HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANK!

Hey, remember like last week when we had d-men out the wazoo and everyone was all, "Golly, how is Lindy going to decide who to play and who to sit?" Yeah, that was nice. Considering how thin things are in Portland right now with Mike Weber dealing with knee problems and Mike Funk suffering from concussions, the timing could not be worse. It's deja vu all over again. I wouldn't be surprised if Lindy Ruff is waking up in the middle of the night with flashbacks.

For the record, I'm guessing Henrik Tallinder separated his shoulder. I've seen some speculation that he re-broke his arm but I know he finally got a plate put in last time he broke it and the surgeon told me the plate in my ankle would make that bone pretty much impossible to re-break. Of course there is more than one bone in your arm and I don't know how his plate is set. And also, if I'm remembering correctly, Hank was favoring his right arm and it was his left arm/wrist he had all the previous problems with. Of course there's no law saying he can't break the other arm, I guess. Sounds like exactly the kind of thing he would do actually. Dang. He was starting to straighten himself out a bit too, I thought. (I am biased. In case you haven't caught on to that fact yet.)

I do have a few longer posts half started and I'm hoping to finish some of them off over the All-Star break. I've just been fried this week for some reason. I actually slept through half the game tonight - I woke up just in time to see Hank get hurt - and if Hank hadn't gotten hurt, I wouldn't have been able to remember a single thing about that game. I'm planning on getting back in the groove in the next few days.

But hey, how funny is it that the rumors say the Flyers are already trying to dump Daniel Briere's contract? I have no ill will toward Danny - I think it was pretty clear the Sabres had no intention of re-signing him - but come on, who really thought that contract was a good idea? I can't believe Philly gave him that much money, that many years AND a no trade clause. Between this and Rick DiPietro officially being ruled out for the season, a little caution when dealing with contracts suddenly seems pretty smart.

Ryan Miller Sucks! (Not)

Buffalo, are we seriously going to have a "We should have kept Marty Biron over Ryan Miller" debate? Seriously? Because I seem to remember Marty having plenty of time to establish himself as the number one guy in Buffalo and not being able to do it. I seem to remember Marty getting eaten alive some nights in the run and gun system that the Sabres played the last few years. I seem to remember Marty making a habit of getting really hot and reeling off a lot of wins - kind of like right now - but then giving up a softy that lets the other team back in or suddenly going cold and reeling off a lot of losses. Is he playing very well right now? Yes, he is. Is he one of the best players in his series? Yes, he is. Is he a good man who deserves every good thing that comes his way? As far as I know, yes, he absolutely is. But there's a reason he played in the first playoff series of his career this season. Ryan Miller helped get the Sabres to the Eastern Conference Finals in two of his first three years as a starter and I think came pretty close to doing it single-handedly in last season's playoffs. Does it suck that Ryan's doing intermission interviews in street clothes during the playoffs while Marty is still playing? Absolutely it does. Does it mean that Marty Biron is a better goalie than Ryan Miller and will be a better goalie than Ryan Miller for the next five to six years? No, it does not. Even great goalies have bad seasons. Even great goalies miss the playoffs. One great postseason does not a great goalie make. I love Marty but for the sake of my sanity I really hope the Flyers either collapse against Montreal or get destroyed by Pittsburgh so this conversation can go to the grave where it belongs.

Other things:

- On a similar note, yes, I see that Daniel Briere is having a good postseason. Believe it or not, this doesn't shock me. He's a good hockey player. I didn't expect him to cease to be a good hockey player once he left Buffalo. It is possible for him to be a good hockey player in one city and still not be the answer to all of a team's problems in another city. Consider this your gentle reminder, Buffalo, that he was actually on the team that choked in the playoffs last season. "Briere is having a good postseason in Philly" does not automatically equal "Briere would have gotten the Sabres to the same point" especially since he had a fairly pedestrian regular season.

- I've had a mad crush on Guy Carbonneau this postseason. His little bowl cut is a bit extreme but he always looks very dashing, I love his accent, I like the way he huddles in the tunnel during the introductions and anthems, and I fully appreciate how he can get across total disgust with a call with a half-smirk and slight roll of his eyes. I thought his comment on the sucker punch on Kimo Timonen was hilarious. ("I think he deserved it. They should have been happy to score and just gone back to the bench.") But Guy. Seriously. How could you not put Carey Price back on the horse tonight? I'm totally second-guessing him on that one.

(Please note: I didn't realize until a few days ago that Guy was on the '99 Dallas team. I'm cheering for Dallas in the West but as long as I don't think about Brett Hull I'm personally okay with that. (Mark is more conflicted. He found himself celebrating a Stars goal in Game 2 and then immediately said, "I just cheered a Dallas goal. I think I can actually feel my soul leaving my body.") Ultimately, the blame for No Goal belongs with the league. But I don't know, discovering Guy was on that team bummed me out a little.)

- My least favorite commercial of the postseason so far is the Acuvue ad with the flag football players. "I can catch, I swear! I just can't see through these friggin' glasses!" Whatever, dude. I think you just stink.

- My favorite commercials of the off-season are the Bud Light (I think) sports show spots. I don't like the "Are sports shows too commercialized?" ad quite as much (although I do love the guy holding the neon sign at the end) but the other two I've seen crack me up every time. I hate the way the talking heads laugh hysterically at everything everyone says - this is especially a problem on the various NFL panels - so the "Is there too much forced laughter?" ad really gets me. There's one guy - I think it's the neon sign guy - who ha ha ha ha ha ha's and then ends with just a couple of ho ho's and for some reason that absolutely kills us at our house. We wait for it every time and then totally crack up and have even started laughing that way ourselves. The "Do commentators disagree for entertainment purposes?" one is good too, especially the end. "It looks like we're going to have to agree to disagree." "I couldn't possibly agree to that." Although I also like, "Well, I disagree with your mild disagreement."

This, That and The Other

Wow, so it turns out going to work all day is really, really hard. It's been two days now but I feel like I've worked two weeks in that 16 hours. I figured it would take me some time to get back in the swing of things but man, I'm beat. I collapsed before the late games even started last night (which turned out to be okay since I woke up this morning and discovered that the gross team won every game).

Random thoughts:

- I need to punch Pierre McGuire in the head. He's dreadful. He talks way too much for a guy standing between the benches (I miss you, Rob!). He's practically a second color man which is the last thing Versus/NBC needs since they barely do any play-by-play as it is. He talks like the players are Timbits he's coaching and his sentences get increasingly shrill and screechy until he's screaming about nothing. "Arnott isn't hustling after the puck, he can't do that, HE CAN'T DO THAT, WHY IS HE DOOOOOOOIIIIING THAAAAAT?!" He's also a creepy close talker as can be seen in this video. Dude, back up off of that guy. You're making me uncomfortable and I'm just a bystander. Also, the exchange from the 1:45 mark to 2:00 is... awkward.



- I think McGuire and Mike Milbury make for a dreadful intermission - I want my Ray Ferraro! - but I don't really have a problem with Milbury calling the Capitals the "Crapitals." First of all, these guys are getting paid to stay stupid stuff that winds people up. Mission accomplished. Second of all, it's kind of true. If you don't want people implying that you're crap, maybe you should play better. If they hadn't played well in the third period of the first game, this series could easily be 3-0 instead of 2-1. I certainly don't see why Milbury needed to apologize to Ted Leonsis. If these guys had to apologize for every stupid insulting thing they've ever said, we could be here forever.

- Despite my big talk about wishing postseason ill on all former Sabres except JP Dumont, I'm discovering a lot of residual affection for Danny Briere. Don't get me wrong, I don't want the Flyers to win it all or anything. They're the Flyers. But I would be perfectly fine with them beating the Caps before getting destroyed in the next round and I'm not going to lie, the Caps refuser in me is enjoying that Danny has been hands-down more noticeable and dynamic than Alexander Ovechkin in this series (so far). I was really not anticipating this but it's undeniable. When the Flyers advance largely because of Danny, I'll just block out Bucky Gleason. I can't let him control the way I feel anyway :P (But this will never, ever carry over to Chris Drury or Brian Campbell.)

- Speaking of Brian Campbell... Campbell Says Something Stupid Part 1,018. I'll let Kevin Sylvester handle this one.

I was surprised to read this quote from former Sabres captain Brian Campbell in the Toronto Globe and Mail on the difference between the Sabres and Sharks.

"The accountability inside the dressing room. It's probably the first team I've been on where guys will speak up and say something and you take it to heart. It's a big change that way, probably the biggest thing." -- Brian Campbell

Huh?

I can't imagine there wasn't accountability and guys speaking up with the two teams he played on in Buffalo that reached the Eastern Conference Finals in back-to-back seasons.

And as for this past season, wasn't he one of the leaders who's job it was to hold others accountable?

I don't mean to go hard at Brian, but I'm surprised these comments came from a classy guy such as him. I think his former teammates would be surprised too.

A few weeks ago I might have been surprised. Now? I am not surprised in the slightest.

