Alright. That's about all of the hockey commentary you're going to get out of me at 7:45 in the morning.

So here's a beautiful picture, instead:


Drew, just promise me that if you were made ref for a game, you either would call a game your mother would be proud of, or you'll force her not to watch as you'll be completely one-sided and unsportsmanlike throughout. And I'm sure she didn't bring you up like that, so I'm going to prefer the later.

BUT HEY LOOK!!! YOU'RE ACTUALLY SMILING!!

And I'll be smiling tonight, as Britt and I will be sitting here:


We're going to be right behind the Buffalo portion of "Buffalo General Hospital" on the boards behind Paul.

I would've circled it and written all over it, but I don't have Paint on my computer, and I don't have time to figure out which program allows me to do that. Sorry, but you get the gist.

So we'll be behind Miller twice, and then behind, I'm assuming, Mike Smith for the second.

We'd better see some hits in front of us like the one Gaustad threw the other night, and we'd better see some awesome saves and some beautiful goals (I know, I'm asking for a lot). Actually, I just hope they play well and win for the home crowd.

And that you look for us.

Go Sabres!!

I THINK I HAVE A PROBLEM...

So, I think you can tell by now that I'm pretty much addicted to the Sabres, and the game of hockey in general.

Because, in light of the Sabres' terrible play, I almost abandoned them for my 16-year-old cousin's high school team. They do better, at least, and I have an undying devotion to my Trevor, so... But, when my aunt dropped off Christmas cookies yesterday (!!!! Too bad they're all gone already...), she told me that Trev had a game last night. Too bad I picked up a shift at work because I took this weekend off...

So whatever.

Oooh, now I sound like Ryan Miller...

Anyways, let me get to the point.

This morning, you'd probably think, and that includes myself, that I'd still be disgusted with the Sabres, and that I would want nothing to do with them, and that I'd still want my fake relationship with Derek to be over, but...

I DONT.

First thing (well, actually, not quite, but same difference) that I thought this morning when I woke up? THERE'S A SABRES GAME TONIGHT. Sad thing (maybe not?) is, though, I'm not sure how much of it I'll see. See, the guys are throwing Britt and I a little soiree for our birthdays (hers was the same as Kim's (this past Monday), and mine is a week from this coming Monday), and while they'll probably have the game on, I'm concerned that, if the boys start losing and/or playing like they have as of late, they just might turn it off. AND I DON'T WANT THAT, YA HEAR???

Oh, and while we're talking about my birthday, I have to remind you that Princess D is going to be at Dave and Adam's on Tuesday the 16th. I went and bought tickets for Kim and myself yesterday. Price gouging, for reals. I'm going to have him sign my jersey, and Kim's going to have him sign a birthday card for me.

WE NEED YOUR HELP, THOUGH. What kind of card do you think we should get for me? (A) One with a (half) naked man (Possible issues: He may steal it.), (B) a singing/musical card, or (C) a funny one? I think the naked man card could be interesting...

BUT REALLY...

What am I going to do with myself?? I fear I'm too far gone, and nothing could ever help me..

I think I really do live and die by the outcome of the Sabres games... And that's kind of pathetic.

But it's most definitely alright with me.

And, remember that thing I said about the Pirates yesterday? How they weren't letting me down? Well, that was an attempt to boost their confidence, which apparently didn't work. Since we've taken Marky Mark from them, they won one of their past seven games. Ouch. Sorry, Portland. I still love you, though. Next time I go to Boston, I'm coming up again. Don't you worry.

Ughhh, so like I said, I'm not going to comment on actual hockey at all, so long as it involves the Sabres. That's why I'm leaving you with this:


I WANT TO SEE PLENTY OF THIS TONIGHT, AND NOT JUST AT THE PARTY.

I want the Sabres to join Drew, his father, and their friend... or just Drew... high-five-ing over a few beers at a Pittsburgh bar after tonight's game. NOTICE I SAID HIGH-FIVES. No drinking away your sorrows allowed tonight.

Umm, so, let's go Buffalo???

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.

Dear Ryan

Dear Ryan,

I just want to say a few things, because I need to get them off of my chest, and you, being the amazingly understanding and sensitive guy that you are, are the person I need to say them to.

