Trade Talks?

by Anne

Every time I can, and remember to, I update the records of each team on the upper right and left corners of this blog. I'm much more likely to do it in a timely fashion when one or both of the teams have won, and I can increase that win number rather than the loss number.

I used to be a far more diligent blogger, I used to update every day, 5 days a week, now it's usually more like 2 or 3. Stupid work commitments making me do stuff during the workday. Psh. My old job, the one I was doing when I started this blog, left much more opportunity for blogging. Also, Twitter has made my random pithy thoughts I used to toss in this blog more readily available to the masses, and less likely to end up in here. 

Regardless, I read this morning a tweet from @DaveDavisHockey which indicated that there might be (read: probably won't be) a trade between the Ducks and the Sabres. According to Pierre Lebrun of ESPN, the Ducks are interested in a puck-moving defenseman. The Sabres really only have one (maybe 2) of those that they might part with; we're not exactly a hotbed of puck-moving defensemen over here. In the extremely unlikely event that this trade materializes, it seems most likely that the Ducks would not be acquiring a puck-mover from Buffalo. Andrej Sekera is pretty much the only puck-mover we'd part with., and unless the Ducks consider Andrej Sekera - our 6/7 defenseman - a commodity they just can't do without, it's not happening that way. It seems more likely that the Ducks would acquire parts from the Sabres to make a bigger trade with a team that has a more capable puck-mover on their roster. Therefore, I anticipate that if this trade happens (which it won't) the Ducks would be sending some Todd Marchant-type to the Sabres for a draft pick or two, or maybe one of the three of Sekera/Butler/Weber. Darcy Regier just LOVES 30+ veteran career 3rd liners. We can ALWAYS use more, right?

That's my prediction. Mike, my co-worker is hoping for Koivu, as the Sabres tried to make a play for him in the off-season. I find this extremely unlikely. However, anything is possible in the world of trades that will never happen.

2009-2010 Regular Season Grades: Defensemen

by Anne

I did this last season and it was fun so I'm doing it again. They haven't taken the final exam yet, but here are my grades for the team thusfar, starting with the defense corps.

#4 Steve Montador

75gm, 5G, 18A, Even, 54 hits, 17:05

All-in-all Monty was not a huge factor on defense. His five goals was about two more than I expected he'd get this season. He fell victim to the pressbox on at least one occasion this season. He wasn't great but he wasn't awful. He's a 5/6 defenseman and he played as one. Whatevs.

Grade: C

#5 Toni Lydman

67gm, 4G, 16A, +10, 126 hits, 18:51

Toni's stats are surprisingly similar to his 2006-2007 stats. He's remained consistently average over the last few seasons. He did give us one of the season's most memorable goals, however:

Grade: B

#10 Henrik Tallinder

82gm, 4G, 16A, +13, 63 hits, 20:36

The stats might not be earth shattering, and he may not be up for the Norris anytime soon, but what a season he had. He was healthy and playing with the best rookie in the NHL. He silenced the critics from last season by returning to his earlier career form. Was he the best defensemen in the NHL or on this team? No, but his rebounding has been fantastic to watch.

Grade: A-

#34 Chris Butler

59gm, 1G, 20A, -15, 20:01

What an awful season for Sir Christopher. I'm hoping this is a sophomore slump and he'll be back in better form next season. If he sees ice time in the playoffs, maybe he'll re-focus? I also don't understand how he averaged 20 minutes a game. Were there that many injuries when he played?

Grade: D

#44 Andrej Sekera

49gm, 4G, 7A, -1, 43 hits, 17:26

Reggie didn't play much. He was hurt in October and didn't really find a regular spot again. He inhabited the pressbox a great deal and didn't get back into the line-up much until Paetsch was traded and Butler was rotated into his chair. He improved from last season but didn't exactly blow my hair back.

Grade: C

#52 Craig Rivet
78gm, 1G, 14A, -6, 100 PIM, 18:13

This was one of Craigory's poorest offensive seasons. He was ok. He's been better. He was pretty under the radar most of the season. He wasn't part of many moments of extreme emotion. That would be ok if I said that about, say, Butler or Sekera, but Rivs gets a little extra pressure because he's the captain.

Grade: C+

#57 Tyler Myers

82gm, 11G, 37A, +13, 23:44

He was the 2nd best player on the team all season, he's amazing, he's going to win the Calder and we'll all be super disappointed by his sophomore slump. Whatevs, he's the best thing to happen to this team since Ryan Miller became so Ryan Miller. Myers had a few awful giveaways but always redeemed himself the next shift or the next game. He plays really well with Lindy's philosophy of: "You get a chance to redeem yourself, but just one."

Grade: Is there something higher than A+?

All in all, the defense had a mediocre season, hiding behind our top tandem of Tallinder and Myers. It's been easy to ignore their shortcomings in our Tyler Myers love fest, but it won't be easy to ignore in the playoffs. We haven't seen this defense without Myers and Tallinder. I don't want to start, but the prospect of that scares the daylights out of me. 

Defense overall grade: B-

Wheee!

by Anne

Thursday's Sabres game was totally awesome and just FLEW by. There were so few stoppages in play, that we were all to our cars by 9:30. I wasn't really complaining.

The Sabres won 6-2 to improve to 16-7-2 on the season. Wooo! Goals were scored by Grizz, Pommer, Royzie, Kennedy, Reggie and Mikey. Tim Kennedy needs a boss nickname, stat. Yes, boss.

