Happy Brithday, Nate Gerbe!

by Anne

Molly notified on me on twitter (@mollymarts) that our sweet little GerbeDerby turns 23 today.

Therefore, I promise I won't make any short jokes when selecting your cake. So, please enjoy this awesome cake of a chick on a car:

It's a lady sitting on a Mini Coo-

Okay, bad choice of car. How about this for dessert?

Strawberries are in season right now so they're really tasty.

A nice strawberry shor-

Ummmm, okay, back to the drawing board...

ummm.....

I got nothin'...

Oh just forget it:

Nathan Gerbe, you rock.

Hope your birthday has been excellent.

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+

Controversy time

by Anne

I want to write a whole write-up of our awesome trip to Nashville but I need a camera cord before I can upload the pictures and I want to edit some of the video before I upload some of them.

Tuesday and Wednesday were some pretty sweet days for hockey. The Sabres welcomed me back to Buffalo with a lovely victory over the Panthers. Pommer leads the team in goal scoring? Gerbe AND Ennis scored? Woooo! Welcome home to me!

However, not everything is coming up roses. There are some awesome "controversies" both my teams are dealing with. 

First for the Sabres there's: how do we send Gerbe and Ennis back to the AHL when they've been playing this well in the NHL? Connolly and Vanek weren't playing as well before they were injured, why should Gerbe and Ennis lose their spots just because they come back? Let's see, four players who have proven to be prolific goal-scorers vying for a limited number of roster spots, especially with the playoffs upcoming? Gosh, things are tough.

On the West Coast side of things, the "controversy" a-brewing is a good old fashioned goalie controversy. Jonathan Bernier was called up from Manchester when Erik Ersberg allegedly strained his back. He played the Nashville game I attended a recorded himself a shutout. I don't think it was a surprise to any Kings fan that Bernier is better than Ersberg, but could he be better than Quick?  Terry Murray was quick (hah) to put it out there that Quickie is still the #1 goalie, but Bernier is getting the start tonight against Vancouver.

Yeesh, times are tough.

:)

Howdy from Nashville!

by Anne

Howdy, y'all!

I'm sitting in our hotel room while Moms takes a nap. We'll soon be heading out to explore some of what "Smashville" has to offer us this afternoon. The flight down was uneventful and the weather is gorgeous. It's a little cool but we Buffalo gals can handle it just fine. The hotel is really nice and very close to the Bridgesrone Arena and the Country Music Hall of Fame.

I don't have much nice to say about the Kings after last night's game other than to essentially BEG them to win because they never beat the Predators and Bernier needs the wins to earn him a roster spot.

Last night's Sabres game was far more pleasant and for once the Versus broadcast didn't really bother me. I have named the unlikely lone of Gerbe-Grier-Gaustad as the 3G Network. They responded to their new name by combining for a somewhat goofy but awesome Goose goal. A week or so ago I whined a bit about how it had been too long since Goose scored and he responded with his current three game scoring streak. Thank you, Paul.

It was nice but not altogether surprising to see the team's balanced scoring continue without Vanek and Connolly. Hopefully after seeing the zip in Ennis and Gerbe, those two will come back in fighting form.

Time to get ready to head out! Let's go Kings!!

Baby line?

by Anne

Tyler Ennis is already up in the blue gold, and now Nate Gerbe and Mark Mancari are headed back up here as well.

I'm fairly confident that while Connolly, Vanek and Kaleta really are injured and need time to heal, that they're being extra cautious with the upcoming PLAYOFF run, and are keeping them on the bench. I don't know the details of their injuries obviously, but I'm guessing that's why these three Pirates have been tapped to come on up to the big club.

I'll be interested to see what Gerbe does this time around. The possibility of Gerbe last season was much more exciting than the real thing. I'm sure no one is more frustrated with his sluggish scoring in the NHL than Gerbe himself. 

Maybe he'll turn it around this time? Shelby of Puck Over The Glass and now a new blog: Sabres Hockey Central pointed out what a fantastic line Gerbe-Roy-Ennis would be. We play Boston tonight, Chara would never see them coming. Literally. It might be awesome. It also might be hilarious. Let's do this.

I really have no thoughts about Mancari. He played better than anticipated the last time he was called up, so hopefully he can keep that up.

Tonight the Sabres take on the currently eighth place Boston Bruins on the road. A team who is in the unenviable position of grasping onto a bottom playoff position with 6th place only two points ahead, and 9th only two points behind. No thank you. The Sabres were in that mix for the last two seasons and it is NOT pleasant to be there. Clinching weeks before the regular season ends is SO. MUCH. BETTER.

