This iz unacksetptible

by Oscar

Dear Sabrez,

I haz a complaint for yoo.

When yoo winz hockee gamez, my Mommy makez me do vicktoree dancez.

I haz now had to do 20 victoree dancez this seezon. I doesn't apreesheeate dat, Sabrez. Espeshully yoo, Ryan Miller.

Love,
Oscar

Dear Pat Kaleta and frendz,

My Mommy made up a noo dance just for yoo.

Also, Danny Paille, Drew Stafford, Tim Connolly and Thomas Vanek have dancez. My Mommy iz mentally unstable if she iz making a kitteh do dancez after a hockee game. Danny Paille playz for the Brewinz and she still makez me do it. But not for Sissay. She iz mad dat he left for Montreeall, whatever dat iz.

Pleez stop skoring goalz and looze moar gamez.

Love,
Oscar

Dear Kingz,

My Mommy doesn't make me doo dancez when yoo win. But just in kase, pleaz keep loozing gamez like yoo did last nite agenst the Canuckz.

Thank yoos.

Love,
Oscar

I tried to hide but she founded me.

I did dancez.

It wuz terruhbull

Wheee!

by Anne

Thursday's Sabres game was totally awesome and just FLEW by. There were so few stoppages in play, that we were all to our cars by 9:30. I wasn't really complaining.

The Sabres won 6-2 to improve to 16-7-2 on the season. Wooo! Goals were scored by Grizz, Pommer, Royzie, Kennedy, Reggie and Mikey. Tim Kennedy needs a boss nickname, stat. Yes, boss.

I swear to you the entire first period was played in front of Jaroslav Halak. They just awarded the Habs three shots on goal out of pity.

All in all the game was pretty much all Sabres. It's kind of a miracle that the Habs even managed to score two goals.

On the downside, Sir Christopher sprained his ankle while stooping as a lady passed or something and might miss some time. Lindy implied that it didn't seem to be too bad, but that was just what he thought, there was no official word. We have 89 defensemen so I think we'll be ok. Also, this might give Sir Christopher a chance to sit down for a while and look at his game to see what he can improve upon.

Myers and Tallinder were both +3, Vanek had the most points with 3 (0+3) while playing on  a line with Kennedy and Grier which has shown some life as that line produced six points and was a +5. Pommer, Sekera and Grier each had a goal and an assist. Patty K fought his old BFF Paul Mara. I didn't see that one because if it happens in the last couple minutes of a period, I'm not going to see it, generally.

Teammate: Dude, I think they're underage

Monty: Yeah but HOW underage we talking? Like Dakota Fanning underage or like Miley Cyrus underage?

Reggie's face screams: "I LOVE YOU MAN."

The Kings beat the Senators to improve to 17-10-2. Anytime the Senators lose is a good time, especially when one of my teams beats them. The game was all-in-all in the Senators favor in every area except the scoreboard. The Kings never once gave up the lead and improve to 11-0-0 when leading after two. Dewey scored the game winner on an assist from Kopi who needs to start scoring, if only for my fantasy team.

Wayne Simmonds scored on the Kings' first penalty shot of the season and Brad Richardson, aka RichardFAIL, my least favorite member of the Los Angeles Kings, actually scored his second goal in as many games. Gross but good but mostly gross. Why isn't Oscar Moller up in Los Angeles yet this season? Bench Purcell, find a way to call up Moller!

Lovely jeté, Scooter

Dewey was the game's first star and he gave a stick to this kid.

I'm not sure what stick that is, but he sure looks happy about it.

Dewey uses Easton sticks, and that appears to be a souvenir stick.

Whatevs.

I'm not sure if Dewey or that kid is happier.

I didn't write about the Kings' game the other night, the first of the Freeway Faceoff because I was tired but they played a solid game and won 4-3. They played much better in Anaheim than they did against Ottawa but they won both and that's all that matters.

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!

Phew, they finally won!

by Anne

The Vancouver Canucks, who roared out to an almost undefeated preseason, quickly fell to 0-3 to start the season, much to the dismay of their fans both near and far.

Last night was the team's last ditch effort to avoid starting 0-4 for the first time in franchise history.

Bobby Lu, in spite of his usual October doldrums was given the start against the Montreal Canadiens who had started the season well.

All was not too swell in Vancouver land, the Canadiens were dominating play early on, and things looked like they might go the way of the first three games.

That is until Ryan Kesler decided to say "Yo, screw this baloney." and scored a goal. Then Mason Raymond followed suit as did Henrik Sedin (twice), Alex Burrows, Mikael Samuelsson and, adding his first goal of the season (on the power play of course):

Big Bear!

:)

It was a really effective power play, and Big Bear was the recipient of a beautiful series of passes among him and the Sedins. Of course the analysts (as usual) gave all credit to Heniel and Danrik. Whatevs, Big Bear put the biscuit in the basket and that's all that matters to me.

The Canucks crushed teh Canadiens 7-1 in Carey Price's first game in his home province of British Columbia. I don't like the Habs or Carey Price but I feel bad for the kid, ever since last season, he hasn't had it easy in Montreal. In all honesty, a lot of those goals Price had little to no support from his D, and as much as people try to use that as an excuse for why their goaltender gave up seven goals, it's true, there were some definite defensive screw ups on the part of Montreal. Yes, even Sissy, who was in front of the next when Burrows scored.

Also! Yesterday Kevin Bieksa and his wife welcomed their second baby into the world, a little girl named Reese. Congrats! Reese and sleep deprivation appear to be Kevin Bieksa's secret weapons as he picked up an assist in last night's win. 

