Europe Bound

by Anne

It has been announced that the Buffalo Sabres will be starting the 2011 - 2012 NHL season in Europe. 

Their opponent (for one game in Germany anyway)?

The Los Angeles Kings.

WHAT?! For real?

The conflicted emotions! The sadness! The joy! The overwhelming urge to listen to "Springtime For Hitler!" I'm all a-flutter!

On the one hand, I'm excited that my two most beloved teams will be together while traveling abroad, instituting the buddy system, sharing beers and weinerschnitzel, and whatnot. BUT ON THE OTHER! These teams only play each other once a year and I was hoping against hope to travel to Los Angeles next season to see them play. Now I'll have to cross international waters for this match-up. They'll be so far away! Europe is so far away! Curse you, continental drift. But at least they'll be together. Hopefully celebrating their fantastical deep playoff runs from a mere few months earlier.

Dear NHL:

Hello. As I'm sure your scheduler has made you all aware, the Los Angeles Kings and Buffalo Sabres have decided to begin their NHL season in Europe. It's a bold move that I hope they cleared with you before they went ahead and planned their photo-ops at the Brandenberg Gate.

I wanted to take this opportunity to offer my services as, um, uh, a fan. I guarantee you there are an EXTREMELY limited number of fans who know as much as I do about BOTH the Los Angeles Kings and the Buffalo Sabres. I think it's really in the best interest of the National Hockey League, NAY, THE FREE WORLD, that I be in attendance at this event. Heck, I'll gladly take up an empty seat on one of the team's charters. My passport is current, I'm a quick study, I can learn German, and Finnish if you'd like me to also accompany my hometown team to the wilds of Finland. Especially considering that none of the current Sabres are Finnish.

I think by not sending me to Germany, you are missing out on a golden opportunity to REALLY make an impression on the people of Europe. Anne + German Beer + Her Favorite Hockey Teams + Bullhorn + German/English Dictionary aka Jochen Hecht has international incident written all over it. 

You can't BUY that kind of publicity.

Please respond at your earliest convenience. I shall wait with bated breath.

Love,

Anne

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+

Look! I'm posting!

by Anne

Just about to head to bed when I realized I haven't posted for today. I'm so good at this.

The Sabres defeated the Hurricanes 5-3 today. The first two periods were all Sabres. They were up 4-0 at one point and allowed the Butter Snaps to sneak back up on them to pull within two goals. There were only flashes of seconds in which I was concerned that the 'Canes were going to pull some kind of crazy upset, but it was enough to make me unhappy.

One of the goals was one of Ryan Miller's annual "Ryan, now do we see why we don't play the puck too much?" moments. It was not pretty.

Jochen Hecht has become a goal-scoring maniac over the last two games. He had two goals today, one on a beautiful rush that started in the Sabres zone and was finished off by a nifty dangle. The second was another Yo-yo classic: the wrap-around. His goal against Florida was a classic "find the three centimeters of space between the goalie's elbow and his knee and use the Force to wiggle that puck behind the goal line.  Classic Jochen.

The Baby Beluga is hurt. Awesome. He's looking better and better as the days go on. I'm pretty sure we play better without him, actually. Le sigh.

Paul, you know I love you.

Are you ever going to score again?

Just curious

:(

Tomorrow night the Avs head to the Staples Center to take on the Kings.... at 10:30. Boo. BUT! Just over a week until I'm in Nashville to see the Kings play in person!!! :) :) :) :)

Aren't you excited boys?

Whoops, no one told me it was a costume party.

What exactly is Stolly?

If Greener is Luigi, who's Mario?

Thanks to Katie who found this on that girlfriends message board and sent it to me, haha

School is kicking my behind

by Anne

Since I'm sick of being busy all the time, I decided to stay home and celebrate Pi day/ Daylight Savings Time Day by myself while my family goes to my sister's boyfriend's musical. He is not in it, he directs the pit orchestra.

Anyway. I haven't updated since Tuesday and since then the Sabres have had three games and the Kings have had two. I didn't watch any of them. :(

Here are some random uninteresting thoughts

• Tyler Myers had himself a four point night against Dallas (1+3). Woooo!
• Then against Minnesota only Thomas Vanek decided to score (twice). Is it that time of year already, Thomas? The time when you suddenly decide you like scoring goals and do it? Can every month be March/April in ThomasVanekLand? He scores a lot in those months, it seems.
• Then on Saturday against the Red Wings, only Yoyo scored (twice). At least this time the game went to overtime and we still managed a point.
• I appreciate the multi-goal games, boys, but you can allow the rest of your teammates to score.
• This Torres trade is looking Moore-esque from my standpoint. Awesome.
• Then the Canucks beat the Sens pretty handily to keep the Senators off of our heels for the time being.
• Jonathan Quick became a daddy the other day so Jonathan Bernier (No relation to Big Bear) was recalled and started over Erik Ersberg. Can someone explain to me why Ersberg is even in Los Angeles?
• Bernier won a 2-1 shootout game. Winning an NHL game on  a call-up is always exciting but what made it extra exciting is that it was a shootout game. Bernier is winless in five shootout games in the AHL.
• Today the Kings play the Predators. Of course they will lose. I love these previews for the game there on the 30th. If they don't win another game all season, can they win that one, please?!?

