Christmas List!

So between our boys showing some heart and determination to put up a small win streak and our precious goalie getting into a little bit of fun controversy, it's been a pretty good week in Sabreland. I'm just liking how our team looks right now. They're playing smart, responsible, physical, and as a team. Let's hope they can keep it up because when they play like this they can beat any team. I can't believe we haven't played Toronto yet, but that all changes tomorrow night when the Leafs and their faithful obnoxious fans invade the HSBC Arena. Here's to the Sabres putting the Leafs in their place and making it a long drive home for the Leafs fans.

ANYWAYS. Now that all that hockey nonsense is out of the way, I am going to switch things up a little bit and just make a fun post completely unrelated to hockey or the Sabres. My friends, I give you my 2008 Christmas List complete with photos! I'm sure you were all thinking, "What the hell can I give that sassy Sabres blogger Caroline for Christmas?" Well, wonder no more, as this is what I hope to find under my tree this year:


First and foremost...I want Coco Mademoiselle by Chanel. This perfume just smells so elegant and classy. I used to wear Chanel No. 5 (before I ran out of it and was too cheap to buy it again) and that's a classic perfume, but I want switch it up just a tad.


iPod Nano Chromatic. Way back when I had the first generation iPod Mini but it died out on me. I've been mooching off of my brother's iPod Touch ever since, so I think it would be nice to have my own. I just want the new Nano because all I really want is an MP3 player, even though all the gadgets and applications on the iPod Touch are fun. Now that the Nano holds more music, it seems perfect for me. Not sure what color I want though (not red or orange).


Camera Filters. Just some toys for my camera so I can mess around with them. A tripod would be nice too.


Kill Bill vol. 1&2...one of my favorite movie(s). I'm always in the mood to watch them but I don't own them! I rent these movies way too much at Blockbuster so I think it's time to make the commitment and own these babies.


Sephora gift card. I don't wear much makeup, just eye makeup, but Sephora is so much fun. Makeup is something that you kind of need to purchase yourself, so just a gift card would be nice so I can do my own exploring.


Buddha Bank. How adorable is this guy? Seriously. I love Buddhas. I even have a mini gold Buddha that's almost a good luck charm. But I have tons of loose change that I just put in random bowls and such, so a piggy Buddha bank would be nice.



Lastly...Polaroid film. Sadly Polaroid is discontinuing all of its instant Polaroid film and this makes me very sad. I love Polaroids. They're so classic. As much as I love digital photography, I will always think there is a special place for film. It's really a shame that shortly Polaroid film will be no longer, so I want to grab as much as these packs as I can before it's too late. A few packs of the film would make a nice stocking stuffer for me.


Andddd that's it! Sorry that this post is a little image-heavy, but it's all in good fun. Speaking of Christmas, I still need to get a tree! The holidays sure have crept up on me fast.
Back to hockey tomorrow...

Hells Yeah...

Solid, solid win tonight. Not quite the start we wanted, but they say that the first game home after a road trip can be hard. It was a nice physical game with some nice fights courtesy of Adam Mair and Paul Gaustad. Gerbe is a fiesty little guy and I'm loving him taking the hits and even dishing some out as well. Awesome. It seems I get more and more impressed with Thomas Vanek every time I see him play. He sure is a forced to be reckoned with and every goalie should fear that man. It's not even his goal scoring that's making me impressed with him. His hustle and his defensive effort really needs to be applauded. I'm loving him right now.

Miller again was great. Some real clutch saves to keep his team in the lead and a few nice stops on breakaways. Kudos to Ryan. What was up with that delay of game call though? I wasn't aware that a goalie could get called on a delay of game when he freezes the puck with his glove. I've never seen that before. Ryan said that the ref skated over to him afterwords and said that he "probably shouldn't have called that"...I guess that's better than the ref telling him to go fuck himself so I'll take it. I also didn't like how Kotalik was called for that hit on an icing when the Lightning got away with one earlier in the game. I guess the refs just wanted to make it interesting...or give Pominville the opportunity to score a shorthanded empty-netter goal. Either way.

