the butler did it!

Folks, I am 99% sure I saw Chris Butler today. I was doing customer surveys at the Subway store on Chippewa.. and this fellow walked in. He looked totally familiar but I was having trouble figuring out why. (I often think people look like other people) Luckily, there were lots of people in front of him and he was playing with his phone, so I had plenty of time to stare without being obvious. And I'm pretty sure it was him. I went through my mental list of Sabres I'd have a had time recognizing outside of the hockey rink, and he fit.

Of course I didn't ask him, because that's not how I roll. But I did have to talk to him for my survey and he was very polite to me. :) He looked dead tired/hungover.. LOL it was a Saturday morning., and he was on Chippewa- and he said he had just gotten his hair cut around the corner.. and was going home. Haha then I felt like a creeper because I have to ask people the intersection closest to where they are going- for the survey so I can plot it on a map- and he kinda looked at me funny but gave me the info.

So there it was.. he's pretty cute off the ice. He was wearing a red and white checkered button down shirt and some really nice looking jeans. He also had a killer watch- but I swear it had the wrong time on it.. that was bugging the heck out of me. I really dig watches in general, so I always scope people's watches.. but yeah. It was odd for sure.

Oh and if anyone is wondering, he ordered a footlong chicken bacon ranch on wheat bread with lettuce, ranch and southwest sauce. ;) Yummy.

All the times I've done these surveys-in lots of different Subways.. and this one is my first Sabre-sighting! :)

ouch

Well, that hurt.

No more Sabres.

No more Blackhawks.

But the playoffs are still on, and one of the good things about liking so many teams is I still have some small emotional stake in the playoffs- so go Red Wings and go Canucks...

I feel like I have more to say but now is not the moment. Later..

this is it

Game 7- someone goes on, someone goes home.

I'm ready.

Are the Sabres ready?

Guess we'll see.

DEREK ROY IS READY!!! So no matter what else happens tonight, I will get to see my main man play at least one more game this year.. first time since December! YAAAAAYYY!

Will he be the difference maker?

Is this the year?

I don't want to see or hear anything more about Danny Effing Briere after tonight. (and I don't want too much tonight either, get it?)

I want Tyler Myers to stay mean.

I want Tyler Ennis to be all smiles after the game.

I want Derek Roy to step in and step up and be the hero.

I want Mike Weber to beat someone's face.

I want Rob Niedermayer to continue to show just why the Sabres picked him up.. THIS is why!

I want Brad Boyes to show up.... is he still on the team?

I want Drew Stafford to return to mid-season form.

I want Thomas Vanek to continue to shine.

I want Gaustad to own all comers in the faceoff circle.

I want to yell "The Butler Did it!"

I want to scream Let's Go BUFF-A-LO at the end of a game 7 win!

I want more SABRES hockey after tonight.

That's not too much to ask, is it?

oh me oh my

so.. game 6 didn't go quite as planned.. but there is still game 7- and that means..


DEREK ROY WILL BE BACK!!!!!!!!!

And the Blackhawks managed to get another win so they will be playing game 7 as well... whoa.

BRING. IT. ON.

inconvenient

Whose idea was it to have playoff hockey during the Easter Triduum? (Yes, that's a real word, it means Holy Thursday evening-Easter Sunday morning)

I have a tradition of going "internet dark" (and this includes tv dark) for the Triduum, but with game 5 of the Blackhawks/Canucks and game 5 of the Sabres/Flyers tonight and tomorrow, respectively, I'm a little sad about it. Still going to do my thing but it makes it much more of a sacrifice than usual. *which I guess is the point*

So, with that being said, I'll see you folks on the flipside! Luckily, I CAN watch game 6 of the Sabres, and Canucks (if it happens) on Sunday.. so until then..

Let's Go Buffalo!

C'mon Blackhawks.. I need to see you fellas one more time this year.

Oh, and congrats to the Red Wings for being the first team to move on. Some things never change..

a word or two

I've now seen a few playoff games. Strangely, I haven't seen either Sabres game, except for the last 10 minutes of Saturday's game. I was busy on Thursday night but listened to the 3rd period in the car, and listened to part of the 2nd on Sat and watched the end. (It's weird to have a life that doesn't revolve around hockey!)

I did watch the middle of game one, all of game 2 and most of game 3 of the Blackhawks/Canucks series and the 2nd half of yesterday's game 3 of the Ducks/Predators so I have seen some hockey. Here's what I think:

*Sabres need to stay out of the box. They seem reasonable 5-on-5 and their PK has actually been incredibly good, but you don't want to wear those guys out! They are back home tonight and hopefully will get it together for their home crowd. Coming back with a split is pretty solid.. we'll take it. :)

*The Ducks looked downright AWFUL last night. They were totally unorganized- had no defensive coverage (and Nashville was pressing, hard) and took too many penalties too. I don't particularly care one way or the other about either team, so it doesn't matter to me much who wins.. but that is certainly an interesting series.

