Quick Thoughts

I missed the Penguins game, but I was getting scoring updates and I watched the game on DVR tonight... I definitely missed a good one. I was on the phone with my mom when Stafford was getting ready to take the penalty shot, so I heard that he scored. Later in the night I got a text saying that he scored again, and then I had a feeling that the Sabres might pull out of that game with a win. So I wasn't surprised to see the the Goose and Pominville scored en route to the Sabres victory.

It was especially nice to see the team get a win for Miller, whose been argurably the best goaltender up until this point who has done his job as a goaltender and then some in helping his team win games. He's always there when the team decides to take a period off by coming up with huge and timely saves, so it was great to see the team rally and come back with a win when Ryan had a rare off night. I'm sure the extra playing time for Lalime is great for him and he's getting more and more confidence each time he starts, which is great. I think the win last night was great for the many fans out there who were enjoying the Sabres' success, but also thinking in the back of their minds, "Can we still be competitive without Ryan Miller?"

Kudos to Lindy Ruff too, pulling Miller in favor of Lalime in the beginning of the 2nd period proved to be an excellent decision, but I was most impressed with how he chose Stafford to take the penalty shot. Drew had a lot on his shoulders with his lack of production as of late which lead to him being a healthy scratch in St. Louis, and it was real smart of Ruff to put him to the test on the penalty shot. Not only did Stafford deliver, but the combination of just scoring a huge goal on a penalty shot and just being benched the previous game seemed to have lit a fire under him and he scored another huge goal to help the Sabres battle back.

As much as I don't like seeing Miller getting benched, because it usually means that things aren't going so swell, I do have to say a part of me enjoys the little meltdowns that those moody little goalies have from time to time. So I had to say it was funny for me watching him throw a temper tantrum in the hallway. My dad and I were discussing how it must be awkward for the equipment guy to go and pick up the equipment and we were saying he must be like, "That's okay, Ryan. You can just set those anywhere..." I also miss his angry interviews after a tough loss, where a seemingly innocent question would end up getting the ever feared "Miller death stare" in return. Ahh, memories...

Anyways, I hope everyone has a great New Years Eve and here's to the Sabres having a successful 2010.

Question

Have we ever played a game against the Sens where we won DIDN'T lose a player to injury?

A Very Sabres Christmas

Someone had this idea on this Sabres fan message board that I post on, and I thought it was a pretty fun idea. It's a game where you decide what each Sabre should ask/want for Christmas... What better people to suggest what each player wants for Christmas than their beloved fans, clearly we know these men inside and out and what's best for them. Hopefully each and every Sabre reads this in time incase they need to make any last minute revisions to their Christmas lists in order to ensure that they get everything that they want this year for Christmas.

Anyways, let's get to it...

Hi, I'm Derek Roy and all I want for Christmas is fashion sense.

Hi, I'm Patrick Lalime and all I want for Christmas is a seat cushion.

Hi, I'm Tyler Myers and all I want for Christmas is some extra poundage.

Hi, I'm Paul Gaustad and all I want for Christmas is a roster spot on Team USA's Olympic squad...and some more energy saving tips.

Hi, I'm Jason Pominville and all I want for Christmas is a stick that doesn't break. Definitely.

Hi, I'm Nathan Paetsch and all I want for Christmas is a defenseman shortage.

Hi, I'm Toni Lydman and all I want for Christmas is to score more flukey goals on fellow Finns.

Hi, I'm Steve Montador and all I want for Christmas is for people to stop referring to me as "El Matador".

Hi, I'm Drew Stafford and all I want for Christmas Festivus is to hit a wide open net.

Hi, I'm Patrick Kaleta and all I want for Christmas is no more trips to the neurologist.

Hi, I'm Darcy Regier and all I want for Christmas is a fax machine.

And lastly...

Hi, I'm Ryan Miller and all I want for Christmas is Scott Gomez's throat slashed.

Feel free to add your own! And Merry Christmas everyone! :)

Wino Forever

Whenever I'm given the opportunity to drink wine in support of Ryan Miller and his Steadfast Foundation, I jump on the occasion. So it's a good thing that City Wine Merchant teamed up with The Steadfast Foundation to make it all possible! They're offering bottles of Catwalk for Charity themed Cabernet Sauvignon for $15, or you can spend $30 and get an autographed bottle...pretty awesome. I swung by there today and picked up myself an autographed bottle. Pretty stoked to drink it, because I love wine and I love Ryan Miller so it's a win-win combination.


