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+

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

by Anne

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

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

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

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

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

Sabres at Panthers! 7:30!

Whoa New Formatting

by Anne

Blogger has gone all crazy and updated their post editor. Maybe that's why Blogger was down for part of this afternoon? Regardless, I'm taking advantage of this new editor right now whilst I blog.

• I need to stop obsessing over my fantasy team. Ok, obsessing is a bit strong, but I need to stop making minor, unimportant roster moves that will ultimately make only a minimal amount of difference for my team in the long run
  

• I can add background color to my text Oooooooooo. Ahhhhhhhh. See that? blue and gold. I'm so. damn. clever.
  

• Waive Nathan Paetsch, please? I understand he can play forward AND defense like a crazy magician and whatnot but what we really need are seven strong defensemen and even though Tyler Myers has only played in one NHL game, he's making a strong case for staying put. I would dump Paetsch to keep Myers up here in a heartbeat.
  

• As far as the forwards go: as much as it saddens me, I can accept that Danny Paille has been deadweight this pre-season and, if anyone should go, it should probably be him. :(
  

• Bucky Gleason tossed out the idea of waiving Matt Ellis but that's a terrible idea and I think he just said it to spark discussion. Why would they waive the hardest working guy on the team? A fourth line of Mair - Ellis - Kaleta sounds good to me. They have the grind and the drive and have even been known to contribute 5-10 goals each. I'll take that as a fourth line any day.
  

• Dominic Moore has landed himself in Florida. He apparently had a broken wrist last season which he broke just after joining the Sabres. Great, take up that roster spot and play only to partial effectiveness when Kennedy could've been given a better shot at the NHL, good, great, thanks Dom.
  

• The NHL should participate in the Olympics after 2010. Gary Bettman is doing a lot of damage by saying they won't. The kinds of problems this will cause in the 2013-2014 season aren't 100% clear but rest assured that there will be plenty of them.
  

• Hopefully the Canucks will start winning tonight, now that they're playing at home.
  

• Dustin Brown strained a gluteal muscle and sat out of practice on Sunday. I don't have anything to comment about it, I just wanted to say that Dustin Brown strained his butt. My name is Anne and I am extremely immature.
  

• Another good thing about this Blogger editor update is that it now lists the publishing time as the time you hit "Publish Post" as opposed to when you started writing the blog. Sweeeeet.
  

I Adore Matt Ellis

by Anne

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

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

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

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

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

I love this blingee:

Wooo Matty!

Happy Day!

by Anne

Thoughts on development camp later.

There are more pressing and exciting things to discuss!!

The Sabres have signed my beloved Matt Ellis to a one-year contract!!!

Hoooray!!

I really love Matty's work ethic, his nose to the grindstone style and his often timely and unexpected goal production. Happy things!! One out of two requests for our UFAs isn't so bad.

:)

Hey, now we have twelve forwards on the roster!

Also in other happy funtimes news:

The Penguins have signed Jay McKee to a one year contract! *confetti!*

ETA: Apparently its not officially a signing. Its just an offer. Sigh.

ETAA: Now its official!!

If we can't have Keezer back in Buffalo, I'm happy he's back on one of my favorite teams.

Ohh...
Ummmm...



That's a little better.

Although, in not such happy news, Big Czech Al signed with the Rangers . :/

Boo.

Meh.

So far its been a pretty grand day. Development camp was fun. One more day, then I'm sure I'll offer some completely BRILLIANT insights on the week's events.

Woo!

A Plea.

by Anne

All this talk of contract extension, etc. being offered to many players makes me sad. Why, you ask? Because my team has not yet done anything about re-signing the only two UFAs I'm terribly fond of:

Jaroslav "Sissy" Spacek

Matt "I'm totally sweet" Ellis
I'm not sure if my addition of the mustache will help but I figure it can't hurt

I can haz both of them back next season? :)

Deep Breaths

by Anne

This week has been not so great. I haven't slept enough and I hate oversleeping and missing classes and I did that on Wednesday, stupid Pirates game.

