Vlog: Postgame 9-29-10.

This is incredibly late but the video wouldn't upload for me last night. Yes, I am very hostile in this video and it's only the third one in! Yeah man.

The Epic Adventures of Tamara and Shelby: TEAOTAS take on Ottawa.

I warn you that this is going to end up being an extremely long post. I could always break it up into smaller parts but I know if I did that, then I would never finish my explanation of what went down. You understand that, right?

Okay.

So we got up at 3:30 in the morn' on Saturday to get ready to leave by 4. Tamara woke me up by telling me the Sabres lost in OT to the Bruins and I was like 'k'. I mean, we figured that they at least got a point so it was no biggie. We drove over to Tim Horton's after we were all packed and ready to go, and got some much needed caffeine and sugar for the hours ahead of us. Then we were on our way to Ottawa.

The drive was not bad at all. I thought for sure we might hit traffic or tons of construction at one point (thank God for it being a weekend though). The only hiccup that occurred was that the Denny's we were planning on going to had been closed for 'training in progress'. TRAINING IN PROGRESS! Who the hell closes their Denny's because of that? You're supposed to have people train by serving customers, that simple. We had to opt for a McDonald's instead. Poor Tamara didn't even eat her McMuffin and I don't blame her one bit.

We made it to the border and the second lady we had to go through asked who was the Sens fan in the car. Tamara and I looked at each other, and were like 'neither of us.' We could have said there was one in the backseat with Patty the bobblehead being back there but then that's when they would have pulled us over.

At one point on the road, this massive bus had passed by us on the highway in Canada. Both Tamara and I looked, and it was the Kitchener Rangers bus! Their logo was on the side and it through us off because we just saw the 'RANGERS' and thought it was the New York Rangers for a second. It was pretty neat. We tried to follow them since we figured they knew where we were going but that didn't go quite as planned.

After not that much time, we ended up in the city of Rideau, which is a part of Ottawa and headed to our hotel. Not the best thing in the city but we're college students and we're cheap. It had to do. We couldn't check in yet so we went to the Rideau Shopping Centre that was a few blocks down from the hotel. This Centre was HUGE! It had three floors and definitely puts the Galleria to shame. They even had a whole store dedicated to the Senators. We went in there and Tamara wanted to ask about any Heatley shirts but then we probably would have gotten killed.

I tried my first thing of poutine at a place in the food court, and it was delicious. Tamara told me that it's an acquired taste but when I tried it, I liked it immediately. I'm not even fond of gravy. It was extremely yummy and I almost ate the entire thing if it hadn't filled me up so quickly.

After we ate, we headed out to Stiddville to pick up one of Tamara's friends that she went to college with. She was incredibly nice, and showed us a shortcut of how to get to Scotiabank Place, haha. It is seriously just over a hill and out in the middle of nowhere. It's also EXTREMELY huge. I couldn't believe how big of an arena it is, but we're getting to that later.

We swung back over the hotel and hung out a bit before then going to Swiss Chalet for lunch. You have no idea how much I adore that restaurant. It might be my most favorite one ever. It's a shame that there's like, three left in the Western New York area but they have amazing food. I was so excited when I found out we were going there. When we arrived, we noticed how on the wall they had a little wooden plaque that had a few of the Senators from the pre-lockout years and Patrick Lalime was on it. We were going to try and buy it off of them but that didn't turn out as planned.

Parking for Scotiabank Place sucks for the record. It was crazy getting out of there after the game. We saw a few Sabres fans while getting out and heading to the doors, and we walked in. It's a beautiful arena and we walked around the entire place (I think). They only had two floors and to get to the third level, you had to walk up some stairs from the second level to get up there.We sat in the kiddie section so I think that saved us with the heckling. We DID get the occasional 'Buffalo sucks' comments though, but whatever. The only time we said anything against the Sens fans was how Dany Heatley had more goals than Daniel Alfredsson.

Let me tell you something though. I'm sure this is the same with all Canadian arena, but Scotiabank Place put the HSBC Arena to shame with the noise in there. It was incredible. We should be ashamed of ourselves for not being loud enough. I loved the atmosphere there, and even though the Sabres lost, I think I would love to go back and watch a game there again sometime.