(This is from Kevin's blog on Sabres.com but I'm posting it here because you can't read it without an Insider account and I didn't want to give people a link they might not be able to access. I hate how everything on Sabres.com is Sabres Insider only. It's not that hard to plug in my email address but I haven't noticed this on any other team's website. I don't want emails and text messages and I don't want your stupid prizes. I just want to read the website.)

- I kept meaning to respond to this comment from Vanek's Hair - in fact, I thought I did but I can't find it so I think I just wrote it in my head - so I'm going to do it here. He said, "May I confess I would probably like him (Sean Avery) on the Sabres?"

Well, Van, you may confess it but I'm going to have to give that a big fat negatory. I have no problem with pests. One of the first Sabres I really liked was Matt Barnaby. I would take Darcy Tucker. I would take Corey Perry and Steve Ott (and especially Steve Ott's kickin' playoff facial hair). On a very weak day, I might even take Chris Neil. (Very weak.) Avery has too much of a history of causing problems in his locker room for me to think it would be a good idea to ever bring him to Buffalo. His poor behavior on the ice is bad enough but it seems to follow him around off the ice too and I'm not into that.

That said, IF the Rangers can handle his personality they should absolutely make re-signing him this summer a priority. He changed that team the second he showed up there and from what I've seen of the Devils series (which is admittedly not a lot), he's been one of their most effective players. Better them than us.

- I picked Detroit to win it all in two pools so I'm pretty screwed if they lose. But I'm finding the Nashville team that I thought I hated kind of endearing. I appreciate them battling even though everyone thinks they're going to lose. And let's face it, the world is a better place with a fully blossoming JP Dumont playoff beard. For that beautiful sight, I might be willing to take a playoff pool hit. Go Preds go!

- I love, love, love Kelly Hrudey. He's not spectacularly handsome but there's something very pleasant about the looks of him. And even if I don't agree with him, he's just very soothing. He has opinions and he expresses them but he never yells, he never talks over the other people with him, and he seems to realize at all times that he's talking about hockey. Yes, it's awesome. No, it's not life and death. Now that I think about it, I think that's why I really liked - and miss - Ray Ferraro too. I like my sports guys chill, yo.

- Forget the Caps, people. The feel good story of the year is the Ottawa Senators. Charging off to a 15-2 start, completely blowing up around New Year's, plummeting for the remainder of the season, squeaking into the playoffs and then getting swept in the first round by a spunky little Pens team? That's so beautiful I could cry.

Why I Still Love This Young, Immature, Inconsistent Team of Little Brats

Here's the deal with this post. I wrote it over a course of a few nights while on vacation last week, mostly after the losses to the Rangers and the Penguins. I think it's clear in some spots that I'm assuming the Sabres are missing the playoffs. But those little rats went on to win the next three games and mostly look good doing it and now I'm back to thinking they probably will squeak in after all. And like I said a few posts ago, once the playoffs have started, it's a whole new season. But I figure a lot of the people complaining now will keep complaining. They'll just shift gears from "I can't believe the Sabres missed the playoffs!" to "I can't believe the Sabres barely squeaked into the playoffs!" and in that case, my defense pretty much stays the same as do my feelings about the team now and in the next couple of years. I also talk some about being a fan and what it means to me which I just talked about a little bit a few days ago. So in addition to being long-winded, disorganized, and scattered, this entry is also a little repititive. How's that for a build-up? Here goes:

A few days before I left for vacation, reader and commenter Jennifer emailed me and asked my opinion on something that she heard on XM radio. Since I know this is going to be long I'll skip all the set-up and boil it down to this: If you're in charge of the Sabres and the Flyers call and tell you Daniel Briere is available, do you take him? Forget who would have to be traded or released to make room for him and forget the money. If you could keep your current roster and fit him in your budget, would you take Briere?

My initial reaction was, "Yes, of course!" Before the season I really thought the team would miss Chris Drury more but as the season went along I decided it was Briere we really needed. Our penalty kill was pretty good and Jochen Hecht and Jason Pominville were doing a nice job of becoming the main checking line. While we probably do miss some of Drury's leadership (more on that in a bit) and his face-off ability, I think that the current team has done a pretty decent job of filling in a lot of the things he did. For most of the season we were missing that guy who could decide, "You know what? We're winning this freakin' game," and then carry the puck down the ice and put it in the net. We missed the guy who played with visible passion most nights. The Sabres were scoring goals but they were having a hard time scoring them when it really mattered and Briere was good at that.

But as quickly as I thought, "Yes, of course I'd take him!" I decided, "No, I don't think I would." A Danny Briere like player? Yeah, maybe. Danny Briere himself? No. I just think it's really hard to turn back the clock. Just because Danny worked well with this team in the past, it doesn't mean he'd work there now. When he was in Buffalo, the Sabres were partly his team. This year they're not his team. To try to recreate that would be a tough thing.

And I'm not sure that's all that bad. Despite what the naysayers will tell you, there's still a very talented core in Buffalo. At some point I think the team had to be handed over to them. What's the point of drafting great young talent, much of it with good leadership potential, if you're never going to let the team belong to them? The change probably happened too soon and I think it definitely happened too abruptly - though I do think management intended for Teppo Numminen to help out with that by providing a leadership bridge from that team to this team - but I don't think it's a bad thing and while it's frustrating to watch it take a whole season, I don't think the season can be considered a waste in that regard.

To me, if you look at the season on a whole, Ryan Miller, Thomas Vanek, Derek Roy, and Jason Pominville have made huge strides both on and off the ice. It was a struggle for most of them but why shouldn't it be? They were all cast in new roles and three of them are still pretty young. Miller was suddenly backstopping a team that couldn't overwhelm everyone with talent and became a more vital part of the game. Because the team struggled, he also found himself playing more games because more games were important than in the previous two seasons. Thomas Vanek and Derek Roy went from third liners to first liners, the top defended players, and Vanek was now The Man, the player expected to carry the team. And Jason Pominville became more important as a two-way player. Three of them were up and down for much of the season and even still are a little bit (God bless Pommers, steady and dependable to the end) but there were and are signs that they're putting things together and getting more comfortable. And even when struggling on the ice, I think all four have shown new maturity off the ice. Vanek never shied away from the criticism he received, agreeing that it was more than justified. He just continued to plug away until things starting working. Roy cut down on the diving, really cut down on the whining and responded extremely well when Lindy challenged him to be better because it was what his team needed from him. Pommers busted ass every night even when his teammates were slacking off around him and found other ways to contribute when he wasn't scoring.

Now don't get me wrong. The team still clearly has problems with consistency and the roster definitely needs some tweaking. A physical, stay-at-home defenseman would be nice. A steady, hard-working veteran would be even nicer. But not someone who's going to take over the team. Someone who's going to help the current team take the next big step. Young players have to grow up and while they may not be enough to build a championship team around right this second, I think they will be eventually and I don't think we're even that far away. I think they're moving in the right direction. Putting Danny (or Chris) back in the mix would, in my opinion, be a step backward. Players who are the future of the team, players who played under those two in the past, would naturally give that leadership back over to them and that's not a good thing. Something that I think a lot of people are overlooking is that cores change because they have to. That's the way sports work. Again, I'll definitely accept argument that it happened before the young'uns were really ready but with the long-term contracts that players are getting, I think it almost had to happen that way. If you ask me if I'd rather have a Jay McKee/Chris Drury/Danny Briere led team for the next six to seven years or a Vanek/Roy/Pominville team for the next six to seven years, I'm going with the latter. I might be in the minority but I think there's more room to grow and get better with that group than with the first group.

I'm also going to be a blasphemer and say that I think Chris Drury's leadership has been greatly exaggerated. I loved him and I'm in no way questioning that he did a lot for the Sabres and taught the players who are still here a lot. He absolutely did. But the truth is that last year's team - his team - played uninspired hockey for long stretches of the season, particularly in the second half. They repeatedly coasted through two periods and then turned it on in the third. The only difference between that team and this one is that that team had enough talent to pull that off and this one doesn't. Last year's team - again, Drury's team - sleepwalked through the first two rounds of the playoffs and then got embarrassed in the third round, playing one of the worst games I've ever seen a Sabres team play. Except for occasional flashes, they looked disinterested, unorganized, and almost completely lacking in passion. The only person who saved them from an embarrassing early round exit was Ryan Miller.

Please don't think I'm saying that Chris Drury was the problem or any part of the problem. I think there were a lot of things going on. A very talented team was maybe getting a little too comfortable with winning without full effort. The New NHL was moving back a little to the Old NHL which works against a small, skilled team. Other coaches were learning how to defend the Sabres. But whatever was going on, Chris Drury and Daniel Briere weren't the magic solution. I don't really see why people think they'd be the magic solution now.

