Back Blogging

So it's been a little while since I've updated. Firstly, thanks to everyone who wished me a happy holiday. I appreciate it. I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday.

My Christmas was nice and I had a good time with my family. My Aunt who lives in India was in town and I got to hang out with my adorable cousin, Amartiyah. He's around 6 years old and he's so smart. I get such a kick out of him. I am really intrigued by the Indian culture and hopefully if all goes according to plan I can visit my Aunt in India next summer. I'd love that. I'd be in photographer heaven. I just love everything about their culture. I love the music, the food, the clothing, the history... it's a whole new world to explore. Anyways, my Aunt brought me some bindis for me and I love them!


Aww yeah!

So the main reason that I haven't really updated is that my younger brother has fallen seriously ill. He got real sick on Christmas and the day after he was admitted into Children's Hospital. I've been a little out of sorts over it and it's been a hectic week. Things were getting a little scary but fortunately he has been getting better. Slowly but surely he is starting to look like my little brother Andrew again. I think the worst is over with and he's on the mend so I am thankful for that. I can finally breathe again.

Anyways, so the one thing that helped me forget about my brother's illness was some of my favorite comedy (Chris Rock and Curb Your Enthusiasm) and hockey of course. I went to the game tonight. There's a whole lot I can say about it, but you know what? I had fun. I needed to blow off some steam and I said to myself before the game, "Win or lose, I am going to have a good time." And I did. I would have liked to have seen a better effort from the team, but I am not going to get too hung up over it as much as I usually do due to the circumstances. I usually go to the games with my little bro, but since he's in the hospital I took my friend Scott. Maybe that's where we went wrong, since I can't recall a single time the Sabres have won a game when we have been watching them together. I blame myself. Oh and it's official: Ryan Miller now has a beard. It's not scruff, it's a beard and I am loving it. I hope he doesn't shave that shit until after Catwalk for Charity. He probably will. I'll keep my fingers crossed.


Lookin' mad earthy boo.

Sorry if you were expecting this post to be full of insightful knowledge about hockey and the Sabres, honestly it's just an entry of me rambling. I'll get back on track after the new year...

Merry Christmas!

Or Happy Hanukkah for those who celebrate it (my dad's side of the family is Jewish, so when we go over to my Aunt and Uncle's house for Christmas there's a menorah hanging out near the Christmas tree...pretty cool). Any way how you celebrate your holiday, I hope you have a good one. This will be my last blog update until after Christmas, so I don't really want to harp on the controversial goal last night. I'd rather my last update be a little more positive and upbeat.

All I'll say about it is this: It was a close call. Some people are saying it was a blatant high-stick, while others are saying it was clear that it was a good goal. Honestly, I think I can say this with no bias that I think it was a high-stick and therefore it shouldn't have been ruled a goal. However, I do think it was a close call that could have gone either way. And let's be real here, Sidney Crosby hadn't scored a goal in 9 games prior to that, a career-long scorless streak. When Sidney Crosby is in question, things are going to go his way more times than not. It is what it is. Last night I was pretty angry about the call, but after I've let the emotions of watching a hockey game calm down, I do realize that it was a close call that really could have gone either way. Whatever the ruling would have been, there would no doubt be one side saying that they got the call wrong.

Moving on (that was a little more time that I planned on talking about it), let's both weigh the positives and the negatives. First of all, the Sabres are playing a lot better and I really do like what I'm seeing from this team at the moment. They aren't playing bad at all. I would say they're playing pretty good. Sure, they aren't perfect...which is why we have lost two straight in overtime. But you know what? I'm still liking what I'm seeing. Before when they were losing, they just looked pretty bad. They were very undisciplined, not smart, and they were making too many mistakes. Right now, they need to learn how to hold onto their leads better. With the way they have been playing lately, I think that they'll be able to get it done. It's reassuring to see the scoring being more spread out and having more players on the team contribute. Disicipline is still something that I think they'll always need to learn how to control. Last game they were very good at staying out of the box until Paille took a very undisciplined roughing penalty. And that's all the Pens would need, as they scored to tie it up and take it to overtime. Other than that, the team did a much better job at staying out of the box and playing smart.

