Ready, Set, GOOOSEEEEE!

Well, that was a great game to be at. I'm telling you, it's those jerseys. The Sabres feel so sexy when they wear them that they are on top of the world.

I was so glad to see Gaustad get his first two tonight. I love it when he scores! It's just so much fun. And it was also good to see Stafford net two after he's been criticized this season. One thing I have to say is how terrible the officiating was, yet again. That boarding call on Kaleta was bullshit. That was a clean check. And the non-call when the Pens had too many men on the ice was terrible. Refs, you have to make those calls.

I was very impressed with the Sabres killing off the long 5-on-3 in the start of the third. After Crosby scored that late second period goal I thought to myself, "Here we go...". I thought that if the Pens scored on their two man advantage that it would have been hard to come back after that. It would have been another one of those frustrating losses where we played good the entire game but ended up losing. But, alas. The Sabres killed off the 5-on-3 and killed off any momentum that the Pens had. They really poured it on after that and GOOOSEEEE put us up late in the period to seal the win. Max looked good too. I was watching him during the play that lead up to Stafford's first and I was just thinking, "Come on Max! Don't turn it over, pleaseeeee." and his play directly resulted in Stafford's goal. Atta boy, Max!

Miller made some good saves, especially the one at the end of the game on Crosby I think. It was also funny seeing Crosby lose his temper after the net came loose. Poor baby. It was funny watching the team all bombard Miller after the win that poor little Ryan lost his balance a few times and slipped. But he had his buddies there supporting him so he didn't do a face plant on the ice.

Oh and I have added The Program to my blogroll. I've exchanged e-mails with one of the bloggers, Rick, and he's a big Sabres fan. It's a cool blog with a lot of news going on around the league. Rick also co-hosts a blog radio show where various hockey bloggers come on and just talk hockey. So check it out!

Nice win for us Sabres fans. And I just love the fact that they play Sweet Caroline (my song!) after a Sabres victory. It's fun for me. Bring on the Habs!

Something HAD to Give

The Sabres looked sexy in their new jerseys and it reflected in their play.

So the past few games the Sabres have looked much better and played more responsible, yet they still came out on the losing end. There were chances that we didn't capitalize on, and a few lucky bounces for the opposing team made for frustrating losses. Something had to give, right? Well tonight was our night.

Not only did our boys look very sharp in their third jerseys, but they played just the type of game they needed to win. The physicality was there. It was great seeing Roy getting two goals like that, especially since he's been criticized this season for his lack of production. Kaleta played his game, and I thought those two calls against him were very questionable. Especially the goalie interference one. Yeah, you can't bump the goalie but sometimes you can't prevent it. Especially when Miller was getting a lot of contact the entire game with no calls. It was great seeing Hecht score. It's always exciting for the fans to see your team score a shorthanded goal, and it sure puts a damper on the team who's up a man. I thought our defense was responsible for the most part, although I thought there was some dicking around in our zone during our two goals against. It looked like a whole lot of standing around and not a lot of playing the man and trying to clear the crease. Miller looked solid and had a few nice, timely saves. I thought Max and Tallinder both responded well for being benched the past two games.

I thought the officiating was bad. Inconsistent, as always. I guess we can say they are consistently inconsistent. Chara should have been penalized for tripping up Roy, but I'm sure they didn't call it a trip because Roy has a reputation for diving. So even though the officiating wasn't on our side tonight, our boys still stuck to their game plan and pulled out a much-needed win. It's good for them to finally get a win, because the last few games were extremely frustrating so it's nice for a team's confidence to have things finally go their way. When the Sabres play like this it's very reassuring to me because I think when they play this type of game they can really go into any game and they have a chance to beat any team.

