Kings, STOP LOSING but there are happy things too

by Anne

The Kings have now lost four in a row and lost last night to the Calgary Flames. There were only bursts of any kind of real game play.

There were tons o' penalties and fights and trading powerplay opportunities but for all that the score ended 2-1, Flames. Scott Parse scored the Kings' only goal. Good job, Scooter.

Dustin Brown was inexplicably awarded a penalty shot but the hockey gods made up for that bogus call when he just as inexplicably lost control of the puck as he skated in on Kiprusoff.

Ok, that was sucky but there is much happier Kings news to discuss:

DREW DOUGHTY WAS NAMED TO THE TEAM CANADA OLYMPIC SQUAD!!

Yay!

From his interviews where he talked about what he did when he heard about his selection as the 7th defenseman:

"...I woke up Brownie right away, my roommate, and told him, and I started calling everyone in the family.”

Hahaha, Brownie, his likely future opponent on Team USA.  I'm sure he was thrilled to be awakened by this news. No, but really he was probably happy for him, as happy as one can be when they first wake up.

I'm so excited for him, especially because he got the nod and Mike Green didn't! I hate Mike Green. No Phaneuf either! Woo! Although there is Pronger...

Yay!

The only member of Team Canada I give a HOOT about! Yay!

 Ok that's completely not true.

Rick Nash.

Jarome Iginla.

Sidney Crosby.

Brent Seabrook.

Happy for Shea Weber too.

In other Olympic roster news, the following Sabres and Kings are headed to the 5-ringed tourney:

Henrik Tallinder - Sweden

Toni Lydman - Finland

Michal Handzus and Andrej Sekera - Slovakia

Phillip Gogulla - Germany

Maybe someone for Team USA but most likely not? :)

However, Jochen Hecht was NOT named to the German team, like Ryan Smyth was not named to Team Canada. :( Stiff upper lip, boys.

In TOTALLY RELEVANT TO EVERYTHING news, I got a pedicure yesterday. Ok that part isn't relevant but I saw Chris Butler and Steve Montador at the movies together. I loves me a good hockey bromance.

I can't wait for the Team USA roster to be announced on January 1!

yay!

Everyone Loves San Jose So Much, They Forget Detroit is Really Scary Too

by Anne

All over the NHL, analysts are losing their minds over San Jose and Boston. As they should. Both teams had excellent first halves of the season and don't seem to be slowing down anytime soon. However, there's this pesky little team in Michigan that's not getting as much love. Last season was all about Detroit as they were destroying every team in sight, all the way to Lord Stanley in June.

League standings as of this afternoon, not including Boston's assured victory over Carolina (its 5-0 Bruins in the 2nd right now)

1. San Jose: 40 Games, 30-5-5, 65 pts
2. Boston: 41 Games, 30-7-4, 64 pts
3. Detroit: 40 Games, 28-7-4, 61 pts

The Red Wings are the highest scoring team in the league and lead the league in average goals per game. I'd say they'd warrant a little more air time than say, the collapse that's happening in Pittsburgh. Not that anyone is saying the Red Wings aren't good, but all the 'OMG THESE GUYS ARE INCREDIBLE' seems to be reserved for Boston and San Jose. Maybe its because its just assumed that Detroit is going to be awesome, and analysts are just tired of talking about how great Datsyuk, Zetterberg and Co. are.

Let's take a positive spin on the stats, shall we?

• Tonight could be the first time all season the Sabres win both games in back to back nights
  
• Detroit is 1-3-0 this season against North East Division opponents, including losing their season opener at home against the Maple Leafs
• Chris Butler will be back in the line-up tonight, Miller will get the start in front of the hometown crowd
• Just think, this time last year, we were mired in the midst of a 10 game win-less streak and Derek Roy had no shoulder and Drew Stafford had a concussion and Max had a groin injury... ok well somethings don't change
• We won the last regular season game we played at the Joe, a 3-2 shootout win in October of 2006 when we were also in the midst of a winning streak
• Uhhhhhh, Detroit is more dying than Buffalo
• Boston is currently cremating Carolina 5-0 in the 2nd, keeping them off our heels a little in the standings, provided Boston doesn't have the collapse of the decade.
• Someone decided referencing Robin Hood's lady love would be a good idea while discussing Marian Hossa's new place in Detroit:

I think this means Henrik Zetterberg is Robin Hood and Ray Shero is the Sheriff of Nottingham. Gary Bettman is clearly Prince John.

Another reminder about tonight's bloggers get-together and some clarification.

Technically we will be at J.J.'s Sports Bar which is in Casa di Pizza. Basically, when you walk into Casa, go in the door to the right where the bar is. Good times. Hopefully we'll see some of y'all there!

Watching Saturday's Game With Your Favorite Buffalo Bloggers

by Anne

So a bunch of we humble (translation: totally badass) bloggers will be getting together on Saturday the 10th to watch the Sabres play the Red Wings at 7:00.

There will be several Buffalo sports blogosphere superstars in attendance. Really, its like our All-Star Game. Maybe there might be a Superskills competition. Fastest typer? Who can photoshop Lindy Ruff's head onto the Incredible Hulk's body the fastest? Best nickname for Matt Ellis? Who can create a new Tim Connolly is always hurt joke? and the like.

We'll be at Casa di Pizza at the corner of Elmwood and Hodge for pizza and beverages. Fun shall be had by all. For those who like "specificity" the official address is 477 Elmwood Ave in Buffalo.

I'm afraid the game might be awful if the pre-season game was any indication so this way we can be distracted by pizza, alcohol and conversation if the game is too painful to endure. If by some miracle we win, think of all the jubliant celebration of overly-invested and slightly intoxicated sports bloggers.

Hope to see y'all there!

That Stunk

by Anne

I didn't watch the end of the game because I was exiting the Arena. I had a Christmas party to get to.

If the Sabres weren't going to help me get into the holiday spirit by winning, then my girlfriends and I were going to have to do it. Sitting around talking about stupid things ranging from boys (duh) to theatrical gore make-up (truth) is a pretty great way to spend and evening, if you ask me.

Oh btw, Sidney Crosby smiled at me tonight. Like, not as in he looked up in my general direction during the game, like, as in I walked by him as I came into the Arena tonight. As S(h)ara said, I think that means we're getting married. The NHL would have you believe his manliness is extra potent so I might already be pregnant with his lovechild. Whoops. Unfortunately it might've been my sparkling blue eyes and windburned rosy cheeks that gave him the extra spring in his step to score in OT. Errrrr, sorry guys! If he's an ass man then it was definitely my fault. My bad, hahaha. I'm very disappointed to report that he was just walking around being all normal. I was really hoping for some kind of wacky dance and chanting. These are the kind of encounters you have if you show up late for work.

Kudos to the random person who discovered my "error" in our all-star ballot. Antoine Vermette is not a defenseman. However, the Eastern defenseman pool was thin so we threw him in there, hoping no one would notice, hahahaha.

Pie was rightly credited with the first goal of the game and that made me happy. He's really got to pick up the pace, if you ask me. I've been a little disappointed with his goal production. It looks like he's turning into more of a Gaustad than a Stafford. That's ok, but I was hoping for another 19-20 goal season out of him. Granted, he could heat up in the 2nd half of the season as he did last year.

