Well That was Terrible

by Anne

Monday night's game against the Chicago Blackhawks started off pretty darn sweet with the Sabres quickly going up 2-0 over the reigning (albeit dismantled) Stanley Cup Champions.

Then it all went to hell in a handbasket. They lost their 2-goal lead then lost one of their key players.

Everyone send happy thoughts to Jason Pominville and suspension thoughts to Colin Campbell as he spins the wheel of justice.

Blindside hit, player didn't have the puck, had to leave the ice on a stretcher. Usually that equals at least a one-game suspension from Overlord Campbell.

They need to get their act together and fast. Pommer's game streak ends at 336. His last missed game was April 7, 2006 when Lindy benched him. :(

Get well soon, Pommer.

2009-2010 Regular Season Grades: Forwards

by Anne

Continuing where we left off yesterday: the forwards.

#9 Derek Roy

80gm, 26G, 43A, +9, 19:22

All in all a somewhat typical season for Royzie. He took FOREVER to get his first goal of the season and he didn't amass as many points as he has in previous seasons. However, those previous seasons he and only a small number of other forwards were contributing and this scoring by committee style has knocked his goal totals down a touch. He was good more often than he was awful. He tied for first in GWG and had 3 OT winners.

Grade: B

 #13 Tim Kennedy

78gm, 10G, 16A, -3, 12:57

This being his first full season in the NHL, I'm going to go easy on Lil' Timmers. He was ok. He has signs of being better in years to come. Pommer, Royzie and Vanek all had just "meh" rookie seasons. He'll be better next season.

Grade: B-

#19 Tim Connolly

73G, 17G, 48A, +10, 18:37

Aside from his recent injury, Timmah was an iron man this season. He had an epic point-streak in December/January and lead the team in assists. There were several nights when he was the best player on the ice and was frequently the best forward. Remember how we said a healthy Timmah makes the Sabres better? True dat.

Grade: A-

#21 Drew Stafford

71gm, 14G, 20A, +4, 14:28

I think the thing about his stats I found most surprising was that he finished the season a + player. He's been better, he should be better and he's just not. I'm glad to see, though, that we stopped relying on him as a consistently top-6 player because he's not one. He's had a few solid games but not enough.

Grade: C-

 #22 Adam Mair

69gm, 6G, 8A, -2, 9:14

Remember when he was put on waivers? Yikes. I'm glad Mairsy is still here. He works hard, he took the waiver wire with professionalism and the Sabres are the better for it. He knows his role and he does it well. As a whole, the team fought less this season and tried to limit penalties as a whole. He did his job.

Grade: B

 #25 Mike Grier

73gm, 10G, 12A, -4, 15:47

Mikey had a very Mikey season. He has hands of stone and he's slower than molasses on a cold day but he's consistent! He was topnotch on the PK, a great veteran mentor for Tim Kennedy and just made everything better.

Grade: B+

#26 Thomas Vanek

71gm, 28G, 25A, +9, 16:45

Thomas, Thomas, Thomas. Yet another frustrating season in which you went bananas at the end. He should just always be told it's mid-March/early April. He seems to play really well then. However, his four-goal game could not make up for his endless stretches of goal-lessness. He was a + player, which has been a struggle for him since his +47 season.

Grade: B-

#28 Paul Gaustad

65gm, 12G, 10A, -7, 15:44

Tied a career-high in goals (set last season). His greatest contribution to the team has been faceoff wins, which he produced at 57.4% this season. Goose doesn't get much fanfare and got even less than usual this season. His +/- is a tad unsettling but bottom six players rarely have high +/-. I'm fairly confident that he, Miller, Grier and Rivs were responsible for keeping certain players in line and being held accountable. That topic didn't come up nearly as often this season as it has in the past two (non-playoff) seasons.

Grade: B+

 #29 Jason Pominville

82gm 24G, 38A, +13, 18:44

Pommer was the Sabres most consistent forward for most of the season. Once again, he played all 82 games this season. He hasn't missed a regular season game since he was a healthy scratch April 7, 2006. I really don't have much bad to say about his season. Like every other forward, his points total was lower than last season or the season before. It's the new system and I think we all have to accept that.