Surprisingly, the bulk of my major projects for school will be over after Wednesday, so I'll have a little more time to become reacquainted with my sanity. 

Wooo! Thanks for still reading this thing! I promise this is all just a phase and my regularly scheduled hilarity will resume soon!

Yay!

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?

Look! He's Really There!

by Anne

Today Royzie, Lindy and Team Canada played Reggie and Team Slovakia and Canada won 7-3:

Lindy's really at the Worlds! Look! I found him!


Royzie opened the scoring at 4:50 on the power play
He played 21:36, the 2nd most minutes on the team
Shea Weber, also pictured, played 21:37
Liiiindyyy, are we playing favorites?
There were no pictures of Reggie who played 20:01

Today Yoyo played France and lost 2-1.

Yoyo and Germany lost, but Yoyo scored Germany's goal!
All three goals were scored in the first period
zzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Yoyo played 20:44, 2nd most minutes on the team
Well done, Mr. Hecht

Tomorrow Little Foot and Team USA take on Sweden at 2:15 p.m. and Britney and Team Austria take on Latvia at 10:15 a.m.

Round one of the Stanley Cup Playoffs ends today too! Woooo!! Let's go Caps! Let's go Devils!

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.

5-2 Actually Sounds Better Than It Looked

by Anne

Things that are bad: Losing

Things that are worse: Losing to the Senators

You know, I saw Yo-yo after the game and he looked PERFECTLY FINE to me... and I am DEFINITELY a qualified medical practitioner, so, JOCHEN, GET OUT THERE. GOOSE, YOU TOO. TIMMY, STOP FAKING IT AND PUT ON YOUR DARN SKATES.

I still love you, Patty Lalime.

Petey did kick Chris Neil's booty in that fight. I don't care what anyone says, I love Petey.

HA! I just looked at the standings and even with the loss tonight to the Sens, they have 7 points and we have 14. Hahahahahaha. I don't feel quite as bad anymore, but 16 points to their 5 would've been even sweeter.

WCB Watch

Ducks at Blue Jackets

The Good: Getzy had 2 points (1+1) and was +2 with 4 hits!! Yay!!

Corey Perry is channeling my love and sending it to Getzy
Chris Kunitz is kind of uncomfortable

The Bad: Nasher was non-existent except for 2 shots on goal and 1 takeaway.

Rrrreeeeeaach!

Blackhawks at Wild

Sharpie had a goal, was +1 and his team lost.

ONo had 1 assist and 1 hit and was +1 and his team won.... making them the last team to lose in regulation. :( Although they've only played 7 games and we've played 9. So if they lose their next game, TECHNICALLY we were undefeated in regulation longer.

His stick broke because the pressure of being the stick of one of Anne's WCB's was too much for it to handle.
Remember, ONo's been out for a while, his equipment will need time to adjust to the awesome weight of my adoration

Bruins at Oilers
or
Zzzzzzzzzz....

Ok, the only kind of 1-0 victory that are usually entertaining is a 1-0 OT decision, and that's what this was.

However, there were no fights and only like 8 power plays all together. What a SNOOZE fest that probably was.

Ethan Moreau had 0 points because his team was shut out, 2 PIM, 3 hits, 1 giveaway and 1 takeaway. Woo. Hoo. I'm not even going to bother looking for a picture.

Red Wings at Kings

Greener got an assist!! yay!!!! 2 blocked shots! The Kings lost because Jason LaBarbera is not very good in shootouts. He allowed 2 goals on 2 shots and Osgood stopped both his attempts. In other news, I correctly guessed Detroits first two shooters and only 1 of LAs. I'm amazed I can name 3 LA Kings that aren't Matt Greene, Drew Doughty or Anze Kopitar. Ok, there's Dustin Brown and Jarett Stoll, but now you've REALLY tapped my resources. But, A+ for even getting to OT, Kings, the Red Wings are really good and last season you were... not good.

No pictures of Greener. :(

I need a new Detroit Red Wings WCB, Brett Lebda sucks and is not worthy of my love. Any suggestions? If your suggestion is "Pavel Datsyuk", I'll pass, because not a single on ice photo of him exists in which he does not look like he just descended from the Mother Ship.

Because no WCB Watch is truly complete without him, who was named first star of the week? WHO? Ok, no, not Thomas Vanek, he was last week, but IGGY!!

