Well, well, well... at last we meet again

by Anne

Why hello, people who have not removed this blog from their blogroll.

It has been 2 1/2 months since I last posted in this, what once used to be a daily+ blog.

I'm sure you've all missed my witty banter with myself.

Anywhoozle.

When the All-Star weekend arrived, it occurred to me that I had missed out what has truly been the greatest part of the hockey season for me for the last few years: choosing the All-Star hotties team. Spending what usually totals HOURS pouring over Google Image results pages and NHL "Let's send the players into the real world and take photos of them with babies" galleries, I compiled a list of hot, hotter, and hottest players from each conference.

Reflecting further, given the free-for-all style of team selection this year, I have no clue how I would have selected my nominating pool. It used to be East v. West. What this year? Blondes v. Brunettes? 5'11" and under v. 6'0" and taller? The hockey players of Twitter? Perhaps I dodged a bullet this year.

YET I HAVE RETURNED IN TIME FOR THE MOST SACRED OF ALL HOCKEY DAYS:

Trade.

Deadline.

Day.

My lingering bout of the affliction known as "unemployment" means that I will be 100% available to sit on my duff at my computer, checking the tweets, and hitting "refresh" on various trade tracking websites, tuned in to NHL Live to hear the dulcet tones of EJ Hradek waxing poetic about the careers each player is leaving behind at their former teams, and the "give it to me straight, I can take it" trade reporting style of TSN's James Duthie. Makes you feel alive.

Ah yes, like Christmas morn, my birthday, and the day your tax refund appears in your bank account all rolled into one, trade deadline day is truly a time to appreciate the things you have.

Remember, 'tis far better to give Tim Connolly than to receive him. 

2009-2010 Regular Season Grades: Forwards

by Anne

Continuing where we left off yesterday: the forwards.

#9 Derek Roy

80gm, 26G, 43A, +9, 19:22

All in all a somewhat typical season for Royzie. He took FOREVER to get his first goal of the season and he didn't amass as many points as he has in previous seasons. However, those previous seasons he and only a small number of other forwards were contributing and this scoring by committee style has knocked his goal totals down a touch. He was good more often than he was awful. He tied for first in GWG and had 3 OT winners.

Grade: B

 #13 Tim Kennedy

78gm, 10G, 16A, -3, 12:57

This being his first full season in the NHL, I'm going to go easy on Lil' Timmers. He was ok. He has signs of being better in years to come. Pommer, Royzie and Vanek all had just "meh" rookie seasons. He'll be better next season.

Grade: B-

#19 Tim Connolly

73G, 17G, 48A, +10, 18:37

Aside from his recent injury, Timmah was an iron man this season. He had an epic point-streak in December/January and lead the team in assists. There were several nights when he was the best player on the ice and was frequently the best forward. Remember how we said a healthy Timmah makes the Sabres better? True dat.

Grade: A-

#21 Drew Stafford

71gm, 14G, 20A, +4, 14:28

I think the thing about his stats I found most surprising was that he finished the season a + player. He's been better, he should be better and he's just not. I'm glad to see, though, that we stopped relying on him as a consistently top-6 player because he's not one. He's had a few solid games but not enough.

Grade: C-

 #22 Adam Mair

69gm, 6G, 8A, -2, 9:14

Remember when he was put on waivers? Yikes. I'm glad Mairsy is still here. He works hard, he took the waiver wire with professionalism and the Sabres are the better for it. He knows his role and he does it well. As a whole, the team fought less this season and tried to limit penalties as a whole. He did his job.

Grade: B

 #25 Mike Grier

73gm, 10G, 12A, -4, 15:47

Mikey had a very Mikey season. He has hands of stone and he's slower than molasses on a cold day but he's consistent! He was topnotch on the PK, a great veteran mentor for Tim Kennedy and just made everything better.

Grade: B+

#26 Thomas Vanek

71gm, 28G, 25A, +9, 16:45

Thomas, Thomas, Thomas. Yet another frustrating season in which you went bananas at the end. He should just always be told it's mid-March/early April. He seems to play really well then. However, his four-goal game could not make up for his endless stretches of goal-lessness. He was a + player, which has been a struggle for him since his +47 season.

Grade: B-

#28 Paul Gaustad

65gm, 12G, 10A, -7, 15:44

Tied a career-high in goals (set last season). His greatest contribution to the team has been faceoff wins, which he produced at 57.4% this season. Goose doesn't get much fanfare and got even less than usual this season. His +/- is a tad unsettling but bottom six players rarely have high +/-. I'm fairly confident that he, Miller, Grier and Rivs were responsible for keeping certain players in line and being held accountable. That topic didn't come up nearly as often this season as it has in the past two (non-playoff) seasons.

