Saturday Wrap Up

by Anne

Saturday was not so great.

I missed most of the Kings game but I can tell you they lost - yet again- on a Saturday afternoon. This time they made it all the way to the shootout before losing. Alas. They lost 5-4. Somehow Drew Doughty was a +3. That's no small feat when so many goals are scored.

The Sabres lost a snoozer 2-1 as Henrik Lundqvist got himself a Ryan Miller shutout. Pommer scored with 58 seconds left to spoil Lundqvist's shutout bid.

The Canucks also lost, but this loss was perhaps the most painful of those three as they lost to the BUTTER SNAPS, aka the worst team in the National Hockey League.

As I'm sure you're all aware, John Stevens, not this kid from Amherst:

He sang the anthem on Thursday

I almost fell asleep

No, this John Stevens:

He was fired by the Flyers on Friday

Peter Laviolette was instated as the new Flyers's head coach and they promptly lost to the Washington Capitals 8-2. Ouch.

The Penguins played the Blackhawks and the 'Hawks won 2-1 in OT. You'd think these two will meet in the Cup Finals, but I have a suspicion it won't happen. Don't ask me why, I just have a feeling that's all too easy.  The Penguins were without Sid the Kid who sat out to nurse a lingering sore groin. Wonder if there would've been a difference if he'd been out there? Who knows.

Fortunately, the Bills aren't playing today so I have no emotional commitments to today's football games. Although, as of this writing New Orleans and Washington are dead-locked at 30 in OT. Yeesh. Nevermind, the Saints just won.

The Steelers keep losing. I suppose I shall have to start cheering for either Peyton or Brett in the post season. We shall see.

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!

Second Round is Almost Here!

by Anne

I still can't believe the way that Butter Snaps/Devils game ended last night. What the hell was happening at the Rock that distracted all the Devils? Did a girl take her top off in the upperbowl and they were all completely flabbergasted?

I hate to say this:

The Butter Snaps are advancing to round two to face the Bruins and the Bruins had better win. I'm looking at you, KESSEL.

Although, the Caps also won and we will all have the playoff match-up Gary Bettman dreams of at night.

I want the Pens to win. It will be a fun series to watch and, in truth, if the Caps win I won't be all that upset about it. Hopefully this much-hyped series will be everything it can be and more. Lots of Russian name-calling and cheesy graphics that try to make it look like Ovie is facing off against Crosby but he won't because Alex is a winger. Unlike the first two games of the Finals last year where Detroit and Pittsburgh were supposed to be INTENSE and evenly matched and Pittsburgh was shut out in the first game. Zzzzzzz....

ALSO. The Canucks and Blackhawks kick things off on Thursday @ 9:00. It feels like MONTHS since the Canucks last played. Hopefully they've been enjoying their rest but haven't gotten too soft without game situations. I ordered me a Canucks long sleeved tshirt the other day, it should be here soon, the USPS is tracking it for me, how thoughtful of them. I hope it gets here on Thursday.

This is a direct quotation of my Facebook status last night, but I just need to say it here too:

This is my new favorite quote. From NY Rangers GM Glen Sather's open letter on how the unfortified glass at the Verizon Center enabled fans to get the better of Rangers head coach John Tortorella:

"According to Rangers trainer Jim Ramsay, one patron was screaming at the team, in graphic language, about whether Dan Girardi and Marc Staal have a sexual relationship."

Wait, Glen, are you saying they don't?

I just love how oddly specific this quotation is. Is it really necessary for you to include the players by name to get your point across? Is the exact nature of these taunts and jeers relevant? We can use our imaginationsto deduce what kind of naughty words were being bandied about back there behind Torts. Also, are Marc Staal and Dan Girardi's psyches so fragile that they can't handle the harmless mudslinging of some drunk dude? I wonder how Staal and Girardi feel about being named. What if they really ARE having a sexual relationship? Or WORSE! What if they're in a relationship still in the early stages and now they have to have that conversation under such high-pressure conditions? Honestly Glen Sather, if you have a crush on Dan Girardi (and trust me I don't blame you), trying to take down his budding romance with Staal #2 just makes you look petty and childish.

Speaking of the IIHF(?), Team Austria's leading scorer(!) Markus Peintner is even crazier looking off the ice:

I always find it amusing when non-native English speakers have English writing on their clothes
Although its kind of like that craze of having Asian lettering on EVERYTHING a few years back

In spite of his unusual personal style and the fact that he looks like he fell out of an episode of Miami Ink, he seems like an interesting gent. Here's the article. Do you think he and Staffy could be the best of friends? I do. Austria v. Latvia is currently underway. Come on, Britney! Try to avoid relegation! Ohhh your teammate took a delay of game penalty 8 seconds into the opening period... ummm... ok you can bounce back from that.

There's a new poll up on the left sidebar. There's not much else to talk about in SabreLand other than whether or not we're going to re-sign Jaro :'( please? So focusing on free agency seems to be the way to go. You can vote as many times as you like, you just have to click "Return to Poll" after you vote.

Team USA v. Sweden this afternoon!

