Postgame: 10-21-10.

There is nothing more refreshing than seeing the boys finally get a win over a team that they should beat night in and night out. It was even better to see that they took advantage of a team that just got back from their west coast adventure. We as Sabres fans know how that goes when the boys get back home...yeesh. Those this year might be different since they don't even know how to win at home. AWESOME.

Tyler Ennis started off the scoring by getting a shot past Chris Mason. Now, the shot would have been a totally easy save if Mason hadn't dropped down early. It was definitely a weak goal but nice to see that the Sabres got on the board first. Tyler Myers added one on the power play in the second period and that was his first goal. Cody McCormick got his second of the season just a few minutes after that, and then in the third period, Thomas Vanek FINALLY ripped a shot from about twenty feet out and it went right passed Mason. He looked up to the ceiling after he scored, you could tell he was happy something finally went in. Maybe this now means that he can be on a streak.

I think that overall, the boys played well yesterday. There were a few times where I was questioning their skating ability because it just looked like the game was slow. Or maybe it was just Atlanta. Seriously, they along with the Blue Jackets got a record for the lowest attendance at a hockey game in the NHL (I think) yesterday. My one brother suggested we fly to Atlanta and sit near the glass because no one clearly had tickets to that game. I bet being a fan of someone other than the Thrashers and going to see your team for cheap is very nice. I would adore that. Not the weather, but being that close every night. I have family that lives down there that are fans of both the Sabres and Thrashers but I think they only go when the Sabres come to town. Totally understandable. My uncle keeps me updated on in game stuff that they do and he says he can't stand it.

The Sabres are playing the Senators tomorrow, and I'm actually looking forward to this game. I'll be at work and maybe I'll be able to listen to it on the radio, so I can hear if the first game was just a fluke or that they might actually be able to compete against this team. Remember boys, the Senators are not that much better than you. Don't let them continually get to your heads. You've got this.

Go Sabres.

Puck Drop 2010 and it's festivities.

Puck Drop 2010 has come and past, but it had it's moments. The day long event gave fans a chance to see their favorites in action on the first day of training camp while also letting them finally see the new jerseys that were coming out today. I'm pretty sure everyone left the arena happy as I know that I did. I think I am just eagerly awaiting for the real season to begin and it was nice to catch a glimpse of some hockey again.

The practice squad was the first group that was on the ice and consisted of guys like Vanek, Rivet, Montador, and others. The practice squad was out on the ice for about an hour and a half; just practicing a few drills and other miscellaneous things. I was impressed with a few guys especially during the drill where you had to battle the puck of of someone. Vanek was going all out against a few guys and I hope that has to do with him being in amazing shape this season.

At 11:45, each Sabre was announced and came out one after another in the home, away, and third jerseys respectively. It was neat to watch them skate around in the new garments. It's going to take time to get used to the style (especially the cross stitch on the numbers), but I think that I'll be able to come to love the look. I definitely like the shade of blue used for the jerseys. I can't wait until they wear them during a game. Those are going to look super flashy on the ice.

After the unveiling, they had a scrimmage go on. Sekera ended up going to the penalty box twice, while Connolly, Stafford, Foligno, and another rookie who I can't think of at the moment were also in there. Unfortunately, I don't remember who scored either but there were some sweet goals at both ends. For the shootout, Myers almost killed Leggio as he actually had to jump over the poor guy in the net. Ennis had an extremely nice goal that went top shelf while Pominville scored his only goal this season. Just kidding - at least I hope. Team White ended up winning the entire scrimmage.

There's a practice tomorrow which I'm attending so if you happen to see me, feel free to stop and say hello! You can't miss the girl with bushy hair and a Vanek jersey.

Hockey's back! Kind of.

Tonight starts the beginning of the top Sabres games from last season, and as I write this, it's about fifteen minutes away from puck drop. The first game they're showing is when Tyler Myers scored on the shootout and pretty much sealed his fate with the Sabres that night. I don't remember much from the game other than the shootout to be honest so it'll be nice to catch the things I missed. I think for the occasion I'll put on a jersey or something, and curl up to watch the game. I'm pretty excited. It's only because I haven't seen these boys on ice since the 26th of April and this is the only kind of hockey I have until next week Saturday when Puck Drop happens. It's so close but still so far away!

Speaking of Puck Drop, I'm sure most of you have already seen the new duds. Rather, a leak of the 'supposed' new duds. My take on it? I like the third jersey, I really do. I think that the homage to the Buffalo Bisons team in the old days is great. The only thing that may concern me is the supposed checkered numbers that I'm hearing about and I hope that isn't true. The image in my head that I have right now of them is NOT pretty whatsoever. I'm mildly concerned about that but I guess we'll all see once Puck Drop happens, right? I really have no opinion on the away jerseys because I personally don't like away jerseys. White isn't my color and plus, I would get a bunch of crap on the jerseys when I ate something.