I didn't want to talk about it but the Pens were shutout by the Phoenix Coyotes.

The only positive I can take from that game is that Ilya Bryzgalov is on my fantasy team. Woo? I'm not really worried about the Pens, Brent Johnson played well in the backup role, including an absolutely sensational glove save on Shane Doan in close. I'm not worried, they'll be fine. Getting shutout is a bit stressful, but they'll be fine.

Enough about those other teams, my one true loves FINALLY play again tonight. Oh wait, they're playing those same Coyotes who shutout the PENS? Uhhh, well, on the plus side, they played last night and the Sabres haven't played since Saturday. Also Jason LaBarbera might start in net. Well, they might start Bryz because he's on a hot streak and he's a workhorse, like our very own netminder. Regardless, I'm benching him because I can't find any reason to cheer against the Sabres or take joy in their loss. Although, if they lose, it would give me another W in the column... NO ANNE, NO. Bench Bryz for tonight. It doesn't matter.

Puck drops at 7:00. I will not be in attendance as I have recently been diagnosed with tonsillitis and would prefer to not infect my fellow employees or the fans. :(

THE SABRES WILL NEVER WIN AGAIN

by Anne

Calm down.

We lost a very close well-fought game. It was the FIRST GAME of the season. Think we all know that the Sabres are not going to win every single game. They got a point.

Wait! Hold on! Yes! Read that again: THEY GOT. A. POINT. BECAUSE IT'S A GAME THAT MEANT SOMETHING! Yay!!!

The pace of the first period was absolutely bananas. HSBC Arena was rockin'. People were so excited about the season, the energy was infectious.

It does stink that they lost. I would have, of course, loved it if they had won, but they didn't. They have almost a week to get ready for the next game. I'm not sure why there's such a large space of time between games 1 and 2, but that's the way the NHL sliced it.

As per usual, I can't comment too much on games at home but from what I saw, JBG had a few good moments. A few moments where he remembered that he's a giant and used his size to his advantage along the boards to get the puck out.

I'm glad that Tim Kennedy picked a new number. It makes him seem all grown up. :') He got the loudest cheer during the intros which were pretty sweet.

The Canucks lost and were shut-out. Ouch.

The Pens won! Sid scored, as did John Tavares with his first NHL goal. Woo!

I'm writing this while listening to the Kings game. They're losing 6-3. They scored all three goals on the powerplay. Therefore, the Kings just need to play the entire season with a man advantage and they'll have success. Good plan? Yes?

They lost.

Anyway, on to something you won't read anywhere else:

For those new to the blog, I work at HSBC Arena. I get to go to all the Sabres home games for free. In fact I get paid to be there. The downside is that i don't get to just sit and watch the entire game, I see only about half of the actual hockey that's played. The major perk is things like the story I'm about to tell.

FYI: When you enter the Arena from the security entrance you go left to head towards the SportService offices and the Zambonis. If you go right, which we are not permitted to do, you get to the locker rooms. Never the two shall meet.

I was running late to begin with, I'm supposed to be there at 5:30 but I rolled in about 5:35, dropped off my bag and headed to punch in. Unnnfortunately, my card was not there to punch in. I had to head down to the office to sign-in. On the way back I decided I would look for my card one more time.

So I head to where the cards are, right next to the elevator, and whom do I see, just chillin' in front of the time cards, looking all crazy tall and introspective listening to his iPod? Paul Gaustad. Completely random. I've never seen a player in that part of the Arena. The closest is around the bend behind a door where we can't see them, they play ping pong and we can hear them sometimes.

I actually had to move around him to get to the cards. I was like "Oh, do you need help punching in? Do you guys have to do that now? That's odd. My, you have skinny legs."

Anyway, that was random and funny.

World's most awkward high-five, FTW

And finally, we see the revelation of the evening. Mike Grier suddenly remembers why he left Buffalo in the first place:

Sissy's in the line-up

by Anne

While perusing the Canadiens website, my worst fears were confirmed: Sissy will be suiting up tonight against the Sabres. :(

He's still wearing #6.




I miss mah Sissy.

He's been playing well for the Habs. He has three points (1+2) in the Habs four pre-season games. Tonight's is their last and they're apparently heading to Toronto to hang out and bond. Why Toronto? I'm pretty sure the Maple Leafs fans won't be overjoyed to spot them out and about on Yonge Street.

I don't feel well. I blame Sissy.

WHY?

by Anne

I knew it was coming but it doesn't make it suck any less.

Sissy's leaving me :(

I'm really way too sad about this.

How could you leave me here with THEM?!

So sad.

He's a smelly old Hab.

They won't appreciate is abruptness and caveman tendencies.

I will miss mah Sissy.

???? Guy Carbonneau Fired???

by Anne

I did NOT see this coming.

Guy Carbonneau was fired as the head coach of the Montreal Canadiens and GM Bob Gainey will replace him behind the bench.

Sooo some of your players have off ice distractions, your top player needs a timeout and your wunderkind goaltender is doubling as a sieve and so you fire the coach?

Happy Centennial!

ETA: For those keeping track, that's now 140 coaches fired since Lindy began his tenure in Buffalo.

Uhhhh...

by Anne

By now you've probably noticed a trend with my postings. If we win, I basically post immediately. If we lose, I put off my next post until at least the middle of the next day, sometimes later.

That game just imploded in the last few minutes and I couldn't bear to watch their second empty net goal.