I swear to you the entire first period was played in front of Jaroslav Halak. They just awarded the Habs three shots on goal out of pity.

All in all the game was pretty much all Sabres. It's kind of a miracle that the Habs even managed to score two goals.

On the downside, Sir Christopher sprained his ankle while stooping as a lady passed or something and might miss some time. Lindy implied that it didn't seem to be too bad, but that was just what he thought, there was no official word. We have 89 defensemen so I think we'll be ok. Also, this might give Sir Christopher a chance to sit down for a while and look at his game to see what he can improve upon.

Myers and Tallinder were both +3, Vanek had the most points with 3 (0+3) while playing on  a line with Kennedy and Grier which has shown some life as that line produced six points and was a +5. Pommer, Sekera and Grier each had a goal and an assist. Patty K fought his old BFF Paul Mara. I didn't see that one because if it happens in the last couple minutes of a period, I'm not going to see it, generally.

Teammate: Dude, I think they're underage

Monty: Yeah but HOW underage we talking? Like Dakota Fanning underage or like Miley Cyrus underage?

Reggie's face screams: "I LOVE YOU MAN."

The Kings beat the Senators to improve to 17-10-2. Anytime the Senators lose is a good time, especially when one of my teams beats them. The game was all-in-all in the Senators favor in every area except the scoreboard. The Kings never once gave up the lead and improve to 11-0-0 when leading after two. Dewey scored the game winner on an assist from Kopi who needs to start scoring, if only for my fantasy team.

Wayne Simmonds scored on the Kings' first penalty shot of the season and Brad Richardson, aka RichardFAIL, my least favorite member of the Los Angeles Kings, actually scored his second goal in as many games. Gross but good but mostly gross. Why isn't Oscar Moller up in Los Angeles yet this season? Bench Purcell, find a way to call up Moller!

Lovely jeté, Scooter

Dewey was the game's first star and he gave a stick to this kid.

I'm not sure what stick that is, but he sure looks happy about it.

Dewey uses Easton sticks, and that appears to be a souvenir stick.

Whatevs.

I'm not sure if Dewey or that kid is happier.

I didn't write about the Kings' game the other night, the first of the Freeway Faceoff because I was tired but they played a solid game and won 4-3. They played much better in Anaheim than they did against Ottawa but they won both and that's all that matters.

We Have SO MANY Defensemen

by Anne

Unfortunately, several of those defensemen are not exactly NHL vets.

Here's how things look:

Tallinder - Lydman

Rivet - Butler

Montador - Sekera, Weber, Myers, Paetsch

While a player like Paetsch that plays both forward and defense can be handy to have in a pinch, I'd be willing to part with him, with the abundance of young talent the Sabres have. Talent that appears to match or exceed Patches' skill set.

Looking at that line-up, not much appears to be coming from our defense in terms of offensive output. Without being hampered by such trivial things as looking up "stats", I'm fairly confident that none of the players that spent a full season in the NHL registered more than five goals apiece last season.

While my heart wants that 6th spot to go to Mike Weber, I have to make a case for Andrej Sekera. One of his (alleged) top assets is his ability as a puck-mover, a talent that cannot truly be boasted by any of the players listed in the top 5. Perhaps Sir Christopher will up his offense this season, and Myers has definite talent in the area of a strong first pass, but none of the NHL veterans are known for their offensive output.

A continual complaint about last year's defense corps was their lack of contribution on the scoreboard. Based on the way things are looking now, that doesn't seem to be about to change any time soon.

Let's get rid of Tallinder and then we can have this:

Lydman - Sekera

Rivet - Butler

Montador - Weber

Myers, Paetsch

That's not ideal, but I like it better than the list above.

Aw, Doof.


Baby Tyler
Also, on 3rd Man in where I found this picture, I learned that Tyler's grandparents live where my grandpa lived. Weird.

SO CLOSE TO HOCKEY, I CAN TASTE IT. IT TASTES LIKE CHOCOLATE CHIP PANCAKES.

What Happened?

by Anne

Tech week and then opening a show and teaching classes leaves little time for hockey and/or blogging.

Good thing that almost nothing has happened in the past week.

Mad Max has still not found a home. He's apparently been offered a contract with at least one KHL team, but wants to stay in the NHL. I'm sure there's a team somewhere that's willing to take him... Tampa?!

What's the latest with Little Foot? Stop making me wonder about you, former favorite. Its these antics that make you a former favorite, Drewster.

I'm glad Grizz didn't go to arbitration and only got a one-year deal out of this. Reggie getting two is fine with me.

I'm even bored with my post about the Sabres off-season. NOTHING IS HAPPENING.

Anyway, if you live in Buffalo and want to see a play about murder with lots of sword fighting and some men in slightly revealing clothing, head on over to Delaware Park to see Shakespeare in Delaware Park's production of Julius Caesar. Its pretty sweet. I enjoy working on it.

Look! He's Really There!

by Anne

Today Royzie, Lindy and Team Canada played Reggie and Team Slovakia and Canada won 7-3:

Lindy's really at the Worlds! Look! I found him!


Royzie opened the scoring at 4:50 on the power play
He played 21:36, the 2nd most minutes on the team
Shea Weber, also pictured, played 21:37
Liiiindyyy, are we playing favorites?
There were no pictures of Reggie who played 20:01

Today Yoyo played France and lost 2-1.