His eyes pierce the soul

Has anyone else noticed that the Chris Pronger and Dion Phaneuf "Is this Year?" banner ads on NHL.com are the same except for the color (and pictures of course).?They're both like "Some say the season only ends..... so his opponents can heal." Did they think no one would notice? I spend about .02 seconds a week thinking about Dion Phaneuf and Chris Pronger's NHL ads and I noticed, Flames or Ducks fans must've noticed.

If we lose to the Lightning on Thursday, we're breaking up and I'm keeping the ring.

I've been looking into the WCBs that will be heading to HSBC Arena this season.

Coming to see me and experience my love first hand: Rick Nash (11/14) J.P. Dumont (12/1) MATT GREENE (the prince of my Western Conference Heart, 12/19) Ryan Getzlaf (2/24), Peter Mueller (3/6), Whoever I pick from the Red Wings (4/6). Big Bear has already come and gone. AND SCORED ON MILLSY, JERK. JUST KIDDING, BIG BEAR, I LOVE YOU! I'm a little sad that Iggy won't be coming. :( But I shall soldier on!!!

OMG I'M SO EXCITED ABOUT THE WORLD JUNIORS.

Just a head's up, be prepared to read some permutation of the previous sentence in every blog post.... ever... until it happens and then my head explodes.

Do We Really Need Him?

by Anne

The answer is, of course, yes. We were a better team last season when he was in the line-up. 40 pts in 48 games is nothing to just dismiss...

I'm just so sick of hearing him describe all the things that are wrong with his body. Maybe he's just doing it for attention. Let's try as an entire city to ignore Timmy's next injury completely and see how fast he gets back on the ice.

I miss Goose and Yoyo :'(

AW COME ON!

by Anne


ANOTHER FREAKIN' FINGER INJURY REQUIRING SURGERY?!?!!!!!!

Ughhhhh, YoYooooooooooooooo

New Mandatory Protective Hand Gear For All Buffalo Sabres

No Go for Yo Yo

by Anne

:*(

According to Mike Harrington at Sabres Edge Yoyo's hurt and won't play tomorrow. CMac is centering the line with Paille and Pommer. Iiiiiiiii was not aware that Grizz ever played center.

Matt Ellis will center the 4th line and if any of our other centers go down, be prepared for Nathan Gerbe to appear from Portland after, uhhhh like 2 weeks of seasoning. *HEADDESK*.

IT IS WAAAAAYYYYYY TO EARLY IN THE SEASON FOR THIS TYPE OF INJURY CHIT CHAT.

Whyyyyy does it have to always be centers? TimmyHo, Goose, Yoyo???

Center is where we're thinnest up front and that's where we're feeling the most hurt. Perfection.

ITS FINE. REALLY, ITS FINE. I'M NOT WORRIED. NOT AT ALL. NOPE. TOTALLY FINE WITH THIS.

PAUL!
STOP PROMOTING UNDERAGE SMOKING AND GET BACK TO WORK!



Timmy, Timmy, Timmy.....
I hate you. You're still dead to me.
Your fractured vertebrae is immaterial because you have ceased to exist to me
Remember when I loved this phantom "Tim Connolly"? Yeah that's over

At least Trent practiced yesterday!!! That's one ray of sunshine on the Buffalo injury front!!!

Photo not actually from yesterday's practice but
WOOOOOOO!!! Anyway
The football gods were at least smiling on Buffalo and inserted this injury just before a bye week
Hopefully Trent will be ready to go on Sunday.
Lord knows we don't want him to aggravate anything if he isn't fully recovered

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!!!

Most National Anthem Singers Should Be Shot

by Anne

Minnesota had a very good anthem singer on Wednesday night. Columbus was one of the "I'm not going to quite sing the right note so I'll just kind of slide around until I get to the right note." kind of girls that we usually have to suffer through when Doug Allen isn't there. The one that sang the other night wasn't quite as annoying as she was last year, but, ladies, this isn't American Idol. Have a little respect for the countries and just sing the songs as they were written, thanks!!

Anyway, that is neither here nor there.

But what IS is that we WON!!!

WOOOOOO!!!

The top of the first period was a little nerve-wracking. Two games in a row of allowing the other team to score right off the bat doesn't inspire a lot of confidence in this blogger. I was starting to wish the debate was starting at 8:00 rather than 9:00 when that one went in.

I'm not sure what it is that got them off of their edge at the beginning, it can't be Columbus's RAUCOUS crowd, as Rick frequently mentioned the emptiness of the arena. Attendance was just north of 11,000. However, a goal from Yoyo and the first intermission seemed to set the groove and Buffalo controlled the rest of the game.

Kotalik, Vanek, Yoyo, Teppo and GERBE lit the lamp and gave us our first REAL decisive, clear cut victory of the pre-season.

GAH I wish I could watch these games so I could actually say more about them. Listening is great but watching with Rick's sweet sweet voice calling the plays is just about the best thing ever.

