Ron MacLean is a BAMF & other things

by Anne

• First and foremost, we all must pay homage to one Mr. Ron MacLean of Hockey Night in Canada who saved a man from taking his own life by diving into the Delaware River to save him. Read a bit about it here. What a dude. 

• So the Flyers won last night. I dislike both of these teams in the Final so I appreciate that these three games have been exciting and close. Chris Pronger makes things more entertaining, as always, even if it's because he's a royal d-bag.

• Zack Kassian saddens me. I know he has a mean-streak on the ice, but being arrested and charged with assault is not exactly going to endear him to Sabres fans. Darcy Regier had expressed interest in signing him to a pro-contract soon. That will likely be put off until later into the summer, if it happens this summer at all, while he deals with this situation. Idiot. Win the Memorial Cup and get arrested. Well done, Kash.

• I'm reading this book:

• I'm a big fan of the Roosevelts and I like biographies and I like biographies written by David McCullough, so this should be a good read. Thusfar I've read the first chapter, which focuses on TR's Pops, also named Theodore. He sounds like he was the kind of father any kid would want. Next chapter is about his Mama, Mittie.

• It's hard to find things hockey to look forward to. I'm not all that pumped about the draft this year. Neither the Kings nor Sabres have high draft picks, and there's no possibility of going to the draft in LA :( 

• The Sabres signed Jacob Lagace. This seriously ups the pretty factor in the prospects pool, which is always a plus for development camp. By the by, when is Dev Camp this summer? I love going up there for the scrimmages.

• Tumblr is rife with sudden pangs of lust for Dan Carcillo. Ladies, I can get behind loving even the grossest of the gross, but just not Dan Carcillo. I suppose I could understand a latent desire for Sean Avery or Chris Pronger, maybe even Dion Phaneuf, but NOT Dan Carcillo. Gross me out in all ways possible.

• Let's Go 'Hawks? I might pay attention to the NBA. The week off before the SCF started had a lot of us on Twitter watching the NBA. I suppose I'll pull for the Lakers? I don't know. I feel like the Celtics and Lakers are ALWAYS in the Final. I know that's not true but  they HAVE met 11 times in the Final.

7(th) for all Sabrekind

by Anne

Hockey schmockey. WHAT? Ha, totally kidding. Last night's game was stuuuupendous. Remember when, for about 15 minutes before Boston won, we were in 6th place? Now we're in 7th but that's ok, 7th is better than 9th which is better than Toronto which is better than...uhhhh...Tampa.

I've been mulling over last night's BAMF for a while. Millsey had a solid game, minus that messed up poke check to give Toronto their goal, but was it BAMF-worthy? I'd say no. Kotalik had 2 goals, ending a tied for career-high goal-less drought of 14 games. But, was it BAMF? I could watch that saucer pass from Britney to Roysie all night. That was just sexy. I'm glad they showed it as many times as they did and from the angle they did. Pratters totally redeemed himself from his craptastical play against Tampa with a lovely "Sacrifice yourself and go to the ice" block right to the ribs that had to hurt.

I choose to give a co-BAMF to Roysie and Britters. Why? Because they make other players look good. Stafford? Shines when he plays with them. Paille? Same. Connolly? ON FIRE. Now? Kotalik. Ok, Mairsy didn't really come out blazing, but they can't all be winners. In the last month or so whomever gets the nod to skate with those 2 comes out on top. They're solid players who know their roles. Roysie scampers and scraps for the puck, Britters is in front of the net for the screen and the tip-in. That leaves whomever is left to distract and support, and sometimes get set up for goals themselves.

Well done, gents. I'm getting tired of looking for pictures of awards, I can only find so many.

I'm sad they took away Sissy's goal and gave it to Britters. However, he did appear to "tip it in." And I suppose that counts as a "goal." Whatev, all that matters is it counted and we won. 26 goals for #26.

Britters chose to play a little more of a supporting role last night and that looks good on him too, 1 goal and 2 assists ain't too shabby. 2 assists for Sissy as well, wooooooo!

I kind of hate empty net goals. Even when we score them (kind of). Because it almost seems too easy. However, if we were to have the opportunity to score an empty net goal and someone missed (cough Britney like a week ago cough) that's really annoying. So, I feel like they should only count as like 1/2 a goal...but then they'd round up so we'll call it 2 for Kotalik anyway.

Patches played!...for 1:40 and 2 shifts. But, he was playing forward, so we can't have it all. Lindy's clearly been relying more on Roysie, Britters and _______ (Insert name here) in the past few games and not rolling the 4 lines like he usually does. I say, why not? Keep out the lines that are on fire. For a time it was Pommerdoodle, Yoyo and Grizz, then Paille, and they played a lot. Do what works. I'm just glad Patches got some ice time and snagged a +1 on the night.