Grade: B+

#36 Patrick Kaleta

55gm, 10G, 5A, +2, 10:09

One of the only exceptions to the above statement about players scoring less is Pat Kaleta. He more than doubled his career high in goals and lead the team with 2 shorthanded goals. He had 148 hits in only 55 games. He was consistent and did his job as was expected of him. He even had a few fights and drew lots o' penalties.

Grade: A-

#37 Matt Ellis

72gm, 3G, 10A, -1, 9:03

Matty played a career-high in games and set a new career high in assists. Much like Mike Grier, he was consistent and has an incredible no-quit work ethic. I often describe his work ethic as "If I don't play well tonight, they'll feed me to the lions tomorrow." He was responsbile (12 PIM) and won some faceoffs. What more can you really ask?

Grade: B+

 #55 Jochen Hecht

79gm, 21G, 21A, +14, 17:11

Lead the team in +/-. Thank goodness he's back in his defensively-responsible mode. We definitely needed that from him this season. He was consistent and consistently solid. I liked seeing him and Pommer occasionally reunited this season. It made my heart all a-flutter. Same thing with Royzie and Vanek. Sometimes the old chemistry worked for them.

Grade: A-

These three players played only 10-20 games in a Sabres uniform (and are still with the team):

 #17 Raffi Torres

14gm, 0G, 5A, -3, 13:20

Go away. I don't like you.

Grade: D

 #42 Nathan Gerbe

10gm, 2G, 3A, +1, 14:38

I definitely like what I've seen. The 3G Network^TM (Gerbe-Gaustad-Grier) has been clicking. A huge sigh of relief to see him produce at the NHL level. Thank goodness.

Grade: B+

 #63 Tyler Ennis

10gm, 3G, 6A, +1, 15:20

He can score in the AHL and in the NHL. Gee, the 2009 AHL rookie of the year (Gerbe) and now the 2010 AHL rookie of the year (Tennis the Menace) actually playing well in their call-ups? Wa-hoo! Here's hoping things stay consistent and they don't suffer Chris Butler-like collapses when they inevitably make the club next season :)

Grade: A-

Overall this "scoring by committee" has diminished most players scoring. Having Ryan Miller in net still made it possible for us to win. Lots of players had scoring bursts at the end of the season which makes me feel little more optimistic about their ability to score in the post season.

Forwards overall grade: B+

Friday night

by Anne

Sometimes there are days that both the Sabres and Kings play. When those days are followed by mornings when I don't have to get up early, I love them. The Sabres will usually play sometime between 7-10 and then the Kings will start around 10 (usually). When they both with it's AWESOME. When they both lose it is decidedly less so. However, a split evening is still less than stellar.

As you all know, the Sabres decided to win somewhat handily over the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The Kings were... less successful.

There are many nights when I curse my inability to stay awake for an entire Kings' game. Apparently I missed out on quite a stinker of a game, as the Kings lost 3-0 to the Chicago Blackhawks who have like four defensemen. 

It always sucks when your team loses but not much sucks more than being shutout on home ice. Ouch. Not good, boys.

I can't comment much on anything past the first period because I was in dreamland dreaming about my car being stolen. That was weird.

My previously DOMINANT fantasy team has been far less dominant this week. I have exactly zero points from my defensemen which is impressive considering I have Doughty, Kaberle, Lidstrom and Streit among others on my blue line.

Just over a week till I'm in Nashville to see the Kings! No one get hurt or suspended between now and then, ok? Yay!

Wooo! I'm the best teacher EVARRRR!

by Anne

Ok, that might be an exaggeration.

However, I taught my first couple of lessons to some real honest-to-goodness students at a local middle school. Did the lessons go well? Yeah, kind of. Was I happy about them? Yeah, kind of. It was a good start I think and helped me to see what I need to work on.

Anyway, having gotten that under my belt, I feel capable of fully enjoying tonight's games knowing that I worked hard today... all while writing my lesson plan for Monday's classes. I like the teacher I'm working with. She's giving me lots of opportunity to teach the same lesson multiple times which is really the best way you learn how to teach effectively: trial and error.

I'm watching a replay of Raffi Torres be tripped by Matt Walker(?) and two thoughts come to mind. The first, of course, is this:

But that is beside the point.

