Did the Air Canada Centre move to Buffalo??

It sure seemed like it tonight, but no matter the amount of Toronto fans in attendance, the guys pulled off one hell of a game, and I hope it can stay that way.

Now we've seen this before though. A change of some sort is made, they get a little pep, they win a game or 2 maybe, but then it's back to suckville, population: sabres. Now if they can, like Paul Hamilton said, build from this win, we should be in good shape. Let's hope they do so.

The Pat LaFontaine stuff tonight was enough to almost make me cry, and long for a time when I wish I would have paid more attention to hockey. The RJ "lalalalalafontaine" call gets me every damn time. I would like to go back in time just for one of those games and hear the call live in person, it would be amazing. Seeing Ted Nolan introduced and the reaction from the crowd for him was also pretty awesome. I think this is the fresh start of something good that I hope will last for a long time.

Tomorrow the Sabres head to the actual Air Canada Centre (now but see wouldn't it be cool if there were more Sabres jerseys there tomorrow than Leafs ones? Yeah it would be), so let's see what the road will bring them. One win down boys, but you have a lot to make up for. Let's see ya do this. Game on!!

Let's back this up a bit shall we?

So, I'm going to go back a little bit here and go over the game I went to which was Sabres vs. Blackhawks on Oct. 11th. It was the first game I went to this season excluding the Toronto pre-season game (which as it turns out, was a lot better then any other game that has been played so far), because I did not attend the home opener. Not like it matters, we have lost all of them at home. I don't really know what's going on. -shrug-

In true creep fashion, I wore a Jonathan Toews shirt to HSBC (yeah, you can yell at me later, I love the man, whaddya want?) and yeah, maybe it was a bad omen. Not only did we NOT win, but I was almost in tears at the whole Pominville thing. I have never seen anything like that happen at a game I was actually in attendance for, and it scared the living crap out of me. Then I felt bad wearing the other teams colors, then it was all downhill for me from there. There were a ton of Blackhawks fans in attendance as it was, which was kind of weird, and then Patrick Kane scored a goal on top of it. I was waiting for Patrick Kaleta to come out of somewhere, anywhere, and kill him right then and there. Oh boy. My dad was just pissed off we lost again, and I was just kind of shaken up by the whole thing, and pissed that Pominville's streak of consecutive games was taken away. Non-intentional and all, doesn't matter, he won't be able to get that back. Total bummer if you ask me.

I do however like the new video opening on the jumbotron for the 40th anniversary, it makes me all smiley and just...yeah, I really like it. Makes me cheese out like crazy and I love it, sue me. Going back over all the decades is really cool and I'm sure has a nostalgic feel for a lot of fans.

So let's go over this:

-Pre-season was pretty ok, not too bad.

-Regular season has been eh, won against Ottawa (which was WEIRD) and have lost since (which would also be really weird seeing as we may never win again???!)

-People that did eh last year are still doing eh, while some are a lot better, while some who were pretty good are doing eh.

-Still too early to say really, I'm sure things will pick up soon, but of course we are all antsy and want to win just one to make sure it can still happen. We also want to make sure that this team isn't full of hockey game losing zombies.

-Jason Pominville being out has put Nathan Gerbe back in the lineup for sure which is awesome, but Shaone Morrisonn being out with a groin injury has also but Chris Butler back in the lineup. Pros and cons people, you figure out which is which.

Ok, guess that's it.

Recaps galore!

So I never got a chance to write about any of the pre-season games it seems, shame on me. I went to the game vs. Toronto last Saturday, and I have to be honest, it was so awesome just to be back at a game again. The energy level wasn't the highest in the arena, but hey, people were still up on their feet and stuff, even though it's usually a lot of kids dancing around and stuff...haha. We won, and it was great being back in HSBC and knowing the regular season is just around the corner, what we've all been waiting for! Yeahhh.