On the bright side, Mike Richards got his first career five point night.

The Kings lost last night 4-2. However, they were playing the Sharks so the loss is not as hard to take.

Fortunately there was one silver lining to last night. The Canucks beat Ottawa at home, 5-2 after kicking things off with a 4-0 lead.

The Burrows and Sedin line was all over the place and came up with nine points and a combined +7. Henrik had a four point night (1+3), Daniel two (1+1) and Burr three (1+2). Bieksa and Pavol Demitra scored the other two goals.

Burr was the triplet all along?

My cousin Jimmy aka James will be at my house this weekend so I have a sneaking suspicion there may be a guest post.

If you haven't heard about the stuff going down in Montreal off the ice having to do with hookers, the mafia and alcohol, check it out here. No, its not a joke, there really is stuff going on with hookers, the mafia and alcohol involving at least three Canadiens' players. Ah, just what they needed when Kovalev is self-destructing, Carey Price is floundering through sophomore growing pains and Vinny Lecavalier trade rumors are still swirling, all during the team's centennial when they felt they were destined by the hockey gods to win their 25th Stanley Cup. I'm taking a sick amount of happiness out of watching the smug smiles being wiped off of their faces.

Does This Mean We Have to Lose to Ottawa?

by Anne

Two divisional games down this week, one to go. 2-0 on the week. I'm as happy as a clam.

Unfortunately, of the many many back to back Friday/Saturday games we've had this season, we have never won both of those games. Not once. Therefore, if tradition holds we will lose tomorrow in Ottawa. Great. That's great. Looking forward to it.

Tonight's game had just the right amount of suspense and excitement to keep you hooked for 60 minutes. A not so hot first period was shaken from our memories when Spacek's shot from the blueline 27 seconds in turned out to be the shot that opened scoring.

The Sabres only fired 22 shots on net but Jesus Price was only able to stop 19 of them, so that's all that really mattered in the end.

Paetsch was playing forward...? I was surprised to see him out there considering that would've given us 7 defensemen, but I suppose that throwing him on the wing to fill in a gap left by Goose wasn't a bad idea considering he's been playing decently the past few games. The gamble paid off as Paetsch was able to score his 2nd of the season.

Timmy's goal started with a lot of luck and ended with a lot of skill. That was a lucky bounce off of the net/Carey Price, right to Timmy and a little stickhandling later the puck was in the net and turned out to be the game-winning goal.

It appears my jersey countning luck-bringing streak is at an end. I counted Pommer v. Royzie and Pommer won 17-13. However, while Pommer played a fine game, he did not respond in the way Timmy, TV and Millsy have to their head to head jersey battle victories. Alack and fie.

Dear Dallas Stars,

Thank you for beating the New York Rangers, but 10-2 is OUR score, not yours. Please get your own crazy blow-out total.

Love,
Anne

I came to work late because the traffic on Delaware was awful for some reason. When I come late, I always see players from the opposing team. Today it was Mike Komisarek almost knocking me in the face with a soccer ball. I also saw Maxim Lapierre (mmmmm) and Chris Higgins (?) I'm not sure if it was Chris or not, but I'm pretty sure it was.

Post-game I saw Goose. I'm happy to report he does not have any appendages in slings, casts or neck braces, so that's a good sign.

We're currently tied for 6th with Philly, but the downside to that is, while we have 28 wins to Philly's 26, they also have three games in hand.

I've been hoping for the Sabres to get a solid center to help a playoff run at the deadline, or maybe that elusive puck moving defensemen. This may not be an issue if Timmy can survive, but ya never know... The amazing irony is that there is a top line center that's practically without a home these days as his current team has no room for him while he recovers from surgery. If he heals and rehabs according to schedule, he should be back to game shape by the trade deadline. His salary is a little hefty but if we trade Max and maybe another spare part, we'd have room for him. He'd play great in our system and would be great centering Hecht and Pommer the way Danny Briere did.

That center that would work out as well as Danny Briere? Yeah it is Danny Briere.

The Flyers are in a really tough spot with Daniel. They're playing really really well without him and in order to put him back in the lineup they'd have to clear some serious cap space. That's probably what they'll have to do because it'll be difficult to find a taker for him with that contract.

I know its not going to happen but let me daydream a little.

I was heartbroken (and in Italy) when we lost Danny and I've never moved on. I'm totally over losing Drury and I'm basically over losing Soupy. However, I'm still not over losing Jay McKee and Danny. I'm pretty sure that bringing Briere back wouldn't bring back the regular season success of his last tour of duty in Buffalo, but its a pipe dream I've had for the last year or so that becomes less and less ideal with each passing game.

Whatevs, enough about Danny-Boy. Sabres win 3-2 and move to a tie for 6th and only three points behind 4th place Montreal. Woooo!!!

Picture of the Game:

Timmy looks not unlike Oscar does when he jumps in the tub and there's still water in it
He can't get his toes wet

Wear Red to Support the Habs- I Mean, the Heart

by Anne

Sabres fans are encouraged to wear red tonight to support awareness for heart disease in women. Heart disease being by far the #1 killer of women in the United States. However, the only way this could be a more awkward color choice is if we were playing the Caps who boat the sentence-not-a-sentence slogan of "Red is Caps Hockey."

For those keeping score, the Montreal Canadiens colors are RED, blue and white. Fortunately and quite obviously the Habs will be wearing mostly white tonight as they visit HSBC Arena. I hope all the red doesn't give Sabres fans a complex about a lack of local support. On the other hand, I really hope people come out and wear red and donate and all that jazz.

