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)

                                                                    

There Is Nothing To Blog About

Elma mentioned this in the comment section a couple of days ago and while I didn't respond to it - he was trying to distract me from my argument, I know it! - it did send me off to YouTube. I have nothing else to blog about so here, for your viewing enjoyment, is the only shootout that's ever mattered.



Look at that grin!

Oh, Hank. You're just full of surprises. Please come back soon!

If I Ruled the NHL...

So yeah, hockey. Remember that? Last off-season was a pretty wretched one to live through as a fan but as a blogger it was way better than this one. There was something to write about right up until the puck dropped the next season! I'm dying here, people.

Over at Puck Daddy (Kate accidentally called it Puck Bunny one day so now we always refer to it as that), Greg W. has been running a series where different people share 5 ways they'd change the NHL. So here, for your reading enjoyment, are my changes. Some of them are repeats of things that have already been said over there but hey, deal with it:

1. Extend overtime to 10 minutes and bring back the tie.
I can certainly understand not wanting to play marathon games during the regular season but five minutes of overtime isn't enough. Just as the teams are starting to create some pressure and get some good chances, the horn goes off and we move to a shootout which, by the way, sucks donkeys. If we're all agreed that the shootout isn't good enough to decide who wins a playoff game - and oh, sweet lord may that day never come - it's not good enough to help determine who gets into the playoffs in the first place. I admit, when I first started watching hockey I hated ties. Now I'm over it.

2. Shorten the regular season.
Do we really need 82 games? I could lose ten games, easy. There's always a stretch at the end of the regular season where I'm ready for the season to end and I love hockey. If we end the season sooner it cuts down on some of the grind on players and we can also start the playoffs sooner. Maybe the ice would be better for the most important games of the season and I would sure appreciate not having to sweat through my jersey in May and June. (To the wise guys out of town, no, it is not still snowing in Buffalo in June.)

3. Make player tees available for any player in the league.
If you go to the shop at MLB.com you can order a player tee for any player on any team. If I want to order a Detroit Tigers tee that says VAN SLYKE 18 on the back, by golly, I can. I may be the only putz in the world wearing a jersey tee for a first base coach but hey, I'll be happy. It seems so simple that it kind of boggles my mind that you can't do the same for the NHL. Seriously? Is it that hard to iron on letters and numbers, NHL? One of the best things about sports, particularly hockey, is how those little role guys can steal your heart. If people out there want Andrew Peters' name and number on their back, God bless 'em, they should be able to get it and they should be able to get it without have to plunk down $200 for a jersey.

4. Lose the kicking motion rule and do something about the inconsistent officiating.
If the puck goes off a skate, it's not a goal. The end. I can't sit through another debate about whether the player used a kicking motion or was merely turning his skate to come to a stop. I'm convinced the same goal wouldn't be called the same way one night as it would be the next so it's time to lose the rule.

And please, call the game the same way in the third period as you do in the first, the same way at the end of the season as you do at the beginning, and the same way in the playoffs as you do in the regular season. I don't even care how you call it - blow the whistle for the slightest infraction, let everything go - I'd just like to know what to expect.

BONUS OFFICIATING CHANGE:

Tell the crowd in the arena why a goal review was called the way it was. The refs are already mic'd up. I don't need a lengthy explanation, just a simple, "Upon review it was ruled that the puck was gloved into the net." Sometimes it's obvious what's being looked at but sometimes you're stuck with no clue. On at least a couple of occasions last season I was trying to get a peek at the TVs in the press box to see if I could ascertain what the problem was.

5. Don't let people order jerseys with their own names on them.
Some people needed to be protected from themselves. You look stupid, people.

A couple of random Olympic thoughts:

Kate reminded me of something that I keep meaning to bring up. One of the things I dislike about the Olympics is that I think silver is far prettier than gold. I'd totally want a silver medal. (104th thing about me: My engagement ring and wedding band are platinum, not gold. I don't wear a lot of jewelry anyway - 105th thing about me! - but I don't own a single piece of gold jewelry.)

