Hard Earned Win

I have stated before on this blog that at this point I am just going to try and enjoy the games that I watch, because if the Sabres go out there and play an honest game then I can't get too angry over the outcome. Of course I want them to win every night and make the playoffs, and I'm sure the online sports betting people do also. That's just a given and I don't think I need to mention that. Last night was a very entertaining game to watch. Even when the team gave up their two goal lead and let the Habs score 3 straight goals to take the lead, I liked what I saw from the team. There was determination and they sure as hell weren't going to give up without a fight. They didn't develop a defeatist attitude and let the Habs have their way with them. After we gave the Habs life in their own building, they continued to pour on the pressure, but the Sabres didn't back down.

The statistics weren't on the Sabres side that night. I believe the Habs were 7-1-1 with the Sabres when playing in their own building. And the Sabres had only won 5 games this whole season after trailing in the third. But at this point you have to throw all those stats out the window and forget about them. They're meaningless. The Sabres started off the third period shorthanded but they kept pressing and they got rewarded when MacArthur scored the equalizer. Both teams played hard, and for me, it seemed inevitable that this game was going to overtime. Not the most ideal situation for the Sabres, but we'll take the wins any way they come. So while they couldn't get the job done in regulation as hoped, they took care of business in the shootout (well, Miller and Lydman did at least) and left Montreal with 2 points. That's all I really could ask for right now. A well deserved win.

I was a little disappointed seeing Max out of the lineup. I have no problem with Mair returning, I just think that Max has been playing pretty well ever since he's been inserted back into the lineup and he's not the one who deserves a benching. But having Mair back proved to pay dividens as he scored our first goal. I thought Sekera played very poorly. All night. No surprise that he was benched in the third. Another player that I have to comment on is Jochen Hecht. Just when I start to compliment his game, he takes a stupid retaliatory penalty when we were already down a man to put the Habs on a 5-on-3 and they shortly score to put them in the lead. Dumb, dumb, dumb. Some argue that it was a weak call, and the Habs were getting away with stuff like that all night, but it still was a penalty that he didn't need to take. Then he took another penalty on a routine clearing attempt when he shot the puck over the glass. Jochen, Jochen, Jochen. Other than those mistakes, I liked his game. Rivet was also impressive when he took on Kostopoulos. I love Rivet. This team needs more players like him. In my opinion, he is just the quintessential hockey player. Hell, he even looks like a hockey player. Connolly had another great game and it's good to see him come back to life these past few games.

I thought both Miller and Carey Price played very good games. Miller was busy all night and he had two huge saves that stick out for me. The one where the puck bounced off the glass and right in the crease by the goal line and he had to be quick to be the first person to get to the puck or else it would have been an easy tap in for Montreal. The second save was when he was out of the crease but dove in a sprawling effort to stop the puck. Very acrobatic. Then he came up huge in the shootout, stopping all six of Montreal's players. Price looked good, too...only surrendering one goal in that extended shootout. But we were better. After our big guns couldn't get it done in the shootout, I wasn't surprised to see an interesting selection like Lydman. I had a good feeling he was going to score, just because I kept getting flashbacks to Henrik Tallinder's wicked move to beat Brouder. Lydman's post-game interview was pretty hilarious. Sylvester was like, "So Toni...what was the move?" to which Lydman responded, "Well the trick was...there was no move." Lydman seems to be a bit shy on camera, but his sense of humor doesn't go unnoticed on me. He seems to be a funny guy.

So while the Sabres still need to climb a bit more to make a playoff push, last night's win was very satisfying and it's nice to see this team play some good hockey. It's extremely reassuring to see Miller on his game like this. Looks like he hasn't missed a beat, and it's just what we need right now. He was so sharp in the shootout and I was just like, "For the love of god, score a goal for Ryan, PLEASE." Thank youuuu, Toni.

So today is my last day of spring break. I used this break to recharge and relax. Now I have to write a few papers and I have a midterm to study for. Ugh...I am trying my best to enjoy myself before the semester ends. I just keep saying to myself that after my midterm on Tuesday I'll be able to relax. And then I have a Sabres game on Wednesday to look forward to. So until then...

OH, by the way...I have to post this video. It's of Rob Ray's reaction to something during Ryan Miller's post-game interview the other night. I don't know what the hell he saw but his reaction is priceless.