Grade: B+

 #29 Jason Pominville

82gm 24G, 38A, +13, 18:44

Pommer was the Sabres most consistent forward for most of the season. Once again, he played all 82 games this season. He hasn't missed a regular season game since he was a healthy scratch April 7, 2006. I really don't have much bad to say about his season. Like every other forward, his points total was lower than last season or the season before. It's the new system and I think we all have to accept that.

Grade: B+

#36 Patrick Kaleta

55gm, 10G, 5A, +2, 10:09

One of the only exceptions to the above statement about players scoring less is Pat Kaleta. He more than doubled his career high in goals and lead the team with 2 shorthanded goals. He had 148 hits in only 55 games. He was consistent and did his job as was expected of him. He even had a few fights and drew lots o' penalties.

Grade: A-

#37 Matt Ellis

72gm, 3G, 10A, -1, 9:03

Matty played a career-high in games and set a new career high in assists. Much like Mike Grier, he was consistent and has an incredible no-quit work ethic. I often describe his work ethic as "If I don't play well tonight, they'll feed me to the lions tomorrow." He was responsbile (12 PIM) and won some faceoffs. What more can you really ask?

Grade: B+

 #55 Jochen Hecht

79gm, 21G, 21A, +14, 17:11

Lead the team in +/-. Thank goodness he's back in his defensively-responsible mode. We definitely needed that from him this season. He was consistent and consistently solid. I liked seeing him and Pommer occasionally reunited this season. It made my heart all a-flutter. Same thing with Royzie and Vanek. Sometimes the old chemistry worked for them.

Grade: A-

These three players played only 10-20 games in a Sabres uniform (and are still with the team):

 #17 Raffi Torres

14gm, 0G, 5A, -3, 13:20

Go away. I don't like you.

Grade: D

 #42 Nathan Gerbe

10gm, 2G, 3A, +1, 14:38

I definitely like what I've seen. The 3G Network^TM (Gerbe-Gaustad-Grier) has been clicking. A huge sigh of relief to see him produce at the NHL level. Thank goodness.

Grade: B+

 #63 Tyler Ennis

10gm, 3G, 6A, +1, 15:20

He can score in the AHL and in the NHL. Gee, the 2009 AHL rookie of the year (Gerbe) and now the 2010 AHL rookie of the year (Tennis the Menace) actually playing well in their call-ups? Wa-hoo! Here's hoping things stay consistent and they don't suffer Chris Butler-like collapses when they inevitably make the club next season :)

Grade: A-

Overall this "scoring by committee" has diminished most players scoring. Having Ryan Miller in net still made it possible for us to win. Lots of players had scoring bursts at the end of the season which makes me feel little more optimistic about their ability to score in the post season.

Forwards overall grade: B+

Controversy time

by Anne

I want to write a whole write-up of our awesome trip to Nashville but I need a camera cord before I can upload the pictures and I want to edit some of the video before I upload some of them.

Tuesday and Wednesday were some pretty sweet days for hockey. The Sabres welcomed me back to Buffalo with a lovely victory over the Panthers. Pommer leads the team in goal scoring? Gerbe AND Ennis scored? Woooo! Welcome home to me!

However, not everything is coming up roses. There are some awesome "controversies" both my teams are dealing with. 

First for the Sabres there's: how do we send Gerbe and Ennis back to the AHL when they've been playing this well in the NHL? Connolly and Vanek weren't playing as well before they were injured, why should Gerbe and Ennis lose their spots just because they come back? Let's see, four players who have proven to be prolific goal-scorers vying for a limited number of roster spots, especially with the playoffs upcoming? Gosh, things are tough.

On the West Coast side of things, the "controversy" a-brewing is a good old fashioned goalie controversy. Jonathan Bernier was called up from Manchester when Erik Ersberg allegedly strained his back. He played the Nashville game I attended a recorded himself a shutout. I don't think it was a surprise to any Kings fan that Bernier is better than Ersberg, but could he be better than Quick?  Terry Murray was quick (hah) to put it out there that Quickie is still the #1 goalie, but Bernier is getting the start tonight against Vancouver.

Yeesh, times are tough.

:)

What a relief!

by Anne

Seriously, thank goodness they won. The Sabres beat the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 in oooooovertiiiime for their first win after the Olympicbreak.

Thank goodness Vanek scored.

Thank goodness Connolly not only scored but made up for a bad turnover as well. Both of them are guys who do not quickly bounce back from mistakes and like to be streaky.

Thank goodness Mairsy scored just because he's Mairsy.

Thank goodness Torres got his first point as a Sabre on Timmah's OT game-winner. He was out there at a crucial time and he majorly came through for his new teammates.

Miller looked almost refreshed in his post-game interview; even Kevin Sylvester commented on his clean-shaven face.

The only real downside from tonight's game aside from the few mental  lapses is that Little Foot pulled his groin and will likely miss some time. With Goose hurt and Ennis mildly concussed, does Gerbe get a shot? He's not hurt, is he? Unfortunately, these are the moments when a player like Paetsch who's a crazy genie and can magically play defense AND forward comes in handy. Oh well. C'est la vie.

