Hello Again

Hi, I'm Sam and this is my hockey blog. Somehow I've only posted 12 times this year. I'm such a slacker.

It's not that I don't care about hockey- I still do, but I was so busy with real world things (which, sadly, didn't involve hockey much) that I wasn't able to watch many games or document them. I want to change this and get back to writing.

But wait, there might not even be a season this year. Those greedy bastards. I can't even begin to express my anger and frustration.. but maybe I'll get something coherent put together. See, I've read about the last lockout, and the one in '94 and why the players' union even exists in the first place. (required reading for a class I took.) I still have the books. It's all about money and power and politics. And the losers in the fiasco are the fans, who spend countless hours and dollars on their favorite teams only to be let down and thrown to the side when the owners and players wish to quibble over millions of dollars.

If there's a lockout this year, don't expect fans to come rushing back. This league can't handle another work stoppage. The last one nearly did them in (and it was a HORRIBLE time for a hockey fan. I think I literally suffered from depression that year) and another one would be doom for many markets.

There's more to say but I have to put it together better. Stay tuned..

And possibly I'll get my act together and post some of my hockey songs.. I've got a a few in the works. :)

I have something to say about that

I love Pavel Bure. I have loved him since I started watching hockey back in 1994 and I will love him til the day I die. He's my ultimate #1**. I have other favorites, some short term, some long, but he will always be there. I've written about it before, so I don't need to go into it again.

Similarly, I wrote a post back in 2008 about Bure getting dissed by the Hockey Hall of Fame. http://intotheboards.blogspot.com/2008/11/in-defence-of-pavel-bure.html
In the piece, I talked about what an exciting player he was and broke down some statbits to back it up.

And now, FINALLY, 4 years after he was first eligible *and denied* to be inducted into the HHOF, someone wised up and added his name to the ballot. My boy is going to the Hall of Fame!

I am thrilled. At last, Pavel Bure is getting some long-due recognition.

I may be making a trip to Toronto in November. :)

**if you look at the sidebar with the labels, Pavel Bure is the only player name that is capitalized. I did not do this on purpose. But I find it appropriately symbolic of his status.

I'm baaaaaaack!

It seems appropriate to post randomly after saying nothing through all the playoffs and then post when it's done.

My life has been busy lately but I did tune in for game 6... which was the last game.. and I have a few thoughts:

-egads the Stanley Cup makes me cry. Even when it's not my team. There's just something heartwarming and amazing about watching grown men skate around like little kids, realizing the dream they have had since they were little kids. I love it.

-Similarly, the handshake line at the end of a series is one of the best things about hockey. It gets me every time.

-The Kings truly had an incredible run and earned the win. They came alive in the last month or so of the season and kept it up all through the playoffs. Can't take anything away from that.

-Likewise, the Devils played some great hockey to get to the finals, then pushed it an extra 2 games that many people thought they wouldn't get to- so props to them!

-Marty Brodeur is still the man. :)

My sister just said something about wanting to go to the Hockey Hall of Fame again.. I think it might be a good idea. I want to see The Cup in person again! (I need to take a pic of Patrick Sharp's name on it!)

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-Is it October yet?

Star Wars- Sabres Style

So a comment on my sister's fb wall got a little out of hand the other day.. and it was my fault. We were quoting Han Solo, and I said "hoCkey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid."... and didn't even realize, till later, that I said hockey and not hokey. WHOOPS!

However, it led to some silly comparisons of NHL-folks to SW folks.. and since I am both a Star Wars nerd and a hockey (Sabres) fan, I thought I should take it one step further and start assigning some characters. It's a work in progress, and if you think of any other fellas from around the League, feel free to contribute. (or if you're a fan of another team and want to give me YOUR version, once again, feel free to comment here or e-mail me. )

C-3PO- so worried about doing everything correctly that he can't think straight and so messes things up- Thomas Vanek

R2-D2- the brains of the operation- Ryan Miller

Princess Leia- They are all boys, I can't do that!

Darth Vader- The big baddie- he takes no prisoners- Lindy Ruff

Random Rebel Fighter who dies in the first scene- Jochen Hecht (alas, we hardly knew ye!)