So tomorrow is Thanksgiving for us Americans. Thanksgiving is pretty low-key for me. It's just at my house with my immediate family. We have a lot of good food, watch some football, and just relax. We save seeing the entire family for Christmas. I could go on and say all the things I'm thankful for; my health, my wonderful friends and family, yadda yadda yadda. You know. Well I am also thankful for this picture:



So presh! Look how cute that picture is, seriously. That baby is awesome. She's posing and everything. She's awesome and she wants you to know it. Plus look at how cute Ryan is holding a baby. What's better than a man knowing how to be around kids? Total turn on. Am I right ladies, am I right?! All together now, ladies....awwww. Loves it. I am also thankful for a friendship pairing as cool and as attractive as THIS. Total BFFs.

After enjoying my Thanksgiving I'll be going to the game on Friday against the Penguins. The Sabres will be sporting their sassy third jerseys and I can't wait to see how hot they all look in them in person. Hopefully I'll have some nice photos to share with you all. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone and happy Sabres victory!

What To Say...

So I was holding off until the end of the weekend to update in hopes that I'd be able to say, "Wow, what a great weekend for the Sabres to turn things around!" Unfortunately that's not the case. The Philadelphia game was obviously frustrating, getting shutout is not fun at all especially when you see all the chances your team had. To be honest I didn't watch the Islanders game that intently because my best friend who moved to Pittsburgh in the beginning of October came back home that night so I was at my friend's dorm with him. The game was on but there were distractions. From what I gathered from the game was that the Sabres played much better than they have been recently but unfortunately they got the same results. It's very frustrating but I don't care what people say I think this team is talented enough to be a real good team who can compete in the playoffs. I just hope they don't get too frustrated because as a fan it's very frustrating watching these games so I can only imagine what it's like for the players. Hang in there boys.

As I was saying my friend Scott came back to Buffalo yesterday for Thanksgiving and it was real nice hanging out with him again. We've been friends since middle school and he is just hilarious. We have the same bizarre sense of humor and it was nice to laugh with him again. He's missed Buffalo a lot so I thought it would be a good idea to go downtown to Rotary Rink today to ice skate and see Ryan Miller in all his glory. It was a lot of fun. Ryan went up to the ice and signed a lot of autographs and took pictures with fans. I was going to skate up to him and ask if he would do a triple axel on the ice with me but I wasn't sure if he would have been up for it. It didn't look like he was wearing a V-neck either which was surprising! He talked to the crowd later and he was funny. He was saying how he put his tree up and one year when he was living with Paul Gaustad they didn't take their tree down until March. He also says he likes going all out around the holidays and wears those embarrassing holiday sweaters. I'm pretty sure he was kidding, but that would be a sight to see.

The funniest part was after the festivities they were selling things inside, so I went to buy an ornament that benefits Ryan's Saves for Cancer campaign. Well I went to meet Scott outside the door and then Ryan comes out and there's a flock of girls following him giggling and whispering and Ryan looks over to Scott and I and jokingly says, "Save me..." Haha. Must be tough having ladies follow you around, eh Ryan? In all seriousness he's a good guy who's pretty modest so it's probably a little awkward...

He also updated his blog and let me say, kudos to his music selection. I just love the fact that he listens to The Raconteurs! They're one of my favorites as of late and I saw them over the summer at Lollapalooza in Chicago and they were great live. They're really neat and in some of their songs they have a folky, bluesy (I'm pretty sure I just invented a new word, "bluesy") vibe to their music. They were probably my second favorite act, behind Rage Against The Machine which I might say was the best live music performance I've ever seen. Anyways, he mentioned bands like The Smashing Pumpkins and Counting Crows...classics, ya know? Annddd he thinks he's getting old. Yes, being in your 20s is ancient, didn't you know? He even pulled the whole, "I liked this band before it become popular!" card. Really, Ryan? I see the Elmwood pretentiousness is getting to you. Pfffttt, give me a break. I'm only kidding! I know what he means though. I avoid the radio because it's so...narrow. Last summer my cousin thought I was from another planet when I told her I never heard the song Umbrella by Rihanna. I mean, I knew of the song, I just never heard it. I have listened to it since then, for the record.