MacArthur seems to have found his touch again. He started the season strong (for a while he was our #2 goal scorer) and then cooled off. He gotten 3 goals in the last 3 games and 6 points in the last 4. Woo!

If anyone wants to pick up this book for me for Christmas, ya know, that'd be sweet. I saw it today when I was at Barnes and Noble and had to force myself not to buy it. It was a touch and go for a minute, but I walked away because that's what you should do around Christmas.

This would look so nice on my bookshelf.

My Christmas shopping is completed and my friend Tina got me some awesome Sabres related things for our Secret Santa because she's awesome like that.

I can't wait for Christmas!!!!

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.

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

by Anne

That Sabres game was not thrilling, and we will leave it at that. Props to Timmy for getting his first goal, Ryan Miller needed to rest, and can someone explain to me why Pie didn't play? I just don't understand.

In other, far more sexy news:

The First Annual, or Weekly or Bi Weekly or Monthly or whenever we get around to planning another one Buffalo Blogger get together was tonight and it was pretty sweet. There was, of course, the requisite awkward introductions. Next time: Name tags. It was awesome to put names and faces together with alcohol.

Totally random, but as I was typing that last paragraph a HILARIOUS commercial featuring Jason Pominville and Maria Genero for Delacy Ford came on TV. Basically it ends with Pommer pointing at the camera and half giggling says "Definitely Delacy!" Yes, this is why we drafted him, he's a great pitch man.

Anyway, basically the get together was lots of fun and we should have more of them, minus the MASSIVE surprise party happening right next to us.

Back to the, ya know, Hockey shenanigans:

The Pirates, like the Sabres played back to back games this weeked. However, unlike the Sabres who lost both games, the Pirates WON both of their games. Tonight they won 5-3.

Mark Mancari had a 4 point night (1+3) and has taken sole possession of the #1 scorer rank in the AHL. WOOOO!!!

Tim Kennedy and Aaron Slattengren scored and Mathieu Darche scored twice. Is anyone else itching to see how the Kennedy-Gerbe-Mancari line could do with slugs on their chests? Just tossin' it out there.

Saturday night the Pirates wore a special stars and stripes jersey to commemorate Veteran's Day on Tuesday. This makes the 2nd special jersey the Pirates have worn this season. Will there be more? Can anyone design a jersey or suggest a theme? Is this open to the public? LET ME KNOW, I'M READY WITH MY CRAYONS AND CONSTRUCTION PAPER TO DESIGN YOU A JERSEY. Is there a national My Little Pony holiday? Can we create one just so the Pirates have to wear a jersey that honors it?

Other hockey was played tonight: Iggy scored as the Flames lost to the Blue Jackets. Rick Nash did not score a goal AGAIN. Danny Briere scored in his first game back after surgery to repair a torn abdominal muscle (ow), but the Flyers still lost. In spite of my wishing and hoping, every time I check the boxscore of an LA Kings game I discover that Matt Greene did NOT score his 2nd NHL goal. I mean, its been 2 years since he scored his first and only, SO HE'S DUE! He's averaging .086 points a game, so at this rate, he'll probably score his next goal sometime in 2013. I'm not sure if I can wait that long, Matthew.

Yet another shut out by Luongo. Well done, sir. Well done. I really thought I might have more to say about that but, hey! look at that, I don't.

The second Buffalo game in Boston kicks off in less than 2 hours. I'll be curled up in the fetal position until then, hoping the beating isn't too bloody. We need happy thoughts. Let's all enjoy this snap shot of Jaroslav Spacek's long flowing locks from the 2006 Olympic Games:

Flowers, Jaro?
For me?!

Who Wants To Hang Out With the Coolest Kids in School?

by Anne

Tomorrow, Saturday November 8, several of we slick Buffalo bloggers will be gathering in what is sure to be the single most awesome Buffalo Sabres game watching get together of all time. Party in the Plaza? Pfft. Watching the Winter Classic at HSBC Arena? LAME. This get together was the brainchild (I love that word, that and doppelganger) of Tedd over at First Time Long Time.

HOWEVER. It appears, based on the RSVPs that I have encountered that S(h)ara and I will be the only estrogen at this partay. I will be there in full make-up, heels and Sabres jersey and I will squeal the same amount for when they show Paul Gaustad helmetless during the national anthem as when Jaroslav Spacek hits Phil Kessel so hard he won't rememeber where he lives. I will punch random passersby in disgust when Boston starts busting out the trap and will probably come up with at least 2 or 3 totally ridiculous nicknames that only make sense to me. Come on, ladies! Think of all the HOT male Buffalo bloggers that will be there, SURELY S(h)ara and I shouldn't have the prviledge of having the menfolk all to ourselves.

Alack and Fie, Heather B. has to travel for a funeral and Katebits will be viola-ing the night away, Cari and Kim are actually IN Boston but I KNOW THERE ARE MORE OF Y'ALL.

Non-Bloggers welcome too!

ANYWAY. I hope you all will be there to cheer on the boys as they take on the Bruins!! 41 Virginia Place, off of Allen, by the intersection of Delaware and Allen. Just follow all the vibes of "There are some really cool people somewhere nearby" that will be coming from that general vicinity.

Basically, if you're not there, this is what will happen:

What? No! Craigory won't beat you up! He'll get sent back to San Jose AND WE WILL BE ALL ALONE WITHOUT OUR CAPTAIN. Ask yourself, do you REALLY want that on your conscience?!?

If you want to come and need directions, email me, my email address is in my profile and in the disclaimer on the left.

Sabres Win!!! I Still Hate Phil Kessel

by Anne

Wooooo!!! Ok, so I can't deny that sometimes I'm kid of glad I don't watch every second of every home game, especially when they're a snooze fest like Boston games usually are. I prefer to chat with the ushers about the trap and how Manny Fernandez was great when he played for Minnesota and he hasn't played in like a year.

Anyway, who else had a sense of deja vu from Saturday's game? Trailing by 2, tie it up, 3-2 shootout decision. The only difference was we won this shoot out and there was less violence because the Boston Bruins pick "boring" over "punchy".

THOMAS VANEK DIDN'T SCORE A GOAL. OFF WITH HIS HEAD. Ok, well he did score the game-winning shootout goal. WHAT IS HIS DEAL?! WHATEVER IT IS, I LOVE HIS DEAL.

Things that happened tonight that don't happen every night:

• I sold popcorn to my AP Economics teacher from high school. He did not recognize me. Of course, rarely in high school did I wear a black baseball cap and a black and white refs shirt with price buttons on them. I said RARELY.
• KATEBITS WAS THERE!! And because I'm a loser and am terrified my students will find this blog one day, we did not take a picture. HOWEVER, KATEBITS, I REALIZED THAT THE PICTURE WOULD IN FACT BE ON YOUR BLOG AND NOT MINE, SO, GAME ON SISTER FRIEND, WE CAN POSE WITH THE DIET COKE AND COTTON CANDY.
• I ran out of quarters just as Katebits came through my line. HOW EMBARRASSING.
  
