Yeah

by Anne

They were shutout by the Islanders.

They lost 5-0.

That's all there is to say.

Happy Halloween

Step Away from the Optimism.

by Anne

I'm happy Ryan Miller is back in practice. This season is pretty much a bust at this point but it would be nice if he were able to play again before the season is over. However, I don't want him to aggravate his injury. Something tells me Ryan isn't that foolish. Although maybe he can rehab his ankle in Switzerland?!

I really don't like being a Debbie Downer. Its not fun. I'd like my blind optimism of old to return by next season. I'll probably turn the corner 'round about my birthday (July 4, did you all take note?!) when things will be looking up again.

I actually watched Miller's post practice interview today. I think I enjoy torturing myself. Someone asked (I hope they weren't serious) if there was any chance he'd be ready to play on Wednesday. Ryan didn't completely rule it out and ask if they were looneytunes but he pretty much said "uh-uh." Which I think was the answer everyone expected. I miss his gaunt little desperately-in-need-of-a-shave face and his gravelly tired voice.

Ok, I'm continuing to watch Miller's interview and I'm relapsing. MAKE IT STOP.

I really am afraid that if/when Miller comes back I might relapse into thinking the Sabres could squeak into the 8th playoff spot. Set me straight! I need to be reminded about their sudden inability to score goals and their inherent lack of toughness and their basic inability to play a consistent 60 minutes. They did okay in New York with playing more than 40 minutes but it wasn't enough. Again.

Sigh. I just need to watch a team I care about win, then I'll feel better. Fortunately both the Kings and Canucks play tomorrow night. Fortunately their games are in the Central time zone so they're earlier. UNfortunately they play at the exacty same time. Oh well. Hopefully I'll be able to switch back and forth and one of them will win? Maybe?

Here's some good news! The Dow closed UP almost 500 points today! Something about the government buying lots of bad bank assets. There's something to be chipper about! Yay!

Because You Won't Return My Calls

by Anne

Look. I don't think this is the proper place to do this but since you won't return my calls or anything I have to break up with you this way. I'm sorry but here's what I have to say:

Dear Buffalo Sabres,

I don't really know how to tell you this, but you're a leprechaun. I think I realized it when I saw the purple monkey outside your office and I saw you sit on the elephant in the corner. I'm sure you're open enough to understand that your Ford sucks. I'm returning your car and the couch cushions to you, but I'll keep my virginity as a memory. You should also know that I am better off without you and I'm off to lead a new life as a lemon.

With Tears of Sadness,
Anne*

There. I'm glad I got that off my chest.

I sold popcorn to Mylous Hairston tonight. He has really nice shoes.


*its a facebook mad lib thing, people

You Know What's Gross?

by Anne

Speaking COMPLETELY about hockey right now of course.

You know what is really gross? These:

ew

From here on out the Carolina Hurricanes shall be known as the Butter Snaps.

The Pattys delivered.

SHOOT. THE. PUCK.

Cam Ward is good.

Tied for 8th.

Jaro hurt :(

Oscar likes that the Sabres are losing, then he doesn't have to do a victory dance.

One class tomorrow.

I'll be at the Bandits game on Saturday night during the Islanders game :(

Let's go Buff-a-lo.

Whatever.

That Wasn't Fun

by Anne

Ok, this isn't fun anymore.

I was afraid this would happen.

When the Ducks scored on their first shot on net, everyone in Buffalo curled up in the fetal position and started repeatedly stabbing their Scott Gomez voodoo dolls in the left lower high ankle.

There are precious few things I hate more than giving up short-handed goals and we've now done it in two of the last three games.

Jaro was a -3?!

Whatever. I feel like I need to take another shower and get the stench of that game off of me.

On top of the grossness of the game there's this weird dude who works at a stand near me and decided to uncomfortably talk to me ALL NIGHT. Not just like making small talk, I mean saying weird things to me about how I'm doing my job as I'm walking past, clearly in a hurry. And he was a little creepy and had ginormous holes in his earlobes I have no idea who this dude is or if he's worked there all season and just decided tonight was the night to try and make a move. This is almost as bad as the guy who rammed a garbage tote into my hip and then started asking me how I was doing that night. What? Where's that dude who offered to fly me to Nova Scotia when I need him?

BUT. The highlight of the evening!

During the second period, an announcement roughly like this one came over the PA system throughout the Arena:

"Michael Callahan please report to the security desk, your wife has gone into labor."

HA!

The Canucks were shut out by the Habs so they got two more points. But, on the positive side of things, both the Panthers and the Hurricanes lost in regulation tonight. Thanks Ottawa and Boston!