Yoyo and Germany lost, but Yoyo scored Germany's goal!
All three goals were scored in the first period
zzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Yoyo played 20:44, 2nd most minutes on the team
Well done, Mr. Hecht

Tomorrow Little Foot and Team USA take on Sweden at 2:15 p.m. and Britney and Team Austria take on Latvia at 10:15 a.m.

Round one of the Stanley Cup Playoffs ends today too! Woooo!! Let's go Caps! Let's go Devils!

Oh, Pie

by Anne

Even with injuries, Danny Paille will still not be playing and Reggie will not be back tonight. Hopefully the advice of players like Drew Stafford who had a nagging ankle sprain last season has resonated with him and he knows he needs to wait until he can have more than one day of being pain-free before he comes back to the line-up. That or Lindy just put his foot down.

Watching PieYAY struggle this season really makes me sad.

I can't bear to watch his interviews these days where he talks about his struggles. In November it looked like Danny was the player that didn't have to worry about the deadline and Staffy might be heading out of town. Now the reverse is obviously the case. I will be so so so sad if we trade Danny. However, he's young, physical, occasionally defensively responsible, his contract is low and he has a year left on it which is a recipe for a trade. Boo.

So, tonight's lines??

Gerbe - Connolly - Stafford
Pommer - Roy - Hecht
MacArthur - Mair - Kotalik
Kaleta - Ellis - Peters

I almost always forget someone when I do the lines soooo did I forget anyone?

I'm quite excited about the possibility of Timmy and Gerbe playing together. Although, will Royzie pout until the shorty is on his line?

In other news, Oscar is 2 years old today. I know you've all already bought him gifts, but if you haven't, he likes scotch tape, crinkly plastic bags, mint and sitting in open windows. Don't scratch his tummy, he bites, but not hard.

This will be him in a few hours

The Birthday Kitten
He's a little bummed out about getting older
I'll give him some tuna and scratch his neck and he'll get over it

Fifteen

by Anne

I waited in line at Dave and Adam's with Andrej Sekera today. We did not chat. What was I supposed to say? "Hey Andrej, my aunt is Slovakian too, nifty, eh?" "Hey Reg, can you stop being mediocre and go back to being badass like you were last season?" "You're more broad shouldered than I anticipated you'd be." "Why are your pants so shiny?""Why do your friends look like they're thinking about stealing my car?" I don't think any of those are good openers. I was buying a t-shirt for my cousin and the guy ringing me out was looking between me and Sekera and appeared to be thinking "Does this girl know who he is?" the answer is, yes. What do you want me to do, have a panic attack? Apparently if I'd been like 15 minutes earlier I could've seen Paille. GRRR!!!! Or I could go back and see Royzie. Meh. Anyway I bought my cousin a Miller t-shirt with the original logo on it. It's a little big but by the time Miller's contract runs out it'll be too small for him (he's 11, have you SEEN the way boys grow between 11 and 16? omg, he's going to be 16 one day. I still think of him as being about 5 years old or when he was 2 and he was the fattest little kid you've ever seen but he was so adorable and now he's really skinny, wait what was I talking about?)

Anyway, the title corresponds to the number of Sabres I've now encountered off the ice. Most of them were in the bowels of HSBC Arena, but they were not on the ice so I think that counts. They are, for those who are curious:

Derek Roy (S0Ho, ugh don't judge me, it was a bad idea)
Tim Connolly (Arena)
Danny Paille (Wegman's)
Adam Mair (SoHo)
Thomas Vanek (Arena)
Paul Gaustad (I feel like we used to be next door neighbors I saw him all the damn time when I lived downtown)
Jason Pominville (Arena)
Ryan Miller (Arena)
Pat Kaleta (The airport, wearing a #36 hat and carrying a Sabres bag)
Patrick Lalime (Arena)
Andrej Sekera (Dave and Adam's today)
Brian Campbell (SoHo)
Craig Rivet (Arena)
Max Afinogenov (Place I used to work)
Andrew Peters (Same place I used to work and at Wegman's multiple times)

If Mike Funk, Mike Card or Geoff Peters count for anything then the number is 18. (All at Mother's and Card at the Arena)

Anyway, voting is well underway. So far the Sabres are dominating the East. Who's surprised? Encourage others to vote!! Link to this blog in your blogs and get people to vote so we can get an accurate sampling, hahaha. Vote often. I'll update on the first 24 hours of voting tomorrow.

BTW why are all the clothes sold by the NHL ginormous? I found this kind of sweet shirt at Dave and Adam's for a man and I'm like "no biggie, mediums in unisex shirts fit well enough." The small was HUGE and they do not sell extra small for men, haha. Whatevs, I don't go to Sabres games anyway... ok, well I do, but, yeah. I don't generally wear Sabres gear around town

I'm currently bidding on a pair of Sabres tickets for $1.04. No joke. I couldn't resist. If I win them, they're basically up for grabs. They're for Friday's game against LA. I'll find out Thursday. If I win I'll have an extremely easy to win contest and the first person who emails me with the correct answer can have them. They're not great seats but they're in the last row so you can stand which is really a perk if you've never done it and they'll most likely be free, so its really win/win. Oh and if I can think of a clever enough sign, if you get the tickets, I might make you hang it up for me.

Oh yes, and yay to the Tylers for making the World Junior team! Can't wait to see them! Thomas McCollum is tending goal for Team USA as well. Hooray!

I think I'll watch Devils at Maple Leafs tonight and cheer for the Devils over at Interchangeable Parts.

