Jochen Hecht, Shootout Specialist

I've always hated the way Lindy Ruff handles the shootout which I believe I've mentioned a time or two. He insists on putting the guys who you'd think should be good at the shootout in and doesn't go to any atypical choices until he has to even though it's often those guys who look the best. So I was really happy to see Jochen Hecht included in the first three shooters last night. It makes zero sense for him to be good at shootouts. He has hands of stone at times and rarely seems to pull off a breakaway in a game. But coming into tonight's game he'd scored in two straight shootouts. I was glad to see Lindy not overthink things and reward the guy who's been successful in that specific situation in the past rather than rewarding a guy for a good game which, while a nice thought, doesn't seem to work that often.

And I have to admit, I'm pretty tickled that our best guy in the shootout is Jochen Hecht. JOCHEN HECHT, people. That is adorably inexplicable.  I love it.  I mean, honestly... How do you not look at this picture without cracking up?  How may times would you bank on Jochen meeting up with Marty Brodeur with Broduer coming away looking silly?  Sometimes hockey is funny.

Hee. (Photo by Bill Wippert/NHLI via Getty Images)

                                                                    

Nathan Gerbe Come to Save Us All

I don't really have a lot of interest to say about the Tampa Bay game (other than those are some really dreadful third jerseys) but I figured I should go on the record with my opinion of the much longed for Nathan Gerbe.

I thought he was fine. He didn't score any points but he was a +2 and while he didn't look like a guy with a lot of experience at the NHL level (for good reason obviously) I didn't think he looked terribly overwhelmed either. I thought he looked fairly confident and if nothing else he puts the friggin' puck on the friggin' net. Most of the Sabres seem to have lost their ability to get a puck through all the bodies in front and they always seem hesitant to shoot unless the sky has opened and the sun is beaming down to highlight the perfect spot. Gerbe flings it toward the goalie AND actually gets it TO the goalie. The back-and-forth score shows that Gerbe was not the automatic solution to all the Sabres' problems but we did actually score some goals and I do think that Drew Stafford and Derek Roy both played one of their best games of the season, particularly Stafford. I don't think it's coincidence that they were Gerbe's line mates. I'm glad Lindy Ruff threw Gerbe right in there on a top line. I kind of wish we'd seen more of Mark Mancari with players who can actually play hockey.

And Jochen Hecht got in a fight! That happens maybe once every other year and I don't know, for some reason it always makes me really happy.

You can almost hear Ryan thinking, "Wait. Is that... is that Jochen?" (Photo by Scott Audette/Getty Images)

That's all I got. If you need more and you haven't read it yet, check out yesterday's Lindy post.

ETA video:

The Season To Come, Part One

Hockey - real live, counts in the standings, totally valid to freak out about hockey - is finally, FINALLY just around the corner. I don't know about the rest of you but I really felt like this off-season was never going to end. Ever. But in 72 hours or so the Sabres will have claimed their first victim of the season - and I mean the Canadiens not me, fellas - so it seems like it's time to lay out a couple of thoughts and predictions about the upcoming season. If I were a real journalist I would sit here until my thoughts were all nicely organized and worked but I'm not. I'm a lowly blogger who's not making any money doing this. Some totally random, unorganized thoughts:

TIMMY, MAX AND AL

Tim Connolly, Maxim Afinogenov and Ales Kotalik are all in contract years and their futures with the Sabres are cloudy at best. I think only one of them - if any - will be in Buffalo next season and they all definitely come with their pros and cons.

We all know how talented Timmy is. He's amazingly gifted and he's shown flashes of really pulling it together especially on the playmaking end. There have been times in the past when he's pulled moves that have left me staring at the TV. I had a game on our Tivo for almost an entire calendar year because of the last goal in this highlight package. I just now watched it three times. The Sabres have taken some crap for making a commitment to a guy who was out with concussion problems at the time but I think that's a blatant use of hindsight. It was a risk but a risk worth taking considering how dominant he'd just been in the postseason.

It's no newsflash that Tim's trouble is injuries. The concussion troubles are bad enough but there always seems to be something else going on too. I will admit that I did actually say to Mark a couple of weeks ago, "I have a good feeling about Timmy this season. I think he's going to play 70 games." I have no idea what I was thinking. A couple of days later he was nursing a sore back already and the preseason had barely started. Granted, he is coming off a surgery but we keep hearing that he worked out really hard the rest of the off-season and he was in great shape and I don't know, while I obviously have no idea what kind of pain he's feeling in that fragile little body of his, I've reached the point where I have to really wonder if he has the toughness and the desire to have the career that he could have if things worked on talent alone. I'm sure Tim understands how much he needs to have a great season - at 27 this could be his last, best chance at a big money contract - and I'm sure he'll have his usual near point a game numbers in the parts of the season he does play... I just don't see him making it through a whole season.

Regardless, I don't think he'll be back next season for one reason: Lindy Ruff sounds more and more frustrated every time he talks about him. I think he's clearly had his fill of "What's going on with Tim?" questions and we all know Lindy has a lot of say in personnel decisions. The Sabres made their commitment, it didn't work out, I really don't see them trying it again especially with so many talented forwards already on the roster and coming up through Portland. It really is too bad.

I said my piece about Max not that long ago. He was terrible last season but while I do find him pretty frustrating I really do think a lot of that can be chalked up to his injury - groin pulls do have to be pretty tough for a guy whose entire game is based on speed and quick cuts - and being played on some very ill-fitting lines once he was back from injury. I'm sure Max will pass the puck to a myriad of opponents and pull Derek Roy offside a million times but I also won't be the least bit surprised if he scores 25-30 goals and has fans reconsidering whether we should get rid of him or not.

But like Timmy, I think Lindy has reached the end of his patience with Max which means he will also be gone, possibly before the end of the season. And like I said before, I think he'll catch on with another team, enjoy the freedom of a new coach and new system and do really well for himself. And all of Buffalo will complain incessantly about letting him go for years to come.

Finally that brings us to Al. Oh, Al. If you made me rank all the Sabres players from favorite to least favorite, Al would be pretty darn close to the bottom. Some nights he would be the bottom, yes, ranked below even Andrew Peters. I find him completely infuriating because people say all the time, "He can be physical, he can shoot the puck, he can can can" but he usually doesn't do those things. Max is annoying and set in his ways but if nothing else, he tries hard. He actually probably tries too hard to do too much. Al completely disappears for 20 game stretches - he doesn't score, he doesn't hit, he makes absolutely no impression at all unless he's taking a really stupid penalty - and that drives me crazy. I would gladly cast Al into a hockeyless pit of despair.