Sabres Switch things up, decide to win 3-0 instead

by Anne

Wooo!

Sabres won!

3-0!

Miller's 16th career shutout!

Only 87 till he catches Brodeur's current record!

Also, called it.

Oh Toni.

So happy he finally scored!

Sabretooth knows we are not worthy.

Sorry about that weird faded thing from the website.

It's like a ghost.

Oooooooooo!

Or not.

Also, Tallinder and Montador scored.

Awesome.

But when your total offense is those three, thaaaaat's not ideal.

Whatever.

Woooo!

Gerbe Derby!

by Anne

Nathan Gerbe has been recalled!

Here's hoping he'll be able to find some of that scoring he's previously been so fond of in the AHL?

No pressure or anything kid...

Hey there, hot shot.

Please score for us?

Mark out, Tyler and Nate in?

by Anne

John Vogl posted some highlights of a telephone conversation he had with Darcy Regier today.

He discussed Stafford and Mair blah blah, nothing new. Of note are two things: Mark Mancari wants out and Tyler Ennis wants in.

• Its no surprise that Mark Mancari wants to test out the waters of another NHL club. He hasn't been able to crack the Sabres line-up in his many years here and he isn't currently under contract. There are more experienced players who can fill his type of role for the Sabres so Mancari is lower down on the totem pole here than he might be with another club. I don't particularly care if Mancari leaves. He's a great AHL player but he does deserve a shot at the NHL and he most likely will not get that shot in Buffalo.

• Tyler Ennis has plans to turn pro. Darcy said that Little Tyler plans to sign a contract and start playing in Portland after training camp. At first I was confused, isn't he only 19? Why yes, he is. But you have to be 20 to play in the AHL? What ever is happening here? Never fear, the solution is quite simple, really. Ennis will turn 20 three days after the start of the NHL regular season. This means he'll be hanging out up in Buffalo for a few days before he can officially be sent down to the minors. What does this mean for our opening night forwards line-up? Will Ennis play? Does this mean we'll be hanging onto 14 forwards for a few days? None of these are terribly pressing issues of course, but I'm interested to see how this works.

• From a hockeybuzz.com blog we find that Nathan Gerbe has absolutely no intention of playing for the Portland Pirates this season. He's declared that he won't be playing there. There's no way. None. End of story. He's going to make the NHL from the start of the season. I'm terrified of what will happen to the man's psyche if by some miracle he doesn't make the team. I'm pretty confident that he will and I'm glad to see such bold determination from him. There's a lot of competition for those 12 spots and that makes players play better. There is always someone ready to come in and take your job. Good on ya, GerbeDerby.
  

• Puck Daddy is previewing the season for all 30 NHL teams and he e-mailed a few of we foxy Sabres bloggers (including yours truly) for a few thoughts on what we expect out of the coming season for the Sabres. So you should check that out. I think the Sabres one will be up Friday. He seems to be doing one a day and Wednesday was Atlanta so I assume Boston is Thursday and Buffalo is Friday. I'm sure you probably read Puck Daddy already, but if you don't, you'll find a link near the top of the Blog Roll. Over Here ------------>

I feel no post is complete without a picture. Well, ok, I post without pictures all the time, but today I feel inclined to search one out.

I love this picture
I know this was only a year ago, but doesn't Sir Christopher look a lot younger?
Its the hair
Awwww.

Playoffs, Kids!

by Anne

The Portland Pirates won tonight 6-5 over the Providence Bruins to clinch a playoff berth!

Mathieu Darche scored his 30th and 31st goalsof the season including his AHL-leading 10th game-winning goal!

The team handed out some awards as well.

Most Valuable Player (as voted by fans): Jhonas Enroth

Fan Favorite (as voted by fans, duh): Nathan Gerbe

Unsung Hero (as voted by fans): Tim Kennedy

Player's Player (as voted by his teammates): Tyler Bouck

Ebright Award (player that best exemplifies what it means to be a Portland Pirate): Paul Baier

Jack Button Award (given to the Pirates' top prospect who is also aging backwards): Jhonas Enroth

Allied Home Mortgage Three Stars Award (given to the Pirate who was named a star of the game the most times): Jhonas Enroth

Congrats to the baby Sabres! Maybe some of you will be grown-up big boy Sabres next season?!

Hooray! Playoffs!