Potential Favorite Rookie Nonsense

by Anne

I was working on a post discussing the HARROWING task ahead of me of choosing a favorite rookie, when Sabres.com decided to make my life harder by posting an article highlighting why Andrej Sekera and Mike Weber are totally awesome and why they should play in the NHL. BTW, the picture of #33 is not Doof. I'm not sure who it is, but Webby wears #34.

I DIDN'T NEED CONVINCING, ERIN POLLINA.

My choice for favorite rookie is going to be harder than I anticipated. S(h)ara and I were discussing choosing a favorite rookie last night. At the time, she was leaning towards Tim Kennedy and I was leaning towards Gerbe.

He he he

Gerb-dogg channels his inner Jason Pominville and gnaws on his mouth guard, seductively.


gross.

I can't forget Mike Weber in my hunt for a potential favorite rookie. I WANT to forget Mike Weber, because he might not crack the line up this October. Granted, if he doesn't, he'll be at the very top of the call-up list, I'm sure. BUT. Reggie will probably crack the line-up, and like Hank and Tone before them, can you really break up such a dynamic duo?!?! Sekera talks about how he enjoys having Webby there and how their styles compliment each other well, one a stay-at-home defenseman, one a more offense minded defenseman. Peanut Butter and Jelly, yin and yang, Bonnie and Clyde, Bran Engblom and his weave. THE TWO CAN NEVER BE TWAIN. WHAT MORE COULD YOU ASK FOR? ITS THE BEST PAIRING EVER IS REALLY WHAT IT IS.

So now I'm torn. Thanks a lot, Sabres.com and Mrs. Weber for having a son who has a universally praised work ethic and desire, knowledge and passion for the game. Loving Doof goes against my very nature as a human being. I've NEVER been the type of girl to fall for one of those kinds of people (defensemen), but might I make an exception for Michael? Could I? I'm just not sure if I can handle how "in flux" our relationship would be. Portland? Buffalo? Portland? Buffalo? My Bedroom? Portland?

Don't send Michael all the way to MAINE.


Who was driving? Was it Andrej?!
WERE YOU GETTING SMOOTHIES*

*oh yeah, I haven't given up on my "A smoothie a day makes a loss go away" philosophy, accept it, embrace it, love it, move on.

Nathan, Michael, battle it out at training camp. If they both make it, it will be a truly stressful time for me, choosing who to love more. GASP, if one makes it and one doesn't, it shall be a true test of my love. I will either rejoice or be consumed with sorrow. If they BOTH get sent to Maine, I may do something drastic like commit my heart to Tim Connolly, and THEN where will that leave us? Miserable and depressed, possibly pregnant, and DEFINITELY regretting our roster cuts, right Lindy? Do you really want it on your conscience that Tim Connolly has reproduced and I'm forced to accept his big fat monthly child support checks for the rest of my life? Please, Lindy, Jeep, Darcy, Brian McCutcheon, don't cut BOTH of them. Please?!?!

OK, WHAT THE HELL.

Sabres.com posts a Rookie Camp video and WHO ARE THE TWO PLAYERS THEY INTERVIEWED??!?!?! BRIAN WHEELER, DO YOU READ MY BLOG AND ARE TRYING TO STRESS ME OUT?!?!?!

Gerbe displays, once again his sparkling interview skills. I'm sure in the footage they didn't use, he thanked each player individually and knitted Lindy Ruff a winter cap that says "#1 Coach" and then talked Russia into backing off on Georgia once and for all. I have a feeling Nate Gerbe can talk anyone into doing anything. Do you think he can talk Derek Roy out of the fauxhawk? They'll be together a lot because Roysie is DEFINITELY going to be hanging out with the only guy on the team who's shorter than he is. COME ON YOU KNOW ITS TRUE.

Webby is rocking the "I'm just here to work hard and not take too much credit for my individual successes" attitude that makes me WEAK IN THE KNEES. When he first started talking, they weren't showing him and he sounded like Pommer. SOUNDING LIKE MY FORMER #1 WON'T HELP... ok I'm easily manipulated, so it actually might help but don't make a habit out of it, DOOF. The only downside I see to Webby is that his neutral facial expression reads less as "neutral" and more "I need to get to the nearest bathroom." I think he's been spending too much time watching Thomas Vanek video from mid-way through last season. OH YEAH. I WENT THERE.

I spend the time I should be doing homework updating my blog. That's just the way I roll.

Whoop-Dee-QuarterFinals

by Anne

NHL:

I only watched the 3rd period which was exciting, especially the crazy scrum at the end with Ott and Holmstrom, yikes. I opted to watch Team USA v. Team Finland, more on that later.

Stars hang on to fight another day. Unlike San Jose, who boasts the red-headed Messiah on their team, no one seems to think that they can pull off a miracle, but they did, of course, mention the stats about coming back from being down 3 games to none, as is mandatory. I will say that it is quite a feat to limit the Red Wings to one goal. Well done, Dallas. I knew they were going to win this game, I knew they wouldn't be swept, just like the Rangers won their 2nd home game of the Pens series with them. Eh. Whatevs, GO PENS!


So the World Championship Quarter Finals were held yesterday. NOW the games are single-elimination.

We've already bid farewell to Andrej Sekera and Slovakia in this tourney, and now we bid farewell to Ales Kotalik whose Team Czech Republic was eliminated yesterday by Sweden in a 3-2 overtime game that was probably pretty exciting to watch. Sweden scored first, then the Czech Republic scored 2, then Sweden got the equalizer and the OT winner. Sorry Ales!

