Sabres 5 Canucks 2

Boo.
- that's not the Curtis Sanford I saw in preseason
- why does this team continually shit the bed after a hard-fought victory over a tough opponent?
- where's the discipline? The Canucks buried themselves in the first period by taking way too many penalties.
- Shane O'Brien is a slow skater isn't he?
- Taylor Pyatt needs to be shown the door.
- Over 19:00 played by Demitra. A -1 and zero shots. At least Mason Raymond had 6 shots and through all this the 2nd line probably had its best game of the season....and that is not saying much. Not until they cash in.
- just gotta love Burrows-Kesler-Hansen. I wish we had 3 more lines like that sometimes.
- I know people like the more wide open style that Gillis demanded, but I miss the stingy system Vigneault had over the past couple of years. At least those games were close.

BOXSCORE

Highlights of Canadiens 3-2 win over Sabres in Roberval Quebec

Lucky buggers....



T tags: Hockeyville Canadiens Sabres highlights video Roberval Quebec

Canucks trade picks to get Steve Bernier

Mike Gillis is no doubt desperately seeking offence now after the Sundin deal fell through. Today, he made a pretty decent move by acquiring RFA Steve Bernier from the Sabres in exchange for 3rdd round pick in 2009 and a 2nd round pick in 2010.

"Steve Bernier is a highly regarded young player who's enjoyed success early in his career," said Canucks GM Mike Gillis. "With his right-handed shot he will be a great addition to our top six forward group and an asset to our power play."

It's true. Bernier will be a top 6 forward. But Gillis will have to sign Bernier yet. He made $850,000 last season and will get a raise.
Has Gillis redeemed himself a little with this trade? Yes. But he's starting to give away top draft picks to get guys right now, and I wonder if that is wise. But remember, he's desperate!
I have been a big fan of Bernier's since he started his NHL career in San Jose in 2005-06. In that season he scored 14 goals and 27 points in 39 games. He has 45 goals and 90 points in 177 NHL games.
Big thing? He's a right winger! Oh my gad, we finally got a right winger. He could click super-well with the Sedins, much like right-winger Anson Carter did. We'll see. Bernier has tremendous upside, and given that he is going to get more playing time, he should excel here. He only averaged 13:20 of icetime last season. Give him an extra 5:00 per game and his production will go up. He will have to earn that under Alain Vigneault though.
For the record, Bernier is about 6 feet 2 inches and 225 pounds. He can hit pretty damned hard as well as score.

Concerns: He's streaky. In San Jose, he was a second line winger playing with Marleau. You'd think he would have put up more points on a consistent basis.

Said Bernier of the trade:

"When I got the call, I was shocked because I thought everything was going well and I don't think there were any issues with how the contract was going," said Bernier.

"But right now the only thing I'm thinking about is getting in shape and having a chance to improve myself with the Canucks.

"I got traded in February [from San Jose] and thought I was going to stay there [Buffalo] for a little while. But it's part of the job and I'm going to Vancouver and it's tough not to be happy.

"I'm very confident of what's going to happen next year."

Source: The Province.
So, you are going to score 25-30 goals then? Bernier could actually do just that.

BernierTube

- compilation of Bernier goals

-Welcome to Buffalo Steve Bernier! A great first night as a Sabre for Bernier. 3 points.

-Bernier crushes Ed Jovanovski and then fights Derek Morris.

T Tags: Canucks+acquire+Steve+Bernier Sabres trade Mike+Gillis

Should the Panthers - Sabres game have been stopped after Zednik's injury?

I think the officials handled the situation properly last night. They delayed the game until an announcement was made that Zednik was in stable condition and on his way to the hospital. Sure, the players may have been shaken up by it and maybe didn't quite feel as competitive afterwards, but accidents happen in hockey. Some are more disturbing or graphic in nature. But the game must go on. Just saying.
Good to see the officials make the right call last night. I'm glad Zednik is alright.
A major thumbs down to that piece of dog shit reporter who asked Jokinen (who's skate cut Zednik) what he was thinking or how he felt post game. Jokinen's face turned to rage and he said "What kind of fucking question is that?!"
No kidding. That reporter is an asshat.

The truly most disturbing came from FSN. Shades of Clint Malarchuk. I can't believe that these incidences don't happen more often.

