I had a Sabre-tastic day

Today I went to Borders and, armed with a handy dandy 40% off coupon (seriously peeps, join the Borders Rewards program, they will send you nifty coupons all the time so you can buy the books you've been drooling over for reduced prices! It's a win-win situation).. right, so I've been openly coveting the "Sabres in Traffic" photo book since I first saw it (months ago). I don't care that it's last year's team (it says volume 1, does that mean there will be a volume 2?) because it's just sweet. There are beautiful close up shots of all the fellas in black and white, and some really great action photos as well. Well worth it. I am most pleased with this purchase. And my 2-year old nephew realy liked it too, though he tried to call everyone 'Derek Roy'. ;) Wonder where he gets that from? Heh heh. We're working on it. And apparently, hockey is loud because that's how he describes the group shots. He's a funny little kid, but he does love his hockey. (I'll take the credit for that one, thank you)

So there was that- I also picked up the new Counting Crows album- "Saturday Nights and Sunday Mornings" and it's EXCELLENT, and found a graduation present for my youngest sister who will finish college in June, so it was a very productive visit to the bookstore. Then I added about 4 more books to my "hockey books I must read/own" list and moved on with my life.

I had another coupon to burn, this one for the Sabres store, courtesy of being a Sabres insider. I had to use it by today or lose it so off I went. It was actually my first visit to the Sabres store, which is for my own good because I want everything! heh I ended up buying a hat- I've been looking for something that doesn't showcase the slug because I still think it's silly. (yes, I do own a jersey- Roy of course- and it's the slug but ya gotta support the boys and I love hockey jerseys so I had to get one- it was a Christmas present.) so anyway I bought a hat for $10 with the sale plus coupon and picked up a copy of the photo that was made into the giant poster outside of HSBC, showing the boys in all manner of hockey undress just chillin during a practice session. I adore that picture and I had no idea it could be purchased for a mere $5!! Now it's is mine. It just needs a frame. Wheeeeee!

All of that was good. The Rangers won, that was BAD but there are still the Flyers and the Bruins that Buffalo could pass if they can win 'em all. We are still in it!!

I should be going to bed. G'night friends. Sweet Sabre dreams.

not the Sabres

Not Sabres related but at the core of my hockey obsession is Pavel Bure.

I could go on about Pavel for days, and maybe I will one day but this is not the time.

Today (March 31) is his birthday. So Happy Birthday to my one and only first and all-time favorite hockey player Pavel Bure!

In case Pavel was before your time (he did retire about 5 years ago) and for whatever reason he didn't get much press and even less respect, but again another post for another time- here is a lovely video montage that some generous soul put on youtube for us to enjoy. and it truly is enjoyable.

Learn about my favorite hockey player EVER:

....>

yeah.. it's beautiful, isn't it? Derek Roy who? (LOL, j/k Derek, I still love you too!)

stayin alive

Holeeee Mackarel they did it!

The Sabres are still in it. I don't even know what to say. They played their asses off (except for that damn shorthanded goal and I'm sorry, this one WAS MILLER'S FAULT.) But other than that, he was supreme and the defence was solid and they had sooo many chances that wow. Just a hard fought game, all around.

I thought Royzie played extremely well tonight, he was all over the place. man, he's an amazing puckhandler. And, as Harry said when they were talking about his 8-game point streak, "he's warm". LOL Harry, you could say he's hot and we would know that you don't mean his looks. (though that's true of course) Those kind of stats- I think it's 4 goals and 12 assists? are SMOKIN!

and hows about Sekera and Weber. Those 2 are alright. Some great defence and the winning goal!! I love it. I really like those guys.

Still hate Kotalik. He's just a lazy player. He did hit a few guys tonight, I geuss that was something.

Overall it was a fine effort. 3 more games. We need 3 wins. And the rest is up to the rest of the teams. If they play like they did tonight for the next few games then it could happen. (no more shorties please!! Can we just decline any future power plays? WTF man?)

I swear though, I could not breathe during the 2nd half of the 3rd period. My heart was racing and I could barely sit still. I almost broke my rule and looked at the score, but I made myself sit through it. Damn.. that was intense.