Merry Christmas, Caroline.

Anyways, Check out this nice article about, you guessed it, Ryan Miller. Where it talks about, you guessed it, the Olympics!! For me, my favorite part of the article was this quote from Mr. Martin Brodeur:

"Look at his numbers," Brodeur said recently. "Tremendous. He's in control."

New Jersey's Martin Brodeur, a candidate to start for Team Canada, has noticed a maturity in Miller that goalies attain only through experience.

"You cannot be a top goalie if you go up and down all the time. You can stop 50 shots, but if you get pulled three times or whatever, it's all about being consistent," Brodeur said. "And I think he's getting that now."

Gotta love hearing one of the league's best goalies evaaaar giving such high regards to our dear little netminder.

So unfortunately due to work, I'm going to miss the next TWO games...saaah sad. I missed Friday's game against the Leafs because I was working...but I did catch the first period of the Pens game before heading off to a Christmas party. I watched a bit of the game here and there at the party, and I did watch a good portion of the third period and all of OT and the shootout. It's a little frustrating that we didn't grab the extra point...especially with all of our powerplay opportunities that we failed to capitalize on. But, we did hold the defending champs to only one goal in regulation, and it was one of those pesky back-to-back, 3-games-in-4 nights situations, and we were without Vanek and Miller...so the point is nice, but a victory was definitely in our reach Saturday night.

Although I'll be missing the last two games before the Christmas break, I am putting together a nice little Sabres-Christmas themed blog entry that I hope you all will enjoy. Until then...enjoy the game tonight!

MAD SIQ

So I think we all know who my favorite is in the Miller clan, but I've gotta show some love to Drew Miller after he scored this awesome goal in Detroit last night. Ch-ch-check it out...



Awesome... I love how excited he looks in his celebration too. Gotta love it. Obviously I don't follow Drew Miller as much as I follow Ryan Miller/the Sabres, but I do like to check in on him when I can due to me being quite partial to his older brother, and from I've heard ever since he got picked up by Detroit earlier this season, he's really stepped up his game. Detroit could use players like him stepping up... Atta boy, Mistahhh Millaaah.

Typical

The Sabres lost in Ottawa? Typical. We lost a key player to injury against Ottawa? Typical.

Apparently several players had food poisoning which really sucks, pretty interesting that several of our players got struck with it when we happened to play Ottawa. I guess the hockey gods out there really enjoy our troubles against the Sens. They still went 2-1 on the road and are 7-3 in their last 10...so no need to fret, it's just getting a little frustrating that Sabres fans can pretty much write off every Sens match up as a loss.

Anyways, I was thinking about something last week... I've lived in Buffalo my whole life, and during that time I've seen my fair share of Sabres and Bills out and about in public. But you know who I've never seen? Lindayyyyy. Out of all the years of him being a coach I've never seen him outside of the rink! But that changed today while I was Christmas shopping after my final exam... Lindayyyy was doing some shopping himself. Aww, Lindy...

So I won't be seeing much of the games this weekend due to me working late on Friday and a Christmas party on Saturday, but let's hope that the Sabres grab a pair of victories to let us forget about another embarrassment in Shottawa.

If you're still a little bummed out, I'll leave you with this trailer of a movie that's coming out next year about... Babies! It looks absolutely precious and extremely interesting. Can't wait to see it!

Étrange Shenanigans

Ahh, so... I'm sure it won't come as a surprise to anyone that I was extremely pleased with the Sabres taking care of bizznazz and beating the Shrangers...largely in part to one Mistah Patrick Kaleta, with his multi-goal game, a shorthanded goal to boot! There's nothing better than scoring a shorthanded goal, the best momentum killer out there. Seems like Kaleta liked the way it felt to score a shorty, so he decided to give it a whirl in Montreal...

I missed most of the Habs game, but I was able to listen to the end of the 2nd period in my car while driving home. I got to hear RJ call the our first two goals, which of course included Kaleta's shorty...ahh, I couldn't think of many things that could have satisfied me more than listening to Rick Jeanneret call a shorthanded goal against Montreal, IN Montreal, scored by one of our Buffalo natives. Magnifique. I went pretty crazy in my car, screaming and cheering and doing some fist pumping. I contemplated honking my horn in celebration, but I opted against it because the weather was pretty bad, and I didn't want to startle anyone on the road causing them to swerve and crash into a ditch or something of that nature. It would have put a damper on Kaleta's goal, no? But if it would have been the Goose that had scored, well my fellow drivers would have been shit out of luck. Because everyone knows if you're out and about, you have to give a honk for the Goose!