T Tags: Richard+Zednik+neck+cut+video footage game+stop Ollie+Jokinen asshat+reporters

Winter Classic Roundup

Damn eastern time zone! Us poor suckers in the West had to get up by 10:00 AM to watch the outdoor game. I didn't stop partying until about 7:00 AM. So I fell asleep for some of the game.
Not a bad game I guess. It got boring at times, but you gotta love an OT and shootout to end this one. Of all people, Sidney Crosby ends it in the shootout. Even more reason for the CBC guys to brag about him and sing his praises. Whatever. I got 2 words for ya: Vinny Lecavalier.
Anyway, a great day for hockey. Here are some links to check out.

-Pregame video of the rink setup.

-extended video highlights of the game That was pretty cool hearing Crosby screaming for joy after he bagged the winner. On the CBC feed you could hear it loud and clear as he skated by the holes in the glass where the cameras where.

-full coverage of the shootout.

-An open thread of the game over at BfloBlog.

-check out some of the game images at Yahoo Sports. Wow. Some of the visuals there are superb.

-Gary Bettman's response to the game?

“This was a memorable and outstanding afternoon, and I want to thank everyone who had something to do with making this game possible – in particular the Sabres and Penguins, the Bills, the city of Buffalo, the NHL’s ice crew and the entire NHL staff. Their close collaboration conquered significant challenges and achieved a superbly successful event.
I also thank the fans. This was a fun afternoon – fun for the 71,000-plus in attendance and fun for the viewers of NBC, the CBC and RDS, all of whom did a terrific job covering the game. Based on the response, on our ability to execute, and the inquiries we’re getting from other clubs for similar activities, this obviously is something we’re going to look at doing again. This is the type of event we certainly will be looking at doing in the future.”

In all honesty, good on Ty Conklin for playing a great game again for the Pens on this grand of a stage. He has come a LONG way since this in the Finals of 2006.

I sure love the sound of 71,000-plus people cheering after a home team goal. God that sounds cool.

T Tags: NHL+Winter+Classic Sabres Penguins Crosby highlights links

NHL Winter Classic in Buffalo

The outdoor game between the Penguins and Sabres will be played on January 1, 2008 at 1:00 EST at the Ralph Wilson Stadium. How big is the stadium? It seats 73,967 people and is the home of the Buffalo Bills. This is going to be a massive event. The 2003 NHL Heritage Classic outdoor game in Edmonton was held at Commonwealth Stadium with 57,167 people in attendance (a record for attendance at a hockey game) as well as 2.747 million people watching on TV (another record).
What better place to hold an outdoor game in the U.S. than in hockey-mad Buffalo! Love it.

No one can forget how cold it was at the 2003 outdoor game (-18 degrees celsius, -30 with the wind chill, clear skies). The same will not happen in Buffalo. It could be the opposite. It is currently above 0 degrees celsius with rain and snow in Buffalo. The weather is forecasted to be much of the same by January 1. So Crosby may have to work the snow shovel in between faceoffs. Could you imagine how backyard-ish the game will be if it snows? Coolness. Expect the unexpected.

Links

-The promo video for the 2008 Winter Classic starring Ryan Miller. Pretty cool.
-NBC's commercial for the game, found at NHL.com, as well as links to interviews with players who played in the 2003 outdoor game.
-A few highlights from the 2003 Heritage Classic.
-Quick fan-cam footage of the 2003 HC.
-Raj Binder from This Hour Has 22 Minutes visits the 2003 HC game. Funny stuff.

T Tags: NHL 2008+Winter+Classic outdoor+hockey+game Buffalo New+York Ralph+Wilson+Stadium video Penguins Sabres 2003+Heritage+Classic Edmonton

More new jerseys unveiled

Keep it simple. Don't change a good thing, right? Montreal Canadiens new jersey slideshow.











A cleaner look. But I'd like to have that Rockies jersey! Strange double color on the sleeves....
Avs blogger reactions:
Jerseys and Hockey Love
Jibblescribbits
















Sharp.




















Bye-bye bottom stripes. Almost makes it look too simplistic doesn't it?