AL! DO NOT MOON THE SWEDES!

FYI: Sekera finished the Tournament playing in all 5 games, 1 pt (o+1), +3, 11 SOG, with 19:01 average ice time per game. Yay!

FYI: Kotalik finished the Tournament playing in all 7 games, 7 pts (5+2), 3 PPG, -1, 0 PIM. Awww no penalties, good boy, Ales!

Team Canada took on Norway yesterday afternoon and Heatley scored just 37 seconds in. Yeesh. The first shift hadn't even gotten their legs going and Heatley potted one. Whoops. Then they traded 5 on 3 opportunities and both scored, followed soon after by another Norwegian goal. It started out really really close....aaaaand then became the monstrous blowout I was expecting. Yay! Canada won 8-2! Yay! Derek Roy had himself a 4 point night (3+1)! Hat trick! Yay!!!!!

Next, Canada plays Sweden. Boooooo. I don't care that you have Nicklas Backstrom! You also have Henrik Lundqvist and while I have nothing against him personally, I don't like his team, so PHOOEY on YOU Sweden. I don't care HOW funny this picture is:

Swedish Indians?

Hey look! Someone once found my blog while searching for "Henrk and Joel Lundqvist shirtless"! Here ya go! I live to serve my readers, haha. I hope a large check or lots of booze was involved in the conceptualizing of this ad. I mean, look at Joel's shorts. I know, you it took me a while to notice them too, as I found myself lost in Henrik's pecs. 35 might just be my new favorite number. Sidenote: who doesn't love the classic "make yourself look bigger and more buff by crossing your arms and flexing every muscle in your upperbody" move. Good show, boys, good show.

Anyhoot, Russia defeated Switzerland yesterday 6-0. Afinogenov had 2 goals. Woohoo! Next, Russia takes on the winner of the USA v. Finland match up.

Speaking of which:

That game was painfully boring until the end of the 3rd period. It was 2-0 Finland until about 5 minutes left when Mr. Yick scored a goal. And then, oh JOY of JOYS! His first goal of the Tournament, Team USA's first shorthanded goal, 37 seconds apart... STAFFY!!!! YAY!!!!!! GOOD BOY, STAFFERS!! You're trying SO HARD to be my favorite again, and you just might do it.

Tooooooo bad they lost in OT, and are now eliminated from the tournament, finishing in 5th place. :( What the HELL am I supposed to do now?

Anyhoot, when it all comes down to it:

Pommer played in all 7 games, had 5 points (2+3), both goals were powerplay goals, was +1, 0 PIM and averaged 16:54 in ice time.

Staffy played in all 7 games, had 4 points (1+3), +4 (tied for the team lead), the only shorthanded goal for Team USA and averaged only 8:41 in ice time per game.

An excellent showing from the boys in blue and gold for Team USA. I guess it's all about Roysie, Max and Kalinin....ugh, ok it's all about Roysie:

Two of Roysie's three goal celebrations:

Typical happy smiley Roysie

Suddenly and inexplicably stony celebration by Roysie. Probably because at this point the score was like 7-2 and its just rude to overly celebrate when you're PWNING the other team

Sigh.

Well, Adam Burish heard my plea yesterday. On their day off:

Some guys took the opportunity to go fishing. For some, it didn’t go as planned. Kessel got pretty sea sick as he spent most of the time leaning over the end of the boat, so guys were joking with him about that the past couple days, and Mueller didn't fare so well at sea either. O'Sullivan and Backes came back with a pretty good tan, and I would say Greene did too but he had a bit more of a lobster red shade to him, ha! Over all they had a great experience catching a ton of cod. Other guys spent a lot of the day walking around the downtown Halifax area eating outside and shopping.

Ok, there was no specific mention of Jason Pominville and Drew Stafford, I'm going to go ahead and assume they were in the "walking around and shopping" group. Go ahead, try to picture Drew Stafford fishing... no, really, I'll wait...... doo dooo doo, done? Yeah, I couldn't really picture it either. I bet Derek Roy dragged Pommer to all the fancy euro-style boutiques and gave him a personalized Roysie-over while Staffy and Zach Parise threw water balloons at passing elderly ladies and capped off the day by eating their weight in Starbursts on a patio while Kaner and Tom Gilbert made clay flower pots for their mommies at the pottery cabin of Camp Morningwood.

And yes, I did snicker at the thought of Phil Kessel being a big wimp and reintroducing the contents of his stomach to the world, hahaha. I'm not very nice. Here's a question: what exactly did they do with all the cod they caught? I'm guessing you can't bring live or dead fish across international borders, fellas, so I'm gonna go ahead and assume they did a "catch and release" deal. I think Adam Burish has a crush on Matt Greene, not just a ManCrush, but like really thinks they'd make a great couple. Let's start that rumor....aaaaaand GO.

---

Private to Jason Pominville and Drew Stafford:

It's ok, you tried. Too bad you won't be back at the World Championships anytime soon because the Sabres will never miss the playoffs ever ever ever again. Right? RIGHT? That's what I thought.

Love,
Anne

---

Private to all our boys that have been eliminated:

SMOOTHIE TIME! WOOOOOO! GOOSE IS DRIVING!! No Al, you can't have shotgun, Sabretooth always has shotgun, its the rules. WOOOOO!

