Locker room renovations? Really?

Granted, I always thought the locker room was pretty shabby, but come on. Is that really going to help? Is the morale going to be so boosted by that, that a guy will come in and be like "oh wow, awesome new room! lemme score a goal tonight!"...no. It will not really matter. It might help a little I guess, but it should be bottom of the barrel priorities. How about WHO'S INSIDE the locker room first? I'm sure that will have to be worked on in the summer also. Whatever effort was put in by this team this season was just not enough to advance, same story as last year.

I commend this man for trying to make the place better for the guys, really. It does deserve to be up there with other teams in terms of how nice it is and blah blah, but the team also has to show it's the caliber to actually deserve it. Things are getting better, but they are far from there yet. I hope this summer with new ownership can shed some light on some things, like getting us some new faces, as we have quite a bit of free agents, and signing some of these same guys would make for no advantage come October. Some should stay, but more should probably go. I understand people being proud of the fact the team even MADE the playoffs when we were counted out wayyy before that for any type of post season run. More needs to happen though, it needs to build season by season. The season after you should make the 2nd round, and go up from there, not stay stagnant. If that is happening, something needs a shake up, whether it be coaching, players, etc.

Do you see teams keeping a coach year after year after failed attempts at playoff runs or if they were cut short? No. A lot of times that coach is out of there before the team even cleans out their lockers. I don't think Lindy Ruff is necessarily a BAD coach, but maybe his style or coaching is not working for this core of guys, or maybe just some of them. From the looks of the press conference this morning though, it seems Lindy will be here to stay for some time longer, so who knows. I just feel something must change before October, and something more than the adding of a guy like a Brad Boyes or the like. It seems to be just a patch on a situation, then the guy ends up gone sooner or later anyway. We have had some guys here for forever it seems, and the results seem to stay the same. It gets me frustrated to no end how no one ever seems to want to stir the pot with this team ever. Make a move that will be like "wow, this team is really looking to do something" yeah, how bout that? Pominville, Vanek, Connolly, Stafford, etc. are not rookies anymore. There is no growth and development for them to hit, they are where they are probably going to be for the rest of their careers, they are not like Ennis and Gerbe. What you are going to see at the highest (and lowest) is what you can expect if you keep them on the roster. The big men in the suits will have to figure out if this is the core they want, is that what they think will make this team get somewhere someday. Granted, a lot of guys are signed for a bit and will probably not be moved, but regardless, in my opinion, Connolly would need to go. Lalime also, and maybe even Montador, Grier and especially Niedermayer. Some of those spots need to be filled in with new guys, and then if next year takes a nosedive because of it, you work from there. But it seems like they want to stay wayyy too safe just because these guys have been here for so long. Come on, mix it up will ya? Geez.

Ok, that was super long. But yeah, that's what I had to say about all that.

Sabres vs. Flyers--Game 7

I still need more time to mull this over, but I will say a couple things tonight:

Ryan Miller was more than amazing and he gave this team every chance there was to win. He put the heart and soul into this series and I thank him for that.

It was good to see Derek Roy back out there tonight. Now he will have a full summer to really get back into whatever shape he wants to and kick ass in the fall. I can't wait to see him back out there next season ready to go. Same with Jochen Hecht.

Heard some pretty crappy news tonight that Jason Pominville has a sliced tendon, had surgery, and will be out 4-6 months. That should, HOPEFULLY, have him back in time for the regular season to start. We shall see on that one I guess. Geez, that damn injury is just crazy, I can't believe it.

I will reflect more on this in the coming days when things die down and all that. I am just for now watching the Canucks/Blackhawks to see if the Hawks can win their game 7 and advance. Should be fun. Game on!

Sabres vs. Flyers--Game 6

Ok, so I will just say this game ended in a complete disaster for me, complete with tears, maybe related to the fact I had been up since 6:30am, and maybe not. Probably just all the promise I (and a lot of other people) put behind this game. -sigh- It is not over yet though, nope, it's not.

Tim Connolly got injured in the game and who knows how long he will be out and what the extent of the injuries are. We already are without Jason Pominville and this kind of stuff can just wear down a team. Injuries suck, a lot. This time of year they are the worst though. Ugh.

It was close right up until the end obviously, and we went into OT. OT always makes me nervous, but in the regular season, at least you know you will get SOMETHING out of the deal. Nada in the playoffs however, as we all know.

