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.

:)

Baby line?

by Anne

Tyler Ennis is already up in the blue gold, and now Nate Gerbe and Mark Mancari are headed back up here as well.

I'm fairly confident that while Connolly, Vanek and Kaleta really are injured and need time to heal, that they're being extra cautious with the upcoming PLAYOFF run, and are keeping them on the bench. I don't know the details of their injuries obviously, but I'm guessing that's why these three Pirates have been tapped to come on up to the big club.

I'll be interested to see what Gerbe does this time around. The possibility of Gerbe last season was much more exciting than the real thing. I'm sure no one is more frustrated with his sluggish scoring in the NHL than Gerbe himself. 

Maybe he'll turn it around this time? Shelby of Puck Over The Glass and now a new blog: Sabres Hockey Central pointed out what a fantastic line Gerbe-Roy-Ennis would be. We play Boston tonight, Chara would never see them coming. Literally. It might be awesome. It also might be hilarious. Let's do this.

I really have no thoughts about Mancari. He played better than anticipated the last time he was called up, so hopefully he can keep that up.

Tonight the Sabres take on the currently eighth place Boston Bruins on the road. A team who is in the unenviable position of grasping onto a bottom playoff position with 6th place only two points ahead, and 9th only two points behind. No thank you. The Sabres were in that mix for the last two seasons and it is NOT pleasant to be there. Clinching weeks before the regular season ends is SO. MUCH. BETTER.

Ennis Is In & Other Stuff

by Anne

As he mentioned earlier would happen, Darcy Regier has announced that the Sabres have signed last year's other Tyler to an entry-level contract. Lil' Tyler will have a lot of competition for the "little guy" on the team job. Frankly, we already have one full-time and one who will probably make the full-time this year.

That red-headed dude is just as excited as I am

Two other things. The Sabres Media Guide was released today. Its the same old stuff as usual. They've done away with the "favorites" section, but have added their "signature," or autograph, as it would seem. Adam Mair's looks like they forgot to ask him and the PR guy's secretary had to fill in at the last second:

So neat and tidy.

I love the picture the team chose to use for the NHL.com preview tab on the Sabres.com homepage. I'm assuming this is at a critical point in a shoot-out:

I don't think they normally lean this far out during a game
Grizz and Pie are having a serious chat.
Enlarge to see how creepy Matt Ellis looks.
I think he's looking at the jumbotron.

First pre-season game tomorrow!!

Mark out, Tyler and Nate in?

by Anne

John Vogl posted some highlights of a telephone conversation he had with Darcy Regier today.

He discussed Stafford and Mair blah blah, nothing new. Of note are two things: Mark Mancari wants out and Tyler Ennis wants in.

• Its no surprise that Mark Mancari wants to test out the waters of another NHL club. He hasn't been able to crack the Sabres line-up in his many years here and he isn't currently under contract. There are more experienced players who can fill his type of role for the Sabres so Mancari is lower down on the totem pole here than he might be with another club. I don't particularly care if Mancari leaves. He's a great AHL player but he does deserve a shot at the NHL and he most likely will not get that shot in Buffalo.

• Tyler Ennis has plans to turn pro. Darcy said that Little Tyler plans to sign a contract and start playing in Portland after training camp. At first I was confused, isn't he only 19? Why yes, he is. But you have to be 20 to play in the AHL? What ever is happening here? Never fear, the solution is quite simple, really. Ennis will turn 20 three days after the start of the NHL regular season. This means he'll be hanging out up in Buffalo for a few days before he can officially be sent down to the minors. What does this mean for our opening night forwards line-up? Will Ennis play? Does this mean we'll be hanging onto 14 forwards for a few days? None of these are terribly pressing issues of course, but I'm interested to see how this works.

• From a hockeybuzz.com blog we find that Nathan Gerbe has absolutely no intention of playing for the Portland Pirates this season. He's declared that he won't be playing there. There's no way. None. End of story. He's going to make the NHL from the start of the season. I'm terrified of what will happen to the man's psyche if by some miracle he doesn't make the team. I'm pretty confident that he will and I'm glad to see such bold determination from him. There's a lot of competition for those 12 spots and that makes players play better. There is always someone ready to come in and take your job. Good on ya, GerbeDerby.
  

