Ryan Miller & Paul Gaustad: Choke Artists?

Hmm, not quite. But in some ways apparently they are. Today while I waiting for my lunch at the Globe Market, I was waiting to use the bathroom. While standing there I came across a very intriguing choking poster. While looking at what I thought was your typical generic choking poster that's in every eating establishment in North America, right in front of me was Ryan Miller playing the role of an unresponsive choking victim. Nothing short of amazing. With a goofy grin on my face, I searched the poster more and guess who was acting as the poor soul who first realizes that they are choking? No other than our own Paul Gaustad! Wutttt. I have honestly no idea why the hell they're on the poster but the only thing I can think of is that they're probably both regulars at the Globe Market. Well, I've seen Ryan there more than once. I've never seen the Goose there, but I'm sure almost everyone has seen him meandering around Elmwood before so I can just assume that he and Ryan frequent the Globe Market when they're on bro dates together (the last time I saw Ryan there he was totally on a bro date with Andrew Peters...and the server gave Ryan my sandwich...but I let it slide).

Anyways, I couldn't leave without snapping a few pictures of this glorious poster. So for your viewing pleasure...I give you the best choking poster I have ever seen:



Clearly being unresponsive is very unamusing to Ryan Miller.



He's a little harder to make out, but make no mistake...that is the Goose!

It was harder for me to get a picture of Gaustad because the top of the poster was more than a foot higher than me (which is a pretty accurate height differential between the Goose and I), but Ryan was all up in my grill.

So I just made a whole blog entry about a choking poster that has Ryan Miller's and Paul Gaustad's faces taped onto it...yeah, it must be the offseason.

Happy Birthday Ryan!

I hope Ryan appreciates that I dragged myself out of bed after a hard night of drinking with my cousins at their cottage up at the lake to wish him a happy birthday, but that's the kind of dedicated fan I am (actually I may or may not have a hair appointment at noon). Today a certain sassy goalie turns the big 2-9. So happy birthday Ryan! I hope you drink lots of booze and you get plenty of sexy gifts from all of your friends and family. For my present I am sending you some positive hippie vibes to ensure a successful 2009-2010 season. And here's hoping that your bitchy left ankle doesn't give you any more shit.




I hope your BFF Goose gave you a call or a text to wish you a happy birthday (I just wanted a reason to post that picture to be completely honest).



Sparty on Ryan, Sparty on.



*This post has been approved by Ryan Miller*

Schedule's Out

Before I dive into the plethora of hockey news that I'm about to get into (because when I have more than 2 hockey-related things to talk about in July, it's considered a "plethora" of hockey news), I first want to mention that my cat of several years passed away yesterday. It's never easy to lose a pet, and Hershey was my beloved kitty since I was a little kid. He had been sick for a little while and yesterday he took a turn for the worst. He was a very sweet cat who just loved to cuddle with us. I'll miss him.



His eyes look pretty scary in that picture and the picture is out of focus, but it's the most recent picture I have of him. He's standing next to one of my three dogs, Toby.


- Anyways...as all of you already know, the schedule for the 2009-2012 NHL season was released yesterday! As excited as I was about the schedule being released, just when I hear the word "schedule" makes me remember that I still need to figure out my schedule for next semester and...eeesh. But anyways...I'm glad to see that Chicago is coming to town. I'm definitely going to go to that one. I was thinking about also taking a road trip and going to an away game. I've never been to a Sabres game on the road before. I was thinking about maybe going to the Detroit game in March. We'll see. I'm also looking forward to the Calgary game. I like going to games where the Sabres are playing opponents that you don't usually see very often. I would also like to go to a Sharks, Caps, and Rangers game too. I fucking hate the Rangers so I go in hopes that we beat their ass. But then there's a chance that we lose and it pisses me off even more because I hate the team so much...but hey it's a gamble! That's what sports is about. I wonder when mini-pack forms will be mailed out. Hmm...

- Patrick Kaleta accepted his qualifying offer from the Sabres yesterday. I don't think many people had any doubts whether or not he'd return to the team next season, given he's a hometown boy and all, but it's still good to see that we have one of our RFAs signed. Now we have to see if management can strike a deal with MacArthur before he heads to arbitration. Then of course there's Stafford and Sekera. We'll see...

- Lastly, someone on the Sabres forums posted some cool videos of Thomas Vanek training with the hockey strength and conditioning coach from the University of Minnesota. They're pretty interesting videos to watch and it gives us a little peek into some of the training that the hockey players do in the offseason. Here's a link to a clip of Vanek doing 180 reverse bench jumps...intense stuff. If you look to the lower left of the screen under "Related Clips" there are a bunch of other clips of Vanek doing different exercises and some interviews.

