Poor little blog...

I have been ignoring you pretty much for the last year almost, I apologize. Hockey season is right around the corner though, so it will be ok. Please forgive me. I promise I will talk about all the things I can, like what players left us (bye nate gerbe I will miss you) and who came back (hey Henrik, nice to see you again), and how Paul Gaustad got married (I don't even know when it happened but sobbing anyway). So there will be a lot to write about, and I will. I will.

Sabres vs. Boston Bruins

Tonight's game broken down for me:

-A lot of action which is nice, because sometimes Sabres games can be yawn fests, you know it's true.

-Drew Stafford got injured at some point and I guess I didn't notice, how sucky. I just hope it isn't something too bad and he doesn't miss a lot of games.

-Nathan Gerbe just wanted to start stuff with everyone tonight and it was awesome. He is amazing and I don't care what anyone says, his size does not matter. He will come at anyone and do anything and get in your face. He is the man, plain and simple.

-Brad Boyes is also the man, that feed from Gerbe for the OT game winning goal was amazing, and I think Buffaloians are falling in love with him, I know I think I am (does that even sound right? oh well...) I guess I was wrong about this guy, he is no Raffi Torres at all.

-Tyler Ennis! I think that's all there is to say, he is right up there with Gerbe for me. One of the great young players on the team that can carry whole games on their shoulders and come out and just be awesome and tear it up. Awesome job Tennis!

-These two points were really important (but they really all are at this point) but, it actually put us in 7th and above the Rangers in the standings! Wooo!

I am going to miss the game on Sat. against Toronto for the most part, but I will try to catch what I can if possible. Then the boys come back home to play Ottawa on Sunday. I don't know if Enroth will be in goal for any of these, because it seems like they have taken Patty Lalime and hid him from the world at this point. So, we shall see how this weekend works out. Four more points maybe? :D Game on!!

We won!!!

Now we have to keep it up and win tomorrow. No pressure dudes (well, some) but, it is important. Winning today was awesome, because Philly can be big and scary, but the guys came prepared, and it went well.

Drew Stafford was being bad ass, as usual, and Gerbe scored the empty netter! Even though I think no one on the earth SAW it outside of the arena, how did he know I love those goals? Nate the great. :)

There was a little bit more fiesty-ness than usual, but that is expected with the Flyers because it always happens that way. The crowds are always loud too. I'm pretty sure I will be going when the Sabres play them again in Buffalo in April, so we need to be just as loud then.

The Blackhawks also beat the Maple Leafs tonight in Toronto, so that helps us, keeps them off our trail a little for now. The Hawks are on a crazy 8 game winning streak, probably because of their awesome goalie Corey Crawford and the awesome first line of Patrick Sharp, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. :)

Miller was in net today, so that means Enroth will be saved for tomorrow in Minnesota. I hope he can be just as badass as he was last time he was here, and that all the other guys keep it up because a win tomorrow would be amazing. Game on!!

Nathan Gerbe is still awesome.

He was so badass out there, it was crazy. Yes we still lost, but those two goals in 15 seconds was killer. Along with Ennis, they are the two guys on the team that any other team should be afraid of when you think about it. Not a whole lot of size, but they make up for it in every other area you can think of. Both of those guys are amazing and I am just glad they are in Buffalo.

Patrick Kaleta left the game after doing some kind of re-injury to the hand that was already hurt. They probably should have just waited on bringing him back so soon, but, eh that's just what I think. Now who knows how long he will be out, but they should probably make sure he is 100% before they throw him back out there this time. I heard McCormick was sick or something too, which sucks, because we need him out there. I thought I saw him a little, but then he was gone. I don't pay attention too well sometimes it seems...lol.

Marc-André Gragnani is up from Portland, and eh, I don't have a real opinion on him yet.

Stafford is slated to come back next game I think, or sometime soon, so that is good, because we need him back, badly. He has been a really good top player for us with losing Roy and he turned his game around a lot from last season.

Ryan Miller was pulled, and was royally pissed about it, as to be expected. I'm surprised it was only after two goals though. He has let in more than that and stayed in. Maybe Lindy actually figured that maybe he is tired and he needs a rest sometime? Yeah, that would work. The whole goalie thing in Buffalo has been a big mess for a while, we all know that. I just hope SOMEONE makes some changes in the summer this year, because we need them in that dept. in particular.

Next game is Sunday in NY vs. the Islanders again. Hopefully Stafford is back and we can win this one. There are only a few more games until all-star break, which will have no Sabres included except for Ennis for the rookies. I guess that will give the other guys a chance to rest a little and maybe recharge. Maybe that could help? We'll see I guess...game on!

Nathan Gerbe is awesome.

Yeah, he really is. I'm going to do this entry list style...

1.) Gerbe, to me, has always been awesome. More people need to see this. In this case, size does not matter because that dude is quick, he is ruthless, and he will be all up on your case regardless of the size player you are. Come at him and just see what happens. Yeah Scott Gomez, try again...loser.

2.) Ryan Miller was amazing, as was Carey Price. The goaltending tonight was just fantastic.