No hockey game is complete without at least one or two of Rick and Harry's "killing time while they fix broken glass or sort something out" side commentary completely unrelated to the game. Tonight a GEM came at the end of the 2nd as they were sorting out the penalties in that "Rick Nash diving over Lala and Stafford beating the snot out of Tollefsen" hullabaloo. Discussing the flight arrangements back to Buffalo, Rick described that because of the inflated roster during the training camp there were only 2 seats left on the plane, and now that Matt Ellis had been acquired, there was only 1. Rick said (basically): "I keep looking at Darcy Regier, hoping he won't acquire any more players, or we're walking home Harry." Harry: "You know we'd be the first ones to go."

WHAT A GREAT BUDDY MOVIE THAT WOULD MAKE.

Play-by-Play

The Rick Jeanneret and Harry Neale Story

I'd see it.

Important Sabres Facts and Figures:

Most shots on goal: Gerbe (4)

PPG: 2 (Teppo and Kotalik)

+/-: +2 (Jaro)

PIM: Weber (12)
Ummmm, Doof, I know that you're trying to make a physical presence but please, PLEASE cut down on the minor, double minor and misconduct penalties, THANKS!

Face Off Win %: 33%

Uhhhhhh that's BAD. I know more wings than centers took faceoffs, but, let's work on that, boys. YoYo has really never been that great on the faceoffs, usually sitting around 40% (he was 38% the other night and 25% tonight). Although, as much as they want to talk about the importace of faceoff wins, as I pointed out before, in 07-08 Detroit was #1 in FOW%, but Pittsburgh was #30. So there ya go, the two teams in the Finals holding first and last place in that paricular category. And we won tonight, so, in the end it doesn't really matter, but seeing that number come up would be good.

Seemed like the boys brought a great physical game, and Gerbe was gettin' up in Nash's face which is pretty awesome.

I hadn't realized until Rick pointed it out that Stafford has played in every single pre-season game. First development camp, now this? Staffy is working very hard and hopefully it'll pay off in the regular season. Its good to see him maturing as a player, considering one of his criticisms from last season was that he was a bit immature in his play and listening to the coaching staff. The result? Less ice time. It looks like he's calmed down and is working towards becoming even more serious about hockey.

Another excellent quote from either Rick or Harry, I can't remember which:

"You don't want to be hanging around the Buffalo goaltender when Craig Rivet is on the ice."

PREACH! I more than kind of love Rosie the Riveter and his toy poodle named Ted. He was rocking the C tonight which probably won't be permanent, and I'd like to offer my vote for if he should be an alternate or whatever, but I have no idea how the captaincy positions are going to be dealt out this season, so I'm just going to say I'm glad Craig Rivet is in the mix.

BTW, GerbDogg and I are no longer Facebook friends. It TOTES lost its appeal once we were friends but his profile was limited.

Anyway, last pre-season game is Sunday against Detroit which will actually be TELEVISED!! Yayyyyy!!!! I know its pre-season and losses and wins mean nothing, but the pre-season teams are slowly looking more and more like the regular season team so its starting to make me feel better. Sunday will be a real test.

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!

ARG WHY AM I NOT SLEEPING

by Anne

It's after 2:00 a.m. and I'm not asleep. There is no earthly reason why. I'm plenty tired but I can't seem to shut off my brain. GAH!

I read Rob Ray's book Rayzor's Edge in about 2 1/2 hours yesterday. Clearly, its a quick read. It's not an earth-shattering expose, but its quite interesting to hear about the team dynamic from a player, how some players really are douche bags (Tim Connolly?) and some guys, whether top-skilled or not are just all around good guys that you just want to have around (Paul Gaustad?). I have to admit that I wasn't totally committed to most of his stories about playing for the Sabres before 1996. 1996 is roughly when I start remembering hockey. To put it simply, I don't really remember Buffalo Sabres hockey before Hasek was our starting goaltender. I loved the stuff about when he was in juniors and in the minors, but the early 90s with the Sabres, I kind of glossed over.

One of my favorite anecdotes was that Rayzor signed his first contract to play in Rochester like 2 hours before he actually stepped out onto the ice. His laundry list of injuries was somewhat jarring. It'll make me look at Rayzor differently next season when he's between the benches wondering if his knuckles are going to suddenly just jump right off his hand in open rebellion.

Speaking of anecdotes, this is from Vanek's website:

Question: What’s the best practical joke you played on another teammate or they played on you?

Answer: Nobody’s ever played a practical joke on me and neither have I. But the best I witnessed was when somebody stitched up Drew Stafford’s trousers. After practice he directly went to have lunch and couldn’t pay because he couldn’t get to his wallet. We still don’t know who did that...