The game last night certainly did not help. I really tried to not pay attention, and I was very successful. As the game progressed, the power play music became more of an insult than something to get fired up about. I guess the only positive you can take away from that game is that, even though we failed to convert on like 10 power plays, at least we didn't give up any shorties.

What is with putrid losses that boosts sales? We were shut out by the Preds one night this season and I made a killing and last night I did even better.

How ironic is it that we were all saying "Uh-oh, Gaustad and Vanek are our top two guys in front of the net on the power play, this might be a problem." and the very first game without both of them has THAT many penalties. Cruel cruel fate. We would've won that game 5-1 if Vanek or Goose had been there, I feel pretty confident about that statement.

Speaking of Van, Thomas Vanek is an excellent hockey player, there's no question about that, he builds plays, scores goals and plays in all situations, he's a complete player. If he hit more, it'd be even better. However, for all that he brings to the table, he is not this entire team. Although, its hard to prove that he's not a HUGE part of what makes this team work. When he's on, the team is on, when he's off... ::shudder:: You can't say "We've won without him" because the truth of the matter is, we haven't. He's played in almost 300 straight games. Lose or win, he's been there.

Nathan Gerbe was fine last night, I guess, but really, no one was paying attention to him.except for that one really awesome hit. The rest of the team was such a mess, how was he supposed to step up and get anything done? He's a rookie playing in his like seventh game, he needs leadership that he wasn't getting.

Ok, another positive I take away from this is that Matt Ellis is one of the guys being pegged to take the crease on the power play. He's come a long way from being put on waivers twice in his career. He hasn't by any means established a permanent presence on this team, but he's been one of our most consistent players this season, especially since being called back up. After seeing what a d-bag Mike Ryan was the other night, this #37 is my favorite in recent memory. Sorry MJ.

Also, completely unrelated to hockey, this whole Chris Brown allegedly beating down Rihanna thing really bothers me. Unless you're playing hockey, hitting is never the answer. I like his music and I had one of his songs as my default ring tone on my phone. I listen to my iPod non-stop on campus, and everytime one of his songs came on, my stomach would turn, so that constant little "ugh" hasn't been helping my mood. Fortunately I've changed my ringtone and taken all of his songs off my iPod.

Anyway, it was just one awful gutcheck of a game and the team will bounce back. Unfortunately their next opponent is San Jose. We're still in the playoff picture and one loss, no matter how painful is not going to de-rail an entire season. A bad power play doesn't mean bad even strength play. It was bad timing for a game like that with our power play being so slapdash.

Reggie is back and Doof is headed back to Portland. See ya, Doof!

It'll get better. It might get worse first, but it will get better.

ETA: Good. The AHL took notice that what happened in the Pirates game with Gerbe was baloney, and have suspended the other player, Tim Conboy for sucker punching him. Take THAT, crappy AHL officiating.

What a Ridiculous Day

by Anne

Today was pretty awesome.

It required a great deal of logistical planning on my part. Basically I had to do half of my normal getting ready for work routine at 11:00 am instead of 3:00 pm because the Sabres and Bulls had to be homers and play in the afternoon.

That Sabres game today was highly enjoyable, I must say. For those keeping track, my 3rd jersey is 3-1 when watching a game at home... cuz I can't wear it to any games.

Matt Ellis was THIS close to having a hat trick. Matt. Ellis. He seems like such a genuinely likable and hard-working guy, the kind of guy you can really feel good about cheering for. He's proud to be a Sabre and he wants to stay here. His recent interview with The Sabres Show, coupled with his career-high performance this afternoon makes this one heck of a weekend for Mr. Ellis.

I like Matt Ellis because he's doing exactly what all players should do: he's playing for his job. Matt Ellis knows that if Matt Ellis doesn't play his absolute best and eat minutes and play a solid game, he watches the game from the press box or he gets a ticket back to Portland. Clearly he doesn't want that, so he's playing to stay in the NHL. Can you imagine the difference in this team if all players played that way? This recent calling out of top players has definitely reflected that attitude: play like you want this job and you'll keep it. Play with apathy and Lindy just might start being a little bit apathetic about your ice time. Basically Matt Ellis is the hero of Buffalo today.

