writer's block

I have things I want to say about the Sabres but I can't seem to form them into coherent thoughts for some reason.

I was at the Ottawa (Senateurs of DOOM) game last week and it wasn't the best. The Sabres DID have 42 shots though and played decently for most of the game. At times they looked totally unorganized and Ottawa did not, but it certainly was not the worst game I've seen from them this year. The Pominville/Montador 2-on-0 breakaway goal was particularly sweet.

I want to talk about the playoffs and how exciting they are and how it always brings me back to my first hockey season, which started during the playoffs.. but I just don't know how to say all of it.. yet. It will come. I can't force it and I just post when the mood strikes. I am going to try and watch the last few games just to remember what the Sabres look like-- I was AT the game Friday but haven't watched any others in quite a while- I always seem to be busy when they are playing.. Missed Saturday's romp because I was seeing Our Lady Peace (BEST BAND EVER!) in North Tonawanda, and last night's drubbing of the Panters because I had play practice. I won't see tonight or Saturday's games due to Holy Thursday and then the Easter Vigil church-ing, but GO SABRES and I hope to see the last 4 to get ready for the playoffs. WOOHOO!

So that's all I've got. I do still care about the Sabres, very much, just have been very busy and not able to watch or comment on the games of late. Be sure I will be checking some playoff hockey and following the hunt for seedings because this is when it really gets fun. It really is a relief not to be fighting for a spot till the 13th hour this year. :)

happy happy

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my One True Hockey Love, Pavel Bure!

The Russian Rocket turns 39 today. He's been out of hockey (officially) since 2004, but hasn't played a game since the 02-03 season. If not for the recurring injuries, he could possibly still be playing today. I miss seeing him on the ice. He was one of the reasons I started watching hockey, and THE reason that I continued.. and for that I will always love him. Besides that, I have yet to see anyone who can skate- and not just skate, but stick-and-puck-handle, WHILE skating at top speed, like he can. He made goalies and defencemen look silly almost every night.

Poor guy never won a Cup (though he came about as close as you can get in 1994) and never really played on a contender (aside from that Cinderella year, the Canucks were pretty bad and the Panthers even worse). He never played with a top centerman (which could have made a difference) and even still, he finished his career with 779Points in 702 NHL games, which is good for 1.10 points per game, and 437 G which is .62 goals per game. Not too shabby. (and playoff-wise, he had 70 pts in 65 games- 35G 35A, also not bad)

To compare a bit with today's top Russian player, Ovie has 265 G in 390 games, which is good for .67 goals per game, and he scores 1.33 points per game but he's played on better teams--and with better centermen (no offence to Trevor Linden) than Pavel did. You can't really compare much more because they are such different players, style-wise. Ovie is more like a Fedorov- a power forward, where as Bure was a sniper and really too small to be a "power forward".

Enough comparisons, Pavel Bure was and always will be my favorite hockey player of all time. Say what you want to about him, but he was super exciting and could (and usually did) make magical things happen when he was on the ice. I think if he had ever won a Stanley Cup, then he would have been inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2008, when he was eligible. I think I wrote about that here, so I won't bore you again, but I think it was outrageous that he wasn't inducted, when they only picked 2 players out of 4 spots that year. B.S.

About that time, eh chap?

Wow I have been a super slacker as far as my little blog goes. Many apologizes to my (one) faithful reader(s).. I have been busy-- going to hockey games!

Okay well not that busy I guess. I have only been to 3 games since my last post and it's been something like 3 weeks so that's really no excuse. I'm just lame. I will try to be better, and I'm sure the advent of the playoffs and hockeyeverynight!, I will be posting more. :)

So let me tell you where I've been. I went to the Sabres/Caps game on the 3rd and it was strugglin. Not the worst game I've seen but certainly not the best. The company was good so I guess that was something, and I did get to see that slammin hit that Kaleta had on Ovie as it happened.. but yeah, rough night for the boys in Blue.

The Sabres seem to have many nights like that lately. Ah well, it happens. We should still at least make the playoffs and that is a VERY GOOD thing. I just hope they keep it together enough to make a decent run into the playoffs instead of limping in. But there is still some hockey to be played before we can discuss that in earnest so I'll leave it there for now.

