(Quick note to those of you in the playoff pool. Line-ups for the first week are due by noon on Wednesday.)
This could be a long one because I'm going to do the whole Eastern Conference at once just so it all gets done before the playoffs start. (Do I really need to say, "This could be a long one?" Is it at all shocking when I talk for a really long time?)
1. MONTREAL CANADIENS
I dig the Canadiens. There's no one on their team who I hate and there are even a few people who I really like (Saku Koivu and Mike Komisarek being the big two). Classic jerseys. A real hockey tradition. And I love their crowds. It can be annoying when you're on the other side but I love how quick Montreal crowds are to express themselves and I'm not going to lie, I love the "Ole Ole" song. I find myself singing along even when they're playing against the Sabres. The Canadiens are also really, really fun to watch. I love their fast back-and-forth style and I'm in awe of their powerplay. Going into the playoffs, the Habs are my favorite on the Eastern Conference side. We'll see if it sticks.
2. PITTSBURGH PENGUINS
I was born in Pittsburgh and raised by Pittsburghers. Every childhood vacation involved Pittsburgh and I still have family there. The Mario Lemieux-led Penguins were the first hockey team I was really aware of. Heck, my first jersey was a Penguins jersey (Ron Francis #10). When all is said and done, I probably should be a Penguins fan right now. Even though fate stepped in and steered me toward the team and city that has no pro sports championships instead of plenty of them (thanks, fate!), I do still have a soft spot for Pittsburgh and I do mostly like the Penguins. Now that I've managed to dig through the media hype I think Sidney Crosby really is the cat's pajamas. And I'm totally in love with Evgeni Malkin. I'm amazed at how he just took over while Crosby was out and I love his silent, slightly embarrassed smile. Part of me hopes he never learns to speak English. (Part of me believes he speaks perfect English and just chooses not to) Really, do we need to hear "We're just going to take it one game at a time" from yet another player? I think Crosby has that covered. I am decidedly pro-Penguins.
3. WASHINGTON CAPITALS
Remember how Kevin Sylvester kept saying, "All hockey fans would be happy to see the Caps in the playoffs" and other similar things? Kevin forgot to poll me. I fully acknowledge that Alexander Ovechkin is an amazingly gifted player and barring a career-ending injury or a total collapse will be one of the best players of my lifetime. But I'm just not sure how I feel about him. There are times when I get a kick out of him and there are times when I feel like he's veering awfully close to showboating. And again, while I fully acknowledge that the NHL could use a good kick of personality, that's never been my thing. I hate running backs who start dancing before they're in the end zone and defensive players who celebrate a tackle like they just won the lottery. I hate baseball players who stand at home plate and watch the ball soar over the fence. I also hit Ovechkin Overload weeks ago. And now he's dragged his team into the playoffs? The hype is about to go off the charts insane. I don't know if I can handle it.
The good news for the Caps is that I don't find the team itself particularly offensive and I don't outright hate anyone on the team. And the good news for Ovechkin (because you know he's weeping at the thought that I don't like him) is that once upon a time I refused to like Sidney Crosby because of the endless hype and adoration and what finally changed my mind was watching Sid in the playoffs last year. So I'm not completely closing the door on the Caps but right now it doesn't look good. This one could definitely go either way.
4. NEW JERSEY DEVILS
This is another team where blogging rears its head and influences my opinion. I've spent many an hour lounging around Interchangeable Parts and emailing Pookie and Schnookie, the ladies who run the joint, so I know a lot about the players on the Devils and have even come to like a few of them. If I didn't talk to Pookie and Schnookie so much I would probably never have given the Devils a second thought and might outright hate them after all the stupid shootout losses this season. But I like them okay and I love Marty Brodeur so I'll cheer for the Devils in the right situation. They're not the most exciting team to watch but I fear the Eastern Conference is going to end up being a battle of the lesser evil.
5. NEW YORK RANGERS
If this season ends with Chris Drury hoisting a Stanley Cup - and Kate and I have had endless discussions about how that might be the only way this season can end - I'm building a bunker under our apartment building. Then I'm digging underground tunnels that connect the bunker to the parking lot at work. And then I'm constructing a bubble to live in during those times I have to interact with the outside world. I'm cutting myself off from media of all kind - newspapers, magazines, sports radio, message boards, and 99.7% of the blogs I read. I will do all that and somehow, some way I'll still end up hearing about Chris Drury and how his Little League triumph prepared him for this day when he would lead the New York Rangers to the Stanley Cup and I'll still end up hearing about how the Buffalo Sabres have doomed themselves to a history of defeat and despair and Bucky Gleason will call it the Curse of Captain Clutch and in thirty years I'll be the haggard od woman with no teeth and a swarm of cats who stands at the corner outside the arena all day yelling, "CAPTAIN CLUTCH NEVER WON US NOTHING AND WASN'T VERY CLUTCH IN THE FACE-OFF CIRCLE AGAINST JASON SPEZZA!" and "THE SABRES WANTED TO MATCH BUT CAPTAIN CLUTCH WANTED TO BE A DIRTY RANGER!" and people will point and laugh and throw things. I would hope that this is a future we all want to avoid.
(Also, Jaromir Jagr? Sean Avery? Scott Gomez? It's like someone decided to dump the very douchiest of douchebags on one team. No one with a soul could possibly cheer for the Rangers.)
6. PHILADELPHIA FLYERS
In the battle of Former Sabres Lost in the Last Calendar Year, Daniel Briere is the one I'd be the most okay with winning it all if you put a gun to Mark's head and made me pick one. (I asked Mark what he would say if someone put a guy to my head and told him to choose Drury, Briere, or Brian Campbell and he said, "I'd tell them to shoot you," and then attempted to justify it with, "You wouldn't want to live in a world where any of those guys won a Cup!" I can't decide if that's really sweet or really disturbing.) I think Bucky and Co. would still go crazy but maybe not quite as crazy and I like Danny enough that it wouldn't make me throw up.
