The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Minus the Good.

What is it with these guys? It's like they can't win a game against Ottawa. Hey guys, Ottawa is one of the worst teams in the league. Check it out, I'm not lying. The night can be summed up in 1 word: uninspired. Both this game and last [until the 3rd]. Ottawa is one of our biggest rivals, if they can't get pumped up for this, then what will it take? It's like they freak themselves out or something. No, I wouldn't even say that. Because they're not playing skittish, scared hockey. They're playing like they're ahead 5 goals and protecting the lead.

Some notes from tonight:

-I had no idea Gerbe could hit like that. Whoa dude, did you forget that you're 5'5"? Hey, I'm not complaining. If only the rest of the team would play like that.

-Why does Butler look like a goober with a helmet on? I'm not trying to insult him, but take a look:

-I love when RJ says things like, "So-and-so failed to get good wood on it."

-Ruutu is a freaking bum. I mean, this is no news flash. But the goal Donovan scored should have never counted. Ruutu was in Miller's grill [which isn't illegal, just really, really annoying], but he totally butt-bumped him. It was weak, but it was there. We can't expect EVERY goal to be taken back, but this one should have been.

-Dear JESUS! Ryan Miller, what the heck was that goal you just let in? I realize that you can't be the best player on the ice every night, but you also can't be letting in goals like that. Not that your team even feels like helping you out at all tonight...

-So this whole cross-checking thing is very annoying to me. On the PP, if the team with the man-advantage is in the crease [ala Vanek, Goose, Staf], he can be expected to be cross-checked at least a half bazilion times. But when the team with the advantage does it back, there is a penalty called? I hate how that happens. Tonight wasn't the first time either. That just bugs the crap out of me.

-Foligno is a dirtbag. I said it earlier in the game- he always takes the cheap shots after the play when no one is looking and I can't stand that. But really, running Miller like that? Ok, so on second look it seems like he didn't quite know his location on the ice and turned around and was like, bam 'whoa I'm right in the crease already, where did that come from?' But that is no excuse. And I'm glad Butler stepped in and pushed him. Personally, I would have punched him in the face. For me, it would have been worth the 2 game suspension. That's just me though...

-Three words: One-for-Twelve

Sidenote: Why on earth was Yo-Yo wearing an "A"?

Anaheim recap

Holy cow do I miss out on a ton when I'm away with no internet!! I'll try to catch up with everything...

I guess I'll start off with the Anaheim game:

-Did anyone see the stat about Butler being the only + defenseman on the team?! How is this possible? [Although I'd like to add that Gragnani is as well]

-I know Miller needed the rest, but it would have been cool to see him vs. his brother.

-How is it possible that Petey had the only good scoring chance at one point in the game?

-Patty K's goal from his knees=pure amazement. How excited was he when he saw that it went in? Welcome back friend. We missed you.

-Lalime, you gave us quite the scare buddy. If that had been TimBits who got cut, he would have been dead before he even made it back to the bench to get stitched up.

-Did I hear correctly when they said that in TimBits' first 4 seasons, he only missed 3 games? What the hell happened since then? Was he exposed to some horrible disease we don't know about yet where if you look at him wrong he breaks his neck?

-Also, I found it really creepy when they interviewed Drew Miller... him and Ryan are like twins! If you cover up the top of his face, it looked and sounded like Ryan talking. Weird. Oh, and how cute is their dad? He must be so proud...

-HOLY CAP'N CRAIG!!! I guess deep down I always knew he was a scrapper, but really? 2 fighting majors? I think I fell in love. That's the passion we need in a captain. Granted, with all our children on defense, we didn't really need to lose him for that long to the penalty box, but hey whatever. He didn't even want to get in that second fight, but the guy kept asking for it. So, in return, he obliged and proceeded to kick Montador's ass.

-I wonder if all the madness we saw out of Rivet is stemming over from when he was on San Jose, and they were big rivals with Anaheim...

-And how funny was it when Lydman was about to get in a fight (when Rivet was in the box) Butler stepped in and did it instead. I think it's cuz he realized if Lydman went to the box too, we'd literally have all toddlers on the blueline.

-How crazy was the end of the 2nd period? "Old time hockey" as they called it. Goose was so pissed I swear he could have taken on the entire Duck's team. I loved how they all stayed out on the ice ready to brawl. Did you notice that all of the Sabres stayed on the bench and most of the Ducks left? I think it was cuz if the fight started, they all wanted in. And what was with Parros calling out Goose from the bench? You just know Goose wanted to grab that hairy smug face and slam it on the ice.

-So after all that, we end up loosing. The Ducks got 2 goals on 2 total BS penalty calls. The end. A well-fought [pun intended] game by the Sabres, but we just couldn't find a way to put them away when we had the chance.

At least it's the end of the way-to-long road trip. They're coming home!!

Sidenote: Here's an interesting short article from an Anaheim paper about all the fighting in the game.

Why do you play with my heart, Buffalo?

So about that game. It was bound to happen, in my opinion. When you kill a team like we did the night before, it's about time for the boys to come out a lay an egg.

My game notes:

-you know it's bad when Lydman has the most shots and Hecht is tied for the most hits. 

-Butler, Butler, Butler. It's a miracle he was only -1 when all said and done, considering he was one the ice for 4, count em, 4 of Calgary goals [directly causing 2].

-Oh Cory Sarich. I forgot he plays for Calgary. He was one of my first hockey crushes. For some reason I always pick the bad players/underachievers [aka Geoff Sanderson, Sarich, Paetsch, etc. to love]. I miss him.

-did anyone else's MSG channel freeze after the 2nd period? I was pissed I couldn't finish watching the game and had to listen to it. Little did I know, there's this site.

-what the crap happened to Vanek's lip?

-oh TimBits. I forget how amazing he is when he only plays 2 games a year. Seriously, he's almost worth 3.5 million even if he only plays 1/4 of the games. Almost.

-I hate that when we play Canadian teams we always get shafted when it comes to penalties. What the crap kinda calls and noncalls were those?

I think that is all. Oh, I'll leave you with these, and maybe you'll understand. He saves puppies and kicks ass. :)