That said, if any one of these guys will be back, it's him. Let's face it, not everyone on your roster can be a highly skilled, highly paid star. Every team needs shorter, cheaper contracts to move around their core and Al is exactly that kind of player. He's not a total disaster on the ice and despite my complaints he has averaged just under 20 goals per season (19.75) for the last four seasons. As long as he's agreeable to a shorter contract for a reasonable amount of money (always the tricky part) I could see him sticking around.

The offense was pretty good last season overall but it would definitely help if the above guys all had good contract years especially Timmy who still seems to be the only player we have who can run a power play.

RYAN MILLER

Ryan was really bad last year. There are lots of valid reasons - the death of his cousin Matt right at the beginning of the season and the number of games he started being the two biggies - but the bottom line is, he played some very, very bad hockey. And good lord, what the heck happened with the shootout? He had ice water in his veins the previous two seasons and suddenly looked jittery the second a guy started moving in on a breakaway. As off as some of the other components of the team were last season, they missed the playoffs by four points. Better goaltending would have made up that ground easily. The team probably wouldn't have done much damage in the playoffs once they got there the way they were playing but they would've made it.

The good news is Ryan looks and sounds great right now as opposed to looking and sounded like he needed a very long nap at the end of April. It would appear that he built his frame up a little in the off-season which has to make a difference over the long grind of a hockey season. It sounds like he's also found a little better balance between playing goalie and trying to lead the team. Last year I think he tried to take on too much of the leadership mantle that was suddenly left vacant and his game suffered for it. There's an interview with him up on Sabres TV right now where he talks about how hard it is for a goalie to handle the responsibility of his game while also worrying about addressing questions and concerns about the rest of the team so it sounds like he's thought a lot about how to handle that coming into this season.

And let us all say a prayer to the mighty hockey gods that Patrick Lalime shows himself capable of playing 20 or so games in a somewhat adequate fashion. He played all of the preseason game I attended and he looked pretty good so fingers crossed.

JASON POMINVILLE AND JOCHEN HECHT

God bless Jochen and Pommers.

Looking at last season, Pommers is the one youngster on the team whom I have absolutely no complaint about. Even when he wasn't scoring he was finding some way to contribute night in and night out because he never, ever quit working hard. I think he got stronger on the defensive side of the puck, he's much more responsible with the puck than some of his buddies and he showed so much maturity off the ice. Everyone else seemed to have stretches where they were clearly panicking and flailing, pressing way too hard. If Pommers ever felt that way he sure did a good job of hiding it. I don't want to turn every post into "Lindy, for the love of god just name a captain please!" but even if you want to argue that he has some growing to do yet, I have no doubt he'll grow right into any letter you put on his chest.

Most of the above applies to Jochen too. Every team needs a Jochen - quiet, responsible and dependable. A lot of people may have been willing to part with him but I think he's exactly the kind of player you miss when he's not there. I'm still grouchy about a chart the Buffalo News ran last season after the trade deadline, suggesting that Brian Campbell's absence was responsible for the current skid because it completely ignore that Jochen was also out for that stretch and his absence always makes a difference.

(An aside since we're talking about Brian Campbell: In the ESPN preseason picks, Scott Burnside picked Campbell for the Norris. Someone please explain to Burnside that the Norris is for outstanding defensemen. There's obviously some confusion here.)

It's 1:18 in the morning so a couple quick predictions before I post this:

Leading goal scorer: Thomas Vanek
Leading assister: Derek Roy
Leading in total points: Derek Roy
Derek Roy's final tally: 36 goals, 65 assists, 101 points

Hello. My Name Is... Jochen Hecht.

I scrolled through some pictures from the Sabres recent Aces and Blades event and really people, this is too much. I know he's underappreciated, I know some of you don't think he's really that important, I know his name is not as flashy as "Briere" or "Drury" but Jochen Hecht just signed a four year extension. He's been one of our best players this season. In a season riddled with inconsistency he's been as steady as the setting sun. He's worn the C for most of the season. So what's up with this?


He's wearing a photo ID badge! At a Sabres event, one of the Sabres is wearing a photo ID badge! There are pictures of Ryan Miller and Paul Gaustad and Derek Roy and Adam Mair and none of them are wearing ID badges. I don't know why but this totally cracks me up and it FILLS me with affection for Yo-Yo. I love that everyone else either never put their badges on or threw them aside at the first opportunity but Yo-Yo is either such a stickler for the rules or so sure that no one would recognize him without his name and number on his back that he left his on. What a doll.

I don't even know what to say about the game tomorrow. In the Sabres and the Senators we have two teams that can look either dominant or pathetic depending on the night. It just depends on which version of each team shows up. If the good versions of both teams come out, it could be a really fun, exciting game to watch. If the bad versions of both teams come out, it could be some darn ugly hockey. If one good version shows up to play one bad version, well, I hope the Sabres are the good ones because it could get brutal. (I don't mind if it's brutal in our favor.) At any rate, Mark and I will be there tomorrow for our last appearance at HSBC this season. I'm currently weighing going with crutches vs. going sans crutches. For the last few days I've been going out without crutches and doing okay but the ol' ankle does start to hurt eventually and it swells up like crazy which is uncomfortable. Since the Sabres have caused a fair amount of discomfort themselves over the course of the last few weeks, I haven't decided yet what my best course of action is. Oh, if you're one of those people who enjoys reading the other side's point-of-view, I would keep an eye on Scarlett Ice, one of my favorite blogs on this here internet, for the next couple of days. Sherry's pretty cool even for a dirty Sens fan :P

There is one other thing I wanted to talk about but it involves me having to walk alllll the way over to the desktop computer which is way too much to deal with right now. Maybe later. For now just enjoy Jochen.

Grow Up to Be Strong and Straight (The Title Has Very Little to Do With the Post and Nothing To Do With the Game So Don't Think About It Too Hard)

First, something I meant to include in my off-topic post a couple days ago and forgot: I want to kill every single person in that Scrabble-ROTFL commercial. The grandmother, the mother, the kids. Every. single. person.

On to the game:

- The Sabres were clearly a team missing a) their best defensive forward and b) their best defensive d-man, both of whom usually line up across from Alexander Ovechkin. Jochen Hecht and Henrik Tallinder are exactly the kind of players who get overlooked by people outside of Buffalo - if not by people in Buffalo sometimes - but when they're gone, they leave a hole. Overall I think Andrej Sekera did really well considering what a big job he had and how much time he's had at the NHL level (not much) but holy moses, what was with all the breakaways? If you take away the breakaways it's a different game. Unfortunately, you can't take away the breakaways and good for the Caps for capitalizing on them eventually. We sure gave them enough opportunities to do so.

