A Reminder, Please

by Anne

Next time I decide on a whim to pick up some Sabres tickets on StubHub, remind me of last night's game v. the Devils and promptly seat me back down in my chair. Thanks.

It was boring, frustrating, and mildly hilarious listening to everyone in the arena lose their minds, BEGGING for the Sabres to register their first shot on goal. There's three hours of my life I shall never recover. At least the game went quickly, not being hampered by raucous goal celebrations and whatnot.

The Penguins still haven't won in the Consol Energy Center. I wonder if Sid the Kid is curled up in the fetal position outside of Mellon Arena, rocking back and forth, begging for someone to open the door so he can go back in and play there. He appears to be that obsessive about his routines, this "brand-new-rink" ordeal probably took a lot of counseling and Xanax to ease his transition. 

Let's Go Buffalo.... or something.

SHAPE UP, BOYS.

Well That was Terrible

by Anne

Monday night's game against the Chicago Blackhawks started off pretty darn sweet with the Sabres quickly going up 2-0 over the reigning (albeit dismantled) Stanley Cup Champions.

Then it all went to hell in a handbasket. They lost their 2-goal lead then lost one of their key players.

Everyone send happy thoughts to Jason Pominville and suspension thoughts to Colin Campbell as he spins the wheel of justice.

Blindside hit, player didn't have the puck, had to leave the ice on a stretcher. Usually that equals at least a one-game suspension from Overlord Campbell.

They need to get their act together and fast. Pommer's game streak ends at 336. His last missed game was April 7, 2006 when Lindy benched him. :(

Get well soon, Pommer.

Didn't happen

by Anne

There was a time when I had a normal person's work schedule: 9-5, weekends off, didn't take my work home with me. One of the top benefits to that lifestyle was that I had precious few things to interrupt my viewing of Sabres games. It became quite a routine.

I'd get annoyed if someone wanted to do something on a Wednesday night because I had pasta and wine and the Sabres game waiting for me.

Then it was back to college and all that that entails. Homework, reading and, this semester, night classes. I have three night classes, two of which are on Wednesdays. I initially thought that I would find this to be irritating, but after my first Wednesday night of missing the Sabres came and went, I don't feel too bad about missing that poopshow.

I checked the score on my phone so I'm relatively aware of how quickly the game went from 2-2 to 4-2. Having not watched the game, I don't feel I can comment on it. I could do what a lot of people do is pull from the recaps and other bloggers' writings but that's not fair. This isn't a news outlet, this is my personal ramblings.

When will the madness end?

I realized when I saw the final score that I don't hate the Senators. 

Don't misunderstand me, I certainly don't like them, but what I REALLY hate is the way the Sabres play against them. It's gotten to the point where I no longer hate the Senators because of Alfredsson, Spezza and Neil, to name those that are still around from the 2007 brawl game. I hate them because the Sabres can't play against them. Do they put too much pressure on themselves?

I submit to you all that I don't really care that they lost to the SENATORS, I care that they lost at all. They've lost two in a row by allowing 4+ goals. Maybe if we as fans stop caring so much about them playing the Senators, they will too.

Lame Tuesday

by Anne

Normally to re-cap a game I'll take my thoughts from the game and combine them with some photos  and toss in a chuckle or two for good measure.

I'm bored and tired so I'll just say this.

The Sabres came thiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis close to tying the game after trailing 4-0 and then Jason Pominville was a bonehead and sent a pass right in front of Miller and someone I've never heard of scored to give the Ducks a 5-3 lead. Yoyo attempted to continue the comeback but the Sabres efforts were thwarted.

I like to call the window "Patrick Lalime with a hint of Pominville"

Then the Kings lost 5-1 to the Sharks. I didn't really watch but basically what I gathered was their special teams sucked donkey butt. They were 0-5 on the powerplay and 0-3 on the penalty kill. Please come back soon Matt Greene? TOMORROW?!?!

Pleeeeeeeeeez?

Both teams play tomorrow but I'm not sure who they're playing...........

Happy Thanksgiving!

by Anne

Hey y'all. I'm ridiculously tired from the good times last night, so here's a list.