Tonight's win puts them back into first place in the division by one point. Woo!

Here's hoping this is the start of something good and they can keep this going into Sunday's game against the Rangers.

Epic Game

by Anne

If you have ever glanced at this blog, you could proooobably figure out that while I am a Buffalo Sabres fan (the veil of mystery has been lifted) in addition to being a Los Angeles Kings fan (once again, big shockeroo). So last night, the game I circled on my calendar in July finally arrived after much anticipation.

It's easy to keep the Kings and Sabres successes and failures entirely separate on this blog and in my mind because, frankly, they almost never play each other. A Sabres victory rarely affects the Kings and vice versa. So when these two teams collide, I'm totally conflicted.

Last night's game was the first in which I didn't mind not having RJ doing the play by play. I've become accustomed to Bob Miller and Jim Fox and I knew they'd be even keeled, well-informed and respectful, no matter how the game unfolded, and they were.

Frankly, on a personal level, that game couldn't have been more perfect. And yes, I am including the final score in that. It was a close game, some nice hits, both teams scoring some big goals, huge saves, great chances and a pace that just didn't seem to quit. There were precious few moments where the crowd could sit back and relax. They were trading tough play in the offensive zone at both ends of the ice. It is true, as Bob Miller mentioned, that the Sabres are a much faster team, but the Kings stayed right with them the whole 65 minutes.

I wanted a Kings OT victory and I got a Kings SO victory. It's not that I love the Kings more. No, far from it, but the Kings just plainly needed that extra point more. The Sabres are not really being threatened by anyone else in the Northeast at the moment and the Kings are battling for a playoff spot. That extra point moved them from ninth to holding sole possession of seventh in the West.

It's such a downer when games that you've hyped up don't live up to your expectations, but that one definitely did.

They didn't hurt each other! Greener played! Woooo!

On an individual level, Myers and Tallinder were both -3. Umm, that is shameful, boys. You're supposed to be our top defesive tandem. What gives?

Sean O'Donnell and Craig Rivet scoring goals in the same game? What kind of wacky parallel universe did we find ourselves in? OD scored his first of the season December 15, 2009 but before that he hadn't scored since December 22, 2007! That's a span of 158 games, btw. Craigory hadn't scored since March 25, a paltry 56 game drought. Psh.

Vanek's power play goal was a beauty. It could not have been more textbook. He had a questionable cross-check of Dewey in front of the net, but he did what he needed to do.

Good old TIMMAH

It was a battle of the Team USA goalies as well, and Quickie came out on top. There is no secret in saying that Ryan Miller is the better goaltender, but Quickie is also five years younger than Millsy and this is only his first full season as a starting goaltender. They're very different goaltenders but I know that Quickie will only get better as he moves up, and he played very well last night.

He'll be out 4-6 weeks after twisting his knee off of his leg making this save.

Ok, no not really but hot damn.

Now I get to wait until next year to see them play again! :(

But that game was so great, I really didn't want it to end. I would've stayed up all night to watch them play.

Quick Hits

by Anne

• Why do I still write "by Anne" at the top? It's clearly only me who posts in here.
  

• Patrick Lalime played well! Woo!
  

• Timmy did too! He was so cocky and swaggery and baaaaadass on his shorthanded goal
  

• I want to make babies with Mike Grier, except our children would be PAINFULLY slow on their skates. Oh well, I still loves him.
  

• Umm We're like the only team in East with a winning record against the West. We might not be the only ones but I'm pretty sure we're the only ones undefeated against the West.
  

• I was only partially paying attention to the beginning of the game because my sleepiness won out.
  

• I could've lived a long life without looking at a hairy shirtless Tim Connolly in his post-game interview. Jussayin'
  

• One team is totally PWNING the other teams in our poll to the left. I won't say which team but if you're concerned about your favorite fictional team winning a meaningless medal, I'd step up the votage.
  

• Drew Stafford, I love you. I want to love you but this relationship is painful. You're always hurting me and I just don't know how much more I can take this abuse.
  

• I'm going to see Avatar tomorrow and I'm super stoked.
  

• Woo!
  

Hero of the Game

by Anne

All Sabres fans are well aware that Ryan Miller is the hero of the Sabres roster. I don't need to go into anymore "night after night" platitudes and blah blah blah because we all know what he does.

However, on those nights when the Sabres find themselves down a goal or two heading into the third, who do they rely on to get them those clutch goals?

Uhhhh? Vanek? Not at this pace. Connolly? Maybe. Royzie? He's too busy losing clutch faceoffs. MacArthur or Stafford? Occasionally. Pominville? Not this season.

When you can go through your top 6 and confidently say that none of them are heroic, reliable goal scorers at this point in the game, you have a problem.

Last night at the Arena while I was changing to go home, the score was still 3-2. I found myself standing in the lockerroom thinking this sentence: "Ok _____ time for some magic." And it occurred to me that I have no idea who could fill in that blank.