I love the way the team dynamic ebbs and flows. For a time, like most of January, Danny Pie-YAY was on fire. He still leads the team in +/- with a +12 even after that 9-2 scoring weekend. Now he's having a cooling-off period, but he's still solid. That's a-ok, because now Britney is stepping up. Roysie started the season slow but after his shoulder injury and a tongue-lashing from Lindo he's seriously stepped up his game. Millsey has hot streaks and some rare off nights, but he's consistent. That's something this team has seriously lacked until recent weeks: consistency. Now they seem to be finding their stride. Hopefully its not a fluke and they can ride this hot streak.

While these last 2 games were pretty tank, we have to remember, they were both against the bottom two teams in the Eastern Conference: must wins but still possibly lulling the boys into a false sense of security. Saturday its the Rangers who are, um, decidedly better than Toronto or Tampa. We just can't (and won't) have a repeat of Saturday. I choose to think of last weekend as a necessary knocking off of the high horse that the team needed. Every once in while teams need to be upended and put down a peg. Look at what's happening to Ottawa: they were far and away the leaders in the East for quite some time and now they're grasping at a 1 point lead. Before last night they were in a 3 way tie for 1st. Now, 3 teams are tied for 2nd, all with 75 points. Sabres? 68. Wowza. This will be the most ridiculous photo finish to the playoffs ever.

Speaking of the playoffs: After seeing all the sweet magnetic playoff trackers at the Wilfull Caboose, Interchangeable Parts and The Goose's Roost, I caved and ordered one last night. I'm so excited. Wooooo! Now after a night of hockey all I can think about is re-organizing my playoff tracker that I don't currently own. I'm not sure what I'll do with the teams that have no prayer of a playoff spot, perhaps they'll have an ice cream social off to the side.

I've been reading about Philly's misfortunes and how Danny is now being singled out the way Britney had been, when I read something that summed up 2 things: why I hate Philly and why I love Buffalo:

From NHL.com:

The season keeps getting worse for the Flyers, who started the month as one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference. They lost their ninth straight game (0-8-1) and the home crowd booed a team that dropped out of the conference playoff standings....The Philly faithful have had enough and the Flyers were booed almost the entire game, especially when they were outhustled to the puck.

Let's emphasize:

The season keeps getting worse for the Flyers, who started the month as one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference. They lost their ninth straight game (0-8-1) and the home crowd booed a team that dropped out of the conference playoff standings...The Philly faithful have had enough and the Flyers were booed almost the entire game, especially when they were outhustled to the puck.

Can you imagine booing the Sabres? I seriously can't imagine that EVER happening in HSBC Arena, but maybe I'm naive. Even when the Sabres were in a 10 game losing streak, they didn't get booed in either of the 2 games I attended. It was more of a "I'm very disappointed in you" atmosphere, like when you get caught for drinking at a party in high school and your dad sits you down and tells you what's what. The Philly streak is worse than the Sabres' was, they've only managed 1 point in the last 9 games. At least we pulled out 5 in 10. Fair weather fans much, Philly? Enjoy Danny, when he's good he's great, so I hope he opens up like Britney did for us, but not in time to save your season. This keeps you out of our playoff spot so I'm enjoying it. Woooo.

Update:

Thanks to Amy at Shots off the Crossbar for this picture that continues to prove my point about Buffalo fans. This picture is from last night's Bruins/Panthers game:

You stay classy, Sabres' fans

Game 57: Toronto at Boofalo

by Anne

What a game.

I can't handle games like that. It's just not fair. Dammit! I was so pumped by the post game excitement that I missed the first 20 minutes of Project Runway. Thanks a lot, Sabres! Just kidding! I watched the encore broadcast that immediately followed the original broadcast.

That game was kee-razy. There was some BITCHIN' goaltending on both ends of the ice. Toskala had a great game, but the skaters in front of him couldn't find the back of the net. We in Buffalo know how those games feel. But not lately!

BAMFs:

Could there be a doubt as to #1?

Ryan. Freakin'. Miller. Have my babies? I freakin' love you ,Millsey. You've always been my "well, duh." secret favorite player. But I feel like its too obvious to love you most, its basically a given. Everyone loves Ryan Miller, you have to. How can you possibly not? He's totally tank-ass. Please accept yet another Golden BAMF award for playing 60 stupendously solid minutes of hockey tonight. We all know how fond you are of playing a solid 58 minutes and then checking out and writing your journal entry for the night roundabout the 18:00 mark of the 3rd. Woooo!

For your crazy-ass bursts of crazy-ass saves

IF YOU'RE OUT AND ABOUT GIVE A HONK FOR THE GOOSE! In our only 2 victories over the Maple Leafs this season who has scored BOTH game winning goals? The GOOSE. You haven't scored too many goals this season, but thats not what you're all about. You come through in a pinch. Reed's Jewelers didn't seem to think so, but they're stupid.

Rake up those "Leafs" Goose!

Look at that face! You snap that 9 game point drought! HONK!