Things I'm thankful for:

• The Buffalo Sabres, even if they can't score a goal to save their mother-effing lives.
  

• The Los Angeles Kings, who won last night 3-1 over Edmonton
  

• David Backes deciding to be David Backes last night and having an awesome night for my fantasy team. 1G, 1A +2, 10 FOW, 6 SOG, 2 Hits, 1 blocked shot. :)
  

• My girlfriends and guy friends who I went out with last night because I had a totally awesome drunk time.
  

• Matt Greene scoring his first of the season, the game-winner, on the road against his old team. I wish he'd waited until I was watching, but I'll take it.

• All that usual stuff, family and friends. I have both in abundance and it's fantastic
  

• The refs for ejecting Ovechkin for his hit on Patty. They're really touchy about Ovechkin v. the Sabres, huh? Not because I thought he really deserved it, but because maybe they're going to do something about hits to the head/from behind now. Maybe.
  

• This quote:

"For a guy like me, who scores once a year, to say that I was picking my spots, is way more than an overstatement.”

Excuse me Greener, you scored TWICE last year...

• And lastly, for all you people who read this blog and will read the new one (that starts being the only updated blog tomorrow. I hope your team wins, your favorites play well, your families are healthy and happy and you have all that you need in life.
  

• Happy Thanksgiving!!

:)

How we gonna paaaaaayyy...

by Anne

I didn't watch Saturday's Sabres' game. I was seeing a musical about people who have foreclosed on their homes called "mortgage." Or something like that. They all seemed to have AIDS and all the girls were in knee high boots with crazy curly hair. I'm not sure, but that sounds like me on a typical Saturday night. Wait, I don't have AIDS. Not that there's anything wrong with having... nevermind.

ANYWAY, the point is I didn't watch the game and henceto therefore happenstantially I can pretend it went anyway I want.

Here's my take:

The Sabres had a COMMANDING 3-0 lead CHARGING UNRELENTINGLY into the third period. Patrick Lalime had already stopped 34968734.4 shots, all by Jason Spezza with two somehow by Dany Heatley all the way in San Jose Theodore.

THEN, as if by BLACK MAGIC, Chris Neil and Jarkko "Chompy Times" Ruutu held Lalime hostage and locked Miller in a beer portable and the Sabres were forced to play the entire third period with NO GOALTENDER.

THEREFORE, Myers, Tallinder, Rivet, Lydman, Sekera, Perreault, Korab, Barnaby, McKee, Mogilny, and TSUJIMOTO combined to block an additional 5386723 and 2/3 shots. HOWEVER, those evil RAT BASTARD Ottawa Senators managed to fire off 5386728 and 2/3 shots and they won 5-0. Or wait, I guess it was 5-3 with the Sabres 3-0 lead EATEN ALIVE.

ANARCHY AND CHAOS AND PANDEMONIUM SHALL RAIN DOWN FROM THE STREETS OF BUFFALO.

This is how I choose to believe WHY WON'T MY V KEY WORK PROPERLY that game went.

In a related story, the Ottawa Senators have released their new uniform design:

I JUST REALIZED THAT MOST OF THE SENATORS I REALLY HATE ARE ON OTHER TEAMS.

Whatevs.

Good night.

The Kings lost too.

They suck.

MAYBE IT'S ME? Why do all my teams SUCK and then alternately ROCK sometimes? I can't take the swinging of the pendulum, BOYS. WIN MORE.

I wish the Sabres were more like my fantasy team. We are kicking ass and TAKING NAMES. What does that expression even mean V KEY START WORKING ALL THE TIME PLEASE VVVVVVVV.

Yes, I am intoxicated.

Oscar has some thoughts: lp.tjuvb jnhb

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Good night

Ok Fine

by Anne

Its the 10th Anniversary of "No Goal."

There. I've acknowledged it.

It still makes my stomach turn. It was a terrible moment for a 13 year old to experience, staying up until 1:30 a.m.

Barf.

Here's a frontrunner for one of my new favorite Stanley Cup pictures ever. My question is: Who is taking the picture?

