I know that guy!

He played! He was in the starting lineup even. Though the stats people were not on top of their game, they announced #89- Tyler Sloan as a scratch, then 2 seconds later announced him as a starter. LOL I knew that he was playing because we got there later than I wanted, but still at the end of warmups so I saw him out there. I got as close as I could to the ice, but not enough to yell at him and get his attention. I was a bit sad about that but it was still killer to see my guy playing in the show! :) I wore his Syrcause Crunch game worn jersey which got me some weird looks LOL and a comment from a Caps fan which was amusing. Underneath it I had on my Roy Sabres jersey LOL just in case Sloaner wasn't playing.

Oh and here's another fun picture for you- when I busted out my Christmas ornaments a couple of weeks ago, I was reminded of this one that I have from a few years back:


yes, that is an ornament decorated BY Tyler Sloan! I won it in a raffle done by the Dayton Bombers back in 2002. Pretty sweet, eh? I was the first hockey fan he met in the Dayton area- I drove him and another guy to pick up their rental car when they got sent down to Dayton from Syracuse on the first game of the season. That's right kids, a guy who is currently playing in the NHL has been in my car! And he knows my name. Sweet, eh?

So the Sabres sucked out loud tonight. They were terrible. The passing was horrid, they weren't being physical (except Goose, and even he took a while to get going) and they played like they were asleep for the first period. It was awful.

I listened to the rants on the post-game show about how this team has no depth- that's not the problem. They have NO HEART. All those games they won a few years ago were not so much talent as EFFORT and WILL and HEART. They need to find that and then I think they will be winning and playing a lot better. I watched "Miracle" last night and it is a great movie.. I think some of Herb Brooks' lines could be applicable here: "You think you can win on talent alone? Gentlemen, you don't HAVE enough talent to win on talent alone." Or "I know there's more to you, a whole other level that for some reason you don't want to go to."

What happened to those guys? They are the same people.. they just don't want to work hard right now. Like Lindy said, it has to come from them. I just hope they find it, and soon because this is painful and embarassing to watch.

I'm going to the Winter Classic II on Thursday and leaving for Chicago early tomorrow so I may be out of touch for a few. I'll post back when I can and I'm sure I'll have a full review and pics of the GAME for y'all to see. Hope everybody has a safe, fun and Happy New Year! :)

wooohoooo YES YES YES YES YES YES YES

TYLER SLOAN WAS RECALLED BACK TO THE CAPS! :):):)

That means he SHOULD be playing tonight!!!! Huzzah!

WHY?!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

The Capitals re-assigned Tyler to Hershey last night.

:(:(:(:(

It's like they don't want him to play in Buffalo for me.

he played 23 games. Why did you send him down you punks?

I am not happy.

who are these guys?

I watched about half of last night's game, and I'll be honest, it was kinda sloppy. Not terrible, just not very good. They seemed a little sluggish.. too much turkey? Lalime was pretty on though. The first WSH goal was a rocket and I missed the 2nd one but geeeeezzzum Ovie made everyone in the arena look bad with that 3rd one. Sorry Hank, you maybe shoulda had that, or maybe Tone should have, but really, it's Ovie and he really IS that good.

I know I shouldn't like Ovechkin since he's one of the league's loveboys but man I can't help it, He's FUN to watch! (and he had a goal disallowed..whoa) He's such a strong skater and he has great hands. (sid, however, has soft hands but is not a very good skater) I like me some boys who can move it. So yeah, I love Ovie. (except when he scores on us.. but even then I had to admit it was pretty sick.)

I got to see Sloaner on tv! That was sweet. Only 3 days till I see him IN PERSON! Hmm.. anybody know when the away team does their game day morning skate? I might want to go out on Tues and try to see him there.. maybe I could talk to him for a sec? that would be sick! Just a thought..

Tomorrow my sis and I are going to the Bills game. My brother-in-law has tickets and he offered them to us. Renee' actually likes football but I can't seem to make myself care about it enough. However, it should be fun and even though I dont like football, I know that the Patriots are THE ENEMY and they must go down. LOL I'll let you know how it goes.. Maybe I'll see Derek Roy there. He was spotted at a game earlier this year by a lady I work with. LOL

anyway I'm off to watch some Highlander. (there was a marathon yesterday on sci-fi.. good stuff!) There can be only ONE.

oh my goodnesss

So... guess who is GOING to the Winter Classic II in Chicago next week?

ME!! My sis and friend found some tickets so we are going. I am super excited. It won't be Buffalo but it will still be hockey I care about (the Wings) and a very good friend and my very best friend, my sister! :) Woooohhoooo!

Also, for my Christmas present to myself, I bought tickets for my sis and I to see the Washington Capitals (AND TYLER SLOAN!) play the Sabres next Tuesday. WOOHOO! If the Caps send him down before Tues I'll cry. (I am pretty sure they won't but still..) I am mad excited.

Hockey hockey hockey!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas Day and continues to enjoy the season.

Merry Christmas!

Happy other Holidays if you celebrate them.

I hope all of my friends and faithful readers have a great day/week/etc filled with lots of food, happiness, friends, family and love.

:)

I'm slacking (again) on the Hockey SAB but I'll try to come up with some good ones for you to make up for it..

Sabres and Pens

Meh. I'm watching the game tonight and it's going okay. I turned it on in the 3rd period.. and what do you know, MacArthur scored, he's on my fantasy team and he's on the bench. WHOOPS!

I don't have a bunch to talk about.

It's overtime. Eww the Cros hit the puck with a stick higher than the crossbar.. this better not count!

The ref said it didn't hit Crosby's stick when it clearly did. WHAT THE HELL?

Oh that is bullshit. He actually says "The puck did not hit the high stick." So you admit that the stick was high.. and frankly, it actually DID hit the stick.

I am peeved big time right now. I can't imagine how Lindy feels.

"Sidney Crosby was very involved in this game." He had ONE goal. (and it shouldn't have counted.) Ha they are interviewing him and he says "it may have been above the crossbar but I got lucky." OBVIOUSLY even Sid knows that his stick was high or he wouldn't have said that.

BULL. SHIT.

So to end this rude post, I shall share something fun. A pic of Heather, Kate and myself from Wednesday night. :)

Devil!

Argh so of course the Sabres lost last night.

I do like the Devils, but not last night!

The seats were killer. When Kaleta scored his goal, the group hug was DIRECTLY in front of my seats. That was fun. I took some pics, I'll post em eventually.

The best part of the night was meeting Katebits and Heather B. It was excellent to meet you ladies, we really must do it again sometime! :)

In other news, the cast party for my play is tomorrow night so that will be fun. I miss those kids! ;)

I have a ton of things I should be doing and it's midnight so I'm out. Lata peeps.

aw shucks

So.. tomorrow (well technically today) is the big day- The Sabres v. the Devils! My birthday presents- tickets in the 2nd row. WOOHOO! :)

My friend Bryan is going to the game with me. Heather B and Katebits will be there too so I can finally meet them! WAHOO!

I need to catch up on my hockey Separated at births but I'm a slacker.. so you probably won't get one tomorrow unless I happen to steal some time at work, and since I missed last week I'm totally strugglin but oh well. I'll make it up to you, I swear!

Anyway I'll see you cats lata.

Sabres are sweeet

okay guys. So one more game I missed (I was checkin Katebits and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra (which was excellent, by the way).. but I see that the Sabres won again!

That's twice now we've beaten the Devils. I am going to Wednesday's game and I really hope that 3rd time is a charm and they throw in another win for me!

Vanek is bustin still. 24 goals? THAT is supreme. Royzie has 9 goals and 25 pts so that's not too terrible either. :) He's starting to pick it up finally.

And the boys have squeaked into 8th place in the conference, which means we'd be in the playoffs. WOOO! Keep movin on up.

The next game is Wednesday. that's a long time in between, but I think they can do it!

Enough rambles for the moment. The play was fantastic, by the way and I will be around on my blog a little more often now since I don't have rehearsal all the time.

see y'all lata.

wooooooo

Sabres won again.

I saw no game. Again.

But my life is super happy right now so carry on boys, carry on.

And that cute guy I mentioned last week that was going to come over for a game? Never happened due to some scheduling conflicts.. but he might be attending my 2nd row game with me next week! Keep your fingers crossed for me but WHEE!

Good job Vanek. You da man.

Pommers- way to hook it up with a shortie and 3 points. My fantasy team loves the you.

Royzie- how are you a -1? Oh well you did get an assist so that's something. We're good.