For scurrying around like a crazy little squirrel after a nut and feeding the Goose to bury home this goal, I pass along our 3rd place BAMF award to Mr. Daniel Pie-YAY!

Sometimes you feel like a nut

In other NHL news, Millsey was first star. Wait, that's not other news? I just felt like saying it. Woooo!

I'll give props to Toskala as well, he played an excellent game, stopping 25 of 26 shots ain't too shabby.

Fo' serious though, Kaner scored a goal last night in Chicago's 7-2 win over Columbus. Woooo!

That Saucy Minx reached the "30 wins in a season" milestone he's so dreadfully fond of. Well done, Martin, well done.

What do you mean this doesn't mean we get to be #1?

by Anne

First, a few random thoughts from tonight's game:

Yo, Timmy, what's up with the fu manchu? As MK said: "Yo, where is his wife and/or girlfriend to get on top of that?"

After Ottawa scored, Grizz took personal offense, so he scored one like half a minute later. HOT. Grizz!

Pommerdoodle really loves chewing on his mouth guard, he must have some kind of oral fixation issues. Maybe he needs a new chew toy.

Who else really wanted Pratters to just beat the living snot out of Chris Neil?

I enjoy that the tribute video to Mike Robitaille was from "circa 1975." I love that it was "circa" does Roby not remember being traded to Vancouver and just took a "shot in the dark" guess at when he became Canuck?

That win felt great, it was a nice recovery from Sunday's game. 6 Sabres had 2 or more points on the night and no Sabres were a minus. Wowza.

That usual post-big-trade jump was felt in Carolina as they beat Boston, but not in Ottawa. Ha, I bet the 'Canes GM has a big ol' smile on his face after tonight. Maybe that trade wasn't such a great idea, Bryan Murray. Hahaha.

Soupy's agent is Ottawa based, and there was some murmuring that there would be some talking about contracts today. He said in a pregame interview that he was planning to be a Buffalo Sabre next season. JUST DO SOMETHING ALREADY!

Our 3rd place BAMF was nominated by S(h)ara. For taking a serious header into the boards, drawing out the trainers and not missing a shift, Sissy, you are our 3rd place man of BAMF. Enjoy your prize:

Protect that head in bronzed Grecian style

Our Silver Surfer of Bamfness was going to go to Millsey, but upon further investigation and reflection, and thanks to Britney's comments in his intermission interview, I pass on the Silver BAMF award to the Sabres' goaltending coach: Jim Corsi. For training Millsey and excellently scouting Ray "Ew" Emery, I honor you with this award to blind the opposition with your BAMFness:

Flash 'em yo' grillz, Cor-Z

This face is SCREAMING for a grill

Can there be any doubt as to who the Goldmember of BAMF is? Oh Thomas "SabreBritney:"Vanek. Words cannot express how proud I am of you. 3 goals tonight! 2 on the power play! I didn't realize until the post-game Lindy Ruff interview that this was your first career hat trick! I just assumed you had one last year. Wait, Staffy scored a hat trick before you? I find that surprising, but I'm so proud of you Britters! That was your best game of the season, and you really delivered! Having Timmy skating with you and Roysie seems to be doing wonders for you. I still think Staffy rocks hard too with you guys, but that's not what's important right now. BRITNEY! KEEPIN' THOSE BABIES. Enjoy your Golden King Midas hat:

Snazzy, no?

Happy Birthday Roby! 6-0! Woo!

8TH PLACE BEEYOTCHES!

Let's Move on... just a little

by Anne

I don't want people to stop talking about Richard Zednik or anything or pretend it wasn't a big deal, I just need to move on a little bit because I've been in a weird funk since last night, replaying the whole thing in my head over and over. So I'll move on to talk about Team #2.

When Marc-Andre Fleury was injured in December, Dany Sabourin and Ty Conklin were called on to step up to the plate. We in Buffalo might kind of remember Conkers as our back-up goaltender from last season after we shipped Marty off to Philly. Conkers didn't see much ice time as a Sabre and for that we were greatful as, when he played, he wasn't very good. Apparently, pressure suits Conkers just fine. He's been 14-3-3 since being called up from Wilkes-Barre to play for the Pengiuins. Wowza. He's having a fantastic season.

Then, Our Lord and Savior, Sidney Crosby was hurt by doing something he always does: sliding skates first into the boards. Am I the only one who saw him do that a few times and said: "That's an ankle injury waiting to happen." Then blam-o, what's that, Sid? A high ankle sprain? Dizamn, boy, that stinks. 6-8 weeks? Ouch. What ever will the Penguins do? It's not like they have the 2nd pick overall of the 2004 NHL entry draft to lead them triumphantly through Sidney's absence! Wouldn't a Calder Trophy winner be great to have in this situation? Even if they did, what's he going to do? Earn enough points to tie him for 2nd in the NHL, just three behind Alexander Ovechkin?!