Sooo, game 7 is back in Philly and I really wish it hadn't come to this. Just wanted to end this series here at home and wave bye bye to the Flyers and have them go far far away until next season. But back to the Wells Fargo Center the boys must go and we have to hope and pray for something big. Please guys, please.

Oh and the Blackhawks also forced a game 7 tonight and it was pretty awesome, seeing as they were right on the elimination doorstep. Rookie Ben Smith scored the winning goal in OT and it was glorious. They are going back to Vancouver and can hopefully win that series and send the Canucks packing. We shall see. Game on!!

Oh and for the record, I really dislike Daniel Briere. Sorry. Didn't care one way or another when he played here, and same goes for now that he is in Philly. Yep.

TYLER ENNIS!!!!

THAT IS ALL.

:D

Sabres vs. Flyers--Game 4

So I am pretty tired so this entry won't be that long. We won! so I will just make a few points, and be happy the series is tied 2-2 at this point:

-Ryan Miller couldn't have been more excellent tonight (well, yeah he got a shutout, so that is completely true) and he had a lot of Philly heat on him, but he stayed collected and calm and pretty much won the game for us.

-I think the lone goal was scored by Pominville, and other than that there was no more scoring action. Pretty weird, but the 2nd time this has happened this series. Huh.

-People like Gerbe getting fiesty (awesome, but not unusual) and Myers (awesome, but unusual) and a lot of pushing and shoving, and even a 5 min. penalty for the Flyers that the Sabres could not collect a goal on at all. Geez man.

We are gonna have to kick ass next game in Philly to really get this series headed in the right direction. I know it is tied at the moment, but a road win is a big thing to get and it would just help a whole lot. You guys can do this, please do this. Please. I don't want you guys to go out in the 1st round again. As if you didn't notice (party in the plaza *cough*) people LIKE to watch you guys play and would like to for as long as possible. Just come on, you know how to keep winning, you have done it before, and it's fun, you know it. Game on!!

Sabres vs. Flyers--Game 2

Ok, so we lost, and you know what? I'm not even really that mad. Losing is sometimes part of the game, and I am so sucked into playoff mode that it's ok to me. It's early too, and I'm being optimistic. So yeah.

Randoms:

Gaustad/Hartnell fight: awesome. Ok, I don't even care who supposedly won it, I was just glad to see Gaustad go out there and woop some ass or somethin. I don't really like Scott Hartnell anyway, so yeah. Then Kaleta and Briere were trying to get into it or something (lol Briere, what?) and then that didn't happen, but Gaustad and Hartnell went, and penalties were had.

Speaking of penalties today, I guess the Sabres were lookin to see how many players could get one, like some kind of awesome club to join! Fun! :| Gerbe, Gaustad, Pominville, Montador, Sekera, and even Miller (but that was so bogus), so yeah. Need to tame it down with those boys, come on. Don't let stupid stuff be your downfall on this.

Thomas Vanek was pretty kick ass tonight and was one goal short of a hatty. I was hoping he would get one too. It would have been nice if he would have gotten one to tie up the game and then we would have went on to win. Sounds fab, but didn't happen. Oh well.

Boys are coming back to Buffalo though! I wish I could go on Monday, but I am just glad it's back at HSBC and with our fans and all that. Hopefully a house full of super excited fans will rev the boys up a little bit more if anything and help the morale out a little bit out there. Game on!

Sabres vs. Flyers--Game 1

Last night's game was majorly nutty and weird, no scoring on the Flyers part? Odd.

We can thank Miller for that, he was amazing in my opinion. Without him, I don't know how that game would have played out. Much, much worse is my guess. Buttt, we won! Miller also got a playoff shutout which is awesome.

Some are saying that the lone goal scored by Patrick Kaleta (PK!! :) was lucky and kind of a weak one for "Bob" to have let in. I don't know. I guess it seems like at times the Sabres were begging to be scored on. All the penalties (come on guys, just stop with those) and giving up the puck, shots on goal being lower at times, etc. It was just an overall ODD game for me. It was pretty exciting, but a lot of the time with the stopping because of fighting or scrapping or whatever, I am just like come onnn, stop it and let's play. A good fight or whatever once in a while is ok, but come on. Pushing and shoving every time the whistle blows is a little bit much.

