TGIF? No, I have class at 8am tomorrow.

by Anne

Wooooooo!!

This whole having to be somewhere by 8:00 a.m. business is just not working out for me. It is true that one day 8:00am will be the norm or maybe even late for me as a teacher, but coming off of a six week winter break where I stayed up until 2:30 - 3:00 on average and slept until 11:00, being out of the house by 7:30 is no joke.

I've started rehearsing a show this week so while I was able to attend the game on Wednesday. (WOOOO!!! YOYOOOO!) but I was unable to watch the Kings game on Thursday.

The game on Wednesday was equal parts moderately fun and godawful mindnumbingly boring. The most exciting part of regulation was when Jamie Langenbrunner threw a hissy fit over his penalty for running over Miller in the crease. Overtime was exciting as was the mercifully short shootout. We so rarely win shootouts that this one was nothing short of a miracle.

It was close and low scoring as was to be expected when Miller and Brodeur duke it out. 

THEN on Thursday, the Kings rolled into Columbus. I wasn't able to watch any of the game but I gathered that the beginning of the game was not going well. Fortunately, the Kings were able to score first and didn't look back.

Oh who scored that goal?

Who?

Me?! 

Yay!

I'm trying not to take it personally that he's scored both his goals this season while I was not watching.

Let's be honest, the only reason he scored that goal was Frolov's fantastic pass to him aaaaaaaaall alone on the point and when he shot the puck he had a preeeeetty much totally clear shot at the net.

Dare we hope for a third goal this season? He has TWO multigoal season IN A ROW. Rarely accomplished. Also, he has a TWO GAME point streak going. Don't call it a comeback.

No, really, don't call it a comeback, it's not a comeback at all. Not even close.

Tonight the Sabres host the Bruins. Pie!!

No Danny, use the STICK

The STICK

7:30 puck drop tonight

Monday catch-up

by Anne

Where have I been since Friday?

Anyway, I'm clearly not going to recap every game but I will make a few points about some:

• On Saturday, my Mom actually predicted that Pat Kaleta was going to score short-handed. Seriously. She did. I think she needs to buy lotto tickets or something because she's psychic.
  

• She predicted it as a joke because I was berating him for his ridiculous goal celebration and she said he was going to do it just to spite me, and he did. You did it just to spite me, didn't you?

 I knew it.

• The Kings are totally badass and I love them. They beat the Stars on Saturday in the shootout and took possession of first place in the West!! Yay! Yay! Yay! Happy dance!
  

• Tonight the Kings play the Canucks and the Sabres play the Habs. Woo!
  

• I shall have more time to blog in the coming days as I finish exams and Christmas shopping!
  

• The Boston Globe gave some love to Pie for his work on the penalty kill! :') "Penalty kill specialist?" really? Whatevs, feel the PieLove! :)
  

Worst Game Day Ever

by Anne

I'd love to be able to write a whole blog post about tonight's game against the Bruins and them being a divisional opponent and what not. Here's all I can think of to say:

• Lydman in, Sekera out
  

• The Bruins played last night all the way to a shootout in the empty cave known as Philips arena in Atlanta, GA; they didn't skate this morning
  

• Tim Thomas is hurt with a "minor undisclosed injury" according to Bruins' head coach Claude Julien.
  

• I have to leave early to help everyone in the Arena put up signs to point Danny to the right locker room 

But Drew and Clarke and Paul and Adam and Hank and Ryan and Thomas and Tim and Derek and Jason and Jochen and Steve and Nathan and Mike and Other Tim and Matt and Pat and Craig and Toni and Reggie and other Pat and Chris and That Big Guy are in THAT room.

Yes Danny, I know, but you go with them now:

Oh. Ok. See ya later.

 :'(

Monday Night Hockey/Record Intact!

by Anne

This Sabres Wednesday - Friday - Saturday schedule, while mostly annoying, is at least helpful in keeping track of when the Sabres play  this month.