The second is this: "Awesome, yet another totally ineffective #17." However, unlike the trade for Dominic Moore in which we (indirectly) traded Ales Kotalik to obtain a pick for Moore, we didn't really give up much for Torres. Think about it: we got a player who actually has scored some goals for NATHAN PAETSCH. As much as I tolerated Paetsch's existence, he was about 7/10ths useless and was occasionally handy if someone broke their leg in the pre-game warmups. The purchase wasn't all that exciting but it was a great price so I'll take it. Maybe I can use it later for something.

Anyway, the Sabres won 6-2! It was 4-0 for most of the second and into the third. However, the Bolts scored twice to make it a 4-2 game by pulling Nittymaki while on the power play with three minutes left in the game. The tactic worked once to get them their second goal so they tried it again; however, this time Vanek managed somehow to score in an EMPTY NET. Wow. Looky there Thomas! A puck in the back of the net! And YOU put it there! Hooray! Confidence, you has it.

The more exciting news is that Pommer got himself a hat trick!

As Rick said, Pominville welcomed triplets! With hats!

Yay Pommer!

Twenty minutes until the Kings take on the Blackhawks who have like three defensemen these days. Don't hurt them, I don't want any of you to be suspended... Greener...

Happy Birthday, Pommer!

by Anne

Today the Sabres' newest Daddy, Jason Pominville, turns 27!

Hopefully they'll beat the Maple Leafs for an awesome birthday present.

I baked you this tasty cake.

Hope it's a good birthday!!

Hero of the Game

by Anne

All Sabres fans are well aware that Ryan Miller is the hero of the Sabres roster. I don't need to go into anymore "night after night" platitudes and blah blah blah because we all know what he does.

However, on those nights when the Sabres find themselves down a goal or two heading into the third, who do they rely on to get them those clutch goals?

Uhhhh? Vanek? Not at this pace. Connolly? Maybe. Royzie? He's too busy losing clutch faceoffs. MacArthur or Stafford? Occasionally. Pominville? Not this season.

When you can go through your top 6 and confidently say that none of them are heroic, reliable goal scorers at this point in the game, you have a problem.

Last night at the Arena while I was changing to go home, the score was still 3-2. I found myself standing in the lockerroom thinking this sentence: "Ok _____ time for some magic." And it occurred to me that I have no idea who could fill in that blank.

Last season, Vanek offered heroics, and we've been able to rely on him a lot in the last few years to do that. This season has been slow going and no one else has stepped up to offer that boost, that feeling of "Don't worry, get him the puck and things will happen."

All of the boys in the top 6 can score goals, and they all have been (some later than others, ROYZIE). But none of them are are go-to goal scorer. That keeps the other team's defense guessing, they can never be 100% sure who's going to be that player with the quick trigger. Crosby, Ovechkin, Malkin, Kopitar, Nash, Iginla, Zetterberg, Kovalchuk, all over the NHL there are teams with that one player or more than one sometimes. You keep that guy covered at all times. The balanced attack makes for a confused opponent, but it also leaves us without the game-saving goal scorer.

Miller can stop the pucks from going in (most of the time) but he can't score the goals for them. Someone needs to kick it up a notch or 10. Not just someone, but a lot of someones.

12-5-1 is still a good record through 17 games, let's not kid ourselves. This team isn't completely perfect. It's got a lot of really solid elements, but now that they've gone through their feeling things out phase, it'll be nice to see them kick it into that next gear they should be able to kick it into.

They need to push harder and drive harder and score more. Who's going to do it?

Ok, its been a few days

by Anne

I hope the Sabres just crinkle up Saturday's game and throw it away and never speak of that atrocity again.

• The Canucks won last night! They defeated the red-hot Colorado Avalanche 3-0. The Avs are ranked 30th in the league in shots taken per game, and that seemed to fell them. Andrew Raycroft earned a shutout, but he only had to make 18 saves.

Kes' face drew six minutes in minor penalties last night.

That Kes, always sacrificing for the team

• Kesler had a heck of a game, as did Mason Raymond who appears to be 17 but is married? Bananas.

• Speaking of babies having babes: according to Sabres Edge, Jason Pominville and his wife welcomed a baby today or at least sometime in the last 24 - 48 hours! Baby Pommer! How adorable. Lindy put it best in his post-practice presser:

The reason Jason Pominville didn't skate today?

"The population of Pominville went up, so he had the day off," said coach Lindy Ruff, referring to a baby for Pominville and his wife.