And regarding the judging controversy in the women's uneven bars, good grief, give it a rest, NBC. I personally don't understand why there can't be two of a certain medal awarded if gymnasts have the same final score, but everyone knew coming into the competition that there was a tie-breaker system and the explanation wasn't really that hard to follow. And while I understand that as an athlete it would be tough to not end up with the medal you feel you deserved, hello, THAT'S HOW GYMNASTICS WORKS! If you don't want a judge to have the final say-so on where you finish, well, I guess you should have become a swimmer.

Staying Alive (Via Life Support)

I went over to Kate's last night to watch the game and we agreed before it started that we had a bad feeling about it. It was one of those games that appeared to be so much in our favor - opponent out of the playoffs, their star player injured, their backup goalie in net - that you knew something was bound to go wrong. At no point tonight did I think the Sabres were going to win this game. I was sure they were going to lose when the Leafs scored in the first minute. I was sure they were going to lose when Ryan Miller was so far out of position on the second goal that he was barely still in the arena. (I know, I know - he fell over.) I was sure they were going to lose when the first period ended with the Leafs scoring two goals on five shots. I was sure they were going to lose when they kept tying the game up without seeming to gain any serious momentum. I was sure they were going to lose when the game went to a shootout. Could the season end any other way than in a shootout to the Maple Leafs' backup goalie? I was sure they were going to lose when Tomas Kaberle made Ryan look ridiculous on the first attempt. I was sure they were going to lose when the shootout kept on going and going. But they didn't lose. You know why?

Because these little brats are going to drag this out as long as possible. They are determined to torture me until the very end of the season. Not only do I have to care about two more Sabres games, the stars are going to align and then I'm going to have to care about a Flyers game that takes place the day after our last game. That is not right. That is not right at all. I did not sign up to care about the Flyers. I signed up to care about the Sabres. And don't tell me that caring about the Sabres might mean caring about the Flyers because that's totally cheating. I'm being abused by my hockey team.

If there wasn't a teeny, teeny, tiny part of me that still believes (shut up), I would be willing to sacrifice the Sabres playoff hopes at the altar of Ottawa going winless for the remainder of the season and falling out of the playoffs. (The Sens have a game left against Boston so unfortunately we can't make it in while they fall out.) I mean, at least the Sabres have had enough kindness to stink off and on for most the season. Ottawa totally suckered their fans by ripping through the first half of the season. If they missed the postseason now? That would be hilarious.

While I was at Kate's we recorded another podcast. This one's kind of a mini-cast but what are you gonna do? After the game we weren't quite sure which direction to go. Were we happy? (Yes.) Were we disgusted? (Yes.) Encouraged? (Yes.) Annoyed? (Also yes.) Anyway, you can listen to it here.

The Sabres Are Following Me!

As luck would have it (I guess), the restaurant we ate at last night had the Sabres game on. Crazy, no? I made my mom switch places with me so I was facing the TV but between eating, talking, and the distance of the TV I missed most of the game. I did see enough that my family was treated to a twenty minute discourse on why the shootout/third point is killing the Sabres and hockey as we know it. Judging by the way their eyes were glazing over, I think maybe the brilliance of it was wasted on them. We did have a funny moment though while discussing fighting and how the Sabres don't do much of it. I told them our enforcer isn't good enough at hockey to play very much and that it's hard to fight from the bench. That was promptly followed by our enforcer taking a swing at someone... from the bench. What a dope.

Alabama is weird, you guys! I lucked across the game tonight but if I didn't go out of my way to keep tabs on the Sabres I would never accidentally run across that information. No hockey on TV, no hockey on the radio, no hockey in the newspaper. No hockey! It does not exist! I might see how long it takes me to learn the score of Wednesday's game. If I didn't cave and look it up (which I will) I'll bet I could get all the way back to Buffalo without finding out. It shouldn't be a surprise to me that Alabama doesn't exactly embrace hockey - I only lived here for twenty-one and a half years - but after living with the Buffalo crazies for almost eight years it's kind of mind-boggling.

