300!

by Anne

The post I was working on last night when I fell asleep (literally while I was working on it) was about last night's King's game.

They won 4-3 in OT (thanks to a goal by Drew Doughty) over the Colorado Avalanche to keep some space between them and the bottom of the playoff picture. Woo!

I fell asleep during the first intermission but not before hearing Bob Miller and/or Jim Fox announce that last night's game was Matt Greene's 300th NHL game!

Yay Greener!

Yay!

300 games

35 points (5+30)

That's slightly better than a point per 10 games player

Wooo!

YIKES, What a Busy Saturday

by Anne

THAT AVS GOAL WAS TOTAL BS AND MY LOVE FOR DANNY PAILLE CONTINUES TO GROW EXPONENTIALLY. WE WERE TREATED TO AN ADORABLE INTERVIEW FEATURING JM LILES' MILLION DOLLAR SMILE SO THANK YOU FOR THAT AND I COULDN'T HEAR DANNY PAILLE'S INTERVIEW BUT HE LOOKED CUDDLY AND SWEET FACED. OTHERWISE, BLAH.

That is all I have to say about that, except that I hope Hank is ok after getting sliced up in the first period. I thought something was off about our defense but I incorrectly thought Spacek was MIA, it was, in fact, Hank the Tank.

BLAH.

So the curse is gone in Philly, the Flyers won their second game in a row against the Devils, giving the team and Marty Biron two MUCH needed wins and killing us all because now we have to wait even longer to crown Martin Brodeur the King of All, and we will continue to be reminded EVERY DAY about his QUEST. Boooooooo.

Someone screwed up the ice surface at TD Banknorth Garden and as a result the goalies changed ends half way through the third period, Winter Classic style. Awesome. I mean the Bruins have only been around LIKE 80 YEARS, you can't expect them to have this whole "accurate measurement" thing down JUST YET.

WCB Watch

Ducks at Habs

Getzy scored a goal in the Ducks win and ONCE AGAIN, a team (the Canadiens) had 51 shots on goal and LOST. Thomas Plekanec had 13!!

ETA: Apparently the Hurricanes had 60 shots on goal Saturday night. WHAT IS GOING ON!?!

ETA2: My BAD, the Islanders had 60 shots, the Hurricanes FACED 60 shots and Cam Ward made 57 saves. WOWZAS.

No impacted tooth can hold him down!

Sharks at Lightning

Can someone please explain to me how Barry Melrose still has a job? Hell, Ted Nolan's got nothing to do these days, hire him!

Once again the Sharks had a crazy number of shots, 45, but this time, they actually WON 3-0, Pickles lead the team in ice time by more than 5 minutes, but managed to still only end with an even +/-.

Kings at Predators

JP scored for the Preds toward a 5-4 win!!! Greener still managed to be +1 with 2 shots. The Kings' PK was finally broken :(

You can barely see JP on the right, but I wanted to point out 2 other things:
The pink butt end of Martin Erat's stick
And that tool shed in the stands who actually purchased one of those vomit/mustard yellow third jerseys

Blue Jackets at Wild

OWEN NOLAN CAME OFF OF IR, GOT AN ASSIST AND THEN SCORED THE GAME WINNING GOAL!!!!!!! YAY!!!!! LOVE LOVE LOVE!

Oh yeah, and both we and the Wild are STILL unbeaten in regulation. This is getting feisty.

RAWWWWWR!!

Caps at Stars

Uhhh, this one wasn't pretty for Marty Turco, so let's move on..

Red Wings at Blackhawks

Sharpie got an assist and Brett Lebda had 9 minutes of ice time.... and the game went into OT... ouch.... maybe I need to re-evaluate my Red Wings WCB.

I really still love Britney Spears new music. I cannot pretend I don't. I really like Womanizer. Its really fun. I don't love the video, but she's look FIERCE these days. TEAM BRITNEY. What, hockey blog? Oh right!

Panthers at Blues

Jay McKee was +1. woo.

Keith Ballard must've been really upset to learn he would've been my 'Yotes WCB because he took 18 minutes in penalties including a game misconduct (10 mins) and 2 unsportsmanlike conducts. NOT COOL, KEITH, NOT COOL.

JKee's keeping an eye on things


I know this isn't JKee but the look on that Blues' face cracked me up

Flames at 'Yotes

The love of my life (Iggy) had a 3 point night (1+2) in a 4-1 Flames win!!!!!