Love,
Anne

---

Will Ry-ry finish off the Flyers tonight?!?! FINGERS CROSSED! Tomorrow is my last day! As Sissy would say: "YAAAHHHHH!!!!"

S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y NIGHT!

by Anne

Detroit and Dallas:

I'm working on disliking Dallas again, so I wasn't too upset by the loss. The first period was exciting and then NO ONE SCORED AGAIN FOR THE REST OF THE GAME. It was a SNOOZE. The Red Wings are just monsters. I almost want to change my prediction to Wings in 4. But I'll stick with Wings in 5. I bet the Stars can eke out a win at home... at least I hope they can.


Worlds:

YO CANADA TOTALLY MADE GERMANY THEIR BEEYOTCHES YESTERDAY.

They won 10-1. Eric Staal, who I agree had not really made his presence known in these Championships decided that yesterday was the day to start being BA.


Staal had 4 goals on 7 shots. He had 6 points in the game. WOWZAS. That's pretty freakin' sweet.

The reason Louie plays so well with eStaal because Louie pretends eStaal is Vinny

Roysie had a 2 point night (1+1) Caps PBF had 3 points (1+2). Roysie had 1 shot on goal and 1 goal, haha. I wish I could love Team Canada. I mean, I like them 2nd best... I think. They have Louie, Roysie and my Caps PBF, and my former Pacific Division boyfriend..... but they also have Heatley and Spezza which is totally yickey. Buuuut, Canada is America's hat.... so I guess I'll be ok with their gold medal or silver...probably gold.

Happy 23rd Birthday to my ex-Pacific Division Boyfriend!

Russia beat Sweden, but neither of our boys had any points, Max had a penalty, but that's it. Psh.... that's not exciting. Although its about what we usually expect from them for the Sabres, a couple of freakin' sweet games and then nothing for a month and a half.


The Czech Republic beat Belarus in a shootout. Guess who had the tying goal and then scored on the shootout?

WOOOOOOO!! KOTALIK!!

Slovakia beat Slovenia in a shoot out and and avoided being relegated to Group A which is the tournament Austria played in last month. It's too bad that Austria and Slovakia and the Czech Republic will be without some of their best players because THE SABRES WILL BE IN THE PLAYOFFS!!!!! Ahem. Yes. That's true.

Look who was named one of Slovakia's best players of the tournament:

yay!

Philly tonight at Pittsburgh tonight at 7:30. USA takes on Finland at 3:30! Woo!

Eastern Conference Whoop-di-doo

by Anne

It is rather tragic that for the 1st time in the past few years the boys in blue and gold are not vying for (and losing) the Eastern Conference Title. Whatev, if I can't have Pommers, I'll take RY-RY!


Yay! Win for the Pens! It was definitely a little disconcerting at the beginning when the Flyers came out blazin'. They had a really strong start but seemed to just lose their edge. It was weird. Although, the Flyers have lost game 1 of all their series thus far, this isn't necessarily an indicator that they're out.


So far no players in the 4 remaining teams have contracted botulism or ruptured an appendix while bending over to tie their shoes, but don't worry, I'm sure a rash of borderline life-threatening maladies is on its way.


Geno is a freakin' monster. It's funny, Geno shows off a lot more than Sid these days, Sid's taking more of the playmaker role (yes, he did score, that's true) but Geno scored TWICE. And he can score some crazy goals as well, see his last goal against the Rangers only a minute or 2 after skating for almost an entire powerplay. SICK. There are 2 reasons why Geno is not a threat to Sid's star status: 1) He's not Captain or captainly and 2) He doesn't speak English well enough to give interviews. Advantage: Sid. Whatev. I still love 'em both.


Worlds:


Sekera registered his first point of the tournament on an assist on the game-winning goal! He had 2 PIM, 4 shots on goal and was +2! Yay Reggie! They beat Slovakia 5-1


Who knew that Slovakia had a player named M. Hossa? I certainly didn't and my head was momentarily spinning. He also wears 81 (Marian Hossa wears 18) Further proof that Marian Hossa has an evil twin!! We must travel to Halifax and learn the identity of this "person" masquerading as a Hossa! Who's with me! The evil one must be STOPPED! OR IS #18 FOR THE PENGUINS M. HOSSA THE EVIL ONE?!?!? Wait, isn't Hossa Swedish? Reading penguins.nhl.com......reading penguins.nhl.com...nope, born in Czechoslovakia. Oh wait, I just remembered, he has a brother named Marcel.... searching..... searching.... reading the IIHF roster...yup, it's Marcel. Dang, this was more fun when Marian had a crazy twin. Boo.

Evil twin or Marcel?

Max had a goal and a primary assist in Russia's 4-3 shootout win over Belarus. Sorry Tits Bros!

Max appears to have misplaced the lower portion of his right leg

Canada plays Germany today at 3:30. The USA faces Russia on Sunday.

---

Private to Darce and Lar:

Please sign the players I want you to sign ASAP. You've kept my bloodlust at bay by signing Gerbster, but please get on top of your other contract signings. Thanks.

IF YOU DON'T RE-SIGN GOOSE AND BIG BEAR I'LL KILL YOU! M.J. WILL DIE (LITERALLY) IF MIKE RYAN ISN'T SIGNED. DO YOU WANT THAT ON YOUR CONSCIENCE?!?!

Loves ya!

Anne

The Battle of North America

by Anne

*Cue booming symphonic music


AAAAAND NOWWWWW.................