I just... I guess I just don't understand why people think this team is doomed forever now. They've had a bad year but it happens. The Hurricanes went from winning the Stanley Cup to missing the playoffs because their most important players had tough seasons and two young guys (Eric Staal and Cam Ward) had a hard time adjusting to being two of the most important guys on the team. This season they got themselves back on track and the team is faring better, right back in the playoff mix and playing really good hockey here when it matters the most. The price of parity is that one or two players underachieving can kill a team's season. Chris Drury and Daniel Briere were two players on last year's President Trophy winning team. They were two important players but they were still TWO players. I really hate the way people are crediting all the team's success last year to two players. They helped make the team better maybe but they didn't give the current roster all its talent. Based on what we've seen from Drury and Briere this season I think it's pretty fair to say it was more of a two-way street. They all made each other better. Jochen Hecht and Pominville helped Briere as much as Briere helped them etc. I don't see why the talent that left outweighs the talent that's still here and I don't see why, with some growing and tweaking, the current roster can't be successful. The team before the lockout was not a great team and here we are two years later with two Eastern Conference Finals appearances. So why can't we turn it around again and do it just as quickly?

Let's face it, the current Sabres have had it pretty easy. The bulk of them played together on a very good Rochester team and then they came to the NHL and played on very good Sabres teams. Everything has broken their way in their pro careers. People talk about them having a lot of experience for young players but very few of them have much experience with losing a lot of games. They learned to win a lot which is good but they also learned to win without putting in a full sixty minutes as we've seen PLENTY of proof of this season. While it totally bites as a fan to watch them dither away an entire season, I'm not sure it'll be a terrible thing for them to wake up the day after the regular season ends and have to face the reality of not being in the postseason, not to mention facing the reality that they're sitting at home because that's exactly where they deserve to be. Their play this season doesn't merit anything else and despite what the media or some fans will say, that's ultimately on them. Not on management and not on coaching. It's on the guys who take the ice every night. Having plenty of time to think about all the one period games they played might be exactly what they need because you know what? No matter how much they've talked about the need to play harder I really think a lot of them fully expected to play exactly the way they have the last couple of years and get exactly the same results. And even when they struggled early, I think a lot of them figured it would be fine in the end. Finding out that it might not be as fine as they thought will suck for them (and us) but hey, sometimes you learn the lesson the most clearly when you screwed everything up.

When the Sabres were winning the division and leading the Conference people complained about all the bandwagoners who were suddenly buying jerseys and going to games. And now all those same people are freaking out and telling me that I need to stop drinking the Sabres Kool-Aid and stop supporting the team with my money. That seems... a little hypocritical, you know? If you're unhappy with ownership and you're pissed about the team and you feel like the only thing you can do is stop going to games and buying merchandise, hey, knock yourself out. But please stop assuming I feel the same and please stop telling me I should feel the same way. I don't have to. I don't want to.

I've been having a lot of discussions lately with a few friends about how being a sports fan consists of really high highs and really low lows. Jason Pominville's shortie against the Senators in the 2006 playoffs was a really high high but the reason it was such a high high was because of the low lows that came before it. Missing the playoffs completely the season before the lockout. Believing it was just a matter of time before the Sabres moved. Going without the NHL for a year. Struggling against the Senators all season. That goal wouldn't have meant nearly as much as it did if it wasn't for all the struggles that led up to it. Losing to the Hurricanes - watching a fun, talented team hang on as long as they could, battling to the very end despite the blueline blowing up around them - was a low low. And part of the reason it was so low is because of all the highs that came before it. Watching a fast, skilled team surprise the NHL. Seeing young players start to blossom and make real contributions to the team. Feeling the buzz in the air around Buffalo all season. Beating the Senators in five games on Jason Pominville's shortie. Living through all of that made thinking about Jay McKee crying in a hospital room while the Sabres lost feel that much lower.

But that's sports. You have the good and the bad and you need both. If you skip out on one, the other doesn't mean as much. When we're laughing at what a bargain Vanek is at seven million - a day that's going to come pretty soon, I think considering that Dan Boyle just re-signed for 6.67 - it'll be even funnier because everyone complained this season that he was never going to be worth that much. When Andrej Sekera is a steady, contributing member of the defensive corps we're going to laugh at how he initially showed up because the blueline blew up for the second time in three years. When Ryan Miller is saving the Sabres' bacon in the playoffs again we'll shake our heads when thinking about how he looked so exhausted and beat down this season and how Buffalo was all up in arms about how it was just a matter of time before he became a Red Wing. And don't tell me that those things aren't going to happen because they might not. But something like them will and that's the point really. Building a relationship with a team and a player means being there for the good and the bad and this year was just a whole lot of the bad. And yeah, I get that people who have been in Buffalo longer than I have been have had their fill of bad but again, it's part of the deal and you're a bunch of spoiled brats because while you haven't had a championship team yet, you have had plenty of high highs, a lot more than some cities have had. Championships are hard to win - even harder to win in the NHL and even harder to win in an NHL so full of parity. If you're watching sports just to win championships, you, my friend, are probably going to spend a lot of time being miserable.

So what's my point? I was a Sabres fan last year when the team was mostly good. I've been a Sabres fan this year when the team was mostly bad. I'll be a Sabres fan next year when they're hopefully mostly good again.

And I would definitely not take back Daniel Briere. He's got Flyers cooties.

10 Things I Think I Think

I'm not a huge football fan but I do occasionally read Peter King's "Ten Things I Think I Think" column. I have a few things bouncing around in my head that don't really seem worthy of entire posts but I wanted to throw them out there anyway. Just so you're forewarned, one of my favorite things about King's columns is that every thing he thinks ends up with at least 18 subpoints so instead of 10 things, you actually end up with 180. In case you haven't noticed, I can be long-winded so I wouldn't expect that to be any different here.

1. I THINK THE IDEA THAT ALEXANDER OVECHKIN'S DEAL WILL EVER BE A BARGAIN IS RIDICULOUS.

Yeah, I don't understand this at all. Just because there is a maximum salary in the league doesn't mean there's anyone in the league who should be making it. Ovechkin will be eating up a huge amount of his team's salary cap by himself. How do you build a team around that, especially when a lot of his current teammates are young and going to be in line for raises of their own eventually?

And that's just the money. Thirteen years is crazy. Maybe I'm cautious because I've been raised by Darcy Regier but I can't imagine signing anyone for ten years or more. There's so much that can go wrong. How many players start out great and peter out after a few years? And what about injuries? If Eric Lindros were in his first few years now he'd get a similar contract and yeah, that would've worked out really well for the Flyers. Ovechkin is an amazing talent for sure and he hasn't had injury problems yet but he plays a very tough, physical style. On top of the regular wear and tear of hockey, that can add up to be trouble. Look at Peter Forsberg. He was considered a force of nature right up until the moment he started falling apart and he's never been healthy since. If Ovechkin gets hurt in the latter part of his contract, after the insurance coverage runs out, the Caps are on the hook for his salary and they're screwed big time. Somewhere along the way one of these contracts is going to go bad and it's going to completely cripple a franchise for a very long time.

Also, on a side note, I think Alexander Ovechkin is probably not the only guy in the NHL who loves playing hockey. He's happy and exuberant, I get it. I hope Caps fans are happy that Ovechkin is getting so much attention right now because I'm officially as tired of him as I was of Sidney Crosby two years ago. Shut up and let me watch the kid play. I have two eyes that, with a little help, see perfectly well. I can see that he's really, really good. I can see that he's really, really happy. I can see that he really, really likes playing hockey. Now leave me alone.

2. I THINK IT'S STUPID TO THINK THE SALARY CAP IS GOING TO GO UP FOREVER.

Okay, maybe it's not stupid. But I really don't understand it. I know there were things built into the CBA to insure that the cap goes up the first few years, but is it really going to keep climbing? And if it does, what's that going to mean for the league? There are a handful of teams, including Buffalo, that are already spending more money on player salaries under the cap system than they were pre-lockout. It's my understanding that at least a few teams are increasing their gates, not by attracting more fans but by raising ticket prices. If that continues and teams have to keep raising ticket prices to keep up their revenues, aren't they eventually going to price themselves out of the local market? Aren't we already seeing that in places like Detroit? They have one of the best teams in the league - if not THE best team - and they're not drawing, largely because tickets are too expensive for the local economy. And if fans stop going to games are they really going to drive out to the arena to pay marked up prices for a t-shirt they can buy at the mall instead? And if revenues start dropping, what's that going to do to the financial health of the league?

I will admit that all of this stuff is totally over my head so if anyone out there can explain this to me, please do. For now however I don't believe the salary cap will ever go up enough that Ovechkin is a deal and if it does, I think the league is going to have big problems.

3. I THINK MOST GENERAL MANAGERS ARE STUPID.

Seriously. Players are getting life-time contracts. Young guys are being paid for what they might be some day instead of what they are right now. RFAs are making as much money as UFAs used to make which makes free agency fairly pointless and gives teams very little time to develop their young talent before having to decide whether they're worth a decade long commitment. When guys do get to UFA they're getting ridiculous contracts. I love Danny Briere but seven million dollars? Come on. And instead of responding by saying, "Man, that guy is an idiot," most GMs rush out and make equally stupid offers. Or even worse, they make it a mission to top the previous guy and make an even stupider offer. So then the stupid GMs stand around and pat each other on the back about how they've shown their fanbase that they're serious about winning even though all they did was throw money at the first big name they saw and the smart GMs (Darcy and Lou Lamoriello) sit around wondering what the heck is going on.

