Letters

by Anne

Dear Kings,

Thank you for winning last night. I know it was in the shootout, which isn't my favorite, but at least you won. I appreciate updating the "W" column in your record. It is very enjoyable. Keep up the good work.

Love, Anne

 Wooo! Kings win!

 Dear Joe Beninati,

Thanks for developing an awkward man crush on Matt Greene. He is a "big burly beast," I'm sure he'll be glad to know you think so too. I am thrilled he has returned the Kings' line-up as well.

Love, Anne

What he didn't tell us is that this moose is named Matt Greene as well.

Dear Dustin Brown,

I'm sorry you were ejected from the game unnecessarily. Mostly I'm sorry you were ejected because you didn't do anything wrong. Also I'm sorry because you're on one of my fantasy teams and you killed my average time on ice last night. Please keep this in mind as you move forward in the season.

Love, Anne

I think this picture is from last season

HOW HAVE I NEVER SEEN IT BEFORE?

Looks like I found the front of this year's Christmas card.

Dear Drew Doughty,

Please wrap your head in bubble wrap and don't sit in any spinny chairs for the next few days. We'd like your coconut to be fully functional and ready to return to the lineup posthaste. I'm sure Simmer doesn't appreciate all the requests for chicken soup and foot massages. Oh yeah, and the Kings miss you. They're doing fine without you so far but they'll be even better WITH you. I'm sure Greener is trying not to take it personally that the first game you missed was his first game back. Bitterness between former housemates? Is there tension? Greener did saw Simmer's shoe in half once.... it's all coming together now.

Love, Anne

TIMMAH was kind enough to let you borrow it

Dear Sabres,

I have been having a bad few days, last night the Kings did their part by beating the Wild. However, I have no strong feelings about the Wild so that victory wasn't nearly as satisfying as, say, you beating the Philadelphia Flyers, my 2nd least favorite team in the NHL. PLEEEEEEEASE beat the Flyers?! PRETTY Please?!

Love, Anne

Does this come in women's cuts too?

Dear Tyler Myers,

You're  -8 these days. Please improve that stat and fast. My fantasy team would appreciate it.

Love, Anne

I see you are composing your thoughtful response.

Many thanks, young JBG

Dear Jason Pominville,

Please come back soon. We might not need you that much, but it's been weird watching games without you playing in them.

Love, Anne

I know what you're thinking, and you're right:

This picture will never be old.

Dear Squeaky desk somewhere in my office,

OMFG, STOP SQUEAKING, IT'S DRIVING ME SLOWLY INSANE. I SWEAR I WILL GO ALL HULK SMASH ON YOU SOON IF A SOLUTION TO YOUR INCESSANT SQUEAKING IS NOT QUICKLY REACHED.

Love, Anne

Trade Talks?

by Anne

Every time I can, and remember to, I update the records of each team on the upper right and left corners of this blog. I'm much more likely to do it in a timely fashion when one or both of the teams have won, and I can increase that win number rather than the loss number.

I used to be a far more diligent blogger, I used to update every day, 5 days a week, now it's usually more like 2 or 3. Stupid work commitments making me do stuff during the workday. Psh. My old job, the one I was doing when I started this blog, left much more opportunity for blogging. Also, Twitter has made my random pithy thoughts I used to toss in this blog more readily available to the masses, and less likely to end up in here. 

Regardless, I read this morning a tweet from @DaveDavisHockey which indicated that there might be (read: probably won't be) a trade between the Ducks and the Sabres. According to Pierre Lebrun of ESPN, the Ducks are interested in a puck-moving defenseman. The Sabres really only have one (maybe 2) of those that they might part with; we're not exactly a hotbed of puck-moving defensemen over here. In the extremely unlikely event that this trade materializes, it seems most likely that the Ducks would not be acquiring a puck-mover from Buffalo. Andrej Sekera is pretty much the only puck-mover we'd part with., and unless the Ducks consider Andrej Sekera - our 6/7 defenseman - a commodity they just can't do without, it's not happening that way. It seems more likely that the Ducks would acquire parts from the Sabres to make a bigger trade with a team that has a more capable puck-mover on their roster. Therefore, I anticipate that if this trade happens (which it won't) the Ducks would be sending some Todd Marchant-type to the Sabres for a draft pick or two, or maybe one of the three of Sekera/Butler/Weber. Darcy Regier just LOVES 30+ veteran career 3rd liners. We can ALWAYS use more, right?

That's my prediction. Mike, my co-worker is hoping for Koivu, as the Sabres tried to make a play for him in the off-season. I find this extremely unlikely. However, anything is possible in the world of trades that will never happen.

GO ABOUT WITH CONFIDENCE, CITIZENS

by Anne

I have no computer to use other than my parents so I was UNAWARE of this development until almost 8:00 PM Eastern Standard Time:

After three months of rehabilitation and countless hours of skating and practicing, Matt Greene will be back in the Kings’ lineup tonight.

WHAT'S THAT YOU HEAR? A CHOIR OF ANGELS SHOUTING OUT WITH JOY? 

YES, PEOPLE OF EARTH. IT IS. YOUR EARS DO NOT DECEIVE YOU.

You can now conduct your lives with confidence because this man is BACK IN THE LINEUP:

GROSS.

BUT ALSO AWESOME

Aw, Come on!

by Anne

The Sabres won! They did all sorts of stuff right! Myers scored! Vanek scored his first of the season! What a weight lifted off his shoulders! They had lots of shots on goal! Miller looked sharp in net! No one got hurt! Pommer is coming back soon! All is well in the land of the Sabres fan this morning. We shall never again mention that five game "slide." It's all "W" from here on out! Woooo!