PS: This is my 100th post...crazy! Now I'm off to my cousin's cottage in Ontario to have some drinks and spend some time on the beach. I think I deserve it after putting in so many hours of blogging, amirite?!

Weighing in on the Moves

I figured I should weigh in on the moves that the Sabres have made so far this offseason. To no ones surprise, the Sabres did not make any shocking or huge moves, but they did make minor tweaks to the roster. Our biggest depature has been Jaroslav Spacek, as he and about 45 other NHLers headed on over to Montreal for greener pastures. I've always been indifferent on Spacho. I think he is a good defenseman, but I don't know if I would call him a difference-maker. It remains to be seen if his void will be noticeable. His wonderfully eloquent inteviews will be sorely missed by me though.

The Sabres added defensemen Steve Montador and Joe DiPenta. I'm going to be honest and say I know nothing about DiPenta, but I know the kind of defenseman Montador is. Montador will add some more grit to the blueline, which is an essential piece to winning I think. He's not Chris Pronger, but I can see him finding a nice role on our squad and being a reliable blueliner. This could all be blind optimism, but who really knows!

The Sabres also re-signed Matt Ellis, which I was pleased about. Ellis is a player that you really can root for and I thought he did his job very well when he played for us. I'd hope to see him get more playing time because if I recall correctly, the team won a lot when he was in. Coincidence? Hmm. Moore, Peters, Numminen, and Afinogenov are our UFAs that are still not signed by any clubs as of now, and Moore is the only player that I can see potentially returning to play for us. Numminen is probably going to retire, and I think Max is just going to need a change of scenery for him to get back on track. Peters? Well he is a cheap player so if the Sabres re-signed him it wouldn't be the end of the world but I know a lot of fans would overreact. I wish the best for all of our recently departed players, though.

There is something else that I want to touch on but I won't harp on it for too long. After reading various Sabres blogs and message boards, I just cannot stand how much some fans love to complain and be negative. Look, I know that coming into the offseason after missing the playoffs for two straight seasons doesn't exactly make fans want to feel positive, but I think there are a good handful of fans out there who have grown accustomed to putting a negative spin on everything. Especially with our management. Our front office doesn't have the best track record over the past few years, but I think fans need to look at some things with a more clear head. During the season many fans (and the media) complained that our team lacked toughness and grit and we needed to add more grinders to our roster. So this offseason Darcy acquires a few of those grinders, and many fans are complaining that Darcy is wasting his time with "bad" hockey players because they don't have as much skill or talent as other players on the market. Fans also complain when Darcy doesn't make trades to get rid of certain players like Hecht or Tallinder. I don't think some fans realize that trades aren't as easy to make as they are in NHL 09. You aren't going to trade Hecht for Malkin. Yes I'm aware that's an extreme example, but you understand the gist.

Darcy has always made more subtle moves than other GMs when it comes to free agency, and he likes to trade or find players from within our system. Many fans are fed up with Darcy's lack of moves in the offseason. But to look on the flip-side of things would signing a player to a mega deal really help this team to win a Cup? Did Hossa win a Cup for Detroit? Did Campbell get a Cup for Chicago? Did Drury and Gomez get a Cup for the Rangers? Did Mats Sundin get Vancouver's name engraved on Lord Stanley? Now that's not to say that acquiring a top marquee player is a mistake, but I just think that free agency can be extremely overhyped and teams can overpay for a player out of desperation and it can really leave a team in a tight spot in the upcoming years. I mean, who was the most active team in last year's free agency? If I recall correctly it was Tampa Bay.

I'm not saying that fans always have to agree with our front office's decisions, I'm just saying that it's okay to also look at things with a more level head and maybe things aren't as bad as the fans and the media perceives them to be. We have a bunch of young talent in the AHL and some of them already seem to be ready to make the jump to the NHL (Myers?). I'm not saying these kids are going to come in be our saviors, but it will be fun and exciting to see some fresh faces and it will be interesting to see how they fair. And believe it or not, we still have a lot of talent on our current roster, and they really can be a playoff team... There are a lot of "ifs", but I do believe that this team is capable of making the playoffs. It's really in the player's hands and as easy as it is to be negative about our situation, I just will always try to see the best in situations and I know that this team has the tools to being a very good team. Look at Pittsburgh. They were in 10th place for a good stretch and they were battling to clinch a playoff spot during the tight Eastern Conference playoff race, but they clinched a spot and they battled their way to the Cup. While everyone had their eyes on the top teams like San Jose, Detroit and Boston, Pittsburgh continued to play great hockey and got the ultimate reward. Granted they have players like Crosby and Malkin on their team, but my point is anything can happen in the playoffs.

The offseason isn't over yet and there are still players out there and the Sabres can still make moves. But as of now, I am still being patient and I'm not about to throw in the towel for the 09-10 season 3 months before the season begins.

