OH HAPPY DAY

by Anne

Ok so I'm going to gush and be a huge loser.

All day today after I was awakened by a text telling me that my secret favorite Sabre has been signed until just shy of my 29th birthday, I would just randomly start smiling.

Why? Because for once the Sabres management is doing right by the team and by the fans.

There's no way this off-season could've been worse than last season, both literally and emotionally. We didn't have any big name UFAs leaving the team and we weren't coming off of a messy Eastern Conference Final break-up again. However there were so many ways this off-season could've been very very bad.
Yet, what's that coming out of 1 Seymour Knox III Drive? CONTRACTS?!?! EXTENSIONS?!? LARRY QUINN IN A SEX-TAPE SCANDAL?!?! Ok, 2 out of those 3 things are true, I'll let you figure out which.

Goose is signed for 4 more years and is just happy to have a contract for that long, money aside. (swoon) Even though Gaustad isn't going to be winning any scoring titles any time soon (unless by "scoring" you mean "tail", then he could be the champ 4ever), he's an incredibly important player to the team and to the fans. I cannot speak from experience (duh), but I'm sure that he offers a great locker room presence and its well known that he's usually one of the last players to leave the ice after practice. More than that, he's like the team's goodwill ambassador to the Buffalo community. Whether or not he intended to have the iron grip on the hearts of all Sabres fans that he has, he does. I and many many other fans would've been incredibly upset if we had signed him for only 1 year or (horror of horrors) not at all. I can totally see throwing a letter on that left shoulder next season, Lindy.... So, HOOOOOOOOOOONK!

This season Danny Paille has made me all happy and squealful. I could pull up old entries for proof, but I jumped on the Danny Paille bandwagon back in like late December when Staffy was slipping and concussed, and I ain't gettin' off any time soon. It really all started when I noticed how much ice time he was getting during the Ice Bowl and it made me pay closer attention to dear, sweet, little (giant, hard-hitting) Danny. He's awesome and my 2nd favorite Sabre and I couldn't be happier that he'll be here for a few more years. He's also Oscar's favorite Sabre and he couldn't be happier to purr over his goals for many more years. I assume, as I'm sure most of the Sabres management and coaching staff assumes, that Danny will continue to build on that consistency he developed towards the end of the season and continue with his solid play. He's also probably not going to be winning any scoring titles, but if he can stay consistent as he was, I think its safe to assume he'll be racking up 20-25 goals next season. (I hope).

I was secretly terrified that we wouldn't sign Miller. Like, in my heart of hearts I feared the worst. We've all been so burned by management's mismanagement in the past that part of me was pretty convinced that he'd go the way of Briere and Drury next season and I'd cry. Literally. I know I've threatened it before, but if we had lost Miller next offseason there probably would've been tears. I can guarantee you that if we lose Pommer there will be open sobbing and tearing at my hair in the middle of the Plaza. Guaranteed. I'll sign a legally binding document, that's how fo' serious I am about my devastation over possibility of losing Sabre #1.

Anyway, I couldn't be happier that we signed Miller. It makes me all smiley and happy. He, like Goose, likes Buffalo and does a lot for the community. Miller and Gaustad are proof that if you love Buffalo, Buffalo will love you back ten fold. And, as Miller said, we'll leave you alone in the grocery store.

I don't really know how well we'll do next season (probably better than last) but at least we have the tools in place for success for years to come.

WOOOOO!!!! THIS IS THE BEST JULY EVER!!! NOW I'M GOING TO SEE THE DARK KNIGHT!

P.S. I've been in love with Christian Bale since Newsies, and can I say, he's never been more yummy? mmmmmmmm.

Just a Follow-Up

by Anne

Just to piggy-back on what S(h)ara's already said:



WOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!



WHAT A HAPPY HAPPY OFFSEASON ITS BEEN!!! (except for that blip on the radar that was Big Bear)

But

YAAAAYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!

HAPPY DANCES FOR EVERYONE!!!

POMMER?!

Stuck in the Dark Ages, BRB

by Anne

GAH.

I'm in central Pennsylvania at ye olde Grandfather's apartment for the weekend. Ye olde Casa de Grandfather does not have wireless internet, DSL, cable internet, RoadRunner or anything. In fact, he has... dial-up.

Yes, it's 1996.

I'm paging through the Hockey News looking for stories about Hasek's performance in Buffalo and how Messier is dominating up in New York. In this apartment, Martin Brodeur is practically a rookie. I wonder how Pat Lafontaine is doing. When's that new arena opening in Buffalo?

Alas, I soldier on in a world of little hockey. I read an article in the local paper about the Pens, as we are a few hours away from Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, but the main story on the sports page was about the NBA finals and the biggest picture was of the local softball games.

I'm trapped in an apartment, well, really 3 apartments as my step-grandmother lives across the hall and I'm crashing in their neighbors smelly old lady apartment upstairs whilst she's out of town. Like, for serious, this apartment smells TERRIBLE. Like the worst old lady smell I've ever smelt.

Everytime I come here I have to fix something on my grandfather's computer or cell phone. I love my grandfather very much, and I'm his favorite grandchild (don't deny it, it's true) and he's 93 so I suppose I can accommodate, haha. However, if you were to meet him you would NEVER believe he was 93. He looks about 75, he lives on his own, still drives himself places, all that jazz.

What does this have to do with hockey.... uhhhh... my grandpa is from Boston and remembers Eddie Shore playing. Eddie Shore retired in 1940.

He remembers when he hit Ace Bailey and ended his career in 1933.

Uncle Jeena (James) had a box at the old Boston Gardens and he watched lots and lots of Bruins games as a kid. Uncle Jeena later became a millionaire. Do we see any cent of this? No. Something to do with re-wiring half of New England after a hurricane in 1938.

He's more of a baseball man, so he's telling me about Ted Williams and how he would've had every record locked up if it weren't for fighting in 2 wars.

I love old people. 64 years ago today he was named a 2nd Lieutenant or something and he chatted on the phone with his friend who was in the same class who's actually OLDER than he is. WOW.

On a slightly Sabres related note, I'm taking my aunt's 2 kids to the Draft Day Party. Ellie, aged 9, decided over Thanksgiving that she was in love with Clarke MacArthur, so she hopes he's there. Ellie goes back and forth between hating hockey, liking the Sabres, not wanting to watch hockey on TV, but wanting to go to a Sabres game. She's weird. Jimmy, aged 10, has declared Ryan Miller to be the greatest goaltender of all time, and his personal hero.

Yesterday in the car on the way down we were playing MASH, and Ellie decided to let me pick my potential future spouses. I, of course, chose several movie stars and Steve Bernier. Later on, she was trying to remember his name, and the closest she could come up with was "Bart Barney". So I now will refer to Steve Bernier as "Big Bear", and "Bart Barney" or "Bart"