Emotional Night

Ever since I found about flight 3407 crashing in Clarence I've been feeling a whirlwind of emotions. It goes without saying how devastated not only our community is, but everyone around the nation is of the events that unfolded. At the risk of sounding a little too sappy, I want to touch on the situation and what it feels like to be a Buffalonian during a time like this. Bear with me, this entry will probably be pretty lengthy. I was up until about 2 am last night watching the coverage and it was extremely surreal and saddening at the same time. Buffalo is such a tight-knit community and I'm sure we all know someone who is connected to this tragedy in some way. I already know that two of my good friends were friends with a young woman onboard the flight. I just want to say that my thoughts and prayers are with everyone who's been touched by this event, and I hope everyone finds the strength they need to get through this. I just have to say that I was real proud of Lindy Ruff tonight during his post-game press conference. He passed along his thoughts about the tragedy, and he touched a little bit on the game, but his press conference was very brief and he made it clear that tonight was only a hockey game and everyone's mind is elsewhere. It was very classy of him.

Now onto where I might come off as real sappy, but I was at the game tonight and it was heartwarming for me. Not the game itself, but as I was sitting waiting for the game to start, I was just absorbed into my fellow Sabres fans sitting around me and how kind everyone is. We all hear about how friendly everyone is here and how we all watch out for one another, and I was just noticing the little things tonight that was making me real proud. There was a little boy sitting next to me and we were sitting near the player's hallway but he wanted to get down a row so he would be able to reach his hand out and touch the player's hands. So he went down but then the people who were sitting in the seats got there but they let him sit there so he could touch the player's hands. We all know how annoying it is to have to stand up and let people get past you to get to their seats, and a guy and his kid did that only to realize they were in the wrong row. So they had to get the people next to them to stand up again just right after they sat down and I don't know the people were just really kind to him when a lot of times people just sigh and roll their eyes. I'm probably just looking into it too much but it really just makes me proud to see the overall kindness that most Buffalonians possess.

So for me and most people, sports is a nice outlet for us and it's a nice form of escapism. Whatever problems we may be having at home, at our jobs, or anything in general, going to a sporting event or watching a game is a real nice way to forget about your problems for a bit and get absorbed into something else. The game tonight was certainly no exception. I didn't know how crazy it was going to be! I started getting a good feeling during the pre-game warmups. Against Me!, The Raconteurs, and the Smashing Pumpkins all in a row...seems like Mr. Miller has taken control of what music is played during the warmups. So I was grooving on the great music selections and I had a nice feeling after seeing the kindness in the stands from the fans.

I certainly was not expecting the team to go up 3-0 on the Sharks, but I knew that it was a very early lead and no lead is safe in this league...especially against one of the best teams. So although I wasn't surprised that the Sharks battled back, I still was ticked. The crowd was very into the game the entire night, maybe it was because everyone's emotions were high due to the events, but I haven't heard the arena that loud in a long time when we scored the tying goal with 3 seconds left. Oh and apparently I was on TV right after they scored! I kept getting texts from my friends haha. I guess I was also shown when they had the moment of silence right before the game. It was real nice to see Pominville come up big tonight because he's been getting a lot of criticism. And of course, our captain...what can I say? He was there as our captain and he also showed up big against his former team. Great.

By the time the Sabres tied it up the emotions were so high. Everyone was on the edge of their seats during overtime and everyone was on their feet during the shootout. I hate shootouts just because they are so nerve-wracking. But it was great to see Miller come up huge especially after his last shootout performance in Ottawa coupled with the fact that he let in a few questionable goals during tonight's game (although the defense was just standing around doing nothing during a few of them). Leaving the arena was awesome. Everyone was so excited and cheering. For just a few hours our minds were off the terrible events, and we all came together to root for our boys. Going into tonight's game I said to myself that it didn't matter if we won or lost, because right now it just doesn't matter...but it was real great for everyone to leave the arena on such a positive note...even if it was just a minor distraction for a few hours. It still felt great.