Mixed emotions about the Sabres jersey




"Leaked" new Penguins jerseys




T Tags: new+Leafs+jersey new+Penguins+jersey new+Avalanche+jersey new+Ducks+jersey new+Canadiens jersey

Canucks re-sign Kevin Bieksa / Wings acquire Drake / Updates

The Canucks have re-signed Bieksa to a 3-year $11.25 million deal. That means he will be around just long enough to win a Stanley Cup with Vancouver. This also avoids a major headache next summer for Dave Nonis. Bieksa was looking like a steal last season at $525,000 per season. He has earned his raise no doubt about it.
Last season he played 81 games, had 12 goals and 42 points. He had 6 goals and 13 assists on the power play. He averaged 24:16 of icetime per game. I'd say that's well worth $3.75 per season. That's actually a bargain.

Pay no attention to new rumors of the Canucks being interested in Brian Gionta. One week it's Elias, next it's Gionta. It's all speculation and/or lies. Can you really see Nonis pulling off a blockbuster at this point? That will depend on how talks are going with Mattias Ohlund for an extension. Ohlund hits the free agent market next summer.
Nonis is probably going to bargain hunt a replacement for the departed Smolinski.

---

The Red Wings have announced that they have signed Dallas Drake to a 1-year deal. More details to follow. The Trail, B.C. native is an excellent gritty depth player who can chip in once in a while. The 38 year-old averaged 12:53 ice time last season with the Blues.
Drake career stats.
Here's another guy that would have made a decent Canuck.

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The Coyotes have signed Mike York to a 1-year $1 million contract.

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Oh boy. Daniel Briere's agent has said today that he never even received a call during this past season from Sabres' management to iron out a deal, according to the Fourth Period. These kinds of reports are only going to makes Sabres' brass look that much more stupid for not keeping one or both of the departed Briere and Drury. You can add the Oilers' stab at Vanek potentially to the above scenario. GM's need to secure their core guys early, or else possibly face the consequences.

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I see Bill Guerin has already been named the Captain of the Islanders squad. Below is a picture of the Islanders press conference announcing the new guys, Sim, Comrie, Guerin, and Fedotenko. Look at Comrie, he looks like an 18 year-old choirboy!
















John Davidson looks pretty smug having lured Paul Kariya to St. Louis.












Kariya throws the first pitch at a Cardinals/Diamondbacks game on July 3.




More images found here at Yahoo Sports.



T Tags: Canucks+sign+Bieksa NHL Signings
Islanders+press+conference+pictures Blues+Kariya+press+conference+pictures Kariya+pitch+Cardinals+game+picture

Kevin Lowe: Villain or Competitor?

After taking some time to think about what Kevin Lowe did yesterday with Thomas Vanek, I think I have come to a few conclusions.
First of all, there is nothing in the rulebook that states Lowe did anything wrong.
Instead, it becomes a moral issue. Larry Quinn fired back at Lowe yesterday basically saying "heads up, we could do the same thing to you someday." Darcy Regier made it clear that matching Lowe's offer was a message to the rest of the NHL GM's that they are not going to get away with shopping for Sabre RFA's in the same fashion that Lowe tried to.
However, that statement from Buffalo comes at a heavy, if not more, a risky price. Vanek, 23, scored 43 goals and 84 points in only his second NHL season. The Sabres now will hope and pray that Vanek is the real deal, as they will be paying him $18 million in his next 2 seasons, and over $6 million per season for the remaining 5 years. If Vanek falters, the Oilers will always to be to blame for the financial hardship put on the Sabres.
Lowe said it was "nothing personal" against the Sabres, but really, it becomes personal in a sense. Shit, the Sabres have been through enough in the past week already, losing Drury and Briere. I'm not saying I feel bad for Buffalo. I'm saying that this is dirty pool, and the vast majority of NHL GM's won't do such things.
Sure, Lowe is desperate, and no players want to play in Edmonton right now...blah blah, but Lowe violated a code of ethics, whether it was legal or not. And really, he's opening a can of worms that should remain shut.
No, I would not do what Lowe did. Karma is a bitch. And Thomas Vanek, who was suprised by the lucrative offer, is not worth that kind of money at this point in his career, in my opinion. Not after only 1 great season.
It really was Bobby Clarke-like. And now the Sabres, who thought Lowe was bluffing, have a few less million to spend for the next 7 years. For their sake, hopefully Vanek earns it.

