I did it again!

by Anne

Dear Penguins fans:

I'm really really really sorry. I totally didn't mean to do it.

My injury curse has returned. No joking. The second I heard about the Pens giving up Army & Co. for Hossa and some other dude, I said: "Good plan, Pens, ship out 3 depth players for 1 superstar and another dude. It is a good trade...that is unless Hossa blows out his knee in the first game."

From NHL.com:

Dupuis was playing in his first game with Pittsburgh since being acquired from Atlanta at the trade deadline. Also coming to the Penguins in that deal was five-time All-Star Marian Hossa, but he lasted just 13 shifts before banging knees with Glen Murray in the second period and leaving the game.

I'm so sorry! I really didn't mean it! I was kidding! I know I'm still annoyed about how handily you've beaten us this season and the fact that you beat us in the Ice Bowl, but you're my #2 team! You know I didn't really mean for it to happen! It was just talk!

I legitimately feel in some way responsible. He'll be out about a week, they say, but who knows! He could slip and fall on the ice and then I'll never stop feeling guilty.

Here comes the sun doot n doo doo

by Anne

Let the sun shine once again! Let the clouds part and the angel choirs sing!

Yes, we in Buffalo are still totally riled up about Big Bear and his killer debut, but equally important things are on the horizon for this Sabres fan!

Drew Stafford and Max Afinogenov were both cleared to play and participated in practice Tuesday afternoon at HSBC Arena.

SQUEEEEEEAL! Could it really be true? Is my heart so lucky? After 9 games apart, Staffy can be reunited with his teammates! I understand that Big Bear tore it up with Roysie and Britney last night, but, lest we forget, he took over for one of the Sabres' finest young right wingers.

Here's a quick refresher:

That's right.

It appears that both Big Bear and Staffy are inconsistent. Perhaps they can coordinate it so that one is on fire while the other one struggles. That'd be great, thanks.

Welcome back Staffers! Rest assured I will be doing everything 21 times as joyfully all night Friday in your honor.

Big Bear's Big Bite

by Anne

Ok, so Big Bear's favorite food, as widely reported by KSylv and MSG, is steak. This means he will fit in well with the Buffalo Sabres as, when asked, almost every single Sabre names steak as their favorite food. I hope the Chophouse is prepared. Big Bear likes his steaks rare, he clearly has the taste for blood. RAR!

Also one of Big Bear's favorite foods is this:

Um, ew?

Ok, true true, I cannot judge, I've never tried "poutine" but it does not look remotely appetizing to me. It really looks like french fries with marshmallows and orange marmalade. It's what? I'm hearing that French fries, cheese curds and gravy is what it really is.

It is quite popular in Quebec as comfort food. However, being that Pommerdoodle, Big Bear, Gragnani and perhaps a few other randoms in the region bring the French Canadian population of Western New York up to roughly 12, (14 when Marty Biron and Danny Briere come to visit) there isn't much of a demand for Quebecois' comfort food.

However! Never fret, Big Bear! Should you continue to be SWEET, and stay in Buffalo, I promise you that, before long, there will be at least one restaurant who will serve this pile of whatnot and name it after you.

Lest we forget:

The Dominator spiced up our lives


Little Dougie Flutie wanted to be a part of this complete breakfast

and:


Yo, even when I was like 12, I thought this was weird

S(h)ara reports that Staffy, my Staffy has his own dish at Chef's restaurant, which is a Buffalo institution and extremely popular amongst we Buffalonians.

So, there ya go, Big Bear, it won't be long until you've brought poutine and all its freaky glory to Buffalo.

Another Highly Anticipated Player Return

by Anne

I think with all of this hulabaloo over Brian Campbell, we all have failed to recognize the magnitude of tonight's game.

Standings? Bah. Points? Phooey. J.P. Dumont returns to HSBC arena for the first time since leaving to play for Nashville in 2006? Exactly.

You were also a part of that 2005-2006 team that I loved so dearly and for many years previous. I also felt the Sabres mishandled your contract as they did JKee's. You scored that overtime goal to win one of the playoff games against Ottawa, I don't honestly remember which game it was, but you rocked it out.

Welcome back to the best #17! (No offense Gragnani, but you've done absolutely nothing to be memorable except give that sheepishly adorable pre-game interview the other day.) Wait, Mike Foligno wore #17 for 10 years...ok it'll be a toss up for favorite #17 between Doom and Foligno. Upon investigaion of previous wearers of #17, Cunneyworth wore #17 when he randomly came back to the Sabres for like 17 games in 1999. Oh, who cares about Randy Cunneyworth? He's the head coach of the Amerks? Oh. Well, we're not gonna be associated with them anymore after this season so I'm back to not caring about him.

Start stocking up

by Oscar

Fashion tips for the rest of the season.

Buy:

Burn, or save for a rainy day, if you think "foolish hope" brings out your eyes:

My mommy is getting a little jersey-happy. Stop it now:

Ok, this is getting ridiculous:

Mommy, just stop now, this isn't healthy:

Actually, I like the look of this one:

This too, I could handle:

My mommy is also about to be the proud owner of her very own standings board. She's very excited about this. She also enjoys that she can stalk her purchase all the way to her doorstep. This, however, did give her paws pause:

46 pounds? Holy catnip! Here's hoping she doesn't decide to mount in on the wall, lest it fall and crush my little head. Those magnetic team logos are REALLY heavy.

Bye bye

by Anne

Bye bye Soup.

Hello, Bernier and a 1st round draft pick.

I'll now sort of retire a tag, and start a new one.

Fare thee well:

Goodbye "Brian Campbell" tag

Welcome, "Steve Bernier" Tag

Will there be any more Sabres moving today? Kalinin might go, people were crying for the Soviet Bomber's head at times in this season.

We shall see.

That was just awful

by Anne

I looked at this picture of Danny Briere tonight and I suddenly realized that when I look at it, I get the same exact feeling I do when I hear about ex-boyfriends and how their lives are going well and that they don't miss me at all.

I want to hate him, I really do. But I just can't. I spent so much time and energy cheering for him and loving him, that I can't just turn around and hate him. I can hate Drury, for some reason I never felt the same affinity towards Dru as Danny. I say it all the time, but after the lockout, hockey was dead to me, I was mad and didn't want to get into hockey again just to have to sit out another season. But, I decided to watch the end of the 05-06 season and then the 2006 playoffs, and it was Danny, McKee, Dumont, Grier, Pominville, Miller, Roy and my righteous indignation over Timmy's concussion that brought me back to hockey. And it was 06-07 that brought about my new crazy obsession over it. So, it's really really hard to watch players from that 05-06 season go. I know it's just a hockey team, but those playoff runs (both 2006 and 2007) coincided with some crazy times in my life and watching the Sabres come back from oblivion in 2006 and dominate the NHL in 2007 were part of those crazy times.