• A drunk man asked me for my phone number
• A girl paid for her popcorn with 4 $1 coins

I watched the shootout up in the stands because that's actually a lot more fun that watching it from the zamboni doors with the ice people and the guys who bring in and out those awning things because they block the ice and you have to watch on the screen, and whats the fun in that?

---

Dear Derek Roy,

Anytime you want to get a notch in that "G" column, that'd be SUPER. Also, I fail to see how you were more of a "star" in this game than Drew Stafford.

Love, Anne

---

The stars of the game were Miller, Roy and Vanek. I agree with 2 and 3, but Royzie over Staffy? Did he have some SICK passes that I missed?

OMG HOW RELIEVED AM I THAT DREW FINALLY SCORED. He's been solid for us in the shootout, it's great that he's finally gotten a regulation tally, and what a beauty of a goal it was. He's had so many chances and so many shots on goal early on this season (5 tonight alone) so its really really great to see him able to light the lamp, finally!!

Speaking of face offs that we weren't talking about, I've been impressed by Kotalik's face off numbers, the last few I can remember checking for him have been about 50%. He doesn't take that many but he wins most of them, and that's what counts. Matt Ellis was 0 for 6 on the face offs. I'm pretty indifferent about him at this point.

My inexplicable hatred for Mr. Yick continues. HE RUINED OUR PERFECT PENALTY KILL AND I'LL NEVER FORGIVE HIM. But then he didn't score in the shootout and I got way more excited than I should have about it. P to the S, I know he had testicular cancer and he's played incredibly well since then. My dislike for him is totally unrelated to his medical problems. That's Phil Kessel the human being, him I'm fine with, Phil Kessel the hockey player is yicky.

Petteri Nokelainen is a really fun name to say.

Danny Paille and I should compare iPod playlists sometime because most of the songs he usually picks for player tunes are on my iPod. Except for Saving Abel, I have no idea who that is.

WHO DO YOU THINK GOT THE PIGEON? DO YOU THINK ITS MILLSY? I VOTE FOR MILLER. BUT STAFFY WAS PRETTY OUTSTANDING, SO IF HE GETS THE PIGEON I'D BE OK WITH THAT TOO.

In other NHL news, the man I almost chose as my Detroit Red Wings WCB, Andreas Lilja just had an appendectomy... like 5 days after Chris Mason had an appendectomy. HOCKEY PLAYERS: PLEASE CHECK ON THE HEALTH OF YOUR APPENDIXES, (APPENDICES?.... APPARENTLY BOTH ARE GRAMMATICALLY CORRECT).

Apparently word that I've declared Ryan Getzlaf my Ducks WCB has not reached him, as he was unable to score tonight, but perhaps George Parros heard and the Ducks won anyway, WOO!

Dear Vancouver, didn't you put Kyle Wellwood on waivers? Was that someone else? He scored for you tonight, so I'm assuming I am not correct. Apparently Rick Nash realizes how fickle my love is and decided to score a goal to ensure my loyalty, BIG BEAR.

OMG, THE TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING FINALLY WON.

As of this posting, the Flames are up 2-1 over the Caps with the King of the Western Conference of my heart, Iggy, getting a PP tally. :) In other news, Caps red and Flames red are annoyingly similar but one is more blue (Caps) and one is more orange (Flames). In case you were wondering, yes I'm very particular about color and shades of color.

Oscar just attempted to jump from my bookshelf to my chest of drawers unsuccessfully. His front paws landed in my jewelry box and sent both it and himself flying. Fortunately I only own like 3 necklaces and about 5 pairs of earrings so the damage was not catastrophic and he's completely embarrassed and won't let me pick him to to check to see if he's accidentally pierced anything. I'm going to go ahead and assume he's fine. He got two breakfasts this morning, so I don't feel bad. Now he's fast asleep next to me on my bed. He's so freakin' cute. I hate cats. haha.

I love Trent Edwards. Check out First Time Long Time for a link to a great interview with him. He does Buffalo proud.

Woo! Grizz!
For some reason this picture makes me laugh.
He kind of looks like he's about to burst into song.
That might be a brilliant diversionary tactic, what do you think a defenseman would do if Clarke MacArthur came zooming over the blue line singing "You'll Never Walk Alone" at the top of his lungs?

A Preview of Sorts

by Anne

There are several benefits to having a grandfather who is 93 years young. One of them is that he has great stories. It's too annoying to type on here but he told me about how he met Paul Newman while he was filming Slapshot. I'll post about it when I return from the land of the Amish and Sidney Crosby.

Woo to the Portland Pirates for winning their first game!!! Mancari got a hatter, Kennedy got his first pro goal and Gerbe had 2 assists!!!

That took forever to type on Mk's iphone. Peace out.

Pre-Season Home Opener or No One Else Seems to Care About Tim Kennedy Like I Do

by Anne

So last night was the pre-season opener and of the little that I saw, the game was a lot more entertaining than the 0-0 score through the first 40 minutes indicated. The game was definitely fast, at least on the Sabres' side of things. Can we just discuss that Tyler Myers was definitely in on that little scrum that happened during the 2nd (I think). Yay! Rosie doing a number on Hollweg, the announcer accidentally calling Pat Kaleta "Andrew", and that entire row of kids from the Kitchener Jr. Rangers and their big sign up for Royzie (and then they got to see Royzie score a goal!!). Woooo!

I worked in the 100s last night and no one seemed to have any thing for me to do or anyone to show me how to do anything. (I know its pre-season, but a little "hey Anne, I'm your manager so and so let's get you to where you need to go" would've been nice.)

Anyway, I followed around a guy named Dave who was really nice and showed me a lot about how things work. The only thing I don't quite understand fully is how the buying of products works but I'm sure I'll figure it out and they won't expect me to know how to do it all tonight.

All I know is that my back and legs are really tired, which is to be expected, I suppose.

Anyway, on the "players I randomly saw" front:

During the first intermission, Tim Kennedy and his girlfriend were just kind of walking around the 100 level acting all nonchalant and "I don't play for the Sabres." It was a little weird to see him walking by and no one paying any attention to him. I mean, just the fact that the guy was wearing a suit probably should've drawn some attention his way. For those who've never been to a game at HSBC Arena, the only people who wear suits are Arena and Sabres bigwigs and players. That's it. Most people are in jeans and a jersey or a sweatshirt. Of course you get the random girls wearing too much makeup, 4 inch stilettos and a lot of cleavage as though Ryan Miller will see them in the crowd, stop the game, leap over the boards and propose marriage at first sight of their potentially frostbitten ta-tas. Come to think of it, Tim kennedy's girlfriend was dressed kind of like that. Whoops.

Anyway, as I was leaving at the end of the night I was not anticipating running into any Sabres, but Whoops. I was wrong. On the way out I passed Pommer, Stafford and Funk and some other dudes that are probably Sabres but I just don't know who they are. I'd probably recognize their names but their faces were totally lost on me. Sorry random dudes! But good times anyway, am I right?!?!

BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY OF ALL:

We won!!! We won!!! WooooooHoOOOOOOOO!!!! Royzie! Goose! Al! It would've been nice if those goals had been perhaps spread out over more than the last few minutes of the 3rd period and overtime, but I'll take it!!!

I stole some pictures from a random girl's Facebook album, hope she doesn't mind!