And that's about it. Later peeps.

atta boy

I missed ALL of last night's game due to a long play practice. ***hey if y'all want to come out to lovely Yorkshire NY on Friday night to check a bustin production of A Christmas Story featuring YOURS TRULY as Miss Shields, the teacher- just shoot me an e-mail and I'll get ya some details..***

(end Public Service Announcement/Shameless Plug)

back to hockey.. soo.. yeah I missed that badass game last night. Boo on that. Maybe I'll dvr tomorrow's tilt. I want to actually SEE Royzie score a goal. I wish I had seen the look on Sid's face when they lost- everyone keeps telling me how great that is, but I missed the game after Thanksgiving as well because I was in hockeyless Louisiana. I don't think I could have handled listening to the VS idiots talking about the magnificence of the Crosby and Malkin show. I probably would have puked up my guts by about the 2nd minute and who really wants to deal with that? Right. Either that or it would turn into a Winter Classic-like Sid "lovefest" that I had with my friends when we took it to a point so far beyond ridiculousness that it just COULDN'T STOP. (because I was stuck watching it on VS since I was in Ohio= LAME.. not lame being in OH but not having Rick and Harry is lame.. and sad). Yeah did that make sense? Anyway I hate Sid (i know he's good. you don't have to tell me. 38944389057436546 times, if you work for VS. I REALLY hate Malkin. I don't care if he's good.. he's just.. ugh. Yeah no love for either of them.)

Right so I guess what I'm saying is LET'S GO BUFF-A-LO!

One week from tomorrow I'll be sitting 2nd row slightly to the right of Ryan Miller for 2 periods and NOTMARTYBRODEUR Scott Clemmensen or Kevin Weeks for one. WOOOOOHOOOOOO! It's gonna be grand.

neato frito

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Pseudo-live blog

There are about 9 mins left in the game.. and the Sabres are up 4-3. WOOOO this game has been a little wild, what I've seen of it (I tuned in during the 2nd before the goals were scored..) It's been kinda up and down but at least they are doing SOMETHING. Lots of energy and action which has definitely been missing in some games lately.

And holy moley that Roy goal was amazing. And I particularly loved Gerbe hugging him. Teehee Gerbe is SOOOOOO tiny!

things are getting interesting.. Mair is getting speared in front of the linesmen and then one of them gets taken out.? Say whaaaaat?

Oh and speaking of say whaaat- how about Yoyo and Lecavalier fighting? That was strange but Yoyo was totally getting the best of Vinny. Awesome.

um the McDonalds McCafe commercial is strange..

C'mon guys.. 3.5 minutes left. Let's get another one, eh?

I love the "Let's Go Buffalo" chant I can HEAR! :)

(eeks thank goodness for autosave, because I kinda just accidentally deleted everything on the screen?)

WOOOOHOO Sabres win Sabres win! Yay! :) And they are going to interview Royzie in the post game. Huzzah! MMhhmm and wouldn't ya know, he got the memo- he's a bit scruffier than usual (at least a 2 day beard rather than just stubble)... it WORKS Derek, it works!

Quote of the night:
"He's obviously smaller than me, which is tough to ask for, in this league.."

AWESOME!

And on that note.. goodnight Buffalo.

Oh yeah

Woot Patrick Elias had 2 goals tonight! He's on my fantasy team.. I dearly hope he was playing tonight for me. *checks* NOOO Crap! Fail. I am made of fail.

Just like the sabres. In their defence, they played relatively decently tonight. I didn't like the goals that Florida scored, and Miller saved their bacon more than once, but you have to give some credit to Anderson- he was really on. And he really stopped 45/46 shots tonight. Damn. Our guys were getting it to the net.. for once.

Ugh. That's annoying but at least the effort was there.

I don't think I'm alone on this, but I'm kinda Kevin Sylvestered-out this season. Anyone else? I like the guy, but there's toooooo much Kevin. I miss Rayzor and Roby (I have barely had a chance to watch many games this season and most of the ones I can sit down for are on the road.)

Aside to Derek Roy- PLEASE grow your sexy lucky 3-day scruffy beard again. It makes you score goals. pleaseandthankyou

And one more thing before I go to read my book-that is better than the hockey I've been watching lately- how HIDEOUS are the Flyers jerseys? Puke. They are just garish and painfully ugly.

yip to the yie

Yeah so.. it's Wednesday and there is no hockey. But it's all good. There is hockey tomorrow (and the Sabres are starting over, right? 0-0?) and I *think* I've got a hot guy coming over to watch the game with me!!!!! He said he thinks he can do it, he'll let me know tomorrow. Score one for Sam! :)

I do have a hockey SAB in store for you today.. since it's Wednesday and all. This one was inspired by desperation and someone (I can't remember who, it was one of my fellow bloggers) mention of Dion Phaneuf and his "Frankenstein Forehead".. so here ya go. There is a bit of a resemblance there..


-Dion Phaneuf of the Calgary Flames

AND


-"Frankenstein's Creature", as played by Boris Karloff

Separated at Birth? YOU be the judge. LOL

And I just loooved can you taste the sarcasm? all the photos of Phaneuf slutting around with Elisha Cuthbert. Pics of them swimming and hanging all over each other while practically naked? Not necessary people! I don't think she's all that attractive, but what do I know? Clearly she has no taste if she every dated Sean Avery. GROSS.

yick

ya call that hockey? There were about 2 good chances tonight and they couldn't get it done. Guys, if you can't score (on a random rookie goalie) then could you at least fight or something? Blah.

I can finally sit down and watch a whole hockey game and you feed me that garbage. Thanks a lot fellas.

Blah. I just spent an hour and a half uploading pics from my family trip to LA- if we're facebook friends you can see them there. If we aren't facebook friends, then what are you waiting for? Facebook me!

Hehehe.

My back is killing me. (22 hour car rides will do that to you- seriously that was a LOOONG time yesterday to spend folded up in the car and I'm not fully recovered yet..) I think it's beddybye time. G'night y'all!

Royzie

Derek Roy- did you miss my memo to KEEP the scruff? You score more goals with more beard. Don't ask me.. just do it!

I still loves him though, I can't lie.

I'm back in the land of hockey. As much as I love Louisiana, there is NO hockey there and that is sadness. I missed 2 wins! and a loss but from the sounds of things Saturday's game wasn't horrid. Of course. Well I'm home now and I can actually watch tonight's game (nothing on the schedule.... say WHAT?) so I expect a win. 'kay, boyos?

That is all. Time to do some actual work. Ha.

we did it!

More thanksgiving excellence..

THE SABRES WON AGAIN! :):)

good job boys. I like this new "winning" thing.

And I stick by what I have noticed before- the scruffier Derek Roy looks- the better he plays. And he looks pretty hot with a beard, so carry on my man, carry on.

ahhh Star Wars is on. Good old school Star Wars. I LOVE it! Han Solo is my hero.

That is all. One more day in Louisiana. Tomorrow is my grandma's surprise 80th bday party. She has NO IDEA. it's gonna be awesome!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to my American buddies and Happy November 27 to my Canadian buddies. ;)

I am thankful for many things, including my super fam, my great friends, the internet for hockey updates anywhere, a Sabres WIN!, food, shelter and love.

I'm in south Louisiana with my great fam. We ate way too much food and had a ton of fun.. good people and good times. it's fantastic.

The only drawback about being down here is no hockey.. specifically no Sabres. I missed Royzie scoring 2 goals!!!!! but yay that he did. and they won. Well done lads, well done.

I will be in the land of no hockey until Sunday so keep me updated. And woooo go SABRES!

Oh and there was no Hockey SAB this week because I'm on vacation so you'll get one (and maybe 2) next week.

Later and GO SABRES!

http://www.thehockeynews.com/articles/20227-Getting-To-Know-Willie-Mitchell.html

TOTALLY Adorable "getting to know you" interview from THN with Willie Mitchell. He's awesome. If I had to pick a Canuck, he'd totally win. Not only is he foxy, but he seems articulate and sweet too. Awwwww.

And that's it. The Sabres are annoying me. A boy is annoying me. Lots of things are pretty annoying right now so I'm just trying to be Zen and only think about good things.

Oh and WHY do the boys have to play Boston again? Puke. Also, who came up with this completely jacked schedule? you fail NHL.

Boo Hiss

The Sabres are depressing me.

I barely listened to the game tonight- I was out and about- and I turned it off multiple times in favor of a new cd I bought. When I got home I turned the game on in time to see Derek Roy score but it was not enough. The only good thing about tonight is that I get a Roy goal (FINALLY) for my fantasy team, and Joey MacDonald is also on my team so I get a win. Yay for that, boo for everything else. I'm tired of them losing. It only contributes to the other crappiness I've been feeling the last few days. Everything was going super great and now I'm not so sure. :(

Basically I'm cranky and pms-y and I don't feel like being all fun and hockey happy because hockey makes me sad right now.

Yep.

BLAH.

enough is enough

Yay Royzie scored a goal! and had an assist, but the boyos still got told. I only saw the last 3 mins of the game. Yick. I HATE the Bruins!