It's so weird, I loved Danny when he was a Sabre, but I didn't think losing him as a player would bother me as much as it does. I think the reason this bothers me more than say, the dark day in my life when the Sabres lost Jay McKee is because McKee went to the Western Conference and we don't see much of him. Also, no one counted losing McKee as being as devastating a loss as Danny and Chris. However, the initial loss of Jay McKee stung me more and watching JKee struggling through injuries in St. Louis while the Sabres' were on fire last season really sucked. Danny's been in our faces all season, and it just sucks. We watched him grow as a player, made him into one of the NHL's top forwards, and then we didn't hold on to him.

So, even though I try to put on a big show and act like I want to trade Campbell, part of me will be really sad to see him in another uniform and I know that, especially if he's in the East, I'll still follow his career like I do JKee's. FYI: 8pts (2+6), +7.

I'm sorry this got all "real" but that loss was the most soul-sucking of the season for me.

I can't even write about how mad I am at Derek Roy for that "shootout attempt."

11th Hour

by Anne

It is now officially less than 24 hours until the trade deadline. Can you feel the tension in the air? WOOOO!!!!!! I love it. It's so excting. I'm a HUGE LOSER.

I really love pictures of animals wearing glasses. So I'm going to post one to reflect my level of excitement over this exciting time of excitedness in our hockey lives.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

And by Tuesday at 3:01 p.m. I will be totally over it.

You Never Forget Your First Love

By S(h)ara

Tonight is most likely Soupy's last game as a Sabre.

It's taken me a long time to come to accept that Brian Campbell, my favorite Sabre that was, is going to be traded. I went through all the major stages: Denial (They won't trade Soupy. Nope, not going to happen), Anger (CAMPBELL! SIGN A FREAKING CONTRACT ALREADY! Great, now my Campbell t-shirt is USELESS!), Depression (Soupy don't leave me! We need you!) and finally, Acceptance (If keeping Soupy means losing Milsey, then I agree The Soup must go). It's been a rocky few months for me.

I know a lot of people will be happy(ish) to see him go. Anne has long been saying that she doesn't want us to re-sign him, since it will tie up a lot of money over the next few years, which could leave us in a position to lose both Pommerdoodle and Milsey. I agree that for the sake of the team, it's best if he goes. We have won games because of Miller. Yes, he has off nights, but so does everyone. But I digress. The point is, even though I agree all of that is true, I'm still going to miss him, and there's a part of me that really wants the Sabres to announce that he's been re-signed. Though I love Derek Roy, I feel as though my love for him will never be the same as it was for Soupy.

Today, I say good-bye to you, dearest Soupy. We had a good run. My mom even knew you were my favorite Sabre and would save me Buffalo News articles about you. We were going to have beautiful curly-haired babies. (Whoops, sorry, I wandered off into Puck Bunny territory there for a second.) You've been kind of a tool about the contract negotiations, which tarnished my love, but deep down, we both know who my favorite Sabre is.

Look how cute we are! And he has good taste in suits!

Though I now rock a Roy t-shirt at Sabres games, know that I've got my Campbell one underneath. I'll miss you, Soupy.

Anticipaaaation is making me late, is keeping me waaaaaaaaaaaaaiting

by Anne

As I write this there is 1 day and 15 hours until the trade deadline. Sundin has opted to not waive his no-movement clause, as is his right. It doesn't look like much is going to save Toronto's season now. Kaberle and Sundin, both players that would've brought big trades, are staying put.

I really just want a decision to be made about Soupy RIGHT NOW. When is his last game in a Sabres' uniform? Was it Saturday? Is it Monday? Will it be sometime in 2011? Or, will it be at the end of this season? Granted, we never really can answer that question for any player, but with Soupy, it's far more nerve wracking. I keep checking the Sabres website to see if anything has been announced, but obviously nothing has.

When was the last time a trade deadline passed with no Sabre moving or nothing being acquired by the Sabres? Something is going to happen, its just a matter of who's leaving, who's staying and what we get in return. We're all so focused on Soupy that I really don't think anyone has fully grappled with the fact that we could lose other players in 1 1/2 days. I don't think anyone really wants to think about that. I certainly don't. I tried to but it makes my head hurt to think about the possibilities.

Let's not forget that Kalinin, who is kind of not so great is also a UFA this season. And there has been no communication between the Sabres and Kalinin's agent. Soupy and Kalinin as one trade together would probably bring a great return for the Sabres, especially for teams that need to add depth to their defense like Tampa. Brad Richards has offered a list of teams he'd waive his no trade clause for if they were interested. I seriously doubt Buffalo is on that list, but anything is possible. Vaclav Prospal is also potential trade bait.

Now that Sundin's future is clear, the mad dash for Marian Hossa can begin. All the teams that wanted Sundin now have to look elsewhere, and Hossa is the next best thing for some teams. I'm not sure how I feel about Hossa, but I might not mind seeing him wearing the slug.

Since Columbus is out of a playoff spot, that means they'll probably be making a trade or two. Hey! Let's see if we can get Peca back! I've really been missing those "Peca's Pickles" in my grocery shopping experience.

Hell, let's suspend reality for a hot minute and say what if the Flyers traded Danny back to us? Let's start that rumor. Soupy and the Soviet Bomber for Danny. Spread the rumor. Aaaaaaaaaand go.

Game Day

by Anne

So, our dearest Captain Yoyo has a pulled leg muscle. Therefore, called up from Rochacha is Mr. Marc-Andre Gragnani.

Oddly enough, I just read an article about Gragnani the other day on the AHL report at NHL.com. He's been doing good things for Rochester since making the switch from defense to forward. Wonder if he'll be effective tonight. And he's cute too, see:

Is it just me, or does he have a definite "Danny B." vibe to him. It's probably just because he's French Canadian.

Welcome to the big show Marc-Andre! I find it interesting that I just took note of you the other day and here you are, worming your way into my SabreHeart. Granted, you're still in the back, I'd say you're on par with Kotalik at the moment, I don't really have any strong feelings about you, so you're ahead of Petey and Kalinin but not quite to the Roysie or Yoyo level, and certainly not anywhere near Pie-YAY or Staffy or even Patty, but you do have that potential, if you're BAMF enough.

Word of advice: I have a lot of trouble with call-ups. I've been on a roller coaster of call up emotion this season, please don't add to the mix, kiddo. Grizz has let me down, I don't even really remember Sekera and Weber, and then there's Patty, my Patty, aka current favorite call-up. As this is your NHL debut, if you only manage to score like 3 goals and 2 assists, I suppose I'll be lenient.

I wonder what line he'll be on? This shall be interesting. He's got a Kotalik-style soul patch going on, maybe he Timmy and Ales will be on the "awkward facial hair" line, that is if Timmy brings back the fu manchu.

COME ON BOYS! COME OUT STRONG! SPEAR DRURY! I mean...uhhhhhh.....play a good clean game...

(Private to Kaleta: Since you can't really hit Drury or Gomez, just hit Avery super hard a few times, thanks)

Sidenote, a friend of mine works and Camp Good Days in the summer and Goose and Patty came to see the kids and they knew when Kaleta rolled in because he drives a HUGE ASS black Hummer H2. We saw one last night and now exclusively refer to them as "Kaletas"

7(th) for all Sabrekind

by Anne

Hockey schmockey. WHAT? Ha, totally kidding. Last night's game was stuuuupendous. Remember when, for about 15 minutes before Boston won, we were in 6th place? Now we're in 7th but that's ok, 7th is better than 9th which is better than Toronto which is better than...uhhhh...Tampa.