Monday is not one of the days listed above, therefore, the Sabres did not play tonight. However, the Kings did.

The Kings played the Florida Panthers in Florida tonight in a very back and forth game. The first period was close and scoreless and the second started much the same until the Pussycats potted two fairly quick goals to make the game 2-0. The Los Angeles Kings, more experienced this season and less prone to panic, kept their wits about them. Wayne Simmonds decided to help things out the best way he knows how. Beating the crap out of someone:

Simmer (as he punches): WHAT. KIND. OF. NAME. IS. KENNDAL. ANYWAY?

Ok, the fight was fairly even actually, but I'm giving Simmer the edge on this one. Not long after, Jack Johnson or JJ3 or JMFJ as he has been known (the first only by me) scored. Jarret Stoll made it 2-2 and Randy Jones, filling in for The Piece who is out with injury, scored a shorty to give the Kings their first lead of the game.

Then a fustercluck (TM Amy at Shots Off the Crossbar) of activity in front of Quickie Monster gave the Panthers the equalizer. Quickie lost his stick and in the scrum a Panther shot his stick into the corner. Yes, it was definitely deliberate. Isn't that some kind of penalty? Ugh.

Anyway, nothing doing in OT so it headed to a shootout, the Kings' fourth of the season. The first two came against the San Jose Sharks and the Vancouver Canucks. The Kings lost both 2-1. The other was Saturday night in Tampa and the Kings won 2-1. Tonight, the Jon Quick was 3 for 3 and Jack Johnson scored in the shootout to give the Kings the win!

They finish this five game road trip 3-2. We are never speaking of that Thrashers game again.

The Kings next game is Wednesday night home against the Flyers. Ewww. Hopefully Mr. Jones can play against his former team. He's been pretty solid thusfar. I don't know if Scuds will be back by then.

Elsewhere:

The New Jersey Devils were vying for their 10th straight road victory to start the season, in an attempt to match the record set by our very own Buffalo Sabres in 2006. They faced the Phlyers. This is the only time in my life I have ever wanted to see Ray Emery win at anything. The Flyers won and the Sabres record still stands as their own. Woo!

Danny Paille scored his second of the year as the Bruins lost to the surprisingly not-terrible New York Islanders. I didn't say they were good, I just said they were not-terrible. They're quite like the 2008-2009 Los Angeles Kings. Not good, but not as bad as people were anticipating. Lots of youth, lots and lots of talent and a few veterans like Weight and Streit. They need more pieces, obviously, but the Islanders are treading water respectably.

Mouth open.

Perfect

I hate those yellow socks.

Vinny Lecavalier, a prominent Sunny Hedgehog Enchanter, remembered that he's really good at hockey and had himself a three point night (2+1) and was a +3 in the 4-1 win over the Coyotes. Fortunately, Vinny's Enchanters teammate Ilya Bryzgalov was not in goal.

Marty scored like that

Vinny helped

Tuesday night none of my teams play. Alas.

Lastly, enjoy this unmitigated FAIL from ESPN.com:

Oh ESPN.

Have a great Tuesday, everyone!

Pie for everyone!

by Anne

Last night Danny Paille scored his first goal of the season and it was spiffy:

Then, if you were fortunate enough to peruse the front page of NHL.com, this is what you saw:

:')

I miss Pie

Too bad he beat the Pens. Oh well.

The Canucks played an atrocious game last night. Andrew Raycroft let a goal in on the first shot he saw and it didn't get much better after that. The Blues ended the first period up 4-0 on thirteen shots. Luongo came in for periods two and three even though those goals were garbage and Raycroft had no help. One of them was banked into the net by a Canuck. Just terrible. They lost 6-1. Henrik Sedin scored the only goal for Vancouver.

The Sabres play the Oilers tonight at HSBC Arena. The last time the Sabres went to Edmonton they put up a 10-2 victory. Here's hoping the Oilers do not return the favor and that the Sabres can get their act together. Puck drops at 7:00! See ya there!