T Tags: Oilers Sabres Thomas+Vanek Lowe+blow

K-Lowe makes Vanek a lucrative offer, Sabres match

The Oilers offered restricted free agent Thomas Vanek a 7-year $50 million deal today, but Sabres' GM Darcy Regier has said that he will match that offer. The Austrian Vanek scored 43 goals and 84 points last season, a 36-point increase from his rookie season. It seems kind of insane to offer Vanek so much so early in his career for such a long period of time, but Kevin Lowe has driven the value up on Vanek, rather than an arbitrator doing it. It reeks of the Clarke-Kesler saga of last season. But it is a bit different, as TSN points out:

His offer to Vanek was a legitimate long term deal, made to a player he wanted to have in his organization for years to come. Clarke's offer was for one year, at a grossly inflated $1.9 million to a third line player which the Canucks begrudgingly matched.

The Sabres will use Vanek as one of their building blocks with the losses of Briere and Drury.

"Not unexpectedly he was somewhat stunned," Bartlett said of Vanek's reaction to the Oilers' offer. "This is money beyond his wildest expectations."

T Tags: Oilers+offer+Thomas+Vanek+Sabres+match

Larry Quinn plays the moral game

From TSN: Sabres Executive Larry Quinn said:

"I think you have to ask yourself, `Do you want to win?' Free agents who went for all the money last year didn't win, with one exception, Scott Niedermayer," Quinn said, referring to the Ducks captain who won a Stanley Cup in his second season with Anaheim. "There's a lot of situations where it didn't help the player in a competitive situation, because it affects the team's ability to have players around him."

A valid last-grasp point by Quinn. It raises the unfortunate question of a player's loyalties. "Do you want to be a greedy prick and sign with some other team that will offer you the millions extra and perhaps have less success, or do you want to take perhaps a couple million dollars less and stick with your current team and go for the Stanley Cup once again next spring?"
The Sabres have come close to a spot in the Finals twice in the last 2 years yet fallen short. If they lose both Briere and Drury, you have to think that their chances of repeating such a feat is unlikely.
What would you do?
I am moralistic for the most part. I would stick to the team. But you have to wonder though....if Drury knows that Briere is going to test the free agent market anyway (or vice versa) and your team is about to lose a top 2 center because a deal is not worked out, why not accept that as an insurmoutable blow and realize that your team may not be able to repeat it's recent success? That is probably the case with Briere and Drury. Or, perhaps a deciding factor.
And a tough pill to swallow for Sabres fans.
Buffalo should have beaten the Sens in last season's Semi-finals but did not put out a decent team effort and really, blew their chance.
As a result, players (typically like normal human beings), due for a raise go somewhere else when not given what they want, or feel that they deserve, and get richer. It's a fucking shame. Where is the loyalty?
In today's NHL, it's an on-going occurence.
In Larry Quinn and Darcy Regier's perfect world, these guys would sign long term for less dollars than they are commanding. And the Sabres' franchise would succeed long term. But as of tomorrow, unless Briere and Drury become 'born-again Christians' and realize that money isn't everything, the party begins. And they will have bigger yachts and houses elsewhere. The Sabres will never be the same.
Neither will the news world and all those covering it. As of lunchtime tomorrow, the face of the NHL will change.
Speaking of Christians, July 1st falls on a Sunday. I wonder how many GM's will skip the morning service to snatch up some UFA's today. Ever notice how Sundays are usually quiet for transactions, or is that just the beer talking? The last time July 1 fell upon a Sunday was in 2001. On that day, the Stars signed Pierre Turgeon and Rob Dimaio. The Islanders signed Garth Snow. The Oilers traded Doug Weight to St. Louis. You get my point...it's the beer talking!

Complete Free Agent List

T Tags: Sabres Briere Drury Free+Agents

Chouinard, Briere and Kariya

The Canucks are intending to buy out Marc Chouinard's contract, which is a way of saying: "We want nothing to do with you. Not on our club and not on the Moose either. That would mean that Nonis will be forced to pay $366,663 to bid adieu to Chouinard.
Rand Simon, Chouinard's agent had this to say:

"We wish things had worked out better in Vancouver and it's unfortunate they didn't. Marc was very excited to go to Vancouver when he signed there last summer and the Canucks were very excited to have him. But, for whatever reason, it didn't work out.