While watching the game, I totally missed that Dmitri Kalinin and Jaroslav Spacek were hurt. Here's a re-dramatization of my response when I read that on Sabres Edge (it could be weeks?!) as performed by my nephew Luke:



I was not sitting in a laundry basket at the time though this team might eventually drive me to that. I forgot this game was on Versus. I don't suppose they at least gave us Hank in a suit, did they? Losers.

This Game's Going to a Shootout! (NOOOOOOOOOOOO!)

A few odds and ends here... but first! A PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT FOR ALL OF BUFFALO!

BUFALLO! THE DETROIT RED WINGS HAVE A GOALIE IN THEIR SYSTEM BY THE NAME OF JIMMY HOWARD! THEY REALLY LIKE HIM! THEY THINK HE'S GOING TO BE REALLY GOOD! HE PLAYED IN A GAME ON NBC A COUPLE WEEKS AGO AND LOOKED REALLY GOOD! EVEN THOUGH PIERRE MCGUIRE ACTED LIKE THIS KID HAD APPEARED OUT OF THIN AIR, I ASSURE YOU HE DID NOT! THE WINGS HAVE KNOWN ABOUT HIM THE ENTIRE TIME! I REALLY DOUBT THAT THEY'LL BURY HIM BEHIND RYAN MILLER WHO IS GOING TO COST A LOT OF MONEY EVEN IF RYAN MILLER IS FROM MICHIGAN! THEY DON'T CARE! THEY JUST WANT A GOOD GOALIE! WHICH THEY HAVE! NO NEED TO FREAK OUT OVER SOMETHING THAT HASN'T HAPPENED AND MORE IMPORTANTLY, IS NOT VERY LIKELY TO HAPPEN IN THE FUTURE! PLEASE CEASE AND DESIST WITH THE FREAKING OUT!

ALSO, WHILE I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION! SABRES EDGE! I'M TRYING VERY HARD NOT TO INCLUDE YOU IN MY BUFFALO NEWS BAN BUT I COULDN'T HELP BUT NOTICE THAT BUCKY GLEASON POSTED THERE FOUR TIMES YESTERDAY, ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT DAYS IN THE HOCKEY SEASON! THAT IS NOT COOL! I NOTICED THAT HE WROTE, "GEE, I GUESS THEY SHOULD HAVE ACCEPTED THAT OFFER OF 25 MILLION FOR FIVE YEARS" WHICH IS 1) DUMB 2) SNOTTY AND 3) A DIRECT CUT AND PASTE OF WHAT HE WROTE LAST TIME HE SHOWED UP ON SABRES EDGE! I DID NOT ENJOY THAT! ALSO! YOUR COMMENTERS ARE WHACK-A-DOOS! I KNOW THERE'S NOT MUCH YOU CAN DO ABOUT THAT! I JUST WANTED TO GO ON THE RECORD!

(This has been a Top Shelf public service announcement. We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.)

Opinion seems to be divided on how the Brian Campbell trade is going to affect the Sabres. I can see both sides and I'm too wishy-washy on this one to commit to one way or the other. But I am interested to see which way it goes. Is it the final blow to a team that's shown itself to be pretty fragile for stretches of the season? Or will it be a load off their shoulders which will now enable them to really focus on hockey? Campbell was clearly distracted and it affected his play which in turn might have affected other people's play. And I think all the guys were probably distracted because while I can't fully jump on the media for doing its job, it was a total circus.

I fully approve of Dmitri Kalinin moving up to play with Jaroslav Spacek. I kind of hate to break up Kalinin and Nolan Pratt because they've found such a nice rhythm but a Spacek-Paetsch pairing sounds like a nightmare waiting to happen to me. I like Kalinin a lot and I think he'll do a fair job of sliding into Campbell's spot because while he's not the skater Campbell is, he can carry the puck and he does a decent job of getting his shot on net. I also think Paetsch is better off with a steadier defensive d-man like Pratt. So Lindy, if you're nosing around to see what I think, thumbs up, buddy!