That said, it's the Flyers. I wasn't in Buffalo for most of the Buffalo-Philly history but even I hate the Flyers. And even if we just go by this year, how can you cheer for the the Flyers? The gooning it up? The stupid suspensions? The horrific mishandling of concussions? How many years has this franchise taken off Simon Gagne's career already? No, I'm afraid the Flyers are unacceptable.
7. OTTAWA SENATORS
I don't hate Ottawa the way some Buffalo fans do but I don't love them enough that I don't think this whole season has been pretty hilarious. With apologies to the Senators fans who I do know, like, and respect, this season has been a delight to watch. From the day the puck dropped against the Islanders I think Sabres fans knew we were going to be in for an up and down season. The Senators went something like 15-2 to start the season. Everyone was ready to hand them the Conference title if not the Stanley Cup. Even the most pessimistic and cautious fan had to be feeling pretty good about that kind of record. And then the team just fell apart. Gloriously and spectacularly. And now they get Pittsburgh in the first round? Without Daniel Alfredsson and Mike Fisher? Oh, Ottawa. You're toast. You're toast and yes, I think it's pretty entertaining. There is some small part of me that wouldn't be opposed to the Sens winning (with Mike Fisher) some year but if they pull it off this year it'll be way too much of a feel-good story. ("The struggling Sens pull off a first round upset in the name of their fallen captain!") This year I'm pulling for the collapse to be complete. The Ottawa Senators are a living example of why maybe it was better to just miss the playoffs instead of squeaking in.
8. BOSTON BRUINS
I can't think of any players on the Bruins who really disgust me (I kind of like Zdeno Chara) but I've had my fill of them for one year. The only thing the division heavy schedule really accomplished for me was making me hate them. And not in a "I love to hate them" kind of way. More like in a "I hate them and would rather pull my toenails out with tweezers than watch them for another second" kind of way. I do not want to see this team, playing this kind of hockey win anything. Ugh.
Official picks:
MONTREAL vs. BOSTON - Montreal in 4
PITTSBURGH vs. OTTAWA - Pittsburgh in 5
WASHINGTON vs. PHILADELPHIA - Washington in 6
NEW JERSEY vs. NEW YORK - New York in 6
Showing posts with label boston bruins. Show all posts
Showing posts with label boston bruins. Show all posts
Monday, April 7, 2008
Saturday, April 5, 2008
And Now For the Exciting Conclusion...
Around 6:58 I decided that since it was the last Sabres game of the season (:::sniff:::) I would do a live blog. The game was kind of boring though - I'm so glad we got to end the season with a trapping team that we've played 18 times in the last week - so it really ended up being meanderings and snippets of conversations that Mark and I had during the game. Just so you've been warned.
The pregame quote is from Thomas Vanek. My feelings about Vanek have been all over the map, but at the very least, I can appreciate him not trying to put a pretty ribbon on the season. He knows he's expected to be the guy who carries the team when it needs it and he knows his struggles are part of why they missed the playoffs. As frustrating as it was to watch him at times, I do respect that and I appreciate the way he's never shied away from criticism. (I also think he'll be just fine.)
FIRST PERIOD
Part of the reason I'll never cheer for Boston is all that yellow especially on the goaltender. I hate those yellow pads. Ugh.
Five and Dime (Tallinder and Lydman) are separated! My world is rocked! The defensive pairings are Tallinder-Numminen, Lydman-Weber, Sekera-Spacek. Very interesting. I wonder if Lindy Ruff is considering breaking up Tallinder and Lydman and Sekera and Weber next year or if he just felt like tinkering. I figured he'd just plug Teppo in with Spacek but maybe he wants to get a feel for how someone who will definitely be here next year looks with Spacek since he's going to need a new partner. I'm probably over thinking this though.
Lots of discussion here on Drew Stafford being scratched. Is he not 100% healthy? Does Lindy want to give some of the guys who haven't played some ice time? Is it a reminder that his spot is not guaranteed and that he needs to work hard in the off-season after what has to be considered a disappointing season?
TEPPOOOOOOOO! Doing exactly what Vanek's Hair was talking about in the comments on an earlier post: Gathering up the puck and immediately getting it out of the zone. Nothing flashy just good solid defense.
Chintzy call on Vanek. I thought refs swallowed their whistles at the end of the season? That seemed to be the case in the last few games. I'm a game behind but for the record, I was OUTRAGED that Begin didn't get called for SOMETHING for his hit on Sekera in the Montreal game the other night. I know sometimes you just catch guys in bad spots (though even accidental hits from behind should be penalized) but Begin wrapped an arm around Sekera and slammed him into the boards. I'm pretty sure that's supposed to be illegal.
For once, I think Harry Neale might be right. No defenseman will ever match Bobby Orr's two Art Ross trophies. I know the league was different back then but I can't even wrap my brain around a d-man leading the league in points. If I could go back in time and see any hockey player who I missed, it would be Orr.
Mark's favorite commercial of this season: The Wizard of 'Za who thinks everyone in Middle Earth would make a good roommate. My favorite commercial of the year: Sven, the Scandinavian PDA, who makes sure his charges are on time for kung fu and dressed appropriately for the weather. Runner-up status to the Geico race card kid. "When it comes to Mike Wallace, the story ends with me putting him in the wall."
Mark makes an interesting point. Last off-season the Sabres were kind of caught off-guard. It was pretty obvious that they were expecting Chris Drury to re-sign and were thrown when he didn't. That was all immediately followed by the Vanek offer sheet. The organization suddenly had holes it wasn't planning on having and not a ton of time to cover those holes and they had no idea how various players were going to respond to being in different roles. This time around Darcy and Lindy have had an entire season to watch the team and assess its strengths and weaknesses. Going into draft day and free agency, they'll know what needs addressed and who can be cut loose. Should be an interesting off-season.
Mark: "Let's trade Max and Harry Neale for a third round pick and a new color man."
It's too bad Mike Ryan doesn't have more talent because he's so fast. He's had at least two breakaways but he just doesn't seem to know what to do with the puck once he gets near the net. He's not coming back next year, right? I like his accent but between Spacek and Sekera I think I can make do.
