Um, Blackhawks?

by Anne

The only reason I felt I didn't need/want to put much effort into watching this series was because I assumed that beating Philly would be no problem for you. I do not like that this series is tied at 2. Do gooder when back in Chicago. NOW. That is all.

My sister will be in Chicago for her final weeks of grad school this summer, it would sweeeeet if when I visited for her graduation in the end of July, I could see all the "Woooo Stanley Cup champs!" banners and carryingson that are likely to occur throughout the summer. I would appreciate not having to see the losers and ne'er-do-wells of Philadelphia (my cousin included, but not his wife or son)* celebrating a cup victory.

Duncan Keith didn't lose 90% of his teeth just to lose in the Final. Brent Seabrook didn't sacrifice his beautiful face and resemble a yeti to give it all up against Philadelphia. Jonathan Toews doesn't look like Wolverine's reject sidekick to NOT hoist the Cup over his head. But for serious, when are we going to have a winning captain with a proper playoff beard? If Nick Lidstrom's is the most "impressive" playoff beard of the last three Cup winners (if Chicago wins, I mean), this will be sad. HOWEVER, that does NOT mean that I want Mike Richards to raise that Cup over his head. NO SIR. 

Niedermayer's was by far the best since the lockout:

2006 - no beard

  2008 - pittance of stubble, sort of a goatee.

2009 - Does that even count? At least you can see it?

2007- What a captainly face full of hair.

If Jonathan Toews winning keeps this playoff beard drought going for a third year, I can live with that. 

* For the record my cousin is neither a loser nor a ne'er-do-well, but don't tell him I said that.

Sometimes Good Things Happen

by Anne

I got a call from my boss today at the arena telling me that I don't have to come in tonight! Woooooooooo! Its just because I'm the lowest ranked vendor and I made like $0.52 last night (figures estimated).

Whatevs, I don't care. After my bad night last night I really needed a pick me up. My BFF Adam and I have resolved to see all of the movies nominated for the Best Picture at this year's Academy Awards so we're going to see Milk tonight. We feel lame picking a winner having only seen one or two of the movies nominated. We've already seen Slumdog Millionaire and will probably see The Reader next, in spite of my irrational dislike of Ralph Fiennes. We're not sure when or where to see Frost/Nixon. Adam's friend's Dad votes as a member of the Academy so he gets the DVDs of all the nominated films and performances, so we're probably going to watch Frost/Nixon on his DVD because its not playing in Buffalo at the moment. We also might see The Wrestler, just to see what all the Mickey Rourke fuss is about.

Hockey: Sidney Crosby is not playing in the All-Star Game after getting a record setting 1.7 million votes in the ridiculous joke of a voting process. He has some concerns about lingering injuries to his knee and forearm and wants to take the time to rest. This is probably a good idea considering the poor situation the Pens find themselves in at the moment. Marty St. Louis will be taking his place on the roster. I'm not sure how I feel about the selection of St. Louis (17-29-46) over players like Phil Kessel (24-17-41) or Derek Roy (18-26-44) who have similar numbers on more successful teams, and Roy averages more ice time than either of the other two players. Whatevs, I just love Royzie. Also, who moves up to the starting line-up? The player who came in fourth in voting? I don't know who that is and I can't find the voting totals past the top three forwards.

Mirtle has released a list of the top defensive defensemen in the league up to this point in the season and WCBs M-E "Pickles" Vlasic (9) Nicklas Lidstrom (11) and Matthew Greene (20) have all made the cut. Woooooooooo! Normally I am all about flashy offense and captains and the like, but this season has gotten me appreciating defensive hockey more and more. I know I was SHOCKED that no Sabres defensemen made the cut.

Speaking of Sabres defensemen... we are royally effed. Trade? MATT GREENE? Let me live this pipe dream, people. But for serious, everyone is hurt. I'm suspicious that Craig Rivet may be playing with a wooden leg and Toni Lydman might actually be seriously concussed, but they can skate backwards, so they're still in. Just point Toni in the right direction and tell him to shoot and we'll be fine.

Danny Briere has "nerve entrapment" and will miss ANOTHER four weeks of the season. Poor Danny. I just tried to look up a little bit about nerve entrapment and it appears that obturator nerve entrapment is a cause of chronic groin pain in athletes and athletes with successful surgery often become symptom free after recovery. Apparently this is a fairly new development in the study of the causes of groin pain and groin injuries which could spell good things for players with chronic injuries. Oh Hasek, if only... if only...