Oilers at Canucks

Big Bear had an assist but was -2. Ethan Moreau (Oilers WCB) had 4 PIM and somehow managed to stay at even +/- in the 6-3 loss to Vancouver. Interesting (but really only interesting to me) fact: both my WCBs in this game wear #18.


Unrelated: Luke Schenn (Toronto 2008 draft pick) fought Chris Neil (we all know who he is) about 1 minute into the game. I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE YOUTUBE CLIPS!!!! I hope Schenn won!!

Pirates won tonight, 5-4. Gerbe netted another 2 goals, and TK got an assist, further extending his point streak. Yay!!!

Nathan Gerbe hearts the ta-tas

Baby Millsy was the second star of the night for the AHL on Friday. He had a 3 point night (1+2). Awww, yay! A dude named Wacey Rabbit was #1, and really how much harder can your life rock if you're kicking things off by being named Wacey Rabbit?

Tomorrow can be completely dedicated to football, woooo!!

Game(s) 1 Round 1

by Anne

So the Habs squeaked by the Flyers in this one. Thank goodness. I'm not sure lil' Danny would've made it out of the Bell Centre alive. I can't believe how intensely he was booed. Ok, ok, if we had faced Philly in the playoffs this season, we more than likely would've booed him into next week....or next season...

It's a weird feeling cheering for a team I don't really care all that much about (The Habs) when they score a goal, and then looking down and realizing that they just beat Marty. He had no chance on that 2nd Montreal goal. :(

Detroit beat the Avs. Crap. I picked the Avs. JOSE?! Could you have waited to screw up until after this series? Granted, it's only been 1 game, and apparently you were sick? Ugh, whatev, I only wanted you win this round, I would've picked the Stars/Sharks over your team anyway. Thanks a ton. I know that there is some great playoff history between the Wings and the Avs, but I honestly could not possibly care less. Not even a little bit.

I should probably give one of those teams a chance to bowl me over with at least one totally smokin' player, but I just don't wanna. I mean, come on, the Avs average sexiness is so MAJORLY low, I'm not sure what can bring it back up. I mean, they have Ryan Smyth AND Peter Forsberg? Are they trying to make their female fans retch? Cuz, mission accomplished from this non-Avs fan. On the other side, I cannot possibly find a man attractive in a Red Wings uniform. GAH! They're so hard on the eyes. In this side-by-side comparison, the Avalanche win in a landslide. Their uniforms are at least pretty colors.

In other news, I'm sad to hear Gabby is injured with one of those "worn out hockey player after 82+ games" injuries. That could explain why my Superman posing studman was left with 1 singular assist in the Avs series.

Here's how NHL.com awkwardly describes his injury:

The Wild issued a brief news release that revealed Gaborik has a "hip deficiency attributable to overuse."

Ok, I'm just gonna let that one go. I think I made enough jokes off the blog about Timmy's hip injuries and bone spur to last a lifetime.

I always forget Gabby is from Slovakia. Just like I always forget Daniel Alfredsson is Swedish. Kind of like the time when I realized Cristobal Huet was a gen-u-wine Frenchman and not French Canadian. Blew my mind.

So Team USA meets in Maine today, where our new AHL affiliate will supposedly be come the '08-'09 season...Hey! Gerbenheimersmith, isn't Portland GREAT?! Don't you want to play there soooooooooooooon?

And on the 6th Day...

by Anne

Pens v. Sens (Pens win 4-1, lead series 3-0)
Wings v. Preds (Preds win 5-3, Wings lead series 2-1)
Wild v. Avs (Wild win 3-2, 1st OT, lead series 2-1)

Pittsburgh at Ottawa:

Waaa-hooooo!!!!! Take THAT, stupid Roman Gladiator! So I ended up being wrong about both Alfie and J-Spezz. They both played and both sucked. At the beginning of the playoffs if you'd asked me to pick a series that would be a sweep, I would've probably picked Montreal over Boston or Detroit over Nashville. Not that the Pens are guaranteed a sweep, but they have just completely pwned the Sens thus far. Congrats to Boston and Nashville for pulling a one game David and Goliath. Most likely neither of you will win your series, but good on ya. You look better than the Sens!