Gerbe Wins AHL Rookie of the Year

by Anne

It has been announced that the Sabres' own Nathan Gerbe is the recipient of the 2009 Dudley (Red) Garrett Award!

Here are some articles about how awesome Nathan Gerbe is:

The Maine Hockey Journal's take on things.

The AHL's official announcement.

Congratulations Gerbe!!

Also, Derek Whitmore updated his blog. Check it out.

Award Times for the Sabres

by Anne

April means the end of the NHL regular season and starts the nominees for NHL Awards to be announced.

The first award to reveal some of its nominees is the NHL's Masterton Trophy which goes to the NHL player who best exemplifies perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey.

There should be no doubt about the Sabres' nominee this year: Teppo. The man had open heart surgery and is still a professional athlete in a sport that is among the least forgiving for the body.

Congrats Teppo! You deserve the nomination and I hope you earn the award!

Still a stone cold fox

Also! Down on the farm some more nominations!

Derek "Noodles" Whitmore has been named the Pirates' Man of the Year and is now a nominee for the AHL's Yanick Dupre Memorial Award. Noodles has done a lot of work this season in the Portland community you can read about them all here. He also writes a weekly blog for a local Portland newspaper and, if you read this blog, you must know is pretty much my favorite thing any hockey player can do besides win a game.

Seriously, remind me never to be photographed with Mike Kostka.
He is the most photogenic person on the planet


Noodles tells the kids what's what.

Finally, Gerbe Derby and TK are among the frontrunners for the AHL Rookie of the Year Award known as the Dudley "Red" Garrett Memorial Award. The AHL Insider e-mail I received featured a picutre of Nathan Gerbe so I'm pretty sure that means he's a lock for the award. Right?

Bye Gerb

by Anne

Gerbe back to Portland

:(

Why can't he score goals in the NHL?

Sad times. But Goose is most likely coming back.

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.

Gerbe Recalled

by Anne

Completing the easiest travel time in history, Nathan Gerbe has been recalled to fill in for Thomas Vanek tonight.

I highly approve of this call-up because if this Royzie-Timmy-Staffy line stays together that leaves the highly skilled players at one line and then we're just the Ottawa Senators.

Can't wait to see how these lines shake down now.

He scored a really nice goal last night before getting ejected from the game and hopefully he can ease the pain at losing TV.

Somehow I don't think he'll be doing much screening of the goalie on the power play.

Pirates Lose But it Was Fun Anyway

by Anne

S(h)ara and I were at the Pirates game, both rocking Kennedy t-shirts

Phew. I'm glad I left my tiny white shorts and knock-off Target uggs at home
Seriously, darling, its not that warm outside


Dougie serenaded us
Why was TK not in the starting line up?

This game is best told in fights:


First Parsley (Jimmy Bonneau) fought some Rat


...as Mike Ryan drifted by listlessly


Then these dudes fought
I think this was Mancari roughing up someone


Then there was a brawl
Someone sucker punched Gerbe and he just curled up into the fetal position
He's 5'5", he's allowed


Then Mike Ryan was a douchebag part 1


Ignore Colton Fretter
look at the super full penalty boxes behind him
There were four players in each box to start the 3rd


Then Mike Ryan (#21) scored a pretty slick goal
He's still a douchebag


Because he crosschecked Kyle Rank after Timmy tied the game at 2
We really liked heckling Mikey
Matt Ellis is better anyway


Salty Pete was there


TOO MANY MEN ON THE ICE!

I've never been to an AHL game before so I wasn't sure what to expect. I will say this, I'll take the NHL. These guys were terrrible. I mean even when they were good, they were only so-so. You could easily pick out the NHLers (Kennedy, Ryan, Gerbe, etc.) Marc-Andre Gragnani showed some excellent puck handling ability on the power play. He might've been getting a little too showy but I certainly was impressed by how he moved the puck.

Although Kyle Rank might not be headed for the NHL anytime soon, his tying goal with 29 seconds left in regulation was a thriller. There was chorus after chorus of "SHOOOOOOOOOOOOT!" and Zach Takir did and Kyle Rank redirected it into the net. S(h)ara and I definitely started a few chants of "Peeeeeeeeeeters, Peeeeeeeeeeeters" to heckle the Rats goalie. Unfortunately not a single Pirate scored in OT or the shootout and the Rats walked away with two points.

I couldn't get a picture of it but Dylan Hunter's facial hair is amazing. From here on out he will be known as "Pornstache"

I'm looking forward to tomorrow night's game even more now. NHL hockey > AHL hockey.