Before I make my points, I just wanted to tell you that your taste in music is impeccable. We'd do well sharing a car on a long road trip. And, having seen the way you drive, you can take the wheel. I like a guy who drives a hot car really fast. And, don't take that the wrong way...

But anyways, let me get to the point.

Ryan, we've known each other a long time, right? So I think I can say this without you getting all defensive and crossing your arms over your buff chest...



Oh, yeah.. Just like that. You know what? You look really hot like that...

ANYWAYS. I think you need to steal a game for us. Obviously our offense is seriously lacking, if you take Mark out of the picture, because there's no reason what so ever that we cannot win a game after having 40 shots on goal. (Oh, and can you tell Mark that I'm so impressed with his play since his call-up? And that if he keeps it up, I second the quote from Kevin Dineen: "I don't know if we'll see him again [in Portland]." Thanks, Ry!)

So I've decided that the only way to get us out of this, what did you call it, a "little bit of a rut," would be for you to stand on your head, give the performance of your life, and win for the team. Because they obviously can't do it themselves.

I mean, don't get me wrong; you know very well that I love every single guy in that locker room, and I would defend them tooth and nail, but they're just off. Or awful... Or both.

Ryan, that's all I ask of you. In the issue of The Hockey News that came to my house yesterday, you were listed in the Plus Column, saying this: "After signing a long-term deal with the Sabres, netminder Ryan Miller is delivering the goods." Well, somewhere along the way, the goods turned into the mediocres, and we need the goods back. Okay?? So, maybe, on Wednesday, we can turn it around?

Because I have this theory that this year, the Buffalo teams are mirroring each other a little bit. I mean, the Bills start off 5-0, the Sabres start off equally as well, if not better. Then the Bills lose 4 in a row. You guys have now lost 5 in a row. Well, the Bills kicked ass yesterday, as I'm sure you know. So I think Wednesday would be the perfect time to get this entire city all riled up again, don't you?

Let's try that then, okay?

Send my love to the team, especially Derek, for obvious reasons...

Love, Cari

PS--Can you please tell me when tickets for the Third Catwalk go on sale? Because I most definitely have to get some...

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!!

Friday's Fancies

A. Blue Jackets at Sabres

Soooo excited about this game. Probably, mostly, because Staffy and Patty K will be back in the lineup, I think, at least. They should be, anyways. Timmykins can sit this one out; we'll need him more tomorrow. Max will probably sit, as well, because Lindy was no more happy with him than I was with Derek yesterday morning.

And I'm thinking Patty L will get the nod tonight??? That's just my guess, because I'd rather have Miller in against Pitt.

Needless to say, since I'm going to be at the becking call of the elderly this evening, they'll be in bed by 7 pm, except for the ones who know anything; they can stay up later and wait for intermission. I'm so nice. They love me though. Especially Mrs. Miller. I really wish she were related...

Oh, and did anyone else see that, since Columbus became a team, we've played them 8 times, and have only won twice?! That's a bit upsetting, since Columbus is probably the next stop on mine and Kim's Sabres Roadtripping Excursions. Although, that's going to be next year, so we can bring a whole bunch more people with us, along with Boston, Round Two (btw, the invitation to join us on that one is still open, and always will be).


B. Catwalk For Charity III

Okay, some background information is needed before I address B. But anyways, my friend Michelle, who is six years my senior, but grew up next door to me, so basically she's the closest thing I have to an older sister, is getting married in June. She and her fiance moved to Phoenix last summer, and last time my girl was up to Buffalo for a visit, we grabbed our usual lunch at Duff's. She mentioned the date for her bachelorette party. Problem is, as you know, I'm not quite 20 yet, so a party with a minimum age of 21 wouldn't quite work for me. So, in a couple weeks, when I head up to Toronto for a friend's birthday party, you might have an idea of what I might be picking up while I'm there.

That being said, the date for THE THIRD CATWALK FOR CHARITY HAS BEEN ANNOUNCED!!!!!!

Sunday, February 8, 2009
MARK IT DOWN, LADIES. (Thank you, Jill!)