- Ryan Miller needs to have that third goal. He kept the team in the game up to that point but he really needs to have that third goal.

- Jochen Hecht looked really dapper and handsome in his in-game interview, all decked out in his suit and tie, but if he and/or Hank don't come back soon, I'm jumping out the window beside me as I type this.* We need them badly. It's like the man says: Injuries like these can decide the playoff race. I realize I'm kind of repeating myself here but I'm that stressed about these two guys missing much more time.

- Dmitri Kalinin, you sure know how to make it tough on a girl. After I ranted and raved about him being the scapegoat too many times, he went and had a brutal game. Just brutal. I didn't really make a big point of it earlier but I told Mark part of the reason I didn't like Tri being the guy who got screamed at in public is because I didn't think he seemed like the kind of player who would respond well to that kind of treatment. Obviously, I'm just a fan and really don't know anything of the players other than what's presented to us but for tonight at least, I was right! Ha! (Remember that for next time, Lindy.)

- What was that goal review? The first angle was inconclusive with the puck disappearing - one of those "common sense says the puck probably went in but we can't go by common sense" things - but the second angle we got on MSG, one that was kind of from ice level was conclusive. Puck over the line. So why was it a no goal? Because the whistle blew? I was under the impression that Toronto didn't call for the whistle. And if the whistle blew why did we spend so much time reviewing the play in the first place? I'm not saying that was a difference maker because the Caps earned the goals they got, the Sabres were sloppy, and we still would've been down by a goal with only a couple of minutes left but I've found the officiating to be kind of baffling in the last couple of games. And sometimes in our favor so please no, "You're just saying that because the Sabres got screwed!" comments.

- Before any Caps fans who wander over here get upset about the next thing I'm going to say, they should check out the comments on the Buffalo News blog where people raved about Alexander Ovechkin. The same thing happened on sports radio. It was an all-day love fest for Alex. I am in no way representing anyone but myself when I say this: I am so tired of Ovechkin. He is an amazing player, he is fun to watch, he can totally take over a game. I would love for the NHL to turn the volume down about a hundred degrees on the hype machine. I had the same complaint about Sidney Crosby when he first showed up on the scene (and still do sometimes). I would enjoy watching these guys play a lot more if the machine would just shut up and let me enjoy them. And while I really don't have much of a problem with him taunting the crowd by putting his hand to his ear after scoring a goal, I seem to recall Ilya Kovalchuk getting really criticized for behaving in a similar manner when he came into the league. When he suckered Crosby into a penalty, scored on the powerplay, and then pointed at Crosby coming out of the box (which I thought was HI-larious), a lot of people nailed him to the wall. Is it really that different?

I certainly understand why Ovechkin is newsworthy. I just don't understand why he's the ONLY person who's newsworthy. I think when the NHL zeros in on one or two guys they do a horrible disservice to themselves because they're ignoring a lot of other very good players and stories.

- If anyone tells me that the Sabres lost that game because Brian Campbell is no longer in a Sabres uniform, I'm kicking them in the head. The only difference is that he's fast enough that he might have been able to catch up with the guys taking off on the breakaways. I'm not believing that he would have played them much different otherwise. Again, his absence hurts because it means Nathan Paetsch and right now, Dmitri Kalinin are in the line-up. It does not hurt because we're missing him defensively.

- Definitely a tough loss as far as playoff hopes go. We only have so many losses to give up and even then we might have to hope for a little help from a team or two above us which is really frustrating. It's not like I have any control over how the Sabres play but I feel even more helpless when I need some other team to win and/or lose.

- I feel like little Joey, yelling as Shane rides away only I'm yelling, "He'd never been able to score a goal if you'd seen him! He never would've even got a shot off, would he, Hank! Lindy's got things for you to do! And Toni wants you! I know he does! Haaa-ank! HAAAAAAAAAANK! COME BACK!"

*Don't worry. Our apartment is on the first floor so I'm not really going to do much damage jumping out the window as long as I avoid the left ankle. In fact, our apartment is really below ground level so I'd have to jump up to get out of the window in the first place. I'm pretty safe.

ETA: I don't imagine the Campbell highlight from tonight will get as much play as the spin-o-rama goal did. The one where Mike Fisher got past Campbell and Craig Rivet (his defensive partner) and Campbell pushed Rivet into Fisher with his stick, sending Rivet into Evgeni Nabokov (his goalie)? I hate to sound like I'm picking on Soupy but as long as I have to listen to people bemoan the loss of Soupy I'm going to remind said people that there's a reason the Sabres didn't want to fork over the big bucks and that reason is spelled d-e-f-e-n-s-e.

Jochen Hecht, Still Underrated

So I know I'm not supposed to be reading The Buffalo News right now but someone mentioned a chart that was in the paper today and I really had to check it out. What can I say, I'm weak. In case you have no idea what I'm talking about, here it is:


This chart is completely ridiculous for three reasons I can think of off the top of my head:

1. It compares sixty-four games to three. That's... not really a very good comparison.

2. I've seen Brian Campbell play defense. I'm not buying that his presence would've made a huge difference against three playoff teams and two of the top four powerplays in the league. His absence hurts because now Paetsch is in the line-up? Maybe. His absence hurts because he was a defensive dynamo? No.

3. Jochen Hecht was also missing for all of those games. He's the best defensive forward on the team and on the first penalty killing unit. Let's just rename this the "Sabres Without Hecht" chart because that would actually make sense.

And for all you distraught about Campbell's spin-o-rama goal in San Jose last night, come on! When was the last time he made that move work for a goal in Buffalo? Did he ever? When was the last time he scored a goal in Buffalo that wasn't from the point? How soon before he spin-o-ramas in front of his own goalie and gives up the puck? Three games, people. Three games. That's all it is.

I have some thoughts on tonight's scratches (I don't love Paille's and I hate Kalinin's) but I'm going to save them for after the game. Even if the game is a disaster, I will be here later.

Dear Jochen Hecht...

Dear Jochen,

I admit it, this is all my fault. There you were, flying through the season, one of the best players on the ice, getting through your second season in a row without major injury and what did I do? I started crowing about how you were definitely going to get twenty goals this year. There was no way you couldn't! It was a sure thing! It was all locked up! Take it to the bank, plan the party, buy the cake, what could possibly stop you?

What was I thinking?! The Hockey Gods are everywhere! They see and know all! I'm sure they read the blogs every day and write down stupid declarations like "There's no way Jochen Hecht isn't scoring twenty goals" and then make a list of all the cruel and dastardly ways they can smite the player or team involved and destroy the heart and soul of the blogger.