Know what I don't hate? Spitz dill pickle sunflower seeds! I found some when I was in Canada this weekend and my life is happppppy. :) I used to buy them when I was in Utah but have not seem them since. I tried to buy some from their website but they won't ship them to the US. Boo. So I had to import my own. WOOHOO!

And it's Wednesday again- they keep sneaking up on me- so it's time for your weekly Separated at Birth:



-Shawn Horcoff of the Oilers

AND



-Actor Max Casella

That's kind of eerie. Separated at Birth? YOU be the judge! :)

ah-ha!

Derek Roy has a groin pull. Hmm. that doesn't really explain his lackluster offensive production. Blah. get healthy dude and START SCORING GOALS! PLEASE! (because you know I will never drop you from my fantasy team anyway)

I thought he played pretty chippily (is that a word?) on Friday at times and it reminded me of old school Derek. I miss old school Derek. blah.

Didn't see a lick of Sat's game. I was in Hamilton. They won on sat and Sunday too. WOOHOO!

For some reason I thought the boys were playing last night. Of course not, because I actually could have watched the game. Last Fri (when I was AT the game) was the first time I'd sat down and watched a whole Sabres game in forever. They always like to play when I can't see them. Like tomorrow, or Friday and Sat. ARGH. Who put this damn schedule together anyway? Why was I not consulted?

I did watch Adam Mair's piece from The Sabres Show last night. Hahaha that was awesome. he's kinda hot. sometimes. He's also a little creepy. But I love fact that he's almost 30- that means he's older than me! YAY! (something that's getting more and more rare these days.) I looked at the roster for the Amerks the other night and I am older than all but one of them. GEEEZ! that's Ill.

And I think that's it for now..

ugh

The Sabres reeked Friday. Well that's not entirely true. When they had the puck they were pretty good. Leclaire was sick and they couldn't get past him. But when they didn't have the puck, they ran around like chickens with their heads cut off. IDIOTS!

I didn't see last game because I was in Hamilton watching some AHL hockey which was worlds better than the crap the Sabres have been feeding us. It was the Bulldogs and the Amerks. And Hamilton won, woo! I never really liked the Amerks (since I was a Syracuse Crunch fan before I was a Sabres fan) so my dear boys Pommers, Royzie and Miller were dead to me until they became Sabres. Now I don't really care about the Amerks anyway but it's less of a quandry.

Today is round 2 of that series and then a skate with the team. Woo! Not that I know any of the guys who play for Hamilton, but my friends do so that's cool.

And it's supposed to lake effect snow tonight. Gross. I wouldn't care except I'm driving back from Canada and my friends have to get back to Ohio tomorrow so it needs to chill with that. Driving + lots of snow falling very fast= SUCK!

ahh no!

I know Alix isn't going like this and neither does my fantasy team (though I am playing her this week) but Kevin Bieska is out for 2-4 weeks with a broken bone is his foot! :( Poor guy. I LIKE him! He's good for my team. Grrrrr.

Sabres/Blue Jackets tonight. Section 325 Row 1. YAY!

cbj

Check it:

Tomorrow (Friday), I'll be at HSBC checkin our fellas for the evening as they play "Look at me, I'm" Rick Nash and the Blue Jackets.

I think some of you might be there too. Want to meet up? e-mail me or hit me on facebook if we are friends (and if we aren't facebook friends, WHY NOT?) and we can rendez-vous.

WOOOO! :)

sexytime

Here it is- the link to what most of you have probably already seen, the Rangers Men's Journal photo shoot.

WHY IS IT THE (grossbadguy) Rangers?

Though I have to admit, Lundqvist and Naslund look pretty damn sharp. Redden is decent. Drury and Gomez are dead to me so they can't look good.

When are they going to profile the Sabres? I think we should compile a top 5 guys from each team to do their own "Men's Journal" shoot. Here are my Sabre suggestions:

Derek Roy
Paul Gaustad
Patrick Lalime
Hank Tallinder (gotta have the Swedish guy in the suit, they are apparently 5 yrs ahead of the North Americans fashion-wise, just ask Wade Redden).
Craig Rivet

Suggestions? Arguments? We have a lot of fine lookin fellas on the Sabres, so it's hard to pick just 5. Who would you pick? And if you aren't a Sabres fan (I know there are some of you out there) or you know another team better, please share your picks for them.

I'm going to throw in some Red Wings too, since I know them pretty well:

Henrik Zetterberg
Andreas Lilja
Nicklas Lidstrom
Chris Chelios (yeah he's older than dirt but he looks pretty good in that rugged, swarthy way)
Chris Osgood - he still looks 19 years old but he's got a killer smile :)

And that's all I've got.. for now. Please discuss!

hometown

Tonight's SAB is West Seneca's own son Lee Stempniak, who came home to Buffalo and scored a goal. (Just like Patrick Kane last year, I guess we have a soft spot for the locals.)

I'm not feeling too verbose (weird, i know), so I'll just get on with it. Bet y'all wish I'd do that more often, eh? LOL



-Lee Stempniak of the St. Louis Blues

AND



-Actor Matthew Broderick

Separated at Birth? You be the judge. :)

P.S. The Sabres won. YAY!

We like to party

and by party I mean allow soft goals to kill our lead. Ugh Sabres, STOP letting them come back dammit!

I thought Petey's fights were actually pretty good, especially for him, Koci is a nasty piece of work and I dont know much about Janssen but Petey definitely held his own and got some punches in, which is more than he usually does. Well done, lad.

ARGH Royzie just blasted one off the post. a little to the left, buddy.

Legace has a 33.96 GAA for this game and .571 save %. That is PAINFUL. He's on my fantasy team. I might as well just concede the goalie stats for the week. I'm currently tied for 1st place points wise in the echl league. I'm one win shy of #1 though so I come in at 2nd. I'm in 7th in the IPB Amazingleague. Not too terrible. (of course that's where I have Legace with those stellar stats so who knows where I'll end up after this week.)

Oh and Alexander Semin is incredible. He has 5 points tonight- 2 G 3 A- and he's on my team! WOOO!

Speaking of Caps, Tyler Sloan is back in Washington. He's trying to keep himself in the NHL and it's awesome!

I love it when Hank Tallinder scores, he looks SO HAPPY! Must be because he knew that Heather B was at the game. :)

WHY don't each of the NHL's teams do a sexytime photo shoot like the skanky Rangers did with Men's Journal? I mean that's just not fair to the rest of the hockey world who HATES the Rangers (even if some of them look pretty nice in a suit)?

Oh crap. Timmy is broken again. Or at least not on the bench. He did get a nasty hit earlier in the period. Boo.

That's all the rambles I have for the moment. Time to finish the game and then read my sweet good book. Oh shoot and find a SAB. Stay tuned..

In Defence of Pavel Bure

Ooh today on the Hockey News's e-mail newsletter there was a link to an article about how Pavel Bure should be in the Hockey Hall of Fame. I could not agree more. I have talked about it before, but Pavel is my first and always hockey love. If Lance Links (a kid my sister had a crush on) started my watching hockey in the first place, Pavel Bure kept me there. He was electrifying, he was incredible. Bure had inhuman speed, but more importantly, he had the skills to make that speed DANGEROUS. Speed will only get you so far (i.E. Max Afinigenov) But Bure had amazing puckhandling skills. He could control the puck at warp speed and he made goalies look silly. On a consistent basis. He was pure artistry on the ice. And he scored goals- lots of them.

But he never recieved the mainstream media that you'd expect from someone so talented. he shied away from the interviews and profiles, because deep inside he was a very private person. Also, keep in mind that he was raised in the Soviet Union and life was different then than it is now for the Russian born players. So the media villified him and that hurt his reputation, even though he was poetry in motion on the ice and sold oodles of tickets. I think that's the biggest reason he's not in the Hockey Hall of Fame. He also never won a Stanley Cup but you can't blame that on him. Stanley Cups are won and lost by TEAMS. He owned all players in playoff goals in 1994, the last time he made it past the 2nd round of the playoffs. He never played for a truly great team, and never with a superstar center. What he did do was lead all players in goals in 1994, 2000, and 2001. In 2000, he also came within TWO point sof breaking the Gretzky/Lemieux/Jagr trifecta that owned the Art Ross Trophy for highest point-scorer for 2 decades. That's not nothing.

Campbell from THN Has this to say:
The two arguments against Bure are that his career was cut short by injury and he never won a Stanley Cup, but both of those are quite easily debunked.

First of all, having a short career didn’t hurt Bobby Orr or Mike Bossy and it should not be held against Bure that his back gave in to the rigors of playing in the toughest league in the world. Had he spent the first half or two-thirds of his career playing in Europe and piling up Olympic gold medals and World Championships against inferior competition and in a much less rigorous environment, the way 2008 inductee Igor Larionov did, Bure would have his path to the Hall of Fame cleared already.