Also, I got home in time to see the Kings win in the shoot out! However, because the Ducks won tonight over whatever team they were playing, the Kings still remain four points out of eighth place. Boo.

I passed a random Duck warming up tonight and I just looked at their roster and I still have no idea who it was. It might've been Bobby Ryan? Maybe Sheldon Brookbank? Maybe just a random dude in under armour doing some windsprints?

I miss you.
I hope that you come back before the next home game so I won't run the risk of passing you downstairs and crying a little at your Stormtrooper boot

.........

by Anne

NOOOOOO

whhhyyyyyyyyy??

First Vanek and now Miller?

I know there's no prognosis yet but

:(

Total Disbelief

by Anne

This game replaces that Caps game as worst game of the season.

Sabres lose 3-1 to the Sens, but it felt like 10-1.

Thomas Vanek is not this entire team.

Other players are allowed to score on the power play.

What was with those lines?

God help us all against San Jose on Friday.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

by Anne

Can't. Breathe. Why NOW?!!?! :( Vanek out 3-4 weeks with a fractured jaw :( :(

In Conclusion

by Anne

The road trip is over. We went 3-3-0, garnering six points as I predicted, except doing it in a different way.

I will summarize the road trip overall:

It could've been better. It could have been worse.

We got Kaleta but lost Hecht. We lost Mairsy, got him back but lost Sissy.

We have Weber as an option instead of resorting to someone REALLY untested.

We actually got to watch these games.

Thomas Vanek might be dead. Same for Jason Pominville. Tim Connolly might be alive. Same for Drew Stafford.

We're still in seventh place but we're still in seventh place.

They'll be back home on Wednesday to host new hockey crush Luke Schenn and the Toronto Maple Leafs.

I would've stayed up this late anyway.

BOYS! BEHAVE!

by Anne

It appears not only Canucks die-hard fans and secondary fans in the Eastern Conference are frustrated with their losing ways.

Apparently Mason Raymond hit Willie Mitchell a little harder than he would have liked during a practice drill. Mitch was pissed so he punched Raymond in the head and cross checked him in the shoulder. No word on whether or not either Big Bear or Kes were involved in anyway. They'd BETTER not be. Although secret Defenseman BF, O'B, was involved in defending wee little Mason Raymond from big and scary(?) Willie Mitchell. Mason Raymond just better be glad it wasn't someone like O'B or Darcy Hordichuk who turned on him. That would not be pretty for the sweet-faced sophomore.

I just checked the scores and the Coyotes/Sharks games just went from 0-0 to 1-0 Sharks then back to 0-0. Disallowed goal anyone? Someone on NHL.com Scores has a quick trigger finger?

Whatevs, the moral of the story is fighting with your own teammate does not boost morale, so don't do it. I'm looking at you, Pie!

Could you imagine Pie starting a fight with anyone on his own team? hahah

Painful

by Anne

That game was painful. Two of those goals were just ridiculous. I turned the game off half way through the third because I just couldn't bring myself to watch anymore. If they're not going to play 60 minutes, why should I watch 60 minutes?

Stars tomorrow. A team we should beat. We'll probably lose.

I watched the game a few minutes behind "live" so I fast forwarded through the six minute power play that resulted in absolutely nothing but heartache.

Anyway, moving on. Just a reminder, ladies, voting ends Thursday night at 11:59 (supposedly) so get your last minute votes in and think about players who are not Sabres for a few minutes.

How unfair is it that its in the single digits today and will be in the negative tomorrow and those good for nothing Sabres are in Dallas? Ha, I just checked Thursday's high temp in Dallas and its only supposed to be 38. HAH! ... although that's still about 37 degrees warmer than it'll be in Buffalo. Jerks.

I'm glad Soupy won and I'm glad Sharpie scored. They deserved the win. Its nice to see people in the seats at Blackhawks games, I really like Chicago and the Blackhawks are a good team with a lot of young talent that deserves to play in front of sell-out crowds.

Its too bad Duncan Keith was hurt on Staffy's hit, because that hit was highly entertaining.

I don't know if its the cold weather or he's finally decided he likes his mommy but my cat is incredibly cuddly lately. He's laying on my arm right now, making it somewhat difficult to type. But he's pretty much one of the cutest things ever so I can adapt. I seriously hate cats. Oscar is one of three cats I can tolerate. At least something pleasant happened tonight. After re-reading that sentence I've decided its the clearest indication I've seen recently that tells me that I need a boyfriend, haha.

Anyway, my love life is not what this blog is about.