This & That

Just a quick update of my thoughts on all the skinny that has been going on with Sabres and the NHL.

- Anne and Shelby have already informed us that our very own Ryan Miller has been invited to Team USA's Orientation Camp in August. He's the only player on the roster who will be representing the blue & gold, but WNYers like Pat Kane and Brooks Orpik are also on the roster. Ryan has said before how much it means to him to participate in the Olympics and to represent his country, and it will be really neat for Sabres fans to see him out there competiting. I'm not going to pretend that not I'm biased, but I really hope he gets the starting job. He's a great competitor who has shown that he can raises his play significantly at key moments in important games, and I think he'd do a good job in backstopping Team USA in the 2010 Winter Olympics. Being apart of Team USA also means that it's likely that he and Chris Drury will once again be teammates. And then there's Mr. Scott "I like to take out Ryan Miller and bust his left ankle" Gomez and Mr. Phil "I like to give Ryan Miller a shit-eating grin after I score on him in a shootout" Kessel who are also potential future Team USA members. Do I sense some drama? Nahhhh, of course not. These aren't high school girls, these are grown men for god's sake! I suppose one of the neat things about being apart of the Olympics is that players have to put aside their differences and rivalries and join together to represent their country and compete together.

- Today the Aud has officially been knocked down...finally. A time capsule was found during the Aud's demoltion from 1939...pretty neat! Here is a link to the video of Byron Brown opening the capsule and showing the crowd what is in it. Many fans are sad to see the Aud go, but I guess I game to terms awhile ago, and I'm not bummed like most fans. The memories will live on forever and that's all that really matters. Hopefully the demolition of the Aud represents a new chapter in the waterfront development situation because I know how much Buffalonians are craving for some sort of attraction down there. I was down at the waterfront a few days ago and it was really buzzing. The people of Buffalo are just dying for some sort of activity/attraction to go on down there and I just hope that the city follows through.

- I attended the Draft Party at the Albright-Knox with a few of my fellow Sabres fans and I had a pretty good time. Everyone in attendence seemed to be very pleased with the Sabres' selection of Kassian...I think the fans are pretty happy to see the direction that the Sabres chose in this year's draft. It was also fun to see Mike Robitaille wander around the stage in his sassy flippy floppys and Tim Conolly oogle at my assets. Gotta love Timmy. He always knows how to class it up. There was also an awesome BOUNCE HOUSE in front of the art gallery that I really wanted to bounce on but I restrained myself. The draft got me excited for the future as I've heard really good things about Kassian and our other draft picks. It also made me think of the prospects that we already have like Myers who has a good chance at making the squad next year, which would be pretty exciting.

- Tomorrow is the big day...free agency! It's the day that hockey fans either embrace or dread, depending on what position your team is in. Regardless, it's a day of excitment and we'll see players get signed to mega contracts worth vast sums of money (Bouwmeester) and we'll also see fans bitch and moan when their GM (Darcy Regier) does absolutely NOTHING to improve their team's roster (the Buffalo Sabres). I know I'm excited! It's a day where fans have to say goodbye to certain members of their beloved team and it's also a time where fans might welcome a new addition! For us, it seems more and more likely that we're going to say goodbye to Spacek, Peters, Numminen, and Afinogenov. There are also the lesser known UFAs like Ellis and Moore that may or may not stick around. It's not really worth weighing in on these specific players and what I want to see our management do with them, but all I'll say is happy trails for those who do leave us.

I'm sure I'll be updating in the upcoming days to recap the free agency frenzy. Until then...

Picture Time

Ello, ello. In my last post I said that I'd make an update posting photos that I've taken recently, sooo here we are. I've got some pictures from my day at the Allentown Art Festival and I've also got some pictures I took when I was down at the Waterfront a few weeks ago. But the pictures that I am the most eager to post are from the No Doubt concert!

I've said this several times on here, but I was so excited to see them live...being a huge fan for all these years and never seeing them live before. I think live music is the best. I'm always up for going to a concert or a show, even if I'm not familiar with the band or musician. Live music to me is always entertaining and you never know if you're going to stumble across a new band or musician in your endeavors. So it's especially awesome to go see a band that you're a huge fan of live. I guess it's strange for me that I have never seen No Doubt live after all these years of being a fan since I have been to my fair share of concerts over the years.