Yeah, I'm real glad we did that whole lockout thing, guys. Dion Phaneuf should totally be within a million dollars of Nicklas Lidstrom and Thomas Vanek should absolutely be making ten million in his third year in the league.

(I'd completely forgotten this until I saw I already had a "GMs are stupid" tag but I've written about this a little before.)

4. I THINK WADE REDDEN IS ABSOLUTELY RIGHT TO REFUSE TO WAIVE HIS NO TRADE CLAUSE.

Well, gee, if you didn't want him to use the no trade clause, maybe you shouldn't have given it to him. The guy actually wants to stay in one place and he's willing to take less money to do it and we're gonna crucify him for it? I get that he's been a disappointment and Wade, if you suck in the playoffs everyone in Ottawa will hate you forever, but I give him a lot of credit for knowing what he wants and sticking to it. I'm curious to see if a) more players start refusing to waive the no trade and if b) GMs respond to that by refusing to hand them out. Do any Sabres have no trade clauses? I don't know but I'd be surprised if any of them did.

5. I THINK THESE NUMBERS ARE PRETTY INTERESTING.

Daniel Briere: 21 G, 33 A, 54 points, -20... 6.5 million cap hit
Jason Pominville: 16 G, 35 A, 51 points, +11... 1 million cap hit

Chris Drury: 18 G, 22 A, 40 points, -11... 7 million cap hit
Derek Roy: 21 G, 25 A, 46 points, +9... 4 million cap hit

Briere and Pommers aren't really comparable since one's a wing and one's a center. I just matched them up because of all the talk about how Pommers was going to be lost without Briere. Maybe Briere is lost without Jason and Yo-Yo? If nothing else, I think it's pretty fair to say that Jochen was doing the defensive work on that line. Ouch.

Roy-Z should probably be compared to Briere since he's moved into his place as top line center but that comparison turns out pretty well too. I'm certainly not going to pretend that we don't miss Danny and Chris in some regards but right now at least, their salaries are ridiculous.

6. I THINK GOOGLE ANALYTICS IS THE MOST ENTERTAINING THING EVER.

Google Analytics is a tool that allows a blogger to see what kind of traffic he (or she) is getting and how that traffic is being directed to his (or her) blog. My favorite thing is looking at the various internet searches that have brought people to Top Shelf. Usually there's some fluctuation - recently "Brian Campbell negotiations" has been number one but that wouldn't have been the case six months ago - but there's one search that is always, always in my top five: "Rod Brind'Amour's girlfriend." And I get two or three variations on spelling. This is... perplexing. I can only recall talking about Rod a few times and I don't think his significant other was involved in any of those discussions. But for the record, internet searchers of the world, I have no idea if Rod Brind'Amour has a girlfriend or not. There seems to be a lot of you wondering however so you might want to make your move quickly.

7. I THINK LINDY RUFF HAS DONE THE BEST COACHING OF HIS CAREER THIS SEASON.

I admit it, as much as I love Lindy there were times this season when I questioned how he was handling the team. I wanted so badly for bad-ass Lindy to rear his head and knock some sense into a struggling, seemingly uncaring team. But you know what? He was right. As fragile and shaky as they were even a month ago, he was right to gather his players up under his wing and protect them from the negative media and the increasingly desperate fans. He was right to assure them, "You're still good, you're still good, don't listen to them." And now that they're playing better and looking more confident, he has been a little more critical like when he called them out for playing stupid a few games ago. He knew when to protect, when to criticize, he knew who to call out and when to do it. Basically, Lindy Ruff rocks. He should get a lifetime contract.

8. I THINK JOHN BUCCIGROSS IS AN IDIOT.

I have a love/hate relationship with Buccigross - I think his annual "Here's how I think your team is going to do and here's a cool, hip song to go with it!" column is one of the dumbest, most pretentious things ever - and this week's column pushed me more toward hate.

Which means a highly competitive team probably would go to eight years, $50 million. This is the reality the Sabres have to deal with. This is why this should have been dealt with a year or two ago. If they aren't prepared to pay that or can't stomach that kind of contract, they will need to trade Campbell before the Feb. 26 deadline, then get out of the NHL business.

Here is what I have to say to John Buccigross:

a) Read point 3 above, John. Just because some idiot out there is willing to give Brian Campbell between six and seven million dollars doesn't make it a good deal.

b) The reality the Sabres have to deal with is re-signing a number of upcoming UFAs and RFAs while staying under the salary cap. The reality is having to prioritize players and deciding who's replaceable and who isn't. You can't give everyone six million dollars especially with Thomas Vanek and Derek Roy already making a lot of money. I think if the Sabres do refuse to re-sign Campbell it's not because they're cheap or stupid, it's because a fella named Ryan Miller is coming up for renewal next and HE'S the must-sign player. He's the heart of the team on and off the ice.

c) The Sabres couldn't deal with Campbell "a year or two ago" because the current CBA doesn't allow teams to negotiate with players until the summer before the last year of a player's contract. (Gee, shouldn't the leading hockey mind at ESPN know that?) All sides have acknowledged that negotiations have been going on all season. So... what exactly were the Sabres supposed to do differently here? I suppose talks have been mishandled because the Sabres didn't just give Campbell what he wanted, right?

d) In a league that consists of the Kings, the Oilers, the Leafs, and the Rangers, the Sabres are the ones who need to get out of the league? Really? Because that's one of the stupidest things I've ever heard. Has Sabres management made some mistakes over the past couple of years? Sure. Are they the worst run team in the league? Are you serious?

e) Hey, have you noticed which Eastern Conference team is playing the most consistent hockey at exactly the right time of the season?

f) Put your man crush on Chris Drury away and get over yourself. By the way, did you get a look at point number 5? Sure hope the Rangers are enjoying their seven million dollars worth of intangibles.

9. I THINK PATRICK KALETA HAS TO STAY IN THE STARTING LINE-UP EVEN WHEN EVERYONE IS HEALTHY.

Does that even need an explanation? Really?

10. I THINK I CAN'T THINK OF ANYTHING ELSE TO TALK ABOUT SO I'LL LEAVE YOU WITH SOME RANDOM FACTS

Movies I've recently watched: Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (seen it before but I really like it), The Great Escape (my second all-time favorite movie), Meet John Doe (pretty good), The Apartment (good), Battlestar Galactica: The Miniseries (good enough that I'm moving onto the series next)

Books I've recently read: Boy: Tales of Childhood and The Witches (read them both before but you can't go wrong re-reading Roald Dahl, How Doctors Think (a little disconcerting to read while undergoing medical care but very interesting), Born Standing Up: A Comics Life (Steven Martin's autobiography and a great read) and T is for Trespass (the latest Sue Grafton - I love this series unashamedly)

The last 15 songs that played in my iTunes: Life Ain't Always Beautiful (Gary Allan), Poor Little Fool (Ricky Nelson), Listen to the Band (The Monkees), Step by Step (New Kids on the Block), Just What I Needed (The Cars), Under Pressure (Queen), Somebody to Love (Queen), Thirteen (Big Star), Right on the Money (Alan Jackson), I Will Follow (U2), Lullaby (The Dixie Chicks), So Happy Together (The Turtles), Papa Gene's Blues (The Monkees), Don't Worry Baby (The Beach Boys), Bring it on Home to Me (Sam Cooke)

Holy smokes, this is long. Sorry.

Uncluttering My Mind (Keep Reading, There is Hockey Eventually)

A few non-hockey complaints:

- I cannot believe how much Christmas cards cost. I found these awesome Where the Wild Things Are cards but it was $16.95 for ten cards! That's highway robbery! I bought some dinkier cards and they still cost me $17 but atleast I got a lot more of them for my money. Also, they were a pain in the butt to open! What's wrong with a regular ol' box, card manufacturing people?

- I was unpleasantly surprised to discover that the lowest denomination gift card McKinley Mall offers is $20. I'm only supposed to spend $10 on my Secret Santa! I'm a fabulous Secret Santa because I ended up just spending the $20. I was too lazy to even think of somewhere else to go much less actually get in my car and go there. (Enjoy, Ralph!)

- Hollywood, can we please get on with this whole strike thing? Pay the writers already. YOU NEED THEM and I'm not going to be happy if Lost gets pushed back for your crap. I'm enjoying the plethora of pro-writer websites and videos out there. Let's face it, in a P.R. battle between producers and writers, writers definitely have the advantage. Here's my favorite video, "A World Without Writers," which takes a look at how some of our best movies might have fared without real writers. The lines from Gone With the Wind and Citizen Kane are my favorites. Although the Blade Runner one is good too.



