1. WOOOOOOOOOOOOO, and AAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! The Sabres had NO BUSINESS WHATSOEVER getting any points out of that game. (Not that I’m complaining.)
2. Lindy Ruff is doing a really good job. Let’s look at the evidence:
- The Sabres are first in the division.
- Whatever “The System” is, it must be a good one, because the Sabres keep winning even though we have no clutch scorers.
-Our defense and goaltending just keeps humming along.
- Lindy pulled Miller juuust at the right moment against the Pens, and he somehow knew to give Staffy the penalty shot.
- (And here’s my favorite one) His post-game comments to the press were SUPER cranky tonight. Let’s face it, as fun as it was to get the two points, that was still a pretty atrocious game. For some reason the Hockey Gods have been tilting the ice in our favor, but these slow starts are getting lame. So, Lindy was pretty crotchety about the whole thing. I appreciate that about him. Lindy seems to be very synced up with this team. Unlike past seasons when you got the feeling everyone was tuning him out, this year I get the sense that his disapproval will get results. And so far, he appears to be administering his disapproval well….
- …or at least he’s administering his disapproval differently. He benched Pommers and Goose tonight? That’s a wacky new trick. Way to mix it up, Lindy!
3. GOOSE GOT BENCHED? ON THE SAME DAY HE DIDN’T MAKE IT ON THE OLYMPIC TEAM? That’s HARSH AND WRONG. I’m outraged on his behalf. HONK! Poor Goose.
4. What the heck happened to Mike Grier in the third period? I looked up and all of a sudden Mike Grier was spinning around with his stick and gloves fluttering all around the ice. “Mike Grier exploded!”
5. That game really was a hoot. I’m not going to lie, as soon as they went down 2-0 I had TOTALLY resigned myself to a big fat ugly loss. Good work proving me wrong, Sabres! (Maybe next game we can just skip the whole, “going down 3-0″ part of the game and return to boring old wins. Just a thought.)
I almost texted you to predict your very own come from behind victory but I figured there was no way they were pulling that off twice. Darn!
You’d think Lindy would let Goose nurse his poor little non-Olympian broken heart tonight. Meanie.
In seriousness, I think part of the difference is that the players seem to get that they can’t play like this every night and win. (Even if they do seem hellbent on trying lately.) During Rob’s postgame interview with Jochen he made some kind of comment about them doing something well and Jochen immediately, with no hesitation, very flatly said, “No, we did not do that well. We sucked.” (I’m paraphrasing.) I don’t know, maybe these guys are finally (finally) (FINALLY) maturing a bit.
At any rate, WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
I just realized that serious point was very contradictary. I’m not sure it makes any sense. So let’s just go with your original “Lindy is the awesomest coach EVER!” point. (I’m paraphrasing.)
I almost texted you to predict your very own come from behind victory but I figured there was no way they were pulling that off twice. Darn!
Dude, heather I almost did the same thing just as a joke, but the game was just SO listless that I didn’t even have the energy to joke about them coming back. The lesson to be learned here is NEVER pass on an easy joke. NEVER :P
I find it nearly IMPOSSIBLE to believe that they’re finally maturing as individuals (I mean, if there is one thing I know about boys is that if you expect them to change, you’re cruisin’ for a bruisin’), but there is definitely an interesting new collective attitude that is very very heartening. I LOVE that they had a players only meeting tonight (with all due respect to Mike Harrington’s deadline, of course). I do find that I trust them more as a group. Yay!
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO indeed!
I just realized that serious point was very contradictary. I’m not sure it makes any sense
Heather, in this very post I give credit to Lindy for dropping the hammer on (poor little) Goose and Pommers, and then in the very next sentence I’m outraged on Goose’s behalf. Being contradictory is fun and TOTALLY allowed on blogs. :P
(Hockey) god hates Buffalo. Give HSBC the assist!
I am outraged that Goose didn’t make the Olympic cut, but sulky is not a good look on him. Dude needs to pull it together.
Lindy’s cranky post-game was awesome, as was Crunchy’s. He emphasizes his lack of positivity so many times you just know he bitched them all out during the intermissions.
Jochen was all sorts of lovable tonight though.
Kate, should I boycott the Winter Olympics on account of Goose? I will, if necessary.
Was Goose sulking? Impossible! (Truthfully, I was at the arena last night, but I wasn’t really paying close attention to the shenanigans on the ice. I was in “let the bad hockey just wash over me” mode for the first two periods. Then, by the time they were charging back I was in “I LOOOOOVE THEMMMM” mode. I don’t think I have a good handle on what actually happened last night.)
elise, I’ll let you know. I definitely appreciate the offer. :D
What was kind of hilarious about the Goose benching was that RJ and Harry were all “where’s Goose” in that tone of voice that indicates Goose is in the locker room having a wing or a beak reattached. They then figure out that Goose and Pommers have been duct taped to the end of the bench near Lalime, and then the camera man zooms in and catches Goose giving the awesomest bitchface this side of Crunchy.
And that’s my story.
RJ and Harry were all “where’s Goose” in that tone of voice that indicates Goose is in the locker room having a wing or a beak reattached.
Ha! Amy, you definitely win the award for funniest Goose-isms. I’m going to have to consult the DVR. I’d like to see a Goose bitchface!
Amy, you made me laugh for an alarmingly long time with that. If you can believe it, I HAVEN’T started drinking yet.