The final dagger of this season: having to play the most boring team in the history of the NHL in the final game. This game has Admiral Ackbar written all over it.
A little shove to Mike Ryan's head slides his helmet up to the top of his head. Cute but his helmet is way too lose for my taste. Tighten that chin-strap, Mike! Wherever you are next year, I want you healthy!
INTERMISSION
Kevin, Rob, and Robi discuss their pluses and minuses for the season. I'm not a big fan of Robi's - they're too specific for the conversation, I think - but I can't argue with Kevin (plus - Jason Pominville, minus - injuries to Spacek and Connolly) or Rob (plus - Derek Roy, minus - Tallinder and Lydman) no matter how much I might want to. (I'll let you guess which one I desperately want to argue.) I'll save the specifics though because I'm going to touch on some of them during the off-season.
SECOND PERIOD
I feel like this game has been going on for days. Days.
Beautiful pass from Yo-Yo, scorched shot from Vanek for a goal. I'm surprised that shot didn't fly through the back of the net. FINALLY. Roy-Z gets the secondary assist and a 12 game point streak.
Great defensive play from a Boston player on a Vanek breakaway. Player X stretched out on the ice and got all puck. Very nice.
MSG flashes a stat showing the players who have scored the most goals since the All-Star break. The top three are Ovechkin, Vanek, and Malkin. Vanek has still been kind of streaky with his goals coming in big bunches but it is nice to be reminded that his production really did amp up in the second half of the season. The two guys around him had awesome second halves and Van was right there with them.
RJ endorses Alexi Kovalev for the Hart. At first I was sure he just screwed up Alexander Ovechkin's name because he was so unhesitating but no, he meant Kovalev. Props to RJ for marching to a different drum. I haven't heard anyone else mention his name and he probably does deserve to at least be in the discussion. The Canadiens are one of the best teams in the league and he's a huge reason why.
Vanek with a PP goal on a very nice tip-in to make it 2-0. Love the Bruin quickly firing the puck down the ice like no one noticed it went in. (I totally didn't see it go in.)
Derek trips bringing the puck up the ice. I missed whether it was a real trip or an exaggerated trip but I feel pretty good saying that last year's Derek would've stopped and looked for a call instead of scrambling across the ice before getting on his feet again, desperate to keep the puck.
Teppo looks pretty good for a guy who hasn't played in the NHL in a year. I think the old man probably does have another year in him. Do the Sabres try to re-sign Teppo for another year? Does Teppo stay in Buffalo after everything that went down this season? Does another team take a chance on a guy who had open heart surgery the previous year? I am all about Teppo sticking around for another season. I'm not sold on Nathan Paetsch in the top six and as much as some of the young'uns have grown this year, I think we do need a veteran in the mix. Why not a veteran the team already knows and loves? I will admit though, if I'm Teppo, no matter how much I love the rest of the team, it might be tough to come back to the Sabres. I understand why the team did what they did but it doesn't mean it wouldn't hurt my feelings if I were in his position.
INTERMISSION
MSG is showing Caps highlights but I can't hear them over the Muppets video that Mark is inexplicably watching on YouTube. I'm a huge fan of the Muppets and YouTube, I'm just a little confused as to why Mark is watching that particular video right now. (But we do spend the last few minutes of intermission laughing at Muppets videos.)
Kevin, Rob, Harry and Robi make their postseason predictions. In the Western Conference I'm not sure what I think although I'm leaning toward Detroit. (They say Anaheim, San Jose, San Jose, and Minnesota respectively.) In the Eastern Conference I agree with Rob and Harry (Montreal), think Mike is crazy (New Jersey), and will stab myself in the ear with a screwdriver if Kevin is right (New York Rangers).
As the last team standing Robi picks Jersey (still crazy), Kevin picks the Ducks (please, God, no) and Harry and Rob pick San Jose (I'll stab myself in the other ear).
THIRD PERIOD
I really like Roberto Luongo (as far as I know) but his Stanley Cup commercial is a little funny since the Canucks didn't even qualify for the playoffs. Also "That's how a Cup changes everything. I guess. I've never gotten out of the first round so I'm going on hearsay."
Harry Neale just said something along the lines of "The Sabres have been the better team for two periods so only one more to go." You know what happened against Ottawa after Harry declared that the Sabres had a stranglehold on the game, right? And what happened after Harry started praising the Sabres halfway through the first period of the Montreal game for keeping the Habs off the scoreboard in the first period? We're doomed.
Holy cow, I think I broke my nose just watching Weber fly into the boards face first. Ouch. Wear a visor, Mike! Please! Oh, geez, that was even worse in slow motion. I can't believe he got up so easily from that.
Awww, Roy-Z gives up the empty netter to give Van the hat-trick and make the final score 3-0. Mark joked that Van should have passed it back. The perfect capper to the season would have been them passing the puck back and forth until they've both missed the chance to take a shot which they've done more than a few times. But I like this ending better. It's not the playoffs but it's a nice moment. And there are even hats on the ice! In Boston!
And... that is all she wrote for the 2007-2008 Buffalo Sabres. Sad. I don't think I believe it yet.
The pregame quote is from Thomas Vanek. My feelings about Vanek have been all over the map, but at the very least, I can appreciate him not trying to put a pretty ribbon on the season. He knows he's expected to be the guy who carries the team when it needs it and he knows his struggles are part of why they missed the playoffs. As frustrating as it was to watch him at times, I do respect that and I appreciate the way he's never shied away from criticism. (I also think he'll be just fine.)
FIRST PERIOD
Part of the reason I'll never cheer for Boston is all that yellow especially on the goaltender. I hate those yellow pads. Ugh.
Five and Dime (Tallinder and Lydman) are separated! My world is rocked! The defensive pairings are Tallinder-Numminen, Lydman-Weber, Sekera-Spacek. Very interesting. I wonder if Lindy Ruff is considering breaking up Tallinder and Lydman and Sekera and Weber next year or if he just felt like tinkering. I figured he'd just plug Teppo in with Spacek but maybe he wants to get a feel for how someone who will definitely be here next year looks with Spacek since he's going to need a new partner. I'm probably over thinking this though.