Because you know that if I can find someone willing to go and fork over the money (coughcoughNOTkim), you know I'm there. I think it'd be fun to make a blogess-es night out of it, don't you???

Because we all know that I want to see this:



And you want to see this:



But, who's that bald guy in the middle?? I don't believe I've ever seen him before...


C. Voting

Um.... HELLLLLLOOOOOO??!!

What the HELL is going on with this voting process? I honestly believe that it's stacked.

THE GAME IN IN MONTREAL.
IT'S MONTREAL'S 100TH ANNIVERSARY.
THE CANADIENS HAVE 6 PLAYERS ON THE BALLOT (AKA, THAT'S ENOUGH TO FILL A STARTING LINEUP).
AND, AT THE MOMENT, THIS IS HOW WE STAND:





COUGHBULLSHITCOUGH

It's a conspiracy. Really.

The Sabres, you ask? Where are they currently? Well... Derek and Tommy aren't on the visible horizon, and I can barely see Tepp in the distance; he's currently in 9th place with 12,119 votes. Ryan is faring slightly better; he's in 5th with 13,708.

GO VOTE. NOW. TEPPO FOR PRESIDENT. RYAN FOR VP. DEREK AND TOMMY FOR THE CABINET. Yeah, I know... Whatever.


Alright. I'm done. I'm working all night (literally, all night), so I won't be posting until tomorrow afternoon, or maybe right before the game, continuing throughout. I haven't decided. We'll see how long I stay in bed, since I won't be getting home until 7:30 tomorrow morning. Yuck. Why do I do this to myself? Oh, yeah... So I can afford more Sabres tickets. It's a win/lose situation, but I'll take it.

Enjoy the game, and your Friday night, kiddos. Don't do anything I would do, and Go Sabres!!

Derock the Vote? NO? Well, okay, maybe just vote..

This morning, when I woke up, I expected to be able to vote my lovely Sabres into the All-Star Game.

HOWEVER,

instead of the NHL being normal and putting links or whatever up on nhl.com, the homepage, to allow people to vote, I had to be all sneaky-like and find the address in old articles. I DO NOT HAVE TIME FOR THAT THIS MORNING. Well, obviously I made the time, but at the moment it is 8:05 am and I have to leave no later than 8:45, and as Kim nows, it takes me a ridiculously long time to get ready this early in the morning. I move about as slow as molasses.

So since there is no interesting hockey news, go vote your cute little butts off for Derek, Tommy, Teppo, and Ryan!!

Oh, wait, I lied. BRIERE IS HURT AGAIN!!!! Why am I excited, you might ask? Well, I'm only hoping that his injury lasts him about two weeks, because I'm going to the Sabres/Flyers game next Friday, and I am not the biggest Briere fan.

And there's a slight possibility I might be going to the Blues game tonight. If not, I'll probably post during intermissions. If so, then I'll post when I return home. But PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE let Jay McKee play. It's not right to deprive Buffalo's fans of him. We still love him. At least Anne and I do.

Oh, and this is just too funny: AHAHHAHHAHHHA Gloria Gaynor is going to be on the Today Show this morning. Oh, how I wish I could stay home from lab to sing hear her sing "I Will Survive." Only the best karaoke song... EVER!!

Anybody else want to join the my life sucks club?

So today as I was driving home from school, I got a speeding ticket, granted I was going 67 in a 55 but still come on after the day that I had?? That was the icing on the cake. First off there was no Sabres game tonight , so sadness with that, they are playing tomorrow however and I am going but I'm going through withdrawl seriously, I'm starting to sweat and feel shaky and that's not just from being scared crapless of the cop that pulled me over. Why may you ask was my day also horrible? I had 3 hours of sleep last night because my knee, old dancing injury, was aching so bad that 800 milligrams of ibuprofen wasn't dulling the pain. So not only was I tired and cranky this morning I was also in pain, and the lab quiz that I was studying for last night...yeah didn't get any studying done this morning at school because I kept falling asleep on the couch in the lounge.