So to wrap this up, the positive: The Sabres are playing much better hockey and I've been impressed for the most part with them.
The negative: They still need to learn how to control leads better, but seeing how they have been playing as of late, I believe that they'll learn how to do that and the wins will come easier. Oh wait, I thought of another positive: Ryan Miller still hasn't shaved. He's got some serious scruff going on and if he holds out shaving for a few more days it will no longer be considered scruff and it will be promoted to a beard. Clearly, this is a sign of good things to come.

Alright, enough hockey for me until after Christmas (literally, right after Christmas, seeing as our boys will be in DC on the 26th to take on the Caps). Like I said in the beginning of my entry, I hope everyone enjoys their holiday. For me, on Christmas Eve I go to my grandparents' house on my Dad's side in East Amherst for dinner. My aunt, step-uncle and his three daughters (step-cousins?) live there too so it's a lot of fun. After dinner we open presents and watch A Christmas Story. Then on Christmas Day after we open presents we'll head up to Niagara Falls to visit more family on my Dad's side. We eat a nice dinner and I see my family who I usually only see around Christmastime. Then after that we'll head home, but shortly we leave to visit my Mom's side of the family. This year it's going to be at my cousin's house in Derby. I'm pretty excited.

Right now I'm about to turn on some Christmas movies and eat the cookies that my mom is baking...Mexican Wedding cookies yum. So in the words of Clark Griswold... "Later, dudes!"

I have to vent.

So last night I had a real good time at my friend's Christmas party. Everything was really nice and relaxing and we were enjoying a good performance by the Sabres. Ryan Miller was standing tall once again. Andrej Sekera was playing great. Chris Butler was showing people that he's ready to be a defenseman in the NHL. Derek Roy was showing that he's continuing to roll by scoring a goal. Cool. Then I see Ryan Miller get interfered with and then we get scored on. How cute. I would mention all the rest of the shit show officiating I saw but I'm sure you remember. So after I saw a lights out peformance by Miller with another 40+ save night, along with the rest of the team working their asses off....I see Montreal win in overtime. So I'm pissed. I wasn't going to let the loss ruin my night and I decided to get my drink on and go downtown with my friends and have a good time. So that's what I did. Despite having a 4'11, 70 pound drunk Asian girl step on my foot (I can't believe how much that shit hurt, she was so tiny but I have the bruise to prove it), I did have a pretty good time.

But then I woke up this morning and I'm even more mad than I was last night. The officiating has become a joke. I know being an official in pro sports is often a thankless job and they can't always be perfect, but seriously. Are these clowns really being paid? They should be ashamed and embarrassed to call themselves NHL officials. I'm sick of it. And this isn't some homer crying over her hometown team getting screwed, I've seen it all over the league. What about that Smith shootout incident? How can 4 officials be watching a 1-on-1 play yet still get the call wrong? Unbelievable. I think everyone knows that there is a bias when a team is coming into Montreal to play a game. Especially if the officials are from Quebec. It should not be allowed, it's an obvious conflict of interest. Maybe if the officials can show that they aren't biased in favor of their hometown team, then there wouldn't be a problem. But they haven't showed that. It only took a 5-on-3, a 4-on-3, and goaltender interference for the Habs to take a win from us. I bet it's comforting for Habs fans to know that the officiating will help their team earn a win whenever they are playing in their building. Here's a quote that stuck out to me, it's from the ref that was honored at the beginning of the game...the one from Montreal:

“For all the times you miss something, I had a pretty good view of this one,” Jackson said. “I was in my hometown and Montreal scored in overtime, but you’re paid to do a job, so I did my job and disallowed the goal.”

Seriously? You're trying to get credit for disallowing a blatantly obvious no-goal? Yay? You did your job? Good for you. He also makes it no secret that he was rooting for Montreal. Surprise, surprise.

It's just frustrating knowing that your team deserved to win but the officiating helped take a point away. It pisses me off. I know teams have to play through the officiating, and the Sabres have (Pittsburgh Penguins games anyone?), but it's kind of hard to win a game when Montreal gets a 5-on-3, two 4-on-3's, and a goal scored due to our goalie being interfered with. Look, I know that the Sabres still need to learn how to be more disciplined, but I just want to see an evenly officiated game so the most deserving team can leave with a victory. Dare to dream, right?