The Playoffs Take a Long Time

by Anne

• The Boston Bruins completed a four game sweep of the Habs and advance to the semis. Carey Price made an arm gesture, but its his 100th birthday party, he'll cry if he wants too. The No Habs No mission is complete.

• Calgary won an exciting game at home against the Blackhawks. I'm torn about this series. I really dislike a lot of Flames (Bertuzzi, Jokinen, Kiprusoff, Coach Mike Keenan) but my dislike for them is all outweighed by my love for Jarome Iginla. So I can't decide. I certainly can't cheer against Iggy...

• David Backes and T.J. Oshie have joined Team USA, giving them 13 forwards. Mike Komisarek and Chris Higgins are available now, Team USA. I'm not saying... I'm just saying.

• Shane Doan has been named captain of Team Canada at the World Championships.

• The Washington Capitals are a huge disappointment thusfar this post-season. Varlamov has played well for them but this offense can't get the job done. I'm glad I found the Pens again, the Devils and Caps have not been nearly as stompy and destructive to their opponents as I would've liked them to be.

• S(h)ara and I watched Washington/New York. We were not thrilled at the outcome.
  

• If Mike Green wins the Norris, I quit hockey. I've heard many a writer and fan say he's not the most responsible in his end, and watching our games against the Caps this season, yeah, it would appear his DEFENSE isn't his strongest contribution. He scored a bunch of goals in a row. Woooo! That is not on the list of criteria for selecting a Norris winner.

• The Portland Pirates continue their playoff series against the Providence Bruins tonight after what seems like weeks off (their last game was Sunday). Providence currently leads the series 2-1. Come on Pirates!!!

• Also the Pirates will announce this afternoon that they're hosting the AHL All-Star Classic in 2010. Hooray! That would be more exciting to me if I lived in or around Portland, ME. We'll be whooping it up for you in Buffalo, AHL.

• Pittsburgh and Detroit (!) have the chance to advance to the semifinals tonight with wins over Philly and Columbus respectively. Anyone think that the lessened media attention on the Pens has done them favors during the second half of the season? Its been all Washington-Boston, etc. in the East thusfar, and the Pens are quietly dominating but its not getting as much play from the MSM. This might also be because Buffalo hasn't played Pittsburgh since November.

• Drew Stafford will totally be signed to an offersheet this summer. I've said it before, I'm saying it again.

• The San Jose/Anaheim series is what I feel a Boston/Buffalo series could've been like. Sad times.

• WizWear is pulling away from the pack in our poll to the left. Remember, you can vote as many times as you like.

TODD BERTUZZI IS ERIC NYSTROM'S FATHER?!?
Oh, wait, no.

The Games Last Night

by Anne

Last night's games went as follows:

Philadelphia Flyers 1
Pittsburgh Penguins 4


That's what Rob Scuderi thinks of your "physical style" Flyers' Darroll Powe
Pittsburgh leads series 1-0: Good
Next game: April 17 @ Pittsburgh, 7:00 pm


New York Rangers 4
Washington Capitals 3


I blame you
No, not YOU, Nik Antropov,
YOU Joe-zay Tay-uh-door
New York leads series 1-0: Bad
Next game: April 18 @ Washington, 1:00 pm

New Jersey Devils 4
Carolina Butter Snaps 1


I love the enthusiasm, Zachary.
Please don't lose any more teeth this year
New Jersey leads series 1-0: Good
Next game: April 17 @ New Jersey, 7:30 pm


St. Louis Blues 1
Vancouver Canucks 2


Lui doesn't want you in his crease, thanksverymuch Alex Steen
Vancouver leads series 1-0: GREAT
Next game: April 17 @ Vancouver, 10:00 pm


Portland Pirates 3
Providence Bruins 0


Marek Zagrapan with two goals
Jhonas Enroth with the shut-out!
Portland leads series 1-0: TOTALLY AWESOME
Next game: April 17 @ Providence, 7:05 pm

Tonight's games are:

Montreal Canadiens (8) @ Boston Bruins (1) 7:00 pm
Columbus Blue Jackets (7) @ Detroit (1) 7:00 pm
Calgary Flames (5) @ Chicago Blackhawks (4) 8:30 pm
Anaheim Ducks (8) @ San Jose Sharks (1) 10:30 pm

Woooo!!!

Guess Who's Baaaaack?

by Anne

The Dallas Stars are placing Avery on waivers Monday and the Rangers have committed to claiming him. He's playing on their AHL team, we all saw this coming.

This is so great for so many reasons:

• We get interviews with the "reformed" Avery

• John Tortorella is about to become Sean Avery's new coach. Tortorella was extremely vocal about his opinion that Avery should be out of the league forever and ever

• Shanahan and Jagr, both often credited with keeping Avery in check are gone from the Rangers line-up

• Last year the Rangers were a better team with Avery in the line-up. However, this is a different Rangers team.