Last season, Vanek offered heroics, and we've been able to rely on him a lot in the last few years to do that. This season has been slow going and no one else has stepped up to offer that boost, that feeling of "Don't worry, get him the puck and things will happen."

All of the boys in the top 6 can score goals, and they all have been (some later than others, ROYZIE). But none of them are are go-to goal scorer. That keeps the other team's defense guessing, they can never be 100% sure who's going to be that player with the quick trigger. Crosby, Ovechkin, Malkin, Kopitar, Nash, Iginla, Zetterberg, Kovalchuk, all over the NHL there are teams with that one player or more than one sometimes. You keep that guy covered at all times. The balanced attack makes for a confused opponent, but it also leaves us without the game-saving goal scorer.

Miller can stop the pucks from going in (most of the time) but he can't score the goals for them. Someone needs to kick it up a notch or 10. Not just someone, but a lot of someones.

12-5-1 is still a good record through 17 games, let's not kid ourselves. This team isn't completely perfect. It's got a lot of really solid elements, but now that they've gone through their feeling things out phase, it'll be nice to see them kick it into that next gear they should be able to kick it into.

They need to push harder and drive harder and score more. Who's going to do it?

This feels a lot better

by Anne

Wheee!

Between Friday and Tuesday the Pens, Canucks, Kings and Sabres played eight games. In those games those four teams went a combined 0-8-0. WHAT? That's terrible. I was not too happy. Eight straight games of FAIL.

Tonight, my two favorite teams (Canucks, you'd better get your act together to try to reclaim this title from the Kings) played two splendid games.

Clearly, I saw the Sabres game, but I did not see the Kings game because they are in the midst of an East coast trip and their game was also at 7:00.

First my beloved Sabres won somewhat of a snoozer against Edmonton at HSBC Arena tonight.

Steve Montador scored his first as a Sabre and the line of Stafford - Connolly - Vanek, known (by me only) as the Should line (because it SHOULD work) contributed the first goal from Staffy and then provided some stifling offensive zone pressure to set up the Full Monty's goal. Yoyo added the empty netter to seal the 3-1 win.

The Sabres powerful is godawful terrible. Good LORD. They were 0 for 7 against the Bruins the other night and tonight they went 0 for 4. Maybe practice the power play in practice lots and lots? Thanks.

Clarke MacArthur accidentally pulverized Liam Reddox into the boards with only a few minutes left in the third period which drew a five minute major for boarding and a game misconduct. I didn't see the hit but me may be suspended. Dang. Although maybe Mairsy will play? Grier had a strained groin and if he misses time, Mair will definitely be back. Maybe Paetsch will be in at forward? I hope Grizz doesn't get suspended. I think it's clear that he had no intention of hitting him hard from behind; Maybe taking the body to knock him off the puck, but he seems to lose his footing at the last second.

Still scary, regardless of intent.

That five minute penalty was interesting. For the first two minutes of it, the crowd was holding its collective breath, as if we were willing the puck to stay out of the net. Then as the PKers started to really control the situation, a loud "Let's go Buff-a-lo!" chant energized the Arena and the penalty was killed and met by a standing ovation from the crowd.

Hey Should line.

Good job

Cookies for you.

Well, maybe not you, Tommy. You took lotsa penalties.

Next game IGGY COMES TO BUFFALO!

:) :) :)

Also on tap, and experienced by me via boxscore checks and LAKings.com highlights, was the Kings 5-2 win over the flailing Carolina Hurricanes. Tonight's loss brings the Butter Snaps losing streak to 13 games. I believe they are 0-10-3 in their last 13. Yeesh.

Erik Ersberg made his second start of the season and got his first win.  Anze Kopi-star had two assists upping his league-leading points total to 30 (14+16). Oh snap.

Randy Jones, the Kings 7th defenseman recently acquired from Philly, played in his first game as a King and recorded the game winning goal and an assist. Woo!

This line is also foxy.

This line contributed six points tonight (2+4)

Well done, boys.

I love you.

Lots.

Both teams are off tomorrow and then both teams play Friday. Then, of course, both teams play Saturday. Yeesh, schedulers!

What's a better birthday present than a goal and a win?

by Anne

Nothing that I can think of.

Drew Stafford celebrated his 24th birthday with a goal and Timmy Connolly got him a win for his birthday. It's way better than his original gift idea:

Timmy got hungry

 

This gift is something we can all enjoy.

I like his teammates chillin' on the bench, ready to make a change

Matt Stajan isn't good at birthday gifts either.

Frankly, the Sabres came wwaaayyy too close to losing to the Laffs. At least when the Maple Leafs are THIS bad, some of their fans have come to terms and are actually pleasant at HSBC Arena. I had a pleasant conversation during the third with a Leafs fan who was very complimentary to the Sabres. It was unsettling.