• Puck Daddy is previewing the season for all 30 NHL teams and he e-mailed a few of we foxy Sabres bloggers (including yours truly) for a few thoughts on what we expect out of the coming season for the Sabres. So you should check that out. I think the Sabres one will be up Friday. He seems to be doing one a day and Wednesday was Atlanta so I assume Boston is Thursday and Buffalo is Friday. I'm sure you probably read Puck Daddy already, but if you don't, you'll find a link near the top of the Blog Roll. Over Here ------------>

I feel no post is complete without a picture. Well, ok, I post without pictures all the time, but today I feel inclined to search one out.

I love this picture
I know this was only a year ago, but doesn't Sir Christopher look a lot younger?
Its the hair
Awwww.

Prospects Tearin' it Up, All-Star Games and Ruutu Gets Tuu

by Anne

Its been a great couple of days for Sabres' prospects.

First Team Canada, featuring Tylers Ennis and Myers, wins a 5th straight gold medal at the World Junior Championships in Ottawa. The Jolly Blonde Giant finished the tournament with 1 goal, 2 PIM and a +5. His smaller teammate, Tyler Ennis finished the tournament with 7 points (3+4), 0 PIM and a +1. Congratulations, Tylers!

Ennis battling for the puck against Kazakhstan


The Jolly Blonde Giant calmly moving the puck against Germany

Also, Mark Mancari has been named to the Canadian All-Star team for the AHL All-Star Game. The AHL All-Star Game is Canada v. Players from Everywhere Else. Nathan Gerbe and Tim Kennedy have been named to the PlanetUSA All-Star team. If y'all remember, last year at the AHL All-Star game, Mancari broke the AHL hardest shot record. Can't wait to see what these guys do! Hooray!

Tim and Nate: Uh, yeah, Mark, weeeee're not on the same team.

In other All-Star news, the Western Conference reserves were announced today and WCBs Rick Nash, Jarome Iginla and Ryan Getzlaf were named to the team. Hooray! Eastern Conference reserves are announced tomorrow and I'm hoping there's at least 1 slug on that roster. I know the All-Star Game is stupid and voting is lame but I enjoy the ridiculousness of the festivities and the feeling I get that I'm having a wild weekend fling with the rest of the NHL while watching the goings on. I'd rather watch this all with at least one Eastern Conference player I won't feel dirty about cheering for (other than Ovechkin).

Also, voting closes soon for our All-Star Rosters. Things are getting close! Don't let your favorites go unappreciated!! Its Wednesday, which is apparently usually the day I update these standings, so here they are:

Eastern Conference Forwards
1. Gaustad
2. Lecavalier
3. Eaves
4. Laich
5. Upshall

Eastern Conference D-Men
1. Ference
2. Schenn
3. Rivet
4. Komisarek

Eastern Conference Goalies
1. DiPietro
2. Lalime
3. Price

Western Conference Forwards
1. Berglund
2. Sharp
3. Nash
4. Toews
5. Cammalleri

Western Conference D-Men
1. O'Brien
2. Liles
3. Souray
4. Weber

Western Conference Goalies
T1. Boucher and Raycroft
3. Huet

There ya have it. Some of these races are extreeeemely close.

Oh yeah, and Ruutu got 2 games for gnawing on Petey, and is now considered a "repeat offender".

I'm convinced no one edits articles on NHL.com. From the above linked article:

It is the second time this season that Ruutu has been suspended this season. On Nov. 12, Ruutu earned a two-game ban for an elbow he delivered to the head of Montreal's Maxim Lapierre in a Nov. 11 game.

Really driving the point home, aren't we "Staff"? I write bad sentences, but I don't write for the NHL.

Good times were had by all.

Whoa, Canada

by Anne

Team Canada defeated team Kazakhstan 15-0 today.

Kazakhstan has allowed 24 goals in two games and has scored exactly none.

Tyler Ennis had a goal and 2 assists and Tyler Myers notched his first goal of the tournament. Hilariously, one player, PK Subban was a +6 in this game alone. Hahahaha. He's now a +9 for the tournament after only 2 games.

Thusfar, projected #1 or #2 overall pick John Tavares is living up to the hype. He has 4 goals and 3 assists for 7 points but is 2nd on the team in scoring to Vancouver prospect Cody Hodgson who has 8. (2+6)

The Tylers are tied for shooting percentage on the team at 50%. Myers has 1 goal on 2 shots and Ennis has 2 goals on 4 shots. Sweeet.

Poor Kazakhstan.

Team USA won today 4-3 over the Czech Republic. Thomas McCollum got the start again.