• Glen Sather is a moron. If this helps the Rangers this season I'll be totally shocked

Welcome back you son of a B

This Waiting is Unpleasant

by Anne

I love my cousin Jimmy desperately but if spending the weekends with him is any indication of what motherhood is going to be like, I am straight-up not ready for it any time soon. I'm exhausted. When my Mom left Sunday morning, it was all Annie all the time.

Anyway, I feel like I haven't been able to fully commit a freak-out over AnkleWatch 2009.

Puck Daddy offers a real picker-upper for Sabres fans. If you haven't already slipped into the depths of despair over this story, head on over there and join us as we wallow.

Unless Patrick Lalime and Jhonas Enroth can get the kind of play from the players in front of them they need and make anything close to the big saves Miller can provide, this team is not making the playoffs. End of story.

Miller could be out a week or he could be out the rest of the regular season. Who knows. Ankles are very tricky things, especially for goaltenders who rely on lateral movement so much.

If the magic playoff points number is 90, we need at least eleven wins to get there. Of course that number might go up or down a point or two but no team has made the playoffs with fewer than 90 points since the lockout. Truth be told, the Sabres finished last season with 90 points and 10th place so let's say 92 is the likely number. Last season in it was 94 and the two seasons before that it was 92. So we'll go with the average of 92.6 which in hockey means 92.

We need to go 12-10 down the stretch, starting tomorrow at home against Anaheim.

In his career, Lalime is 6-3-0 against the Ducks with a 2.40 GAA and a SV% of .916. He played in the team's other game against Anaheim this season in which he made 34 saves but lost.

One of those teams pushing for the playoffs with us is the New York Rangers who just fired their coach. Good or bad for the Sabres? The Pens have started to show signs of life under Dan Bylsma.

Lindy just added notch #139 to his hockey stick where he marks guys he's outlasted.

12-10

Post Practice

by Anne

James will be posting with his insightful thoughts later but I thought I'd offer my far less interesting observations about practice.

We were late because of an accident on the 33 that completely stopped traffic heading downtown. We actually had to drive backwards up the 33 west (with police direction, we're not those kind of people, lol) and merge onto the 33 east.

Practice wasn't very long and clearly not mandatory as Lindy was not there.

Also not practicing were Tim Connolly, Drew Stafford, Derek Roy, Adam Mair and Toni Lydman.

At one point as Miller was headed towards the bench for a drink, Paul Gaustad apparently decided he needed to work harder for it and threw a few bottles at him. A gatorade bottle ended up on the ice and Petey decided to shoot the bottle at Miller. Children (and I) were delighted.

After the rest of the team had left, Petey, Max, Patches and Teppo were practicing with Lalime. I didn't understand why Teppo was staying after but then John Vogl wrote that Teppo would be sitting this one out. Max and Petey were playing a little two on two against Patches and Teppo. At one point, extremely proud of some move they had completed and scored, Max and Petey gave out a huge cheer and celebrated their goal very enthusiastically. They received a smattering of applause from the fans that were still there. At one point Jm Corsi let the puck cross the blue line and out of the zone and Petey got extremely "exasperated" and went "JIMMY!"

Tallinder seemed at ease out there today, didn't seem to be in any kind of discomfort while he was skating and shooting. We were siting on the side of the ice in which the defensemen were shooting at Miller. Let me just say it did not instill a lot of confidence in me for our defensemen's "scoring touch"

Jom Schoenfeld walked past us through the seats. I didn't recognize him but my Mom did. He said hi to us all as he passed.

I have a feeling I'll be taking a nap today before the game. I was up at 8:00. I never get up that early on Saturdays.

I'm not sure about tonight's game. We're 2-0 on the season against the Rangers but I'm not sure about tonight. The Rangers are in a downward spiral. They won their last game but their last game was against the Islanders... that's really not saying much.

Puck drop at 7:00. Woo!

That Was Not Pretty

by Anne

Yes, we won. That ROCKS. 4-0 in '09!

However, its a darn miracle that the Rangers didn't run away with that one in like a 7-1 rout.

THE BUFFALO SABRES DIDN'T MUSTER A SHOT ON GOAL IN THE SECOND PERIOD UNTIL THE 9:58 MARK. The sarcastic smattering of applause throughout the arena that followed that shot was priceless.

The important part of that display of suckitude is that we won. The Sabres really turned on their motors in the 3rd and came dangerously close to scoring many times. They did not, but they actually showed up to play in the third. Would've been nice if their big boy pants had arrived a little earlier, but we'll take what we can get.

Am I the only one who had a heart attack seeing Timmy in the shooting lane on the penalty kill? Like, the first one challenging the defensemen. I don't think I want Timmy taking a Staal one-timer to the skull.

Royzie's goal was nice. Vanek and Stafford's passes were spot on and Derek snatched up his own rebound to bury it. It was only our 11th or so shot on goal BUT THE 2ND PERIOD WAS ALMOST OVER.

Ryan Miller had to make 43 saves in regulation and OT and then made 3 saves in the shootout. He deserved that win. Someone (I think it was Puck Daddy) wrote at the beginning of the season that Miller doesn't "steal" many games for the Sabres. I begged to differ, and now add this game to the "why I'm right" column in that argument.

