Radio Ga Ga

Well, based on a few emails and comments I've received it would appear that some of you don't seem to think a blogger who's posted every singe day - sometimes twice! - since New Year's deserves a break. You guys are JERKS!

Just kidding! It's totally nice to be missed. I have been working on a really rambling disorganized slightly incoherent BRILLIANT post that is sure to BLOW YOUR MINDS but it's not quite ready for public consumption. And I will admit that it was written with the assumption that the Sabres weren't going to make the playoffs and while I've almost come around to feeling like it might be better that way, these little punks insist on keeping things interesting. So for now I'll hold off on that and hit you with some random stuff.

We've been out during the other Sabres games this week but tonight we were in. (My little brother cooked dinner and hey, he can cook! Who knew?) Yes, that's right, my family was introduced to the glory that is Rick Jeanneret calling a hockey game. I had it on my laptop in my bedroom but WGR kept coming in and out so I hobbled into my brother's room and put it on in his room too. So everyone on the second floor - all of us for most of the night - could hear it and my little brother even pretended to be somewhat interested. While I miss watching the games with Mark - especially ones like tonight's - being far away gave me the opportunity to ring him when the Sabres scored which I don't often get to do since we're usually in the same room when that happens.

I know I've mentioned this before but when I was working my part-time job at the grocery store I really enjoyed sitting out in the car during my break and listening to the game on the radio. I'd lean the seat back, close my eyes, and soak it up for a bit. Hockey is a great radio game anyway because it's one of the few sports you can really hear even when you're not seeing it - the skate blades cutting through the ice, bodies banging against the boards, shots ringing of crossbars, the crowd chanting - but Rick really elevates it. He's just so fabulous at getting across the pace and emotion of the game and probably could make a snoozer at least sound good. Harry Neale doesn't really have the TV/radio simulcast thing down - there were a few times he'd make a comment like "look at that" without explaining what he was talking about - but RJ more than makes up for it. Nothing goes without explanation. There was one point where the crowd starting booing for some reason and RJ immediately jumped in with, "The crowd is looking at a replay on the big board and they don't like it" and then explained what the replay was (some guy taking a hack at Danny Paille's legs). I'm just going to be so sad when RJ retires. I don't want it to ever happen.

I vote for Paille to get benched every six or seven games by the way. He tore it up after his last benching and he's doing it again now. Man, alive. Part of me is a little exasperated with the team. Why oh why can't they play this hard and look this good every night? Why? Why are they still insisting on coasting through so much of the average game? Let's face it, we've seen this before. They explode for a big night, go on a little streak, and then put it back in neutral. But mostly I'm glad to see them fighting at least. They've put themselves in a hole and really they deserve to be on the outside looking in right now. But if they miss the playoffs - if! - then I'd much rather see them fighting than looking like they're just ready for the season to wrap up.

Somebody help me out with a report of the defensive babies. I know they were all pluses or evens but how'd they look?

Oh, yeah, I'm too lazy to look right now but I think I might have accidentally left Erik Cole off my "Don't let it be that guy" list. Ugh, I can't stand that guy. I know I'm supposed to be all sympathetic about him breaking his neck and I am definitely glad he's okay and playing hockey again but for a guy who almost had his career ended and screamed that Orpik should have had the book thrown at him, dude is dirty.

For the record, vacation has been really great. "Family" here consists of my mom and my brothers Chris (ten years older) and Lee (two and a half years younger). I have another brother (11 years older) but John and his wife and son (Luke, see post below) live in Florida. Both Chris and Lee live with my mom so we're all under the same roof. My mom and usually one of the boys visit us in Buffalo every summer but it's been a few years since I got down here so it's been really nice visiting the old haunts. Outside of the sudden death of my dad when I was young (I was 4) I had a fantastic childhood/adolescence. My mom is crazy awesome and I'd gladly hang out with all my brothers even if we weren't related. (When we went out today Chris wore a Monty Python Black Knight shirt and Lee wore a Thundercats shirt. I flipped out when Chris showed me a link to a Han Solo in carbonite desk. We, by the way, talked about making a Han in carbonite coffee table, complete with little cupholders where his hands are years ago. I think that all about sums up how cool we are.) I've been sleeping in my old bedroom (though I keep hearing it referred to as "Luke's room") which is kind of strange but cool. I slept here for the first time as a six or seven month infant and for the last time the night before I got married (we kick it the traditional way in the Henderson family) so there are a ton of memories here. I'll be honest, growing up I couldn't wait to get out of Alabama but it turns out I like it after all. (Insert sappy "Sweet Home Alabama indeed" comment here.)