A week and a half left until training camp. Thank the Hockey Gods.

What if?

This post is not one for the negative nancies or those who want the entire roster changed up. When I say the entire roster I MEAN the entire roster, and I'm so glad we don't have fans as the GM.

This is a post about the positives I took away from this season. We ended up short obviously and I expected the Sabres to at least make it past the first round - we were even thought to be Cup contenders because of Ryan Miller as the goaltender. We just didn't have the pieces up front to do the job.

One positive is how great Ryan played during the whole season. Thanks to him extending his contract last summer, we now have him for at least five more years back in the net. I know that as a fan, I'm pretty comfortable with that.

Secondly, the play of Tyler Myers. I wasn't impressed with him when he was still in the 'is he staying or going' stage and a little bit after he stayed either. As the season progressed, I started to see what all the fuss was about. What an amazing player. It was as if he didn't miss a beat in the playoffs. I'm excited to see what he's going to bring in his sophomore year next season.

Finally, the baby Sabres. I cannot say good enough things about Tyler Ennis. Watching him with the puck, he did magical things. He continued to battle for the puck even when he was on his knees. I have a feeling he's going to make the roster right from the get go. Nathan Gerbe also had better stints up here than he did last season and that was great to see. I feel like he'll be up here at the start of next season as well; along with Ennis.

The offseason is the time for fans to complain about what went wrong and who needs to go, I know this. I'm going to wait until it's officially the offseason for that though. Still a ways to go before July 1st people. Enjoy the rest of the playoffs.

Came back from the dead just in time.

I think after seeing the numerous Chinese comments appear in my inbox, I decided to get this thing up and running for the playoffs again. I figured 'why not?' My blogging for this year has been pretty bad, at least with having a sense of consistency. I hope I can talk about my thoughts during the playoffs this year more on here just because so far it's been a redonkulous time of playoffs.

This particular post is going to have my biased thoughts on Thomas Vanek show all the way through it. If you haven't seen the incident that happened yesterday with Johnny Boychuk then please go on Puck Daddy or YouTube. Even the Sabres website has video up of what happened. From what I could see on the replay (DOES THIS MAKE ME AN EXPERT?), Boychuk deliberately slashed Vanek's right knee and it caused him to go awkwardly into the boards. According to Mike Harrington yesterday on the good old Twitter feed, Vanek was favoring his left leg and not the right. The slash wasn't the direct cause of the pain but it lead to Vanek falling into the boards in the first place.

Ironic how Boychuk the other day complains about how he believes Tyler Myers should have been suspended on a hit he laid out on him in Game One, and then this just happens to occur. Hmm. I'm not saying he went after Thomas on purpose but my biased opinions are blinding me in the circumstance to decide whether or not that was a cheap slash. I think it was cheap. Will anything be done? No. We just have to hope that Thomas won't be out long. Lindy was quoted as saying that he would 'make the Boston trip for games 3 and 4'. He has no idea how long he could be out for though. It looked like he was in a lot of pain as he limped on his way to the bench.

Anyone who was at the game have any thoughts? I'm sure you guys saw much more unfold than the people who were watching on the televisions did. It's disappointing to see him come back and do so well only to watch him get injured again.

Postgame: 3-10-10.

The Sabres finally scored more than two goals to take this game in regulation away from the Dallas Stars. The Stars haven't won in this building since...you guessed it! Brett Hull's 'No Goal'. I'm pretty sure what he did is some karma for the Stars in this building. I'm just kidding...but maybe I'm not.

Tyler Myers was a beast last night by recording four points in the game He had a goal and three assists (please correct me if I'm wrong). If this kid doesn't get the Calder Trophy, then I don't have faith in this league anymore. Then again, he has awesome competition in both Matt Duchene and Jimmy Howard who are thought to be the other two Finalists for the trophy. I'm expecting to see an incredibly goofy acceptance speech from him!

Does anyone have any idea as to when Mike Robitaille is coming back to do the Sabres games? I don't mind Danny Gare one bit but I really miss him. I just don't know if he isn't coming back at all this season. Any information will ease my heart a little bit, haha.

Minnesota comes into town on Friday. It's the second game of a 'Western Conference' week for the Sabres. Considering their record before their west coast trip was awesome against the West, I hope the Sabres can get back into that winning groove against the conference.

