Archive for December, 2009

There was no question who the Sabre of the decade would be from 90-99.  Dominik Hasek was hands down the only Sabre worthy of that acknowledgement.  Who is the Sabre of the 2000-2009 decade?  There have been plenty of fan favorites that could be listed, Brian Campbell, Marty Biron, Chris Drury, Danny Briere.  When it boils down to it though, I think the nod has to go once again to the teams starting goaltender, Ryan Miller.  He has been the backbone of the Sabres franchise, relied upon to take up the same game winning style that Hasek endured here for [...]

If you asked Gene Hackman what the Sabres needed after the first period to win this game, he would have said three words… You need heart. That my friends, is why the Sabres won tonight.  The Pittsburgh Penguins have nothing to prove, they won the Stanley Cup.  What more does the team need?  The kids on that team need an awakening – you don’t last in this league just because you won one cup.  Gretzky wasn’t the greatest because he won ONE cup.  OK, I am done with the cheesy movie quote from a cheesy movie. The Sabres did it [...]

I cursed the snow last night.  My normal twenty minute commute turned into an hour.  Luckily I got home before the city plow buried my driveway.  By the time I got done shoveling the drive (yes, I still shovel, no snow blower for this Buffalonian) it was almost 730.  Anyone reading this from Buffalo can feel my pain from last night.   So I was cursing the snow.  Today on my drive in, not so much, after I learned the problems that the Penguins had coming into Buffalo.  First their plane was re-routed to Niagara Falls – then their bus got [...]

The way the NHL runs its scheduling department, its not hard to believe that the last time the Sabres won in St. Louis was the first year Lindy Ruff coached the team, in 1997.  Literally, it was the season opener his first year as coach. The Sabres first period woes were destined to continue as they allowed the first goal again, and trailed for most of the game.  They briefly held a 2-1 advantage before losing that, and for only the thrid time this season came from behind in the final period to win a game. On the heels of [...]

So tonights post is a game time decision – had a lot of running around to do.  A rare visit to the city of St. Louis tonight for the Sabres. Notable scratches tonight – Derek Roy out of the lineup with a head injury and Drew Stafford finds himself in Liny’s doghouse after being demoted and his ice time severely diminished. Patty Lalime will start tonight, and will hope to turn some good ice time into a W.  In his last two games; he has stopped 62 of 64 shots.  Not bad for a backup goaltender who has to take [...]

We’ve all had that feeling after a holiday break – the weight of that extra peice of turkey, or that extra glass or two of egg nog makes you feel so sluggish that it takes you forever to get things going.  It took the Sabres 20 minutes again to get into a hockey game – and it translated into another loss. There was no use in trying to say anything about the first period.  One shot by a professional hockey team is pathetic, and they were damn lucky to have Ryan Miller in net tonight to save their asses yet [...]

While it could be easy to say that the Sabres can use this as a rebound game off their miserable play in Washington before the break, Ottawa is going to be looking for the same type of retribution.  While Buffalo was being skated over in Washington, Pittsburgh was putting an 8-2 clinic on the Sens. I am sure that neither coach left their players with tidings of good joy before the break. This is the first meeting between the teams at HSBC Arena, but the third in the Season.  So far the Sens are a not surprising 2-0 in the [...]

Last nights hockey game was summed up in one statement by my wife last night.  She is not the hockey fan.  She enjoys going to the games, but doesn’t watch them on television.  82 times a year she rolls her eyes at me when I say hockey night! Well last night she didn’t complain to much as she was wrapping gifts and baking cookies.  When they scored on the 5 on 3, she turned to me and asked if we really had to watch the game.  Of course I went off on her about being a bandwagon merryweather fan, and [...]

Its that time of the year.  Running around like a chicken with its head cut off trying to get ready for the Christmas holiday.  It got so bad this year that I almost forgot that there is a hockey game on tonight. Tonight’s matchup between division leaders puts opposite ends of the spectrum on display.  The high flying, high scoring Caps, against the defensive minded, stingy Sabres. Ryan Miller looks to continue his dominance while Alex Ovechkin wants to continue his scoring.  The teams have split contests so far this season, with the Sabres shutting out the Caps.

On the first day of Christmas, the NHL gave to me, champagne in the Stanley Cup On the second day of Christmas the NHL gave to me, two first round draft picks On the third day of Christmas the NHL gave to me, three point games On the fourth day of Christmas the NHL gave to me, four playoff rounds On the fifth day of Christmas the NHL gave to me, five minutes for fighting On the sixth day of Christmas the NHL gave to me six ounces of rubber. On the seventh day of Christmas the NHL gave to [...]