Anyways, I came home in time to catch the third period...and it certainly was a bizarre period, wasn't it. Leading 2-1 in a hockey game is never a safe lead, especially when you're up in Montreal's barn...phantom calls and bizarre events are always plentiful there. It certainly makes for interesting nights and often bitter losses. But Montreal's éntrange shenanigans were no match for the Sabres' sass Monday night. Non. The Sabres struggled to hang onto a lead, but thanks to MacArthur's PP goal on a 5-on-3 (a two-man advantage? To the OPPOSING team? In Montreal?! Surely you jest...), the Sabres were able to hang onto the 4-3 lead up until the buzzer sounded time keeper was busted for not starting the clock. Way to go, boyzzzz.

Now it's always fun to crack jokes and speculate...but seriously, why does that kind of sketchy shit always seem to happen in Montreal? That phantom too many men call against us is enough to shake your head at, but I've just come to expect that kind of stuff over the years. I know a lot of games can sometimes have certain issues with the clock, and sometimes they have to stop play to add or take off a few seconds here and there... But in the dying seconds of the third period when the Habs are down by a goal, and up on a 6-on-4 power play with the goalie pulled, and there just so happens to be an issue with starting the clock back up again? Hmmm....interesting to say the least.

Anyways... off to Ottawa. Miller will be in net again, but Ruff has announced that Lalime will start either Friday against the Leafs or Saturday against the Penguins, per WGR 550. I'm guessing Lalime will play on Friday. They're both home games, so that isn't a factor. But maybe Ruff liked starting Lalime during the beginning of back-to-backs, rather than the latter like he did last Friday against the 'Hawks. In theory, the team will be more tired on Saturday since they would have played the night before plus it's another 3-games-in-4-nights scenario, so maybe Ruff is thinking that he would rather have our starter in for that one. Plus it means less time between Lalime's last start, which means he could be getting himself into a little groove. Who knows... all I know it's pretty hard to argue with the results from the last time Lindy started Lalime during the beginning of back-to-backs.

Tomorrow night is huge for us not only because it's another divisional game, but for some damn pride. Our rivalry with Ottawa has been strengthened over the past few years, and that team always seems to have our number. Gotta get that win... And it looks as though Shottawa will be without the services of Jason Spezza for quite some time due to a knee injury. See kids? Christmas miracles do come true! I guess I should feel bad for calling someone's misfortune like an injury a Christmas miracle, but I don't. Guess that goes to show you much I loathe the Sens...just comes with the territory.

Speaking of Christmas, this time of year is just pretty crazy. Between Christmas shopping and preparing for and taking final exams, things can just be a little stressful. I think I can get my shopping finished in one or two more trips, it's just been hard finding the time. But thankfully I'll be getting more time to do that since exam week is almost done. Thank god. The only things I've got left to do is turn in a portfolio tomorrow and then I have my Art History final on Thursday and then the 2009 Fall Semester will officially be in the books. And I think that might be the greatest Christmas present for me this year...for real.

Oh! Look what I found earlier when I was getting out some Christmas decorations. This newspaper was being used to protect some of the decorations:



The date on the paper is January 1st, 2006... Ahh, ~precious memories~

Three Cheers for Patty!

Awww here it goes...

Well that was a fun game to be a part of... I have to say I was genuinely surprised to hear Patrick Kane receive so many boo's from the Buffalo crowd. I really wasn't expecting it. I was pretty sure that Soupy was going to get booed, but I didn't think Buffalonians felt so strongly about Kane's lousy tipping and cabbie pummeling. Or maybe they were just booing because he's one of those superstars, and sometimes fans feel obliged to boo other team's superstars. Eh, whateves. I just thought it was interesting. I was sort of sad to see Campbell get booed, although I was pretty sure it was going to happen. I just thought it was pretty cute when he asked fans to not boo him...oh well. A guy sitting near me was like, "Aw come on! He's a good guy!" My sentiments exactly, guy sitting near me. My sentiments exactly.

