Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires

Harry Neale may have won the quote of the night for his "pregnant fox in a forest fire" quote, but I'm sorry to say we've been walking in ashes for quite a while now. Local media has been gloating this game as a "changing" point in the season, but the season has been long gone. If I remember correctly at the trade deadline the Sabres had to go just two games over .500 to make the playoffs. I told Ryan and fully believed that they could at least pull that off. I was obviously mistaken. Let us take a look at what the Niagara Gazette is saying about last night.

If you missed the third period of Buffalo’s 5-3 win over the Florida Panthers, call your buddies to find out who DVR’d it and pop on by with a pizza tonight. This was straight therapy for fans who’ve been put through a painful ringer the past two seasons — a time when goals and guts have seemed absent at inopportune times.

"Straight therapy"? This was just another build-up for another let down, that is if you actually believe this team is going to make the playoffs. "Past two seasons"? Try 5 of 7. "A time when goals and guts have seemed absent at inopportune times" That's a riot. A laugh riot.

You assumed Maxim Afinogenov’s empty-netter ended it. Case closed. After trailing 3-1 in the third with their slim playoff chances hanging in the balance, the Sabres rallied with an incredible stretch of four goals that left the Panthers in equally rough shape.

But while the goals were vital, it might have been a late melee that finally brought this team together.

Right. Because standing up for Max on a meaningless goal, in a meaningless game is the answer this team needed. Continue.

That’s when it happened — a group that hasn’t protected each other all season did so just when you assumed they’d already pulled the wedges out of the closet.

Um, yeah you do know there's nine games left in the season. Sorry this may help out a bit.

1. y-Boston 102
2. x-New Jersey 97
3. x-Washington 97
4. Philadelphia 90
5. Carolina 89
6. Pittsburgh 88
7. NY Rangers 86
8. Montreal 83
9. Florida 81
10. Buffalo 78
11. Toronto 75
12. Ottawa 73

“It was awesome,” Ruff said of the team’s surprising toughness.


“We’ve got to be desperate like that every game,” MacArthur said. “If we play like we did there in the third, we’re going to be a force to be reckoned with.”

Really? Where the hell was this 10 games ago? 20? All season?

NHL Conspiracy? Noooooo......

Timmy News

TSN's Darren Dreger has made me alittle bit happier before I go to sleep before this deadline day with a little blog post about Timmy.

The Buffalo Sabres are working hard to extend star forward Tim Connolly's contract.

Sources tell TSN Sabres general manager Darcy Regier and Connolly's agent JP Barry are making progress in negotiations.

However, the discussions remain at a delicate stage as the two sides are starting to zero in on a term both are comfortable with.

It's still too early to say Connolly's name should be removed from the list of players rumoured to be on the move, but based on negotiations on Tuesday it appears there's a greater chance of Connolly staying in Buffalo than there is of him being moved.

Further details on Wednesday.

Hey, It is better than Bucky's post. Happy Deadline Day!

Tradecentre

So tomorrow is the deadline, Ryan and I have made plans to pull out the laptops and sit in front of his glorious television all day tomorrow. I'm pretty stoked. We may do a live blog so check back tomorrow for that.

Bucky wrote that Biron is coming back to Buffalo. Seriously how does Gleason have a job and I'm unemployed? "The Sabres could use a goalie." Sorry Bucky, Lalime is doing pretty decent in his little run, and goaltending isn't the teams problems. Maybe write an article how Gary Roberts was put on waivers and the Sabres should pick him up, you know someone who has something the team needs? Grit? Experience? Is tonight's post by Bucky saying how Darcy wants Miro back?

Sorry. I get all worked up sometimes.

In some real news, Minnesota signed Niklas Backstrom to a four-year deal, which eliminates any of those rumours about him going to Philly. I got pretty excited this morning when I got a text from Ralph saying the Bills signed someone, only to be let down that it wasn't Coles but Corey McIntyre. Crowell and Greer are still UFAs yet to be signed.

Oh God.

Yeah.... boy that game was awful to watch last night. I have the flu, going back to bed forever.

Pog?Pogge?Gerb?Gerbe?

Oh I'm sorry you meant Pogge, man are those Versus guys bad or what. Calling Gerbe, Gerb almost all night, though someone must have told him the correct pronunciation sometime throughout the night. Maybe it was Chris Simpson climbing around the bench in her heels to ask Nathan, seriously how annoying must it be to have her around, its one thing to have Ray between the benches, but to have those love bags prancing around the bench, come on Versus leave the coaches and players alone they have better things to worry about, keep the interviews for intermissions and post game. Third hit on Google for "Christine Simpson"Christine Simpson's Cleavage.