Moving on, time to tell you about my hockey pilgrimage to "The Rawk", as my friends the The Ookies often refer to the Prudential Center in NJ. I left last Friday from Buffalo on the train. (love me some Amtrak, no security lines, no getting there a thousand hours early, NO MOTIONSICKNESS! soooo much better than flying, imho) and hit Newark at about 5:30. I met up with my sis, who had flown in from Louisiana and we walked from our hotel to the Arena. It's a REALLY nice place. All Devils, all the time. The Stanley Cup banners-

are awesome, of course, and there is lots of Devils-themed artwork and stuff all around the place. The score- (3-1) Devils over the Penguins- was the best part!


The game was great fun. If you ever go to NJ, get your tickets up in section 208/209, the ppl there are GREAT! They were loud and rowdy, I felt like I was at some crazy minor-league game. They were chanting all night (and even let me start some Let's Go Devils!-- I was a little scared to do it since I wasn't a regular, but they seemed to think it was cool. yay me!)

Proof of attendance- like my Devil horns? They light up! :)



And then on Saturday, we ventured onto Long Island for a Devils/Isles game. We figured since we were that close.. we'd probably never get a better chance to go there.. and who knows how much longer the Islanders will be around (sadly).. and they were playing the Devils so it was all good.

Their arena is SMALL! I felt like it was a minor league rink. And the parking (right next to the place) was only $7!!! What a deal. :) We sat up in the 300 level but it felt so close, compared to any other rink I've been to. Wild. There were lots of Devils fans and we got some serious cheering going on, but it wasn't working for the boys, since they lost. The defence wasn't so great, and Marty was sitting this one out. The Islanders were just the better team, but we had a great time. The guy sitting next to me was exactly the kind of person I was expecting to see at an Islanders game. He was a lot of fun to talk to. :)



-Center Ice before the game-- it feels so close, even though we're like 6 rows from the top..



-Proof of attendance. Note the Devil horns again- I actually bought them with intent to wear them on Saturday- hehehe.. got lots of comments, most of them good, even from NYI fans. :) Also note the Stanley Cup banners off to the right. As bad as the Isles are at the moment, they have some decent history.

The full album can be seen on Facebook-- if you're so inclined.. **or will be eventually if I can ever get them to upload!**(I think you have to be my friend to see them, but please, if we aren't yet friends on facebook, feel free to change that!!) :)

And now my grand total of cities visited for hockey is...
ECHL:
Dayton, OH
Cincinnati, OH
Toledo, OH
Wheeling, WV
Lexington, KY
Peoria, IL
Baton Rouge, LA
Salt Lake City, UT
Las Vegas, NV

AHL
Cleveland, OH
Cincinnati, OH
Syracuse, NY
Rochester, NY
Hamilton, ONT
San Antonio, TX

NHL
Detroit, MI
Columbus, OH
Buffalo, NY
Ottawa, ONT
Chicago, IL
Dallas, TX
Newark, NJ
Long Island, NY

only 22 more NHL cities to go! ;)

hockey's back

I am still so emotionally wrung out from the Olympics.. man that was fun all around. (except for the end result of the hockey.. that wasn't so fun but it was still great!)

But now our NHL hockey is back. I didn't watch last night's game- was at a girly party but I caught the last 5 mins in the car on the way home. Roy seemed like he was pretty feisty last night. Is it the return of the 'old' Derek? One can only hope.

Today is trade deadline day.. *cue scary music* what will the end result be? Will the Sabres be buyers or sellers? If past experience is any indication, any trades the Sabres make will be light but I guess we'll see. I've got the page up and on refresh to keep up on the latest. So far it's been pretty slow..

I found this amusing article about how Sid's gear has gone missing.. again Seriously, is there a black market for Crosby-used gear? When it's something so major as that game, there's no way you can sell that and not get noticed. Weird. I'd feel bad for him but I don't. I just think it's kinda funny.

I'll be at tonight's game to see the new-look? (or exactly the same) Sabres in action. Should be fun. Our last home game against the Caps was a thrilling 3-0 owning back in December and I was there too. That game rocked and I hope we can do more of that tonight.