I thought Gerbe was hurt because I didn't realize that he didn't just get a misconduct penalty, he got a game misconduct for fighting off of the playing surface with some Rat. He was kicked out of the game according to AHL rule 47.7.

Just to emphasize further the crazy number of fights in this game, here's a screen capture of the penalties summary:

that's a lot of penalties
click to enlarge

So They're Already in Buffalo Anyway...

by Anne

So if, like, between now and Wednesday, if they decide to call-up like Mancari or whoevs to help fill in for TV, how will this work?

The Pirates are already in Buffalo as I type, taking the ice for a practice at 11:00am and the Sabres will practice after. Both teams are playing in HSBC Arena on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.

Sooooooooo the Pirates have like no defensemen, could we, like, loan them Butler and Weber for Tuesday and then miraculously recall them and Mancari or Gerbe or whoevs on Wednesday morning? I guess so? Will they call them up earlier than that? That would royally screw the Pirates who are already shorthanded and its not like they have travel time to worry about what with getting from HSBC Arena to... HSBC Arena (and not the one in Brazil either).

I'm assuming we won't loan them our defensemen on the off chance they get hurt, but this Mancari/Gerbe/Kennedy situation intrigues me...

This is why the Flyers and Maple Leafs have the right idea, having their AHL team in the same city, the possibilities are ENDLESS.

Prospects Tearin' it Up, All-Star Games and Ruutu Gets Tuu

by Anne

Its been a great couple of days for Sabres' prospects.

First Team Canada, featuring Tylers Ennis and Myers, wins a 5th straight gold medal at the World Junior Championships in Ottawa. The Jolly Blonde Giant finished the tournament with 1 goal, 2 PIM and a +5. His smaller teammate, Tyler Ennis finished the tournament with 7 points (3+4), 0 PIM and a +1. Congratulations, Tylers!

Ennis battling for the puck against Kazakhstan


The Jolly Blonde Giant calmly moving the puck against Germany

Also, Mark Mancari has been named to the Canadian All-Star team for the AHL All-Star Game. The AHL All-Star Game is Canada v. Players from Everywhere Else. Nathan Gerbe and Tim Kennedy have been named to the PlanetUSA All-Star team. If y'all remember, last year at the AHL All-Star game, Mancari broke the AHL hardest shot record. Can't wait to see what these guys do! Hooray!

Tim and Nate: Uh, yeah, Mark, weeeee're not on the same team.

In other All-Star news, the Western Conference reserves were announced today and WCBs Rick Nash, Jarome Iginla and Ryan Getzlaf were named to the team. Hooray! Eastern Conference reserves are announced tomorrow and I'm hoping there's at least 1 slug on that roster. I know the All-Star Game is stupid and voting is lame but I enjoy the ridiculousness of the festivities and the feeling I get that I'm having a wild weekend fling with the rest of the NHL while watching the goings on. I'd rather watch this all with at least one Eastern Conference player I won't feel dirty about cheering for (other than Ovechkin).

Also, voting closes soon for our All-Star Rosters. Things are getting close! Don't let your favorites go unappreciated!! Its Wednesday, which is apparently usually the day I update these standings, so here they are:

Eastern Conference Forwards
1. Gaustad
2. Lecavalier
3. Eaves
4. Laich
5. Upshall

Eastern Conference D-Men
1. Ference
2. Schenn
3. Rivet
4. Komisarek

Eastern Conference Goalies
1. DiPietro
2. Lalime
3. Price

Western Conference Forwards
1. Berglund
2. Sharp
3. Nash
4. Toews
5. Cammalleri

Western Conference D-Men
1. O'Brien
2. Liles
3. Souray
4. Weber

Western Conference Goalies
T1. Boucher and Raycroft
3. Huet

There ya have it. Some of these races are extreeeemely close.

Oh yeah, and Ruutu got 2 games for gnawing on Petey, and is now considered a "repeat offender".

I'm convinced no one edits articles on NHL.com. From the above linked article:

It is the second time this season that Ruutu has been suspended this season. On Nov. 12, Ruutu earned a two-game ban for an elbow he delivered to the head of Montreal's Maxim Lapierre in a Nov. 11 game.

Really driving the point home, aren't we "Staff"? I write bad sentences, but I don't write for the NHL.

Good times were had by all.