SO GOOD, SO GOOD, SO GOOD

Awww yeaaaaah, Ryan Miller with a 40-save shutout. That's our goalie. Goalies get a lot of shit after a loss, sometimes deservingly so, and sometimes not. What a response from Miller after a 5-3 loss. The hockey speaks for itself. I'm proud of him. And how cute is it to see Lalime congraluate Miller after a big win? Especially a shutout. He's all excited for him, it's adorable.

And I just loveeeee the fact that they play Sweet Caroline when it's a Sabres victory. My song. :')


I'm glad for Ellis for netting a goal during his first callup after being waived. Must feel good for him. I'm glad the Sabres finally won at home...in a big way. Hopefully it will spark the confidence they need to start winning at home and it's a sign of good things to come.


And...Ryan Miller had a 40-save shutout!! Oh, I already mentioned that? Oh well... Oh and might I add...homeboy was sporting some scruff again tonight, and I like it. A lot.


Zanggg baby boy, lookin' good.

That was a fangirl moment, okay? Don't judge me.

Getting Sassy...20s style

I have nothing to say for last night's shit show. As a fan there's only so much you can say. It's up to the team. They're better than that. I don't know why they are struggling to win at home. It's disappointing, but all I can say is bring on Los Angeles. If they can win against them then maybe it will spark some confidence and help them win at home. If not, well...there's only three home games in January. You're not supposed to look forward to the month where you're basically on the road the entire time, but maybe it's a plus for us. We shall see.

In other news, let's talk about Ryan Miller and the five goals he gave up last night. First off, he updated his blog. Don't you love that fans actually give him advice on how to stop pucks? I know I do. Really people? You know, if you're 10 years old then it's kind of cute, but if you're any older then you really need to stand back and realize what you're doing. An average fan telling a NHL goalie how to stop the pucks and be better. Right. I'm sure he appreciates the advice.

Secondly, Catwalk for Charity III....hells yeah. I sent in my order form for tickets a few days ago so hopefully I get an e-mail or something soon saying that they got my form and my tickets will come shortly. How awesome is it that it's 1920s themed this year? REAL AWESOME. That will be a lot of fun. I love the 1920s. I've always said that I wish that I lived through the 1920s-1960s because that's when all the cool stuff happened. My favorite fashion eras have always been the 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s. So maybe I just wanted to live in those eras strictly for the fashion, okay? And for my chance to meet my favorite person in the entire world, Marilyn Monroe. Where was I going with this? Oh yeah, Catwalk for Charity. I can't wait to shop around and look for a cute outfit for the event. Peacock feathers may or may not be involved. I've made myself a cute hairclip from a peacock feather that I love and since it's 20s themed it will be a perfect opportunity to whip it out. It's a little more "earthy" than 1920s glamour, but I can spruce it up a tad. You can head over to Sabres TV and watch a snippet of the press conference...I don't know why they didn't post the whole thing, I want to see it. Maybe they'll post it later.

Anyways, hopefully some of you plan on going to the event...it really is a lot of fun. I think I've talked about it before on here. If you want to get an idea of it, I have some pictures that I took when I went last year. They're kind of grainy because I just had my point and shoot camera and the lighting was dark. But you get the idea. Funny thing is, after doing some searching on the internet I've found some pictures of the event with me in them haha.


This one was in the paper, I cut it out and I have it pinned up on my "Photo Wall" in my bedroom. That's how I roll.



It's like playing Where's Waldo Caroline!


Anyways. Hopefully the Sabres are getting sick and tired of getting pushed around and having their asses handed to them on home ice. Let's see how things go tomorrow night...

Pregaming

So as I mentioned in my previous post, I decided to head downtown to the arena this morning to watch the boys practice. I haven't been to a morning skate in a long, long time and it was pretty chill. Going on weekdays is best because not that many people are there. It can be a little crazy on weekends because the people in attendence can be a little whacky. It was pretty quiet so you could hear everything on the ice. I wanted to shout, "HIT THE FREAKIN' NET" when they were doing shooting drills. Also, when Lindy gathered the team at center ice I couldn't hear anything so I wanted to shout, "HEY LINDY...SPEAK UP....I CAN'T HEAR YOU!" But no. I didn't want to be that person.

It's fun being there when the guys are just taking it easy and messing around with each other. The players were practicing their breakaways on Miller and he kept letting them in and they were giving him a hard time and he was like, "I stopped the second one!!" and then he stopped the next shot and he was like, "Woooohoooo!!!!" It was the first time I've ever heard emotion in his voice. Just kiddinggg. Max was messing around with Lalime but it was hard to understand what Max was saying.