Tyler Myers makes my heart happy

by Anne

I was having kind of a blah day in this yucky weather in Buffalo. I had two shows today so I couldn't watch the Sabres game. :( Periodically checking the score on my phone isn't quite the same as watching it. I was mostly OK with how the game was going until the shootout when my heart burst into song. JBG scored the game winning goal in the shootout!! Stafford and Grier scored in regulation.

:) :) :) :)

Absolutely no freaking way he gets sent back to Kelowna now. Only watch this if you think your heart can take the bursting:

Elsewhere because EVERYONE PLAYED ON SATURDAY:

• Pens lost :(

This picture sums up the game: KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE PUCK

• Kings won! 5-3 over the Coyotes. This game proved that Ilya Bryzgalov is fallible, but still awesome.

Scott Parse was called up to play in his first NHL game

he registered an assist!

Good job, Parse!

• Canucks won and the Maple Leafs remain win-less. Yeesh. It's really no longer funny. Now it's just sad sad sad.

Normally I frown upon Schenner being beaten up but Glasser has some crazyface goin' on here

• The Maple Leafs are so sad that I decided to drop Phil Kessel from my fantasy team. I got Kevin Bieksa in exchange. I think that's fair considering I need PIM and the other team needs goal scoring
  

• Pie got an assist again and the Bruins won :)

 Yay!

On The Road Again

by Anne

A few quotes from Chris Bandura's blog on Sabres.com.

On the "Clarke MacArthur wearing a surgical mask" tidbit:

On the way down, Clarke MacArthur had to wear a surgical mask because he was a little under the weather and had missed practice earlier in the day. Steve Montador did as well, just to make him feel a little less alone.

Aw Full Monty, what a teammate.

Then he addresses Pie's trade :(

I spoke with Dan later that night and he said how surprised he was that all the guys were downstairs to say goodbye. We gave him our own locker room tribute later the next day by sharing all our infamous Paille moments over the past few years at the morning skate.

 Hahahaha I would love love love to hear those stories.

Then finally:

When the game was over, the guys were gathered together around a television that was showing highlights of the Bruins game. When we all saw Danny pick up his assist on the Bruins game-winning goal against Nashville, all the guys cheered and gave him a loud team chant.

Once a part of the family, you’re always a part of the family.

Aw Pie :') 

I enjoy that these features and blogs have allowed we fans to finally see that yes, the Buffalo Sabres have personalities and are actually, ya know, a team you can feel good about.

:)

Treat him well, Beantown.

Sabres Defeat Kitties 5-2; Pie's debut

by Anne

The Sabres are the best team everz!

When I walked into Cari's house and the Bruins' game was on, I nearly wept. I spotted Pie on the ice without seeing his number because I know his skating style and I miss it. :(

Anyway, that first period was a doozy and a half. It was all kinds of fun. Especially because each player I told a story about (almost) score while I was telling that story.

It started like this:

Kim: Who has the road A's

All of us: Roy and Hecht

Me: I don't get why Roy wears an "A." Well, really it's more that I don't understand why Mike Grier doesn't have one.

RJ: Scooooooooores! Mike Grier!

At the close of the 2008-2009 season, my list of favorite Sabres went like this: 1. Spacek; 2. Paille; 3. Rivet; 4. Butler; 5. Ellis

With 1 and 2 gone, I guess that bumps everyone up. Matt Ellis responded to his promotion by scoring a goal. Thanks, Matty!

Awwww.

Similar things happened for Myers and Ellis after recently being bumped up the ranks. Also, Derek Roy had a much better night in his own zone and made a particularly big in-the-crease save while I was telling a story about him.

Grizz had an interesting night. From the game recap:

Buffalo LW Clarke MacArthur suffered from flulike symptoms earlier in the week and wore a surgical mask on the team's flight to South Florida, but was in Buffalo's starting lineup Wednesday.