On a hockey note, Sabres didn't play that good in my opinion, they got completely out worked in the first before that power play, good goal by Staffy putting a puck to the net out front. Pogge really should have had that save short side but all night he was covering the pipes like the rookie he is. Paille on the second goal looks good for once by going to the net hard and getting a sick pass from Timmy, Pogge had no chance at all on this one. I have always been against rule 78.5 that Pominville got his goal disallowed by, honestly I feel that you should be allowed to score a goal by "directing" your body to move the puck, as long as you don't grab the puck with your hands. Really I mean even kicking the puck is pretty hard to do, why not allow that as long as you do it in a relatively safe manner. Why were the announcers praising Macarthur's play? In his 14 minutes of ice time I can't recall anything that stands out.

Good news is along with the Sabres win, Boston knocked off Carolina 5-1 which really hurts the Canes' chances of slipping into the playoffs. Florida won at home against the Devils which puts them also at 66 points with the Habs,Rangers and Sabres. Panthers and Habs have a game at hand over New York and Buffalo. Rangers play the Islanders tomorrow and Montreal heads to the Capital to face off against Ovie. Buffalo plays Philly on Thursday and expect Goose and Hank to return to the line up.

Also, the boys over at First Time Long Time did an intro post about my blog, make sure you check them out.

Gerbe the Winged Monkey

Game started with a moment of silence as expected for the loss of the friends and families of flight 3407.



1st Period-Woo baby, the boys came out to play tonight, Mairsy scoring on a tipped shot from a great Rivet point shot just 7 minutes in. Nearly two minutes later Spacek takes advantage of a Rob Blake holding penalty by blasting one from the point with a great Drew Stafford Jesus screen. They're doing a great job getting pucks deep and working from there. Guess that whole system thing works. Pavelski takes a penalty and San Jose nearly kills the penalty but Thornton gets his pocket picked at centre ice and Derek Roy buries one top corner for his 100th career goal. Teppo takes a hooking call and Patrick Marleau fires a wrist shot just above the circle and below the blue line, Miller doesn't have a chance on it with a great screen by Thornton. 3-1 Buffalo, great game so far.

Rangers up 1-0 on the Panthers. Can't they just both lose?

I've seen this HSBC commercial 600 times... I still don't get it. But I suppose its better than Veins,Veins, Veins...::Shudder::

2nd Period-Great first minute so far,exciting end to end chances. Turns out that Clowe and Boyle are playing despite the flu. Rob Ray still can't read... Crowd seems into it tonight, where were they against the Sens? Gerbe has about 8 minutes of ice time already and its 5 minutes into the 2nd, good for him. Florida tied it up on the Rangers. Timmy needs to get those clears in deep, that could have been deadly. Blake trips up Paille, here we go boys. Kotalik rips one right off the face off. 4-1. Yeah, those scrums after every play need to go, they are fine once in a while not after every play. Marleau camping out front puts one in past Miller, D-man needs to tie him up right out in front. Sharks come right back and take a penalty, guess momentum isn't in their system. Grier gets a shorthanded breakaway, Miller stands tall. Good pressure from the Sharks, Sabres ice it. Not looking good. Lindy calls time out. Good Call. Another power play for the Sabres. Sharks kill it, and Dan Boyle scores with 50 seconds left. Come on Finland.

Rangers still tied after 2.

I can't wait to play in the pond hockey tourney next year.

3rd Period-Let's hope Buffalo keeps the pressure on. Lazy icing by Roy, Sabres finally change, Kaleta is everywhere... I'd hate to play that kid. Garbage call on Rivet, Thornton gets a high stick by his own man in the corner. Balls loses his stick, Sharks cycle and blast one from the point past Miller. 4-4. Crowds back into it, lets see if the boys feed off it. Why does MSG want us to think Rob Ray knows how to play hockey? Mmm commercial for Papa Johns on the Rangers game... I'm hungry... Ugh San Jose scores, awful d, play the body not the puck! Rangers have a PP with 4 min left, still tied at 1. One min left in the Rangers game, lets hope they don't go to OT. Well they're going to OT, that's not good for Buffalo who are losing. Gerbe is a feisty flying monkey. Habs are up 2-0 also... not a good night for the Sabres. Minute left..lets see what they can do..RIVET SCORES! WITH 3.9 LEFT! It seems like most of the goals tonight have been from the point. Crowd is really into it now. Pommers gets the credit, hopefully this breaks him out of his slump.