The next day was full of fun filled events as well, but Tamara pretty much covered what happened then. This trip was loads of fun and when I officially unpack at my new house and get the desktop computer up and running, I will have videos and photos.

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.

Wedding bells.

Yesterday on my Twitter feed, someone posted a link to an article about Jason Spezza's wedding. If I had to like a Senator it would be him. I know, I know, tar and feather me all you want. I hate myself for it too.

I went to the link and was immediately shown a very adorable picture of Spezz and his new wife coming down the church steps. Looking now, they changed it with a picture of the both of them riding off and waving to people. The rest of the photos are very cute, and if you want to look and see (while murmuring under your breath how much you hate the Senators), then go here: Jason Spezza's wedding.

For me, I have seen better men in tuxes. Not naming names...
Like I said. No names.

Everyone's talking about it, so I'll just follow suit.

If you're behind the times in the Buffalo Sports scene, then check out the following video:



As you can see, Adam Mair tried to get into a tiff with Chris Neil, though he is yelling at Jarkko Ruutu in the video. Pretty much all the blogs I read have taken note on what happened last night, and I guess it's being reviewed by the league. I honestly don't see what is so bad about this altercation. Mairsy DID NOT fight Ruutu in the hallway. Sure, he grabbed his undershirt, but a huge fight did not break out. The commissioner was in town, yes, but nothing is going to happen from this until the next Sabres/Sens game when they can deal with things on the ice - in a fight. If Mairsy gets a fine for this then okay, but if he gets suspended...well, I think the league needs to chill out. Like the Michael Peca incident. They were overreacting with this one, and if the league suspends Mair as well, then they are surely overreacting on issues not that serious unlike other issues at hand.

On a better note, I'd like to welcome Caroline to the blogging world! Go read! (Even if there is only one entry, but go go go!)

The new NHL commercials creep me out.

I'm getting ready to watch the Penguins/Senators game, and I see the commercial with Sidney Crosby popping out of the photograph; telling me he never wants to be in that one again. I love the idea, but it's just so creepy. Like the Winter Classic commercial last year with Ryan Miller. That was a commercial that almost gave me nightmares.
I'm going to attempt to do a live blog of this game. I don't know how it's going to go, but we'll see, right?

1st period:

- Thank the heavens that Brian Englom cut off that mullet he was sporting for the past who knows how long. I noticed it right away before the Lightning/Rangers game.

- Here they go, saying that Marian Hossa was a key loss. Yeah, he made the rest of the road to the road to the playoffs a hell of a lot easier for the Penguins, but I don't think it's going to be a huge deal in the long run. He can have fun in Detroit (Oh yeah, I forgot I get to watch him play later)

- ...Oh, I didn't know Tuomo and Jarkko were twins! Versus is on the top of their game already; putting in the wrong photos for people...

- I love see Max and Flower playfully hit each other before games. It makes me happy. (:

- Even the Swedes enjoy their Cotton Eyed Joe goodness over the loudspeakers.

- Ruslan Fedotenko with the first penalty of the game. Dang, he was all over Jason Smith on that one.

- I don't know how I feel about the new rule change. Having a faceoff in the attacking zone for the team that's on the power play...I guess it's both good and bad, depending on whether or not your team is penalized.

- I do have to say that I love goalie cams (and no, not for the reason you're thinking). It's cool seeing the perspective from in the net.

- Antoine Vermette, I hate that I like you. Somewhat. Not as much as Jason Spezza.

- I think the word 'imploded' is an understatement when talking about last year's Ottawa Senators.

- That was a sweet move by Sidney Crosby. It would've been awesome if someone got a stick on that and put it in.

- Ooo, I like that arena. It looks super nice.

- Sick helmet on Alex Auld. That's sharp.

- Okay, I missed what happened with Ruutu and Crosby...oh, of course stupid Chris Neil is involved.

- And again, Versus on the top of their game. Saying the Sens have a power play when they don't.

- Cristoph Schubert (I completely screwed up his name, didn't I?) gets a cross-checking penalty for almost destroying Fedotenko.

- You know what? Mats Sundin is dead to me. Dead, I say.

- Mario Lemieux sighting. Epic.

- Scuds should just take out Heatley, I don't even care. I dislike the guy beyond all imagination.

