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!

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. Blackhawks in Chicago

Ok, well despite the fact we lost, AGAIN (ughh much?), this game was somewhat better than the last couple. They were trying really hard, and they got ahead for most of the game, then it just slipped away enough for them to not be able to get it back.

I still feel like sometimes Patrick Lalime is way under prepared to handle things. Maybe he will play more this year, but he did pretty well in goal tonight. Everyone knew Miller would need a night off at some point, and so there it was. It's not like we lost 8-2 or something, but it was still a loss. It'll get better Patty, don't worry, I still have faith in you.

Cody McCormick was a beast out there and I love it. He scored his first goal as a Sabre and was just generally up in everybody's business tonight. Between him and Gaustad, there was enough fiestyness for everyone.

Speaking of Mr. Gaustad, nice goal tonight man, I like it. His 53rd of his career, and his little hug celebration with Gerbe was just too cute to ignore. Too awesome to ignore was his flat out "f you!" to Brent Seabrook at the end of the game when a couple guys got into it. That was too classic and made me laugh. If I needed a reminder why he's my favorite player (I didn't though) that would be it. haha.

Drew Stafford is still out there kickin' butt and I'm glad for him. It will get complainers off his back and put the complainers back in their place, because come on, there are other top guys on this team to blame for things. I won't name names, we all know who they are....dodododo.

The effort fell short tonight a little and we had to hear "Chelsea Dagger" too many damn times, but it will get better, I have to believe that for my own sanity. We don't play again until Wednesday in Atlanta, so maybe some more practices will have the guys looking even better and we can win one maybe? Sometime soon would be good. Just one guys, for us, come on. 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 5

WE DID IT! Well, we won one game in the right direction, but I reserve the right to be excited! ha. It was a great game after all, and the Sabres showed that they can actually PLAY and aren't big stinky brats just skating around in circles.

Adam Mair's goal was just awesome to start it all off, and he was pumped about it. It's always good to see someone who doesn't score do it, and in the playoffs no less. Pominville's goal made me think that maybe he isn't the weakest in the top 6, but he still needs to keep up his work. He isn't on as low a level as Connolly at least.

The Gaustad pass to Grier to GOAL! was just awesome. Gaustad's "we just scored!" smile also makes the world look like it's full of sunshine and kittens and I love it a lot.

Tyler Ennis is the greatest and we are keeping him forever and ever and never letting go. His empty netter was probably only the 3rd of forever for the Sabres, and it was a very dramatic one complete with a dive. Very nice.

I still hate Chara by the way, and when you start stuff, don't think these guys will just sit back and take it. You throw Satan in there also, and you add an old Sabre thing, and it gets weird I guess. You even pissed off Miller, what have you done??!! (Maybe it's the eyebrows, yikes!) He came all the way out of the goal ready to kick ass. Lalime was even on the bench giving his two cents verbally. It pretty much consisted of Z&^^))&^%$%!! from what I could lip read. I wish I was better at lip reading, but I'm sure I can fill in the blanks quite well. Then after a little verbal abuse, and a player pileup to end the game, all the guys come out to celebrate and Patty Lalime shows off his killer dance moves again. I am always happy to see that, it's just awesome.

The place was pumped, all the people outside were pumped, and I'm just glad I get to see Sabres hockey for another game. I was getting down about it today, about how this might be the last Sabres game I see till sometime in Sept. or something, and I was just trying to stay positive that the guys could come out with a win. I want to see more of this, I want to see it for a lot longer too. The summer is just too long without it.

Now the guys head to Boston (ackk) and have to fight for their playoff lives there. I just hope that what they did today can be done again, twice actually. Come on, it's been done, you guys have it, let's do this! Game on!!

Last regular season game: Sabres vs. NJ Devils

So we didn't get into 2nd place in the conference, but that is all just kind of back burner stuff to me. We won't have to worry about round 2 home ice anyway until some time down the line (if at all) so it was just a numbers game in that context. The BIG picture is that we have to play Boston in round 1. BOSTON. Now, to some that might not seem so bad, at least it isn't Ottawa blah blah and not as entertaining as it would have been to play Philly, but whoa does Tuukka Rask scare me. If it was Tim Thomas in net, it might not be too bad, but I don't think it will be him most of the time. That doesn't seem right does it? But it is. The Sabres just don't seem to be able to get ANYTHING past Rask, so this will be tough. I'm scared already.