I really should know better by now, Yo-Yo. I'm sorry. I should have said, "There's no way the Sabres don't trade Ales Kotalik!" Or "There's no way Andrew Peters makes it through another year without suffering a major injury!" I should have cursed someone I couldn't care less about.

Would it help to know that I really, really miss you? Whether other people want to admit it or not - or have even bothered to notice - your absence is clearly felt by your team. Sloppiness with the puck? Forwards not getting back on defense? The penalty kill suffering? Everyone skating around like crazed toddlers who've been playing hockey for a year? That's all stuff that you would help. You're really careful with the puck. You always play strong at both ends. You're one of the best penalty killers on the team. You never, ever panic. No matter who the opponent is or what the score is, you always play hard for sixty minutes which seems to still be a difficult concept for some of your teammates to grasp.

I don't care if you're quiet. I don't care if you don't scream and yell. I don't care if you're not an offensive juggernaut. I love you, I miss you, please come back soon. And please, please forgive me for getting you into this mess in the first place. I'm working on some kind of sacrifice to the Hockey Gods right now.

Love,
Heather B.

In Defense of Mats Sundin

Yeah, never thought I'd be writing that.

Let's get this clear up front. I do not enjoy Mats Sundin. Against the Sabres at least, he's a punk, constantly cross-checking or punching players behind the play and after the whistle. I would be more than happy to never, ever play him again.

That said, I find the idea that he owes it to the Leafs to waive his no-trade clause to be really ridiculous. Let's put aside the obvious - he negotiated the NTC so he couldn't be traded - and focus on this: Mats Sundin has repeatedly chosen to stay with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Due to horrible mismanagement the team has wasted a huge chunk of the prime of his career and he STILL wants to play there. He accepted a contract that was under market value so the Leafs had money to play with and they wasted it and he STILL wants to play there. If he wins a Cup he wants it to be with teammates he's played with all season for the franchise he - for whatever reason - loves. He's given his heart, soul, and body to the Leafs and their fans for more than the past decade and he's placing more importance on emotional ties to a team and a city than on a token championship with teammates he barely knows and fans who couldn't really care less about him. Good for him. He doesn't owe the Leafs a gosh darn thing. They owe him. First they owe him a big fat apology for the wasted years and then they owe him a huge retirement party when the time comes along with eternal thanks for how much he's given the franchise over the years. God forbid a player actually shows fans (and owners) the loyalty they're always crying doesn't exist in pro sports anymore. If there's a bad guy in this situation it's the Leafs ownership and management. It sure as heck is not Mats Sundin.

I really did mean to post something about the Rangers game but I got distracted by Bucky (see yesterday's post) and now pretty much everything has been said somewhere. I will say this: Don't underestimate the importance of Jochen Hecht being out of the line-up. His presence probably wouldn't have eliminated Ales Kotalik's blind backhanded pass to the middle of the ice right in front of his goalie - when is that ever a good idea, Al? - but he's so responsible with the puck that it might have helped our turnover issues. I also think he brings some of the zen calmness to the team that certain other guys provided in the past.

Still... I have to say that while that game was not exactly encouraging - we kind of need to beat good(ish) teams eventually - it didn't exactly put a deep, dark fear of the Rangers in me. They looked as sloppy as we did, we just made the last major mistake before time ran out. If we don't beat the Flyers tonight however, I will cry.

One last note to Jaromir Jagr for accusing Thomas Vanek of goalhanging. This is ridiculous for a few reasons: A) It's not true B) Jagr had two turnovers lead directly to goals so he wasn't exactly great out there C) Jagr lost all right to criticize someone else's effort a good long while ago and D) Jagr's a dick.

Yippie Paille, Mother F#$!@&!

Hockey talk coming, I promise. Keep reading!

So today I was looking over my bookshelf for something to read and I decided on Roald Dahl's Boy: Tales of Childhood, his autobiography. I read this book many years ago when I was a Dahl-loving child but I haven't thought about it in years. On the second page of the book he tells the story of how back in 1877 at age 14 his father fell off a roof and broke his arm. The local doctor was a drunk quack who, in the process of trying to fix the arm, yanked on it until the bone was sticking out through the skin. Orthopedic surgery not being what it is now (now being almost 25 years ago when Dahl was writing this book), they simply amputated his arm at the elbow and he spent the rest of his life carrying around a fork with the bottom edge sharpened so he could cut and eat his food with one hand. The moral of the story is this: I'm going to try being grateful that I live in the age of modern medicine and therefore still have a foot that will most likely work again one of these days. That said, I go in on Friday for new x-rays and if the doctor tells me he's re-casting my foot I'm hopping away as fast and as far as I can.

So... how 'bout them Sabres? I don't know what happened but they're starting to look like a real hockey team. Did they push through the growing pains? Are they finally adjusting to different roles? Did they wake up and realize, "Holy crow, we're not gonna make the playoffs!" Did someone send them a copy of my "I Hate the Sabres" missive? (I'm sure it's that last one.) Is it possible - maybe! - that the Sabres aren't really as bad as everyone's been saying? I say yes! Optimistic to the end!

Seriously, I'm not going to pretend the team isn't missing some pieces. And I'm not going to pretend that losing Chris Drury and Daniel Briere didn't do some damage. That would be ridiculous. But I do think the problems this season have gone way beyond Chris and Danny. For whatever reason it's just been one of those years teams have once in a while where everyone struggles. Chris and Danny don't have anything to do with Ryan Miller being so inconsistent. They don't have anything to do with Henrik Tallinder and Toni Lydman being up and down. They're not the reason Tim Connolly and Maxim Afinogenov have spent so much time on IR. They have nothing to do with the team losing Teppo Numminen - a loss that I think has been very much underrated - just before the season began. If Ryan had played a little better during the 10 game losing winless streak or if Thomas Vanek converted ten percent of the crossbars he hit or if the defense had been just a little more stable things could be totally different. I don't think they'd be leading the Eastern Conference and I don't think they'd be a Stanley Cup shoo-in, but I do think we'd all be a little less ready to throw ourselves over Niagara Falls in barrels with THE SABRES SUCK scrawled on the side. It's just been a perfect storm of struggle and underachievement.

A few thoughts about tonight:

- I hate playing the Bruins. I know people complain about the Devils being boring but I don't know, I don't mind them, I think because I really like a few of their players (Travis Zajac, Jay Pandolfo, and Martin Brodeur being the big three). I couldn't name you a single Bruin most days - I usually even forget Zdeno Chara plays for them until someone else mentions him - and the games with them are usually snoozers. Oh, and we have to play them 18 times a year.

That said, tonight's game wasn't bad. It helped that we scored first because that kept Boston from going into a defensive shell. Still... We have to play them again this week? What's up with that, NHL schedule makers?