Hokay. I guess whatever works to keep the team healthy?

At the end of the 3rd, Dominic Moore draped himself aaall over Grizz, yet Grizz got a penalty. Perhaps he got a bit mouthy for the ref's taste so he was kicked out of the game. Patty Kaleta was already in the box for this:

Take THAT, Nathan Horton.

That'll teach people to start "Stafford-for-Horton" trade rumors

When Grizz arrived, all pissed off into the box and dramatically hit the door and the penalty box door holder guy with his stick, Patty gave him a reassuring fistbump to the Grizz leg when he got in there which seemed to say "It's ok Grizz, I miss Danny too."

:(

He got an assist!

Also, stop calling him "Daniel." It's Danny. :(

Woo!

Also, Big Bear scored and the Canucks won. Willie Mitchell also nearly killed Jonathan Toews :(

Finally, from the LA Kings trainer Joe Caligiuri's blog Offsides (link in the blog roll):

The most common of the pranks is the tie clipping. Make sure you have a good tie or its gonna get clipped. Last year, Kyle Calder had his tie clipped and as the circle of pranks suggests, someone must pay the dividends. As the team dress code requires, all players and coaches are to wear suits to all home games at Staples Center. With this rule in mind, Kyle Calder raced to Matt Greene’s house one morning after pre-game skate and stole every single piece of dress clothing out of his closet. Upon returning to his house, he had yet nothing in his closet but two dozen swaying hangers. Looking high and low, he managed to find an old suit, one that more closely represented his suit from first communion. Being his only suit, he squeezed himself into the little boys pants and suit coat and walked his way shamelessly through the Staples center corridors. Picture Pee-Wee Herman in a khaki suit – Priceless.

My favorite is the use of "shamlessly." Also, the suit was probably Doughty's, haha.

Vanek and Ellis are Back, Pie still gone, Anne not coping well

by Anne

Britney and Matty are back...y. This pleases me as I find both of them to be important to our team and are two of the best at filling the roles that they have been brought on board to play.

The deadline is fast approaching on the "To demote or not to demote" debate on Tyler Myers. As I'm sure you all know, for JBG it's Kelowna or Buffalo; Portland is not an option as he's only 19 years old.

I had a bad dream that Dan Paille was traded to the Bruins. Thank goodness I'm awake now. Phew! In all seriousness, to those who claim that Paille was shipped for not playing to his potential last season: name me one Sabres forward that did play to his potential? Pommer and Royzie had declines in production as well. Vanek is exempt due to injury. But, name me one, I'd love to hear it.

Sergei Kostitsyn is a fucking moron. Honestly, what is wrong with this kid? He gets involved in some bizarre sex, drugs and hookers kind of scandal last season, he fails to report to the AHL once already, gets suspended and is abandoning the dog house AGAIN. I don't know who this kid thinks he is, but I don't think the Habs are THAT attached to him. Let him go to the KHL.

Alexander Frolov was benched the other night (and the Kings won). There have long been rumors that Fro is gonna go (ha!) but that was the clearest indication of the possibility of such a move. For those hoping the Sabres will get him: one of the main reasons the Sabres moved Pie was because we have a logjam at left wing and Alexander Frolov plays guess what position? Left wing. He's not coming here, sorry. Not unless we move at least one other LW in the next few days.

Sabres at Panthers! 7:30!

SAD DAY :(

by Anne

THEY TRADED PIE TO BOSTON FOR SOME DRAFT PICKS! DREW STAFFORD'S TWEET WAS TRUE!

I KNOW DANNY I DON'T UNDERSTAND IT EITHER

We won! Hooray...zzzzzz...

by Anne

Guys I totally loved tonight's game (Well except for most of the 2nd and Miller flopping around like he was hurt) but I'm so blinking tired I can't even type in complete sentences.