I Hope Jamie Langenbrunner Eats Rotten Fish

by Anne

-Even though Greener scored the goal of the decade (at least, maybe century?) last night, the Kings lost in the shootout to the Sharks.

-I'm going to give the Sharks the benefit of the doubt and assume last night was an off-night, because I wasn't all that impressed with what I saw. They were turn-over city and were losing 2-0 to the KINGS. Ok, ok the Kings are much better than they were last season but so are the Sharks. Honestly, I assume the Sharks are saving the bells and whistles for home games.

- NATHAN GERBE IS HURT. I hate you Jamie Langenbrunner. Why you gotta hurt Nate-dawg? not. cool.

-Patty is back! At least if we can't have Gerbe we can have Kaleta... they're basically the same, right...?

-The polls are now open and are located on the left. I'm hiding the results but I'll give you updates of the leaders as often as I remember to. Woooo!!! Vote often!

Two Minutes for....Doing Your Job?

by Anne

That was the weirdest penalty I've ever seen. It was like time stood still. Miller snatched the puck and nothing in the Arena happened. We were all just kind of like "doot doot doo whistle people can go their sea- wait, where's the whistle? What's happening?"

That was one of the weirder moments I've experienced in person. The chorus of "BUUUUUULLSHIT BUUUUUULLSHIT" that rained down was magical.

Even Vinny Prospal who was like at the net was like "uhhhh, where's the whistle? Ok I'll just keep inching toward the goal.....?"

The linesman that was just standing there is fired. Where was the ref?

I'm Rule Book happy today:

Rule 63 – Delaying the Game

63.1 Delaying the Game – A player, goalkeeper or a team may be penalized when, in the opinion of the Referee, is delaying the game in any manner.

63.2 Minor Penalty - A minor penalty shall be imposed on any player, including the goalkeeper, who holds, freezes or plays the puck with his stick, skates or body in such a manner as to deliberately cause a stoppage of play. With regard to a goalkeeper, this rule applies outside of his goal crease area.

A minor penalty shall be imposed on a goalkeeper who, when he is in his own goal crease, deliberately falls on or gathers the puck into his body or who holds or places the puck against any part of the goal in such a manner as to cause a stoppage of play unless he is actually being checked by an opponent. (he didn't hold it against the goal, he had it in his glove).

I guess the ref decided that there's a new rule that if you don't hear a whistle within a second of freezing the puck you have to keep it moving, even if a player is right on top of your crease....? Te only rule that really applies is the first one and its a judgment call so its pretty hard to dispute that.

Weird. Well, I guess that's what happens when you call out refs in the media, RYAN.

Anyway, Thomas Vanek, have my babies, both of those goals were beautiful.

Goose and Mairsy, thank you for having sweet fights even if the tide turned against you at the end of your fight Mairsy, you were still B.A.

Goose's fight was a great example of a momentum changing fight. Because he won so clearly, the team and the fans were definitely motivated and I think it really helped to bring the team back around.

I really like come from behind victories, but I'd prefer "holding onto early lead" victories. But, a win is a win and I'll take it.

Dear Bill Clinton,

You were a great President, yours was the first presidency I paid any attention to. I think your wife is pretty cool too. I hope she'll be a great Secretary of State.

Thanks for coming to the Sabres game. The downstairs area was the cleanest its ever been.

I do, however, have 2 complaints.

1. Who told you that sweater looked good? and 2. thanks for shutting down the elevators so I had to walk up to the 300s. Its really not that far but I'm tired from being up all hours working on papers and my job is kind of physically demanding in that I'm on my feet for 4 hours straight. I never sit down, EVER. Sometimes I kneel, but usually when I kneel I'm balancing a large metal tray on one knee.

Anyway, thanks for supporting us!

Love,
Anne

I've heard so many horror stories about working Maple Leafs' games and I'm really not looking forward to Friday's game.

Pommer had quite possibly the most under the radar 3 point game of his career. I really had no idea he had 3 points until I checked the boxscore. LISTEN, SELLING ODDLY COLORED COTTON CANDY TAKES A LOT OF FOCUS. For real, some of that cotton candy looked downright bizzare. There was one bag that was a mixture of pink and green that just looked gray, and basically looked like a human brain. mmmmmmmm break me off a chunka that!

Anyway, picture time!