HA! I love it. I can just envision him trying to figure out what's going on back there and just turning around in crazy circles in a restaurant in downtown Buffalo while people stare at him and quietly remove him from their fantasy teams. I really don't pay enough attention to Vanek. I should love him more. Really I should. I'll try. It'll be one of my resolutions for next season: spend more time loving Thomas Vanek, which I do, even though sometimes I yell at him and say mean things about him and compare him to Britney Spears. It's all out of LOVE for SabreBritney. Does that make his new wife Kevin Federline? EW. NO. She is way better than K.Fed. We'll make her Justin Timberlake. What am I talking about?

Whatev, its really late and I'm rambling and still not sleepy. BLAH.

I'm not going to get my panties in a twist over Pominville's extension. He'll be an RFA next summer, so I'm not overly concerned, as I was about Miller. Its all good in da hood.

I wonder when our captain or captaincy system will be annouced. I'm done with this rotation bull. Let's just pick one captain and 2 alternate captains and just call it a day. For the record, my selections are as follows:

Captain- Pominville
Alternate- Spacek
Alternate- Hecht

If Teppo comes back then I vote:

Captain - Teppo
Alternate- Pominville
Alternate - Hecht

Thus spaketh Anne and thus it was.

Or, well, in my head its already been declared a definite reality. Wow I'm tired.

A Seriously Perplexing Issue at Hand

by Anne

Hello, my name is Anne and I like lists.

We are a family of list makers, my mom, my aunt, my sister and myself. We like things in lists. To-do, grocery, naming all NFL teams whilst bored in meetings, listing all 50 states, etc.

So, it is HIGHLY perplexing to me that my #5 spot of favorite Sabre must remain vacant for so long (meaning 2 weeks).

Here's a refresher:

1. Pommer
2. Pie/Sissy
3. Yo-yo
4. Goose
5. Blankety Blank (f0rmerly Big Bear)

S(h)ara and I discussed the potential successors to this position in great detail tonight.

There was a brief attempt to point out that there are already 5 players on that list and 2 are tied for 2nd. However, I am completely unable to commit to Paille or Spacek as my #2, so the two remain tied, its like if the King had twin sons and no one recorded which one was technically born first, so who is the heir apparent? It is a title unable to be determined by we mere mortals.

Jason Pominville's tushy is currently seated in the throne of my SabreHeart, but his hold is tenuous. My love is like a tornado, it changes suddenly and without warning; it can be catastrophic. I can all but guarantee that he will not fall out of my top 5, but if he does, LOOK OUT. The only way this could not mean CHAOS in my SabreHeart is if Pommer is ousted specifically so that a new #1 may be immediately crowned. If he's ousted because he suddenly loses his mind and becomes terrible and a new player must assume the throne, how could I possibly choose between PieYAY! and Sissy? There would need to be physical challenges and American Gladiator style battles (which is funny because neither of them are American). I'm also envisioning a cook-off and someone hiring me a personal driver and daily massages. I'm not sure if a more scientific selection process exists?! If it does, please let me know.

There is absolutely no chance that Yo-yo could ever lose my love. Jochen Hecht could hold our mascot, my kitty, Oscar at gunpoint and I'd still love his mint green mouth guard and inhumanly adorable lisp. He is up there to stay.

Remember when Yo-yo wore #71?
Yeah, neither do I.

But remember that time he was injured this season and we got a totally adorable intermission interview with Yo-yo in his adorable suit coupled with his adorable lisp and his over all amazingly awesome consistent defensive style of play? I'm pretty sure my heart literally exploded at that moment. AND WHEN HE SCORED GOAL #20 AND I ACCIDENTALLY HIGH-FIVED A LAMP BECAUSE I WAS SO EXCITED!!

Then there's Goose. He is currently 4 out of 4 of my top Sabres, yet he has an iron grip on his spot. S(h)ara said that for him to be knocked out "Goose would have to drive to Vancouver, stab Big Bear, and then come back and play for Ottawa" TRUER WORDS WERE NEVER SPOKEN. Add to that a twirly evil mustache and tying Pommer to train tracks and he still might be able to keep his spot.

As always, this list is subject to change, but I'm sure it will be a mere rotation, and none of these boys (unless they lose their minds and start to suck out loud) will be completely demoted off the list. I mean, really, its not like they're Drew Stafford! Who I'm secretly hoping can worm his way back into my heart, btw.

I'm a fan of the strong but silent type. The kind of player who does his thing, plays his role well and doesn't expect a big hoopla over it. Pommer scores goals and works hard, and never shies away from criticism. Pie does the same and both are amazingly humble about it all, Sissy throws the hits and has his BULLET from the blueline on the power play. Goose provides the energy and the physical presence. Yoyo is the defensive-minded forward of my hopes and dreams. He sets up Pommer and they play extremely well together. I like modesty, it makes me smile, especially when the player is totally kick-ass, like all of these gentlemen are.