Something interesting I noticed was that Peters was practicing with the defensemen for most of the time. And then when most of the players left the ice, he stayed on the ice with James Patrick and Rivet. It looked like Rivet was showing him how to skate backwards and giving him pointers. I wonder how Petey would be as a defenseman...food for thought.

After watching them practice I moseyed around the Sabres Store. Everything is 20% off until Christmas Eve, for those who are interested. I was browsing through the Sabres yearbook where it has all of that fun stuff; favorite food, favorite movie, etc. I found it amusing that Miller wrote that if he wasn't a hockey player he'd want to be an architect. The only thing I could think of was George Costanza's dreams of being an architect ("You're an architect?" "I'm not?"). Ahh gotta love it. I also saw most of the players afterwords eating their pregame meals. I'd say most of them were there, every so often another player would come in a little late and join a table. Good times.

My iTunes is acting all wonky and saying that it can't locate my songs, when CLEARLY all of my songs are in my iTunes folder. So I don't know what its deal is and why it can't find any of my songs when they're there. It's driving me crazy and it's really, really frustrating. I'm trying everything... Oh well. Go Sabres.

The Injury Bug bites, man.

So it appears that the Injury Bug has hit the Sabres yet again, but what else is new. Our little Nathan Gerbe took quite a hit against New Jersey that will have him sidelined for two weeks. Craig Rivet is also out for at least two weeks, which really sucks. But I really wasn't surprised when he said his knee wasn't 100%. You could tell he wasn't playing the way he likes to play, and I suspected it was because of his knee. Knee injuries suck and they usually take awhile to heal. I hope when he does return he's 100% and he can play his game again because I was very impressed with him and what he brought to the team. Poor Goose and Patches also took a beating in practice the other day. Hockey is such a rough and tumble sport, your teeth aren't even safe in practice. Let that be a lesson to all of you kids out there. In better news, Patrick Kaleta has been cleared to play, that'll be nice for the team to have him back again.

Isn't it strange how three days off seems like two weeks in hockey? I can't wait to see them play again. It seems like it's been so long since they played against New Jersey...good thing tomorrow night they'll be playing against....New Jersey. My question of whether or not Ryan Miller has shaved will finally be answered. I've been left hanging for three days! I'm guessing he has, but it would be pretty badass if he hadn't. These are the questions that keep me awake at night. Only kidding. But I love me some Jesus-looking goaltenders.

Um, so uh...speaking of Jesus, I decorated my Christmas tree last night! Here are some peekturessss:


The flash kind of ruins it, but the lighting was poor so without the flash made it pretty blurry...you get the idea though.


My Saves for Cancer ornament I bought when Ryan Miller was at Rotary Rink lighting the Christmas tree.



I strategically placed this ornament near the Ryan Miller one...oh yeah I'm clever.

So tomorrow I want to do some window shopping on Elmwood to get some ideas on what to get my friends and family. I'm thinking maybe I'll head on over to the arena beforehand to watch the boys practice at the morning skate. I haven't been to a morning skate in a long time and I figured it's probably best to go during the week because not that many people will be there. We'll see...

Holy Vanek!

Hey, we won! I admit that I wasn't feeling too good about our chances tonight. Saturday night. Back-to-back. Not the team's favorite conditions to play under, for some reason. It wasn't reassuring either that the Devils scored 8 goals last night compared to Buffalo's 1. But all of that garbage means nothing because we won!

Just some quick thoughts:

- Good for Patty Lalime getting another one in his W column. Looking at his stats, people can get down on him but I am confident in having him as our backup goalie.

- I was also very glad to see Stafford scoring on a wide open net! Atta boy, Staff. Seriously, last night was painful seeing those two wide open nets that he missed. Yikes. I'm sure it felt damn good for him to get that one tonight.

- This is probably the matronly part of me coming out, but poor little Gerbe. When those two Devils sandwiched him on the ice I couldn't help but feel bad for the little guy. He's what, 4'11? Cut the dude some slack.

