All Tied Up

Well, Saturday's matinee didn't exactly go the way the Sabres or their fans wanted it to. I would describe myself was a level-headed, even-keeled person. But when it's the playoffs, and when I'm watching my team compete in them for the first time in 2 years, I live and die with every moment. Yesterday I got pretty upset when the Bruins tied the game 2-2. A few drinks later, I came back down to earth and realized that it's not the end of the world. The series is tied at 1 a piece, and so is every other series, aside from the Chicago-Nashville one since there's only been one game played.

This isn't going to be an easy series for either team. There's going to be adversity, and the Sabres are going to lose some games. I think Ryan Miller said it best in his post-game interview, that it doesn't matter which order you win the games, as long as you win 4. So the Sabres didn't win Game 2, and people can say that now the momentum is in Boston's favor now that they're heading back to Boston, but whatever. I think it will be interesting to see how our group of veterans with playoff experience respond, along with our young players and rookies who have yet to experience it.

The Sabres definitely have some things that they need to work on, like the frickin' power play. When the Bruins tied the game and then took the lead, the Sabres had opportunities to get back in it by scoring on the power play, and they failed to capitalize on any of their chances. I don't want to sound like a broken record because I'm sure I've said it multiple times on here already, but they could be in serious trouble if they can't figure out how to score on the power play. They also need to learn how to not take their foot off the gas, which I thought they did in the 2nd period again. I don't think they're stupid, they are well aware that no lead is safe in hockey, but for som reason they seemed to sit back in the 2nd and Boston scored twice to tie it up. But you also have to give Boston credit for battling back and scoring on the bounces and chances that they got. It's not like the Sabres were absolutely terrible and handed the game to Boston, that wasn't the case at all.

Vanek's injury is a huge blow, and it seemed to suck the air out of the arena when he was crawling off the ice. It looked pretty bad, but according to the The Buffalo News, while he is likely out for Game 3, he should be back before the series is over. So that's pretty reassuring. Drew Stafford could also be back for Monday's game, even though he's had a disappointing season, maybe the playoffs will kick start something for him.

The bottom line is, I believe that the Stanley Cup is the hardest trophy to win in all professional sports. In no way is it going to be easy, and having the series tied is not a big deal. The Sabres know why they lost on Saturday and they know what it takes to win. It's a wild ride of emotions when your team is in the playoffs, you just have to sit back and hope for a better outcome on Monday.

To try and keep things positive, let's relive the memories of Game 1. I've got my pictures and videos uploaded.


This cracked me up hahaha


Dialed in.


Announcing the Sabres roster...ahhh everyone was so READY for the puck to drop.

The rest of the pictures can be viewed here.

And now some videos!

This is a video of us coming down the escalator from the 300s to be greeted by thousands of jubilant Sabres fans.



This one is of us coming down the escalator in the atrium. About a minute in is when the guy fell through the partition between the escalator and stairs.



I've got a few more videos of us leaving the arena, the last few seconds of the game, and us walking around the streets of Buffalo which can all be viewed here.

Here's me sending positive hippy vibes (remember those?!) to our favorite boys... Let's Go Buffalo!