Someone please tell Nate to "Get his legs goin" to a good tailor

Ahahahahahahahahhahaa
LOVE

ALSO! If you told me he would single-handedly rid the world of hunger and poverty and then offer to come over and clean my cat's litterbox everyday, I could not love Patrick Lalalime any more than I do. THEN YOU ADD THIS PICTURE AND I AM LOST. TOTALLY LOST.

OMG
Could his daughters be anymore adorable?!?!?!!!
The little matching shoes and skirts and hats!!
the little pigtail braids!
Daddy's sweaters!
Their adorably shy little smiles!
The Lalime family is TOO CUTE
Never having seen any other players children, I hereby declare Liliana and Rosemary Lalime the cutest children in hockey.

Oh, this also blows some more SERIOUS holes into Ryan Miller's "We don't live like rockstars" slant on things. Red carpets, RYAN!?!?!?! jk jk

Next game tonight at 7:00! From Sabres Edge, the lines that skated this morning:

Paille-Gaustad-Stafford; (interesting, lots of size on this line)
MacArthur-Hecht-Pominville; (This line did well for us at times this season)
Gerbe-Kennedy-Afinogenov; (Gerbe and Kennedy are kind of like Royzie and Vanek Jr.)
Mancari-Zagrapan-Gogulla

Defensemen dressing (with my own pairings assigned)
Butler, Spacek;
Rivet, Tallinder;
Sekera, Weber

Lalalime will be in goal and Marian Gaborik won't be playing :(

So Hecht or Pommer with the C? I'm guessing that there will be an A and a C on both of those shoulders. The other A.... Rivet and Goose had them last night, there's also Jaro and Hank. I think it might be Sissy because I don't think he's worn a letter in this pre-season yet.

yay!!!! Gerbe's Buffalo debut!!! (remind me to post my updated thoughts on my life long BFF Nate Gerbe soon.)

Good times, good times.

OMG HOCKEY

by Anne

MK, Jimmy and Ellie and I went to Puck Drop, I didn't wait for any autographs but Tim Connolly smiled for me for a picture unsolicited, but my camera died. I pretended it took and waved thanks anyway.

I'll post more later.

Question: Why didn't Vanek participate in the jersey unveiling? Weber, Sekera and MacArthur all did....????

I totally saw Heather B. and Mark (I think) across the ice but CLEARLY could not in anyway have indicated such as I was in the middle of the row sandwiched in between an 11 year old and a very bored 9 year old girl. That, and I'm pretty sure Heather B. wouldn't know me because I don't think I've ever posted a picture of my face on here. ALAS.

Labor Day. Pie. Stuff

by Anne

Well hey there, folks.

So here's a recap of the latest from this weekend.

I spent the entire weekend doing one of the following:

1. reading
2. sleeping
3. eating
4. playing video games
5. moving stuff around the house with Dad Jim
6. watching all 3 X-Men movies

It was QUITE a weekend. I read an entire novel cover to cover on Saturday. It was quite a feat....ok in reality it was a novel meant for like 14 year olds but it was assigned reading! I swear! I'm in a Young Adult Lit class and we had to read it! I swear! It was good though, I enjoyed it a lot. I'm awesome. I also took Jarome out for a few spins... and for those who may not have read the previous post, Jarome is the name of my new car. I also bought him an air freshener that smells like oranges.

ALSO! ON SATURDAY!

This picture is completely adorable

I went to Wegman's, that HOTBED for local Buffalo celebrities and I was greeted in the produce section by the smiling face of one Mr. Daniel Paille and Fiancee. PIE! YAY! He really was all happy and smiley looking. He made some joke about green bananas to his lady. I couldn't see her for her reaction, but one can only assume she laughed uproariously at Pie's witty banana repartee. Awwww. He's not as tall as I thought he'd be. I mean, he's tall but I was expecting him to be more giant-like.

On the real important news: analyzing the future Mrs. Pie based solely on passing her a few times in the produce section. Some definite plusses from this observation. She is not the typical tanorexic blonde barbie that is so frequently loved up by our dear beloved Buffalo Sabres. Don't misunderstand me, Mrs. Pie was quite pretty and dark featured, but was shockingly NORMAL looking in a "she will probably age well and won't suddenly look like a leathery foot when she hits 50" kind of way. I approve, and clearly my approval is PARAMOUNT.

I also noted that I didn't encounter Pie in the prepared foods section where I normally encounter Sabres. This is probably because Pie has a ladylove that cooks for him OR he can cook for himself. Awwwwww. It was warm fuzzies all around in Wegman's on Saturday afternoon. Or was it Sunday? Wait. I'm confused. Actually, it was Sunday. I'm full of lies. Sunday afternoon at Wegman's with the Pies.

Um, yes, other than that.... S(h)ara has a Sabres-related encounter from this weekend as well, but I'll let her tell the story.

In other news:

Bryan McCabe is shipping off to Florida and it'll be announced today at 11:00 am. The state of Florida is LOADING UP with new older residents from colder climes.... hmmmm maybe the retirement community has had some effect on the way GMs in Florida are signing... there could be something in this... Buffalonians do love our "blue collar work ethic" types... although the Red Wings really like their Swedes and, (correct me if I'm wrong) I don't recall there being a HOTBED for Swedish immigrants in the Motor City... I'll look into it... ok no I won't.

I am not mentioning any of the following for the time being, because I think I'll wear out my keyboard trying to analyze all my thoughts:

1. Jason Pominville's contract
2. Mats Sundin's career
3. Where in the world is Carmen San Diego?
4. Sarah Palin's baby not baby but it is her baby and then her pregnant daughter
5. Hurricane Gustav
6. The fact that I have an 8 am class and I'm still not over it

Anyway, I hope everyone had a grand old Labor day.

IT'S SEPTEMBER WHICH MEANS ITS ALMOST TRAINING CAMP WHICH MEANS ITS ALMOST PRESEASON WHICH MEANS ITS ALMOST THE REGULAR SEASON AND I'M ACTUALLY STARTING TO GET EXCITED AND I RARELY GET EXCITED FOR THINGS MORE THAN 20 MINUTES OR SO BEFORE THEY HAPPEN! I WILL BE RELATIVELY INDIFFERENT ABOUT THE BIRTH OF MY FIRST CHILD UNTIL THE DOCTOR SAYS "PUSH"! WOOOOO!!!!

Tim Connolly is a Master of Rhetoric

by Anne

So S(h)ara and I along with friends Christina and Allison hit up Thursday at the Square last night for the Gin Blossoms and let me just say:

WE WERE TOTALLY RIGHT DOWN FRONT CENTER AND THE LEAD SINGER TOTALLY LOVED US AND THE CONCERT WAS TOTALLY AWESEOME AND LET'S DO IT AGAIN SOME TIME, GIN BLOSSOMS, OK?!!!!!!11!!!!

Ahem, now that I've gotten that off my chest.

Then we trucked it down to Chippewa, tired as we were, to meet up with some of S(h)ara's amigos that were at a bar.

There we encountered a friend of S(h)ara's who we shall call Ethel (name changed to protect the innocent).