Jawas- take all sorts of junk and make it work- Matt Ellis

Tuscan Raiders-nasty bad guys- The Philadelphia Flyers

Uncle Owen- barely even qualifies as a character because he's only on screen for a few minutes, but has a purpose in the plot- Any of the 1 or 2-game Amerks call-ups

Luke Skywalker- kid with a DESTINY and a famous name, but turns out to be pretty dargonne badass- Marcus Foligno

Old Obi-Wan Kenobi- crusty old Jedi Master who is still awesome- Teppo Numminen

Han Solo- the most brilliant captain in the universe with the best ship- Ted Black (he did restore hot water to the restrooms! and set up blogger summits. He's pretty great)

Chewbacca- fiercely loyal to his buddies, big and strong- Tyler Myers

Greedo- the bounty hunter who's too slow on the draw- (anyone who faces off against Goose)

Random Cantina Patron with 2 seconds of screen time- Mike Weber

Grand Moff Tarkin- The only one who can call Vader to heel- Darcy Regier

Wedge Antilles- The guy who is always there on your wing when you need him- Jason Pominville

Biggs Darklighter- helps out in the fight against the Death Star but doesn't last long- Brad Boyes

Admiral Ozzel- So bad he gets force-choked through the video-screen- Ville Leino

Captain Needa- couldn't get the job done so Vader took him out- Derek Roy "Apology accepted, Captain Needa" (you're next)

Emperor Palpatine- The one who is really running the show- Terry Pegula

Snow Monster- nearly destroyed the hope of the future- Milan Lucic

Dak- one of the revolving door of Luke's wingmen- Corey Tropp

Rogue 2- the guy who finds and rescues Luke when he's lost in the snow- Tyler Ennis

Yoda- Jedi Master man with the plan- James Patrick

Boba Fett- kicking ass and taking names, literally- Robyn Regehr

Lando Calrissian- Kinda slimy but usually a good guy- when it works for him- Drew Stafford

Denziens of Jabba's Palace- a disgusting mix of the universe's worst thugs- Boston Bruins

Nien Nubb- random co-pilot who shows up at the most important time- Alexander Sulzer

Wicket- the cute furry awesome little guy- Nathan Gerbe

Storm Troopers- the guys who do Vader's dirty work for him- Patrick Kaleta and Cody McCormick
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And just to have enough characters for all the players, I'll get into the new movies too, even though I find them to be not NEARLY as good.

Teenage Anakin-lots of potential, lacks some discipline- Andrej Sekera

Qui-Gon Jinn- good but not around long enough to make much difference- Cody Hodgson

Young Obi-Wan Kenobi- smart, powerful, will go far- Christian Ehrhoff

Jango Fett- smart guy but operates behind the scenes- Jordan Leopold

Mace Windu - good but not quite good enough for top billing- Jonas Enroth

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And there ya have it. The Sabres, complete with Coaches, GM, Owner, President and some rivals. What do you think? Ready to set it up for your team? :)

California knows how to party

I'm going to a LA Kings/Redwings Game tonight! In Los Angeles...

California is weird. We'll see how hockey in Cali is...

More to follow.

Well so much for that idea

(In which I use a ridiculous number of (parentheses) for some reason that is probably grammatically wrong, but I'm too tired and lazy to sort them all out. You get the point.)

I had this New Year's resolution of a sort to blog more.. then MSG and TWC decided to have a little spat and I wasn't able to watch my team for most of January and half of February (aside from a few games on NBCSPorts) It's hard to write about a team you can't watch.

So I fell off the wagon a little. But now the boys are back on tv, and they are playing much better hockey since the All-Star break so there's something to be said for all that.

They will probably still make a valiant (but ultimately too late) push to the playoffs, only to fall short by a point or 2 and thus getting a middling draft pick. (we should be used to this by now). or they might surprise us and squeak in at the 11th hour. Time will tell.

But tomorrow is DOOMSDAY - (AKA Trade Deadline Day) Last year I missed the madness because I was in New Zealand (or en route, the "time travel" to get there was a little whacky and kind of made my head hurt) and away from internets and computers and anything resembling hockey, as I was chillin the summer of the southern hemisphere (totally weird, btw, in a cool way) and didn't really worry too much about it. (ANd the Sabres didn't do much so that was little to worry about.)