Things to love:

• Tyler Myers first NHL goal on a seemingly harmless backhanded chipshot
• Grizz scoring on a penalty shot with some nice hands
• Goose beating the living snot out of Jackman for breathing in Miller's general direction (ok it was more than that)
• Pommer and Yoyo getting their first of the season
• Pommer getting the 100th goal of his career, the same night Myers gets his first
  
• Pie's nice move to the net that set up Patty's goal
• Chasing a goalie. That's one of my favorite things in hockey

Things to not love:

• Miller's brain fart on Tavares' goal
• Derek Roy in general
• The majority of the second period
• Miller getting shaken up a bit in the 3rd

Other pithy thoughts about the evening include that Lalime should start tomorrow night. I know Lindy likes to use Miller as often as possible but Lalime's got to get into some games soon. If he's going to start 15-20 games, that's an average of starting roughly every 4th or 5th game. Miller needs some rest. He's been playing really well but the season is too young to push him too far.

I'm so glad that they've really started lighting the lamp these last few games. Scoring four goals in three games was not exactly inspiring or exciting.

I can't get over the quote from the recap about the Sabres having the stingiest defense. They said similar things early last season, so let's not get ahead of ourselves. Of course last season there was no JBG:

Hoooooooooray!

His teammates are so happy for him
They've never hugged a teammate quite so tall

A great photo that captures a rare moment. That brief second between when the puck crosses the goal line, before the light comes on, before referee, player or crowd has realized the player has scored:

Scooooooooorrrrrrre!

Since the Stars lost tonight, once again the Sabres are the last team standing in the "Teams with no regulation losses ONLY" VIP area of the club.

Tomorrow the quest continues at home against Atlanta! There's totally no way they can keep this up, right?

I Adore Matt Ellis

by Anne

Earlier this summer I didn't realize how much I adored Matt Ellis until I discovered that there was a possibility that we wouldn't re-sign him.

Now, he appears to be somewhat entrenched in the Sabres line-up, earning praise from Lindy and his teammates.

The fourth line of Paille - Ellis - Kaleta seems like a good one, but once Mair comes back, who's the odd-man out? According to that article above and John Vogl's most recent Sabres Edge post, it seems it would be Pie, unless he can really ramp up his scoring.

I love Pie, but this season is make or break for him. We need to see the kind of numbers he had in 2007 - 2008 if he wants to stay in this line-up.

But, regardless, his fellow Welland native is tearing it up. I noticed at the World's Most Boring Puck Drop Ever when they were doing speed testing that Matty is pretty darn fast, faster than a lot of the top six forwards we have, and as all anyone ever talks about is the speed of the NHL is break-neck (and seriously if one more person asks a rookie that question and we get that answer, I'm going to hurt myself from rolling my eyes too much.)

I love this blingee:

Wooo Matty!

Yesss New Roster Photos

by Anne

I absolutely love roster photo day. Who shines? Who smiles with their eyes? Who suffers from that dreaded disease Roster Photo Panic, more commonly known as RPP?

Unfortunately, most of these boys seem to be better prepared for these photos. No one looks like they slept in the car last night, there's the standard "cut by a weed whacker" hockey hair, vacant stares and odd lighting. However, let's check out some high (and low) lights:

Oh Sir Christopher
You could use a trim, but I'll forgive you


Aww Pie's all growed up.
He got himself hitched this summer.
Awwwww.


Awwww, Little Foot always mixes up his photos.
This is tiny because there's no watermark


Felix has a remarkably thick neck
And a remarkably vacant facial expression


Ha.
Hahahha
Jacob Lagace looks like he took a puck to the head, someone pulled a jersey on him and pushed him in the direction of the stool and he almost missed.


The photographer told all the Kings to put their hands on their lap and lean slightly forward
Dewey complied


Greener did too


All the Oilers roster photos look like they were taken in a bathroom


Aww, Matt Duchene's first NHL roster photo

I could not come across rosters for many other teams, so many of my other WCBs don't have roster photos up yet or they're not hilarious or adorable.

