Hockey day!

So today was chock full o' hockey and it twas grand. The Winter Classic game seems to be the big one everyone wants to see, regardless if you are a hockey fan or not. Of course having that one back in Buffalo two years ago was pretty damn awesome, every year seems to have it's own set of reasons to tune in.

For one, I have a fiancé that was born and raised in Philadelphia and, well, he has a fiancé that was born and raised in Buffalo. Yeah, that brings its own set of...things later, but Buffalo was not in this said Winter Classic. I didn't really have a team I wanted to side with one way or the other. I was kind of hoping for a Philly victory for standings reasons only, but it did not turn out that way. Said fiancée was glued to tv for the whole thing, and was happy to see Bobby Clarke as well. Now I know why that signed puck is in a glass case up there on his shelf...haha.

Let me mention one thing off the bat here, my utter disgust for Daniel Carcillo. I think he is a trouble maker, and it doesn't always seem, for the right reasons. Starting a fight just to make yourself look like a tough guy does not help your team. I remember the game in Buffalo when he wouldn't even take his seat in the penalty box, just continued to shoot off his mouth at the officials. But hey now, this is my opinion. He may be some kind of awesome player, that I am not sure of, but I know his actions in other areas of the game are not desirable to me as a hockey viewer.

It seems to me that the "elements" always seem to make the players at the winter classic just...off. Like you know they could do a lot better indoors. I'm sure if it were an indoor game the score would have been very different. But, in the end, Boston gets the win, Ronald McDonald gets a car, and all is well in the city of Boston for the day. Woo+hoo.

So on to the bigger stuff here people, Sabres vs. Thrashers here on home ice. Break down as follows:

1st period: Ummm, I think I may be asleep. All these Atlanta goals are blurring, please help, the Sabres must have had too much to drink last night, what in the love of Stu Barnes is happening here? Wake me up when something happens please. Oh wait, someone scored with 2 mins. left in the period? Oh Jochen Hecht thank you for that, it twas lovely.

2nd period: Ok, so we might actually be able to do this, not like we never have before.

*somewhere between 2nd and 3rd more goals are scored, another by Hecht and one by Connolly. Thank you both again for showing up tonight.

3rd period:I dunno, I think I might have been going nutty by this point.

OT: With 59 secs. left, Derek Roy wins it for us with no shootout needed (dammit, I like those, does that make me nuts? maybe) and all in Buffalo rejoice, as do Cellino, Barnes, and all the diabetic children who get another thousand dollars. Hallelujah!

Now, some notes from me.

I can not get over Toni Lydman and his need to get penalties so close to the end of the game/end of the period/when we are tied or down by one/whenever there is something important going on and you feel like marching your ass downtown to kick him in the groin. PLEASE STOP THIS INSANITY LYDMAN, IT IS BECOMING A TREND AND IS UNCOOL. I WOULD HAVE EXPRESSED MY THOUGHTS TO YOU ABOUT THIS WHEN I SAW YOU IN WEGMANS ALL THOSE MONTHS AGO, BUT YOU WERE WITH YOUR CHILD (buying her a balloon...awww) BUT I FIGURED: HIGHLY INAPPROPRIATE. So yeah, knock that stuff off please, you make me nuts.

Gaustad looked like he had to pick up a lot of slack tonight for some of the other dudes who had one too many last night. Not cool at all for him. I mean geez, redwood (that equals Myers for me) could have done that, he isn't even old enough to drink yet, gosh. But those are two different things completely. Once again Gaustad was kicking ass in the faceoff dept., where he belongs forever.

Hecht pretty much saved our asses, because I was pretty sure Miller would be pulled after that 3rd goal was scored like the other night, but he wasn't. I really think Lalime should have been in tonight, but eh, I guess it all turned out ok in the end, but man Miller, your starts have been awful. But all of Buffalo loves you, so I guess I can't stay mad.

Drew Stafford didn't show up to tonight's game. Oh well.

Ok, so for one more night, all is well on the Sabres front. No one has to go home and cry (except for the people who wanted to see Kaleta tonight, come on brother, get back out there yo!) and we are 2 more points in the right direction. Game on!!