April Fools

Uhh, so I think it's crystal clear that the Sabres wanted to pull a prank on their fans by losing to the Maple Leafs in their final meeting this season. Real cool... But I was thinking...maybe a Sabres loss to the Leafs equals a Sabres win against Ottawa. A bit of a reach? I think not.

So aside from those goofy Sabres pulling a prank on us, did anyone get tricked or pull any pranks today on April Fool's Day? I've never been the prankster type, but my mom actually convinced me that an elephant was loose in Orchard Park. Shut up... It's because I forgot it was April Fool's Day and I have this weird fascination with animals escaping the zoo/circus, OKAY?! Maybe I just wanted it to be true, so my mind convinced itself that it was. Also, I'm pretty sure my mom has used that prank on me on every April Fool's Day since I was about, oh I don't know, seven.

In other things that are amusing, I stumbled across this short but sweet video yesterday, it was during Ryan Miller's magical media tour he did in NYC right after the Olympics... Ryan answers five random questions, not sure if they were submitted by fans or not, but they ranged from his guilty pleasures to what he would be doing if he wasn't a goalie.

I was amused that listening to Miss Sasha Fierce herself is considered his guilty pleasure, because I've always said that Lady GaGa and Beyonce are my guilty pleasures... But Lady GaGa has since been taken off that list because I'm not embarrassed to admit that I like her. Just took me a few months to catch on to her wacky ass self. But I still have to say whenever a song by Beyonce comes onto my iPod while I'm driving with friends I feel a little embarrassed, because her songs are cheesy as hell. But you know damn well when I'm driving by myself I love singing out loud how if he liked it then he shoulda put a ring on it, or how I love his huge ego (he walks like this cuz he can back it up, right Ryan?).

The last question is one of the weirdest questions I've heard...if you were a ghost, where would you haunt? Umm... I love how Ryan picked Fright Fest Disney World because it's "somewhere fun". I've been thinking about it, and I don't know where I would haunt if I were a ghost. Where would YOU guys haunt?

Like A Man

Oooh, what a man...



There's really nothing much better than hearing Ryan Miller saying how much he dislikes the Maple Leafs. What's better? Well, maybe seeing him throw a punch at one of them is nice. I love how the little bitch laid on the ice writhing in pain and the camera showed Miller shouting at him, and you know the word "pussy" was used at least once.

Gotta love Myers scoring 2 goals and Miller being his total badass, sassy self against the Lady Leafs. I used to love going to Leafs games so I could wish them a nice trip home back to the T.O. Honestly the only reason I dislike that team as much as I do is because of their cocky fans which is pretty priceless considering how pathetic their team is.

So it's pretty easy to tell how amused I was to see my favorite player getting all sassy on them and throwing a few punches their way and then being his badass self in his post-game interview. Ahhh, gotta love it.

Anyways, while this post isn't full of in depth hockey analysis, it shows how much I enjoy a Sabres victory over the Maple Leafs because it ensures that there are some bitter Leafs fans driving home on the QEW tonight....warms my heart. And I apologize if this post is all over the place because I'm still quite intoxicated from a little get together I participated in tonight after the Sabres' lovely win over the Lady Leafs.

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?

Refreshing Victory

So the Sabres made it a little interesting in the third period (they seem to like to do that) by letting the Leafs creep in and cut the 4 goal differential into just one. I was really hoping that the Sabres weren't in the mood for another third period collapse, and I'm glad that they showed that they weren't by netting another goal to put the Leafs away for good.

How great was it to see Miller in net for us again? While Kevin Sylvester and Mike Robitaille were giving us the stats and such before the game, I heard the PA guy announcing the lineup to the crowd and when he said Ryan Miller you could hear the huge uproar of applause and cheers from the crowd. It was great to see Ryan pick up where he left off and look like his old self. I'm sure his adrenaline was running high from returning and I'm sure that attributed to it, but he really looked sharp out there and he came up with some big saves.

This team really does seem to play different when he's in net, and I know that's been debated back and forth whether that's true, but it really does seem to be the case. It's not like the Sabres are going to play like superstars every time Ryan is between the pipes, but there just seems to be a little more swagger in their stride when he's playing and I'm sure that stems from confidence. They're familiar with him and they know that they've got a solid goaltender on their side.

I also really liked how the team responded whenever players got too close to our net. They let them know that there was going to be consequences if they are going to be hanging around there. We even saw a little bit of sass come from Ryan when a player blew some snow all up in his grill. He was like, "Um excuse you, no one blows snow in my face." I liked when Gaustad dropped the gloves after Miller got an extra bump. Watching out for his buddy Ryan. Gotta love it.

Speaking of the Goose, he had a Gordie Howe hat-trick tonight! Picked up an assist, got into a few fights, and scored a very important goal to put the Leafs away. Very nice. It's pretty hard to not like Gaustad's game. He gives an honest effort every night and it seems as though he's put himself into a leadership role and it's really nice to have players like him on our team.

So at this point in the season and the position that our team is in, you just have to take it game by game. Scoreboard watching, predictions, and calculations can make for stressful situations and it can take the enjoyment out of watching the games. I know the team's chances are pretty thin, but I am just going to try and not worry about it and just enjoy the games. I was really excited all day for the game tonight just knowing that Miller was going to be back. It was so much fun to watch him again. It's been awhile, eh? So while the team tries their hardest to climb, I'm just going to hope that they give an honest effort every night and hopefully the enjoyment will follow.

By the way...what the hell was going on with Rayzor in Ryan Miller's post-game interview? Something catches his attention off camera and he makes the funniest facial expressions. I don't know what happened, but I wish I knew what caused him to have such a funny reaction.

Also, unrelated to hockey, I mentioned in a previous post about the local restaurant week that has been going on. It was a good opportunity to go out and eat at the restaurant, Sample...a place that I've been really wanting to go try but just haven't gotten around to it. So I went today and it didn't disappoint. All the little samples were really cute and I should have taken pictures of them haha. Every dish that had different samples were different and had some pretty unique selections. Everything was very good. They also had this great passion fruit margarita that had cayenne in it. It was this sweet, tangy taste with a little kick at the end. I really liked it. I think it's a real neat concept. Whenever I go out to eat I am always drawn to the appetizers and I usually like getting a few to split amongst the people I'm with. This way you get to try a little bit of everything. And even though it's small samples, you really do get a lot of food and it fills you up. I had to pace myself and make sure that I made room for the dessert dish...which was very good. So if you're ever in the Allentown area I'd recommend this place. I'll definitely be back...that margarita is a-callin'.