Tonight's game was just pretty uneventful up until the weird ending and the weird empty net goal by New Jersey. Thomas Vanek got our one lone goal, and then they scored one lone goal, and the rest was just skating back and forth for the rest of the 60 mins. Who was that guy in net for us though? Patty Lalime, is that you??! Wow, he was really ON tonight, and it was pretty great. If we get a backup playing like that going into the playoffs Ryan Miller can sleep a little easier, as can the fans on if it comes to having to put Lalime in at all. He needs to play like that all the time. Random notes:

-Who told Martin Brouduer he could hit Paul Gaustad in the head? Not cool. He didn't intentionally fall into you or into the goal or whatever you might have thought. You were having more of a diva moment than Ryan Miller would. Get over it.

-Patrick Kaleta is back! Less feisty-ness seeing as the thumb is still wrapped up tight, but at least he's playing and I'm sure he'll get back to 100% soon and be kicking full-time ass before we know it.

-No Tim Connolly, Drew Stafford or Jochen Hecht tonight, and these injuries can be very costly going into the playoffs. I think too many people called Connolly "finally healthy" early in the season and jinxed it, because now he isn't. We shall see what the beginning of the playoffs bring and if the injuries can be cleared up soon.

-I hope Thomas Vanek can keep this hot streak going and kick some Bruins ass and just keep the pucks going right in. Feel free to have another hat trick (or 4) at any time Thomas, it's cool.

Playoff time guys, can you believe it?? I can't really, it seems like the season went by so fast. The schedule for times and days has yet to be released, but I heard the first game would be Wed. or Thurs. and Versus will start playoff games on Wed., so we shall see when we see our first game in Buffalo. Time to get pumped, this is what we've all waited for! Game on!!

Ehhh.

So tonight was...not good, to say the least. The one goal by Derek Roy was all we got, and for awhile it seemed really promising, not out of reach really. Then it went downhill, and fast.

I don't really want to talk about Patrick Lalime and the fact that goals from the point seem to go in a lot, goals from numerous amounts of feet that just shouldn't, etc. We saw it, we get it. I don't know whether to try to defend him anymore, or just be really frustrated. The rest of the team should have helped him some more yes, but it's sad when I know he's going to be in goal I already want to call it a loss. It's sad when it turns out that way most of the time too.

The Sabres signed a 19 year old named Luke Adam today. Don't know much about him, but he's a pretty big kid, which is good. He'll finish the season in Portland and start with the Sabres next season. Hmmmm, wonder how that will turn out, sounds promising though.

Not much else to say tonight, we pretty much just helped Boston keep their playoff dreams alive, and got nothing in the process. Blahhh. 100 points would look pretty spiffy too dammit. Oh well, maybe on Saturday? Yikes, who knows about that one. Maybe Sunday then...haha. 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!!

I missed most of tonight's game.

So of course it was awesome/a lot of things happened/I still don't know what is going on. I have these things down now that the game is done with:

1. We are short one Patrick Kaleta, one Tim Connolly, and one Thomas Vanek, but have gained one Tyler Ennis. We have two Tylers plus an Ennis and an Ellis=my head explodes soon.

2. The game sounded awesome and Gaustad scored and I missed it (that seems to happen a lot) and Derek Roy got a hat trick. Alrightttt.

3. Patty Lalime finally, FINALLY got that 200th career win! It took awhile, but you did it buddy! Yay! Now you can dance to your heart's content out there (not like you wouldn't anyway, you always seem to get very jazzy out on the ice, and I like it...a lot).

4. Does the Tampa Bay lightning really suck this much? Or were we just tired of getting our asses kicked by Ottawa and had to take the rage out on somebody? Maybe it is a little bit of both at this point. The fact also that Lindy probably threatened physical violence on this team if they did not win tonight. Oh boy.

5. We got that playoff spot! and they will be selling playoff merch at the HSBC arena store! Well my my aren't we a little bit early to the party? Playoffs are not even here yet and it's time to break out the win that cup merch. I dunno, maybe we should wait and see if we make it through the first round? Eh what the hell, I'll buy some of that stuff, I admit it.