Oh and everyone's favorite fedora wearing goalie updated his blog. How cute is he? He's so thoughtful when he's talking about how he analyzed getting some dogs. Poor Ryan. I own 3 dogs and I would love to dogsit for Ryan. At the fashion show he was loving that puppy and it was pretty adorable. I've got some real cute videos of him interacting with the little guy on my YouTube page. He also has me very intrigued in taking a tour of the Town Ballroom...the basement sounds awesome and creepy. I love creepy stuff like that. I also loved how he so nonchalantly said that he doesn't have a girlfriend. Let's see if I can come off as casual as Ryan did... Hey Ryan, I don't have a boyfriend. I'm ~single~ so I think we should ~mingle~. Come and get me before someone else scoops me up. Did it work? Did I come off as casual about my relationship status as Ryan did?

Alright, enough of those shenanigans. So even though in retrospect, tonight's game was just a hockey game...there are much more important things on hand to think about...but I'm glad that our boys gave us something to be happy about even if it was just for a few hours. Everyone in that arena was on such a high and it came at the right time. Of course it was the only game I went to this year where I didn't bring my camera...but I still had to capture the moment. So I did with my crappy cell phone camera. Here are the boys celebrating the win through the lens of my 1.3 megapixel camera phone:

Jarkko Bit Me

...and that really hurt, Jarkko. And it's still hurting.

Sheesh. Biting in hockey? Give me a break. What a shit show. Ruutu is denying that he bit Peters, but I think it's pretty obvious from the replay that he indeed did bite him. Then again, I would be pretty embarrassed to admit that I bit someone too. Yikes. But let me just say, seeing Peters mouth, "He fucking bit me!" was hilarious. I was sitting there wondering what the hell happened to him and then I see him shout that and I was just like, "...what? Did he just say that Ruutu bit him?!" Good god.

Anyways, biting aside, I'm glad I can sit here and write about another Sabres victory! Talk about being on a roll, how about Matt Ellis? Another goal! Good for him. There's not a better way to start the period off than to score. I liked seeing Roy score that ugly goal. Is there anything more beautiful than scoring an ugly goal? It shows determination. I like it. It seemed that we were in for a night where the Sabres would have a comfortable lead the entire time, but as you know, not a lot of leads are safe in this league. Ryan Miller had two gaffes (and so did our defense on the second goal, giving Spezza a breakaway), and all of a sudden Ottawa is back in it. Miller seemed a little rattled after those two goals, but it was great to see his response in the third. He was very sharp and stopped all of Ottawa's 11 shots and had a huge glove save on Spezza denying him the hat-trick. Nicely done. The team as a whole seemed to have gotten back on track in the third after making some mistakes in the second and letting Ottawa creep back up. It was nice to see Rivet back out there and going after some Sens after they were getting all up in our goalie.

All in all it was a huge win for the team and it was nice to see. Earlier in the season those were the games where the Sabres would have a nice lead and then have a meltdown and lose. It's good to see them take charge after making some mistakes and ensure that they take 2 points out of the game. So the Sabres are on a nice little 3 game winning streak and they are doing all they can do at keeping themselves in a playoff spot. Pittsburgh is right at their heels for that 8th spot, but the Sabres are right behind Carolina as well for the 7th spot. There aren't many points separating the 5th-8th spots in the Conference, so things get pretty interesting around this time of the year. If the Sabres can keep this up, then it can make for some fun months ahead of us.

Oh and I just want to say how much I love Burt's Bees products. I am in love! If I could I would buy every single product that Burt's Bees makes.

Midnight Ramblings

So it's a little after midnight and I'm writing this blog in an attempt to make me more tired. I've been having an awful time sleeping lately. I didn't fall asleep until a little after 4 am last night. I was very exhausted around 9 tonight and I drank some tea that's supposed to help you fall asleep. We'll see how that works...

Anyways, I just thought I'd weigh in on the recent Sabres news. I'm sure everyone's aware by now that our Captain, Craig Rivet is back. This is great news. He was so impressive in the preseason and in the beginning of the season and I was very excited to have him on our team. Then he had his surgery and it seemed that he toned it down after that. Then he had his problem with his shoulder. I'm betting it's been his injuries that have been keeping him from playing the physical style that he likes to play. Let's hope that he's ready to return to that physical form against Ottawa. The Sabres are 7-3-1 at home with Rivet in the lineup, and they are 3-6-1 at home without him. Very interesting. Maybe having him back will improve our home record, but we really won't know that for sure for a little bit considering the Sabres only have 3 home games this month. I guess we'll see what happens tomorrow against Ottawa.