I've been mulling over last night's BAMF for a while. Millsey had a solid game, minus that messed up poke check to give Toronto their goal, but was it BAMF-worthy? I'd say no. Kotalik had 2 goals, ending a tied for career-high goal-less drought of 14 games. But, was it BAMF? I could watch that saucer pass from Britney to Roysie all night. That was just sexy. I'm glad they showed it as many times as they did and from the angle they did. Pratters totally redeemed himself from his craptastical play against Tampa with a lovely "Sacrifice yourself and go to the ice" block right to the ribs that had to hurt.

I choose to give a co-BAMF to Roysie and Britters. Why? Because they make other players look good. Stafford? Shines when he plays with them. Paille? Same. Connolly? ON FIRE. Now? Kotalik. Ok, Mairsy didn't really come out blazing, but they can't all be winners. In the last month or so whomever gets the nod to skate with those 2 comes out on top. They're solid players who know their roles. Roysie scampers and scraps for the puck, Britters is in front of the net for the screen and the tip-in. That leaves whomever is left to distract and support, and sometimes get set up for goals themselves.

Well done, gents. I'm getting tired of looking for pictures of awards, I can only find so many.

I'm sad they took away Sissy's goal and gave it to Britters. However, he did appear to "tip it in." And I suppose that counts as a "goal." Whatev, all that matters is it counted and we won. 26 goals for #26.

Britters chose to play a little more of a supporting role last night and that looks good on him too, 1 goal and 2 assists ain't too shabby. 2 assists for Sissy as well, wooooooo!

I kind of hate empty net goals. Even when we score them (kind of). Because it almost seems too easy. However, if we were to have the opportunity to score an empty net goal and someone missed (cough Britney like a week ago cough) that's really annoying. So, I feel like they should only count as like 1/2 a goal...but then they'd round up so we'll call it 2 for Kotalik anyway.

Patches played!...for 1:40 and 2 shifts. But, he was playing forward, so we can't have it all. Lindy's clearly been relying more on Roysie, Britters and _______ (Insert name here) in the past few games and not rolling the 4 lines like he usually does. I say, why not? Keep out the lines that are on fire. For a time it was Pommerdoodle, Yoyo and Grizz, then Paille, and they played a lot. Do what works. I'm just glad Patches got some ice time and snagged a +1 on the night.

I love the way the team dynamic ebbs and flows. For a time, like most of January, Danny Pie-YAY was on fire. He still leads the team in +/- with a +12 even after that 9-2 scoring weekend. Now he's having a cooling-off period, but he's still solid. That's a-ok, because now Britney is stepping up. Roysie started the season slow but after his shoulder injury and a tongue-lashing from Lindo he's seriously stepped up his game. Millsey has hot streaks and some rare off nights, but he's consistent. That's something this team has seriously lacked until recent weeks: consistency. Now they seem to be finding their stride. Hopefully its not a fluke and they can ride this hot streak.

While these last 2 games were pretty tank, we have to remember, they were both against the bottom two teams in the Eastern Conference: must wins but still possibly lulling the boys into a false sense of security. Saturday its the Rangers who are, um, decidedly better than Toronto or Tampa. We just can't (and won't) have a repeat of Saturday. I choose to think of last weekend as a necessary knocking off of the high horse that the team needed. Every once in while teams need to be upended and put down a peg. Look at what's happening to Ottawa: they were far and away the leaders in the East for quite some time and now they're grasping at a 1 point lead. Before last night they were in a 3 way tie for 1st. Now, 3 teams are tied for 2nd, all with 75 points. Sabres? 68. Wowza. This will be the most ridiculous photo finish to the playoffs ever.

Speaking of the playoffs: After seeing all the sweet magnetic playoff trackers at the Wilfull Caboose, Interchangeable Parts and The Goose's Roost, I caved and ordered one last night. I'm so excited. Wooooo! Now after a night of hockey all I can think about is re-organizing my playoff tracker that I don't currently own. I'm not sure what I'll do with the teams that have no prayer of a playoff spot, perhaps they'll have an ice cream social off to the side.

I've been reading about Philly's misfortunes and how Danny is now being singled out the way Britney had been, when I read something that summed up 2 things: why I hate Philly and why I love Buffalo:

From NHL.com:

The season keeps getting worse for the Flyers, who started the month as one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference. They lost their ninth straight game (0-8-1) and the home crowd booed a team that dropped out of the conference playoff standings....The Philly faithful have had enough and the Flyers were booed almost the entire game, especially when they were outhustled to the puck.

Let's emphasize:

The season keeps getting worse for the Flyers, who started the month as one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference. They lost their ninth straight game (0-8-1) and the home crowd booed a team that dropped out of the conference playoff standings...The Philly faithful have had enough and the Flyers were booed almost the entire game, especially when they were outhustled to the puck.

Can you imagine booing the Sabres? I seriously can't imagine that EVER happening in HSBC Arena, but maybe I'm naive. Even when the Sabres were in a 10 game losing streak, they didn't get booed in either of the 2 games I attended. It was more of a "I'm very disappointed in you" atmosphere, like when you get caught for drinking at a party in high school and your dad sits you down and tells you what's what. The Philly streak is worse than the Sabres' was, they've only managed 1 point in the last 9 games. At least we pulled out 5 in 10. Fair weather fans much, Philly? Enjoy Danny, when he's good he's great, so I hope he opens up like Britney did for us, but not in time to save your season. This keeps you out of our playoff spot so I'm enjoying it. Woooo.

Update:

Thanks to Amy at Shots off the Crossbar for this picture that continues to prove my point about Buffalo fans. This picture is from last night's Bruins/Panthers game:

You stay classy, Sabres' fans

Ahem...please disregard that last post

by Anne

Now, in the clear light of morning, I can more accurately compose my thoughts about last night's game (which was TOTALLY AWESOME, btw).

Ok, in all seriousness, the level of disgust and despair I felt all the way up to the 17:30 mark of the 3rd was really depressing. I genuinely hated the Sabres at that moment. It made me sad. I wanted so badly for this team to step it up and just when they needed a win, and just when they had the perfect opponent to come out strong against, they were royally effing it up.

When I made Cory change back, it was just so I could see for myself that the Sabres had officially lost and officially slipped down to at least 10th in the standings. Imagine my shock and confusion after 2 rather large vodka tonics and a half an episode of Futurama when the first thing I see when we turn back is Hank the Tank standing on the ice in "Let's do this" pre-overtime hanging around mode. I really thought Cory had effed up and we were watching the end of the Devil's game from 2 weeks ago. But, nope!

I was freaking out: "What the heck happened?" MK: "Did they take away a Tampa goal?" We were totally flabbergasted, Cory, as usual, showed little emotion.