Now I have to talk about this because it irked me pretty badly the other day. It was actually said by some friend of a friend on facebook whom I do not know, but it still pissed me off. Something to the extent of Gerbe and Ennis being too small and not powerful enough to play for the Sabres and how they will just get thrown around out there.

OK OK WAIT WHOA, BACK THE ZAMBONI UP HERE DUDE. 1st off, I don't think either one of them back down from anything. I've seen Gerbe, all 5 foot somethin of him, go out there and get right in guys faces, he is pretty fearless it would seem. They are both also very fast, where some of the bigger guys might not be as fast. They are both very skilled also, a lot of talk this year has been about the two of them and how they will benefit the team a lot with how hard they work also. They could both also probably take the joker who said it, so yeah, I laughed pretty hard when I read that. Guy obviously isn't paying too much attention to them, too bad for him.

Most of the games have been blacked out in the area, except for the (yawn inducing) Hockeyville game. It was so damn boring, geez. I know some people feel pre-season hockey in general is, but I have been seeing some pretty hard hitting games from other teams, so that is not always the case. I have just been listening to WGR, too lazy to find streams on the internet or whatever. I'm just glad pre-season is wrapping up and we can say that the regular season is less than a week away, woooo. I have tickets to the Sabres vs. Blackhawks game on the 11th (kickass!) and I was kind of bummed I couldn't get tickets for the home opener also. Oh well, the Chicago game was my main goal for the beginning of the season, then I will work from there with what other games to get tickets for.

Tonight we play against Philly back at home (not in the awesome newly named Wells Fargo Center...hahahahaha) and we might lose. Oh well, doesn't count, but it gives you an idea of how well you have to play against the -almost- Stanley Cup champions. Now it is time to break out my old school radio (whoa) and listen. Game on!!

Sabres vs. NY Rangers

I totally forgot I didn't blog about this game until about 5 mins. ago. I'm also sick, so that isn't helping my brain either at this point. I also tend to forget minor details I want to add to my entries as days pass, so who knows about this one, let's just roll with it...

We are now Northeast Division champs! Unfortunately, to a hockey fan like my dad (bitter, been there since the beginning, isn't fond of most things, wants a cup here badly but has given up almost all hope, etc.) it is just a banner to hang in the arena and not much else. Like I have read, if we were in the western conference, we would be put out to dry, being only in about 6th place, and probably lead no division what so ever. I however, still have quite a bit of optimism to go around, so we shall see where that takes me. Until then, enjoy those hats and t-shirts dudes, you earned them.

Drew Stafford decided to show up to this one, but I dunno, it would seem he will have to show up to a lot more as we end this season and get into the playoffs, or the bench might be his new best friend. For now, we can say he is making a semi-decent effort, and hopefully he can keep it up.

Tyler Ennis continues to kick butt and make it kind of ok that we are down two top line guys. From word today, Mark Mancari was also called back up, so the trio is back together again. We'll see what that does for us tonight and for how long we'll have them here.

Toni Lydman?? Holy whoa, another goal?? My goodness, who are YOU trying to impress? Nice job bud! For now, you may drive me just a little bit less nuts (but things change easily).

There were more goals, more action (that Miller save? oh my! I might have been paying just a little bit more attention to an ice cream cone at the moment, and a little bit less to what happened, shame on me).

Guys came out, raised their sticks, and the place went bananas, and that ends the regular season at home. A couple more random notes:

-Rangers fan behind us was hilarious. When NY would score, he would be the only one in the section standing and cheering so loud, while the rest of the section just kind of looked at him. He also only kinda, sorta knew his Sabres facts, but I guess what can you expect from a Rangers fan? I also loved when they announced the game sponsors, and one was of course Yancey's Fancy, and he goes on to yell "CHEESE!!" haha, niceee.

-Sabretooth is still great. I could go to 1,000 games and never get sick of him. In my opinion, he is the best mascot in the league. He is just so much fun.