Lots of discussion here on Drew Stafford being scratched. Is he not 100% healthy? Does Lindy want to give some of the guys who haven't played some ice time? Is it a reminder that his spot is not guaranteed and that he needs to work hard in the off-season after what has to be considered a disappointing season?
TEPPOOOOOOOO! Doing exactly what Vanek's Hair was talking about in the comments on an earlier post: Gathering up the puck and immediately getting it out of the zone. Nothing flashy just good solid defense.
Chintzy call on Vanek. I thought refs swallowed their whistles at the end of the season? That seemed to be the case in the last few games. I'm a game behind but for the record, I was OUTRAGED that Begin didn't get called for SOMETHING for his hit on Sekera in the Montreal game the other night. I know sometimes you just catch guys in bad spots (though even accidental hits from behind should be penalized) but Begin wrapped an arm around Sekera and slammed him into the boards. I'm pretty sure that's supposed to be illegal.
For once, I think Harry Neale might be right. No defenseman will ever match Bobby Orr's two Art Ross trophies. I know the league was different back then but I can't even wrap my brain around a d-man leading the league in points. If I could go back in time and see any hockey player who I missed, it would be Orr.
Mark's favorite commercial of this season: The Wizard of 'Za who thinks everyone in Middle Earth would make a good roommate. My favorite commercial of the year: Sven, the Scandinavian PDA, who makes sure his charges are on time for kung fu and dressed appropriately for the weather. Runner-up status to the Geico race card kid. "When it comes to Mike Wallace, the story ends with me putting him in the wall."
Mark makes an interesting point. Last off-season the Sabres were kind of caught off-guard. It was pretty obvious that they were expecting Chris Drury to re-sign and were thrown when he didn't. That was all immediately followed by the Vanek offer sheet. The organization suddenly had holes it wasn't planning on having and not a ton of time to cover those holes and they had no idea how various players were going to respond to being in different roles. This time around Darcy and Lindy have had an entire season to watch the team and assess its strengths and weaknesses. Going into draft day and free agency, they'll know what needs addressed and who can be cut loose. Should be an interesting off-season.
Mark: "Let's trade Max and Harry Neale for a third round pick and a new color man."
It's too bad Mike Ryan doesn't have more talent because he's so fast. He's had at least two breakaways but he just doesn't seem to know what to do with the puck once he gets near the net. He's not coming back next year, right? I like his accent but between Spacek and Sekera I think I can make do.
The final dagger of this season: having to play the most boring team in the history of the NHL in the final game. This game has Admiral Ackbar written all over it.
A little shove to Mike Ryan's head slides his helmet up to the top of his head. Cute but his helmet is way too lose for my taste. Tighten that chin-strap, Mike! Wherever you are next year, I want you healthy!
INTERMISSION
Kevin, Rob, and Robi discuss their pluses and minuses for the season. I'm not a big fan of Robi's - they're too specific for the conversation, I think - but I can't argue with Kevin (plus - Jason Pominville, minus - injuries to Spacek and Connolly) or Rob (plus - Derek Roy, minus - Tallinder and Lydman) no matter how much I might want to. (I'll let you guess which one I desperately want to argue.) I'll save the specifics though because I'm going to touch on some of them during the off-season.
SECOND PERIOD
I feel like this game has been going on for days. Days.
Beautiful pass from Yo-Yo, scorched shot from Vanek for a goal. I'm surprised that shot didn't fly through the back of the net. FINALLY. Roy-Z gets the secondary assist and a 12 game point streak.
Great defensive play from a Boston player on a Vanek breakaway. Player X stretched out on the ice and got all puck. Very nice.
MSG flashes a stat showing the players who have scored the most goals since the All-Star break. The top three are Ovechkin, Vanek, and Malkin. Vanek has still been kind of streaky with his goals coming in big bunches but it is nice to be reminded that his production really did amp up in the second half of the season. The two guys around him had awesome second halves and Van was right there with them.
RJ endorses Alexi Kovalev for the Hart. At first I was sure he just screwed up Alexander Ovechkin's name because he was so unhesitating but no, he meant Kovalev. Props to RJ for marching to a different drum. I haven't heard anyone else mention his name and he probably does deserve to at least be in the discussion. The Canadiens are one of the best teams in the league and he's a huge reason why.
Vanek with a PP goal on a very nice tip-in to make it 2-0. Love the Bruin quickly firing the puck down the ice like no one noticed it went in. (I totally didn't see it go in.)
Derek trips bringing the puck up the ice. I missed whether it was a real trip or an exaggerated trip but I feel pretty good saying that last year's Derek would've stopped and looked for a call instead of scrambling across the ice before getting on his feet again, desperate to keep the puck.
Teppo looks pretty good for a guy who hasn't played in the NHL in a year. I think the old man probably does have another year in him. Do the Sabres try to re-sign Teppo for another year? Does Teppo stay in Buffalo after everything that went down this season? Does another team take a chance on a guy who had open heart surgery the previous year? I am all about Teppo sticking around for another season. I'm not sold on Nathan Paetsch in the top six and as much as some of the young'uns have grown this year, I think we do need a veteran in the mix. Why not a veteran the team already knows and loves? I will admit though, if I'm Teppo, no matter how much I love the rest of the team, it might be tough to come back to the Sabres. I understand why the team did what they did but it doesn't mean it wouldn't hurt my feelings if I were in his position.
INTERMISSION
MSG is showing Caps highlights but I can't hear them over the Muppets video that Mark is inexplicably watching on YouTube. I'm a huge fan of the Muppets and YouTube, I'm just a little confused as to why Mark is watching that particular video right now. (But we do spend the last few minutes of intermission laughing at Muppets videos.)