Oh, wait. They do? Sweet!

Take a bow, you goal-scoring, non-English speaking bastard!

Ok, or you could do that too, Geno

There he is. Woooo! Malkin!

Ok, now that I'm warmed up, I'll give out 2 shoutout BAMF awards.

One goes to Mr. "I really want Anne to love me so I'll score my first NHL goal right in front of her": Patrick Kaleta. Ok, so, Patty, everyone, including the cameraman, thought Mair scored that goal at first, but once we saw the spotlights and the celebration we knew. Woooo! Kaleta!

For being consistent on your hits and scoring the Sabres' first goal to put us on the board, I honor you with this:

Yes, Patty, that goal, along with my currently weakened emotional state, and the fact that you're from Buffalo, and you're cute, and you seem so nice in spite of your penchant for crashing into people at high rates of speed, and you're consistent in what you do, all combines to allow you, a...(prospect)...into my SabreLovingHeart. I can't help it! Staffy is hurt! Grizz is inconsistent! I'm weak! But, Patty, you're on a 2-way "Anne's Love" contract. You can still be reassigned to sit in the back of my SabreLovingHeart with the rest of the team. Enjoy your time up front. As newest member, its your job to get Staffy his lemonade. Hey! He hurt his ankle! Pie-YAY will be glad for the relief. But don't piss off Lafontaine, he's been there longest and is very skeptical of new players that come up to sit with him. He's seen a lot of Sabres come and go over the years. And don't even think about sitting in Jay McKee's seat, I'm saving it for him.

Our second shoutout goes to the Buffalo Sabres Medical Staff. Woooo!

For the 2nd time in Sabres' history, the medical staff was called upon to treat a player with a severed artery, and did so successfully. Also, for the second time in only 6 months, a Buffalo pro-sports team's medical staff was called upon to react quickly to treat a life threatening injury, and came through with flying colors. So for Richard Zednik, Clint Malarchuk, and Kevin Everett, we thank you, Medical Staffs of Western New York. Enjoy:

Congratulations to Millsey on your 100th win!! Well done! I wish it could've been more of a big deal for you! We'll tear it up for 101!

wa-hoo!

by Anne

WHA-? WHO? THEY DID WHAT??

HO. LY. SHIT!!!

I had given up and muted the OT 5 minutes, only peeking from my kitchen every once in a while while I ate some dinner. Then I peeked in after each shooter.

I was in total shock.

Hank the muthafuckin' TANK! WOOOOOOP! YAYAYAYAYAY!!!

Lindy whipped out some sweet player trivia tonight: Hank used to be a forward in Sweden. No wonder he's so tank-ass on the shoot out!

Could there really be any other BAMF?

Not ONLY did he blast the puck to the net for Mikey Ryan's goal, he scored on the shoot. out. Not ONLY did he score on the shoot out, he totally made that Saucy Minx look foolish. Brodeur tried to whip out his usual diving poke-check but Hank was TOTES expecting it, slipped the puck to his back hand and flipped it into the empty net. Spot on, Mr. Tallinder, Spot. On. For your skillful shooting, and because Danny Paille says you're always working on your "hands" in practice, here is your prize:

Protect those valuable hands in golden style

2nd place goes to Dave Williams. Who? you might ask? The Sabres' equipment manager, or "Willie" as the players call him. Why? Because 2 of his skates have scored us goals in 2 games. Willie, you keep taking excellent care of that equipment!

Here's a silver bill clip, because you, sir, are MONEY

3rd star goes to Millsey. Apparently Millsey had nothing to eat in his house and had to eat at McDonald's for breakfast! Horror of horrors! Or an excellent plug as the entire back of their bench is covered with golden arches? Wanna spot a Sabre in the next couple days? Hit up some grocery stores and dry cleaners. I wonder if Millsey had any coupons from the Transitowne blimp? Millsey, to commemorate your 99th career win, and in case you ever need to chat, enjoy your new bronze phone:

Millsey, if you need some groceries, gimmie a ring, I'll totally cook for you!

Millsey didn't even know how the 2nd goal was scored until Rayzor told him post-game. (Kalinin is DIZAMN lucky we won tonight) I know I know, he was doing his best, but not good enough!

And an honorable mention to Staffy for getting the first shoot out goal!! Beating Brodeur!! Woo. Too bad Hank totally over shadowed you. But I took note, Staff! P.S. my friend Jen was the model you walked down the catwalk with, woooo!

Pie-YAY skated top line again and moves to a +14 on the season and picks up another point!

the Staffy Roysie Britney line was all -2. Uhhhh, that's ok boys, you'll do better next time, I'm sure.
9th place!

4-0-1 in the last 5! Woop!

by Anne

Game 52: Sabres at Bruins

I had to listen to a bunch of high school students singing during the entire first period, so I missed it and only listened to the second as I drove home. So I do not feel I can accurately recap anything that happened before the 3rd period. I will cut straight to my awards for the night. And, Pommerdoodle, only once did I call Tim Thomas "TimTom" and we were winning 4-1 at that point. Yo, that 2nd Bruins goal was total crap, by the by.