6. Tyler Ennis is some sort of kick ass guy! He plays well and he did some nice work tonight. Something about the name Tyler I guess. Maybe we should keep him around awhile...

7. I miss Kaleta already. Damn all these injuries! It sucks being your team's go to guy for fights and the like, but it must take a killer toll on his body, and often. Get better and get back to us soon PK!

8. You other two injured men....ugh. I dunno, just get back. We need a healthy, full team for the playoffs and you are NOT helping matters any. Ackkk.

9. Adam Mair also scored, and Pominville! and Jochen! My my everyone wanted in on some of the action tonight.

10. I don't know which was more heart warming, seeing the Drew Stafford/Lalime hug, or the Lalime/Miller hug. Either way, they both made me say "awwww" more than I should have.

All in all, a stellar night. This would have been a great game to be in attendance for (or even to have watched the whole thing on tv, grrrr) and it is deserved after some hard work by the guys. Off to Boston on Monday, then back home again Wed. vs. Florida. Hopefully the injuries won't hinder us too much and we can keep going like this. If only every game had this much energy and enthusiasm, we would never lose again! haha. Game on!!

Sabres vs. Atlanta Thrashers

I don't like the name Thrashers because 1.) it is very close to "rashers" and "rash" is right there and 2.) I always want to say "trashers" thanks to my dad and the fact that this team is supposed to be so very bad.

Well they weren't tonight.

So, let's start off with some old friends, Maxim Afinogenov and Clarke MacArthur. They were thinking "we will show you guys!" and they did. I miss Clarke on the team though, I was a little bit sad when they interviewed him, like he didn't want to leave Buffalo, which is sad. Also, what the heck will the humidity down there do to his curl-fro? That must be hard to contain. You did good tonight guys, you showed Buffalo alright. Gahh.

Matt Ellis scored a goal (WHOA) and so did Jason Pominville (DOUBLE WHOA) and Raffi Torres still did not. Geez, we could just bring Clarke back at this rate. What the heck man? Get with it already, you looked so promising. Or maybe it was another one of Darcy's poor decisions made to look promising to all of us. Whatever.

Ryan Miller is having a little, itty, bitty, small (or medium) slump, but that happens. As Harry Neale put it "even Betty Crocker can burn the cake sometimes" and he's right. It's just that I don't want to see Patrick Lalime anymore, I'm sorry. He makes me very nervous out there and just...blah. One more win to 200 buddy, don't you want it?

So at this point I am ehhhh on the Sabres situation. Too much more of this and there will be nothing else to look forward to because you will be done like toast. Gotta keep that northeast under wraps and get it moving here. I try to be all about the optimism, because teams deserve that from fans, but when you see the same things happening over and over, it seems like maybe the team just can't do it, or doesn't have the heart to. We shall see what happens, but playing like this will not work. This game just made me crabby, and I kind of don't want to see the Sabres for awhile. Go away dudes.

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.

I have a lot to say tonight.

So, this post might be maybe...a book's length perhaps? I don't know, but I have a lot to say tonight and I have that feeling like, oh boy, my keyboard might not come out of this the same. Yikes. Don't say I didn't warn you...

1st order of business: trade deadline looms

Yes it does, and at 3pm tomorrow, we will know (if anything) happens to the state of the Sabres as we now know them. Now I am pretty sure my father hates Darcy Regier more than anyone, and I have some things that bug me too, but I don't know. I mean, yes, we could use some changes, but maybe he is doing all he can. Maybe with salary caps, contract issues, etc. etc. maybe there just isn't anything else he can do. Maybe he is stuck. Maybe he is just a dumbass, who knows. Point being, I will leave all that stuff up to him. As long as Paul Gaustad is a Sabre, I am ok.

Butttt, I did get a look at players salaries today, and he does have some f-ed up things going on. Because: 1. Thomas Vanek is not worth 7 some million dollars, are you kidding? I don't think so, no way. He has his moments, but my God that is a lot of money. 2. Patrick Kaleta is worth more than a measly 500,000, come on now. A good instigator is a good find, and hey they put Adam Mair on waivers not that long ago, so obviously they don't think his stock is worth much, so PK is pretty much all we could have left at some point. Even if they just gave him a little bit more, the guy takes hits and injuries for the team like crazy, he deserves better than that. 3. A lot of people think we should trade away Stafford and I don't really know why..., I have wanted to trade away Pominville for a while now, but my father said they would never trade a fan favorite, which I guess makes sense, but I don't know what makes him a fan favorite...