Thomas Vanek, I guess you're going to be needing this:

Carry the team in sparkly style, Thomas. It looks like Millsey's:

Except, his has a tasssel and a leash for Pommerdoodle

Starting with great goal scoring, followed up with ballsy statements and then continued with even more TOTALLY AWESOME goal scoring, you, Thomas Vanek, are TOTALLY BAMF.

Millsey: Thanks for carrying the team for me tonight, my back gave out on Saturday

Britters: No problem, buddy.

Also, MAD props to TimmyHo, Roysie and Sissy for their outstanding play last night.

I was totally amazed at how quickly this team could regain my love. 5 minutes? Just when we really needed him, Britney kicked it into high gear. How many game winners have you put away? 5 so far this season? And our only 2 goals this past weekend?

You totally earned this:

Britney Roysie and Timmy were quite a trio last night, lookin' good boys! Keep it up!

(p.s. the "I heart Buffalo hockey" rally sweatshirt was brought out and it TOTALLY worked).

WHAT HAPPENED?!?!

by Anne

So when the Sabres were losing 3-1 I changed the channel in utter disgust and a few minutes later, encouraged my sister's boyfriend to change it back to see the Lexus Shootout, yet we managed to make it back in time for OVERTIME? WHAT?

This is what that first sentence originally said before my even drunker sister read it and made fun of me:

I changed the channel in drunken disgust and turned back after a lot of encouragement to my sister's boyfriend he changed the channel back in time to see all of overtime.

I told the Sabres I hated them many times over and then dearest Roysie, desperate to regain my love, scored a goal. Then we gave up another and I changed the channel. Then SabreBritney, desperate to regain his weak hold on the place in the smoothie car ride scored 2 goals to force overtime and THEN put away the game winner in OT for his 2nd career hat trick - a natural hat trick. (Prive to the Lightning....whoa, no offense boys, but now we see why you're last in the east...that, um, was really bad).

I'm about to say something I never thought I'd say.

At this moment, Thomas "SabreBritney" Vanek is my favorite Sabre. Yes, I have been drinking.

I love you Thomas Vanek. 12 goals in 11 games after only like, what? 14 in the first 50 or so? tank-ass. You want to save the Earth, your son (from the pictures I've seen) is super cute as well as is your dazzling fiancee. You're really great. I really like you a lot. You really respond to the imminent loss of my love, affection and smoothies.

It was just like a repeat of our game against Tampa in October. Down by 2 goals, force overtime, Britney with the game winner. WOOOOOOO!! Britney! Keepin' the babies!!

SISSY YOU WERE SO GOOD TOO. WOOOOOO!!! SISSY! BRITNEY! TIMMY! SABRETOOTH! SISSY! SMOOTHIES! ON BRITNEY! (he is a crazy millionaire)

HAHAHAHAHAHHA MSG just totally effed up and showed like a solid minute of KSylv and Roby getting messed with by their sound man . Hahahahahahahahaha I love Vodka I am TOTALLY pommerdoooooooodling. yay!

Collector Pins = More Crap I Don't Need In My House

By S(h)ara

Remember last year how when playoff season rolled around, the Sabres did those collector coin thingies that everyone wanted and almost no one could get? Well guess what they're doing this year?

Hey those roster photos were kind of pricy. Let's think of a way to reuse them!

First of all, no one wears pins anymore, unless you're Maryalice Demler on Channel 2 News. What? You're not supposed to wear them, just keep them in a nifty "full-color, glossy collector's album"? Do the Sabres pins come to life in the middle of the night and battle each other in a fight to the death? No? They just sit there? So, basically, you want me to spend more money on another piece of crap that's just going to sit in my house and collect dust? Got it.

I believe the Buffalo News refered to these pins as "exciting". I think perhaps they need to get their hands on a Webster's and look up the definition for "exciting". To me, there is nothing less exciting than a bunch of pins that don't do anything. At least the coins were slightly more high-class. Coins make me think of money, which I usually need more of. Pins make me think of useless First Communion and Confirmation gifts that I still have no idea what to do with. ("You can't throw that out! Aunt Marge gave that to you on your tenth birthday!") Pins are lame, Sabres! Unless you're a Boy Scout working towards his macrame badge, no one wants a crappy pin. And you couldn't even put fun pictures of the Sabres on there! I mean, I would totally buy a pin if it had this picture on it:

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the future of the Buffalo Sabres

I mean, look at how SabreBritney is posing? He looks adorable! And Goose! As John McInroe, the bad boy of tennis! You smash those rackets and marry Tatum O'Neil, Goosie! (Sidenote: at the game on Sunday, Anne and I kept yelling "BRITNEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" and I'm pretty sure the people around us had no clue what we were talking about.)

Most of the roster photos suck, guys. Sorry, but it's true. And much as Toni Lydman's makes me giggle every time I see it, do I really want it commemorated forever on a pin? I think not. Next year, make beer steins. Everyone loves those.

We have a serious problem here

by Anne

SabreNation, we need to have a sit-down. There is a serious problem amongst our ranks.

I don't know how some of you will take this so brace yourselves. Some of our beloved Sabres hide a deep, dark secret. A secret so terrible that I shudder to even think it: There is a small contingent of Sabres who want to destroy the planet Earth.

Which ones you might ask are the purported EarthHaters? Five of our dear hockey players want to bring about the apocalypse by way of carbon emissions. However, could five Buffalo Sabres with evil in their hearts be enough to destroy us all?

Members of NHL teams were asked to sign a petition pledging to live green and eat tofu or something like that. There were 5 Sabres who chose NOT to sign this petition. Whom, you might ask?

Well I can tell you this: Roysie hearts the little chipmunks! Yo-yo has his own compost heap! Sissy wants there to be a world in which you "Shoot Puck! Score Goal! Win Game!" for many generations to come! Pommerdoodle loves to romp and frollick amongst the trees in the park so OF COURSE he wants to save the Earth! Goosie too! He needs a place to produce his adorkable PSAs! Even un-dead zombie brain eater, Staffy, wants the Earth to survive and flourish!

HOWEVER, there are a few choice Sabres who are not participating in the team's plans to save our planet. I have come to one conclusion about these men:

They are rogue aliens from another hockey galaxy hellbent on destroying our planet. They want to destroy the Earth and bring all our hockey players to their galaxy to play in an ultra intergalactic hockey league. Its SO plausible.

Granted, their methods are slow, but through the work of the Buffalo Sabres, they'll get it done.

Or, they might just be jerks who didn't feel like signing a piece of paper.

Here are the suspects:

"Timmy Connolly"

Clearly, TimmyHo is the ring leader of the operation. All this talk of "injuries?" Hah! Timmy is secretly commuting back and forth between his home planet and ours to report back to the Dark Side's General Managers about the current condition of the Earth's atmosphere and +/-.

You say "bone spur", I say "CO2-emitting alien bone spur."

Next we have suspect #2:

Danny Pie-YAY, leader of our honorable brethren, Pie Lovers United, is tragically one of the Sabres working towards the Earth's ultimate destruction. He has been known to run his air conditioning at full tilt all summer long and blasts his heat at 85 degrees even whilst on team road trips. I should've known he was one of the alien spies when I got his autograph last summer:

Slightly suspicious, no?