Well Ethel, like ourselves, is a hockey fan, and she had some fun stories to tell like about how she went down to Raleigh for Game 5 of the 2006 ECF against (duh) Carolina. (Who else would they be playing in Raleigh, Anne?)

Anyway, she also had some fun stories about everyone's favorite skeezy Sabre whoremonger, this guy:

Oy.

Break me off a piece of that.

I used the 2nd picture specifically because it was probably taken in the same season or so that these stories took place. This is vintage Timmy shenanigans.

Ok, so story #1 goes like this:

In roughly 2002ish, Ethel tells us that some moms (I'm not sure if her own was involved), but regardless, some women of roughly that age decided to give a social life one last hurrah and head out downtown. Their destination of choice was Liars. An interesting choice, but I'll roll with it for the sake of the story.

Anyway, also in Liars that night was a young fresh-faced, newly traded to Buffalo, roughly 21 year old Tim Connolly.

So these ladies were bumpin and grindin and sipping their beverages when Timmy seizes the opportunity to work toward becoming the playa (not hockey) that we know him to be today. Timmy probably finished off his 4th cosmo to muster up some liquid courage, and headed over to work his magic. Here's roughly how the conversation went down after the presumably awkward "hello" portion:

Tim: How old are you?

Lady: 44

Tim: I'm 21...

Problem, right? NOT FOR OUR TIMMY! Then he added this gem:

"You know, we're both in our sexual primes."

CLAP CLAP CLAP Wow Timmy, just WOW. What a line. That was inspired. I am truly at a loss as to what I would say to that comment.

I get the distinct impression that if Lady had said ANY age from 16-80 he would've responded with the same gem of a pickup line. Did he research this? Was this filed away in the back of his mind to use in case he came across an older lady he fancied? Did he hear this line from someone else and decided it was pure gold? Magical.

Anyway, the next stories comes from the same ladies at the same club, but on a totally different night:

Timmykins was at the bar with one of his homeboys (not a Sabre, I don't think) when he saw the same cougar he had been fancying in the other instance. So he tries a new tactic to land his lady love. He downed his Appletini and headed over with his bro, a new tactic planned.

After the presumably awkward "hello"s and probably another crack at the "sexual prime" plan of attack, Timmy threw this one into the mix:

"We should have a make out contest and you can tell us who's better, me or my friend."

Lady declined.

HAHAHAHAAHA. WHAT?! IS THIS 7TH GRADE? WAS THERE A CLOSET WHERE THEY COULD PLAY 7 MINUTES IN HEAVEN? DID HIS "BRO" TRIPLE DOG DARE HIM TO SAY THAT?! GENIUS.

Tim Connolly = The modern day Casanova

Ladies of Buffalo, we are not worthy.

One can only hope Tim owned his favorite shiny shirt in 2002 and was wearing it his night to highlight his studliness and sheer animal sexuality.

Is it wrong of me to want to dye my hair blonde in the hopes Tim Connolly will approach me and say dirty awful things to me?!?! Let me know if I'm just nuts or I should seriously look into this. I have always wanted to be blonde. And I have always wanted to encounter Timmy's creepiness in person. Perhaps this is too far to go to know the truth. I'll leave that to Mulder and Scully.

---

Private to Darcy Regier:

Dear Darcy,

Hey Darcy! How's it going? Thanks for signing Ryan Miller and Goose and Pie and Grizz. That was super nice of you. I'm like 90% over the Big Bear trade... until I see a picture of him, then I'm back at 0% over it, but I digress.

Onto the purpose of my message:

Please. Please. PLEASE do not trade Tim Connolly. Yes I know he's injured a lot and he's kind of a douche bag out of the dressing room, so one can assume he probably is whilst IN the dressing room...

But, COME ON! If you trade him, who will we have to give us these downtown Buffalo creepy Sabre encounter gems? PURE GOLD THEY ARE, PURE GOLD. Unless you can trade for a player who is even sluttier, then we can talk.

Thanks for working on the Teppo and Pommer things too. And if you could find room for Mikey Ryan too, we in the blogosphere would appreciate it as the loss and devastation from My Safety is Harvard. would be too much for us all to handle.

Thanks!

Love,
Anne

Day in the Life, Day 4

by Anne

So my days are usually pretty standard. Pops and I rode downtown on Ye Olde Metro Bus to the office, whereupon for 4 hours I sat at a desk and typed legally personal injury courtly related materials into a computer system. Hot.

9:10 - When I walked into the office I'm "borrowing" from an attorney that only comes in 2 days a week, this is the drawing that was on the white board:

Maybe, like school children, attorneys who draw accident situations just really really like using the whiteboard. I'm sure this drawing makes perfect sense to Mr. Jackon Pollock, Esq. who drew it. I think its a guy on a ladder watching a bunch of snakes fall from an elaborate pulley system. This might be the plot of the next Bourne movie if they don't come up with something soon.

FYI, this is the glamorous view out my office window. Hot. What you can't really see are all the spiderwebs covered in dead bugs. Mmmmm, that bagel is sounding TASTY right now.

4:30 - The Sobe Bottle Of Mystery. This is one of those things that's been sitting in our classroom for well over a week and no one has claimed it as their own. I mean, there are only 7 kids in the class, the possibilities of ownership are quite limited. I was starting to get annoyed at them for not claiming it, or throwing it out, when a student reminded me that there used to be 8 kids in the class and it might be his. Oh. Right. That's probably the case. We were running late, so I was looking for things to annoy me.

5:05 - Waiting for the bus outside the Albright Knox. I really need a new car.

The new Burchfield-Penney Arts Center. That Left curved wall used to have a huge "GO SABRES" painted on it during last year's playoffs. I just remembered that also on Elmwood Ave (just down the road from this) after the playoffs, some fans made a huge sign that said "Thank you Sabres" after they were eliminated. I love Buffalo sports fans.

6:30 - Isaac and I were back at the Genius Bar for some things to be installed, but its all good in da 'hood. He's fine. Who ELSE was at the genius bar? Funny you should ask, because this begins my evening of "How many more people who work for the Sabres am I going to run into tonight?"

Why look, it's me sneakily taking a picture of Sabres' goaltending coach, Jim Corsi.

Here's how it went down. So I had to take the Macbook in for a tune up. I'm sitting at the Genius Bar, gazing into the baby blues of Jason Pominville staring back at me from my desktop and I declare that that's supremely not like me to have a Sabres' wallpaper, particularly of Pommerdoodle, so I decide to change it, less I misrepresent myself to one of the cute boys who work at the Genius Bar. 10 minutes later, Jim Corsi appears right next to me. Good move, Anne. That would've been awkward for me. He probably would not have noticed.

So Jimbo is wandering about having this fixed on his iPhone, chatting with the employees, joking around and being an all-around nice guy. It makes me feel good to know that Millsey's coach (at least away from the ice) is a very pleasant person. Anyhoot, just after the above picture was taken, 3 other people in Sabres polos carrying their Macbooks with their Sabres stickers on them appear and start chatting up the sales people about every conceivable product they could have. It was like the all had a chat at NU about their computers needing to be tricked out and decided to caravan it down to the Galleria Mall to get new carriers and figure out why Nathan Gerbe looks so much bigger on the screen than he does in person. Is it a glitch with iDVD? Maybe they were having trouble composing a new Hockey Night in Canada theme with GarageBand.