- I just have to say something about Nathan Paetsch. I started thinking about this after he took that elbow to the face. He practices with the team, travels with the team, just to end up in the press box the majority of the time. The only time he gets the nod is if one of his fellow teammates is injured. It's got to be sort of a tough life, you know? I mean, in retrospect, he's in the NHL. How many hockey players can say that? But still. I just remember last season he was always taking a lot of hits and I believe he had a few hits to the head that resulted in a concussion. And then tonight he gets an elbow to the face. But you know as soon as Rivet is ready it'll be back up in the press box for Paetsch. That's just the nature of the game. But he'll keep trying. He'll keep practicing with the team and he'll keep traveling with them. It's not that I pity him, because I don't. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I respect him. I salute you, Nathan.

Now onto the real story. Thomas Vanek. How fitting is it that he scored our 10,000th goal in history? He just does so much for our team. I loved his hustle tonight and he's so great at backchecking. OH and not to mention that he's leading the league in goals...no biggie. You just gotta love him right now. Keep on keepin' on, Thomas.

Oh and one more thing. Has anyone noticed that Ryan Miller has been growing some scruff? He looks good. I'm liking the facial hair. He looks good when he's all clean shaven too, but I've always had a thing for dudes who know how to sport good facial hair. Which is why it was so awesome when Ryan had long hair and his playoff beard. Dude looked like Jesus. And really, is there anything cooler than your goalie looking like Jesus? Nothing that I can think of on the top of my head. So I've noticed that he hasn't shaved the past few days and when they showed him on the bench it looked like he was sporting a little bit of a beard. I'm sure he'll shave it soon. But for the time being, Ryan, you're looking mad earthy boo. Loves it.

Christmas List!

So between our boys showing some heart and determination to put up a small win streak and our precious goalie getting into a little bit of fun controversy, it's been a pretty good week in Sabreland. I'm just liking how our team looks right now. They're playing smart, responsible, physical, and as a team. Let's hope they can keep it up because when they play like this they can beat any team. I can't believe we haven't played Toronto yet, but that all changes tomorrow night when the Leafs and their faithful obnoxious fans invade the HSBC Arena. Here's to the Sabres putting the Leafs in their place and making it a long drive home for the Leafs fans.

ANYWAYS. Now that all that hockey nonsense is out of the way, I am going to switch things up a little bit and just make a fun post completely unrelated to hockey or the Sabres. My friends, I give you my 2008 Christmas List complete with photos! I'm sure you were all thinking, "What the hell can I give that sassy Sabres blogger Caroline for Christmas?" Well, wonder no more, as this is what I hope to find under my tree this year:


First and foremost...I want Coco Mademoiselle by Chanel. This perfume just smells so elegant and classy. I used to wear Chanel No. 5 (before I ran out of it and was too cheap to buy it again) and that's a classic perfume, but I want switch it up just a tad.


iPod Nano Chromatic. Way back when I had the first generation iPod Mini but it died out on me. I've been mooching off of my brother's iPod Touch ever since, so I think it would be nice to have my own. I just want the new Nano because all I really want is an MP3 player, even though all the gadgets and applications on the iPod Touch are fun. Now that the Nano holds more music, it seems perfect for me. Not sure what color I want though (not red or orange).


Camera Filters. Just some toys for my camera so I can mess around with them. A tripod would be nice too.


Kill Bill vol. 1&2...one of my favorite movie(s). I'm always in the mood to watch them but I don't own them! I rent these movies way too much at Blockbuster so I think it's time to make the commitment and own these babies.


Sephora gift card. I don't wear much makeup, just eye makeup, but Sephora is so much fun. Makeup is something that you kind of need to purchase yourself, so just a gift card would be nice so I can do my own exploring.


Buddha Bank. How adorable is this guy? Seriously. I love Buddhas. I even have a mini gold Buddha that's almost a good luck charm. But I have tons of loose change that I just put in random bowls and such, so a piggy Buddha bank would be nice.



Lastly...Polaroid film. Sadly Polaroid is discontinuing all of its instant Polaroid film and this makes me very sad. I love Polaroids. They're so classic. As much as I love digital photography, I will always think there is a special place for film. It's really a shame that shortly Polaroid film will be no longer, so I want to grab as much as these packs as I can before it's too late. A few packs of the film would make a nice stocking stuffer for me.


Andddd that's it! Sorry that this post is a little image-heavy, but it's all in good fun. Speaking of Christmas, I still need to get a tree! The holidays sure have crept up on me fast.
Back to hockey tomorrow...