I must say it was quite delightful that Drury did not score in the shootout. I couldn't watch. I literally covered my eyes and hid behind some dudes in the aisle. I couldn't watch Drury tie it up and send out extra shooters.

That game FLEW by. There were only 2 penalties and they were both on us. If I'm clocking out at 10:08 after OT and a shootout on a 7:30 start, that game was clearly quick.

Sales were awful. Thanks A LOT, Sabres. When you're apathetic about the game, customers are apathetic about popcorn and cotton candy.

For those who are wondering, pre-game I counted Miller jerseys v. Vanek jerseys.

Miller: 38
Vanek: 28
Fuzzy Purple Coats: 1

A win is a win, they didn't blow a lead, they battled back from a one goal defecit to tie it and then not lose their cool and won in the shootout. The Rangers are dang good in the shootout, so all game I was like "Please don't let this go to a shootout" and YEP, shootout. But, they didn't lose their minds and won. It's nice to have a four game win cushion for our soul-crushing, mind-numbing defeat tomorrow.

Speaking of things that are soul-crushing and mind numbing: don't forget you can come and watch the afore-mentioned assumed loss tomorrow night at Casa di Pizza, 477 Elmwood Ave in Buffalo with some of your favorite Buffalo sports bloggers. Don't worry, we don't bite. Well, I can't say with certainty that NONE of us bite, but that's part of the fun, right?

ETA: We were the only team to win on home ice last night. Weird, huh?

Gentlemen, Please Look Away

by Anne

Ok, boys, seriously, you don't want to read this one, its just girly, spare yourselves and just look away.

LADIES:

In Anne's world, there is one surefire way to make any man look good. Well, to make them look good to ME anyway. That one surefire way is to put them in a suit that fits well. BUT, if you put a man in a three piece suit, subtract the coat and roll up the shirtsleeves and I'm completely overcome. I DON'T KNOW WHY, but for some reason there is no man on earth that does not look completely dreamy in this kind of ensemble.

Also, let's not lie, one of the perks of loving hockey is that some of the men who play this sport are pretty darn attractive.

SO COMBINE THE TWO?!?!

I. Just. WOO!

I know, I know, its the Rangers and Chris Drury, but lets try to put aside our differences and embrace the attractive attractive menfolk.

Sorry gentlemen, I know we ladies get all "Take us seriously as hockey bloggers, wah wah wah." and then I go and post something like this... it kind of undermines that but, hey, its my blog and I'll squeal if I want to.

Oh, and from Danny Paille's interview on Sabres.com:

What player on the current Sabres roster have you learned the most from and what did he teach you?

"Paul Gaustad. Since I’ve played with him in Rochester he’s taught me a lot on the penalty kill and every time things don’t go well he’s very positive. He’s taught me a lot on just how to play the game."

What television show are you embarrassed to admit that you watch?

"I watched one episode of Paris Hilton’s My New BFF. I thought it was horrible so I never watched that show again."

Oh, excuse me I just giggled a little and then laughed so hard I passed out. Danny Paille admits to the following: loving chocolate, having NKOTB on his iPod, and watching an episode of a Paris Hilton reality show. I'm pretty sure based on that criteria, Danny Paille is either a 15 year old girl or my best friend Adam.

Brilliant.

What Just Happened?

by Anne

I checked the scores on NHL.com one minute and the score of the Caps/Canes game was 2-1 Canes moved on to do some other things, watch some CSI and then about 5 minutes later the game was over and the Caps had won 3-2.

Quoi?

Semin scored with just under 3 minutes left and then with 11 seconds left. Impressive. Now he's only 1 behind TV in goals. I don't like that.

Of the 11 games played last night, all but one home team won last night (Way to kill the trend, Colorado).

Drury scored a hat trick. Hoo. ray. He is the second coming, in case you weren't sure.

The bigger story from that game is the "incident" between Lightning goalie Mike Smith and Rangers' forward Aaron Voros. If you don't know, Mike Smith threw a hissy fit about Aaron Voros being in his crease, slashed him and hit him a few times, and eventually got called for the penalties, leading to a fight between the two. Ok, Mike Smith probably should've controlled himself a bit better, but he got caught for his boneheaded penalties and they were served. However, the REALLY ridiculous situation is that Rangers head coach Tom Renney is calling for Mike Smith's suspension because he feels his retaliation was unprovoked.

........................................................................?

So let me get this straight, coach Renney. Goaltenders attempting to clear the crease get irritated when a player's skate enters it. The players skate repeatedly enters the crease, so an overly excessive retaliation happens, a goalie and a skater fight and the goalie gets minor penalties for his trouble. Therefore, the goaltender is a criminal miscreant and must be suspended.