I like how he puts it: "For whatever reason." Does the guy even watch hockey? Chouinard was not a fit in Vancouver. He lacked a scoring touch that was needed. He looked slow and out of place.

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Danny Briere has rejected a rumored 5-year $25 million offer from the Sabres and will test the free agent market. That offer basically matches what he was awarded in arbitration last summer. Strangely enough, he was averaging 1.21 points per game 2 seasons ago (1.05 in the playoffs). This past season he averaged 1.17 points per game(.94 in the playoffs). Just throwing stats at you. Some team is going to pay the guy $6-7 million after July 1st. The question is, WHO???
If George McPhee would stop being such a Dutchman and open his wallet a little, I'd love to see Briere center Ovechkin. Maybe for once the Thrashers are going to get a star forward to center Kovalchuk and Hossa. The Blue Jackets could use a #1 center that isn't Sergei Fedorov. The Oilers, Hawks, Panthers, Kings, Flyers, Flames and Coyotes especially all have plenty of room to absorb a $6-7 million salary.
So come Sunday, let the bidding war begin, as Briere gets richer and richer in the process.
Chris Drury's chances of staying in Buffalo just got a lot bigger though.

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With the fire sale going on in Nashville Paul Kariya has decided to hit the Unrestricted Free Agent market as well.

"He just decided it's best for him to look at alternative options," Preds' GM David Poile said.

T Tags: Canucks +buyout+Chouinard Briere Free+Agent Sabres

Are the Ducks the new 'model' team?

TSN's Bob McKenzie wrote an interesting piece on Thursday:

While the Buffalo Sabres appeared to be the 'model' post-lockout NHL franchise, teams are now going to try to emulate the Anaheim Ducks.
While the Ottawa Senators were able to outmuscle the rest of their Eastern Conference counterparts, they ran into a brick wall in the Finals. The Ducks simply had too many big, strong and skilled players for the Senators to deal with. Not only are the Ducks are loaded with big, strong skilled players, they also have a lot of youngsters who will benefit greatly from this experience. Players like Penner, Perry and Getzlaf had breakout campaigns and franchises around the league will be looking for players just like them to build their teams around.

I don't like where that article is heading. How much does size really matter? Sure, the Ducks used their size to intimidate Ottawa, and it was quite beneficial overall. But I wouldn't say that the Sabres are less of a 'model' team. Even the Sabres' failure this postseason cannot be blamed on the smaller size of their team, can it?
When it comes down to it, it takes 19 guys on the ice to buy into their coach's system and to play with the heart and desire that it takes to win a championship. That is not what we saw from Buffalo or Detroit in the semi-finals, and it is definitely not what we saw from Ottawa in the Finals.
While Anaheim's size did frustrate the Sens, there were too many holes in the machine that was Ottawa, starting with Ray Emery and it worked it's way out from there. How can Anaheim's roster be the new template when the only Sens players you can truly praise for their performance in the Finals were Vermette, McAmmond, Fisher, Neil, and a couple others. Ottawa did not get the complete team performance that was necessary to draw the series out any longer than 5 games.
So I am disagreeing with McKenzie in general. Buffalo's team on paper was terrific the way it was. They just couldn't get it together when it mattered the most.

Do you agree or disagree?

T Tags: Ducks model+team Sabres Senators size

Briere to take a discount?

Briere has stated that he wants a long term deal with the Sabres and is willing to be flexible with his salary.

“It’s worth some money to stay here,” Briere said. “But what’s fair?” “I don’t feel like I have to max out. It’s not what I’m looking for. I’d like to stay here. This is a place that I’d like to play. It’s a place that I’d like to finish my career. There’s more important things than just money, but at the same time you want to be treated fairly.
I’m open to whatever they’re willing to do and discuss. I think it can work for both sides. The Sabres, if they’re interested, they’re going to have the first chance, and they’re going to have the best chance,” Briere said. “If that doesn’t work out, then we’ll start looking at the different options."

Discussions have not yet begun.