Wooooo. Hockey is almost here! Fo' Reals. The Canucks beat the Islanders 2-1 in the Hockeyville game last night. Hooray!

Good Game

by Anne

A nice solid win by the Sabres 4-1 over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Staffy with two goals, PIE with 2 points (1+1) and +2, Ellis with a goal, Timmy with two assists and Millsy with 27 saves, many of them of the sprawling "Milerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!! Stops 'em cold!" variety.

Not exactly a win for the record books but a solid dominant road win, save for the first few minutes.

Drew Stafford continues to have Justin Pogge's number. If Pogge were in net against us all the time, I feel confident Drew would be a 40 goal scorer. He scored a goal of the year candidate for the Sabres against Pogge as they dominated the Leafs 5-0 two weeks ago and scored another two tonight to match and beat last years goal total. Also, both of his goals came on the power play, an area where Lindy is asking a lot of Staffy and he's answering the challenge. He's on pace for a respectable 24 goals and for that we thank him.

I would be remiss if I didn't take some time to breathe a sigh of relief.

Danny Paille finally FINALLY scores a goal. After Pie scored 19 goals last season I had really hoped he'd be able to kick things up a notch. He's definitely been struggling this season and is only on pace for about nine goals. :/ But yay!!!! for tonight. He showed excellent hustle and was the only +2 player tonight. Yay!

Ewwww Jamal
Get your finger out of Adam's mouth
That's disgusting
Are you trying to make him into Jarkko Ruutu?
(click to enlarge)

Fortunately Carolina lost tonight and unfortunately the Panthers won. We are now currently in a four way tie for 5th place with Montreal, Florida, and the Rangers.

Also, Brian Burke said Luke Schenn could be bought for ten first round picks. I'm ok with that. Your move, Darcy. I bet you could toss in Max and knock it down to eight first round picks.

RAWR.



Pie: I did good?

Yes, Pie, you did good.

Oh, Pie

by Anne

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

Watching PieYAY struggle this season really makes me sad.

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

So, tonight's lines??

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

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

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

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

This will be him in a few hours

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

Winning out West!

by Anne

Other people have said it, and I've said it as well, but I really have enjoyed watching the other teams' broadcasts. They offer a new perspective on the team, and unlike the ass hats on Versus, they are allowed to be biased towards the other team. It was nice to be treated to a brief Kevin Sylvester pre-game interview though.

That being said: "WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Shut out! Timmy! Pie!

We're all going to be talking about it for a while I'm sure, but my GOD Derek Roy, who ARE you? I so enjoy the "Royzie has the puck, its ok" feeling. That pass for Pie's goal was amazing. It was reminiscent of the falling down, stick behind the head goal Ovie scored in Phoenix. If you don't know what goal I'm talking about you need to turn in your credentials as a hockey fan post haste. Even though Danny got the goal, that was all effort by Royzie. However, Pie easily could've had the puck jump over his stick, or have been off stride and it would've been all for naught. Regardless, as far a the Sabres are concerned, definitely play of the season for Derek Roy. thusfar. Woooooooooo!

Please do yourselves a favor and click to enlarge this picture and check out Adam Mair

Jaro can you hear me? Is he hurt? Badly? Anyone know?! :( Weber is healthy! :)

What the heck was with the officials stepping in and breaking up that fight between Carcillo and Paetsch before it even started? That was lame, at least Paetsch got to redeem himself later in the game against another opponent.

There were four shut outs out of twelve games tonight. Ouch. Getting shut out is the worst. Its so disheartening. You can't even score ONE goal on this team? Wow. Atlanta, Philly and the Rangers were the other teams shut out tonight. Philly should be the most embarrassed, they lost 4-0 to St. Louis with Chris Mason in net.