Next we have:

"Adam Mair"

Clearly Mairsy is the reject alien spy. He's not very good at blending in with his surroundings. Wearing an 'A' this month is probably not what your alien commanders had in mind when they sent you down to recruit for them. His job was to find hockey players and convert them to the Dark Side. From the above picture, you can see he needs to work on differentiating between "hockey player" and "things that wandered out onto the ice." Favorite method to slowly destroy the earth: throwing out gatorade bottles after the games instead of recylcing them.

Our 4th Evil Alien is:

"Mikey Ryan"

Look at the evil in those eyes! Mikey Ryan is obviously the go-to man for insta-destruction of parts of the Earth's atmosphere and foliage. Not being a high profile Sabre he has AMPLE opportunity to mastermind his devious plans. He regularly turns on every light in his house at all times of the day and night and leaves the water running while he brushes his teeth. Pure. Evil.

Last but not least we have the godfather:

"Jocelyn Thibault"

Really, Aliens of Glornax 7? Did you not do your research? Jocelyn? Way to pick an under the radar common man's name like "Jocelyn." Clearly they wised up by the time they got to "Tim", "Adam", "Dan", and "Mike," but they started out rocky with "Jocelyn." T-Bo's role in this gang is to be the quiet unsung hero of the alien race. His job is to turn on Ryan Miller's big-ass SUV before every game and leave it idling in the parking lot. Then he runs out while Millsey's being interviewed post-game and turns it off. The result: Millsey spending his life savings on gas and the Earth's ultimate destruction.

These clever gents must be stopped! Join the Sabres Green Team and help stop the alien take over! Get a sweet green window decal too!

I don't count Kaleta and MacArthur as rogue alien spies because they're foolish young prospects who don't know any better. They're still taking remedial recycling classes with Goosie. They can't get Kaleta to stop smashing the cans on his forehead and Grizz is taking the term "tree hugger" too literally. That last trip to the park was a nightmare, he just wouldn't let go. I think Grizz has abandonement issues.

Sick to my stomach

by Anne

No, the title is not intended to reflect my bout with the ebola virus I experienced on Friday, it is in direct reference to this weekends "hockey" played by the Buffalo Sabres.

I don't have much to say about that "game" S(h)ara and I "attended" yesterday. I choose instead to reflect my feelings in list form. Before the game, to coincide with the beginning of the big GMs meeting in Florida, I was going to make a list of players I would be devastated to lose should they be traded. Today, I choose instead to make my choices for that list in direct response to how Sabres hockey was represented this weekend:

Thomas Vanek (Woo, 2 goals in 2 games, there's not a whole lot more you can ask for...except the rest of the team to step it up as well.)

Patrick Kaleta (You DRAW those penalties! Woo!)

Drew Stafford (he's been granted immunity as he's on the IR)

Nathan Paetsch (Those baby blues! He warms up and then doesn't play ... :( I still love ya, Nate!)

That is all.

But, watching Goose larger than life on the HD Jumbotron holding a broken lamp and an aluminum can and raising his eyebrow all contemplative-like while reading the newspaper was the highlight of my weekend, so I'll also throw in:

Paul Gaustad (I WILL recycle for you Goose!)

That's it. The rest of you can go now. Yes, Sissy, even you. Keep it moving. I'm sorry Pie-YAY, we Pie Lovers are not feeling the love today. Grizz, let's go, nothing to see here. Pommerdoodle, stop whimpering, I know you had that big hit. Good, but that's not what we pay you to do. Boys, Millsey's gonna need you through this one, he's never been left off of a list of my most beloved Sabres before.

Ok, Britney, Staffy, Patsy, Goose, Patches, let's get smoothies, Sabretooth's driving. I call shotgun!

I was so distraught that when I saw Patches after the game, I threw myself at him:



Sort of.

I'm whispering all my sad feelings into Patches' giant ear

What the HELL was THAT?

by Anne

Boys, I did something today I haven't done since your abysmal loss to LA in December: I turned off the game before it was over.

Every Sabre must now clean some part of my apartment. There are 24 of you, so it shouldn't take long. Britney, you scored a goal so you get an easy job. You can organize the pantry. Millsey, I love you, but you have to clean the litter box. Oh, T-Bo you were actually pretty solid in net so you can sweep the kitchen floor. Everyone else: Laundry! Scrub the bathroom floor! Scour the tub! Wash the windows! Clean the fridge! And then when you're finished you can apologize to Oscar. He was so traumatized by the loss that not even his swanky new bowls or kitty apartment I bought him could cheer him up. He actually jumped on my lamp for a post-dinner snuggle. He NEVER does that before like 9:00p p.m. See?:

Oh, I'm wearing a Sabres' hat...well...my head was cold. I also got new glasses this morning, ain't they swanky? They're red.

Um, yeah, so I'm gonna need you to go ahead and not play like that tomorrow. That'd be great. Millsey, maybe you just needed a day off. But, you could've just asked, you didn't have to take a nap in goal. I keed! I keed! But you do get the T-OC for the game. Don't take it personally. You, well, kinda stunk out loud today. Just take a break, we all still love you, but that was....pretty unimpressive.

Soupy and Sissy also get the grosser jobs, Soupy you have to clean the toilet (I had the stomach flu yesterday, enjoy) and Sissy you have to clean Oscar's litterbox. Millsey, you can wash the dishes instead (they're still gross and there's a lot of them), I've decided I'm more mad at the defensemen than you, but you still have to sit in the T-OC. Soupy and Sissy, you were both -4 on the evening. -4? WOW.

Granted, the Rangers had a lot of things working in their favor, they had a CRAZY long break between games, Shanahan was back and well, they're all feelin' swell because Henrik signed that big extension just the other day. Soooooo...well, they had many factors working in their favor... but that's no excuse to lose like that.

We'd all better pray to the gods of hockey that Boston loses tonight. Oh ... they're playing Toronto ... wwwwweeeeeeell ... it could happen!

At least my friend Scott is happy about tonight's win. He texted me to inform me. But its only fair, I texted him the last time we beat the Rangers.

I'm going to go comfort my poor distraught kitten.

Look at me! I'm Shvitzing!

By S(h)ara

The Sabres have been playing some pretty BA hockey these past few games. Even SabreBritney has managed to have 8 points in 9 games and register his first career hat trick. All these things should make me less worried about making the playoffs, right?

Oh if only that were so.

If anything, Anne and I have been more fatalistic since we've come within playoff range and actually moved into seventh place. "There's no way we can beat Ottawa, especially after Sunday's game. Oh we did? 5-1? And Britney had a hat trick? Ok well there is no way we can keep that up and win against the Leafs...oh Miller had a shutout? And Goose broke a 9 game pointless streak? Well, fine but the Rangers are so going to hand our asses to us on Saturday!"

Speaking of Saturday, anyone else with me that 1pm on a Saturday is a completely random time to have a hockey game? It totally disrupts my whole day.