- I can't even tell you how tickled I am about Danny Paille right now. (I also can't tell you how tickled I am about the awesome title of this post. I couldn't decide whether to go with "Pie-Yay" or "Paille" but I finally decided on the latter. Also, I really have to give credit to Mark who suddenly yelled out the title after the game tonight. And if you don't get the reference, rent a movie once in a while why don'tcha? If you follow the link, you'll hear some coarse language so beware.) There was a rumor 'round town last season that Drew Stafford got the first call-up because Paille responded so poorly to being cut out of training camp, kind of pouting about it. I have no idea if that's true - I did probably read it on a message board - but it really colored my opinion of him without me even really realizing it. But he's been super impressive this season. He's one of the hardest workers on the team and he's shown flashes of real skill. I'm thinking we should keep him. As soon as we saw the lines on the screen tonight I said to Mark, "Oooh, I like Paille with Pommers and Yo-Yo. That's gonna work." It's like Lindy and I share a brain, I tell ya.

- Speaking of Pommers and Yo-Yo, they continue to be two of the steadiest players on the team. I'd like to see Jason hitting the net more than he has been, but I'm not sure you can really complain about their overall game. There was a lot of hullabaloo about how losing Briere was going to wreck Pommers but I think he and Jochen have established a pretty nice chemistry too. Everyone who gets plugged in beside them comes out looking pretty good and I think that's at least partly to their credit.

- I hate the kicking rule. I can never tell what's going to be allowed and what's going to be overturned and I don't think anyone else can tell either. I'm partly convinced Toronto just flips a coin. I suppose I get the idea of protecting the goalie from guys mindlessly kicking their blades around, but I don't know, would it really be that much of a problem? I don't care what the puck bounces off of, if it goes in the net, it's a goal.

- This is totally unrelated but I don't get the goalie trapezoid either. I was trying to get Mark to explain it to me the other night and it was a confusing and circular conversation so for me it comes down to this: I don't understand it so it has no use. Let's get rid of it too.

I'll leave you with this bit from the brilliant Mike Harrington. It was taken from his game diary over at Sabres Edge for tonight:

A beautiful passing play gives the Sabres a 2-1 lead. Brian Campbell throws one diagonally to Drew Stafford, who finds Thomas Vanek in front for a tip-in that's his 15th goal of the season. But the play was made at the left point by Henrik Tallinder, who had his shot blocked and managed to outmuscle a Bruin to keep it in the zone and feed Campbell. No assist to Tallinder but he was most responsible for the goal.

I know you're all asking, "Heather? Is it really that easy to earn the tag 'brilliant' from you? Saying nice things about Henrik Tallinder?" To which I say: Yes, yes it is.

Hank Tallinder FTW!

I Think There Was a Game Tonight?

I slept through parts of the Tampa Bay game - I went through a week or so where I hardly slept at all and have now entered a period where I can hardly stay awake - so please take all game-related thoughts with a grain of salt.

- It's hard to say how well we played because Tampa Bay is a bad team. Still, it's nice that we pretty handily beat a bad team instead of floundering against them and it's nice that we made a bad goalie look like a bad goalie instead of a future Hall-of-Famer.

- Is there any way we can trade the whole team to the Southeast division at the trade deadline? Wow, they are not good. I think it's a little unfair that any of them get to be in the playoffs at this point.

- It's goals like the first goal that make me miss Jim Lorentz. If he'd been doing the game he would've rolled back the video tape and made it a point to applaud Jochen Hecht for keeping possession of the puck long enough to get the pass off to Jason Pominville even while being sandwiched between two opposing players. (Lightnings?) No one pointed that out tonight. Of course, I was watching the Versus feed so I'm probably lucky they were looking at the ice at all and not giving me an update on Sidney Crosby's injury status instead.

- I do like to watch the occasional game on Versus just because I like to hear what people who aren't watching every Sabres game think about the team. Obviously I think we see some things that people who are only watching the scoreboard miss, but I think we're also sometimes too close to the team and get mired in all of the off-ice stuff, some of which affects the team but some of which is just noise. I would agree with Versus' assessment that our defense has been inconsistent and I would definitely agree with Keith Jones's observation that a lot of the defensive lapses have really been due to forwards not getting back and doing their part. But I think the offensive stats he cited are deceiving. I was originally stunned that we have the 6th rated offense in the league - geez, goals really are down - but after I thought about it I decided that stat is seriously knocked out of whack by the handful of games we have where the team just went crazy: 6 goals here, 8 goals there, 10 goals here. If I'm doing my addition right - a questionable thing at any time of day much less this late - the Sabres have scored 2 goals or less in 23 games and what do you know, almost all of them were losses. Most nights in the NHL, you aren't going to win with only 2 goals unless the rest of your game is absolutely stellar which, as we've established, the Sabres' game has not been.

- Tonight was good though. Four goals, good goaltending, and no glaring mistakes... That'll win you some games.

- Tim Conolly has bone spurs, huh? At this point I'm not going to be the least bit surprised when his head just pops off his body and rolls into traffic. Pretty mean of God to put that much talent in a body that's so freakin' fragile.

This came up in the comment thread a few days ago so I just want to make it very clear that I have no problem with anyone out there disagreeing with my opinions and I certainly have no problem with people letting me know that. I think the interaction and back-and-forth is one of the most fun parts of blogging. I like that despite my established Tallinder blinders, brian s. came right out and said, "Hey, you know what, I think Hank is overrated," and I appreciate that he felt comfortable saying that despite knowing that I'm never, ever going to publicly agree. All I ask is that you disagree without personally insulting the person you're disagreeing with and if you're up for it, tell me why you're disagreeing, not because you have to defend yourself but because I just really like knowing how other fans are feeling and thinking and why they're thinking and feeling that way. And just fyi, in my world, "I just hate that guy" is a perfectly good argument :-) I haven't really had any problems with any of this - so far all my commenters have been great - but I wanted to put this out there for the record.

In closing, check this out. It made me laugh.

I Don't Hate ALL the Sabres COMPLETELY

Hey, guess what? The Sabres are on and I'm not watching or listening to the game. A friend of mine dropped by for a visit - human companionship during the day! - and for some reason I had it in my head that the Sabres game started at 5 so it was already under way when she left. I turned the TV on, saw 3 straight Phoenix goals, two of them on Hank and Toni, two of the Sabres I couldn't work up TOO much hate for in my "I Hate" post so I thought I'd better turn the TV off before it was too late.