Postgame: 12-5-09

As I mentioned last night, losses like these are always better when you watch them with people who can make you laugh. Watching it alone can send you into hysterics; yelling at your television every so often or just turning the game off completely. Last night we sat through the entire game and watched as the Sabres gave up two points to the Rangers while I believe they are second in the division yet again.

If you were at the game, they showed a stat last night that I didn't even think of during the third period. The line of Vanek-Kennedy-Grier? They all won the NCAA championships when they played in college. I thought to myself 'Wow, that's really neat.' and decided also that I would call them the Wheaties line. The breakfast of champions!

Watching Tyler Myers play lately has been a headache. Ever since he was able to stay up here, he's been on a rollercoaster ride. I understand that rookies are always going to make mistakes but it seems to me he's been making the same mistake every so often in a game. He was definitely the reason for the first goal last night. Don't remember much about the second. I would just like to see him stay calm with the puck and not try and make a play all the time. It's not necessary.

Maybe for Monday there can be a Fabian reunion, eh Zach and Drew? Just need Jordan and some bad clothes, and you're all set.

Of secrets and benching.

Toni Lydman is pretty much ready to make a comeback on the ice, and what's going on? He is being benched because of how the play of Andrej Sekera has been impressive at most the past few games. Really? Really? While I have nothing against Reggie in the slightest, Toni has not played for the past ten games. He is one of our most consistent shotblockers on this team, for the record. Unfortunately, if the Sabres took Tyler out of the lineup then the fans would go nuts and probably burn down the arena. So stupid. All I'm saying is he better be playing on Saturday when Tamara and I go to Ottawa.

In slightly better news, Thomas updated his blog today and said something very interesting:

Hi folks, sorry to have kept you waiting, but there was a lot going on in the last month. First the injury, then… But, no, that’s still a secret. You’ll get to know soon enough.

Any guesses with what the big news might be? I think I may know but I'm not sharing my thoughts because knowing me, I'll be wrong and feel like a total idiot.

Also, over the summer he had coached a team called the ITR26ers. How cute is it that 26 is in the name? Aww. I also think that he's the part owner of the team too, and they ended up winning an entire tournament that happened in Minnesota. They have a website here if you want to check it out. I think it's awesome of him to dedicate his time like that to a team already, and he's still pretty young.

I hate the Flyers.

This picture describes last night's game perfectly. Craig Rivet's fall represents the Sabres epic fail against the Flyers' third and fourth line. Daniel Carcillo represents everything I hate with Philadelphia and their organization. Oh, and he hasn't scored a goal since January 18th or something like that - WHEN HE WAS WITH PHOENIX! Come on boys. You did this last year too. If some guy has a goal scoring drought, they could score against the Sabres and get all excited. We don't want that to happen, like, ever.

The only Flyer I might semi like is Brayden Coburn and I don't even know why. I think Tamara influenced that one on me, like with Dany Heatley, but that's besides the point. We were kind of stoked at first because we thought he had scored the first goal but THEN we saw Daniel Carcillo being all smiles. Disgusting. For the record, please keep your mouthguard in your mouth when you skate. Having it hand out like you do is just plain weird.

I really want to know where Tyler Myers had come from on the rush where he scored. We didn't even realize he had scored until Rick had said something about it. Jesus, that boy appears from nowhere.

Oh, and I loved Robi's tie from last night. It must have been from the Fruit Stripes gum collector's edition. His choice of ties always tend to make me happy.

'Coldston' is up next on the schedule tonight. It'll be good to see a familiar face again.

"I smile because I love the children."

I think we all knew by the Tampa game (if not before then) that Tyler Myers was probably going to remain a Sabre for a duration of the season, but there was a small sense that he would be sent back to juniors for contract reasons. He is now a restricted free agent one year earlier. He could be an unrestricted free agent a year earlier if he plays at least forty games this season. I have a feeling that the team is going to keep him in the lineup for most of it, unless they need to scratch him for injured defensemen coming back. For now, he's here to stay with the big club. Congratulations Tyler! I hope you decide to shave that Dirty Sanchez you have starting sooner or later...

So, how crazy was the save Ryan Miller made in the second period? At least, I think it was during the second period. He jumped because of an incoming puck, and then he slid back into the net to make a very nice save. The Devils feed didn't show the whole thing and we were disappointed. That was worth a second look.

I never want to watch a Sabres game on another feed again. I should have said that last year during their road trip. Ugggh, I am not looking forward to the west coast trip in January.

Thank goodness for that long reach.

My thoughts are still pretty jumbled from the game tonight (or maybe I have a pizza hangover from the Domino's I had during gameplay) so I can only think of some things that crossed through my mind during the game tonight.