Everything is so close in the Eastern Conference. Too close, if you ask me. Pommerdoodle even commented about it in his blog, saying that he had never seen the such a tight race for a playoff spot before. Yes, it's hard on the players, but it's hard on The Ladies of Sabretooth's House as well. We take our hockey watching seriously, and refuse to do anything that could possibly jinx the Sabres making the playoffs this year. For example:

Anne is not allowed to watch OT or a Shootout.

S(h)ara's Brian Campbell t-shirt is now cursed. Wearing it will inevitably cause the Sabres to lose.

Up until the Sabres loss to Boston a week ago, if S(h)ara watched the first period, the Sabres would lose.

Anne and S(h)ara cannot watch a Devils/Sabres game together as the game will result in a shootout loss.

Anne must wear her lucky Sabres hat to all games that she attends.

These are tried and true methods, people! Our efforts keep the Sabres from losing! We are doing our part!

In other exciting news, The Ladies of Sabretooth's House will be attending this Sunday's game agains the Pens. A friend of mine works at the Arena (actually, he's Anne's friend now too) and he was able to get us tickets for the game. We're pretty pumped--especially because our seats were messed up a bit (one in front of the other, instead of next to each other) and we are going to be "taken care of" (not in the mob sense) at the game. I'm really hoping this includes free parking. Anne is hoping it includes free beer. If we're lucky, maybe we'll get a pretzel out of the deal. Sidenote: what do they put in the Arena pretzels? Those things are like crack covered in salt. Amazing.

Ambrosia of the Hockey Gods

So needless to say, Anne and I are pretty pumped about the whole game on Sunday, not in the least because we're playing Anne's second favorite team.

I have a problem: now that King Derek has been named my new favorite Sabre, and my Campbell shirt is cursed, I need to invest in a new player t-shirt. However, a Roysie shirt is nowhere to be found. I've checked Dave and Adams, NHL.com, (you can still get a Briere Sabres shirt for 7 bucks!) Dicks and various other sporting stores in the area. NOTHING. Not even a Yo-Yo shirt. I could get a SabreBritney shirt, but I'm too wary. So if anyone knows where I can get a decent Roysie/Yo-Yo/Kotalik shirt, please let me know. It would be, by me, appreciated.

Sabres play the Rangers tomorrow. Blah, blah, Drury, blah, blah. Dude's at -15 or so. I'm not missing him so much right now.

Enough already!

by Anne

What is it going to take for people to stop mentioning Chris and Danny in their articles about the Sabres' successes?

Probably at least until people don't know exactly who I'm talking about when I say Chris and Danny or just Chris or just Danny when talking about the Sabres.

That day will come I'm sure. One day.

Game 57: Toronto at Boofalo

by Anne

What a game.

I can't handle games like that. It's just not fair. Dammit! I was so pumped by the post game excitement that I missed the first 20 minutes of Project Runway. Thanks a lot, Sabres! Just kidding! I watched the encore broadcast that immediately followed the original broadcast.

That game was kee-razy. There was some BITCHIN' goaltending on both ends of the ice. Toskala had a great game, but the skaters in front of him couldn't find the back of the net. We in Buffalo know how those games feel. But not lately!

BAMFs:

Could there be a doubt as to #1?

Ryan. Freakin'. Miller. Have my babies? I freakin' love you ,Millsey. You've always been my "well, duh." secret favorite player. But I feel like its too obvious to love you most, its basically a given. Everyone loves Ryan Miller, you have to. How can you possibly not? He's totally tank-ass. Please accept yet another Golden BAMF award for playing 60 stupendously solid minutes of hockey tonight. We all know how fond you are of playing a solid 58 minutes and then checking out and writing your journal entry for the night roundabout the 18:00 mark of the 3rd. Woooo!

For your crazy-ass bursts of crazy-ass saves

IF YOU'RE OUT AND ABOUT GIVE A HONK FOR THE GOOSE! In our only 2 victories over the Maple Leafs this season who has scored BOTH game winning goals? The GOOSE. You haven't scored too many goals this season, but thats not what you're all about. You come through in a pinch. Reed's Jewelers didn't seem to think so, but they're stupid.

Rake up those "Leafs" Goose!

Look at that face! You snap that 9 game point drought! HONK!

For scurrying around like a crazy little squirrel after a nut and feeding the Goose to bury home this goal, I pass along our 3rd place BAMF award to Mr. Daniel Pie-YAY!

Sometimes you feel like a nut

In other NHL news, Millsey was first star. Wait, that's not other news? I just felt like saying it. Woooo!

I'll give props to Toskala as well, he played an excellent game, stopping 25 of 26 shots ain't too shabby.

Fo' serious though, Kaner scored a goal last night in Chicago's 7-2 win over Columbus. Woooo!

That Saucy Minx reached the "30 wins in a season" milestone he's so dreadfully fond of. Well done, Martin, well done.

I wish I may, I wish I might

by Anne

It's times like these, when the post-season is gleaming on the horizon and we have a loose grip on a playoff spot that I start to wish one thing.

No, dear friends, I do not wish for injuries to befall other players, or for a blockbuster trade. I do not daydream about "it" nor do I wish for an elaborate series of losses by opposing Eastern Conference teams. Do I spend my waking hours hoping against hope that Teppo will come back? No. Do I wish for all of the other teams in the NHL to refuse to play the Sabres out of fear and in awe of our badass-itude? No, none of those things sit atop my wish list.

Times like these, when things are close and could go either way, I wish for that most horrible of all things. The worst imagineable thing to be. I shudder to even think that the thought of this fate could even cross my mind, but I'll admit it anyway.

More than anything right now I wish that

I was a Puckbunny.

Think about it! They go to the games, they don't give a crap about the score, or the standings, or a player's individual on-ice performance! All they care about is how good the hockey players look and which one they'd most like to um, be "intimate" with! (It's a family blog people...disregard previous curse words).

I can TOTALLY (try to) DO THAT. I didn't wear any Sabres gear to Sunday's game because they've won the games I attended when I didn't wear any Sabres logo-ed things. Instead, I opted to dress as though I were going out on a regular day and just felt the entire time that I looked like a puckbunny. Not that I am particularly puckbunny-esque in my overall appearance (translation= I'm not blonde, tan or skinny), but I felt like I looked like I was trying too hard.

Don't worry, people, I could talk for a great deal of time about the finer physical attributes of our beloved Buffalo Sabres (and I think I have) but, sadly, even a hockey player whom I deem attractive. Petey (if you've never met him in real life, I could understand dissention, but having met him and talked to him he's a nice guy and cute too) doesn't usually crack the top 20 in my list of favorite Sabres on the current active roster. However, Drew Stafford, who I don't know if I'd find attractive if he weren't such a sweet hockey player, is regularly on top of that list. My inner puckbunny is ashamed.

Would I find Sissy's ugly mug appealing off the ice? No, but if I met him would I squeal with joy? Absolutely.

If Clarke MacArthur were a random dude at a bar would I be ok with flirting with him? N- well actually I might.