I was like a kid on Christmas the day of the show. I couldn't really contain myself and I was just so eager to see them. I went with my two good friends and my cousin. We got there pretty early to tailgate and then we made our way to the venue. We were right up against the stage and it was awesome! The first act was a musician named Janelle Monáe. I've never heard of her before but I think she has recruited a fan. I thought she was very talented and she had a great stage presence. The second act was Paramore. I've never really listented to Paramore before but I know some of their stuff. The lead singer was very energetic and cute and the bassist was pretty sexy. But I was just eager to see No Doubt. They really blew me away. They've been together for so long yet they still seemed so fresh and innovative. Gwen Stefani is a star, what can I say. You could tell that each member of the band was feeding off each other's energy and they loved being onstage together. I had a wonderful time and I keep looking at my pictures and listening to their songs to try and relive the night.

Anyways...onto the pictures!


Allentown Art Festival


An adorable baby bulldog that was attracting all sorts of attention at the festival.


A very friendly dog that likes to walk up and down Elmwood. His owner is a very nice man who has a flower shop on Elmwood.


Buffalo's waterfront


Lake Erie


Lake Erie


Gwen Stefani


Tony Kanal and his awesome bass.


Gwen being awesome.


Tom, Adrian, and Gwen during the encore.


The band takes a bow!



Ahh yes, good times. Sorry if the influx of photographs was too large for your liking, but I did say that this was going to be a photo post. Heh. I've got some more pictures of the concert and of the waterfront on my Flickr, if you'd like to see more. Other than that...I hope all the dads out there had a great Father's Day!

Kaleta's Busted Hand & Some Slow Motion Hockey

So now that the offseason is in full swing, I really don't have much to say, but I will try. Right now I'm feeling pretty restless with a lot of things so maybe updating this will help. I found a few links and I have a few tidbits that I thought some of you might be interested in.

- First off, here is a really great story about a bunch of men in their 70s and 80s who still get together to play some shinny hockey. They call it "slow motion hockey". It's great stuff. How refreshing is it to see these guys have such a positive and youthful outlook on life at their age. I hope when I get to be that age I have their perspective.

- Secondly, while I was going about my routine of checking the various blogs that I like to read, I found a story about two women in Buffalo. Dwell is a catolog that focuses on modern architecture and it usually features homes and people who live in trendy and thriving metropolises, so it was both neat and surprising to see a story about Buffalo. The story is about two women who have created their own workshop to teach people skills and techniques to fix up their homes and give them more "green" to make their homes a little more environmentally friendly. So check it out. I've always been proud of the unique and beautiful architecture Buffalo has and it's always been one of the reasons why I enjoy going to the city to just take a walk or a bike ride. During school, sometimes I will just walk around the Elmwood Village between classes to get a nice look at the scenery. I think Cleveland (near Spot Coffee) and Chapin Parkway are some of my favorite streets in the entire city that have some of my favorite homes is. I also love the block on Franklin between Allen and Virginia. I would love to live in one of those houses.

- Also, it seems as though our dear Patrick Kaleta has broke his hand. He was at a fundraising event recently and I've seen some pictures on Facebook and he's got a cast on his right hand. I saw him at work the other day but I just saw him in passing so I didn't notice his hand.

- I went to the Allentown Art Festival this past weekend and it was a great time. I remember previous years it was extremely hot out, and while the weather was nice and sunny this year, it wasn't too hot. It was fun walking around with all the people and seeing what the vendors had on display. I especially took an interest to all the photography and it was inspiring for me. One photographer had pictures from Europe, and it reminded me how eager I am to travel. One of the biggest reasons why I want to travel is so I can capture the world around me through my lens. I really want to go all over Europe in the near future and I also want to go to India and Japan. One of these days... I also enjoyed all photography from Western New York that I saw as well. As much as I want to travel and see the world, I am proud of where I come from and I know that Buffalo is always going to be my home. I don't think I could ever leave this place permanently. So although it's eating away at me to travel, I also appreciate where I live and what it has to offer. Buffalo really is a great place to photograph!

After the festival, we went to Cecilia's on Elmwood to get some drinks and appetizers. Apparently my breasts thought I was hot because they took the liberty to spill my glass of water in my lap. I was sitting up to pull in my chair and as I sat back down, the ladies bumped my water. Fortunately I was wearing a dark dress so it wasn't that noticeable and I was sitting in the sun so it dried pretty fast.

- This upcoming weekend is going to be an exciting one. First of all I'm starting the weekend off right by going downtown tonight with some friends and maybe to the Square if the weather decides to cooperate. Then on Friday I'll be at Darien Lake to see NO DOUBT!! It still really hasn't hit me that I am finally seeing them live after all these years of being a huge fan. I think it will finally hit me right when they are about to come onstage. Then I might burst into "fangirl" mode. It won't be a pretty sight, but dammit, I won't care. Then on Saturday I'm doing some volunteering with Carly's Club so I look forward to that.

I'll be sure to take pictures of all the festivities and I already have a few that I need to share that I took at the festival and when I went to the waterfront a few weeks ago. I'll make a picture post in the upcoming days.