-When the Rangers pulled Henrik Lundqvist, it was to me like "what for?" I didn't think he was doing all that bad, and the back-up still let in two more after that. Didn't stop Henrik from having a goalie meltdown/temper tantrum though. It's ok Hank, I'm sure NY still loves you.

-Fan appreciation night at HSBC was less than stellar. Where was the free stuff? Sending down those damn Tim Hortons cups does not count, I don't even like coffee! I also don't want tickets to Black Eyed Peas or WWE. Ehhhh, I would have rather had a water bottle with Sabretooth on it or something. Try to figure out something cooler for next year huh?

-On top of the three guys that have been out of the lineup, we were missing Craig Rivet on Tues. to some kind of flu like symptoms (geez, maybe the Sabres gave me this sickness I have) also Patrick Lalime is under the weather, as was reported today. To add more to this, Jhonas Enroth has an ankle injury of some kind, so we may be without any type of backup. Rivet should be back for tonight, but unless he is awesome at also being a goaltender (doubtful) this could be a little bit messy. Geez people, you all need to get better soon, that includes you Robi! I saw you at the game with your neckbrace and all that and almost cried. You will all be going to Absolut Care if you can't get back on track! My goodness...


So that's that. Regular season almost over, but still three games at hand, all on the road. We play Boston tonight, and then Ottawa (HELP!) on Saturday. Maybe it's better I will miss most of Saturday's game, because I don't know if I can take anymore of that. Then again, the Sabres just LOVE to be all good and win when I can't watch because they are brats, so we'll see how it goes. Game on!!

Sabres vs. Florida Panthers

Jason Pominville! You have been so great lately! It makes me feel (just a little) bad that I was so mean to you. You are now leading the team with 24 goals and got that hat trick a few days back and all that other good stuff. I won't complain about you again (at least not for awhile).

Nathan Gerbe also scored, as did Tyler Ennis. Mark Mancari was sent back to Portland, so he did not play in this game. Ennis and Gerbe are really showing what they can do up here though, and it is helping the team out a lot with Connolly and Vanek still out until who knows when. Good job boys!

Also goals by Kennedy, Mair, and Tallinder. Wow Henrik, niceeee. Kennedy has also been stepping up as of late. He started the season off strong, went into somewhat of a rut, but now seems to be doing better. Line problems seem to be to blame, just needs to be up there with the big guys helping out, because he is capable of it and can produce.

Raffi Torres came back and got three assists. Geez, I guess he wanted to show he was still on the team. Sad thing is I didn't even know or remember he was gone for most of the time he was out for his injury. Oops.

Random notes:

-Teppo Numminen was at the game! I saw him on the jumbotron and I was all ooooohh, but it seemed a lot of the arena didn't even realize or something. Hello people, he did play for us, are you all dead in here? Cheer for the man, cripes. It made me happy at least.

-I got one of those playoff shirts from the Sabres store before the game. I got the we want a cup in Buffalo one. There were a lot of cool ones, kinda hard to choose.

-The man sitting next to me at the game was fullll of questions, and I guess he decided I seemed like the person to ask. Including "who is number 63?, where did he come from? who is injured? what is the injury? who just scored?" and the list goes on. I wanted to hand him a sports section....haha. But, I knew all the answers (wooo!) and I guess I really didn't mind that I got to be the person asked. It was just funny to me.

Great game all in all, didn't know it would prelude to tonight (which will be discussed in a short, ergh, separate entry) and we keep on trucking along for the remainder of the season. Game on!!

Sabres vs. Minnesota Wild

This was the last game in the round of tickets I bought for now, and it went out pretty disappointing.

On top of chance after chance for the Sabres, it was just sloppy out there, and Lalime just wasn't in the right element for most of the game, and the crowd started ragging on him pretty much. Maybe it was because we didn't want to lose this one because we just started winning again. Maybe it's because a lot of people really want to put faith in Lalime, but he just doesn't deliver. He will stay at 199 career games won for...who knows how long.