Well it sure was a very satisfying win and I'm glad our boys have put up a very nice little win streak here. I've been really loving the way they have won these games and how they have battled back. Sure, you don't want your team to go down by a couple of goals but they battled and worked hard to dig themselves out of the holes that they dug and they picked up some nice victories. Good for them.

Sorry for the short update, but I have a final paper to write and I need to study for my mega hard and important music final exam tomorrow. I'll make it up to you by leaving you, my readers, with this lovely picture of former President Bill Clinton and Ryan Miller's skinny legs. Loves it.

Hey Ryan, go eff yourself.

So I was going to make a fun post today which was me posting my Christmas list! But I have three final papers to write by tonight so I guess I'll have to save it for another day. I should be getting on those papers, but I had to laugh at this...

Ryan Miller claims that a ref told him to go *bleep* himself last night. I love this shit. Can't you imagine the situation? I know I can. Although he's a goalie, and they're supposed to be in their own little world, Ryan's always been pretty involved in the game and I notice him talking to the refs a lot. So Ryan innocently asks a question and in return he gets a big old, "Go fuck yourself!" That shit is pretty funny, but at the same time it's pretty ridiculous that a ref would act so immaturely. I have a theory that the ref was just really pissed at Ryan for making all those saves. He made it harder for the Pens to get a win which meant that the ref had to go to more trouble and make more calls against the Sabres to help ensure that the Pens would win.

In all seriousness, it would be nice to see some accountability on the refs part. I was at the game when the Pens came to town and it was one of the worst officiated games I've been to. Last night was no exception. I've seen and read about other shitty officiating jobs around the league too. I know the refs can't be perfect, but at the same time they have a very important job to do and I would like to see more consistency and more accountability. Don't the players and coaches get fined by the league if they criticize the officiating? So I don't understand how these poor officiated games can be fixed if no one can really properly complain about them.

Oh well, after the shit show that was the officiating and the multiple 5-on-3s, Ryan had the ultimate "Go fuck yourself!" as he helped lead his team to a victory. Atta boy, Ryan.

Comeback Kids

y so srs, Spacho? (my Dark Knight reference...since it comes out on DVD tomorrow!)

So after the Sabres beat the amazing team that is the Tampa Bay Lightning, it became obvious that they were well on their way to a 2008-2009 Stanley Cup. If that game wasn't enough for you naysayers, then I think tonight's victory over the Penguins just made it clear. In all seriousness though, I'm glad that the boys have put up a nice little win streak.

Nathan Gerbe has had his first taste of the NHL, and during the Tampa Bay game he was a +2 and he had four shots on goal. I'm not sure what his stats were for tonight's game, but I know he was on ice for Derek Roy's goal. The officiating again was questionable at best. I thought that delay of game call on Vanek was bullshit. He was clearly trying to play the puck but it was kind of hard for him to do that when he has four Penguins ontop of him spearing and crosschecking him. Crosby drew a penalty which looked like a dive on his part, but hey, what else is new? He again threw another little temper tantrum after the time expired in the third period and he could not put it past Ryan Miller before the final buzzer sounded. Keep crying, Sid. I liked his sucker punch on Hecht, but good ol' Jochen just laughed in his face. Speaking of Jochen, how about him dropping the gloves?! Against Lecavalier, no less. He gave him a nice shiner too. Awesome.

Ryan Miller was superb tonight. He had several highlight-reel saves, and he was the best penalty killer on the ice. He really held his team in the game despite the fact that his team were down two men three times during the game. He looked very confident and he was extremely sharp. Just a great goaltending performance by him and I am proud.

