I believe whole-heartedly that four of my sixth grade students and I - maybe even with the busted ankle - could put together a better powerplay than the Sabres. What the heck? I know Tim Connolly, Jaroslav Spacek, and Derek Roy are all out, but seriously, is it really that hard? I can't believe they just kept taking slapshot after slapshot after slapshot on the almost full two minute 5 on 3. Guys, they keep blocking the shots... I THINK THEY'RE ON TO YOU! Try something else. Flip a wrister in there. Try to pass the puck in to the net. Attempt to bull your way in and see what happens. I don't know. Something! ANYTHING! All I know is when you find yourself sincerely saying, "Well, atleast we didn't give up a goal!" at the end of a powerplay, things are, as RJ said tonight, "NOT GOOD!"
In the battle of underachievers, we're the winners. Or is that the losers? I don't know. I do know the Sabres just didn't look like they wanted to win that much. Of course, I quit paying close attention about halfway through the third period so maybe I missed something. I didn't? Yeah, I'm not surprised.
Clarke MacArthur going into the crossbar at the end of the game was just the perfect topper. I know he skated off the ice but I'm expecting to see him back in time for the 2010-2011 season. It was just one of those nights.
The best part of my night? Seeing Kate of The Willful Caboose playing her viola behind Drew Stafford in tonight's "Drew Plays the BPO!" feature. You guys, I think she was totally checking him out.
Showing posts with label clarke macarthur. Show all posts
Showing posts with label clarke macarthur. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Sabres Win! Okay, Not Really But Kinda Sorta!
It totally, totally sucks to come that close to a victory, only to have it snatched away in a stupid shootout, but I'm in a good mood so I'm willing to call this a moral victory. Why? Well, let's go over the reasons, shall we?
- The best team in the Eastern Conference only scored two goals against us, only one of them coming from the now legendary line (enter eye-roll here) of Heatley, Spezza, and Alfredsson.
- Despite taking way too many penalties - way too many - our penalty kill did a solid job, killing off every last one of them.
- The Sabres got a solid start from Jocelyn Thibault. Yes, he had some luck on his side - I don't think I've ever seen the Senators miss the net so many times - but he also came up with some big saves. Mark and I discussed whether or not the team relies too much on Ryan Miller when he's in net because they really looked like a different team through stretches of tonight's game. Mark said it's the Jim Kelly/Frank Reich effect - the Bills always played a little harder for Frank. I can't comment on the accuracy of that since I wasn't in Buffalo at the time, but I'll take his word for it. At any rate, the point is this: Guys, Ryan needs your help, too!
- We were in the game despite missing a fair number of bodies. Underachieving or no, Derek Roy, Maxim Afinogenov, and Tim Connolly are important parts of the team as it's currently built. And in addition to that, the defense played short-handed for most of the game with Jaroslav Spacek leaving with back spasms. Aside from the poor powerplay - seriously, it was awful - I would even say the Sabres carried the play for much of the game. I know it's annoying to hear, "If we play like that, most nights we're going to win," but tonight it's kind of true.
- Lindy, with a little assist from me, held Thomas Vanek out of the shootout at first despite two of our usual shooters (Afinogenov and Connolly) being out. (For the record, all previous mentions of Lindy reading my blog have been completely in jest, but I'm beginning to get suspicious...) But when Lindy did go to Vanek, with the game on the line, Vanek bucked up and scored. Go, Van, go! (Is there a team optometrist? Has anyone thought of checking Thomas's eyes? Maybe that could explain missing those can't-miss shots during regulation and overtime?)
- And perhaps most importantly, Paul Gaustad made Chris Neil bleed. The phone rang during the first period and we didn't answer it. (We don't answer the phone very much anyway but we definitely don't answer during a game.) During intermission Mark checked the voicemail and heard the following message from his 70-something mother: "GAUSTAD BLOODIED CHRIS NEIL! YEAAAAAH! GO, GAUSTAD!" Did I mention that I love Mark's family?
I will say this... While I do think Roy, Afinogenov, and Connolly are important (I know our PP hasn't scored much lately but somehow it looks even worse without Timmy), the guys who play hard and show some effectiveness should play. Clarke MacArthur should be in the line-up until he does something to deserve not being there. He was arguably our best forward tonight, I thought.