Snuggle up with Stanley
If I were his girlfriend, I would totally be ok with his choice of sleeping companion

The One Where Anne Loses Her Cool

by Anne

Now I'm back to being pissed off. I was sad for a hot minute and wrote my crying emoticon about it but now I'm done. I'm over it. I'm mad again.

You can all go write your "less than-slash-three" broken heart things and I'll be over here acknowledging with full gusto that the Buffalo Sabres organization is pathetic and I'm sad to admit that I'm a fan and even sadder to admit that I write a blog about the S.S. Buffalo FAILShip

When you think about the team as individual people it's hard to rip them apart with full force. Players are supposed to play for the logo on the front and I will treat them as such. I'm a fan of the team and the city the logo represents, the players are just cogs in a very broken-down machine.

We had two stellar seasons between 2005 and 2007. That was fucking great. We won the President's Trophy. That was fucking sweet. Then they crapped the bed against Ottawa and we've been in a pathetic shame spiral of whiny finger-pointing and shoulder shrugging since then.

Those two fantastic seasons from 2005-2007 were the only two seasons we've made the playoffs since 2001. We missed the playoffs in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2008 and now, 2009. That's pathetic. How is that ok? Why is ownership okay with this? Why? WHY. Tell me WHY. I demand to know WHY this is apparently OK.

I want change. I'm fed up with this. I'm not sorry they missed the playoffs, hopefully by some act of GOD this means something will change. Will we get change? No, of course not. We'll get more bullshit conservative action from management and be forced to accept basically the exact same team next season and they will be EXACTLY as successful as they were this season.

Where are the excuses this time around, gentlemen? There aren't any? EXACTLY.

In 2007-2008 the stand-by excuses were "No real leadership" "Players filling out new roles." blah blah blah. Well in 2008-2009 we had a captain, a clear-cut leader who perhaps was ineffective. Was Craig Rivet a bad pick-up? I don't think so but he certainly didn't spark this team. These "new roles?" No longer new. Jason Pominville has 20 goals? Jochen Hecht is garbage, he's been AWFUL this season. Patrick Lalime was mostly awful while Miller was out, Tallinder had more terrible giveaways and moments of just pathetic defensive play than I'd care to think about. Toni Lydman took the world's most untimely penalties during several games this season, and they were just soft. There's no grit. I'd rather have that second round pick we gave up for Dominic Moore than have his "contributions" from the last month. One goal. One. He has a decent faceoff % but that's about it. Wow. Effing great. I'm fucking inspired by this team. I adore Teppo but this needs to be his last season. Please retire.

Fuck this attachment Buffalo has with Lindy Ruff too. I think highly of Lindy Ruff as an individual. He's a wonderful human being. You know who else is a great human being? Oprah. But I don't want her to coach my hockey team. I don't understand why Buffalo is all "stay the course" with this crap. This team STILL hasn't recovered from losing Briere and Drury. That is a problem. In my opinion, a coaching problem.

Last night's win sucked. It was the worst 5-1 victory I've ever experienced because it was COMPLETELY MEANINGLESS. Where was this effort last week? Last month? THE LAST TWO SEASONS? For the HOT MINUTE before the Rangers won, it was fun, but every one of those goals felt like a swift kick to the stomach because in the end THEY MEANT NOTHING.

When we missed the playoffs last season I was sad but had hope for this year. I don't have hope for next season. I fully expect us to be a draft lottery team next year and I'm not saying that to be sensationalist, that's how optimistic these last two seasons have made me.

I hate that I've made hockey so damn important to me and this bunch of losers and ne'er-do-wells matters to me so much.

"I'M AS MAD AS HELL AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE THIS ANYMORE!"

Thievery

by Anne

Wooohoo! I'm thieving the internet from one of my grandpa's neighbors. Shhhhh! Don't tell.