Onto the awards ceremony:

Our Bronze medal BAMF-man is Mr. Frequent Flyer himself: Mr. Patrick "Buffalo Boy" Kaleta. For consistently crashing into anything that moves and usually not your own teammates, and for one excellent attempt at checking Zdeno Chara (A for effort, Patty!). You may have lost the arm wrestling battle for my love but tonight I bestow upon you this bronze sculpture:

When Kaleta goes in for a hit, he imaginzes he's a ram.

Carry it when you wear the plane hat.

Our 2nd place man of BAMFness is a multiple 1st BAMF winner, and 2 time SabreCaptain. He set up the first goal of the game, and lead the Sabres to a much needed win in his first game returning as Captain. So, for being our sweet fearless leader, I bequeath upon Yo-yo this gift to to commemorate your first win of the month. Play it with the kids:

Keep up the good work and I'll get you the 1986 Sega Master System required to play it
(its the European version too, swanky)

The #1 Lord of the BAMF goes to Mr. Daniel Pie-YAY. Your 2nd multi-goal game in less than a month after bouncing back from being sent to the "doghouse" by Lind-o as K-Sylv put it. It all started with "Wow, Danny Paille is getting a lot of time in the Ice Bowl." Then you chose to start rocking a team leading +/- (+13) and then you got 8 goals in the last 11 games? Tough love does Danny Pie-YAY good. AND skating on the top line with Yoyo and Pommerdoodle against the Bruins top line. And you came this close to kicking the puck into the net (I just rotated my foot, my behind) but you totes got away with it. For that, I bequeath upon you this Pie headed golden man:

Would you care for a slice of Danny Pie-YAY's awesomeness? He has plenty to spare

Because this figurine, like you, Danny, is a giver: he gives. Work on that hat trick next time, ok? I keed, I keed. Just keep on keepin' on.

Other notes: Roysie has 12 points in 7 games. WOOOOOOOO!!!! Lydman has 2 goals this season! Way ahead of his normal rate, haha way to go, Tone! You've already matched last season's goal total! Woooo! Britney scored a goal! Yippee! Keepin' the babies!

Anaheim gets Selanne back and suddenly win a game in a shutout. It almost seems unfair that he can just come back when he pleases, but I won't go there. Good job Giguere!!

Rick Nash scored on a 5-on-3. Not that impressive until you realize the the Blue Jackets were the shorthanded team. Ha! Wow. Rick Nash, you are tank-ass. Please trim the beard.

NHL.com's favorite goaltender (Pascal Leclaire) also hurt himself. :( Poor Leclaire. Feel better!!

Yeah, yeah, Drury's starting to be good again. Good for him.

I've been saying it for months: Danny Paille and Drew Stafford = the future of Buffalo hockey. Not quite yet, but give them time. Future's looking bright!

I had such glorious plans...

By Anne

So, I was just going to post my running thoughts that I usually type during the game because I've been told that those in and of themselves are quite entertaining. Yet, I forgot to email them to myself so I could post them.

Then I woke up like redonkulously late and I'm in one of those "I've done what's normally an hour long morning ritual in 15 minutes and my feet might still be at home in bed" fogs going on.

I will merely highlight game BAMF. For details on last nights game, see the blogs on the side bar ->

BAMF of the game for Game 50 at Florida...... and earning his 2nd BAMF in as many games:

*(drumroll please)*

Mr. Ryan "Hey!Look!Ididn'tflakeoutinthelast2minuteswahoo!" Miller

Millsey, you had some bad-ass saves last night. You were already my silent secret favorite player, but I felt it was to obvious and bandwaggony to proclaim it from the rooftops. Nevertheless, today, Mr. Shutout, I salute you. OMG I just read the Buffalo News - Millsey's Grandma was there!! How cute!!!!

To honor the occasion, I present you with this totally boss commemorative charm for your charm bracelet collection:

Our first runner up is Hank "MillseyIgotyo'back" Tallinder. He made a Yo-yo like sweep of his stick to deny what would definitely have been a goal. Millsey was all splayed out after making one sweet ass save and puck slipped over his right pad and was this close to going over the goal line when Hank the Tank stepped up and the Panthers were D-Nied. And you messed up a Panthers' breakaway in the first. For your speedy skates and quick thinking you get this swanky silver skate pendant:

And finally our 3rd gentleman of BAMFness goes to Mr. Britney Vanek. Wooo! Keepin' those babies!

But, Anne, he scored our only goal! Shouldn't he be 2nd?

Nay.

Britney has, what, 14 goals this season? He should have like 30 by now. But, nevertheless, he came through when we needed him to, and on the powerplay no less. I still love ya, Brit. So, for this you earn our 3rd place award:

A Bronze bas relief of Wayne Gretzky. Hang it in Blake's room and enjoy.

