Days Off Are No Longer a Welcome Relief

by Anne

Its really not fair that the next Sabres game isn't until Wednesday. Just when I've recommitted myself and am looking forward to being back on the train, I have to wait.

I watched the Sabres show on an actual TV today. It was a little strange. I don't normally watch the Sabres show when it airs before the games because I usually watch it online.

What made me stop flipping through the channels was that I recognized my high school's gym when it appeared on the screen. That's where the Sabres Alumni team was hosting a basketball game against the faculty and staff from Thomas Edison Elementary School in the Ken-Ton School District. Kenmore West (where I went, and so did Cari and Kim, just not at the same time) has a huge gym that's perfect for hosting these kinds of events.

Rayzor was mic'd up during the game and its definitely worth a watch:

From insulting Derek Roy's diminutive stature, taking on a man in a Domi jersey and calling for Lindy's help to draw up a game plan, Rayzor is never one to miss a good dig at someone. He's gotta keep in shape with the new Rayzor Jr's debut.

Maybe there will be some good post practice interviews tomorrow so I can fully recommit myself.

Canucks won a bruiser of a game tonight against the 'Hawks. Tons of fights, Kevin Bieksa's torn underarmour and 83 minutes of penalties handed out and all at the same time. The Canucks won 4-0 despite Patrick Sharp's penalty shot attempt in the third. Woooooooooo!!

Home, Home on the Couch

by Anne

Things I miss by not watching home games on TV:

*My GOD, Mike Robitaille's face is the same color as his orange paisley tie. I hope you all appreciate this and don't take it for granted.

*Copious replays. I'm usually in the seats with my back to the ice when goals are scored. The Arena dudes only replay the goal once, so if you missed the initial replay of a goal or penalty or big save or anything, you missed out. On MSG they show you everything at least 2 or 3 times, and then RJ and Harry talk about it forever.

*Rayzor and Robi fighting about stuff. Its great. I missed it terribly. They both try to act all "I PLAYED, I KNOW." Its great. Then Harry jumps in and tries to play Switzerland.

*Post game interviews with the players in the locker room. They're fun, I enjoy them.

Stuff in general:

Derek Roy is a man possessed. I'm amazed he doesn't have about 10 more goals at this point, he's all over the damn place. He had over 28 minutes of ice time and 8 shots on goal. Woo!

Thank you for clarifying, Rayzor. I was pretty darn confused as to why Pommer was the first player in on the face off at the end of the 2nd, got thrown out and then Royzie was in. Pommer was being a good teammate and covering for Royzie so the Sabres didn't get penalized for Royzie being late to the face-off. Good boy Pommer.

I really hate that Steve Tasker says "ve-HICK-ull".

I love the "Praise the LORD" Jason Pominville goal celebration. Also, Yoyo's comment to Rayzor that he'd quit the game if he couldn't put the puck in that wide open net was priceless.

Its amazing how different over time can feel. If your team was the team to come back, overtime is "Wow! I can't believe we tied it up! We got a point!" If your team had a TWO GOAL LEAD over THE ISLANDERS and then THE ISLANDERS TIE IT WITH TWO FRIGGIN SECONDS LEFT.... over time is not a joyous five minutes or less.

Thank goodness they showed up for the shootout. Okposo had a good fake, but Miller was ready for it. Kotalik went to his tried and true back hand blocker side.

Kennedy didn't appear on the score sheet,

Anyway, a win is a win, but that wasn't a win to write home about.

I may hate the Senators but I like the font they use for the numbers on their jerseys.

Funny face of the game award goes to this fan in the Santa hat.

Not used to sitting so close?
Haha.

Have Our Prayers Been Answered or This Might Be The Worst Idea Ever

by Anne

This morning I was perusing (old-fashioned style while I ate a bagel) the Buffalo News Sports section. In amongst the Bills news was an article about how the Sabres broadcast and web content will be different this season.

The most notable differences:

• There will be no post show " The Shootout" after road games
• Rayzor will be providing analysis from the ice level on MSG during road games, not in the studio with Robi and KSylv until The Shootout after the game
• Maria Genero, formerly of Channel 2, will be joining the team doing features, etc. on the players:

Executive producer Matt Gould added the money saved is being put into the Web site coverage, which is where Genero comes in. The local TV personality — who will leave Channel 2 shortly — will do features that will be carried on Sabres TV online and that are aimed at getting fans to know the players better.

Hahahahahaha. YYYeeeesssssssssss. I complained all last season about how jealous I am of the San Jose Sharks SharksTV. They have really fun interviews and features on the players and the coaching staff and it looks like lots of fun. NOW, it appears the Sabres are catching on that fans like that stuff so sweeeeeeeeeeeeeet. I'm looking forward to it.