Kevin, Rob, Harry and Robi make their postseason predictions. In the Western Conference I'm not sure what I think although I'm leaning toward Detroit. (They say Anaheim, San Jose, San Jose, and Minnesota respectively.) In the Eastern Conference I agree with Rob and Harry (Montreal), think Mike is crazy (New Jersey), and will stab myself in the ear with a screwdriver if Kevin is right (New York Rangers).
As the last team standing Robi picks Jersey (still crazy), Kevin picks the Ducks (please, God, no) and Harry and Rob pick San Jose (I'll stab myself in the other ear).
THIRD PERIOD
I really like Roberto Luongo (as far as I know) but his Stanley Cup commercial is a little funny since the Canucks didn't even qualify for the playoffs. Also "That's how a Cup changes everything. I guess. I've never gotten out of the first round so I'm going on hearsay."
Harry Neale just said something along the lines of "The Sabres have been the better team for two periods so only one more to go." You know what happened against Ottawa after Harry declared that the Sabres had a stranglehold on the game, right? And what happened after Harry started praising the Sabres halfway through the first period of the Montreal game for keeping the Habs off the scoreboard in the first period? We're doomed.
Holy cow, I think I broke my nose just watching Weber fly into the boards face first. Ouch. Wear a visor, Mike! Please! Oh, geez, that was even worse in slow motion. I can't believe he got up so easily from that.
Awww, Roy-Z gives up the empty netter to give Van the hat-trick and make the final score 3-0. Mark joked that Van should have passed it back. The perfect capper to the season would have been them passing the puck back and forth until they've both missed the chance to take a shot which they've done more than a few times. But I like this ending better. It's not the playoffs but it's a nice moment. And there are even hats on the ice! In Boston!
And... that is all she wrote for the 2007-2008 Buffalo Sabres. Sad. I don't think I believe it yet.
Friday, February 8, 2008
The Wheels on the Bus Fall Off in the Third Period
First a few comments on the Tom Golisano interview:
1. Tom, don't think we're impressed that you're showing your face during a win streak while avoiding us during the ten game losing streak.
2. That interview was clearly very carefully planned. Have you seen the commercial Roby does for the back healing guy? The one where's he's obviously reading cue cards? Yeah, that's what he sounded like tonight.
3. If Buffalo is such a great place to be, Tom, then why are you being beamed in via satellite? If the team is so much fun to watch why no TV shots of you grinning in your box at HSBC Arena? At least Darcy Regier shows his face in public.
4. Dude, I get what you're saying about it creating cap relief but you might want to avoid expressing sentiments that sound anything like, "Boy, we're really lucky ol' Teppo had to have that heart surgery, huh?"
5. Buffalo owners suck. No wonder we think God hates us.
That said, I don't really care to dredge up the Drury/Briere fiasco yet again. Could management have done something different to keep one or both of them here? Maybe. Probably. Would it be nice to hear Golisano take some blame? Sure. Should he be called out for his garbage? Absolutely. Is anything going to change what happened last summer now? No. Seriously, how long are we going to hammer the same people for the same mistakes over and over and over? We're more than halfway through the season. At some point don't you have to step back and see if management learned from the mistakes? Jochen Hecht was signed during the season. Not liking the player or the contract doesn't make that any less true. They've been negotiating with Brian Campbell during the season. The fact that a contract hasn't been signed is not management's fault since it is ultimately Campbell who has to sign the thing. Don't complain about the team a) not trading Campbell or b) not re-signing Campbell until we see what actually happens. They have another huge free agent coming up in Ryan Miller. Instead of talking about Miller going to the Red Wings, let's see WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENS.
And please, for the love of all that is holy and right in this world, stop calling Thomas Vanek lazy! He's not lazy! Hesitant? Yes! Lacking in confidence? Possibly! Lazy? NO! He's not converting consistently but he's working hard. His goal tonight was created by his own work. His backchecking has been miles better. He's generally in good position on the ice. You wanna know why he looks slow? Do you?! BECAUSE HE'S SLOW! BECAUSE HE'S NOT FAST!
Oh, man, I'm doing that "make a point by asking yourself a question then answering it" thing which I hate. There's someone at my place of employment who does that and I find it to be annoying and a little condescending. I apologize. I'll take a deep breath before we move on to the game.
- I hate shootouts. I really do. They have nothing to do with who has the better team/shooters/goalies or who played the best that night. (Which is not to say that I think we deserved to win tonight because we did not.) The NHL keeps saying shootouts are for the fans but I wonder what kind of result they would find if they polled fans at games. I kind of feel like this was a change they made in an attempt to appeal to the mythological casual fan while ignoring what traditional fans would prefer but that might just be my bias showing.
I hate ties though. I hate them. Maybe it's because I grew up watching baseball and not hockey but I feel very strongly that there should be a winner and a loser at the end of a sporting event. I'd like to see the NHL increase the overtime period to ten minutes of 4 on 4. As it is now, OTs are always the same. Four minutes of teams trying not to lose followed by one minute of pretty intense back and forth. By the time anyone creates any pressure, the period is over. I think if we went ten minutes, more often than not we'd end up with a winnder.
- That said, nice try, Hank. Couldn't quite get it over Auld's leg but it was a good move nonetheless. (The fact that one of our best defensive d-men looks better than any of our forwards in the shootout shows you that either a) shootouts are a stupid way to decide a game or b) our forwards are really, really bad.)
- Thank you, Dmitri Kalinin for taking a penalty to protect your goalie. Wow, I didn't think any of them had that in them.
- Listen, I know I'm beating a dead horse at this point but Brian Campbell was brutal in this game. Completely brutal. We really want to pay him six million dollars? I had to laugh at Pierre McGuire's "he's a better true defensemen than Sheldon Souray" because that is seriously damning with faint praise.
- I'm not into booing your team. I understand why other people do it, I'm certainly not going to tell someone else they shouldn't. They can do whatever they want as far as I'm concerned. Booing just isn't my thing. (I prefer writing hate letters on my blog.) But I adore Bronx cheers. I'm fascinated by how the sound of a crowd cheering can shift enough that you can't mistake it for the real thing. The loathing and sarcasm within it is impossible to miss. How you could get that deep into the third period - with multiple power plays - and not get a shot on goal is mind-boggling. The team earned that sarcastic cheering.