Ryan Miller had no business making some of those saves. Like, straight up, how did he do some of those? Much like the "Did Gaustad or Pominville tap in that rebound?" debate, my feeling is basically the same: I don't care how it happened, I'm just glad it did. He was sprawling around and flailing and throwing the glove around like he's Scott Hartnell (click on the link if you've never seen it).

Excellent game with some unusual injuries. Britney, as Cory put it "Who gets injured on a pass?" I'm sure it just hit a nerve or something and just stung a little and you're fine, but yeesh. Reggie, uhhhh, I hope you enjoy your new life as lead soprano for the BPO chorus.

So, tonight I experienced my very first Bandits game. It was.... different.

First of all, the completely different structure of the quarters completely changes the way I sell food and beverage. I sell wwwaaayyyy more in the seats than I do during Sabres games which means I was VASTLY unprepared for the demand I was faced with. Couple this with the fact that there are TONS of kids and Bandits games, and I made out like, well, a bandit.

Also, its wwwwaaaaaaaayyyy hotter because the building is not 60 degrees like it is during a hockey game.

I have no idea what the rules of lacrosse are but I can now name at least 4 Buffalo Bandits and I am happy to report that they won 15-11. Yay!

UB lost today :( I didn't watch much of the game, but what I did see was decent. We made it farther than anyone thought we would and those boys have nothing to feel bad about.

Today's win and Pittsburgh's loss puts us in 7th and the Pens in 9th. I know this will be meaningless by, like, tomorrow, but its just a snapshot to see how the Pens are struggling lately.

Later today, we will be posting a very special commemorative post, as today, January 4, 2009, Sabretooth's House turns 1 whole year old. Awwwww.

Buffalonians Are Batshit Crazy

by Anne

Even though there were like 97 feet of snow on the ground with 200 foot snowdrifts at 127 mph winds there were really not that many empty seats as fans trickled in during the first period.

I actually did better in sales than I did at the last game so I can't really complain.

Driving in was MADNESS. I left at 4:30 and got there at 5:30 which was half an hour earlier than I needed to be there but still, normally it takes 20 minutes to get from Kenmore to the Arena. Truth be told, the only place I really got stuck was the Sportservice parking lot.

57 people called in "sick" tonight. I happened to see my manager Bill just before he heard that (at that moment) 57 people called in. There might have been more after that. Yikes. There were lots of stands that were not open because the concessions people were not there. Also, a lot of the ushers in the 300s were people I'd never seen before.

That game was pretty wicked sweet.

There were TONS of people in Guelph Storm jerseys and it took me a little while to figure out why until I saw that one of them said "Doughty" on the back. Uhhh sorry the game was so one-sided.

WERE YOU ALL AS EXCITED AS I WAS THAT MATT GREENE AND I WERE BREATHING THE SAME AIR?

I accidentally let out a little "yeah!" when Greener bowled over Ales Kotalik and then knocked Patty into next week into the boards. Then I felt a little bad about it. Oh yeah, and remember that power play we scored on? Yyyeeeahhh that was the one where Greener was called for interference... oops.

Nice to see both Butler and Ellis get points in their first game since being called up. I loved the supreme effort Adam Mair used to put the puck in the next for his goal. Butler had a great effort to keep the puck in the zone and a nice pass to Mairsy who was literally in the crease. His shot was like "Get. in. the. NET!" and it did. I was more than a little sad that they declared Royzie's "goal" was unassisted and took away Toni and Millsy's assists. Lol.

It was nice to see Grizz had some hustle and scored a goal. I can't believe Royzie was 19 assists btw, when did that happen? Well done, sir.

Forty saves is a pretty darn good night, Mr. Miller. You rock.

This man is about to regret getting out of bed this morning...


Ok, let me get this straight.
I stand here next to this big dude with the funny legs and I hold this stick thing.
When that black thing is near me, I try to put it in that little netting covered thingy.


Ah, Christopher, welcome to the funny face club.