"To be honest with you, I have no clue what’s going to happen. There hasn’t been any discussions as far as contracts go with the Sabres, and I didn’t even have any talks with my agent yet about the game plan.”

Briere received a raise at $5 million to avoid the free agent market in the summer of 2006. He had 58 points in 48 games in that injury-riddled season of 2005-06. His 1.208 points-per-game ratio that year was a bit better than his 1.17 points-per-game ratio this year. His playoff totals last season were only slightly better than this post season (19 points in 18 playoff games in 2006 and 15 points in 16 games this year).
So what is going to be fair for Briere? Does he deserve a raise?
Don't buy into that 'superstar may be willing to take a cut or accept less pay than what he's really worth to stay with the team he loves' bullshit. The media paints it as an option, and it gets the fans' hopes up. But let's try to be realistic here. Briere, like 99% of NHL'ers is going to go where the money is. Who was the last player to take a cut by choice, Paul Kariya so he could play with Teemu in Colorado?
The keys to Briere's status in Buffalo will hinge on how much the cap limit goes up for next season and how much more Chris Drury is going to want than his current $3 million. But don't look at Drury's 69 points in 77 games this season as the be-all-end-all of his worth. Drury's worth went up in the post season by verbally challenging his teammates in the media and as well blocking shots, saving goals, and taking pucks off the cabbage. Those kind of traits are what got Jay McKee a $4 million contract with the Blues. So it's a balancing act. One or both of these 2 Sabres are going to want the money first and the prolonged success of their current team second. They can talk all that team loyalty bullshit all they want but when it comes down to it, like we saw with the 'ultimate team guy' Ryan Smyth, home is where the damned money is.
Drury and Briere get all the attention lately as they are the team leaders, but Darcy Regier has a lot of work to do. On top of those 2 players, he also has to sign Thomas Vanek, Derek Roy, Adam Mair, Nathan Paetsch, and Andrew Peters. Vanek and Roy due for considerable raises.
You almost have to think that this season was the one big chance for the Sabres win a Cup, as it appears that vital pieces of their core may be dismantled this summer.

Chris Drury stats
Daniel Briere stats
Tomas Vanek stats
Derek Roy stats

T Tags: Sabres Briere Drury Vanek Roy Contracts

The Demons Have Been Exorcised

With the utmost of irony, Daniel Alfredsson came into the Sabres zone against 3 defenders down the left side, where he was beat by Jason Pomminville last season to take the brunt of the blame for the series winning goal, and buried a wrister past Ryan Miller to clinch this series in 5 games. Alfredsson had 1 goal and 1 assist and Dany Heatley had 1 goal and 2 assists as the Senators played better and better as the game went along.

Heatley finally had found the net in this series and played superb.

Can you belive Chris Drury? He was wearing the "A" instead of the "C" tonight, but played like a true captain would. That one shift where he blocked 2 Sens shots to preserve a 1-0 lead was beyond words. Unfortunately he took a shot in the head from his own teammate in the 3rd and never returned.

I also feel bad for Ryan Miller. That save on Jason Spezza was a beautiful desperation save. Miller was solid. Can you remember Ray Emery having to be all that great today?

The Sens just keep on rolling. They play with such composure and hardly ever look rattled when things don't go their way. By the time this game went to OT the Sens were at the top of their game and were not to be denied.

Ottawa has finished all 3 teams in their playoff run in 5 games only. The are healthy and ready to go in the Finals. Meanwhile the Ducks and Red Wings are going to kick the crap out of eachother for a while as the Sens get to watch.

The questions will abound now in Buffalo as to why this team could not get past the 3rd round again, especially after dominating in the regular season. Hey, that sounds like what Ottawa had to deal with for the past 6 years or so!

T Tags: Senators Sabres Game+5 Win

Mrs. Luck not so lucky

From CBC.ca:

Two men were arrested after they allegedly assaulted a woman from Buffalo after the Senators' loss to the Buffalo Sabres in Ottawa Wednesday night.

Sean Luck said his wife, Renee Luck, who was wearing Buffalo Sabres colours and logos, was walking in front of him through the corridors of Scotiabank Place as they tried to leave the stadium with about six other Sabres fans.

"Two guys that were clearing the section to our right, as they were walking out, punched my wife four times — in the head," Luck said. "They just seemed like they were pissed off because the Senators lost."