To recap the weekend:

Friday night: drank lots of alcohol only to discover afterwards that I had a stomach virus as well. This is not a good combination and I highly recommend against it. I was really out of it ,really dizzy and said (out loud, very loudly while lying on the bathroom floor at 3:00 o'clock in the morning) that I blamed Scott Hartnell. I'm not saying that for a laugh, I literally blamed the Flyers for my illness. In my delerium it made perfect sense. Followed that with a strange dream involving hockey, engagement rings, a friend of my sister's from high school and my high school auditorium. I'm sure the dream made loads of sense.

Sabres lost, Kings lost, my bathroom and parents lost.

Saturday: Alternated sleeping with calling ralph on the big white phone (TMI, I'm sorry). Missed work for obvious reasons.

Sabres lost, Canucks lost, my wallet lost.

Sunday: Drove 6 1/2 hours to Pennsylvania. Heard a really macho looking tough guy with a WICKED high voice at Subway. Listened to my cousin sing "Love Story" by Taylor Swift about nine times alternated with "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" and declared about eight times that it was her favorite song. Visited my grandpa who recently had a stroke. He was doing well. Helped him program the speed dial on his cell phone and showed him how to play a CD and tape on his stereo.

Kings lost, the mileage on the car I was driving lost.

There were SEVEN Kings penalties including a 4 minute for high sticking.

All in all my THREE teams were 0-5-0. Not a single one of my top three teams earned a single point this weekend. Out of a possible ten points, three different teams could have shared, they got exactly zero. If the thought of drinking didn't make me want to keel over and die, I would be pouring myself a G&T right now.

This is baloney. When does baseball season start?! Screw hockey. Dammit. I just looked down and realized I'm wearing a Sabres shirt. Sonofab... I guess I can't hide my true colors.

That's It

Dear Buffalo Sabres,

Go to hell.

I'm done.

This team does not deserve to make the playoffs.

I hate that I work at HSBC Arena right now.

Love, Anne

Let's Go Canucks! Let's Go Kings!!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

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

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

This Waiting is Unpleasant

by Anne

I love my cousin Jimmy desperately but if spending the weekends with him is any indication of what motherhood is going to be like, I am straight-up not ready for it any time soon. I'm exhausted. When my Mom left Sunday morning, it was all Annie all the time.

Anyway, I feel like I haven't been able to fully commit a freak-out over AnkleWatch 2009.

Puck Daddy offers a real picker-upper for Sabres fans. If you haven't already slipped into the depths of despair over this story, head on over there and join us as we wallow.

Unless Patrick Lalime and Jhonas Enroth can get the kind of play from the players in front of them they need and make anything close to the big saves Miller can provide, this team is not making the playoffs. End of story.

Miller could be out a week or he could be out the rest of the regular season. Who knows. Ankles are very tricky things, especially for goaltenders who rely on lateral movement so much.

If the magic playoff points number is 90, we need at least eleven wins to get there. Of course that number might go up or down a point or two but no team has made the playoffs with fewer than 90 points since the lockout. Truth be told, the Sabres finished last season with 90 points and 10th place so let's say 92 is the likely number. Last season in it was 94 and the two seasons before that it was 92. So we'll go with the average of 92.6 which in hockey means 92.

We need to go 12-10 down the stretch, starting tomorrow at home against Anaheim.

In his career, Lalime is 6-3-0 against the Ducks with a 2.40 GAA and a SV% of .916. He played in the team's other game against Anaheim this season in which he made 34 saves but lost.

One of those teams pushing for the playoffs with us is the New York Rangers who just fired their coach. Good or bad for the Sabres? The Pens have started to show signs of life under Dan Bylsma.

Lindy just added notch #139 to his hockey stick where he marks guys he's outlasted.

12-10

Everyone Lost Tonight

by Anne

Disney on Ice was so awful and I made so little money and I'm in a foul mood. This is probably not the best time to blog but I'm probably just going to keep going anyway. Maybe after this I'll finish that "All-Star Roster post" I've been working on and forgetting about for the past 5 days or so.