Rivet back also brings up the issue of what to do with Chris Butler. Honestly, I really want to see him stay up with us. Sure he's young and most of the times when you're young you have to wait your turn to stay in the NHL for good, but I believe we are a better team with him in the lineup. You do whatever you have to do to win, and if that means keeping Butler up here with us and scratching and/or waiving certain players in order to do that, then so be it. Some people have suggested that we waive Paetsch and make Numminen our 7th D-man. With Numminen's age, it might serve him well to have him sit out for a few games to take a breather. He'd also be there to help mentor Butler, as Chris has already stated that Numminen has been great in that department for him. It's a tad convenient that Numminen is "sick" right now so the Sabres don't have to send Butler down, don't you think?

Now moving onto the "problem children" on the team. As far as Connolly goes, I don't really know what to say. I want him to be healthy. I want him in the lineup. But we've been dealing with his injuries for what, 3 years now? I guess I'll believe that Connolly is healthy when I see it. Then there's Afinogenov. Max, Max, Max. I feel for this guy, I really do. He's already had enough problems in his game and now he's dealing with a groin injury that Ruff said is probably a long term thing. I just feel sorry for him because he really tries hard. The effort is there, but he can't seem to catch a break. I can only imagine how frustrating it is for him.

So, answer me this...which fight is more embarrassing? Sid's or Semin's? It's a tough call. One can say Crosby's is because of how he initiated it. A guy's head is down, and he's in a vulnerable position and he just pulls his jersey over his head and starts throwing "punches". Nice. Now I know Sidney isn't a fighter, but shit, even I know "The Code" well enough. You let the player drop the gloves and square off first, ya fool. Oh, and take your visor off. But on the other hand, one can say that Semin's is more embarrassing because....well, just watch the video. I think I saw a toddler in Toys R Us do the same exact thing when his mommy wouldn't let him get a toy. Actually, come to think of it...at the Buffalo Zoo the other day a chimp went crazy and did the same exact thing when another monkey took his banana. Hmmm. Maybe Semin was just practicing his bongo technique? Move over, Jack Costanzo.

I know my last post was full of funny search queries, but today I came across this gem when I was pursuing Google Analytics:

"recent photos of sabres goaltender ryan miller with facial hair"

Gotta love it. It just warms my heart knowing there's people out there who appreciate Ryan Miller's facial hair as much as I do. :')

Pregaming

So as I mentioned in my previous post, I decided to head downtown to the arena this morning to watch the boys practice. I haven't been to a morning skate in a long, long time and it was pretty chill. Going on weekdays is best because not that many people are there. It can be a little crazy on weekends because the people in attendence can be a little whacky. It was pretty quiet so you could hear everything on the ice. I wanted to shout, "HIT THE FREAKIN' NET" when they were doing shooting drills. Also, when Lindy gathered the team at center ice I couldn't hear anything so I wanted to shout, "HEY LINDY...SPEAK UP....I CAN'T HEAR YOU!" But no. I didn't want to be that person.

It's fun being there when the guys are just taking it easy and messing around with each other. The players were practicing their breakaways on Miller and he kept letting them in and they were giving him a hard time and he was like, "I stopped the second one!!" and then he stopped the next shot and he was like, "Woooohoooo!!!!" It was the first time I've ever heard emotion in his voice. Just kiddinggg. Max was messing around with Lalime but it was hard to understand what Max was saying.

Something interesting I noticed was that Peters was practicing with the defensemen for most of the time. And then when most of the players left the ice, he stayed on the ice with James Patrick and Rivet. It looked like Rivet was showing him how to skate backwards and giving him pointers. I wonder how Petey would be as a defenseman...food for thought.

After watching them practice I moseyed around the Sabres Store. Everything is 20% off until Christmas Eve, for those who are interested. I was browsing through the Sabres yearbook where it has all of that fun stuff; favorite food, favorite movie, etc. I found it amusing that Miller wrote that if he wasn't a hockey player he'd want to be an architect. The only thing I could think of was George Costanza's dreams of being an architect ("You're an architect?" "I'm not?"). Ahh gotta love it. I also saw most of the players afterwords eating their pregame meals. I'd say most of them were there, every so often another player would come in a little late and join a table. Good times.