3.) You could tell Patrick Kaleta was back huh? He was up in everyone's face as usual, and it was awesome to see. Welcome back PK, we missed you!

4.) I am so glad the guys got these two points, because at this point, they are needed more and more with each game. I hope the Sabres can play more games like this because they were energetic, and they were scrappy and they kept up the heat for most of the game. It was just a fun game to watch overall.

5.) A ton of crazy scraps and then even more injuries for Montreal players, it was nuts. They were down 3 guys within the first part of the 1st period...crazy. That one guy who was hit with the puck by his own man was injured pretty bad it seems, because he even went to the hospital...yikes.

So, to wrap this all up, I love you Sabres! Please play like this forever so we can keep winning! Please??? Game on!!

So besides winning anything...

I guess there is some other "news" going on in Sabresland:

1.) Jason Pominville has been medically cleared to play again. Thank goodness, because we need someone out there who knows what he's doing. Hey Pominville, can you help us win something again, please??? But yeah, I'm glad he's better for the most part and is coming back, because we need him, and I know the team needs him.

2.) Craig Rivet with not resign as captain. Dammit, couldn't get him to do it himself now it will probably never get done because I swear Lindy is too afraid of these guys to do anything. So yeah, less than stellar captain forever it seems.
-Dreams of Jonathan Toews as our captain, is snapped out of it by brick to the face- Yeah right, like that would ever happen.

3.) Nathan Gerbe has a broken jaw and has to wear one of those hideous cages that Thomas Vanek wore not that long ago if I'm not mistaken. I think it was him anyway. I don't think it was hideous though, I KNOW it was. Poor Gerbs. Get better soon.

4.) Luke Adam was named AHL Rookie of the Month, yeahhhh. I wish he could play more up here, but with more guys coming back, I guess that won't be happening, but I'm happy for him. All the promise for this team lately seems to be in the younger guys and the guys waiting in the wings to play. Hmmm, lack of spark, lack of giving a crap, lack of energy maybe? All the vets are too busy worrying about paychecks and diapers to give a crap about their jobs. Ya know, when that happens, I'm sure somebody would tell you to retire, so maybe some of you should. Yeah, I'm passed pissed on a lot of this stuff.

On an unrelated note, it looks like just as it was promising for Jordan Staal to come back to the Penguins lineup after his summer long battle with a foot injury of some sort, it looks like he got some sort of other injury in practice. My gosh is that rough. I know a lot of hardcore Pittsburgh fans have been awaiting his return for awhile, as have I, and now this. I just hope it isn't too serious, and he will actually be able to play like he was supposed to soon.

So yeah, that's the news for now. We play back home Wed. against the Bruins I think it is (have I been so uninterested I have yet to look, or care? maybe), so yeah, that should be really dandy. As images of this past spring's playoffs replay through people's heads, the rest of us will just sit and pray to the hockey gods we can win one, because the Sabres are getting down to the Bills level, and that is just scary. Please send help. 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.

Will we ever win again?

This will just be a short entry to get some things down, and I will go back and recap some other things over the weekend maybe, because I did go to the Blackhawks game and all that, but yeah. I'm not sure if we will ever win again, so yeah, wow. A couple things:

I see at times they are trying, I mean really trying to do something out there. Stafford is putting in more energy and effort in the last couple games then he did all last season it seems, good to see him come back like that.

Tyler Ennis is just being his fast little self and trying to set things up, as is Nathan Gerbe. I'm glad Gerbe is getting to play because I think he is really good, he's fast, and his height has nothing on the fact he will go in and try to kick ass. Derek Roy is also doing extremely well, the most goals in the NHL eh? Nice Roy, nice.

Guys we could do without at this point: Connolly, Butler and probably Sekera. Connolly is just EHHHH all the time to me anyway, and I don't know why Butler is still on the team to be honest. If Morrisonn wouldn't have gotten injured he would still have his butt on the bench, so...yeah.

The whole goal drought thing to me was crazy, 118 some mins. without a goal, really guys, REALLY?? At least Roy got one, so we don't look like complete losers. Oh boy.

But, as it is the Toronto Maple Leafs are the top team in the league as it stands, so maybe hell is about to freeze over or more likely it's too early for anything really major to happen. Not time to panic, but it's as good a time as any to start complaining in true Buffalo style.

Because hey, the Sabres are better than the Bills....right?!

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!!

What's been going down?

Not a whole lot, or a whole lot, depending on how you look at it.

Resigned:

Lalime--I don't think I gave the dude enough credit. I sometimes was like ehhh why are you doing this??? But you know what? The dude tries, he really does, and he has heart. I'm going to look forward to seeing what he can do for the team this season. Welcome back Patty!

Cody McCormick--Don't know a whole lot about the guy, but I do remember he did pretty well when he was up here for the short time this past season. It's one of those things where you have to see him play more to see what he's really about. More grit is needed in certain areas, so I think that's what the Sabres were going with in signing him. Also I hear rumors it may be because Adam Mair is on the way out (but I don't know this, the rumor mill is mighty vicious if you ask me...).