I both hate and enjoy working at the Arena. I hate the way some things are done. Everyone is obsessed with seniority and most everyone there has been working there for like 6-10 years. If I work there past next season (and I might even not work there next season) I'll be completely shocked. Tonight was almost a complete waste of time and I hope my sinuses bothering me means I'm getting a sinus infection so I don't have to go back. I (sort of) see every Sabres game for free and that's (sort of) cool, but so is watching the game at home. There's a lot more that happens during home broadcasts than away and I miss out on all of it. Whatev, I still have my health.

Then both the Pirates and the Sabres lost. The Pirates lost to a lower ranked team but they are completely beset with injuries. Kennedy played tonight but with a face cage and Gerbe did not play tonight as he is still recovering from his bout with the flu. They lost 2-1 after the Lowell Devils scored two first period goals and they were clearly only able to score one in the third period. Awesome.

Then the Sabres lost and I didn't watch much of the game, so I'm not even going to talk about it.

Hank is hurt. I watched that part. Great. Now what do we do? We're already playing Paetsch, Weber is still recovering from knee surgery and the rest of the Pirates defensemen are just not ready or not good enough.

There's still 45 minutes left in today, maybe something good will happen. At least I got to park in the ramp at the Arena tonight.

Danny Briere is still hurt and isn't getting much better any faster. Now he has to have exploratory surgery. Oh man. Maybe I should stop reading articles online that are only going to say things that are slightly to moderately depressing.

Here's my cat in a hamper, unable to figure out either how he got in or how he's going to get out:

Mommy, stop taking pictures and help me.
He's cute.

Apathy

by Anne

*Its shockingly easy for me to detach myself from home losses. Being at the game but not watching every second of it, its quite easy for me to not take them too hard and just basically detach myself from the outcome. Its very difficult to write about games when you didn't watch the whole thing completely.

*I saw Mairsy's goal and it was lovely. Thank you, Adam Mair. Clarke MacArthur, Matt Ellis and Paul Gaustad, thank you to you as well. Its nice to not hate an entire team.

Derek: Ugh, do I have to go aaaaaall the way over there? Ew.
Guy on phone: Hey buddy, yeah thanks for the tickets, but, hey, listen, next time you can't use tickets to a Caps game, can you give them to someone else?


I imagine to most hockey players on the other team, this is the scariest thing they've ever seen


No this is not a picture of my 11 year old cousin, James.
This is Brian Lee of the Ottawa Senators.
Yes, this dude is old enough to play hockey. With grown-ups. Without a face cage.
He scored his first NHL goal tonight.

*The Canucks lost tonight 3-2 to the Flyers. Ugh. Also, the Canucks acquired former Kings' goalie Jason LaBarbera for a 7th round pick today, thereby allowing them to ship poor abused Cory Schneider back to the AHL to continue to tear it up down there and rebuild some confidence. What the heck happens to LaBarbera when Luongo is healthy? Manitoba? Waivers? I'm sure there are teams that could use him when the Canucks have dispatched with his services.

*In World Juniors news, Team USA trounced Team Kazakhstan 12-0. This would be even more impressive if Canada had not just shellacked them 15-0 two days ago. Yeesh. Now Team USA takes on Team Canada and the Tylers tomorrow night at 7:30. I'm not feeling completely confident but it should be a really good game. At the very least both teams will speak the same language. Poor Kazakhstan. I only feel bad for them because that's where James and Elizabeth were born. I hope for Nik Antropov's sake they score at least 1 goal in this tournament.

*Since working at the Arena, I can no longer stand the smell of buttery popcorn. I still eat popcorn, but I can't stand the smell of so much butter against the smell of the ice. Ok does that make any sense to anyone, because that's the best way I can think to describe it.

I hope everyone has a safe and fun New Year's Eve!

A Night of Highs and Lows

by Anne

Low points:

- Obviously, losing sucks.

-Lots of empty seats in the corners where we sell which means less $$ :/

-AWFUL sales night. Like, really terrible.

-Traffic on the way to the Arena was terrible and I was late, but it doesn't really matter, but I hate being late

-I was too late to grab dinner so I was hungry during the game

-Last night I was up suuuuuuuuuuper late finishing some work and generally not being tired so I'm super drained today

- If you and I have never spent a great deal of time together, let this serve as a warning: if I'm tired and hungry, its best to try to remedy one of those setbacks as quickly as possible. On the other hand, if I allow myself to be supremely crabby in front of you it means we've reached a certain level of friendship. I guess being bitchy to you means I love you? Just ask my sister, hahaha. What a jerk she is.