I thought we had played better against the Habs this season, but to date we are 1-2 against hem, our only win being our home opener. However, all the games have been one goal decisions, so this should be a close game.

Remember how sicknasty the Habs were on the power play last season, particularly in the second half? That is most certainly not the case this season.The Habs are currently ranked 22nd in the league in power play percentage and 11th in penalty kill. Yowzas. But, they're still ahead of us, so let's not take them lightly.

Their leading goal scorer Robert Lang(!) is out for the season after severing his achilles tendon. Hey, Goose came back from that injury in the playoffs, it could happen for you to Langer! Interestingly, Lang has only 18 goals on the season, yet leads the team in goals. Thus proving they must be getting goals from all throughout their line-up in order to be in the position they're in.

Truth be told, we only have one player who has more than 20 goals. Here's some fun trivia: if you combined the goals scored this season by Maxim Afinogenov (2), Dan Paille (5) and Jochen Hecht (6) it totals 13. Thirteen also happens to be the difference between how many goals our #2 goal scorer, Derek Roy (19), has scored and how many Thomas Vanek (32) has scored this season. Thirteen is also the difference between the total number of goals the Sabres have scored this season (156) and the number of goals scored against us (143).

Thomas Vanek and Ryan Miller are duking it out for Sabres season MVP at the moment.

Oh yeah and:

"Buffalo (27-20-5) is battling for its third straight playoff appearance and sits seventh in the Eastern Conference with 59 points, just five behind fourth-place Montreal (29-16-6)."

Nope.

Honestly, Associated Press. That is pathetic researching. I'm now going to time how long it takes me to open NHL.com and click on last year's standings. 23 seconds. That is also including me accidentally picking 2006-2007 instead of 2007-2008 and I have a fairly crappy internet connection. In case you're unclear on what I'm talking about, the Buffalo Sabres finished 10th in the East last season and only the first eight spots make it to the playoffs.

I felt sick today so I went home and decided to cook something. As soon as the dish was in the oven, I realized I felt completely fine. Cooking and hockey (when they win) are both so theraputic sometimes.

I'm Pretty Sure Wii Bowling Has An Age Bias

by Anne

In case you all missed the supremely awesome blog written by my cousin James (aka Jimmy, he goes back and forth), you can read it here. I may print it and frame it. He already told me he wants to post another one and he loves the comments he got so far. He plans on telling everyone how good he is at Wii Bowling. Seriously, this kid literally had his back to the game and got a strike. He's left handed but his Mii was right handed and he beat me every time. Baloney, I say. Spending time with him always reminds me of 2 things: how I can't wait to have a son some day and 2. how glad I am I don't have kids right now. I can fill him up on pop and Christmas cookies and then hand him back over to his mother all wound up and giggling like a loon and saying things about how he's going to go to Montreal and beat up the Canadiens for beating us.

Being a teacher, I was so proud when the Sabres were on the power play he goes "Keep it in the zone!" Ah yes, he's learning so much.

Anyway, was anyone else confused as to why Kovalev was wearing the 'C' tonight? Koivu is hurt, yes, but just because he's hurt does that mean he loses his captaincy temporarily? Craigory is out, but we don't have anyone else wearing the 'C'.

There was some pretty insane offensive pressure at times by the Sabres tonight. Unfortunately Halak was up for the challenge most of the night. Stupid talented young back-up goaltenders and their learning how to control rebounds. I watched Halak in the playoffs last year and he was giving up rebounds like they were sesame chicken and he was standing outside the Panda Express in the mall food court.

Miller made 42 saves and he lost. Sigh. 82 saves on 86 shots over 2 games is good but could we not give up that many shots maybe, boys?

Nice to see Butler get his 2nd point in as many games. He only had 10:38 in ice time tonight, but he finished with a point and +1, but no special teams time.

I really just want to sit down with Derek Roy and company and tell them not to get sticks in shooting lanes. If you're going to block the shot, do it with your body.

That Petey/ Laraque "fight" was completely lame and ineffective. Petey had a grand total of 1:17 minutes of ice time. Wow.

Oh, Georges.

It was a hard fought game and we shouldn't feel too bad about the loss. We got a point out of it but with the standings being so close, one point is all it takes for a team to move up or down these days.

Greener got his 6th assist for 7 points this season (1+6). Oh wait but then they took it away from him. Fear not, my strongly worded letter of protest is making its way to the NHL's official scorer as we speak.

Can we take a moment to discuss that Dmitri Kalinin seems to be doing even worse in New York than he was here? He has 6 points (0+6) and he's a team-worst -16. Remember 2006-2007 when he had 30 points and was like +19? Those were better days for 'Tri.

I did CRAZY Christmas shopping today. Yes, I am insane. Its a yearly tradition for me and my friend Adam to do all of his and most of my Christmas shopping the Saturday before Christmas. Well, this year I cheated and only had 1 person left to shop for today. It was so hot in the mall I couldn't believe it. Then I decided to drink coffee while wearing a sweater and a wool coat. I really planned ahead.

Adam and I kept things entertaining while stuck in traffic by rocking out to a bunch of songs on his phone. We were car dancing like there's no tomorrow. We definitely made a few people laugh with our slick moves. Every few minutes one of us would just yell "CHRISTMAAAAAS!" Its just so funny how mad people get in the name of finding Christmas presents. We had several plans worked out in which we would just abandon my car, take the insurance cards and license plates and just torch it. We figure homeless people could warm themselves by the blaze.