Before I sign off for the night, I just want to give a Top Shelf glove tap to a couple of people. War Penguin, a Penguins fan who was at the game Wednesday night, was kind enough to email me all the photos he or she took of Henrik Tallinder that night. How awesome is that? And regular commenter Sam, of the newly minted blog Face First Into the Boards, was kind enough to offer to pick me up a Henrik Tallinder pin on Monday since I'll still be in Birmingham. I was kind of refusing the pins since I was super annoyed with the Buffalo News at the time they started (I also have nightmare memories of working at Tops when the coins were out last year) but what can I say, I'm totally weak. It would seem that a lot of people think of me when they think of Hank and vice versa. I wonder why that is? (Thanks, guys!)

Together again! (Photo courtesy of War Penguin)

The Sabres are Schizo

So this is why I can't totally jump on the "management screwed this team!" bandwagon. The Sabres that played the first half of the game looked terrible but the Sabres of the second half are a playoff team. This team probably does not have enough talent to win the Stanley Cup - not without a lot of hard work and good fortune - but they do have enough talent to make the playoffs and I think win a round (maybe two), especially in the Eastern Conference. The team that got beat tonight didn't get beat because Carolina is more talented than them. They got beat because Carolina outworked them for half of the game. The Sabres are underachieving and at some point some of the onus of that has to be put on the guys who actually play the games. Larry Quinn isn't getting out-battled in the corners, Darcy Regier isn't failing to tie up his man in front of the net, and Tom Golisano isn't making lazy passes to the other team. And you can talk all you want about management creating a poor environment. I think that's a bullhonky excuse for a team battling for a playoff spot to play the way they did the first half of the game tonight. The roster definitely needs some tweaking in the off-season (and currently needs Henrik Tallinder to return so Paetsch can have a seat) but they should not be on the outside looking in. That's what I say at least.

The first half of this game was pretty brutal though. Mark and I were actually discussing who we were going to cheer for when the Sabres failed to make the playoffs. If and when the Sabres officially miss the playoffs, I'll share those choices with you. For now, the Sabres live to fight another day. One point is not as good as two but it's certainly better than nothing. And I'd much rather lose in overtime than lose in another freakin' shootout.

Okay, well that's it for me for now. I have to finish packing. I'm sure I'll be poking in here and there. If you really believe I'm going to go completely silent for ten days, you don't know me very well. I'm perfectly capable of writing 1,000 words on a game I listened to over the computer for fourteen minutes. And if I get stuck in an airport somewhere along the way, well, there's no telling what I'll end up writing here to pass the time.

For your amusement, here's a snowstorm Birmingham style. This is what was at my mom's house today. This snowfall is enough to have everyone scrambling for milk and bread, scare people off the roads, and close down nonessential businesses. And if it was a school day, there probably would've been no school. In fairness to Alabama, they have no salt trucks or snow plows - there's no need since this kind of snow is generally a once a year thing - and they have totally different kinds of trees so any accumulation or ice build-up breaks branches and wreaks havoc on power lines. Still, after living in Buffalo for almost seven years, it's pretty funny to think back on the snow of my childhood. Somewhere I have a great picture of me and my little brother with the snowman we built using every drop of snow in the yard during the biggest snowfall of our lives. I'll have to see if I can dig it up somewhere. The snowman is about a foot tall and has grass and dirt all over it because the snow was so thin.


All right, see you guys later. Don't burn the place down while I'm gone.

(P.S. Ryan Miller was great tonight. I love when a guy has clearly started to celebrate a goal and then has to stop. I especially love when that guy is Eric Staal. Also, that goalie interference call on Goose was b.s. He might have been going hard to the net but when another player puts a stick in his back to help him get there, you can't make that call.)