I liked the fact that the Sabres were crashing the net and getting "ugly" goals. It can be really hard scoring these days in the NHL, and those are the types of goals that you're going to need sometimes to get a win. Good job by the boys to get the job done. Kudos to Vanek for getting his 20th tonight, and it's also nice to see Derek Roy going in the right direction. I also noticed a great sprawl by Gaustad to clear the puck out of the zone during a penalty kill, and he also had a monster hit (though he did get one in return). If the Sabres can put together a nice win streak then they're right back into the playoff hunt and they should be able to regain their confidence which is so key in a game like hockey.

Oh, and how much more fun is it to listen to the locker room interviews after a win? Obviously the players sound more happy, but in the background you hear them all talking, celebrating, and music playing. When it's a loss, it's dead silent save from a few bangs here and there which from what I gather is the players frustratingly packing their equipment.

I guess I should touch on the rumor about the possibility of the Sabres being for sale. I guess as of now all I can do is go by what the Sabres camp themselves are saying on the matter, and that is that the story is false. I'm sure Golisano has listened to offers, but that's nothing to be alarmed over. I remember during the horrible bankruptcy days, the NHL really supported keeping the team in Buffalo. Buffalo is one of the best US hockey markets that the NHL has, and in a league that's struggling to find good markets, I can't see them messing up a good thing in Buffalo and relocating a team. I say the team is safe in Buffalo, regardless of its ownership. Although I would not trust having Balsillie anywhere near this team.

I think I'm going to have a fun post tomorrow that may or may not be related to hockey at all. Stay tuned and Let's Go Buffalo!

Three Cheers for the Little Guy

Nathan Gerbe has been called up. Best of luck to him and I am very excited to see what he can bring to the struggling team. Here's hoping that his addition helps bring a win on the road against Tampa Bay...

Lindy is Confused, Miller is Pissed.

Alright, so maybe I should be working on my final paper for English and putting together a portfolio. Don't judge me. But I had to bring this up.

Lindy Ruff called out Ryan Miller for last night's 2-1 loss against the Florida Panthers. Look, I'm no "Lindy hater" and demanding he be fired, and I always respect what he has to say and I usually agree with him. But I think calling out Ryan Miller last night was ridiculous. Saying that he let in soft goals? Maybe. But the fact is that Ryan made some pretty big saves on odd-man rushes and he only allowed 2 goals. If your goalie is only allowing two goals per game, then he's doing his job by giving his team a chance to win. So why did Lindy only call out Ryan?

Miller was surprised and angry at Lindy's comments. Usually when Ryan is criticized by Ruff, he's pretty level-headed about it and he will usually agree with Lindy. But this time is obviously different, since I'm sure he doesn't agree with Lindy's comments at all. Messing with a goalie's confidence is not smart, and I believe a goalie's confidence is more fragile than any other player's considering their high pressure job.

Has Lindy lost his mind? I don't know. I sure hope not. I like Lindy, and I think he's a great coach. But he knows better than that. You can't blame a goalie when he's only allowed 2 goals and his team only scored 1. That shouldn't be on Miller. Maybe if he was allowing 2, 3 soft goals per night then Lindy's comments would have been more valid.

Am I being overly sensitive because I have a soft spot for goalies? Is this me being biased because I've taken a special liking to Ryan Miller because of my like for goaltenders? I don't think so.

I hope Ryan takes these comments and uses them as inspiration to play better. I hope the rest of the team realizes that their goalie is being called out and that they should shape up and score a few goals for him. I just hope that it doesn't create tension in the dressing room.

Oh and I'm aware I've missed out on all the fun with Sean Avery and his sloppy seconds. All I can say is I think Sean Avery is terrible and I have no sympathy for the little prick, whether he's being treated fairly or unfairly in this situation.

What a Night it Was, it really was Such a Night...

This was me at the Sabres-Preds game last night:



So when chosing my games for my mini-pack before the season, I saw that Nashville was going to pay us a little visit. I thought back to the last time we played them. It was an 8-4 decision and it would have been an entertaining game to be at for fans. They are also a Western Conference team that we don't see at all so I thought it would have been nice to watch the team take on an opponent that we don't really get a chance to see very often. Plus our good friend JP Dumont was going to be in town too. Cool. All good reasons to pick Nashville as one of my games. Someone help me see the light because I surely was misguided...

