Clarification and Classes

by Anne

In the previous post, I stated the following: "Soupy looks... really good."

What I meant was "Soupy looks... really good... for Soupy." I know absence makes the heart grow fonder and I still have love for Soup, but no. Love ya, Soup, but no. But, kind of maybe. But NO. But the buzz around the NHL is that he's a really nice guy and I can get over the playoff beard resemblance to Youppi! Or can I? I'm so conflicted about this. Maybe its my longing for a puck moving defenseman and I'm just getting confused?! I said this in a comment but Brian Campbell is like your best friend from high school or college who told you that he was into you but you just weren't into him at the time and you both have moved on but you always think "What could've been?" and you constantly compare other boyfriends to him and most of them fall short. Only, in this world we've never met and I compare Soupy to other defensemen.

Classes start today. It has literally been six weeks since my last exam. It really feels like a lifetime has gone by. So MUCH has changed! Like...uhhhhhh... I own a 3rd jersey and I learned I can name at least 13 NBA teams. Maybe. If I'm not too tired.

Although I might be participating in a staged reading tonight? What? Like with professional actors? S(h)ara's the actor, I'm the director/teacher. This is unsettling at best. If its true, I'm totally posting info and I'll be sad if at least one of you doesn't show up, haha.

I didn't watch much of the All-Star Game because there's absolutely nothing at stake. Just like I don't watch the Pro Bowl. Who cares? If there was more than one Sabre present I might have watched the whole thing. However for the few minutes I did watch, I declared (in my head) how the stakes could be much higher in this game. What? Determining home ice advantage in the Stanley Cup Finals? No. Here's how: Whichever team loses has to go wait in an undisclosed location until their respective head coaches can track them down based on an elaborate 'round the world Da Vinci Code style clue hunt. This way, the players will be more motivated to win... or less, depending on where they're sent to wait for Barry Trotz to come huffing and puffing his way to them, Shea Weber. You can wait in my house.

So, sorry Western Conference All-Stars, looks like you'll be hiding out for the next few days. TV is winging his way to Edmonton for Tuesday's game. Phew!

12-11? Ridiculous.

As stated before, Buffalo State College, the Easy Mac of higher education and my current educational institute, resumes classes today. Excuse me while "Taps" plays in the distance and I wipe away a single tear. I am not sure how this will pan out considering I normally go to bed at, oh 3:00 am and wake up at, say, 12:00pm and I have class at 9:00am. I maaaayyy fall asleep in the midst of it or in the hour in between. Last semester my schedule was amazing, I went until noon every day. This semester I go from 9-2 MWF and 1:40-4:20 TR. Quite different. However, Its less than 4 months, so I think I'll make it. I'm already excited for Spring and Summer... I like to think ahead.

Happy Chinese New Year! Traditionally, it is improper to eat meat on the first day of the Chinese New Year, its also considered bad luck to use knives or light fires. So no grilling steaks today. Sorry. Its also considered good luck to eat sweets. Woooooooo! This year is the year of the Ox, as was 1985, the year of my birth. I wonder if this is lucky. 1997 was also the year of the Ox and that was the year Jimmy was born, my ultra-awesome 11 year old cousin who loves Ryan Miller. 1985 was the year of the Wood Ox, 1997 was the Fire Ox and this year is the Earth Ox. This is very hockey related. Anyway, have a great day everyone!

How are you celebrating the New Year, Mr. Wang?

There's No Hockey

by Anne

The All-Star Break comes every year, yet every year I'm surprised at this mini off-season we have. I came home from a movie tonight, and is my usual "I just got home for the night" routine, I was planning on checking the scores from the games that had already happened or were happening. I was CRUSHED when I realized there would be nary a score to check.

Sad times.

Adam and I saw Milk tonight. I'll give it 3 stars out of 4. It wasn't as good as I wanted it to be. There were sections of the movie I felt could have been condensed to make the film move at a smoother pace. The movie only covers eight years of Harvey Milk's life. I read one review that was like "an immense amount of time is condensed in this film" and I have to argue with that assessment. It was only eight years. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a slightly longer movie but covers many more decades than Milk. I came home and Googled Harvey Milk and found there were some interesting facts and incidents that were left out of the film. All in all the movie was interesting and engaging and Sean Penn and Josh Brolin gave well-crafted performances. I don't want to reveal anything about the plot, but both of these characters could have easily fallen into caricatures. I don't know how accurate they are at representing the real people, but their performances were great. This movie won't win Best Picture, and if it does, I think it'll be more about people supporting the issues it touches upon than the quality of the film itself. I'd recommend seeing it, especially so you can judge for yourself when the Academy Awards air next month. It depends on the person of course, but I'd still suggest if you had to see either Slumdog Millionaire or Milk, I'd say see Slumdog first.