Let's toss this (hypothetical) scenario out there, Coach: A Lightning checks a Ranger a little too hard along the boards, a Ranger tough guy jumps into the fracas to defend his teammate, and that's a legitimate hockey situation. Yes, it is. Should either the Lightning who delivered the hit or the Ranger who dropped the gloves be suspended? No, of course not. No one would suggest that. We're operating under the assumption that the Lightning player was not attempting to seriously harm the Ranger. How is this any different? Are there special rules for goaltenders in Coach Renney's world? Goaltenders are punished differently for overreacting? I don't think Mike Smith's intention was to permanently cripple Aaron Voros, just to get him to stay out of his crease. Mike Smith is trying to send the message that you don't mess around in his crease or he'll say something about it.

Let's just try to envision Lindy Ruff saying something like that if the situation were different and it were Paul Gaustad parked in front of Mike Smith's net.... go ahead... try to envision it happening... I'll wait....

Yeah, didn't think so.

Ridiculous. Maybe that stick to the head did more extensive damage than previously thought.

Whatever. Thrashers at HSBC Arena tonight, 7:30. I'll be there, and so will at least one of these guys:

YOYOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

Ok I Have to Say It

by Anne

I've been thinking about it all day and last night too...

We beat the Habs who are all "Wooooo, look at us celebrating our centennial and being all swaggery and 'We finished first in the East last season." Which felt GREAT.

Then we beat the Islanders who are all "We lost half of our top 6 scorers, our pricey starting goaltender hasn't played since the Nixon administration and we couldn't block a shot if our own mother was the goaltender." WHICH WAS AWESOME.... but should've been expected.

Now we're about to play a team that looks to be the new "AHHHH THESE GUYS ARE EFFING SCARY" in the East and I hate them already. I mean, I hated them before this season, and I hate them even more now that they haven't yet lost a game AND THEY'VE ALREADY PLAYED 5 GAMES AND CHRIS DRURY (BARF) IS THEIR CAPTAIN.

Things to worry about:

Ummmm, they haven't lost yet.

They're 100% on the penalty kill and our power play is... less than inspired

They've won all 5 games in regulation

I hate them and their gross captain

This Voros guy seems like kind of a d-bag


Things that make them seem less "AHHHH!! JUST COVER YOUR HEAD AND HOPE RYAN MILLER DOESN'T DIE!":

They beat the Tampa Bay Lighting who gave up a franchise record setting 126 shots on goal in THREE GAMES. YO. YO. YOOOOO. That's TERRIBLE

They also beat the Blackhawks who have yet to win a game.

They also beat the Phlyers who have yet to win a game.

Our penalty kill is also 100% at the moment and their PP isn't a whole lot better than ours

We're pretty even on Shots per Game and Shots Allowed per Game

Sean Avery is gone, Jaromir Jagr is gone


Ok so when put in those terms, they seem less scary. They haven't been facing teams that are playing that well early on in the season.

The Rangers have to lose sometime, right? Can it pleeeeeeeease be Wednesday?!?

Sidenote, the head honchos at Bravo and the NHL need to get together and NOT SCHEDULE HOCKEY GAMES DURING PROJECT RUNWAY'S BIG FINALE.

I'm seriously torn between watching the boys and watching the fashion. WWDRD? (What Would Derek Roy do?)... ok the sheer fact that I'm not sure which show Derek Roy would watch is making me a little nervous. The people I watch Runway with do not enjoy hockey (srsly, why am I friends with these people?) so there won't be much switching between for them. I'm so TORN.

Leanne

ILU and If You Win I'll be 2/3 of the way through my "I Choose You To Win Based on Nothing" Campaign of 2008
Part 1: Stephanie from Top Chef
Part 2: The Tampa Bay Rays (I declared they'd have a winning season and make the playoffs in March, NO JOKE)



Ew.

ALACK AND FIE.


p.s. This dude who was temporarily my BFF (not by my choosing) in one of my classes is sitting in the Study Quad right now and he's so loud I might punch him in the face. If you hear about an assault in the library on Buff State's campus, just go ahead and assume its me.

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

Bittersweet

by Anne

Half the Game 1s have come and gone with the following results

Sens v. Pens (Pens win 4-0, lead series 1-0)
NYR v. NJD (NYR win 4-1, lead series 1-0)
Avs v. Wild (Avs win 3-2, 1st OT, lead series 1-0)
CGY v. SJS (CGY win 3-2, lead series 1-0)

Interestingly enough, only 1 team won at home last night. This whole "not having home-ice advantage" thing doesn't seem to phase teams in the bottom part of the playoff standings.

Anytick, that was a bee-you-ti-full win last night by the Pittsburgh Penguins. I liked it a lot, we had good chemistry, I'd definitely go out with it again. If it had been a Sabres win, we'd already be on our honeymoon in Cancun.

Sigh, I don't care how many times we all try to say it'll be nice to watch the playoffs without the emotional investment, it's not true. With each goal that the Pens scored, I got a little more into it, but I didn't come within a tenth of how gleeful and elated I would've been to watch those goals being scored by Sabres. Good to see Gary Roberts recovered from his broken leg resulting in a collision with Timmy...I know, right? TimmyHo actually crushed someone and skated away, unharmed. I still can't believe it either. I kind of love Gary Roberts right now, he's pretty old, ha.