LET'S GO BUFFALO!

stat-time

The Sabres have 9 players with 10 or more goals. 2- Vanek and Roy, topped 30 goals, 3- Pommers, Hecht and Kotalik have more than 20, and Paille has 19. Who would have guessed that one? I do enjoy Dannyboy. He's probably my #3- and not just cuz he looks like Justin Bartha. (see post below)

that's pretty balanced goal scoring. Now if only they could be so consistent in all areas of the game. (Like FINISHING! Dammit. A hockey game is 60 minutes)

I got some keyword searches!! I have 5- they are:
-face first into the boards (2)- this one is pretty obvious
-derek roy's girlfriend- wooohoo I was waiting for it, this seems to be a common search term. Royzie, if you're looking, I'm available. Where do I send the application? ;)
*I guess it almost makes sense though, since I do talk about Roy quite a bit and I did use the phrase "derek roy's girlfriend" in a post the other day joking about this very thing*
-Justin Bartha- heh see what happens when you post a separated at birth entry?
and.. your favorite nhl-er and mine:
-Sidney Crosby (I'm still getting a ton of visits from Pittsburgh. If it's not Sid the Kid, then who else could it be? Is there anyone else in that town?)

and I received a visitor from Bedford, which appears to be in Nova Scotia. Sweet.

Also welcome to my friend in Kansas, whoever you are. I love visitors from everywhere!

not much else to talk about on the Sabrestats front. Royzie is rollin with an 8-game points streak, and Pommers is at 7. Pommer has 78 pts to Roy's 76 with Vanek a distant third at 59 pts.

it's still not what the Sabres need to make the playoffs. If they lose tomorrow we'll know. If not, then there is still a chance. How very stressful.

and I want to point out that clearly, Derek Roy must read my blog, because after my comments about his bustin beard, he was clean-shaven on Thursday night. Hmm..

Time to go read some more of The Code...

the good and the bad

The Good:

The boys got the job done in Ottawa, with a shootout win. Goose scored to tie it late in the 3rd and Pommers and Royzie scored in the shootout so wahoo all around for that.

I just want to say, as an aside, that Derek Roy gives great interviews. He's very attentive and well spoken. And he has hot eyebrows. (/end Royfangirl moment)

The Bad:

Last night I really tried to stay away from the game. I was watching my nephews (ages 2 and 4) last night, and they are both hockey fans, so usually we might at least have the game on. But my friend Bryan was coming over (and the kids LOVE him) and we had plans to go for ice cream so that is what we did.

I will admit that I checked the score on the radio on the way home (0-0, first intermission) and then checked once more (1-0 BUffalo, 2nd period) when I snuck away during our viewing of Shrek the Thrid (it was pretty funny) but then I left it.. until the movie was over. I just HAD to check the game, the suspense was starting to really bug me. And it was just at the end of regulation, heading to overtime. Then it was over. I shouldn't have turned on the tv. I'm sorry I cursed you, Sabres! I should have waited (it was recording on the dvr for later viewing anyway) but I just haaaad to know. Argh.

Will someone PLEASE tell the boys that hockey games are 60 minutes long?! Not 40, not 53, not 57, but SIXTY Minutes. This giving games away in the waning minutes is not fun. Very not fun.

They make me sad. I'm not giving up on hockey, or the Sabres (however slim a chance, it's still a CHANCE) but I'm just frustrated. They need to be better. The worst part is that they CAN be better, when they choose to focus for the right amount of time. Bleh.

So tomorrow I am not going to take a peek until it's over. (I will be out of the house for most of the game anyway.) *Obviously, the rational part of myself knows that what I do or don't do as far as viewing has absolutely NO bearing on how they play, but sometimes, where hockey is concerned, I'm just not rational.*

All that being said, I think they could do it. Stranger things have happened, and as long as they go down fighting (for the WHOLE game, dammit!) then that's something to build on. I honestly don't blame management. They have put together a competitve team, but that team seems to lack motivation some nights. That rests with the players. DO I wish they had found a more reliable backup? Yes. Do I wish for maybe a guy or 2 with a little more experience? Maybe. But I think that what we have is a good core group of players with a ton of upside, that will be here for lots of years, if we let them. ANd losing games is a good lesson for young players especially. They need to FIND ways to win, and sometimes it takes losing to learn that.

I don't know if any of that made sense, but there it is.

I think I'll debut a hockey song parody soon. I've got some ideas crankin in my head and they want out!

He sure played a mean pinball

Today there was an interview with Royzie on Sabres.com. (He expects to play tomorrow. YAY! How about 2 more goals?)



You can view it above. Some things of note- YOU CAN SEE HIS EYES!!!! I think Derek has lovely eyes, but we never get to see them in interviews, because he is almost always wearing a hat!!! and today he was wearing a hat, but it was backwards (he was having a thug day LOL) and so revealed his eyes for us (me) to revel in. :) Thank you for making my day brighter, Mr. Roy.