My iTunes is acting all wonky and saying that it can't locate my songs, when CLEARLY all of my songs are in my iTunes folder. So I don't know what its deal is and why it can't find any of my songs when they're there. It's driving me crazy and it's really, really frustrating. I'm trying everything... Oh well. Go Sabres.

The Injury Bug bites, man.

So it appears that the Injury Bug has hit the Sabres yet again, but what else is new. Our little Nathan Gerbe took quite a hit against New Jersey that will have him sidelined for two weeks. Craig Rivet is also out for at least two weeks, which really sucks. But I really wasn't surprised when he said his knee wasn't 100%. You could tell he wasn't playing the way he likes to play, and I suspected it was because of his knee. Knee injuries suck and they usually take awhile to heal. I hope when he does return he's 100% and he can play his game again because I was very impressed with him and what he brought to the team. Poor Goose and Patches also took a beating in practice the other day. Hockey is such a rough and tumble sport, your teeth aren't even safe in practice. Let that be a lesson to all of you kids out there. In better news, Patrick Kaleta has been cleared to play, that'll be nice for the team to have him back again.

Isn't it strange how three days off seems like two weeks in hockey? I can't wait to see them play again. It seems like it's been so long since they played against New Jersey...good thing tomorrow night they'll be playing against....New Jersey. My question of whether or not Ryan Miller has shaved will finally be answered. I've been left hanging for three days! I'm guessing he has, but it would be pretty badass if he hadn't. These are the questions that keep me awake at night. Only kidding. But I love me some Jesus-looking goaltenders.

Um, so uh...speaking of Jesus, I decorated my Christmas tree last night! Here are some peekturessss:


The flash kind of ruins it, but the lighting was poor so without the flash made it pretty blurry...you get the idea though.


My Saves for Cancer ornament I bought when Ryan Miller was at Rotary Rink lighting the Christmas tree.



I strategically placed this ornament near the Ryan Miller one...oh yeah I'm clever.

So tomorrow I want to do some window shopping on Elmwood to get some ideas on what to get my friends and family. I'm thinking maybe I'll head on over to the arena beforehand to watch the boys practice at the morning skate. I haven't been to a morning skate in a long time and I figured it's probably best to go during the week because not that many people will be there. We'll see...

Miller Time

My favorite hippie goalie got ANOTHER shutout! Back to back! Talk about a rebound from that Tampa game. All you Miller nay-sayers can bite me. You had your way with me last year always hounding me about his play, but right now I can say, "I was right, so sorry." Some people actually suggested we trade Miller for Huet last year....yeah. Laughable, I know. Who's overrated? Who's average? NOT Ryan Miller, that's for sure!


Ryan knows what's up.

Anyways, more on the game and less of my Miller lovefest. The Sabres were just perfect. Very smart. And our captain was back! So good to see. I was glad to see the Sabres get one past Weekes in the first, because it might have been frustrating for the team to come out of that period scoreless after all of those chances. The PK was strong. I liked seeing players block shots, especially Kaleta at the end of the game. And did I see Tim Connolly blocking a shot? I'm all for blocking shots, but it just makes me a tad nervous seeing Timmy doing the deed. The past two games the boys have played smart and as a team. Everything was clicking. So many scoring chances (if it wasn't for Weekes' phenomenal play we would have been up by 4 or so goals), great defense, fantastic goaltending, and the PK was great. It looked like the officials were really trying to help out the Devils by giving them power plays, but the Sabres stayed strong and focused and killed off all the penalties. I especially liked Miller remaining focused after he got that delay of game penalty that he disagreed with. Ain't nothin' getting past Ryan when he feels he's been screwed.


Now, I know that this is a hockey blog and everything around here should be all about HOCKEY, HOCKEY, HOCKEY; but I just have to say that tomorrow all of my fellow Americans better get your asses out and VOTE! Please. I'm so excited to vote. This will be my first election where I'm eligble to vote, and it's a pretty damn historical one to boot. I'll feel accomplished going out there and making sure that my voice is heard. So please, if you don't want to take my word for it, take it from these sexy A-list celebrities and DON'T VOTE!