ETA: I forgot like 12 things.

1. I sawJason LaBarbera tossing a football around before the game. Yo. He is wicked tall. It says he's 6'3" but he seems even taller

2. MK was in attendance at the game. This makes her 1-567-0 while actually in attendance at games. She was pretty excited that they won.

3. I'm nervous about Kaleta :/ Dennis Gauthier (who has a neck thicker than most people's thighs, btw) is a jerk. At first when I saw Gauthier hitting Kaleta I thought Patty was just being passive in not fighting as he has in the past until I saw the replay. :(

Okay maybe it was only 3 things.

If Finals Weren't Over, I'd Probably Be Digging My Car Out Right Now

by Anne

Not that colleges are THAT cruel, I mean, UB did close when there were downed power lines... but only because the power was out in the gym so the basketball team couldn't play and the Asian students couldn't read by candlelight. Seriously, if you live on North Campus you can thank the Asian students for all the perks.

Anyway, I love snow. I love waking up and looking out my window and being unable to see anything resembling the actual ground upon which we walk.

MK (obviously) had school canceled today and she was pretty excited at the thought last night. I can't imagine much more would've gotten accomplished today, the last day of school before break. We all know how bouncing off the wall kids are the day before a break. Add to that cookies and candy and parties and stuff and its just that much crazier. So a day off works for everyone, I think.

My dog's vet appointment was canceled today so we'll have to wait to see if his meds are working for him. He's celebrating by frolicking in the snow and rolling over so I'll rub his tummy. Yeah, he's reeeeeeeeeal sick.

Tonight's game will be really interesting. Will people come? They were already having trouble selling tickets (you can still get lower bowl center ice behind the penalty box tickets)and with this weather, there will be a LOT of empty seats. Meaning it will probably cost me more in gas money to get to the game than I will make working the game. Boo. Maybe Matt Greene will score a goal for my benefit...?

Goose is hurt and will not play tonight :(

I'm looking forward to seeing what Butler has to offer the team tonight. We haven't been as excited about him as Kennedy and Gerbe, but I'm looking forward to see why Darcy decided to sign him and give him the shot over Weber. My theory on him getting tapped is first to see how he fares in a real high paced NHL game and because we really cannot afford Weber's penchant for taking copious penalties. He had 9 PIM in 2 games and that doesn't sound too bad but I recall his pre-season penalty stats to be well above average. He was a +12 in 16 games last year and -2 in 2 games this year. Butler has 12 pts (2+1) with 14 PIM, -3 and 50 SOG and Weber has 4 points (0+4), (get this) 68 PIM, +3, 22 SOG in 26 games.

Wow. I just let my dog in from outside and could barely open and close the door because the snow has blown up so high against the door. Yikes.

Moms and I are baking away up in here, peeps. We're working on my favorite cookies next, so it requires my full and undivided attention!!

Ok, but honestly, if I can't get to work how mad will I be that the first time in forever Matthew Greene comes to Buffalo and I won't be able to be there? haha. Lovely.

What a way to welcome the LA Kings to Buffalo. Hahaha, we ordered it up especially for you, Kings.

I kind of hope no one comes to the game tonight so I can chillax and just like hangout and watch the game with like 30 other fans in the 300s. If I'm not going to make any money, I'd at least like to be able to watch the game.

Woooooooooooooo!!!!!! I'm sure there will be like 5 more posts today as I wait around for the scary drive downtown. The game will be played as scheduled, FYI.

Whoa, Ok I've Calmed Down... BUT JUST A LITTLE

by Anne

That game went from zero to 60 in 4 minutes. That's terrible for a car but AWESOME for a hockey game.

CAN YOU IMAGINE HOW AWFUL THE FLIGHT TO COLORADO WOULD'VE BEEN IF WE'D LOST 3-2, THEREBY MAKING RYAN MILLER'S "GOAL" THE GAME WINNER? WHAT A TENSE PLANE. I'm glad he can laugh about it. Every goalie has something like that happen to him at some point in his career, thankfully it wasn't a crucial or pivitol game and we won anyway, so he can laugh about it:

"That was about the most embarrassing thing I've ever done in my life," Miller said. "I took my eye off it to see where I could put it, and when I looked back the puck wasn't where I thought it would be. So I tried to backhand it, and a guy kind of hit my stick.

