Your Studdly Centers!

This is the second part of my fantasy post where I introduce who my centers are.

Centers
Jeff Carter

Studdly center number one is Jeff Carter. I never thought I would say 'stud' and 'Jeff Carter' in the same sentence, oy. Anyways, I bitched a lot last year when him and Thomas were neck to neck in the goal scoring race. He just seemed to always score the same amount of goals one night that Thomas would and it made me angry. He's going to bring me quite a lot of goals this year too, so he'll be lethal in that department.

Joe Pavelski

Studdly center number two is Joe Pavelski of the San Jose Sharks. He's also American. Oh, I'm swooning all over the place already. He was drafted in the awesome year of 2003, so this means he must be pretty damn good. His point total has increased over the past three years so I'm sure he'll be bringing me lots of points every night.

Scott Gomez

I picked this picture only for Chris, by the way.
Anyways, we all know what he may or may not have done on purpose to Ryan Miller last season. He now plays for Montreal so we can see him more, oh hurray! He's one of the only guys in the league that hail from the state of Alaska (along with Ty Conklin). His point total decreased drastically over the past season, but I hope a new team will get him fired up and ready to go.

Tomorrow I (might) have a post up about the right wingers! Stay tuned!
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I think that Tamara said it best yesterday when she texted me going 'Only Drew Stafford would get a concussion and not tell anyone!'

Toni Lydman and Drew each suffered injuries during the preseason - Toni with his hand, and Drew with his head. With these injuries, it might cause Lindy to keep Tim Kennedy, Nathan Gerbe, Tyler Myers, OR Mike Weber on the roster but we won't find out until at least three o'clock. I might freak out because I have to leave for class around three so I hope that they come up with the roster before then. I want to know!

Oh, and Toni being out totally almost ruins Tamara's and my plan. Just saying.

Introducing...the Scandinavian Studs!

Before I talk about my studdly fantasy hockey team, if you didn't watch or hear the Sabres game tonight, then shame on you. I actually had the option of going with Tamara to the game in Toronto, but my lack of a passport or enhanced license hinders me from that option. So she went with Caroline, and I'm sure the both of them had a ton of fun representing. (:

I had been coming home from my brother's house after the awful Bills game and turned on the radio. At that point it was only 1-0, and I managed to listen to the rest of the ridiculous shananigans going on for the rest of the game. 7-6! I find that crazy for a preseason game, but then again, two years ago wasn't the score like 7-2 against the Leafs at their arena?

I think Tim Kennedy and Nathan Gerbe are now making it tough to send them down. They both scored tonight and had two goals a piece in the preseason, so it'll be interesting to see the cuts this week. I'm quite excited. Now that the preseason is over it means that real hockey is just around the corner!
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Earlier today, I fit into one of my friend's leagues for fantasy hockey. I was so worried I wouldn't get in one this year because I had been in some for the past two years. I love waking up every morning to set up teams before I head out for the day. I was in the middle of drafting when I had to leave for my brother's but my team didn't turn out too badly?

The lineup:
Left Wingers
Thomas Vanek

Studdly left winger number one is obvious. Thomas Vanek is the man. He will bring me power play goals, and hopefully his assists will go up as well this year. I am also biased and drafted him first, 7th overall. I drafted him lower than he was actually drafted, forgive me dear sir. Either way, he is my go to man.

Alex Burrows

Studdly left winger number two is Alex Burrows. He was one of the best friends of Luc Bourdon (may he rest in peace). Do you remember when he threw Derek Roy under the Vancouver bench last season? I do. Good times. The fact I watch the Canucks and don't know much about him is sad, but Wikipedia is telling me he's more of an agitator than anything that has an offensive upside to him. I've seen some of his fights so this is good.

Tuomo Ruutu

Studdly left winger number three is Tuomo Ruutu. He plays for the Carolina Hurricanes. He apparently got stepped on with a skate on his face and it had gotten screwed up. The pictures I have seen are frightening. I think he's kind of an agitator like his brother Jarkko, but also has an offensive upside like Alex Burrows.

I actually decided that I'm going to split this up because it would be a huge post, so tomorrow...the Scandinavian Studs centers!

Fisticuffs a plenty, we'll see you next Saturday.

Forget that the Sabres blew a two goal lead going into the second period and lost the game by one goal; it's only the preseason. Even though it is pretty irritating they let that happen...Thomas even took one for the team and bled! The power play has been fail this preseason. We are missing Ales and Jaro on the backend, ugh.

Anyways, the main thing about this game tonight was the various scrums and scuffles going on during the game. I can't remember who Patty K hit exactly, but all I know is that he got in a huge fight with Ryan O'Byrne, and then ended up getting a game misconduct. That was the first fight. Then later, Goose went after someone else and got a 10 minute misconduct. Then there were a lot of other scuffles going on. This makes for a nice little rematch next Saturday at the home opener, which I now cannot wait for. I hope that there are plenty of fights, but with my luck, that won't be the case.