- It was not a pretty loss but the team was eventually going to lose again. I'm not ready to toss them overboard yet. We'll see how they respond on Sunday. I'm at least encouraged that there were no excuses floating around as far as I heard. Jason Pominville and Jaroslav Spacek both admitted the team choked the game away by not playing a full sixty minutes and Lindy Ruff said, "We didn't deserve a point, Ryan earned it for us."
Since I know you're all dying to know how my doctor's appointment went today, I'll fill you in. The good news: I got the cast off and the bones look good. The bad news: The joint is still weak and I have to remain non-weight bearing for another month. I'm now rocking a snazzy moon boot.
A couple people have asked to see my scar so if you're interested, you can check it out here. It's under a link for the squeamish. I think it's awesome but I'm weird like that. As a kid I always wanted my uniform to be dirty (which partially explains my love for Craig Biggio) and I loved injuries that bled and scarred (which partially explains my love for Jay McKee). Earlier I was watching an interview on the Bills website with Paul Posluszny and he talked about the plates in his arm and I admit, as dumb as it is, I felt pretty cool about the fact that I have hardware in my body too. It's weird because if you feel along the scar in the right spot, you can feel the outline of the plate.
Anyway, yeah. I hate the Bruins.
1. Tom, don't think we're impressed that you're showing your face during a win streak while avoiding us during the ten game losing streak.
2. That interview was clearly very carefully planned. Have you seen the commercial Roby does for the back healing guy? The one where's he's obviously reading cue cards? Yeah, that's what he sounded like tonight.
3. If Buffalo is such a great place to be, Tom, then why are you being beamed in via satellite? If the team is so much fun to watch why no TV shots of you grinning in your box at HSBC Arena? At least Darcy Regier shows his face in public.
4. Dude, I get what you're saying about it creating cap relief but you might want to avoid expressing sentiments that sound anything like, "Boy, we're really lucky ol' Teppo had to have that heart surgery, huh?"
5. Buffalo owners suck. No wonder we think God hates us.
That said, I don't really care to dredge up the Drury/Briere fiasco yet again. Could management have done something different to keep one or both of them here? Maybe. Probably. Would it be nice to hear Golisano take some blame? Sure. Should he be called out for his garbage? Absolutely. Is anything going to change what happened last summer now? No. Seriously, how long are we going to hammer the same people for the same mistakes over and over and over? We're more than halfway through the season. At some point don't you have to step back and see if management learned from the mistakes? Jochen Hecht was signed during the season. Not liking the player or the contract doesn't make that any less true. They've been negotiating with Brian Campbell during the season. The fact that a contract hasn't been signed is not management's fault since it is ultimately Campbell who has to sign the thing. Don't complain about the team a) not trading Campbell or b) not re-signing Campbell until we see what actually happens. They have another huge free agent coming up in Ryan Miller. Instead of talking about Miller going to the Red Wings, let's see WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENS.
And please, for the love of all that is holy and right in this world, stop calling Thomas Vanek lazy! He's not lazy! Hesitant? Yes! Lacking in confidence? Possibly! Lazy? NO! He's not converting consistently but he's working hard. His goal tonight was created by his own work. His backchecking has been miles better. He's generally in good position on the ice. You wanna know why he looks slow? Do you?! BECAUSE HE'S SLOW! BECAUSE HE'S NOT FAST!
Oh, man, I'm doing that "make a point by asking yourself a question then answering it" thing which I hate. There's someone at my place of employment who does that and I find it to be annoying and a little condescending. I apologize. I'll take a deep breath before we move on to the game.
- I hate shootouts. I really do. They have nothing to do with who has the better team/shooters/goalies or who played the best that night. (Which is not to say that I think we deserved to win tonight because we did not.) The NHL keeps saying shootouts are for the fans but I wonder what kind of result they would find if they polled fans at games. I kind of feel like this was a change they made in an attempt to appeal to the mythological casual fan while ignoring what traditional fans would prefer but that might just be my bias showing.
I hate ties though. I hate them. Maybe it's because I grew up watching baseball and not hockey but I feel very strongly that there should be a winner and a loser at the end of a sporting event. I'd like to see the NHL increase the overtime period to ten minutes of 4 on 4. As it is now, OTs are always the same. Four minutes of teams trying not to lose followed by one minute of pretty intense back and forth. By the time anyone creates any pressure, the period is over. I think if we went ten minutes, more often than not we'd end up with a winnder.
- That said, nice try, Hank. Couldn't quite get it over Auld's leg but it was a good move nonetheless. (The fact that one of our best defensive d-men looks better than any of our forwards in the shootout shows you that either a) shootouts are a stupid way to decide a game or b) our forwards are really, really bad.)
- Thank you, Dmitri Kalinin for taking a penalty to protect your goalie. Wow, I didn't think any of them had that in them.
- Listen, I know I'm beating a dead horse at this point but Brian Campbell was brutal in this game. Completely brutal. We really want to pay him six million dollars? I had to laugh at Pierre McGuire's "he's a better true defensemen than Sheldon Souray" because that is seriously damning with faint praise.
- I'm not into booing your team. I understand why other people do it, I'm certainly not going to tell someone else they shouldn't. They can do whatever they want as far as I'm concerned. Booing just isn't my thing. (I prefer writing hate letters on my blog.) But I adore Bronx cheers. I'm fascinated by how the sound of a crowd cheering can shift enough that you can't mistake it for the real thing. The loathing and sarcasm within it is impossible to miss. How you could get that deep into the third period - with multiple power plays - and not get a shot on goal is mind-boggling. The team earned that sarcastic cheering.
- It was not a pretty loss but the team was eventually going to lose again. I'm not ready to toss them overboard yet. We'll see how they respond on Sunday. I'm at least encouraged that there were no excuses floating around as far as I heard. Jason Pominville and Jaroslav Spacek both admitted the team choked the game away by not playing a full sixty minutes and Lindy Ruff said, "We didn't deserve a point, Ryan earned it for us."