Martin Gerber was put on waivers. That sound you hear is every hockey fan rolling their eyes as the Senators goaltending woes soldier on, this time with Alex Auld and newcomer Brian Elliot. The Senators sound more and more like the LA Kings with each passing day.

While working on our All-Star Roster post (almost finished, I SWEAR) I discovered something.

When did David Backes get so pretty?
Or
Why have I never noticed how pretty David Backes is?

WCB Weekend Update

by Anne


*sniff sniff* It's really brought a tear to my eyes all of my WCBs who took up the cause to give me happy things to talk about on Saturday night. Here they are in no particular order:

Chicago: Patrick Sharp (12+8)

Sharpie scored 2 goals Saturday night! One a nice tip-in of a rebound and the other a straight skate in and shoot. He gave the Blackhawks their first two goals in an attempt to climb back from a 3-0 deficit. They went on to beat the Leafs 5-4 in OT. Yay!!!

Columbus: Rick Nash (10+9)

Nasher got his 10th of the season in a 2-0 victory over the Atlanta Thrashers, giving Steve Mason his first NHL shut out. The Thrashers didn't make him work very hard, they only offered him 15 shots to stop. Yay! This extends Nasher's 5 game goal streak. Yayyy!!!

rawr

Minnesota: Owen Nolan (1+5)

Nothing in the write up or box score indicates why, but ONo was named 3rd star of the night in the Wild's 2-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues. But, who cares! Yay!!! ONo!!!

Anaheim: Ryan Getzlaf (8+18)

Saturday night Getzy scored in the shoot out and talked himself all smart and the like when he talked about how well he can read Marty Turco. Muahahaha. On the other side of that game, Brendan Morrow's season is over :( His necessary surgery will require several months of recovery time. :( HOWEVER! Marty Turco got an assist and I friggin' love when goalies get points, hahahaha.

Detroit: Nick Lidstrom

Ok, so this isn't exactly about Nick Lidstrom. Its about my former Red Wings WCB, Brett Leda.
Brett heard all the mean things I said about him being terrible so he scored a goal and was named first star of the night! Wooo! Toooo bad he's not my WCB anymore. Look, one goal does not reclaim my love so easily.

LA Kings: Matt Greene (0+2)

Greener was a +2 as the Kings fell to the Avs 4-3 in OT. Once again, Greener failed to put one home. I HAVE NOT GIVEN UP HOPE, MATTHEW! THERE'S STILL LIKE 63 GAMES LEFT! YOU CAN DO IT!

San Jose: Marc-Edouard Vlasic

PICKLES SCORED A GOAL!!!!! Yay!!! And he had an assist!! Hooray! I hope he had all those adorable rosy cheeks I've heard so much about!! Weeeee! I love when defensemen score!

Moving on:

Vancouver and Chicago had better watch their backs in this "Favorite Western team 08-09 race" I just discovered this on the Calgary Flames website and things are looking up for my 07-08 team to really get back in the mix here.

The Flames participated in a charity wheelchair hockey event and got their butts kicked 11-6. Hahaha.

I bet Iggy wishes he could use that purple stick ALL the time.


I might be in love with Mike Cammalleri

I Must Choose Carefully

by Anne

Yesterday, I revealed to you all (ok, or you could've found it out almost anywhere else) the Buffalo Sabres' nominees for the 2009 NHL All-Star game. Today I continue my segment of "Things Only Anne Cares About, but Blogs About Anyway" and inform you which of my WCBs have made the ballot:

TRAGICALLY, of my 15 boys, only 4 have made the list :(

Ok, but who REALLY thought MATT GREENE with 1 goal in his entire NHL career was going to make the ballot? Me, I did. That's who. And Matt Greene's mama. We might be alone in this, she and I, but we shall stand strong together!

Ryan Getzlaf - F
Nicklas Lidstrom - D
Jarome Iginla - F
Rick Nash - F

Anyway, these boys get my vote, and I'll have to get creative for my other defenseman and goaltender choice. AT LEAST, I will not be forced to choose between boys for this, THAT would be tragic. I'm definitely going to write in Matt Greene, but which goaltender do I support?