That was a JOKE

I hope that's what Adam Mair said after last night's shit show game. I can't believe I sat through 3 periods of that nonsense. But the Sabres fan in me (and Goonies fan) said, "Never say die." and I stayed until the bitter end. Okay I may have left with 2 minutes to play but we did beat the traffic!

Anyways. I don't really feel like analyzing that game other than just saying the Sabres played bad. Pretty obvious. They were chasing the puck the whole game. It seemed as if Tampa Bay had control of the puck the entire time. Every time the Sabres went down another goal, it seemed as if they got more afraid and did not want to take any chances. That way Tampa Bay had their way with the Sabres the entire game. The defense looked like they did last year. Garbage. Rivet is more than a stay-at-home, gritty defenseman. He's smart. He's experienced. He's a veteran. That's key for a young team like the Sabres and they need that type of player to help the young guys out. You would have thought that last year the players would have learned that they can't be too cute. I think having Rivet and Hecht come back will help out this team immensely. One can only hope right?

Another thing I'd like comment on is Ryan Miller's post-game interview. Athlete's interviews are so cliché, you can almost predict what they're going to say before they even open their mouths. That partly has to do with the questions they are being asked. But Miller's interviews are always different. They're really honest and smart, I think. You never get that cliché interview with him. I always find that I enjoy and look forward to his interviews the most out of any of the other players in the locker room. No offense to them.

But last night, well we all saw how we played. He was honest and he went through all of the goals one by one and explained what his thinking was and why it went in. He also said he was glad that he stayed in the third period and battled through his tough night. I liked what he had to say about the team as a whole, how the freewheelers really need to learn how to control themselves. I've noticed a lot that fans will criticize Ryan for being too honest in his interviews. Some say that he's looking to excuse himself for his play and he tries to lay the blame on the entire team. I just never saw it like that. I think he has every right to crticize his teammates when it's warrented. I don't think Ryan has every shyed away from his performance, whether it's good or bad. He knows when he messes up and he's just honest I think. As a fan I just appreciate that because honestly sometimes player interviews aren't worth listening to because of how predictable they are. Miller's are worth listening to. I feel I get a real insight to the game that was just played when listening to his, rather than the other player's who will say something like, "We need to move our feet more." or something typical like that.

Sorry for no awesome pictures of our favorite Sabres dressed up in Halloween costumes. I am seriously deprived in the amateur-photos-of-the-Sabres deparment. Help a sister out. I can say though that I am a puck bunny this year. I wore my costume to the game last night. I'm sure most people thought that I was seriously a real puck bunny who dresses that ridiculous to every game. Oh well. I did get a hockey player's attention during the game though. Too bad it was Mark Recchi. Yikes.

Oh and my friend Jael started a blog, Sabres on the Warpath. You'll love her insight into the team because she's really smart. Go read!

The Goose Has Returned!

It was great news to read that Gaustad has been practicing fully, and now the Sabres have reported that Gaustad will be in the lineup Thursday night. Awesome.

I'm excited that he's returning tomorrow because the Ottawa game showed that this team can be vulnerable when a good chunk of the veterans are out, and Gaustad always has a tough and gritty presence that this team can always use. Plus, I'll be at the game tomorrow so it will be nice to see him in during his season debut! It's also good knowing that Rivet's surgery went fine and that he should be back soon. Poor Timmy will always be a question mark during his whole career it seems, doesn't it? Sigh. Hopefully Hank and Hecht are close.

I took some pictures of the team when I attened the Canucks game on 10/17, and you should all check them out! Please pretend for a moment that I am not shamelessy self-promoting myself. I got to the game late so I could not really get a good view of the entire team. Which was a bummer because I really wanted to get some nice shots of El Capitano (Roberto Luongo). But I didn't really feel like pushing and shoving little kids to try and get a good view against the glass. So I could only get a few good shots of certain players. I mostly got Ryan Miller because I was sitting right near the net. So all you Miller fans might want to take a look. I got two nice ones of Derek Roy too.


(lol @ the kid in the background)



If you want to see more, head on over to my Flickr collection. I've got more photos around there other than just the Sabres, so feel free to browse around!

Oh and I just want to thank everyone for their warm welcomes and nice comments they all left me in my first post! It was definitely appreciated!