Oh Lindy, you devil, you. Congrats Pommer and Mrs. Pommer who I think is named Kim!

• The Sunny Hedgehog Enchanters managed to hold onto first place in their fantasy league, despite having a bye week. Phew! We return to action tonight. Vinny Lecavalier and David Backes remain in the doghouse. I traded Phil Kessel. I might regret that down the line, but probably not. If this were a keeper league, I would've held on to him.
  

• The Kings are hosting a Fathers' trip for the game in Phoenix tonight. There are 16 dads on the trip. Interesting name tidbits: Davis Drewiske's dad's name is David. How confusing. Jack Johnson, whose full name is long and complicated is actually Jack Johnson III so Dad is also Jack Johnson. Teddy Purcell's dad is also Ted, Rob Scuderi's dad is Bob. I just love Randy Jones' dad's name: Butch Jones. His name sounds like he should be starring in a B-rate action movie as Rambo's arch-nemesis. There are four dads named Jim: Greene, Harrold, Smyth and Richardson. Wayne Simmonds' dad and Kopi's dad win for best names: Cyril and Matjaz, respectively. Hopefully there will be delightful anecdotes and photographs soon.
  

•  The Bills are just terrible and the Steelers didn't play so football was a bust this weekend. The Vikings/Packers game was exciting but I don't care toooo much about that. I like Brett Favre, always have, but I just don't care too much.
  

• I used to really enjoy reading Joe Caligiuri's blog. He's a trainer for the Kings, and he offered some interesting insight into the world of the LA Kings. Unfortunately he seemed to offer too much insight and his blog has been shut down. Fortunately, Google Reader held onto these posts so I can still read them.
  

• The Kings play tonight in Phoenix, which means the game is at 9:00 instead of 10:00 or 10:30. Sweet

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?

Pommerrrr Wins It!!/Some Sad Stuff Too

by Anne

I like these kinds of games.

Lots of back and forth action (a few too many penalties, tsk tsk) and an amazing overtime goal scored by Jason Pominville, set up by a Tim Connolly heads-up play.

That post-game love huddle was one of the most joyous things I've seen in a long time. Pommer's leap of joy, and all the hugging and helmet nuzzling and whoops of joy, including Millsy's over zealous embrace of Timmy at the end.

The game did not start out so hot with Ovechkin basically left alone at the side of the net and he banked it in over Millsy. That was not a pleasant start but the Sabres got HUGE breaks off of Caps defensemen being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Clarke MacArthur's "goal" was really a Caps defenseman shooting the puck in his own net on a clearing attempt and at least one other goal redirected off of a defenseman's foot into the net.

The endless parade to the penalty box was depressing and we all knew the Caps would capitalize (HA!) on that first 5 on 3. When they failed to connect on the second, you knew the Sabres weren't out of it just yet.

Maxim Afinogenov once again actually shot the puck and it actually went in the net, sneaking in under the crossbar like Bogosian's goal did to Miller on Wednesday.

I was mostly happy with the way the Sabres played in their own end but the penalties are what dug them into a hole. Royzie drew a penalty and then Spacek drew another on the same delayed penalty. Ummm, poor timing, Sissy.

BUT, in the end, we won. We. Won. All is not yet lost. Florida lost to Atlanta tonight. We're four points out with a game in hand. Can we do it? I don't know but I'm really glad we're still in the hunt and that I still care.

How fantastic was it that it was five hole, The same way Kovalchuk scored on Miller.


Pommerdoodling.

Unnnnfortunately, its Friday and we play tomorrow. Making these back to back Friday and Saturday games. We won that last two games we played on back to back Friday/Saturday. It would be really nice if that became a trend.

LET'S GO BUFF-A-LO!

---

This is not a happy section of this post.

I think most people have heard by now, but in case you haven't, former Sabre Taylor Pyatt's fiancee Carly Bragnalo was killed in a car accident Thursday in Jamaica. She was 27 and they were planning to marry this summer. They had been together for eleven years.

:'(

Carly is the girl in the back row center holding a wine glass
click to enlarge

Send some love Taylor and their families' way, they'll need all the support possible, tangible or intangible these days.

Add Pommer to the "Loves Miley Cyrus" List

by Anne

First Nolan Pratt, then Craig Rivet, now Pommer.

As per usual, Jason Pominville has given us basically a meaningless update on his blog that says nothing interesting or new.