Let's go BUFFALO!

time to get my life back

Thanks to a tip from Amy over at Shots off the Crossbar (you should read her blog, if you don't... she is great!), I learned that Ryan Miller was featured in The Onion. Now you know he's bigtime. It's just like I wanted.. I think I wrote it here? For Ryan Miller to become a household name, like Apollo Ono, Lindsey Vonn and Michael Phelps.. I think it worked. YAY Ryan! :)

On to the game.. wow what a game it was. I was super excited from start to finish, though I think I had a few minor heart attacks in there. The boys made us proud and they should hold their heads up high. Remember that going into this, no one really expected the Americans to even medal, let along challenge for the gold.

I wish the USA had played with a little more intensity to start the game. I think they were being too conservative with the defenceman and being too scared of Canada's big guns on offence. The D seemed to hang back and play it safe instead of getting involved with the rush, which they really needed to do. When they did that is when they had the best scoring chances. BUt all in all, it was a really solid game. Parise's goal with 24 seconds left was absolutely beautiful! :)

And of course Canada had to win it on a goal from Crosby. GAG me with a sock. I had literally just finished saying "Anyone but Crosby" when he scored. UGH. I don't even mind Canada winning so much- they earned it and it's really good for hockey and their national pride and sanity of the country (LOL) but I'd have preferred it not be him. Share the wealth a little, eh?

Whatev. I'm just happy it wasn't a shootout. That's no way to decide a Championship game. And Ryan Miller played his heart out- he has nothing to be ashamed of. (the 2nd goal in particular was a defensive lapse!) Wear that silver proudly. BUFFALO and the rest of the country are proud of all the boys!

USA USA!!

I had to turn it off before the medal ceremony- my fragile psyche can't handle that.. not after seeing the Women's hockey ceremony the other night.. but I heard that Miller got a rousing cheer. Very classy move on the part of the fans and I appreciate it.

Oh and if the Canucks decide they don't want the services of Ryan Kesler anymore, we'd be happy to take him off their hands. :) I love that guy! (I already liked him before the Olympics, now I realllly like him!)

Now bring on the Penguins and the Capitals! GO Sabres!

USA USA

Here's a neat article about the USA/Canada hockey rivalry. The funny thing is that even though Canada is very good at hockey in general, it's kinda weird that they "expect" to win the gold. I mean I know they want to win the gold and seem like they should- but Canada has only won 1 gold medal in Olympic hockey in the last 58 years. They owned it in the early days of the Olympics but not so much since. Just sayin.

I love Canada more than most Americans probably but when it comes to the Olympics (especially this year, since none of "my" boys are playing except Marty and he already has a gold!) it's USA all the WAY! :) (and no Russian conflict this year either since Pavel is not involved in the team this time around..)

I saw the end of the game last night and WOW it was sweet. I'm watching the rest of it now, on the dvr. I'm so proud of our boys for coming out on fire and really taking it to Canada. They will not be intimidated! YAY! And helllloooo Ryan Miller. I love love love how excited everyone is about him and we Sabres fans can sit back and say, 'heh, yeah he's OURS. We get to see this guy every game. And yes, the Sabres do that to him all the time. Poor guy is well versed with a zillion shots on goal and some spotty defence.' GO RYAN MILLER!!

✩✩✩ USA ✩✩✩

scandal!

Okay I've been watching a ton of Olympics.. but so far no hockey. (that will change today with the superhockeydayoflife!) So what I have to say about that is GO USA!!!

But I'd like to weigh on on the figure skating controversy that's sweeping the nation.. or rather a footnote to a great competition that only matters to the parties involved and anyone who actually cares about it. That would be me. Haha. If you wish to read my extremely in-depth "review" of the long program, you can check it here if you care that much.

In any case, Evan Lysacek won the gold, on what was definitely a more complex program and he NAILED all his jumps. Yevegeny Plushenko wobbled quite a bit on his jumps and landings, and yes, he did the quad, but the rest of his program was rather boring, and the 2nd half was really a snoozer. Evan's 2nd half was loaded, which is worth more points from a technical point of view. But Plushenko whined (and is still whining) about how since he did the quad, he should have won. Dude, ONE jump does not a program make. If his whole program had been clean and as complex, then the quad could have (and probably should have been) the deal-breaker. However, it was not. Evan's program was better and better skated. So shut your whiny yap Yevgeny and get over it.