10th in the Conference! Captain February will be selected Friday. WHO WILL IT BE?!?

And they're off!

By Anne

Game 49: Sabres at Lightning

Tampa came out of the gates like rockets and the Sabres did not do a good job of controlling them on the rush, fortunately, no goals were scored for them early on. Otherwise, this game probably would've ended differently.

There were a few stupid-ass penalties tonight. Fo' real, drawing a 5 on 3 is just stupid, Hank and Dmirti.

Really, those are the only glaring negatives that made me yell at the TV. I normally do that a lot when we don’t play well so I took this as a good sign.

Onto the highlights:

Tone had 2 points on the night (0+2), as did Grizz(1+1), Roysie (1+1) and Yo-yo (0+2) Pommerdoodle notched 3 (1+2). Staffy had the game winning goal (1+0). Woop!

Quick "Who Knew" moment: apparently Buffalo is the only team in the NHL that has 11 players with 20+ points. Sweet. Sissy has scored 8 goals? Really? Yee-haw!

Ever notice how much goaltenders look like scared puppies when the puck is being played behind the net? They crouch down and look side to side all lost and confused. On a related note, there's very little I hate more than seeing the total deflation of a goaltender's posture when they're scored on. Unless it’s Emery, then I love it. I should've picked Millsey as my Mr. Zero, Pittsburgh scored waaaaaayyyyy before Tampa.

It took me until 15:20 of the 1st to realize that Kaleta was playing. I thought he was re-assigned to Rochacha. Poor Kaleta probably wasn't even back in his house in Rochester for 10 minutes before they changed their minds and recalled him. Goosie is sick? But he played. I'm so confused. Sabres.com does not keep me well updated with this breaking news. Where my texts at?

Every Lightning wanted a piece of Kaleta last night. I bet John Tortorella promised a beer to the first guy that took him down. He almost fought once but was called on a line change so it didn’t happen. The other dude had the gloves off and everything.

Roysie was working really hard to be game BAMF tonight. He ripped a hard shot on net and nearly decapitated Holmqvist in the process. It was reminiscent of the shot TimmyHo shot on Gerber in the December 26th game against Ottawa.

I'm sad to admit that after all this time, I still have no idea why most players are thrown out of face off circles. I don't get it. All I know is Goose gets thrown out a lot and Roysie almost never does. In this game, Vinny Lecavalier had the most decidedly won face off I've ever seen. I want to come up with a nickname for Vinny, but somehow it seems wrong.

You know, I'd like to be checked by Lecavalier, but I think the appeal is lost on Hank the Tank. For a moment on the PK, Roysie appeared to try to take on Vinny against the boards… I'd like to take on Vinny against the boards. (What? Anne, control yourself! Staffy might hear you!)

There were, of course, some "almost" goals tonight and some "OMG is he hurt?!" moments. My game notes read as follows:

Nice turn around Goosie, to Pie-Yay to Kotal- denied

What a shock, Britney gets a nice pass from Staffy and can't get his stick on it. And great, he then skates off "gingerly" Wonderful. Even if he's not producing I don't want him off the ice. Oh lord, Britney's head is down on his hands at the bench. Back injury anyone? Phew, Britney is back on the ice.

Millsey left my beloved Vinny goal-less, but he did notch a point. However, so did Alfie, so they still maintain their positions as #1 and #2 in the league in points, as Ovie didn't register any points... neither did any other Capital for that matter. Eep.

In the first intermission we got an interview with Soupy. Somehow he managed to look sweaty, but not sickly as usual. He also looked mildly attractive. This is a clear indication that I still have an “All-Star Weekend Zen” hangover. During the 2nd intermission we got Roysie. Something about that camera and that lighting makes the Sabres look pretty good, note to self: call Versus’ video production guy and get him to work for MSG.

You can always tell when non-Buffalo based reporters interview Sabres. We in Buffalo have all heard about the contract situation and have moved on to other things to ask players about, but not the rest of the country.

Also in the first intermission, we learned that Keith and Brian are torn as to the Sabres' biggest problem. Keith thinks it’s the offense being bad defensemen and Brian thinks its the defensemen being, well, bad defensemen.

On the fashion front:

Lindy, there was a lot goin' on with that ensemble last night: Black and silver polka dot tie over a black and silver striped shirt. Dang. Oscar, being our resident fashion expert, did not approve of the choice, but approved of Lindy choosing a color palatte similar to Oscar's own. Then, Versus showed a picture of Lindy in his first season rockin’ a more earth toned and casual look. I prefer sleek, Jack Adams award winner Lindy.

Versus interviewed Jay Feaster and all I can say is: OH MY HELL! A GM that takes responsibility for their team's shortcomings!? Hey, Darcy, taking notes?