Then they had to go and show Mario up in the press box and remind my why I love them. Awwww, Mario. I loves him still.

I hope Ottawa is as embarrassed as they should be. Bryan Murray did NOT look happy about that brawl in the last 11 seconds. That team has been soooo badly mismanaged in the last few months its scary. Their D looks turrrrrrribull.

Congratulations to Marc-Andre Fleury for the first playoff shutout since April 26, 2001...ironically it was when the Sabres were shutout by Johan Hedberg. Whoops.

Congrats also to the Calgary Flames. I watched the first period of that game in my intermittent watching of both that and Top Chef (Zoi's gone, she made underseasoned mushrooms, but Richard left scales on his fish, discuss). It was my first non-Sabres Brian Campbell experience. I really could've done without the commentators on HNIC verbally lovin' up Soupy. They just went on and on about how great he's been for the team and how he and Big Joe are childhood sweethearts and soulmates.

It makes me sad to hear Soupy say bad things about Buffalo. Well, ok, it's not Buffalo, it's Larry Quinn and Darcy Regier, but still, when he and Brownie and Mikey Grier get together and start talking about how Buffalo could've kept them and they're all resentful it makes me sad.

Whatevskis, we don't needs 'em! On the plus, in the 2 games I watched, both the teams I wanted to win, won! Unforch, in the other 2 games the team I wanted to win, lost. Boo. What was UP with Marty mis-handling that puck? It's like he got stuck in a position and for a split second his priority was moving his feet and not moving the puck, he clearly didn't see whatever Ranger snuck up on him and tapped the puck home. Whoops.

I don't really care about the Avs v. Wild but Jose Theodore and Peter Forsberg annoy me. Peter Forsberg downright creeps me out, actually. I like Marian Gaborik for his Superman pose in his roster photo and because they do, indeed, look like elves, and because Minnesotans love their hockey... and their elves.

See?:

Tonight I get to pretend I care about watch Detroit at Nashville at 7:00 and Dallas at Anaheim at 10:00 while Boston plays at Montreal at 7:00 and Calgary plays at San Jose again at 10:00.

Wait, there's STILL no Sabres game?

by Anne

Ok, hasn't it been 3 days yet? No? I haven't had 3 days of no Sabres hockey since the All-Star Weekend.

I tried to care about the Minnesota Wild v. the Colorado Avalanche but, unlike most Monday night Versus games that I watch, this one was not a catastrophic blowout with the first goal being scored less than a minute in. I was hoping Gaborik would bust out another 5 goal night in honor of me taking the time to turn on the TV and mindlessly sort of watch his team play in the background on mute while I cleaned up the mountains of clothes on my floor.

Tonight, there is a game between the Flyers and the Thrashers. Here's a refresher course in Anne's Top (Bottom?) least favorite teams:

1. Ottawa Senators (I love to hate them, I really do)
2. Toronto Maple Leafs (It's not as much fun to hate them post-lockout...but I still do it)
3. Philadelphia Flyers (My ire is long lived, eff you Philly, eff you)
4. New York Rangers (Gross. Avery, Jagr, Drury: gross. Yes, I still hold it against Jagr and his mullet that he left Pittsburgh. What?!)
5. Atlanta Thrashers (A very, very recent addition, ousting the 'Canes from this list)

So, based on this list, I should cheer for the Thrashers? Hmm, let's look at the standings:

1-7: Not the Sabres
8. Philadelphia Give us back Danny but you can keep Martys- 80 pts
9. The Greatest Team Ever - 79
10. Washington Ovechkins - 78
11. Florida Huh, You're only 2 pts back of 8th?s - 78
12. Toronto Maple Chokes - 74
13. New York Misfits - 71
14. Atlanta League Worst 246 GA, ha!s - 70
15. Tampa Bay 2/3 of a Good Line Still Lefts - 66

So, Go Thrashers? That seems wrong to say, but: Go Thrashers, none the less.

Toronto takes on the Islanders...um... Go Isles? Who cares. Neither of them are making the playoffs, sorry, SteveDangle. I still enjoy your videos and now know more about Andy Wozniewski than I ever thought possible. The fact that I even know who Andy Wozniewski is, is really a credit to you, Steve Dangle. BTW, even if you aren't a Leafs fan, and if you're reading this blog, you're probably not, his videos are funny and entertaining and its interesting to hear what non-douche bag Leafs' fans have to say.

Pens v. Rangers - GO PENS! There's no doubting how I feel about this game. The Rangers are due to choke soon, I'm banking its against Evgeni Malkin, that goal scoring freakazoid. Sidney WHO?

After Tampa on Wednesday is the dreaded "We need to finish playing all the games against our division, let's cram them all into the last 8 games of the regular season" run. Too bad we're in a very tough division. Even the Leafs (Leaves?) give us trouble from time to time. Can we temporarily trade schedules with the 'Canes? No? Ugh, fine.

How do we all feel about our renewed playoff hopes? I had begrudgingly resigned myself to being ok with hanging out in 9th for the rest of the run. Now, I'm back to: PLAYOFFS OR BUST!! This is a tough position to be in. My hockey ulcer can't handle it. No more spicy food for the rest of the season.

