get over it

Still being sad Roy. In lieu of actual Sabres hockey (I was in Ohio for the last week and unable to see any games), I watched some random Derek Roy videos on youtube today.

Yeah, I have issues.

In other news, I attended a Cincinnati Cyclones and Toledo Walleye game on Tuesday. It was fun.. there were a lot of people there! The Cyclones lost but I had a good time with my friends.

And there were three former Purple Eagles playing in that game. Barret Ehgoetz- captain of the Cyclones, and Kyle Rogers and Tyler Gotto of the Walleye were all representin for NU. That was cool. I actually knew Ehgo from his time in Utah but only knew the other guys from announcing their names. Good to see Niagara boys making their mark in the ECHL. :)

That's it for tonight.

coming coming soon

I am really distraught about Royzie. :( Obviously he's done for the season and the injury sounds pretty gross. I just hope he recovers completely and doesn't try to push it. But I will miss him!

And ugh.. I am so over this year's Winter Classic. I'm so annoyed (as I've said beforethat Sid and the Penguins get another turn. They could have given the game to someone else.. that would be fair! Share the wealth, NHL. Boo on that. I may watch some of the game (I'll be in Pitt for New Year's) but I don't care all that much. Go Caps. haha It will be cool if Sloaner gets to play though. He's back off the IR so I hope he'll get a shot. That would be awesome for him. Of course, this is all assuming the weather cooperates. We'll see, I guess.

That's pretty much what I have. I went to a Dayton Gems hockey game last night. They play in the Central Hockey League. It was a good time. I really do love minor league hockey- it has its own flair. The difference between these guys and the NHL is pretty extreme though. Hahaha. Bruce Boudreau's son plays for the Gems.. He's TINY! He's got some decent speed- but sometimes forgets where his teammates are. I doubt he'll ever make it to the show but he might get a shot at a higher league at some point.

Tomorrow is more hockey- the (defending Kelly Cup Champion) Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL this time. Should be a great time. :)

Merry Christmas, Derek Roy

http://sabres.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=547282

Torn quad tendon? That sounds awful. 4-6 months? That sounds worse. :(

This is not the first time my favorite player has missed half of the season, but this is the first time it's been Royzie.

He is the Sabres leading scorer. Not that they are any good with him, but this can't help. Unless they magically rally and start playing well for him. wouldn't that be ironic?

:(

welcome all again

I'm in Ohio spending Christmas time with my fam and various friends around the area.

And with Ohio and friends comes HOCKEY of course. I have plans to see the Dayton Gems (CHL) and the Cincinnati Cyclones (ECHL) while I am here. 2 hockey games, 2 leagues (the CHL is one I haven't yet experienced) so it should be fun fun fun. :)

Oh and GO SABRES!

good job boys

Geeeez..

This Sabres game is something else.

So far we're 3-0 and wow- this is the most complete game I've seen from the Sabres. It's not over yet but I like what's going on. Lots of scrappin, some goals, some great teamwork.

And all against Columbus, a team which usually beats us.

Some rough stuff:
McCormick has words with Commodore.
Monty had a little tussle with Boll- he did okay- especially considering his opponent.
And then..
All the Kaleta haters need to back off a little after that tilt with Dorsett. That was some old school minor-league style brawling right there. Nice job!

And some random, out of order thoughts:

Royzie's pass on the 2nd goal was SICK. That whole play was well executed. The boys are actually playing like a TEAM instead of a bunch of punks who've never met.

Now we're at 4-0. No, make that 5-0. WOWZERS.

Of course this would happen. I was going to go to the game tonight.. but things got a little crazy during the day. I was planning to take my nephew but my sis wanted him to go to this other thing so I said.. whatev. But then I couldn't find a friend to go with me on such short notice.. and I didn't feel like going alone. I also wasn't feeling terribly great- been having a headache (it's sort of sinus-y and PMS-y-- a gross combo) for the last 2 days, plus I was tired. AND the Sabres always play like crap against CBJ so I wasn't worried about this being a good game.

Well whaddya know? They have the frickin BEST GAME OF THE SEASON tonight. Oh well. I knew if I had gone they would have lost so if I stayed home they'd win.. figures.

okat this is just creepy

I have no idea how I haven't used this hockey SAB before, but it must be shared now. *I meant to post on Wednesday, but this week has gotten away from me a bit*

This one is really intense, because I saw him on tv the other night, and literally thought he was someone else- so that's when you KNOW a hockey SAB is imminent- so without further ado:



-Rangers coach John Tortorella

AND



-former player and current analyst, Ray Ferarro. (who was used earlier as a hockey SAB with football player Kurt Warner)

DUDE. I really did see Torts on MSG the other night in passing and thought he was Ray. That was wild. Separated at birth? YOU be the judge!

confessions

I am highly enamored of Steve Montador and his eyebrows. LOOOVE the new Green Team commercial. I wish I could find it online. (we're going to ignore the fact that Monty has a dreaded neck beard going on there.. LOL)

I love how belligerent Mike Weber is. He's so fun. They could all use a dose of that fire. :)

I'm sort of watching the game but not paying quite enough attention to it to properly comment.

Why has Derek Roy forgotten how to play hockey? It's been ages since his last goal...

Time to put the nephews to bed. Maybe the Sabres will be better when I get back. (it's 3-0. Yick.)