I enjoyed the shot of the Pens in Scotiabank Place warming up next to the giant wall-sized photograph outside their dressing room of the Sens eliminating them last season. Ha-ha! (Nelson style)

Congrats! Sid the Kid gets his first goal of the playoffs! And, like his Russian rival, it was of the tie-breaking, game winning first goal variety. Now its guaranteed to be all anyone will talk about until something else crazy happens. At least this'll take some focus away from Avery and his new rule. HA! What a toolshed.

Dear Evgeni Malkin,

As much I as enjoy you and your vacant facial expressions and penchant for goal scoring, there is one thing about you I don't enjoy: your oral fixation problem. Why must you chew on everything in sight? Your sweater's right sleeve, your sweater's left sleeve, your necklace- why don't you have a mouthguard or some gum? What's next? Your stick? Gloves? Teammate? Its more than kind of gross. Work on that.

Love and smooches,
Anne

Ok, who forgot to pick up Geno?...

Congrats to my temporary "we" team! Woooo! Hossa scored his last playoff goal exactly 4 years ago to the day, and he was a Sen at the time. Sweet. Thanks for that tidbit, CBC.

Predators v. Red Wings

I watched the last 8 minutes or so which was enough time to watch the Preds tie it and then win. That was cool. Thats the only 8 minutes I've watched this series and I brought good luck to the Preds.

Hasek had to be so pissed when he was screened in by his own teammates and the Preds scored. He likes being able to see the long shots. Whoops. I don't miss Hasek. I miss old school Hasek, not his current crotchety incarnation. I do miss the hot sauce though.

Wild v. Avs

This game was kind of boring, not gonna lie. I hate games with 1 goal leads that drag on and on, because, usually, and especially in the playoffs, 1 goal leads quickly become ties or 2 goal leads.

I watched until it became 2-2. I would've watched the end, but then I remembered that I don't really care who wins this one, so I went to bed. I am glad to see the Wild win, but that's only because I had to choose a team to root for.

On the Sabres front:

Dear Darcy,

The Coyotes signed their Hobey Baker winner to an entry level contract yesterday. I know you like to keep these things close to the vest until they're final, and I appreciate that, but COULD YOU PLEASE ANNOUNCE THAT WE'VE SIGNED RUNNER UP AND MVP OF THE FROZEN FOUR, NATHAN GERBE TO AN ENTRY-LEVEL DEAL ASAP?!

Thanks, that'd be super.

Loves and kisses,

Anne

Tonight it's Montreal at Boston (MTL 2-1) Washington at Philly (Tied 1-1), Anaheim at Dallas (DAL 2-0) and San Jose at Calgary (CGY 2-1).

Go Habs! Go...Caps? Go...Stars Ducks Stars? Go FLAMES!

Day 3, still no Buffalo Sabres. I don't like this practical joke anymore

by Anne

After 3 days:

Sens v. Pens (Pens win 5-3, lead series 2-0)
NYR v. NJD (NYR win 2-1, lead series 2-0)
Caps v. Flies (Caps win 5-4, lead series 1-0)
Avs v. Wild (Wild win 3-2, first OT, series tied 1-1)

I watched the first period of the Pens game before going for coffee and came home just in time to see them win it. WOOOO!!! I actually said "Did we win?" WE? I suppose in the absence of my Sabres, the Pens are my "we".

Yay for my Atlantic Division boyfriend! Good boy, Ry-Ry! That was a SICK wrap-around goal. He's gonna beat the Sens just for me. Poor Gerber he stopped 50 shots and STILL lost.

Now, you are subjected to a gratuitous shirtless shot of my (Atlantic) man:

Yessssss

Ok, Devs. We need to talk.

How can Zachy lose his teeth in a loss? Come on now. He didn't sacrifice his pearly whites for THIS.

Look at that smile:

: (

Gone forever....or at least until he can get to the nearest Newark-area dentist.

I hope Staffy calls him with comforting words and pudding recipes.

Congrats, Ovie! Of course, he got the game-winning goal on his first playoff goal, so now the NHL will talk about nothing else until Drury is Captain Clutch or Crosby grows wings and flies over a goaltender to score. Oh, Flyers. Danny and Vinny Prospal each net 2 and they STILL lose. HA! Sorry, Danny! Actually, no, I'm not at all. What a shock...the tying goal was a PPG by Mike Green from Ovie and Backstrom. How often do we see that combination? Look out for that to be a HUGE trio for years to come.