SO after trying to eavesdrop on the conversation for a minute or so, I opt to not bother them and just leave once Isaac is healthy again. On my way to my friend Liz's birthday party, my friend Jess calls and asks me to pick up something at the grocery store for her. Sure, why not? I'm already out and about. So I boogie my way over to Wegman's and I'm wandering about in the aisle near the canned tomatoes (for the record I had no idea where Frank's hot sauce was in the store, not even a little bit of a clue, the answer is "by the ketchup", for those who are wondering) so I grab the phone to call Jess and WHO WALKS DOWN THE AISLE AND WHO DO I PASS LIKE 3 TIMES IN MY SEARCH BUT PAUL GAUSTAD. AGAIN. Why is GOOSE always at Wegman's when I'm there at night? Like, fo' real. This is the 3rd time in like a month. And, FYI, he did look weak-in-the-knees totally cute too.

And NO, who thinks to bring their camera into Wegman's with them? Not that I would've actually taken a picture of him, or even talked to him, but I was like "this is perfect for the blog" lol. His legs are like as long as my entire body, so I couldn't have kept up with him even if I tried to. Haha. We totally made eye contact for a second too. My friend Dan has declared it fate. I AGREE, DANIEL, I AGREE.

8:00 - I arrive at Liz's party and tell them all about my evening. Then I proceed to spend 2 hours talking to my friend Dan about the Sabres and hockey and it was AWESOME. He's also getting me a job working concessions in the Arena. SWEET. He's a manager of some kind. He gets me free beer at games, that's what's most important to know. Free. Huge. Beer.

The Buffalo Airport is such a HOTSPOT

by Anne

So MK went to Chicago for the summer today for summer #1 of a summers-only graduate program at Vandercook College of Music. The whole family went to drop her off.

Of course, because the Buffalo Niagara International Airport is a hotbed for local Buffalo celebrities there were a few sightings.

I saw Channel 7 personality Linda Pellegrino looking entirely non-self important walking by herself out of the gate and towards baggage claim. That was kind of cool, but I'm not a crazy huge PM Buffalo fan, so I was underwhelmed.

Then, I was standing by the over-priced bagel place which is by the exit gate, and I was looking back towards the entrance when a guy walked past me and looked slightly over his shoulder and, Hey! It's Pat Kaleta. Sweet.

Pat was VERY subtle in his attire. He was wearing a hat with a giant "36" on it, and carrying a Sabres RBK bag. If Pat wanted to get through the airport without anyone talking to him I don't think he was trying very hard. No one can call Pat Kaleta subtle. All he had to do was wear a Sabres t-shirt with his name and number on it and it would've made the "LOOK AT ME I'M A SABRE" moitf complete.

I ran to my mom to tell her that he was there just after he had walked past her. Moms would've been P-O'd if I hadn't immediately notified her that a Sabre was in her midst.

Patty is not as big as he appears to be when in full hockey gear. Who really is? Ok, well Chara looks big all the time, I'm pretty sure. We all know Patty isn't very tall, he is probably about 5'11" as the roster claims and he just isn't that big of a guy. He looks like your average college student who happens to be a big fan of the Buffalo Sabres. If you didn't know his face you probably wouldn't have assumed he was a professional hockey player. He is pretty cute in person though, especially when his face isn't cut up and bleeding, lol.

It was weird, I wasn't really that excited to spot him. It's not like its rare for Pat to be in Buffalo, lol.

A friend of mine who volunteers with Camp Good Days texted me last night to tell me she had "accidentally" touched Goose's booty. Danny Briere was there too. I was jealous and vowed to volunteer with her next year. If for no other reason than to hug Danny and tell him that against all odds I still love him! hahaha. And there was an open bar, lol. Wild horses could not drag me away from Camp Good Days next summer.

Awwwww:

Tonys are on tonight! Draft Day Party on Friday! Yay! I start teaching on Tuesday! Yay!

I have a pet Dragun

by Anne

Last night was a thoroughly disappointing night of hockey. I don't particularly care about the Habs/Flyers series, but I was disappointed to see Halak be handed a loss in his first start in the playoffs. I don't really know if it was a smart move to start him or not. He was rather apt to not control his rebounds. Carey Price definitely still has a starting job. Poor Carey, although in the sexiness category, he still has Halak beat by a mile...or 10.


And then the Stars had to go and NOT sweep the Sharks. Boooooooo. Now you have to go back to the Shark Tank. Where's Stu? He didn't play, it made me sad. Get better Stu! THEN COME BACK TO BUFFALO!

Phew, I actually have Sabres related things to talk about. Thank goodness. I can't pretend to give a hoot about the Habs for too much longer and I can kind of give a hoot about the Stars, but unless Pittsburgh is playing, it's all a charade. HOW CRAZY WOULD A PENS/FLYERS EASTERN CONFERENCE FINAL BE?


Anyhoot, Danny Pie-YAY was on the radio this morning talking about a 5K run he's hosting or whatevering on Saturday. If I felt like getting out of bed before noon on Saturdays, I might attend.


The run/walk goes down by the Marina, and they were of course trying to get him to point out where all the Sabres live down there. He declined. What? Why? You don't want to jeopardize the privacy of your teammates? Pfft.


It was mentioned that Roysie has a boat, let's sneak in and take the keys, we'll look the other way if you don't want us to know which house is his. He TOTALLY won't miss it, Pie-Z he's busy being sick and NOT having a paintball war with Marty St. Louis.


Then they asked if him Jay McKee was going to be there. This made me almost crash into the metal divider I was so carefully attempting to avoid while I parked. He wasn't sure if he was coming or not, he hadn't heard. Yo, I don't care if it's at 4:00 a.m. and I have to jog 3 miles in a gorilla suit, if JKee is there, I will TOTALLY go. Let's investigate this futher, Daniel and get back to me.


They were of course telling him how they missed the Sabres in the playoffs and Danny genuinely seemed to feel bad that they let the fans down. Awwwwwww. It's ok Danny, I don't think anyone's mad at you in particular. I know I'm not anyway.


He said that Montreal was his team when he was a kid, so maybe he can talk some sense into the Habs. I've always wondered how that feels to play against your former favorite team, are they still your favorite? Do you still want to beat them? How does it feel to play for a team you might previously have disliked or been indifferent to? Do you care at all or is it just exciting enough to be playing in the NHL?


Danny, don't just sit around and watch TBS all day...which he apparently does most days from 4:00 - 6:00. WOW. I get out of work at 5:00, let's go to the mall or something. I'm sure your fiancee won't mind. Speaking of which, Danny and Fiancee are getting married in July of 2009. How cute, he probably didn't want to conflict with Vanek and Petey's nuptials... or they wanted to take their sweet ass time planning the weddning. Anyway, oy, can I juggle ANOTHER platonic boyfriend? That's at least 4. I'll have to think about that one. Although, he would be my only PBF in Buffalo this summer, but things would get complicated when they're all back in town next season.