Also, HOT BOY ALERT, there's this guy in my microbiology lab who looks like he could be the younger brother of Paul, so obviously I spend more time staring at him then concentrating on my work. Hence why today I almost lit my arm hair on fire while trying to sterilize a innoculating loop. Then there was that time today when I ran into a waist high garbage can right in the middle of class, knocking it over, luckily it was empty, but nevertheless still embarassing. He caught my eye as I walked sheepishly back to my work station and smiled almost causing me to drop the test tubes that I was holding, because HOLY CRAP that smile. After the teacher left us to our work, gorgeous comes over to me leans in real close and says, "Just letting you know there's a garbage can there." Then he laughs of course I swoon, then we start talking about the labs we were doing what I like to affectionately call 'nerd flirting' because that's essentially what it is, flirting while talking about intelligent stuff. This is all my estrogen talking just FYI.

But anyway, the whole reason for this blog is not to talk about my great nonexistant love life. It's to talk about the Sabres, but the information is sorely lacking because they haven't played in 3 days, another reason I'm going through withdrawal, no hockey news, no Sabres game, what's a girl to do...well maybe I should try finishing my research paper, but where's the fun in that?

Well there is one pretty ray of new Sabres news on Sabres.com about Teppo and the All-Star game and about how the first time he played in it Steve Yzerman and Wayne Gretzky were the top two centers, so pretty much forever and a half ago was the first time he played in the game. But anyway it sounds like the whole team is pushing for him. The article literally makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside because Teppo seems like such a good guy, and I personally, everytime I go on the internet, am going to vote for him and Ryan, Derek and Tommy and of course every write-in from the Sabres on the ballot, I hope you will all join me and I will leave you with this my fine blogging friends:

Lydman said of Numminen. "I just want to tell everybody to vote for him and get him into that starting lineup."

So let's do it for him, let's give him the recognition he deserves, voting opens tomorrow and I hope you will all take the opportunity to vote often and hopefully we can get him into the starting lineup.

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.)

OH THE PEOPLE YOU MEET

So tonight's game absolutely rocked but I'm assuming that you already knew that, if you didn't we won 5-0, that's right, it's not a typo, that's a big fat goose egg (haha oh Paul) in the Washington category.

Well tonight was absolutely wonderful for two reasons the first one obviously being that the Sabres kicked butt...I'm sorry I ever doubted you, you wonderful pieces of man flesh, yes even you Timmy I'm including you in that although I'm afraid that just by mentioning your name in this blog it puts me at risk for all kinds of horrible STDs although like the Grinch I wouldn't touch you with a 49 and a half foot pole.

ANYWAYS in the seat next to my mom and I there a single seat and let me tell you some of the people that sit in that seat are clueless, like one girl who yelled "forecheck, I don't even know what that means, but forecheck" I debated between smacking her upside the head for being an obvious puck bunny or taping her mouth shut because she kept yelling this through the ENTIRE game.

Back to the second good thing that happened tonight, a man who looked like Santa Claus was sitting in the single seat tonight and I debated for a split second whether or not to climb on his lap and ask for a Stanley Cup for Christmas (I didn't). He and my mom got to talking and we found out that his son was one of the refs in tonight's game Brian Pochmara, so of course I had to be on my best behavior and not boo the refs like I normally would, but he was one of the better officials I've seen so there really wasn't a need for it. But like the man said, "it's so nice as a parent to listen to 18,000 people boo your child," of course that comes with the territory because most refs do suck and we haven't had the best luck with them lately.

But that wasn't the best part he mentioned that he was from Detroit and that he knew Ryan, as in Miller, and Ryan's family. Of course this piqued my interest because let's face it, how many times do you get to talk to anyone who actually knew the players when they were younger. He said that when Ryan was 10 or 11 he was still playing forward on his team and he told his dad that he wanted to try goaltending, his father made him a deal, if Ryan could score a hat trick in his next game he would let him try goaltending, needless to say, Ryan scored 4 goals and the rest is history. I love finding out what players were like when they were younger and apparently Ryan was scrawny, uhhh, when he was younger??? How about like now? As evidence:

Not much has changed obviously.