Secondly, it’s not Bure’s fault he didn’t win a Stanley Cup. He came agonizingly close to doing so with the Vancouver Canucks in 1994, a spring in which he led all NHL players in playoff goals with 16. Although Bure only played in the playoffs five times, he failed to average at least a point per game just one of those years and his 70 points in 64 playoff games stacks up favorably against a lot of players with Hall of Fame credentials.

But it was his sustained excellence during the regular season – particularly in goal scoring – that sets Bure apart. He played just 702 games, but scored 437 goals, just 47 fewer than Hall of Famer Darryl Sittler, whose 484 career goals came in almost 400 more games than Bure played. In fact, Bure’s average of .623 goals per game is third-highest in NHL history among the league’s top 100 goal scorers behind only Bossy (.762) and Mario Lemieux (.754).

I think the numbers will speak pretty well for themselves. Not to mention that he was Rookie of the Year in 1992 (the same year Nicklas Lidstrom was a rookie! And beyond the .623 Goals per game. he also averaged 1.11 points per game. Not bad at all. (For reference, here are some other players points per game: Mike Bossy- 1.50, Jagr- 1.25, Sakic 1.19, Lemieux 1.88 (!) Gretz- 1.92, Ovie- 1.24, Sid 1.38) **But also keep in mind that all of those guys except Ovie and maybe Bossy, are/were centermen which means they are setting up a lot more plays, thus leading to more assists and points. Pavel was a Right Wing.

I think that's it. I've been wanting to post this for ages. I think it's an embarassment to the hockey hall of fam committe that they didn't induct Bure, especially when they had 2 open slots. That's like a slap in the face. Next year will be Yzerman, Leetch, Hull and Robitaille, since they are up and are all for sure lock-ins so you know he's not getting there next year. It'll have to come late. And that's a shame. Pavel played in the wrong time- he would have thrived in today's obstruction-free NHL. But alas, his body fell apart. (too many cheap shots to the knees?) and he had to retire at age 32.

eek

In which I remind you that I am, in fact, a very hormonal female. Feel free to skip this post, but I had to get it out.

they interviewed Royzie after the game (which was a little rude since I know he was feeling lame after that penalty but whatev) and he wasn't wearing a hat! For like the first time this season. I love it when he does that because then you can see his eyes! Roy has hot eyes. And his hair, I actually really like his hair. *sigh* WHY does he make me feel all squee-y and like I'm 15 again? I'm frickin 27 years old, 2 years OLDER than Mr. Derek Roy. I need to move on. But he's pretty.

And now that I got all that out, I feel slightly more normal.

Back to your (slightly) more intelligent hockey ramblings and observations.

game day

MAN Rayzor is feelin salty tonight. I think he and Harry are about to rumble.

Royzie is killing me tonight. He keeps almost doing good things but not quite. What is WITH him this year?

Taking a penalty in Overtime= NO NO BAD DEREK!

And the Sabres lose in OT. To the Thrashers. Again. (well the other was a shootout but same idea.) I don't like these guys. They aren't that good but they always play up to the Sabres and Buffalo doesn't respond. Most of the game was pretty okay but this always seems to happen against them. Grr.

That's really all I have. I missed the first period but yay for Mac getting a goal- it was a good move adding him to my fantasy team, and Royzie, though he sorta sucked, had 2 pp assists so that's good as well. I am currently leading in both of my leagues. yay! But my goalies are dropping like flies. Manny Legace should be back soon, but he's been out, Marty is done for a while, Nabokov just got hurt till I don't know when.. ARGH! Osgood is the only one still chillin, and hopefully I don't lose him too- he's on BOTH of my teams!

My sis gets home sometime on Sunday so I'll be spending the weekend in Watertown, probably without internet, unless they can magically connect it tomorrow- I should have scheduled it, but I didn't think of it. SO if you don't hear from me until Monday, don't be afraid.

Crazy

Eeek do we really have to wait another day until the Sabres are on again? Ugh.

I was playing with Google Analytics earlier (inspired by Shara's ramblings of earlier and since I haven't done it in a while I thought I'd dig it..

October 9 was a popular day for my humble blog. I got 57 pageviews! WHOAAA!

And seriously, people who search my blog- I DON'T KNOW WHERE TRAVIS RYCROFT IS PLAYING THIS YEAR. I have not spoken to Rykes in more than 2 years. Got it? I know he's hot, I know he's a great dude, he's a fun hockey player. What I *DON'T* know is anything about his current life. But you keep searching it. So more power to you but just be aware that this blog is not a hotspot for Travis Rycroft sightings. ;)

I think the best search term I saw was "heatherB style". I did use that exact phrase once but it's a cool one since HeatherB is awesome.

And I had a visitor from the United Arab Emirates- how cool is that? (they actually have hockey there too, btw) and one from some weird hard to pronounce town in south central Russia. Fun times.

And that's really the coolness of the day.

P.S. My sis comes home from Iraq in 2 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Who knows?

I am still distraught over the loss of marty for the next 3-4 months. My birthday game will still be sweet (I mean, it IS 2nd row and it IS the Sabres and I love them and the other Devils fellas too) but no MARTY! Blaaaah. I'll just have to settle for the fact that I can see the supreme hotness that is David Clarkson all up close and personal. That's wicked sweet. I'll try to keep myself under control. No promises though.

Moving on.. it's Wednesday again. how do they keep sneaking up on me? I have managed to cobble together a hockey SAB- it might be a bit of a stretch but I'm feelin it. (and hey, it's my blog so I guess that's all that matters. Comments are always welcome and suggestions are appreciated! there are a lot of wednesdays in a year and I have been too busy to watch much hockey lately- blasphemy, I know!) so I haven't been seeing much to inspire me. So bear with me a little bit. I delved through this week's edition of The Hockey News(inwhich I was able to answer EVERy question on the crossword WOOT) for inspiration. There was a cool article about Simon Gagne of the skanky Flyers. I've always enjoyed M. Gagne, I think he's pretty foxy and he's a good player so I am happy to see him injury-free. (though they had a huge article about Marty last week- first one I've seen- and look where that got him! Be careful Simon!) Oh yes and Simon and I are buddies because it's the French (SEE-mohn) and my name in French class in high school was Simone. :) [And no, I did not pick it for him, just in case you were wondering. he was drafted in 1998 and I was in French class before 1998.]

And now without further ado or babbling, here is this week's Hockey SAB:



-Simon Gagne of the Flyers

AND



-Henrik Zetterberg of the Red Wings

Separated at birth? You be the judge. I am curious to hear what you think. Is it cheating to pick 2 hockey players? I don't think so, and I make the rules so there ya go. ha.

until next time.. adieu!

P.S. Do we really have to wait till FRIDAY for the next Sabres game? What is WITH this?

No Marty?

No Marty? For 3-4 MONTHS?

My game is on December 17. :( That's less than 3-4 months.

I miss him already.

a torn biceps? That sounds super painful. Poor guy.

Now I've got to go goalie shopping for my fantasy team. I am already missing Legace.. eeks!

T-Bone

Wooo the Sabres won 5-0 last night! Good job boys. I saw none of the game so I can't comment but it sounds pretty good from what I read/heard about it. :) Thank you Roy and Pominville for scoring some goals! And Vanek, whatever you ate for breakfast yesterday, keep eating it. ;)

Last night Morgan and I went to San Antonio to see the Rampage play the Providence Bruins. It was a rough game for SA- they lost 5-1. There were 2 bustin fights, one of which the Rampage totally won.. the other was kind of a draw with the edge to Providence I guess.

But the crowd was a lot of fun- we enjoyed laughing at the people on the jumbotron way too much. And the mascot for the Rampage- T-Bone is the best Mascot I've ever seen. He was hilarious.

Hockey is fun in Texas. And it was kinda nice not to have any emotional attachment to the game, so it wasn't too painful when they lost.

puke

Tonight's game was horrible. I barely watched it, even though I was around. It was just painful. I dont have words so I won't even try.

instead I'll pack for my trip to Texas tomorrow. WOOO!

If you are in Austin, let me know and we'll rendez-vous. or I think we'll be going to San Antonio on Saturday for a Rampage game.. yay hockey in Texas! :)

yeehaw.

I am a terrible blogger

My life has been very busy of late. I haven't actually sat down to watch a Sabres game since.. the game against Atlanta? And even then I was only halfway watching it because I was cleaning the basement while it was on. The games since then have all been DVR'da nd watched in pieces or on fast-forward because they weren't worth spending the time to watch properly/and I didn't have time even then. yeesh. I *might* be able to see most of tomorrow's game, won't that be fun?

I have a date tonight (wooo!) so I decided to find a Hockey SAB early for you since it might be until next week if I wait- here ya go..