Even in light of today's ugly loss however, I am going to be positive! That's right! I took a couple of days, got all the hate out of my system, and I'm ready to move on. To combat all the (much deserved) negativity floating around here, I'm going to write about the one player on the team who I actually still feel pretty good about.



SOME REASONS WHY I, HEATHER B, STILL MOSTLY LOVE JOCHEN "Yo-Yo" HECHT

- He quietly re-signed with the Sabres toward the beginning of the season. Not a word from him about it until it was a done deal.

- Despite signing a long-term deal, he's still continued to play really well. Whether purposely or subconsciously, there's something to the idea of players working extra hard in a contract year and then letting up a little once they're locked up. Too many players have had career years in contract years for the idea to be totally dismissed. I think you could almost argue that Jochen has played better since signing which is awesome.

- He's one of the few Sabres who seems to understand the idea of working hard for 60 minutes. Jochen obviously isn't as skilled as some of his teammates but he rarely, rarely coasts.

- He's the only Sabres who's on track to have a career season. Now I'll grant you that Jochen doesn't have the career numbers that some of the others have to match, but still... goal-scoring is not really Jochen's game and he's doing more than his share. Bonus points for his understanding of how important it is to sometimes just throw the puck on the net instead of trying to be all pretty about it.

- He's done very little excuse making. I remember the occasional, "We're not getting the bounces," but for the most part Jochen's line has been, "We have to be better." Which is pretty true, you know?

- He has a swoon-worthy backhand.

God bless you, Jochen Hecht. Even if the remainder of this season completely bites, I'll be really happy to see you get to twenty goals. At this point, I'm totally willing to grab on to the little things.

Sweet Relief!

This morning I got the following email from Mark.

If Derek plays tonight, he will have a huge game. When I came in this morning and turned on my adding machine, the number 9 appeared! Okay, I must have bumped the 9 key, but still!!

Monday we're going to see if he can accidentally punch in 26.

In a season when a couple of my favorites have fallen hard (Spinorama on outta here, Soupy! Dipsy-doodle your way to a new city, Timmy!), I'm a little relieved to report that I've really missed having Derek Roy in the line-up the last few games. He hasn't had a very good season and he can be completely exasperating - we have a very intense love/hate relationship - but dang, when I love him, I love him. It sure looks like he took Lindy's words about certain players needing to step up to heart because he had a great game. He was buzzing everywhere, he was involved in a handful of the goals and I admit it, I'm totally tickled at the goalie - I think it was Kari Lehtonen at that point - shooting the puck at him. Hee. Even though he was kind of tripped into the crease, I do think little Roy-Z is at his best when he's bugging other people. I'm a little disappointed that his hat-trick was awarded after the game though. I hate when that happens! Here's a hat from me to you, Roy-Z! You were my first star of the game.



Other observations:

- Despite the fact that he keeps hitting crossbars, I think Thomas Vanek looked pretty good tonight. He was going to the net more often than not and made some really nice passes to the front of the net. I fully expect the message board denizens to pick everything he did apart to pieces and fault him for not earning $70 million in one game but for tonight, they should really give it a rest.

- That was one of the most complete games they've played all season. They'd start to cool off just for a couple of minutes and I'd start getting a little worried but they always pulled it together quickly. The Sabres definitely got some bounces but they also worked really hard for sixty minutes. It's a cliche that you create your own bounces but it's a cliche because it's true.

- I try to not let the girlie side of me come out here too often because I don't want to be accused of being a puckbunny - seriously, try it and see what happens - but that backhand by Smokin' Jochen Hecht was seriously sexy. You can keep your showy slapshots, backhands make me swoon. (Of course, I also have a terrible, terrible slapshot so maybe I'm just pretending to not be impressed with them. I do, however, have a pretty good backhand if I do say so myself. Yo-Yo and I are hockey soul mates because I'd be all about ugly goals, I think.)

- I admit, I tend to kind of ignore it when Henrik Tallinder isn't playing well - he's my favorite player so that earns him a little slack - but he really has looked a ton better the last handful or so of games, even in some of the losses. Good job, Hank. It's nice to be able to actually say, "Hey, my guy is playing really well!" instead of just closing my eyes and pretending I'm not seeing you.

- If I were nice, I wouldn't point out that a clean giveaway by Brian "Six Million Dollar Man" Campbell led directly to the Thrashers only goal. But hey, if you guys want to give him that much money... Okay, seriously, it's just as likely that was Ryan Miller's fault. I mean, the poor guy had a FOUR GOAL LEAD. He was probably panicky and confused. And hey, atleast we didn't have to hold our breaths waiting for the last second goal to ruin the potential shutout.

- Two gorgeous passes from Dmitri Kalinin. Oh, geez. That pass/shot over to Vanek on the side of the net was so, so nice.

- Loved the mic'd up segment when Adam Mair hollers for a piece of gum and somebody brought out a little tupperware dish full of sticks of gum. I don't know, for some reason that little dish cracked me up. I can't believe they chew gum while skating and getting knocked around though. Seems dangerous.

- Nice to see some bumping and scrapping from a lot of different guys. I'm a little disappointed that we didn't get full-blown fights out of Hecht and Toni Lydman though. They're not very good fighters and it doesn't happen very often but I love the way they go from mild-mannered to total flip out and they didn't quite get there tonight. And geez, Jason Pominville got nailed by Eric Boulton. I think I heard him whimpering from my living room.

- All in all, a much needed victory for both the team and the fans, I think. Part of my brain is whispering that it doesn't mean anything until we string a bunch of wins together but the other half of my brain is telling that half to shut up. For tonight, I'm happy. At the very least, it was nice to see some smiles on the bench again.

Letters! We've Got Letters!

"Hey, Jaro! Wanna be captain this month?"


Looks like a yes to me!

Someone (hi, brian!) asked me in the comment section what I thought of Jaroslav Spacek's January captaincy. While I join RJ in his desire to see Paul Gaustad with a letter, I have no problem whatsoever with Jaro wearing the C. He totally deserves it. While there was a lot of talk at the beginning of the season about how much better Jaro was playing and how good he looked, I do think he's been overlooked a lot. Brian Campbell seems to be getting the bulk of credit for that pairing's success and while I will come out of my recent anti-Soupy funk enough to admit that he is having a good season, Soupy's success does require a strong partner. Jaro's busting his ass every night which is something that can't be said about very many guys on the team this season. He's playing like he wants to win and he understands that means working hard. That makes him a great leader for this team as it is right now.

