Congratulations Are In Order

Well, well, well... You gotta hand it to the kid. Congratulations to the Blackhawks, Pat Kane, and his family! Who would've thought that when I was watching that kid in all black skate around with my brother years ago that he would be the future number 1 overall draft pick, an Olympian, and a Stanley Cup champion? It's pretty crazy to think about. He may have started off on the wrong step this year with the infamous cab incident last summer, but there's no denying that he's a hell of a hockey player...you have to be proud that he's a homegrown Buffalo boy, and it was great seeing that he is proud of that as well as it was the first thing he mentioned when he was interviewed on the ice right after they won the Cup. I loved when Pierre McGuire told him to behave himself during the parade and Pat just responded by saying, "Not a chance..." Live it up Kaner, you've earned it.

Now that the 2010-2011 NHL season is officially in the books...we can look forward to next season. The draft, trades, and free agency are imminent so it will be fun to see what changes happen to our roster. Until then... I'll be looking forward to the NHL Awards that are in a few weeks. I can't wait to see Ryan looking all snazzy and dapper in his suit and hopefully he'll pick up that Vezina!

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.

If you don't know by now, I'm talkin' 'bout Chi-Town.

Ah, yes. Chicago. A great city. Now complete with a great hockey team. It's hard for me (and probably a lot of Sabres fans agree) to find much to dislike about the Blackhawks. First of all, they're a Western Conference team so that automatically makes it easier for me to like them and wish them success. Second of all, the most obvious reason is because South Buffalo's Pat Kane is on the team and is quickly becoming one of their franchise players. Also, I think they are reminiscent of what the Sabres were coming out of the lockout. They're young and they're proving themselves to be one of the more respected Clubs in the NHL. They've also inspired a healthy fanbase in the Chicago area. Plus, everyone's favorite red-headed defenseman is now with the team (don't worry Soupy, I won't boo you when you come back to HSBC).

What I am trying to say is that I'm pretty excited for tonight's game. It will be a challenge for the team, for sure. But hey, isn't that what sports is all about? I was pretty excited for the Detroit match-up as well, even though I wasn't expecting us to win...but I was surprised for how long they did hang in Ryan Miller hung in there for. Anyways, it will be interesting to see our boys compete against them. Last year when Chicago came to town it was a lot of fun. It was a perfect scenario for us; our hometown boy scores a goal (the only goal for the 'Hawks) but the Sabres still won and I thought it was a pretty entertaining game. All in all, it was a fun game to be at. We were all Sabres fans, but everyone was there to cheer on Kane as well. I wonder how Brian Campbell will perform against his former team for the first time. Like Ryan Miller said, he's going to have to do better than the spin-o-rama.

Speaking of goalies, Lalime will be between the pipes tonight against his former team. Let's see how he does. Everyone knows that Miller has been phenomenal lately, but if we want him to keep that up then he's going to have to get some rest here and there. Plus, it gives us a chance to get Lalime some action so he doesn't end up getting too rusty. Perhaps having him play against his former team will give him some more incentive to play better and show them how he's doing with his new team.

Continuing with the goalie talk, Puck Daddy has a nice write-up on goalies that come up big when their team is shorthanded and everyone's favorite hippie goaltender came up ontop proving that he's a big difference maker during the PK. I also liked what Miller said the other day about goaltending, how he compared it to a golf swing:

“It’s kind of like a golf swing. That’s how I try to explain things to people. You go to the range and you’re thinking about six different things: Where is the weight on this foot, back hinge, the elbow, all this stuff. Goaltending is a lot like that. My stance, my hand positioning, where I am in the crease, how much I challenge, my glove side not being too low or too high, trying to get dialed in. The last few games I’ve felt good… I’m starting to feel more like where I think I need to be.”

It's a nice analogy because it gives people who probably aren't that familiar with being a goaltender better insight into what goes into being a goalie and all the things that you have to think about at once...pretty interesting. In the words of Mr. Lalime, Miller certainley has been a "treat" to watch. In so many different ways, Patrick, in so many different ways...

In more lineup news, it looks like Chris Butler is scratched tonight with Numminen playing, according to The Buffalo News. It seemed as if Numminen was going to be the one scratched since he was paired with Nathan Paetsch the past few practices, but it appears not so. Butler certainly can use the ice time, and I don't think it would hurt to have Teppo sit out a game or two every now and then considering his age, but what do I know.

And now, my dear readers, I leave you with this stroll down memory lane. How can we ever forget this classic? Brian Campbell is forever immortalized in the Greater Buffalo area thanks to YouTube and excessive sweating:



Thanks for the memories, Soupy.