Hells Yeah...

Solid, solid win tonight. Not quite the start we wanted, but they say that the first game home after a road trip can be hard. It was a nice physical game with some nice fights courtesy of Adam Mair and Paul Gaustad. Gerbe is a fiesty little guy and I'm loving him taking the hits and even dishing some out as well. Awesome. It seems I get more and more impressed with Thomas Vanek every time I see him play. He sure is a forced to be reckoned with and every goalie should fear that man. It's not even his goal scoring that's making me impressed with him. His hustle and his defensive effort really needs to be applauded. I'm loving him right now.

Miller again was great. Some real clutch saves to keep his team in the lead and a few nice stops on breakaways. Kudos to Ryan. What was up with that delay of game call though? I wasn't aware that a goalie could get called on a delay of game when he freezes the puck with his glove. I've never seen that before. Ryan said that the ref skated over to him afterwords and said that he "probably shouldn't have called that"...I guess that's better than the ref telling him to go fuck himself so I'll take it. I also didn't like how Kotalik was called for that hit on an icing when the Lightning got away with one earlier in the game. I guess the refs just wanted to make it interesting...or give Pominville the opportunity to score a shorthanded empty-netter goal. Either way.

Well it sure was a very satisfying win and I'm glad our boys have put up a very nice little win streak here. I've been really loving the way they have won these games and how they have battled back. Sure, you don't want your team to go down by a couple of goals but they battled and worked hard to dig themselves out of the holes that they dug and they picked up some nice victories. Good for them.

Sorry for the short update, but I have a final paper to write and I need to study for my mega hard and important music final exam tomorrow. I'll make it up to you by leaving you, my readers, with this lovely picture of former President Bill Clinton and Ryan Miller's skinny legs. Loves it.

Hey Ryan, go eff yourself.

So I was going to make a fun post today which was me posting my Christmas list! But I have three final papers to write by tonight so I guess I'll have to save it for another day. I should be getting on those papers, but I had to laugh at this...

Ryan Miller claims that a ref told him to go *bleep* himself last night. I love this shit. Can't you imagine the situation? I know I can. Although he's a goalie, and they're supposed to be in their own little world, Ryan's always been pretty involved in the game and I notice him talking to the refs a lot. So Ryan innocently asks a question and in return he gets a big old, "Go fuck yourself!" That shit is pretty funny, but at the same time it's pretty ridiculous that a ref would act so immaturely. I have a theory that the ref was just really pissed at Ryan for making all those saves. He made it harder for the Pens to get a win which meant that the ref had to go to more trouble and make more calls against the Sabres to help ensure that the Pens would win.

In all seriousness, it would be nice to see some accountability on the refs part. I was at the game when the Pens came to town and it was one of the worst officiated games I've been to. Last night was no exception. I've seen and read about other shitty officiating jobs around the league too. I know the refs can't be perfect, but at the same time they have a very important job to do and I would like to see more consistency and more accountability. Don't the players and coaches get fined by the league if they criticize the officiating? So I don't understand how these poor officiated games can be fixed if no one can really properly complain about them.

Oh well, after the shit show that was the officiating and the multiple 5-on-3s, Ryan had the ultimate "Go fuck yourself!" as he helped lead his team to a victory. Atta boy, Ryan.

Comeback Kids

y so srs, Spacho? (my Dark Knight reference...since it comes out on DVD tomorrow!)

So after the Sabres beat the amazing team that is the Tampa Bay Lightning, it became obvious that they were well on their way to a 2008-2009 Stanley Cup. If that game wasn't enough for you naysayers, then I think tonight's victory over the Penguins just made it clear. In all seriousness though, I'm glad that the boys have put up a nice little win streak.

Nathan Gerbe has had his first taste of the NHL, and during the Tampa Bay game he was a +2 and he had four shots on goal. I'm not sure what his stats were for tonight's game, but I know he was on ice for Derek Roy's goal. The officiating again was questionable at best. I thought that delay of game call on Vanek was bullshit. He was clearly trying to play the puck but it was kind of hard for him to do that when he has four Penguins ontop of him spearing and crosschecking him. Crosby drew a penalty which looked like a dive on his part, but hey, what else is new? He again threw another little temper tantrum after the time expired in the third period and he could not put it past Ryan Miller before the final buzzer sounded. Keep crying, Sid. I liked his sucker punch on Hecht, but good ol' Jochen just laughed in his face. Speaking of Jochen, how about him dropping the gloves?! Against Lecavalier, no less. He gave him a nice shiner too. Awesome.