2nd order of business: Olympic wrap-up and Miller out of net for the night

Ryan Miller had a hella awesome stint at the Olympics, so of course he deserved some rest tonight. I think he also needed some time to get over the shock that he was coming back to reality with the Sabres, and, no offense to my boys, but they are not the Parise's and Kane's of the NHL, so it's like, oh no, I will miss those dudes. Yeah, it's ok Ryan, we all will. Where is the petition for me to sign to bring Parise to Buffalo? Come onnnn. It's like trading baseball cards, we will give you vanekroypominville for your parise :)

3rd order of business: tonight's game

Ahhh Patrick Lalime. You take a lot of crap, but you also give a lot of it, so are we even now? You made some good saves, but not enough to win us the game brother. A shot from the point on the first one too? Ouch. Just ouch. I did enjoy your star spangled banner trance dance though, very nice.

Toni Lydman was like, how's about a goal? I say why not. Tonight you did not frustrate me as much as you usually do Toni, good job.

PK!! 2 assists to make you Lexus leader! Yay! You are back! I have missed you. Please just don't stop any more goals with your foot, and we will be ok for the rest of the season. Also watch your head...

Derek Roy knew that goal was in from the beginning and he was right! Wowzas.

Who is this Sidney Crosby guy? They won't stop talking about him and I'm sick of hearing about him...

Out of all the nights I'm like, "you know what Gaustad, you should have fought that guy" he never does. He skates away with his profanities and that's about it. Tonight he just busted the gloves off like -bam- and I was thinking "oh ssssss---ugar" and it was on. You got your ass handed to you though boy. You also seemed to injure something in the process which makes me very nervous because I have tickets to the next four home games in a row, and you not being there hurts my heart. I hope everything is ok.

So tomorrow we face Washington (big OH NOOO) and Miller will be back in net. I can't even begin to imagine how this game might turn out. I will be there though, so we shall see. Game on!!

I don't want to talk about it.

I don't, but I will in this case. Something has been happening, and it's becoming a trend and it sucksss a lot. So, most would figure that somewhere, SOMETIME, the guys would have to come back and win right? Guess not.

I still have ehhh feelings about Lalime. The guy is probably ready for retirement. He can't play enough games, and well, maybe he just shouldn't. Sometimes I think you just have to know when to say "enough" and I think it's time. Sorry Patty. :( That one goal, oh my good gracious, it looked like he scored on himself, and maybe he kinda did. I just -facepalmed- that one and tried to give him the benefit of the doubt on this game. No such luck.

It wasn't just Limey's fault either though because some people didn't step up. I won't mention any names, but come on guys, just come on.

Drew Stafford made that big, HUGE zero on the board look a little bit better by getting into a kick ass fight that had me and my whole family pretty much screaming at the tv in delight some kind of horror. He is a rare fighter, but when he does, watch out! That's what you get Limberger, I hope you learned your lesson.

I also was kind of amused/weirded out by the Columbus coach's press conference when I saw it today on the NHL network this morning. He pretty much said we play like crap a lot, but sometimes we don't. He seemed to maybe not have a lot of faith in his team, but yeah, who would I guess. He is new and sure sounds like it too. But we sure made them look like superstars out there last night! Way to help the NHL boost its overall moral boys! -sigh-

So I'm really hoping it doesn't have to get any worse before it gets better. We have three games before Olympic break and I might get tickets to the San Jose game if I can. My mother asked me "you really want to pay to see THAT?" well mama, I don't think they'll lose forever, at least I hope not. This break will be well needed though, and maybe things can turn around after they all come back feeling rested. At least we can all hope.

Sabres vs. Anaheim

My father decided that at about hmmm, quarter after 9 this morning that he would like to get his disatisfaction with Jason Pominville off his chest. Now usually, neither myself or my father are what you would call "morning people" but at soon as he asked "what did you think of that game last night?" we were both off and running. Now the Pominville thing has been my dad's grief for awhile now. "Getting paid all that and you are a pro player, you don't do things like that" is what he would say. I remember him screaming at the tv "Pominville you keep going wide! What is wrong with you??" in the past weeks, and so on. Now yes, in my opinion Pominville needs to fix himself up a bit out there. He is scoring at times yes, but last night ughhh, my frustration was runnin' high.