In this corner......with a combined regular season NHL point total of 4,896,432, an overall bangability factor of 3.1 on a scale of 10 and possessing a player with the World's LAMEST Boat Name... TEEEEEEEAAAAAMMM CANADAAAAAAAAAAA!

Roysie's the one in the back who's slightly out of line

AAAAAAAAAAAAAND In this corner................. with an average age of 11 1/2, a penchant for games and group team-building activities designed to entertain pre-teens, and an average shoe size of 14, Teeeeeaaaaam USAAAAAAAAAAA!

John Tortorella's lost the point of the Tournament

LET'S GET READY TO HOCKEEEEEEEEEYYYYYY!!!!


So, the Battle of North America had it's first chapter yesterday afternoon. The game started at 3:30 EDT. THAT IS TOTALLY LAME. HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO WATCH IT?


I decided to have the the live score updates pop up at inappropriate times on my screen while at work rather than pay the $4.95 to try to watch the thing. That live update window has quite the feeling of self-importance. Regardless of what you're doing with your computer, every minute or so it pops up to the front of the screen, impeding you from the sentence you were just typing so you can see that no penalties have been assessed and no goals scored. Actually, it only does that n my PC at work. On my Mac at home, it doesn't do that. Huh.

Anyway, when I left work it was 3-2, Canada nearing the end of the 2nd. When I got home (20 minutes later) it was 4-4. Yowzas. My inner monologue while reading the scoring recap went something like this:


Me: Yay! POMMER! Yay! ROYSIE! Wait, don't I mean "Boo! Roysie!"? I guess I do. Huh, I was right, it does feel wrong. Aw, hell: Yay! ROYSIE! Booooo Heatley.


Not too surprisingly, Team USA lost to Team Canada 5-4. I'm sure it was really exciting for the Canadian fans as Heatley put home the game winning goal with only 46 seconds remaining on the clock. I am surprised it was a such a close game though. Maybe I'm just gun shy after this season. My expectations for my team are that they're good unless they play a REALLY good team, and Team Canada is a REALLY good team. However, Team USA held their own and outshot Team Canada in the game. Woo!


I wish I could've watched it or been there. I'm pretty sure I'd be the most annoying American on the planet if I were at those games. I'd cheer anything they did, yes even Phil Kessel! Granted, I'd have to bathe extensively afterwards, but I'd cheer him on! USA fans are probably pretty underrepresented. It's so tragic that there aren't more Pommerdoodle puckbunnies to fawn all over him post-game. Speaking of Mr. Doodle, he was declared the player of the game by the dude who writes the live game blog:

Player of the game: Jason Pominville. He tallied an assist and scored the game-tying goal in the third period in his first game against Canada. He was also among the team leaders in ice time as Tortorella relied on the youngster.

Woooh- Wait. Is it just cuz he was born in Canada? Boooo. Whoever picks the best player on the IIHF website picked Dustin Brown. Clearly that person is a MORON. And, "youngster"? Pommer is 25, making him on "Team Old" when Camp Morningwood has their daily Freeze Tag Tournament.


Hahahahahahahahahaha:

Ryan Getzlaf is NOT bringing the sexy to Team Canada

Andrej Sekera (wearing #44, btw) was named best player of the game(for his team) in Slovakia's loss to Germany on Monday. Woooo!

---

Private to Nate-Dogg:

Fine. My 2nd attempt at making us Facebook BFFL has failed. FINE! WHATEVER! I HATE YOU! I WISH YOU'D STAYED IN BOSTON! Hrmph.

I can't understand this policy of not friending random girls in a town you'll possibly be moving to soon. Psh, maybe you have a crazy girlfriend. That's what I'll tell myself to help cope with your rejection. It can't be that I'm so smokin' hot, my Facebook picture is a South Park caricature of me holding a sabre. And by sabre, I mean Adam Mair.

Sidebar, don't be surprised if I'm wasted while out on the town one night and I yell something at you like "WHY WON'T YOU BE MY INTERNET FRIEND?!?!" It might happen. Much like I'm really not sure of my ability to physically restrain myself from attack-hugging Big Bear if I were to encounter him on the streets of Buffalo. I'm a loose cannon.

BTW, STAFFY and I are Facebook buddies. I'm just sayin'.

Love and You're TOTALLY NOT As Cool as Staffy,
Anne

---

I totally locked my keys in my car and am posting this at home. I'm taking my sweet ass time getting to work while waiting for AAA. Wooooo!!

It's all Been Done

by Anne

I'd write about Saturday's game, but my fellow bloggers summed it all up nicely.

I thoroughly relished in every second of TEPPO. I loved Roysie's totally unselfish pass to Britney for his hat trick. I'm amazed Mike Weber survived that crazy assault from behind. There was nothing not to love about that game. I whooped it up for Thibault and the defensemen who limited that Bruins to only 17 shots and zero goals.

Today I will highlight my top 10 moments of the season (on the ice):

10: Yo-yo's 20th "Personal-Best" Goal of the Season

It didn't come until March 19, but we all knew Captain October and February would pull through in the end. Who didn't love that crazy angle shot that miraculously went in to get Yo-yo his first 20 goal season? Yay! There had BEST be a letter permanently sewn on his left shoulder come October....Lindy, I'm lookin' at you.

9: Andrew Peters' Annual Goal

I like this picture because of Kalinin's face

Andrew Peters has many roles as a Buffalo Sabre: awkward slow skater, bench warmer, NHLPA Player Representative, Press Box Coffee Boy and terrible fighter. But on February 27, 2008, he had one title: Goal Scorer. Woooooo! Once a year, baby!