High points!

-Its Toronto so the goal total pool in my commissary was $50 bucks and I won! I wasn't happy that the Sabres lost but if they did, I'm glad the score was 2-1 so I could win the pool. Wooooo!

- I always forget to mention this, but there's something to be said for tradition and superstitions. I didn't realize until tonight that there's a certain player's superstition that, while it probably helps them get ready, it also helps me calm down.

Every night Paul Gaustad sits on the bench and contemplates life or thinks about what he ate for dinner or how just generally wicked sweet he is at this thing called life, or whatever he thinks about before he goes off and plays hockey. Every game he tosses a puck on the ice and it always stops at the top of the left face off dot in the West (i think) end of the Arena. Today I walked in to the seating a little late to do my useless pre-game wander and I looked down and my puck of reassurance was not there. WHA-? IS GOOSE NOT PLAYING?!? GREAT! THIS IS TERRIBLE WHAT HAPPENED TO HI- oh, wait, he's still all zen-like on the bench. Phew. The puck landed in its usual place shortly there after. I didn't realize how comforting this was to me until it wasn't there. Its kind of like "Goose is ready, are you?"

-I was walking out of the Arena tonight and was quite literally about 2 feet from Craig Rivet and did not realize it until I was like right up in his business. I was just not at all expecting to see him. I literally could've reached out and touched his arm. I think he was looking at the new calendar, but I didn't want to linger and be a creeper. I'm fond of my job, I'd like to keep it, thanks.

-Every game there are obviously TONS of people in jerseys, most have numbers, some do not. I enjoy looking at the persons's player of choice and then debating with myself if this person's selection seems to fit them.Usually, the answer is yes. This more applies to players that are not Thomas Vanek and Ryan Miller because they're so common there's way too much variety in those people to find a pattern. The people who wear Jochen Hecht jerseys are definitely a type, as are Pominville jersey wearers. Peters jerseys are always male and always look like they're wasted, Drury/Campbell/Briere jersey wearers that are not children tend to look unhappy, hahahaha. There are also the occasional Vanek Golden Gophers or Staffy Fighitng Sioux or Miller Spartans jerseys and those people never buy from me ever. No exaggeration. The whole point of this rambling ties into the previous point I made. I've discovered that the nicest people wear Paul Gaustad and Henrik Tallinder jerseys (Heather! haha). No lie. I really paid attention to it tonight, of those that wore numbered jerseys that I interacted with or waited on, the ones that were the nicest were those wearing Goose or Hank jerseys and they were all dudes. There wasn't really one that was rudest because no one was particularly rude, contrary to what most people think. Now, are these people made nicer by Goose and Hank's aura or are nicer people drawn to Goose and Hank? I have never seen a douchebag wearing either of their jerseys. Ugh, I hate to be so stereotypical and douchebags rarely wear numbered jerseys but if they do, they frequently rock #9 (sorry Royzie, I know you wouldn't be friends with these dudes).

Anyway, the only negative interaction I had with Toronto fans were this dude and his girlfriend making out against a wall across from me. I felt like I was in high school again. But then we chatted about overly buttered popcorn and now we're lifelong friends.

-Finally, I discovered today that my computer will actually out loud tell me what time it is if I check a certain box. It just said "Its 12:15" to the tune of "Pomp and Circumstance"

- My cat is really freakin' cute

-My doggy is doing better but he isn't 100% out of the woods. I have to take him back to the vet next week for a check up. On the plus side he is truly the gentlest sweetest most loving dog you'll ever meet and even through all his medical issues he's the sweetest puppy you could ever hope to meet.

-Oh yeah, hockey. Both Fabian Brunnstrom and former Wings WCB Brett Lebda scored in Dallas' 3-1 victory over Detroit.

-Steve Downie was sent to the minors again today. How must his self-esteem be if Tampa has decided that who they have is better than him? OUCH.