Sweet Caroline

I had a post in mind about the relationship between Sabres fans and Canes fans - never fear, Canes fans, there was going to be some criticism directed at both sides - but it was pretty negative in tone so I'm going to save it for another day. Because really, who wants to be negative after an 8-1 victory?

This game was supposed to be a girls' night out with some of my buddies but every single one of them bailed on me. Can you believe it? Kathy couldn't find a babysitter/had a broom ball conflict, Monica was feeling under the weather, and Sue took a spill last weekend and fractured her knee cap and a couple of vertebrae. (Okay, that last one is a pretty good excuse.) One of the girls was kind enough to give us her ticket however and Mark and I spread out across four seats and enjoyed the game. Some observations:

- I'm sorry Sue missed out because she's a big fan of Maxim Afinogenov and I think this was hands down Max's best game this season. He was wreaking havoc on an obviously tired Canes squad while being far more responsible with the puck than he has been. He was either getting it on net, finding teammates, or carrying it to open ice. I don't remember a single bad turnover. Nice to see Lindy reward his effort with the highest amount of ice-time for any forward, pretty impressive since it felt like we were short-handed for the entire second period. For all my griping about Max, it has been tough watching him struggle so I was pretty happy to see him playing so well. Maybe he's turning a corner?

- I thought the Afinogenov-Gaustad-Kotalik line seemed like a weird mish-mash of playing styles and I was pretty critical of it before the game but it worked. The whole line really had a good game. Al also had one of his better games of the season.

- Derek Roy continues to look much better. He was really buzzing and it was nice to see him bury that breakaway. What a beautiful pass by Tim Connolly. That said, Timmy needs to shoot more often because good things often happen when he does. He has such a nice little shot. It's not overwhelmingly powerful but he places it so well.

- Thomas Vanek was not overwhelming. I don't remember him looking terrible outside of the two bad penalties he took but he wasn't the Vanek who was dominating play in the couple of games before the St. Louis game. On one hand it's nice that we can win games without him chipping in a lot - for all the crying about Drury and Briere leaving, the Sabres still have the potential for very balanced scoring as seen tonight - it would be nice to see him playing a little more consistently. Just lighten up and shoot the puck, Thomas. It'll happen.

- Before the season I thought Brian Campbell had a good shot at wearing a letter, but he seemed like an unusual choice for December, since he's been a little bit of a mess in the last couple of games, his performance against Washington being particularly bad. But I thought Toni Lydman was an odd choice for November and that worked out pretty darn well with Toni playing like a friggin' beast all month. I wonder if Lindy is using the letters as a little bit of a "Show me what you got, kid" encouragement tool. Brian did lead the team in ice-time tonight and even more surprisingly to me, he led the team in short-handed time (according the NHL.com summary). I didn't notice any glaring mistakes so maybe the letter will look good on him.

- Jochen Hecht gets an A to make him a letter-wearer every month so far with Jaroslav Spacek getting the other A. I got no beef with either of those choices - Jochen has continued to play very solid hockey and I find myself being very pleased for Jaro. He now has more goals this season than he did all of last season. Good for you, Jaro. Let's see how many crazy interviews we can cram in this month, shall we?

- Nolan Pratt was in a foul mood tonight and I love it. I love the way this guy takes care of his teammates, especially Ryan Miller. When Dmitri Kalin and Henrik Tallinder are both back in the line-up I really hope it's Paetsch sitting and not Pratt. I think we need that little bit of edge, especially on the blue line.

Hockey Night in Canada did a really interesting feature on hockey blogs this evening. One of the things it discussed was how some teams like Washington are using bloggers as alternative media sources. Buffalo wasn't mentioned as one of the teams considering opening the press box to bloggers but someone in the organization really needs to take a look at it, I think. Buffalo isn't in the same situation as Washington - they get pretty much no coverage from local papers and TV - but Buffalo is a one newspaper town and as I've said before, I find much of the Buffalo News coverage to be negative and one-sided. The Sabres wouldn't be able to control what bloggers say but it might be to their advantage to help get some new and different voices out there.

Anyway, I thought the piece was well-done and pretty positive. If you missed it, scoot on over to Mirtle's and check it out. He has a video posted.