I have a thing for captains, and in a rare turn of events, a captain is also a goaltender... and Luongo is on our sister team... I'll probably vote Lui. Hopefully his wife won't be having another baby and he can actually appear this year. Yay! I know he has't had a great start, but he seems to be settling in to things now and, as Alix tells us, posted his 3rd shutout of the season. I like shut outs.

Mirtle correctly points out that Sharpie and JP Dumont are not on the ballot, yet players who have yet to play a game this season made it. Booo. :( Where my Teemu at?

Why in the WORLD are Marty Turco, Marty Biron and Rick DiPietro on this ballot??

I suppose I also have to pick another Eastern defenseman and forward as well... I won't bother picking any of the shoo-ins, and my former Playoff Boyfriend, Mike Green was extremely NOT sexy the other night against us, so I don't know if I can support him. Sidney Crosby does not need my vote. I think I'll go hog wild and vote for Patrik Elias up front and Ryan Whitney on the blue line because he seems like a crotchety old man and he had a beautiful playoff beard. That's the basic criteria for selection, isn't it?

I slept through my first class and showed up only to discover my 2nd class was cancelled. Now its off to class #3. Let's see if this one actually happens.

Not to get all political, but yesterday made me happy. I hope, even if you voted for McCain, you can appreciate how energized the world is now. A friend of mine has friends in England who were literally crying they were so happy Obama was elected. That's a pretty big deal. WOO!!

Revamping My WCBs

by Anne

So after a month of hockey, I'm revamping some of my Western Conference Boyfriend choices. Now, to be one of Anne's WCBs, looks are not everything. In fact, if you were to take a gander at some of my favorite hockey players, not all of them are exactly appearing on the cover of GQ (see: Spacek, Jaroslav) but in spite of their, um.... non-traditional beauty, I continue to love them whole heartedly.

Nevertheless, an adorable smile was not enough to save Brett Lebda as he basically has sucked out loud this season. Therefore, I have gone to my good old standby of picking the team Captain when all else fails. It seems just too easy, but I don't care. Nicklas Lidstrom is my new Detroit Red Wings WCB.

Woooo!!

I also have had to sever ties with dear sweet Marty Turco. At first my love seemed to help, but it appears that not even the glow of my approval and esteem can help Marty now. My usual default is then Captain, but Brendan Morrow has the same last name as my sister's boyfriend so that's weird. I'm a girl who likes a strong +/-, but, unfortunately, the team leader in +/-, a STAGGERING +2 is Sean Avery, so that option is out. I am still perplexed. I am a girl who likes self-deprecating offense and tough guys. Yes, I understand that the two are not quite the same, but WHATEV. I likes what I likes. (See: Paille, Danny and Rivet, Craigory). Therefore, basically because his name is on the cover of that picture of Cap'n Lids, I've decided that Fabian Brunnstrom is my Dallas Stars' WCB.

His hair style looks like its 1993 and I'm OK with that.

The rest of my boys are doing well enough to maintain their positions. Here are some questions you might be asking yourself:

"But Anne, Rick Nash hasn't scored a goal in 6 games, isn't that bad?"

Well, yes, it is, but Rick Nash's sick nasty goal from last season, and my general worshipping of him from afar for the past few years has him securely in place. Don't worry, Nasher!

"How can you love some of these players so much? I mean, do you love them more than the Sabres?"

BLASPHEMY. SHUN THE NON-BELIEVER. SHUNNNNNNN.


******EVERYONE PLEASE REMEMBER TO VOTE TODAY!!! MAKE YOUR VOTE COUNT!!*****

I myself voted this morning at 7:15 and it felt good. REALLY GOOD. WOOOOOO!!!

Tim Kennedy Strikes Again

by Anne

Tim Kennedy: Master of the Blank Stare

So for those who don't regularly read this blog, there are precious few things in this world that make me happier than the following:

1. Buffalo
2. Hockey
3. Hockey Players
4. Awkward interviews
5. My cat, Oscar

So how am I supposed to COPE when I am OVERWHELMED by the presence of an awkward professional hockey player from Buffalo awkwardly talking about hockey? If Tim Kennedy ever starts talking about Oscar, I think I'll stroke out on the spot. Pat Kaleta needs to become more awkward and Pat Kane needs to start talking about Buffalo more, just to keep up with the GOLD standard Timothy has set for them all.