Hints of things left unseen

I've been hinting at this post for a few days now, so I guess it's time I just sat down and wrote it. So what do I really want to say? I said the other night that hockey is "home" to me. That's true, and has been true for over 16 years now. It was nothing something that was born and bred in me, it was something I discovered on my own (with a little help from my sis, Lance Links, and Pavel Bure) and felt a deep connection to. I think I've told those stories before, but become a hockey fan was, for me at least, a conscious choice that I had to cultivate once the idea was planted.

I've been through some times as a hockey fan. I've seen my teams win it and lose it in the first round of the playoffs, game 7 of the finals, not even make the playoffs.. I've been around and changed teams a few times and found some new players to cheer for (though Bure will always be my #1 no matter what) but it all started with the 1994 Vancouver Canucks. They were my first team.. and they will forever be special. I could probably still name every player from that team (or at least come pretty darn close). I still have some of the 1994 playoff games (including dreaded game 7 which I have never watched) on tape. They were MY boys and they will always be MY boys.

When I turned 13, I asked for a Canucks jersey for my birthday. Now, keep in mind that this was 1994, way before the internet could get anything delivered to your door in 24 hours. Also keep in mind that I lived in Dayton, OH and there was no NHL team in Columbus. And I wanted a Vancouver Canucks jersey- IN AUGUST.

My parents found one.. they had to go to Cincinnati (an hour away) to get it but they found one. I loved that jersey. I probably wore it once a week on average for 3 or 4 years. No lie. I now own 10 hockey jerseys but that was my first and for a long time, my favorite. Longtime readers may recall This photo, which was one of my senior pics. I loved hockey and I loved the Canucks.

My first NHL game was a Vancouver Canucks vs. Detroit Red Wings game at Joe Louis Arena on March 17, 1995. I wore my jersey and bought a hat and cheered my heart out for the Canucks (one of about 3 people in the arena who was). One of the best nights of my life.

Over time, when Pavel was traded to the Panthers in 1999, I moved my allegiance. (it is interesting to note that Pavel Bure and Bret Hedican were the last 2 members of the 1994 team to leave Vancouver.) I left with them but a part of my heart will always belong to Vancouver.

Over the past several seasons, I have paid more attention to the Canucks. They are a fun, young team. They also have some incredibly good looking fellas on their squad. They score a lot of goals and have a great stopper in Luongo. But, since they're in the Western edge of the Western Conference, I barely see them anymore. So when I saw they were on the Sabres' schedule this season, and my brother-in-law has season tickets, I grabbed that game. I wanted to see the Canucks again, after 15 and a half years.

I'm not going to lie, the game brought back a lot of emotions for me. I felt like I should be cheering for Vancouver. I enjoy the Canucks, but it's more of a passive enjoyment, and I would never pick them over my Sabres. There were lots of Canucks fans at the game, and they were wearing all different styles of jerseys. I saw 3 people with Pavel Bure jerseys (one of them was the 1994 SCF jersey- and I could tell that from the other side of the arena. True stories, but really, are you surprised? It's me!) There were many people with the blue, silver, maroon and black with the Orca "C" on them- I remember when they debuted those jerseys.. we found some pics online (this was early internet days) and I printed them out. I wanted one of those jerseys but never got one before Bure was traded (I eventually got a Panthers one, though.)

It's hard to describe the feelings I had on Monday. I've tried to break it down into words, but there aren't really words. It was odd.. but comforting at the same time. It's like coming full circle as a hockey fan. It was facing my first favorite team while cheering for my current favorite team and it didn't feel awkward and nasty, it felt good. It felt safe. It felt like no matter what I picked, I'd be okay. It felt like home. I keep going back to that, but it's true. Hockey is home. Old team, new team, home is home.


And I absolutely adore the current Canucks uniforms. The colors are gorgeous and I want to own one right now.

it's wednesday!

I still have that post wherein I wax poetic about the Canucks and hockey and rah rah rah memories... but it's still stuck in my head.

However, it is Wednesday, and that sometimes means that I provide you with a hockey SAB. Tonight, I have one that I noticed at the game on Monday.



-Criminal Minds actor Matthew Gray Gubler

AND



-Babyfaced Canuck Mason Raymond

Separated at Birth? YOU be the judge!

show and tell

A few things to share tonight-

Hellooooo Ryan Kesler. I'm down with that.

and our little Roy boy is growing up. . Nice article, Jerry Sullivan. :) I really liked this quote: ""I want to be an elite player in this league," Roy said. "I don't want to cruise through my career and just get 60, 70 points or whatever. I think that's a part of being a human being and growing up. Whatever you do in life, you want to be skilled at it. You want to be the best. I'm trying to approach it that way every day."

Let's hope he continues this growing up process. 21 pts in 20 games is not a bad way to start. Good on ya, Royzie. :)

I have some rambling memory and nostalgia-inducing thoughts from last night's game, but they aren't quite in coherent form yet. Expect that braindump post soonish (if anyone still reads this drivel).

The game last night was a superbly awesome time. The action was good, the crowd was fun, OT was out of this world.. just a fantastic night all around. I was really stressed before the game because I have a lot going on right now and I felt bad to be taking the time to go.. yet this game was on my radar since July, when the schedule came out- and I really felt like I *needed* to go. I'm so glad I did. It brought up a lot of emotions (back to that not-yet-written post) and was just a heck of a game. Besides, I like going to Sabres games. Hockey has always felt like 'home', and I've been missing it a lot lately. It's never too late to go home, and last night was a much-needed reminder of that.

Now I'm getting rambly (which isn't technically a word, but you know what I mean, right?) and that means it's time for bed. G'night friends!