I've decided to give myself an early break and I'm not going to any classes next week. Partially because Scott is in town for only a week and we have some serious catching up to do, and also because I am really drained from class and I could use the extra time to relax. I can't wait for this semester to be over.

Hopefully I can update this blog in the very near future celebrating a Sabres victory. Keep your heads up high, Sabres fans.

Boo You Whores

This sums up the Sabres' performance tonight:




That's all I have to say about that.

Something To Be Proud Of

I was waiting to update my blog until I cooled off after being extremely pissed off after our abysmal weekend. The Penguins game had me fuming. I don't really feel like going back and talking about it, because well, you all know what happened and I'm sure you don't want to hear about it again. As fans, there's not much we can do except hope that the next game will be better. So instead of playing Monday Morning Quarterback and posting a bunch of shoulda's, woulda's, coulda's, I'm just going to say I hope we have a better outing on Wednesday against the Bruins.

Now straying off from hockey but not really, most of you probably know that Ryan Miller is going to be lighting the Christmas tree at Rotary Rink in celebration of its opening season. He'll also be there promoting his Saves For Cancer campaign that supports Carly's Club. I just want to say how refreshing it is to see an athlete like Ryan Miller do something like this. He's obviously well aware of the influence he has around the city both as a professional athlete and as a celebrity figure and he's putting that celebrity towards a wonderful cause. I know it's something that someone in his position should do, but I think it's obvious that he truly cares about what he's doing and he's passionate about it.

If you haven't heard of his Saves For Cancer campaign, you should head over to the Carly's Club page over at RoswellPark.org and check it out (or just click that link that I graciously added). They have two commercials that Ryan is in promoting it and there's also a video of the press conference to kick off the campaign. It's a really sweet video, because in the video there's a little boy who goes up and talks about how Ryan helped him get through his battle with cancer by just being there for him. A sponser also talks about how Ryan was supposed to do an hour autograph session, but instead he showed up a half hour early to meet a patient who couldn't attend the autograph session, then he stayed for an hour and a half to sign autographs, and afterwords he stayed another two hours to watch a movie with the kids. It's also cute when Ryan goes up to the podium, before they introduced him they had a highlight reel of some of his saves, and then Ryan tells the kids that he had his eyes closed during all those saves. I think it's great that he has unique ways of giving back to the community and getting people involved such as his Saves For Cancer campaign and his Catwalk For Charity fashion show.

Speaking of his fashion show, on his Steadfast Foundation website, the date for this year's event is on Sunday, February 8th. I hope everyone who can will attend. I attended it last year and I had the best time. It was a really unique way for fans to interact with their favorite players. I mean, autograph sessions can be fun, but with an event like this, it's more intimate and personal. You get to actually have meaningful conversations with the teammates and it's just a great night overall. While it's a great thing Ryan offers for his fans, at the same time he's also raising a ton of money to help children with cancer....which is awesome.

While I admire Ryan for what he is as a professional goaltender in the NHL, I have come to admire him just as much off the ice for the kind of person he is. While we're lucky to have such a solid netminder between the pipes for us, we're also lucky to have him for what he does off the ice for our tight-knit community. Sometimes those don't always go hand in hand, and I am proud to say in Ryan's case, it does.

It will be okay, Lalime.

Oh, Patrick. :( I still love you. I don't think you're going to be Thibault Pt. 2, I swear. I am still confident in you, and you weren't the only reason for that shit show, honestly.

Okay, that bad game aside, how cute was Lalime when he was answering the question about his mask on the Sabres Show? I think it's adorable how the rose and the lily on the back of his mask are for his daughters...how precious. He was so cute answering the question how he was like, "Well Carol, the rose is for..." and then he got all excited and wanted to show off his mask and was like, "Wanna see it?!" So qt. He's just too adorable. Yes, I am aware this is the fangirl in me coming out, so DEAL WITH IT.