I usually describe a Sabres loss as a "shit show", but that doesn't even justify exactly what that game really was. That was the most boring and worst hockey game I've ever attended, and probably will ever attend. What both teams lacked in chances they made up for in turnovers. I knew that Nashville was going to get an unfortunate goal and that's all they would need. Of course. We gave a no-name goalie a 30-save shutout. Of course. A former Sabre scored on us. Typical. Really, should we be surprised? I would have liked to see Max in the lineup. Granted, I'm sure Lindy expected more from the offense, but in hindsight, I don't think Max would have made matters worse if he was playing. He would have at least made things exciting. I'm not the type of fan who's all, "MORE GOALS, MORE GOALS!!! FLASHY PLAYS, YAY!!!" I actually would rather see my team play a tight, responsible defensive game and go from there. That game had none of that. I understand that Max was scratched so Peters could be inserted into the lineup because of Nashville's lineup. Except...there were no fights. Not even when Tootoo ran into Miller. Instead I saw Paetsch take a glance at Tootoo and then just skated away.

A Paetsch-Tootoo match up would have been ridiculously uneven, but that's your goalie out there. You can't let any player, especially a player like Tootoo take runs at him without any worry of retaliation. Every goalie deals with contact, but how many times is Miller going to get interfered with and ran into without any consequence? What kind of message is that sending? What kind of message is that sending to the other teams? "Feel free to run into him all you want, he's just our goaltender after all." Is Ryan Miller going to have to smack a bitch?

A few highlights of the game were:
- A little boy, probably around 4 years old, turns to his dad towards the end of the second period and says, "Dad, why is the score still 0-0?" His father responded by saying, "Yes, it's still 0-0. I don't know what to tell you, buddy." I just got such a kick out of the exchange because firstly, the kid was cute and I love seeing fathers taking their young sons to sporting events. So wholesome. And also, because really, that's what was going through everyone's heads at the game. They couldn't have said it any better.

- The fan who got tackled and arrested in front of the doors that lead into the player's hallway after the game. Why was he arrested? I don't know, I missed the altercation. Either he and another fan were going at it, or he was trying to get past security so he could burst into the dressing room and give the player's a piece of his mind. I prefer the latter scenario, don't you?

- I got some nice shots of Ryan Miller doing his meditation routine or whatever the hell you want to call it, but I still need to upload them but that probably won't be for a little bit (reasons below after my lovely analysis of such a beautiful display of hockey).

The lowlight of the game (besides, you know, the game):
- There were two idiot fans behind me. I couldn't believe how dumb they were. Grown men too. They were from Detroit and they kept taking jabs at Buffalo. Ahem. That's right, they were from Detroit and they were taking jabs at Buffalo. They proceeded to say that Ryan Miller is a mediocre goalie because of his "long hair and photography". Or something like that. They had an exchange that went something like, "Why does everyone like Max, he sucks, blah blah blah. The same can be said about Ryan Miller. He's such a mediocre goalie, he only had one good season. He's got his long hair and he likes photography, and he thinks he's such a good goalie. I just want to shout to him, 'HEY RYAN, YOU'RE MEDIOCRE AT BEST!' " How special. They also thought that Numminen was our enforcer on the team. Makes sense.

So the semester is winding down and I have so many things to do before it ends. Between studying for final exams, taking final exams, writing final papers, registering for classes for next semester, putting together a portfolio, and doing some presentations, I'm very busy and I'm very stressed. I'm trying to remain positive and I keep telling myself that in a week or so it will all be over and then I'll be a free woman until January 26th, when the second semester begins. Right now I'm just trying to tough it out. So this will probably be my last update for a few days until I finish some things. I have to do a presentation on Elvis tomorrow. I'm still trying to figure out how to sum up Elvis Presley's career in five minutes...