picture pages

Since I am *not* currently on my way to vacation in New Zealand (darn weather), I am going to post some pics from last week's Caps game. :)



So serious all the time. Very focused.




He is quite possibly the smoothest skater I have ever seen. I could watch him skate all day and not get bored.



That's my boy! I know that guy. :)



Oh yeah, and some Ovechkin guy was there too!

that is that

I haven't been posting about the Sabres much lately because I have been super busy and they just aren't interesting me much right now. Derek Roy is out, and he's not the only reason I watch the boys, but he helps. They haven't been playing very inspired hockey lately and I don't want to watch it.

Now I'm hardly throwing in the towel and giving up my hockey fandom (I've been through worse, believe me) but it's harder to fit the games in right now..

All that being said, I was AT the game today and I have a few thoughts:

-The game wasn't terrible but the Sabres just couldn't finish a play to save their lives. They had some looks (and a lot of funny bounces) but couldn't bury the biscuit. Ugh.
- I don't know how many times I have to say it but please, for the love of everything, GET THE HECK RID OF TIM CONNOLLY! He's worthless and frustrating and lazy and I am so sick of him I could just cry!
-I still love Nathan Gerbe. :) And the fact that he looks like somebody's kid brother who's just tagging along with the big boys.
-They were SO undisciplined in the first period. People were booing and jeering the calls but honestly, those were legit penalties. The refs were maybe calling the game a bit tighter than sometimes, but the Sabres were being careless and they got caught. Plain and simple. So shut your bellyaching and move along.
-Miller was pretty solid today. He made some stellar saves (especially on the 5-on-3) but his boys couldn't give him any help up front. Rough.
-It's SO WEIRD to go to hockey games at 12:30pm. Does. not. compute.

But by far the highlight of the day was seeing my boy Tyler Sloan playing for Washington. This is the fourth time I've seen him, and it's still amazing. I saw his first professional game in Dayton back in 2002. I knew him personally! I interviewed him on my radio show. I gave him a ride in my car. I have his game-worn jersey from Syracuse. (which I wore, of course.) He knows my name. And he's playing in the NHL. SO COOL. :) I got some good pics of him too, which I will post eventually. Too tired to deal with it tonight.

(and one of these days I will get to a game early enough that I can show my cheezy sign I made a year and a half ago and he will see it and know that I am at the game and maybe I'll get a smile or a wave or something. one day...I blame the schedulers, who contrive to make Caps games on bad days and at weird times so I can NEVER get there early. grumble.)

Happy Hockey Day Across America!

C'est fini.

another post about a familiar topic

Welcome to my 2nd post in a row featuring Chuck Weber. As you can see here, Chuck has been named the head coach of the Amerks. Congrats to him. (and the article was written by my best friend!) I know both of them. :)

If any of my Cincinnati buddies wish to take a road trip to see Chuck with his new team, you know my house is always available for crashing. :)

I may get around to posting about the Sabres eventually. I also have a new hockey song and a SAB to share with you when I'm not being such a slacker. Just lots to do right now.. ARGH!

what a game!

WOWZERS.

As terribly as the Sabres played on Monday, they were that good tonight. I know the grammar in that sentence is atrocious, but you know what I mean, right?

That was some kickin stuff. A few highlights because I'm too tired to string together anything coherent:

-Ryan Miller was brilliant tonight. He made some sick saves to keep the Sabres in it.
-'Call him Hank, Call him Henrick, Call him Tallinder' absolutely OWNED everybody on his goal! (and I LOVED RJ's call of it which I heard on the post-game) It's too bad you can't get an assist on your own goal, because he would have had one. He's really been great over the last few months. ;)
-WOOOO Nathan Gerbe! He played with tons of energy and was very involved in the play all night. A little sparkplug.
-I thought Hecht did a great job of shadowing Ovie (and Semin and Backstrom too) tonight. It seemed that every time Ovie got near the pick, YoYO was all over him. It worked!
-I am still more than a little enamored of Steve Montador. His post-game interview was cute when he talked about how Gerbe was a huge body in front of the net. LOL
-I wore my Tyler Sloan jersey but totally cheered for the Sabres! Sloaner didn't have the best night. He was on the ice for 2 of the Sabres goals. Whoops! And he still thinks he's a defenceman though he's playing on the wing. Oh well, he's still an amazing skater.
-Speaking of Sloaner, I made him a sign, but didn't get there in time to show it during warmups. I am always running late... maybe next time! IT was still sweet to get to see him play.
-All around, it was a fantastic group effort, something I wish we'd see more of from the Sabres. If they can play like this every night they would really be somewhere.

-AND PLEASE, someone tell me that you saw Lalime 'dancing' after the game as he was passing out head nuzzles and high-fives? It was totally awesome and I wish I had it on video. I think it's cute how he is always so happy for Miller when he gets a shutout or a big win. Lalime is a good team player!!

And that's about all I have for now. Stay safe and don't get snowed in! ;0

Hockey time

First off, WE INTERRUPT THIS PATRICK SHARP FANGIRL SQUEEING TO PRESENT YOU WITH THE FOLLOWING ANNOUNCEMENT-

TODAY IS DEREK ROY'S 26TH BIRTHDAY! HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROYZIE!

You may be a bit of a brat, and somewhat inconsistent in your scoring, but you are still my favorite Sabre. I hope you'll have a fantastic year. :)

Watching the Caps/Pens tonight. My man Sloaner is playing for Washington!!!!! HIs first NHL playoff game- I'm so excited for him. He also has an assist. :):):):) I KNOW THAT GUY!

Ovie had a hat trick. So did Sid. My goodness, but the League powers that be must be dying over this.. and YAY the Caps won! :)

I'm currently watching Oklahoma!, the stage version starring Hugh Jackman. Ahhh I've seen it before but it's quite enjoyable. So I'm back to that, just had to share those announcements. :)

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! :)

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.

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. :)