Tyler Myers celebrated his first game as a legit rookie with 22:36 in ice time, including 3:29 on the PP, two penalties, four blocked shots and getting hit in the face with a stick. Frankly, I'm just impressed a player was able to get his stick that high.

Points of note:

• Britney notched his first assist of the season. That's a bit unsettling, but hey, he's got at least one!
• Derek Roy notched his eighth point of the season but still hasn't scored a freakin' goal. The only reason people aren't freaking out about this is because we're winning. 
• Rivs and Sir Christopher were both -2
• Henrik Tallinder was a +1 AGAIN. Playing with Myers has done wonders for him. Apparently he needed someone even taller and blonder to be his partner

I turned off the Canucks game when the Ducks scored their sixth unanswered goal to up their lead to 6-2. Cory Schneider is not the future, apparently. He doesn't seem to be good trade fodder at this point. It's too bad the Kings are fairly set in net, he could've been slated into their previous revolving turnstile of starting goaltenders. (They've had like 10 in the past three years, no joke).

The Leafs were playing soccer when I walked in today. Holy CRAP, Jason Blake is the tiniest and blondest man I may have ever seen in person. Niklas Hagman almost crashed into the little fence that's set up to keep the riffraff away from the players. That would've been not so great for the Leafs, Nik.

Happy Halloween, everyone!

I've Missed Him SO MUCH

by Anne

I can't help it, Tim Connolly makes me giggle.

Nice flip flops, bro.

I alternately hate him and adore him.

Its so fantastic.

THERE IS SABRES GAME TONIGHT. YES ITS PRE-SEASON BUT ITS STILL THE BLUE AND GOLD SKATING AGAINST ANOTHER TEAM!!

Wooooooo!!

See you at the Arena tonight!

Happy Birthday, Tim Connolly!

by Anne

Today Buffalo's um, "beloved" Timmy turns 28. I already chose earlier in the season to love Tim Connolly so here I go.

Happy Birthday Timmers
Keep on keepin' on.

The Title Says It All

By S(h)ara

First off, I would just like to say thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes. It was a pretty good one, I must say.

Anne and I are sitting on my couch and watching the end of the Sabres game, and I came across something that made me chuckle on NHL.com. I may have edited this for my own amusement. May.

This really entertains me way more than it should.

PS I saw Pat Kaleta at the mall today. He didn't look concussed, so good on ya, Patty!

I'm Still Mad at Them

by Anne

On Wednesday I stuffed my jerseys and my Sabretooth hat into my "summer clothes" box and banished the buffaslug magnet from my standings tracker. He's sitting in my "Sports Crazy" coffee mug on my armoire. He is not going back on until the Sabres lose again.

Can Lindy still wear that flamingo hat? I would really love to see that.

I'm happy they won, but I'm not tossing my panties at them until they string a bunch of wins together. I'm also thrilled that there was no epic third period collapse and Danny scored the game winner. He won't even come close to last season's goal total, but maybe he's begun to figure out his game. (here's hoping).

I really have very little else to say. It was a great game but I'm still not even cautiously optimistic. I'm very much "wait and see" about this team right now.

Oilers WCB Ethan Moreau, who took that nasty hit to the eye about two weeks ago, was back in the line-up tonight! ... and the Oilers lost 4-3 to the Thrashers. Whoops.

In more news that no one cares about but me, the Canucks take on the Kings again tomorrow night. It will also be Sean O'Donnell's 1,000th game. He'll be honored by the team and their next home game. The LA Kings' Twitter was blowing up my phone all day with links to articles about OD and random factoids. I GET IT, LA Kings. I'm happy for Sean O'Donnell, but leave me in peace.

Relative of absolutely nothing, I really love this interview TSN did with John Tavares and PK Subban during the World Juniors this year. I would embed it but its been disabled.

I just looked up at my calendar next to my bed and Timmy is the month of March. He's wearing an "A." I have no recollection of him wearing a letter. It just seems wrong.

Also, he's growing the goatee again. Is the return of the fu manchu far behind?

I don't really like facial hair.
Scruff is fine but that's about it


Reggie's facial expression and mouthguard made me laugh
(click to enlarge)

Thrashers on Saturday, 7:00.

Tim Connolly I Just- I Don't - What I Mean Is...

by Anne

Tim Connolly signs a contract that is universally concluded to be overpaying someone who's always hurt and follows up by contributing five points in two huge wins.

For as important as Timmy's two goals were tonight, for me the most impressive contribution he made tonight was his set up for Sekera's goal. Harry even slowed it down to show us again on the monitors but even watching it in person I could see what was being set up and I'm up in the 300s. How could the players on the ice not see it? Timmy put Reggie exactly where he wanted him to be for the play, won the face off and Reggie one-timed it for the goal. It was a goal that Bryzgalov probably should've been able to stop but who cares, it was beautifully executed.

Not only was it a phenomenal set up, it was the kind of thing that Timmy can do all. the. time.