Yeah, there's assholes in every crowd isn't there? Imagine the beating she'll get if the Sabres win Game 5! I'm kidding, yeesh!

T Tags: Senators+fans Punch Sabres+Fan

Need More Power!

**UPDATE 4:00 PM** The power has returned! Amen!

**UPDATE 2:52 PM**
Apparently the power line was knocked over by a tree, which had been chewed on by a beaver. Goddamned national animal!!! Never has a beaver caused so much hell!!! OK, get your mind INTO the gutter!
I also hear that the progress of the repair crew was delayed because another tree that drifted by had snagged the power line. Life in a Northern Town, huh?

The Town of Smithers and surrounding area where I live has been without power since yesterday at about 3:30 PM (Wednesday). I thought it was going to be a power bump or other short term glitch but it turns out that the power pole and lines had fallen into the Telkwa River about 6 miles east of Smithers, causing transformers to be shorted out. Boom, about 8000 people without power. I don't think I have seen a power outage in this area for this long before. The repairs may be complete by 4:00 PM today. There are only rumors as to what caused the lines to fall into the drink in the first place. Soil erosion?
A tree falling into the line? The hand of God? :)
One thing is for sure, you learn to respect and appreciate what you have when things like electricity are taken away from you. You also have to be more creative with your time!

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So, I missed the Sens-Sabres game last night. Thankfully I didn't miss a series-clinching win by Ottawa.
It does appear that the Sabres shut down the Spezza-Heatley-Alfredsson line though; something they are going to have to do to get back into this series.
Do the Sabres even have a chance to pull off an upset 30 years in the making? Of course they do! After game 3, it seemed that Chris Drury was hinting at individualism and dissention in the Sabres locker room. I doubt that is happening now.
It's all about confidence. And the Sabres needed that power play goal by Afinogenov to squash some of that. It took a 5-on-3 to stop the PP futility.
There's nothing like 'playing like there is no tomorrow' to snap a team out of it as well.
See that look on Derek Roy's face when he scored the first goal about 8 seconds in? It screamed "Fuck yeah! We CAN do this!"

Jason Spezza said after the game 4 loss that the Sens are confident right now. When they were down 3-0 they believed they could win. They almost pulled it off.

It is a huge hill for the Sabres to climb. But if they can effectively shut down the Sens' top line and produce on the PP, they have a chance. But you know that the Game 4 loss may not rattle the Sens all that much, considering their confidence right now.

T Tags: Senators Sabres Smithers BC Power+Out

It's all coming together for the Senators

And it's not for the Sabres. The Sens scored 2 power play goals on 4 chances. The Sabres were 0-for-7 with the man advantage. In the first 2 games, Ottawa is 4-for-10 and the Sabres are 0-for-12. Where has that haunting Buffalo power play gone?
So much of their futility can be attributed to the Sens' excellent penalty killing. I don't recall seeing the forwards pressure the points so hard and causing turnovers there. The Sens, especially Fisher, McAmmond, and now Alfredsson are terrific at that. Their box formation in front of Ray Emery squeezes out any passes that the Sabres make in from the outside.
You can't execute that game plan without skating your ass off, and that is what the Sens are doing consistently now. Well, at least after it was 2-0 Buffalo!
The Sens are playing like they want to win it all and they look unbelievably focussed. For whatever reason, the Sabres don't look like they have kicked it into 3rd gear (except for the 1st 10 minutes of Period 1). I suppose that is testament to just how well Ottawa is playing. Are the Sabres going to be able to crawl out of this hole?

The Sens are 4-1 at home in these playoffs.
The Sabres are 3-2 on the road.

As a side point, I know Alfredsson is playing his heart out, but that boarding incident on Kalinin in the 3rd was unacceptable. And it wasn't even called. It reminded me a bit of when he did that to Tucker a few years back. That wasn't called either.

Aside from that, I am really digging that Spezza-Heatley-Alfie line. It's magic to watch. Then again, this series is magic. Back and forth action, huge hits, great goaltending.

But how will this style of play translate in the Finals against a stingy defensive team from the Western Conference?