No complaints about the A's either. Jason Pominville doesn't really strike me as the leader type - he's so sweet and earnest - but like Jaro, he's playing hard and he has a boatload of assists in the last handful of games. Jochen Hecht is turning into quite the letter hog, but like I've said before about him, he's noticeably stepped it up this season. He knew he was going to have to play a bigger role and he's played it. He's also on his way to a career season. Thirteen goals and not quite halfway through the season... He has to get twenty this season. Right? Man, I wish the Sabres would get off their lazy butts and re-sign him already. Oh, right... They already did.

Yesterday's Sabres Edge suggests that the sweet vintage jackets the Sabres coaching staff wore at the Ice Bowl are going to be for sale soon. I am all over that.

Santa's Little Helpers

I have to say, I'm feeling much better about the Sabres after doing this to them. Really most of these guys have been okay (or injured - come back, Hank) but they were the ones who I found to be the funniest. This is so stupid, but what can I say, I'm totally cracking up here. Watch and enjoy!

ETA: I take it back. This one's pretty funny too.

(Would it shock you to learn that it's 3:08 a.m. right now?)

First Quarter Comments

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! Tonight we talk about actual hockey! I know!

A week or so into the season, I had a conversation with Earl Sleek. The overall gist of the conversation was, "Good Lord, our teams can't really be this bad, can they?" and we assured ourselves that no, they weren't. Teams sometimes have slow starts, no big deal. Earl, being the stat-head that he is however, couldn't just let optimism rule the day. No, he had to drag numbers and you know, reality into the conversation. Earl pointed out that the last few Stanley Cup winners have done really well in their first sixteen games. A good record in the regular season doesn't necessarily guarantee playoff success - after all, the 15-1-1 Sabres flamed out in the playoffs last year while the 6-10-1 Senators ripped through the playoffs and played for the Cup - but it does seem to be a good sample size. So here are some observations at the almost quarter mark of the season, some about the Sabres, some about the league in general:

- As Thomas Vanek goes, so go the Sabres. Other players can take the load here and there - Pominville, Hecht, Connolly - but for the Sabres to win, Vanek needs to be playing good hockey. I know, shocker, right? The good news is, despite some bumps in the road thus far, I think we'll be okay here. Vanek has definitely struggled and he needs to learn to channel his emotions better - he and Derek Roy both seem quick to let frustration take over too quickly - but he's pushed through the struggles and played hard even when it wasn't paying off. I believe Thomas is completely sincere in wanting to live up to his contract (good luck, buddy!) and he's too talented to not score more goals than he is right now. I think it's a little soon to decide that we should have kept Daniel Briere over him.

- Tim Connolly is important, especially on the powerplay. Last season I thought people got a little crazy with the "Timmy will make our PP better!" pronouncements, but there's no denying that the special teams have been better this season with him (even without Briere and Drury!) and have suffered some - especially the PP - during his injury. Fans can complain all they want about the wisdom of putting so much responsibility on a player who seems to live on IR, but you can't deny Timmy's talent. I also think Tim is potentially one of the most important players in the room. Some of the younger guys - Vanek, Pominville, Roy, Stafford - have been fortunate enough to succeed quickly on good teams and now they're having to work through things not coming so easily. Tim isn't that much older than them but he's been in the league forever and he's certainly had his share of ups and downs. I think his more even-keeled on-ice personality will balance out Vanek and Roy until they learn to use their emotions in a more productive way.

ETA: It turns out I'm not totally making things up here! Mirtle has some powerplay stats that reveal that yep, Timmy is indeed the straw that stirs the drink. See, I do occasionally know what I'm talking about.

- Derek Roy needs to be better. He's made some progress in the last couple of games but he needs to be so much better. More hustling, more getting under opponents' skin, more shooting. Less stick-handling, less whining, and less blaming things like bad bounces and chippy ice.

- For all the complaints about our defense, they've been anywhere from serviceable to solid which is especially impressive with the loss of Teppo and Kalinin. Losing Teppo's experience and leadership was a big blow and I think Tri was one of the few guys who played well from the drop of the puck this season. Considering that we had two very inexperienced d-men in the line-up for a stretch, things have been okay back there. Most nights they're holding the score down enough that the team has a chance to win and that's what you hope for. This group certainly isn't going to blow anyone away and there have been goals that were definitely the result of some kind of break-down. But the defense hasn't been the biggest problem most nights which is a very good thing.

- It might be time for Maxim Afinogenov to move on. He's very frustrating to watch. I know that, in his own way, he's trying to make things happen but after he finally seemed to figure things out last season, it's tough to watch him take such a big step backward. If we have to part with someone to pick up a missing piece - a big, physical forward for example - he's probably the player I'd be the most willing to see leave.

- No one's really mentioned it, but I think this first part of season has probably been an adjustment for Lindy Ruff as well. He had a young team last year too but he also had Drury and Numminen and Briere to take on some of the leadership. I'm sure you coach a team with that kind of player presence differently than you coach a team that's lacking that. I don't know, maybe I'm wrong, but it seems like it would require a little more hands-on work, more building up, and calming down. It's possible that he's been adjusting to a new role as well.

- How good does that Jochen Hecht re-signing look right now? Pretty good. Jochen's been busting his butt every night at both ends of the ice and he's done a bang-up job at center while Timmy's been out. I'm all for keeping him between Pominville and MacArthur and letting Timmy center Max and Ales Kotalik. Jochen is exactly the kind of player that every team needs and while he's under the radar most of the time, I think we would've really noticed his absence if he'd ended up elsewhere next season.

- The schedule this year blows. It feels like almost every week the Sabres have played two games in three nights or three games in four nights and then not played for four or five days. And this all-divisional games month is killing me. We still have two games against the Canadiens and I'm already tired of looking at them. One more "Ole, ole, ole!" just might drive me over the edge of insanity. Is it really that hard to spread these games out over the course of the season? You have 82 games to work with! A home and home weekend against Montreal should be exciting because the two teams usually do put on good games, but we've played them what feels like 18 times in the last two weeks. This is not building rivalries, it's killing them.

- I'm glad the league seems to be taking suspensions a little more seriously but I won't be completely sold until Chris Pronger gets more than one game for a transgression.

- Definitely a disappointing start but there are signs of life and I think the team will be mostly okay. In the end, struggling now might be a good thing. Let the kids learn now that it's a new game this year. If they want to win, they're going to have to work hard every single night. That's definitely better than them getting some flukey wins, deciding they can coast, and then discovering (again) that it's not that easy in the playoffs. While it's nice to finish at the top of the division or conference, I'm a firm believer that in hockey you really just have to make the playoffs. Once the playoffs start, it's a new season and crazy things happen. Guys who have been scoring all season suddenly stop while guys who have scored a handful a goals all season are finding the back of the net. Goalies get hot and carry teams or freeze up and doom them.

- You never know.

Blow Leafs Blow!