Only time will tell who will fill out my list. S(h)ara is pretty convinced it'll be Craig Rivet. Or, rather, she's pretty sure I'll fall in love with him, regardless of if he's top 5 or not. I'm thinking its going to be a battle among Staffy, Kaleta, Rivet and Grizz. Who knows, I could suddenly find myself drawn to Adam Mair's energy line style of play. Kotalik scores on the PP a lot, that could catch my fancy. Sekera or Weber could be my defensive all-star I've been waiting for. ONLY TIME WILL TELL.

---

Private to Ryan Miller:

Of course you're still my secret favorite Sabre and I literally squeal a little with joy that we've signed you everytime I think about it. YEEEE!

However, I should really let you know why you're my "secret" favorite player and not my flat-out "favorite player". Here is the sad but honest truth: I'm secretly afraid you'll suddenly flake out and be a huge disappointment someday.

Millsey! I'm sorry! Don't take this the wrong way! I don't want that to happen, of course! But, I've been burned in the past! I used to love Staffy and he exploded under the burden of my love! Ryan, I kind of love Tim Connolly. THINGS ARE TOUGH. I know! I'm weak!

So Ryan, I love you. It's true. But you'll be on my special reserve list. Perhaps someday this season, or maybe when you retire, I can truly let my love be known. For know, let's keep this between you and me.... and the people that read this blog...whoops.

Love,
Anne

WARNING: ACTUAL HOCKEY TALK, We will return to our usual drivel shortly

by Anne

You know what's awesome? Being outside when its beautiful out like it was yesterday.

You know what's NOT awesome, sunburn. My back hurts. :(

Anyway, I've been thinking a lot lately about next season's forward lines. Every time I do this I come upon a problem. Well, 2 problems, one imminent, one unpredictable. The first unpredictable one is Timmers.

Timmy Connolly is an excellent hockey player and I am very glad to have him on our team. He's one of the best puck handlers in the League and occasionally decides to shoot the puck. HOWEVER, as we all know, Timmy's head is about as safe from destruction as an overripe cantaloupe sitting in a ready-to-fire catapult. Also, at some point, his right leg might just begin open rebellion and fall clean off his body. Therefore, can he really be relied on in a pinch to center our top or 2nd line? I just don't know.

The other problem: Every time I make these lines, I leave someone off. The last time I did it, it was Kaleta. The 2nd time it was Afinogenov. After that it was Mair. Things just get confusing.

There are so many questions. Is Pie-YAY really good with Yo-yo and Pommer? Goose played well with them for a couple of games. Should Kaleta be sent back down? Is Grizz ready to make the leap to the NHL? Are players like Zagrapan ready to take the next step? It's complicated. If we trade someone, I'd love for it to be Max. However, after last season we're not going to get much for him, unless he does well at the beginning of this coming season, but are we really going to chuck him if he starts playing like his old self again? Well, yes, probably.

I'm finally at peace with losing Big Bear. Imagine how much more complicated making lines would be if we had him too. It's a burden I'd be ok with, but I'll let it go for now. We couldn't possibly afford to pay him $2.5 million with the Miller and Pominville extensions, etc. etc.

Anyhoot, does anyone know when next season's schedule comes out? I need to plan my life accordingly.

One more thing. I refuse to be a blogger who beats the dead horse that is "Woe is Buffalo, no one likes us, wah wah wah" Screw that. I love Buffalo and I will not continue to make Sabres and Bills fans sick to their stomachs when hearing about our shortcomings. Was anyone saying this crap when we were winning? No. It comes and goes. All this crap about not signing big UFAs? When was the last time Detroit did that? I'd hardly call Hossa's signing a big one. I understand Buffalo and Detroit are NOT THE SAME however, it just shows that signing big name UFAs does not guarantee you the Stanley Cup. Is anyone looking at Tampa Bay and NOT thinking "Good GOD, this could all just come back to blow up in their collective face." They're signing 1/2 the NHL, how do they have the money for this? Do their fans really want or expect this to keep happening? Their new owners are going to wise up after a couple of seasons of messy losses and unpopular player departures and start playing the game a little more carefully. At least they haven't been handing out offer sheets to everyone they can see, that would be the way to NOT make friends the NHL.

P.S. Vinny, when you're ready to leave, Buffalo is waiting for you! Stamkos who?

Job Opening: #5

by Anne

Sabretooth's House would like to announce a job vacancy that must be filled. "Anne's Top 5 Favorite Sabres" is holding a job fair to fill it's latest vacancy - a hole left open by one Mr. Steven "Big Bear" Bernier.

1. Pommer
2. Pie/ Sissy
3. Yo-yo
4. Goose
5. ____ ?

Now accepting applications. Please be sure to indicate if you have any mad love for "the system", adorably sweet interview styles, a seemingly unquenchable desire to single-handedly save the world or a startlingly frank attitude towards discussing your team's shortcomings. Also be sure to indicate your ability to make yourself available for me to swoon over you at my leisure. Players previously featured in this list will be given stricter consideration, Drew Stafford and Ryan Miller. Better not be any grammatical errors!!!