T Tags: Sabres Senators Alfredsson

Senators / Sabres Preview

This is going to be the series to watch, no doubt. There is a lot of bad blood between these 2 teams, as the clip shows. I can just picture Bryan Murray calling Lindy Ruff a 'fucking ath-hole' at some point in the next week or so. Could this possibly be the roughest series in the playoffs? I hope so.
These teams match up well. Both like the wide-open style speed game, but can slow it down and shut the opposing team down when necessary. This looks to be a high-scoring affair regardless.

Season series

Ottawa takes it with 5 wins and 3 losses. The Sens outscored the Sabres 33 - 25 in those games and outshot them 276 - 254. The biggest difference between the 2 teams this season was on the power play. The Sens were 15-for-50 while the Sabres' PP was a whole lot less efficient at 6-for-44. Wow.

Mentality

The Sabres are considered by most to have not brought their 'A' game to the ice in this post season...yet. They are steadily improving, but not there yet. That was really evident against the Rangers. It almost seems like they are the hot dogs, and are cocky. Most people have been picking them to win the Cup all season long. The players know that.
The Sens were labelled 'chokers' going into this years' playoffs. It seems like they are doing everything they can to prove the naysayers wrong. Their efforts so far have been tremendous.
But now is where the pressure mounts on Ottawa. They have been 1 goal away from making the Finals before. The Finals is where the expectations lie for Sens fans and their organization now, and nothing less...now that the 'choking' talk has disappeared completely.

My Prediction

Well I correctly called a Sens/Sabres semi-final before the playoffs started and I said the Sabres would win this series in 7 games. I will stand by that. However, it wouldn't suprise me one bit if the Sens knock the hot-headed Sabres off either.
It's going to be close. It's going to be bloody rough. Someone's getting hurt out there soon. Enjoy the ride, folks!

And go Sens!

T Tags: Senators Sabres Preview Semi-Finals

Sabres 5 Rangers 4: Rangers go home

Period 1

Unreal. The Rangers score the first goal of the game at 17:10 after being outshot 11-4 up to that point. Nylander deked Miller out of his jock. MSG came alive for the first time since the pregame.
That put the momentum in New York’s favor, especially considering that Henrik Lundqvist was stopping everything that Buffalo threw at him.

Period 2

Now a shootout occurs. The Sabres score just over a minute in (Kalinin) and then again just over a minute later (Pominville). The Rangers don’t fall apart after that. Almost 2 minutes later Paul Mara scores from the point on the power play. 2-2. But the Sabres come alive again and score 2 goals in a span of 3 ½ minutes (Hecht and Drury)

If you are not watching this game you are missing a beauty. Leave your yard work for tomorrow dammit!
Call me nuts, but this is how the Sabres should have been playing all along. Their speed is making the Rangers look slow, and their ‘trap’ absolutely useless. I’ve been wondering if the Sabres have had trouble getting into the next gear in this post season because they are Cup favorites. Tonight I’m seeing desperation from them. The Rangers have to open it up now, and I’m sure the Sabres are loving that, as their transition game is deadly..
With 2:51 left in the 3rd, the score is still 4-2 Sabres. We will now see their ability to shut these Rangers down.
I didn’t think Miller looked sharp in the first half of the game, but he sure as hell does now!
The Rangers aren’t quitting at all. It is going to be an insane 3rd.

Period 3

If the Sabres score another one, they could open up something like a 7-2 can of whoopass here.
The Sabres are 5-0 in the playoffs when going into the 3rd period up 2 goals. They are 40-0 when up by 2 over the regular season. Sheeit.

Uh oh. Jagr has scored to make it 4-3. The Rangers are flying now. The Sabres are on their heels. Oh no!
Cullen gets stoned by Miller on a breakaway.
Kotalik takes a tripping penalty at 12:00, and then Jagr goes from hero to goat by taking a tripping penalty as well, eliminating the Rangers’ PP. Lucky Sabres.

Hecht makes a dandy deflection on a point shot and it’s 5-3. Frantic action.

Rangers go on the PP with about 3 minutes left and Nylander scores again! 5-4. What a wrister over Miller’s left arm. These bastards just don’t quit.

The Sabres shut them down in the final minute and this series is over!

I can't wait to see the Sens/Sabres duke it out. It is going to be a terrific and potentially violent series. Bring it on.