Its so annoying to write when they lose. Its just draining. You already sat through a loss, sometimes a nauseatingly pathetic loss like this one and then you have to try to discuss the game in someway. No thank you. We're still in 7th place, but only because other teams keep losing, not because we're winning. The Pens lost tonight 6-3 to the Caps. Jeff Carter and AO have moved into another tie for first place in goals scored with 29. TV is still sitting stagnant at 27.

So what's the next formula? Juggle the lines? PLAY CHRIS BUTLER? Miller clearly gets the start. Although, while Lalime gave up those fluky goals, the offense didn't help him out much. I don't have the energy to write about that game anymore. Fortunately, they get a chance to redeem themselves RIGHT AWAY.

I haven't had to do this yet this year, but I need to go to my old stand by to cheer me up. Animals wearing people things:

He's ready for the Catwalk for Charity.

Butler Sits

by Anne

Noooooo. No. NO.

Chris Butler will not be playing tonight. This is not a good thing. Butler isn't sitting because he's been playing badly, he's sitting because we have 8 defensemen. Butler is good enough to be in the NHL, he's definitely proven it this call-up, so him sitting while Tallinder, who hasn't been on his best behavior is playing, is very frustrating. If Butler wasn't ready, they would send him back to Portland.  I suppose they could be getting ready to send him back but they've been hesitant because of a rash of the common cold aka "flu" moving through the defensive corps recently, striking Toni and Teppo. Therefore, one wonders, if we're keeping Butler because of potential injuries, why is Nathan Paetsch still here? I like Paetsch and sometimes he makes smart moves. Sometimes. Not often, but sometimes. This is the second year in a row he's been looked over in favor of a rookie or rookies. The only reason he saw so much ice time at the end of last season is because after Soupy left, Spacek and Kalinin were hurt and we needed warm bodies on the blue line. That's why Mike Funk was up here, had like 3 good shifts and then went back to Rochester.

So what do the Sabres do? They can't put Paetsch on waivers because someone will snatch him up and we'll get nothing in return. Therefore, where do we all think Patches will be traded to? 

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?

Ooooooooooooooooookay

by Anne


Miraculously there are still four Buffalo Sabres that have not been declared legally deceased in my world:

These 4 players saw a grand total of 14:48 of ice time, and all of those minutes belonged to Ryan Miller

In WCB news, Rick Nash scored a goal! I'm not really sure who his team was playing against, but they must be TERRIBLE. He had a breakaway during the game, but didn't score. Gee, I wonder if that other team realizes that he's in the Top 10 list of players in the NHL you DON'T WANT TO ALLOW TO BE SET UP ON A BREAK AWAY. I mean I wonder WHAT'S WRONG with that other team that they were UNABLE to control him. It's really FORTUNATE for them that their goaltender was able to make a save.

On an unrelated note, Adam Mair, who I've heard might have recently ceased to exist because of events I am not privy to, apparently loves live theatre. Thereby adding even more confusion to the ongoing conflict within me between "Adam Mair is kind of Scary" and "Adam Mair is Kind of Totally Badass."

Here's hoping this "Team from Buffalo" I've heard rumored can get their act together to at least not be TOTALLY HUMILIATED tomorrow in Pittsburgh.

Food For Thought

by Anne

Thomas Vanek is on pace for 70 goals, Clarke MacArthur - 35 goals, Ales Kotalik for 29.

Miller is on pace to go 41-12-12 , Lalime is on pace to go 6-6-6, combined, that would give us 112 points. Hahahahaha. I really don't think that's going to happen, but let's just try to think about that while we get the taste of an awful Buffalo sports weekend out of our mouths.

Aaaaaaand Adam Mair is Back to Being Effing Terrifying.

by Anne

If you read this blog a lot you might know that my opinion of Adam Mair swings wildly between "Yay! Adam Mair! I love him! He's all grrrrr and piss and vinegar! Yay!" and "AHHHHHHH!!!!!!"

Read it and thanks to Die By The Blade for posting it:

"Emotions ran high, especially between Buffalo's Adam Mair and Ottawa's Chris Neil.

"After Neil, Mair, the Senators' Jarkko Ruutu and the Sabres' Patrick Kaleta got kicked out of the game at 18:12 of the third, Mair came down the hallway near the Ottawa dressing room, still in uniform, calling for Neil.

Ruutu went out and a scuffle started. It was quickly broken up, but the episode could lead to suspensions or fines. It didn't help that the incident was caught on TV or that NHL commissioner Gary Bettman was in the building."

Good Lord. Its funny but please don't get suspended Adam, that would just be stupid, as stupid as Chris Neil.