But a lot of guys tonight had chances to score and help things along, and it just didn't pan out. Pominville had a ton of chances, and Hecht has a chance also along with Grier. Thomas Vanek scored the only Buffalo goals, two of them even, which is pretty impressive with the way the top line has been producing lately. Some of them are starting to finally score, but it isn't winning games and as I have heard a million times "they aren't playing 60 minutes".

I kind of wish I could take the tickets I bought for this game and trade them with a game to come...haha. I guess a lot of people feel that way, because the game was pretty much get all excited, nothing happens, get all excited, nothing happens again, repeat. Steve Montador fought someone along the way, but even that was lackluster, he got the name ripped right off the back of his jersey...geez.

So all in all, I wish I could go back in time and get this night back. Sad but true. Miller will play tomorrow in Detroit, starting the road trip, and the team won't be back home until the 24th to take on Montreal. We shall see how this road trip goes. We are still number one in the northeast with Ottawa not playing tonight, but if things keep going like this, who knows for how much longer.

Oh and I bet Gaustad will be back tomorrow, mark my words. I have horrible luck when it comes to this stuff. But, at least I got his signed hat tonight from the St. Patrick's day hat surprise at the arena!



So, at least that was a cool thing tonight. My dad got a Kaleta one like he wanted too, so that was cool.

Game on!!

Oh, and edited to add this:



Drew Stafford, Hotroit sounds like some kind of disease, or at least some ailment I do not want...lol.

Sabres vs. Dallas Stars

Exciting game last night to say the least. Between the back and forth goal scoring, the first goal coming so early and the Kaleta hits, it was a lot to take in.

Tyler Myers had 4 points last night. Redwood was on fireee, made me proud to wear my Myers shirt last night to the game. One goal and three assists, the first goal coming at about a minute into the game. Damn boy. He is awesome, and a very valuable part of our team. I hope he stays in Buffalo for a long, LONG time.

Roy, Pominville and Vanek stepped up and actually had some goals and made their presence felt, right as I was thinking that maybe they weren't part of the team anymore. Roy got an empty netter also, which I'm pretty sure was the first one of the season for the Sabres. Come on bros, how come you guys can never make those? They are great, please do it more often now.

Other "new guy" (not Raffi) got a goal also, Mark Mancari. He also got an assist if I'm not mistaken. I thought he would have been on fire his first game up, but it must have just taken him some time to adjust. Good job Mark.

PK. My goodness, something was up with him, he must have been fired up beyond belief last night. He let Steve Ott have it and then some. I particulary loved how after it was over and he skated to the box his arms up in the air, pumping up the crowd and his "woo" scream. The place went nuts, and I was right along with everyone else. Too bad I was on the far side of the second row in 104, on the side of the Sabres bench and most of the action went along the Dallas bench. Between all the people standing and the view point I had, it was hard to see at times, but still awesome. Someone needs to fire up these games, and PK has been the one doing it. Oh and I loved this quote I saw at Sabres.com:



I loved the "football player on skates" part because I never thought of that, but it's really true. PK is the man.


Random notes:

-My dad caught a practice puck shot over the glass by Toni Lydman. Toni Lydman was by the glass and then pointed to the kid next to my dad for him to give it to the kid. This could be a mixed reaction of "no way Lydman, my dad caught it, it would have hit that kid in the head if he hadn't, it's mine now" or "aww Lydman, you are so cool and nice to children". At any rate, my dad wanted it for me, and he kind of hid it in his lap, until he saw Lydman point at the kid. I mean what can you do? You can't be a jackass to a kid. My dad felt bad because he wanted to give it to me, but I told him not to worry at all. It was a blank one from practice anyway, not a Sabres official game one. If it would have been I would have been like "tough nuggets kid, it's mineee" haha.