Its a good move to do now. There's PLENTY of fan interest these days and with this "core group" everyone has been talking about this summer being around for a while, it'll be a great way to get fans involved in the games and more invested in the players. On the money side of things, I'm sure its a great investment for the team. The more a fan knows about a player, and the more connected they feel to a team, the more likely they are to show their support by buying tickets and merchandise, so as long as the players don't mind it, it seems to be a good thing all around.

I hope they cover ALL the players and don't just constantly interview Pommer, Miller and Roysie, because as much as I love all three of them, we get interviews with them allll the time. When was the last time anyone interviewed Toni Lydman or Tim Connolly? Ok, well, they might try to interview Timmy, but any number of factors could keep the interview from airing, too much drool, too much booze, too much eye rolling, too many hookers, Timmy is a WILD CARD in so many many ways. I think I know more about Tim Connolly than I'd care to, but all I can really tell you about Toni is that he likes intense heavy metal music and I think he might be married and he might have some kids and he's from Finland.

Hey, Tone!

If you ply me with coffee, I'll basically do anything.

BTW, there has never been a post tagged "Toni Lydman" this is NOT good. Well, now there's one, but I can't believe we've never mentioned him before. Wacky.

Let's Revisit the 2002 Buffalo Sabres, Shall We?

by Anne

This afternoon, Mary Kate was going through some boxes at our storage space and in amongst the packaging she found this gem:

HOT. STUFF.

What is that exactly, you're asking? It is the Sabres' season preview from when they opened the season on October 10, 2002.

I'm not sure if this teddy bear was drawn this afternoon or in 2002.

The camera never knew such love.

From left to right we have Eric Boulton, now an Atlanta Thrasher, Rayzor and a babyfaced Adam Mair. Heading into the 2002 season, this was our 4th line. This year's equivalent would be like Kaleta, Petey and, actually, Mair, appearing on the cover of the season preview. No Cap'n Stu? Jay McKee? Marty Biron? No? Random. Oh how times have changed since the lockout and near bankruptcy... or have they?

In some ways yes. Check out this headline:

Wha-? Bucky actually speaks rather fondly of Ted Nolan in this article.

He also talks about how Lindy needs to evolve his managing of the team. This article is basically a "Lindy Ruff is OUTTA here" package for the fans. Another article starts listing all his "record team accomplishments" at the time, in terms of games coached and won as well as playoff stats. Hahaha. He's like doubled those numbers to date but 6 years ago, they were team records too.

Ah, good old Bucky, using the same headshot for at least the last 6 years.

If y'all recall this was NOT a good time for the Sabres. This off-season saw the League take over ownership of the team when the Rigases were arrested, they missed the playoffs and they did almost nothing during free agency. They missed the playoffs the season before and had bankruptcy issues. THEY ALSO DRAFTED POMMER THAT OFFSEASON BUT NO ONE MENTIONS THAT?!?!!!!!

Also, there was a lot of dramz because someone who was trying to buy the team was tight with Ted Nolan and there were rumbles that if that sale went through, Ted Nolan would be back and I guess people were down with that? I think they were just looking for a change because things were going from bad to worse.

There are many references in this preview to how much Lindy loves Adam Mair

"Ruff immediately fell in love with Mair's gritty, momentum-changing style. Making Mair even more attractive to the coach is the fact that he was acquired in a trade with the Los Angeles Kings for former first-rounder [Erik] Rasmussen, whom Ruff could never cajole into playing passionate hockey"

Lindy's distaste for players who play without passion runs deep, Dmitri Kalinin. I love Mairsy even though he's scary. He's quite reliable and I would definitely pick him to defend my honor in a joust.

Another difference between then and now. Please enjoy this hilarious quote:

"[Hockey observers] watched closely when a marketing campaign to drive season-ticket sales pretty much fell flat in the community."

OMG. What a *HEADDESK* moment. Dear diary, for Christmas I want a time machine so I can go back to the off-season of 2002 and convince my parents to buy season tickets. Love, Anne.

However, some headlines could easily be inserted in this year's preview and no one would find anything amiss:

Back when Afinogenov showed "promise" and before Tim Connolly "Had his brain nearly leak out his ear".

Just swap out "Campbell" for "Sekera", "Afinogenov" for "Gerbe" and "Connolly" for "Kennedy" and most of the article is still relevant.

That picture is actually Tom Barrasso, but make it Millsey and John Vogl can just copy and paste for this season


This article (by Bucky, of course) talks about the plans to increase goal-scoring and eliminate the neutral-zone trap. Once again, Bucky, copy and paste and toss in a paragraph about goaltender equipment size and you're all set.

There weren't an OVERWHELMING number of hilariously bad predictions, but I'll just touch upon a couple.