Also, I love Jochen Hecht - he's my first-half MVP and it's not even close in my book - but Lindy, really? Yo-Yo in a shootout? His thing is bouncing pucks off of goalie's backs and stuff like that. He can't carry the puck in on a breakaway and score. Too bad Spacek had to leave the game. I'm sure he would've nailed it!
Loved the round-table discussion about fighting in the NHL. I am truly shocked to learn to Rob Ray considers it important. Shocked, I tell you! And I loved this quote from Mike Robitaille: "Hockey is like a war without the killing." Deep, Robi. Very deep.
- The best team in the Eastern Conference only scored two goals against us, only one of them coming from the now legendary line (enter eye-roll here) of Heatley, Spezza, and Alfredsson.
- Despite taking way too many penalties - way too many - our penalty kill did a solid job, killing off every last one of them.
- The Sabres got a solid start from Jocelyn Thibault. Yes, he had some luck on his side - I don't think I've ever seen the Senators miss the net so many times - but he also came up with some big saves. Mark and I discussed whether or not the team relies too much on Ryan Miller when he's in net because they really looked like a different team through stretches of tonight's game. Mark said it's the Jim Kelly/Frank Reich effect - the Bills always played a little harder for Frank. I can't comment on the accuracy of that since I wasn't in Buffalo at the time, but I'll take his word for it. At any rate, the point is this: Guys, Ryan needs your help, too!
- We were in the game despite missing a fair number of bodies. Underachieving or no, Derek Roy, Maxim Afinogenov, and Tim Connolly are important parts of the team as it's currently built. And in addition to that, the defense played short-handed for most of the game with Jaroslav Spacek leaving with back spasms. Aside from the poor powerplay - seriously, it was awful - I would even say the Sabres carried the play for much of the game. I know it's annoying to hear, "If we play like that, most nights we're going to win," but tonight it's kind of true.
- Lindy, with a little assist from me, held Thomas Vanek out of the shootout at first despite two of our usual shooters (Afinogenov and Connolly) being out. (For the record, all previous mentions of Lindy reading my blog have been completely in jest, but I'm beginning to get suspicious...) But when Lindy did go to Vanek, with the game on the line, Vanek bucked up and scored. Go, Van, go! (Is there a team optometrist? Has anyone thought of checking Thomas's eyes? Maybe that could explain missing those can't-miss shots during regulation and overtime?)
- And perhaps most importantly, Paul Gaustad made Chris Neil bleed. The phone rang during the first period and we didn't answer it. (We don't answer the phone very much anyway but we definitely don't answer during a game.) During intermission Mark checked the voicemail and heard the following message from his 70-something mother: "GAUSTAD BLOODIED CHRIS NEIL! YEAAAAAH! GO, GAUSTAD!" Did I mention that I love Mark's family?
I will say this... While I do think Roy, Afinogenov, and Connolly are important (I know our PP hasn't scored much lately but somehow it looks even worse without Timmy), the guys who play hard and show some effectiveness should play. Clarke MacArthur should be in the line-up until he does something to deserve not being there. He was arguably our best forward tonight, I thought.
Also, I love Jochen Hecht - he's my first-half MVP and it's not even close in my book - but Lindy, really? Yo-Yo in a shootout? His thing is bouncing pucks off of goalie's backs and stuff like that. He can't carry the puck in on a breakaway and score. Too bad Spacek had to leave the game. I'm sure he would've nailed it!
Loved the round-table discussion about fighting in the NHL. I am truly shocked to learn to Rob Ray considers it important. Shocked, I tell you! And I loved this quote from Mike Robitaille: "Hockey is like a war without the killing." Deep, Robi. Very deep.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Victory!
In honor of NaBloPoMO, I'll be attempting to post something every day in November. If you're not checking in every day, make sure you're catching all the posts! This one barely counts as a post but hey, it's my blog...
I just got home from the game and I'm crazy tired so I don't have the energy to write much about it. (Short story: It was a pretty lousy game from both teams but a win is a win is a win.) Read yesterday's entry if you haven't already and enjoy this adorable photo of Henrik Tallinder and Clarke MacArthur celebrating Clarke's game-winning goal. We'll talk in more detail tomorrow.
I just got home from the game and I'm crazy tired so I don't have the energy to write much about it. (Short story: It was a pretty lousy game from both teams but a win is a win is a win.) Read yesterday's entry if you haven't already and enjoy this adorable photo of Henrik Tallinder and Clarke MacArthur celebrating Clarke's game-winning goal. We'll talk in more detail tomorrow.
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