I love Pommer dearly but his blog is terrible. If he stopped updating it once every three months I probably wouldn't even notice.

All I really took away from it is that he clearly loves Miley Cyrus' new tune as its title as also the title of his latest post:

The Pens lost today. TO THE ISLANDERS. In the shootout. Give Dan Bylsma a few more weeks to see if he can fix it and when he can't, the Pens will have to acknowledge that Miro Satan and Ruslan Fedotenko are not Ryan Malone and Marian Hossa and they screwed up with Roberts and Malone last off-season. Bylsma has done great things in Wilkes-Barre this season in the AHL and its easy to see why the Pens moved him up to the big time. However, I have a feeling that the Pens season may already be lost and if they make it to the playoffs it won't be higher than 8th and they probably won't even deserve to be there and will probably be crushed by the Bruins.

I'm excited to be able to watch the Kings game tonight without having to worry about class in the morning. Wooooo! Gotta love random four day weekends.

In other exciting news, my phone decided today it was going to just continually shut off without warning and I'm fed up with it so I bought a new one:

i love green
you should see my room

Tomorrow I plan to read and chillax at my sister's house with her cat while she's in Vermont. Speaking of which at a bar in Vermont there was apparently a huge picture of JP Dumont with no explanation as to why he was being honored there.

Drew Stafford Remains Drew Stafford

by Anne

Every Monday(ish) Drew Stafford has a show on 97 Rock. The timing of it is usually pretty sweet because it perfectly matches my morning commute. Its a pretty nice way to start the day because Staffy is not a) dramatic b) fake c) formulaic in his responses. To be honest, the only reason I listen to 97 Rock in the morning is because its one of the only stations that works on the radio in my car. None of my AM stations work, 98.5 does not work and I absolutely hate the Edge morning show.

Today Staffy discussed briefly the Catwalk for Charity and said that he showed up wearing jeans and a nice shirt, only to discover like everyone else was wearing zoot suits and the like. He summed up his hastily assembled ensemble as more Amish than anything. Yes Drew Stafford, yes. You emulate Jay Bowmeester, Amish farmer extrordinaire.

He talked about Vanek and described the sound he heard when the puck hit him. Staffy said was on the ice right next to him and when the puck went up he heard a "crack" and thought it hit TV's visor because the sound was so loud. I think everyone listening touched their own jaws and cried a little.

Staffy also made a point that we've been buzzing about since the Worst News Ever came down from Perry St. Its not that you need to have a healthy jaw to play hockey or anything like that, what's sidelining him is basically the treatment for a broken jaw. To fix a broken jaw, you have to have your jaw wired shut. Everyone get up and take a sprint around the room with your teeth clenched together and try not to pass out while breathing through your nose. Go ahead, we'll wait for you to recover.

So TommyBoy is out because he can't breathe properly for a month and won't be doing any cardio or anything intense. He can do things, just without any intense aerobic activity. Think of all the smoothies he can drink! If he were trying to lose weight, this would be GREAT! Liquid diets shed the pounds, ask any bride.

Anyway, I hate to admit it, but Staffy has wormed his way back into my heart after he stomped all over it last season with his concussions and ankle sprains and lack of goal production. We need him to continue to be blazing hot down the stretch.

We're all feeling fatalistic because we haven't been without Vanek in so long. The last time he missed a game was 2005-2006 and he only missed 1 game. He's played 299 of a possible 300 games over the past 4 seasons. He's been a rock that, even when he wasn't producing, he was still there night in and night out.

Come back soon!

Jason Pominville has played 218 straight games. We definitely need him to step up and start playing like the player he was this time a year ago.

Unrelated to anything: check out Ryan Miller's goalie mask contest.

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.

Home, Home on the Couch

by Anne

Things I miss by not watching home games on TV:

*My GOD, Mike Robitaille's face is the same color as his orange paisley tie. I hope you all appreciate this and don't take it for granted.

*Copious replays. I'm usually in the seats with my back to the ice when goals are scored. The Arena dudes only replay the goal once, so if you missed the initial replay of a goal or penalty or big save or anything, you missed out. On MSG they show you everything at least 2 or 3 times, and then RJ and Harry talk about it forever.

*Rayzor and Robi fighting about stuff. Its great. I missed it terribly. They both try to act all "I PLAYED, I KNOW." Its great. Then Harry jumps in and tries to play Switzerland.

