Goalie in Revolt

Over the past few weeks, pictures of Miller's Olympic mask has floated around the internet and I think the overall consensus was that it was a pretty badass mask. The image of Uncle Sam rolling up his sleeves and getting to work is a great representation of Team USA and the vibrant colors will surely make it stand out. Like Ryan's other masks, the back is where it gets the most personal: the slogan "Miller Time" makes its normal appearence, as well as a tribute to his cousin, where "Matt Man" is written... I think I can speak for most fans when I say that I always think it's neat to look at the personal side of a goalie's mask, but apparently the IOC thinks differently...

This article says that Miller's mask has been ruled against Olympic rules. The IOC does not approve of the "Miller Time" slogan, since it's the same slogan as Miller Beer, and I can understand the sentiments behind that... Apparently Jonathan Quick's mask is also under scrunity because it says "Support Our Troops" on the back, because political messages are prohibited by the IOC. But they also do not approve of the "Matt Man" tribute to his cousin, which I really don't understand. The article says that Ryan doesn't really mind that the IOC isn't approving the appearence of "Miller Time" on the mask, but it says that he's petitioning to keep the "Matt Man" tribute.

I say good for Ryan for petitioning to keep it... We all know how much of an impact Matt's legacy has been for Ryan, and I think it would be a shame if he can't showcase a tribute to someone so important in his life in such a large spotlight like the Olympics. Here's hoping that he gets to keep it on his mask.

With all of this mask hoopla aside, I'm very excited to see Ryan compete in his first ever Olympic game tomorrow against Switzerland. I had originally thought I was going to miss the game because of class, but then I found out that Buff State has unneccessarily given us Tuesday off as well so we can have a ~President's Day recess~, rather than having a day off just on President's Day. So thanks, Buff State! I owe you one (actually no, I don't...you will forever be indebted to me every single time you make me late for a class because I can't find a damn parking spot). Channel 2 News is going to have features of all of our Sabres that are going to be participating in the Olympics, and tonight they kicked it off with a feature on Miller and it got me all excited for tomorrow! I'm not sure if the actual feature is posted on their website, but here is a video that shows clips of Miller addressing the media after arriving in Vancouver.

Tomorrow's the big day...

Precious Memories

Remember when the Sabres used to play hockey? Remember when they were good at it?

What Kind Of Fuckery Is This?

Here's Rob Ray's reaction to the Sabres' recent shit show stretch of games:



I know, Rayzor...it's been tough on all of us. But something's telling me that it won't last... Well, one can only hope.

Come To Mama

So I didn't watch the Pens game so that's my excuse for not wanting to discuss it...and frankly anything involving Ottawa scares me so I don't want to talk about them either. I'm only kind of looking forward to tonight's game just because the last game I saw was the Boston game (which I attended), so I want to see some Sabres hockey... But mostly I'm just nervous about tonight. It's kind of like wanting to cover your eyes during a scary part in the movie and having someone telling you when it's over.

So enough of the big, bad Sens...let's talk about happier things. Like the fact that I finally got my hands (figuratively speaking, it hasn't arrived in the mail yet) on this thing of beauty:



So excited. I called about every single sports store in Buffalo, e-mailed several online stores, but to no avail...Nike is completely sold out of the Team USA jerseys. I thought I was going to have to make due with the Miller Team USA t-shirt that I got...or I was going to buy a youth jersey and hope that the largest sized would fit...now I have to do none of that. I got the real deal. I was contemplating getting a blank Team USA jersey and then have someone customize it with Miller's name and number, so I went on NHL.com to try and find the exact lettering and numbers Team USA is using. And low and behold, they were now selling the Team USA jerseys! I immediately placed my order and now in a few weeks I'm going to be a proud owner of that baby. I even called NHL.com's customer service to confirm that I had indeed ordered a Ryan Miller Team USA jersey. I was all, "Let me get this straight...I just ordered an adult Nike Team USA IIHF 2010 Road Replica Jersey? That will say "Miller" and "39" on the back? Yes? This isn't a joke?" Sweet, sweet victory. If anyone is planning on buying a jersey through NHL.com, let me know because I have a code to use that will get you 20% off the order.

Anyways, I uploaded the pictures I took at the Sabres-Bruins game last Friday. They're up on my Flickr...here are a few of my favorites:









Hope you like them...

Oh and I'd like everyone to know that I've added NHL Predictions under my favorite websites section of my blog, so if you're into making predictions and betting on NHL games, check this site out.