Can't win 'em all

Here's an idea to submit to the Sabres Suggestion Box...I propose that the Sabres play the Seinfeld theme song after games like tonight.

Opening Night!

How's that for hockey-related?

Let's Go Buff-a-lo!!!

For Your Consideration

For those of you on Twitter (and those of you who aren't, I highly recommend joining. Especially now that Ted Black is going to be taking over the Sabres handle from time to time), I just wanted to bring to your attention the fabulous Twitter feed that is Ilya Bryzgalov's. No, he isn't a Sabre...he's actually a Flyer (gross, I know), but his entire Twitter feed is full of gems.

If you're not too familiar with Bryzgalov's personality, please watch this video of him explaining his hockey mask from when he was with the Ducks.


fast forward to about 1 minute into the video

Anyways, back to the main reason of this post, his Twitter page! There's something so endearing about his lack of comprehension of the English language and all of its tricky grammar, but his personality seems to shine through better with his rough translations.

Allow me to post some of my favorite tweets he's made over the past few weeks:

He's taking in the culture of his new city, Philadelphia!












He's a fan of Pumba from the Lion King, I mean who isn't!








...I don't know



So if you aren't already, please consider following Ilya Bryzgalov...he may be my favorite person on Twitter.

P.S. - How funny is it that Derek Roy's Twitter feed is basically full of every single stereotype/assumption that Sabres fans have made over the years about Derek's personality? If the account hadn't been verified by the Sabres themselves, I would have been convinced that it was another parody account. Brilliant.

The Boys Are Back in Town

Well, well, well.

It's been awhile since I've posted anything meaningful related to hockey, and I don't know if this post will exactly be meaningful, but I decided I need to write to get the gears going.

It's mid-September and the days are getting shorter and there is a certain crisp smell in the air that's letting us all know that Autumn is arriving shortly HOCKEY IS BACK!!!! Well, almost. Practically!

Our young prospects are already scrimmaging, and our vets and regulars have been slowly making their way back to town and practicing informally at the Northtown Center. Before you know it we're all going to be donning our blue and gold and shelling out $8 for a beer while cheering (or lambasting) our favorite guys. I can hardly wait!

There's a lot for Sabres fans to look forward to; It will be the first full season that Terry Pegula & Co. will be in complete control, we've made a whole bunch of moves in the offseason, two of our core players will be ready to go, and the team will be taking a fun Euro trip and kicking off the season overseas!

Lots of fun to be had.

The arena is also undergoing a lot of changes, with the brand new locker room, the de-slugging, and the new paint job. But most notably, there will be a name change. It's now called the First Niagara Center, which is now lovingly referred to by fans as the F'N Center. Brilliant.

Although I do have to say that I was a little ticked about the name change, because it makes my header for my blog (which I'm quite partial to) now outdated. At first I thought that I'd have to search for a new header, but then I remembered that I'm really good in Photoshop and with a few clicks of a mouse I can make my current header now up-to-date with the new arena name! Perfect! God bless technology, am I right?

So here it is, the new Hockey Night in Buffalo header! All snazzy and current with the times!


woooooooo!!!

Bring on the 2011-2012 season!!!

Accio Blog Post!

Hello everyone! I can't believe it's been over a month since I posted, especially during such an exciting time in hockey! I apologize, July has been a crazy month for me and I didn't put aside any time to sit down and write. So let's see what I can say...

July has been a busy month for me, consisting of working a lot and trying to take advantage of the amazing sunny weather that we had for essentially the whole month. Between the free music concerts and food festivals and the beautiful weather, I was out a lot trying to get in as much fun as I could because I know how quickly summer slips away.

But the main reason I haven't been updating probably has to be Harry Potter! I don't know if I've ever mentioned Harry Potter on here before, but I am a huge Harry Potter fan. I never really realized how big Harry Potter was in my life until I looked back after the series was complete. I started reading Harry Potter in elementary school. I grew up with the characters and I felt like I was with them on every step of their journey. As a kid I enjoyed the fantasy and the action-packed adventures, but it wasn't until I got older that I realized the major themes behind the series and how great and complex the characters are and it really amazes me how talented and creative JK Rowling is as a writer and story teller.

The final movie was released July 15th, and you bet I was at the midnight premiere! I thought the movies always did a fantastic job at capturing the true essence of the books, and while the books will always be the best, the movies are really special and I'm so glad and grateful that they were made the way they were and with the actors that played the characters.

Watching the movie was really emotional for me because it was the end of an era, but I was really pleased with it... Especially during Snape's memories! Without giving too much away, Snape is easily the most complex and interesting character of the series and there is a chapter in the last book that basically sums up everything the reader needs to know about Snape, and the movie did a great job with that scene.

Snape is my favorite character of the series, so naturally this was me at the midnight premiere during Snape's memories:



So in a nutshell, that's why this blog has been vacant for the past month. But I haven't put hockey on the back burner completely! I couldn't do that even if I wanted to. I was checking Twitter on my computer and on my phone pretty much nonstop on July 1st, and what a fun day that was... I found it extremely amusing that Sabres fans were in the position to complain and worry about the team spending too close to the cap. Oh how things have changed! Between all the activity and the misfortunate (but hilarious) butt tweet sent out by Jessie Pegula, it was the best free agency day yet! Well, in recent memory at least.

I'm excited about our new additions especially at the blue line, and I'm glad that we've retained key players, especially Enroth. I can't wait to see the tandem that will form between him and Miller.

It feels good to post again, I promise I won't go MIA like that again...now that I'm controlling my Post-Potter Depression, and with hockey looming around the corner, I think I'll be in the right frame of mind again. Hopefully Pottermore doesn't detract me too much...

Mischief managed!

Thoughts on the Stanley Cup

Well, the 2010-2011 NHL season is officially in the books and we have new Stanley Cup champions: The Boston Bruins.

I've mentioned before that I wasn't a fan of either team and I really wasn't looking forward to the match up. But of course as a hockey fan I couldn't just tune out the series completely. So I watched and tried to get a feel of the series and I tried to figure out which team I would hate seeing win the Cup less. And honestly, I never really figured that out. It was a pretty even series and both teams each had uncanny similarities...which was highlighted in this brilliantly hilarious piece done by Down Goes Brown.

In the end, I could only find one way to justify which team I wanted to win, and that was Tim Thomas. I really like him and he seems like a real good guy off the ice. It's been fun to watch his success (despite the fact that his success means success for the Bruins), and he was outstanding throughout the entire playoffs, especially in the Finals. I was real happy to see him raise the Cup and in my own little world he was a one-man team out there, making all the saves and scoring all the goals. Yeah...that sounds a lot better than the gross Bruins winning the whole thing, doesn't it?


The only known photograph from that night.

So congratulations, Tim Thomas!! You deserved it.


And as for the way some Vancouverites reacted to the loss... As each goal the Bruins Tim Thomas scored, and as each minute wound down, I had a feeling things were going to get ugly in downtown Vancouver. I know hockey is an emotional sport, but the concept of rioting over something like that just doesn't make any sense. Way to kick yourselves when you're already down. Your team just lost the Stanley Cup and to add insult to injury you are going to try and destroy your beautiful city and harm your fellow citizens and fans. I don't know...I guess I can understand some havoc and raucousness, but there is a line that shouldn't be crossed and was crossed. I just hope when the Sabres are in a similar situation (win or lose) we will have enough respect for ourselves and our city to not to try and destroy it when we are either celebrating or mourning.

I hope the people who injured others and lit peoples' cars on fire are caught and held accountable, and I also hope that the Canucks can some how find a way to give back to those who came to clean up after the rioters the following day.

Blogger Summit Recap

When I first got the invite to attend the Blogger Summit I was very excited but I also had no idea what to expect. I honestly pictured us being in a board room-type of space where we would all be sitting at a table and we would shoot the breeze.

When we were taken up to the 200 level and brought into a room with a bunch of tables with bright lights and cameras and a podium up front for Ted, I was extremely impressed (and also a little intimidated!). We were given our own name tags when we first got there and waiting for us in the room were notecards with our information to place in front of us during the event. I felt so official!



After we all introduced ourselves to each other, Ted Black came in and introduced himself. We were told that pizza and wings were arriving shortly, but beverages were already there if we wanted some. I went and grabbed a bottle of water and Mike Gilbert (Director of Public Relations) told me to get a beer. "We get beer?!" I thought. I don't know why but I thought that was really cool haha. I couldn't help but think if the media members get to have beer during their Q&A sessions. Sure, the bloggers don't have press box or locker room access (yet), but we get beer!

Kevin Sylvester was there to moderate the session and he did a great job adding some insight and he helped with the "flow" of the session. It was also good that Mike Gilbert and other members of the organization were there to provide additional information.

I didn't ask any questions during the on-camera portion, but my first question was asking Ted about the Sabres doing a "24-7"-type of documentary to give fans a more behind-the-scenes perspective on the team. Ted said that he'd be very interested in doing something like that, especially with the team going to Europe. I think it would be awesome to see more behind-the-scene things with the team, I thought the HBO 24-7 documentary was fascinating, so I would imagine that watching documentary in the same vein with the Sabres would be so much fun to watch.

I think my favorite part of the summit was when Ted brought out his Pegula Day app on his iPhone and started messing around with it and said that it would be fun to prank phone call Darcy with it haha.

It was also neat to hear that the Sabres players will be delivering season tickets to season ticket holders next season. That's such a fun idea, and it makes me want to add my name to the season ticket waiting list!

I was very impressed with how much time and effort the Sabres put into this summit, but I also enjoyed how informal it was. We could ask Ted important questions regarding the team, but then we could also goof around and ask silly questions (such as what type of aftershave does he use). I guess that's one of the perks about being a blogger, no?

I'm very grateful that I was able to participate in this event and I think it's awesome that the Sabres are embracing the bloggers and the fans like this. It was also great to meet with all the other people in attendance. We chat all the time over Twitter or in blog comments, so it was cool to finally meet people face-to-face. It is certainly a night I won't ever forget!