Of course it could be argued that I say this because I'm American and I want my countryman to win. It's not about that at all. I don't claim to be a figure skating expert- far from it actually, but even I could see that Evan's program had more to it. Bottom line. His technical score was better. He didn't do the quad but he had more jumps. The quadruple jump is not REQUIRED- it's a bonus.

That's my take, for what it's worth. If you want to read someone else's- check this article: Read Me

Now, bring on the hockey!! :)

YAY Sharpie FTW!

My sister Brett, my nephews, and I had a great time at the Blackhawks/Blue Jackets game tonight! it was a super awesome game- lots of hitting, lots of goals.. great times all around. The CBJ crowd is a ton of fun- they were chanting and clapping and having a blast. :) The Blackhawks managed to win in a shootout, but the game was back and forth all around. the Blue Jackets had a 2-0 lead which then became 2-2 shortly into the 2nd period. The the 'Hawks added 2 more and it was 4-3 Chicago going into the third. Columbus tied it up halfway into the 3rd and then we had OT (where Garon made some INSANE saves for CBJ) and then a shootout. All in all, it was great fun.

and Sharpie had a great game- he had a goal and an assist.. and he played 24 minutes. He was all over the place, and earned himself First Star! :) yay! I was able to get there for warm-ups and get a few pics of him and the other 'Hawks. Pat Kane is tiny!

yay for winning hockey! :)

Now, bring on the Olympics!

wahoo!

Hey, the Sabres actually WON a game tonight! Who knew they had it in them? I guess it's because I didn't watch the game. Clearly I am the curse. Sorry, guys.

If you need a laugh- check out these head shots from the Olympic Hockey teams. They are HILARIOUS! In particular, Sergei Fedorov's looks like a THUG. Is that what happens when you play hockey in the KHL?

Who knows.. but I am highly amused. :)

We are watching the skiing moguls. That stuff is nuts and looks quite painful.

I love the Olympics. :)

SICK OF THEM!

I'd like to talk about something a little less depressing than the current state of the Sabres tonight. So here we go..

This coming weekend I'm taking my young nephews- ages 3 and 6 - to Columbus for a hockey game with my sis who lives there. The kids are over the moon about it! They can't wait, and frankly, it will be better than watching those losers the Sabres. The Blue Jackets (who are looking pretty good after a shutout of San Jose last night) are playing the always entertaining- (and lovely) Blackhawks. It should be a great game- two young, hungry teams with a nice divisional rivalry at stake. That's on Sunday. We're leaving on Saturday and will spend the night with my parents Sat night.

So check this: The Blue Jackets have an AWESOME deal they call Dispatch Family Nights- you get
1 Game ticket
1 hot dog
1 drink
1 popcorn
1 free ice cream from UDF (local convenience store for those not in the know, with AMAZING ice cream)
1 voucher for a free skate at the practice rink of the CBJs.

All for JUST $25/person. That's it! And you can buy anywhere from 3-8 of these, it's not a set number.

That is a totally sick deal and I'm super excited about it. I don't care about the food and stuff for myself but with the kids its an easy dinner, and they like the eating a game thing- plus the ice cream rocks and a free skate is super fun! Heck, you can barely get a TICKET in Buffalo for $25, let alone the rest of it. Quite happy.

And it gets better. I looked at the vouchers for the free skate, and they say they are only good at the Dispatch Ice Haus- but they don't have any free skates when we're going to be there- anywhere from Sat-Mon. But the DIH is also owned by a company that has several other rinks around Columbus, some of which have open skate times that would work better for us. So I e-mailed the Blue Jackets and laid out the details that we are coming from out of town and they kids are excited about the free skate but they are none.. so could we use the vouchers at another rink? And I got an e-mail from the Assistant GM of the Chiller Ice Rinks saying that it would be no problem at all, just to let them know when we wanted to go and where and he'd hook us up.

and THAT, my friends, is AWESOME customer service. :) Just wanted to share, in case any of ya'll have plans to visit C-bus soon. Our team may play like crap against them every time, but their arena is top-notch and their ticket deals and customer service are excellllllent. :)