But this year is (or may be) different. Roy is a name we've heard being tossed about quite a bit, as well as Gaustad (even The Hockey News mentions him as a decent pickup) and the thing is.. unlike last year when I was practically BEGGING someone to take Timmay Connolly off our hands and please for the loveofSabretooth SELL SELL SELL Stafford (while the selling was hot) I actually LIKE those two guys. I mean, really, who doesn't love Goose, with his funny nickname and his GreenTeam-ness and his good attitude and foxy faceoff skills? Right?

And Royzie, well, he's Royzie. He's infuriating at times, and occasionally quite skillful and brilliant with the puck (when he's not giftwrapping and presenting it to his opponents' sticks!) When he's playing hard (as he has been lately and did in the early days of his career when I fell for him in the first place), he's a great asset. When he's being lazy and boneheaded, he's a nusicance and you want him as far away as possible so he doesn't contaminate anyone else. He seems to be one of those polarizing player- you either love him or he drives you nuts. (And sometimes he does both at the same time, what a multi-tasker!)

But, from the time when I really started watching the Sabres in earnest (the playoff run of 2006, though I was living far away at the time) and the next season (when I came back), Roy always stood out. I picked him as "my" Sabre, and thus he remained. I officially switched my allegiance to Nathan Gerbe (you may recall my many soul-searchings and arguments with myself on the blog about it)... but even though I went with my gut and bought a Gerbe jersey with my Christmas money this year, I still love Royzie. He's still one of my favs and I will always have a place for him in my heart.

I don't want him to leave Buffalo, but I've felt it in my gut that he's going to be gone for a while now. (I even wrote about it here.) He's young enough and talented enough that in the right setting he could really thrive. His contract is not insane. The Sabres could actually get a decent return for him and he could be a legit #2 center on a team with a solid #1. He doesn't seem to do that well in the #1 role (though his faceoffs have improved significantly this season, I've noticed.)

Back to Goose for a second. On paper, he's not all that thrilling. Not a lot of goals, not a lot of flash and dash. BUT he owns faceoffs (and is very consistent about it) and he is the definition of "intangibles". He's a tough customer who will stand up for his boys (put aside for a moment the "Lucic incident-- I still maintain that the referees were letting nothing happen that night- I was AT the game and I noticed that from the beginning, AND any Sabre who had challenged Lucic would have been destroyed and they didn't need that. Moving on..) He generally plays tough and is not afraid to get his hands dirty. I like that about Goose. He seems to be a good guy in the room, and is a proven leader- again with the intangibles, things that aren't recorded, other than in the visual of watching him play. But those are the details that win hockey games, not just the goals and statbits.

So who knows what the next day will bring.. but we'll be here watching it happen. And I'll write some sort of recap of what news there is.

(Also in my "guys I don't want to see leave" category is Rick Nash from Columbus. He's the face of the franchise, and though he's maybe been coasting for a bit, during this terrible run of a season, I still think he wants to stay there- he SAID HE DID in an interview a few weeks back. And I'd prefer to see him in a CBJ uniform for a few more years at least. Just till they get a legit shot at the playoffs. It would be good for my home state.)

Goodness, I feel like I should be live-blogging this game just to keep track of the randomness that is Doc Emrick.

He was just talking about a pass that didn't make it... and it went something like this.."he was hoping it would connect, but we all have hopes in this world..." and then back to the play. What the what?

haha so yeah with that great intro, here we are in the 2nd period of the Sabres v. Rangers. it's so nice to see the Sabres on tv. *And a decent game, so far. Better than the Chicago game.. yesssh that one was rough. They are playing decently tonight, other than some turnovers. But the pressure is there and their defence is pretty legit.

I like this Gerbe-Ennis-Kassian line. It's pretty solid.

Speaking of my boy- he is really fast and feisty tonight. He REALLY wants a goal. Maybe tonight will be his night?

Wow I totally bailed on this blog. I saw parts of the 3rd period but we had a friend stop over so my attention was divided.

And then the boys lost in a shootout.

BUT this was not a bad game at all. The Rangers are very good but the Sabres hung with them and Miller played very well.

Good job fellas. Keep building!