Since I know you're all dying to know how my doctor's appointment went today, I'll fill you in. The good news: I got the cast off and the bones look good. The bad news: The joint is still weak and I have to remain non-weight bearing for another month. I'm now rocking a snazzy moon boot.
A couple people have asked to see my scar so if you're interested, you can check it out here. It's under a link for the squeamish. I think it's awesome but I'm weird like that. As a kid I always wanted my uniform to be dirty (which partially explains my love for Craig Biggio) and I loved injuries that bled and scarred (which partially explains my love for Jay McKee). Earlier I was watching an interview on the Bills website with Paul Posluszny and he talked about the plates in his arm and I admit, as dumb as it is, I felt pretty cool about the fact that I have hardware in my body too. It's weird because if you feel along the scar in the right spot, you can feel the outline of the plate.
Anyway, yeah. I hate the Bruins.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Yippie Paille, Mother F#$!@&!
Hockey talk coming, I promise. Keep reading!
So today I was looking over my bookshelf for something to read and I decided on Roald Dahl's Boy: Tales of Childhood, his autobiography. I read this book many years ago when I was a Dahl-loving child but I haven't thought about it in years. On the second page of the book he tells the story of how back in 1877 at age 14 his father fell off a roof and broke his arm. The local doctor was a drunk quack who, in the process of trying to fix the arm, yanked on it until the bone was sticking out through the skin. Orthopedic surgery not being what it is now (now being almost 25 years ago when Dahl was writing this book), they simply amputated his arm at the elbow and he spent the rest of his life carrying around a fork with the bottom edge sharpened so he could cut and eat his food with one hand. The moral of the story is this: I'm going to try being grateful that I live in the age of modern medicine and therefore still have a foot that will most likely work again one of these days. That said, I go in on Friday for new x-rays and if the doctor tells me he's re-casting my foot I'm hopping away as fast and as far as I can.
So... how 'bout them Sabres? I don't know what happened but they're starting to look like a real hockey team. Did they push through the growing pains? Are they finally adjusting to different roles? Did they wake up and realize, "Holy crow, we're not gonna make the playoffs!" Did someone send them a copy of my "I Hate the Sabres" missive? (I'm sure it's that last one.) Is it possible - maybe! - that the Sabres aren't really as bad as everyone's been saying? I say yes! Optimistic to the end!
Seriously, I'm not going to pretend the team isn't missing some pieces. And I'm not going to pretend that losing Chris Drury and Daniel Briere didn't do some damage. That would be ridiculous. But I do think the problems this season have gone way beyond Chris and Danny. For whatever reason it's just been one of those years teams have once in a while where everyone struggles. Chris and Danny don't have anything to do with Ryan Miller being so inconsistent. They don't have anything to do with Henrik Tallinder and Toni Lydman being up and down. They're not the reason Tim Connolly and Maxim Afinogenov have spent so much time on IR. They have nothing to do with the team losing Teppo Numminen - a loss that I think has been very much underrated - just before the season began. If Ryan had played a little better during the 10 gamelosing winless streak or if Thomas Vanek converted ten percent of the crossbars he hit or if the defense had been just a little more stable things could be totally different. I don't think they'd be leading the Eastern Conference and I don't think they'd be a Stanley Cup shoo-in, but I do think we'd all be a little less ready to throw ourselves over Niagara Falls in barrels with THE SABRES SUCK scrawled on the side. It's just been a perfect storm of struggle and underachievement.
A few thoughts about tonight:
- I hate playing the Bruins. I know people complain about the Devils being boring but I don't know, I don't mind them, I think because I really like a few of their players (Travis Zajac, Jay Pandolfo, and Martin Brodeur being the big three). I couldn't name you a single Bruin most days - I usually even forget Zdeno Chara plays for them until someone else mentions him - and the games with them are usually snoozers. Oh, and we have to play them 18 times a year.
That said, tonight's game wasn't bad. It helped that we scored first because that kept Boston from going into a defensive shell. Still... We have to play them again this week? What's up with that, NHL schedule makers?
- I can't even tell you how tickled I am about Danny Paille right now. (I also can't tell you how tickled I am about the awesome title of this post. I couldn't decide whether to go with "Pie-Yay" or "Paille" but I finally decided on the latter. Also, I really have to give credit to Mark who suddenly yelled out the title after the game tonight. And if you don't get the reference, rent a movie once in a while why don'tcha? If you follow the link, you'll hear some coarse language so beware.) There was a rumor 'round town last season that Drew Stafford got the first call-up because Paille responded so poorly to being cut out of training camp, kind of pouting about it. I have no idea if that's true - I did probably read it on a message board - but it really colored my opinion of him without me even really realizing it. But he's been super impressive this season. He's one of the hardest workers on the team and he's shown flashes of real skill. I'm thinking we should keep him. As soon as we saw the lines on the screen tonight I said to Mark, "Oooh, I like Paille with Pommers and Yo-Yo. That's gonna work." It's like Lindy and I share a brain, I tell ya.
- Speaking of Pommers and Yo-Yo, they continue to be two of the steadiest players on the team. I'd like to see Jason hitting the net more than he has been, but I'm not sure you can really complain about their overall game. There was a lot of hullabaloo about how losing Briere was going to wreck Pommers but I think he and Jochen have established a pretty nice chemistry too. Everyone who gets plugged in beside them comes out looking pretty good and I think that's at least partly to their credit.
- I hate the kicking rule. I can never tell what's going to be allowed and what's going to be overturned and I don't think anyone else can tell either. I'm partly convinced Toronto just flips a coin. I suppose I get the idea of protecting the goalie from guys mindlessly kicking their blades around, but I don't know, would it really be that much of a problem? I don't care what the puck bounces off of, if it goes in the net, it's a goal.
- This is totally unrelated but I don't get the goalie trapezoid either. I was trying to get Mark to explain it to me the other night and it was a confusing and circular conversation so for me it comes down to this: I don't understand it so it has no use. Let's get rid of it too.