I honestly don't really care about the Avs v. Wild series. Sorry. I will say I think Jose Theodore has his goal posts blessed between periods, though.

Did anyone else notice how herky-jerky TSN's tenths of a second are in the countdown to the end of a period? They fly down to .0, pause and then move on. Showing tenths of a second always makes things seem more frantic. They should do it the entire period, that'll at least get the crowd and home more into it...by drastically raising their collective blood pressure.

Words cannot express how much I love watching Manny "I'm 5'9"!" Legace commentating on Versus. He's new to this, he doesn't want to make grand, unsubstantiated, sweeping generalizations about a team or a player. Give it time, Manny, give it time. Ha! He was in the can for the end of the Wild game because it happened after only like 1:30. At least he admitted it, haha. Aww, Manny.

I wrote this post while watching the Wild game, it's currently 1-1, 7:30 into the third, so I can't post this until it's over in order to accurately post the score and the series standings. EDIT: I prematurely declared a 2-1 Wild win in this post, so when the Avs tied it up a few minutes later, I declared it my fault and took that part out.

Bittersweet

by Anne

Half the Game 1s have come and gone with the following results

Sens v. Pens (Pens win 4-0, lead series 1-0)
NYR v. NJD (NYR win 4-1, lead series 1-0)
Avs v. Wild (Avs win 3-2, 1st OT, lead series 1-0)
CGY v. SJS (CGY win 3-2, lead series 1-0)

Interestingly enough, only 1 team won at home last night. This whole "not having home-ice advantage" thing doesn't seem to phase teams in the bottom part of the playoff standings.

Anytick, that was a bee-you-ti-full win last night by the Pittsburgh Penguins. I liked it a lot, we had good chemistry, I'd definitely go out with it again. If it had been a Sabres win, we'd already be on our honeymoon in Cancun.

Sigh, I don't care how many times we all try to say it'll be nice to watch the playoffs without the emotional investment, it's not true. With each goal that the Pens scored, I got a little more into it, but I didn't come within a tenth of how gleeful and elated I would've been to watch those goals being scored by Sabres. Good to see Gary Roberts recovered from his broken leg resulting in a collision with Timmy...I know, right? TimmyHo actually crushed someone and skated away, unharmed. I still can't believe it either. I kind of love Gary Roberts right now, he's pretty old, ha.

Then they had to go and show Mario up in the press box and remind my why I love them. Awwww, Mario. I loves him still.

I hope Ottawa is as embarrassed as they should be. Bryan Murray did NOT look happy about that brawl in the last 11 seconds. That team has been soooo badly mismanaged in the last few months its scary. Their D looks turrrrrrribull.

Congratulations to Marc-Andre Fleury for the first playoff shutout since April 26, 2001...ironically it was when the Sabres were shutout by Johan Hedberg. Whoops.

Congrats also to the Calgary Flames. I watched the first period of that game in my intermittent watching of both that and Top Chef (Zoi's gone, she made underseasoned mushrooms, but Richard left scales on his fish, discuss). It was my first non-Sabres Brian Campbell experience. I really could've done without the commentators on HNIC verbally lovin' up Soupy. They just went on and on about how great he's been for the team and how he and Big Joe are childhood sweethearts and soulmates.

It makes me sad to hear Soupy say bad things about Buffalo. Well, ok, it's not Buffalo, it's Larry Quinn and Darcy Regier, but still, when he and Brownie and Mikey Grier get together and start talking about how Buffalo could've kept them and they're all resentful it makes me sad.

Whatevskis, we don't needs 'em! On the plus, in the 2 games I watched, both the teams I wanted to win, won! Unforch, in the other 2 games the team I wanted to win, lost. Boo. What was UP with Marty mis-handling that puck? It's like he got stuck in a position and for a split second his priority was moving his feet and not moving the puck, he clearly didn't see whatever Ranger snuck up on him and tapped the puck home. Whoops.

I don't really care about the Avs v. Wild but Jose Theodore and Peter Forsberg annoy me. Peter Forsberg downright creeps me out, actually. I like Marian Gaborik for his Superman pose in his roster photo and because they do, indeed, look like elves, and because Minnesotans love their hockey... and their elves.

See?:

Tonight I get to pretend I care about watch Detroit at Nashville at 7:00 and Dallas at Anaheim at 10:00 while Boston plays at Montreal at 7:00 and Calgary plays at San Jose again at 10:00.