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

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!