-Sergei Fedorov of the Capitals

AND



-Singer Gavin Rossdale.

Separated at Birth? You be the judge. :) ( I think that's an older pic of Gavin but I thought if it when I saw an interview with Sergei the other day so there ya go.)

You would be amazed (or maybe you wouldn't if you knew anything about Fedorov) by the amount of skanky pics that come up when you serch Sergei Fedorov. he's a skank magnet. Of course his associations with *gagpuke* Anna Kournikova (aka SkankQueenoftheUNIVERSE) will add to that total quite a bit. Yick. However, his hockey resume is quite impressive. He just became the highest goal-scoring Russian player in NHL history. Woo. he is also the 4th highest scoring Red Wing AND the most consistently booed ex-Wing since he gave them the big diss in 2003 to go to the Ducks. I'd boo him too.

In other news, Goose should be back soon! HONK!

And my sister saw Rick Nash at Panera today and made eye contact with him. She did not jump his bones or even ask for an autograph. Chicken. That's almost as cool (though not as amusing) as the day my other sister saw Fedorov at her tanning salon. She DID ask for an autograph, only because Sergei is our older sister's favorite player.

If you made any sense of that, you're pretty cool. And yes, I have a lot of sisters. (there is one more)

Time to get ready for my date.

OMG WHEE!

Guys, Tyler Sloan scored a goal tonight for Washington! It was the game tying goal. he's a D-man! (and not a very offensive one). That is SOOOOO Awesome! And my best friend (who also knew Tyler when he was in Dayton) was at the game in Dallas tonight to see it! How cool is that? Frickin awesome.

Here's a little video of him from the Caps website so you can check it if you wish. I KNOW THAT GUY!!! :):)



And that is a link to his hit on Tuesday night. It is SICK! (and totally legal)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzi5ckee9kA

I can't find the tape of my radio interview with him back in Dayton (and I dont know how to transfer it to the computer) but if and when I ever get my hands on it again I'll share it. wooooooo!

I need sleep and I'll talk about the Sabres game later. I didn't watch it real time because I was at a dinner/dance for church but I saw the shootout (yay Royzie) and then fast forwarded my way through the game which I had DVR'd. So thoughts on the Sabres tomorrow.

Seriously though, how did every guy in the NHL play tonight and yet my fantasy teams scored a total of 2 goals between them. What. the. Hell? That is jacked. I'm getting my butt kicked this week. Argh.

seriously?

AP's 3 stars from last night:

Three star selections:
1st: RYAN MILLER
2nd: BRENT BURNS
3rd: ANTTI MIETTINEN
Winning Goaltender:
Ryan Miller

Losing Goaltender:
Niklas Backstrom

Um.. if you don't win and you still get 2 of the 3 stars and neither is the goalie, there is an ISSUE. And, Miettinen didn't figure in the scoring, and Burns' goal was actually scored by Miller.

LAME. Just sayin.

In which I whine a little

Sorta halfway watching the Sabres/Wild game.

I hate the Wild's "christmastime" jerseys. Yick.

I came home, turned on the game and the boys were up 1-0. Walked out of the room and Min scored. Came back in and they scored again. Double Yick.

Aside to Derek Roy- PLEASE score a goal. Soon. This is making me crazy. And right now you are dragging down my fantasy team. Get with it bro.

To the Defencemen- Seriously guys, I know el Captain is out but there is only one of him. There are 6 of you. Surely you can pick up the slack? Thanks.

Ew Cellino and Barnes. Triple Yick.

Man, Clutterbuck is kind of a rough last name. Poor guy. He's from Welland ONT, just like Paille and Ellis.

Yeesh I am tired.

Oh puke. Ryan Miller just tried to clear the puck and put it into his own net. Poor guy. This sucks.

Not a good hockey night- my fantasy teams are not doing well either. C'mon guys! DO SOMETHING!

Can I just say I am 328598745% OVER Tim Connolly? I never liked him that much to start with and he's too broken all the time. I think he's overrated and I'm tired of waiting for him to not be broken. Blah.

Also sick of reading about how much the Sabres are going to miss Campbell on defence. In case y'all didn't notice, Soupy didn't play much DEFENCE- he was more about trying to score goals and making fancy spin o ramas in front of his own net. Oh yeah, that. Oh and distracting himself and his team by squabbling over money and being a general loser. Do we miss him? No. Well I sure as hell don't. So stop talking about it, you hockey writers! ARGH. Rivet is like a zillion times the d-man that Soupy will ever be.

Phew. Enough of that.

I do enjoy the way RJ says "Bergeron", the french way which swallows the last "n" a little bit. Don't know why I enjoy it but I do.

As soon as this game is over I am showering and peaceing. I am way tired. It's weird because I barely did anything today- I had my nephews but we didn't go anywhere or anything. It was a good day. We raked leaves and played in them. Haha good times. Much more fun than this game right now. Blah.

Oh and Hershel Gelber commercials are very poorly acted. Dude could you at least *try* to be a little more sincere?

Good only 6 more minutes of torture.

Woo my man Sloaner is playing for Washington again. He has 1:31 of ice time so far and they are only 5 min into the game so that's quality. :) I wish I could watch it!

NOOOO way! Like the Sabres really just scored 2 goals to tie it up? HAHAHA WTF mate? that's awesome. And ridiculous.

And we're going to oooooooovertime!

ROOOOYYYYZZZIIIIEEE!!!!!! :) YAY! He listened to my advice! Way to win the game my man. :):)

And now I can sleep. G'night friends. :)

Happy birthday

For today's SAB, I looked up hockey players who have a birthday today. I found Scott Lachance- drafted by the Isles in 1991. (His bday is Oct 22, 1972) He played for 4 NHL teams- NY Islanders, Montreal Canadiens, Vancouver Canucks, and most recently the Colombus Blue Jackets in 2003-04. He is currenly playing for Lowell of the AHL. Oh and he's from Virginia. Cool.

Anyway here is the rest of it:



-Scott Lachance of the Lowell Devils

AND



-Actor, etc- Mario Lopez. I still think of him as "AJ Slater" from Saved by the Bell of course. I am feelin the resemblance.

Separated at Birth? YOU be the judge. :)

I KNOW THAT GUY!!!

Tyler Sloan makes his NHL debut for Washington

And who is Tyler Sloan, you may ask? just a guy who used to play for the Dayton Bombers- and I KNOW HIM! Like Tyler and I aren't close personal friends, but he knows who I am and if I saw him on the street he would say hello and stop to talk to me. and HOLY HELL he's playing in the NHL tonight!! In front of his home town! AWWWWW that's so great.

How cool is it to say I actually know a guy in the NHL? That is badass. Seriously I do not make this up people. I even have one of his game worn jerseys from Syracuse. So cool. I'm so smiley about it too. Congrats Sloaner!!! :)

Maybe he'll still be there the next time the Caps are on tv. That would be even crazier.

Oh and good job Sabres. I didn't see any of the game, but caught the end of OT and the shootout on the radio. Well played lads, this 2-1 in the shootout and 5-0-1 overall is a good thing. But next time let's not get down 2-0 to have to claw back and win in a shootout, eh? Otherwise, we're all good. Carry on. :)

this is my jam

My poor neglected hockey blog. It's not that I don't love you but I have been SO busy the last week or so that I am about to lose my mind. And it's not going to get any better. Yeesh.

I missed most of Fridays game- anybody want to clue me in about the altercation Royzie had with the Vancouver bench that resulted in Petey having a GOOD??! fight? I was on my way back from Fair Haven NY which is up on Lake Ontario rather northeast of Rochester (I couldhave GONE to the game but my parents were coming up and I told them I'd go check out this property with them and since I don't see them often- they live in Ohio- I didn't want to ditch for a hockey game. It would have been rude and things were a little weird with my fam lately anyway so I wanted to keep it cool.) and WGR has a WEAK signal! I was on the 90, passing Roch and still couldn't get it, in Batavia and picking up signals from Ottawa, Toronto, Hamilton, Cleveland, CINCI-EFFING-NNATI and not Buffalo. W.T.F.? It was irritating. I finally was able to tune in partway through the 2nd and made it home in time to watch most of the 3rd but it wasn't the same as what I heard to be a very entertaining first period. Oh well.

And Saturday I was busy eating dinner and cleaning the basement with my nephews so I missed most of the game. I had it on in the background and I don't think there was much *to* miss so it wasn't too bad. I look forward to actually sitting down and WATCHING a game soon. It won't be Tuesday though because I have other things to do. Rats.

I'm glad Vanek is bustin goals. That's what we pay him for. He seems so much more relaxed than last year and that is HUGE. On the other hand, poor Staffy can't seem to buy a goal and Royzie looks like crap. He seems kinda tense and uncertain with the puck which is not really his style. I don't know what's up with him but he needs to shape it up and soon. I'm SO glad Pommer got a goal too, because he looked like he was starting to get frustrated with it. Just relax fellas. It will happen.

