Nov

15

November hasn’t been the prettiest month for Buffalo. For all of the good that came about in the opening month of the season, I’m starting to get a little worried about the team. In tonight’s loss to Pittsburgh, I was actually almost convinced that the issues from the last week would dissipate. “No, no: A double no,” as Jeanneret would say. Jason Pominville started us off well with a nifty goal. The Sabres have been struggling with the first period, and I kept believing that they were saving the best for last. Recall those third period comebacks and shootouts? They seem like a distant memory.

Rewind to last night, which was another debacle. Losing 6-1 to Columbus wasn’t quite was I was expecting, nor do I think any Buffalo fan could have predicted the score. Most alarming has been the goaltending situation. Lalime proved early on that he could fill in for Miller and pull off some great saves. Unfortunately, last night was not his night. I felt a mix of frustration and sympathy for him. I really think that he is a great improvement over previous backup goalies: He can make most saves, gives the offense a chance, and knows what to do. Alas, he apparently just needs a few days of practice to get back to the level of play he showed last month. Which he better return to… Lalime is not a one hit wonder for the Sabres.

So I’m on a negative tangent tonight. Optimism still prevails! Buffalo has a few days before their next game on Wednesday against the Bruins. Recall the last back-to-back losses in late October? Lindy shook up the team, resulting in two consecutive shutouts of 5-0 and 2-0. Time for another one of those insane practice sessions. I’m not horribly worried: The Sabres always bounce back, and aside from the last two games, this season has been phenomenal. Let’s just hope they can turn around by Wednesday!

Nov

1

This video pretty much sums up my feelings. Sabres hockey, techno music, and Rick Jeanneret’s voice combine to form something words can not express. Or perhaps I just get overly excited about hockey. In any event, enjoy!

Nov

1

I Love Sabres Hockey

November 1, 2008 | 1 Comment

First off, I want to apologize for going missing for the past two weeks. Broken laptop? Check. Too much homework? Check. I missed a few of the better games, too, thanks to night classes. Perhaps the reason why I had some issues in finance was because I was thinking about how the Sabres were doing. However, nothing was bette than driving home one night to an overtime broadcast with Rick Jeanneret. It was beyond exciting, believe me!

Tonight’s 5-0 shutout win was spectacular. The first two losses of the season were not easy to swallow. Everyone looked a little out of it, and it seemed like our goaltenders were falling apart. However, being the optimist that I always have been, I knew things would turn around. This is Buffalo, after all! Lindy Ruff took action immediately, according to a Sabres news report:

We talked a lot about our forecheck and the intensity on our forecheck- what our first two guys have been doing, and haven’t they been doing,” Ruff said. “Our strength of our club has always been playing in the offensive zone and it’s been our weakness in the past two games. We gave up 23 scoring chances last night and part of that was due to the fact that we didn’t’ spend any time in the other team’s zone. We identified what we thought was missing and that’s always the great challenge – get them back on track…[Today we] tried to get ourselves grounded again.”

Did it work? You be the judge after checking out the game summary. Both Paul Gaustad and Tim Connolly have recently returned, bringing some additional offensive talent to the line-up. More than that, though, I see the Buffalo Sabres as a team. No one tries to out-do everyone else. Whenever someone gets knocked down by some crazy fool on the opposition, you can bet that another Sabre is lurking a few feet away, ready to jump in. The depth chart has been surprising at times, yet it works. Even with the newest shake-up, I still see good things from every single line. After tonight’s game, I can not wait for another outing with my Sabres… Monday, 7:00 PM against the New Jersey Devils. Make sure to tune in on Versus!

Oct

15

I missed my hockey quite a lot, and to have the Sabres returning in the way that they have has been wonderful. I was a little skeptical about some of the decisions made, yet is there anything to complain about? The penalty kill has been perfect, and not just by chance. Tonight’s game against the Rangers included a four minute major penalty against Rivet that looked like a fairly normal situation. I was excited, to say the very least! Add to that a short-handed goal, and I’m in heaven with the Sabres.

The bad news comes with more injuries: Jochen Hecht underwent surgery, thereby joining the Paul Gaustad Club. He is expected to return in about two weeks, and Gaustad has another three or four weeks. Fortunately, everyone is stepping up quite a bit to fill any voids that may have been created by their losses. A 7-1 win and a 3-1 win? I’ll take those in less than a heartbeat.

In terms of what is the cause of the Sabres’ success, I don’t think there is any one specific thing. The defense has been phenomenal, and I’m usually one of the toughest critics of the blue liners. The offense and goaltending are other very strong: It’s worth noting that Ryan Miller should be able to relax knowing that he has a reliable back-up. Everything has come together perfectly, and I’m already counting down the time to the next game!

Friday, October 17th at 7:30 PM the Sabres take on the Canucks. Make sure to tune in!

Oct

11

Could there have been a better beginning to this season? Not for me. The Sabres came out strong last night, and never truly let up. Of course there was room for improvement, but is any team ever considered perfect? I was very happy with the start of the 2008-2009 hockey season. A shootout win made it even better. Six months without Buffalo meant that I was expecting something great, which I got.

The highlight of the night, at least for me, was the chance to yell “TEPPO!” every time I saw #27. With the documentary about Numminen playing before the game, as well as during one of the intermissions, it was hard not to get excited about his return.

Another thing I missed? Jaro Spacek’s interviews. Rob Ray’s questions were perfectly articulated, yet Spacek gave another wonderful performance. I do have to say that he is getting better at speaking English, but his trademark yell-into-the-microphone style is absolutely priceless!

Offensively, I think Buffalo had a few issues with setting up plays. However, there was also the issue associated with them not being able to completely figure out Montreal’s defense. To their credit, they held off the Sabres for a decent amount of time. But when you’re up against an offensive powerhouse with amazing goaltending behind it, there’s not much you can do. Hence, the shootout win.

The Sabres will next play on Monday, October 13th, at 2:00 PM against the New York Islanders. Get ready for another great game!

Oct

2

Listening to the first period, it seemed like the Minnesota goal horn was malfunctioning and making way too much noise. Nope: Not so. The Wild were simply beating down the Sabres, and it sounded like we were having some serious defensive zone issues. Then again, I’m horrible at picturing what’s going on when I’m listening to a radio broadcast. Jeanneret mesmerizes me. However, it wasn’t a complete wash: The Sabres held Minnesota to those three goals from the first period, and were able to build up a not-so-terrible showing.

It seems like Buffalo has been able to do well in the final period. As much as I love those last-minute comebacks, I’m a little worried about the team falling into that pattern prior to the season even starting. One can only go so long before the other teams focus on tightening up in the final twenty minutes, or before the energy starts to drain a little earlier than expected. I’d like to see the next two preseason games have a bit more of a level playing level throughout the entire game.

On an unrelated note, being sick is absolutely no walk in the park. Here’s to getting better in time for the final preseason game television broadcast!

Sep

29

Well, the tables were turned against the Sabres last night, as they fell to the Minnesota Wild in a shootout. Back up to the third period, though, and there was a very good chance that they would succeed in putting together back-to-back wins. Enter Spacek. Without being able to see the game, I can’t comment on how bad it was. R.J. made it seem like it deflected off of Jaro’s skate, but other reports, like Sabres Edge, put it a little differently:

9:16 p.m.: Jaroslav Spacek scores with 2:57 left to tie the game. How? Because he scored into his own net. Oh well. It’s just preseason.

I was a bit ho-hum over listening to the game, since I was also attempting to watch Sunday Night Football and take part in my fantasy league’s draft. I’ll leave that for another time, because my methods of choosing players is nowhere near professional. I did end up with the first round pick, though, which was not wasted.

Buffalo has been playing very well, if I may say so. Jochen Hecht scored the only goal during regulation time, which was set up by Clarke MacArthur. Yet another person vying for a spot on the roster. There are a lot that are either on the line, or close to it: Weber, Zagrapan, Mancari, Kennedy, Gogulla, Butler, Schutz, Sekera, and now MacArthur. Fortunately, I think that the team has a good foundation of veterans and semi-veterans, affording them the opportunity to take on some younger talent. The preseason hasn’t been perfect, yet I’m confident that we’re in store for a great hockey season in Buffalo.