Then the Kings won too! Hooray! Okay, it wasn't the same type of domination that the Sabres handed the Thrashers last night, but they managed to pull out a 4-3 victory against the Hurricanes with Bernier in net. Woo! Greener has been cleared for full "hockey activities," now that he's recovered from his harrowing ordeal with "lace bite." Oh yeah, and that whole, ya know, shoulder surgery thing, but LACE BITE?! How did he survive?

Things are looking good!

Oh but wait. There's more.

BUT, of COURSE. Just when both of my teams seemed to have a good night, THIS has to happen:

From the LA Kings Insider:

After the game, Terry Murray said Drew Doughty would not accompany the Kings to Phoenix, but left open the possibility that Doughty would join the team later in the trip. Murray did not elaborate on Doughty’s upper-body injury, other than to say that it took place during the first-period collision with Erik Cole. Doughty was not available for comment after the game.

 Noooooo! :( :( :(

Careful with his upper-body!

:'(

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.

It's Here! It's Really Here!

by Anne

Today, Friday October 8, 2010, the Buffalo Sabres will play their first game of the season! Wooo!

I don't read season previews, but I read people's tweets. So many people have the Sabres barely making the playoffs or missing them entirely. The highest I saw them ranked (by someone other than TSN) was 5th in the East. Most predictions were 8th place or not in it at all.

Figuring out the answer starts tonight! :) :) :) :) :)

Wheeeeeee!








*unfortunately the Kings don't play their first game until Saturday. Boo.

My Wishes and Hopes for 2010-2011

by Anne

I won't predict this outcomes of this season for any team, but I'll state my 5 wishes and hopes, in no particular order.

• I want Ryan Miller and Tyler Myers to be as BOSS as they were last year.

• I don't think any Sabres fan would disagree that the continued successes of these two gentlemen are crucial to the Sabres' successes this coming season. I'm not really worried about Miller; he's put in years of work building himself into an elite player. He's combined talent with hard work and dedication to turn himself into an elite goalie. He has the tools to maintain his success with the potential for only slight deviations. Myers on the other hand is just a baby. He, like Miller, has worked hard to get where he is, but where he is is 20 years old with one year of NHL experience. It was one hell of a year, but he was flying high on rookie adrenaline and his (very few) mistakes were justified with "Well, he is a rookie after all." Without his steady partner of last year, he's going to be asked to continue his maturation by being asked to be adaptable to other situations. There's no question that it was Myers that made Tallinder better but the veteran partner consistency was huge for Myers, regardless of who his partner was.  I've liked what I 've seen of a Shaonaynay/JBG tandem so far this pre-season.

  Love.

• I want the 2008-2009 Chris Butler back

• I adore Sir Christopher. He was my favorite part of 2008-2009. He made me so sad last year. He's got the potential to be my new Drew Stafford. I loved him, then he made me sad, then he gave me false hope and now I mostly hate him. Don't do it to me, Sir Christopher! Don't be Staffy!

Don't go breaking my heart

• I wish Jonathan Bernier would contend for the starting job in LA

• The Kings didn't make too many big moves this off-season. Okay, let's be realistic, they didn't make any big moves this off-season. Therefore, most Kings fans are putting their hope for improvement on J. Bernier. I had the joy of watching him shut out the Predators in March and I more than a little bit fell in HockeyLove with him. I want him to kick ass this season and kick the Kings up a notch. Quickie was fine last year, he won a heckuva lot of games but he wasn't phenomenal, and he needed rest down the stretch that he didn't really get. Now that Bernier has been officially named the back-up (!) to Quick, he's poised for a takeover. I have nothing but love for Quickie, but Bernier has loads of potential left and I think we've seen the best of Jonathan Quick. If I'm wrong, I'll be happy to say I was wrong but, let the Bernier Era begin (soon)!

 Do it up, Baby Bear

• I want a team I really care about to go really far

• When the Penguins won the Stanley Cup in 2009 it was pretty awesome. I have lots of family in Pittsburgh and from Pittsburgh. It was my could-have-been hometown team winning it all, the same year the Pittsburgh Steelers won the Super Bowl. It was awesome. It was also great in 2008 when the Pens went all the way to the Finals. It was exciting but it wasn't really for me. If you only cheer for a team in the playoffs, you don't really have the right to be carried away with excitement like diehard fans do. I love two teams, one for much longer than the other. They both have the makings of success in the near future. I don't expect either of them to win it all but I have hopes that they'll both surpass last year's successes. Just for the LOVE OF GOD, don't BOTH go as far as possible. I think I'd stroke out.  

•  I want to visit two new arenas this season

• I've only watched games in two NHL arenas: HSBC Arena and Bridgestone Arena (Nashville). I watched a game outside of Mellon Arena, but I'm not sure that that counts. This year I want to hit up Consol and another one. I have friends in New York, relatives in Philly, Denver, Atlanta, and Florida. Those are all possibilities. We shall see what the coming season brings with it.

I hope to see you soon

Even though last night's game was just pre-season it was SUPER AWESOME and I'm itching for the season to START!

Lets Go Buff-a-lo! Lets Go Kings!

DO YOU KNOW WHAT TODAY IS?

by Anne

IT'S OCTOOOOOBERRRRR!

WOOOOOO!!!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Yay! Yay! Yay!