In non Sabre hockey news- why is Osgood playing so poorly so far this season? He has surrendered 4 goals in 3 straight games. TERRIBLE! C'mon Ossie, get with it dude. (he's also on BOTH of my fantasy teams.. eek!) In other fantasy hockey news, my RedRogues team is owning right now, 12-2 and my Into the Boards (IPB AmazingLeague) just squeaked by with the win (I think- remember I can't make Stattracker work on my stupid laptop and the desktop is out of commission because my keyboard died very dead today) so I'm not certain of up-to-the-minute stats but I believe I made it with a 6-4 victory. Tomorrow will tell. WOOOT! Fantasy hockey is FUN!

ownssss

Word. my fantasy teams are laying some smack down on my opponents this week. Keep it up fellas!

And the Sabres cleaned house with the Rangers tonight spoiling the Rangers' bid for the best start in franchise history. (A mere 6-0 would be the best start in franchise history for an original 6 team?! WEAK.) HAHAHAHA! Good job Sabres! 2 PP and a shortie. That is good stuff.

Vanek's lookin good so far.

Royzie is illin. Stop reeking my man. This is not good. Get it together.

Enough with the short ghetto sentences.

And it's Wednesday so I owe y'all a SAB:

Here we have:



-Patrick Marleau of the Sharks

AND



-Actor Collin Farrell

Separated at Birth? You be the judge.

It's something to do with the eyes and facial expression. I dunno but I'm feelin it. :)

And remember, I'm always open to suggestions for future hockey SABs. :)

odds and ends

let's go around the NHL:

The Penguins and the Flyers are on vs right now. They are actually doing a decent job of play by play for a change.

AND I've barely heard Sid's name. Are you SURE this is Vs? WHOA.

Is it me, or does Michel (NOT MICHAEL YOU MORONS!) Thierren always look like he's about to cry?

Whoa the Flyers just scored 2 goals in like 5 seconds to tie the game. Now Michel really looks like he's going to cry. Ha Danny (traitor!) Briere beat Sid on a faceoff. Sorry Siddy. They clearly aren't saying your name enough.

Oh and that fight between Cote and Goodard was pretty sick. I remember Cote when he played for the Dayton Bombers a few years back. I might have a picture of him somewhere. He used to shave his hair bald but I guess he doesn't do that anymore. It was flying tonight.

Oh Bryan Engblom- the mullet is gone, but like Melrose, he still has the shadow of the mullet. Brilliant!

Interesting enough game I guess. I was only halfway paying attention. I am creeped out by the commercials about SAW V- never saw (haha) any of the other ones and don't ever plan to do it. creepy McCreepster.

I thought the Sports Soup show was kinda lame. Too much forced humor. Not my style.

I wish I knew how my fantasy teams are doing but I can't check them on this computer because my comp is jacked and refuses to download Java to run the stat tracker. Bullshit. Grrrrr.

Ryan Hollweg is a jerk supreme. He's such a loser and should NOT be in the league anymore. I'm with the Vs talking heads. And WHOOOA were they dissin on Engblom tonight.. man that was intense.

That's enough hockey random for one night. later y'all.

I should get to the recap

Friday Night- I was all set to watch the game on the couch at home with a cold Mt. Dew and my nephews. Then my brother-in-law called and said he wasn't feeling well and would I like his tickets? Ha. Of COURSE I would! So I went with my 4 year old nephew. He wore his little Ryan Miller jersey and we had a blast.

The dude has some sick seats too. 8th row, near the bench. Good stuff. Ya kinda lose the near corner but other than that it was all good. And of course the game was fun. The Sabres were pretty decent and that was good- except the Power(less) Play. Miller was bustin all night and that was WOOO!

It felt like we were surrounded by Habs fans. And the most obnoxious people EVAR were behind us. These dudes were ripping on anything and everything about the game. It got to the point when the girl next to me (who was cool) and I were like SHUT UP! And they kept dropping the f-bomb. Seriously, I get that it's a hockey game and maybe you talk like that but for hell's sake I HAD A 4 YEAR OLD WITH ME! Could you please *TRY* to tone it down a little? Well the answer to that is.. no. They couldn't, they wouldn't whatever. It was really awful but at least they won't be back.

*Oh and when we got there, people were sitting IN our seats. I was like WTF mate? But they were in the middle of the row and I had a 4 year old with me so I went to get the usher and have him sort it out.. and magically when we re-appeared the ppl in our seats were... gone. Hm. Interesting, eh? (they were wearing Canadiens jerseys too....)

Some random disjointed thoughts about the game:
-Paille was a MACHINE! I know that everyone and his dog mentioned this already but I wanted to say it too. The kid was all over the place and his stiff arm hit on Kostitsyn (dont remember which one) at center ice was killer. Good job Pie! You da MAN!
-Miller was rock solid all game and just a beast in the shootout. I like it.
-Mair looked good.
-All the boys seemed super jittery for the first half of the first period. But things eventually settled down so that was good.
-WTF power play?
-Nathan Paetsch (who I prolly wouldn't recogize if I saw him on the street) looks really handsome in a suit.
-I loved Hank's little jump over the carpet. don't know if it was intentional or not but it was cool. I think he was just showing off for Heather B ;)

I think that's all I have about that game. It was fun. I am super happy that hockey is back. Can't wait to go again. Let's GO BUFFALO!

Whoa nelly

How bout those Sabres? So far it's 5-0 in the 2nd intermission. That brawl about halfway though the 2nd was awesome. Our boys were layin the smack down. Kaleta looked like a WWE star with that bodyslam. Sweetness!

AND 2 powerplay goals!! (EDIT: Make that 3!) Srsly? :) And a shortie, for good measure. Word. Lalime looks sharp and the fellas are just bringing it. THIS is good hockey. THIS is fun hockey! YAY Sabres!

I'm not feeling all break-the-game-down-y but ya know. It's just rockin and I'm excited.

my brain is on vacation today. Time to go check e-mail and check the 3rd period. Hope y'all are having a good Columbus Day. WOOOO!

Friday night and I just got back

WOOOOOO!

Sabres win in a SHOOTOUT!

AND I. WAS. THERE. (!)

Details to come my friends but now I need sleep. I have to work tomorrow and we're having ppl for dinner but eventually I will be back to re-cap the game. Good times.

Let's GO BUFFALO!

One thought- WHY On earth were there so dang many Habs fans tonight? It was like an invasion. And the real jerky ones were all around ME. Grrrr. More on that tomorrow as well.

Whaddyaknow

I saw Heather B and Katebits in the paper yesterday but missed the shout-out in Sabres Edge to my own humble blog. (also mentioned were some of my blog buddies- Anne and S(h)ara at Sabretooth's House,and Chaz over at ISMTC good job!) And now I have some new ones to check out. :)

So, maybe I should try to be a little more professional since I know that newspaper people might be reading this. Then again.. nyah. I like my style, and evidently enough of you fine folks do too. I try to keep it interesting and sprinkle just enough "real" hockey news in between my flights of fancy and babbling rants about the Sabres. I'm pretty thrilled that the season has (finally) started and I can have real hockey to write about again! It's been too long.

If you are new here, feel free to check it out. I like to have fun and be silly- see the Hockey Separated at Birth entries- but I try to keep it relevant and about hockey (and more specifically the Sabres). I do my best to avoid incessant squeeing but occasionally it just slips out. (please forgive me, it's the hormones (and Derek Roy), I swear! LOL)

So I guess that's it. Never be afraid to speak up about something you agree or disagree with, I love comments that spark conversation. I'm always looking for a good book recommendation, recipes, articles or just general news or nonsense.

thank you for reading!

Now back to your regularly scheduled hockey silliness.

LET'S GO BUFFALO!

(I'll be watching the game from my living room so you lucky readers just might get a liveblog.... stay tuned.)

well well

Look at those two pretty lady bloggers! Congrats Katebits and Heather B on being in the pape. :)

I'm watching the Wings and Leafs right now. and by "watching" I mean writing in my blog, reading the paper and watching hockey. yay it's hockey season again peeps! Tomorrow is when the REAL fun begins as the Sabres will start their season. I wish I could go to the game but it's not in the cards. But I have December 17 (ROW 2 ROW 2!) to look forward too, plus my brother in law has some tickets to various games that I might be able to use so wooohoo.

Oh good the Wings scored. Now it's only 3-2. C'mon Osgood, you are on BOTH of my fantasy teams dude- get with it!

Oooh my I forgot how lovely Henrik Zetterberg is. Sorry, girl moment. And he's SUCH a good skater too. Don't forget about that folks. He's more than just a pretty face.