Gerbe gets hit knee to knee at centre ice, hopefully hes okay, Dr.Z wins it in Florida in a shootout against the Rangers.


Ales up first--Nabby gloves it.
Boyle up--Miller saves it glove side.
Stafford Jesus--Nabby with the pad save.
Pavelski--Miller save.
Timmy--Pad save low glove side.
Setoguchi--Miller save.
Pommers-Scores, off the post high glove side.
Marleau-Scores over Millers arm.
Roy-Deke backhand lifts it up stairs goal.

What a game. That was a big point to steal.




Sorry but why does Gerbe look like a winged monkey from Wizard of Oz?

Thoughts Somewhere Else

Sharks-Sabres tonight, you would think I'd be a bit more excited for the game tonight but as most people here in Western New York I've been glued to the news since about 10:30 last night. WNY is a tight knit community and chances are you may have known someone involved in the crash last night, in fact I may self have come to find out that it happened in one of my friend's backyard of her apartment. Thankfully she is okay but I do not know the status of her home but her health is all that matters.
Tonight is a key match up against a Sharks team whom is regarded as one of the best in the league, they gave the Bruins a loss on Tuesday and lost in a shoot out Wednesday against the Penguins. The Sabres are getting "Balls" Sekera back tonight so that means Mike Weber will be doing the I-90 shuffle I-90 to the I-95 shuffle.

Apparently SJ Sharkie and Sabre Tooth are best friends, or having a secret long distance relationship.

Sabres Axes

This was from the Catwalk For Charity III last Sunday. How sweet is that Gibson.

Oh God...

Pretty much the same face I made all night.

Once Upon a Time in the West

The Sabres finished up their long west coast trip last week which seemed much longer than it actually was. Next up on the schedule is the San Jose Sharks on Friday night, the Sharks are sitting on top of the Western Conference just above Detroit. They came from behind to hand the East leading Bruins a 5-2 loss in Thornton's homecoming back to Beantown on Monday night. The Sharks played a great game sticking to their system, a strong forecheck and great penalty killing, holding the Bruins 0-4 on power play chances. They are playing the Penguins tonight, hopefully the Sharks help us out by keeping the Pens further out of the playoff run.

This Sharks team is different than the regular season powerhouse that we've seen the past 4 years, they have the Patrick Marleau producing this year, and Joe Thornton continuing right where he left off last season with a 96 point year. They have the grittiness of former Sabre Mike Grier, and great secondary scoring coming from Ryane Clowe and Milan Michalek. Also by looking at their roster you can see two notable players whom have suffered from injuries this year...Jonathan Cheechoo and veteran centre Jeremy Roenick.

But the biggest story about this years Sharks is their defence, doing part with the overrated Brain Campbell, and new Sabres captain Craig Rivet, the Sharks went out and got Dan Boyle and Rob Blake who has rejuvenated his career. They follow up with the strong play of Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Christian Ehrhoff. Evgeni Nabokov is back in form after a downfall season where now Toronto goaltender Vesa Toskala shined and nearly took Nabokov's starting job.


This Sharks team is not a team to take lightly, expect a loss if they play like they did tonight pray to Drew Stafford Jesus that they don't on Friday.



"Ohh, it's the deep burn. Oh, it's so deep. Oh, I can barely lift my right arm 'cause I did so many. I don't know if you heard me counting. I did over a thousand. "

Inaugural Post

So this is my first post as a blogger, I'm quite excited to actually start writing again...it's been way too long. Well, I suppose an introduction is in order, my names Dave, I attended Buffalo State College and currently live in Niagara Falls. Hockey and the Sabres will forever be my number one, but the Bills are a close second. I played lacrosse so I tend to follow up on our NLL Champion Bandits although not as much as I'd like to. I have a growing passion with watching college basketball which started just a few years ago by filling out my first bracket.

On the note of college hoops I'm watching Syracuse take on number 1 UConn before the Sabres game, 'Cuse with two products out of Niagara, Jonny Flynn argueably the best point guard in the nation, and Paul Harris who the more I watch him play the more I understand why he wasn't in class in highschool.

The Sabres are hosting Ottawa tonight at HSBC on the back end of a home-and-home where the Sens took the first game in a rare Ryan Miller shootout fail. The Sabres need to come out flying, Ottawa is a desperate team who really would love to try and play spoiler against a divisional rival although most of the forum buzz is about Ottawa fans hoping for Tavares.

Well I totally got distracted and the games on...maybe a recap post or a nice photoshop later...