So this guy who just started a blog asked me to do a write-up about the Sabres for this series of posts he's doing about each team. I happily obliged. However, talking about why you should cheer for a team is very difficult whan said team has decayed on ice the night before. Except Derek Roy. I should've just written the entire post about Derek Roy. Fortunately, I started the post during the day before the Lightning game so I had a head start on the good stuff. I didn't write anything that most Sabres fans don't already know, so its nothing too earth shattering. When he posts it I'll post a link to his blog so y'all can read it if ya want.

Alix has told me that Steve Bernier will be in Hawaii this All-Star break. :( Get tan, Big Bear! Don't get eaten by a shark, San Jose or otherwise!

This post brought to you by milk and honey hockey.
quite a tie

Back to life, back to reality.

By Anne

Picture a crazy about-to-be-married woman who decided to have one last wild weekend romp with the girls in Vegas before settling down with her husband. For one weekend she goes crazy, partying all night, drinking, dancing, hitting the clubs, living without a care in the world. And then, the last night she's there, as she pours her cosmo and mimosa soaked bum into bed, she realizes that now that all the fun craziness is over, she's actually glad to be going home to her man.

That's basically how I feel about tonight's game. I spent the whole weekend enjoying all the delicious non-Sabres hockey players the NHL has to offer (some a little too much) and now, after all is said and done, I'm glad its over. As I looked at photos from the weekend and thought about tonight's game, I realized that I'm really glad to be getting back to Sabres Hockey. Where's my Millsey? Goosie? How was the weekend off? Pie-YAY, did you catch up on your Wii? Pommerdoodle, did you go visit your mama pup in Repentigny? Sissy - did the wife make you watch the babies while she went to the spa? (that's what I'd do)

Le sigh. The band is back together in Tampa Bay tonight, with Soupy having the least traveling to do, of course. They will be facing off against one of the many players I cheated on them with this weekend - Mr. Hottest Center in the East, Vincent Lecavalier and his adorable linemate, Thunderbug...I mean Martin St. Louis.

After perusal of the latest Sabres injury reports:

In sadder Sabres News, Timmy "I don't feel like being healthy" Connolly was diagnosed with a bone spur in his hip. All together now: "Ow." Poor TimmyHo, he'll be in pain for the rest of the season and won't be able to have the spur removed until the off-season. Poor Tims. Feel better Timmy's hip! :( What else can go wrong with this boy? ACK! DON'T ANSWER THAT! TIMMYHO IS A POWERHOUSE, NOTHING CAN BREAK HIM! GRRRRR!

The Soviet Bomber looks to be coming back soon... the groin's feeling better... uhhh, yeah, has anyone really missed him?

Mikey Ryan will be back in the line-up and is apparently really excited to be back. Hoo-ray. I'm happy that Mikey's back, but only because that means (1) he's not injured and I never want players to be injured; (2)he's a fast skater and we need that; (3) it means Petey will get even less ice time.

Huzzah! Pommer posted on his blog. Before reading it, I can only hope he makes references to his wacky whirlwind trip home to the farm to see his mama pup and littermates. (Reading, reading)- Ok so he mentions traveling but only mentions his travel with his girlfriend. Fine. I guess we'll have to wait til the off-season to hear about these Adventures of Pommerdoodle. Interestingly, he does not mention Soupy in any of his writings about the All-Star weekend. You'd think he'd give a shoutout to being on the same team as the (supposedly) fastest skater in the Eastern Conference. I totally think that the Soviet Bomber would skate circles around him, but that's ok.

Now begins the back end of the season mad dash for the playoffs. Let's see what happens when the NHL stops being nice and starts getting real. If big-name players are going to be traded, now is the time to do it, (cough, Soupy, cough), post All-Star Weekend. Teams that are this close to being in the playoffs or losing their playoff spot start playing crazily, frantically jockeying for positions in the standings. The Eastern Conference playoff picture is going to change daily. I fully expect from here on out to be checking the standings first thing every morning to see just how far out the Sabres are. 34 games to go!

All-Star Weekend

By Anne

I was negligent in my updating this weekend, but I felt if most hockey players had the weekend off, so too should I.

S(h)ara, Tina and I watched a DVR-delayed Superskills Competition. Well, we didn't get to see hardest shot because I hit a button and it made it live and we lost about 20 minutes. Whoops.