Wooooooooooo! Keep it up U-S-A!

Fifteen

by Anne

I waited in line at Dave and Adam's with Andrej Sekera today. We did not chat. What was I supposed to say? "Hey Andrej, my aunt is Slovakian too, nifty, eh?" "Hey Reg, can you stop being mediocre and go back to being badass like you were last season?" "You're more broad shouldered than I anticipated you'd be." "Why are your pants so shiny?""Why do your friends look like they're thinking about stealing my car?" I don't think any of those are good openers. I was buying a t-shirt for my cousin and the guy ringing me out was looking between me and Sekera and appeared to be thinking "Does this girl know who he is?" the answer is, yes. What do you want me to do, have a panic attack? Apparently if I'd been like 15 minutes earlier I could've seen Paille. GRRR!!!! Or I could go back and see Royzie. Meh. Anyway I bought my cousin a Miller t-shirt with the original logo on it. It's a little big but by the time Miller's contract runs out it'll be too small for him (he's 11, have you SEEN the way boys grow between 11 and 16? omg, he's going to be 16 one day. I still think of him as being about 5 years old or when he was 2 and he was the fattest little kid you've ever seen but he was so adorable and now he's really skinny, wait what was I talking about?)

Anyway, the title corresponds to the number of Sabres I've now encountered off the ice. Most of them were in the bowels of HSBC Arena, but they were not on the ice so I think that counts. They are, for those who are curious:

Derek Roy (S0Ho, ugh don't judge me, it was a bad idea)
Tim Connolly (Arena)
Danny Paille (Wegman's)
Adam Mair (SoHo)
Thomas Vanek (Arena)
Paul Gaustad (I feel like we used to be next door neighbors I saw him all the damn time when I lived downtown)
Jason Pominville (Arena)
Ryan Miller (Arena)
Pat Kaleta (The airport, wearing a #36 hat and carrying a Sabres bag)
Patrick Lalime (Arena)
Andrej Sekera (Dave and Adam's today)
Brian Campbell (SoHo)
Craig Rivet (Arena)
Max Afinogenov (Place I used to work)
Andrew Peters (Same place I used to work and at Wegman's multiple times)

If Mike Funk, Mike Card or Geoff Peters count for anything then the number is 18. (All at Mother's and Card at the Arena)

Anyway, voting is well underway. So far the Sabres are dominating the East. Who's surprised? Encourage others to vote!! Link to this blog in your blogs and get people to vote so we can get an accurate sampling, hahaha. Vote often. I'll update on the first 24 hours of voting tomorrow.

BTW why are all the clothes sold by the NHL ginormous? I found this kind of sweet shirt at Dave and Adam's for a man and I'm like "no biggie, mediums in unisex shirts fit well enough." The small was HUGE and they do not sell extra small for men, haha. Whatevs, I don't go to Sabres games anyway... ok, well I do, but, yeah. I don't generally wear Sabres gear around town

I'm currently bidding on a pair of Sabres tickets for $1.04. No joke. I couldn't resist. If I win them, they're basically up for grabs. They're for Friday's game against LA. I'll find out Thursday. If I win I'll have an extremely easy to win contest and the first person who emails me with the correct answer can have them. They're not great seats but they're in the last row so you can stand which is really a perk if you've never done it and they'll most likely be free, so its really win/win. Oh and if I can think of a clever enough sign, if you get the tickets, I might make you hang it up for me.

Oh yes, and yay to the Tylers for making the World Junior team! Can't wait to see them! Thomas McCollum is tending goal for Team USA as well. Hooray!

I think I'll watch Devils at Maple Leafs tonight and cheer for the Devils over at Interchangeable Parts.

He Just Won't Stop Growing

by Anne

On Wednesday, Team Canada announced their tryout roster for the 2008-2009 World Juniors team.

Both of Buffalo's first round picks, "The Tylers" (Myers and Ennis) were selected to attend the selection camp. I'm not sure how this works for Myers because he's technically not Canadian. He was born in Texas and moved to Canada when he was 12 or so. In a pre-draft interview he said that Team Canada couldn't have him even if they wanted him because he had not yet obtained dual citizenship. I'm assuming that paperwork has been rushed right along and he's eligible. Otherwise, this might just be a "Hey, come on by and see how it goes and then we'll use you when you're actually a Canadian citizen." Team Canada is such a tease.

