Odds and Ends

- In honor of Danny Paille's new contract, I sound a barbaric "Yippe Paille, Mother@#!$@&!" (Link includes language that might not be safe for work.)

I was a little surprised that the deal was only for two years, but I'm not sure it isn't a good idea. Paille's only played one full season in the NHL and while it was a pretty impressive one at times, I think teams need to be careful about the trend of investing a lot of time and money into young players based on potential. You can probably get away with doing that for a couple of people, but if you do it with too many you run a risk of really screwing yourself if someone doesn't pan out. If I'm understanding things correctly, Paille will still be a RFA at the end of this deal and at that point I think the Sabres will have a better idea what kind of player they have on their hands. Maybe it costs them a little more money in the long run, but it'll be based on a much larger sample. I'm definitely curious to see what Paille develops into. I did not expect 19 goals from him - I'm not sure he expected 19 goals from himself based on some interviews - so it'll be interesting to see if that keeps up or if he settles into being more of a mucker and grinder. One thing's for sure, the money is very good. I was surprised he's getting less than a million in his first year. That's a very good cap hit.

- I'm not a puck bunny, I think we've made that clear. I'm married, I'm increasingly older than a lot of the players, and quite frankly, considering some of the stories I've heard about some of the Sabres, I'm not entirely convinced bagging a hockey player is all that hard much less something to be proud of. If I ever dump my husband it's not going to be for a skanky-ass pro athlete. I am, however, a female and I do occasionally notice if a hockey player happens to be good-looking. In response to a fan video posted on Puck Daddy (you can't see me but I'm rolling my eyes at the stupid name of that otherwise fine blog), Margee of Sportsquee fame is taking a poll on who fans think are the best-looking players in the NHL. For the curious, here's my list in no particular order.

1. Henrik Tallinder, BUF (Unless this is your first day, this should be obvious.)
2. Jochen Hecht, BUF (I get why he isn't a big puck bunny target - he's a little older, he's married, he has young children, he seems terribly shy - but it doesn't change the fact that Jochen is Smokin'.)
3. Travis Zajac, NJ
4. Mike Fisher, OTT (Yeah, even if he is a Senator.)
5. Sammy Pahlsson, ANA
6. Mike Komisarek, MON
7. Jay McKee, STL (Forever and ever, amen.)
8. Saku Koivu, MON (Also owner of the best name in hockey.)
9. Marty Turco, DAL (Dependably good-looking. He's like the neighborhood dad you had a crush on when you were a kid.)
10. Nicklas Lidstrom, DET

Guys, feel free to chime in with your own list of dreamy players! If you want to know even more about my Squee history and you missed it the first time around, check out my full interview with Margee. And for pete's sake, read her blog.

- Speaking of Sportsquee, today Life_As_A_Redhead dropped this amazing link on me in the comment section over there. It's a website for a cattle breeder but check this out (click on the picture to see a larger image because you really need to see the print):


This might be the best thing I've seen all week. I'm always amused when hockey shows up in unexpected places like this.

- In roughly 48 hours from this typing, I'll be leaving The Dark Knight. I'm super stoked. Tickets have already been purchased for an IMAX showing and it better be good because I can't remember the last time Mark and I have both been looking forward to a movie so much.

- Still not enough Heather B. for ya? Then check out this post, co-written by Katebits and me. (You should be reading the Willful Caboose every day anyway.) Kate and I have longed dreamed of being the only two people in Buffalo to buy season tickets and once again, we got a little lost in the fantasy.

Why I Have Hope: Youth

In retrospect, I probably should have filed that first post about Darcy Regier under "Why I Have Hope" - even if it would disgust some people - so let's pretend I did, okay?

A few months ago - I think it was March, Kevin Sylvester's blog on Sabres.com featured the chart below:

I stole this chart from Kevin Sylvester's blog.

Now granted, this was in March so the final numbers and placements might have changed a bit. A professional would probably re-crunch the numbers but a tired, overworked blogger with no editor who isn't getting paid for this will just go with the above. Sylvester pulled some interesting observations from this chart. I'll also add a couple of my own.

1. Buffalo was the youngest team in the top five at the time - actually they were the youngest team in the top fifteen - and although it wasn't in the chart, he also mentioned that the Sabres are younger than the Capitals and the Blackhawks, both teams that are often mentioned as talented young teams on the rise.

2. Ottawa, Detroit and Carolina - especially Carolina - got huge chunks of their offense from players 26 and older with Carolina especially skewing old. The only team in the same neighborhood as Buffalo for scoring from players 25 and younger was Montreal but their second highest percentage by a pretty good margin came from players 30 and older. Buffalo's goals are more evenly spread out.

3. Most of the under 25 goals for Buffalo were scored by Thomas Vanek, Derek Roy, Jason Pominville, Danny Paille, and Drew Stafford. I'm not sure what's going on with Stafford at this point but Vanek and Roy are locked up long -term, discussions have begun with Paille, and talks will move to Pominville after something is hammered out with Ryan Miller. The offense that was near the top of the league last year will remain intact for a number of years to come and these players are just moving into their peak years. They should continue to match their output from last season if not improve upon it.

4. Most of the players listed above - Vanek, Roy, and Pominville - already have a ton of playoff experience, something that's pretty nice considering how young they are.

I know there are a lot of fans who hate the idea that we should just leave the team alone because they're young and they'll get better as they get older and I agree that the team needs some tweaking but... they're young and they'll get better. We saw it with Montreal last season. Two years ago they finished out of the playoffs with 90 points (hmmm... that sounds familiar...) and last season they won the Eastern Conference and they did it without any huge changes to their line-up. Heck, we saw the same thing here not that long ago. The 2003-2004 Sabres team made a last minute grab at a playoff spot and missed. They broke for the lockout, got some experience in Europe, and came back in 2005 with a couple of seemingly minor additions (Toni Lydman, Teppo Numminen) and a couple of kids (Thomas Vanek and Ryan Miller) and they had a pretty darn good season. Some of it was an infusion of youth from Rochester through the season but some of it was players like Chris Drury, Daniel Briere, J.P. Dumont and Jay McKee getting more comfortable with playing with each other and getting more experience in their roles on the ice and in the dressing room. The team that gave up a lot of leads in 2003-2004 was suddenly playing till the end, sometimes making miraculous comebacks themselves. The captaincy that rotated in 2003-2004 finally found permanent homes on the chests of Drury and Briere. Or did we forget that they didn't show up in Buffalo as fully formed leaders of men?

Vanek and Roy initially struggled on the first line and really only had one good half last season. Stafford was up and down throughout the year. Miller put a lot of pressure on himself and played a lot more minutes than he's used to playing. Pominville took on more responsibility defensively. Paille played twice as many games in Buffalo as he ever had before. But most of them got noticeably better and more comfortable as the season went on and I don't see any reason not to expect that to continue. They're babies and babies need time to learn and develop. Additions like Craig Rivet will make a difference by bringing in some new energy and leadership but time will make a difference too.

Radio Ga Ga

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Together again! (Photo courtesy of War Penguin)

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!

Danny Paille

This is really just an add-on to the previous post, but I've edited it 18 times already and I figure people will stop reading it at some point.

Lindy Ruff said he sat Danny Paille last night because he didn't want to mess with the line-up that won on Saturday night. Right. Because it totally doesn't make sense to take an already winning line-up, subtract the useless hockey player who only had 1:50 of ice-time, and add a player who busts his hump every night. Okey dokey!

Lindy, I love you, but no, I don't think so.