Now I have said it before, Patrick Lalime needs more time out there, plain and simple. He needs to play more and maybe he could improve. But letting four in in such a short time? He's gotta go, time to bring Miller in. I thought after three he might be taken out, but Lindy waited until it seemed all was lost. Gahhh. It was late, I did not want to be screaming like a crazy psycho, I did not want the neighbors calling the cops, but I couldn't help it. Then Miller came in and I was actually breathing a sigh of relief, and the tempo of the whole game changed.

Three goals came up pretty quick and then it was like, maybe we can do this, it's only one more goal to tie it up and we can at least get the one point. But after that lovely show by Pominville (ughh, man come onnn) it was seeming pretty out of reach. Hecht scored that desperation goal with about 56 secs. left, but that was also with 6 men on the ice. So, it was a loss after all. I give it up to these guys they were probably very exhausted from travel and back to back games (as the dumbass announcers kept reminding us all) and everything. So, it's ok, we'll get it all back I'm sure.

About those announcers though, yikes. Rick needs to come back like, NOW. I would have even taken Kev Slyvester at this rate. The whole gang needs to be back together, Rick, Harry, Robi, all of them, it just isn't the same and I don't like it. :(

Another thing, what is with Gaustad and seeming like he doesn't want to fight lately? He was pretty much being put in a chokehold last night against the glass and was like hmmhmm oh well. I was like man, let that dude have it! Maybe he is just not into the stupid penalties this season, but it's nice to see him fight a little bit sometimes (not a lot, just a lil bit though).

On to L.A. tomorrow and I just don't know what to expect at this rate. I don't know if Lindy will attempt to put Lalime in again or if Miller is planned to be in net for the rest of the road trip or what. I'm sure with a little rest and all that the guys will be back to their normal game winning selves in no time though. Game on!!

I don't even know.

The beginning of this whole "game" made me all "booo" because I could feel the happiness being taken away. Like "uh-oh dudes, don't let this go to your heads" but it seemed like it was going to be a bad night. Poor Patrick Lalime gets crapped on by a lot of people, but the poor guy has a tough spot. Everyone and their mama loves Miller, and he knows it, so Lalime can only get in there every once in awhile, and just needs more games played to get his record up and get his game play on. That can not be achieved though, when you know the fans want to see Miller and well, he delivers wins. I thought that Lalime did an excellent job, and yeah, some goals were given up, but ya know, it takes a whole team to stop them from going in, not just your goalie. I think all the guys tonight just seemed ehhh, like it was all going in slow-mo, and the road trip hasn't even started yet.

Butttt, we were able to tie it up by some goals from Drew Stafford, Thomas Vanek and Jochen Hecht (needed a call up to Toronto my ass). Tommy Vanek, 1st goal in 7 games huh? Wow. Derek Roy, are you still with us? Yeah, I dunno. There are just some people that don't seem to be pulling their weight to me. Yes, Vanek leads the team with 12 goals, but he scored triple that in a season not so long ago. Soooo, you decide. He has it in him, we all know. I know the season still has a ways to go though, so we shall see. Maybe I will be eating my words come Spring...

Let's get to the meat here though people, that DAMN SHOOTOUT. Now, shootouts in general make me sweaty, nervous, a mental case, etc. I wasn't sure who Lindy would have enough confidence in to send out there, but I knew it would probably be Stafford first. The whole back and forth of it all had me (and my parents) screaming at the tv like nutcases. Lindy made some unusual choices in my opinion, but I think everyone was thinking "it won't take more than those couple names on the sheet" but yeah, well, it did. A lot more. 22 shooters in all is what it took. Pominville (uhh), Tallinder??! (umm, ok) Tyler Myers (I get it, but oh my it was so bad, even he gave himself the omg what the hell did I do? face) and so on and so on. Lalime can only take so much it seems. Poor guy tried, he really did. I give him a ton of credit for tonight because he made a lot of good saves. Good job Limey!

Ok ok now. We have 7 games on the road now and won't be back home until the 27th vs. the devils (and I will be there!! :) One point in the right direction and praying for some love on the road. Come on boys!! Game on!!