In other games tonight:

Yo! JP, way to try to kill Tim Tom. Ha, but Tim Tom got you back courtesy of a black eye.

Props to Rupp of the Devils. He hasn’t scored a goal since March 2007 and he netted 2 tonight.

Montreal is sweet. I'm putting it out there - Montreal will be in the ECF this season.

I can't lie, I was watching House so I was a little in and out during the 3rd period. But I did take careful note of the Sabres' fans that always seem to find the seats behind our bench on road trips. There was a chick behind Lindy wearing an original away blue and gold jersey and I can safely say her hair style was out of date even when they were just the "jerseys", not the "vintage logo jerseys".

BAMF goes to Millsey. He was sweet.

Sabres improve their streak on Lightning home ice to 6, and to 11th in the Conference.

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!

Game +/-

By Anne

So was there really any - to this game?

The only thing I can think of is that that SHG slipped by the PP. I still hate shorthanded goals, no matter how many goals we have up on a team, short handed goals suck.

OK !!!

+:

Dear Drew Stafford,

No joke, the other day I was thinking to myself: ya know, I can't believe Drew hasn't gotten himself a hat trick yet in his time in the NHL. He's pretty BA so I'm surprised.

So what did you do? You went and stole my heart forever by putting up a 5 point night (3+2) with a hat trick of your own and setting up 2/3 of Roysie's goals for the night. AND scoring the game winning goal.

As if that weren't enough, finally, NHL.com gives its first star of the night to you and your "what's that on the floor under the camera" roster photo is available for all to see with a sweet #1 right next to it. I'll frame it for you.

You are so firmly entrenched as my favorite Sabre that no one can take you down. You haven't yet reached Pat Lafontaine or Brett Favre (I know he plays football but I really love him) status in my heart, but keep it up, and you'll be giving La-la-la-la-la-la-la-fontaine a run for his money.

Love,

Anne

Derek Roy is also now firmly entrenched as S(h)ara's favorite Sabre. Scrappy-doo comes back from a shoulder injury having prepared and skated and kept up his conditioning in his off time to score his first hat trick of the season. Both of our boys netted 3 goals. Granted, one of them bounced of Roysie's leg as he went flying through the crease, but WHO CARES! He still threw himself across the goal crease. I'll take it. I kind of wish Pie-YAY had gotten credit for that goal, but then Roysie couldn't have been the comeback kid he was tonight. So in my heart they both scored that goal.

The Roy-Stafford-Vanek line was freakin' on FIRE tonight. 7 goals tonight among the 3 of them. Not while all on that line, but they produced at least 2 in the 1st as a line. Staffy had 5 points, Roysie had 4 and Vanek had 3. After scoring 1 on the power play and having some seriously BA playmaking, SabreBritney totally gets the babies back.

Yoyo had a 3 point night (1+2), Danny Pie-Yay had 2 and DMITRI KALININ had 3!?! He hasn't notched a point since the season opener. What was in that gatorade?

You know the team is on a roll in the game when you look at a player who didn't get a goal and you think, what's wrong with you? Sorry, Grizz.

So when down by like, 8 goals, what's the most logical step? Oh, right, take 19 minutes in penalties, just to you alone, Eric Boulton. Including a game misconduct AND getting thrown out of the game for crosschecking Pommerdoodle into the half wall? Excellent, classy, well done.

Games like last night are one of the greatest feelings in the world. As I said last night, if this was last season and we were playing a team that was in the bottom of the conference and this was the result, it wouldn't feel as good. Don't get me wrong, I'd still love it, but it wouldn't be as sweet. We scored 1 goal for every game we didn't win. Sweet, beautiful, poetic justice. I think last night's game should count as 2 wins at least.

Remember when I almost didn't watch last night's game? I tuned in just to check the score when I got in my car after rehearsal. It was just after Roysie made it 4-0. I wasn't listening during the actual goal scoring, I only heard it announced over the PA while Rick was talking and I thought he said Buffalo's 4th goal of the night, but I figured he must've said 1st. Then I listened to ATL score their goal, but Rick didn't seem upset. (At this point, after listening for like 6 minutes, I still didn't know the score). When I heard 4-1 I nearly drove off of the road.

COULD YOU IMAGINE IF I HADN'T WATCHED THE GAME AND I MISSED DREW SCORING HIS FIRST NHL HAT TRICK? I would be so pissed. Thankfully, I listened to or watched all but the first 10 minutes of the game.

So let's keep this energy alive. While we don't expect 10 goals every night, we do enjoy goals, and we'd like you to score as many of them as possible for the rest of the season.

As if there were any doubt, Staffers is clearly game BAMF. With and honorable mention to Roysie and SabreBritney.