-I loved hearing the recap on WGR of the game, complete with the "you want a kick in the butt?" call from RJ. That man is absolutely priceless.

-The Dallas goalie's gold goalie pads were really odd looking.

-Sabretooth still amuses me a lot more than he should.

Pictures:



















Amazing game, really puts some faith back in everyone that we won't lose forever, yay!! Patrick Lalime will play one of the next two games, whether it be home tomorrow vs. Minnesota, or Saturday in Detroit. The guy on WGR was saying that maybe Lindy will let Ryan Miller play Saturday in Joe Louis arena because it is his hometown with his family being there and all that, so who knows. I will be at tomorrow's game, last game at home before the five game road trip. Road trip, oh boy. Get ready guys, and Gaustad maybe will be back tomorrow? Yet?? Come on! :) Game on!!

Sabres vs. Flyers

It was a little bit dismal for me going into this game. This slump we're in the middle of just sucks, and I wasn't sure what the guys were going to bring to the table tonight.

Pretty good amount of Flyers fans in the arena tonight, more than I thought there would be really. I was happy rockin' my Gaustad jersey (complete with an "A"!!) so it didn't matter to me.

It was odd how tonight's game was almost an exact copy of Wednesday's to start off with. Pretty slow moving, kind of boring, and no score. There were a few more little scuffles here and there, but nothing major, which I thought there would be because of the way Philly is. It was just messy to begin with, actually, almost the whole game was that way, but hey, at least we won it. Adam Mair stepped up and really showed up tonight which was awesome, and he got a lot more ice time because of a Drew Stafford injury that I didn't even know happened. I also didn't know that Tim Kennedy was sick and left the game at some point, or played very little, one or the other. It's sometimes hard for me to keep up without play by play and also everytime I see Sabretooth I stop paying attention to the game completely. I know, that is sad, very sad.

But Tim Connolly came out and locked this one up for us, and it's a good thing too because we desperately need these points. Ryan Miller can only play so kick ass by himself before offense has to come in and start scoring some goals. Also Raffi got an assist! Alright new guy, maybe I am warming up to you after all. Thomas Vanek got a goal, but whatever, I don't like to talk about him because he makes me mad a lot, and the guy behind me kept going "there goes our ten million dollar man!" and he oozed it with sarcasm, I couldn't help cracking up a bunch of times.

Random note: After thinking about this, it might have seemed funny for anyone sitting in our section to see 1. a man in a Kaleta jersey (my dad) 2. a girl in a Gaustad jersey (me) and 3. a woman in a Stafford shirt (my mom) with a guy in a Flyers jersey smack dab in the middle (my fiancé...haha) I would have laughed if I was looking at us really.

So, we are back on top of the northeast division, one point ahead of Ottawa. Sunday is an away game, and depending on the severity of Stafford's injury, someone might have to be called up from Portland. First guess was Tyler Ennis, but he is injured, so I'm thinking it will probably be good 'ol Nathan Gerbe. Ahhh Gerbs, we (maybe) have missed you. So we shall see what happens. Now is really not a good time for a bunch of injuries, and if Stafford's and Gaustad's become prolonged, who knows what will happen. A win tonight though, and hopefully we can keep this going. Game on!!!

Sabres vs. Washington Capitals

I'm pretty sure the Sabres knew that this game was not going to be a walk in the park, but man oh man, was this game sloppy, and a little bit painful to watch. The crowd was just kind of antsy, frustrated, etc. and they didn't hold any of that back either.

It started out nicely, the olympians got their moment to shine, and the Ryan Miller standing ovation was awesome. I felt so proud to stand amongst all the other fans in Buffalo and let him know how proud we are of him. I clapped until my hands were so sore I just couldn't anymore, it was great. He did an amazing job, and I'm so glad he is in Buffalo.

