There Were So Many Games Last Night

by Anne

Yet, I care so little about almost all of them.

The only points of note:

• Matt Duchene scored his first (albeit unofficial) NHL goal for the Avs lsat night, but they lost 6-2 to the Blues

• Speaking of the Blues, former King Derek Armstrong scored a goal for the Blues :) I'll miss Army in the Kings line-up but I'm glad he found a home in the NHL

• Filppula scored the Wings first goal of the game, 30 seconds into the 3rd period. The Wings scored 4 goals in the 3rd to down the Rangers 4-3

• The Canucks defeated the Sharks 6-2. The Sedins had three goals. Two for Henrik and one for Daniel. Hooray! I was glad to see Ehrhoff get one in past his former team.

• Phil Kessel was finally traded to the Maple Leafs last night for a bunch of draft picks. I think two first rounders (one in 2010 and one in 2011) and a 2010 2nd rounder. This affects the Sabres almost not at all because the trade was within our division and he's going to a worse team. Oh yeah, and he's hurt. Looky there.

• Sabres play in Detroit tonight.

• Kennedy, Gerbe and Miller who all have strong Detroit ties are all playing tonight. Its because they got Lindy this hat:

It worked

Puck drops at 7:00 at the Joe!

Its Too Sunny to Watch Hockey

by Anne

Not only do I have to work tonight and will miss game 2 between the Penguins and the Butter Snaps, I will also be working on the most beautiful day of the year thusfar in sweet, sunny Buffalo.

Its a perfect late spring day here in the B-lo. The kind of day that makes you forget about January because its worth it for days like today.

Earlier today I was attempting to find an old interview with the Gronk on YouTube. When I typed in "Jordan Staal" it said "Also try: Ryan Getzlaf." Um, alright, thanks, I will? Good to know YouTube's search engine knows which hockey players play for which teams and are also related. "Also try: Marc/Eric/Jared Staal" would've been much more expected than "Ryan Getzlaf." If that is his real name.

Also, I miss the Sabrez.

Scott Cullen wrote his off-season homework report for the Sabres and, for the most part, it was all stuff that Sabres fans already know, but if you aren't a fan, you'd find interesting. Except for the part where he suggested Chris Neil might be a good fit. If you remove the past and personality from Chris Neil then, yes, Mr. Cullen is probably correct. However since Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is still just a movie, that can't happen. The awkward tension between Neil and Adam Mair would be pay-per-view worthy, though. Do we need another agitator? It doesn't seem to have made a huge impact on Ottawa, why would we bring him here? If we were to go out and get an agitator, I'd take Steve Ott over Chris Neil any day of the week.

Also, I may dislike Phil Kessel immensely but I also feel for the guy. He's had successful surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff and labrum in his shoulder which will require a full six month recovery. For those keeping track, the 2009-2010 season starts in just about 4 1/2 months, meaning if Phil stays on track to recovery, he'll miss at least the first month and a half of the season. That's definitely tough luck for Boston. Do they go out and find a comparable player only to trade that player or Kessel when he's healthy? Where are you going to find a comparable player that's going to be cheap and/or disposable. 30+ goal scorers ain't cheap, kids. The upside is that Yick is only 21 so he should be able to make a quick comeback. He only missed eleven games when recovering from cancer. This will be tough for him, but I'm pretty sure nothing seems insurmountable when you overcome cancer at 19.

So Erik Cole is most likely back in for tonight, Ruutu did not skate and will be a game-time decision. It'd be pretty super if the Pens could bring a 2-0 series lead into Carolina since those Butter Snaps are a little cocky about being down 1-0 in a series which seems like an odd thing to be proud of. "Yeah we suck at first but then LOOK OUT!" Imagine if that was someone's pick up line at a bar? I don't think I'd give him my phone number.

Let's Go Pens!

Some heroics tonight would be grand.


Woo.

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?