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!!

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? :|

I love when I find stuff like this.

I found all this stuff while cleaning out and organizing our shed today. I can't believe all the good stuff I didn't know went out there. I love that Patty Lala is on the cover of that book, and now it will stay in safe keeping with my stuff, not out in the shed, lol. Also stumbled upon a Miroslav Satan rubber ducky??! Yeah, I dunno, my dad said someone got it for him AFTER he was traded, so we just threw it out...haha. I also found my Sabres carnival puck! It wasn't MY exact one, because mine was signed, but it was my dad's or something, so it's better than nothing. I also found a bunch of official game pucks my dad caught (I don't know how he got one more than once, geez) and also some of his hockey equipment from when he played years ago, and a Sabres goalie mask and also a trophy he got for being mvp of his adult league. It was pretty cool to see that stuff, because some I had either never seen or it had been a longgg time and I didn't remember. It's also cool looking through the 05-06 media guide and seeing all the guys that are still here, and how young they looked then...haha. The one ticket stub my dad wanted to throw out, or he said it could go in the trash, but I told him I would take it. I didn't even notice until we were back inside the house that it was signed on the back. I was like "dad, this is signed by someone, I just can't tell who" he turned it over and said "oh, it's signed by Lindy Ruff, can't you recognize that?" I could after the fact, but at first I couldn't at all. Pretty awesome. I also took the Robi signed Sabres fan only parking sign, even though it was my dad's...haha. He said I could, so of course I took him up on that.

So this was my Sabres happenings for now, as hockey is still going on without them. I hope the Blackhawks make it, as they are now tied in their series with Vancouver if I'm not mistaken. Philly is down by 2 games, and I want them to beat Boston....badly. Come on guys, take 'em down! :)

It starts...

I had a bunch of stuff written out a couple hours ago, but my computer went nutzo, so now I am back to square one. I hate technology sometimes...grrr.

Anyway, with the awesome help of the internet, I compiled a list of the Sabres playoff progress all the way back to the team beginning. I would have just asked my dad some things, but I know even the biggest hockey fan can't remember all that over the span of 40 years. Hell, I was born 14 years after the team started, so of course I can't know all of it, so I needed some help in that area.

Looking back can't really give you a picture of any type of outcome when it comes to the playoffs. Team dynamics change year to year, players come and go, there are trades, rookies, coaching changes, etc. But maybe it can give us a look into what the weaknesses and strengths were. Now I guess I can see why some people did not want us to play Philly in the first round because it seemed "boring", because we can and have easily beat them. The playoffs are a whole new playing field though, it's like starting fresh.

I remember hearing stories of the infamous fog game complete with a bat and a loss to the Flyers for the Stanley Cup. We also all remember 1999 and all that came with it, and I'm sure people have good memories to also go with the bad ones, but I'm sure a lot of people try not to dwell on that. I know I do.

So with all the playoff memories that have come and gone for this team, it's time for a whole new set. This team has a whole set of things to get them going in the right direction to win. It's just sometimes a matter of if they decide to use them. If they can put their heart and soul in it as well as their grit and talent to get the job done. We still have some injuries, as reported that Jochen Hecht will be out for quite awhile, and I don't think Drew Stafford will play tonight either, but Tim Connolly is set to return.

I also found this bit of info on nhl.com and found it interesting:



and of course this man would know. So we shall see what happens for our team here. I know for certain that there is no lack of backing from the fans, the fans are completely into it this year. Now after a full season of thinking and writing and speculating, it's time for the team to get out there and all we can do is sit back and watch. Game on!!

The things I remember...

I remember being just a small child when my parents took me and my two younger sisters to a Sabres carnival at the aud. There is a picture of my youngest sister in her sabres shirt inside the Sabres locker room, and she had to have been about 2 or 3, so I was about 8 or 9 at the time. I remember the big appeal of the carnival was going around and being able to see players and get their autographs and get pictures, along with food, games, etc. all going on. My dad loves Pat LaFontaine, always has, so that was a big thing, to get his autograph. Me and my middle sister especially. I got my awesome shirt signed (and I think I wore it a lot before the autograph, but after that, I didn't wear it anymore, dad's orders...haha):




The shirt was a gown on me, but I still loved it so much. My sister actually missed her oppurtunity for an autograph a couple times because they would bring Pat somewhere and then move him and tell you to come back later and blah blah. I have this story down to an exact science from the times my dad has told it to us, to other family, to strangers, etc. haha. So my sister is in line, like really close, and then they move him once again. Well, she was about 5 or 6, so she just starts whaling right there in the line of people. Pat's big pregnant wife (hehe) comes over to see what's going on, because she wasn't far from the line. My dad tells her, and they take my sister to him and he signs her little Sabres hockey stick. So all is good, and we all get autographs. I wish I could remember more from that day, but I can't. I know I got an autographed puck also that said Sabres carnival and all that, but it is nowhere to be found anymore which bums me out big time. My dad I think even remembers who it was signed by, but the name always escapes me.

I just wish they still did things like that, but I don't know, maybe that would be too much to take on. Who knows though, maybe someday they will have another one or something like it for the fans. Nice thing to look back on though.

Reading is fun.

There is a copy of Rob Ray's book on the coffee table at my father's house that I ocasinally will pick up and read from (he got it signed as a Christmas gift from my fiancé Anthony when Rob Ray was at Buff State when Anthony was in school there. To Bob, from Rob...lol) and it's pretty interesting. Now, the times he is talking about I really have little to no recollection of, seeing as he started in the 80's, but I can remember some and a lot from what my father has told me also. He also talks about Matthew Barnaby a lot, as they are close friends from what I've read. It's funny because I see Barnaby a lot at my work and places near my work also. I haven't finished the book yet, I'm only up to the chapter when Lindy Ruff first came to be the coach for the Sabres, but what I have read so far is eye opening as to what goes on between coaches, players, GM's, etc., even what happens inside the locker room. It seems like it might not be the same for the line of guys that are playing right now, but I guess it could be.

In reading these things, it brought me back to when the Sabres were in the playoffs in 1999. The whole "no goal" thing is still kind of blurry in my mind, but dear God if you lived in Buffalo at the time you knew what it was all about. The thing is that my dad was there. I remember watching parts on tv, but at the time I wasn't into it as much as I could have been or like I am now. My dad was at the game with a friend and I remember feeling really bad when it was all over, especially for him and how he has loved this team forever and they were sooo very close. He has told me the story many times of how he and his friend sat on the curb outside the arena and cried. Geez, how brutal. He was also at the last game played at the Memorial Auditorium, and he had the big ticket stub in a frame for as long as I can remember. A lot of fans have a lot of history and stories that go along with that building. I was in it a couple times, but again, I was so young, it's hard to remember a lot of it.

I really hope as time goes on that there are more moments for this team, more awesome moments where everyone remembers where they were when it happened, or how they heard about it, or how it was in all the newspapers and on tv. It's just all a matter of time I guess.