I'm not saying this to try to be funny. I am literally completely conflicted over how to feel about Tim Connolly.

Maybe its because I'm always waiting for him to be hurt, but whenever Timmy's on the ice I watch him. I look to see what he's going to do, what pass he's going to make, how he's going to try and set something up. He's just so interesting to watch on the ice, especially from up in the nosebleeds where you can see plays develop better.

I'm still conflicted.

We had so much success without him that I just got used to him as the drugged up one sitting in the corner, not doing much.

On top of that, I'm also used to hearing awkward stories about Timmy being a creeper that probably aren't true but DANG are they funny.

He seems like such an asshole sometimes. Then again, there are so many explanations for why he comes off that way. He clearly isn't too comfortable giving interviews. I hope talking to him in real life isn't as stilted as his voice is when being interviewed.

The point is I want to love Tim Connolly, I really really do, but I just can't. I want to hate him, I really really do, but I just can't. I am deeply ambivalent about Tim Connolly's role on the Buffalo Sabres. I don't want him to leave but I don't like the contract he just signed which keeps him here...

If I were to meet him I'm really not sure how I would react.

Uncomfortable, indifferent Timmy
The Timmy we grew so accustomed to.


I don't know who that is

He chose Buffalo. He wants to stay here. I was fairly surprised to hear him say that so many times and seem to actually mean it. What? But its BUFFALO. I love it here, but no one ever said I was playing with a full deck.

I mean the man did the worm at the Catwalk for Charity. Who DOES that?

If anyone else had said all those things about wanting to stay in Buffalo I'd be humming happy songs and cross stitching their names onto throw pillows (I have a few sets in the works). If anyone else had been so ridiculous as to do the worm at the Catwalk for Charity I would've giggled. For some reason when its Timmy, I feel suspect.

I think the best way I can describe my feelings about Timmy is that he's basically the only player whose life off the ice is a bigger factor in my opinion of him than what he does ON the ice. That's not fair.

Frankly Timmy, you can bang all the skanky hos in Buffalo you want to. Or don't. Whatevs, I don't care. Just toss up a few more four point nights and I'll be happy.

In the end, the world is too full of animosity. Tim Connolly chose Buffalo, so when it comes to Tim Connolly, I choose the love cupcake:

No, angry jack-o-lantern cupcake, stop looking at love cupcake so angrily, you represent the OLD Timmy

This is also an excuse for me to bust out one of my favorite hockey related images:

That's when Timmy had hair
I would look so cute in that hat.

Senators tomorrow. Can't wait to watch!

What Do You Mean No One Disagrees?

by Anne

You've probably all heard by now about former Islanders GM and TV "analyst" Mike Millbury calling our beloved crash test dummy, Timmy Connolly, a "self-centered little dink" on a nationally televised broadcast last night. If not, crank the volume and listen up:

My favorite part about this non-controversy is that in all the places I've read about this, not a single soul has defended Timmy and said that he is not what he is accused of being: a "self-centered little dink." Everyone's main argument is that Mike Millbury was a terrible GM and somehow that's related because he drafted Timmers and then traded him to Buffalo.

So since no one has defended him I suppose it must be true. Tim Connolly is a "self-centered little dink." Yes, but he's our "self-centered little dink"... at least until March 4th. And, let's be honest, we've all called him much much worse.

Kicking Off the Road Trip the Right Way

by Anne

Once again, Ales Kotalik won a game for the Buffalo Sabres. If for no other reason than that, we can't lose him as people have speculated we might this season. What is UP with these shootouts? Last season the shootout made me want to cry, literally. I feel like the only shootout we ever won was the one where Hank schooled the Saucy Minx. I'm sure we must've won more than that, but that's the only one I remember winning last season. This season we're a healthy 6-2 in shootouts. Maybe the first game of the season starting on a shootout winner was a good thing.

I KNEW Booth was going to score on that penalty shot. You could just feel it. Miller is still 1-8 on career penalty shots, but still, 0-9 would've meant a regulation victory... maybe.

It really sucks for Panthers fans the way our first goal was scored. Hey, at least it wasn't Bryan McCabe this time, right Leafs fans?

What a timely goal for Mr. Vanek. Power play, on the road, on his birthday. Its not as though Vanek has been playing badly, I believe he had something like 7 assists over the last 8 games or something like that, but its nice to see him moving back up in the goal column.

Derek Roy's goal was postively Kessel-esque. I feel for ya, Vokoun, that goal was bogus... but close up that five-hole if you're really that serious about it. Kotalik wanted to try his new "forehand" move he's been hearing is really popular with the ladies, but Vokoun was prepared, so Kotalik said "Oh yeah? Watch THIS. BACK HAND TOP SHELF BLOCKER SIDE." I may or may not have drunkenly screamed that phrase during a Devils shootout last season in which Mr. Kotalik had a failed forehand attempt. This may or may not have also been the same game in which I drunkenly named Martin Brodeur a Saucy Minx...and then called him DiPietro at one point in the game, not on purpose. What a night.