On the stats sheet, our Jolly Blonde Giant, Tyler Myers has grown... again. According to the sheet he is now 6'7.5" and 213 lbs. When Central Scouting released his stats in June he was 6'7" and 204 lbs. Hopefully he's adding inches on his frame horizontally and not just vertically. After reading Central Scouting's info, they say he's "just over 6'7", so perhaps Team Canada is just more into details than the NHL. Much like Mrs. Staal, I'd like to speak to Tyler's mommy and figure out what the crap she feeds her son, Miracle-Gro?

Work it, JBG

FYI, also on the stats sheet, Tyler Ennis has apparently shrunk an inch and gained 19 pounds since June. For the draft he was listed at 5'9", 146lbs. For the roster he's 5'8", 165 lbs.

Good luck, Tylers!

I've un-friended most of the hockey players I was friends with on Facebook, but I can't bring myself to unfriend Tyler Myers, hahahahaha. He's so young! He hasn't done anything to anger me!

I ordered a new part from Apple on Monday, they said it'd be here Wednesday... its Friday and still no love. This extra keyboard thing is slightly cumbersome.

So much work left to doooooooo.

Paul Byron - Not a Poet, a Sabres draft Pick

by Anne

So 6th round draft picks tend to get lost in the shuffle. I couldn't even begin to tell you who we drafted in the 6th round this year. I'll say it was that Jokinen kid and call it a day. There are actually three Sabres draft picks participating in Team Canada's World Juniors Development Camp. Both of our first round picks this year: Tyler Myers and Tyler Ennis and a dude we drafted in the 6th round in 2007 named Paul Byron.

Here are some odd similarities between Mr. Byron and another player you might recall: He lives in Gatineau, he's a forward, and he's damn small, he lead his team in goals to the QMJHL Championship. Sound like anyone we know and begrudgingly still love?

He is the highest drafted player to appear at the camp, the next closest is a Toronto prospect who was drafted 15 spots before him in 2007. That's pretty sweet. I enjoy higher draft picks because much less is expected of them so when they succeed its awesome and if they're not quite good enough, that's fine too. Although I do love higher picks as well, Pie-YAY! was a 1st rounder, as was Staffy, Pommer was a 2nd rounder. Although Goose was a 7th rounder. YAY GOOSE!

Moving on...

If I didn't love Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews so much, I think I'd kill them. Every time I open a hockey related website their little faces are staring back at me. THEY'RE EVERYWHERE! I understand that the NHL seems to think hockey is undergoing a "renaissance" in Chicago (its not, trust me, no one really cares) but must we constantly try to prove to the world that this original 6 team isn't a distant memory to its home city? Maybe once the 'Hawks start winning games the people of the Windy City will start to pay attention, but for the most part, hockey is non-existent in Chicago. Other than the 18,000ish people that come to the games, it's baseball and football. That's what they do. They have 2 baseball teams within like 10 miles of each other for goodness' sake. So as much as I love our hometown boy, I'm pretty tired of reading about him and his BFFL and their goings on in Chicago this offseason. I'm sure it'll only get worse as the Winter Classic approaches and we're innundated with Brian Campbell interviews. OY.

I put too much gel in my hair this morning so I've looked like I just got out of the shower for the last hour and a half. Whoops.

I am THIS much closer to getting a car. See here's the sitch for those who are newcomers:

Back on March 8th, I was awakened by my friend Lindsay who lived upstairs from me letting me know that someone had hit my car. What an understatement. Someone didn't HIT my car they PULVERIZED it. Person was drving in 4 inches of snow just after a snowstorm, there was a spare tire on the front of the car, he was driving the car home for a friend he'd just picked up from work, he was from the Dominican Republic and didn't have a New York State or any State driver's license and he might've been driving on the wrong side of the road. For the record, yes I know "might've" isn't actually a word.

AWESOME. So here's the other fun tidbit, because my parents basically bought me that car, the insurance money goes to them. Dad Jim is not one to willingly part with money and he has tried (in vain) to convince me that public transportation is the way to go. The bus is fine during the summer but once I have an 8am class. AIN'T NO WAY this girl is getting her butt down to the end of the street (like a block and a half) to catch a 7:30 bus in January. Sorry, ain't gonna happen. SO! It appears that by the end of August, I will have myself a car and yet another loan to pay off. AWESOME. BUT it's better than the bus. WOOHOOO!!

I should probably do some actual work since I've been here for almost an hour and haven't really done any yet. Booooo.

