Picking Up Good Vibrations

Well, I think I can speak for most Sabres fans when I say that I was getting a little worried. And it's not to say that all of the Sabres' woes are going to suddenly vanish because of last night's win, but I think a prevailing victory heading into the Olympic break is just what the team needed. Confidence is so essential, and it's just a vicious cycle when a team is losing. The lower they get, the more scared they are going to play which leads to more mistakes which leads to some more tallies in the "L" column.

The break couldn't have come at a better time, and I hope that our players get some much needed rest and they can start off strong in March.

Clearly the win over the Sharks is good for the Sabres, it helps boost their confidence and maybe it reminded them of the good old days when they used to play hockey and when they would actually win games. That would be super. But I also have to say that I'm glad that the Sabres won because I was worrying about our little Olympian...



I think if you're familiar with my blog, you know that I love me some sassy Miller interviews. I've noticed that this season Miller is a lot more composed and even keeled when being interviewed, even after a loss. But after the overtime loss in Carolina, Ryan was, how shall we put it? A little less than impressed with his team. He said he has been pissed off for months and you could clearly see it in his face that he was livid. He's also been part of the problem with the team's losing streak, and I was afraid that our little US Olympian was going to head into Vancouver with a bad attitude and some negative vibes. I know how much the Olympics mean to Ryan and I have to say that I was a tad concerned that our beloved goalie was going to have his Olympic experience a little clouted if he had to go into the Games after a loss against San Jose. So I'm glad that the Sabres looked like their old selves against San Jose and Ryan can head into the Olympics on a higher note. Plus, it will be good for Team USA because he'll have more confidence after of his performance against San Jose and because of the win of course.

Speaking of the Olympics, how cute was the little cermony before puck drop where the little kiddies skated over to our Olympians and gave them jerseys from their respective countries...it was so precious! I loved how the Sabres fans paid homage to Miller by chanting, "U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!" during the last minute of the game. It was so classy and I only wish I was in attendance so I could have joined in.

The Olympic break is officially upon us and as I'm sure you all know, I'm very stoked for them and I can't wait to watch Team USA compete. It's definitely going to be interesting and they have their work cut out for them, but that's the fun of it all. They will be competing against the best in the world and it will be fun to watch regardless of what happens. I know a lot of Sabres fans are worried about Miller in the Olympics because we don't want him getting too run down, and believe me, I'm part of the category. But I am just going to enjoy the Olympics and hope for the best because I think it's great that he's there representing our country. I'm a Sabres fan first and foremost, but the Olympics are something special and they only come once every four years, and it's fun for me to see my favorite athlete compete in them.

So if you haven't had enough of the hype that has been surrounded around Miller and Team USA, here are few things to read, watch, and listen while you're waiting for the Olympic action on Tuesday. Bucky Gleason recently wrote a story about Miller, his hockey roots, and his road to becoming an NHLer and an Olympian which was a good read. Amy from Shots Off The Crossbar posted a link to a video that featured Miller's family, including his mom and his cousins which is especially adorable when they talk to Ryan's little cousins and how cool they think it is to be related to him. And finallyyyy, the other day Miller was on the Jim Rome show, and you can listen (for free, yes really!) to the interview here. It's from a few days ago and Ryan just talks about going to the Olympics and they talk about his mask, but it was pretty cool that he was a guest on the show and I thought he did a good job with it.

Well I hope all of my lovely readers had a nice Valentine's Day, and if you don't have a Valentine, don't forget to tell yourself that you're wonderful and give yourself a big hug. And I think it's safe to say that all of us in Sabreland could use a nice little break from the Sabres, and now is a nice time to sit back and enjoy the Olympics!

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: