The Ecstasy and the Agony

The Ecstasy

That Leafs game was some seriously good times. Leafs fans are annoying mothereffers, but the arena was undeniably  amazing on Friday. The Leafs fans added to our experience tremendously. At times (like, every time the Sabres scored) it was AWESOME to have so many Leafs fans there, and times I wanted to light myself on fire with rage, but the entire night was passionately experienced, which is more than I can say for most games at FNC these days.

In the past I’ve avoided Leafs games (because, as previously mentioned, Leafs fans are annoying mothereffers, but also because you can completely rip them off by selling them your tickets), but Friday was a real eye opener. Leafs games are high risk, high reward. If the Sabres had lost it would’ve been playoff-loss-level misery, but when they won it felt like no win could ever feel as good as that win. Sometimes it’s good to just lose your head during a game, and the Leafs game certainly provide plenty of opportunity for that. (Along those lines, about halfway through the game, while watching a drunk, moronic nearby Leafs fan stand up in a sea of Sabres fans [during a commercial break, no less] and do that infinitely retarded thing where he grabbed the logo on his jersey to “taunt” other fans, Robin suddenly blurted out, “I’m gonna to punch that guy.” And for a brief moment, I think she meant it. After the moment passed, we laughed REALLY hard about that one, because of all the people I know, Robin might be the least likely to punch someone at a sporting event. The fact that she was tempted to punch someone speaks volumes about Leafs fans and also about our level of emotional commitment to the game. We went all in on Friday, and our reward was sweet.)

Robin and I sit low in the shoot twice side, so the Leaf fan presence wasn’t that horrendous (visiting fans tend to gravitate more towards the other end), but I know that my friend Roman didn’t fair as well. He estimated that up in his section in the 300s, the ratio was 70/30, Leafs fans. Ew! Poor Roman! But down in our end, we were mostly okay. In fact, the closest guy to us in a Leafs jersey turned out to be a Sabres fan who had lost a bet. We discovered this when, to our complete confusion, he turned around to high five us after the Sabres’ second goal.

Me: (high fives a dude in a Leafs jersey) WTF, dude? (points to his Leafs jersey)
Him: (shakes his head sadly) It’s okay. I’m a Sabres fan. I lost a bet.
Me: Ouch. Does your skin burn in that thing?
Him: Yeah, it does.

There was a moment late in the third period when I remember thinking to myself, “No matter what happens with the final score, I need to remember how fun this game has been.” Thank you Hockey Gods, for not testing my resolve on that pledge.

I had so much fun on Friday that after the game ended I was tempted to make a pact with the devil: As long as the Sabres manage to beat the Leafs at FNC forever and for all eternity, I don’t care what else happens. But thank GOD the devil wasn’t taking my calls on Friday night because the VERY next day, I was whistling a different tune…

The Agony

I was playing a concert Saturday night, so I didn’t see much of the game. But I saw enough. I saw enough to say definitively that the Sabres are in deep doo-doo. If Ryan Miller is going to play like crap, and half the roster is going to be injured, and the other half of the roster is going to be Roy and Stafford… the Sabres are in serious trouble. Not, like, cute “we just need time to gel, but it’s okay because we beat the Leafs last night” trouble, but real, “OMG. This season will be lost,” trouble.

The thing is, the more I think about it, the more I agree with Ted Black. We need to be patient. It’s not that I think that if we’re patient this roster is suddenly going to be good, or that Lindy Ruff will suddenly figure out how to make Roy and Stafford stop sucking, or that everything will be better once Tyler Myers and Brad Boyes come back. I just think it’s going to take time to fix this team. The fix is way more complicated than we want to believe.

Personally, until Ted Black and Terry Pegula give me reason to feel otherwise, I trust them to make measured, intelligent changes. It probably wasn’t what I would’ve done (no one will ever accuse me of being intelligent and measured), but keeping Lindy and Darcy after the ownership change was the intelligent, measured thing to do. The problem is that right now, in this situation, there isn’t a measured, intelligent change available. A new coach wouldn’t suddenly heal the injured players, and a new GM couldn’t make new cap space appear out of thin air.

As longtime readers of this blog know, I’m not one of those, “Lindy should have a job for life,” people. I’ve called for his head before. Right now, I don’t think the problem is coaching, and even if I did, there is just NO WAY Lindy should be fired while his forward lines look like this.

As for Darcy: So far, this season is looking like a perfect storm of suck for Darcy. I’m not willing to argue that any of his off-season signings were disastrous on their own (okay, maybe Leino, but… I still want to believe in Leino, so dammit, that’s what I’ll do), but the cap situation is h-o-r-r-i-b-l-e. The Sabres have exactly zero space under the cap right now and they are in injury hell.  The lack of cap space puts Darcy in a severely weakened position when it comes to tinkering with the current roster. Even when the plan was “cross your fingers and pray everyone stays healthy,” Darcy was still walking a very dangerous line with his cap space, but now, with all these call ups, he’s in serious trouble. This is the very definition of cap mismanagement, and in my opinion, depending on how the season shakes out, it’s a fire-able offense. But again, we’ll see.

It’s annoying as HELL to admit it, but it’s pretty difficult to fairly assess the roster with this many injuries. The intelligent, measured thing to do is to wait and see. Ted is right.

It seems to me that a lot of Sabres fans reacted to Pegula by upping their expectations dramatically without much consideration for how these new expectations could be met. I upped my expectations too, but unlike in the past, I now have faith that Sabres ownership is going to keep trying. When things don’t work out, Pegula and Ted Black aren’t going to do nothing. No, the first two and a half months of the 2011/12 season have not gone spectacularly well, but, I fully believe that they’re going to keep trying. So, if Darcy and/or Lindy need to go, I think sooner rather than later they will go. I couldn’t say that about the previous ownership.

Instead of feeling angry about the roster, I feel oddly pacified this season. It never made sense to me that Pegula could waltz in and be all, “I am a billionaire, and I want a Cup! BEGIN WINNING CUPS, BUFFALO SABRES.” That would’ve been too easy.

I believe that when Pegula took over, he gave Darcy Regier just enough rope to hang himself. Whether or not Darcy’s summertime moves have doomed him is still up in the air. I like Darcy as a person, and I love it when the Sabres are successful, so I hope things turn around here, but if they don’t, I do trust that things will change.

For now, we wait.

(But if Darcy wants to get to work trading Roy and/or Stafford, that’d be fine by me.)

Hockey is Both Dumb and Enjoyable

I gave myself a gigantic Thanksgiving present this year, and I didn’t read a WORD about the Sabres for the 48 hours surrounding the Bruins game. No radio, no twitter, no blogs, no newspaper. I literally have no clue how Sabres fans/media responded to the game. I have no idea if people are irate, or satisfied, or what, but personally, I’m sort of fine with the Bruins game.

The game was definitely exciting. The loss was really disappointing, but I think you have to give a lot of credit to the Bruins. That is a seriously good hockey team right now. In my opinion, the Sabres played well enough on Wednesday to beat most teams most of the time.

On one hand, I thought the vibe in the arena at the beginning of the game was pretty gross (the fans wanted blood, and they weren’t afraid to ask for it), on the other hand, it was a very engaged crowd, and that’s always fun. Going into the game, I was a little worried that the crowd would be hostile towards the Sabres, but I think the Sabres’ physical play early in the game won over all but the most determined-to-be-angry people. (Just as an aside, “daaaaang, yo,” to the people who brought the “Shanahan Declares Open Season” sign and then held it up underneath the flags so that every player was basically staring right at it during the anthems. Dang. That was hardcore.)

And while the Sabres lost the game, I hope the vengeance-howlers feel satisfied (enough) with their “pound of flesh.” (Just as an aside: From now on, the only person allowed to use the phrase “pound of flesh” without an enthusiastic eye roll from me is William Shakespeare.)

I thought Goose and Lucic’s fight was stupid and pointless. But… I suppose that fight had to happen? Something about The Code, blah blah blah? Good for Gaustad for taking one for the team, I guess. On a personal note, I was glad they got it out of the way early. After they got the staged fight out of the way (and Goose wasn’t killed. I’ll admit, I was sort of scared Goose would be killed), I was able to relax and enjoy the game.

Here are a few little observations:

• Hockey (the part where they skate around, hitting each other and shooting the puck) is a great sport. I hate the fighting, but I love the hitting, and the Sabres looked good in that department. Please feel free to hit like that more often, Sabres.
• I was surprisingly pleased to see Jochen Hecht out there. I was surprised because I can’t think of even one time this year when I’ve thought to myself, “You know what the Sabres could really use right now? Some Jochen Hecht.” And yet, I found his presence very reassuring. I thought he looked good. Welcome back, Yo-yo!
• Speaking about Hecht, one of my favorite plays of the game was when he kind of awkwardly slid into Tim Thomas in near-slow-motion. The people in our section good-naturedly reacted as if Jochen had just delivered a thundering hit, and it was a nice moment of comic relief.
• T.J. Brennan didn’t really grab my attention (except for his hilariously-skivvy mustache and his first ever NHL goal), which is really the best case scenario for a rookie defenseman.
• I’m not sure if it was just my mood (and my desire to stay emotionally even-keel), but I really found myself marveling at the Bruins a few times during the game. I hate those guys passionately, but they’re really good at hockey. Especially that Chara guy.
• I don’t feel too concerned about this yet, but the Sabres REALLY need to stop giving up two goal leads. The Bruins are probably the best team in the league right now, but still. The third period was icky. I wonder if too much energy was burned earlier in the game on “being physical,” because the Sabres just looked completely gassed for the third period. Giving up the third Bruins goal felt like an inevitability.
• It’s interesting to note that with all the pregame talk about the importance of “responding physically,” it was the Sabres’ inability to lock it down with a two goal lead that did them in.
• Because of my self-imposed internet exile, I had no idea that Kaleta was out, and incredibly, I didn’t notice it until the middle of the 2nd period. I’ve always been a bit lukewarm on Patty’s game, but I was surprised to realize that apparently I forget all about him as soon as he’s out of my direct line of vision.
• Gerbe is so fun.
• I feel like the Sabres had a scouting report on Thomas in the shootout that just didn’t pay off. They all went in to the net slow and then tried to get all fancy with 45,000 moves before a weak little backhanded attempt. Private to Vanek and Pominville: you guys are just supposed to slap it in. (I haven’t seen any replays of the shootout, so my recollection of how everyone shot the puck might be wrong. But regardless, in the arena I was definitely like, “WTF, you guys. No turkey for ANY of you. Except Enroth. He can have turkey.”)

In the end, the Sabres responded physically… but they still lost. So, I dunno. I’m just glad that game is behind us. Hopefully now the games will return to the normal level of intensity for mid-November. I’m curious to see how we view this game at the end of the season once we have the ability to put this Boston game in the proper perspective.

You know what’s really going to hit the spot tonight? Some leftover turkey and a comparatively low-key game against the mighty Columbus Blue Jackets.

What’s a Few Shorties Between Friends?

Final Score: 4-3, Hurricanes.

Recap: The Sabres were poopy, and then they lost.

Analysis: I guess the Sabres aren’t going to go 82-0? Yeah… I don’t know. This is confusing. I don’t really get it either.

The Bad News: The Sabres are all fired.

The Good News: With the exception of the Sabres being poopy, I thought last night was a hoot. Robin are so in love with our new seats that we sort of want to marry them. Instead of dealing with a gate at the end of our row, and having no nearby friends, we were surrounded by fun people who were willing to high five us when the Sabres scored. I drank just the right amount of beer, at just the right pace. The “clackers” weren’t clackers at all! They were just big fans that make a really pleasant and not-at-all-annoying swat-y sound when you swat them. (I was FULLY prepared to fire Ted Black over the clackers when I first heard about them. I’m sorry I doubted you, Ted.) My friend Hannah, age 12, texted this hiiiiilarious picture to us from the balcony, and it was so funny that we passed my phone around to everyone in our section so they could see it. My friend Alex gave me a really good suggestion, that I would like to pass along to you: We should all be saving all of our tickets stubs all season long, just in case the Sabres win the Stanley Cup. (It probably won’t be this year, because, let’s face it, the season is pretty much over. The Sabres already lost a game.) That way, when they win, we can make really cool framed displays of all the tickets from all the games we attended the year the Sabres won the Cup. When Staffy scored late in the third, we all get free 6 inch subs from Subway because the Sabres scored 3 or more goals. The “free sub” celebration was short-lived because the Canes are an unstoppable juggernaut (apparently), but it was a celebration nonetheless.  The Harbor Club was extra fun and chock full of fun people. After the Harbor Club we went out for a little while and eventually I was delivered safely home in Jessica’s ultra-chic minivan. Pretty good night.

Next Opponent: The Sid and Malkin-less Penguins.

Prediction: Just don’t give up any shorties tonight. Jeez.

Soothing

In the aftermath of game six, I was mega-glum. I bet you were too. That game was a swift kick to the softest, fleshiest part of my sports soul. I walked into the arena with an open heart and a joyful spring in my step, and I limped out, wincing and clutching my chest.

That game was so rough that after it was over, Jessica and I opted to go home to our respective houses rather than even put one toe in the Harbor Club. This is unusual behavior, but neither of us had the heart to look on the bright side.  If I had to rank my friends in order of those most likely to say, “Eff it! Let’s drink and be merry! The disgusting Flyers will die miserable and alone, but they will NOT interrupt my gallivanting schedule,” Jessica would be right at the top of that list.  So, it’s a true testimony to our heavy hearts that we couldn’t even muster the strength for one postgame “Beer of Commiseration”.

On the sad walk back to our car, we joked that we were going to go home alone and “angry eat” something extremely unhealthy.

Half an hour later we exchanged these photos via text.

Kate

Jessica

Don’t act like you’re not impressed.

_______

Today is a new day.

Today, my hockey train-of-thought (and really, is there any other train-of-thought during the playoffs?) has been a series of pleasant realizations:

– At no point yesterday was I angry with the Sabres. (Okay, maaaybe I was a little angry with Brad Boyes for a few minutes.)

– Ryan Miller has been downright heroic this series. I don’t think it’s even debatable. There are people who are going to point at him and blame him for the lost leads in game 5 and 6, but those people are stupid. Also not debatable. If you took Ryan Miller and put him on the Flyers, this series might have been a sweep. Crunchy has almost single-handedly made this a series.

– The following Flyers can fall down a well for all I care: Mike Richards, Daniel Briere, Scott Hartnell, Dan Carcillo.  This isn’t so much a “pleasant realization,” as it is a helpful focal point for my feelings of disgust and rage. If they fell down a well, I would probably stop by and toss them food and drink so they wouldn’t starve to death, but I wouldn’t help them escape, and I’d be 100% willing to taunt them by repeatedly asking about their recent divorces.

– Hey, at least we’re not rooting for the Canucks.

– Yesterday afternoon the Sabres were down Roy, Hecht, Pominville, Sekera, and for half the game Tim Connolly, and they made a great game of it. That means the Sabres played the second half of that game with Gaustad, Niedermayer, and McCormick as their top three centers.  The Flyers played with Richards, Briere and someone-else-who-I’m-too-lazy-to-look-up as their top centers. To call this series a mismatch at forward is an insult to people wearing plaid shirts and polka-dot pants everywhere. And yet, the Sabres are right there, taking this series to game seven.

– But. Roy-Z might be back on Tuesday! ROY-Z! Think all the way back to when Roy-Z first got injured, and we all thought the season was over, and he told us that he was hoping to be ready for the second round of the playoffs. Oh, how we laughed and laughed at Roy-Z back then. Roy-Z was right, and we were wrong. Hooray!  (Incidentally, Heather and I had a good chuckle the other day joking about how when he said it, Roy-Z probably didn’t believe the Sabres would make the playoffs either. Hopefully he hasn’t been sitting on his ass for four months eating bon-bons and assuming he wouldn’t have to play in the playoffs. Can’t you see Roy-Z all fat and lazy, playing video games, being all, “Wait… WHAT?  They actually MADE the playoffs?! And now you expect me to PLAY?! *looks down at flabby legs* Um, I might need a few days to find my skates.  Also, my stomach hurts. I don’t think I can play. And, um, I think my grandmother died and I have to go to her funeral. And I might be concussed.  Yeah!  I’m concussed! I should go to the quiet room, NOT play in the playoffs. FUCK! Is Pronger going to be there?!”)

– Fuck the Flyers.

– The Sabres were down and out, and then, through a series of minor miracles, beginning with Pegula and stretching down through every rank of the organization, they rose like a phoenix from the ashes. Every single playoff game is a gift.  And now?  Now we get a game seven. Bring it. For reals. If you could go back in time and offer a first round game seven to your December-self, your December-self would be so overjoyed he/she would probably try to make out with your current-self.  (FYI, that’s a variation on a joke of future and past selves that Jessica often tells. She’s a keeper.)

– This team has been a joy to watch, and I’m proud to root for them. Even if they lose on Tuesday 10-0, this season has been a success, and I love them. This sense of peace is something new for me as a fan. The Sabres have already earned my love. It’s a done deal. I hesitated to write about this because in some ways by saying, “I’m okay with them losing” it sounds like I expect them to lose.  But I swear, that’s not the case.

– If there is one thing I’ve learned from watching this Sabres team for the last four months, it’s that we shouldn’t count them out, ever. They might be mismatched, and they might be young, but they have more heart than the Philadelphia Flyers.  Time and time again, the Sabres have found a way to win. And as overpowered as the Sabres forwards are, there is really no overstating the shittiness of the Flyers goaltending. The Flyers are better than the Sabres, but they have a glorious vulnerability in net. The Sabres have given us no reason to doubt them. They deserve our respect.

– Sabres in 7.

Let’s Go Buff–a–lo! WOO!

Comeback To Me

Well.

That game really had it all, didn’t it? A shockingly easy-to-come-by lead, hilariously bad goaltending, the sense that nothing could ever go wrong again, a terrrrrrible second period, terror, Daniel fucking Briere, the sense that nothing would ever be right again, depression, MORE terror (I have to confess, I spent a lot of the 3rd period sitting in silence on my back stoop.  I literally couldn’t stand to watch), overtime, and then… bliss.

Wow.

This team is so young, and so surprising. I’ll admit, after the Flyers tied it, I went to a dark place. I did NOT think they would win this one. I lost a little faith. This is the type of game that I’ve seen them lose SO many times in my four years of fandom. But this team is different from the other teams. This team doesn’t give up, ever. I love that about them. They coughed up a three goal lead and then won in overtime. Hell, I didn’t even know that was possible. The other Sabres teams I’ve watched couldn’t have won this game. It wasn’t a pretty win, but it was gutty. I’m still in happy shock that they won that game.

The Sabres never trailed during the game, but it felt like a comeback win. I lost a little bit of faith, but then it came back.

The playoffs are agonizing and wonderful. I can’t wait for Sunday.

I love this team.

Series Score: 1-1, Splitsville

Here is my recap of yesterday’s game.

1st Period

Redonk shenanigans.

One of the weirdest phenomenons of hockey is that sometimes when two teams play truly terribly, the hockey winds up being super fun. The first period was one of those times. Crunchy was pretty bad, as was the team defense, but we almost didn’t mind because everything else was borderline hilarious. (3-3 tie)

2nd Period

WTF, Sabres?

The Sabres were so stupid in the second period that it’s completely reasonable to assume they all took bong hits during the 1st intermission. Thankfully, the Flyers also apparently took bong hits because they only converted on one of their 3498439728349098 power plays. (5-3, Flyers.  But for realz, the score could’ve been 10-3.)

3rd period:

The Sabres seriously almost came back. Which is absurd. (5-4 Flyers, final score.)

Preliminary Analysis: The Flyers won because they were sliiiiightly less incompetent than the Sabres. But only slightly. It was basically a toss-up.  The good news is that there’s been exactly zero evidence in this series that the Sabres can’t hang with the Flyers. The bad news is that the Sabres basically lost the game for themselves and if they had played this game with only one or two brain cells they could be coming home with a 2-0 series lead.

What we’ve learned: It’s hillllllarious when Goose upends Briere for no apparent reason at the face-off dot. Also, the Sabres and the Flyers appear to be almost the exact same level of awesome/lame. But, when both teams play nearly perfectly, the Sabres win, and when both teams play terribly, the Flyers win.

Final Analysis: The Sabres are slightly better at being really good, and the Flyers are slightly better at being really terrible.  I’ll take it.

Mood: WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! Suck it, Flyers!

25 Things I Loved About the Game Last Night

In no particular order:

1. Pretty

2. Much

3. Every

4. Single

5. Thing,

6. But

7. Especially

8. The

9. Hat

10. Trick,

11. The

12. Extremely

13. Joyful

14. Winning,

15. And

16. The

17. Sense

18. That

19. Nothing

20. Can

21. Ever

22. Go

23. Wrong

24. Again.

25. WOOOOO!

 

Every Game Is Like a Snowflake: Horrible and/or Awesome In Its Own Unique Way

Last night, before the Canadiens game:

Sigh.  I’ve had a rough day already.  I don’t think I can handle a Sabres loss with grace tonight, especially if the game has the slightest tinge of oopsies-we-crapped-our-pants-instead-of-winning to it.  It’s not that the Preds game bothered me that much (I erased it from my accepted reality banks, after-all), but… I just can’t deal tonight.

Maybe I’ll listen to the game on the radio instead of watching it on tv.  That seems safe.  Or, I know!  I’ll wait until 7:30 to start cooking dinner, that way I’ll be occupied during a lot of the first period.  Or, I could start calling people and inviting them over to my house so I don’t end up watching a stinker alone.  Games are always less painful with friendies nearby.  The absolute ONE thing I must MAKE SURE I do not do is sit down in front of the television alone and with my laptop open to Twitter.  I’m just not up for that tonight.

At 7:30, on the nose:

Hm.  I seem to be sitting in the comfy chair in front of the television with my dinner fully prepared, repeatedly clicking “refresh” on Twitter.  This is exactly the situation I was trying to avoid.  I get an “F” at avoiding easily avoidable situations.

After the 1st:

Hey, the Sabres look pretty good!  I’m proud of them for coming out all orderly and non-sucky after their stunning collapse against the Preds.  I kind of wish the Sabres had scored on one of those 45 power plays though.  But whatevs.  Crunchy looks good so far.

After the 2nd (1-0, Sabres):

Dude. This game is intense. How about Tenacious G! He’s unstoppable. It’s fun to see a guy come alive like this, especially one we’d all written off.  Good work, lil’ Gerbs.  We’re sorry we tried to leave you for dead earlier this season.

I am a liiiiittle worried that the game is only 1-0.  The Sabres would’ve been wise to score more goals.  I am SO not in the mood to listen to people bitch on Twitter about how Miller lost this game even though the forwards only scored one goal.  I’m not saying I think Ryan Miller is incapable of shutting out the Habs, I’m just saying it’s a bad “Plan A”.  Let’s see if we can’t score Crunchy some more goals, m’kay boys?

I really want them to win. I really, really want them to win.  I think I might actually cry if they lose.

I’m scared, fragile, and alone, with only Twitter for companionship.  THIS IS EXACTLY THE SITUATION I WAS TRYING TO AVOID.

During the 3rd

This is scary.

THIS IS REALLY FUCKING SCARY.

I’m going to PUKE!  I’m jumping around!  I’m yelling at no one! When did the regular season get this stressful?!

To Ryan Miller: You can do it!  I believe in you!
To everyone else on the team: HE CANNOT DO THIS, YOU GUYS!  YOU HAVE TO SCORE MORE GOALS.  ARGH!  SCORE A GOAL!  SCORE A GOAL!  SCCOOOOOORE ANOTHER GOAL!  *BARF*

THIS GAME IS KILLING ME. IT’S TORTUROUS. THIS IS SO MUCH WORSE THAN THE SITUATION I WAS TRYING TO AVOID.  I DID NOT NEED A GAME THIS STRESSFUL TONIGHT. IF THEY DO NOT WIN THIS GAME I THINK I’M GOING TO LOSE MY MIND.

After Tenacious D scored his righteous empty net goal (2-0, Sabres): WOOOOOOOOO!!  TENACIOUS G is the greatest Sabre EVER!  WOOOOOOOOOOOO!!

30 seconds after Gerbe’s empty net goal:

Oh god.  It’s the dreaded two goal lead.  Come on you little bastards, you only have to hold on to this two goal lead for 30 seconds…. IF THIS TURNS OUT TO BE A RYAN MILLER SHUTOUT, OR THEY FIND SOME WAY TO GIVE UP A TWO GOAL LEAD IN 30 SECONDS I AM NEVER WATCHING HOCKEY AGAIN.  I REALLY MEAN IT.  NEVER!

30 seconds later, at the end (2-0, Sabres)

WOOOOOOO!  Hockey is so wonderful and I love it so much.  This game was horrible, beginning to end, but it was totally worth it in every way because now I am filled with a sense of well being and smug peacefulness.  My hockey team is wonderful, and I will sleep well tonight.

The next morning:

I would suggest that winning a game like the Sabres did last night is the best case scenario after a meltdown like the Predators game.  Sure, it would’ve been fun to see them score 8 goals again, but I’ll be honest, those big blowouts make me a little nervous.  It’s fun when it’s easy, but it’s not actually as convincing.  Give me a hard-fought, intelligently played chess game if you want to convince me that you’re mentally tough.  The Sabres were genuinely impressive last night.  Miller looked great, but the team was brilliant in front of him.  Crunchy didn’t have to work that hard, because the Habs were never allowed to gather any steam. 

But I stand by my assertion that that game was torturous.  This shit is getting stressful.  I, for one, am grateful for a few days sans-Sabres.

So, congratulations on your nearly perfect road game, Sabres!  Now, please leave me alone for a few days.  Thank you.

Killer Instinct

Last night’s game was disappointing.  Not only were the Sabres shutout at home (and we didn’t get to hear Jeremy White’s goal song!), but they lost the opportunity to put the hated Carolina Poopicanes down for good.  Instead of being SIX points behind the Sabres, now the Poopicanes are only TWO points behind the Sabres.  LAME!

We could chalk this loss up to “You can’t win ’em all,” except that they did this against the Leafs too!  When given the opportunity to take the Leafs out last weekend, they didn’t.  LAME!

Wake up and look at the evidence, people!  The Sabres have no killer instinct!  LAME!

Fortunately, Lindy Ruff is on it.  The Willful Caboose has obtained exclusive footage of Sabres practice.  Lindy Ruff has a plan to turn these guys into killing machines.  YAY!

Here we see Jason Pominville practicing his “killer instincts” in an exercise designed by Lindy Ruff.

Aw.

Pommerdoodle will be a cold-blooded killer in no time!   YAY!

_______

Everything is under control, Sabres fans.  Stay the course.

 

Good One

If there is one thing I learned from reading Pensblog it’s, “make sure to examine the faces of the people in the crowd in every photograph.”

If nothing else, the Sabres traumatized some hockey fans in Boston tonight.

Good work, Sabres!

 

That?  Was a good game.