Pittsburgh and Florida lost tonight and Carolina won, but our victory keeps us two points ahead of Carolina and four back of 6th place. Hooray!

Elsewhere:

Luke Schenn just keeps getting better. Tomas Kaberle is going to be out with a hand injury, so Luke's going to be one of the many defensemen that will be seeing more ice time. With greater ice time comes greater responsibility, and tonight was a great game for him. I only watched a little bit of that game before turning over to the Sabres game, so I got to see him lay out a huge hit on Malkin and then fight Tyler Kennedy.

Here's what went down: Malkin gets the puck, Schenn scoots over to him, and hits him along the Pens bench, Malkin is fine, gets up, stays in the play, passes to Orpik who takes a shot on net, Toskala gloves it, play stops. Whatevs, everything's fine. During the stoppage, Tyler Kennedy who was on the bench when Malkin was hit, goes up to Schenn and an altercation happens, Max Talbot tries to keep Schenn back, but no dice, they fight, Schenner beats the crap out of the much smaller Tyler Kennedy.

Tyler, don't pick a fight with a rookie just because he's a rookie and you don't like that he was "tugging on Superman's cape", to quote the HNiC announcers. He's 6'2" 216 lbs, you are 5'11 183 lbs. Bad idea. Love, Anne.

I missed Schenn's sweeeeeeeeeet moves to set up Matt Stajan for his goal at the beginning of the third. He got the puck at the blue line and stick handled his way to behind the net and Matt Stajan scored on the rebound when Schenn tried to stuff the puck in. Schenn's pretty much a stay at home defenseman so this was far more of an offensive move than people are used to from him. So, yay!

Together, we will score a goal tonight


I AM LUKE SCHENN, HEAR ME ROAR
what a badass
haha


Oh Lord
Someone tell Grapes he doesn't have a microphone

After five of the six games of this road trip, the Sabres are 3-2-0. They have already RUINED my prediction, but ruined it in a great way. I don't know how things will shake down on Monday, seeing as I gave up on following the Ducks closely over a year ago.

Super Bowl tomorrow! Screw you all who are probably cheering for Arizona because they're the feel-good story of the millennium. I'm sure if the Steelers weren't in the Super Bowl I'd be cheering for them too. BUT, Big Ben and Troy Polamalu ARE in the Super Bowl so I cannot cheer for Kurt "Jesus is my Homeboy" Warner. Let's Go Steelers!

BOYS! BEHAVE!

by Anne

It appears not only Canucks die-hard fans and secondary fans in the Eastern Conference are frustrated with their losing ways.

Apparently Mason Raymond hit Willie Mitchell a little harder than he would have liked during a practice drill. Mitch was pissed so he punched Raymond in the head and cross checked him in the shoulder. No word on whether or not either Big Bear or Kes were involved in anyway. They'd BETTER not be. Although secret Defenseman BF, O'B, was involved in defending wee little Mason Raymond from big and scary(?) Willie Mitchell. Mason Raymond just better be glad it wasn't someone like O'B or Darcy Hordichuk who turned on him. That would not be pretty for the sweet-faced sophomore.

I just checked the scores and the Coyotes/Sharks games just went from 0-0 to 1-0 Sharks then back to 0-0. Disallowed goal anyone? Someone on NHL.com Scores has a quick trigger finger?

Whatevs, the moral of the story is fighting with your own teammate does not boost morale, so don't do it. I'm looking at you, Pie!

Could you imagine Pie starting a fight with anyone on his own team? hahah

Just a Thought

by Anne

I was going to write about the game and BloggerCon 2009 but instead I have to say the following:

If you're going to email me pictures of Sabres off of the ice, please do not straight-up admit that you stole the pictures from that player's sister's Facebook page.

None of these pictures are "bad" or anything, in fact they're kind of cute. They're of a Sabre chillaxing at home around Christmas time/ New Year's, and a baby picture. However, out of respect for that player, I will not post these pictures. If these dudes can't expect that pictures their sisters take of them at home will not be splattered around the blogosphere, what can they expect?