- Not shocked about Roger Clemens and not buying his denials, disappointed that Andy Pettitte didn't come clean when his name first came up a year or so ago, relieved that Jeff Bagwell is still clean as far as we know. His name is the only one that would really devastate me. Also, someone please make John Kruk shut up.

And now a little hockey:

- I'm not down with this whole Scott Niedermayer thing. I think Scott is a great player and he's wonderful to watch and I understand that Brian Burke told him to take his time and think about what he wanted to do... but just because Burke gave him that option, it didn't mean Niedermayer had to use it. If he wanted to retire, he should have said, "Thanks, but I really want to move on." If he didn't want to retire, he should have been ready to go when the season started. No one player - no matter how talented he is - should be more important than the other guys on the roster. I suppose his teammates might all be fine with him only playing part of the season and with the team having to shuffle everything around and move players to make room for Niedermayer's return, but I don't know, it strikes me as unfair in a pretty severe way. I hope this doesn't lead to older players regularly playing partial seasons.

Oh, who am I kidding? I drafted Scott Niedermayer in my fantasy draft and he totally screwed me. Unlike his real-life management, I'm not forgiving him any time soon.

- I'm going to the Flyers game Friday night. I have very mixed feelings about this. At first I totally wanted to go because I wanted to be there for Marty Biron's first game back but then Daniel Briere went and muddied everything up by signing with Philly. The family is going though so I got roped into it. I'm not entirely sure how Danny will be greeted and I'm not entirely sure how I want him to be greeted. I don't think I want him to be cheered like a conquering hero. He left and really he wasn't even here that long. I kind of want to feel like everyone's (finally!) moved on. But he did give us a couple of really special years and he was, by all accounts, wonderful in the community so I'm not sure I want him to be booed mercilessly either. If you see a confused looking woman in the 300s who looks like she can't quite decide whether to boo or cheer, that'd be me. I am clear on one thing though: No video tributes. Seriously, can we just stop talking about that?

- Mike Harrington totally stole my Patrick Kane headline! Okay, he beat me by 15 minutes or so. But still! Speaking of Mike Harrington...

- ...Since I'm usually complaining about the Buffalo News, I will throw them a little praise and say that I've been really enjoying Mike Harrington's work. He comes across as both knowledgeable and fair which is a nice change of pace. His Sabres Edge blog is good stuff and he seems to really get blogging more than some old school journalists do. The quality of the conversation in the comments is touch and go since it sometimes brings out the crazies (although it's calmed down considerably since the free agency days), but the writing itself is top-notch and he often includes some interesting links to other sites and papers. I found his link to a recent Rochester Democrat and Chronicle bit about an AHL team ganging up on Patrick Kaleta cool since we don't hear much about the Rochester guys. I may be the only person in Buffalo who doesn't really want to see Kaleta in Buffalo any time soon so I thought it was a particularly good read. (ETA: It was actually John Vogl who linked to the Kaleta piece. My bad! The spirit of the above remains the same however.)

- Thanks to everyone who played along with me on the last post. While I hope it goes without saying, I'll state for the record that I love when fans of other teams pop up over here. I think one of the coolest things about the blogging world is getting to know other fans and teams more. I like knowing how other people are feeling about their teams and I like occasionally seeing that hockey exists beyond the Sabres.

I also love how loyal WNY transplants are to their hometown despite where life may take them. All the stuff I said about Buffalo being the kind of city that grabs you by the heart and never lets go was absolutely sincere. It's not a perfect city and it's certainly a place with its share of problems, but it's my home and I love it. Here's a glove tap to all you Sabres fans spread across the country. Wear that blue and gold with pride! LET'S GO BUFF-A-LO!

Bucky Gleason? Still Pretty Stupid.

I've been living a happy, Bucky Gleason-free life but Gambler went and blew that out of the water by commenting on his weekend column over at Desperation Hockey. There were many, many things to be annoyed about: Is Jochen Hecht someone who commands respect in the dressing room? I don't know, why don't we ask the teammates who voted him captain? The defense sucks but Brian Campbell should be re-signed right away? The Rangers' slow start isn't indicative of trouble but our slow start means disaster? Dmitri Kalinin has been mediocre? Bucky, do you even watch hockey?

Here's the part that really got me though:

The Oilers gave Ryan Smyth a video tribute when he returned last week with Colorado in his first game back since Edmonton traded him. They did the same for Jason Smith when he returned with Philadelphia. It was a classy move in both cases. Just wondering if the Sabres have anything similar planned for Drury and Briere.

Now I already mentioned in my last post that I thought what the Oilers did was stupid. If you want to give Smyth a tribute when he retires, fine, great, have at it. But while he's still an active player and he's on the other team, treat him like every other opposing player. If the fans want to give him a standing ovation or acknowledge him in some way, let them do it. Otherwise let it be.

But atleast Smyth and Smith played in Edmonton for a long time, eleven and seven years respectively, I believe. Chris Drury and Daniel Briere played in Buffalo for seven years combined and both chose to play somewhere else. Why should they get a video tribute that other players didn't receive? Jay McKee played here for almost a decade and was as valuable - I'd argue he was even more valuable - as Briere or Drury. No video tribute for him? Everybody loves Marty Biron and he also played here for close to ten years. Not worthy? Heck, Stu Barnes played here longer than Briere and Drury, wore the C, and played in a Stanley Cup Final. Dominik Hasek was the team for many, many years and while he was a prick at times he was also arguably the best hockey player to ever put on a Sabres uniform. How was he welcomed back to Buffalo? We booed his ass. Which is exactly how it should be. Let the fans welcome back returning players in the way they see fit. The organization needs to stay out of it. How are Tim Connolly and Ryan Miller and Jason Pominville supposed to feel, sitting on the bench before a game, watching a tribute to a player who left Buffalo of his own free will and is about to step out on the ice in a different colored jersey, especially after an entire off-season of hearing, "Geez, this team is really going to suck without that guy!" No, I don't think so. Let it go. Move on. I enjoyed watching Drury and Briere and I wish there had been some way to keep them and everyone else around. But if there's a video tribute welcoming them back, I'm throwing stuff at the jumbotron. Let it go, Bucky. Good lord.

Dear Bucci...

Most hockey fans are familiar with the work of ESPN's John Buccigross. I have kind of a love-hate relationship with Bucci. On one hand, I love how enthusiastic he is about hockey and it's go to know that there are atleast two people at ESPN who think it counts as a sport. His casual, goofy style can be endearing. On the other hand, his casual, goofy style can easily veer into over-indulgent. I don't care what bands he's listening to. I don't care what he would name people's babies. (Seriously, people, do you not have favorite hockey players of your own who you can name your child after?). I really don't care about his book (coming soon to bookstores near you!). All of that stuff would be bearable if it didn't often completely overwhelm the actual hockey content which is why I'm reading him in the first place. But Bucci's weekly column is a regular part of my routine and he is often right about various things so it was with great interest that I read his season preview of the Buffalo Sabres. My immediate reaction was something along the lines of "What the hell?"

If you want to read the whole thing you can find it at ESPN.com (I'd post a link but I can't pull up the article at the moment for some reason). Bucci slams management for not re-signing Chris Drury and Daniel Briere and says the team may still have a sturdy undercarriage but won't be able to survive without its spine. But this was the section that really bugged me and quite frankly, kind of shocked me:

The Bruins and Blackhawks appear to be reconstructing from the rubble of ineptitude with new people throughout the organization. The Sabres are (for now) stuck with GM Darcy Regier and owner Tom Golisano and their vision of mediocrity. The Sabres are still a good team with a very good goalie, but the magic is gone.

Now I will admit that I'm a bit of a Darcy apologist and probably defend him even when he might not really deserve defending but this is so far over-the-top that it almost reaches Bucky Gleason levels. That, my friends, is not a good place to be. I was so bothered by this that I had to email Bucci. A couple people I've mentioned this to have said they'd like to read what I sent so I'm sharing it here. It's a pretty good final summary of how I'm feeling about the team and what I'm hoping to see this season. Plus it's already written so I don't have to think of anything new to say. Oh, something else I should clarify so there's no confusion. With his preview of each team, Bucci includes lyrics from a song. For us he chose Pete Yorn's The Man which is why I reference it in my letter.

Dear John,

"The Bruins and Blackhawks appear to be reconstructing from the rubble of ineptitude with new people throughout the organization. The Sabres are (for now) stuck with GM Darcy Regier and owner Tom Golisano and their vision of mediocrity. The Sabres are still a good team with a very good goalie, but the magic is gone."

All I can say is, what the heck?

Did Regier and Golisano make some mistakes with Briere and Drury? Probably. But they did attempt to sign Briere last summer - he took them to arbitration and he was rewarded a then ridiculous 5 million dollars. And they were allegedly willing to match Drury's offer from the Rangers and he, for whatever reason, wasn't interested. It's easy to say that the Sabres should've re-signed both guys but it's not as easy as handing them contracts and asking them to sign on the dotted line. In your Philly preview you say that Briere isn't worth the money he was paid and say his production will probably drop over the next few years but the Sabres should've held on to him? For all the (well deserved) praise heaped on both players, Buffalo didn't win a Cup while they were here. Chris and Danny crapped out in the playoffs this past year as much as any of the other players not named Ryan Miller did (I know you love Chris but he got smoked in the face-off circle during the Ottawa series among other things).