*What is wrong with the Blackhawks? They looked rough in game 1, decent in game 2 and pretty good in game 3, but can't solve LuLu. I thought last night night was their best effort thus far, but still wasn't enough. Keith has been brutal on defence.. and this is the defending Norris Trophy winner! They've got to get it together or they are going home Super early. I doubt the 'Hawks can get past the Canucks, but I think they could squeak one win.. guess we'll see.

*And Raffi Torres' hit on Seabrook was pretty nasty. It was deliberate- he didn't even try to play the puck, though it was right there, and it was dirty. Intent to injure? Not necessarily, but he knew what he was doing.. the 2-minute penalty was warranted (and scored on) but perhaps a suspension of 1-2 games is also in order. He's nasty.

*The Canucks are ridiculously good. I know this-- I've seen the stats, and watched them play once or twice this year (and read about a lot more)... but the Sabres won their only matchup this year- in OT! That game was incredible.. and a true taste of how good the Canucks are. They are scary. And fun, not gonna lie. :)

*I haven't watched the Wings yet, but it appears that they are in their usual playoff form.. just going out and getting the job done. I have no idea why, but I kind of have a soft spot for Phoenix.. I really liked their performance in the playoffs last year (even against the Red Wings) and I want to see them succeed. Not likely this year though..

*I can't stand the Sharks, so go Kings! :)

*Washington is up 2-1 on the grossbadguyRangers. Good on them. We all know I despise the Rangers so go Caps go!

*Look at Montreal.. don't totally hate them, but don't love them either. NOT a fan of the Bruins though, so I'm down the Habs winning that series.

*TB and Pitt- also 1-1. I don't much like the Penguins so I guess I'm pulling for Tampa. I really should watch some games there. The Lightning should be an interesting team, with Stamkos, Lecavlier and St. Louis leading the way. Then of course they have to get past McFlurry and that can be difficult....

So there is your extremely informed commentary about the ongoing playoff series, as told by Sam. ;)

Let's Go Buffalo!

Happy Playoffs

PLayoffs start today! :) I will have some predictions soon.. but for now, I will bring back the old Hockey Separated at Birth. No time like the present, eh?



-Pat Monahan- lead singer of the band Train

AND



-Day Boyle of the San Jose Sharks

Separated at Birth? YOU be the judge!

yahoo!

The Sabres are in!

The Blackhawks are in! (but they are playing the Canucks, which means one of my 2 western loves will be gone after round 1. Boo on that.)

The game last night was a hoot- but something happened to me that's never happened in all my years of watching hockey. During warmups, a puck fell on my head. Now I say "fell on my head" because I didn't see it coming at all. I was sitting in row 3, by the Sabres end, watching them and pointing out players to my nephew.. when all of a sudden I feel this THWACK on the back of my head.. it was a puck. Don't know where it came from (obviously the ice, but I dunno who shot it) and I have no clue where it went.. but ouch! I was fine- it hurt but no damage was done. I was just happy it was me and not the 5-yr old I was with. Wish I had gotten the puck though!

But the Sabres won and we had a wonderful time- my 2 nephews were leading the opposing "Let's go Jackets" and "Let's Go Buffalo" chanting in our section.. it was adorable. :)

Let's Go Buffalo indeed.

Out and About

I was at the Buffalo Bisons (baseball) home opener today.. fun times. :) It was a good day for baseball- the sun was shining and though the wind was chilly, it wasn't too bad. I guess the Bisons lost (I left in the 5th inning) but oh well. There was a decent number of people there. (I was there for work, SUBWAY is a big sponsor, so we were giving away free stuff and had SUBMAN there and all.)

I spotted some interesting clothing choices in the crowd:
-Lots of Sabres gear- totally understandable, same city, people here love hockey and the Sabres are making the big playoff push
-Mets jerseys (also understandable, they are the parent team)
-Yankees jerseys- a bit random but not that weird, lots of folks out this way like the Yankees
-One dude wearing a Rochester Red Wings jacket- this was a little odd, since the Red Wings are a rival team, and we were playing the Syracuse Chiefs(another rival of Roch)
-A guy with a Columbus Blue Jackets jacket on.. totally random
-And the strangest of all- a dude wearing an Edmonton Oilers matching sweatshirt and hat. What the?

Also saw a dude who could have been Tim Connolly's twin. I am pretty sure it wasn't Timmay (though the people around me thought it was him) because he was too short and didn't look *quite* sketchy enough.

An interesting day at the ballpark. Eat Fresh.

speechless

Well, I could make a speech, but it would be based on nothing substantial and just thrown together off the top of my head. Now, granted, I am good at this (I do have a degree in Communications, AKA, "A B.A. in B.S.", as we often joked. But to speak about the Sabres' play of late, I would have to be informed, and information comes from watching hockey games, something I have done very little of lately. Not because I don't like the Sabres- and they have been playing some pretty solid hockey in the last while, but because my life has been very busy. Nothing new there, but I'm missing out on some great games in a tight playoff race.

All that drabble there is to (take up space?) say, Keep up the good work, Sabres. I wish to see more of you in the future. We have a date on Saturday in Columbus, and I'm looking forward to it. 'Til then..