Mike Weber signed a one year qualifying offer and Corey Tropp signed a 3-year entry level contract. Mike Weber has been floating around camp forever it seems, but I still know little to nothing about him. I'm sure (maybe?) all this will lead up to something in the future, but for now, it is what it is.

We also signed Rob Niedermayer a couple days back and that was the big talk. He is the younger brother of Scott Niedermayer (which confused me that day...lol) and he won a stanley cup with the Anaheim Ducks in 2007. I don't have much say on the situation because it is always hard to tell how a player will mesh with a team and what will end up happening until the season actually starts and the players all play together. Hopefully this will bring good things to the team and something more of a stable leadership, because I really think the Sabres lack that at times.

Went to development camp yesterday to check out some of the younger talent and see how they play. Gerbe, Ennis and Myers were the ones with a little bit more experience than the others obviously, but they all seemed to get along really well and play well together. A bunch of kids came in to sit in on the practice yesterday, and they were amped, it was so funny. They were screaming and stomping their feet, I'm sure it made the guys on the ice feel like it was a real game...haha. Pretty fun times.

I don't know if the Sabres are looking to make more moves (I would HOPE so), but who ever knows. The management makes me nuts half the time (like they do for a lot of people it seems) because they are often scared of testing waters. Maybe the moves they did make will be the right ones and things will go really, REALLY well this season. Cause that big, shiny, silver cup seems pretty damn cool to me.

Sabres vs. Bruins--Game 6, I'm not too bitter really

I really feel kind of ehhh at the moment. Half feels like "how could you do this??" and the other half feels sad I won't see the bums until Sept. at the earliest. The breakdown of tonight's game is pretty unimportant at this rate, but the young guys were the ones out there busting their butts for this team. Not just tonight, but pretty much the whole series. There were also a lot of goals (well, actually, pretty much all of them) scored by "underdog" players on the team. Guys that don't usually necessarily do it, but stepped up and helped out when it mattered. Guys like Adam Mair, Steve Montador, Mike Grier, Patrick Kaleta, etc. The "top 6" might as well have been on vacation starting from the beginning, because that's how (what was left of them) played. Couple things:

-Tyler Ennis and Nathan Gerbe: I love you both. You are both great. Please come to the Sabres for good and never leave us. You can bring Cody McCormick with you.

-Derek Roy, Toni Lydman, Tim Connolly and Raffi Torres: Don't be here when I get back.

-Ryan Miller: what else can we say bud? You gave us all you had, and that's all we can ask for. Everyone loves you, and yeah maybe Tuuka outplayed you, but you needed the help of the rest of the team, and you didn't get it as much as you should have. But you could do us a favor and stay in position more often. Thank you. See ya next year.

-Paul Gaustad: You better have a big, bright "C" on that jersey next year, that's all I'm saying. You are also to not be touched at all, you stay right here. Let Craig Rivet sit and cry it out when his "C" is taken away, he could use a burst of reality.

-PK and Tim Kennedy: you are both RFA's, and that's a lil bit scary, but I don't see either of you going anywhere. If anything, you both need a raise. You can take some of Tim Connolly's money if you want, it's cool.

-Tyler Myers: You are pretty damn great. You and Tallinder make a pretty awesome duo out there. Please be here for a long time, and try not to grow too much over the summer...haha.

-I'm not sure where Matt Ellis, Chris Butler and Raffi Torres went, but I guess it doesn't really matter too much.

-The rest of you are just, I dunno, I don't have much to say about you either way I guess.

So, it's a wrap for another season dudes. Disappointing yes, but we made some progress. Might not be enough to save some people's jobs, but that will all be worked out this summer (hopefully). It's just a little weird to think that the guys we saw all together on the ice tonight will probably not be the big family we see in October. So fill up on everything else, watch the NHL draft (like I decided to do in a Tully's a bunch of years ago when they were trying to draft some nobody named Patrick Kane...I dunno...), watch the NHL awards, see if Myers and Miller win those awards, and we'll all be back to this in a few months. I know I will be depressed sometime soon, just wondering when it will start to set in...

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!!

Recalls galore!

So, accoring to sabres.com, Nathan Gerbe and Mark Mancari are being recalled to join Ennis up here until Connolly, Kaleta and Vanek get better. I don't know the extent of Vanek's injury, like if they think he will be back soon, but it doesn't seem good with Connolly and Kaleta. Ugh. Oh and I keep forgetting about the Raffi Torres injury, see how much I even NOTICE this guy is on our team? Geez.

Gerbe is precious, he is little, but I mean, little guys can have force. No one says he has to be up there trying to take on guys like Kaleta, I think he will be just fine up here. He has skill, otherwise he wouldn't be in the spot he's in already.

Mark Mancari did pretty well for us the last time he was up here, and Ennis is a beast out there so far and it's only been one game, so I think these three will be quite ok in the lineup. It will shake things up a little bit which is sometimes scary, but can also be good. These kids are fired up and ready to go, to show what they can do in the NHL most of the time, so let's let them show us hmmm? With playoffs being so close I just hope that these guys can get their injuries taken care of and rested and hopefully be back in time to start. We shall see what happens tomorrow night in Boston. I bet these guys are hyped up for it though, I know I am. Game on!!