Darcy Regier has been in Buffalo for ten years. His reign of mediocrity includes more conference finals appearances than every other team but one in that period. It includes the revival of a bankrupt franchise and a pretty downtrodden fan base. It includes the development of a farm system that was so rich that a serious string of injuries last season barely affected the team's regular season performance. Before the salary cap, Regier had to deal with a small market budget and GMs who were constantly blowing up the market with their bloated contracts and somehow, some way, he usually managed to put a competitive team on the ice. Have they won a Stanley Cup during his tenure? No, obviously not. But you know, only one team wins it every year. It's not that easy to do. Regier has regularly iced teams that have had a chance, and as a fan that's all you can really ask for. I know a lot of fan bases - including Chicago and Boston - who would happily take the mediocrity we've been saddled with during the Regier years.

Listen, I'm not going to argue that losing Briere and Drury isn't going to have an affect on the team this season. It certainly is and as a fan I'll miss watching them and I wish them well in their new locations. But the Sabres are still a very good team. We have two lines who can score like crazy cakes (Vanek-Roy-Afinogenov and
Kotalik-Connolly-Pominville) and a third line that will chip in its share (Gaustad-Hecht-Stafford). We have a great top defensive pairing in Tallinder and Lydman and a number of mobile, puck-moving defensemen. And we have a rapidly maturing Ryan Miller who was the one bright spot of the postseason last year. He kept the team in every single game, including a few they had no right to be in. Maybe most importantly, most of the above players are Buffalo draftees (Regier again) who have grown up and developed together as players and people. From all appearances, they like and care for each other and I think it's a mistake to underestimate the importance of that. I don't think it's incompetence or arrogance to let two guys who are being vastly overpaid walk out of town and show some faith in the undercarriage, especially when the undercarriage is skilled and still maturing. The Sabres most effective line last season is still here. Their best defensive pairing is still here. A vastly gifted playmaker who was on the shelf all last year is still here. Their very good young goalie is still here. The fact that these players haven't had to carry the show, doesn't mean they can't and won't. I'm thinking a little less "The Man" and a lot more "The Kids are Alright."

So yeah... I'm calling it now: The Sabres will finish second in the division (behind Ottawa), fourth in the conference, and will be hitting their groove in March around the time the Rangers implode.

Despite the above, I am glad to see you and hockey back. (But you're still wrong.)

Thanks,
Heather Bermingham
www.topshelfcookies.blogspot.com
www.hlog.blogspot.com

I did get a response. "Thanks for reading Heather! Enjoy the season! John." Clearly he knew my argument was air-tight and beyond debate. I'm disappointed. Bucky would've written back to tell me why exactly I was wrong.

So yeah... I'm optimistic. I know it's not going to be the same team it was last year but I'm really not convinced it's going to be a bad team. In fact, it could be a pretty darn good team. If nothing else, I fully expect to see the kids play their hearts out. They all seem tired of talking about Drury and Briere and they should have a huge chip on their shoulders about the way their contributions over the last couple of seasons are being disregarded. Derek, Max, and Van should be furious that people are acting like their line was unimportant last year. Hank and Toni should be annoyed that Drury evidently killed off all the penalties and shut down the opposition's best players. Pommers should be upset that Briere supposedly made him the hockey player he was. Ryan should be really pissed that Chris and Danny are being considered the difference makers. The entire team should be worked up about the way people are acting like Chris and Danny are the only ones who experienced the ups and downs of the last two seasons, like no one else remembers how great it felt to win and how heart-breaking it was to lose. I'm ready to see what the kids are going to do and I'm really glad I only have to wait... 17 and a half more hours!

Why I Love Hockey - Part 26

Why I Love Hockey #26 - Playoff Beards
One of the first things I loved about hockey was the tradition of playoff beards. You could say it's oddly symbolic - for the next untold number of weeks, we care about hockey above all else and we will show that by not paying attention to what happens to our faces during that time! - but mostly it's a dumb boy bonding thing. And I can get behind that. Hey, whatever works, fellas.

A couple of years ago when the Houston Astros made it to the World Series, some of them grew playoff beards. Despite Jeff Bagwell being a great example of a transformative beard (more on that later), this definitely did not work for me. First of all, the baseball playoffs are pretty short. They start and end in the same month, more or less. What kind of beard can a guy grow in that time? Certainly not one to rival a beard that's grown over the course of the NHL playoffs, a journey so long that it's practically a season unto itself.

The Astros also looked suspiciously like they were trimming their beards every night which is just a crime. I feel very strongly that this goes against the playoff beard code. The very best playoff beard resembles some kind of nest by the end of the postseason. You start growing that sucker and you go with it. If your beard turns out to be gray or oddly colored or especially wiry or poofy, then own it, baby. Let Scott Niedermayer (2006-2007) be your beacon.

I always enjoy seeing which players can grow beards and which ones can't. Jason Pominville was the youngest guy on his line last season and one of the youngest guys on the team but his beard put Jochen Hecht's little goatee and Daniel Briere's soul patch and dusting of fuzz to shame. (Can't you just picture Playoff Briere with a beret and long cigarette holder?) Some players - Paul Gaustad and Chris Drury - seem to sprout full beards pratically overnight though I suspect Drury is a :::gasp::: trimmer. Some guys are forced to work with what little they can get.


The last fun thing about playoff beards is comparing the before and after. Some guys look terrible with their playoff scruff. If I met Ryan Miller in downtown Buffalo during the conference finals, I would fully expect him to be shaking a tin cup and swearing at me after I refused to give him any money. The patchy beard along with the scraggly hair - especially the sweaty post-game hair - was not a good look. (This image is helped along by the fact that as far as I can tell, Ryan dresses like a homeless man.)

On the flip side, you have the transformative beard. If I were related to Brian Campbell in any way - parent, sibling, cousin, girlfriend, friend, gardener - I'd be begging him to keep a full beard all year round because he looks so much better with it. It's truly amazing. Let's compare, shall we?

Here's regular season Brian Campbell. Cute enough but you know, kinda dorky.

Here's postseason Brian Campbell, suddenly a dashingly handsome young man.

We'll close this increasingly frustrating post (#!@##@!@ Blogger and the $#@!@#$ images) with this, my favorite playoff beard, J.P. Dumont, 2005-2006. J.P's beard was truly a thing of beauty - full, thick, and clearly untouched by scissors or razors. He also had that awesome phenomenon going on where his beard consisted of three or four different shades of color, including streaks of bright red. If I'd seen J.P. in downtown Buffalo around the time of the conference finals, I would've crossed the street to avoid him. That's how awesome it was. This picture, while slightly frightening, does not do it justice. Trust me.

Moving On (Please!)

This just in: Daniel Briere's agent says things didn't go down the way Larry Quinn said they did. What happened? Who's telling the truth? Who's not?

Who cares? Do you hear me, Buffalo? WHOOOOOOOOOO CAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARES?! Those of us not directly involved in the negotiatons and talks are NEVER. GOING. TO KNOW. THE TRUTH especially since our local newspaper seems to be fine with reporting one side of the story without bothering to get even a "no comment" from the other side. No one wants to look like the bad guy, okay? Quinn and Regier have a team to run. Pat Brisson has clients to appease and, I'm sure, would like to get new clients in the future. Chris Drury and Daniel Briere want to protect their reputations. No one is going to stand up and say, "I am solely responsible for this screw up" which is fine because I doubt any one person is solely responsible so can we please stop trying to figure out who exactly is to blame? Are we going to rehash this over and over and over for the next 80 odd days until training camp starts? Because it's really starting to get on my nerves. Buffalo News make your point about management screwing up already and move on. Larry and Darcy, quit defending yourselves because clearly some of us love you and some of us hate you and nothing is going to change anyone's stance on that. Chris and Danny, I love you, I appreciate what you did while you were in Buffalo, go away and let us forget you for a while and please take your agents with you. Fans, deal with the fact that Chris and Danny are on other teams because NOTHING IS CHANGING THAT and see what you can do about enjoying the players who are still here. And please decide whether you're going to complain if management refuses to spend a lot of money on a player OR complain if management agrees to spend a lot of money on a player because you really can't do both. And Lindy, would it KILL you to sound a LITTLE excited about next year's team? Because it's not like you've been given crap all to work with. And Blogger, what the heck is your problem with titles lately?

Ryan, Adam, Soupy... Carry on. I'm fine with you and God bless you.

There Ain't No Good Guy, There Ain't No Bad Guy

I've posted every day this month, twice yesterday! I'm on a roll!