I've started the much-promised post on the shootout a few times now and it turns out I just don't have much to say that's very insightful. I hate them. I do think they're fun to watch and I do enjoy seeing the occasional unexpected hero pop up, but I can't get behind it being a good way to decide the winner of a game. It's a skills competition and it's such a weird, specific skill. Some goalies who are very good in-game goalies - even on breakaways - are terrible at the shootout and vice versa. Some forwards who are great offensive players in-game - again, even on breakaways - are terrible in shootouts. Some teams who are not good have great shootout records - Tampa Bay was one of the league leaders last season - and some good teams are terrible in shootouts. (I would've pointed to Ottawa here a few weeks ago but I have no idea what's going on with them right now. Man.) There's absolutely no relationship between how that particular game has gone and how the shootout turns out. Does the best team win every game? No, not always. Does the best team on a given night win every game? Not every time but I'd say usually. But not necessarily in a shootout.

I also hate the third point, which I know was around before the shootout. But I hate that some games are worth more than other games and I hate that for every shootout loss the Sabres handed over an extra point to a team they're fighting with for a playoff spot and only because that team happened to be better at a very specific skill than us. (And yes, I'm not going to deny that I'm partly bitter because we stink in shootouts this year.) And really, as much as I hate the shootout as a game decider, it was installed to guarantee a winner and a loser. Why is the loser of a shootout more worthy of a point than the loser of a regulation game? Because they played good defensive hockey for an extra five minutes? I would probably be more cranky if the Sabres lost in a shootout and got nothing for it but theoretically, if we have a winner and a loser, why does the loser get anything. They lost!

But really my main beef with the shootout is this: Everyone - even the people who like them - say, "I don't ever want to see them in the playoffs." Well, if we all agree that they're not a fitting way to decide who wins a playoff game, why is it okay for them to decide games that determine who makes the playoffs in the first place? Let's use the Buffalo-Philly game as an example. (I know, I know, I said we should pretend it didn't happen. Work with me, people!) That game was between the eighth seed and the ninth seed and the winner was going to finish as the eighth seed a.k.a. in the final playoff spot. If that game had been the final game of the season, who moved on to the postseason would have come down to who has the best shootout shooters/goalie and that, my friends, is a blemish on hockey as we know it! I mean, yes, you could justifiably say, "If the Sabres had won more games during the season, it wouldn't have come down to that." And you'd be right. But you could also justifiably say, "If those other teams hadn't picked up so many extra points because they were good at shootouts, they might not be in the picture at all." If the Buffalo-Philly game had ended in a tie - as it should have because both teams were equally good and horrible, I think - then the playoff spot would've been determined by stuff that actually matters like who won more games and how the two teams fared against each other during the season. Am I making sense here? Because I'm feeling a little muddled.

I'm not a big fan of ties. I grew up watching baseball where there's a winner in the end even if two teams have to play all night and into the next morning. But I understand why hockey doesn't have endless overtimes during the regular seasons and if I've learned anything this year it's that well, some games should end in ties. If you're not going to play real hockey until there's a winner, some games should end in ties. Every Buffalo-New Jersey game this season should have ended in a tie. They were hard-fought, evenly matched games. Both sides should have taken its point and moved on to the next game with the knowledge that if necessary, they'd settle the matter of a winner and loser in the playoffs.

If we must keep shootouts, I'd make overtime 4-on-4 for ten minutes and I'd take away the guaranteed point for making it to overtime. Guaranteed points are for wussies. If there's no guaranteed point, maybe teams would push a little harder to get that goal in overtime, especially if they're not good at shootouts and risk leaving the game with no points and ten minutes would give them more time to do it. Winner, whether it's OT or the shootout, gets two points, loser gets nada. If I had my druthers though I'd do the above and at the end of the OT, call it a tie and send both teams off with one point.