EDITED TO ADD A VIDEO:

Please watch this video.

(Canadian TV is so much cooler than American TV. Tim Connolly either thought this was a real interview or he's a great actor (bravo, Tim). And now we know why Derek probably got that unsportsmanlike conduct last night.)

A couple of thoughts during the Buffalo-Toronto game:

If anyone could possibly hit both posts and still not get the puck in the net, it's Jochen Hecht, God bless 'im. I popped in and out of the open game thread at Bfloblog and after Jochen completely missed the net on a breakaway (sigh), someone brought up old Hands of Stone himself, Mike Grier although someone quickly added that that's the only way Hecht compares to Grier. At the risk of offending those who bow at the altar of Mike Grier, I think they compare pretty well with the exception of Grier playing more phyiscally than Hecht usually does. The primary difference is that Grier always played on a checking line and wasn't expected to score whereas Jochen has always been on a scoring line even though his skill set is more suited to a checking line. He's not a scorer, folks. Never has been, probably never will be. (And almost exactly as I finished typing that sentence, Yo-Yo scores. Sorry, man.)

Seriously, tell me Tim Connolly isn't every bit as good as Daniel Briere. If anything, he's better. His vision is absolutely mind-boggling. Please stay healthy, Timmmy. Please.

Has it ever been more clear that Andrew Peters is dead weight on the ice? He seems like a decent guy, I know he's well-liked in the locker room, but why is he getting any ice-time? The fourth line was completely invisible tonight until Lindy started putting Derek Roy out there in Peters' place and boom, Mairsy puts it in the net. I know, I know... He was in the line-up to protect against any funny business from Belak and Tucker. But even when he's doing that he's just so stupid about it. Can't we let Mair and Goose take care of that stuff and move Peters on down the line?

Hecht extended? Granted, it's Eklund. But it's also an E5 which means someone else probably already did the legwork to confirm it and Ek is just latching on. I wouldn't mind seeing Yo-Yo around for a few more years so I hope it's true. Now let's get cracking on Campbell and Kalinin.

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.

Whatever Pops Into My Brain (Pretty Boys Ahead!)

I just realized it's been a pretty quiet month here at Top Shelf. Summer malaise is setting in, I think. The last couple weeks of summer school are chaos and trying to balance the two jobs with some terrible allergy attacks has sucked me of all energy. I've been spending most of my time at home sleeping. I'm now on vacation from the day job however for two weeks and will soon have a week off from both jobs while my mom and one of my brothers come up to visit from Alabama. So maybe I'll get a much needed energy boost. For now, here's a hodge-podge of things:

Much of Buffalo is currently talking about the price increases for the upcoming Sabres season. I'm not really sure what the big deal is. First of all, we all knew a price hike was coming. It's not like the team has been hiding that fact. And while there are certainly a number of bronze games that could be value games, silver games that could be bronze etc. I just can't get that up in arms about this. A seat at a Sabres game is still much more affordable than a seat at many - if not most - pro sporting events. Mark and I spent a nice little chunk more on our mini-pack than we did last season, but what we spent on five games would still barely get us into a couple of games in Toronto. I'm the first to forget this sometimes or whine about it when it doesn't suit me, but this is a business. There are people involved who would like to make some profit. If you're going to complain that management isn't throwing enough money at players to keep them around, I don't know if you can complain about them picking up some money in an area that, let's face it, they've probably been underpricing the last few seasons. It's all about supply and demand. The Sabres are hot right now and if you want to see them in person, you're going to have to compete with fans who are willing to pay more money. That's the way it works. Of course Drury and Briere's returns are going to be be gold games - lots of people want to see them. The truth is, management could've raised prices much more than they did. Pony up and go to the games or don't. But take a look at what other fans are paying to see lesser quality teams play before you complain too loudly.

These new jerseys are largely frightening. Columbus's new design is much improved and the Bruins did a great job of making their classic look fit the new streamlined look, but everyone else? Ugh. What is up with all the weird piping and color blocking on these designs? And a lot of them suffer from the same thing the Sabres re-design does - very plain chests with an explosion of color and design under the arms. Why would you put that much of the design in the most useless place on the jersey? I can appreciate the new jerseys being made of better material and providing improved performance, but I don't understand why it's proving so hard for teams to make something decent of them. And if the Bruins can design the jersey they did, why exactly was it impossible for the Sabres to use the vintage logo on their re-design? The shapes of the logo and the striping are almost exactly the same.

My husband Mark (check out his new blog, SabresDance) has spent his summer trying to select a new favorite player so he can purchase a jersey replacement for his now useless Drury jersey (although we did decided that we can tape LYNCH over DRURY, making it somewhat wearable). Right now it seems Drew Stafford is in the lead with Ryan Miller trailing in second.

My buddy Kate recently started up a new blog called The Willful Caboose which everyone should, of course, check out. Kate is also in the process of selecting a new favorite player - darn you, Chris Drury! - but unlike Mark, she is factoring physical appearance into the equation. This led to us turning a comment thread on the otherwise respectable Bfloblog into a debate on whether or not Teppo Numminen is hot (yes, he is). I'm genuinely gob smacked at the idea of someone not finding Teppo attractive, slicked back hair and all, so just so everyone knows where I stand, here's Heather B's list of the three best looking Sabres, in order of preference. Aw, heck... Let's just call this next section:

Why I Love Hockey #21 - Good-Looking Boys
1. Henrik Tallinder - Hair the color of burnished gold, bright blue eyes, sweet smile, and dimples. The long, lean frame seals the deal. Very pointy chin but that can be avoided by not looking at him in profile too much.


2. Paul Gaustad - Really hot especially when he's throwing punches at people.


3. Jochen Hecht - He's got the whole shy boy vibe working for him. I don't know that I'd say he's hot, but he's totally adorable. Especially cute when you can get a little bit of a smile out of him.


Honorable mention to Teppo Numminen. Eternal favorite status to Jay McKee and Marty Biron.

As for the puck bunny favorites...

Ryan Miller is not cute. He's interesting looking - I have a lot of affection for his perpetually cocked eyebrow - and he seems like a cool guy, but he's not good-looking at all. Plus he's so darn scrawny. I am not a small woman. I have a hard time being attracted to a guy who I'm mostly convinced I could break in half with my bare hands.

Jason Pominville is not cute. He looks like a puppy dog (thus the nickname "Pommerdoodle") and I want to pat him on the head and say, "Good boy" when I see him with that frizz of hair.

Derek Roy is very cute so I'll give the puck bunnies that one. He's so tiny though. Not really his fault but I have a hard time getting past it.

All right, I'm done. Maybe I'll be more organized and coherent tomorrow.