Even Ryan got into a little fight of his own which Gerbs had to sit in the penalty box to take his penalty. No one beats up on the little guy. The goaltender won't even tolerate that.

Tomorrow the Sabres face the Leafs for the last preseason game. Finally, regular hockey is going to be around the corner. I am so pumped for next Saturday!

I saw a hockey game and it felt so good.

I'm sitting in one of the lounges at UB waiting for my World Civilization recitation class, so I decided to write up how Wednesday night went.

Tamara picked me up at around four and we headed out on our journey. We had to make a quick pitstop at Tops to get Toni Lydman a card for his birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY TONI!) and then we headed towards the HSBC. We parked in this one lot and went to go pay for parking, and this one guy in front of us was freaking out because the machine ate his ten dollar bill. On it, it said you had to pay in exact change. It was three bucks. It made my day!

Anyways, after he bitched at us for about five minutes we paid and then headed out to the red carpet with our Rivet shirts and Finnish flag, and Patty the bobblehead chilling in Tamara's bag. We got a good spot to stand, right in front of where the players got out of their limos so we could see them straight on.

I think the only complaint I may have about the red carpet is Derek Roy's suit and if you haven't seen it yet, don't. Your eyes will be better protected if you avoid looking at pictures of him completely. He must have went to Amvets and found that suit on a rack thinking 'Wow, I would look good bringing the 70s' back on this red carpet.' No Derek, just no. Everyone else looked extremely nice and I got quite a lot of pictures of the guys. Is it just me or were there a lot more players last year than this year? Probably because most of them were sent down (up?) to Portland before it happened. Understandable.

Anyways, our plan to go up to the 200s to get to Patty's picture didn't happen. Tamara and I didn't know they had guys check the tickets before you went up the stairs to that level and we totally forgot to check AFTER the game. Mission unaccomplished.

Tamara and I ended up sitting next to Leaf fans, but it wasn't so bad. They weren't very rowdy at all. If you look at my Facebook, you'll see a video of us talking about it actually, haha. It's funny. Check out my photos as well!

Considering the Sabres won and Tamara and I had a ton of fun, the game turned out to be quite successful. Also, Toni stopped after the game so we gave him his birthday card and the beautiful Mrs. Lydman exclaimed 'Good thing you got him this, otherwise I would have forgotten!' Haha, she was so cute and funny.

The HSBC better watch out for next Saturday - because Tamara and I are going to be there for the home opener, woo!

The Epic Adventures of Tamara and Shelby: Pre-Game.

Before I start dishing details about how awesome tomorrow is more than likely going to be, let's talk about that game last night! I still don't know what happened in the skirmish depicted in the photograph above, but it gave Goose a five minute penalty that the Sabres managed to kill off. Good job guys!

I think Ovie had a ton of shots on goal as usual but didn't score. It's a miracle. Usually without fail, he will score against the Sabres. This is the preseason but I like it that he didn't score. Maybe they can stop him from doing such in the regular season too? Ohpleaseohpleaseohplease.

Anyways, you know the Sabres won by now. It's all good. Now tomorrow...

Tamara and I are hitting up the red carpet and then the game afterwards. If you're going and spot anyone with makeshift Rivet shirts then that would be us. With our luck he won't play tomorrow, haha. It'll be okay, we can still represent underneath our jerseys!

See you guys there!

The Sabres can only score in the third period now.

Really, what is with the boys only scoring their goals in the third period? They practically sleep through the first two periods and then they wake up realizing they have to score a few goals. Great job guys.

No seriously, I'm so happy that they beat the Red Wings. Even if it's only the preseason, they beat the RED WINGS! Heck yeah! See, I knew with Ty Conklin not being there, they'd be able to beat them. Good times all around.

Goals were scored by Derek, Thomas, and the Goose. I think Goose scored that goal for his mama who was apparently at the game tonight. Go Mother Goose! I think she should go to Sabres games a lot more often...they should have a plane just for her to fly her in all the time. I think she brings good luck to the team (and to Goose).

The next game is on Monday, against the Caps. Hopefully it isn't a remake of what happened on Thursday. No OT please! I can't even handle that in the preseason. Then again, it gets me ready for what the regular season will bring...

Is it too late for a post game post? Pregame: September 19th, 2009.

I know, I really do suck. I was going to make a post yesterday but ended up getting sidetracked with a few things and wasn't able to get around to it. The picture above pretty much sums up how I felt about the game, though. Yeah they lost but it's only the preseason. I was told by Tamara that Thomas was wearing the 'A' on the Thursday and the fangirling commenced. I was so happy. So Thursday's game still turned out pretty well for me.