Thirty-seven of you said you have no problem with the shootout. Thirty-nine of you said you hate ties and the shootout. Anyone want to throw out a different idea on what you'd like to see happen and why?

The Wheels on the Bus Fall Off in the Third Period

First a few comments on the Tom Golisano interview:

1. Tom, don't think we're impressed that you're showing your face during a win streak while avoiding us during the ten game losing streak.

2. That interview was clearly very carefully planned. Have you seen the commercial Roby does for the back healing guy? The one where's he's obviously reading cue cards? Yeah, that's what he sounded like tonight.

3. If Buffalo is such a great place to be, Tom, then why are you being beamed in via satellite? If the team is so much fun to watch why no TV shots of you grinning in your box at HSBC Arena? At least Darcy Regier shows his face in public.

4. Dude, I get what you're saying about it creating cap relief but you might want to avoid expressing sentiments that sound anything like, "Boy, we're really lucky ol' Teppo had to have that heart surgery, huh?"

5. Buffalo owners suck. No wonder we think God hates us.

That said, I don't really care to dredge up the Drury/Briere fiasco yet again. Could management have done something different to keep one or both of them here? Maybe. Probably. Would it be nice to hear Golisano take some blame? Sure. Should he be called out for his garbage? Absolutely. Is anything going to change what happened last summer now? No. Seriously, how long are we going to hammer the same people for the same mistakes over and over and over? We're more than halfway through the season. At some point don't you have to step back and see if management learned from the mistakes? Jochen Hecht was signed during the season. Not liking the player or the contract doesn't make that any less true. They've been negotiating with Brian Campbell during the season. The fact that a contract hasn't been signed is not management's fault since it is ultimately Campbell who has to sign the thing. Don't complain about the team a) not trading Campbell or b) not re-signing Campbell until we see what actually happens. They have another huge free agent coming up in Ryan Miller. Instead of talking about Miller going to the Red Wings, let's see WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENS.

And please, for the love of all that is holy and right in this world, stop calling Thomas Vanek lazy! He's not lazy! Hesitant? Yes! Lacking in confidence? Possibly! Lazy? NO! He's not converting consistently but he's working hard. His goal tonight was created by his own work. His backchecking has been miles better. He's generally in good position on the ice. You wanna know why he looks slow? Do you?! BECAUSE HE'S SLOW! BECAUSE HE'S NOT FAST!

Oh, man, I'm doing that "make a point by asking yourself a question then answering it" thing which I hate. There's someone at my place of employment who does that and I find it to be annoying and a little condescending. I apologize. I'll take a deep breath before we move on to the game.

- I hate shootouts. I really do. They have nothing to do with who has the better team/shooters/goalies or who played the best that night. (Which is not to say that I think we deserved to win tonight because we did not.) The NHL keeps saying shootouts are for the fans but I wonder what kind of result they would find if they polled fans at games. I kind of feel like this was a change they made in an attempt to appeal to the mythological casual fan while ignoring what traditional fans would prefer but that might just be my bias showing.

I hate ties though. I hate them. Maybe it's because I grew up watching baseball and not hockey but I feel very strongly that there should be a winner and a loser at the end of a sporting event. I'd like to see the NHL increase the overtime period to ten minutes of 4 on 4. As it is now, OTs are always the same. Four minutes of teams trying not to lose followed by one minute of pretty intense back and forth. By the time anyone creates any pressure, the period is over. I think if we went ten minutes, more often than not we'd end up with a winnder.

- That said, nice try, Hank. Couldn't quite get it over Auld's leg but it was a good move nonetheless. (The fact that one of our best defensive d-men looks better than any of our forwards in the shootout shows you that either a) shootouts are a stupid way to decide a game or b) our forwards are really, really bad.)

- Thank you, Dmitri Kalinin for taking a penalty to protect your goalie. Wow, I didn't think any of them had that in them.

- Listen, I know I'm beating a dead horse at this point but Brian Campbell was brutal in this game. Completely brutal. We really want to pay him six million dollars? I had to laugh at Pierre McGuire's "he's a better true defensemen than Sheldon Souray" because that is seriously damning with faint praise.