I love watching the goalies on the bench immediately shield their faces with their glove whenever the play is near them or going by them. They still have their goalie tendencies when they're sitting on their asses on the bench and I love it.

So the three stars of the game are as followed:
3. The beer vendors
2. Sabretooth
1. The fans who stayed for the entire game

I don't want to do an analysis on tonight's game. Maybe if I ignore it, it will go away. But really, they looked like last year's team. And that ain't good. Hopefully the Sabres will rebound from tonight's shit show tomorrow night in Pittsburgh, but who really knows.

OH and I'm sure all of you have seen this picture on other blogs, but it's just too amazing to not be seen again.


You're welcome

I have decided that whenever the Sabres put me in a bad mood because of their atrocious play, that this picture will be used as a pick-me-up. I have also come to the conclusion that I want Goosemiller babies. That's right, I said it. I've been pondering over which of the two players would I like to reproduce with the most and then it dawned on me, why should I have to choose? So there. One day I will make precious babies with both of those men and they will be Goosemiller babies. The most epic combination ever. Those babies will be so badass, they won't even know.

Oh, and if Ryan and/or Paul happen to stumble across this post -- my contact information is on the left incase you'd like to e-mail me for my information so you can file a proper restraining order. Thanks for reading and have a nice day.

I've got the Blues

Can I start off by saying that right now I'm pretty stressed out. I have a paper due tomorrow that I haven't begun, and I know I won't write it because I'm not prepared to answer the question. So it's stressing me out knowing that I'm going to turn it in late. I'm also bothered because my right knee is acting all wonky and busted. I don't know what I did but I pulled a muscle behind my knee and around my groin. I am walking so wonky right now you wouldn't believe! I didn't go to class today because of all the walking I would have to endure and I thought giving the knee a day off wouldn't be so bad. Maybe I should give old Timmy Connolly a call and ask him how to cope with these injuries. Oh, he's too busy nursing his bruised chest back to health? Rats...

Onto happier things...it only took thirteen years, but the Sabres have finally beaten the St. Louis Blues on home ice! Atta boys! Oh, and Hank's goal celebration was so awesome, that Sabres TV decided to post it and everything for your viewing pleasure. And this little tid bit from Sabres.com is just priceless:

The Sabres enjoyed a laugh at the expense of defenseman Henrik Tallinder following practice.

As players entered the locker room, a video of the blueliner’s goal looped to Chubby Checker’s version of “The Twist.”

Hahaha. Thumbs up to whoever made that video. Awesome.


Go ahead, Hank!

Kudos to Andrew Peters last night. Two fights in one period? Excellent. Overall, it was great seeing the Sabres score three goals in a row like that (Sorry, Manny), but then they sort of sat back on their early lead and kept letting the Blues creep in instead of closing the door altogether. But then I thought they settled down and earned two points. Great. Not too much to complain about when your team earns two points.

Oh and what's going on in voting land, Sabres fans? Are you all voted out after that crazy election we had a few weeks ago? Maybe that explains why the Canadiens are owning in every category in the East. No, that's probably because Habs fans can be a little batshit crazy sometimes. But what's up with poor Ryan Miller being the only Sabre representing us right now. No Vanek? No Teppo? No...er, Roy? Okay, maybe that's a given. Ryan is only hanging in there as it is, vote his skinny ass into the All-Star game! In all honesty, I don't really care about the All-Star game. It's a little....how do I put it? Boring Lackluster. But it's still fun seeing our boys there. I won't cry myself to sleep if Ryan Miller or Teppo Numminen aren't voted into the All-Star game but hey, it would be fun seeing them there proudly representing the blue and gold. So stop being lazy and get on that annoying, lagging voting website and DO THE RIGHT THING.