*Post game interviews with the players in the locker room. They're fun, I enjoy them.

Stuff in general:

Derek Roy is a man possessed. I'm amazed he doesn't have about 10 more goals at this point, he's all over the damn place. He had over 28 minutes of ice time and 8 shots on goal. Woo!

Thank you for clarifying, Rayzor. I was pretty darn confused as to why Pommer was the first player in on the face off at the end of the 2nd, got thrown out and then Royzie was in. Pommer was being a good teammate and covering for Royzie so the Sabres didn't get penalized for Royzie being late to the face-off. Good boy Pommer.

I really hate that Steve Tasker says "ve-HICK-ull".

I love the "Praise the LORD" Jason Pominville goal celebration. Also, Yoyo's comment to Rayzor that he'd quit the game if he couldn't put the puck in that wide open net was priceless.

Its amazing how different over time can feel. If your team was the team to come back, overtime is "Wow! I can't believe we tied it up! We got a point!" If your team had a TWO GOAL LEAD over THE ISLANDERS and then THE ISLANDERS TIE IT WITH TWO FRIGGIN SECONDS LEFT.... over time is not a joyous five minutes or less.

Thank goodness they showed up for the shootout. Okposo had a good fake, but Miller was ready for it. Kotalik went to his tried and true back hand blocker side.

Kennedy didn't appear on the score sheet,

Anyway, a win is a win, but that wasn't a win to write home about.

I may hate the Senators but I like the font they use for the numbers on their jerseys.

Funny face of the game award goes to this fan in the Santa hat.

Not used to sitting so close?
Haha.

Oh Big Bear, How These Eejits Have Made Me Neglect You

by Anne

That pack of thieves and miscreants known to some as the "Buffalo Sabres" and their suckity suck sucky style of hockey of late have distracted me from the beauty that is my Western Conference Boyfriends.

Alix had to point out to me that Big Bear scored in the game against the Wild last night because I was TOO DISTRACTED to notice myself. FIE AND SHAME UPON ME FOR THIS NEGLECT!!

Um, excuse me, Cancuks.com but WHERE IS DAY 5 OF ROAD TRIP PHOTOS? You must fill my obsessive need for hockey player pictures off the ice. Look, Vancouver, you're doing well in this "favorite Western Conference team 2008-2009" but Chicago is as well. I'm secretly rooting for you. Keep it up! You're basically only running away with this because of: 1. Big Bear 2. The freaky twins and how the play by play guy just calls them Daniel and Henrik 3. My burgeoning love for Ryan Kesler 4. Kyle Wellwoods' "I don't work" work ethic 5. Big Bear and 6. "Mason Raymond" is like the worst hockey name ever but he seems to be your own personal Dan Paille so I'm ok with it.

Alex Burrows is keeping an eye on you.
He doesn't trust you.

Ummm and if SOMEONE WHO LIVES IN VANCOUVER can get their hands on an extra Canucks calendar (provided its free)... or tells me where I can get one if I don't live in Vancouver... I'd be the happiest girl in Buffalo.

Heeeee!

I'm completely conflicted about tomorrow's game. I'm pro Pens and pro 'Nucks. I'm thinking Vancouver needs the win more and since the Pens creamated us and we beat the Canucks, I'm rooting for the Canucks. And because I don't love any individual player on the Pens as much as I love... someone on the Canucks.

ETA:

I hate them hate them hate them hate them but AAAAAHHAHAHAHA:

I could watch Pommer do that awkwardly ADORABLE shrug all day.
Temporary love for all three of them.

I Would Expect This From Pat Kaleta

by Anne

Both Dan Paille and Pat Kaleta had the song "Addicted" by Saving Abel on their player tunes recently.

I've never heard this song so I decided to YouTube it, and WOW. Excellent lyricism, I MUST say. Hahahahahahahaha, check it out. I mean, its no "Les Etoiles Filantes", right Pommer?! I love that Jason Pominville loves a song like that by a band called Les Cowboys Fringants and also "Ayo Technology " by 50 Cent. Ha, I love him.

Ok, so here's "Addicted" in case you were curious:

Just picture Dan Paille rocking out to this song. Does. Not. Compute. This is the same guy that admits to having "Hangin' Tough" on his iPod. Hahahaha. I love him too.