8: Sekera's GWG against Boston March 30, 2008

When Andrej Sekera first came up from Rochester earlier in the season we were all... rather "underwhelmed" by his performance. However, a few months down in the trenches with Webby turned him into one hell of a defenseman. There were many moments of defensive HOTNESS however, no moment shines out more for Reggie this season than his crazy offensive BULLET from the point goal to keep our SLIM playoff hopes alive. Excellent work by Britney and Webby to make it happen.

7: The December 21, 2007 Game aka Danny's return to Buffalo

I was fortunate enough to take Mama Maloy to this game. Danny's first return after jumping ship. The mood in the Arena was TENSE. It was so great. This is probably my favorite game I've ever been to. Winning it, Spacek's bone crushing hit on Danny. It was perfect. Ok, so both Danny and Dru are in the playoffs...but for that weekend, we were the team that won WITHOUT Daniel Briere.

6: Miller's 1st game after his cousin passed: 6-0 Win

Not long at all after Ryan Miller's cousin Matt passed away, Ryan had to go back to business as usual. He gave a then-abysmally-crappy team a huge win, their first of the season, I might add. That game was so emotional. Any one who is a fan of either of the Miller brothers knows how much "Matt Man" meant to them. I can't lie, when Miller raised his helmet showing his cousin's nickname written on the back, I got choked up, kind of like I am right now.

5: Big Bear's first game as a Buffalo Sabre: February 27, 2008

Derek Roy's face reads: I don't even know you, but I'm going to hug you

In the words of Rick Jeanneret: "WELCOME TO BUFFALO, STEVE BERNIER!" Could you have really asked for a better debut? Granted, Big Bear has only scored 1 additional goal and a handful of assists since then, but the physical play of the team his just exploded since dropping the Skating Tomato and picking up Big Bear. I don't want to love him because his time as a Sabre might already be over, but if he had driven from the Arena to my apartment and proposed to me after that game, I definitely would've said yes. Actually, if Big Bear did that right now, I might still say yes.

4: 10-1 win over the Atlanta Thrashers: January 18, 2008

I know, Danny, I couldn't believe it either

With every goal that was scored in that game, my faith and love for SabreHockey that had been forcibly chipped away from me by each of the 10 preceding losses was put back in its rightful place. My then-favorite Staffy (sorry, no longer my absolute favorite, but#2 ain't bad) got his first hat trick, newly named as S(h)ara's favorite, Derek Roy, got a hat trick after Lindo basically told him he needed to step it up. That game was beautifully merciless towards the Thrashers and I loved it. They played dirty that game and moved themselves onto my top 5 least favorite teams. I loved that game so much I wanted to marry it and have little goal scoring babies.

3: Tampa Bay comeback #1: February 20, 2008

This is one of my favorite pictures from the whole season

This game was not pleasant. I was so frustrated with the boys that with about 5 minutes left when we were down 3-1, I drunkenly changed the channel. Approximately 5 minutes later I changed back to officially see that we had lost when, what's that? Why is Hank hanging out on the ice after the game? Wait, WHAT? BRITNEY DID WHAT NOW? Oh Britters. Even though you were wrong about us being in the playoffs,I don't fault you, 4 hat tricks in 23 games is quite a feat, you did what you could. And you did it well in that game.

2: Tampa Bay comeback #2: March 19, 2008

Max got annoyed with this guy...oh, it's Jeff Halpern

Almost exactly 1 month after the aforementioned comeback came another huge deficit to overcome. We were, once again, losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning heading into the 3rd. I was, once again, very unhappy, although not intoxicated. While eating some dinner at a restaurant and trying not to be too annoyed by the NCAA fans who were ignoring the REAL game, and also trying to not be bothered by the slight video lapse, I watched the boys score 6 goals in one period. It was totally awesome. The only reason this game ranks higher than the Thrashers game is because at this point in the season we really believed we were going to be in the playoffs. For the January game, I think we were just content to not be kicked out of the league.

And finally...............

Drum roll please..............................

1: Henrik Tallinder's SO Goal FTW! February 6, 2008!

No moment will standout more to me from the 2007-2008 season for me than Hank the Muthafuckin' Tank's CRIZAZY shootout goal. Poor Staffy, he also beat Mr. Brick Wall, but no one remembers that. They only remember the feeling of "Uhhhh...... Tallinder?" followed very closely after by "WOOOOOOO!!!!! TALLINDER!!!!! " Oh man, I have never loved a hockey goal more. Ok, that's not true, this goal and Pommer's OT in 2006 can duke it out for supremacy.

Honorable mention goes to TEPPO for his return on Sunday, but that game was meaningless to everyone but Teppo and Thibault basically.

There ya have my top 10. Any thing you feel I left out? Any moments are higher or lower on your list?

Andrej Sekera is boss

by Anne

I'm not sure how I feel about that win.

We got 2 points, but Boston got 1 too.

Hmmmmm...

Whatever, congrats Andrej! 1st game winning goal in the NHL.

Now I wish I went. Oh well!

Yay!!!

I'm looking forward to the future of our defense.



Playoff picture: still confusing.

P.S. Has anyone heard this DeLacy Ford commercial with Pommerdoodle? Unless he had a severe head cold it sounds almost nothing like him. It irritates me.

But, playoffs or no playoffs: WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!