The post-game notes, courtesy of the official Sabres web site, told a somewhat depressing story:

Lindy Ruff reported that Dan Paille suffered a “bruised thigh” after taking a hard hit from Marc-Andre Bergeron midway in the second period. The winger left the game following the play.

“It just tightened up on him,” Ruff said. ““He’ll be okay in maybe a day or so.”

Paul Gaustad also did not return to the ice following the play. After Paille was hit, Gaustad circled back at the blueline to stand up for this teammate, “jamming his thumb” in the process according to Ruff.

“X-Rays are negative,” Ruff said. “We will see how he is in the next couple of days too.”

Anyone with me in opening up a Sabres hospital? It appears to be the best way to meet the players with all the random injuries sustained over the last week.

Sep

27

So I missed out on another preseason game, all in the name of higher education and cleaning. Believe me, after hearing the highlights of tonight’s game, it was NOT worth it. The Sabres were down 2-0 with around four minutes remaining in the third period. Derek Roy got the team on the board with assists from Afinogenov and Kotalik. My initial thought when the Sabres score their first goal of every game is, “Yes! There goes the shutout for the other team!” So ridiculous, but it makes me happy.

Anyways, as I sit here wondering why I didn’t tune in to WGR 550 to listen to this game, allow me to say that Paul Gaustad (one of my favorites, although I’m somewhat against favorites) scored the tying goal with five seconds left in regulation. A comeback that I’ve been dying to witness? Yeah, I missed it. But I suppose the fact that Buffalo won, thanks to Ales Kotalik’s goal at 1:03 of overtime, trumps all else.

Technically, I guess the preseason isn’t extremely important in the grand scheme of things. I watch the few games I get to see with a sort of haphazard, third-degree attitude… Aside from the moments when the Sabres score. It’s like good ol’ Pavlov: I automatically cheer whenever I: a.) hear the Sabres goal horn, b.) see any Sabres player celebrate a goal (even if it wasn’t a goal), or c.) witness an Andrew Peters fight that lasts for more than 15 seconds and results in a good smack to the other player’s face. Anyone else with me? Ha ha!

Enjoy this video of the last 40 seconds of play, which obviously includes Gaustad’s tying goal.

Sep

24

Unfortunately, I completely missed this game. Die By The Blade provided a nice re-cap, and it looks like the Sabres are slowly, but surely, improving. As with the first game, a loss doesn’t necessarily point to a failure. There are always ways to improve! Nothing else that I can really say without having been able to listen to or watch the game. Speaking of which, I have to agree with Heather B. at Top Shelf about the enormous difference between listening to a game and actually watching a game. Jeanneret does cater to my optimistic side, though!

Sep

22

It wasn’t exactly the prettiest game on the face of the planet, but I sure got my money’s worth after rushing home from night class! By the way, that test ended up in an 87, which wasn’t too impressive, yet I was content with the overall picture. Kind of like how the Buffalo Sabres played. From what I saw in the second and third periods, the Sabres have a lot of great talent still to come. I doubt any of us questioned that fact, but it’s always nice to verify the obvious. I personally enjoyed the play of both Mark Mancari and Marek Zagrapan: Nice passing, and even an assist-goal duo to show off.

On the negative side (which I can always seem to find), the Sabres’ play was quite spotty. Not enough consistency… Especially from some of the more experienced players. I’ve always felt that our defense left a lot to the imagination, and my suspicions were realized, once again. Don’t get me wrong: I think Sekera is maturing into an amazing player who will help bolster the blue line. My nickname/tag line hasn’t been the nicest: “Sekera, Don’t Make an Erra” (It rhymes, if you throw in a Jersey accent and some imagination). I sometimes closed my eyes last season when the puck went near him. All the same, I thought he did quite well against Toronto, minus the play where Moore passed him and scored a short-handed goal.

Decent game? Yes. The Sabres had a chance at pulling off a win if there were fewer mistakes. That’s not to say that I was impressed, but it was a nice way to start the preseason. This is the time when a lot of guys have to push forward to show that they are capable of playing at the top level. Now to see if those players who have been there all along can prove that their summer vacations are over.

Stop by Die By The Blade for the open threads: I usually stop by every few games when I’m home. Take a look: D.O. has done a great job with the site, and it’s quite nice to have live posts and responses!