- The Caps dressed a person who works on their website as their back-up goalie tonight. He had to sign an amatuer try-out contract in order to be able to play and the Caps had to get a special dispensation from the NHL to be able to dress three goalies. He wasn't just some random dude, he tended goal in college and has helped out by playing goalie in practice a few times for the Caps. That is completely awesome. Can Maria Genero be our emergency goalie?

I've Had Enough

by Anne

If I didn't work at the Arena I would have nothing to do with this team for the next few games.

The Pirates won 4-2. Woo.

That's all I got.

Henrik is thinking: Dude, Ryan Kesler is rubbin' you up, why are you more interested in your phone
Henrik, you and I are totally in sync.
Can I be the triplet?
I can't skate, but I love Big Bear a lot... does that count for anything?

This sucks. I want Mark Mancari. I want him NOW.

SOMETHING NEEDS TO CHANGE.

:'(

by Anne


Wide.

Right.

This is totally ridiculous

by Anne

See title of post. I have nothing to say. We all know where I stand. If you're unsure, you need look no further than the previous post or 12 to figure it out.


Enjoy some StaalLove with some interviews from before this season. Aka, Marc hadn't started his NHL career and Jared was probably only 16.


Around the kitchen table:

Mama Staal, what did you put in their Flintstones vitamins in the morning, HGH?

The Staal Brothers Personal Wall O' Fame:

I think Marc's "rusty wheel on the shopping cart" position in the family makes him my favorite Staal. That, and the flowing locks in that picture. Yowzas. WHO NAMED THE DOG CANDY? THAT IS TOTALLY AWESOME AND TOTALLY GIRLY AND I LOVE IT.

Staal Family Backyard Rink:

I tried to figure out which one was which in the home movie clips but unless you had all 4 of them together, it's pretty hard to tell, especially because 1/2 their faces are covered almost all the time.

Just Get a Ruler, Boys:

I enjoy the tactful way they all acknowledge that Marc is not a great shooter. That's why he's the defenseman in the family. Jared should've been a goalie, just to even it all out.

At the Thunder Bay Rink:

Do you only get the white helmets when you with the Stanley Cup? Does Eric have an exceptionally large or small noggin? I enjoy the mid-clip commercial by Eric and Jared. All Jordan contributes is that he has bad taste in music. Marc lets us know that he supports Tim Hortons.

All Hockey Players' 2nd Love:

Wow, EVERYTHING is a competition with these boys. That's probably what got them to where they are today.


Watching all these videos in a row kind of makes Eric seem like a douche. Although, he is the oldest and that superiority thing comes with the territory. In the shootout thing he's very supportive of his littlest brother. Little. Hah. Boy's probably 6'4" like all his brothers.

Marc "Rusty Wheel" Staal has no love for Pat Kaleta:

Take the poll on the upper left. Yes, POLLS. That's how strapped I am. I thought I saw Mike Ryan at Tim Horton's today. I thought wrong. As mentioned above, one of the Staals (I'm pretty sure it's Marc) is drinking Tim Hortons for a split second in that rink video. Its fate. I drink Tim Horton's coffee all the time. I realize he might be drinking something other than coffee, but I don't care.

---

Private to the NHL schedule makers:

Bite me.

Love,
Anne

EVERYBODY OUT OF THE CAR

by Anne

The smoothie car ride will be me and Sabretooth. How hard does he have to beat that drum before you guys will SCORE? He's very tired and very stressed about this.

Staffy, you came this close to getting in based on that sled hockey piece you did, but you failed to record any points, so you're turfed my friend. Ok, Millsey, you were left out to dry, really, did anyone expect you to stop Ovechkin on a breakaway? I mean you stopped 2 breakaways before that, its just all too much to ask, but you still don't get to come.

Ok, Sekera you did a halfway decent job of defending Ovechkin today, it was Tone that dropped the ball on the breakaway. Ever notice how TONE is usually the defenseman in that position? See: Mara, Paul. Neither of you can come.

(Yo-yo, you looked so adorable in that suit in your interview, you can come along too).