Shipping Up to Boston

Alright, so this team is so enigmatic sometimes. They have been playing so well in every aspect. The offense was scoring, the defense was responsible, the goaltending was spectacular, special teams were great, lines were geling, and even Andrew Peters was playing with some skill. Okay, great. Everything is fine and well in Sabreland. Then...what? In the games that they have lost, well, they looked like last year's team. Why? I thought the games where they played great was their way of showing me that they have learned from last year's mistakes. So, what gives? Immaturity? Really? I mean, this team is young, but they are experienced. The majority of these guys were there on our consecutive playoff runs. And now they have the experience of what it's like to miss the playoffs. So, they should know how to win. Every team goes through a funk, and I guess it's better for them to finish the season hot than not. So, get your shit together boys and start playing like the good team I know you're capable of being.

Oh, and can we please talk about how awesome this quote is by Ryan Miller?

"I'm not real happy," Miller said. "Hockey gods frown upon thee. Those were three ugly goals."

There it is. So I'm a little bummed out about his last two performances after he's been playing like a brick wall, and then he gives himself a little bit of redemption with that quote. Hockey gods frown upon thee?! That shit is funny. I love it. Has it maybe earned the right to be one of my favorite quotes? I don't know. But I love quotes, and I find them inspiring to read. So when I say I have a favorite quote, I don't take the term lightly. But as of now, it's a pretty damn good one. Partially because it's said by Ryan Miller, so it automatically makes it 10x better than if it was said by someone else.

Speaking of Mr. Miller, I wonder what's up with him the past two games. It's only two games so I'm not going to act as if he's turned into a sieve over night, but I wonder what's wrong. I'm not buying that he needs rest. He's only played 11 games. Okay, last year when he played 34 damn games in a row is when it was ridiculous. Even though he and a stringbean share the same frame, I think the little guy can handle 7 games in a row.

He wasn't focused, which brings me to the only plausible conclusion. I think he must have ordered a bunch of V-necks from American Apparel (you know, that special offer they have? A 3-pack for only $52, you know what I'm talking about) but he found out right before the game that they have been placed on backorder. It totally threw off his concentration. He probably had his whole wardrobe for the next week planned out, but then the devastating news of his precious V-necks being placed on backorder totally threw off his concentration. Can't you see it? "Well, now that my cranberry V-neck isn't going to come in, what am I going to wear on Tuesday with my True Religions? Maybe that cardiga- OH SHIT, A GOAL."

Get yo head in the game, bb. Same goes for the rest of you boys in blue and gold too.

The Nation Has Spoken (and some hockey players too)

So the Sabres don't play until Friday, so I figured I'd talk a little bit about that tiny little election that went down.


Ryan Miller cares about his country. More on him in a second...

Well, November 4th, 2008 came and went. And we have our new President-Elect. I just want to say, whoever you voted for, I hope you felt great voting and taking part in such a historic election. Just to see how the nation reacted and how involved everyone was. Watching the celebrations after Obama was announced the winner was surreal. Just to see people of various backgrounds and demographics coming together and celebrating what is to believed a much needed change. I guess it was just refreshing to see so many people caring so much about such an important issue. You see that type of celebration on city streets when a sports championship is won, or after a huge music festival. But an election? I am proud. This election has moved people, and I hope it doesn't fade. As I grow older I realize how important it is to stay involved. People can become so jaded with society and politcs, and that's understandable. But I just think it's ignorant to totally ignore it all together and act like it doesn't affect you. Because it does. You should care. You should want to be involved. I hope this election will help move this nation into the right direction, in so many different ways.

Anyways, since this is a hockey blog, I guess I should tie in a Sabres reference in here somehow. Well, thanks to Amy over at Shots Off The Crossbar, she pointed me to where some of our favorite (American) Sabres weighed in on the election. Poor Kaleta. Not too impressed with his answer. Sigh. Not much to comment on except that he didn't vote. I won't hold it against you, Patty. But I wish you would have voted.