David Booth had a heck of a game, scoring on his first career penalty shot and nearly scoring a few times in regulation. Miller managed to redeem himself by denying Booth's attempt in the shootout... thank goodness. If we had lost 2-1, I was never going to say anything nice about Toni Lydman again. But, we won, so, Toni, you had a nice shot on net that gave Thomas the rebound to put in the net, thank you and please do that again. Also, you were in the middle of the fracas that gave Timmy his "goal", so thank you again. You have redeemed yourself.

Paetsch was "meh". He didn't screw up horribly and he had a few passes to keep the puck in the zone at important times so at least for now I can live with him in the line-up.

I really like the return of rough and tough little speedy scrappy Royzie. He's been back for a while but tonight I felt that old sense of relief that "Don't worry, its ok, Derek Roy has the puck." These days you know that whenever Royzie has the puck on his stick, something is bound to happen, be it on the power play, penalty kill or 5 on 5. Ok he's not always perfect, (he had at least one awful giveaway) but he's more reliable than some of his teammates *cough*Max*cough*.

Never fear, Royzie's here


I could really get used to this
BUT I WON'T
(think I undid the jinx?)


Timmy: You little punk, wipe that smirk off your face



Goose: Aw, Zeds, I'm just so glad you're ok
Zednik: Aw Paul, thanks. Want to let me have the puck then?
Goose: Hellz no.

Shanahan scored in his first game of the season with New Jersey, first goal of the game, and on the power play, as one has come to expect from Shanny. Good to have him back...?

Its nice to start to see a little distance between us and the teams behind us. Ok, now this streak is a total set up for a Sabres classic, we've now beaten two teams close behind us in the standings to keep them off our heels a little. Now we face a team that boasts within its record both the second lowest win total of any team in the league (15) and the highest number of overtime losses (10). Now they're tied with Ottawa for 15 wins but only because they beat the Stars tonight somehow. If ever there was a team we should beat, its the Tampa Bay Lightning. We've done it before. Please please PLEASE lets do it again? We have a chance to make up some ground on the Phlyers who are four points ahead of us right now, and to put some space between us and the Pens and Panthers who are three points behind us.

If we were in the West, we'd be in 4th place. Weird.

Happy Inauguration Day, America!

I Must Bring Them Luck?

by Anne

Ok, so three games ago I started counting jerseys before the game in order to keep myself occupied. In the first, Vanek v. Pommer, Vanek won the head-to-head battle and scored a goal that night, the next one: Miller v. Vanek, Miller won and that was the shoot out win over the Rangers in which Miller had 46 saves on 47 shots including the shootout. Tonight was Connolly v. Stafford. The final score was 5-0 in favor of Tim Connolly. No love for Staffy tonight. Then what happened? Timmers pots 2 goals and doubles his goal total for the season. Now, we sit and wait for the injury report.... still not here? Ok, tomorrow then.

This picture makes me feel all warm inside

I'm sure we are all in agreement that the beginning of the third period made us all hold our collective breath, just a little bit. Its the Sabres, I only feel comfortable with a three goal lead when the game is already over. However, they managed to hang on and muscled out the win. I really love when the periods end with happy cheers from the fans because the team is playing well.

Another fairly fast game as well. The best way to gauge this for me is what time I get to my car. I was sitting in Jarome at about 9:50, this was after changing my clothes and stopping to help a guy that was lying face first in the snow and probably sprained or broke his ankle. Therefore, it was a quick game.

I honestly was surprised they won. Every other time this season, and last, a team that comes in on a losing streak that's right behind us in standings is guaranteed a victory, and usually a big one at that. Nice to see Timmy back and see Miller continue to play the way we've come to expect him to.

All in all a solid game from puck drop to final buzzer. Am I upset that we had only 5 shots on goal in the third? No. We had a three, then almost immediately a two, goal lead heading into that period and dumping pucks on goal wasn't necessary. No need to get fancy when you have a healthy lead.

Relative of almost nothing, I discoverd that I'm working EVERY SINGLE Disney On Ice show this week. Shoot me in the face. Seriously. I'm sure I'll enjoy the paycheck but there are shows Wednesday, Thursday and Friday then THREE on Saturday and two on Sunday. I have to be there at 9:30am on Saturday and I can't leave until after the last show at 7:00. Once again, shoot me in the face. I'm going to miss the Sabres game on Wednesday, but I have no doubt the game will be on the monitors in the corridor. So if I'm singing Disney tunes for the next week, my bad.

Both the Devils and the Panthers won tonight so this win is even more of a must in order to stay in the playoff race. We currently hold a two point lead over the 8th place Panthers. Woooooooooooo!!!!