Ahhahahahahah Tim Connolly

by Anne

I'm done trying to decide if I love Tim Connolly or just want him to go away, therefore I will no longer address the subject.

However.

From Pommer's blog, answering the question about Halloween costumes:

As far as the best costume I’ve seen, I’d have to say was Tim Connolly’s a few years ago. He dressed as Chris Drury in the Little League World Series. He had the uniform and the hat and it was actually pretty funny, so I’ll have to go with that.

Hahahahahahhahaha. Oh Timmy. Timmy Timmy Timmy. TIMMY TIMMY TIMMY.

that's all I have to say about that.

Ok, just one more thing:

Friday Foolishness

by Anne

The Canucks beat the Red Wings in OT last night. Will they have more jump tonight or will they be tired because of the longer game and the travel? What?!? They only had 27 seconds of OT? Oh... weeeeellll let's hope they've used up all their good hockey juju for the end of the week on Detroit. BIG BEAR?!!!?!! Even TAYLOR PYATT showed up for that game. Cllllllearly they were worried more about the Red Wings, PERCHANCE THEY'LL UNDERESTIMATE US??! GRRRrrrr....?

I keep forgetting to mention: last weekend I had a dream that Craig Rivet was trying to kill me. WHAT DID I DO, ROSIE?

WCB quest continues:

San Jose Sharks:

After my HEARTBREAK over learning that Torrey Mitchell is a big mean person, I've been forced to re-examine my selection process. Apparently just having a blog doesn't make you worthy of my love?!?!?! WHAT?!?! After much time has been taken to process this, I have accepted it as true, and have MOVED ON.

Soph, who is totally frikkin amazing sent me a link to an entire album of Sharks photos to aid me in my quest because she and Jess basically rock. To entice me, she tossed in several pictures of the most recent addition to my favorite Sabres list, one Mr. Anthony Craig Rivet.

Finding a Sharks boyfriend was hard because: 1. No more Big Bear 2. We stole Craigory andd I fell in love with him a little bit during the playoffs when I discovered the joy that is Shark Byte 3. Kyle McLaren, confused about the rules, has moved to Massachusetts, thinking it'll help his case by being geographically closer to me. He was wrong :(

ANYWAY. I went back and forth on this player. But in the end, I decided that my squeals of delight over his adorableness was enough to push me into his arms...

Marc-Edouard "Pickles" Vlasic
I mean, COME ON?!?!
LOOK AT THAT PICTURE.


HAWT.


heeeeeeeeee


Ok, he kind of LOOKS LIKE his nickname would be Pickles.

He apparently loves Friends and Girl Scout cookies, HOW COULD I CHOOSE ANYONE ELSE? He can have the Thin Mints and the Samoas, I'll take the Tagalongs and the shortbread ones. He gets rosy cheeks during games and

A French Canadian hockey player with a gold man necklace and a blonde white man fro.......

weeeeeee!

I'm still on the prowl for MEN from the following teams:

Anaheim Ducks
Dallas Stars
Nashville Predators
Phoenix Coyotes - they got rid of Keith Ballard and got Olli Jokinen (What a sexiness DOWNGRADE)

My search continues!!

A Few Thoughts About A TOTALLY RIGHTEOUS WIN Before I Fall Asleep On My Keyboard

by Anne

I got to see Vanek's goal and it was awesome. What control and presence of mind he showed on that play. That's what we pay him for.

Paille was on fire tonight, really throwing the body around and drawing a penalty.

Millsy was solid (that first goal was, errrrr....) but he got himself together and put up a great game, including a shoot out win.

Kotalik and Staffy, FTW!!! I got to watch the shootout from the Zamboni doors which was pretty SWEET, I cannot tell a lie.

Pommer's Player Tunes brought in a lovely selection of Kanye West and U2, with a splash of 50 cents "In Da Club". Jason Pominville, where were Les Cowboys Fringants? I'm a little disappointed, Pommerdoodle.


Game By the Numbers:

8: Thomas Vanek's shots on goal

53: Percent of face-offs Buffalo won.

100: Percent of face-offs Jason Pominville won

0: Number of goals scored on the PP by either team

4: Teppo's penalty minutes

0: Andrew Peters' penalty minutes


"Game Stats" and "Event Summary" on NHL.com have different totals for shots on goal. I have no idea who's right.