Of course even though we won 5-0 I have to wonder what the game would have been like had Ovechkin been playing but I guess we can't consider all the what ifs and we should just put another tally in the win column and move on to worry about Monday's game against New Jersey. Which is starting to look bright and shiny considering Brodeur left tonight's game in the second period with what management is calling a bruised elbow, so let's all just hope that it's bad enough that he sits out Monday.

But right now I'm just going to revel in the fact that we lost our last two games and came out tonight like the beasts I know we can be, I'm just going to be happy and enjoy it.

Hello, Paul? It's Me, Cari...

Paul: Hello?

Cari: Hey, Paul, it's me.

Paul: Oh, hey!!  How are you?

Cari: I'm good, but Paul?  Why do you have bunny ears on?

Paul: Oh, Cari, don't you know that Friday is Halloween?  I have to find my costume still, you know.

Cari: So what are you trying to be with that getup?  A modest cross between a Chippendales dancer and a Playboy Bunny?

Paul: How'd you guess?

Cari: It's not that difficult...  Anyways, let me get to why I called.  Paul, are you healthy?

Paul: Well, I don't know.  Ultimately, that's up to Lindy.

Cari: Well, please decide, because if you or Timmy aren't ready to play tomorrow night, and Adam does get suspended for his shenanigans--oh my God, I just thought of this, but if Adam does get suspended, who's going to take care of the Man Children?--but if he does get suspended, we need another guy, and it had better be one of you.

Paul: Cari, we'll have to cross that bridge when we get to it.  The NHL is quote-unquote investigating is, so...

Cari: Well, I don't trust the NHL.  I'm hoping at most they'll slap him with a fine, but Paul, what if?  Who would we get from Portland?  Mark?  So we can risk waiving him again?  No thank you.

Paul: Stop being such a worry wart.  You're upsetting my aura.  Hey, where are my milk and cookies for being hurt?  I never got them.  I thought you were going to leave them on my doorstep for me?

Cari: Kim wouldn't let me.  She said that would be crossing the line.

Paul: They're cookies.  Cookies never cross the line.

Cari: Good to know.  But Paul?

Paul: Yes, Cari?

Cari: Hurry back, please.  And next time don't punch people too hard.  Oh, and Paul?

Paul: Yes, Cari?

Cari: Can you tell your BFF Ryan that he's kicking ass in the TSN Power Rankings?  And ESPN's for that matter?

Paul: Sure.

Cari: And you didn't tell me who would watch Danny and Clarke in the event of Adam's absence...

Paul: Um, I don't know for sure...  Maybe Jaro?

Cari: JARO??!!  He'd probably try to lure them into the shower room with the cookies I'd make for you and then he'd fillet them, or something.  And he'd probably hang Mr. Snuffles on a plaque above his mantle...  No, Jaro; I love you, but no.

Paul: Drew, maybe?

Cari: Are you kidding me?  Drew eats paste.

Paul: Fine.  How about I give the job to the equipment guys?

Cari: They think a taxidermic pigeon is funny.  Let me think, NO.

Paul: Well, who do you suggest then?

Cari: Yourself.  Duh.  So get healthy.

Paul: I'm working on it.

Cari: I'm going to school now.  I'll talk to you later, okay?  Bye.

Paul: Bye...

Cari: (in a txt to Paul)  Oh, and tell Pommers I won't see him tonight at Dave and Adam's because I have trip preparations to commence.  And tell Petey that I'll be listening to him on Star 102.5 tomorrow at 8:10, but I might have to turn him off for Derek.  Okay?  Thanks Paul!

I Apologize, But OH. MY. GOODNESS.

FINAL SCORE

Sabres 4

Wild 3

Yikes...

So last night, at the end of overtime, I was trying desperately to post my thoughts at the end of my half-hearted attempt to liveblog, but I was thwarted by three things:  (1) My MacBook had about two minutes of battery life left, (2) Blogger was being impossible and wouldn't provide me with a "Publish Post" button, and (3) I was exhausted, from doing basically nothing all day.  Whatevs.

SO YAY!!!  I just love Drew Stafford, Ryan Miller, Nathan Paetsch, Adam Mair, Thomas Vanek, and Derek Roy!!!!

Okay, so before I get to my little recap/awards for the game, I want to share this ridiculous story with you, just to show your how messed up my actual Sabres-watching life is.

