Sabres vs. Edmonton Oilers and other stuff

So so so, what has been going on in Sabresland huh? A lot.

First off, Derek Roy is out for the rest of the season. This is a major NO! NO! WHY??!

It is no big news to Sabres fans near and far that this season is sucking...badly. Sorry, someone had to say it out loud. This does not help in the least. I feel so bad for him too, that is a long ass time to not play. Gah.

Secondly, there is big news on the ownership horizon. The Sabres should have a new owner very soon, with it being announced after the World Juniors are over with. We need this though, and I think it will be good. I hope some people higher up leave, and the roster gets shaken up, because it needs it.

We won yesterday against the Oilers, but I was so used to the Sabres losing, I was like "oh we won, cool". It just wasn't a big deal to win one. Ryan Miller did become the 67th goalie to get his 200th win, right after Patty Lalime. End of 2010 is turning out to be pretty ok for Miller, minus the losses and all...haha.

Mike Weber also scored twice last night, the first being his first NHL goal, and an empty netter! Love those! Good job Weber!

We don't play again till New Year's Day vs. Boston (EW!) and that is also Winter Classic day! Penguins vs. Capitals in Pittsburgh. A day full of hockey is always nice.

On an unrelated to Sabres note: My favorite captain (no, not Craig Rivet, do I look like I'm nuts?! haha) is injured, Jonathan Toews. He is out for something like two weeks with a shoulder injury of some sort that he received last night from being smashed into the boards all willy nilly by some big Blues brute. Grrr. Injury comes with the territory, but it still sucks when it happens to anyone. Patrick Kane just came back, as did Marian Hossa, so it seemed like everything was back in order, for like the first 10 mins. of the 1st period, ughhh. Soooo...yeah. Buttt, the Blackhawks have Patrick Sharp who is currently sittin' pretty in the number 3 spot in number of goals with 20, right behind Steven Stamkos and Crosby. I wonder why it seems he doesn't get as much recognition as the other two? It just seems weird. I know a lot of the light in Chicago belongs to Toews and Kane, but come on, Sharpy is awesome.

Ok, guess that's all for now.

Sabres vs. Boston Bruins

Drew Stafford came back and got a hatty! There isn't much else to say but that. He was ready to come back and it showed. Me and my parents were going so crazy yelling and clapping...haha. My mom's favorite player is Stafford, so she was pretty happy for him. You could tell he was pretty happy about it too, it made me feel so proud...hehe.

Tim Connolly also returned, but I don't care. Sorry to say, but I just don't.

Road games in Florida for the next two, then back home vs. Anaheim, to a game not being televised. Ummmm, excuse me what? Why? It is a home game and we can not watch it for some ungodly reason? Makes no sense. Guess I will just have to listen to the radio. Eh.

Ok, all for now.

Sabres vs. San Jose Sharks

Last night's game was another one that I would have loved to be in attendance for. Very upbeat, lots of energy (and goals) from the guys, and an all around GOOD game.

Paul Gaustad scored twice, and yeah, everyone can shut up about that now. He has never been a big goal scorer as is, and then when he doesn't score, people are all over him like "he has to step it up". Excuse the fact that he is always out there giving everything, protecting his fellow teammates in fights, just doing what he can for the team. You can go talk to Jason Pominville if you want to talk to someone about scoring who isn't. Like one goal since he's been back from injury? Ack. Yeah. So good job Gaustad! :)

Cody McCormick was also kicking ass last night, the whole Grier, Gaustad, McCormick line was in general. Cody is so fiesty anyway, but last night was EXTRA fiesty for him, and I liked it, I liked it a lot.

There have been so many injuries as of late that I am concerned at the beginning of every game at what might happen with so many pieces missing. Morrisson, Stafford, Niedermayer, Connolly, and Rivet just being healthy scrated for...who knows why. It seems to be ok at the moment though, but I think it is ridiculous that Rivet is our CAPTAIN, and obviously not up to par at the moment with the team. Please Lindy, pick someone else to be captain, this is getting crazy. Pominville has had an "A" for a longgg time, and while I am "ehh" about him and what he gives, I'm sure he would be good for team moral and in the locker room until you decide what the heck is happening with Rivet. Roy? I'm not so sure about. I have been a Gaustad captain pick for awhile, and he also wears an "A" now and then, so I think he would be a good choice as well. Just do something soon huh? Cripes.

We play Pittsburgh (ohhhh) tomorrow night at home, and they are number one in the league at this time. Kinda scary? Of course it is. Sidney Crosby? Yeah. We know him, he's good...scary good as RJ might say. Let's win this one...game on!!

-thumbs up-

I would like to take a moment to talk about my love of empty net goals.

Ok, so I know that the Sabres don't make them very often (or EVER, but that's a different story, unless you count that BEAUTIFUL diving one by Tyler Ennis last season, I'm pretty sure in the playoffs or sometime in that area, which was amazing) so yeah, maybe that is why I love to see them.

Patrick Sharp scored one tonight for the Blackhawks with something like 2 seconds left with them being up by one anyway, and it was glorious. I know they don't happen too often because most teams can keep things under control for the last minute or so when the goalie is pulled, but they are fun to see. Some are dramatic, some are just a matter of how precise a shot certain players have. I love when they come from halfway down the ice too, ahhhh. So pretty.

Ok, that was all I had to say.

Sabres vs. Ottawa Senators

I just had a whole thing typed up and this dsfkjdfkdfjk website seemed to have lost it or something, so yeah. Pretty pissed at the moment. But, I guess I will just type out a more condensed version from the last longer one.

Ryan Miller got back to back shutouts, one last night vs. Ottawa and one the night before vs. Columbus...yesss!! He needs to be up there in the top stats because Tim Thomas is hogging everything...haha. Good job Miller!

A pretty uneventful game vs. Ottawa, because well, there was no scoring at all until the shootout. Shootouts usually make me nutty, but last night I felt like we would win it, even my dad said he has a lot of faith in Miller in shootouts, and Miller is not his favorite player by any means. There wasn't as much physicality either, which was surprising. Patrick Kaleta was probably still tired from the night before. He got into this crazy full out rumble with Derek Dorsett from the Blue Jackets, and I swear he got 20 lefts on this guy. I don't know how the guy was still conscious when it was all over. He was pumped though, and it was great to see him back to his old role a bit. Lately, Cody McCormick has been doing a lot of the fighting, and Kaleta a little bit less. Even when I was at the Blackhawks game, he got in the middle of a fight, guys came to his aid to help, and he skated out. The guy behind me yelled "take your skirt off Kaleta!" which was rude, but I couldn't help but laugh just a little bit. He seems to be back on track though, and it's good to see.

Drew Stafford was back out as fast as he was back in with the rest of the team. He has some sort of shoulder injury that had him out for awhile, came back for one game, got hit and I guess must have re-injured it or something because he didn't play last night either. Connolly and Rivet are also MIA, but I don't really care...haha. I just think we need a new captain in general, but whatever. Things don't change that easily here, I've learned that.

So, other than all the new ownership talk, it's business as usual. Golisano should just sell because he could give a crap less about hockey or this team it would seem. He just sees the $$$$ and fans filling the arena to capacity, and that's about it. This new guy seems to at least have a general interest in the sport which is more than what we can say now. Maybe we could also get a new GM if this owner comes in (pretty please??!!). We'll just have to see what happens with all that I guess.

So, until next time...game on!!