I'm off to watch hockey!

quickly

I have been stuck by the cold of DOOM so I've been a little out of it lately but I DO have a SAB for you this week:

You Shiny New Sabre CAPTAIN



Craig Rivet

AND



Singer/Actor Harry Connick Jr.

Yeah? I think so. Harry's a little smilier but there are some similarities there for sure yo.

K. Time to sleep. Later peeps.

This is too great

So I meant to post this about a week ago but I forgot about it until everybody started talking about Stafford and his Cauliflower ear. (gross. That used to happen to my brother when he wrestled in high school)

The Hockey News does a feature they call "2 minutes in the box with.." where they ask a series of questions to an NHLer. THe September 16 issue was our very own Staffy! It was pretty normal stuff- what was your first game like, what is your favorite song, first job, what team would you play for if you could pick one in any time period, blah blah. THEN we got the gems:

Best album of all-time?
My band, Invisible Children, has a new album out, called "The Pralien". Gotta get that in there.

-so you're saying that your band's new album is best of all time? Well I'm glad you like your work so very much. Wow. modest too, are we? ha

and (this one cracked me up and I can't decide if it's true or he's just jokin around- it could go either way, I think.)

Who was your road roommate and how were they?
(Seriously that sentence is totally gramatically incorrect- it should be "who was your road roommate and how was he?", or "who were your road roommates and how were they?" but that is beside the point)

I had quite a few. Clarke MacArthur was great. Dan Paille was great, but Derek Roy? It was all about him.

Yeah, I know that Roy is my favorite and all but man I had to laugh at that one. Can you feel the BURN? Yeesh. Calling him out in THN. That is serious stuff. ;)

well that about does it

Gee guys, NO comments on my last entry? Was it that painful? LOL

I didn't listen to much of tonight's game but I did hear Gerbe's breakaway!! Good job man! :)

5-2 is not a bad score. Lalime was in net. I have yet to SEE him play but I like it so far. :)

Lots of rough stuff tonight- Petey fought Dorsett, Staffy (??) fought Toffelson and Rivet (in what seems to be a theme for him) fought Picard. Mike Weber got a 10 minute misconduct for... something.. in the middle of one of those scrums and at the end of the game Nathan Gerbe and Rick Nash got roughing penalties. LOL Gerbe, don't you know that Nash is like twice your size? Good job. Oh and Lalime earned a rouging penalty too, way to stand up for yourself my man.

I like these tough Sabres. Very good. Even with Mair and Gaustad out they are sticking up for each other and throwing it down. Excellent.

I want to WATCH SOME HOCKEY!

Sunday's game is on MSG. WOOOHOO!

Oh and my sister got to ride on the Zamboni at tonight's game! She lives in C-bus and works for a company that is doing some signage and such for the blue Jackets foundation.. so basically, "she knows people" and they set her up with tix and a Zam ride. How cool is that?! PLUS she got to see my boys up close and personal. I'm jealous. I wish I could have made it to the game, but Thursdays are really tough days around here, lots going on. She said there were a lot of Sabres jerseys in the crowd- in Columbus. REPRESENT! ;)

Yes, I am THAT cool

So it's Wednesday and time for Separated at Birth. This one has been brewing for some time now, and I'm pleased to finally be able to present it.

Only, it's horribly embarrasing! WHY, you ask?

Observe. This week we have:

(an old pic of)


Jason Pominville of the Sabres- check the fro. Word.

AND



Yup, you guessed it, that's ME when I was 6 years old. I promise I don't have a fro anymore, but there was a time.. as you can see, 6-year old me and ~22? year old Pommers had the same harido. LMAO.

Now you see why it had to wait- I had to take a picture of that mortifying picture which is ON THE WALL at my parents' house! But it was very funny so I had to do it. I had recently seen that pic of Pommers and when the idea came to me it had to be done.

Go ahead and laugh. It's okay, really. ;)

teeheee

I won the Derek Roy lightswitch cover. heh Sweet action. It's so weird and hideous that I love it! I'm totally putting it in my room.

They boys are kinda sucking right now against the Wild. They need to get it together. yeesh Royzie is a -2. But he's the CAPTAIN tonight!! :)

RJ and Harry seem to be a little slap happy tonight. especially about that penalty to Vanek early in the period.

Man is it the season yet???

not much else to say. blah.

something

Poor Goose- out 3-4 weeks after thumb surgery? Be more careful next time you're beating the snot outta somebody, will ya? ;) Get well soon! HONK!

The Sabres/HSBC Arena signed a 5 year deal with Coke? EWWWWW That means no more Mt. Dew at Sabres games- :( Although I had a hard time finding Mt. Dew at games last year which was weird to me because there were signs about it everywhere... at least Coke is better than Pepsi-yeuch.

And I put a bid on the Derek Roy lightswitch cover. We'll see what happens, the auction ends tomorrow sometime. I am a complete dork. I know this.

:)

W. T. F. ? (!)

THIS is the coolest/weirdest thing I've seen in a long time.

it totally belongs in the "hockey freaks of nature" category.



It's on Ebay for a current bid of $7. The auction ends Wednesday sometime. I'm halfway tempted to buy it, just because it is so WEIRD, and seriously, who needs a Derek Roy light switch plate? I don't know that I would ever actually put it anywhere.

oh Ebay is dangerous!

bits

why wasn't the game on MSG? That made me sad.

I listened to most of it, at least off and on. Didn't seem to be the most thrilling game ever but at least they didn't get killed.

No one told me that Rivet has a SEXY accent! Holy whoa I enjoyed his pre-game interview. He just sounds so... Canadian.

Damn shootout.

I really would like to See Gerbe play. I barely caught any of the Montreal game, but he seems to be an exciting player. For that matter, I want to see all of them play!

Now I need to sleep. How was that for a game recap? Heh

Super excited

I love having hockey to write about again!

Let's see-

This morning we went to the Blue Jackets' morning skate. I love hockey all up close and personal. (Even if it is only practice.)

Then this afternoon, I got to see the Wright State Raiders beat University of Dayton. It was a crazy game- they actually had a fight. In college club hockey. That's very rare but I guess our guys just had to do it. The guys from UD were a bunch of yappy little jerks. But the final score was 4-3 WSU so that's all that really matters. Our goalie is pretty solid. There were a lot of fans there too, that's always fun to see. Woohoo for hockey at my college!

And when I got home it was time to check the Sabres score- I looked and it was 2-1 Toronto with a minute or so left.. I checked some other websites then got a text from the Sabres with a final score of 3-2 BUFFALO. WTF? Yeah the Sabres scored a goal with 5 seconds left to tie it then won in Overtime. Woot! Roy was credited with a goal (though the announcers thought it was Vanek) and he also had an assist. Good job Royzie. And Max busted 3 assists tonight. Is he back? That would be great because when he's on he's really on. He's just not a creative player- he doesn't use his linemates very well. And he doesn't think on the fly very well either- he is not a creative player so it's tricky for him to use all of that skill he has. It's very frustrating to watch but if he can play like he apparently did tonight then we might be okay.

I also see that Rivet had a fight- I would like more detail about that if anyone wants to share.

Man I wish I had been there. But never fear- I'm getting at least one game this year and probably more because my brother in law has a mini-pack for his office that I'm sure I can have some tickets from.. just don't know which games yet. That will be awesome.

And now I will critique the Sabres' fashion choices during their "red carpet" walk before the game. Slideshow can be seen here.
1- Kotalik looks like a greaser. And his shirt and tie totally don't match.
2- Vanek looks like he put on some weight. But his face was kinda gaunt before so it's not a bad look. He also looks happy. Good.
3- Royzie- what is up with the white suit? I don't hate it but really- you can't go wrong with a dark suit- ahem Ryan Miller I'm talking to you too- and the shoes. Oh the ugly shoes. WHY Royzie, why? I hate those shoes. But otherwise it's okay. And Millsy looks so much less scary and skinny.
4-Goose is sexy. The gray is dark enough to be acceptable. Well done. I love the walk too, Millsy is pimpin.
5- He looks rested. Unbutton the jacket my dude.
6-Royzie has a hot profile. I enjoy the beard scruff. and I love his ears. Don't ask. Note the girls behind him going- WTF is up with the shoes my man? They feel me.
7- Teppo manages to look happy and terrified at the same time. Well played. And that's a good suit and shirt. Teppo is the man.
8-Kaleta looks good. Like the tie, it's fun but stylish. And he's got the sharpie in the left hand- is he lefthanded? That's hot. ;)
9-Max has kinda creepy eyes. Love the hair though. Looks like he's rockin the classic black and white suit combo. Works for me.
10- I'm not too sure about Sekera's suit/shirt/tie- it looks pretty crazy from here.
11- Is Rivet running late? He seems in a hurry. The suit is good. His feet are HUGE!
12- Staffy has his zombie grin on. And he wears black to play up his pale pale skin. It's not flattering.
13- The caption has Phillipe Gogulla- but which guy is he?
14- Tyler Myers. Nice suit, conservative but good tie. He looks terrified.
15- Marek Zagrapan- Holy hell that guy was drafted into the NHL? Are you SURE he's 21 years old? He looks about 12.
16- Felix Schutz- Not hideous but not great on the suit. I love his name though.