All Star Skillz time

So here we are in Ottawa- sorry, Kanata (which really isn't quite the same thing), Ontario for the NHL All Stars Skills Competition. (And yeah, I'm not just being lame, I've been to ScotiabankPlace and it's actually a really cool place to see hockey, but it's a bit outside of the city.) However, Ottawa has the Rideau Canal so they totally get the win. (and a lot of jealousy from me)

The intros were cool- I liked the pics of the players as kids. My nephew was pretty upset that the announcer wasn't getting excited enough about their names though. LOL

The fastest skater was fine- the goalie race still cracks me up.

Now we've moved on to the Breakaway competition.
So far, Corey Perry wins- that stickwork was INSANE- the puck was GLUED to his stick.. then he scored!

okay, PKane with the superman dive was pretty funny.. and I didn't even catch how he slid the puck from his hand to his skate.

Tavares hitting it off his stick was pretty slick, especially the switching hands.

3rd round..
Carey Price- he saved it facing backwards!? that was great.

Did the puck really just break on Kane? Or did he plan that?.. ah okay it was planned.

Perry is cracking us up with the mini-stick.
I just voted for him.

Oh come on. Perry was better than Kane! Though Kane was creative, Perry had more skill. (and creativity)

On to the Accuracy Competition:
-Poor Cody...
-Stamkos' gum is really bright.
-Wow Jamie Benn. I was wondering why he looked so unhappy early, he just had an appendectomy. Wow.
*I don't like how there's no scoreboard keeping track of how many targets they've hit. I can't always tell if they hit them.

Jamie Benn with the win there.

And on to the Skills Challenge Relay- I dig this one.. they have to do such wild stuff.

My favs are the stickhandling through the obstacles.. so amazing. And I would get SO DIZZY going through the pylons- reminds me of the hockey class I took in college- we used to do figure 8s between cones- they were a little further apart and we were nowhere near that quick. LOL

Letang just owned that One-timer deal. 3/4
Hank Sedin seems impatient with the passing thing at first then starts owning.

Team Alfie got the win there- way less time.

Love how Pommers is hanging with all the Sens. I thought you guys were enemies! ;)

I am amused by how the "cones" are Gatorade bottles.

Pommers takes it in the Clutch for Team Alfie. :) Good job! (Ottawa fans should know about Pominville and clutch- see Playoffs, 2006, Round 1)

You're not Tim Thomas.. This is Tim Thomas... *kissy kissy* (This commercial will never get old.)

--Hardest Shot time:
Luke Adam from the Sabres acquits himself well with a 98 and wins his round. :)
Alfie is killing it, 101.1, 101.3. WOW
Team Alfie is owning it so far.
WAIT 106.2 Chara. What the WHAT?
And hold the phone.. 108.8. Weber came back with a 106 but Chara's 106.2 and 107 were all over it. Who would stand in front of that?

Team Alfredsson still winning but Chara caught up with that ridiculously hard shot.

What's with the R2-D2 Verizon commercial? I'd totally buy him over a phone. He'll talk back to your snooty C-3PO droid, navigate your X-Wing, talk to your hyperdrive and fix it, he'll serve drinks on your party barge, keep your lightsabre and handily toss it to you at the right moment.. I mean he's pretty indispensable really. :) And that other thing.. just a phone.

Only 11 players (and a rookie) in the shootout? I thought it was everybody.