Just enjoy:

In sad, nonSabre news, Sid the Kid has suffered a high ankle sprain and is out for the next 4 weeks. What have I done? Heatley? J-Spezz? Alfie? Now Sid? With the exception of Dany Heatley who is a total piece of garbage, I don't really want terrible things to happen to the top players on any teams. When I said I wanted them to go away, I meant more things like they got confused and thought they played baseball for a living or went to the wrong arena and missed the game, not serious 4 weeks of no skating high ankle sprains and hip injuries. Whoops.

So the next 7 are on the road- - we'll be ok. We need to send mad Buffalove to the Sabres on the road.

For those who haven't heard (because you live under a rock or don't listen to WGR) Slick Ricky will not be doing the play by play in Phoenix or Dallas, that baby-faced slickster Kevin Sylvester will take over the responsibility. If I have to be without Slick Ricky, I'm very glad its K-Sylv whose taking over. I love Kevin Sylvester. He always looks optimistic and genuine and when we lose, his face is easy to hear the bad news from. Roby, not so much. He's the bad cop to Sylvie's good cop. I'm still working on a Kevin Sylvester nickname, it'll be in the works.

In spite of all the goals, my favorite moment of the night goes to Adam Mair. Mairsy, who I deem to be one of the most terrifying men in the NHL in spite of the fact that he's a Sabre takes this moment when, while we reviewed his mic'd-up footage, he looked over to equipment manager George Babcock mid-game, not to get a new stick, sharpen his skates, or fix a helmet problem no, no.

Mairsy: Hey George! ya got any gum?

Perfect.

T-freakin-G-I-F

By Anne

Nothing too exciting to report from the world of hockey this morning.

There were 4 shootouts last night. That's a lot. This means I firmly expect the word "nip" to appear in many headlines on NHL.com today. The Edmonton/ Washington game went 12 rounds, that's a lot. Especially when NO ONE HAD SCORED IN THE FIRST 11 ROUNDS. How boring and tedious. You have to feel bad for the goaltenders. They're clearly putting forth their effort and their shooters just can't connect. After 11 shooters, you just start putting anyone out there, if we got to 12, I think James Patrick (or Jeep as they apparently call him, thank you Derek Roy) should take a whack at it. I love that Matt Bradley was just like, "I'll score, let me go" so Bruce was like, fine, at this point, just go for it, the pickin's have got to be slim. Dude had only scored 2 goals all season and he went out and beat Roloson. That takes balls to pretend to be that confident (he later admitted that he wasn't as confident as he sounded), but whatever! he scored the only goal of the shootout. Well done, Mr. Bradley.

Does anyone else feel completely apathetic about inter-conference games? Yeah last night's game was almost record setting for the Caps in shootout length but I really couldn't have cared less. It's cool that the Caps won, I'm glad. For some reason I have a special place in my heart for the Caps. My sister, MK, chooses to love the Blackhawks because for so long no one in Chicago did. It doesn't help when you can't watch your own team play home games on TV. Fools. Fortunately they've changed that and made some funny little commercials to talk about it:



They go in order of seniority down the bench all ending with Kaner! I read somewhere that they filmed these commercials really really fast with very little prep, but fans always like to see their team being normal, so well done, Chicago Blackhawks. Might I add that there are some good looking Chicago Blackhawks, maybe MK is on to something...

Every team seems to be snapping losing streaks these days: the aforementioned Blackhawks, the Leafs (ew)...the Sabres...? I can't watch tonight's game. I'm thinking of DVRing it, waiting to see if we won, and if we did, then I'll watch it. I just seriously can't take losing. Although I just realized I didn't set my DVR before I left my apartment this morning. I won't be home before the game starts. Whoops, there goes that plan. If only you could program the DVR remotely. Let's look at some more of those attractive hockey players:



It's also amazing how much more attractive most hockey players are than their roster photos would indicate. Most roster photos are less flattering than 2 a.m. DUI mugshots.

In a twisted snap of irony, the "I heart Buffalo Hockey" sweatshirt I ordered on Dec 26th (mere hours before this slide began) finally arrived yesterday. Perfect timing. Maybe this will be the thing that snaps their streak (yes I'm just a tiny bit hockey superstitious) never mind the fact that Roysie could be back in the line-up tonight as well, it's clearly the presence of my sweatshirt that will change everything.

Even though there have been no wins, I would still like to give out a BAMF award. It's a tie among Goosie, Pie-Yay and Grizz. I cannot imagine where this team would be without them. A special nod to Pommerdoodle as well, but we expect those results from you. For the most part, we didn't expect as much as we got from those three. So I say you each get your own BAMF award. Because, in this time of BAMF-less Sabres hockey, we need our heroes to give us hope. And, Grizz, next time I see Brendan Shanahan, I'll kick him in the kidneys. It probably won't hurt, but it's the thought that counts. Pie-YAY, same goes for Volchenkov, except I'll kick him in the face. And Goosie... well, actually, why don't you fight those other two and I'll cheer for you, it'll probably be more effective if you (who are nearly a foot taller than me and much more bad-ass) take them on.