All applications will be taken between the close of training camp and the season opener with the winner to be decided shortly thereafter. Craig Rivet, this will be a difficult process for you, but I trust you'll dazzle me with your application and hockey skillz. Please don't hate Buffalo!

Pommer, Pie-YAY, Sissy, Yoyo, Goose: Sabretooth is saving us a table at the smoothie stand, let's bounce. Don't want to keep him waiting.

The rest of you: #2 pencils ONLY!

Name:

Date of Birth:

Hometown:

Totally badass nickname:

Adorable childhood anecdote about your early hockey experiences:

Your 3 favorite things about Buffalo:

How do you take your coffee:

Team you hate the most:
(the answer is Ottawa, fyi)

WHY IS ADAM MAIR SO SCARY?:
If you ARE Adam Mair, then your question is: In how many ways can I make myself less scary?:


Should you be accepted, will you help to convince Nathan Gerbe to be my Facebook friend?:

Will YOU be my Facebook friend?!?!:

When presented with the opportunity to insult a list of players I despise, what will your plan of verbal attack be? Insulting their mother? Digging into deep long-repressed childhood fears? Discussing your, um, recreational activities with said players wife/girlfriend?:

Which player currently on my list do you think you're way better than and should be kicked off the list, yes this question is a trap, the answer is NONE OF THEM OR YOU'D ALREADY BE UP THERE, DREW STAFFORD:

Please also attach any adorably awkward childhood photos, past and recent photos of you lookin' snazzy and any and all photographs that will potentially make me weak in the knees.

And that should cover it for now. Flowers, Sabres merchandise, chocolate and cars are accepted as bribes. This is not an ethical organization, people.

It's Really Over This Time

by Anne

Pens lost.


Boo.


Silver lining! Silver lining!

I'm glad it was the Red Wings and not, say, the Sharks or the Ducks, or good GOD, the Rangers or the Flyers. The Pens are the only team in the East that could've made that an exciting series, and they did. I hope that they're not feeling down about themselves. While I'm sure they're disappointed (duh), they put up a hell of a fight, and made the Red Wings work for it.

Oh well. RIP Ryan Whitney's POB 2008. How I loved thee.


More silver lining, from a Sabres' perspective:

Since the moment I saw that there is a Draft Day Party at HSBC Arena and decided to drag the young cousins and the Mom along, I've been feeling surprisingly chipper about our boys in blue and gold. It just served as a reminder that they're still here, and they really will be back next season. During the 9 WEEKS of the playoffs, it felt like I'd never see Derek Roy's shining face again. Since the Worlds ended I feel like Drew Stafford no longer exists. Pommer? Did you visit Mama Pup in Quebec? GOOSE! How's the hernia? Yoyo? The wrist? Ok? TEPPO!!! HOW IS YOUR HEART? MY HEART'S HEALTH IS SURPRISINGLY AKIN TO YOUR OWN. Timmy? Boned anyone worth mentioning lately? Petey! How are the wedding plans going? Britney! What have you had gold-plated recently?We all know how Millsey is, he tells is in is B-L-O-G. How kind of him. If he could only update us on the rest of his Sabre brethren, I'll be eternally grateful.

Anyone else going to the Draft Day Party? We should meet up and laugh at the players we mock/love so dearly. Now we find ourselves in the throes of the off-season. Just take a few deep breaths, it'll all be ok.

We all know Tri ain't comin' back, and Max might be on the trade block. Now in the clear light of the off-season, who do you think is gonna get the axe? I mean, if we all want Nathan Gerbe in the blue and gold come October, someone is, or a few someones are going to have to get their walking papers. Mike Ryan? (Sorry M.J.) Pie-YAY? (I think I'll die) Max? (WOO!).


Hope springs eternal for the Sabres fan.


Vote in our Klassy weekly poll, peeps!

It's all Been Done

by Anne

I'd write about Saturday's game, but my fellow bloggers summed it all up nicely.

I thoroughly relished in every second of TEPPO. I loved Roysie's totally unselfish pass to Britney for his hat trick. I'm amazed Mike Weber survived that crazy assault from behind. There was nothing not to love about that game. I whooped it up for Thibault and the defensemen who limited that Bruins to only 17 shots and zero goals.

Today I will highlight my top 10 moments of the season (on the ice):

10: Yo-yo's 20th "Personal-Best" Goal of the Season

It didn't come until March 19, but we all knew Captain October and February would pull through in the end. Who didn't love that crazy angle shot that miraculously went in to get Yo-yo his first 20 goal season? Yay! There had BEST be a letter permanently sewn on his left shoulder come October....Lindy, I'm lookin' at you.

9: Andrew Peters' Annual Goal

I like this picture because of Kalinin's face

Andrew Peters has many roles as a Buffalo Sabre: awkward slow skater, bench warmer, NHLPA Player Representative, Press Box Coffee Boy and terrible fighter. But on February 27, 2008, he had one title: Goal Scorer. Woooooo! Once a year, baby!