Rookie and veteran: both making the same face in anticipation of the puck being shot at their heads


Pie is thinking: Gosh darn it, I'm going to get a penalty, Anne will not be happy with me

I know photographers tend to like a certain perspective for shots, especially when they shoot the same thing over and over again (like a hockey game). But could the webmaster of Sabres.com perchance have chosen two images that are not almost completely identical for top stories #1 and #2?

Even the Geico logo on the far boards basically hits the same spot on their calves
And, finally:


Sissy OWNS this funny face of the game picture

Tomorrow I'll have the post about our All-Star roster that I've slowly been working on. I'm trying to make it more than just regurgitating the same pictures we used for the ballot. This time, there will be video footage.

I guess I'm seeing Rent tomorrow? My sister declared I must so she bought me a ticket and we're going to the matinee. We should be home in time to see the Steelers game at 6:30. Wooooooooo!!

ETA: I didn't know Sean Avery had signed with the Lightning.

ETA2: Aw, Timmy. From the game recap on NHL.com:

Tim Connolly's grandparents wanted him to score a goal. He wound up getting one for each of them as the weary Sabres held on to hand Carolina its fifth consecutive regulation loss.

Connolly, an oft-injured center playing in only his 11th game of the season, made his grandparents happy by posting his third NHL multi-goal game and first since April 2006.

"I got one for both of them," said Connolly, who told reporters he had received a text message from his father telling him his grandparents wanted him to score.

Good boy, Timmy! :)

I Dedicate This to Tim Connolly

by Anne

As I sit here thinking about Timmy's anticipated return, I can't help but think of Liza Minelli:

Maybe this time Timmy, maybe this time you'll stay healthy.

I like to think of Andrew Peters as the girl holding the trombone and Lindy is clearly the fat cat smoking the cigar. Darcy is the dude by the phone, waiting for trade offers/a call from the team doctor.

Healin' Up

by Anne

Cap'n Craigory will be returning to the line-up Tuesday!!!

However, Teppo is under the weather. Therefore, Chris Butler will probably stay up for at least until Teppo is healthy again. I think a Butler/Rivet tandem would work just fine or perhaps a Rivet/Tallinder and a Lydman/Butler quartet. Spacek and Sekera seem to be our most consistent pairing so I don't forsee Lindy breaking up the duo.

Timmy (Connolly, remember him?) might actually be back for a game or two by this weekend. Is it wrong that I just don't care? I mean, Timmy is an extremely talented player, but we all know he's going to last in the neighborhood of 2-5 games before something else happens to him and we find ourselves once again without his services. Its good to see him getting better but its just more of the same.

In "The Biggest Story To Ever Happen To The World Since Sidney Crosby Sprained His Ankle" news, Mats Sundin will probably be joining the Canucks to play the Oilers on Wednesday or possibly on Friday against the Blues. There's no word yet as to who his linemates will be, but for my own selfish love of Big Bear, I hope Bernier gets a shot with him centering his line. Its been documented by many that players who play with Sundin simply play better. Big Bear needs a boost. He's on pace for a career high in points, but that career high isn't phenomnal.

Speaking of Steve Bernier, thank you to all of you who sent me the link to this feature. I perused it several times and enjoyed it immensely. My favorite part is that throughout the feature its mentioned multiple times that he's kind of chubby and slow... and he's a professional athlete. Those do not generally seem to be character traits that go to other very often.

His little helmet says "Steve" and not "Big Bear"
What?!


Check out that mascot.
Good thing Stevie is all the way on the left in the 2nd row.
What a cutie.

I'm ALIVE

by Anne

I have successfully driven the 344 or so miles from Buffalo to South Central PA. Good Lord. What a drive. The entire trip we made 2 stops, once for gas and once for lunch. It was just me and Jimmy, my 11 year old cousin. He spent most of the time sleeping and listening to my iPod. I entertained myself at a traffic jam by pulling his shoes off his feet while he sat behind me. I'm such a good cousin.

Ah, good times.

So basically everyone I've ever met in my entire life who lives in the City of Buffalo and is not related to me is going to the game tonight. Well, except my Dad, he's still in Buffalo because his show opens this weekend and he couldn't make the trip with us.

I know that every year since 1985 I've come down here for Thanksgiving but this year is hardest because I know there will be so many good times going on up North. :(

Here's hoping that team can put together some bad times for the Boston Bruins instead of the Sabres fans that will be drunkenly in attendance. I'm sure the Arena is going to be CRAZY. Doors open in 15 minutes, I can smell the popcorn already. Speaking of popcorn, the smell of it now makes me sick to my stomach, thanks HSBC Arena.

I'm typing this on my Grandpa's computer which has DIAL-UP. I feel like I'm in 7th grade again and I'm only allowed to be on AOL for an hour because we get charged by the minute.

WTF is this:

I could not get the page that this comes from to load, so I suppose I'll never know...
or i'll have to wait until one of you looks it up... ;)

Yo, updating on my MacBook is so much easier than on a PC.

Have a Happy (hungover) Turkey Day!