-WHERE IS PATTY? (Tamara eventually spotted him and put up a post-it to signify where he was sitting).
-Craig Rivet totally shaved inbetween the first and second periods. Fact.
-Mike Grier looked SO happy when he scored and it made me smile too.
-Vincent Lecavalier is so gorgeous that it should be illegal in the entire world. I could watch him on my screen all day.
-Marty St. Louis is so tiny!
-Mike Smith needs to chill out. It was a little immature for him to be destroying his water bottles at the end of regulation.
-Cellino & Barnes popping up on the screen? Yeah. I will never get used to that.
-Derek Roy is doing nothing with this Diabetes thing so far this season. He hasn't scored yet.
-Speaking of THAT thing, I got all excited when he was down on the ice. I cannot stand him and if a little roughing up can change his attitude, then good. With that said, the officiating sucked tonight (oh, and I was glad Thomas was sort of checking to see if he was okay. Good sport, Thomas!)
-And another thing, I don't know if Ryan Miller can act.
-I should have more faith in Thomas with shootouts. Sorry dude.
-Okay Tyler, you can stay with the big boys.

The Epic Adventures of Tamara and Shelby: Someone Destroyed Tyler Myers?!

I would first like to say that I give up naming my fantasy team because I am obviously a lazy ass. I have no time to look up pictures and come up with stuff about these guys that I don't know about, so I just won't name them anymore. Both of my teams aren't doing too hot currently anyways, but I think that's because I have Chris Osgood on BOTH teams. Yikes.

Tamara and I attended our third game together last night after acquiring tickets for cheap on Craigslist. They were only forty per seats and we sat in the 100s. Good deal, even if it was a value game. We parked a little closer than we did for the home opener and that was a good idea because it was freaking cold last night.

When we had gotten into the arena, we took notice that they are NOT selling the Game Night programs anymore. Instead, they're selling posters of players every game night. Last night, it was Craig Rivet (guy on season ticket = guy on poster?). Tamara and I were extremely giddy and we both bought one. They're only two bucks too! We also got the magnetic schedules, which I was extremely pumped about. You have no idea.

Our seats were located where the Sabres shoot twice, so we got the Coyotes during warm ups. Tamara took plenty of photos of Scottie Upshall for her friend, and we saw him give a puck to a little kid in a Briere jersey - a jersey from when he was in Phoenix. THAT'S old school right there. Did it make sense? No, but it was still cute and he was wearing the wacky jersey tat I adore so much from Phoenix. I may be one of the only people too. We also saw a 'Go Hamilton Coyotes' poster which I did not agree with. I don't want them to move up around here, no no no.

The bitter fans are already in their midseason form as I heard the guy up in the 300s yelling 'FIRE REGIER!' from our seats in the 100s. I also heard the yells of guys calling Vanek lazy, but whatever.

Now I love big hits, but when Patrick Kaleta laid out Petr Prucha (which I didn't realize it was him until I read the little thing on the website about him this morning), I sat there in shock. He wasn't moving at all after the hit and I certainly didn't want to applaud. I'm just glad he made it off the ice okay. I don't think it was a dirty hit, it was just scary.

Which brings me to what happened with Tyler Myers and Clarke MacArthur's goal. I was paying so much attention to him scoring that I didn't notice Tyler curled up in the fetal position on the ice. I gasped and Tamara and I were really hoping that he was going to be okay because we weren't cheering anymore or anything. When he got it, it was a huge sigh of relief. I still can't believe he got destroyed. I guess the kid does have some flaws. It's okay though, he still played a pretty amazing game last night.

I could talk about Thomas Vanek's goal in two paragraphs, but I'll just say that they freaking finally put one in on the power play with his goal. Figures he would score on the power play. I was just glad I got to see his first of the season. Good stuff!

I have no idea what game we'll be going to next, but I'll make sure to keep you all posted.

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.

Sabres sign massive defensemen to entry-level contract.

Welcome aboard, Tyler Myers!

Reading this news, I immediately went on Facebook to see if he was on there. Now, the one I think he is is friends with TJ Brennan but I'm scared to send him a friend request. Anyone done that yet? Let me know if you have!

After watching the Sabres pick him 12th overall at the Entry Draft last June, I was really excited to see how tall he really was. Even though it may be a disadvantage in some cases at the start of his hockey career, in the future he could be the next Zdeno Chara. Checking Chara's stats, he is 6'9". Tyler Myers is 6'8". We almost have a Chara like defensemen on our team, hooray!
Then again, Zdeno Chara can only be Zdeno Chara. He can be no one else.

The Sabres also announced that 94% of their season tickets were renewed. I hope my brothers were in that 94%. The fact that I'm going to college next year and getting a job will help me get tickets though if I want to go to a game and I can't get tickets from them.