8: Sekera's GWG against Boston March 30, 2008

When Andrej Sekera first came up from Rochester earlier in the season we were all... rather "underwhelmed" by his performance. However, a few months down in the trenches with Webby turned him into one hell of a defenseman. There were many moments of defensive HOTNESS however, no moment shines out more for Reggie this season than his crazy offensive BULLET from the point goal to keep our SLIM playoff hopes alive. Excellent work by Britney and Webby to make it happen.

7: The December 21, 2007 Game aka Danny's return to Buffalo

I was fortunate enough to take Mama Maloy to this game. Danny's first return after jumping ship. The mood in the Arena was TENSE. It was so great. This is probably my favorite game I've ever been to. Winning it, Spacek's bone crushing hit on Danny. It was perfect. Ok, so both Danny and Dru are in the playoffs...but for that weekend, we were the team that won WITHOUT Daniel Briere.

6: Miller's 1st game after his cousin passed: 6-0 Win

Not long at all after Ryan Miller's cousin Matt passed away, Ryan had to go back to business as usual. He gave a then-abysmally-crappy team a huge win, their first of the season, I might add. That game was so emotional. Any one who is a fan of either of the Miller brothers knows how much "Matt Man" meant to them. I can't lie, when Miller raised his helmet showing his cousin's nickname written on the back, I got choked up, kind of like I am right now.

5: Big Bear's first game as a Buffalo Sabre: February 27, 2008

Derek Roy's face reads: I don't even know you, but I'm going to hug you

In the words of Rick Jeanneret: "WELCOME TO BUFFALO, STEVE BERNIER!" Could you have really asked for a better debut? Granted, Big Bear has only scored 1 additional goal and a handful of assists since then, but the physical play of the team his just exploded since dropping the Skating Tomato and picking up Big Bear. I don't want to love him because his time as a Sabre might already be over, but if he had driven from the Arena to my apartment and proposed to me after that game, I definitely would've said yes. Actually, if Big Bear did that right now, I might still say yes.

4: 10-1 win over the Atlanta Thrashers: January 18, 2008

I know, Danny, I couldn't believe it either

With every goal that was scored in that game, my faith and love for SabreHockey that had been forcibly chipped away from me by each of the 10 preceding losses was put back in its rightful place. My then-favorite Staffy (sorry, no longer my absolute favorite, but#2 ain't bad) got his first hat trick, newly named as S(h)ara's favorite, Derek Roy, got a hat trick after Lindo basically told him he needed to step it up. That game was beautifully merciless towards the Thrashers and I loved it. They played dirty that game and moved themselves onto my top 5 least favorite teams. I loved that game so much I wanted to marry it and have little goal scoring babies.

3: Tampa Bay comeback #1: February 20, 2008

This is one of my favorite pictures from the whole season

This game was not pleasant. I was so frustrated with the boys that with about 5 minutes left when we were down 3-1, I drunkenly changed the channel. Approximately 5 minutes later I changed back to officially see that we had lost when, what's that? Why is Hank hanging out on the ice after the game? Wait, WHAT? BRITNEY DID WHAT NOW? Oh Britters. Even though you were wrong about us being in the playoffs,I don't fault you, 4 hat tricks in 23 games is quite a feat, you did what you could. And you did it well in that game.

2: Tampa Bay comeback #2: March 19, 2008

Max got annoyed with this guy...oh, it's Jeff Halpern

Almost exactly 1 month after the aforementioned comeback came another huge deficit to overcome. We were, once again, losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning heading into the 3rd. I was, once again, very unhappy, although not intoxicated. While eating some dinner at a restaurant and trying not to be too annoyed by the NCAA fans who were ignoring the REAL game, and also trying to not be bothered by the slight video lapse, I watched the boys score 6 goals in one period. It was totally awesome. The only reason this game ranks higher than the Thrashers game is because at this point in the season we really believed we were going to be in the playoffs. For the January game, I think we were just content to not be kicked out of the league.

And finally...............

Drum roll please..............................

1: Henrik Tallinder's SO Goal FTW! February 6, 2008!

No moment will standout more to me from the 2007-2008 season for me than Hank the Muthafuckin' Tank's CRIZAZY shootout goal. Poor Staffy, he also beat Mr. Brick Wall, but no one remembers that. They only remember the feeling of "Uhhhh...... Tallinder?" followed very closely after by "WOOOOOOO!!!!! TALLINDER!!!!! " Oh man, I have never loved a hockey goal more. Ok, that's not true, this goal and Pommer's OT in 2006 can duke it out for supremacy.

Honorable mention goes to TEPPO for his return on Sunday, but that game was meaningless to everyone but Teppo and Thibault basically.

There ya have my top 10. Any thing you feel I left out? Any moments are higher or lower on your list?