And that is that. :)

Oh and this has nothing to do with hockey but my parents are watching football and they keep having commercials for "Swagger deoderant by Old Spice" and they are HILARIOUS. You should go find them on youtube if you haven't seen them.

And that's all she wrote- for now. There will be more to come I'm sure. Maybe I will be able to watch tomorrow's game because I should be back in Buffalo by gametime. Maybe I'll bust a live blog. See ya then!

!

I saw my first live hockey of the year last night- the Blue Jackets and Predators. It was a great time. I love hockey and hockey with a big group of crazy friends is even better!

Columbus won the game, they had a couple of fights and we about had a rumble with some skanks in front of us. It was a complete evening. Oh and we started the "Let's go Jackets" chant a couple of times cuz we're awesome like that.

I hate the Predators. Have I said that here before? Yick. The Sabres only played them once last year and that was a crazy game. I'm glad we don't have to see them more often.

Today it's off to watch CBJ practice at 11, then back to Dayton for the afternoon. Wright State and UD play hockey at 5:40 so I will go to that, and probably an open skate afterward, reliving my high school years spent skating every saturday night. WOohoo!

I love vacation! ;)

Word

Guess who is going to see the Sabres and the Devils on December 17 IN THE 2nd ROW?

ME!

My parents gave me tickets for my birthday, and they came in today. They didn't tell me what I was getting (my bday was a month ago) just that I would get it in October, but October came early.

WOOHOOO! I've never been anywhere near that close for an NHL game, and this is my 2 favorite teams.

YAY! :):)

Just wanted to share the good fortune with folks who can appreciate it.

Tomorrow it's off to Ohio for pre-season hockey- Blue Jackets and Predators. Fun fun fun !

Tonight's hockey Separated at Birth is inspired by the wonderful and brilliant Heather B over at Top Shelf.

We have:



-Henrik Tallinder of the Sabres

AND



-Duncan Coutts, bassist for the band Our Lady Peace. The resemblance is okay there but to truly get the look, you need to see THIS PIC of/by Heather that inspired the idea for this week's SAB. I don't know why I never saw that one before. :)

argh

NHL is trying to add penalties to contact during a race for touch up icing- article here

that's lame. Bullshit. Just get with the times and institute no touch icing. It DOES NOT SLOW DOWN THE GAME THAT MUCH. Trust me on this one, I've watched a lot of games in the ECHL where there is no touch icing and it's just as fast and flowing. (I think college has the no-touch rule too but I'm not certain)

Anyway it eliminates injuries and that is GOOD. and will slow the game down less than penalties. STUPID.

The idea is good the execution sucks.

I have to work now. Stay tuned for this week's hockey SAB. :)

What the?

I was happy to have the game on tv- not even CBC, but MSG, strangely enough.. but WHO are the idiots who are announcing? I mean really. They have had maybe 2 minutes of play by play in the last 30. It's KILLING me Smalls! They are worse than VS.

Whoa when I started whining they actually started doing some play by play. OOh how I wish I could get WGR in my house! Maybe I can listen online. I need me some RJ!

Gerbe scored a goal. He really is tiny. It's awesome. :)

Ahhh yay I got WGR to work on the computer. So much better.

Did anyone else feel the burn on that Mike Comrie commercial? I guess it was MSG all over NY, not just us (hence the non RJ and Harry announcers) And he was all promoting a charity and such but man, did it have to be him scoring on Buffalo? OUCH.

Whoa they just did a closeup of Roy and it looked like he was missing a tooth? Maybe it was just a trick of the light or something.

I just noticed that Connolly has the "C". Ewww. I don't like that one. But Roy has an "A". That's good.

That last face off was just rude. I know it's just pre-season but still. Not cool. They just wanted to be sure the Canadiens won the game. Grr.

And hey I just heard that Royzie scored the first goal. Woohoo for the little guys!

I only saw part of the 3rd period but they looked okay for a preseason game. Staffy had a lazy penalty but that one on Lydman was a dive.

I don't have many other useful thoughts about the game since I didn't see much of it, but Dennis looked alright in the replays at the end of the game.

I was super happy to watch hockey again though!! :):):)

GUESS WHAT GUESS WHAT?!?!

THE SABRES ARE BACK!

I saw them with my own eyes today!!! I took the nephews skating at the pepsi center this morning. (they do a preschool skate in the mornings and we hadn't been for a while so it seemed like a good idea. Ulterior motives? Me? Ha!) Seriously though, what better way to seem less puckbunnyesque when approaching a Pominville or Roy than with a coupla kids who love the Sabres? (one of whom still thinks every hockey player is DerekRoy LOL)

But anyway we arrived about 9:30 and go to get our skates on and there is this dude in the lobby area who looks dead on like Jason Pominville. But I was like.. nyah there's no way. This guy was kinda small and he was just chatting it up with this official looking guy so I figured he was one of those dudes who just come of the open hockey sessions, right? So we sit down not too far from this guy and go on about putting our skates on. But I can hear him and he *sounds* like Pommers! He looks and sounds like the guy, he must be him, right? Plus he was wearing this really cool and expensive looking watch but he was just dressed in jeans, a tshirt and sneakers but it was all *nice* and yeah.

Finally he leaves and I was like.. yo I think that was Pommers. Woooooo. :) (I bet he was being interviewed about his NEW CONTRACT!!!!!!!He's locked in. WOOOOOO!)

So we skate for a bit. (the 2 yr old didnt like it much but the 4 yr old was into it) then we have to take a potty break. Little kids, I tell ya. So notice that there are some "hockey guys" on another rink which is not unusual because they often have drop in hockey time while we're there. We wander over and Lo! It's Jason Pominville, Paul Gaustad, Jochen Hecht, Ryan Miller and another goalie (probably Lalime but I dunno for sure) and a coupla coaches. Neither was Lindy or Jeep but I dont know all the other coaches. They were doing various things but that was kinda neat. and it was like WHEEEEEE Sabres!

Then we skated a little more and had to get going to meet my sis and the other kids for lunch. But first we had to check the other rink.. and there were the rest of the fellas and the rookies too I think. We wandered in and stood by the glass behind the goal for a few minutes. I saw Royzie!!! YAY! He looked all happy and refreshed and just whee! I can tell for sure that Paille, Mair, Vanek, Afinogenov, Kotalik, Spacek, Numminen, Roy, and Lydman were there because I saw them all up close and personal. There were lots of guys there though, probably the whole team and the prospects. It was so cool. I wanted to stay and watch more but we had to leave. Maybe I'll go back sometime in the next week or so and watch some more.

I actually really enjoy hockey practices, I used to watch the Bombers all the time when I was in Dayton. It's just fun to see the different things they choose to work on and (at least when things are going well for the team) how the boys act like a bunch of kids out there, especially towards the end when they are playing games and goofing off. I love hockey and can't really get enough of the sport in general. One of these days I'm going to play. I just need to live closer to where such things happen and I don't so that isn't in the cards right now. One thing at a time.

Non-Sabre related but did I tell y'all that I'm in a play? I have wandered on tangents at times about how much I love/miss theatre and it's super true but the drought is over! Some folks randomly started up a community theatre in my dinky town and WE are doing "A Christmas Story" (yep, like the Ralphie, Red Ryder BB gun "you'll shoot your eye out" Christmas Story) I'm Miss Shields, the teacher. I'm rather excited about the whole thing and can't wait till we really get going. We had our first meeting last night and my first rehearsal isn't until the first week of October but it's going to be a blast, I'm sure of it. :)

And don't worry, I'll bug all of you fine folks who read my blog about when the show actually is (December 12, December 12) in case anybody wants to come see it! ;)

So that's all for now. Welcome back Sabres! :):):)

My here's new method for finding hockey SABs (since there are no games to watch for inspiration.. soon it will be hockeytime, soon!) I go to nhl.com and click the players tab, then wander around looking and random players until I find one that looks like someone. It worked pretty fast last week so I did it again this week. I decided to try the players whose last name starts with a Q. There are only 4 of them and one has no pic. But I did find this:



-Kyle Quincey, Defenceman for the Red Wings

AND



-Actor Shia LaBeouf

Pretty good, non? Separated at Birth? YOU be the judge!

That's all I know for the moment. I'm taking the nephews (the younger ones) ice skating at the Pepsi center tomorrow. They have a pre-school skate time in the mornings. Maybe we'll see a Sabre? That would be lucky. ;)