I am enjoying Marty's successes in the playoffs, but only Marty's sucesses, not the Flyers successes...and a little bit Danny Briere, but not a lot. S(h)ara told me a story about our friends little sister (and by little I mean she's like 20) who saw Danny Briere at Olive Garden last year and started to cry... Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah(gasp)hahahahhahahahahahahahahhahaha. Oh man, Rachel, I loved Danny Briere, but crying when you see him? That's totally righteous. That's emotional dedication. Were these big sloppy tears? Was there wailing? Granted, if I saw Danny Briere in Olive Garden in Buffalo now I might cry...and then recommend he leave as soon as possible, for his own safety.

---

Private to Paul Gaustad:

I SWEAR TO GOD I'M NOT STALKING YOU.

Love and 100 yards of personal space,

Anne


So I posted a lengthy post about the wacky (read: totally uneventful) evening I spent at the same bar as the Goose (sad I know, but he's ridiculously hot so I don't care) just a few days ago.


I, apparently, live around the corner from the Goose, but cannot ever recall seeing him around Buffalo before. I heard he enjoys hitting up a nearby coffee shop I also patronize, but never at the same time. SO, I'm standing in the prepared foods section at Wegman's debating if I want chicken or fish when I see this wicked tall guy standing next to me. For those who don't know me personally, wicked tall men are my weakness. Like the taller the better, Zdeno Chara...ok, maybe not him. Anyway, so I notice this gent, but don't want to be too obvious by checking him out, and besides I can only see his back, which, hey, wasn't anything to complain about. WINK. Then, he turns around and is tossing something and catching it which makes me look up, and YUP, it was Goose. I can't imagine he thought "that girl was at that bar the other night", but I still felt weird. So, I left prepared foods and went to produce. Soon after, Goose arrived, same thing happened in the dairy department. Haha. Whoops. But DAMN, he's even super hot having appeared to have not shaved since the dawn of time and wearing jeans and a hoodie. My friend Jenn of course insists that its fate and was pissed I didn't talk to him. Yo, what conversation could we have started at the fish counter at Wegman's?

Hey Paul! How's the sports hernia?

I like scallops too! We're so much alike! Let's go screw.

You're a foot taller than I am! And I'm wearing flats too! That's really great!

Your toenail is all black and blue, I noticed when I walked by and tried not to run it over. Gross, you should do something about that.

Do you think Wegman's frowns upon people doin' it on the olive bar?


Hmmmmm, I'm not sure how those would fly as openers. I mean, is there any casual way to start talking to someone who's clearly well known around these parts? Am I supposed to pretend I don't know who he is? Yeah, I'd be able to carry that off for about 25 seconds. I'm thinking starting to talk about hockey probably isn't they way to go. Here's a thought, maybe I could've just said HI. Damn. Such a clever opening line. I'm gonna just go ahead and wait til I run into him again...which now will never happen. Dang!

Sidenote: "Drew Stafford" (I don't know if its really him or not, that's not the point) and I are now friends on Facebook. The only reason I added him as a friend was so I could laugh at the "Anne and Drew Stafford are now friends" line in my newsfeed. Haha. I had this "FluffFriend" thing that was a pet dragon with really heavy eyebrows that I named Drew Stafford. On the offchance "Drew Stafford" is really Drew Stafford, I opted to change his name. Besdies, the novelty of having a pet dragon named after a hockey player had worn off. Now his name is Wesley like in the Princess Bride.

The Goose is on the Loose

by Anne

Boo Wings, Boo Flyers.

Whatever.

Ok, now that that's over with:

Ok, so post-hockey and post a MAJOR day of cleaning around my parents house and my own, I opted for the Saturday night tradition of hitting up some bars in Buffalo with some girlfriends. We went down to Elmwood, we being me, S(h)ara, our friend Allison and our friend Jenn. While at a bar, S(h)ara was attempting to mack it with the bartender, Jenn was talking to some random boys, and Allison and I were chatting over drinks when I, who was facing the wall of windows saw some REALLY cute boys walk by. Like, boys that were definitely worthy of watching them as they passed when all of a sudden I realized that one of them had a face I'd seen before. It took me, oh, .6 seconds to realize whose face it was.

Now, I've been pretty sure that Paul Gaustad has jogged by me or been 6 lines down from me at Wegman's before, but never in my life was I so sure that Goose had just walked by that window. I immediately put down my drink, whispered to Allison my suspicions and without breaking stride we peaced outside to see that he had disappeared. Were we thwarted? Hells no. There's a classy bar next door, so we decided to stop in and lo and behold, there was Goose with his boys, none of whom were Sabres. So we grabbed our stuff and Jenn and S(h)ara who had no clue where we had disappeared to and hung out for a time at the classier bar that Goose deemed worthy of his patronage. Did we talk to him? No. Did we talk to one of his buddies who was also pretty hot? Yes. Is Goose even hotter and taller in person than we could have possibly comprehended? HELLS YES.

He did not appear to be recovering from recent surgery, so I'm guessing that sports hernia surgery didn't happen this past week. Either that or he was most definitely ignoring doctor's orders by consuming alcohol. What did he drink? I have no idea but he left a good tip. Aw, good boy, Goosie!

In the bar we were in there were tons of Sabres B&W portraits up, including one of Goose, did that make him uncomfortable? I don't think so, he's probably used to it.

His boys were totally creating a Fortress of Solitude around him and there was no female interference. So, Goose was not trolling for tail last night or he would've talked to one of us. We 4 ladies are pretty varied; one of us has got to be at least close enough to his type to be worthy of some innocent flirtation if he were in the market.

It proved to me that, even if I didn't know anything about him, yes, I would still think Goose is incredibly good looking.

Was it totally awesome? OMG YES.

S(h)ara and I determined that even though I love Goose immensely, I was fully able to restrain myself, probably because he's uncomfortably attractive to the point where I wouldn't expect to talk to him because he's totally beyond my grasp, lol. However, as S(h)ara pointed out, if it were Big Bear I could not be held responsible for my actions.

I love Buffalo.

EDIT: I'm not sure how I forgot to mention this, but at one point Goose got up to go to the bathroom and on his way by bumped into S(h)ara's purse and said "excuse me". Awww, he's so polite. I think she'll have that purse bronzed.

YAWN, I'm totally famous... part quatre

by Anne


Yawns. We all know Millsey is my BFF, so it should come as no surprise that he answered yet another of my questions in his blog. I asked this question before it was officially announced that he'd be on the Competition Committee:

What do you think about the issue of the size of the net vs. the size of goaltender equipment? I know this is a big issue for the Competition Committee to discuss, which I'd heard you are going to be a part of and, if you are, good luck! –Anne

I have no problem with discussing the sizing of goalie equipment and a reduction. I definitely think some of it is still a little outrageous. Where I get concerned with the cutting of equipment size is protection. There has to be a method to cutting back and I am happy to give my opinion. I think that equipment sizing coupled with keeping a high standard of refereeing, to give players more room to skate, will increase the chances of a player scoring without making a drastic change to the sport. I don’t really feel like going to soccer camp this summer to learn how to play goal in front of a bigger net.

Really? Because the mental image I've conjured of Millsey in full gear leaping and bounding all around a soccer field while stopping water balloons or something could keep me in stitches all summer.