And do you think he was cold today when he woke up? the hoodie AND the huge coat? My man, it was actually warmer today than it's been in a while. I dunno, it made me laugh. And how fast can he sprout a beard?

Whooaaa. I'm not sure if I like all that. A bit of scruffiness is hott, but that was too much. *unless it's the playoffs, then we can talk*

Okay enough of that.

It's Wednesday, and as Wednesdays were the publishing day of Hockey Snacks for a while (the old hockey humor site I used to read), I'll do a Hockey Separated at Birth, in honor of that.. So today we have:


(Sabre)Danny Paille

and







(actor) Justin Bartha.

Separated At Birth?







I dunno, they're both pretty darn cute. And I always think Justin looks a bit like Luc Robitaille too. Not a bad thing at all my man..

ok fess up

Man google analytics is COOOL!

I had one visitor from Etobicoke, ONT. Welcome!

and one from Michigan- Okemos? Don't even know where that is, but hello out there!

Lots of visits from Pittsburgh. It's Sidney Crosby! ;)

(or, more likely, it was Anne, checking in from her trip to PA. ;)

One from Newtonville, NY- hello way over there, One from NYC.. and several visits from Elma, NY. Who is it? we're practically neighbors (well not really but you're the closest to me of all the visitors)

Also noted:
1 visit from North Tonawanda
8 Visits from Tonawanda
4 from buffalo
3 from hamburg

Word.

Enough of this in-depth analysis. Anything to take my mind of the Sabres. I need to STOP EATING. I'm an emotional eater and the Sabres do make me emotional. (so does PMS but dammit not both at once! Are they trying to kill me?!)

It's BURNS us!

I don't even know what to say about that game.

I didn't see much of it. I had taken my nephews to their boy scout meeting, and when we left about 8:40ish, I turned on the radio to hear the Sabres score 2 goals. YAY and YAY! (and Pommers and Royzie, my fantasy hockey boys (oh how true that one is in more than one way LOL) so double the happiness.

Got home, grabbed some supper and threw the game on the tv. It was still 3-1. Then disaster struck. The madness of that shorthanded goal, I'm still trying to understand. but it was 3-2, it's okay, and time was running down. Went to the kitchen- WTF yo it's 3-3? Since when?!

The next thing I know Derek Roy (or 'Kroy, as my 2-yr old nephew calls him) is laying on the ice in obvious pain and they cut to a 5 year long commercial/score update which freaked me out a little. Boom, Ottawa scores AGAIN.

'Kroy comes back, though still looking to be in some pain. Points to him for gutting it out. But it was not enough because Alfie (that bastard) scores again and then Vermette (you may be hottt but you play for the wrong team buddy) got the empty netter and suddenly it's 6-3 Ottawa and the game is over.

Excuse me, but where did the Sabres go tonight? Miller was weak on a couple of those goals and the D just vanished.

Afinogenov is LAZY. Doesn't Lindy see this? C'mon call up MacArthur or somebody with a little spunk, eh?

Yeesh. Guys, I don't think we're going to make the playoffs. Certainly not if we play like this.. ever again. ya know the whole scoring a slew of goals in the 3rd period is frickin AMAZING when YOU do it, but it reeks when it happens to you. Grr.

In happier news, I started reading The Code: The Unwritten Rules of Fighting and Retaliation in the NHL today. I like it so far. It only enforces (haha pun intended) what I already know about fighting in hockey- it's rarely about hurting the other guy, and often not even about anger so much. There are so many nuances to fighting that the casual fan probably doesn't get. But I've heard it straight from the enforcers (who were, for the record, some of the most pleasant hockey people I've ever known) and I tend to belive them. This book is kinda with that, and a lot more info and history that I didn't know. Good read so far. I'll give it a full review when I'm done.

Peacey.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter everybody!

( I don't have any funny pictures of Maple Peeps (a la Danielleia or Lindy Ruff the chick magnet, like Katebits but the sentiment is still a good one.)

I don't have much hockey news to share today, but I was looking at my google analytics report (man that is cool stuff) and I have had visitors from New York, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Yay!

:)

(of course I should keep my future posts a little more interesting than this one is shaping up to be if I want to keep getting visitors.. LOL)

I have some thoughts brewing, a story I want to tell you about my conversion to a hockey fan and maybe some humor to share, but right now it's just not cohesive enough to post. Stay Tuned..

oh and

Derek Roy won 18 faceoffs tonight! Thats wild. but supreme. Way to help out my fantasy team Royzie! :) And an assist too.

SO see, something good happened at this game.