Ryan Miller was superb tonight. He had several highlight-reel saves, and he was the best penalty killer on the ice. He really held his team in the game despite the fact that his team were down two men three times during the game. He looked very confident and he was extremely sharp. Just a great goaltending performance by him and I am proud.

I liked the fact that the Sabres were crashing the net and getting "ugly" goals. It can be really hard scoring these days in the NHL, and those are the types of goals that you're going to need sometimes to get a win. Good job by the boys to get the job done. Kudos to Vanek for getting his 20th tonight, and it's also nice to see Derek Roy going in the right direction. I also noticed a great sprawl by Gaustad to clear the puck out of the zone during a penalty kill, and he also had a monster hit (though he did get one in return). If the Sabres can put together a nice win streak then they're right back into the playoff hunt and they should be able to regain their confidence which is so key in a game like hockey.

Oh, and how much more fun is it to listen to the locker room interviews after a win? Obviously the players sound more happy, but in the background you hear them all talking, celebrating, and music playing. When it's a loss, it's dead silent save from a few bangs here and there which from what I gather is the players frustratingly packing their equipment.

I guess I should touch on the rumor about the possibility of the Sabres being for sale. I guess as of now all I can do is go by what the Sabres camp themselves are saying on the matter, and that is that the story is false. I'm sure Golisano has listened to offers, but that's nothing to be alarmed over. I remember during the horrible bankruptcy days, the NHL really supported keeping the team in Buffalo. Buffalo is one of the best US hockey markets that the NHL has, and in a league that's struggling to find good markets, I can't see them messing up a good thing in Buffalo and relocating a team. I say the team is safe in Buffalo, regardless of its ownership. Although I would not trust having Balsillie anywhere near this team.

I think I'm going to have a fun post tomorrow that may or may not be related to hockey at all. Stay tuned and Let's Go Buffalo!

Three Cheers for the Little Guy

Nathan Gerbe has been called up. Best of luck to him and I am very excited to see what he can bring to the struggling team. Here's hoping that his addition helps bring a win on the road against Tampa Bay...

Lindy is Confused, Miller is Pissed.

Alright, so maybe I should be working on my final paper for English and putting together a portfolio. Don't judge me. But I had to bring this up.

Lindy Ruff called out Ryan Miller for last night's 2-1 loss against the Florida Panthers. Look, I'm no "Lindy hater" and demanding he be fired, and I always respect what he has to say and I usually agree with him. But I think calling out Ryan Miller last night was ridiculous. Saying that he let in soft goals? Maybe. But the fact is that Ryan made some pretty big saves on odd-man rushes and he only allowed 2 goals. If your goalie is only allowing two goals per game, then he's doing his job by giving his team a chance to win. So why did Lindy only call out Ryan?

Miller was surprised and angry at Lindy's comments. Usually when Ryan is criticized by Ruff, he's pretty level-headed about it and he will usually agree with Lindy. But this time is obviously different, since I'm sure he doesn't agree with Lindy's comments at all. Messing with a goalie's confidence is not smart, and I believe a goalie's confidence is more fragile than any other player's considering their high pressure job.

Has Lindy lost his mind? I don't know. I sure hope not. I like Lindy, and I think he's a great coach. But he knows better than that. You can't blame a goalie when he's only allowed 2 goals and his team only scored 1. That shouldn't be on Miller. Maybe if he was allowing 2, 3 soft goals per night then Lindy's comments would have been more valid.

Am I being overly sensitive because I have a soft spot for goalies? Is this me being biased because I've taken a special liking to Ryan Miller because of my like for goaltenders? I don't think so.

I hope Ryan takes these comments and uses them as inspiration to play better. I hope the rest of the team realizes that their goalie is being called out and that they should shape up and score a few goals for him. I just hope that it doesn't create tension in the dressing room.

Oh and I'm aware I've missed out on all the fun with Sean Avery and his sloppy seconds. All I can say is I think Sean Avery is terrible and I have no sympathy for the little prick, whether he's being treated fairly or unfairly in this situation.

What a Night it Was, it really was Such a Night...