This part is usually all about the goalies.. let's see what happens.
NO goal for Datsyuk- wow. But we know Lundqvist is sick.
Stamkos with the fake.. nice one bro.
Whoa Malkin snuck it right under the leg..
Tavares scores- Team Alfie still winning-and 2 goals so far
CoreyPerry just misses high- he hit the post.
Spezza pulls Price out of the net but keeps the puck and sneaks it in far side.
Team Alfie up 14-10 now.
Thomas stones Giroux (good, I don't like him)
Gaborik tries to flip it on the glove side and Elliot says NO!
Alfredsson goes 5-hole on Thomas for the score. (Maybe Tim was being nice.. LOL)
Kane stoned by Elliot and it's 15-10 Alfie
Thomas with the poke check on Neal.. no goal!
Iglina sneaks one in.. through the 5-hole. Wow.
Michalek stopped by Thomas and it's 15-11 Team Alfie
-Wow why does Gary Bettman look so angry? This is great!
Round 3
Quick stops Benn to keep the score where it is. He's so good this year- too bad his team is not.
Pominville scores a snapshot high glove side on Howard! :) Let's Go Buffalo!
Lupul gets robbed by Quick, much to the fans' delight.
Letang slips one by Howard on the backhand. It's 17-11 now.
Timmonen does some voodoo and somehow scores on Quick.
Suter hits the crossbar on Quick
Daniel Sedin misses.. and we're done with the initial round. Only 6 players remain.
YEEESH Lundqvist with the split for the stop.
Stamkos with a SICK spin-o-rama.
Iginla goes wide.. he's done. He's so smiley though!
Tavares still in with the high backhand. Team Alfie up 19-12 now. Only one Team Chara player still left.
Timmonen misses and Team Chara is DONE. We still have a few more players though, and we need a winner.
Spezza's up- he's stopped by Price. The crowd sighs.
*sidenote- Pommers looks lost without his Sens buddies*
Alfredsson gets stopped by Price. Crowd loved that. Or not.
Pominville scores on Thomas! The crowd cheers. :)
Tavares Misses..
Pominville comes in 2nd! Good job!
Stamkos is the winner. :)

Phew. Team Alfredsson with the win 22-12. :)

and there we have it. Tomorrow is the Game.

Analyze this!

Apparently, according to my post labels, I haven't talked about google analytics in 2 years! *It's possible I've done other posts and just not labeled them.*

So today I checked it out- I have now been visited by every state in the US! Montana took the longest to come on board.. but I'm everywhere. Whuhahahhaaa. I also have many visitors from Canada, then the UK, France, Russia, and Germany are up there. I've been visited from all the continents (except Antarctica) and many many different countries. :) (of course these people never comment so it's probably random pageviews but whatevs.. makes me feel good.)

And then we get to the fun- search terms!

There are the usual thousand and one about Derek Roy and Travis Rycroft (still don't get that one) but I found some fun gems in there..

-"Hilarious randomness"- totally something I said, I'm sure. It was searched not once, but twice!

-"i hate shoes" - who knows? but I agree.

-"2legit Montreal" just amused me

-"bad ass Howie Dorough" ? Hahaha yeah right, the backstreet boy known as "Sweet D" is not BA , sorry.

-"you hurt me so bad but I keep coming back" - yep, Sabres, I'm talking about YOU!

-"explain the theme of rough all over again"... I have no idea about this but I find it intriguing and I may have to use that one of these days..

-"is my Blackhawks ticket legit"? Dude, I have no idea but for your sake I hope so.

-"Patrick Sharp and Samantha"-- YES.

-"Samantha hunt hockey Sabres"... how did you find out about that?

-"there's this that I like about hockey, my lad"- again I have no idea but I need to keep this and use it one day.

.... and there ya have it. All-Star skillz tomorrow. I will be watching (I think) and live-blogging (I plan to anyway)

Ciao!

Food for thought

So..

I finally got around to perusing some of the Blogger Summit #2 videos on Sabres.com today. (So I'm a little late to the party, nothing new there- I've been avoiding that place lately, nothing but bad news. I actually went to Sabres.com looking for some highlights (found 'em) and possibly an interview (no dice) from last night's game (WIN!) against the Devils.) I listened to the first 2 periods and then got home (no radio service and I didn't want to break out the computer) and waited by the phone for my text.. and waited... and waited. That was a long one, eh?

But it was a win!

Sorry, got excited for a sec. What I was saying is that it was cool to watch some of the videos- I'll probably go back and check a few more- but I noticed something.

There were only 2 lady bloggers that I could see.

What is up with that? I know there are a ton of quality females out there writing about hockey.. where are they? Were they all at the first blogger summit?

And what does a person have to do to be asked to attend such an event? (update their blog more than once a month? Hmm.. maybe I should get on it.)

I guess what I'm saying is- if any Sabres-folks are reading this- I'm more than just a spastic, roster photo-obsessed, make-up-conversations-with-players-and-post-them, hockey parody song writing (got a real good one coming soon), sporadic-posting fool. I actually know hockey and love hockey and the Sabres and would really dig going to an event like that.

Just sayin', ya know, in case anyone is wondering. *shuffles feet*

......and now back to your regularly scheduled hockey (related) drivel. All-star game this weekend- you know I can't resist blogging about that! :)