Did I thoroughly enjoy when S(h)ara and I ventured into puckbunny land last month and developed our rosters of All-Star hottness? Of course I did! I mean, no! I was devastated by our lack of statistical proof of these players' greatness! My head still hangs in shame.

Let's say I were one day to meet Mr. Daniel Pie-YAY, would his sometimes floppy hair, dimples, dark brown puppy dog eyes, broad shoulders, tall stature, usually goofy but adorble smile--wait, what was I talking about?

From Urban Dictionary.com:

puck bunny:

A female, typically in her late teens to early 30s (but it can go lower) who attends hockey games, not to see a well fought game, or to see 2 goons duke it out, but just to look at the studly hockey players in the hoping that one night they'll roll over and see them in their bed, or in his bed, and has little or no interest in the sport or the score, and when a hockey player is brought up in coversation, will commonly use the words "tight, cute, sexy, ass, arms, shoulders" at any point in 1 sentence.

I can TOTALLY adopt that mentality! Who's with me?

Awesome

by Anne

Because everyone should watch this:

http://sabres.nhl.tv/team/launch.htm?type=fvod&id=12418&catid=


Hahahaha. Watch it and love Mike Robitaille even more as you do.

Woooooo!

What do you mean this doesn't mean we get to be #1?

by Anne

First, a few random thoughts from tonight's game:

Yo, Timmy, what's up with the fu manchu? As MK said: "Yo, where is his wife and/or girlfriend to get on top of that?"

After Ottawa scored, Grizz took personal offense, so he scored one like half a minute later. HOT. Grizz!

Pommerdoodle really loves chewing on his mouth guard, he must have some kind of oral fixation issues. Maybe he needs a new chew toy.

Who else really wanted Pratters to just beat the living snot out of Chris Neil?

I enjoy that the tribute video to Mike Robitaille was from "circa 1975." I love that it was "circa" does Roby not remember being traded to Vancouver and just took a "shot in the dark" guess at when he became Canuck?

That win felt great, it was a nice recovery from Sunday's game. 6 Sabres had 2 or more points on the night and no Sabres were a minus. Wowza.

That usual post-big-trade jump was felt in Carolina as they beat Boston, but not in Ottawa. Ha, I bet the 'Canes GM has a big ol' smile on his face after tonight. Maybe that trade wasn't such a great idea, Bryan Murray. Hahaha.

Soupy's agent is Ottawa based, and there was some murmuring that there would be some talking about contracts today. He said in a pregame interview that he was planning to be a Buffalo Sabre next season. JUST DO SOMETHING ALREADY!

Our 3rd place BAMF was nominated by S(h)ara. For taking a serious header into the boards, drawing out the trainers and not missing a shift, Sissy, you are our 3rd place man of BAMF. Enjoy your prize:

Protect that head in bronzed Grecian style

Our Silver Surfer of Bamfness was going to go to Millsey, but upon further investigation and reflection, and thanks to Britney's comments in his intermission interview, I pass on the Silver BAMF award to the Sabres' goaltending coach: Jim Corsi. For training Millsey and excellently scouting Ray "Ew" Emery, I honor you with this award to blind the opposition with your BAMFness:

Flash 'em yo' grillz, Cor-Z

This face is SCREAMING for a grill

Can there be any doubt as to who the Goldmember of BAMF is? Oh Thomas "SabreBritney:"Vanek. Words cannot express how proud I am of you. 3 goals tonight! 2 on the power play! I didn't realize until the post-game Lindy Ruff interview that this was your first career hat trick! I just assumed you had one last year. Wait, Staffy scored a hat trick before you? I find that surprising, but I'm so proud of you Britters! That was your best game of the season, and you really delivered! Having Timmy skating with you and Roysie seems to be doing wonders for you. I still think Staffy rocks hard too with you guys, but that's not what's important right now. BRITNEY! KEEPIN' THOSE BABIES. Enjoy your Golden King Midas hat:

Snazzy, no?

Happy Birthday Roby! 6-0! Woo!

8TH PLACE BEEYOTCHES!

Totally Not Hockey-Related

by Anne

I feel the need to update but I have absolutely nothing hockey-related to say.

The thing that's been on my mind the most is how much I can't stand the girl who sits next to me at work. Let's call her "Bessie". I'm convinced this girl isn't real and she is in fact an elaborate prank to wear on my psyche. Honestly, if I were to describe in detail the things this girl does, it would sound like I was just trying to tell a story and it wasn't all true.

Here are some of her finer points, and this isn't all of her best material either:

Bessie spends at least two hours a day on the phone chatting with friends and family, sometimes she gets into literal screaming matches with them and the entire floor can hear her, yet senior management says nothing.

Bessie once screamed for a 1/2 an hour over the phone to someone named Barbara about how Precious stole her job at the bar

The last day before Christmas she brought her son (aged 11) into work to hand out gifts. When the secretaries on the floor decided to do a wine toast in the conference room, she declared that she only drank top liquor and then gave the glass of wine to her 11-year-old son, in front of everybody. I was not present for this event, but its been described in detail to me twice by 2 different people. Did I mention her son is 11?

She openly discusses how when her sons are really bad she hits them with a belt

Bessie doesn't use the possessive form of words. Instead of saying "Go to Grandma's house," she chooses to say "Go to Grandma house." I find this incredibly annoying and it is now one of S(h)ara's favorite things to shout at me

Bessie once told our boss that, in order to find out something for him, she could call a friend of hers that works for some government office. He's going to tell her because he's always trying to sleep with her. Our boss is a married-with-3-kids-conservative lawyer around the age of 40. I accidentally brushed my hand against his today and still feel uncomfortable about it.

She started working at my office in October and since then, I think she's worked 1, maybe 2 full weeks. She leaves early, on average, twice a week. Last week it was 3 days. Yesterday she left 3 hours early.

She uses the printer at my desk, and is frequently coming into my workspace. When she needs to staple something, she rifles around on my desk until she can find it. My personal space barrier is about 8 feet when it comes to her.

Bessie isn't actually qualified for her job, she always has to ask me questions, and her job by definition means she should know more things than I do.

Bessie has 2 cell phones that are always on and ring frequently, most of the time on vibrate which is still incredibly loud.

She never says goodbye on the phone. I never talk to her on the phone, but I hear her just hang up the phone seeminly in midsentence all the time.

She's ugly.

She listens to 1 radio station that seems to play the same 18 songs on repeat all day. If I hear "Sad and Lonely" by Keyshia Cole one more time, I'm going to scream. Its an annoying song anyway, but try listening to it when its almost too quiet to hear it, but you still hear her repeating the same melody line over and OVER AND OVER.

She hums and sings along to the radio which, to me, is incredibly annoying when anyone does it, let alone at work and when the songs are bad.

She annoys me so much that even the sound of her typing is driving me slowly insane.

I feel better now.

Zednik Update

by Anne

I just watched the press conference with Richard Zednik's team of doctors and it all sounds good.

It sounds like, miraculously, he didn't suffer any injury to any major nerves or other veins near where the skate cut his neck. Time will tell if there's been damage to smaller nerves around the injury site, but for now, even the doctors are amazed at how lucky he was to not suffer more damage to any other tissue in his neck. Barring any unforseen complications or nerve damage, he should make a complete recovery.