This was me at the Sabres-Preds game last night:



So when chosing my games for my mini-pack before the season, I saw that Nashville was going to pay us a little visit. I thought back to the last time we played them. It was an 8-4 decision and it would have been an entertaining game to be at for fans. They are also a Western Conference team that we don't see at all so I thought it would have been nice to watch the team take on an opponent that we don't really get a chance to see very often. Plus our good friend JP Dumont was going to be in town too. Cool. All good reasons to pick Nashville as one of my games. Someone help me see the light because I surely was misguided...

I usually describe a Sabres loss as a "shit show", but that doesn't even justify exactly what that game really was. That was the most boring and worst hockey game I've ever attended, and probably will ever attend. What both teams lacked in chances they made up for in turnovers. I knew that Nashville was going to get an unfortunate goal and that's all they would need. Of course. We gave a no-name goalie a 30-save shutout. Of course. A former Sabre scored on us. Typical. Really, should we be surprised? I would have liked to see Max in the lineup. Granted, I'm sure Lindy expected more from the offense, but in hindsight, I don't think Max would have made matters worse if he was playing. He would have at least made things exciting. I'm not the type of fan who's all, "MORE GOALS, MORE GOALS!!! FLASHY PLAYS, YAY!!!" I actually would rather see my team play a tight, responsible defensive game and go from there. That game had none of that. I understand that Max was scratched so Peters could be inserted into the lineup because of Nashville's lineup. Except...there were no fights. Not even when Tootoo ran into Miller. Instead I saw Paetsch take a glance at Tootoo and then just skated away.

A Paetsch-Tootoo match up would have been ridiculously uneven, but that's your goalie out there. You can't let any player, especially a player like Tootoo take runs at him without any worry of retaliation. Every goalie deals with contact, but how many times is Miller going to get interfered with and ran into without any consequence? What kind of message is that sending? What kind of message is that sending to the other teams? "Feel free to run into him all you want, he's just our goaltender after all." Is Ryan Miller going to have to smack a bitch?

A few highlights of the game were:
- A little boy, probably around 4 years old, turns to his dad towards the end of the second period and says, "Dad, why is the score still 0-0?" His father responded by saying, "Yes, it's still 0-0. I don't know what to tell you, buddy." I just got such a kick out of the exchange because firstly, the kid was cute and I love seeing fathers taking their young sons to sporting events. So wholesome. And also, because really, that's what was going through everyone's heads at the game. They couldn't have said it any better.

- The fan who got tackled and arrested in front of the doors that lead into the player's hallway after the game. Why was he arrested? I don't know, I missed the altercation. Either he and another fan were going at it, or he was trying to get past security so he could burst into the dressing room and give the player's a piece of his mind. I prefer the latter scenario, don't you?

- I got some nice shots of Ryan Miller doing his meditation routine or whatever the hell you want to call it, but I still need to upload them but that probably won't be for a little bit (reasons below after my lovely analysis of such a beautiful display of hockey).

The lowlight of the game (besides, you know, the game):
- There were two idiot fans behind me. I couldn't believe how dumb they were. Grown men too. They were from Detroit and they kept taking jabs at Buffalo. Ahem. That's right, they were from Detroit and they were taking jabs at Buffalo. They proceeded to say that Ryan Miller is a mediocre goalie because of his "long hair and photography". Or something like that. They had an exchange that went something like, "Why does everyone like Max, he sucks, blah blah blah. The same can be said about Ryan Miller. He's such a mediocre goalie, he only had one good season. He's got his long hair and he likes photography, and he thinks he's such a good goalie. I just want to shout to him, 'HEY RYAN, YOU'RE MEDIOCRE AT BEST!' " How special. They also thought that Numminen was our enforcer on the team. Makes sense.

So the semester is winding down and I have so many things to do before it ends. Between studying for final exams, taking final exams, writing final papers, registering for classes for next semester, putting together a portfolio, and doing some presentations, I'm very busy and I'm very stressed. I'm trying to remain positive and I keep telling myself that in a week or so it will all be over and then I'll be a free woman until January 26th, when the second semester begins. Right now I'm just trying to tough it out. So this will probably be my last update for a few days until I finish some things. I have to do a presentation on Elvis tomorrow. I'm still trying to figure out how to sum up Elvis Presley's career in five minutes...