Anyways... my friend Phil and I were saying how Lalime must have taken some extra sass pointers from Miller, because boy was he SASSY tonight. Making 39 saves against the offensively charged Chicago Blackhawks. Verrry nice. It also seemed as though Patrick Kane took some pointers from Brian Campbell as he tried the fancy schmancy spin-o-rama a few times during the game, but he was d-e-n-i-e-d. Saaah sad.

The Sabres took a few penalties in the beginning of the game to allow the Blackhawks to pepper Lalime with several shots, but the Sabres did a good job killing off the penalty and they were up 2 goals going into the third period. I knew that the Blackhawks would come out hard and they scored within the first minute of the third period, but after that Lalime and the rest of the boys were there to hold down fort to secure a 2-1 victory. Also, kudos to the Blackhawks for taking an inopportune penalty during the final minute and a half of the game...thanks a lot, guys! We owe you one.

When I was leaving the game there was some Blackhawks fan bitching about her team losing. She was saying some nonsense on how the Blackhawks played the better game because they had more shots on goal than the Sabres. Then some guy said, "Yeah...well we had more shots IN goal." Zingggg! She must have been in a bad mood because she had a stupid little temporary tattoo of the Blackhawks logo right underneath her eye that looked like an unfortunate birth mark. What a shame.

So onto New York tomorrow... I just hope the Sabres put forth a better effort than they did the last time they played the disgusting Rangers. I know it's the latter end to back-to-backs and it's another 3 games in 4 nights scenario, but the Sabres must be feeling pretty good about themselves right now after tonight's game, plus Miller is coming off a shutout and he got a nice break tonight. SO. I'm expecting a better performance out of them...please let that be the case because it's an extra stab in my heart when the Sabres lose to the Rangers because I hate them so.

Oh and I'd just like to give my condolences to the Grier family for their loss. When I heard that Mike left the Sabres to be with his ill mother I had a feeling that things probably weren't looking good, but I was hoping for the best and that she would recover from whatever illness she had. Unfortunately that wasn't the case and I was extremely saddened when the announcer at the arena told us to give a moment of silence because of her passing. My thoughts are with the Grier family and I wish them all the strength that they need to get through such a difficult time.

Risking My Life For Pants

So I pratically risked my life today attempting to go shopping for a pair of pants and some jeans, due to the crazy whiteout conditions. Granted, when I pulled out of my driveway the winds weren't gusting, but as soon as we were on the 219 and the 90 it was pretty scary...needless to say I didn't attempt to go any further and we turned around to go home.

I guess it's a stay-at-home-and-blog-about-your-favorite-hockey-team kind of day, wouldn't you say? Let's get to it...

The Devils and the Rangers games were frustrating, and it's those kind of games that seemed to have been pretty familiar for Sabres fans over the past few seasons. Luckily we've been seeing less of those "clunkers", but I think whenever those kind of games happen, some fans can be hasty to make quick judgements about how this is the same old team with the same problems that will keep us out of the postseason. I guess it's understandable after two straight seasons of missing the playoffs, but sometimes I can't help but laugh at some people's reactions after bad games. It's an 82-game season, and as much as we'd want our Sabres to go without any of those clunkers...they're going to happen. I just wish one of those games wasn't against the disgusting New York Rangers...have I mentioned on here how much I loathe the Rangers? My friend works at Guess at the Galleria and he said a bunch of them were shopping there before the game and were acting like a bunch of divas...surprising!

Anywayssss... Last night's game had a little something for everyone. I was happy when Montador scored because I took care of him at work the other day and he was really nice to me so ever since then I've been rooting a little more for him, because who doesn't like nice people? I know I do. We had the little guy Nathan Gerbe score his first NHL goal, and who doesn't love watching someone get their first NHL goal? I know I do. We had Henrik Tallinder score an amazing end to end goal, and I've mentioned on here the last time he scored a goal how I'm always extra happy when Hank scores a goal because people were getting so down on him the past few seasons. And who doesn't like it when someone who had been underacheiving the past few seasons pick it up and score a goal? I know I do. And then there was Ryan Miller being his skillfull, sassy self and he made 35 saves and got himself another shutout. And who doesn't like shutouts? I know I do.

I also love this picture of Sabretooth bowing down to his greatnesss Ryan Miller:


Ah-mazingggg! <-- That was supposed to be in Kelly Kapoor's voice. If you don't who Kelly Kapoor is, then shame on you.