---

Private to Thomas Vanek:

I hate you and your 9 minutes of ice time. You, our "star goal scorer" our "10 million dollar man" had the least amount of ice time of ANYONE ON THE TEAM THAT ACTUALLY DRESSED FOR THE GAME! PATRICK KALETA HAD MORE ICE TIME THAN YOU. ONLY THE SOVIET BOMBER AND THE CHICKEN HAD FEWER SHIFTS AND ONE OF THEM IS A 7 GAME ROOKIE.

What you have to show for this weekend: a -1, 2 penalties totalling 4 minutes, 2 shots and roughly 26 minutes of ice time spread out over 2 games. ARE YOU SECRETLY MIKE RYAN DRESSED AS THOMAS VANEK? HOW DO YOU MANAGE A -1 WHEN YOUR TEAM SCORES 13 GOALS? Get on it, Britney, lose some weight (you're lookin' a little soft these days), gain some confidence, start playing with that "Eff THIS" attitude you enjoy taking out and displaying occasionally. Don't treat that attitude like a Gretzky rookie card, keep it out of its protective case, use it, enjoy it, embrace it, mess around with it a little and we won't be screaming for your head if we don't make it to the playoffs. You're a fucking great hockey player, what the hell is the problem? Stop being so damn mopey and fucking play hockey. Get mad, get passionate! DO SOMETHING.

Love and kisses, Anne

---

Private to Paul Gaustad:

AN 80% FACE OFF WIN PERCENTAGE ON SATURDAY? 4/5! Oh Goosie, I loves you.

Love, Anne

---

Private to Pat Kaleta:

HA!

Oh, Patty, you are always good for some great pictures. I hope you're cozy up in the front of my SabreHeart, you'll definitely be there the remainder of the season. Don't laugh at Staffy, it's not nice, he's still got a tentative hold on his seat. Would you and Pie-YAY please stop putting tacks on his chair? Pat Lafontaine has been giving good repots that you haven't been annoying him, so that's good.

Love, Anne

What the HELL was THAT?

by Anne

Boys, I did something today I haven't done since your abysmal loss to LA in December: I turned off the game before it was over.

Every Sabre must now clean some part of my apartment. There are 24 of you, so it shouldn't take long. Britney, you scored a goal so you get an easy job. You can organize the pantry. Millsey, I love you, but you have to clean the litter box. Oh, T-Bo you were actually pretty solid in net so you can sweep the kitchen floor. Everyone else: Laundry! Scrub the bathroom floor! Scour the tub! Wash the windows! Clean the fridge! And then when you're finished you can apologize to Oscar. He was so traumatized by the loss that not even his swanky new bowls or kitty apartment I bought him could cheer him up. He actually jumped on my lamp for a post-dinner snuggle. He NEVER does that before like 9:00p p.m. See?:

Oh, I'm wearing a Sabres' hat...well...my head was cold. I also got new glasses this morning, ain't they swanky? They're red.

Um, yeah, so I'm gonna need you to go ahead and not play like that tomorrow. That'd be great. Millsey, maybe you just needed a day off. But, you could've just asked, you didn't have to take a nap in goal. I keed! I keed! But you do get the T-OC for the game. Don't take it personally. You, well, kinda stunk out loud today. Just take a break, we all still love you, but that was....pretty unimpressive.

Soupy and Sissy also get the grosser jobs, Soupy you have to clean the toilet (I had the stomach flu yesterday, enjoy) and Sissy you have to clean Oscar's litterbox. Millsey, you can wash the dishes instead (they're still gross and there's a lot of them), I've decided I'm more mad at the defensemen than you, but you still have to sit in the T-OC. Soupy and Sissy, you were both -4 on the evening. -4? WOW.

Granted, the Rangers had a lot of things working in their favor, they had a CRAZY long break between games, Shanahan was back and well, they're all feelin' swell because Henrik signed that big extension just the other day. Soooooo...well, they had many factors working in their favor... but that's no excuse to lose like that.

We'd all better pray to the gods of hockey that Boston loses tonight. Oh ... they're playing Toronto ... wwwwweeeeeeell ... it could happen!

At least my friend Scott is happy about tonight's win. He texted me to inform me. But its only fair, I texted him the last time we beat the Rangers.

I'm going to go comfort my poor distraught kitten.

Monday Mondaaaaay

By Anne

So, while anyone who is in public school under the college level or anyone who works in a government office is nestled snugly in their nice warm beds and homes on this freeeeeezing cold day, S(h)ara and I are at work. Enjoying every moment of it, I can assure you.

The one good thing about working today is that there are very very few people also driving into downtown Buffalo to get in my way, and many many open parking spaces to choose from. So, at least I always know on these mornings that my commute will be easy.

Enough about us, onto the sports.