- I'm not into booing your team. I understand why other people do it, I'm certainly not going to tell someone else they shouldn't. They can do whatever they want as far as I'm concerned. Booing just isn't my thing. (I prefer writing hate letters on my blog.) But I adore Bronx cheers. I'm fascinated by how the sound of a crowd cheering can shift enough that you can't mistake it for the real thing. The loathing and sarcasm within it is impossible to miss. How you could get that deep into the third period - with multiple power plays - and not get a shot on goal is mind-boggling. The team earned that sarcastic cheering.

- It was not a pretty loss but the team was eventually going to lose again. I'm not ready to toss them overboard yet. We'll see how they respond on Sunday. I'm at least encouraged that there were no excuses floating around as far as I heard. Jason Pominville and Jaroslav Spacek both admitted the team choked the game away by not playing a full sixty minutes and Lindy Ruff said, "We didn't deserve a point, Ryan earned it for us."

Since I know you're all dying to know how my doctor's appointment went today, I'll fill you in. The good news: I got the cast off and the bones look good. The bad news: The joint is still weak and I have to remain non-weight bearing for another month. I'm now rocking a snazzy moon boot.

A couple people have asked to see my scar so if you're interested, you can check it out here. It's under a link for the squeamish. I think it's awesome but I'm weird like that. As a kid I always wanted my uniform to be dirty (which partially explains my love for Craig Biggio) and I loved injuries that bled and scarred (which partially explains my love for Jay McKee). Earlier I was watching an interview on the Bills website with Paul Posluszny and he talked about the plates in his arm and I admit, as dumb as it is, I felt pretty cool about the fact that I have hardware in my body too. It's weird because if you feel along the scar in the right spot, you can feel the outline of the plate.

Anyway, yeah. I hate the Bruins.

We Can Be Heroes, Just For One Day

All right, I think I'm finally ready to post actual words about last night and not just goofy pictures...

Being a sports fan is a weird thing, isn't it? You watch your team over the course of a season and sometimes it's fun and exciting but even in Buffalo where it seems like there's always something going on behind-the-scenes and off the ice, it can become routine. And then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, something will happen that just makes you so dang happy that you kind of remember why you invest all that time, energy, and love into a sports team.

I don't think it's any secret that Henrik Tallinder is my favorite player. (If you haven't picked up on that you're not very observant and you might want to look into some reading comprehension classes.) Part of what I love about him is that he's not the hero very often. He's a defensive defenseman and as I've said many, many times before, they usually don't get the glory. Unless a great defensive play happens in the waning seconds of a game (a la Jochen Hecht's poke check in front of the net a few games ago), defense always gets overshadowed by the game-winning goal or the big hit or the perfect pass. And I like that, I do. I like that when I see Tallinder or Toni Lydman or Jochen Hecht make a great defensive play, I feel like I might be appreciating something that I know a lot of other fans missed or will forget when the "real" heroes - Thomas Vanek, Derek Roy, Maxim Afinogenov etc. - step up and do their thing.

But everyone needs some glory once in a while. Mark and I saw a breakaway drill at practice last year and Henrik Tallinder totally schooled Ryan Miller but even with that memory and even with all the Tallinder love in my heart, I was as blown away as everyone else when he skated in and calmly made a future Hall of Famer look ridiculous. I screamed, I whooped, I clapped, I raised a crutch to the sky and shook it like crazy. I debated jumping up and hopping around on my one good foot. I couldn't stop saying to Mark, "Did you see that? DID YOU SEE THAT?!" Hank skated away from the goal, straight-faced and stoic, like he'd done that a million times before and then I don't know what happened - maybe it suddenly clicked what he'd just done, maybe he tuned into the nutso crowd, maybe it was seeing how excited his teammates were - but all of a sudden this huge grin burst across his face and by the time he made it down the length of the bench he couldn't stop smiling.