The game started out with some promise, there was no scoring in the 1st and into the 2nd, so you can't be too upset when nothing is going on. It started out kind of boring, but oh well. Then they scored, but it was ok because Jochen Hecht tied it up for us, and everyone was happy again. Then they scored again and it was like ehhhh, now we have to hussle just to tie this thing. The thing was though, it didn't seem like anyone was. It was just an ehhh effort on the offense's part, cause Ryan Miller was out there kicking butt, blocking shot after shot. I don't know if Roy, Vanek and Pominville were asleep out there or what, but it seemed like it. There were also some bad calls on the refs part, and there was at least one time that Washington should have gotten a penalty, but it never happened. So yeah, bummer game to say the least. The empty net goal with about 40 some seconds left sealed the deal, and that's when most of the arena started to empty out, with a lot of people leaving even way before that.

Random notes:

-I missed seeing the big 28 out there, boooo. :(

-The Tim Horton's cups falling from the rafters on little parachutes during the first intermission was awesome...haha.

-The Kaleta hit on Ovie was awesome, got the arena going for a little bit, put a little fire back into the crowd, but it didn't last long unfortunately.

-I hate sitting in the middle of the row for a game, eh.

So, I have tickets for tomorrow's game vs. Philly. Philly lost yesterday against Florida with a score of 7-4, so I don't know what that says. I heard that Philly was on a pretty good roll before that, so who knows. My fiancé will be going with me and my mom and dad, and he is from Philly, and a Flyers fan. Booo at him. He will be wearing a Flyers jersey amongst a sea of Buffaloians, he better watch out. haha. Hopefully we can produce a win with this one, and secure that top spot in the northeast again...pretty please guys? Game on!!

Sabres vs. New Jersey Devils

The first game back at home after the road trip was crazyyyy. To me it was one of those where you're on the edge of your seat for parts of it, then other parts you can just hang back. I went with my dad, my sister and her boyfriend. I know I chatted back and forth with my sister a lot, while the men were in that "if you talk to me I won't even hear you anyway" zone, so we ignored them a lot...ha. The Krusty the clown sound alike behind us with the "let's go sabres!" chant even five seconds also made for a lot more laughter then there might have been otherwise. He was great.

I thought the one buffalo goal in regulation was Derek Roy, but it was actually Adam Mair (sorry Mair), and that was it from us for regulation. I noticed Andrej Sekera and Nathan Paetsch were out there, but it took me altogther too long to figure out who WASN'T out there. I knew I didn't see MacArthur, and I didn't realize until we were driving home that Steve Montador and Toni Lydman were also scratched. It worked out well though because we won, and in a shootout no less!

I wanted to see a shootout very badly in live action, but then I sat back and thought, well, the guys aren't too good at those sometimes. Drew Stafford, as I was watching him skate up, I figured him to be about a 50/50 chance. He missed. Jochen I knew would probably make it, cause he usually does. Good job Jochen, you rule. Zach Parise missed which was odd (my favoritism on him made my father turn to me and say "if he makes this I will kill you" hey now, not my fault...lol) but he missed, so it's ok. Then here comes Jason Pominville and I said "OH NO" out loud, maybe forgetting for an eighth of a second that 1. he is on our team and 2. I was in Buffalo. He made it though, so I couldn't be too mad...ha.

Even though they were tired and just coming back home from being on the road, the guys tore it up out there and I was proud. They made it a nice game to come back home to for us here in Buffalo.

Random notes:

-I look for Sabretooth at games more than I do for players sometimes. I sit there like "oh there he is, I love him". I might have some sort of an issue...

-This game needed more hits. I was 2nd row from the glass, I wanted a flat out brawl right in front of me. Would have made for an even greater hockey night...lol.

-I shouldn't have been crushin' on Zach Parise quite so hard, but I'm sure the Devils fans behind me thought it was ok. During the practice I couldn't stop talking about him. Damn him being in the all star game last year, that's where this all started. I was watching for Thomas Vanek, not you. Gahh.

-Oduya is still a funny name, and I like it.