I am sad to report that my favorite NFC team, the Green Bay Packers lost to the NY Giants last night in overtime. This saddens me greatly. Brett Favre has long been a favorite of mine, since he first started playing for Green Bay and received national recognition as AP MVP in '95. He's started EVERY GAME as a Green Bay Packer since he started there IN 1992. And his middle name is Lorenzo, can you really get much cooler than that? I watched every second of the career game he played right after his father passed away, and cried at the end of it, not gonna lie. I watched him take the sack from Michael Strahan so Strahan could earn the NFL's record for most sacks in a season. He's never publicly admitted that he took the dive, but if you watch it, it's pretty obvious that he did. I didn't agree that he should've done it as it, to many, cheapened the accomplishment. But let's be honest, how many quarterbacks would lower their pride enough to take the sack, lower their own numbers and those of their offensive line, to let someone on another team set an NFL record?

Basically, to be totally honest, the first reason I took notice of him at the tender age of 10 is because my aunt, who is irritatingly obsessed with pronouncing things correctly (including saying almost all Italian food names with an Italian accent, in spite of the fact that we're 100% Irish) was OBSESSED with the fact that Favre was being pronounced Farve. Ok, this is clearly not how his name should be pronounced, but who really cares?

Bretters might retire this season (NOOOOO!!!!) and all I wanted was for him to get one more NFC championship and maybe, just maybe, upset Tom Brady in the Super Bowl. The greatest upset EVER. The old man and the superstar going toe to toe.

I wanted to see this:

Not this:

I don't really care much about Eli Manning. I enjoy his brother much more. So do his parents probably, so that makes me feel bad for little Eli, but I don't think the poor boy and his Giants stand a chance against Tommy B. and his Patriots.

Anyway, on to the hockey:

I watched as much of yesterday's Bruins v. Rangers match up as I could take, as I kept nearly nodding off, I changed the station frequently. I can't imagine a game that's 1-0 for the first 40 minutes is exactly what the NHL wanted when the decided to highlight this "Original 6 Match up!!!". Does anyone else want to acknowledge the fact that anyone who doesn't follow hockey regularly will have no idea what that means? I was under the impression that the goal was to attract new fans, not confuse them.

The NHL on NBC game of the weeks seems to be "the NHL game of whoever the Rangers are playing on Sunday" game of the week. Next week its Rangers v. Habs. "ANOTHER Original 6 Match up". Hardly the marketing strategy I would employ.

I love looking at commercials and seeing how ridiculously focused they are on putting out ads created for a very specific audience. Yesterday it was middle aged men, their sons in their 20s and the girlfriends and wives that were forced to watch the games too. We had FloMax, Cialis, that Verizon commercial with the new dad banging on the nursery window (ok, I have to admit I laugh every time at that one) and the figure skating championships that will soon be on NBC.

Let's watch it, shall we?

I think I laugh because I fully anticipate one day marrying and having children with a man who will do just that when seeing our baby in the nursery window.

I also enjoyed Mike Millbury and his lower leg skeleton model he had to show the world just exactly where Sid the Kid has injured himself. Thank you, Mike "High Ankle Sprain" was such an ambiguous descriptor.

Also, Kobasew, another of my top favorite NHL player names scored a short hander, so it was an entertaining game. I was pissed that Tim Thomas, whom I enjoy as a person and a hockey player (I know I'm not supposed to as he's a NE division rival, but whatev) was denied his shut out with 44 seconds left. Booooo!!!!

There was hinting that Jagr isn't happy in New York anymore as they showed footage of him looking decidedly unenthusiastic about scoring a goal in a previous game. Sundin? Jagsie? Who's next?

If Jagr leaves the Rangers, my friend Scott will need some serious consoling. He's a huge Jagr fan. He'd walk around class during last season's playoffs in his Jagr jersey, very sure that his team would prevail. I couldn't help but rub it in a lot when they did not. Sadly, Scott-o and I were not in the same city when the Drury debacle went down, so he never got to have his revenge by bragging that his team got our captain.

In other news, the Sens dropped yet another one, losing 6-1 to Philly. Too bad Marty wasn't in net for that one. As I said, its hard to be too excited as Alfie and The Piece of Trash weren't in the line-up for the Sens. It'll all be different in a month or so when they're back and the Sens rebound. Same for Sid the Kid and the Pens. Yes, he'll be out for a while, but assuming the Pens can hang on to their playoff spot without him, they'll be a different team when he comes back.

K-Sylv is givin' the play-by-play this afternoon in Phoenix with Harry Neale. This should be interesting (read: painful and confusing for us all, like when Mommy has a new boyfriend). While I support the choice to use K-Sylv instead of...actually I don't know who else they'd use, I still would rather hear Slick Ricky than anyone else. There's been an argument made for Roby, but I prefer to hear Roby giving the tough love than the more neutral play-by-play position. Slick Ricky is certainly not neutral in his love for the Sabres, but he tends to not openly criticise the team...too often, and only when they really deserve it, like at anytime in the last 3 weeks.

I can't wait to see Rayzor and Roby alone with no K-Sylv to mediate them. They both like to play bad cop, so if the Sabres are playing badly, this could be a Dodge Intermission report bloodbath.