Odds and Ends

- In honor of Danny Paille's new contract, I sound a barbaric "Yippe Paille, Mother@#!$@&!" (Link includes language that might not be safe for work.)

I was a little surprised that the deal was only for two years, but I'm not sure it isn't a good idea. Paille's only played one full season in the NHL and while it was a pretty impressive one at times, I think teams need to be careful about the trend of investing a lot of time and money into young players based on potential. You can probably get away with doing that for a couple of people, but if you do it with too many you run a risk of really screwing yourself if someone doesn't pan out. If I'm understanding things correctly, Paille will still be a RFA at the end of this deal and at that point I think the Sabres will have a better idea what kind of player they have on their hands. Maybe it costs them a little more money in the long run, but it'll be based on a much larger sample. I'm definitely curious to see what Paille develops into. I did not expect 19 goals from him - I'm not sure he expected 19 goals from himself based on some interviews - so it'll be interesting to see if that keeps up or if he settles into being more of a mucker and grinder. One thing's for sure, the money is very good. I was surprised he's getting less than a million in his first year. That's a very good cap hit.

- I'm not a puck bunny, I think we've made that clear. I'm married, I'm increasingly older than a lot of the players, and quite frankly, considering some of the stories I've heard about some of the Sabres, I'm not entirely convinced bagging a hockey player is all that hard much less something to be proud of. If I ever dump my husband it's not going to be for a skanky-ass pro athlete. I am, however, a female and I do occasionally notice if a hockey player happens to be good-looking. In response to a fan video posted on Puck Daddy (you can't see me but I'm rolling my eyes at the stupid name of that otherwise fine blog), Margee of Sportsquee fame is taking a poll on who fans think are the best-looking players in the NHL. For the curious, here's my list in no particular order.

1. Henrik Tallinder, BUF (Unless this is your first day, this should be obvious.)
2. Jochen Hecht, BUF (I get why he isn't a big puck bunny target - he's a little older, he's married, he has young children, he seems terribly shy - but it doesn't change the fact that Jochen is Smokin'.)
3. Travis Zajac, NJ
4. Mike Fisher, OTT (Yeah, even if he is a Senator.)
5. Sammy Pahlsson, ANA
6. Mike Komisarek, MON
7. Jay McKee, STL (Forever and ever, amen.)
8. Saku Koivu, MON (Also owner of the best name in hockey.)
9. Marty Turco, DAL (Dependably good-looking. He's like the neighborhood dad you had a crush on when you were a kid.)
10. Nicklas Lidstrom, DET

Guys, feel free to chime in with your own list of dreamy players! If you want to know even more about my Squee history and you missed it the first time around, check out my full interview with Margee. And for pete's sake, read her blog.

- Speaking of Sportsquee, today Life_As_A_Redhead dropped this amazing link on me in the comment section over there. It's a website for a cattle breeder but check this out (click on the picture to see a larger image because you really need to see the print):


This might be the best thing I've seen all week. I'm always amused when hockey shows up in unexpected places like this.

- In roughly 48 hours from this typing, I'll be leaving The Dark Knight. I'm super stoked. Tickets have already been purchased for an IMAX showing and it better be good because I can't remember the last time Mark and I have both been looking forward to a movie so much.

- Still not enough Heather B. for ya? Then check out this post, co-written by Katebits and me. (You should be reading the Willful Caboose every day anyway.) Kate and I have longed dreamed of being the only two people in Buffalo to buy season tickets and once again, we got a little lost in the fantasy.