So my shopping is basically finished. Woooooo!!! Now all that's left is wrapping which is really the best part. Does anyone need their Christmas presents wrapped? I love wrapping Christmas presents.

Ahhh It Must Be Almost October

by Anne

Soooo it really must be that time of year again, time for the seasons to start changing, leaves are turning gold, apples are ripening in the orchards, spiced cider is a brewin' on the stove top, and injury reports are dominating the headlines on espn.com.

From the Buffalo end of things, Roscoe Parrish will be out 4 to 6 weeks with a thumb injury. He needs to have surgery to repair a nagging problem that flared up during the fourth quarter of the game against Oakland.

Booooooo. Roscoe is our top return guy so this isn't good. On the plus side, our bye week falls during those 4 to 6 weeks so he'll probably only miss like 4 games, but on the obvious downside, we've lost our top return man. This will be a good test for Leodis McKelvin and James Hardy to show they've earned their jobs in the NFL but stepping up and filling in the role vacated by Roscoe.

Where is this pool and is this an open invitation?!?!

On the hockey front:

Sergei Gonchar of the Pttsburgh Penguins is out "indefinitely" with a separated shoulder he suffered during a pre-season game. Grrrrrrrreat. The Pens defense is getting thinner by the minute.

NOW who is Geno going to pop his collar with and lean awkwardly to the left?

Erik Jonhson, the Blues #1 overall pick in 2006 will miss the entire season because he tore his MCL and ACL. How, you might ask? Hard check? rough collision? Awkward slide into the board? Accidentally getting his foot stuck between the brake and accelerator on a golf cart? Ding ding ding ding!!

Is anyone surprised he's blonde?

Last night during the Montreal/ Detroit pre-season game, Hab Mathieu Carle was knocked unconscious and had to leave the ice on a stretcher. No word yet on his prognosis but anytime you lose consciousness, thats, er um, BAD. Am I right, Timmy?! Timmy?! Aw, come on, Timmy! I was just kidding! Come back! I like this new reckless "smiling" behavior. You're living life on the edge and I LOVE it.

Poor Mathieu.
At least he's cute.
CALL ME DURING YOUR CONVALESENCE, MATHIEU!

And on the Sabres front, Tim Connolly is fine. I KNOW, RIGHT?!?!

Awww Timmers ILU.

Pre-Season Game 2

by Anne

So I couldn't watch the game so I was forced to just listen to it on an ancient radio.

I just wrote these thoughts as they popped into my head.

First Period:

• What the *bleep* happened on that first Montreal goal? Rick seemed totally bumfuzzled

• I squeed more than anticipated when Rick said something like "The rebound is covered up but guess who's right there. If the puck's there, he's there. Nathan Gerbe." or, as I heard it "Anne, your love is justified, Nathan Gerbe is totally legit, even if he's limited your profile so you can't write on his wall and profess your hockeylove, and I keep pronouncing it 'Gerbay' but I'm Rick Jeanneret and you love me, so you're ok with it."

• Drew Stafford, you suck. We had 29 seconds of powerplay and you ruined it. Good luck appearing on my top list this season. WHY MUST YOU TREAT MY HEART WITH SUCH DISREGARD
  

• Sabretooth has been there for three days. Three days?!?! Was he just wandering around? Did he have a hotel room? Did he and Youppi have any comical mascot outings together? Did Rick Martin translate his silent mascot gestures into French for him?
  

• The listener gets the impression Rick Jeanneret can't see much at this arena, he and Harry keep going "Uhhh well, I'm not sure what happened, but play has stopped." "I don't know what the penalty is and they're not speaking English, so we'll have to wait and find out." "I'm not sure who is who when they're skating towards us, they're too far away."

• Patrick Lalime seems like he's doing well for us out there. Obvi, I can't see, but he seems to be coming up big, based on Harry and Rick's commentary. That goal seemed to deflect freakishly off of Tone and Lalime, so you can't really fault him for that. I'm still looking at Mr. Lalalalalime with rose coloured glasses, give it time, Patrick, I might hate you soon, just ask Drew Stafford

• KSylv tells me TIMMY is wearing the C. I didn't see this coming. COME ON. I CAN'T HANDLE THIS SUDDENLY RESPONSBILE, HAPPY AND POTENTIALLY LOVEABLE TIMMY. I need to be ready to hate him in case we lose him soon.
  

• I think Brian Koziol is calling it "Robertval", like its named after a man named Robert
  

Second Period:

• Rick and Harry are talking about hot dogs and the wacky route back to the airport in Chicoutimi and how loved ones of the players shouldn't wait up. I think we get it, Roberval is not exactly a bustling metropolis
  

• I just realized that Gerbe and Roy are on the same line with Max. Who is the muscle on that line? Hahahahaha. Do you think Roysie specifically requested Gerbe? Do you think Max has even noticed he's there?
  

• Harry just went on for a little too long about Gerbe's legs and how great he is, and how he's all over the place. I think Harry has a crush on little Nathan

• Staffy and Sergi KosTITSyn were mixin' it up. Don't bother Staffy, I don't even CARE about him, bother Timmy, who I suddenly and inexplicably care a lot about in a "he's a real hockey player" way, not in a "please just don't kill him" way
  

• On a totally unrelated note, my dream man from one of my classes and I actually carried on a conversation today. It's only small steps to true love
  

• Patches attempted a spin-o-rama and got tripped for his trouble. At least we got the power play
  

• We get our powerplay song in Roberval. Awesome.