There were apparently A LOT of things going on at this moment



Weeeee! You had such a good game, Pie!!



Awwwwwww, you too Britters, that goal was pretty righteous



Happiness is a happy Ryan Miller

:)

I'll be mostly MIA this weekend as I'll be back in 1998 at my Grandpa's apartment in Pennsylvania. I'll be able to check my email and that's about it. Booooo. Grampy still has dial-up and I can't steal the internet anymore. Someone wised up and fixed their router so I can't mooch. Booooo!!!


SABRES WON!!! WE ARE THE BEST TEAM EVER!!!!! 2 POINTS!! YAHHHHH!! TIED FOR FIRST IN THE DIVISION!!!

Ok, maybe I'm getting a little ahead of myself.... Awww who am I kidding, I'm from Buffalo, ITS OUR WAY.

And Your Captain is:

by Anne

Craig Rivet. Permanently. No rotation.



I AM TOTALLY OK WITH THIS DECISION!!! WOOOOOO!!!

ROSIEEEEEEEE!!!

Pommer, Yoyo, Sissy and Teppo get the As


DISCUSS!!!

Pre-Season "Game" #1

by Anne

So last night's game got me all worried and riled up and foolishness. I was like "WE LOST 7-4 TO THE MAPLE LEAF ROOKIES?!?!?!?! FORGET THIS TEAM!!! I HATE YOU ALL!!!! BURN DOWN THE ARENA!!! GIVE ME DARCY REGIER'S HEAD ON A PLATTER!! THIS IS ALL BECAUSE WE LOST BIG BEAR!!!! OK THAT LAST ONE PROBABLY ISN'T TRUE!! GAHHHHHH!!!.... but on a totally not-related note Heroes was AWESOME."

HOWEVER.

Then I got home and read the lines from last night's game and they were totally ridiculous. So many veterans didn't play that I'm not going to bother listing them all. I'm just forget about the game. It was the hockey equivalent of a first stumble through - it was really rough, but it wasn't like we had our top lines. I mean, come on, Yo-Yo was playing without Pommer. How is he supposed to focus while most of his energy is going into babysitting Stafford and Pie? Hank was playing without Tone, how is he supposed to be able to concentrate with his team life partner up in the press box? At least Roysie and Vanek were both out, because one without the other is just a mess.

Don't freak out. Although... Miller did allow in 3 of 11 shots.... errrrrrrr, ok that's fine, I suppose I can get over that.... right....?

Whatev. S(h)ara was talking me down from a ledge and she's right; its not worth freaking out over. Its one pre-season game with some cracked out lines and pairings.

Tonight is the big "Hockeyville" game. The NHL wants to put on a good game for Roberval, and because the Habs and Sabres will probably play some competitive hockey, I'm sure Lindy will play the top lines. Pommer will play for sure, and maybe he'll be rocking the "C". Hecht had it last night, which works just fine for me. As long as the C is on Pommer, Hecht, Teppo, Gaustad, Spacek or Roy, I'm really fine with it. Hell, I'd probably be ok with Rivet rocking the C.

Sidenote, Kevin Sylvester's game blog was awesome and I hope he keeps doing it. I love blogs and hockey and hockey blogs and Kevin Sylvester even though someone told me he's a jerk. WHATEVER. He posted a picture of Elmo. I love him. And his blog. Don't deny our love.

I wanted to post pictures from Puck Drop but they're really bad because my camera sucks, so instead I bought a new camera, a Kodak Easyshare with higher megapixels and better optical zoom. Its not a Canon or anything, but it was an inexpensive refurb from Overstock and it'll be better than the camera I have now.

Wooooo!!!!!!! Pre-season game #2 tonight!!! Soooooo its not being broadcast on MSG or Versus or anything, but let Rick Jeannerett's dulcet tones soothe you through what will hopefully be a better game. Listen to Harry Neale ramble about God only knows what and say all the wrong things that make you want to just throw the radio across the room and start cheering for the Thrashers. The THRASHERS, HARRY. SOMETIMES YOU MAKE ME WANT TO CHEER FOR THE THRASHERS. I HATE Ilya Kovalchuk.

Whatever, HOCKEY IS BACK!!!

Hey Facebook BFF! Hope you play tonight! Love ya!