A while back I was decorating the planners that Kim and I bought for this semester.  They're fairly large in size, and I did the front with song lyrics, stars, and flowers, ya know, made it all girly.  But then I wanted to do the back all Sabres.  So I ripped apart the calendar I bought last season, which, mind you, still counts until December of this year, and cut out Paul and glued him to the back of hers.  Well, that just about ruined the entire calendar, and it all fell apart.  To make this long part of the story short, Derek ended up on the refrigerator.  Tuesday night I was complaining that he hadn't scored yet, and my mother points to the picture, and says, "Do you know what I'm going to call Derek now?  Dreck."  So I had to find out what dreck means, and this is what Google reports:

"schlock; merchandise that is shoddy of inferior; trash, junk; worthless merchandise; crap"

Can I just tell you how mad I was at my mother?  (Because, of course, my brother and father just had to overhear, and now Derek will forever be Dreck to them.  These are the guys that, for years, taunted me with Gay Jay McKee.  Not even funny.)  But now whenever the Sabres are playing bad hockey, I call it schlocky hockey.

But then somehow, for some reason, my mother thought it would be funny to turn Derek's name around, so when he scored in OT last night, she goes, "Cari!  Backstrum just got Yorkered!!"  Hahahahahahahah.  He got yorkered.  That's special.

BUT ANYWAYS.

My Three Stars would have to be as such:

(1)  Thomas Vanek.

Yet again, Tommy's a beast.  Coming through in the clutch is what true leaders do (and I'm not going to name names here, but you know exactly to whom I am referring.), and Tommy is definitely our team leader, on the score sheet, at least.  Actually, make that the undisputed league leader.

OH, BY THE WAY, WE'RE FIRST IN THE LEAGUE OVERALL.  YEAH, THAT'S WHAT I SAID.

(2)  Derek Roy.

I have to give him props for scoring the winner.  And while he hasn't been turning up on the score sheet, he must have been doing something right because he's playing with Tommy and D-Money.  Plus he's been putting forth consistent high-energy performances.

(3)  Adam Mair.

Scoring the goal to jump-start our comeback is always a good choice.

MY HONORARY FAVORITE SABRE:

Nathan Paetsch.  He stepped up big-time to fill the skates of Craig.  And while he wasn't perfect, and he didn't quite hit the mark that Craig probably would, he still had a great game.  He had a couple of offensive opportunities himself, and gave Mair the feed for our second goal.  Keep it up, Nate, and they'll be hard-pressed to knock you out when Craig returns.

But Ryan, come on, man...  I don't even have anything to say about that goal you scored, except for that you pulled a Mike Ryan...  At least you've got a decent sense of humor.

OOOH and for those of you who'd like to get a glimpse at the Portland Pirates, but aren't psychotic enough as Kim and I to drive all the way to Maine, check this out.  Can I please just tell you how excited I am???  (That's channel 13 for those of you in the city of Buffalo and the closer 'burbs.  I'm not sure as to the digits when you get farther out...)  And don't let me forget to mention that the Pirates are wearing and auctioning off pink jerseys in tomorrow night's game, in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  Aw, thanks guys!!

Oh, and speaking of that, has anyone been to Boston or Portland recently?  Have any ideas as to what Kim and I can do while we're up there?  I'd appreciate any tips.  (And I think we might make a stop in Mike Ryan's stomping grounds for MJ and see if he's there at all, which is totally plausible.)

And before I forget, Dave and Adam's Card World posted new signing information:

Andrej Sekera  :  Tuesday, November 25, Sheridan location

Thomas Vanek  :  Date and Location TBA, but sometime in December.

I have a feeling that Tommy's will be at their Transit location, since he lives out that way.

Remember, too, that next week they're having Rivet (Tuesday) and Pominville (Wednesday).

And if you go to Craig's signing, bring him some milk and cookies.  I wanted to bake cookies for Paul and leave them on his doorstep, but Kim thought that that would be crossing the line.  But Paul, just say the word, and I'll break all of my plans to bake you some cookies, and I'll be at your house in 5 minutes flat.  I promise!