• Gerbe on the top power play unit makes me happy

• Big fat nothin' on the PP. I couldn't see him, but in my mind I yelled at Timmy to shoot, just for old time's sake

• Buffalo broke up a 2 on 1? WHAT. Everytime last season I heard the words, "Here comes [insert opposing team here] on a 2 on 1." I knew we were going to get scored on. On the only 2 I've been listening to in these last 2 games, we haven't been scored on. Sweet.

• Harry has declared Mark Mancari is making the line-up. Thus Harry spaketh and thus it was...? I'd be fine with that.

• Lalalalalalime has a great save. Those words are music to my ears.

• A Stafford pass is intercepted. Color. Me. Surprised.

• TONE. DON'T TAKE PENALTIES.

• OH GOD. TIMMY GOT HIT IN THE HEAD WHILE ON THE PENALTY KILL. Oh, phew, Rick has instantly reassured us that Timmy is not hurt, the shot was not that hard.

• O'Byrne sounds like a douchebag. He knocked down Timmers. DON'T HIT TIMMERS. HE'S FRAGILE. THIS IS PRESEASON. STOP IT. HE'S OUR CAPTAIN TONIGHT. I KNOW, RYAN O'BYRNE, I CAN'T BELIEVE IT EITHER! BUT, REGARDLESS, DON'T HIT HIM
  

• Don't hit Roysie either! Geez louise! Sabres are getting taken down left and right.

• Back on the PP. Five forwards. SHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!

• Great, a Montreal short handed goal. Great. Just. Great. Great. Great. Awesome. Wow. Great. Thanks. This is awesome. Great. I hate hockey.

• Come ON already. SCORE.

• Sweet, another PP attempt that will go nowhere

• WOW. Another short handed goal on a 2 ON 1. THIS SUCKS.
  

• I take back all of my predictions for a good season. I'm just battening down the hatches now. I'm a Buffalo sports fan, I don't take our failures lightly
  

• Great. Now we're getting Ole'd on yet another PP that did absolutely nothing

• What a terrible game thus far.

• 0 for 6 with the man advantage. Great. Just. Great.

Third Period:

• I stopped blogging as I listened, so I'll just say WHAT HAPPY DANCING AND LEAPING AND SQUEALING THERE WAS WHEN GERBE SCORED!!!!!!! YAYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!! Can't he make the club right off the bat, please? please?!?!?!!

• I suppose Staffy slightly redeemed himself by making it possible for Derek Roy to score. But he got yet another penalty so he's still just mostly dead to me.

• I don't exactly know what happened with the last face off but I get the impression no one was near the faceoff dot when the ref dropped the puck. I'm sure if I had seen it I'd have more to say so for now I'll just say: "????????????"
  

Over all:

Better than the first game but still not great. Being a Buffalo sports fan, I have now predicted this team to finish 13th in the conference with Atlanta and Florida the only teams behind us.

And tonight I learned that Craig Rivet has a toy poodle apparently named Ted. I love him more with each passing day. That, and because he hasn't played yet.

I really wanted Timmy's debut as Captain to go well. Alack and fie, it did not. Boooooo.


And to answer my previous question, yes apparently Youppi and Sabretooth did have fun mascot-y adventures:

Better to send Sabretooth, Youppi is more than a little terror-inducing, sick children have enough to face without his wacky red hair and dopey expression
Wait, Brian Campbell?

Oy. It's only the preseason, its only the preseason.

Boo-Ya. Someone's Employed. I Hate Mats Sundin.

by Anne

So its officially official, I must've passed my drug test.... seeing as how I haven't snorted coke, smoked up or shot myself up with various substances since.... never, I was pretty confident I'd pass. Ok the smoking thing isn't true, I have done that before. In college of course. WHAT A REBEL. But I digress, I was officially hired to work at DNC (ETA: DNC does not stand for Democratic National Convention... well, ok, it does, but in this case it does not) Sportservice at HSBC Arena as a food vendor. There's about a 90% chance that its going to suck, but I'll actually get to be in the rink and I may get to actually watch a few seconds of the games. That'll be sweet. Oh yeah, and I work on commission, so buy food from me. Wooooo!

There's an article on NHL.com about a bunch of players who invaded Manhattan to do promo work for the coming season.

One of the more interesting (and hilarious) sites was seeing each player having makeup applied and choosing through various wardrobes for photo shoots with NHL Images.

I bet Derek Roy came with Millsey as a fashion consultant, strictly pro bono. He dresses his fellow NHLers out of the kindness of his tiny little heart.

Soooooooo Martin Brodeur was there but didn't participate in the goalie talk? Interesting. If I were Millsey or Ricky I'd be like "Uhhhh, yeah we're excellent goaltenders and all but uh, Martin Brodeur is sitting over there, maybe we should defer to him... Now we're going to compete in the balloon shaving portion of the day's events."

Maybe its like the student teaching part of being an All-Star goaltender. Now Brodeur just sits back and watches them lead the world as he prepares to play in the final stretch of his career. Will the teacher become the student? Did Ricky and Millsey have new, profound insights on the world of the goaltender? Has Martin Brodeur's world been ROCKED?! I'm gonna go with NO on that one, but I'm sure Millsey and Ricky tried.