Anywho. We made it into a drinking game. We had many many elaborate rules but we only ended up using maybe 5 of them. They are as follows:

• Whenever a player's rank in the league or on their team in points, assists, SV% or whatever statistics are posted on the screen.
• Whenever the number of All-Star games the person has been to is mentioned or appears on the screen.
• When someone present in the room declares how much they love a player, present at the All-Star game or not. We were most often called on this for:
• Anne - Vinny LeCavalier, Ryan Getzlaf, Tim Tom
• S(h)ara- Vinny LeCavalier, Dion Phaneuf
• Whenever Anne, or anyone else for that matter, declares how hot Rick DiPietro is.
• When the "Is this the Year" or Millsey's Amp commercial were played.

It was a good time and we drank a lot.

I have to ask: why were the Jonas Brothers the entertainment on Saturday? I've never seen them perform or really even heard their music, but one of them really looks like Greg Brady from the Brady Bunch movie. I have no idea which one. Nick? Steve? MollySue? I don't know their names.

The "Biggest Cohones of the Weekend" Award goes to Usher. He busts into the All-Star game in his home town and proceeds to tell all the NHL All-Stars that while he can't play hockey, he can do everything else better than they do, and they can't do anything he does. I was like, uhhhh, Ush? Aaaaaaall of these people here are there to see hockey (and the Jonas Brothers) and most of them probably didn't even realize you'd be present until you started flapping your gums, so shut it.

Hats off to Soupy. Good job. A 3 point night (1+2) and 3rd star of the game. You did Buffalo proud. You've also succeeded in making us look even stupider when we lose you to free agency. But, nevertheless, you rocked it out and made us look good as our lone representative. Especially when even the announcers were like "Hey, look at that! Skating! Playmaking! I didn't actually know Brian Campbell was a good hockey player." Yes. Yes he is.

I also enjoyed when they interviewed him and were basically pointing out that Millsey is not a good puck handling goalie and that Pretty Ricky is. Soupy was like, "Yeah its nice but uhhhh Millsey is still my BFFL. We have bracelets to prove it" BtW: mmmmm. Rick DiPietro is so hot. (Drink)

Do you think Soupy is going to be like a huge name dropper when he meets up with the team in Tampa? Like "Haha, funny story boys, when I was in the locker room with Daniel Alfredsson, he and I were swapping stories with Scotty Gomez and then Alexander Ovechkin popped out his fake tooth and came over to join in on the fun and then that whacky kid Ilya Kovalchuk was doing the greatest Gary Bettman impression. Did I mention this was all at the All-Star game which I attended and was named 3rd star of the game? Ha ha ha. Oh, excuse me Zdeno's calling. We're grabbing drinks with Marc Savard before our game up there next week. Hey Pommerdoodle, why's the tail between the legs? Millsey, looking a little menacing with the brows there. Is this because of what I said about Ricky D? Ha, funny story about Ricky...Mairsy why are you throwing me out the door-"

Coming later in the day will be S(h)ara and Anne's Team of Sexy v. Team of Ugly. This is where we choose the hottest hockey players in their positions and create a hockey team out of them and then pit them against the ugliest players in the NHL. Hopefully I will have very little to do today and work and can bring you favorite names and mascots as well. Wooohoo.

Hooray! Hockey starts again tomorrow! Yay!

Game +

By Anne

As I did not watch all of tonight's game (they play better when my viewing is intermittent) I cannot give a 100% accurate +/- so I will merely highlight my thoughts on last night's game.

I brought back the I Heart Buffalo Hockey sweatshirt. It didn't play full prominence in the Leafs game and I didn't wear it during the Phoenix game as hoodies are frowned up on in law offices, but I busted it out last night, freshly washed.

Also, whilst cleaning my room last night I came across a quarter. As I reached to pick it up I realized it was the Texas state quater. I opted not to touch it. It paid off.

Onto the game:

DEAR LORD I LOVE DEREK ROY. Not in the way S(h)ara loves him, but just enough. The Stafford Roy Vanek line really is on fire these days. I didn't jinx them! That second goal was some absolutely bee-you-ti-full passing between Vanek and Roy. Staffy gets it out of the zone up to Vanek, he and Roy go in on a 2-on-1. Staffy to Britney, Britney to Roysie, Roysie to Britney, Britney sends it immediately back to Roysie: GOAL! Well. Done. Boys.

Britney, last night was the 2nd goal you've been denied recently because of a high stick. I sincerely applaud the effort, but let's work on this in practice. Hitting puck into net with stick when stick is above crossbar= bad. But you are improving and now that the rest of your boys are back in town, I think you'll be ok. You can still keep the babies.

I always forget how big Danny Pie-YAY is until I see him stand someone up against the boards. Same with Staffy. Nevermind that their stats clearly indicate they are over 6' tall and over 200 lbs. Never mind! Confession: I can't read.

Stuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu Barnes scored. Tooooooooooooooooooo bad he doesn't play for the Sabres anymore. Like, fo' reals, too bad. I really loved Stu Barnes when he was a Sabre. I was so mad when he was traded.