Hard to believe that, at least it seems at this point, he can one day play hockey again. He'll remain in ICU today and then be moved to the floor (less critical care) within the next couple of days. No word on when he'll return to Florida. Apparently, like a typical hockey player, one of the first things he asked his doctor was when he could start training again. She said in the press conference that he would be out for the rest of the season, as it would take 6 weeks for him to be allowed to return to normal activity which means normal for a regular person, not a professional athlete.

The team's doctor was remarking that they have many plans in place for players who suffer vascular injuries during a game. He remarked, however, that none of those plans took into consideration a player with a major vascular injury getting to the bench under their own power and then walking down the tunnel.

SabreNation and all hockey fans, keep Richard, Jessica and Ella Zednik in your thoughts and prayers, as he's not 100% out of the woods yet.

And, hats off to you, Mr. Zednik, as Dr. Sonya Noor (whom I actually have met before, I realized) said, you have beautiful arteries. Well done, sir, well done.

Let's Move on... just a little

by Anne

I don't want people to stop talking about Richard Zednik or anything or pretend it wasn't a big deal, I just need to move on a little bit because I've been in a weird funk since last night, replaying the whole thing in my head over and over. So I'll move on to talk about Team #2.

When Marc-Andre Fleury was injured in December, Dany Sabourin and Ty Conklin were called on to step up to the plate. We in Buffalo might kind of remember Conkers as our back-up goaltender from last season after we shipped Marty off to Philly. Conkers didn't see much ice time as a Sabre and for that we were greatful as, when he played, he wasn't very good. Apparently, pressure suits Conkers just fine. He's been 14-3-3 since being called up from Wilkes-Barre to play for the Pengiuins. Wowza. He's having a fantastic season.

Then, Our Lord and Savior, Sidney Crosby was hurt by doing something he always does: sliding skates first into the boards. Am I the only one who saw him do that a few times and said: "That's an ankle injury waiting to happen." Then blam-o, what's that, Sid? A high ankle sprain? Dizamn, boy, that stinks. 6-8 weeks? Ouch. What ever will the Penguins do? It's not like they have the 2nd pick overall of the 2004 NHL entry draft to lead them triumphantly through Sidney's absence! Wouldn't a Calder Trophy winner be great to have in this situation? Even if they did, what's he going to do? Earn enough points to tie him for 2nd in the NHL, just three behind Alexander Ovechkin?!

Oh, wait. They do? Sweet!

Take a bow, you goal-scoring, non-English speaking bastard!

Ok, or you could do that too, Geno

There he is. Woooo! Malkin!

Ok, now that I'm warmed up, I'll give out 2 shoutout BAMF awards.

One goes to Mr. "I really want Anne to love me so I'll score my first NHL goal right in front of her": Patrick Kaleta. Ok, so, Patty, everyone, including the cameraman, thought Mair scored that goal at first, but once we saw the spotlights and the celebration we knew. Woooo! Kaleta!

For being consistent on your hits and scoring the Sabres' first goal to put us on the board, I honor you with this:

Yes, Patty, that goal, along with my currently weakened emotional state, and the fact that you're from Buffalo, and you're cute, and you seem so nice in spite of your penchant for crashing into people at high rates of speed, and you're consistent in what you do, all combines to allow you, a...(prospect)...into my SabreLovingHeart. I can't help it! Staffy is hurt! Grizz is inconsistent! I'm weak! But, Patty, you're on a 2-way "Anne's Love" contract. You can still be reassigned to sit in the back of my SabreLovingHeart with the rest of the team. Enjoy your time up front. As newest member, its your job to get Staffy his lemonade. Hey! He hurt his ankle! Pie-YAY will be glad for the relief. But don't piss off Lafontaine, he's been there longest and is very skeptical of new players that come up to sit with him. He's seen a lot of Sabres come and go over the years. And don't even think about sitting in Jay McKee's seat, I'm saving it for him.

Our second shoutout goes to the Buffalo Sabres Medical Staff. Woooo!

For the 2nd time in Sabres' history, the medical staff was called upon to treat a player with a severed artery, and did so successfully. Also, for the second time in only 6 months, a Buffalo pro-sports team's medical staff was called upon to react quickly to treat a life threatening injury, and came through with flying colors. So for Richard Zednik, Clint Malarchuk, and Kevin Everett, we thank you, Medical Staffs of Western New York. Enjoy:

Congratulations to Millsey on your 100th win!! Well done! I wish it could've been more of a big deal for you! We'll tear it up for 101!

That was...

by Anne

I'm glad we won, we needed those 2 points badly

I'm glad Kaleta notched his first NHL goal and Petey got a point that it happened in Buffalo and I was there to see it

I'm glad that Britney, Pommerdoodle and Roysie scored

I'm glad that the PP was 3/4

I'm glad the Sabres won the first game Jimmy attended

Okay, so that being said:

I don't think I need to describe in detail what we all know happened. Watching these things on TV is extremely different from seeing them in person. There's no one talking you through it, no replay to see exactly what happened, nothing, just some initial chaos and silence. And, it happened right in front of me and Jimmy. All of us in the crowd knew what happened, that amount of blood could only come from an injured artery, but exactly how it happened was a mystery to us all. All I could think of was "Please don't let Jimmy freak out." I flipped into maternal "OMG keep the kid calm" mode which is helpful because I tend to freak out less when there's someone there I need to concentrate on keeping calm.

A man behind us a few rows fainted, really freaking out his son, but he must've been okay when he came to because they didn't take him out of the arena.

They sure took their SWEET ASS time cleaning up the ice. The trail of blood was there for what felt like years. Gross.

Ryan Miller looked visibly shaken by what happened right next to him. He crouched over a lot more often than normal when play resumed. Right after it happened and Zednik was off the ice he skated over to the top of the opposite face off circle and just took a knee, Pominville came over and did the same next to him, if not to pray then just to pause and stop their hearts from racing.

When it was announced that Richard Zednik was stable and being taken to the hospital everyone in the arena gave him a standing ovation. It was a good feeling to know that all the Buffalo fans could put aside our competitive edge and show our support for an injured player. It felt weird to resume the game, but after a shift or two it felt like nothing had happened. All I can say is, if it had been a Sabre that was injured, I don't even know what would've happened, I know I probably would've been crying, I can't lie.

Interesting post injury game notes:

There was no Carubba Collision of the Game

There was no "Shipping Off to Boston" when they went on the PP

There was this ASSHOLE behind us SCREAMING the entire game the most rude ridiculous things at the players. The women in front of us kept yelling at him to shut up when he was being exceptionally annoying. He stopped screaming when Zednik was hurt. Good to see that even that douchebag could figure out that it would be wildly inappropriate to continue his ridiculous screamings when play resumed.

Tomorrow, when the game is less fresh, I'll pass out the BAMF awards.

GO SABRES!! Welcome back Timmy!

Everyone say a prayer to whomever it is you pray for Richard Zednik and to the safety of all professional athletes.