Seriously, look at this photo! Look at how happy they are! Jason Pominville is totally pommerdoodling! Even Thomas Vanek is smiling from ear to ear, something we haven't seen very much this season. I love this about hockey. For some reason hockey players, even more than other athletes, seem to get so happy for each other. I'm sure there was a lot of relief and excitement about getting the two points and breaking the shootout curse, but I do think they were really happy for Hank too and that's awesome. Because again, how often does a player like him get to be the hero?

I don't know if I've mentioned this but... Hank Tallinder FTW! (Mark Mulville/Buffalo News)
Anyway, working back to my original point, it's weird because I don't know Henrik Tallinder. He seems like a pretty happy guy, he usually makes me laugh and I've heard from a few people who should know that he's a pleasure to talk to. But I've never talked to him and probably never will with the exception of maybe, "I think you're great, would you sign my jersey?" But I was so genuinely happy for him last night that it's probably a little ridiculous. My heart was bursting and when trying to respond to an email from Kate (subject: HANK IS SUCH A STUD!) I realized that my hands were actually shaking. I don't think I could have been more happy. Isn't that crazy?

I also love that before I even had time to post anything last night I had received numerous comments and emails, all some variation of, "OH, MY GOD ARE YOU TOTALLY FREAKING OUT RIGHT NOW?" I am completely tickled that when Hank got his shining moment in the sun, a fair number of people thought of me. That's awesome. And fitting! That's right! You people better recognize! :-D See? Even twelve hours later I'm so excited that I'm putting emoticons in my post, something I usually try to avoid! What's happening to me? I'm not used to My Boy getting the headlines. It's probably a good thing this doesn't happen all the time because I don't think I could handle it! If your favorite player is the one who always comes up with the game-winning goals, does it start to feel blase after a while? I don't know if I'd like that either.

Oh, well! No matter! I do know this: The couple of minutes between, "Did he just say Tallinder?" and "HOLY, HELL! HAAAAAAAAAAAAANK!" were a couple of the best minutes of this season so far. Hank, if you're reading this, relax and enjoy your day as the hero. I know I'm planning on enjoying my day as the hero's biggest fan.

Awesomeness

Hank Tallinder FTW!

(More later! Too excited to type right now!)

Sabres Win! Okay, Not Really But Kinda Sorta!

It totally, totally sucks to come that close to a victory, only to have it snatched away in a stupid shootout, but I'm in a good mood so I'm willing to call this a moral victory. Why? Well, let's go over the reasons, shall we?

- The best team in the Eastern Conference only scored two goals against us, only one of them coming from the now legendary line (enter eye-roll here) of Heatley, Spezza, and Alfredsson.

- Despite taking way too many penalties - way too many - our penalty kill did a solid job, killing off every last one of them.

- The Sabres got a solid start from Jocelyn Thibault. Yes, he had some luck on his side - I don't think I've ever seen the Senators miss the net so many times - but he also came up with some big saves. Mark and I discussed whether or not the team relies too much on Ryan Miller when he's in net because they really looked like a different team through stretches of tonight's game. Mark said it's the Jim Kelly/Frank Reich effect - the Bills always played a little harder for Frank. I can't comment on the accuracy of that since I wasn't in Buffalo at the time, but I'll take his word for it. At any rate, the point is this: Guys, Ryan needs your help, too!

- We were in the game despite missing a fair number of bodies. Underachieving or no, Derek Roy, Maxim Afinogenov, and Tim Connolly are important parts of the team as it's currently built. And in addition to that, the defense played short-handed for most of the game with Jaroslav Spacek leaving with back spasms. Aside from the poor powerplay - seriously, it was awful - I would even say the Sabres carried the play for much of the game. I know it's annoying to hear, "If we play like that, most nights we're going to win," but tonight it's kind of true.