---

Dear Mats Sundin,

I straight up hate you. Like, I don't feel bad for your "difficult" decision you have to make, I don't feel bad that you have to warm up for 30 minutes before a game. I don't care that you're uncertain if you can play at your usual level again I DON'T CARE. In case your manager has neglected to inform you, YOU ARE A DOUCHEBAG. MAKE UP YOUR GODDAMN MIND AND STOP BEING SO DAMN FULL OF YOURSELF. THIS IS NOT A DIFFICULT DECISION. CHOOSING AMERICA'S NEXT TOP MODEL IS A MORE DIFFICULT DECISION. JOHN KERRY WAFFLES LESS THAN YOU DO. DECIDE! CHOOSE HOCKEY. PLAY HOCKEY. HOCKEY HOCKEY.

The Canucks, Rangers and Canadiens organizations have got to be royally pissed off. Of course, on paper, to the media pre-Sundin's decision they'll talk about how they understand his dilemma and such a storied NHL veteran deserves the time he needs to make the best decision for himself. But you know the second he puts pen to paper or retires, the other teams will be lashing out at him like the scorned ladies he lead on for months and then took Julie to the prom instead. He's left them all hanging, and for what? To dick around for the summer and not decide anything? Now he's not even sure if he'll decide before the season starts! He wants to pull a Niedermayer/Selanne. GARY BETTMAN, DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS. I don't mean about Mats Sundin, because with my current level of annoyance with him, I'd just as soon cover him in honey and tie him to an anthill, but about this "retirement" thing. Don't let players un-retire after, say November. If it causes some players to retire early then SO BE IT. They can un-retire later if they really want to.

And on the "WAH WAH WAH I HAVE TO WARM UP FOR A LONG TIME" front, Mario Lemieux (who is the vastly superior hockey player) had so much back pain at the end of this career that someone else had to tie his skates for him, but HE STILL FREAKIN' PLAYED. Did he un-retire for the right reasons? Who cares, he still played and with his crappy team he helped bring Sid the Kid to Pittsburgh. He helped keep the Pens in Pittsburgh and helped keep fan interest and it has paid of TENFOLD in the last 2 years. When Mario retired, he retired, when he played, he played. END OF STORY.

MAKE UP YOUR MIND.

I think as punishment, Mats Sundin should be forced to play for the Thrashers.

I have never liked Mats Sundin as he as played the majority of his career with our division rivals, but now I flat out hate him. Joe Sakic made up his mind in plenty of time for training camp. He's a CAPTAIN and he acts like one. You, Mr. Sundin are a great big bald Swedish baby. How could you possibly not know if you can play? Talk to a therapist and a trainer. What else is there to figure out? Are you like the 4th grader who's unsure about transferring to a new school? Well just have Mom buy you that shiny new Camp Rock pencil box and you'll be the talk of the town! Everyone will want to be your friend. CASE CLOSED.

Please choose Vancouver so you'll be far away BUT DON'T YOU CORRUPT MY BIG BEAR. I DON'T WANT TO GO THROUGH THIS WITH HIM IN 15 YEARS.

I'm not sure who this is, but I love them

Screw you,
Anne

Wednesday is Today

by Anne

My glasses broke this morning. I think I fixed them, but who knows how long my "repair job" will hold. Basically the metal piece broke away from its plastic moulding so I basically smushed them back together. Move over, Maytag repair man "Anne's smush it back together and hope for the best" school of repairs is sweeping the nation.

Would someone PLEASE sit the new owners of the Lightning down and tell them to STOP signing players?!? They signed like 20 new players this offseason and they dealt one very promising young top 4 defenseman and a utility 6 or 7 defenseman AND a first round pick to the Ottawa Senators for Andrej Meszaros? Granted the first round pick was originally San Jose's so it'll probably be a 24+ pick but its still a first round pick. THEN they turned around and inked him to a 6 year deal. These men are CRAZY. They spent all summer signing forwards, so to address their need for defensemen they traded 2 defenseman for 1? Yes. This seems logical to me: address depth issues by getting rid of players. Capital idea.

In a shock to exactly NO ONE the Preds have suspended Radulov. Dude violated his contract to sign with Russia and was all like "Thanks Nashville for letting me sign with the KHL" and Nashville was all "Uhhh we didn't say you could do that, you best be comin' back next season or yous in deep doo doo." and Radulov was like "Peace out, Girl Scout." So tot he disappointment of Nashville fans, Radulov did NOT have a change of heart and is still a giant douchebag. Good. Riddance. I still say the Predators should be compensated in some way.

A WORD OF WARNING TO NON-HABS FANS:

I hope you're all battening down the hatches in preparation for the ONSLAUGHT of "YAY MONTREAL!" we're going to experience as the Habs celebrate 100 years of themselves. We all know how incredibly obnoxious highly devoted Habs fans are, and with their new goalie and some new talent coming in, just brace yourselves to be "Ole"d until you can't be "Ole"d anymore.
They're hosting the All-Star Game, the entry draft AND retiring Patrick Roy's number 33. The only thing they're NOT hosting are the Winter Classic and Jason Pominville's birthday party.

That is all. Class this morning then lots and lots o reading, as usual. Project Runway tonight!!! Woooo! Leanne is mah girl, just FYI.

Have a good one.

Game(s) 1 Round 1

by Anne

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Bye Bye B's

by Anne

I watched most of the Habs/Bruins game with only mild interest. I'm not all that excited that Montreal won, but I'd be pretty mad if Boston won, especially considering I didn't expect them to win one game.

Congrats Carey on your 2nd shut out!