I'll leave you with this bit from the brilliant Mike Harrington. It was taken from his game diary over at Sabres Edge for tonight:
A beautiful passing play gives the Sabres a 2-1 lead. Brian Campbell throws one diagonally to Drew Stafford, who finds Thomas Vanek in front for a tip-in that's his 15th goal of the season. But the play was made at the left point by Henrik Tallinder, who had his shot blocked and managed to outmuscle a Bruin to keep it in the zone and feed Campbell. No assist to Tallinder but he was most responsible for the goal.
I know you're all asking, "Heather? Is it really that easy to earn the tag 'brilliant' from you? Saying nice things about Henrik Tallinder?" To which I say: Yes, yes it is.
Hank Tallinder FTW!
So today I was looking over my bookshelf for something to read and I decided on Roald Dahl's Boy: Tales of Childhood, his autobiography. I read this book many years ago when I was a Dahl-loving child but I haven't thought about it in years. On the second page of the book he tells the story of how back in 1877 at age 14 his father fell off a roof and broke his arm. The local doctor was a drunk quack who, in the process of trying to fix the arm, yanked on it until the bone was sticking out through the skin. Orthopedic surgery not being what it is now (now being almost 25 years ago when Dahl was writing this book), they simply amputated his arm at the elbow and he spent the rest of his life carrying around a fork with the bottom edge sharpened so he could cut and eat his food with one hand. The moral of the story is this: I'm going to try being grateful that I live in the age of modern medicine and therefore still have a foot that will most likely work again one of these days. That said, I go in on Friday for new x-rays and if the doctor tells me he's re-casting my foot I'm hopping away as fast and as far as I can.
So... how 'bout them Sabres? I don't know what happened but they're starting to look like a real hockey team. Did they push through the growing pains? Are they finally adjusting to different roles? Did they wake up and realize, "Holy crow, we're not gonna make the playoffs!" Did someone send them a copy of my "I Hate the Sabres" missive? (I'm sure it's that last one.) Is it possible - maybe! - that the Sabres aren't really as bad as everyone's been saying? I say yes! Optimistic to the end!
Seriously, I'm not going to pretend the team isn't missing some pieces. And I'm not going to pretend that losing Chris Drury and Daniel Briere didn't do some damage. That would be ridiculous. But I do think the problems this season have gone way beyond Chris and Danny. For whatever reason it's just been one of those years teams have once in a while where everyone struggles. Chris and Danny don't have anything to do with Ryan Miller being so inconsistent. They don't have anything to do with Henrik Tallinder and Toni Lydman being up and down. They're not the reason Tim Connolly and Maxim Afinogenov have spent so much time on IR. They have nothing to do with the team losing Teppo Numminen - a loss that I think has been very much underrated - just before the season began. If Ryan had played a little better during the 10 game
A few thoughts about tonight:
- I hate playing the Bruins. I know people complain about the Devils being boring but I don't know, I don't mind them, I think because I really like a few of their players (Travis Zajac, Jay Pandolfo, and Martin Brodeur being the big three). I couldn't name you a single Bruin most days - I usually even forget Zdeno Chara plays for them until someone else mentions him - and the games with them are usually snoozers. Oh, and we have to play them 18 times a year.
That said, tonight's game wasn't bad. It helped that we scored first because that kept Boston from going into a defensive shell. Still... We have to play them again this week? What's up with that, NHL schedule makers?
- I can't even tell you how tickled I am about Danny Paille right now. (I also can't tell you how tickled I am about the awesome title of this post. I couldn't decide whether to go with "Pie-Yay" or "Paille" but I finally decided on the latter. Also, I really have to give credit to Mark who suddenly yelled out the title after the game tonight. And if you don't get the reference, rent a movie once in a while why don'tcha? If you follow the link, you'll hear some coarse language so beware.) There was a rumor 'round town last season that Drew Stafford got the first call-up because Paille responded so poorly to being cut out of training camp, kind of pouting about it. I have no idea if that's true - I did probably read it on a message board - but it really colored my opinion of him without me even really realizing it. But he's been super impressive this season. He's one of the hardest workers on the team and he's shown flashes of real skill. I'm thinking we should keep him. As soon as we saw the lines on the screen tonight I said to Mark, "Oooh, I like Paille with Pommers and Yo-Yo. That's gonna work." It's like Lindy and I share a brain, I tell ya.
- Speaking of Pommers and Yo-Yo, they continue to be two of the steadiest players on the team. I'd like to see Jason hitting the net more than he has been, but I'm not sure you can really complain about their overall game. There was a lot of hullabaloo about how losing Briere was going to wreck Pommers but I think he and Jochen have established a pretty nice chemistry too. Everyone who gets plugged in beside them comes out looking pretty good and I think that's at least partly to their credit.
- I hate the kicking rule. I can never tell what's going to be allowed and what's going to be overturned and I don't think anyone else can tell either. I'm partly convinced Toronto just flips a coin. I suppose I get the idea of protecting the goalie from guys mindlessly kicking their blades around, but I don't know, would it really be that much of a problem? I don't care what the puck bounces off of, if it goes in the net, it's a goal.
- This is totally unrelated but I don't get the goalie trapezoid either. I was trying to get Mark to explain it to me the other night and it was a confusing and circular conversation so for me it comes down to this: I don't understand it so it has no use. Let's get rid of it too.
I'll leave you with this bit from the brilliant Mike Harrington. It was taken from his game diary over at Sabres Edge for tonight:
A beautiful passing play gives the Sabres a 2-1 lead. Brian Campbell throws one diagonally to Drew Stafford, who finds Thomas Vanek in front for a tip-in that's his 15th goal of the season. But the play was made at the left point by Henrik Tallinder, who had his shot blocked and managed to outmuscle a Bruin to keep it in the zone and feed Campbell. No assist to Tallinder but he was most responsible for the goal.
I know you're all asking, "Heather? Is it really that easy to earn the tag 'brilliant' from you? Saying nice things about Henrik Tallinder?" To which I say: Yes, yes it is.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)