Tonight, they face the Red Wings. Those pesky Red Wings. Good thing Ty Conklin isn't still around because that might've spelled bad news for the Sabres. A few guys have been swapped out of the roster, but others have stayed put. Ryan Miller will be in net tonight for the entire game with Jhonas as the backup. I wonder why they aren't switching out?

Here's hoping for a good win tonight against Detroit! I'll be listening to the radio as per usual. I just wish that there was even an internet feed of the game so that I can watch it and see them.

Pregame: September 17th 2009.

Can you believe that hockey is finally back? Hockey that doesn't count but hockey nonetheless! The Sabres are back in business tonight as they face the Washington Capitals in about an hour or so. To all you lucky folks who get to go, congrats! I'm not going until next week but I also get to see the red carpet. Bonus!

Alex (actually the both of them) isn't/aren't playing tonight. Sad. I guess I can understand since it's the first game of the preseason and Bruce Boudreau wants to look at the rookies more but I'm sure the both of them are quite antsy to play.

I was so excited to see the lines for tonight though! Not exactly lines per say but power play lines!

Jason Pominville - Tyler Ennis - Thomas Vanek - Tyler Myers - Chris Butler

I think someone loves me. I love all of these guys and all of them on the same unit? Yes, yes, and another yes. I can't wait to hear how they do this evening on the radio.

A guy in my Media Analysis class was sporting his MacArthur jersey today, and I was kicking myself for not wearing my Vanek one. I just hope I get to wear it to classes tomorrow. It's been too long since I wore it after a win around school.

Let's go, Buff-a-lo!

Oh, and by the way, I am so stoked Tyler Ennis was signed to an entry-level contract. He looks like he's going to do amazing things.

Hey, you look kind of cute.

In your roster photo for hockey, boooooy. Yeah I went there. Tamara told me he hadn't been working it very well for the photoshoot, but I think he looks just fine. (: This might be my favorite one of him in the five years he's played. Okay, maybe besides the ridiculous rookie one, but yes.

I wonder how taking this picture went...


Aww, he is such a dork! I love how he's wearing his Medicine Hat pants, too.
Lindy is showing a little pizazz of his own. Looking good, coach!

I love picture day in the NHL. (: Notice how everyone I picked was blond? I didn't even mean for it to be like that...oops.

You know what's awesome?

Drew Stafford's contract. At a reasonable price, too! Now let's see how many people are going to argue about that!

You don't need to look confused anymore Drew, you have a home, yaaaaaay!

I'll have a real post before Thursday rolls around, I promise.

Puck Drop festivities.

As we continue to wait for Drew Stafford's signing announcement, the Sabres released their full schedule of what's going down at Puck Drop. The boys hit the ice at 9:30. Of course, I've been waking up early for them all the time so this isn't any different. The rookies are then going to be on the ice at 1, I believe. I personally want to see Tyler Myers, Tyler Ennis, TJ Brennan...I want to see all of them, actually, haha. I love rookies! I remember last year that rookies went on the ice after the veterans practiced, but everyone ran up the stairs for autograph signings. Speaking of that, only a few current Sabres are doing that this year. Probably because last year was a humongous mess? Good going to whoever organized it in the first place. Put us in a line where we DON'T know who's going to be there.

I'm pretty excited for this weekend. I'm hoping I'll be able to get a ton of pictures and video to share with all of you. I promise they won't all be of Thomas Vanek. I will fight the power of my inner self wanting to get nearly one hundred photos only of him. The other Sabres (and rookies!) need immense love as well.

Intervention: Dany Heatley

The other day, Tamara and I were discussing Dany Heatley and how much I don't care for him. I told her flat out that it has nothing to do with the car crash that killed Dan Snyder because that happened before I was into hockey as much as I am now. He did his community service, donates half(?) of his salary to Dan Snyder's remembrance organization every year, and he even taught kids at school about what happened. The guy is probably extremely remorseful still of what happened, and you can't agree with what he did, but now he has to live with that he killed someone. At least he was put on trial and did what he needed to do (even if he probably should've gotten jail time...)

After hearing about some of the stuff he does off the ice, a feeling in my heart grew. It was strange - I actually think I'm beginning to like him? I think this might be bad since he's an Ottawa Senator, but he might not be for too much longer depending on what goes down. He is being a huge douche about the whole thing. This is why I'm calling this an Intervention. I might end up liking Dany Heatley before the season starts. We'll see how I feel after a few weeks.

PotG does Wingfest.

My brother asked me the other day while we were walking to trails near the Pepsi Center with my sister-in-law if I would like to have gone to the Wingfest that was going on at Dunn Tire Park. Hello, chicken wings smothered in sauce? I am so there.