In his latest interview up on SabresTV from Thursday, I think Tim spends more time saying "Uhhhhhh" than anything else. He seems be operating under the assumption that he has a 15 second time limit in which to respond to a question he's just been asked and, overcome by panic, fills 10 seconds with "Uhhhh" and crams in the rest of the sentence in the remaining 5 seconds.

All in all, this interview was ffffffaaaarrrrr less awkward than, say, his signing interview which was painfully awkward. TK seems to have moved from awkward to nearly comatose. I'm not sure which is better. Of course, in his defense, Thursday's was apparently a grueling practice and he was probably hella tired. Maybe Mama K didn't bring him his fresh squeezed grapefruit juice and home made wheat toast with homemade raspberry preserves on time? How is a professional athlete supposed to function like that?!?! I bet Mama Kaleta is NEVER late with Patty's morning chocolate chip pancakes with whipped cream smiley face. NEVER.

Tim has about as much joy in his face and voice while discussing how great it is to skate with his hometown team as I did when ordering my coffee in the Tim Horton's drive thru each morning at 7:40, which BELIEVE ME, if you've never encountered me pre-coffee and pre-8:00 am... let's just say, please don't ask me or tell me anything important because I A) won't remember B) pretend I didn't hear you or C) will outwardly express my inner monologue, cursing you and your mother that birthed you.

In spite of it all, I still love Tim Kennedy wayyyyyy more than say, Marek Zagrapan, which, ok, isn't really saying much. I rank him third behind Gerbe and Weber (who, incidentally are still in a head to head battle to become Anne's Next Top Sabres Rookie). How do you feel about your 3rd place ranking, Tim?

Well fine.
Be that way.
See if I care!
Maybe I'll just have to love, uhhhh, ummmm, Phillip Gogulla!
Aw who am I kidding, I couldn't identify Phillip Gogulla on sight if my life depended on it.
P to the S, just because I make fun of you doesn't mean I want you start being coherent or speaking with fluidity.
Just copy Gerbe's style, every 3 sentences you thank some coach you played with 6 years ago and frequently toss in the phrase "get the legs goin'." He really likes that phrase for some reason

I've never mentioned him before, probably because he's a Phlyers prospect, but Mike Ratchuk (also a Buffalo native) signed his first pro contract this year. He, like TK, left Michigan State early to go pro. I don't know much about him other than he's from Buffalo, went to Michigan State, won the Frozen Four in 2007 and was drafted in the 2nd round in 2006 by the Phlyers. The boy does look FOXY in head to toe Phlyers orange:

Somebody get the hose, its gettin hot up in herrr

Even though I hate your team and am still mildly in love with Danny Briere, but still mostly hate him like a scored mistress would after being unceremoniously dumped by a man who was going back to his wife, I wish you success in the coming years with both the Phatoms and the Flyers. DO BUFFALO PROUD, MIKE!!!!

Back to the Sabres:

Patrick Lalalalalalime is really making great strides this year. First he takes great pictures, then he's just over-all kind of dreamy AND to top it all off, he mispronounced the word "promising" in his interview on SabresTV. French Canadian? Dreamy? Butchering the English language?!?!?!

YYYYYYYYYEESSSSSSSSSS
my new "Anne why are you wasting your time loving this guy?" crush
Wooooooo!!!!!!!

In my previous injuries report I neglected to mention that Nicklas Lidstrom took a slapper to the face during Detroit's Wednesday pre-season game against Montreal and has now been diagnosed (?) with a broken nose. Oweeeeeeee. He's basically going to miss the rest of the pre-season as he heals up. Of course, they won't make him wear a visor but Coach Babcock was quick to mention that when Yzerman was hurt he made the decision to wear a visor. I'm just sayin' Nick, I'm just sayin'.

Don't worry ladies, Nicky is still the same P-I-M-P he always was
Chicks dig scars and oddly-shaped-many-times-broken noses

Fridaaaaayyyy!!! Tomorrow's the first home pre-season game! The first Sabres' game played at HSBC Arena since March. MARCH?!?!

Wooooooo!! HOCKEY HOCKEY HOCKEY HOCKEY HOCKEY!!!