- Lindy, with a little assist from me, held Thomas Vanek out of the shootout at first despite two of our usual shooters (Afinogenov and Connolly) being out. (For the record, all previous mentions of Lindy reading my blog have been completely in jest, but I'm beginning to get suspicious...) But when Lindy did go to Vanek, with the game on the line, Vanek bucked up and scored. Go, Van, go! (Is there a team optometrist? Has anyone thought of checking Thomas's eyes? Maybe that could explain missing those can't-miss shots during regulation and overtime?)

- And perhaps most importantly, Paul Gaustad made Chris Neil bleed. The phone rang during the first period and we didn't answer it. (We don't answer the phone very much anyway but we definitely don't answer during a game.) During intermission Mark checked the voicemail and heard the following message from his 70-something mother: "GAUSTAD BLOODIED CHRIS NEIL! YEAAAAAH! GO, GAUSTAD!" Did I mention that I love Mark's family?


I will say this... While I do think Roy, Afinogenov, and Connolly are important (I know our PP hasn't scored much lately but somehow it looks even worse without Timmy), the guys who play hard and show some effectiveness should play. Clarke MacArthur should be in the line-up until he does something to deserve not being there. He was arguably our best forward tonight, I thought.

Also, I love Jochen Hecht - he's my first-half MVP and it's not even close in my book - but Lindy, really? Yo-Yo in a shootout? His thing is bouncing pucks off of goalie's backs and stuff like that. He can't carry the puck in on a breakaway and score. Too bad Spacek had to leave the game. I'm sure he would've nailed it!

Loved the round-table discussion about fighting in the NHL. I am truly shocked to learn to Rob Ray considers it important. Shocked, I tell you! And I loved this quote from Mike Robitaille: "Hockey is like a war without the killing." Deep, Robi. Very deep.

Open Letter to Lindy Ruff

Dear Lindy,

Listen, I know you (or someone on your staff) are reading this, so let me get something off my chest. This has been bothering me for a while but last night it kind of came to a head. I'm going to try being calm and reasonable so let me take a deep breath...

STOP USING THOMAS VANEK IN THE SHOOTOUT! HE SUCKS AT THEM! GAWD, ARE YOU STUPID OR WHAT?!

Wait, let me try those deep breaths again... Okay, seriously, Lindy, have you been paying attention to Thomas in the shootout? He looks like he doesn't want to be there. Sometimes he almost desperately looks like he doesn't want to be there. It's not pretty. That lame shovel shot last night against Marty Brodeur (yeah, that's gonna work against one of the best goalies in the world) would be easier to overlook if Thomas hadn't looked like that in every other shootout this season and let's be honest, many of them last season too. He had that one great around-the-world move against Dominik Hasek (which led to him using that move over and over and over, long past its effectiveness) and that one gorgeous, confident slapshot against Montreal last year. But the bad definitely outweighs the good, Lindy. On top of being 4-19 in his career, Thomas just looks extra terrible lately.

Lindy, I think I see what you're doing here. Thomas has put himself in a bit of a crunch signing such a huge contract at such a young age. He is the most natural goal scorer on the team and it seems natural to put him in the shootout. He's struggling with his confidence right now and maybe you're being gentle and trying to not squash him too hard. But dude, we need to win some friggin' hockey games! Let Thomas mope on the bench if he wants and put somebody else in there. I applaud you for shaking things up and lettin Clarke MacArthur shoot but I really think you replaced the wrong guy. Leave Timmy in, sit Vanek down. Let Drew Stafford go. Throw a defenseman in there. Give Brian Campbell the chance to earn some more money on his contract with a shootout goal. Give Captain Spacek - 1 for 1 in his career just FYI - a shot. Maybe he cranks it clear out of the building, but hey, maybe he scores. Shootouts are stupid, Lindy, and sometimes the guy you least expect to be good at it is good at it. Let 'em rip. But please, please just don't use Thomas, just once. Please, I am begging you. The poor kid is suffering enough. Let somebody else stand out there with the game on the line next time.

I feel better now, thanks.

Sincerely,
Heather B.

P.S. Good job letting Nolan Pratt play. I was sure you'd forgotten he existed.