"I figured if I played long enough I'd make the blooper reel."

Ha. Its ok, Ryan, we still love you. We know you're just trying to make sure your teammates are working their absolute hardest. Thanks for thinking of the team, Ryan.*fist bump*.

That fake Stafford did and then shifting to the backhand was just cruel. That was just mean, and SWEEEEEET. :) As S(h)ara texted me, the brontosaurus is TOTALLY trying to win me back, and it just might work, Drew, it just might work.

Derek's gotten over the first goal hump, now we need Max and Danny to net one each and then its on to the injured boys once they come back to us.

Paetsch did well, he's not Craig Rivet, but that initial shot from the blue line set up Adam Mair beautifully. He had 1 point (0+1) and 2 hits in roughly 14 and a half minutes of ice time. Not bad, Patches, not bad. Its good to know we have depth we can rely on, even if its only been one game.

It's really great that we've rallied to overcome 2 goal deficits three times in a row, but not getting those 2 goal deficits would be even sweeter. IT WAS STILL AWESOME THOUGH.

Matt Ellis, well DONE on the faceoffs, sir, WELL DONE. 83%, winning 5 of 6? I'll take it. Thanks for being good at those! Mairsy, 60% is excellent as well. WOO!

Seeing Pommer as -1 with 0 pts makes me feel a little uneasy inside. Poor boy must be completely lost without Goose and Yoyo.

Who isn't in love with the Roysie-Staffy-Vanek line right now? 6 points among them last night: each player had a goal and an assist and a combined +/- of +7.

I'm pretty sure we won because my Wild WCB, Owen Nolan, is injured and will probably return to playing this weekend.

So, who got the pigeon? Royzie is my vote, for getting his first goal, the game winner and because I really want to know where he got that hat he was wearing in his interview with the goofy design on the front. Derek Roy probably rocks that hat post-game because he's vain, but I appreciate not having to watch sweat drip off of his ears. Thanks, Royzie!

In other Eastern Conference news: The Carolina Hurricanes were nursing a 1-0 lead through 2 periods until the Penguins remembered how to play hockey and had a 4 goal third period and won the game 4-1. The winner of this "Battle of the Staals": Jordan.

MOVING ON:

WCB Watch

Dallas at NYI

Marty Turco won a game!!!! Ok, well the Dallas Stars won a game, but Marty helped! He stopped 24 of 27 shots to give the Stars, and himself, a much needed win.

MY LOVE CAN MOVE MOUNTAINS AND CLOSE UP FIVE HOLES.

Also, what a night Mike Ribeiro had! First goal of the season and 4 assists. Impressive.

Yeeeehaw!

Calgary at Nashville

The Predators went up 3-1 after the 2nd. Things weren't looking good for Cap'n Jarome, but the Flames kept their wits about them and IGGY SCORED A HAT TRICK TO LIFT HIS TEAM TO A 5-3 VICTORY!!! He had 3 goals on 3 shots, haha, yay!!

YAY!!!

Dumont had 1 assist and was -2 for the evening. Alas. When my boys play each other, one must come up short. :(

Yay!!!

Edmonton at Colorado

Avs win 4-1 after Edmonton scored the inital PPG in the first period. Oilers WCB, Ethan Moreau had 6 shots on goal and 0 pts.

Avalanche WCB, JM Liles had 4 blocked shots and lead the team in ice time with 22:02. Woo! The Avs have now won 4 straight.

Washington at Phoenix

Peter Mueller scored his 3rd of the season, the game winner over Ovie and the Caps! WOOO!!

Hooray!!

Tomorrow night we face Ryan Miller's BFF, and my Avs WCB, JM Liles in Colorado. All 30 teams are playing on Saturday, therefore, the NHL is calling it "Super Saturday". We have to lose in regulation SOMETIME.