Not that this is some widely read publication and its not like I have any journalistic integrity (its a blog, not a newspaper) but I just feel like a creeper posting those. Feel free to email those snapshots to someone who might post them.

So if anyone who reads this blog has a brother who plays for the Sabres, maybe you might want to rethink your Facebook friend choices, or double check your picture availability stats.

The weird thing is that Cari and Kim and I were just talking about this very thing at JJ's tonight. Weirdness.

I openly welcome pictures of players out and about and doing things that are cute/funny/awkward, just not when its them at home with their family and the pictures aren't from some widely available public gallery.

I will recap that loss as: "barf" and thanks, Royzie and Millsy. Miller has had to face almost 100 shots in the last TWO games. ...yeah.

This lost just proves to me again that no, the Sabres are not an elite team. They were outshot 48-22 tonight. The Red Wings had more than DOUBLE the number of shots on goal the Sabres did. That's bad. Very bad. The Sabres had FOUR shots on goal in the entire 2nd period. What happened to this "put pucks on net and good things can happen" thing we had going on for a while? I liked that better.

I must say I really don't like watching Sabres games in a bar, haha. I've always known this but I frequently choose to ignore this fact in an attempt to be social. I'd rather watch the game on my couch with someone or someones who will limit the conversation to about the Sabres or the sport of hockey in general. If it weren't for the boobs, I'd think I was a boy sometimes.

Instead of the pictures that were emailed to me, I will instead post my all-purpose Danny Paille photo:

I know Danny, I can't believe it either

Happy New Year Part 2!

by Anne

The Winter Classic was fun for the first 20 minutes then it wasn't as much fun. That is all I really have to say about it.

HOWEVER, I have much more to say about that Sabres game tonight. Completely the opposite from the Winter Classic, the first period stunk and the rest of it was a lot more enjoyable.

The tide was beginning to turn when Miller turned aside Hagman's penalty shot at the end of the first. However, things still weren't rolling the way they needed to be to walk away with 2 points.

The Maple Leafs were the dominant team until just before the Sabres scored. It was an unpleasant mishmash of poor passes and players being grossly out of position. The first 20+ minutes they looked like they were gift wrapping a New Year's Day win for the Maple Leafs.

Then came a Leafs penalty. And then there was Pommer. And then the puck was behind CuJo and in the net.

Derek Roy's somewhat boneheaded move to cover the puck with his glove instead of just sweeping it out has been all but forgotten considering Hagman did not score on the resulting penalty shot and then Royzie netted 2 goals of his own. Good thing for him. That was pretty careless, Derek.

Vanek had a couple of beautiful backhand passes to set up both of Royzie's goals. They're making a strong case for sticking on the same line again. When Vanek and Stafford and Royzie all combine for not one but two goals in a game, that makes it seem like their line should be back together for good, right?

I would like to state that I think my heart rate has JUST gone down from seeing Danny Paille crawling around on the ice on all fours in some serious pain? The only way he could've been in a more vulnerable position is if he were unconscious. However, he came back later in the period... Hokay, Danny, whatevs, you're built tough and I love ya for it.

Miller had another strong showing. We need more of those showings from him. He was getting a lot more help from the defense which obviously makes it easier for him to do his job.

These are the kinds of games we need to see more often. It'd be nice if we played this way against teams that are ranked higher than us from now on.

I was drinking so at times I found myself confused seeing the dark jerseys. At one time I had to make sure the center ice logo was a maple leaf and I wasn't accidentally ditching work. Looks like the third jerseys provide some spark even across borders.

There were a couple of guys I was watching the game with that were being total douchebags and they were partially ruining the game, but then they left after the first and played Wii Baseball and the game in the room and on the ice got infinitely more enjoyable.

Life is too short to watch Sabres games with douchebags.

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!!!!