Its so nice out, I want to be outside!!

Road Trippin' It

by Anne

So Cory (sister's boyfriend) and I trekked it up to NU today to see the prospects skate it out from 3-5. It was way more fun than I anticipated it would be. I was afraid I might lose interest after a while, and yeah, some times I found myself watching the players on the bench or Lindy, but for the most part I was pretty committed to watching the scrimmage.

Cor declared team Golden Oldies was his team, and I was forced to root for the Navy Newbies. Ok, they were only the Oldies because Stafford and Kaleta were on their team. Anyway, team Navy featured Gerbe, Kennedy, Myers and Sekera among others, and they held a commanding 4-1 lead into the 2nd half and held on to win 5-4. Who picked the right team? This girl.

At one point in the 2nd half, Kaleta had some few sweet moves to get around a couple defensemen, and we were all cheering him on when he totally wiped out and landed right on his tush. Then we all, including him and Lindy, laughed at him as he looked for a penalty, haha.

I know its a drum that's been beaten to death but Nathan Gerbe is really really good. He was nuts. He was EVERYWHERE on the ice and scored a couple of goals. He didn't seem to be intimidated or slowed down by anyone or anything. He came out on the winning end of quite a few battles with guys like Mike Weber. He and Kennedy skated well together, and you can definitely see they get along well. At one point, Gerbe was sitting almost at the end of the bench and Kennedy came and sat down next to him and just shoved him out of the way so he could sit down, Gerbe was unfazed.

At one point I think Ennis blocked a shot because he seemed to be in a considerable amount of pain when he was sitting on the bench and kept gesturing to his side... or so it seemed... I couldn't really tell exactly where he was hurt, to be honest, he was kind of far away.

After practice, Myers, Stafford, Gerbe and I think Southorn stayed back to work on some drills. Some other players were down at the other end, but they were far away so I didn't pay them any mind.

Darcy was wandering around going in and out of the locker room, he pretended not to hear me when I asked him about what he was planning on doing tomorrow. Just like Andrew Orpik pretended not to hear me when I asked him about his brother. Jerks. Just pretend not to hear me, I can take it!

Phrase I enjoy that gets tossed around all to much: "He's a special player" "He's a special kind of player" They can't ALL be special, guys!

Anyhoot, it was lots of fun and I'm pretty sure tomorrow is the last day for it, so if you can get up there, check it out, its a good time.

2008: The Year of the Tyler

by Anne

YO. WHAT THE HELL, NHL? Talk about crazy trades and shenanigans.

Olli Jokinen FINALLY gets the move we've all been expecting for a while, to Phoenix for 2 defensemen and a draft pick. Hey, maybe Phoenix realizes that they need more than Shane Doan to lead them. Well done, Wayne.

UMBERGER!!! NOOOOOOO!!! Haha, R.J., that stinky weasel, heads to Columbus. Don't taint NASHER!!!

Let's see... Tanguay to the Habs... ok... that's fine. Calgary will be ok. Sweet. Sundin may be a Hab soon too. Hmmmmm, Mats Sundin, finally a cup contender?? WHOA.

The Buffalo Sabres traded up 1 spot to get, surprisingly, the one defenseman that I wanted them to get that I thought we actually could get, Tyler Myers. HE'S GINORMOUS. He's skinnny and he'll have to bulk up but I hope he actually makes it to us, we really could use some size down the road. 6'7"?!?! SWEET. We actually got a top prospect!!!! YAY!!!

CAN YOU IMAGINE THE PHOTO OPS WITH NATHAN GERBE??!! JUST THINK ABOUT IT FOR A MINUTE.... HHAHAHAHAHHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Tyler #1 aka Big Tyler

Oh, yeah, speaking of needing size. We already have like the smallest corps of forwards in history so we drafted a 5'8" 155ish lb forward. GREAT. AWESOME. Tyler Ennis hearts Danny Briere. Great, so did we, maybe he'll do well here.

Tyler #2 aka Little Tyler

Well, whatevs. Its hard to get pumped about draft picks. Although, they'll be around for the camp next week up at NU so that's pretty sweeeeeeeeeet.

OMG SO TIRED. Good night all. Draft Party was sweet. The only players I saw were Kennedy and Funk. I didn't meet them because the line was REDONKULOUSLY long. But they're pretty cool dudes, so it would've been nice to meet them. Alas. The locker room tour was cool. It really is pretty small in there. Building togetherness?? Whatevs.