Goose! Your hand is still bandaged, I'm not so sure you should be pounding it into anything harder than your pillow at night!!
But that fight helped a lot, so good job.
Also I watched you and Gerbe chatting on the bench and it made me smile so thanks for just being awesome in general.
ETA: The other adorable Goose-moment was at one point he was chatting with a ref and they shared a chuckle (post-awkward penalty).
Paul Gaustad for UN Peace Ambassador
He'll sweep into Iran/Iraq/Afghanistan and have these misunderstandings all taken care of in a jiffy.
Israel and Pakistan will be BFFL once Goose gets in the mix.

Nathan, its fundamentals time. Puck in net, Player not in net.


Theeeeere ya go.

Dear Adam Mair,

You did not win "most hilarious facial expression" tonight. Sissy did by a LANDSLIDE vote of me and Oscar:


Ahahahahahahahahhahahaha
He looks like a cartoon caricature representing the North Wind

Only 1 more paper and 1 more test to go!!!!!!!!!

Sunday Stuff

by Anne

I hate J.P. Losman. I spit on his mother *pa-tooey*

When did I become an old sicilian granny?


Anyway, on to more important things in the hockey world:

The Blackhawks WHUPPED the Coyotes, winning 7-1. Sharpie scored his 16th of the season. Woooo!! He's so unassumingly awesome. All he has to do is unassumingly kick someone's butt in a fight and he'll have found the upper eschelons of my hockey esteem. This is a feet rarely attained but Jochen Hecht has just found is way up there after fighting Vinny Lecavalier. That was completely badass.

The Rangers out shot the Flames 31-20 last night (including a 12-2 shot advantage in the 2nd) and lost 3-0. HA! Iggy scored the game winner!!! But, seriously TWO SHOTS in the 2nd? Yeesh. Nine different Flames had a point in this game. When only 3 goals are scored, that's pretty good. The Rangers also gave up yet another short handed goal. I'm not sure where they rank in the league in allowing short handed goals, but it seems to me that happens to them frequently.

BIG BEAR SCORED HIS 6TH AND 7TH GOALS OF THE SEASON! WOOOO!!! Then the Canucks lost in the shoot out :( OMG Big Bear had SUCH an amazing chance to score in OT, it hit the post and Budaj couldn't find it for a second. :( Ugh, poor baby Schneider was completely overwhelmed for the shootout. The Avalanche have some good shooters but he was 0 for 3. Its ok, you'll work on it. I have a feeling AV will be running a few shootout drills in practice this week for the benefit of Cory.

Dear Canucks.com,

Big Bear scored 2 goals and there was not a single shot of him. This displeases me. :(

Love,
Anne

Getzy had 2 goals in the 2nd period in the Ducks 5-3 win over the Blue Jackets. Wooo!

Sabres:

I'm not optimistic about tonight's game. Yes, we won the other night and that was wicked sweet. BUT, that was the Tampa Bay Lightning and this is the Pittsburgh Penguins. Nathan Gerbe did well and the team played well but Sidney Crosby is still Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin is still the ugliest son of a B I've ever had the misfortune of laying my eyes on who also happens to be a phenomenal hockey player.

Basically, I'm pretty confident we'll be walking away from this one on the losing end. This isn't even the "I'm secretly optimistic but trying to sound pessimistic" Anne, this is "we're legit going to lose" Anne. Fleury is out but meh, Sabourin is still good. The fact that I know their backup's name tells you something about him. :-/

Dear Nathan Gerbe,

Even if we lose, I'd really like it if you'd score a goal, that'd be pretty spectacular. :)

Love,
Anne

Oh yeah and this was really nice to find when I opened NHL.com this morning:

:)

Its part of the Morning Skate, but a story about Gerbe kicks things off.

An excerpt:

Will the 5-foot-5 Gerbe stick in Buffalo? Time will tell. But should he ever return to Portland, he'll have a phenomenal story to share. As he arrived on the ice in Tampa for Saturday's morning skate, his teammates began tapping their sticks. It was a welcoming the rookie center never will forget.

"It's something I'm going to really remember and take it all in when I step on that ice," Gerbe told The Buffalo News. "It's something I really want to remember for the rest of my life, playing my first NHL game. I've been looking forward to this dream since I was 10 years old, so finally it comes through, and I'm just pretty happy to be here."

Everyone's been excited about him for months, you have to think the players are excited to see what he can do. Yay! Love.

Not hockey:

I had an exam this morning at 7:40. I was back in my kitchen at 9:23. Take THAT higher education. I feel confident about it too. It was three questions about 2 books I'd actually read and I had the books with me at the time. Awesome.

Current song I can't stop listening too: Single Ladies - Beyonce