Having one game won, and in Philly no less, is good because it is part of the battle won for us. There is still a lot to go though, and we have to play there again tomorrow, and it is pretty crucial to win and keep it up coming back to Buffalo for Monday. To have TWO wins and then be back home seems like an ideal situation.

I really hate predictions. Would a lot of people predict their favorite team to take it all the way? Probably. Can you realistically say that you think that will happen? Like in your head, not your heart? Well it's hard because hockey involves both. Stats aside, keeping out eternal pessimists and all that, who knows what can happen. I will just leave it at that. Anything can happen at this point. Game on!

Oh and on an ending note: Steve Montador, stop it. I mean it. You are killin' me here man. :|

Thanks for the season boys!

The season flew by it seems, and here we are at the brink of the playoffs for 2011, yikes, I can't believe it. I'm so glad we made it, after everything.

After being in the basement for what seemed like forever, and a bunch of thoughts of maybe this whole season would be a wash.

Losing Derek Roy right before Christmas for the rest of the season and knowing how difficult it would be to not have him in the lineup.

Trading away players like Henrik Tallinder, who was really Tyler Myers partner in defense, and having Myers have to kind of fight his way through a sophmore slump of sorts.

To not really have a dependable back up goaltender, and our main guy has to play almost the whole season himself.

New ownership coming in and taking over and promising to take this team out of this funk we had been in and bringing a new feeling of hope to the team (and the city), that we could be a team that brings the cup home.

It's been a great year, with a ton of ups and downs, but now it's time for the biggest test of all. Playoffs are like the start of a whole new season, you start fresh, anything can happen. You can do whatever you want to. You can be the best. I know the boys can go out there and give it their all. The fans and the city are all on their side. Now it's time to see what they can do. Philadelphia Flyers, here come the Buffalo Sabres. Game on!!

!!!!

Playoffs here we come!

My dad was telling Anthony (a Flyers fan...booo haha) something during the game that I thought was funny and pretty clever....

dad: if we play Philly that would be so crazy
Anthony: yeah
dad: well, a Buffalo boy scored the winning goal on Philly in the playoffs last year, maybe this year it would be a whole herd of Buffalo that would take you guys out of the first round
me: ooh that would be cool
Anthony :|

lol good times

I'm just so happy at this point, and the fact that the boys got both points is even better for us. Tickets for the first round of playoffs go on sale on Monday and I'm already thinking about that because I would love to go, but I know there aren't really a lot of tickets to go around. We shall see about that I guess.

Seeing Pat LaFontaine on tv made me happy to start the night, and when Rob Ray interviewed him I couldn't stop smiling. All of the video of him playing and scoring amazing goals...gahh. I wish he could come back and play here forever and never get older and never leave. :)

The Blackhawks won too which is awesome, but I couldn't watch any of that game. I am just glad they did because the west is so close and they needed the two points.

Tonight has just been awesome. Great job boys, the whole city is so proud! :D

Tomorrow is going to be crazy.

On top of it being the last home game of the season and all, there is also going to be the alumni red carpet event and a bunch of other cool things going on down at the arena. I won't be attending, but I will be glued (not literally, I don't think at least...) to the tv at home like a lot of others.

Carolina did not help us out at all last night by winning against Detroit, so we didn't clinch a spot, but it's ok, it will come soon. Keeping track of numbers and spots and wins and losses, etc, can make one go insane, but it just goes with the season.

Word has it that Ryan Miller will be back in net tomorrow. I was hoping it would be Enroth still for the fact that he has been doing well, and also that if he finishes out the last two games of the season, that would just be more rest for Ryan for the playoffs. Buttt, it was said that when Miller was better and ready to play he would be in, so I guess that's that.

When I look back on the fact that it seems like just yesterday that I was counting down the days to the beginning of the hockey season and we are now just days away from the end of it is somewhat odd. It seems like the season just flew by really. Playoffs are always fun though, it's just hard to get past the thought that it might not be a long playoff run for us. I know I shouldn't think like that and blah blah, but come on. I'm looking at the track record here, just saying. I will enjoy it game by game for all its worth though and hope it lasts as long as possible. Nothing would be greater for this team and this city then to see the Sabres bring a Stanley Cup home. Mr. Pegula said it would only be a matter of time, so we shall see.

Oh and one last thing. This rumor thing going around on facebook about retiring Andrew Peters number tomorrow? Really? REALLY? :|