THE (2nd) GREATEST AMERICAN HOCKEY FORWARD OF ALL TIME: Mike Modano (after Pat Lalalalalalalalafontaine of course) was dee-nied points. Sorry buddy.

Yo Millsey was pretty B-A last night. He had at least 1 highlight reel save, but it was when he wasn't stopping the puck that earned him his B-Aness. First he tripped someone. Whoops. Millsey, intentional or not it still looked like you could've kept it from happening, but well done. Ales got yo' back. He served it fo' ya. And then some Star, I'm not sure who, took a whack at Millsey's glove after he'd already snatched up the puck by his mask. So what did Millsey do? He speared the dude in the groin region with his stick. It was really the only place on the dude he could reach. Well done Millsey! Millsey don't take dat shizz.

While I agree with Katebits of the Willful Caboose that the Sabres aren't trying to kill us, I really think they'd like to give me a stress-induced heart attack to accompany my hockey ulcer.

At this time I'd like to call Jochen "Yo-yo" Hecht to come forward and accept his award as the BAMF of last night's game.

Yo-yo,

You have often been our team's most consistent player. In a season in want of playmaking, you, Pommerdoodle and Grizz are an excellent trio, combining to make some beautiful plays. You've been called upon to center this line, even though you are truly a winger, and you have delivered. Your post-game interviews are far too infrequent. Your "I can't look at you when I'm talking because I'm not supposed to talk to strangers" demeanor, accompanied by your adorable lisp and seeming inability to engage the sides of your mouth when speaking English, is what makes me adore your interviews so.

No one can deny that your style of shooting the puck on the net is well, messy, but somehow you manage to frequently backhand the puck through that hole between the goal tender's left ear and his glove. Presumably, Pommerdoodle creates a diversion by performing one of his many tricks learned in obedience school in the off-season and that's how you manage to sneak those pucks by.

However, tonight we do not honor you for your role as a center, as an assistant captain or even as a forward. Instead, we honor you for your role as a defensemen. In the waning seconds of the third period, Millsey blocked a shot on the right side of the net that went rogue all the way over to the left side of the net, leaving Millsey wildly out of position and Stars' defensemen Mike Riberio was ready and waiting. He took the pass and just as he was trying to gain control of it, you swept your stick into his and knocked the puck away, denying what was guaranteed to be a goal. For this, Mr. Hecht, we salute you and offer you, #55, your first BAMF award of the 2007-2008 season. Congratulations. You've earned it.

The current BAMF stats are as follows:

Millsey - 2
Sissy - 2
Staffy - 2
Pie-YAY- 1
Goose - 1
Pommerdoodle - 1
Kotalik (really?) - 1
TimmyHo - 1
Grizz - 1
Yo-Yo- 1

I can't believe Roysie hasn't been BAMF yet. I think we should toss him an honorary BAMF for his goal scoring lately. He has, what, like 5 goals in 4 games? Something like that, I don't feel like checking. It's a lot.

A Note: BAMF was begun December 1, 2007 to reward those who were playing well in this craptastic time. There have been many T-OCs handed out but I do not record those as we need not dwell in the past. Those players know of their transgressions.

Quote of the game goes to Harry Neale. While seeing a Stars fan beating on the glass while a scrum for the puck is taking place:

Harry: Look at that. The only difference between that fan and a horse's rear end is that that fan can vote in the upcoming election.

Thanks, Harry! As soon as I saw that guy, I was racking my brain to find the differences, and you laid it right out there for us!

Congrats to Alfie for his 7 point night. That's truly an accomplishment. Wait. You were playing Tampa Bay? Oh. Well, good job, but that hardly seems fair.

Pittsburgh lost. Booooooooooooo. It was a hard fought battle though, so I can accept it. At least the Leafs lost.

I fully plan on watching the Super Skills competition tomorrow but have no interest in the game. However, congratulations to Soupy and I hope you have fun this weekend. Try not to be too lonely without any teammates there, I'm sure you'll make friends.

Ha. I believe this picture:

Sutton drags down Kobasew

Lead directly to this picture:

Somewhere under Pretty Ricky is Chuck Kobasew. Hahahaha. Well done Andy Sutton, well done.

And an eff you to the Dallas Stars: Tell us to get over the 1999 SCF? I don't think so. We won't. You cheated. But you can't tell us to get over it and then play the song 1999 by Prince as the Sabres come out onto the ice. Gross.

Everyone enjoy the weekend off! This weekend will consist of my favorite and least favorite mascots and our favorite professional athlete names of the past seasons along with highlights from the SuperSkills competition. Go Vinny! Go Ovie! Go Tim Tom!