But I have to tip my hat to Mr. Miller. I am impressed by his comments. Not only is he incredibly articulate and smart when it comes to talking about hockey, but he's pretty damn intellectual when he's talking about politics. Well, he didn't really talk much about the politics per se, but his thoughts on the election were pretty spot on, in my opinion. Seems like he saw it the way I did, and obviously that means he's basically a genius. Only kidding, but not really. I think it's safe to say that Ryan Miller is a very smart man, and not when it just comes to analyzing hockey. Good for you, Ryan! You scholar athlete, you! Maybe you could take little Patrick Kaleta under your wing and guide him so he can be more involved? Yes? You're always giving back to the community, so I think you should help a brotha out.

Anyways...enough of that serious election stuff. Just wanted to have some final thoughts on it before we return back to simplier, happier things like the great game of hockey. I don't think hockey (or sports in general) and politics should mix, but in a historic election like this, I think it's okay to make an exception.

Miller Time

My favorite hippie goalie got ANOTHER shutout! Back to back! Talk about a rebound from that Tampa game. All you Miller nay-sayers can bite me. You had your way with me last year always hounding me about his play, but right now I can say, "I was right, so sorry." Some people actually suggested we trade Miller for Huet last year....yeah. Laughable, I know. Who's overrated? Who's average? NOT Ryan Miller, that's for sure!


Ryan knows what's up.

Anyways, more on the game and less of my Miller lovefest. The Sabres were just perfect. Very smart. And our captain was back! So good to see. I was glad to see the Sabres get one past Weekes in the first, because it might have been frustrating for the team to come out of that period scoreless after all of those chances. The PK was strong. I liked seeing players block shots, especially Kaleta at the end of the game. And did I see Tim Connolly blocking a shot? I'm all for blocking shots, but it just makes me a tad nervous seeing Timmy doing the deed. The past two games the boys have played smart and as a team. Everything was clicking. So many scoring chances (if it wasn't for Weekes' phenomenal play we would have been up by 4 or so goals), great defense, fantastic goaltending, and the PK was great. It looked like the officials were really trying to help out the Devils by giving them power plays, but the Sabres stayed strong and focused and killed off all the penalties. I especially liked Miller remaining focused after he got that delay of game penalty that he disagreed with. Ain't nothin' getting past Ryan when he feels he's been screwed.


Now, I know that this is a hockey blog and everything around here should be all about HOCKEY, HOCKEY, HOCKEY; but I just have to say that tomorrow all of my fellow Americans better get your asses out and VOTE! Please. I'm so excited to vote. This will be my first election where I'm eligble to vote, and it's a pretty damn historical one to boot. I'll feel accomplished going out there and making sure that my voice is heard. So please, if you don't want to take my word for it, take it from these sexy A-list celebrities and DON'T VOTE!

Sweet, Sweet Victory.

My favorite hippie goaltender earned his first shutout of the season tonight! And that means...



Guess who's back? Back again. Shady's Miller's back. Tell a friend...
(Not like he was really gone, everyone has an off night. But I had to fit in an Eminem reference somewhere.)

Yes yes yes. Our boys sure turned it around tonight. I'm proud of them. They played as a team and they all worked for that win. I really enjoyed all the shot blocking and seeing Roy and Pominville scoring tonight. What a great play by Paille and Kaleta for that goal too. It's great seeing those type of players putting up points. And of course Thomas Vanek was on fire tonight. Scoring goals and being defensively responsible. I liked his backchecking effort tonight.

Kudos to Lindy Ruff and the coaching staff for straightening the kids out. I'm glad they took the meeting and the practice to heart and they really did work for that win. They played great in the first and kind of hung back in the second, but Miller was right there stopping the shots and keeping his team in the game.

The power play still needs work. Maybe if/when Connolly gets more back into stride he can help improve it. Monday night will be a test for them, for sure. The Devils can be a tough team to beat, and the Sabres struggle against them. Let's see how they'll do...