On a final note, from the Recap of last nights Rangers/ Bolts game:

Tampa Bay took its only lead of the game soon after when Matt Carle fired the puck down the ice, where St. Louis tracked it down in the New York end. He outskated defenseman Dmitri Kalinin and let go a backhander that beat Valiquette over the left shoulder, popping up the water bottle on top of the net.

Awwwww, just like old times 'Tri!!

And the Winners Are

by Anne

Some thoughts from the Awards show:

Dear sweet Ovie looked like a kid who got lost on the way to the prom. Did Tuxedo Junction hook him up? There was so much shiny red vest and tie going on, I couldn't handle it. Iggy appears to have gone to the same tailor, but they gave him white with black polka dots or something.

I was pleasantly surprised by how genuine Ovie seemed in his speeches. Genuine but boring. He was annoyingly humble. I wanted him to celebrate the Hart and the Pearson the same way he celebrates his goals. They should've put in some glass for him to throw himself into after his name was announced.

When Ron McLean interviewed Iggy in the audience, it was strange. Not gonna lie. NOT THAT I DON'T ENJOY ALL THE IGGY FACETIME I CAN GET. But it was like everyone was acknowleging that Ovie had already won and they wanted to give Iggy a chance to make his speech he probably hadn't prepared. IGGY!!!!! I STILL LOVE YOU! CALL ME!!

Pavel Datsyuk looks a lot like a kid I went to college with. I've never acknowledged this before on here, but it always throws me off.

As if trying to KILL ME, the man who introduced the Lady Byng decided to write the great American Novel while yammering his way towards the nominee video. Like, for serious, it was like the event organizers wanted people to care even less about the Lady Byng than most already do. I, of course had pinned all my HOPES AND DREAMS ON POMMER'S NAME APPEARING ON THAT TROPHY. But that's ok, Pavel Datsyuk. You're no where near as adorable and lovable as Cap'n Pommers. So PHOOEY ON YOU. POMMERS IS BETTER THAN YOU IN EVERYWAY POSSIBLE. I BET HIS GIRLFRIEND IS WAY HOTTER THAN YOUR GIRLFRIEND! If they gave out an award for the player who most embraces "The System" Pommer would win every year. The award for player who gives the most upbeat post-game interviews when staring into the face of a 7-2 loss? Pommer. The award for the player who most makes me feel like he makes bad things go away and makes rainbows appear after rainstorms? Jason Pominville. The award for the player with the most adorably doofy smile? Pommer. OMG DID YOU ALL SEE HOW UNBELIEVABLY ADORABLE HE LOOKED? I didn't really get a chance to see his lady, but the girl sitting next to him for the approximately 2 seconds we saw her, she looked pretty foxy, so, well done, possibly future Mrs. Pommerdoodle. I'm jealous of your life.

Trophy 2 of 3 that I cared about was the Jack Adams. No one pulled their team out of the basement more than Bruce Boudreau. He was a minor league coach who came in and coached a young, uneven team to a division title. Granted, it was a crappy division, but they were the best of the crappy. Yay Bruce! My mom was excited because he used to coach in Hershey and my mom grew up about 45 minutes from there. It doesn't take much for my mom to find deep, meaningful connections to random people, places and things.

Trophy 3 of 3 was the Calder. I was excited, but I knew Kaner was going to win, so I wasn't as nervous about it. That glorious Buffalo flat "a" vowel accepting an NHL Award did do wonders for my overall health and well-being though. It was a nice touch for him to give a shout-out to Buffalo, especially since he's probably been here since the World Championships ended and he knows that he'll catch slack if he didn't mention us. Yes, we in Buffalo are cracked out like that.

Vinny Lecavalier is one of the most attractive men on earth. What is not attractive is that buzz cut. I know he just had surgery and all, but, really? No. He must be single... or hate his girlfriend. Vinny's hair is one of his top 10 physical attributes, why would you change perfection? No one goes up to the Statue of David and tells him to put on some clothes. On that note, Vinny, I think you should strive to be more like the Statue of David each day. Start by being naked all the time. See how Tampa Bay embraces this habit. You may want to wait until after your hospital wing is dedicated. Being naked in front of a bunch of kids is probably not the way to win anymore King Clancy's. Just sayin'.

---

Private to whoever gave those kids who sat on stage those jerseys:

"Lidstrom" not "Lindstrom".

Wasn't that embarrassing.

You're fired.

Love,
Anne