Pictures:





































So, the guys ranked up two points (finally, thank God, I was getting nervous) and we play Boston tomorrow. Another olympic bound goalie anyone? Game on!!!

Sabres vs. Tampa Bay Lightning--1/6/10

Ok, so last night had a lot of "whoa!" moments (especially for me) and I might be long winded on this one. Don't say I didn't warn you...

This was the first game I have been to since 2002. Granted, I watch them all on tv, but nothing really gets you ready for it live, especially after not seeing any live hockey for all those years. I was in sect. 106, row 6, and these were seats I purchased back in Sept. for my dad as his b-day gift. I was all crazy getting ready to go downtown from work, making sure we were going to be on time, traffic wouldn't be too heavy, wanting to go to the sabres store first, etc. We got there with plenty of time and headed to the store and then to the nachos (ha) and then to our seats to see all the guys come out to practice.

Now I don't know the arena like the back of my hand, especially when it comes to the seating. I thought my dad would, seeing as he had season tickets many times and all that. Well, it was not mentioned to me that I had purchased tickets right next to the visitor's tunnel for them to come out onto the ice. Bummer. I would like tickets next to our tunnel, but, it is what it is.

Then I take some time to look around. My gosh, the ice looked not as big, in fact the whole area looked super small to me. Also, my gosh the players looked big on said small looking ice surface. Tampa was practicing on our side and I was just sitting there all wide eyed (and probably with my mouth hanging open or something equally embarassing) just watching. I need more of these games in my life, more not on tv type games. It made me want to run down to the ticket office and give them a kidney just to have season tickets.

After the game started, I didn't even have my bearings before the 1st, and 2nd and 3rd goals were scored by Buffalo. Now I am just trying my hardest to keep up because it's been too long and my head felt crazy and I was just taking it all in and didn't even realize at first goals were scored until the place went nutty. I usually have Rick Jeanneret at home helping me out...ha. That is also a factor, not having any announcer/commentary to help in the backround, so I had to concentrate. As the game went on though, I got more into the groove of it all, and started to relax and felt like I knew what was going on for once. I missed a scrap between Gaustad and someone down the line because it was all the way over on the other side of the ice, but all in all, the seats were great and had a great view of everything going on. Here's some pictures I took:
















During the 2nd intermission, me and my dad went to get sabretooth paws (haha they are so cool) and he also got the Buffalo boys t-shirt with Patrick Kaleta and Tim Kennedy on it. I saw it and told him about cause I knew he would love it.

So all in all, a pretty great game to go to. I know a lot of people were saying the playing was sloppy and the goals weren't really clean or anything, but they went in, and that's that. I know, I know, technique and all that matters, but it was a good game for fans as a lot of people were saying, maybe not so much for coaches, but the sold out house loved every minute. We stayed until the very last minute, and getting out of the lot was a nightmare, but it was all well worth it. Now if only Patrick Kaleta would have been playing and took some Tampa players into the boards right at the end I was at, it could have been perfect...haha. I am just hoping he will be playing when I go to the game against NJ on the 27th, cause I really want to see him in action on home ice.

Random notes:

1.) Paul Gaustad is so much taller than Derek Roy, it makes me laugh.
2.) Everyone is taller than Martin St. Louis, except for maybe Derek Roy.
3.) I still had to listen to that dreaded HSBC bank commercial, even while at a live game. How come I can not escape it???!
4.) The people sitting around us were all really nice and it made the game even better.
5.) I wanted to run down to the glass and pound on it for no reason. I just felt the need. But I didn't. :(
6.) Sabretooth is kickass, even though he didn't come to our section.
7.) The "1, 2, 3, 4, 5 we want 6!" chant was pretty fun
8.) The guy behind us said "these guys couldn't score an empty net if you paid them" and me and my dad both laughed because it's true.

Two more points in the right direction, at a steady pace. Hope we can keep this up Buffalo, game on!!