"Don't forget the guys waiting in Rochester, like 22-year olds Ryan Miller and Norm Milley,"

Good old NORM MILLEY! What a GUY!..........(WHO THE BLEEP IS NORM MILLEY?)Here's his Wikipedia page. Thank goodness we didn't hold our collective breath on that one. Who's this "Ryan Miller" guy they mention a grand total of like 3 times but only in passing?

"Satan might be on the verge of breaking out as a bona fide NHL superstar."

Oh lord, no. No no no no no. He might do well in Pittsburgh this season, but "superstar" he ain't. Thanks for trying to make us feel better, Tim Graham. We'll probably be saying the same about Vanek soon. Ugh. I LOVE YOU SABREBRITNEY1!

"Fellow prospect Norm Milley impressed the Sabres for the second straight training camp, but Kotalik was a little better."

Really? Nahhhhhh, Milley is the BOMB! HE'S OUR #1 GOALTENDER? WHY ARE WE COMPARING HIM TO KOTAL- oh Norm Milley. That guy again?

"Kalinin... could develop into one the league's elite stay-at-home defensemen."

WOW. In what universe did that ever seem possible? Maybe he'll THRIVE in New York...

Just make the obvious name and number substitutions:

"The Sabres also would prefer to reduce Biron's heavy workload from last season when he tied the team record for games played with 72. He was ridden so hard because the Sabres couldn't trust former backup Bob Essensa."

I HOPE someone copies and pastes that paragraph this year.

There was much optimism that the '02-'03 team would improve up on the poor performance of the '01-'02 team and let me just say, they could not have been more wrong. They did MUCH WORSE in '02-'03 than the previous season. In '02-'03 they went 27-37-10-8. The season before they were 35-35-11-1.

Alan Pergament called Nick Lidstrom Nick "Lindstrom" in an article as well. SHAME! SHAME! The Red Wings had JUST won the last Cup too. You should be EMBARRASSED, Alan Pergament.

Good times. Here's hoping that the '08-'09 Sabres really DO improve from last year.

P.S. What is up with that Blue Jackets prospect just deciding to call it quits?

ARG WHY AM I NOT SLEEPING

by Anne

It's after 2:00 a.m. and I'm not asleep. There is no earthly reason why. I'm plenty tired but I can't seem to shut off my brain. GAH!

I read Rob Ray's book Rayzor's Edge in about 2 1/2 hours yesterday. Clearly, its a quick read. It's not an earth-shattering expose, but its quite interesting to hear about the team dynamic from a player, how some players really are douche bags (Tim Connolly?) and some guys, whether top-skilled or not are just all around good guys that you just want to have around (Paul Gaustad?). I have to admit that I wasn't totally committed to most of his stories about playing for the Sabres before 1996. 1996 is roughly when I start remembering hockey. To put it simply, I don't really remember Buffalo Sabres hockey before Hasek was our starting goaltender. I loved the stuff about when he was in juniors and in the minors, but the early 90s with the Sabres, I kind of glossed over.

One of my favorite anecdotes was that Rayzor signed his first contract to play in Rochester like 2 hours before he actually stepped out onto the ice. His laundry list of injuries was somewhat jarring. It'll make me look at Rayzor differently next season when he's between the benches wondering if his knuckles are going to suddenly just jump right off his hand in open rebellion.

Speaking of anecdotes, this is from Vanek's website:

Question: What’s the best practical joke you played on another teammate or they played on you?

Answer: Nobody’s ever played a practical joke on me and neither have I. But the best I witnessed was when somebody stitched up Drew Stafford’s trousers. After practice he directly went to have lunch and couldn’t pay because he couldn’t get to his wallet. We still don’t know who did that...

HA! I love it. I can just envision him trying to figure out what's going on back there and just turning around in crazy circles in a restaurant in downtown Buffalo while people stare at him and quietly remove him from their fantasy teams. I really don't pay enough attention to Vanek. I should love him more. Really I should. I'll try. It'll be one of my resolutions for next season: spend more time loving Thomas Vanek, which I do, even though sometimes I yell at him and say mean things about him and compare him to Britney Spears. It's all out of LOVE for SabreBritney. Does that make his new wife Kevin Federline? EW. NO. She is way better than K.Fed. We'll make her Justin Timberlake. What am I talking about?

Whatev, its really late and I'm rambling and still not sleepy. BLAH.

I'm not going to get my panties in a twist over Pominville's extension. He'll be an RFA next summer, so I'm not overly concerned, as I was about Miller. Its all good in da hood.

I wonder when our captain or captaincy system will be annouced. I'm done with this rotation bull. Let's just pick one captain and 2 alternate captains and just call it a day. For the record, my selections are as follows:

Captain- Pominville
Alternate- Spacek
Alternate- Hecht

If Teppo comes back then I vote:

Captain - Teppo
Alternate- Pominville
Alternate - Hecht

Thus spaketh Anne and thus it was.

Or, well, in my head its already been declared a definite reality. Wow I'm tired.