Anyhoot. I'm sure I have more questions to ask my BFF. Maybe this one will be more like "Marry, Dump or Date" (er, we use a more R rated name, but we'll go with the PG one) and then I'll give him the options of Larry Quinn, Chris Neil or Sean Avery. Hhaha I'm so BAD. We'll giggle and make sugar free cookies and then we'll "drive around buying stuff."


Dear Ryan,

I'm still waiting for my half of our Best Friends necklace. Your girlfriend totes won't mind. We'll be totally platonic. Unlike my previous open letter to Big Bear, cuddling is not necessary. You seem rather bony and perhaps not ideally suited for cuddling. But if you're down, I'm down.

Love,

Anne

OMG I'm TOTALLY FAMOUS!!! (part trois)

by Anne

I must just ask awesome questions to player's blogs.

Millsey is writing a playoff blog for Maxim magazine and you can actually comment on it. So I did, and of the like 15 questions he got, mine was one of the 5 he answered:

Hey Ryan! So everyone talks about how great it is to have home ice advantage, but in this opening round overall, teams are like 16-14 on home ice...making it seem like not much of an advantage. As a player, how important do you think home ice advantage is in the playoffs? Thanks! Buffalo is much quieter without you boys playing! Can't wait til next season! -Anne

Home ice is a huge lift for a team in most cases... I think that Nashville really got a boost from their crowd. They looked much more focused. But I don’t think it always works that way... I wish I could explain this for you but there are so many factors in a game. I only know as a player we always appreciate our fan’s excitement and it really does make you feel great when you step into an environment that playoff hockey promotes. We always feel like we want to impress the fans and play our best game... I suppose maybe sometimes home ice carries some pressure to perform with it and maybe that is what we are seeing.

My favorite part is when he says "I wish I could explain this for you". Aw, I'm glad you're concerned that I get a full explanation, Millsey.


More than Yo-yo and Big Bear this wins as most exciting blogged answer to one of my questions. (Did I mention things are slow in my life right now?)


Woooooo! Millsey and I are clearly best friends now. Don't fight it.


I realized in looking back on posts I don't talk about Millsey all that much. I think its because I'm afraid I'll send him weird vibes if I judge him harshly or if I love him too much. Let me just say this: I freakin' love Ryan Miller. I think he's totally awesome and he's my secret favorite player. I just wanted to make sure that was clearly understood. If he were to leave Buffalo I would be really upset about it.

Millsey, bracing himself for the onslaught of my love.

Things that are Different in a Sabre-less Existence

by Anne

Ok, so to remind myself what it's like to be without SabreHockey for like 4 MONTHS (or whenevskis they'll be back in town) I'm going to do what I usually do when a relationship ends.

Here are the things I can do now that the Sabres are no longer a part of my life:

• Enjoy other, sexier teams

Ok, there really is no team sexier than the Buffalo Sabres. I know he broke my heart, but I still love his moves. However, there is the possibility of (temporarily) finding another team as sexy as the Buffalo Sabres. That fetching Jarome Iginla is quite tempting. What's that, Ryan Malone? You want to take our relationship to the next level? The semi-finals? The conference finals? The CUP finals? Whew, Ry-ry, slow down. Jarome! Please! Calm yourself. I'm only one woman. I may not be ready for this. I'll need to ease my way back into the dating scene. Woo! Those beards best be comin' in nicely. Actually Ry-ry already has one. He's growing one for him and Sid.

• Stroll through Western New York, fully confident I will not run into any Buffalo Sabres

This is actually always a possibility my friends, there are many Sabres that shop at the same grocery store where I shop. Does this mean I get dressed up if there's an outside chance I might see one of them? Of course not. Does it occur to me once I'm already in the store that its probably a night off and tomorrow is a home game and they just came off of a road trip and there's an outside chance and maybe I shouldn't have worn a t-shirt from my high school production of "Annie" and my hair up in a crazy bun? Yes. (This bulleted point also applies to dry cleaners, malls, bars and clubs) Just the other day I ate brunch at the same place as Jim Corsi, our BA goal tending coach. FYI, he'll be at the World Championships working with the Italian National Team.

• Enjoy warm summer evenings outside of my house

This, I still do, playoffs or not, but now there is no possibility I'll be missing crazy Sabres News, goals, games or even shenanigans. It'll be slammin'. However, there really isn't much better than listening to Rick call a playoff game while sitting on your front porch with your dogs and its 70 degrees out. :( Next year!

• Explore the possibility of other sports

Pfft, just because I CAN, doesn't mean I will. Unless its the Summer Olympics, then I might watch. I particularly enjoy the swimming events. And, of course the World Championships. Not that I can watch any of them, but I'll follow my Sabres I mean, whatever random players I happen to find I enjoy from Finland, Slovakia, Austria, the Czech Republic, the USA, Canada and possibly Russia, but not Sweden. Wait...that's the same sport. I'm a one note samba.

• Pin all my dreams on Steven Stamkos or Zach Bogosian or Drew Doughty some how not being drafted in the first 12 picks...

Ok, so this is more than kind of Sabres-related, but when they put all these fun things to watch in the summer time, how can I resist? I can't just quit cold turkey! I need to know who our tasty young prospects are! We get our highest pick in years (what a catch-22 system) Remember when we got the 5th overall pick? Yikes. Well, that was Britters, so it all worked out. Staffy was a 13th pick. Actually, we're not talking about Staffy anymore, he's not playing up to snuff. Groin.

• Stop spending HOURS on eBay trying to score cheap tickets to Sabres' Games

I can't tell you how much money I've spent on games this season. And then AT the games, how much money on beer, food, random crap. Not to mention the other memorabilia I've bought this season. It's totally ridiculous and totally worth every penny. I mean, NO! You didn't make the playoffs! I want my money back!....or a smoothie. What is up with me and smoothies?

• Cease checking Sabres.com 10 times a day

In the summer, they update that thing like once every 6 days to tell you no contracts have been announced and that a Sabre will be appearing at random charity events in Alberta. Will I still check it every day? Of course I will, hoping against hope that we've signed Pommers to the airtight "you ain't goin' nowheres" contract of my dreams.

• No longer have to endure that awful "Stop Smoking" commercial that plays on MSG

Kudos to MK for pointing this one out. She has a violent reaction to this commercial, usually involving screaming and flailing. On a related note- has anyone noticed how much more enjoyable MSG games are not that we're not subjected to Brian Campbell telling us not to neglect our leg problems, no matter our profession? I think I sweat less just knowing he's not around anymore. Thanks, Soupy!

• No more listening to sad players give sad interviews (or angry)

There really isn't much I hate more than post-loss interviews. The players are always so depressing. With the obvious exception of Pommerdoodle, he's never depressing. I only recall him being angry once, the same game when Soupy was like crying and shaking and Millsey might have actually killed some of his teammates (Timmy....?)

Ok, I think I can do all of those things. Phew. I made the foolish, foolish mistake of listening to part of the WGR press conference with Darcy & Co. I listened for maybe 3 minutes before I decided I'd had enough. It's all so doom and gloom and I feel like Darcy is being asked questions about Daniel Paille's contract status with the same intensity people use when questioning Hillary Clinton about her health care policies. That's not pleasant to listen to.

Day 4 of the NHL playoffs has kicked off, Nashville at Detroit, right now!