So I was supposed to volunteer tonight at Carly's Club Annual Holiday Party, but due to the crazy weather, it was rescheduled. Which got me thinking, I wonder if the weater is going to impact the Blackhawks game tomorrow. I wonder if the Blackhawks are in town yet? I'm going to the game tomorrow, and I will risk my life to be there....I mean if I risked my life to get a pair of pants today, then I know I'll risk my life to go to a Sabres-Blackhawks match up. It's the return of Soupy....and I really hope no one boos him. I thought it was so cute when he told fans not to boo him when he comes back. Awww, poor guy. I have a feeling he might get booed. :(

I also wonder if the weather is going to continue next week...because that's when all my finals are. Today was my last day of classes but I didn't go to any of them because of the weather. Hmmm...

Speaking of which, I should be spending tonight studying and working on my final projects. But I know I won't... I'm in the mood to watch a movie. Maybe Titanic... Yes, Titanic! When I was in NYC I went to a Titanic Artifact Exhibit and it was amazing... There was a replica of the grand staircase and my cousin and I got our picture on the staircase. If you're my friend on Facebook I posted it on there, but I haven't gotten around to posting it on my Flickr yet. I'll be sure to post that picture and the other pictures from NYC on here once I get them on Flickr.

I hope all of you Buffalonians out there (or anyone else who is dealing with the snow storm) stays safe tonight! And don't go out to get a new pair of pants...it's not worth it.

Sass & Class

Yesterday our precious jewel Ryan Miller displayed excellent sass and class and it's times like that when I'm reminded why he's my favorite player.

Miller made 38 saves last night en route to his 3rd shutout of the season. I missed the majority of the first period because for some reason I thought the game started at 7:30, not 7. Guess missing those three games in a row got me out of my rhythm of knowing when the games are on. From what I heard, apparently it took about 15 minutes until the Sabres found their feet, but from what I watched, the Sabres seemed to be keeping up with the Leafs and eventually they were outskating and outhustling them...and it looked like the Leafs were too tired and just started to give up. The Sabres had a lot of scoring chances and it seems that it's pretty hard to get that first goal, but once they do, it seems to get a bit easier for them. I'm always real happy when Kennedy scores because he seems to be a real smart player and it's nice to see him get rewarded by a goal. I think he's going to be a great player for us down the road, and it's exciting to watch him.

I was also glad to see Tallinder get a goal because I thought he played a real good game, and I've been impressed with him lately. I know we have a few scapegoats on our team that I don't even need to mention, and whether it's warrented or not, they have earned that title and it seems as though it takes awhile for fans to "forgive" them... I think Tallinder has really improved thus far in this season, but might not be getting a lot of credit from fans, since they all seem to remember is his poor play from previous seasons. I'm not saying he should be completely off the hook or that it's 100% sure that he's turned the corner, but I guess I'm saying that I'm glad he scored a goal.

My favorite part of the game other than the victory and Miller getting a shutout, is Miller being so classy for everyone to see... I think most Buffalonians are well aware that he's a class act and an overall good person, but I really liked how he acted when he accidently hit the camera man (or photographer?) in the face with a puck. He immediately skated over to see if he was alright, and then right after the buzzer sounded he went over and gave the guy his stick. How cute was that? Nice to know that he still had the guy in his thoughts even after he just got himself a shutout. It was cute when they showed Lalime smirking on the bench right after it happened, because the announcers were saying that in practice Lalime always tries to shoot the puck through the mousehole, but he never can.

So after Miller's sassy performance in the game, and his classy reaction to hitting the camera guy, I was ready to jump on my Miller 2012 Presidential Campaign again...anyone remember this?


Awww yeaaah. Get it, Ryan!

Speaking of our classy goalie, I know it's kind of last minute...but if you're in the Buffalo area, Ryan is going to be at New Era flagship store on Delaware tonight from 5-6 pm signing Steadfast Foundation hats for anyone who purchases one. Obviously proceeds go towards the foundation, so if you're in the area around that time you should stop in...I'm interested to see what the hats look like. I won't be able to make it out because I have class, unfortunately.

I would skip class but this is a class that I have skipped for the past 3 weeks, I kid you not. Honestly, I have roughly a week and a half of classes until the semester ends, and I really have no motivation to go to any of them. I skipped my classes yesterday, and I'm currently blowing off my Art History class. Can't we just fast foward a few weeks and pretend that it happened?