Thoughts on Preseason

Happy October, everyone! October is a great month... The weather is beautiful, the leaves are changing colors, pumpkins, (spiked) cider, Halloween... And... HOCKEY!

The season opener for the Sabres is this Friday, October 9th and they are just about to wrap up preseason. They have one more game tomorrow against the Flyers, but I just wanted to give my thoughts about what I've seen (more like heard) so far.

- After I attended the preseason opener against the Leafs, I mentioned that it's been hard for me to get a read on Gerbe. Since then I think he's had a real impressive preseason and you can tell that he is trying to work for a spot on the Sabres roster. He's scored some goals for us and he plays with a lot of heart despite his size. While he has been solid, I still wonder where exactly he would fit on the team. I think that he is still going to have to remain in Portland and wait for when a call-up is necessary.

- Luke Adam had a great game against Montreal...seems to have great offensive prowess.

- I think Enroth has looked really solid... I expect him to have a great year in Portland and I'm sure he'll be seeing more playing time with the Sabres than he did last year.

- All in all, I'm liking what I'm seeing out of our vets, which is pretty important. I'm looking forward to seeing what Vanek and Roy can do for us this year. I'm sure that they know that they have a lot of expectations to live up to and I'm interested to see if they can live up to the task.

- Drew Stafford has been refreshing... He has the potential to be a real difference maker, but last season was real lackluster for Drew and a big disappointment for Sabres fans. There have been numerous articles and stories with comments from Stafford where he has mentioned that he made adjustments in the offseason to improve his game, both physically and mentally. So far he's looked good. Ryan Miller sat down with ESPN and he was asked which player does he expect to have a breakout year and Ryan was quick to say Stafford. He said that he gets a sense that it could be a big year for Drew, so it'll be interesting to see how things shake out... But as of now, things are looking good. You can watch Ryan's interview with ESPN here. It's a good one, towards the end of it he talks about the wonderful eating habits that college teaches us.

- Mike Grier is awesome. I don't think I need to elaborate much more on that.


So a new season is upon us and it's time to get very excited! Incase you're still having trouble getting excited for hockey, I'll just leave this here...



It's a commercial for the NHL featuring Ryan Miller and he's doing what he does best...being sassy and fierce. Wow...it's been too long since I've used the word "sassy", don't you think?