What is up with Versus AND HNiC both playing the Habs/Bruins game? I assumed HNiC would show the Canadian game in Canada, but I really thought that Versus would show me the Caps. Forcing a Game 7! Woooo!! Ovie with 2 goals! He must've been tired of people whining about his lack of production so he scored the game winner and an insurance goal. Yay! AOOOOOOOOOO!!!


Once again, a monster hit changes the pace of the game. Aaaaand it came from one of my new faves Mr. Michael "Yo, I always rock a fauxhawk" Green. Stickless, he still contributed in a big way to the play, leveling a huuuuuuge hit on Kapanen. My favorite part was that after the hit he stood up and looked down at Kapanen, in my mind it's because he was gloating over his victory, but he was probably just making sure he didn't break his neck. Wooooo! Greener!

Woooooo!

Is it REALLY still the First Round?

by Anne


Oy vey.


So, WHAT THE HELL, BOSTON? I don't even know how to feel about this series. Game 7? I, along with most others outside of the Greater Boston Area, gave this team 1 win at most and here they are with 3 heading to Game 7. Wowzas. I'm impressed.


That yicky Phil Kessel scored a goal. So HELP ME, MONTREAL IF PHIL KESSEL PROPELS HIS TEAM TO ROUND 2 I WILL NEVER SAY NICE THINGS ABOUT YOUR COMICAL ROSTER NAMES EVER AGAIN. Lantandresse? Brisebois? Dandenault? Forget it, you'll all be Jones, Smith, and Thompson.


Avs move forward. Woooooooooo? I don't really care. I know those who were pulling for Minnesota and they were my obligatory "You have to pick a team to pull for" team in that series. But apparently Peter Creepsberg has been just what the Avs needed. He's seriously creepy as all get out:

If I were dating Peter Forsberg, I 'd be this happy about it, too.

Why am I so creeped out by Peter Forsberg? I really have absolutely no idea.


This picture freaks me out (and, ok, kind of makes me laugh after the 3rd time you see it) far more:

AHHHHH!!!!

I save random pictures that I find on Google image and then come up with loose tie-ins to post them in my blog.


Just like this one:

My sandwich WAS THIS BIG!...uhhhhh, it broke Ryan Miller's teeth!

My tie-ins are sheer brilliance, I know. I love the expression on Pommer's face too.


All of tonight's series are 3-2 and of the Western Conference variety. I suppose I'm pulling for the Bizarro Sabres (Nashville), Calgary and I'm really on the fence in the Ducks/Stars series.


On the one hand, the Stars have our 1999 Stanley Cup...and the Ducks eliminated the Sens last season. But...the Stars make an excellent claim by having Stuuuuuuuuuu Barnes. Then the Ducks counter with Brad May. Hmmmmmm. I'm torn. I don't like the shenanigans the Ducks pulled with Niedermayer and Selanne this season. And I was sad when they traded Andy McDonald. We beat the Stars this season and lost to the Ducks. BabyCrunchy is on the Ducks...George Bush is from Texas... I don't actually know any Ducks fans, but I know 1 Stars fan...The Ducks did hang with Snoop. I'm not sure what to feel. Then there's the fact that I haven't actually been able to watch an entire game in this series. That seriously affects my ability to assign my loyalties. Hence the reason I'm so passionately devoted to the Calgary Flames right now.

Remember when you eliminated the Sharks in 2004?

Let's do that again.

Day 4 -or- How much longer does this go on?

by Anne

After last night:

MTL wins 3-2, leads series 2-0
DAL wins 5-2, leads series 2-0
DET wins 4-2, leads series 2-0

Yesterday was Daddy Maloy's birthday so my hockey viewing was intermittent. I watched some of the later games, and I was getting my hair cut during the Nashville/Detroit game.

Soooooo.... my thoughts about the games will be mere observations.

Anaheim/Dallas - apparently losing my love to the Calgary Flames and my WC official boyfriend being J-Rome instead of Getzy is detrimental to the Ducks. They actually scored their first 2 goals in the playoffs....in the 2nd game. Ouchies. Most people in Buffalo are over the 1999 Finals. We all still hate Brett Hull, though.

Detriot/Nashville - If Nashville didn't have a totally smokin' captain and J.P. Dumont, I wouldn't care about them at all.

Montreal / Boston- The NE Division match-up. I feel embarrassed for those who thought Boston would win any games. If Montreal doesn't sweep, I'll be SHOCKED. It's possible Boston could squeeze out a win at home, but highly unlikely. I keep saying "Just think! It could've been the Sabres!" but we definitely would've won and least 1 or 2 games, considering we actually beat Montreal at least two or three times this season. The same cannot be said for the B's.

I'll probably watch the Flyers @ Caps game this afternoon, but I won't really care that much. I don't want the Caps to win so much as I want the Flyers to lose. I'm sure Ovie and the Caps will get their run at the cup next season or the season after, they don't deserve it this season, but in coming seasons, I'm sure they'll be a better team. They did greatly improve with Bruce (Um, Jack Adams Award?) and Huet, but they're still not up there yet. Bruce had BETTER win the Jack Adams.

I'll probably watch one or both of the later games. I'll be more likely to watch Montreal @ Boston because the team I want to win is leading the series. New Jersey @ New York I probably won't because the team I want to win is losing the series. Side note, Sean Avery was on the TMZ "Star Catcher" celebrating his birthday. Wow. I guess the rest of New York's sports aren't doing much right now, so let's talk to the goon on the hooker's client list as he leaves a restaurant.

Day 5 starts at 2:00 Cookie Monster @ AO's House.