Since this is a Sabres blog I suppose I'm obligated to comment on this story in today's Buffalo News. I find this... hard to believe to say the least. I can understand why people feel like management bungled negoitaions with Briere and Drury and yes, both situations probably could've been handled better regardless of the team's intentions with each guys. But Darcy Regier and Larry Quinn are, if nothing else, great businessmen. They reached an agreement with their top priority free agent and somehow overlooked making that contract formal? Sorry, I'm going to need more than an anonymous source on that one, guys. I'll believe elements of the story are true, but I'm not going to believe it's quite as straight-forward as it's being presented here.

It would help if this weren't the Buffalo News. They beat the "management is stupid!" drum so loudly and so repeatedly that I'm at the point where I disregard pretty much everything they say about Regier and Quinn. Regier has put together a stretch of quality hockey, consisting of some of the best talent in the league, and the News has never given him any credit for that. Everything he does is criticized from one angle or another - heck, the guy was criticized for being too honest to use Connolly and Afinogenov's IR status to his advantage even though what was being suggested was technically against league rules. The Buffalo News hasn't shown itself to be exactly unbiased when it comes to Sabres management so I'm not going to automatically buy what they're selling in this case. And for the record, journalistically speaking, there are a couple of things that bother me about the story. One, even I learned in a year and a half of journalism school that reporters really should get a source and then another source to back that one up before running with a story. And two, the story uses quotes from Chris Drury that are clearly about the situation in June and spins them to appear as if he's talking about last fall. That's cheap and irresponsible.

Here's the bottom line as I see it. This thing has totally spiraled. Everyone wants to find someone to blame, someone to turn into the bad guy and I'm just not sure there really is a bad guy here. Everyone was right, everyone was wrong. Everyone wanted something and didn't get it. Drury and Briere are gone, they're not coming back, let's move on and focus on the guys who are still here because one thing Darcy isn't wrong about is that there's still an excellent group of young talent in Buffalo. And honestly, part of me can't believe we're this upset about missing out on the chance to pay a guy who has averaged 23 goals and 58 points over the course of his career 7 million dollars. I understand that there are other things Drury brings to the ice and the lockerroom but that's a lot of dough.

To quote Forrest Gump, "That's all I have to say about that."

Dear Buffalo...

Dear Buffalo,

CHILL THE HELL OUT!

Seriously, you people are killing me. Put down the telephones and turn off the sports radio. Kill the TV. Step away from the message boards. Take a few deep breaths. Relax.

Does it stink that we lost both of our top free agents and the faces of the franchise? Yes, it does. Will the absence of Chris and Danny next year affect the team on the ice? Yes, it probably will. Will the team look different next year than it did this past year? Yes, obviously it will. It boils down to this: The Sabres didn't want Danny, Chris didn't want the Sabres. It stinks and we the fans are left with huge holes in our hearts.

But it's not the end of the world.

Repeat after me. It's not the end of the world.

The Sabres still have a lot of young, still developing talent. They had four 30 goal scorers last year and a slew of guys who scored in the 20s. Most of those guys are still here. Did playing with Daniel Briere make Jason Pominville a better hockey player? Possibly. But I think he's played with enough different people over the last year and a half to show that he's also just a pretty good little hockey player. Oh, and let's not forget that string-bean between the pipes, the guy that's on the edge of being one of the best goalies in the NHL. He's pretty good too.

It's a different core than the team had three years ago, but you know what, THAT core was different than the one three years before that. It stinks for us, but it's the way of professional sports. Guys change teams and teams get different looks. We've survived the changing of the guard before and we'll survive it this time time too.

And you know what? I like this core. They seem to like each other and they seem to enjoy being together. I have a feeling that they're going to pull together and fight like hell next season, if for no other reason than to show everyone that there was more to the team than Chris Drury and Daniel Briere. Will they win the Stanley Cup? They might not. But they might. You never know. Most people agree that there was some kind of breakdown in team chemistry last season and most people seem to feel like that's why Drury and Briere left. But maybe the guys leaving will take the bad juju with them. Just because they're the veterans and the faces of the franchise doesn't mean they're in the right.

And as for the matter of what we're going to do about the "C", I'll tell you what we're going to do. We're going to slap it on a young guy who's never worn it before and we're going to ask him to grow into it. Just like we did with Chris Drury.

Am I being naive and optimistic? Maybe. But I'm fine with that. It'll be okay. It will. I promise.

Love,
Heather B.

Free Agency Sucks (e5)

Let me say, for the record, I'm mostly on Darcy's side here since that seems to be what all of Buffalo is talking about right now. I think we can all agree that the non-negotiating during the season needs to stop and yes, it might be nice if the team would think about extending contracts before they actually expire. But Daniel Briere and Chris Drury both got ridiculous contracts and while we maybe could've afforded to keep one of them at that price, it seems pretty apparent they wanted to both stay or both leave. (Which begs the question, why so insistent on playing here together while being perfectly fine playing elsewhere separately, fellas?) In the end, it seems like the Sabres didn't really want to go all out to keep Danny and Chris didn't really want to stay that much. And while it stinks to lose so much leadership in one day, it would also stink to have too much money wrapped into Briere and Drury when it comes time to renew guys like Vanek and Miller. There comes a point where you have to decide where you want to put the money and I can't really fault the Sabres for not going to ridiculous lengths to keep both guys in the fold. And for the record, I'm not believing for a second that Danny would've accepted 5 million in January no matter what he or anyone else says. He wanted a raise and he got it.

I am a little taken aback at just how much venom people are spitting at Darcy tonight. I know it was a disappointing day - Chris and Danny were important parts of the team and fan favorites - but geez, they're not exactly innocent here and I can't believe how many people are leaping to their defense. There are two arguments that seem to be coming up over and over that kill me:

One, the "These Guys Retire Young and Want to Set Up Their Families" argument. Please. At my currently salary, I'd have to work 299 years to make what Danny Briere made last season alone. If he can't take care of his family on the 25 million the Sabres offered him, I don't know what to tell you, he's an idiot. I'm not going to pretend I wouldn't go to the highest bidder if I were in the same situation, but if that's the case, I also probably wouldn't say, "I'd definitely take less to stay here."

Two, the "Darcy Didn't Make Them Feel Apppreciated" argument. Give me a break. It's a business - or so the athletes say when it suits them. What's he supposed to do, leave post-its in their lockers that say things like "Good job on that PK!" or "Congratulations on the hat trick!" My boss doesn't walk around patting me on the head all day - heck, I feel pretty safe in saying my boss has zero appreciation for the amount of work I do - and I still get up and go to work every morning. Eighteen thousand people stood up and applauded them after they lost game five of a series that consisted of some really crappy hockey including one of the most atrocious games I've ever had the displeasure of watching and they're not appreciated? Gimme a break. Oh, wait, I forgot. Fan appreciation clearly doesn't factor into these things.

By the way, I'm so glad we had the lockout so we could avoid big market teams sucking up all the free agents and raising the salaries to ridiculous prices. It's really working out well. I'm glad the Sabres have a smart, fiscally responsible GM in Darcy, but it doesn't really do much good when almost every other GM in the league is an idiot.

More on all this later. I'm too tired and cranky to think straight right now.

Sabres-Sens Recap: The Silver Lining Edition

First, let me get the negativity out of the way.

I can't even tell you how impressed I've been with Ryan Miller during the postseason thus far. On the ice and off the ice, he's conducted himself as a real leader. He's stood up after every game and answered every question, he refused to get into a war of words with any of the Rangers even when reporters were obviously trying to drag him into one, and he's played at a level that many of his teammates have yet to find from the beginning of the playoffs. He's the one guy who has played like he wanted to win from the word go. But his griping about the penalties last night was unbecoming. The calls on Campbell and Zubrus that led to Ottawa's 5 on 3 were not great calls. And the non-call on Alfredsson, especially in light of the previous calls, was HORRIBLE. But honestly, what was the team going to do with another powerplay? You cannot go 0 for 7 on the powerplay and complain that the refs lost you the game. One powerplay goal turns the game around and neutralizes Ottawa's much more efficient special teams.

One of the biggest differences between last season's playoff run and this season's playoff run is the play of Derek Roy. He was a fiery little dynamo last year and this year he's been playing some really stupid, ugly hockey. He was a little better last night if you overlook the dumb high sticking penalty, but overall I feel like he's killing his line. Max and Vanek were both strong last night, but Derek is just not playing at their level. I don't know if you bench starters at this point, but I'd really like to see Stafford in the game somehow. Atleast he'll play hard for 60 minutes and we know he'll punch Chris Neil in the face if need be which is always a nice bonus.

I heard it mentioned again last night that the Sabres often feel pressure to "perform" for the home fans. Guys, listen... I love a pretty goal as much as the next fan, but all I really want to see is the puck go in the net. I feel pretty good saying that most of Buffalo agrees with me. I don't care if you bounce it off someone's head, if it goes in, I'm a happy, satisfied fan. Which reminds me, please for the LOVE OF GOD, SHOOT THE PUCK. You put lots of shots on the net in the first period. You put a pathetic number of shots in the next two periods and on all the powerplays. THAT SHOULD TELL YOU SOMETHING! Shooting a lot on Emery ----> Good things happen. Not shooting a lot on Emery ----> Nothing happens.