The three of us and along with my mom headed on down there and arrived a little after they opened the gates. There were already a few hundred people in there and it didn't surprise me in the slightest. We paid admission, got our tickets at the small ticket booth, and proceeded to search for the first chicken wings we would devour.

I can't remember the name for the life of me, but one chicken wing place was from Maryland and we stopped by there first. My mom got chicken wings smothered in garlic sauce and I got mine with BBQ. It was all over my fingers and face - the proper way anything BBQ should be eaten. It was delicious. After that, we walked over to another little place (something called WOW, I think) and got the Honey BBQ wings over there. Those were pretty delicious too. It was funny because the wings were three for two tickets, and the one girl ended up giving me four wings. She was like 'I'm sorry!' Honey, don't be sorry if you give me more. Keep them coming.

My mom and I also made two more trips to this little booth - one for Teriyaki wings and then the second trip was so I could get more Honey BBQ wings. I don't think I can ever eat plain wings again.

We left shortly after I finished that batch of wings I had. I didn't bring my camera to take pictures of the yummy food, but I had fun on my first trip to Wingfest. It gets my seal of approval. Ryan Miller would also approve of this.

Edit; Thanks to Caroline for hooking me up with this fantastic seal of approval!

Drew, you sly dog.

It's unofficial, but the Metalhead has signed a contract with the Sabres. For how much, we have no idea yet. I'm sure the Sabres will keep their mouths shut with this for about...oh, a good few days. They'll probably announce the signing on Friday right before Puck Drop. That'll get the fans even more excited for the season to begin.

I'm quite interested to see if this is a long-term deal or if they decided on something like one year or two years. I won't mind very much if it's a long-term deal considering his point total has increased every year he's been in the NHL, but I won't mind if it's a short-term deal either. I'm just thankful to know this ordeal is over and we as Sabres fans can feel a lot better now knwoing a deal is in place.

Let's drop the puck already!

Preseason action!

Tamara and I bought tickets today for the preseason game on the 23rd versus the Leafs. We're sitting a few rows behind the player's bench. If anyone else plans on going to that game, you should stop by and say hello to the both of us. (: It's a few weeks away but I'm saying this early because I know I would forget, haha.

I am so glad to know that Puck Drop is only about a monthweek away. It feels like it's been forever since the Penguins hoisted the Cup.

Edit; Thanks to Tamara for reminding me Puck Drop is a week away. I meant to say week. Yes.

"I'm gonna run!"

If you aren't my Facebook and/or Twitter friend, then you probably didn't see what happened to me yesterday. I met Thomas Vanek for the first time about two years ago, when the Sabres had played the Penguins in the preseason and there was an autograph session afterwards. My sister-in-law and I made a quick getaway from the 100s to go find out where he was set up, and waited for awhile before he came to sit down at the table.

I was nervous as hell because this was the first time I would be meeting a professional hockey player. I had the chance to meet Michael Peca at Wegmans a long time ago when he still played for Buffalo, but was too shy to take it up. I happily was telling my sister-in-law this story so that my nerves would get all out of me. Didn't exactly help much.

So we got up to him and I set my jersey down. He signed his name and I said thanks, before my sister-in-law backed me up and said 'She's a little starstruck right now and can't talk, so would you please get a picture with her?' With this he replied 'Sure!' and we promptly got the picture taken and I thanked him again. That was then:

This is now:
Obviously a completely different situation and it was just after he finished practice (so he looks all 'rawr!'. He could've said no, though!) The best part about THIS picture was that I actually asked him myself. Funny story: Tamara and I made a quick stop the the bathroom at the Pepsi Center and walked back into the rink, and I saw him going towards the door to get off the ice. At this point, we were a little ways down and he came off. I turned to look at Tamara and went 'I'm gonna run. I'M GONNA RUN!' so I ran. I made it before he got in the locker room and asked for a picture. Then I was shaking because Tamara mentioned to me how the flash wasn't off and I was freaking out when I was turning it off, but it turned out okay. I need a new picture of us to keep me preoccupied but the first one will always be the best.

Mair undergoes successful hip surgery.

My expression was the same as his in this picture after I found out about his surgery from Tamara. An 'aw hale naw!' is appropriate for this. I don't understand why he underwent surgery, as for the past two weeks he's seemed completely okay practicing at the Pepsi Center. Now I understand a lot of the players don't like to say there's anything wrong unless the pain is unbearable, but from what I saw, there was nothing out of the ordinary. All I can hope is he makes a fast recovery!

(He is slated to be out for about six weeks, according to Darcy. So the second week of the season. Not too shabby! Please come back soon Adam, to protect some of the guys!)