- Ruslan Fedotenko again. Going to the penalty box. Something with those #26's and the penalty box...*cough*ThomasVanek*cough*.

- Free Candy is being handed out right at the end of the period.

2nd period:

- They aren't joking. That is a huge spherical building that they're in. I wonder what it's like to play hockey in there.

- Oh Jesus, good thing Flower got down fast...I thought for sure Alfredsson had a goal right there.

- Shean Donovan with a hooking penalty. Hopefully, the Penguins can get their first goal on the power play with this oppurtunity.

- Holy crap, that lesson about the blueline confused me. *shakes head* Much too complicated.

- University of Minnesota shoutout, wooooo!

- *random note* Sabres and Red Wings in one hour, yeeeeeah!

Alright, I've decided live blogging is a pain in the butt and I'd like to concentrate on the rest of the game, so this died fast, haha. I lasted a period and a half!

How Swede it is...NOT.

I was very mad yesterday when I was searching through my Time Warner Cable guide to find that not only were they not showing the Lightning/Rangers game on television, but they also weren't showing the Penguins/Senators game either. I live in the Rochester area of WNY, so CBC is out of the question here (but one of my friends at school gets it?) and my family doesn't want to pay the extra five bucks to get the NHL Network. I would've watched it on the internet, but why do that when there's a nice, HD television down in my living room where I could watch Sidney Crosby attempt to grow a five hair?

Another point I wanted to make was...the NHL is trying to broaden the market in Europe, yes? They should let the fans who don't have CBC/NHLN have a chance to watch the ongoings in Europe with all four teams. I know they're showing the games today, but I would've preferred to watch all four instead of just two. It worked last year, didn't it? (I missed those games too, by the way.) The NHL and the way they do their marketing confuses the heck out of me. I probably shouldn't ponder otherwise I'll be thinking about this all day.

It's amazing how much younger Sid the Kid looks without sort of longish hair, and a clean shaven face.

I'z b twnty-1 noaw?

What a babyface! If he still look like this when he hits his early thirties, he will be like a certain French Canadian we all know (and might love? Maybe? You know who it is.)

On the flipside of the European games...

My other favorite 26 in the East!

Marty St. Louis! Or 'Luis' as according to these captions. I'm going to apply for an editing job for these photos, for real. I mean, how do you get the number '66' from '87'? HOW DOES THAT EVEN WORK? But, I digress.

I plan on watching both of these games, including...

SABRES @ RED WINGS, WOOOOOOO.

Hooray for televised preseason games! Too bad it's the Detroit feed. But still, TELEVISED PRESEASON GAMES, YAHOO!

My prediction is that the Red Wings are going to place Ty Conklin in net because you know they're saying 'Hey, this guy totally stonewalled the Sabres when he was in the net last season. LET'S PUT HIM IN TO GIVE CHRIS OSGOOD SOME REST.', but then, they'll realize their mistake when all of the sudden the Sabres power play turns out to be really good tonight. (It will be, right?) Or Tim Connolly miraculously has a healed back before the game and decides to play. (Highly doubt it.)

Whatever happens, happens. IT'S ONLY THE PRESEASON. It all starts on Friday, baby~ Which makes me wish I wasn't a senior in high school, but a freshman in college so that I could go to the Party In The Plaza. ): My Homecoming game is on Friday, so I must DVR the game...And they usually lose when I DVR games, so this is bad. Hopefully they won't do it this year!

Speaking of Homecoming, this week is my school's ~Spirit Week~! I have:

Tomorrow - Toga Day
Tuesday - Twin Day (In thus, my best friend and I are dressing like each other. Too bad she hates hockey/the Sabres.)
Wednesday - Elegant Day
Thursday - Class Distinction Day (The senior class got stuck with black. We're rebelling.)
Friday - Spirit Day

Then the Homecoming game is on Friday, along with our pep rally. Oh, we also have a bonfire on Tuesday but I still don't know if I'm going to that...

About one more hour until the Lightning/Rangers, fwee! I don't give a care who wins this game, I just want to see Markus Naslund in some High Def. Oh, and Chris Drury with that 'C' on his jersey. I can't hate the guy, it's really hard.

And for the Penguins/Senators...Go Penguins!