I still do not understand the startling lack of effort or desperation in most of the third period and the first overtime. If we lose this series, it's going to be pretty tough to say we didn't deserve to.

All that said, for some reason I'm still feeling very optimistic. (My husband: "You obviously didn't grow up in Buffalo.") I have no doubt that this team is totally capable of taking two games from Ottawa, even in Ottawa. Both of the first two games could've gone either way, even with us playing poorly for large stretches of time. If the Rangers can tie up a series after going down two games, by golly, so can we.

Which leads me to the silver lining portion of my post:

Danny Briere finally looked like Danny Briere last night. Even before the game-tying goal, he was buzzing around and looking for the puck in a way he didn't seem to be doing in the last few games.

Max has clearly taken his benching to heart. He had one dangerous turnover last night which is a great night for him. Vanek also looked really good. Ottawa has no answer for this line so if we can get Derek to stop taking dumb penalties, they can make a huge difference in the series.

Ryan, despite the (justified) criticism of a couple of the goals last night, is still playing very well. For the two soft goals he let in, he made three or four major saves. He's the only reason the game didn't end in the first overtime because Ottawa really controlled the play and he stood up to them. When the rest of the team finally realizes that Ryan alas, can't score goals as well as stop them, they might be okay.

Tallinder played Alfredsson more aggressively after the boarding. He didn't give him quite so much room to work with and he even shoved him around a little bit. Hopefully that carries over into the next game because the only weakness in Hank's game is that he isn't very physical and while we're hitting Ottawa, we're not hitting them when it matters.

Last night showed again that we are a better team 5 on 5. Let's work on staying 5 on 5, shall we?

So bandwagoners, get lost! Pessimists, go cry in your beer in private! For all you believers, let's go Buff-a-lo!

ETA this preview of Chris's lockerroom pep talk Monday. Totally ridiculous but it gave me a much needed laugh.

Getting to Know You, Getting to Know All About You

Since we have a few days off, I figured I'd take this opportunity to answer some questions about myself and my feelings about hockey and the Sabres so anyone who stumbles across this knows what they're dealing with.

Should the Sabres keep Daniel Briere or Chris Drury?
I'm so not having this discussion right now. We're still playing! We're heading into the playoffs! This team is awesome, totally capable of bringing Buffalo its first professional sports championship! I'm not interested in discussing the best way to break up the team right now. Can we please, please just enjoy le petit Briere AND Drury while we definitely have them both? Please?


No thoughts on the matter at all?
No!


Okay, fine. Who are your favorite Sabres?
I'm happy to say that there's no one on the team I really dislike. There are a few guys I'm a little indifferent to - I don't mind them being around, I wouldn't be heart-broken if they weren't - but there's no one player I wish was elsewhere. (But you're on probation, Mair.) That said, I do have my favorites. I'll spare you a breakdown of the entire team and give you my personal top 5. Please keep in mind that I'm not saying these guys are the most talented or the most valuable. They're just my favorites.

1. Henrik Tallinder - I simply adore Hank. He's so steady and so dependable. He never panics and almost always does exactly the right thing with the puck. He goes one-on-one with the league's best offensive players as well as anyone in the NHL. And in addition to that, he's just a beautiful skater. I could watch that long, lean frame move effortlessly up and down the ice all night.

2. Tim Connolly - Watching Tim Connolly blossom last season was one of the most fun things I've seen since becoming a hockey fan. I'm afraid some fans are going a little overboard with the "Timmy will fix everything about our special teams!" stuff, but I'll take what he can give us, that's for sure. I've missed watching him this year and hope he comes back with a vengeance.

3. Brian Campbell - I just like him, plain and simple. There doesn't really seem to be any divas on the team, but Soupy comes across as particularly good-humored and down to earth. He's another guy I love to watch skate even in warm-ups and he always looks like he's having fun out there. Almost every game there's atleast one shot of him with a huge "Holy crap I can't get believe I get PAID for this" grin on his face.

4. Derek Roy - Little D, as he's known in my house, isn't perfect. While I'm glad to see he's cut down on the diving, I could do without the whining after every non-call. He's also prone to taking bad penalties when frustrated. That said, the kid is a dynamo. He plays as hard as anyone on the ice and he's turned into a really solid 2-way player. I love watching him kill 20 seconds off a penalty all by himself and I really love watching him mix it up with guys twice his size. Some fans are disappointed with his offensive output, but he has centered the most consistent line all season, even when his wings changed. Gotta give him some credit for that.

5. Chris Drury - Heart and soul of the team, no doubt in my mind. I think his value to the team was perfectly demonstrated by the response to Chris Neil's hit on him a couple weeks ago. Chris does all the little things night in and night out. You might have to watch him regularly to really appreciate how much he means in a game, but trust me, he means a ton.

Wait a second. Chris Drury is on your list of favorite players and Daniel Briere isn't. So you'd keep Chris, right?
Again with this?

What do you think of the Sabres' new unis?
They're godawful ugly. They were ugly when they were introduced, they're ugly now. The fact that the Sabres have sold a bajillion dollars of merchandise with that logo on it doesn't make it any less ugly. When the logo first started showing up on merchandise I half joked that I was boycotting it, but I still haven't bought anything with it for myself and now I'm going to see how long I can hold out. I did buy my husband the new blue Drury jersey he wanted but the only things I've purchased for myself this season are a t-shirt with the vintage logo and a vintage 3rd Tallinder jersey. After getting an up-close view of my husband's jersey, I don't hate the colors although I do think the bright vintage blue is much more distinctive. Half the teams in pro sports wear some variation of navy blue now it seems. But I don't like the design and the logo... well, it is just not pretty. And to the idiot who tried to tell me that my lack of support for the logo means I'm not a true fan, hey, you can bite me.


Dmitri Kalinin sucks, doesn't he?
Honestly, I think 'Tri has been one of the most consistent d-men this season. He does have the occasional horrible turn-over but he's hardly alone there. And chances are good that if a puck deflected off of someone and into our own net, it probably went off 'Tri but what are you gonna do? It happens. He's mostly solid and he's definitely been the best thing about our power play lately. He does still seem to struggle with his confidence, something that isn't new, but maybe it has something to do with every single game resulting in a "Kalinin SUCKS" thread on Sabres' message boards. I admit, I've developed a bit of a maternal protectiveness toward him. Ignore the haters, 'Tri and keep plugging away.

What are some of your favorite things about being a Sabres fan?
- sitting in a sold out arena even on a Wednesday night
- 18,000 fans yelling, "Chris! DRUUUUUUUUURYYYYYYYYY!" along with the PA announcer
- getting to watch a team grow up and mature together
- cheering for a team whose ownership appears to really understand and appreciate its fanbase
- Rick Jeanneret and the way he can make a pretty dull game seem a little more exciting
- all the great calls Paul Gaustad's nickname of Goose has led to, namely, "The Goose is really honking now" and "If you're out and about, give a honk for the Goose!"
- seeing one of the best young goalies in the league develop
- looking at the team and organization now, realizing how close Buffalo came to losing the Sabres as recently as three years ago, and feeling overwhelming relief and amazement
- screaming "LET'S GO BUFF-A-LO!" It has a good flow and it even rhymes for crying out loud! Seriously, try it. It's fun.

I hate Sabres fans! They're obnoxious and they probably eat babies.
Some of us might but I assure you that most of us are normal, excited, enthusiastic fans. I know many of you have had very poor experiences with Sabres fans in your cities and buildings over the past year and a half but try not to paint us all with the same brush. Trust me, it bothers me to hear stories of obnoxious behavior as much as it bothers you. Probably more since I'm the one getting lumped in with these losers. My devotion is to my team first and foremost but I love watching a lot of other teams and players as well.

Yeah? Like who?
Just to name a few, Dany Heatley, Vincent Lecavalier, Jarome Iginla, and while I don't see him as much as I'd like because he's in the Western Conference/not on a Candadian team, Scott Niedermayer.

You're a girl, you write for HLoG, and you're starting your own hockey blog. You're a puck bunny, aren't you?
Oh, yay, the one question I hate more than the Drury vs. Briere debate. Listen, I'm a red-blooded female and I'm not going to pretend I don't notice when a guy is good-looking. But I also understand what's going on the ice and appreciate the athletic ability and dedication required to play professional hockey. As a former athlete of decent talent, I'm in awe of the variety of skills necessary to play in the NHL. (Of course, it also helps that I don't really see the appeal of any of the Buffalo puck bunny favorites. Miller? No, sorry. Pominville? Eh. Totally average. Roy? Well, we're getting a little closer atleast. Henrik Tallinder and Paul Gaustad are the only Sabres I would consider above average, especially now that Jay and Marty are elsewhere.)

As for HLoG... If you've never checked it out, you should. You might be surprised.

Okay, you're not a puck bunny. But you MUST have an opinion on the Drury/Briere issue.
Okay, fine! Sign me up for Team Drury. Geez.