the good and the bad

The Good:

The boys got the job done in Ottawa, with a shootout win. Goose scored to tie it late in the 3rd and Pommers and Royzie scored in the shootout so wahoo all around for that.

I just want to say, as an aside, that Derek Roy gives great interviews. He's very attentive and well spoken. And he has hot eyebrows. (/end Royfangirl moment)

The Bad:

Last night I really tried to stay away from the game. I was watching my nephews (ages 2 and 4) last night, and they are both hockey fans, so usually we might at least have the game on. But my friend Bryan was coming over (and the kids LOVE him) and we had plans to go for ice cream so that is what we did.

I will admit that I checked the score on the radio on the way home (0-0, first intermission) and then checked once more (1-0 BUffalo, 2nd period) when I snuck away during our viewing of Shrek the Thrid (it was pretty funny) but then I left it.. until the movie was over. I just HAD to check the game, the suspense was starting to really bug me. And it was just at the end of regulation, heading to overtime. Then it was over. I shouldn't have turned on the tv. I'm sorry I cursed you, Sabres! I should have waited (it was recording on the dvr for later viewing anyway) but I just haaaad to know. Argh.

Will someone PLEASE tell the boys that hockey games are 60 minutes long?! Not 40, not 53, not 57, but SIXTY Minutes. This giving games away in the waning minutes is not fun. Very not fun.

They make me sad. I'm not giving up on hockey, or the Sabres (however slim a chance, it's still a CHANCE) but I'm just frustrated. They need to be better. The worst part is that they CAN be better, when they choose to focus for the right amount of time. Bleh.

So tomorrow I am not going to take a peek until it's over. (I will be out of the house for most of the game anyway.) *Obviously, the rational part of myself knows that what I do or don't do as far as viewing has absolutely NO bearing on how they play, but sometimes, where hockey is concerned, I'm just not rational.*

All that being said, I think they could do it. Stranger things have happened, and as long as they go down fighting (for the WHOLE game, dammit!) then that's something to build on. I honestly don't blame management. They have put together a competitve team, but that team seems to lack motivation some nights. That rests with the players. DO I wish they had found a more reliable backup? Yes. Do I wish for maybe a guy or 2 with a little more experience? Maybe. But I think that what we have is a good core group of players with a ton of upside, that will be here for lots of years, if we let them. ANd losing games is a good lesson for young players especially. They need to FIND ways to win, and sometimes it takes losing to learn that.

I don't know if any of that made sense, but there it is.

I think I'll debut a hockey song parody soon. I've got some ideas crankin in my head and they want out!